PTA

February 2015

Lemon Road Elementary

From the Principal’s Desk … DON’T

FORGET!

Monday, March 16

NO SCHOOL!

Teacher workday

Monday, March 30-

Monday, Apr 6

NO SCHOOL!

SPRING BREAK!

This has definitely been an interesting

winter to say the least. I know that the

consistency of the district making the

calls on cancellations has been frustrating

for you as parents. I understand it seems

like there is no rhyme or reason for how

FCPS makes these decision. However, to

the contrary, FCPS follows an outlined

protocol when making a decision as to

whether or not to open school. The pro-

cess looks at multiple factors. The chal-

lenge, this year, has been snowfalls and temperatures that have

been unusually unpredictable making the decision process much

tougher. Hopefully, warmer temperatures are coming around

the bend and we can get back to concentrating on teaching and

learning!

We have a great Multicultural Night planned for Thursday,

March 5 at 6:30 PM with over 30 cultures from around the globe

represented through musical performances and cultural tables.

A huge thanks to our Multicultural Night Committee, led by

teachers Ms. Mortson and Ms. Patterson, for coordinating this

event. We are strong at Lemon Road because of our diversity

and the rich fabric of cultures. This diversity provides our stu-

dents with an enriching environment, preparing them for their

futures in our global society. We are very fortunate and it is

definitely fun and worthwhile to celebrate this aspect of our

school environment.

Thanks, and please stay warm and safe!

Andy

UPCOMING

EVENTS

March 5

Multicultural Night

6:30 PM

March 6

Boosterthon Fun Run

March 27

Assembly

Reptiles Alive!

Custodian

Appreciation

Week!

Take time to thank

Dora Amaya,

Blanca Avila,

Francisco Nolasco &

Nathanial Spencer

f.or all they do for our

school.

Eat Pizza and Raise Money!

Mark your calendars— join us at Ledo’s Pizza Restaurant Night,

Tuesday, March 24 & Wednesday, March 25. The Lemon Road

PTA will get a percentage of all sales.

7230 Idylwood Road, Fal ls Church, Virginia 22043 ● 703-714-6400

Dear Parents,

What a winter! As if life with children isn’t chaotic enough, now

we’re trying to manage what we’re doing on which day with which

kids and with what last-minute delays or cancellations – it’s all a

great game of Whack-a-Mole, isn’t it? But let’s assume the worst

is behind us: the first day of Spring is less than a month away!

I want to thank Lemon Road staff for everything they’ve done to

keep classes and kids on track through this chaos. If you hang out

in teachers’ workrooms (you know, while copying, stuffing folders, all that fun stuff parents can

help with), you overhear them reworking their lesson plans, rescheduling their classroom pro-

jects, worrying just as much as parents – and maybe more -- about how to pull it all back togeth-

er. And I’ve seen our Principal and Assistant Principal huddled over laptops open to the full

school calendar, trying to figure out how to reschedule all the delayed events without upsetting

any future schedules, making sure no one loses out on an opportunity to succeed at Lemon Road.

Thank you all for the extra effort these past weeks!

And a very special thank you to our custodians Dora Amaya, Blanca Avila, Francisco Nolas-

co, and Nathanial Spencer, who keep our school beautiful inside and out. While parents were

bringing kids to sled behind the school one day last week, the custodians were out front, shovel-

ing the steps and sidewalks to keep our kids safe – thank you, and Happy Custodian Apprecia-

tion Week!

The PTA has been busy, between cancellations, organizing this year’s Boosterthon, our biggest

annual fundraiser. We bring in an outside company to run this, because the Boosterthon team

has more energy and engenders more excitement than any parents I’ve ever known! They get

kids excited about their lessons in character building and exercise – and parents take it to the

next step by helping kids get pledges for the Fun Run! There’s lots more info on that in this

newsletter. What Lemon Road earns will go towards supporting the PTA budget, updating school

technology, and other school improvements.

We’ll see you at our big events in the next few weeks, just before the start of Spring!

Mary Clare Murray, President, Lemon Road PTA

From The PTA President

PAGE 2 LEMON ROAD ELEMENTARY FEBRUARY 2015

A Shout Out to our Sponsors! Boosterthon t-shirts this year are specially made

for Lemon Road -- and provided courtesy of a selection of our favorite local businesses! Our fan-

tastic PTA Community Business Liaison, Nancy Wanzer, contacted countless companies, asking

them to support the Lemon Road PTA Boosterthon. So we thank Nancy and those companies who

invested in our school! Here they are, be sure to check out their ads in this newsletter, bring

them your business and thank them for supporting Lemon Road!

Poolservice Company Rock Hard Excavating

Title Boxing Shreve/McGonegal

Holland & Knight Enshin Karate

Growing Smiles Bowers Design

Ayoub Carpet Essential Health Center

Kumon Amazing Smiles

Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram Vantage Fitness

McLean Hardware

PAGE 3 LEMON ROAD ELEMENTARY FEBRUARY 2015

Lions Share

Lemon Road Lions continue to serve the community through our Lions Share programs! The

Lions Share Food Recovery program collected 161 pounds of food in January, all of which

went to our own families! Be sure to check out the awesome banner in the cafeteria celebrat-

ing our program, donated by Food Bus, Inc.

This week at Multicultural Night, the PTA will have a Lions Share table selling bottled wa-

ter. All proceeds will go to Lions Share grocery cards, which will be used to help needy fami-

lies within our school. So be sure to stock up on water at Multicultural Night, March 5! All

that excellent food will make you very thirsty!

Looking for another way to help your local community? You may not know that Falls Church

City has a homeless shelter. Check it out at this website:

http://www.fallschurchshelterfriends.org/donate/. The shelter is open through March and

takes donations of supplies (not clothes).

Parenting in the Digital Age

Our January PTA/Community meeting included a

presentation by Lemon Road Parent Liaison Pame-

la Huffman called "Parenting in the Digital Age."

Pam gave parents information on which media are

most popular right now, what risks kids may face

using them, and how parents can manage computer

use at home. A Spanish translator was also present

for Spanish-speaking parents. Check our PTA web-

site for a copy of her presentation.

Interested in Girl Scouts? A new brownie troop is forming at Lemon Road for second and third grade stu-

dents! For more information, please contact Jamie Tomik at

jatomik@fcps.edu.

Need a Sitter? High school senior interested in offering babysitting services on weekends and occasional

week-nights. Very good with children (3 years and older) and Red Cross certified for First

Aid/CPR/AED for adults and children. Conscientious, fun loving and will take great care of

your children. She is a very careful driver and has her own car. Contact

shivaniprakash@aol.com.

Spiritwear is Here! Thanks to students and staff who ordered during our first round of Lemon

Road Spiritwear orders! Look for your items to be delivered some time as soon

as next week. And great thanks to parents Susan Cole and Pam Slipakoff

for organizing!

Piano Lessons!

Lessons taught by an

experienced elementary music

teacher.

Accepting beginner and

intermediate students.

Contact Mrs. Finley, 571-294-

6899.

“Mrs. Finley is a wonderful music teacher;

not only is my daughter learning to play

the piano but she is developing a genuine

love and appreciation of music overall.

She shares her love of music in an infec-

tious and inspiring way.”

- S. Gruenfelder

Your

AD

could be

here!

Contact Terri Edillon at te-

dillon@verizon.net if you

are interested in

advertising your business

in our monthly newsletter.

LEMON ROAD ELEMENTARY FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 4

Thank you to our

Boosterthon

Sponsors!!

Get ready for the Boosterthon!

We need your help connecting your child to sponsors to support them in their Fun Run! The

first thing you must do is register your student on www.funrun.com. To get started

on www.funrun.com, please follow these simple steps:

Sign up as a parent on www.funrun.com by clicking the "Parent Sign Up" button.

**If you’ve signed up before and cannot remember your password, click the "Forgot Pass-

word?" button.

Once you are logged on, click the "Register a Participant” button on the Home Page, and enter

your student’s pledge code. Your student’s classroom pledge code can be found on the next page

and is based on his/her teacher. Please double-check that you are using the correct code.

Once registered, you can begin collecting pledges: start now! We are hoping to raise funds to

support a number of important

efforts at the school through the

PTA and encourage everyone to

participate.

The Boosterthon starts with a

Pep Rally Tuesday, February

24, and culminates in a Fun

Run Friday, March 6th. Please

support your child in helping to

collect pledges. And please

come out to support them in the

Fun Run!

Thank you again for supporting

Lemon Road Elementary!

Please contact Christine Calpin

at pccalpin@yahoo.com if you

have any questions

or check out the PTA website at

lemonroadpta.org.

Thank you sponsors!

Pledge Codes for Boosterthon

When registering your child, please be sure to use the code

associated with his or her teacher

Teacher Grade Pledge Code

Heffron Other 4349-9188

Knutsen Pre-K 3927-5754

Prior Pre-K 3381-2784

Brown Kindergarten 9718-2462

Denny Kindergarten 7832-7300

Roman Kindergarten 5613-9619

Howard 1st 7203-6964

Patterson 1st 4272-5033

Schreiner 1st 9618-8972

Park 2nd 7757-1724

Rowe 2nd 1543-5340

Allen 3rd 7701-3591

Mortson 3rd 3986-0218

Senty 3rd 8837-8791

Atkinson 4th 5694-3683

Krieger 4th 3466-4382

Mohr 4th 8021-6191

Albright 5th 3290-6811

Sherry 5th 2417-9181

Spencer 5th 7176-1747

Miller 6th 1939-6236

Parker 6th 7954-6588

Rzodkiewicz 6th 2211-8161

Veneman 6th 8417-5475

Lemon Road Elementary PTA 2014-15 Fundraiser!

We’re raising funds for our school! The Boosterthon Fun Run program is a healthy alternative to traditional product sales that raises

much-needed funds for our school and over 1400 others across America. The Boosterthon program

also promotes three specific values during the fun-filled experience: Fitness, Leadership, and Char-

acter.

This year’s character theme is ROCK’N TOWN LIVE, a music festival theme all about COMMUNI-

TY! Students will learn five ways to make their community rock where they live and play.

Great Communities…

Plug In To Serve

Amplify Others

Listen For Feedback

Play Hard

Thank Your Crowd

Boosterthon Fun Run Basics

The 9-day program will kick off with a 30-minute school-wide Pep Rally on Friday, February 27 and

conclude on Friday, March 6 with the Boosterthon Fun Run event.

Students will be getting pledges toward the number of laps they will run at the Boosterthon Fun

Run. Students will run between 30-35 laps. 35 is the lap max.

Every student participates in the Fun Run, regardless of pledges raised. Plus, they receive 6 daily

character stickers and have access to Boosterthon’s world-class character resources. Parents, you

must register your student on funrun.com in order for them to run. Just click the “Parent Per-

mission Box.” Your student will receive a FREE gift just for registering.

Remember to enter your student’s pledges on FUNRUN.COM, a safe and secure website that also

allows you to watch the character lessons students learn every day. Remember to include sponsors’

email addresses so they can receive a pledge confirmation. NOTE: Online payment option may be

offered.

How Can You Support Lemon Road Elementary PTA?

More information will come home with your child prior to the event.

This is the major fundraising event for the year!

Thanks in advance for supporting

Lemon Road Elementary PTA.

Connect your child to sponsors—friends & family—who can give a pledge. (phone, e-mail,

Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

Come and cheer on your child at the Boosterthon Fun Run on Friday, March 6!

Go to www.boosterthon.com to learn more about the Boosterthon Fun Run or connect at

www.facebook.com/boosterthon

Lemon Road

English

Language

Conversation

Group

Practice your English speaking skills at a free drop-in conversation group that is

designed to give adult English language learners practice speaking in an infor-

mal, relaxed atmosphere. No registration is necessary.

Lemon Road’s Parent Liaison, Katia Tinajero and Pamela Huffman, are offering

this conversation group for five sessions, held on Wednesday nights from 6:30 –

7:30, through February. In March, based on attendance, Katia and Pam will de-

cide whether or not to continue.

**Speakers of all languages are invited to practice English together.**

Lemon Road Elementary Cafeteria

Wednesday 6:30 – 7:30

February 25