welcome to the 3rd edition of our challenger pta...
TRANSCRIPT
December 2012
Hello Challenger Parents,
Welcome to the 3rd edition of our Challenger PTA newsletter!
The holiday season is here, the houses are bright and colorful at night and everyone is ready to enjoy the break and spend some quality time with friends and families – especially the students!!! First, we would like to say a special THANK YOU to all the many volunteers for their commitment and enthusiasm while helping students, chair and run many enriching programs. We would also like to sincerely thank Challenger families for their generosity. Without you all, those enriching programs and fun events would not be possible so THANK YOU! And let’s not forget the wonderful Challenger staff for their continued support. Please enjoy the December version of the newsletter, here are all the articles you can read about: -membership -volunteers’ corner -Winterfest -Golden Acorn -Festival of Cultures -ISD Homework policy -Nominating Committee -Issaquah Schools Foundation
January
10 Start of Eager Reader (thru March 7)
15 PTA General Meeting 7.00pm in the Library
21 No school –Martin Luther King Day
25 Festival of Cultures in MPR
Did you attend or hear about the Walkathon? Well then you know what a significant impact we can all have on the enrichment of our children's lives! Did you come to Winterfest? This was a community, fun and festive afternoon of crafts making all organized by classroom volunteers where many former Challenger students came to help out. Did you hear about the
bookroom? Challenger PTA donated over $8,000 through 2012 to help purchase books for the new reading program. Challenger PTA has a tradition of reaching the goal of 100% membership each year. We are getting close at around 80% at the moment. Be involved in your student’s education and join PTA! Just follow the link to Challenger PTA’s website http://challengerpta.org and click on “Join Here” under PTA or feel
free to grab a paper application located on the wall to the right just inside the front doors. As always, please contact Yvette Artman with any questions or comments at [email protected].
Co-Presidents: Tanja Fontana Bev Sakamoto Co-Vice Presidents: Wynnie Johnson Shannon DeHart Co-Treasurers: Laura Laudolff Jennifer Laramore Co-Secretaries: Jen Good Membership: Yvette Artman Volunteers: Jen Christiansen Community Liaisons: Anny Figueroa Hospitality: Maricel Medina-Mora Jennifer Strach Fundraising Committee- WAT: Tiffanie Dieffenbach Angie Dutcher PTA HOTLINE: 425 837 5154 CHALLENGER PTA CHAPTER 2.6.6 http://challengerpta.our
schoolpages.com/Home
Have you been around at Challenger for some time? Do you know parents at the school who often volunteer? Would you like to be involved in your PTA? If yes, then plan on attending the PTA General meeting on Tuesday, January 15 at 7pm in the Library to be part of the Nominating Committee whose important mission is to choose next year’s PTA board officers.
It is time to recognize Challenger Volunteers and Challenger Outstanding Educators. The Golden Acorn Award is a national PTA program designed to recognize dedicated volunteers this school year. Oustanding Educator is your chance to nominate a staff member that you feel deserves extra recognition. Please take the time to complete the 2 forms that were sent via room coordinators and return the forms to the PTA white lock box. Extra forms can be found and printed from the PTA website www.challengerpta.org. Information is on the forms. Due date for nomination forms is Feb 8, 2013. You are welcome to attend a short Golden Acorn ceremony on March 8, 2013 in the MPR at 3pm. Thank you- Bev Sakamoto & Amy Tuvey Challenger 2012-13 Golden Acorn Chairs
What can I say? You all are AMAZING for volunteering at Winterfest and being a part of a fun filled
afternoon for Challenger and the community! We had around 15 crafts, and most tables closed down early because they ran out of supplies. Ticket sales were hot - the line at 3pm went all the way to the front atrium doors and tickets were even selling 15 minutes before closing. We had around 40 wonderful BLMS and Skyline HS volunteers eagerly wanting to help and they did a fantastic job. The bake sale tables had some yummy treats and the Comet Choir sang some great holiday songs. Overall,
we made approx $2300! All these funds will go back to the students through books, science, math and reading enrichment programs, scholarships, grants… Thank you so much for all your hard work. Hope you had a great weekend to relax :-) ~Bev Ps. We are looking for Winterfest co- chairs for next year - if you are interested or have any questions, please feel free to ask. Grab a friend and team up together.
On Friday, January 25th, 2013 from 6.00-8.30pm, Challenger “will go around the world” and learn about the culture, food, music and traditions of the countries representing the rich diversity of our school. Students will work on their geography skills while sampling food from all around the world.
This free PTA event is run by Challenger families for the whole community, family and friends are welcome to join the journey. Would you like to be part of this multicultural event by representing your country? Come and join Mexico, England, the Philippines, India, and many more. It is a fantastic way of meeting new faces while sharing your
country trough food samples, crafts and displays. Would you like to perform on stage at the Festival? Perhaps your family is part of a dance group or you friends interested in performing at the Festival? We are looking for performers whether dancers, martial arts, traditional musicians… If you are interested in participating and/or performing, please contact: Bev Sakamoto or Anny Figueroa, Festival of Cultures Chairs, [email protected] or [email protected]
VOLUNTEERS CORNER
Classroom Art Docents Needed! The art docent program provides some of the only
visual art instruction your child receives at school and we have several classrooms
without a docent. There is no art experience or talent needed. If you are willing help
with our art docent program please contact Rachelle Roberts at
[email protected]. Also, if you have signed up to be a docent and have
not heard from Rachelle, please let her know.
Eager Reader Talliers Needed: Our Eager Reader Program is just around the
corner and preparations are underway! Eager Reader is a wonderful school-wide
reading program where the students hand in weekly tally sheets for the minutes they read to earn
prizes at various levels achieved. Classroom talliers will be responsible for tallying students’
minute sheets and filling prize bags for students once-a-week. This is an 8-week reading program
that will run from January 10, 2013 thru March 7, 2013. Every classroom needs at least one Eager
Reader tallier (or preferably two) for this year’s program. Here’s some information that will help
you make the decision to help out with this valuable PTA-run reading program:
Eager Reader runs for 8 weeks beginning January 10, 2013 thru March 7, 2013.
Tallier training will be provided on January 10, 2013 @ 8:45am in the MPR; and PMK in the
afternoon TBD.
It’s a minimal time commitment every Thursday morning for 8 weeks from 8:45 – 10:45am;
although, most talliers are done by 9:30am. (Special time & place provided for afternoon
Kindergarten parents).
Siblings are welcomed!
It’s a great way to visit, meet other parents and be productive all at once.
If you would like to volunteer as an Eager Reader tallier for your child’s class or are interested in
running this program next year, please contact Marilou Dacey: [email protected] for more
information. Thank you!
Administrators are working with families across the district to better understand policy and concerns regarding the homework.
In summer 2012, the superintendent announced a tentative plan for helping families, principals,
teachers, and administrators better understand the purpose of homework and the district’s policy. Here is the link: http://www.issaquah.wednet.edu/documents/events/297/6-20-
12%20Homework%20Grading%20Plan%202012%2013.pdf).
Throughout the remainder of the calendar year, individual PTSA units will be using the same guiding questions to have conversations at the school level. The resulting feedback will be compiled by the PTSA Council and presented to the Superintendent. Challenger PTA is planning to hold a meeting at the General membership meeting in March or sooner. Here are some other useful links if you would like to
learn more:
Homework policy
Homework procedures
Homework research articles
Visible Learning Homework
Case for/Against Homework
NW Regional Educational Lab Homework findings
Synthesis of Research Findings on Homework
Issaquah Schools Foundation PTSA Newsletter Blurbs – December 2012
All in for Kids Campaign Wrap-Up Thank You PTSA parents for kicking off the Foundation’s holiday season with an amazing gift—a successful All in for Kids Annual Fund Campaign.
You clicked, mailed and answered our calls to the tune of $366,805. Because of your generosity, our
students will continue to benefit from programs and initiatives that transform the basic education funded by the state to the comprehensive, 21st century education they need to succeed. Please join us in applauding our campaign chair, Camille Vaska, for her six-month long leadership of this critical fundraising event. Kudos also to our amazing PTSA/ISF Reps and Presidents who partnered with us every step of the way.
IMPORTANT REMINDER—Pledges and matching gifts are included in the All in for Kids campaign total. If you pledged and/or indicated an employer match, please follow through. Respond to your pledge remit letter and fill out any required matching gift forms to ensure every one of the $366,805 anticipated dollars can benefit our students. Thank you!
Donors + After School Program = Successful Students
Music Matters In response to requests from music and arts teachers, the Foundation is working with District staff to create a $100,000 per year Dedicated Fine Arts Fund for our middle and high schools. Proceeds from the fall All in for Kids campaign and this spring’s Nourish Every Mind Luncheon will underwrite the effort. Learn More Amazon.com + Holiday Shopping = More Money for Kids Planning to stop by amazon.com for your holiday shopping? Enter through the ISF website and the Foundation will receive up to 8% of your total purchase price. Here’s how to do it.
Visit isfdn.org
Click on the Amazon.com box on the top left of the page.
Once at amazon, shop as usual. Amazon will automatically apply the donation to the Foundation.
Better yet, add this link Shop Amazon for ISF to your bookmarks so you’ll remember us all year long. Happy Shopping! Thank You to Evergreen Ford for naming the Issaquah Schools Foundation its charity of choice for the nationwide Go Further with Ford event on November 15. Evergreen Ford contributed $10 for each person who attended the event, netting the Foundation a $1,000 donation.