Education & Libraries
Senior Tea
The Senior Tea is an annual event that has been held for over 75 years to celebrate Charlotte High School's graduating seniors! The event generally features a speaker, a performance by the choir, presentation of a $1000 merit scholarship, and drawing of two $500 scholarships. Afterwards, there is a reception with tea and cookies. This year's event will be held on May 7, 2026.
Tea & Tomes
Tea & Tomes has a chair and about 25 members. It meets monthly through the school year, usually on the 4th Tuesday at the Charlotte Community Library. A book list is provided, and we read one per month and discuss it. Light refreshments and tea are served. Members sign up for a turn to host. Volunteers to lead the discussion are welcome & encouraged!
Upcoming Tea & Tomes Events:
The next meeting is on January 27, 2026. Join other members to discuss the January book: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The Book Thief is a story narrated by death, following young Liesel Meninger in Nazi Germany as she finds solace in stolen books, learns to read with her foster father Hans Hubermann, befriends Rudy Steiner, and bonds with Max Vandenberg, a Jewish man hidden in their basement.. Amidst the horrors of WWII, Liesel's love for words grows, but tragedy strikes when her town is bombed, killing her foster parents and Rudy, leaving her alone to survive and write her own story before eventually moving to Australia and living a long life.
On February 24, 2026 the group will be discussing Ray Bradbury's book, Dandelion Wine. Dandelion Wine is a nostalgic, episodic novel about a magical summer in 1928, seen through the eyes of 12-year-old Douglas Spaulding in fictional Green Town, Illinois, as he awakens to life, love, and mortality while bottling summer's essence in dandelion wine with his family, encountering wondrous discoveries and poignant moments that mark his coming-of-age. The book captures the simple joys, fears, and profound experiences of childhood through interconnected vignettes, exploring themes of memory, the beauty of everyday life, and the bittersweet nature of growing up.
March 24, 2026. Horse by Geraldine Brooks.
Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack. New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.
Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse—one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success. Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, Horse is a novel of at and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.
April 28, 2026. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club. When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?
May 19, 2026. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson.
In Sweden there is a kind of decluttering called döstädning, dö meaning “death” and städning meaning “cleaning.” This surprising and invigorating process of clearing out unnecessary belongings can be undertaken at any age or life stage but should be done sooner than later, before others have to do it for you. In The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, artist Margareta Magnusson, with Scandinavian humor and wisdom, instructs readers to embrace minimalism. Her radical and joyous method for putting things in order helps families broach sensitive conversations, and makes the process uplifting rather than overwhelming.
Margareta suggests which possessions you can easily get rid of (unworn clothes, unwanted presents, more plates than you’d ever use) and which you might want to keep (photographs, love letters, a few of your children’s art projects). Digging into her late husband’s tool shed, and her own secret drawer of vices, Margareta introduces an element of fun to a potentially daunting task. Along the way readers get a glimpse into her life in Sweden, and also become more comfortable with the idea of letting go.
Epsilon Sigma Omicron
This is a voluntary reporting of books one has read/year. A chair collects the information and sends it in to GFWC MI and certificates are awarded at various milestones. There are no restrictions as to what books are read.
Click here for the ESO Pledge Form
Click here for Certificate Levels and Reading Record for ESO
Read to Me
Members volunteer to support young readers in kindergarten through third grade at Parkview and Galewood elementary schools. Volunteers are assigned to one or two students to read with once a week for 30-60 minutes.
Listen to Me Read
There is a chair, and she recruits volunteers who support young readers in kindergarten through third grade at Parkview and Galewood schools. Volunteers are assigned to one or two students to read with once a week for 30-60 minutes. There is some flexibility in meeting volunteers’ scheduling needs.
Reading Is FUNdamental (RIF)
Reading is Fundamental (RIF)is a National Program often supported by local groups such as GFWC. Being on this committee is not a huge time commitment, but a rewarding one. Our club, along with a small grant, provides the funds to purchase books for every second grader in Charlotte. We meet twice a year, fall and spring, as a committee to select books. Working with a partner, each team arranges a visit with a Second Grade Teacher to visit the classroom. Time Commitment: Fall and Spring: a couple of hours to meet and select books. Classroom visits are usually 20-30 minutes. You might be responsible for one or two classrooms, depending on how many committee members there are.
MYLead
Michigan Youth Leadership has been an endorsed project of GFWC MI since October, 2005. GFWC-Charlotte sponsors two sophomores each year to attend this leadership training program. MYLead motivates and enables the youth of Michigan to continuously make a positive impact on their communities through leadership and service. MYLead carries out this mission by hosting an annual leadership conference for high school sophomores. Students from many Michigan schools are brought together for energetic interaction with leaders of today and positive peers. Events include panel discussions with leaders from business and government, community service, team building activities, motivational speakers, leadership exercises, and impromptu speaking exercises in small groups. Students who have attended report that this event has been an amazing experience that has prepared them to be leaders. As well as sponsoring two students, GFWC–Charlotte helps with registration at MSU for high school students attending a leadership training seminar. Volunteers are always welcomed.
