! MARCH 4, 2015

Los Gatos Union School District

Bulldog Beat www.lgusd.k12.ca.us

Dear Van Meter Community,

There are a whole lot of thank you’s to go around this week. Saturday was the Annual WAG Fundraiser and it was a huge success. Thank you to everyone that attended this fantastic event. Planning an event like this takes an extraordinary amount of work and logistical planning. An enormous thank you goes out to the entire Van Meter Home and School Club Executive Board for all of their hard work over the past 6 months planning and coordinating this event as well as to every single volunteer that donated their time and skills to making sure the Silent Auction, decorating the event, the check-in team and WAG Event itself went off without a glitch. A final thank you goes out to two ladies that will definitely be sleeping a little bit better now that the event is behind us. Thank you, Coby Bennette and Barb Holmes, for the tireless work that you put into this event. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all!

If you did not get a chance to check out at the WAG on Saturday/or signed up for parties during the silent auction but, did not attend the WAG you should have received an email by now notifying you of the amount you owe.  Please visit the school office meeting room between 8-9:00 am on Thursday, March 5th or Friday, March 6th to make any outstanding payments and to collect any items that you won or certificates that you will need to claim your prize.

On February 24th, we were visited by award winning author Kathryn Otoshi. Kathryn’s book ONE, winner of 15 awards, including the E.B. White Read Aloud Honor Book and the Teacher's Choice Award, is an anti-bullying book that plays on larger themes of acceptance, tolerance, and being an upstander —through the symbology of colors, numbers and counting.

Her book, ZERO, winner of several national awards discussing finding and appreciating the value in ourselves and in others, while her latest book TWO focuses on friendship, shifting relationships, and self-discovery. During her fantastic presentation she also shared some background on her newest work, Beautiful Hands. To cap off the fantastic assembly, 5th grader Maia DeWinter presented quite a surprise for her teacher, Mrs. Edgemon. Mrs. Edgemon's son has been battling heart problems and is recovering from open heart surgery. Maia spearheaded a fundraising effort, Care for Cody, that has raised in excess of $17,000 to date to assist the Edgemon family through this family crisis. You can still donate through this month at www.life.indiegogo.com (search Edgemon). Great job, Maia!

Just a reminder we are on a minimum day schedule every day this week due to parent conference week. Have a great week, Bulldogs!

DATES TO REMEMBER

March

2-5 Spring Book Fair2-6 Conference Week Minimum Days All Week10 LGUSD Board Meeting 6:30 P.M. DO12 CASA General Mtg. 10-11:30 LGHS Comm. Room26-29 Play Performances

April

3 Cornerstone Parent Meeting 8:30 A.M. 6-10! Spring Break - NO SCHOOL14 LGUSD Board Meeting 6:30 P.M. DO16 CASA General Mtg. 10-11:30 LGHS Comm.22 Bulldog Stampede

We would love to hear from you! You can email the H&SC board at communications@vanmeterhsc.org.

H&SC UPDATEM

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DATES

RESOURCES

Volunteering

H&SC Website

Donations

Like us on Facebook

Bulldog Store

HELP WANTED

• Mar 2 - 6 Book Fair

• Mar 11Willow Street Gives Back

• Mar 18 @ 8:30amH&SC General Meeting

• Mar 26 - 29 Kokonut Kapers (School Play)

School Calendar

Lots of volunteering opportunities through iVolunteer (Parents on Campus, FunZone, and Clay)

Volunteering CornerBook Fair This Week! LVM's Scholastic Book Fair is going on now during conference week. Stop by the library and check out what’s new. We are still looking for volunteers to work the Book Fair, please visit iVolunteer to sign up.

Tickets go on sale Friday, March 6th for this year's island-themed school play, Kokonut Kapers, starring Van Meter and Lexington 4th and 5th grade students.  The stars of the show have been working hard and are excited to perform.  Please come out to support them.  There are several performances from March 26 through March 29.  Tickets are available online at www.seatyourself.biz/vanmeterhsc.  Tickets go fast, so mark your calendars!

2015 Bulldog PlayersTickets on Sale Friday March 6!

Staff Appreciation Luncheon (March 17) if you want to offer your help, please contact our amazing Staff Appreciation Leader, Cyndi Sheehan at sheehanconstruction@yahoo.com.

Upcoming Events

H&SC General Meeting (March 18 @ 8:30am in MPR) There will be a guest speaker, Los Gatos Town Council Member, Marico Sayoc, to discuss the School Committee the TC is working on, as well as field your questions and concerns about town planning and schools.

LGUSD School Board Meeting (March 10 @ 6:30pm) Come support Van Meter as we will be showcased with some of our great programs and successes!!

Fisher Musical Theatre Presents “The Wiz” (March 5 - 8) There are still tickets available to the show! If you would like to see our Fisher friends perform, tickets can be purchase on the Fisher H&SC website.

Willow Street Pizza/Main Street Burger (Van Meter Day - March 11) Support Van Meter by eating lunch or dinner at Willow Street Pizza or Main Street Burger on March 11. 20% of your purchase from Willow Street Pizza and 15% of Main Street Burger goes back to our school!

To redeem you must bring in a flyer which can be located on the H&SC website or in the front office (A copy is also sent home in your Wednesday envelope).

CORNERSTONE CORNER

Let’s Count Together! (published from content on www.kokidsbooks.com and Project Cornerstone web sites)

Last week, Van Meter was privileged to welcome Ms. Kathryn Otoshi, award-winning Cornerstone author who returned to us with her newest works. Van Meter students have a solid foundation with her book ONE, profiling group dynamics and the emergence of citizens as UPstanders who influence the group in a positive direction.

TWO, released last year takes the concept a step further, exploring the dynamics of friendship duos and triads, and the benefits of opening up to new group friendships while treasuring and preserving legacy

relationships. Kathryn’s works and discussions are informed closely by her personal life experiences that she candidly shares with students, which always results in dynamic group participation from Kinder up through Grade 5. She also introduced her upcoming book “Beautiful Hands”, written and illustrated with her collaborator Bret Baumgarten who suffered from Pancreatic Cancer and was inspired by discussions with his children.

Mrs. Campbell, our school librarian as well as Kathryn read TWO from cover to cover to each class, over the past two weeks. Whether families purchased a signed book, or choose to check it out again from the library, family discussion is encouraged, using the following study sheet as a guide.

About the Book – 10 Questions 1. Have you ever felt like you lost your best friend? What does it feel like? Two feels like

that. Do you sometimes feel like Two?

2. Do you know what an odd number is? Do you know what an even number is? What does it mean to be odd or even?

3. Why does Three leave Two out? Why does One go along with Three? And why does One leave out Two, his best friend?

4. How did Two feel when One and Three wouldn’t let her play with them?

5. Why couldn’t Two do what Zero and Four suggested?

6. What does it mean to “feel a little green?”

7. How does Two feel when the odd numbers and the even numbers start fighting? What can she do to help? How does she come up with the answer?

8. How does Three feel when Two speaks up? What do all the numbers learn?

9. How do One and Two become friends again? How does it happen?

10. Friends argue. Friends change. Even though you aren’t best friends anymore, you can still stay friends. How?

Got Sales Expertise?Got Marketing Production Skills?Are you a CPA ?

Your Child’s Education Needs You!

Los Gatos Education Foundation is currently recruiting for the 2015-2016 school year. We need to have the right people in place to provide the programs to enhance your child’s education. With the right team, we can really kick-off a great back-to-school campaign!

Are you a former or current Accountant? Do you have Business/Sales Outreach experience or are you a fantastic networker? Are you great at Marketing Production, Collateral Management, Social Media, Graphics or Event Planning?

Do you have accounting, marketing, sales or public relations skills but feel a little rusty…and would like a chance to polish them up before you re-enter the work force?

The Los Gatos Education Foundation needs you – and it is a great resume builder while you are doing great things for your child’s education! We are a passionate group of parent volunteers across all 5 campuses in the District and we would love to have some new team members.

Positions are available for board-level or non-board level volunteers, time commitment varies - some roles are only a 4-hour commitment a month.

Please contact Deborah Weinstein, Director of the Los Gatos Education Foundation, at director@lgef.org, or (510) 882-3170 for more information. We would love to have you on the team!

Mrs. Martin’s Art LessonsPlease  visit  Mrs.  Martin’s  Art  blog  at:  http://www.mrsmartinartclass.blogspot.com/

for  updates  on  what  is  happening  in  your  students  art  classroom,  student  artwork  from  across  the  district  and  parent  child  activities  that  connect  to  each  lesson!

LGUSD Elementary Art Program is funded by LGEF

Attention all Van Meter Parents

If you are interested in participating in a 5k run for Cancer Research here is your chance! Students from Mr. Bollhorst's sixth period honors English class from Los Gatos High is putting on a 5k Run 4 the Cure starting at the high school track and going through Vasona, finishing back at the high school. This event is for all ages and everyone is welcome. Come join us in the Run 4 the Cure to have a great time. A pizza lunch and music will be provided afterward. For more information and ticket sales go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/run-4-the-cure-tickets-15779031508 and like our Facebook page to get updates on the event! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Run-4-the-Cure/1523049831294754

Thank You, Carrington Ratcliff, Emerson Hughes, Nicole Dal Cielo, Anahita Yamouti, and Sydney Miller