Collins Elementary PTAPanther Post

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Volume 9, Issue 3 December 2013

Upcoming Events

11/25-11/29 ~Fall Break NO SCHOOLTuesday 12/3 ~ Spirit Night Papa JohnsTuesday 12/3~Picture Retake DayFriday 12/6~ CKOTM/Terrific Kid Awards Friday 12/13~ Popcorn Sale $1Tuesday 12/17 ~ Collins annual Holiday Program 5-7pm Thursday 12/19 ~Free Family Movie Night Friday, 12/20 ~ Can Parade & Candy Cane Gram 12/23-1/6 ~Winter Break

2013-2014 PTA BoardPresident – Michelle SpiessTreasurer – Ellen TonkinSecretary – Colleen TuckettCo - VP Membership/Volunteers -Megan Willis-Jones & Megan MondayVP Ways and Means – Lori

Collins Elementary12424 Summerfield BlvdRiverview, FL 33579813-672-5400Steve Sims – Principal Teri Madill – Assistant Principal

Helpful Information To report your child’s

absence, please call 813-672-5400 x1

No student can be signed out after 1:30pm.

Every Monday is early release day; dismissal is 1 hour early.

Collins Parents,

Thank you for all of your support with the Panther Run! It was a huge success and with your help we were able to raise a lot of money! We are working with the district to have the sunshade put in later this school year.

This year the Collins PTA hosted its first Reflections Art Contest where students were asked to submit a piece of artwork. Congratulations to our 2 winners: Emma Pierce and Elizabeth Williams!

I hope everyone has a great Fall Break! We will see you all back on Monday, December 2nd!

Steven SimsPrincipal

Hello Collins Students and families!

Your PTA is happy to announce that between our Fall Festival and our Panther Run, we brought in over $37,000!! That is such a great accomplishment and we couldn’t have done it without the support of our Panther Students, Parents, Teachers & Staff! We are working on getting all the prizes to distribute after Fall Break and before Winter Break.

We are also very pleased with our first Veterans Breakfast! We had a huge turnout and look forward to having this be a new tradition for our school! Thank you to all of our active military families and veterans who joined us!

The PTA Board would like to thank all of our volunteers that have helped us for our various events and activities! We wouldn’t have been as successful with our Fall Fundraising, if it wasn’t for our volunteers! And although our Fall Fundraising is complete, there are still 7 months of school left, which means more Sno Cone Days, Movie Nights, Spirit Nights, and more. Please be on the look-out for volunteer opportunities and help make each event a success!

I hope everyone enjoys their Fall Break and takes time to reflect on what you are thankful for!

Michelle SpiessPTA President

Thank you to all of the companies that either sponsored a spot on our Panther Run shirts, donated products for our Silent Auction, or donated items for the Panther Run prizes!

ABC and Me, Ace Hardware, Airheads, AMC, American Girl, Anarky Graphics, Avon, Big Bend Animal Hospital, BOING!, Brandon Honda, Buddy’s Home Furnishings, Camp Bow Wow, Carr Pediatric Dentistry, Courtney Vickers Photography, Crosstown Surveyors, Development, Planning & Financing Group Inc, Discovery Point, Walt Disney World, Dominos, First Watch, Glaxer Museum, Hess & Vanlandschoot Orthodontics, Ice Sports Forum, It Works by Megan Swanson, IZOD, Julestarz, K Hovnanian Homes, Knowledge Points, Mary Go Round, Mosi, New Identities Hair Studios, Pango Sales Inc, Papa John’s, Paper & Pigtails, Portrait Innovations, Protentail Sports, Saxon, Gilmore, Carraway & Gibbons, P.A., Sea World, StyledbyTiffany.com, Tampa Bay Pilot’s, The Alley, The Container Store, Thirty-One, Timpano’s Italian Chophouse, U.S. Cleaning Services, Inc.

October was an exciting month for our students at Collins. We worked on Being Bully Free and Saying No To Drugs for Red Ribbon Week! Our students created their own pledges, made class banners, wrote, completed activities and had a lot of fun Socking Out Drugs, (Crazy) “Hair” To a Drug free life, “Jean”iuses don’t do drugs. set the tone with the color red. We ended on Oct. 31, by Booooooooing Drugs!!!!!!! We are also hoping that many of our students’ Say No To Drugs posters will be chosen for the Learning for Life Calendar put out each year by the Boy Scouts of America Even though Honesty/Trustworthy was the word of the month for October, please continue to talk about the importance of being along with always showing Respect The word for November is ThankfulThis is a great time to encourage the writing of thank you letters, giving compliments, showing appreciation, and using manners. It ties in with our Thanksgiving holiday and the importance of being a family member. Please encourage your child this month to practice being thankful.

At Collins, we are also thankful for the awesome career speakers that will be talking to our children during the week of November 18th through the 22nd. While your child(ren) are at Collins Elementary, they will be introduced to a wide variety of careers. Please ask your child to share which careers they were introduced to and what they learned from each presenter. We want to help establish the foundation for planning career paths. Please talk to your child about the career(s) that you have in your family tree. Share the highlights, along with positive and negative aspects of your career. Let them know what you needed to do to prepare for your career.

I will be announcing our new mediators from 4effective mediators. Our fifth grade mediators have been helping to solve conflicts in a positive way. They have also been busy mentoring some of our younger students. Peer mediation is a great way to solve conflicts. If your child goes to mediation, they will be learning lifelong skills on how to peacefully solve conflicts. Mediation is a positive solution that usually ends in a win-win. Mediation is a positive way to deal with conflicts and can help anyone of any age! We are so glad that you are a part of Collins Elementary.

Can ParadeIn December students will have an opportunity to bring in non-perishable food items to donate during Collin’s Annual Can Parade. Students who bring items in will “parade” their items around as they walk them to the donation bins. The items will then be given to families in need.

Mrs. Goltz’s 2nd Grade Class won the 1st Quarter Cupcake Party with 689 Box Tops. So far in the 2nd Quarter, Mrs. Geuther’s 1st Grade Class is winning with 687 Box Tops! There is still time to try to win the 2nd Quarter Box Top Cupcake Party so please keep sending

Movie NightJoin us for a free movie night on Thursday, December 18th! We will be showing Prep and Landing and The Rise of the Guardians! The movies will be showing in-between the two buildings, so be sure to bring your chairs and blankets! The PTA will be selling refreshments for your convenience.

Don’t forget that the cafeteria offers free breakfast for ALL students every morning

starting at 7:30am!

PTA Membership Goal Reached!Thank you to everyone who joined the

October was an exciting month for our students at Collins. We worked on Being Bully Free and Saying No To Drugs for Red Ribbon Week! Our students created their own pledges, made class banners, wrote, completed activities and had a lot of fun Socking Out Drugs, (Crazy) “Hair” To a Drug free life, “Jean”iuses don’t do drugs. set the tone with the color red. We ended on Oct. 31, by Booooooooing Drugs!!!!!!! We are also hoping that many of our students’ Say No To Drugs posters will be chosen for the Learning for Life Calendar put out each year by the Boy Scouts of America Even though Honesty/Trustworthy was the word of the month for October, please continue to talk about the importance of being along with always showing Respect The word for November is ThankfulThis is a great time to encourage the writing of thank you letters, giving compliments, showing appreciation, and using manners. It ties in with our Thanksgiving holiday and the importance of being a family member. Please encourage your child this month to practice being thankful.

At Collins, we are also thankful for the awesome career speakers that will be talking to our children during the week of November 18th through the 22nd. While your child(ren) are at Collins Elementary, they will be introduced to a wide variety of careers. Please ask your child to share which careers they were introduced to and what they learned from each presenter. We want to help establish the foundation for planning career paths. Please talk to your child about the career(s) that you have in your family tree. Share the highlights, along with positive and negative aspects of your career. Let them know what you needed to do to prepare for your career.

I will be announcing our new mediators from 4effective mediators. Our fifth grade mediators have been helping to solve conflicts in a positive way. They have also been busy mentoring some of our younger students. Peer mediation is a great way to solve conflicts. If your child goes to mediation, they will be learning lifelong skills on how to peacefully solve conflicts. Mediation is a positive solution that usually ends in a win-win. Mediation is a positive way to deal with conflicts and can help anyone of any age! We are so glad that you are a part of Collins Elementary.

 

 

 Ian BihlmeyerDolce DeLauder

Ethan EveryAllison FergusonSamuel FernendezAngeciel FigueroEmma KastingAmanda Rojas

Andrew SelvaggioLuis Valentin

KINDEGARDEN CHARACTER STARS sponsored by SCC Pizza

Hut, BSA Learning for Life