Spring 2012 Newsletter

Setting Down Deep Roots
Summa Building Yes, it’s true! We are thrilled to announce that after three years of searching for the perfect place, the Summa vision has indeed taken root. We invite you to share in our excitement and become an integral part of our process as we design, plan, remodel and decorate over the next several months. Thanks to our dedicated realtor, Sara Daley, a partnership with Lindquist Development Inc. and his realtors, and our architect Laurie Simpson, we have landed!

Located at 2510 SW 1st Ave., the Summa Campus sits right on the edge of downtown. It is a beautiful brown brick building originating from the mid 1960s, with floor-to-ceiling windows on both floors, a view of Mt. Hood, and easy access from all parts of Portland. Inside, the building is empty and will be built to suit Summa’s needs. Based on over 25 years of research and experience we know that education is for the optimal development of the whole person and that this serves humanity as a whole. This principle is what the Summa Institute will brin g forward within the child’s network of relationships. And we look forward to creating a rich learning environment which reflects this.

Over the next several months we will be working in partnership with Lindquist and Laurie Simpson to totally transform the 12,600SF space to be a living breathing entity where the teaching, practice and application of Natural Learning Relationships will unfold. Here children, teachers, parents and other professionals will engage and make use of our renovations and spaces:

Two classrooms for children ages 5-7
Four subject based learning labs for children ages 8-14
An art and science lab
Library and multi-media room
Administrative offices
Professional development center
Flex space for community events and whole family experiential learning
2,000 SF creative space for project-based learning
New systems (HVAC), roof, seismic upgrades, and security system
Reception area
Outdoor play area

We will be posting updates, photos and highlights of the progress on our Facebook page, please follow along @ http://facebook.com/summainstitute

Ready, Set, OPEN!
Summa Institute will open its doors in January 2013, once our extensive renovations have been completed. At the start of the New Year, we will start hosting open houses, information nights, talks and lectures. We will also be accepting applications for the K-8 Summa Academy which, as a year round school, will open on August 12th, 2013.

As a parent, your family is first in all your decisions. How you live, learn, work and play is encompassed by what is best for your children. Ensuring your values are reflected in these endeavors is the purpose and joy of your life. Summa Institute is the place where children, families and teachers intertwine, and are collectively engaged in accomplishing the above values, as we grow together.

We are seeking caring, knowledgeable and engaged people to become part of our exclusive Founding Families. You, as a family with a passion for positive living, have an unprecedented opportunity to take an active leadership role in this child-centered, family supportive, educational community where inspiration and wisdom emerge. Only a limited number of families will be part of this unique opportunity. If you are interested in learning more about this once in a lifetime opportunity, contact Amber, and she will set up a time to meet with you. She can be reached at 503.287.1785 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

From our Family to Yours

We want to thank you all for your continued support and commitment to seeing Summa actualized. Many of you have been with us for over 20 years; some more recently joined, all have supported, guided, shaped and shared. It has been a long road, rich with learning opportunities for all of us.

This building marks the beginning of seeing that hard work pay off. We extend our heartfelt gratitude on behalf of our family and from all the children, families and professionals in Portland who will benefit from Summa for many years to come!

With love, Amber, Albee, Ba and Josette

p.s. please share this news with family and friends.

Help Summa Get Rollin’

We have created a unique fundraising opportunity for Summa through Global Giving.

Summa Institute has been accepted by Nike’s Global Open Challenge to raise $99,999 in the month of April: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/summa-academy-scholarship-fund/

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

BONUS – On April 4th GlobalGiving will be matching one donation per unique donor - the maximum donation size that will be matched is $1,000 per unique donor

This is an easy way to help Summa reach our fundraising goals.

Thank you for participating in our vision!
Josette and Amber

Summa’s New Home

We are pleased to announce that Summa Institute has a new home!
We have found a development partner and we are building out a brand new space for Summa at 2510 SW 1st Ave. We are so pleased with this development and we invite you all to drive by and see the building. With its proximity to downtown, accessibility from all quadrants of Portland and beautiful floor to ceiling windows, we are sure it will thrill you as much as it does us!

Rites of Passage Conference

Family Preparations for a Rites of Passage Experience presented by Red Moon and Boys Alive!
Amber Kara will present this online conference on February 10th, at 10am PST
Executive Director of the Summa Institute, Amber Kara will discuss the six steps, derived from ancient traditions, that are necessary to bring forth the meaningful questions, mystery, and personal searching that are components of a meaningful transformation.
The conference is over, but Amber’s lecture can be heard here: https://www.freeconferencing.com/playback.html?cid=conferences/729-17-65-67-17-65-675319-17-65-67-17-65-6754684371243393.mp3&e=1337497200000&cn=94-43-28-63

PCPO Conference

On March 3rd, Josette will give two workshops at the Parent Child Preschools Organization Conference
You can read more and register here.
One workshop is for parents, and one is for teachers, or other professionals working with young children:

Adult and Child Develop Together Teacher focus
Josette Luvmour, PhD is a developmentalist, consultant, and educator who specializes in child development and sustainable family relationships. Promoting well-being in students is about relationship. Everyone accepts that the educator influences the student, but few realize how much the student changes the educator. The hidden benefits for the teacher occur when he or she supports the child’s developmental needs. Relationships that promote learning in the student also promote adult development in the teacher.

Healthy Boundaries with Children: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Boundaries in
Families Parent-focused
Josette Luvmour, PhD is a developmentalist, consultant and educator who specializes in child development and
sustainable family relationships. The creation of loving and appropriate boundaries can enrich relationships. After a brief overview
of child development principles, we identify the differences between natural vs. dysfunctional behaviors. Also how an adult’s preconceptions of their child’s performance influences the child’s behavior. Adults explore options that maintain attachment while allowing the child to be self-reliant and centered.

The Critical Importance of Self-Care for Counselors and Teachers

Ba will teach this course at PSU as part of the School Counseling Series on Friday, Feb 17th 8:30am-4pm, and Saturday, Feb 18th 8:30am-12:30pm.
Dive into many surprising aspects of self care you may not have considered. Discover remedies to factors contributing to burnout that can be implemented in any work environment. Explore how the right relationships with students and colleagues can be revitalizing, and the benefits of bringing a personal sense of meaning to the workplace. Learn the meaning of self-reflection, how to do it, and why it is critical for self-care. Brain research and insights from child and adult development enrich understanding.
PSU Graduate School of Education course number 45306 Graduate, Coun 507 See PSU website for more information and enrollment information including credits offered and fees.

Josette’s Encounter Article is Here!

Education for Meaning and Social Justice by Josette Luvmour PhD

Abstract
Awareness of the consciousness of the developing child is the focus of a new educational vision. In celebrating 60 years of holistic education expressions, this article calls for conscious learning communities that place the consciousness of the whole-child as a primary focus. While considering ideas from consciousness studies, child development, holistic education, and adult development, the author argues that nurturing the child’s consciousness contributes to the adult’s development as educator. The design of an emerging new learning community is reviewed as an example of a network of relationships that focus on the emergence of consciousness in children and their educators and parents with implications for society as a whole.

Go to Books and Articles to download and read the article.

The Spiritual Nature of Children

Child with feather in sand The Spiritual Nature of Children
How do I recognize the spiritual capacity of my children as they grow and how do I support its optimal devleopment?
Join Ba Luvmour, renowned expert on the spiritual development of children for this one day workshop for parents and professionals. We will discuss Natural Learning Relationships, an understanding of child consciousness utilized for spiritual growth by parents, child-oriented professionals and spiritual leaders for more than twenty years. The day will offer practical insights tips and a Q&A session.

Space is limited to a smaller group so we can share our experiences and questions with one another.

When: December 15th, 6-7:30pm
Location: The Warehouse, 3434 SE Milwaukie Ave, in the community room.
Cost: $10 reserves your space, pay what you can at the event.
Registration Recommended: Call 503-287-1785 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to register.

“You have created the strongest family well-being process I have yet encountered. It’s amazing how all ages are included.” -Joseph Chilton Pearce, The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit

Rites of Passage with Children

Sunset with mother and child Rites of Passage - back by popular demand How do we bring Ritual Rites of Passage into our lives with our children?
You asked us to do it again, so we are! Join Amber Kara, Executive Director of Summa Institute, for an evening discussion on Rites of Passage. Birthdays, graduations, weddings, these have replaced ritual in our modern culture, but they leave us all wanting something more meaningful. We will explore the six components of a Ritual Rite of Passage and how to bring this profound experience into your life. After this evening class you will have the tools to bring Rites of Passage into your life with your child.

Space is limited to a smaller group so we can share our experiences and questions with one another.

When: December 10th, from 10am-12pm
Location: The Warehouse, 3434 SE Milwaukie Ave, in the community room.
Cost: $10 reserves your space, this one will fill.
Registration Recommended: Call 503-287-1785 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to register.

Here is what one dad had to say after attending a week long Rite of Passage Program with his family at Summa: “One of the most transformational experiences of my life.” -G. Mason

Talk: Finding Meaning in Parenting

Family Hug Finding Meaning in Parenting
Join Albee Kara for a look into the meaning available to us as we explore the joy of parenting. Wisdom is emergent and as we open ourselves to this wisdom we all flourish. Come and explore the potential in rekindling the joy in parenting.

Space is limited to a smaller group so we can share our experiences and questions with one another.

When: December 1st, from 6-7:30pm
Location: The Warehouse, 3434 SE Milwaukie Ave, in the community room.
Cost: $10 reserves your space, pay what you can at the event.
Registration Recommended: Call 503-287-1785 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to register.

“It was inspiring to be witness to pioneers in such amazing work and refreshing to think about childhood and various stages in life in a different way.” -R.S., Portland mom

Parenting Workshop: Connected Family Communication

Summa Institute is pleased to offer this workshop for parents to explore their family’s communication potential through the foundations of Natural Learning Relationships (NLR). Josette Luvmour, PhD, will facilitate this opportunity to gain fresh insights and useful tools that can be used to refresh your communication with your children.

As we head into the holiday season, we are all thinking about family and connection. Communication is the key, come learn how to make yours more effective and satisfying. Natural Learning Relationships^TM, or NLR, is a comprehensive, thoroughly-researched understanding of child development that provides practical, transformative applications which promote greater depth and connection in all relationships with children.

Who is this workshop for?

Any parent needing practical tools to inspire transformation within their family.

Anyone who works with children and wants to know how to foster wisdom through relationships.

Parents who care deeply and want to see through their child’s eyes and feel through their hearts.

Space is limited to a smaller group so we can share our experiences and questions with one another.

When: November 17th 6-7:30pm
Location: The Warehouse, 3434 SE Milwaukie Ave, in the community room.
Cost: $10 reserves your space, pay what you can at the event.
Reservations: Call 503-287-1785 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to register.

“Natural Learning Relationships has helped us truly understand what our children are going through, how they think, and how they feel” Scott, Portland dad

Ba Luvmour’s PSU Course #2

Meaningful Relationships with Teens: Power, Bullying, and Social Justice
DATES: F 5:30pm-9:30pm Aug 26, Sa 8:30am-4pm Aug 27 +TBA
Course description
Why are some teens socially just while others bully? Why do some teens turn their power toward goals that improve their own lives and the lives of others, while others seem to act in self destructive ways? How can we identify when a teen is using his or her power in a positive way? How can we reach teens who use their power to hurt?

Our answers lie in understanding how teens organize their lives. Using the latest research in human development, neurobiology, and interpersonal dynamics, explore strategies for supporting meaningful relationships that support social justice and personal achievement. With an eye to bullying, see how power goes awry and what can be done about it. All work is evidence-based.

Sponsored by Portland State University. For credit registration go to banweb.pdx.edu. If first time PSU student, call 503-725-4832. For noncredit registration go to http://www.ceed.pdx.edu/pware.php.
LOCATION: PSU 414 Graduate School of Education, 615 SW Harrison, Portland, OR
COURSE FEE: $426 Grad, $200 Noncredit
GRADE METHOD: P/NP Optional
CERTIFICATION: 10 hours
Footnotes: This course builds on the foundation of the positive development course offered 8/19 and 8/20. It is recommended that that course be taken first; however, it is not a prerequisite.

Summa will be at the AERO Conference

The 8th Annual AERO Conference is here in Portland this summer - Transforming Education & Our World. Come hear Ba speak on Social Justice and Children on Saturday Aug 6th at 3:30pm. Stop by Summa’s booth for news and upcoming events. http://www.educationrevolution.org/conference.html