Birchtree

Friday Update

Birchtree Charter School 7107 E. Palmer Wasilla Hwy. Palmer, Ak 99645

Feb 28, 2014 t. 907-745-1831 f. 907-745-1843

Virtue of the Week-

You are practicing CARING when you ….

Show care for others, yourself and the earth

Look at people and listen carefully

Handle things carefully

Are gentle with people and their things placed in your care

Treat your body with respect

Work with enthusiasm and ex-cellence

Affirmation: I care for others and myself. I pay loving attention. I give my best to every job.

German Riddle-

Attention 4th graders are you up for the riddle challenge?! Frau Rogers is ready to give a big high five and a gold star to the first student who can solve this riddle!

Es hat viele Farben.

Es lebt im Meer.

Es hat Tinte aber kann nicht schreiben.

Acht Arme hat es aber keine Beine.

What animal is it?

Iditaread-

The end of February marks the beginning of the Iditarod; a race of

1049 miles through the rough, rug-ged and breathtaking landscape

between Anchorage and Nome.

Birchtree students will embark on their own race in honor of the long

arduous journey our Alaska mushers travel. Inspired by the Iditarod, Idi-

atread encourages students to read their way to Nome. Miles will be

measured in minutes read. Each

student can move their sled through the checkpoints in the hallways at

school. This is a wonderful way to encourage young people to pick up a book and mush!

Please check with your teacher or Mrs. Folsom if you have any questions about

the Iditaread. This program will run through March 31st.

Carnival Fun-

Once again, our fabulous Frau Rog-ers has created a fun, engaging carnival full of traditional German games and food. Students and staff alike were welcomed to school by the delicious aroma of Schmalz-gebaeck. Frau Rogers spent the wee morning hours preparing the dough for the “karneval” parties. The scrumptious German treats were enjoyed by all! It has been a delight to see our students immersed in the German tradition of “karneval,” excited to explore a different cul-ture.

Birchtree Charter t. 907– 745-1831 Friday Update Feb 28, 2014

Expressions of Gratitude

Frau Rogers would like to thank all the wonderful volunteers who made the Car-nival Party in the German room a success. The donations of fresh fruit were very much appreciated. And a large Thank You to the kitchen fairies, who left the place spotless and organized.

Kindergarten would like to thank Teva Dellabalma and Annabelle Dokken for their spring cleaning and organizing of the kindergarten kitchen! Thrice Blessed -- The staff at Birchtree would like to express their unceasing gratitude for our wonderful Parent Part-nership Coordinator and all around go-to-gal extraordinaire, Gena Chastain, for her endless support to our staff, students, and parents. We also wish to convey our deep, undying gratitude for Miss Faye who works tirelessly (okay, maybe she does get tired) but still, wholeheartedly on behalf of our school. Likewise, we ap-plaud and appreciate the kindhearted wisdom of Dwight Probasco as he inter-venes with obvious love and gentle guid-ance for the children of our school.

Schönen Dank! Ms. Albina would like to thank Frau Rogers for the tremendous gift of her cultural knowledge and stupen-dous sponsorship of the annual German Carnival which our children so love and look forward to. Congrats on yet another wonderful celebration! Thank you also to Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Mahoney for your lov-ing presence and warm support to our students.

Mrs. Folsom sends a big thanks to Jason Fernandes, and Meda and Ben Schliefman who shared AK native artwork with our 4th graders. Thank you Jason Fernandes and Debbie McKimmey for helping Frau Rogers in German. Also, continued thanks to Kris Owen and Angela Gregorio for helping to keep our classroom clean.

Please return borrowed t-shirts-

Birchtree has a collection of t-shirts available to use

for special activities like basketball , volleyball,

cross-country and Battle of the Books to name a

few. This Fall, 35 shirts were ordered to have on

hand for students to use. We currently have 5 at

the school. There are activities coming up in which

we will need t-shirts with our Birchtree design.

Please return any shirts that might be at home, so other students can use

them.

Rummage Sale-

Spring is just around the corner and with that comes the daunting task of spring cleaning. Let this spring be one of simplifying. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, with an excess of “stuff”, unload that burden and re-claim your life. Our lovely ladies at the BPG will gladly accept any items you are willing to purge and include them in Birchtree’s rummage sale, March 14th and 15th from 9 am to 3 pm. The rummage sale will be open to the public; please tell your friends and family everyone is welcome. Remem-ber one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!

You can begin dropping donations off every Thursday at the BPG shed from 3-4:30 in the lower parking lot. (Please remember you can be earn-ing volunteer hours not only for the time involved in donating items but for the value of the items as well. $20.00 equals one hour of volunteer time; therefore, if you donate an item with an estimated value of $60.00 you can log 3 hours.)

Free Concert on March 6th-

Mat-Su Youth Orchestra seeks to build musi-

cianship, provide opportunity for performance,

and inspire students and community to value

and support arts education in the valley. Com-

prised of several current and alumni Birchtree

Charter students as well as other valley youth

musicians will be performing a free concert on Thursday, March 6th

from 6-7 pm at the First Presbyterian Church 1375 E. Bogard Rd,

Wasilla.

It is marvelous to see our Birchtree students engaged in furthering their

music education and bringing the gift of music to our community! Mat-

Su Youth Orchestra is open to all middle school, high school and adult

string musicians who play and read music at an intermediate level. Those

interested in joining are encouraged to attend a rehearsal to see if the

Youth Orchestra is a right fit for you.

Birchtree Charter t. 907– 745-1831 Friday Update Feb 28, 2014

Month of Service-

Birchtree teachers are encouraging our students and staff to engage in

courageous compassion and active citizenship for fellow community

members. We are collecting items for My House, Children’s Place, and

the Food Pantry. Through this month of service we strive to build charac-

ter and civic engagement within our Birchtree community.

There will be 3 bins at the top of the ramp for the various items on the

collection list (please see the attached flyer for donation requests). We

will be collecting donations till March 21st. Please take a moment to read

about the heroic local programs we will be helping.

The Children’s Place: The mission

is to protect children in a nurturing

environment by facilitating a col-

laborative approach for the preven-

tion, evaluation, and treatment of

child abuse and neglect. Grounded

in this mission and purpose, leader-

ship in a team approach drives the

vision that all of our children are

safe, nurtured, and heard. Our community will not accept child abuse and

its effects.

My House: The mission of My

House is serving the needs of the

Homeless & Runaway Teens

throughout the Mat-Su Valley. My

House is a non-profit organization

that makes available the basic

needs of safety, shelter, warmth

and nourishment for teens in the

valley that needs our support. We thank you for visiting to learn more on

how to help our valley teens.

Food Pantry: The Food Bank of Alaska believes no

one deserves to be hungry. We are dedicated to elimi-

nating hunger in Alaska by obtaining and providing

food to partner agencies, feeding hungry people, and

through anti-hunger leadership.

Middle School Social-

Grades 6, 7 and 8 are invited to attend a social. There will be food and juice to pur-chase. Music and dancing will round out the event. There will be and entry fee of $5.00 per person ( $2.00 for each addition-al sibling).

Yearbook News-

Once again we will use TreeRing to make our yearbooks. They are a web -based or-ganization that plants a tree for every yearbook ordered by our school. We are collecting photos of school events for the yearbook! Deadline for photo submis-sions is March 1. Yearbooks are for sale online and include 2 customized pages. Please go to: www.treering.com/validate and use Birch-tree passcode: 1013468155713247, The deadline to purchase and customize your

yearbook is April 8.

Coupon Books-

The 8th grade is still selling Northern Lights Coupon Books. If you are interest-ed in purchasing one, please talk to an 8th grade student or ask Mr. Bowen about them. There are hundreds of great cou-pons for a variety of products and services in Anchorage and the Valley. They are $55. All proceeds go to the individual 8th grader for their 8th grade trip. Thanks.

Birchtree Charter t. 907– 745-1831 Friday Update Feb 28, 2014

February/March

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 23 24 25 26

German carnival

Party

27

German carnival

Party

28

German

Parade

12:30-1:15

Early Release

1

2 3 4

5

APC meeting 6-8 pm

Ms. Sharrer’s 3rd grade shelter pro-ject and dinner 6-8 pm

6

Pastries for Parents

8:30 am

Middle School So-

cial 3:30-5 PM

Mrs. Johndro’s shel-

ter project 11:30-1

7

No school

Professional

Development

day

8

9 10

Spring Break

11

Spring Break

12

Spring Break

13

Spring Break

14

Spring Break

BPG Rummage

sale

15

BPG

Rummage

Sale

16 17

Intent to enroll

& return forms

available online

18

19

BPG Meeting 3:45

PM

20

7th grade class

meeting from 5:30-

6:30

Ms. Albina’s parent

night 5:30-7:30 PM

21

Early Release

Friday 1:30

22

23 24 25

Kindergarten pro-

spective parent

meeting 1:30-2:30

1-8 grade prospec-

tive parent meet-

ing 6-7 pm

Spring Pictures

26

Spring Pictures

27

Spring Pictures

28

Early release Fri-

day 1:30

29

Wasilla Pool

Community Enrichment

After School Swimming Lessons The Wasilla Pool staff will once again be providing Community Enrichment swimming lessons to your elementary

school child. Your child will be picked up at the end of their school day by a designated bus that will take them to

the Wasilla Pool for their swimming lessons. The swimmers will be divided into several groups, based on their

ability, and will be taught basic strokes, water safety, stroke improvement, and games. The class size will be lim-

ited to 10 kids per instructor. This is for children 6 years and older.

The lessons will be two days a week for four weeks and start at 3:30 pm to 4:15 pm. (see below for the days &

dates). Total cost of the class will be $70. This will include eight, 45 minute lessons, and one-way bus transpor-

tation from Birch Tree Elementary School to the Wasilla Pool. Enrollment for the lessons will be limited to the

first 30 children that are registered. Registration is first come, first served, and tends to fill up quickly, so come

in early! You must come to the pool and register in person, Monday – Friday between

8:00 am and 8:00 pm, and Saturdays between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. All lessons must be paid for at the time of

registration with either cash or checks. The Wasilla Pool does not accept credit cards at this time.

Parents must pick up their child at the pool promptly after the lesson has concluded for the day. The classes end at

4:15 pm. Students will need to bring their own swim suit and towel. Please mark all of your child’s belongings with

permanent ink.

Birch Tree Swimming Lesson Schedule

Dates: March 18 – April 9, 2014

Days: Tues &Wed

Class time: 3:30 - 4:15 pm

Age requirement: 6 years or older

Cost: $70.00

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED! We will need two adult volunteers. One to ride the bus and take attend-

ance and one to give the first volunteer a ride back to their car. These volunteer positions are very im-

portant, since the lessons will not happen without an adult on the bus. A $60 gift certificate will be given to

volunteers upon completion of lessons. Anyone interested in volunteering please let a staff member know

when you come in to register your child.