Nia House makes 50 look amazing!
Enjoy pictures from the evening…
Below is a slideshow with a sample of pictures spanning the past 50 years. This slideshow played during the 50th Party.
An excerpt of Eve’s Party Welcome-
Happy Birthday, Nia House.
Welcome to all- and a huge round of applause for you- we’re here to celebrate your huge impacts on Nia House’s rich past and share your birthday blessings with one another for our future.
You represent the heart of Nia House. At the family friendly birthday bash in August, we formally acknowledged NH’s 50 years with a very traditional Montessori birthday party for this school. Tia Waller-Pryde, NH’s founder, along with children and teachers held the earth and walked around the sun. As some of you may recall, the skies opened and it didn’t rain, but POURED for the first hour of the event. Our pancake makers and coffee pourers and everyone there was drenched, and then, as fast as the rain appeared, it cleared and we had the most amazing walk around the sun, traditional Montessori birthday celebration style. The resilience of this community shone through with the sun and a piece of cake.
Between the start of the 50th year of NH and now, I’m filled with incredible amounts of gratitude to Nia House and the people who once visioned this school, built the structure of the organization, found funding, led fearlessly… and even more gratitude for the countless families who have shared their children and their family’s earliest years with all of the Nia House staff. Trusting us, the teachers and staff, to help prepare your children for life is an enormous act for so many of you- the Nia House families and friends.
We staff take that role very seriously. Dr. Maria Montessori wrote that the EDUCATION OF EVEN A VERY SMALL CHILD DOES NOT AIM AT PREPARING HIM FOR SCHOOL, BUT FOR LIFE. Observing the unbelievable potential of each child during their early development is one the greatest honors. You adult and young adult alumni here tonight are the perfect examples of the hope that is cultivated at Nia House. Thank you, alumni for sharing yourselves and your development with all of us!
Nia House is unique. There are more and more early childhood education programs available, thankfully, but few to none who share the curriculum developed by the esteemed Dr. Maria Montessori, and who share the wisdom of the pedagogy with the intended audience of young learners- all children from very diverse backgrounds. What other early learning program aims to subsidize $700,000 of tuition per year? What other program aims to support its staff with highly competitive pay and ongoing support of continuing education? What other program has formalized structure directing financial aid to prioritize BIPOC families? And what other program puts their children’s needs first and foremost? With you- with your continuing encouragement, birthday party joy, love and financial support, Nia House does. You do!
Birthdays bring about so much emotion, and incredible cause for celebration. What a joy to share the core beliefs of Dr. Maria Montessori’s pedagogy with all of you. You, the heart of Nia House. What does this moment bring to you? For me, I’m honestly overwhelmed with love, nostalgia and hope, seeing all of you alumni, families, staff and current families. You represent the richest history and the brightest future I can imagine. Let’s take a moment to hear from you- on the count of 3, shout your wish for Nia House’s future! With so many of you sharing in this moment and directing all of your good-will toward our youngest learners, they and we as a society are destined for greatness. We need and I personally need that hope.
So with trust in our youngest and newest generation, with trust in our incredible teaching team, and with trust in our community of caregivers, parents, friends and family members, we leave the future of NH to YOU. May your wishes for Nia House become our collective reality.
To throw a party and to find the space to cultivate this incredible joy and community love, takes a bit of organization. A HUGE round of applause is in order to our school’s master party planner, social media genius, and communications/ videographer extraordinaire: Stacey Wood. Peter Jackson helped create the overarching strategy and messaging around our 50th anniversary year, along with timeline, and the logistics. Reena Karia designed the logo of our 50th anniversary along with the many beautiful images that have accompanied the logo and the mailings you’ve received. Donkey and Goat has so generously hosted us tonight, and current parent Rob Lilly has catered this event for us. Oakland United Beerworks sponsored the Nia House’s 50th Anniversary beer. And SO MANY more of you have participated in countless ways. We are so grateful for one another, for you.
Very most importantly, Nia House is a community, and you are certainly an integral part, but our Nia House teachers past and present are the folks who show up every single day to support the mission of the organization, offering that very specific education of peace and justice, modeling grace courtesy and community leadership. The respect with which our teachers observe and support our Nia House children is heartfelt, healing and genuine. Nia House teachers, we honor, respect and cherish you- and we have a special gift for all of you. Come on up for your Reena-designed Nia House bandana! And a big round of applause for Nia House past and present staff.
As a reminder please visit Fundraising station to help us meet our goal tonight of $25,000. We are well on our way, and we look to all of you to help us meet this mark for tonight which will lead us to our annual goal of subsidizing $700,000 of financial aid this current year.
I now introduce Tia Waller-Pryde, NH’s founder who will share her remarks on NH’s history and her wishes for Nia House’s future. She’ll be followed by long-time school director, Lee Wagner.
