Bennett Valley Education Foundation

Current progress on art projects at Yulupa:

TK: finished the painting portion of making their windsocks

kindergarten: finished drawing their full body self-portrait and started coloring contour lines around them

1st: drew a landscape with a foreground, middle ground, and background. Included two trees and a foreshortened river or path. Started learning watercolor techniques.

2nd: finished drawing their Van Gogh inspired sunflowers in a vase, focusing on variety and use of space. Started learning watercolor techniques.

3rd: finished their small practice self-portrait, focusing on proportion and attention to their own features unique details.

Thanks to all the volunteers who came out to help with our School Rule Sonoma County-funded Strawberry Beautification Project this Labor Day. We had an amazing, all-ages crew on the blacktop. The BVUSD community spirit was on full display, and now all the Strawberry students have a lot more color in their days!

Two especially big cheers for Amy, our amazing co-president, who organized and directed this project with classic Amy dedication and spirit! 🧑‍🎨🎨💖💪🤗🙏

The Strawberry Beautification Project is made possible through the generous support of SchoolsRule Sonoma County! SchoolsRule is an initiative of the Sonoma County Office of Education; it fundraises on behalf of students throughout our region. The money BVEF has been awarded will be used to fund our arts education programming and arts ed-related events. On behalf of our students, thank you to the businesses, organizations, and individuals who are investing in our local schools!

...and we're proud that Bennett Valley Union School District is a district that recognizes this fact! Many thanks to the SchoolsRule for helping bolster our efforts.

If OMER Raccoon is back, it's almost OM time!

Come learn more about OM – that's Odyssey of the Mind for those of you new to it – during an informational family night on September 15 at 6:30pm in the Yulupa MPR.

What is Odyssey of the Mind HQ? It's a creative problem-solving competition where teams of students work together to build an original solution to an open-ended challenge — anything from designing a vehicle to staging a theatrical performance, and often a combination of the two! — using only their own ideas, materials, and teamwork. Although parent volunteers “coach” the teams, there’s no adult help allowed with the actual solution. Kids do the brainstorming, building, and troubleshooting themselves, often failing and rebuilding along the way.

Yulupa and Strawberry Elementary Kindergarten-6th grade student teams tackle age-appropriate versions of the challenges and also compete in “spontaneous” problems that test quick thinking on the spot. It’s less about winning and more about learning that weird ideas are worth trying, that mistakes are part of the process, and that even a team of 8-year-olds can pull off something genuinely inventive if you just get out of their way. Programs typically run September through spring, culminating in regional and (for top teams) state or world competitions. If this sounds like something your child would enjoy and you're curious to know more, please join us!

Are you ready for school to start??? Because ART certainly is!
Make sure to make your contribution to the arts for all students to have access to art, music, dance, drama, and odyssey of the mind. Whether it’s $10 or $500 every dollar helps support the arts in our schools.
https://www.bvef.net/support-us

Realizing it’s almost the start of the new school year and we haven’t posted the end of last year’s Strawberry student projects! Below are some of my favorites.
Remember to make your BVEF donation for the 2026-27 school year, if the the asking amount per student does not fit in your family’s budget please click “give other amount” and give what you feel comfortable doing so. Every dollar helps keep art, music, dance, and theatre in our student’s lives.
https://www.bvef.net/fundraising/family-contribution-campaign

4th grade-one point perspective hallways
5th grade-creative watercolor illustration
6th grade-historical world mask

This year, families bid in the VOTA Online Auction for an opportunity to have their kiddo receive the honor of "pie-ing" Principal Hankerson or Vice Principal Thornhill at year's end. Well, year end is upon us, and the principals got pie'ed! 🥧🍦😀

A BVEFer snapped this great pic of the post-pie moment yesterday afternoon.

Thanks again to all of the wonderful support you provided by participating in the VOTA Speakeasy event and/or by bidding in the VOTA Online Auction. Those pies in the face pay for our arts education program! 😋

Thank you, BVUSD families!

This year, BVEF raised $113,000 because of *your* generosity and community spirit. That money directly funds a range of educational and enrichment opportunities for our BVUSD students. 🙏

Check out the detail shot to see the breakdown of how we raised that sum and how that sum will be spent to *continue* BVUSD's exceptional arts education offerings.

Lucky for you we have three ways for you to engage with art this month! No need for Botox or suduko, just show up for movie night tonight at strawberry elementary, or come to the 4th-6th grade art show during open house next Thursday, or stop by Cooperage Brewing Company on airport court anytime this month to see top TK-6th grade art. BVEF, we’re here to keep you young.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1357968366195811&set=a.647162930609695&type=3&mibextid=wwXIfr

When it comes to slowing down our biological aging, engaging with arts and culture is as beneficial as physical activity, a new study suggests. https://cnn.it/4udzpBB