BEEP BEEP - cerritospto.org€¦ · BEEP BEEP VOLUME 18, ISSUE 8 | March 2014 Student Council’s...
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Important Dates: Monday, March 24 Report Cards Go Home Thursday, March 27 Incoming 6th Grade Parent Orientation Night at Altadena 6:00pm Thursday, March 27 PTO General Meeting (Elections) 7:00pm Friday, March 28 Spirit Day: Hawaii Day Friday, March 28—EXTENDED! * Final Due Date for Spring Carnival Raffle Basket Donations March 31—April 4 Student Council’s Kyrene Family Resource Center Drive (canned food & school supplies) Friday, April 4 Spring Carnival 5:30pm—8:30pm April 7-17 AIMS Testing Thursday, April 17 PTO Board Meeting 9:00am Thursday, April 17 Lunch on the Lawn Friday, April 18 NO SCHOOL Thursday, May 1 Leadership Day May 5-9 Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week Thursday, May 15 PTO General Meeting 7:00pm Tuesday, May 20 End-of-Year Classroom Parties Wednesday, May 21 Last Day of School (Early Release) BEEP BEEP VOLUME 18, ISSUE 8 | March 2014 Dear Cerritos Families, Can you believe we have already started the 4th quarter of the school year? As my son recently came home and said, “Mom, it’s like the 4th quarter of the football game. We’ve got to finish strong.” And that’s no easy feat with standardized testing right around the corner! AIMS testing will be held at Cerritos from April 7-17 for students in grades 3-5. Students in second grade will take the Stanford 10 test. As parents, here are some things we can do to help our child be ready for testing on these days: Make sure your child is on-time to school the days of testing. This helps your child to be more calm and focused when testing time arrives. Ensure that your child is well rested. According to WebMD, a typical 7-12 year old needs 10-11 hours of sleep per night. Consider limiting after-school activities during this testing period to make sure that your child is not over-tired. Prepare a healthy breakfast that is high-protein, low-sugar. A good breakfast will give them extra energy and help them stay alert during their day. Some breakfast ideas are eggs, bananas, oatmeal, healthy cereal, protein shakes and fruit smoothies. Our teachers have done a great job preparing our children for what they need to know academically. As parents, we can best support our children during the testing process by making sure that they are physically prepared for testing. And, remember, work hard, play hard! Be sure to take time to “sharpen the saw!” with your kids—especially during the month of April. One way to do that is to attend some of our spring events. The Spring Carnival is the BIGGEST event of the school year! Friday, April 4 — it will be a night jam packed full of fun—food, inflatables, carnival games, first ever marshmallow launch, a petting zoo, cake walk, face painting, balloon animals, raffle baskets, shopping from local businesses and great music by DJ Mr. G! (BTW—We will need lots of volunteers for it to be successful, so please sign up to work a shift during the night of the carnival.) Also, don’t miss the Lunch on the Lawn on Thursday, April 17 during your child’s normal lunch period. This is another great way to pause and enjoy the beautiful Arizona weather while sharing lunch with your child and other Cerritos families! So, let’s rally together in this 4th quarter and finish strong! Go Roadrunners! Janie Miller PTO Communications Volunteer Sign-up Quick Links: Spring Carnival: click here PTO Workroom Days: click here
Transcript of BEEP BEEP - cerritospto.org€¦ · BEEP BEEP VOLUME 18, ISSUE 8 | March 2014 Student Council’s...
Important Dates:
Monday, March 24 Report Cards Go Home
Thursday, March 27 Incoming 6th Grade Parent Orientation Night at Altadena 6:00pm
Thursday, March 27 PTO General Meeting (Elections) 7:00pm
Friday, March 28 Spirit Day: Hawaii Day
Friday, March 28—EXTENDED! * Final Due Date for Spring Carnival Raffle Basket Donations
March 31—April 4 Student Council’s Kyrene Family Resource Center Drive (canned food & school supplies)
Friday, April 4 Spring Carnival 5:30pm—8:30pm
April 7-17 AIMS Testing
Thursday, April 17 PTO Board Meeting 9:00am
Thursday, April 17 Lunch on the Lawn
Friday, April 18 NO SCHOOL
Thursday, May 1 Leadership Day
May 5-9 Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week
Thursday, May 15 PTO General Meeting 7:00pm
Tuesday, May 20 End-of-Year Classroom Parties
Wednesday, May 21 Last Day of School (Early Release)
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VOLUME 18, ISSUE 8 | March 2014
Dear Cerritos Families,
Can you believe we have already started the 4th quarter of the school year? As my son recently came home and said, “Mom, it’s like the 4th quarter of the football game. We’ve got to finish strong.”
And that’s no easy feat with standardized testing right around the corner! AIMS testing will be held at Cerritos from April 7-17 for students in grades 3-5. Students in second grade will take the Stanford 10 test. As parents, here are some things we can do to help our child be ready for testing on these days:
Make sure your child is on-time to school the days of testing. This
helps your child to be more calm and focused when testing time arrives.
Ensure that your child is well rested. According to WebMD, a typical 7-12
year old needs 10-11 hours of sleep per night. Consider limiting after-school activities during this testing period to make sure that your child is not over-tired.
Prepare a healthy breakfast that is high-protein, low-sugar. A good
breakfast will give them extra energy and help them stay alert during their day. Some breakfast ideas are eggs, bananas, oatmeal, healthy cereal, protein shakes and fruit smoothies.
Our teachers have done a great job preparing our children for what they need to know academically. As parents, we can best support our children during the testing process by making sure that they are physically prepared for testing.
And, remember, work hard, play hard! Be sure to take time to “sharpen the saw!” with your kids—especially during the month of April. One way to do that is to attend some of
our spring events. The Spring Carnival is the BIGGEST event of the school year!
Friday, April 4 — it will be a night jam packed full of fun—food, inflatables, carnival
games, first ever marshmallow launch, a petting zoo, cake walk, face painting, balloon animals, raffle baskets, shopping from local businesses and great music by DJ Mr. G! (BTW—We will need lots of volunteers for it to be successful, so please sign up to work a shift during the night of the carnival.)
Also, don’t miss the Lunch on the Lawn on Thursday, April 17 during your child’s
normal lunch period. This is another great way to pause and enjoy the beautiful Arizona weather while sharing lunch with your child and other Cerritos families!
So, let’s rally together in this 4th quarter and finish strong! Go Roadrunners!
Janie Miller
PTO Communications
Volunteer Sign-up Quick Links:
Spring Carnival: click here
PTO Workroom Days: click here
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VOLUME 18, ISSUE 8 | March 2014
Vice President
Secretary
Communications
Coordinator (2)
Volunteer
Coordinator (2)
President
Treasurer
Financial
Secretary
Historian
Hospitality (2)
Nomination forms should be submitted by Tuesday, March 25. Elections will be held during the General PTO Meeting on Thursday, March 27. The term of the new board will be May 1, 2014 through May 31, 2015. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Angela Parnell at [email protected].
2014-15 PTO Executive
Board Elections
The PTO is looking for parents who are interested in taking on a leadership role on the PTO Board for the upcoming school year. Open positions include:
Read-a-Thon was Smooth Sailing!
We hope that your child enjoyed our first Cerritos PTO Read-a-Thon! Many students even read above and beyond the recommended 15-20 minutes per night!
Cerritos students read a grand total of 107,600 minutes! (that equates to 75 days of reading!) Every student that participated received a “Cerritos Readers are Leaders” brag tag.
Congratulations to all those students who placed 1st or 2nd in their class for total minutes read! 1st place winners received a $15 gift card for the Book Fair, while 2nd place winners received $10.
Congratulations to the following classes for logging the most minutes for their grade level:
Extended Resource—Ms. Wludyga’s Class
PreK—Ms. Pat’s Class
K—Ms. Lock’s Class
1—Ms. Makela’s Class
2— Ms. Andren’s Class
3—Ms. Callaghan’s Class
4—Ms. Berg’s Class
5—Mr. Pysher’s Class
Each of these teachers received a $50 gift card for additional books for their classroom.
Congratulations to Ms. Callaghan’s Class for having the highest participation and reading the MOST MINUTES of any class in the school — 9,380!
Congratulations to our 2 raffle winners —- Aubrey Miller (Mrs. Hilstrom’s class) and Logan Jahaf (Mrs. Wolf’s class)! Each received a $50 gift card for the Book Fair.
So, overall, the total cash value of prizes given from the book fair was….. $1,125!
Thanks to all of the Cerritos families that supported the Read-a-Thon! Together, we raised more than $3,000 for our teachers/classrooms!
Most importantly, we hope that your child discovered a new favorite book during the Read-a-Thon!
Read-a-Thon Thank Yous
Thanks to Angela Parnell and Jill Spangler for helping to make our first Cerritos Read-a-Thon a success!
Laura Wallis—Thank you for spearheading this effort even though you already had a full plate! As always, you did a great job!
One of our favorite reading logs!
Spring Carnival Basket Donations
** Deadline Extended! **
The deadline for donations for the Spring Carnival raffle baskets has been extended to next Friday, March 28! We are really excited about the donations that have been made so far! Keep ‘em coming! Remember, the basket that receives the most raffle tickets at each grade level will not only win “Best Basket” bragging rights, but also a Pizza Party! Click here to find your class’s sign up!
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Bone Marrow Drive
The Ahwatukee Community is coming together to help save the life of Ryan Kibby, a freshman at Desert Vista High School with severe Aplastic Anemia. The search is on for someone (18-44 years old) who might be a bone marrow match.
A Bone Marrow Drive will be held at Desert Vista High School on March 22 from 12pm-3pm in the small gym. For more information about bone marrow donation, please click here.
Spring Carnival Friday, April 4 5:30-8:30pm
Bring the family & join us for some great family fun!
Food (pizza, hot dogs, popcorn, ice cream &
candy)
New Inflatables including giant human hamster
balls, wrecking ball, obstacle course, bungee
run, slides, bouncers, and games
Carnival games with prizes
Petting Zoo
Cake Walk
Face Painting
Balloon Animals
Music by DJ Mr. G
Shopping from local businesses
20+ Raffle Baskets, including a basket from
Team Orthodontics worth over $1200!
And the first ever Cerritos Marshmallow
Launch!
Carnival Pre-Orders:
Hand stamps, tickets, and marsh-mallow launchers can be pre-ordered or purchased the night of
the carnival. Hand stamps will allow for unlim-ited use of the inflatables. Food and other ac-tivities will require tickets. To pre-order hand stamps, tickets, and/or marshmallow launchers, please see the attached Carnival Pre-Order Form. Carnival Pre-order Forms will be due by Tuesday, April 1.
Special note: Raffle Tickets for the baskets will only be available the night of the carnival at the Raffle Station.
Volunteers:
Volunteers are needed to work at the various stations during the carnival. That night, we will need more than 50 volunteers, so please consid-er volunteering for at least one shift (and grab a friend to volunteer with you!)
To volunteer, please click here.
Win prizes for your
teacher at our first
ever Cerritos
Marshmallow Launch!
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Student Council’s Kyrene Family
Resource Center Drive
Student Council will be having our annual Kyrene Family Resource Drive during the week of March 31st-
April 4th. We will be collecting canned foods and school supplies to help families in need be the best they can be for AIMS testing week which starts April 7th. Students will earn 1 ticket for
the Spring Carnival for every 5 cans/items that they donate (up to 10 tickets total per person). Donations will be kept in Mrs. DiCosmo’s office again this year and we are hoping she has to work at Mrs. Jamieson’s chair due her office overflowing with cans and supplies!
80’s Dance Thank Yous
The 80’s Dance was a totally rad time thanks
to our marvelous team of volunteers:
Jennifer Bhagat, Zach Budzik, Chylon Brigham, Marisol Carrizoza, Kate Elliott, Lyn Gerdis, Garrett Giesen, Scott Giesen, Karla Herder, Kaden Holt, John Jurik, Mrs. McKenna, Ms. Mandola, Angela Parnell, Allie Schenach, Kiana Schenach, Shannon Smith, Jill Spangler, Laura Wallis, and Mrs. Wolf.
We’d also like to send out a special thanks to…
Mr. Gilbert for helping to set-up and clean-up.
Mr. Guerrero for his awesome tunes.
Carlos Hualde of “Bad Dogs Company” for the delicious hot dogs (and a donation of $110 to Cerritos)
Jessica & Dennis from “Goof Booth Photo Booth” for all their patience and for the super cool photo booth!
Ms. Cook for stepping in for Mrs. DiCosmo and Mrs. Collins. She was a great leader!
And finally, a HUGE THANK YOU to Lori Giesen for chairing this fun event! A great time was had by all!
Muchas Gracias to Our Book
Fair Volunteers
The Spring Book Fair was a very successful fiesta! When combined, the fall and spring book fairs put over $12,000 of books into our school! Thank you to the following individuals who helped make it happen:
Jennifer Bhagat, Marianne Danks, Fiona Dillon, Nikki
Dranias, Valerie Godwin, Jessica Harris, Frostee
McCluster, Mrs. Nordahl, Kimberly Oeberst, Danielle
Patterson, Lisa Ramirez, Rachel Schurz, Jill Spangler,
Leslie Swanson, Claudia Taylor, Christina Weinmann,
Lindsey Worthen, and Brandee Zeal
We are so grateful to Andrea Cowley and Laura Wallis for co-chairing this event! Thank you for all your time, energy, and sacrifice! Once again, you did an amazing job!
Calling All 5th Grade Parents!
Altadena Middle School is hosting a Parent Orientation Meeting on Thursday, March 27 at 6pm. The purpose of this meeting is to facilitate
the transition from elementary school to middle school. Nancy Corner, the principal at Altadena, and Anne Watkinson, 6th grade administrator, will do a presentation along with a question & answer session. In addition, parents will receive a tour of the 6th grade classrooms as well as meet other families with incoming 6th graders. For more information, please click here.
Cerritos List Serv Announcements
Are you currently receiving email announcements from the school and the PTO? If not, be sure to sign up for the Cerritos List Serv. Here’s how:
Navigate to Kyrene District Website—Newsletters page.
Select the check box for “Kyrene de los Cerritos
Elementary”
Specify your email address and name.
Click “Subscribe” button.
Staff Spotlight: Pat McCleve, Music Teacher
Hometown: Alpena, Michigan
Schooling / Professional Background: B.A. in Music from Olivet College in Michigan and a Master’s of Music from Arizona State University.
Why You Chose to Be a Teacher / What Inspired You to be a Teacher: Teaching is a calling, in my opinion, and it was just something I always felt called to do. I remember playing school from a young age—reading to my stuffed animals. I did not decide to be a music teacher until I was a senior in high school.
What You Enjoy Most About Teaching Music: The joy it brings everyone… you simply can’t sing and play all these fun instruments and not have a little bit of fun!
Hobbies/Favorite Things to Do Outside of Work: reading, walking, working out, shopping. Oh — and drinking coffee.
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Staff Spotlight: Mary Ellen Attanucci, Music Teacher
Hometown: Jacksonville, FL but most of my childhood, I lived in Winter Park, FL, just outside of Orlando. Later, we moved back to Arizona where my husband grew up. Our two children grew up here as well.
Schooling / Professional Background: B.A. in Music Education from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida and a M.M. (Master of Music) from Arizona State University.
Why You Chose to Be a Teacher / What Inspired You to be a Teacher: I started music lessons in 2nd grade. Then I had to stop for a while. Once I began again, I could hardly wait for the next lesson to come. Then I couldn’t wait to start showing everybody what I learned and what they could learn.
What You Enjoy Most About Teaching Music: I like the variety of teaching many different grade levels. I also like getting to know the students over a long period of time and seeing how each student brings their special characteristics or gifts to the classroom.
Hobbies/Favorite Things to Do Outside of Work: Spending time with all our family here, in Florida, in California, and in Oregon. We have nearly 20 relatives in the Phoenix area so holidays and football season are busy times. I also love gardening when I have the chance and going to see plays (musicals, of course!)
One Little-Known Fact about You: I lived in Orlando when Disney World opened. I was able to be in the opening day parade, riding a tandem bicycle down Main Street USA.
PTO Workroom Days: Our volunteers have been busy in the workroom helping teachers with their materials preparation. A sincere thanks to Valerie Godwin, Brittany Hamlin, Jessica Harris, Gayle Jurik, John Jurik, Allie Schenach, Rachel Schurz, Jill Spangler, Leslie Swanson, Debbie True, Christina Weinmann, Louise Yanock, and Brandee Zeal for volunteering in the workroom in February!
Congratulations to Louise Yanock for winning our February Workroom Days Gift Card Raffle! We are surprising her with a gift card from Bath & Body Works!
Enjoy some relaxing bath salts, scented body lotion, or a wonderfully, fragranced Wallflower on us!
To signup for Workroom Days, please click here.
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At Cerritos, we have so many committed parent volunteers who donate
much of their time, money, and energy. Here is one that you’ll have to be
sure to meet!
Kids Care Club Seeks Donations
One of the activities that Kids Care Club does throughout the year is make birthday bags for children at the homeless shelter. The children are typically middle school aged boys and girls. Kids Care is asking for your help in donating items to fill these bags such as silly putty, books (middle school aged), hair accessories, lip gloss, nail polish, and other small items. Donations can be sent in through your classroom teacher or dropped off at the Front Office. Just be sure to label them for “Kids Care”.
Thank you in advance!
Volunteer Spotlight: Malia Heaton
Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri Professional Background: Realtor for 17 years with Home Smart Realty Children (ages & years in school): Sam & Sophie—twins, 3rd grade How long you’ve been at Cerritos: Since Kindergarten Types of PTO Activities you like to volunteer for: I like to volunteer for Kids Care, class parties, and school festivals. Why you like to volunteer for the PTO: I enjoy volunteering for the PTO in order to help out where needed and to enrich our school. One thing you LOVE about Cerritos: One of the things I value about Cerritos is the great families and the community in which we live.
When our Kids Care Club coordinator recently had to take a break for personal reasons, Malia stepped up to take her place and keep this club active and thriving. She dedicates time weekly to help provide community service opportunities to our students. In this way, our kids can learn the value of giving back to others in our community who are not as fortunate. Please be sure to look for her in Kids Care on Wednesdays and let her know how much we value her at Cerritos!
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2013-2014 Cerritos PTO Executive Board
Annette Montgomery Treasurer
Email: [email protected]
Angela Parnell Vice President
Email: [email protected]
Heidi Grant Financial Secretary
Email: [email protected]
Janie Miller Communications
Email: [email protected]
Jazmyne Ivey Historian
Email: [email protected]
Shannon Smith Volunteer Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Laura Wallis President
Email: [email protected]
Jennifer Bhagat Hospitality
Email: [email protected]
Kari Watson Secretary
Email: [email protected]
Don’t forget to use the Cerritos Amazon link when making purchases on Amazon!
Hospitality Thank Yous
Continued thanks to Jennifer Bhagat and Natalie Hansen for their hospitality efforts on behalf of the PTO! They recently provided dinner
and snacks to the teachers during the evening parent/teacher conferences! You both are amazing and we appreciate you!
Thank You to Our Fabulous
Yearbook Volunteers!
We had a great team of volunteers downloading, uploading, formatting, designing, and proofing our school yearbook this year!
Thanks to all the classroom photographers and all the parents who took time to upload pictures to the website.
Thanks go out to the page layout designers: Chylon Brigham, Kate Elliott, John Jurik, Jazmyne Ivey, Michele Lamp, Amy Richardson, and Allie Schenach.
Thank you to Celeste, Terri, and all the teachers who proofed pictures for us along the way!
A BIG THANKS to Angela Parnell, Deanna Shah, and Laura Wallis for stepping up and coordinating this amazing effort!
We are all very excited to see the finished product! What a great book of memories it will be for years to come for our kids!
Cerritos PTO presents the...
Spring Carnival Friday, April 4 5:30—8:30 pm
CARNIVAL PRE-ORDERS
Student’s Name: ___________________ Grade: ____ Teacher: _______________
# of Hand Stamps: ________ x $10/each = _______
# of Tickets: ________ x $.50/each = _______
# of Marshmallow Launchers: _______ x $4/each = _______
TOTAL $ = _________
CASH CHECK (made payable to Cerritos PTO)
CREDIT CARD
Ticket Pre-Order Form is due by Tuesday, April 1. Completed forms can be returned to your classroom teacher or the front office. Ticket Pre-Orders will be available at the Ticket Booth the night of the carnival.
For Credit Card Payments:
Credit Card Number:
___________________________________
Name on Credit Card:
___________________________________
Expiration Date: ________________
Phone #: ___________________________
CCV Code (3 digits on back or 4 digits on
front of AMEX): __________________
Zip Code of Billing Address:
_________________
Approval Signature:
___________________________________
Food—Pizza, Hot Dogs, Popcorn, Ice Cream, & Candy (1-8 tickets)
New Inflatables, including: Giant Human Hamster Balls
(4 tickets), Wrecking Ball, Obstacle Course, Bungee Run, Slides,
Bouncers, and Games (all 2 tickets) (Hand Stamp allows
unlimited use of all inflatables.)
Carnival Games with Prizes (1 ticket each)
Petting Zoo (2 tickets)
Cake Walk (2 tickets)
Face Painting (2 tickets)
Balloon Animals (2 tickets)
Music by DJ Mr. G
Shopping from local businesses
20+ Raffle Baskets, including a
basket from Team Orthodontics worth over $1200!
Win Prizes For Your Teacher at the First Ever
Cerritos Marshmallow Launch!
Compete with your fellow classmates to win prizes for your
teacher by launching the most marshmallows at your teacher!
Launchers are for sale with a small bag of marshmallows for $4.
Launchers can be pre-ordered or will also be available the night
of the carnival and can be decorated for free!
All Ticket Pre-Orders will receive a bonus of 5 free tickets!
