Spring greetings from the Parents’ Club of Stanford University!
Like your students, the Parents’ Club had a very busy Winter Quarter. Here’s a quick update on what we’ve been doing, plus a list of our upcoming events. If you’d like to join the Parents’ Club (it’s free) and receive our emails, which include reminders of your student’s birthday and other special occasions, you can download a membership form at the Stanford Parents’ Club website.
February and March club meetings: At our February meeting, we met our two 2012-13 scholarship recipients: a junior majoring in Human Biology and a senior majoring in History. Both students impressed us with their vivacity and poise. Our History student even juggled bowling pins for us! Meeting our scholarship students is always inspirational, and makes us realize what a big impact our efforts have on these kids. Also at our February meeting, the executive director of the Bing Overseas Studies program spoke about the many opportunities our students have for study abroad. At our March meeting we “sold out” our tour, as more than 80 people joined us for an insider’s look at the new Bing Concert Hall.
On campus deliveries: Valentine’s Day brought 15 volunteer moms to campus to deliver heart-shaped sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies and brownies to beloved sons and daughters. Many of us were lucky enough to hand the treats over directly to the recipients, but some kids saw bright red bags containing their Valentines decorating their doors. In mid-March, Parents’ Club volunteers made more than 60 deliveries of brownies, cookies, flowers and balloons for finals week to a grateful—if disheveled—student body, cheering them up as they toiled away at their studies. In addition, we delivered birthday cakes and balloons all Winter Quarter. A word to parents out there: Your students love receiving these unexpected goodies and are always pleasantly surprised when they hear “Parent’s Club delivery!” at their doors. Remember, all the proceeds go to our scholarship fund, and you can order at the Parents’ Club website. If you live locally, we can always use deliverers, even once a month. Contact Nancy Franich mightyLF@aol.com if you’re interested. We’ll train you for this fun way of interacting with the kids on campus, while helping our scholarship fund at the same time.
Parents’ Weekend 2013: Nearly 140 Parents’ Club members volunteered during Parents’ Weekend, helping with check-in, campus tours, ushering, conversations with parents and classes. Members also served at our Parents’ Club sales booth (selling a record amount of our Stanford merchandise) and spoke with parents from all over the globe at our Chat Corner about our favorite subject—Stanford students! Many visiting out-of-town members helped with events at this all-important weekend, which ended with another amazing Entertainment Extravaganza! Extravaganza showcased the many talents of our kids as they danced, sang, played and performed for an audience of more than 1,500 people in Memorial Auditorium. During the weekend we added 
almost 100 new members to our roster, who proudly wore their “Join the Club” buttons. Parents’ Club now has almost 1,000 members.
Upcoming Events
Admit Weekend: At Admit Weekend, April 23-25, we help Stanford welcome prospective students and their parents during the “the happiest weekend of the year.” If you’d like to volunteer that weekend, contact us at parentsclub.stanford@gmail.com. We promise a great time!
May 14 Club Meeting: Private tour of the Cantor Art Center
May 19 Spring Social: Our annual Spring Social will be from 5:30 p.m.–8 p.m. in Portola Valley. Join fellow Stanford parents for a lovely spring evening filled with conversation, music, delicious small bites and wine. Contact Carol Peske to make your reservation at peskes@comcast.net.
Sincerely,
Marcia Hanson, president of the Stanford Parents’ Club
