November ~Hello everyone!
The following is a brief summary of what was discussed at our November PTA Meeting in case you missed it:
PTA Officers reviewed the last month's activities for the membership including:
** an update on our Believe Kids Fundraising efforts that have yielded just over $20,000. There is still time to participate online if you missed the catalog sales dates. Thank you to all who did participate and thank you to our Treasurer Rachel Forish and Secretary Heather Corbridge for their hard work on making it happen!
**Upcoming PTA sponsored Movie Night. Vice President Tausha Petrie has been working hard getting donations and organizing the entire event to show the movie "Brave" at Swanson Elementary tonight November 16 at 6 p.m. It's our first movie night in a long time and we using the money raised to send teachers from Swanson and Sherrod to the High Trust Workshop in early 2013. It is a workshop all about positive classroom management and how to interact with students, parents and staff in a wonderful and positive way. Thank you
Tausha!
Buy your yearbooks early online for a discount! A limited amount will be available to buy at the schools at the end of the year so if you want to make sure you get one, order it early! It's cheaper and your guaranteed to get one! Go to www. jostensyearbooks.com
We heard from both principals about what has been going on in their schools.
Mary Kate Mayer, Principal at Swanson talked about making sure everyone checks out their newsletter, they have just over 450 students enrolled currrently and that they have participated in teacher-led instructional tours in which teachers from Swanson go over to Sherrod and watch them teach and then vice versa. This has led to increased understanding and better teaching practices at both schools and helped facilitate a smoother transition between 2nd and 3rd grade. Ms. Mayer announced that Mrs. Diane (Vanhoomissen), will be retiring from her desk at Swanson in January. Her warm and welcoming personality was felt by thousands of families and children over the years and she will be missed. PTA wishes her all the best in the next chapter of her life!
Dan Michael, Principal at Sherrod talked about their School Survey that he would like all parents to take online. Please go to the school website and let your voice be heard! It is very important to get as much parent input as possible so that the school can adapt and make changes based on parent requests and input! Mr. Michael also talked about their new math enrichment program that they are funding for kids called ALIX. Talk to your child's math teacher for more information. There are just over 450 students at Sherrod currently and he indicated that the students' fall MAP scores were excellent across the board, but especially in the students' reading scores. Great job students and teachers!
E-SCRIPPS!!!!! Please go to the Carrs/Safeway website and register your card number for e-scripps! That is the only way Safeway donates to schools anymore. Practically everyone has a Carrs Card-all you need to do is register it and everytime you shop there, our schools get money!
A member commented on a new Pre-school program offered by the school district called "Widening the Net." The member wanted to increase awareness about the program as she was delighted by the content for her child and thought it was a very worthy program to support. You can get more information about it on the Mat-Su School District website.
Also discussed was the next big family night to come after tonight's movie night. PTA is hosting the 2nd annual Art Night in January. The tentative date is January 24 and Kris Adamscak is coordinating again this year. It was such a great success last year, we need your help to come and get involved to make this year even better! The following is an announcement about the event:
Dear Teachers, Staff, and Parents: November 16, 2012
PTA is sponsoring the Family Art Night on Thursday, January 24, 2013, from about 5:30 –8 pm. There will be an opportunity for families to pre-register for classes and pre-order dinner. The purpose is to offer a low cost family-school event to introduce aspects of art, art styles, famous artists, and various art materials; as well as, allow students to explore or create original, unique artwork. No crafts!
We are inviting you to volunteer to help with Swanson-Sherrod PTA Family Art Night. We need parents, teachers, high school/college students, or staff for the following opportunities:
1. Creative teachers--teach a hands-on class that explores an aspect of art (2 classes, 45 minutes/each), art supplies will be supplied by PTA
2. Interactive, outgoing people--facilitate and monitor art exploring stations (30 – 45 minutes shifts)
3. Help with logistics (before or during the event)—Registration, Food, Publicity, Supplies, Set-Up, and Clean-Up
We will take volunteers for part or all of the time. Please specify your preference for time and type of volunteering. If you are interested in teaching an art class, briefly describe the topic. If you would like to volunteer or have questions, please contact, Kris Adamczak, PTA Art Night Coordinator, at krisakschool@gmail.comor 746-6747. We welcome constructive suggestions.
Thanks for considering this exciting opportunity.
September ~
Welcome back to a new school year, everyone! PTA would like to extend a warm welcome to all parents of Swanson and Sherrod students. We have a lot planned for this year to keep our schools great for our kids and welcome new and former members alike!
It was great to see everyone last Wednesday on Cookie Day for our welcome back to school celebration. Our next big event will be the Family Fun Walk and Run. It was so successful last year (350 people in attendance), we just have to make it an annual event! We're crossing out fingers for a beautiful weather day! It will be held again on Sherrod's playground on September 14 from 5:30-7:30. Please remember that all students and families from both schools are invited to participate in this wonderful family event!
Please join us for our first PTA meeting of the year on Tuesday, August 28 at Sherrod Library from 7-8:30 p.m. We will be hearing from Swanson Principal Mary Kate Mayer and Sherrod Principal Dan Michael about the new school year and what they have in store for our students! We are also going to use this meeting as a planning session for the Family Fun Walk and Run. If you would like to help volunteer with this event, please come! It should be a very productive and informative night!
PTA is committed to getting as many parents to volunteer in our schools as possible and have placed this at the top of our priority list this year. To this end, we are offering to pay the membership dues for the first 100 people that sign up for PTA. We truly believe that parent involvement is the key to making our schools better and to helping families feel more connected to their child's school. Please be looking for a flyer to come home with your student this week describing PTA, its goals, and why we believe it's critical to keep a vital volunteer program going in our schools. Attached will be a short membership application and interest form. Once the flyers are sent out to your student, please fill them out and return them to the office as soon as you can. The first 100 we receive will get free PTA membership this year. We will have extra membership applications available at the front offices of both Swanson and Sherrod for everyone who is interested in being a part of our schools' PTA.
Communication is another goal of the PTA this year. We will work hard trying to inform all parents of upcoming events and volunteer opportunities as they come up. We will be using e-mail, newsletters, facebook and flyers home to students to get as much information out as possible.
If there are any questions, ideas, comments, concerns or anything else you want to talk about, feel free to contact me anytime at this e-mail address. We're looking forward to a great year for our kids and our schools!
**If you would like your name to be taken off this e-mail list, just let me know and I will certainly remove you from our contacts. Thank you.
Jenny VanderWele
PTA President 2012/2013
