Here at PHCS, cultivating hearts of gratitude in our students is one of our highest aims.
We choose to reflect on our gratitude for a particular person in our wider school community this November!
Our dear friend, Mrs. Donna Cochran, possesses a powerful gift of hospitality. She has an eye for decoration and presentation that delights everyone who walks into a room she has touched. She donates hours of her time to planning and creating elaborate displays of children's books here in the common area of our historic school house.
Mrs. Cochran has loved PHCS for years. She is the founder of the tuition assistance program, Jacob's Scholarship Fund, named in honor of her son who passed away in childhood from a rare genetic disorder. Every year she tirelessly works as the coordinator for the Sebastopol Holiday Home Tour, which is the largest contributor for the fund. During the weekend of the home tour, she also works with local artists and crafters to transform the PHCS schoolhouse into an artisan boutique filled with treasures for holiday shoppers.
This season she designed a display in the schoolhouse around the theme of "Thankful" and "Family." It contains well over 60 titles. Some of these she curates from her own sizable personal collection. Others she checks out from the town library. There are stories of families from different ethnic backgrounds as well as families from different time periods in history. There are books on Thanksgiving from the Pilgrims' very first celebration to modern celebrations.
The best part is that these books are accessible to the students. They are encouraged to look as well as touch. They can pick up a book and read the back cover. They can thumb through the pages. They can even borrow them to take home to read. It's a fully interactive display.
Mrs. Cochran's gift of time and talent at PHCS has a powerful message: it's not just about decor. Or even about books. It's about a sense of hospitality that pulls you in. It's about people. It's about fostering an environment of family, and feeling grateful for every person who comes through our doors. It's about sharing the love of God and recognizing His goodness in our community! We are thankful!
We choose to reflect on our gratitude for a particular person in our wider school community this November!
Our dear friend, Mrs. Donna Cochran, possesses a powerful gift of hospitality. She has an eye for decoration and presentation that delights everyone who walks into a room she has touched. She donates hours of her time to planning and creating elaborate displays of children's books here in the common area of our historic school house.
Mrs. Cochran has loved PHCS for years. She is the founder of the tuition assistance program, Jacob's Scholarship Fund, named in honor of her son who passed away in childhood from a rare genetic disorder. Every year she tirelessly works as the coordinator for the Sebastopol Holiday Home Tour, which is the largest contributor for the fund. During the weekend of the home tour, she also works with local artists and crafters to transform the PHCS schoolhouse into an artisan boutique filled with treasures for holiday shoppers.
This season she designed a display in the schoolhouse around the theme of "Thankful" and "Family." It contains well over 60 titles. Some of these she curates from her own sizable personal collection. Others she checks out from the town library. There are stories of families from different ethnic backgrounds as well as families from different time periods in history. There are books on Thanksgiving from the Pilgrims' very first celebration to modern celebrations.
The best part is that these books are accessible to the students. They are encouraged to look as well as touch. They can pick up a book and read the back cover. They can thumb through the pages. They can even borrow them to take home to read. It's a fully interactive display.
Mrs. Cochran's gift of time and talent at PHCS has a powerful message: it's not just about decor. Or even about books. It's about a sense of hospitality that pulls you in. It's about people. It's about fostering an environment of family, and feeling grateful for every person who comes through our doors. It's about sharing the love of God and recognizing His goodness in our community! We are thankful!