bear facts newsletter - briarwood elementary ptabriarwoodelementarypta.org/doc/newsletter...
TRANSCRIPT
Online version available—w/full color and links See our website
Bear Facts Newsletter
President’s Message Thank you to all of you who are members of our PTA. We are really close to our membership goal, so I hope you will consider joining if you haven't al-ready. Through your membership and participation, we are able to fund and help fill critical gaps that the school district no longer has the resources for. Because of gen-erous fundraiser donations and memberships, we are so fortunate to provide a bet-ter education for our children as well as family fun activities. Coming up on Friday, March 17th, is our Missoula performance of Alad-din. Students will audition on Monday, March 13th, and will rehearse extensively all week long after school. Tickets will be available to purchase Friday, March 9th and can be purchased from the PTA website. www.briarwoodelementarypta.org McTeacher Night is also coming up. On Friday, March 24th, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm, Briarwood families will be able to see Briarwood staff work at our local McDonald's greeting guests, taking orders, manning the drive-thru window, and serving food.
Kids love seeing their teacher behind the counter and love the chance to tip their teacher! All tips and proceeds from the event go straight into PTA programs and educa-tional funding. Thank you to Brittany Aman
(Continued on page 4)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
January Winners MAH/RAH....2
Family Movie Night...…...……….2
Program News/Updates.…..…...2
McTeacher Night…….....……......3
Invention Convention.……………3
WSPTA Convention/Awards…..4
ISF/5th Grade Dates………….…..5
Calendar……………………………….5
Briarwood Elementary School, Renton WA Issaquah School District PTA 2.6.5
March, 2017 Volume 15, Issue 4
2016-2017 PTA BOARD
President: Erin Thacker [email protected] Secretary: Alison Larsson [email protected] Treasurer: Seung Park [email protected] VP of Fundraising: Jasmine Brothers [email protected] Co-VP of Programs: Nicole Morgan [email protected] Tira Will [email protected] VP Family Nights: Danielle Hunter [email protected]
VP of Volunteers: Kristen Slocum [email protected]
VP Communications: Michelle Splaver [email protected] At-Large Members*: Laila Collins [email protected] Rebekkah Leibowitz [email protected] Staff Liaison*: Laycie Rader [email protected] *Appointed Position—all others elected
Newsletter Editor: Michelle Splaver
Website: http://briarwoodelementarypta.org/Home
THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS! To the following Chairs and their teams of volunteers who did an outstanding job
with their January through February events and committees:
• Variety Show: Lovenia Hardin and Nataliya Khan
• Staff Appreciation Lunch: Nicole Morgan
• International Night: Danielle Hunter
• Math at Home Mid-Year Drawings: Jen Orton and Nicole Morgan
• Read at Home Mid-Year Drawings: Heather Spates and Nicole Morgan
• Lunch For The Break Food Drive: Michelle Splaver and Kristen Slocum
• PTA Awards Committee: Erin Thacker and Laila Collins
• WAPTA SOE and Communication Awards: Alison Larsson, Michelle Splaver
• Nominating Committee: Nicole Morgan, Kristen Slocum and Jasmine Brothers
Congratulations to the following people who
were nominated by their peers:
January — Seung Park
January — Marisa Whitaker
February — Nataliya Khan
February — Jasmine Brothers
Reminder:
PTA General Meeting*
Monday, March 20 @6:30 PM
Briarwood Library
We will be nominating next
year’s Board of Directors &
Giving out Teacher Grants
All are Welcome!!
*Please see Meeting Agenda on
our website.
VOLUNTEERS INSPIRE PRAISE (VIP’S)
The Briarwood PTA is pleased to an-
nounce a delicious way to support our
students. Otis Spunkmeyer is one of
the most famous brands of cookies.
Cookie Sales begin Friday, March 16th.
We are selling the pre-portioned,
ready to bake, frozen cookie dough in
twelve popular flavors as well as as-
sorted types of pizza and pastries. We
will also be offering the Simply Spring
flyer loaded with such items as choco-
lates, spring flowers, and assorted
colorful pottery just in time for your
Mother’s Day shopping! Orders will
be taken from Thursday, March 16th
through Monday, March 27th with an
anticipated delivery date of Thursday,
April 2oth. Look for your packet to
come home with your student March
16th. As in previous years, all orders
must be picked up on Thursday, April
20th. For questions, contact Sheryl
Petersen.
Program Chair: Sheryl Pe-
tersen, [email protected]
You are invited to attend our per-
formance of Aladdin on March 17,
2017 at 6:30 PM in the Briarwood
Commons. Tickets are $5 at the
door (children under 2 are Free).
Pre-sale tickets are available be-
ginning March 9th on our web-
site. Those buying pre-admission
will be allowed in for seating be-
fore those waiting in line to buy
admission the night of the show.
Programs & Event Updates
JANUARY WINNERS OF THE TRAVELING BEAR & MONKEY
Math at Home: Mrs. Miller’s Science Tech Class with 27% Participation
Congratulations! The traveling monkey, Mathtilda visited their classroom for the month of February in recognition of their classroom achievement!
Program Chair: Jen Orton, [email protected]
Reading at Home: Ms. Pusey’s Class with 78% Participation
Congratulations! The traveling bear, Chap visited their classroom for the month of February in recognition of their classroom achievement! Program Chair: Heather Spates, [email protected]
STAFF APPRECIATION
Hello Briarwood parents! Please mark your calendars for our next Staff Luncheon:
Tuesday, March 14. The theme is Soup & Salad.
If you're interested in providing a dish— homemade or store bought for this Brunch-Lunch please
contact Nicole and she will add your email to Sign-Up Genius distribution list.
Program Chair: Nicole Morgan, [email protected]
SPRING FUNDRAISER
FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT!
The last one was so much fun, let’s do it again on Friday, March 31st
@ 6:30pm in the Commons. This will be Briarwoods second Family
movie night of the season. We will be showing the movie, Disney’s
Moana. Doors open at 6:00pm and admission is free! There will be pop-
corn and drinks available for purchase. The first bag of popcorn is on
us!
Program Chair: Nicole Morgan, [email protected]
Students can swap out old books & get new, exciting books without
spending any money during their lunch recess!
On March 10th, each student can bring gently used books they no
longer read or want from home and swap for books brought in by
other students. This is a book-for-book trade. For example, if your
student brings 6 books, they can choose 6 books to take home. It’s
a great way to clean out your bookshelves and replenish with new and interesting titles. All classes
that participate will be entered in a drawing for a pizza lunch. In addition, students who bring in
10 books or more will get their name entered in to a drawing for a special prize!
Book donations are greatly appreciated. We are in greatest need of titles that are appropriate for
3rd grade reading level and up. No board books please!
Program Chair: Adrienne Baker, [email protected]
LUNCHTIME BOOK SWAP MARCH 10TH
Programs & Event Updates
Congratulations to Mrs. McElli-
gott’s class who collected 119 Box
Tops and Labels for Education in the
month of January. Their class earned
free popcorn on popcorn Friday.
Program Chair: Alison Larsson,
Have you ordered your 2016-2017 Yearbook yet? We will not be or-dering extra yearbooks this year and there will not be any for sale at the June Carnival, so pre-order today!! To purchase please go to the “Orders” icon on the PTA website. The order deadline is April 3rd. Not sure if you ordered one already? Go to the "my ac-count" icon on our website.
Send your love and congratula-tions to your child by writing a “Love Line” in the Year-
book. To purchase please go to the “Orders” icon on the PTA website. For $5.00 you can have up to 80 characters or $10.00 for up to 160 characters. The dead-line for ordering is April 3rd.
Program Chairs: Katrina Rockey, [email protected], Darla Vaughan, [email protected].
The Briarwood PTA will once again sponsor McTeacher Night on Friday, March
24th from 5:00 to 8:00pm.
Your favorite Briarwood teachers and staff will tie on aprons and work at McDonald's greeting
guests, taking orders, manning the drive-through window, cooking, and serving food, all to
raise funds for the PTA!
This will be held at the McDonald's at 4411 NE Sunset Blvd, Renton (by Big Lots). Briarwood’s
PTA earns 20% of all sales and 100% of all tips collected during the event. McDonald's now
offers healthy food options such as salads and wraps. So bring your family and invite your
friends and neighbors to join us for a fun and tasty night. Whether you stay and play and visit
with friends or just go through the drive-through, there is fun to be had by all.
Event Chair: Brittany Amandus, [email protected]
Discover the fun of engineering through hands-on activities with your whole family on Friday,
April 21 from 6-8PM in the Briarwood Commons! This event sponsored by Issaquah School Dis-
trict (ISD) and the Issaquah Schools Foundation (ISF) provides families with interactive STEM
experiences and the joy of learning together. The night will be filled with hands on activities to
promote the engineering process, scientific thinking, and an opportunity to learn and play as a
family. Parents will engage with activities alongside student(s). Family collaboration is key to
the evening’s success. So, adults, be ready to build and explore! To ensure we have enough ma-
terials, please RSVP Online before March 29, 2017 or see our website for more details and how to
register. For questions, please contact Mrs. Miller at [email protected].
FAMILY ENGINEERING NIGHT APRIL 21, 2017
This year our Briarwood Students are invited to participate in our school-wide, Invention Con-
vention or Science Fair on Friday, April 21st from 6-8 PM in the Gym. We challenge you to see
what kind of creative and innovative solutions to life's every day problems our amazing Briar-
wood Bears can come up with! Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity for students to showcase
their own science experiments or inventions! Projects will be on display for viewing at the same
time as the Family Engineering Night. More to come about project registration, requirements for
entries, and volunteer opportunities!
Program Chairs: Kris Pottsmith, [email protected], Amie Ojerio,
INVENTION CONVENTION & SCIENCE FAIR APRIL 21,2017
Beyond Our PTA
Issaquah Council PTSA
ParentWiser
Education
Upcoming Classes/Training:
Art Docent Training: Felting
March 24 12:00-2:30 PM, ar-
tEast
Art Docent Training: Col-
ored Pencils April 28, 12:00-
2:30 PM, artEast
Annual WSPTA Convention The WSPTA Annual Convention is just around the corner -- April 28 – 30, 2016 at the Seatac Hilton
Convention is the place where PTA leaders go to be inspired, and truly understand the power of this associa-
tion and what it has accomplished for kids. Convention classes and general sessions help PTA leaders under-
stand the issues, and learn the skills to be powerful and effective leaders and advocates. Convention classes
cover a wide variety of leadership education topics that will help new PTA leaders as well as seasoned lead-
ers. There are classes for every skill level. Convention is also the best time of the year to meet other PTA
leaders and learn about the programs and activities they are doing. There is no need to re-invent the wheel.
Convention provides a great opportunity to meet vendors and develop new ideas for school assemblies, field
trips, fundraisers and a wide-variety of enrichment opportunities for your students. Build on successful pro-
grams and introduce new programs for a fresh, new, and exciting PTA year!
Briarwood plans on sending a group of leaders to Convention this year. Watch for the May Newsletter for
updates.
WSPTA AWARDS
As part of the WSPTA Convention, there is an evening awards presentation. Briarwood has submitted appli-
cations to be considered for the following 4 state awards:
1. STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE: This award recognizes the use of best practices of PTA Manage-
ment. There are 3 main areas on which we will be considered:
• Our PTA is child-focused and responsive to its membership
• Our PTA practices fiscal and fiduciary responsibility
• Our PTA leaders are knowledgeable, involved, and well-trained
2. OUTSTANDING NEWSLETTER: Newsletters are an important form of communication between
PTA leaders and members. Our printed newsletter will be evaluated on proper masthead, content, overall
appearance and creativity.
3. OUTSTANDING WEBSITE: Websites are becoming a primary method of communication and infor-
mation storage for PTA’s. Our website will be evaluated on its home page, content, and overall appearance.
4. OUTSTANDING COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY: This award evaluates a PTA’s use of all forms
of communication. Increasingly, use of multiple forms of communication is important in reaching all of the
membership and/or community served. This award will evaluate us on 3 areas: PTA content, using a wide
variety of communication methods with our members, and appearance/branding of our communications.
Award Submitters: Alison Larsson (SOE) and Michelle Splaver (Communications Awards)
dus and Jasmine Brothers for chairing this event. Our Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough fundraiser starts later this month as well. Students will come home with order packets on Thursday, March 16th, and all orders must be submitted by Monday, March 27th. Orders will be delivered to the school for parent pick-up towards the end of April. Our annual Science Fair/Invention Convention will be taking place on Friday, April 21st in con-junction with our first Family Engineering Night. More information for both events will be coming out shortly, so be sure to register for these events on our web-site. www.briarwoodelementarypta.org Lastly, I want to extend a big thank you to all our parent volunteers who help make everything we do possible!
Upcoming Events:
The Gift of Failure: Fostering Intrin-
sic Motivation and Resilience in Kids
by national keynote and author, Jes-
sica Lahey.
April 25, 2017 @ 7 PM
Issaquah High School Theater
Free for PTSA members of Issaquah
School District, non-members $20
donation at door. Register at http: //
www.ParentWiser.org
What's the best way to motivate stu-
dents to own their education, learn
deeply and durably, and develop
resilience? Jessica Lahey, national
keynote speaker and author of Gift of
Failure - How the Best Parents
Learn to Let Go So Their Children
Can Succeed, summarizes the cur-
rent research on autonomy-
supportive parenting and teaching,
competence, rewards, praise, and
failure. Finally, she explains how
parents and educators can give stu-
dents the support and encourage-
ment they need in order to stay moti-
vated over the long term. Join our
community book read, and help
bring about this cultural change! For
parents of K-12.
President’s Message (Continued from page 1)
Upcoming PTA Events MARCH:
10 Lunchtime Book Swap, Lunchtime, Gym 16-27 Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Dough Fundraiser 17 Missoula Children’s Theater Aladdin Performance 6:30-8:30 PM Briarwood Commons 20 PTA General Membership Meeting: Teacher Grant Requests, 6:30 PM Briarwood Library 24 Popcorn Friday, 2nd Recess (25 cents/bag) 31 Family Movie Night, 6:30-8:00 PM, Briarwood Commons
APRIL:
3 DEADLINE: Yearbook & Love Line Orders 5 DEADLINE: MAH and RAH March Minutes 7 Popcorn Friday, 2nd Recess (25 cents/bag) 20 Otis Spunk Meyer Delivery 21 Invention Convention/Science Fair/Engineering Family Night 6:00-8:00 PM Briarwood Gym, Commons and classroom wings 21 Popcorn Friday, 2nd Recess (25 cents/bag) 24 PTA General Meeting (2017 Board Elections), 6:30 PM, Library
In Our Community
ISSAQUAH SCHOOL DISTRICT
Upcoming School Board Meetings:
• March 8, March 22, April 26
7:00 p.m. at the ISD Administration Building
See the website for complete calendar of activities: issaquah.wednet.edu
5TH GRADE PARENTS
KEY DATES:
March 14 Students Visit Maywood (during school)
March 14 Maywood Parent Info Night, 6:30-8:00 PM
March 16 5th Grade Band/Orchestra Instrument Trial Night
@ Maywood 6-7:30 PM, Maywood Music Bldg.
April 4 Camp Colman Info Night, 6-7 PM, Briarwood Room
245
April 19 5th Grade Musical, 6:30 PM, Commons
May 3 Camp Colman Chaperone Meeting, 6-7 PM, Briarwood
Rm 245
May 16 Camp Colman Luggage Dropoff, 6-7 PM, Multi-
Purpose Room
May 17-19 Camp Colman Outdoor Education
May 31 Staff Appreciation Lunch (hosted by 5th grade par-
ents)
June 15* 5th Grade Promotion
*Date may change due to potential snow days.
MAYWOOD PTSA NOMINATING COMMITTEE SEEKS BOARD MEMBERS FOR 2017-18 SCHOOL YEAR
Will next year be your first year at Maywood? Do you want a
fun and low-key way to get to know parents from all 4 of the
Maywood feeder elementary schools? Maywood PTSA Nomi-
nating Committee is looking for candidates for their Board
positions for next year.
If you’d like to know more about what positions are available,
or get contact information visit the Maywood PTSA website:
www.maywoodptsa.org
NOT GETTING OUR WEEKLY E-BLASTS?
• Create an account on our website (Not the same thing as joining
the PTA—only name and email are required)
• Click on the “Weekly E-Blasts” email preference