Prew Academy

Chronic absenteeism = 2 absences a month. Check out this infographic to see how it hurts students' future success. Students' attitudes toward school and learning begin at home. If YOU believe school is important, your KIDS will believe school is important!

Less than 2 and a half hours left!
Thank you so much to all of you who have already donated, so far we've made $3,875!!!

Support Prew Academy of Sarasota Inc | Giving Challenge I’m ready to support Prew Academy of Sarasota Inc on April 9, 2024 during Giving Challenge. Learn more about Prew Academy of Sarasota Inc and all the other organizations participating in Giving Challenge.

Two more hours until The Giving Challenge! If you are a first time donor, The Patterson Foundation will match you donation up to $100
https://www.givingchallenge.org/organizations/prew-academy-of-sarasota-inc!

Tomorrow (the 9th) is the Giving Challenge! It starts at noon and ends at noon on the 10th.
We know this comes right after our Fun Run, but these are the only 2 fundraisers we do all year long! We just were not expecting them to be quite so close together!
These two fundraisers will help us get some more seating for outside. We are hoping to get at least 2 more picnic tables and a bench or two!
Thank you so much for all of your support!

Support Prew Academy of Sarasota Inc | Giving Challenge I’m ready to support Prew Academy of Sarasota Inc on April 9, 2024 during Giving Challenge. Learn more about Prew Academy of Sarasota Inc and all the other organizations participating in Giving Challenge.

We want to congratulate our students for completing 846 laps (120+ miles) and raising $6,027 from 95 donors at this year's Fun Run Fundraiser!

We also want to congratulate the following students for completing the most laps and collecting the most pledges: Izaak Miller came in 1st with 52 laps and Najee Rush-Springer followed in 2nd with 41 laps. Charles Orrison came in 1st collecting 14 pledges and Luke Olsen came in 2nd with 13 pledges. Great job everyone!

We are so proud of our students and staff members for participating in the event. We also want to give a big thanks to our 95 donors. We are incredibly grateful for your generosity! Thank you again to everyone involved, for making the event a huge success this year!

The other day, my child asked me what was the opposite of genius.

I was washing dishes, so I was glad for the excuse to quit. Plus, I'm pedantic and a former English teacher who happens to know a lot about neuroscience.

I was excited she asked, because this was in my wheelhouse.

Like me, my daughter has auditory processing deficits, so I can't just talk at her and expect her to keep up. I needed a visual.

I grabbed the row of colorful plastic cups from the dish drainer and put them on the kitchen table, then filled a measuring cup with water.

I asked her to tell me something she does with her brain. We have several children's books about brains, and I talk about brains and processing somewhat frequently, so she was ready to answer this.

She said, "Remember." I put down the red cup and said that's the part of the brain for memory.

I asked for another. She said, "Process feelings." I sat the orange cup next to the red and said that was for emotions.

We went through the other cups with movement, math, language, organizing, and art, so there on the table was a plastic cup rainbow.

"Now, this is a cup of brain power," I held up the measuring cup.

"Actually, that's two cups, or sixteen ounces," she informed me.

Pedantry runs in the family.

"Fair enough. So this is a measuring container full of brain power. Everyone has this much brain power. Now, most people's brains work a lot like this," I demonstrated, pouring an approximately even amount of water into each cup.

I told her that there's a lot more than seven jobs a brain performs, but we will just use that seven for the lesson.

"Most people's brains are like this. They're maybe a bit better at organizing than math, and they're a bit better at art than language-- but, they're pretty good at most things."

Then, I poured the seven cups back into the measuring "container."

"Now, tell me what each of these seven cups mean," I said. She went through and labeled them all. "That's right. Most people couldn't have remembered that. So fill your memory cup," I said, passing her the "brain power measuring container."

She filled it about halfway up, which was more than 1/7 of the "brain power."

"What else are you really good at doing?"

"Language," she said. "I'm good at reading and spelling and vocabulary."

"Okay, so now put some brain power in your language cup."

She noted that she struggled with organizing and with movement. She has a motor coordination disability, so she can be very clumsy.

By the time her "brain power" water had been distributed to her liking, she was thinking of other things the brain does and naming my strengths and weaknesses, too, and how my brain power would be distributed.

"So, people get to know about my memory or my language skills and tell me I'm a genius. But, I can't tell my left from right, I trip over my own feet all the time, and I can't even draw a tree that looks like a tree. If people know that I can't read a clock or tell left from right, will they think I'm a genius?"

"Definitely not. I knew how to do that before I was four years old," she said. I did not add a cup for tact and subtlety, but I wanted to.

"Most people see that someone is really good at math or language or memory and call them a genius, but everyone has about the same amount of brain power. It just gets distributed differently. If someone is really good at some things, they usually have a really hard time with other things."

I then explained how many autistic people, like her and me, have very keen hearing, or they might be very good at art, or music, or math, but really struggle in other areas. They may struggle with motor (movement) coordination so much that they can't coordinate their movements to speak.

"They have an unruly body, like Gregory C Tino!" She exclaimed, cheering about the autistic author of several of her favorite books. "I have an unruly body sometimes, too," she noted.

"So, can you show me the opposite of a genius?" I asked.

She said, "Well, if they are really bad at one thing, they will probably be really good at other things! So the opposite of a genius is a genius!"

As if on cue, she knocked over about half the cups in one impulsive movement. "Unruly body!" she yelled.

"You just spilled all that water like a genius!" I yelled.

We had a good laugh at that, and now my seven-year-old is more versed in cognitive neuroscience than many educators. If you made it this far, so are you.

Thank you Dr. Mac for your continued support. You’re the best!

Shout out to Dr. Mac for being a 2023-2024 Prew Academy Business Partner!

Check out our new office tour! 🎥 Give us a call to get scheduled! ☎️ (941) 953-3535 #pediatricdentist #drmac #sarasota #sarasotaflorida #lovewhatyoudo #sarasotadentist

In loving memory of Mr. Anthony Scinto, who brought the joy of music and the wisdom of history to countless students. His great sense of humor brightened our classrooms and hearts, leaving behind a legacy of laughter and learning that will forever echo in our memories.