Hello World!

Why don't we start with introductions and a little background on how we came to start UpCycle?  Susan & Kelley, co-directors of UpCycle, became colleagues in 2008 at Beverley Hills Church Preschool in Alexandria, VA where Susan was the Studio Teacher and Kelley was the Director.  In the summer of 2010, we traveled to Reggio Emilia, Italy to participate in a study group focusing on the educational approach of the preschools there.  Part of the program included a visit to ReMida, a municipal creative recycling center.  The center collects, exhibits, and offers alternative and reclaimed materials, obtained from unsold stock and rejects or discard materials from industrial and handicraft production, with the aim to reinvent their use and meaning.  It is a resource for teachers, parents and artists.  At our preschool, Susan was already stock piling discarded materials for use in the classrooms and studio, but ReMida was operating on a much larger level.  Wouldn't it be amazing if we had something like this in Alexandria?  What if.....?