Just launched: Save the Dome School campaign! (26 May 2015)

Yes, we are at a cross-roads. The Dome School is losing families due to too many distractions and noise carryover in our cavernous hall. The time is now for a building addition, which will simultaneously give our children safe permanent classrooms, and give our local community the chance to reclaim regular use of the Takilma Community Building. Unfortunately, we need to raise 50% of construction costs to break ground in late summer. We have over $63,000 on hand or pledged, but we have much more we need to raise in a very short period of time.

If you have a few minutes, please watch the video below. It was put together by the building expansion committee’s Dallion McGregor and tells the story of our current situation and needs. Much more information can be found at our campaign site on IndieGoGo.com. Please share the IndieGoGo page:

Save the Dome School on IndieGoGo

You can also direct people to domeschool.org/help which might have an easier to remember URL.

The support of our community, alumni, and family and friends is crucial at this time.  Thank you for sharing this, and helping us make a better future for the kids of the Illinois Valley.

Annual Meeting – November 13 (2014)

A quick reminder that the annual gathering/meeting for the Dome School is Thursday night, November 13. This is a time for the entire Dome School family- students, parents, staff, community members- to come together. We’ll have dinner at 5pm, followed by the meeting at 6pm. This is the time to learn about what’s been happening at the school, as well as to select new members for the school board. Please join us!

Day of the Dead Celebration – Saturday, November 1! (2014)

The annual DAY OF THE DEAD celebration returns to Takilma!
Save the date:
*****SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1*****

 

6-10pm (or when sold out): Food will be tasty Mexican food with meat, veggie and vegan options. Drinks + desserts, too.
7-8pm: Dome kids performance followed by a group Spiral Dance to help part the veils between the worlds.
8pm-Midnight: Live Music

This year’s incredible music line-up features the following:

* BROTHER [Celtic Tribal Mongrel music -yes, rocking out with bagpipes and didgeridoo]

* 100 WATT MIND [Ashland’s own jammin’ rock band with a lead singer compared by many to Janis Joplin]

* PATRIMONY [Blues Rock from Portland, inspired by everything from Beethoven to Led Zeppelin]

 

 

Costumes welcome!

All ages / No alcohol please.

You can bring ancestor photos + marigolds + dog statues + plate of food to feed the ancestors.

 

If you’re on Facebook, join the event.

This party is one of the year’s largest benefits for the Dome School kids. Unpack the cauldron, dust off the caul, welcome back the ancestors to another depth of Fall.

“The Dome School: The First 40 Years” (Please contribute!)

The Dome School began in the early-to-mid 1970’s as a homeschooling collective before being incorporated in 1976.  In honor of these 40+ years, we are now collecting stories and photos for a book honoring this rich history.

The Dome School: The First 40 Years (tentative title) will chronicle everything from the earliest days and decisions and the building of both the Dome and the current structure (the Takilma Community Building), to what school was like for the hundreds of students who passed through here.

No typical history textbook, our hope is to include the interesting anecdotes as well as minor details of everyday school life, and to have the book chock-full of photos. (And assuming we can find them, it would be amazing if we could include class photos for each and every year.)

Most importantly, it will tell your stories–the stories of past and present students, parents, teachers, staff, and community members who helped build (and who continue to support) this amazing place that has lasted for four decades.

One of our current parents, who has experience in book layout and design, is heading up the creation of the book. He’s very much looking forward to receiving your photos and stories. For those in the area, there is a place in the office marked “DOME SCHOOL HISTORY BOOK.”  You can also email Ryan at ryanforsythe @ yahoo.com.

Of course, you can mail them in too (PO Box 812, Cave Junction 97523), though hopefully it won’t be your only copy in case items get lost in the mail. If you mail items in, please let us know if you would like us to return them.

Feel free to email Ryan if you have any questions or if you’d like to help out with this project.

Ultimately, the book will be available for sale for anyone interested. We also plan on a Kickstarter.com-style fundraising campaign. More information on this effort will be announced soon.

MLK Celebration at the Dome School

We’re hoping for a full house at the Takilma Community Building for this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and performance. It happens this Saturday, January 18, with dinner at 6pm, followed by performances by our students who have been studying/learning in school the past few weeks about the Civil Rights era. Live music will follow beginning at 8pm. Please check the flyer below for a listing of performers.

Also, we are having a raffle of this beautiful blue jean quilt. Tickets are only $1 each (or 6 for $5).

We’ll hope to see you there. And by the way, if you can’t make dinner, please try to be there by 7:30 to support the performance by our Dome School students.

Singer/songwriter Matt Pless to visit school

If you’ve liked us on Facebook, you may have seen the video one parent put together of the school trip to the “We Love Our Trees” rally in Cave Junction (prior to congressional rep. Peter DeFazio’s town hall meeting).

If you haven’t seen it, you can view it here:

The background music is “Something’s Gotta Give” by singer/songwriter Matt Pless, from Occupy This Album, a benefit album in support of Occupy Wall Street. In a bit of exciting news for our students, Matt will be visiting the school tomorrow morning, October 25, at around 10:30am. He’ll play a few songs and talk a little about his songwriting and activism.

All Dome School family and friends are invited to attend.