Tartan Scenes: Winter 2022
Forever Plaid: We’re Still Cookin’
The St. Margaret’s community gathered together to celebrate and support the school and its students at Forever Plaid: We’re Still Cookin’, an exciting virtual program viewed by nearly 300 Tartans.
The one-hour event was the culmination of several programs that brought the school community together, including the One Epic Auction and the Tartan Chili Cook-Off. The events netted more than $200,000, with proceeds from the events benefitting the PTF Grant Enrichment program, which provides educational and student grants that will enrich the learning environment of the entire student body.
PTF Welcome Back Coffee
More than 200 members of the St. Margaret’s community gathered on the outside patio of San Juan Hills Golf Club, as the annual Parent Teacher Fellowship Welcome Back Coffee event brought parents together to reconnect and learn more about volunteer opportunities within the PTF.
The traditional start-of-the-school-year gathering returned after a one-year hiatus, and it was the first in-person PTF event in more than 18 months. The eagerness for reconnection had parents enjoying a hot cup of coffee with old friends, meeting new friends and signing up to serve the school in one of many volunteer opportunities.
PTF Parent Up Speaker Series
The 2021-2022 PTF Parent Up Speaker Series kicked off in October with Dr. Lisa Damour, a clinical psychologist and author of two bestselling books on mental health in children. Dr. Damour gave an insightful virtual presentation to the parent community which reexamined the definition of mental health, illustrated how the pandemic has redefined mental health, showed how children express their mental health struggles, and gave tips on when and how parents can help.
In addition, there was a separate discussion specifically for Upper School students led by two Peer Counselors—junior Kaitlin Tam and senior Trey Kingsley—who asked student-specific questions on topics from teenagers living through the pandemic to comforting peers with mental-health struggles. Dr. Damour also led a presentation for St. Margaret’s professional community, sharing her observations of the mental health challenges educators have faced through the pandemic as seen through the experience of her spouse who is a classroom teacher.
The Ecology Center Workshops
In connection with the Parent Up Speaker Series, the Parent Teacher Fellowship started a series of workshops with St. Margaret’s parents at The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano, an extension of the Speaker Series’ focus on health and well-being.
An October workshop brought parents together in creating hand-tied flower arrangements, while parents got back together in December to assemble holiday wreaths.
