O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 107:1 - NRSV

Dear Preschool Families,

Usually, during this time of year, I am busy planning one of Unity Preschool's biggest events - the Thanksgiving Feast. Unity Preschool's annual Thanksgiving Feast has been a favorite Unity Preschool tradition since the first year we opened and one of our Staff's most enjoyable events. We invite preschool families and friends to gather in our Fellowship Hall and enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal together with some items prepared by the children. Because of our COVID protocols, we are continuing this beloved tradition this year, but in a mini-version with only the children in their classrooms. We could use your help and those details are included in the Newsletter below.

Between planning for the Preschool Feast and my family's Thanksgiving traditions, this time of year is usually busy and stressful for me. It has been an especially difficult year with the unexpected loss of my dad and a close family friend earlier this year and my daughter's recent hospitalization and Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis. It is amazing, however, how often the BIble tells us to be thankful and records for us God's people giving God praise. The psalmist in the Bible verse above does not say "give thanks, for things are good." He says, "give thanks" because God IS good. The psalmist shows us we should praise God because of God's character and not our circumstances. So this Thanksgiving, I am contemplating my many blessings and focusing on finding gratitude in my daily life. Here is my list for today:

*I am grateful that the stress and anxiety that I usually feel right now because of holiday "busy-ness" will not be invading my heart this year.

*I am grateful that my daughter, Taylor, was within driving distance and I could be with her during her illness and that it was caught in time. She has an answer for why she has not been feeling well.

*I am grateful that I can celebrate my mom's 80th birthday with her at her home in Arkansas later this month.

*I am grateful for all of our veterans and active service members who serve our country so faithfully. Some of you may remember that my brother was in Qatar this time last year (Air Force National Guard) and he is grateful to be celebrating Thanksgiving at home with his family this year.

*I am grateful for my loving Preschool family who has showered me in thoughts and prayers during this challenging year.

*I am grateful that I have felt God's presence carrying me through my times of tribulation this year.

Unity Preschool is especially grateful that you share your delightful children with us and we look forward to enjoying many Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions with them in the coming weeks. From our Unity Preschool family to yours, we wish you a safe and blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

Blessings,

Ms. Linda

Director - Unity Preschool

Our Spirit day for November will be Tuesday, November 23! We will be celebrating with a delicious Thanksgiving Feast in our classrooms and a special visit from Ms. Jane, our Storyteller. Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie Dunn, two of our Preschool VIPs ("Volunteers Impacting Preschool"), will be helping us in the kitchen. If you are interested in providing either an item or a monetary donation to help cover our costs, please use the sign-up genius link below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49AEAB28A02-unity4

Next Spirit Day is December 16: PJ Day - We will ALL (yes, Staff too) wear our pajamas and enjoy some Christmas fun.

COVID-related disruptions in the global supply chain and labor shortages are hitting Scholastic Book Clubs very hard. They are significantly delayed in filling orders which is very unusual for them. They anticipate fulfilling most of our current backlogged orders by November 22. Because they anticipate that new orders coming in may be delayed an additional five or six weeks, we are not going to do a Holiday order because we do not want the books to arrive after Christmas.

We will send home the fall book orders as soon as they arrive. If you had them shipped to your home, they may be delayed until the end of November.

We had an overwhelming response to our Book Fairy campaign, receiving over $850 from preschool families and friends and Unity congregation members! We will be able to purchase several books for your children this year, so watch for them in their backpacks. One will be coming as soon as our Fall order arrives and fingers crossed that our Christmas books will arrive on time.

Ms. Lauren Lochel, our Three's Frog Lead Teacher, is a very proud third-generation native of Fort Mill. She met her husband, Matt, while studying to be a teacher at Winthrop University. While at Winthrop she received her Bachelor's in Early Childhood Education and while teaching, she received her National Board Certification in Early and Middle Level Literacy. Ms. Lauren taught for 9 years in the Fort Mill School District (Kindergarten and 1st grade) before deciding to stay home with her children for a few years. We are proud to share that Ms. Lauren was the Fort Mill School District Teacher of the Year in 2010!

Matt and Lauren have been married for 14 years and have two children, June and Hudson. June is in the 4th grade (and a Unity Preschool graduate) and Hudson is in 2nd grade at Kingstown Elementary. Lauren's family are very active members at Unity Presbyterian Church. In fact, Lauren is Unity's Nursery Coordinator. On the weekends, they love to be outside walking the Greenway or around the neighborhood.

Favorite Music: Ms. Lauren loves any kind of music. She especially loves any kind of music she can sing along to!

Favorite Book: Ms. Lauren loves reading books in her free time. She is a part of her neighborhood book club where she gets to read all different genres. Her favorite children's book is Poppy the Panda!

Favorite Activities: Ms. Lauren loves to go out to eat but also cooks at home with family. She loves walking and visiting the beach whenever she can with family or friends!

Thank you so much for donating food items for the Fort Mill Care Center to provide a Thanksgiving meal for Fort Mill families. Unity donated over 1250 pounds of food to the Care Center. Your donations are greatly appreciated.

We are thrilled to report that we remain COVID-free. We have not had any reported cases of COVID among our children or Staff. We have one child in quarantine at this time because a family member has COVID. We pray that we continue to remain COVID-free. Thank you for your faithfulness in keeping your child home if they are not feeling well.

COVID-19 Update:

Quarantine Students: 1

Positive Test Students: 0

Quarantine Staff:0

Positive Test Staff: 0