MCDC News

MCDC Parents,

We have a couple of exciting things happening next Wednesday October 23rd!

Mobile Petting Zoo

We will have a mobile petting zoo here from 8:45am-11:00am.  The children will go out with their classes and have a chance to pet or just look at various animals!  There is no charge for the petting zoo, but they do ask for donations.  There will be a bucket on the front desk.  Please contribute if you can!

Lunch and Learn for Parents: Functions of Behavior 

Ever wonder why your child does this or that? Find out the “why” with behavior specialists from The Next Step Behavior.

Join us at 11:15am in the MCDC Library.  Please RSVP if you plan on attending.  Hope to see you there!  Feel free to invite your co-workers that may be interested.

Please let me know if you have any questions!  Be on the lookout for an email about our Fall Festival soon!

Hello Parents of 3 year olds-5 year olds!

We are very excited to partner with Amy Holland to offer speech and language screenings to your children. These optional, informal screenings take approximately 15-20 minutes and cost $15. The screenings will take place on September 19, 2019. It will provide you with insight into your child’s speech and language development and a recommendation of whether or not your child needs further evaluation. Should further evaluation be recommended, additional details on cost of services and treatment plans will be discussed with you. If you would like to participate, please fill out the form that was emailed and return to the front office by September 17, 2019.

MCDC Families.

This Friday we will be celebrating the 29th year of MCDC!! Please join us from 5pm-7pm here at our center. We will have a water slide for the older kids, a moon bounce for the younger ones, a movie and popcorn in the cafeteria and snow cones!

We will have a special guest helping us to dedicate the new outdoor classrooms and recognize those that were instrumental in bringing our vision to life! Pack a blanket, some dinner, and chairs! Family, friends and alumni are welcome! We hope to see everyone there!

REMINDER: PARADE TOMORROW

MCDC Parents,

Our annual Fourth of July Parade will be held tomorrow on Tuesday July 2, 2019.  We will begin lining up at 9:00am.  We cross over Morris Road, circle the parking lot of the facilities building, and return to the center.  We will have security escorts.

Please ensure that your child is dropped off and there are no vehicles in the front parking lot by 9am that morning.

If you plan on participating in the parade (which we love!) please park next door at the medical center.

Feel free to bring wagons, strollers, etc…. and decorate with patriotic bling! 

Infant and Creeper parents: please let your child’s teacher know if you will be participating and providing a stroller.  That way we will know how many “seats” we need. 

Older children are allowed to bring riding toys/bicycles, but only if they have a parent to escort.  No motorized vehicles please.

We will line up in the following order:

Infants

Creepers

Preschool A

Preschool B

Preschool C

Explorer A

Explorer B

Toddler A

Toddler B

We will have popsicles in the classrooms to help everyone cool down after the parade.

Hope to see you there!!  Please let me know if you have any questions.

MCDC Parents,

Our annual Fourth of July Parade will be held next week on Tuesday July 2, 2019.  We will begin lining up at 9:00am.  We cross over Morris Road, circle the parking lot of the facilities building, and return to the center.  We will have security escorts.

Please ensure that your child is dropped off and there are no vehicles in the front parking lot prior to 9am that morning.

If you plan on participating in the parade (which we love!) please park next door at the medical center.

Feel free to bring wagons, strollers, etc…. and decorate with patriotic bling! 

Infant and Creeper parents: please let your child’s teacher know if you will be participating and providing a stroller.  That way we will know how many “seats” we need. 

Older children are allowed to bring riding toys/bicycles, but only if they have a parent to escort.  No motorized vehicles please.

We will line up in the following order:

Infants

Creepers

Preschool A

Preschool B

Preschool C

Explorer A

Explorer B

Toddler A

Toddler B

The children love when we have people on the sidelines cheering us on!  Please post in your buildings if that is allowed. Especially if you are in buildings 4250, 4249 and 4241 or the gym.

We will have popsicles in the classrooms to help everyone cool down after the parade.

Hope to see you there!!  Please let me know if you have any questions.

MCDC Families,

In case you missed it in the April Newsletter:

This spring is the scheduled time to elect our Vice President, Treasurer, and Members-at-Large.  The Vice President and Treasurer are 2-year terms, and the Members-at-Large are 1-year.  As a bonus this year, we will have a special election for the President position for the remainder of my term (until next Spring).  Since my daughter will start kindergarten in the fall, I would not be able to fulfill the complete term, and it makes sense to go ahead and have the special election in concert with our normal one.

If you are interested in running for any of the positions, please send me an e-mail stating which you would like to stand for, along with a short bio to send out to the membership for consideration.  I will accept nominations through April, with the election to occur the first part of May and the new board officially being seated in June.  Details on the board positions can be found on our website at https://mcdc.msfc.nasa.gov/business/current_board and the qualifications are outlined in our bylaws https://mcdc.msfc.nasa.gov/business/bylaws. 

I do hope you will all give serious consideration to running for a position.  As I often try to remind people, MCDC is a parent-run, non-profit corporation.  We are not part of the Exchange or a formal part of the MSFC institution.  As such, MCDC is shaped by the families that are members. 

Regards,

Brian Mulac

President, MCDC Board of Directors

Brian.D.Mulac@nasa.gov

MCDC Parents,

Next week we will be celebrating the Week of the Young Child!  Please remember if you are here for any events and take a sibling to another classroom; let the teacher know where you  are going, and keep an eye on the sibling in the classroom.  We want to keep everyone accounted for and safe!  Please let me know if you have any questions!  Have a great weekend!

Week of the Young Child April 1st -5th

Monday: Kick Off Parade and Creative Art Day

We will begin the week off on Monday with a parade at 9:30am in front of the building.  We will circle the front parking lot twice.  Parents are more than welcome to join!  Please park next door at the medical center.  We will have the front parking lot closed off.

We will also spend the day on Monday doing lots of creative art!  If you have any art mediums you would like to donate, or an art project that you would like to do with the children, we would love to have you participate!

Tuesday: Read Aloud Day and Dress as your favorite book character

Bring in your favorite book to share and dress as your favorite book character!  We will be reading rock stars on Tuesday. We would love for you to sign up for a time to come read to your child’s class or send in a recording of yourself reading a book!

Wednesday: Field Day and Picnic Lunch

Wear your athletic gear and lather up with sunscreen!  We will be outside all day!!  We would love to have donations of balls, bubbles, chalk, etc… 

We will be having a picnic lunch at 11:00am on the playgrounds.  If your schedule allows, we would love for you to join us!  Bring a lunch, a blanket or chair and relax!  If you have more than one child enrolled and take one of the children to another classroom, please be sure to notify your teacher of your whereabouts.  Please send in a packed lunch and drink with your child on Wednesday. (this excludes the creepers and infants) Remember NO PEANUT/NUT PRODUCTS!! 

Thursday: Trike-A-Thon and Music Day

Our annual Trike-A-Thon is to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  Our goal this year is to raise $5000!!  You will find a pledge sheet in your child’s folder or cubby.  The pledge sheets need to be turned in by Friday March 29th.  The classroom to raise the most money will get a Pizza Party!!  You can also sign up online at https://stjude.org/trike.  Find our event and register!

The preschool children will bring in a riding toy (tricycle, bike, but nothing electric) and they will ride around the front parking lot.  Please make arrangements to have your children dropped off and the parking lot clear by 8:45am that morning.  If you join us for the Trike-A-Thon, you will need to park next door at the medical center.  Preschool C will ride from 9:00am-9:30am, Preschool B will ride from 9:45am-10:15am and Preschool A will ride from 10:30am-11:00am.  The younger children may bring in a riding toy to play with on the playground on Thursday.  You can take this riding toy directly to your child’s playground on Thursday when you drop off.  The preschoolers will park their tricycles or bikes in the front of the center by their classroom label.

Music will be in the air all day on Thursday!  If you have different types of music that you could share, we would love to introduce the children to as many different genres of music as possible.  We would also love to showcase any of our parent’s talents.  If you play a musical instrument or sing, please coordinate a time with your child’s classroom to stop by and share your talent!

Friday: Science Day and Ice Cream Social       

We will end the week with a bang!  We would love for you to conduct a science experiment with your child’s class on Friday.  We will be conducting science experiments as well.  If you have any ideas for us, please let your child’s teacher know!

We would like to invite you to an Ice Cream Social at your child’s snack time.  MCDC will provide the ice cream and we will have a sign up for toppings.  Again, if you have more than one child enrolled and take one of your children to another classroom, please inform your teacher of your whereabouts.

We appreciate all of the support and participation this week of celebrating our most precious ones!!

Upcoming: The Week of the Young Child, next week April 1st-5th.  Please check your child’s classroom for any sign-ups.  Details on the Trike-A-Thon are also below.

A few things we could use your help with:

We have another wooden kitchen in the front lobby that needs to be assembled.

We would love donations of eggs and candy for our annual Egg Hunt.  Candy must not contain nuts or be processed in a facility that processes nuts.  Please try to avoid chocolate, as it melts. Please also keep in mind that the candy must fit into the eggs and be individually wrapped. Tootsie rolls are great, laffy taffy, starburst, stickers, etc…   Please turn in any donations by Wednesday April 17th.  The Egg Hunt will take place this year on Thursday April 18th .  We are going to try something new this year and have the egg hunt in the afternoon.  Creepers, Toddlers and Explorers will start at 3:00pm and Preschool at 3:15pm.  Please turn donations in to the front office.  Thank you!!

MCDC Families,

It is that time of year again where we come together to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital!  Our Annual Trike-A-Thon will take place this year on Thursday April 4th.  This will be our 19th year to participate in this event!

The first thing you can do to support this event is visit https://stjude.org/trike, find our event and register your child. Even if your child is not actually participating in riding a tricycle that day, you can still raise money!  You can collect donations online or bring them to the center and place in the Trike-A-Thon box located in the front lobby.  Send your link to friends and family and post on social media.  You can even order your prizes online this year!  Our goal this year is $5000!!!  The classroom that raises the most money will get a pizza party!!

This year’s event holds a special place in our hearts, as one of our own sweet children is currently receiving services from St. Jude.  Her story is below.  Let’s really show our support for this family and all the other families who find themselves having to make drastic changes to their everyday lives.

Details for the day of the event:

The event will start at 9:00am and last until 11:00am.  We will need the front parking lot cleared by 8:50am.  Please make arrangements to have your child dropped off and your vehicle moved by 8:50am.  If you are coming to the event to watch your child ride, please park next door at the medical center.  The front parking will be unavailable from 8:50am-11:00am.  Please keep this in mind if you will be arriving late that day or have an appointment.

Preschool: You may bring a tricycle, scooter, bicycle for your child to ride.  Just not any motorized vehicles. J  We will have designated areas in the front for you to park your child’s bike.  Please be sure to label their bike and provide a helmet for them to wear.  Preschool C will be riding from 9:00am-9:30am, Preschool B from 9:45am-10:15am, and Preschool A from 10:30am-11:00am.  We would love for you to come cheer them on!

Toddlers & Explorers:

You may bring in a riding toy for your child to play with on the playground the day of the event.  You may drop off their riding toy on their playground that morning so it is available for them to ride when their class goes outside.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Sarah’s Story

My daughter’s name is Sarah Catherine Joye and she has Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) Cancer.  Sarah’s cancer has formed lesions in her skull and facial bones. If left untreated, it would progress to other organ systems.  Sarah was diagnosed at 2 months and care for her condition began immediately by St Jude’s Hospital here in Huntsville Alabama.  Sarah’s LCH was originally thought to be limited to her skin but at approximately 18 mouths of age, lesions formed in her skull.  PET, CT and MRI scans were performed at St Jude’s in Memphis, TN indicating progression of the LCH in several bones. Sarah had surgery /biopsy of the lesion in her skull which required a titanium plate to replace the structure from the bone loss. She also had a second surgery to place a port in her chest allowing intravenous access for her to begin chemotherapy.  Sarah will receive Chemo each week at St Jude’s in Huntsville and return to Memphis every 12 weeks for PET scans and further evaluation.  Sarah also has Cystic Fibrosis (CF) so her blood counts are followed closely to prevent pulmonary infections.  St Jude’s provides advanced comprehensive care for their patients and provides housing and support for the family’s, regardless of a family’s insurance status or their ability to pay for treatment, giving every child hope for a future.