Young Explorers Traditions


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Young Explorers 20th Anniversary
2002 - 2022

Starting


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My niece Bernadette was 5, and our son Anthony was 4 when the front sign went up, a gift from my parents.
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Our first location in a crooked white house was historical, meaning that 14 people needed to have a meeting if we wanted to change the shutter color.
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I loved telling people that I was calling from our world headquarters, aka the spare bedroom.
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We used every square inch of the house - Ms Sara did tutoring and Ms Donna did laundry - as well as cooked - in the kitchen.

Construction


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We started the process to add on to the building after only 2 years running, which was a good thing because we fought the city for a year before the addition was approved.
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Will had the breakout idea to open a second location. Michael, now a college freshman, loved visiting the site in Streetsboro.
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Twinsburg filled so quickly that we added on to this building within a year.
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We only looked at Avon because we didn’t think Twinsburg was ever going to get approved! Then both opened within 7 months of each other!
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North Ridgeville was delayed because of the shutdown, but it has 20 years of design in it, a wonderful reward for waiting.
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We quickly realized that we loved the built-in book cases and window seats and they are now in every building.

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We love to host all our staffers in a ballroom, with awards, tons of raffles, school photos with their hype songs, and two desserts each – one boxed to take home!
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A beloved tradition, July 4th parades include our school bus and an armada of families, wagons, and bikes.
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Christmas concerts fill the local high school auditorium with enthusiastic parents and grandparents! We’ve been told by some grandmas that it’s the height of their holidays.
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We make graduation a big production, with Pomp & Circumstance, gowns, and diplomas!
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We are always trying to outdo ourselves with each holiday. We found the secret to not scaring the kids is to put our costumes on in front of them, so they see the transformation.
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Ms Illya, one of our 10+ year teachers, inspires other teachers to practice the Montessori method.
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Pictures with teachers and classmates become cherished keepsakes, and show us how much we age!
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Volunteering at the Avon Easter egg hunt lets us wear bunny ears without questions!
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Dinner and games are a must at our staff meetings – here we get familiar with the new building by having a race for items using the kids’ shopping carts!
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Mrs. K, one of our +10 year teachers, brings the grandma love!
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One of our staff-created extravaganzas is the hall decorating contest. The kids love it!