440 N. Live Oak

Glendora, CA 91741

phone: 626-852-4593

Cheryl Bonner, Ed.D.

Principal

Stacy Dover,

PTA President

C u l l e n

E l e m e n t a r y

S c h o o l

M a y 2 0 1 3 E d i t o r , L o r i M i k e s e l l

a reminder, every PTA event/activity/

fundraiser is organized and manned

by volunteers in addition to the many

hours of volunteerism that occur in

classrooms during the year. This

giving of time, energy, and selves is

very much appreciated.

T hank you to the Cullen

staff for their dedication

and hard work in providing

a high quality and rigorous education-

al opportunity to each Cullen Condor.

I enjoy working with such high caliber

people who have a passion for what

they do and embrace the challenges

that come with this endeavor.

T hank you to the Founda-

tion for Glendora Unified

Schools and their contin-

ued efforts “to maintain, enhance,

and enrich the excellence of educa-

tion for all students within the Glen-

dora Unified School District.” Cullen

students directly benefit through

these efforts.

I n addition, please join me

in thanking Mrs. Okerson

and Miss Haughtelin for

their many years of challenging,

educating, and supporting stu-

dents, parents, and staff at Cul-

len. I believe I speak for all when

I say that we hope to see both of

them in the future, and continue

to benefit from their knowledge

and expertise, but wish them only

the best in their hard earned re-

tirements.

Summer is a great time to rest

and rejuvenate to take on the

challenges for the next year and I

wish each of you a restful and

relaxing summer. However, it is

also a great time to get lost in

reading. Please encourage your

children to do some “reading for

p l e a s -

Principal’s Message...

D ear Cullen Families,

As the year quickly

draws to a close, I would like to take

this opportunity to recognize the

efforts of all who have extended

themselves so that we can offer a

high quality educational experience

for Cullen students.

F irst, many thanks to Stacy

Dover for her leadership

of PTA and the incredible

volunteers who worked to provide

opportunities and enhancements to

the educational program offered at

Cullen Elementary School these

past two years. I believe it is incon-

ceivable the number of volunteer

hours that are accrued over the

course of a year. However, the tally

from the volunteer log indicated

that over 15,000 hours of time were

given on the part of volunteers. Just

Dear Cullen Fami-

lies,

The end of the

school year is fast

approaching....May

30, 2013 will be

here before we

know it! The end of

this school year is also the

end of my two year term as

your Cullen PTA President. It is

truly bittersweet, as I have

enjoyed working with every-

one: the PTA Executive Board,

PTA Committee's, staff and

also the Glendora Council

PTA, which includes all Glen-

dora Unified schools, as well as

library, police, school board, com-

munity services & district office

representatives. My experience with

our PTA has been many things over

the years, but most of all, enriching.

My grandma use to say, "The more

you give, the more you can give".

What does that mean? In my words,

it means giving is an energy that

goes out, giving goodwill, care, kind-

ness to others and in return, the

givers & recipients feel that energy

and want to give to others. The new-

er term for this is, "Pay it forward",

and I certainly see that as the life

force behind Cullen PTA. There is a

A Message from Your PTA President by Stacy Dover, Cullen PTA President 2012-13

continuous cycle of giving which

fuels our schools engine.

Each year Cullen PTA spends tens of

thousands of hours (no joke), volun-

teering time to the greater good of

our school. Our students, parents

and staff generate donations allow-

ing us to give tens of thousands of

dollars directly to our school. If you

ever wonder why our school is the

only one in town with an Arts & Sci-

ence Day...wonder no more...It's

PTA. If you wonder why our school

has been the only one with an annu-

al country carnival....It's PTA. If you

wonder how we have such an amaz-

ing computer

Cullen Voice

Continued on page 6

Continued on page 4

“...get lost in reading ...

and access

www.studyisland.com

for additional academ-

ic support during the

time off.”

U p c o m i n g E ve n t s

Installation Dinner May 6

Minimum Day May 7

Science Bowl May 8

Ross Festival May 9

Band Concert May 14

Awards Assembly May 16

Awards Assembly May 17

Arts & Science Day May 24

Memorial Day May 27

Minimum Day May 28

Dance Festival/

Minimum Day

May 29

Last Day of School /

Minimum Day

May 30

P a g e 2 E d i t o r , L o r i M i k e s e l l

ly’s, Martha’s Candy, Spaghetti Ed-

dies, Boomers, Sam’s Club, Vons,

Target, Costco, Mauricio’s, Robeks,

Wetzel’s Pretzels, Los Angeles Dodg-

ers, The Lakers, Kids Art Studio,

Chaparral Lanes, Legends, Staples,

Route 66 Motors and Shaker Shirts.

Yogurtland was also kind enough to

supply a coin for 3 oz. free yogurt to

everyone who participated. We were

very lucky to have so many donations

from so many different businesses;

this made our Move-a-thon the suc-

cess that it was!

Our winners…

1st place winner – Elizabeth Hanson

(Month of Art Lessons at Kids Art)

2nd place winner- Aiman Delos Santos

(Two tickets to Knott’s Berry

Farm)

3rd place winner- James Greep

(Dodger tickets)

4th place winner- Jandi Ellison

(Four tickets to the Science Center)

5th place winner—Adelina Ayala

6th place winner - Jeremy Goodman

The classroom bringing in the most

money was Mrs. Nelson’s class with

$986. The second place class was

Mrs. Fisher’s class with $945. And in

third place was Mrs. Harwick’s class

with $715.

Mrs. Lindahl’s classroom won the ice

cream party for having the entire

class bringing in at least $5.00

Thank you to everyone for all your

support!

Cullen School definitely got

MOVING in the month of April. We had

set a goal to make $5,000 on the Move-

a-thon and we exceeded it, which is very

exciting! Last year, this helped us to pur-

chase a new thermometer for the nurse,

tricycles for the kindergarteners and ta-

bles to extend the classroom outside and

assist with small groups and parent vol-

unteers. We still have our walk to Cold

Stone for those who raised $125.00 or

more. That will take place in May.

I would like to thank Mrs. Germann and

Mrs. Ellison for providing the oranges for

all our movers. Teachers as well as stu-

dents loved them. Everyone who donated

granola bars and water, they were very

much appreciated. A shout out goes to

our Cullen Move-a-thon t-shirt designer,

Brooke Handschin.

Thank you to Dr.. Bonner for her help,

support and entertaining commentary as

the students ran their laps; to Mrs. Cran-

dall and Mrs. Perry for fielding all the

questions and concerns. Thanks to our

custodian for setting the course up on

our big day.

Special thanks goes out to our markers

and all the people who helped set-up

and take down the day of the event.

Teachers as well as kids seemed to real-

ly enjoy themselves. I could not have

done this without the help of Marlene

Goodman, Kate Hamilton, Danielle

Benschop and Kelly Dunaway helping

collect money envelopes and counting

money on Monday and Tuesday morn-

ings. Kim Jones did an amazing job as a

Bingo Caller and thanks to Mrs. Pina for

her help at BINGO. It was great to see

those kids get so excited. This could not

have been done without all of your

help!!!!! Cullen is lucky to have so many

wonderful parents and teachers!

I would like to thank all of our prize do-

nors: Knott’s Berry Farm, The Quakes,

Laser Island, Chili’s, Golden Spoon, Til-

Cullen Exceeds Move-a-thon Goal by Lynn Greep, Fundraising Chairperson

Brooke Handschin, Move-a-thon T-

shirt designer

CULLEN ELEMENTARY PTA CALENDAR P a g e 3

Arts & Science Day Is Just Around the Corner!

Arts & Science Day is on

Friday, May 24th

and we still need volunteers!

Would you be interested in assisting with a class, helping with set-up or clean-up or

bringing a salad or dessert for our volunteer lunch?

If so, please contact:

Karyn Colasanti or Jill Sturkie

dkcolasanti@verizon.net jasturkie@msn.com

C u l l e n V o i c e

May 2013

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

PTA COUN-

CIL MEET-

ING

3 4

5 6

STAFF APPRECIA-

TION WEEK AND

PTA ASSOC./

INSTALLATION

DINNER

7

MINIMUM

DAY

8

SCIENCE

BOWL

9

ROSS FES-

TIVAL

10 11

12 13

14

BAND CON-

CERT

15 16

AWARDS PERFORMANCE ASSEMBLY

17

AWARDS PERFORMANCE ASSEMBLY

18

19 20

21 22 23

24

ARTS &

SCIENCE

DAY

25

26 27

Memorial Day

28

MINIMUM

DAY

29

DANCE FES-

TIVAL

MINIMUM

DAY

30

5TH GRADE PARTY

MINIMUM DAY

LAST DAY OF

SCHOOL

31

Mileage Club by Catherine Svagdis, Health and Safety Chair

Yearbook

News!

Thank you to

everyone who

took the time

to turn in

pictures for

the yearbook.

It is going to

be great!

We will be

passing out

the year-

books the

last week of

school. If you

have not

bought your

yearbook yet,

we have a

limited supply

that will be

on sale the

last two days

of school.

Yearbooks

will be sold

for $17.00.

Trina Loucks,

Yearbook

Committee

Coordinator

P a g e 4

C u l l e n V o i c e

“Thank you to

the Cullen staff

for their dedi-

cation and

efforts to pro-

vide a quality

and rigorous

educational

opportunity to

each Cullen

Condor.”

miles are as follows:

1st grade: Ellie (40 miles) and Heather

(55 miles)

2nd grade: Clara (35 miles) and Kayla

(50 miles)

3rd grade: Nicholas (100 miles),

Colin (55 miles) and Nolan (50

miles)

4th grade: Emily (25 miles) and

Natalie (30 miles)

5th grade: Jared (40 miles)

A big congratulations goes out to Nicho-

las Crowell in 3rd grade who completed

100 miles. He has shown great dedica-

After a wonderful year, Mileage Club

will be finishing for the school year

in May. The students have had a

wonderful time running or walking

their laps around the field. I have

heard stories of kids who found a

love of running as well

as kids who enjoy mile-

age club because it

gives them an ability to

set and reach goals.

Congratulations to all

the students who have

worked so hard this

year and who have dedi-

cated time to reach personal goals

and improve their fitness. The stu-

dents who have completed the most

day, May 30 and we will be on

an early out dismissal schedule

Tuesday, Wednesday, and

Thursday. Dance Festival will

be held on Wednesday, May 29

on the north playground and I

would invite you to attend the

8:30 performance.

School will resume again on

ure” during the summer months

and access www.studyisland.com

for additional academic support

during the time off. It is my hope

that every family enjoy time with

family and friends and experience

a restful, relaxing, and blissful

summer.

The last day of school is Thurs-

...Principal’s Message (continued) Wednesday, August 14. Have a

great summer and we will see you

in August!

Best wishes,

Cheryl Bonner

E d i t o r , L o r i M i k e s e l l

Thank you to

Foundation for

Glendora Unified

Schools and

their continued

efforts “to main-

tain, enhance,

and enrich the

excellence of

education for all

students within

the Glendora

Unified School

District.”

tion to reaching his

goal and we are all

very proud of

him!!!

Thank you also to all my awesome,

devoted volunteers who take time out

of their busy week to come provide

this opportunity for the students. Mile-

age Club would not run without you all

and I am so grateful for your help. A

special thanks to Shelby Izay and

Renee Emis who have attended to all

the details of mileage club this year.

I wish you all a safe and wonderful

summer and don’t forget to enjoy fit-

ness and health as a family. It is an

amazing gift to pass to your children.

Thank You for Your Box Tops! by Jenni Stephens, Box Tops & Campbell’s Labels

er you shop. When you use your

REDcard® (Target Credit Card®,

Target Debit Card® or Target®

Visa® Credit Card), Target® will

donate up to 1% of your purchases

to Cullen Elementary.

Grandparents, friends and neigh-

bors are all welcome to participate

in the program. The more people

we involve, the harder the program

works for our school. If you’re al-

ready participating, THANK YOU!

Thank you! Thank You! Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who helped to

collect Box Tops. This year we collected

a record of $1,580.59.

As the school year comes to an end,

please turn in your Box Tops & Camp-

bell’s UPC Labels to the office in the

Cullen Blue Collection Box. In addition

to collecting Box Tops and Labels, some

grocery stores, such as Vons, Albert-

sons and Ralphs give out Bonus Points

for both Box Tops for Educations and

Campbell’s Labels for Education when

you checkout. Please turn them in be-

fore they expire so I can enter the

codes in order to get the Bonus Cash

for Cullen.

Another way you can help get Bonus

Cash for Cullen is to register at:

2Ways2Earn.com and GrowingLo-

calLearning.com. Receive 5 Box Tops

for just registering. Register for Camp-

bell’s at: eLabelsForEducation.com/

safeway. When registering, follow in-

structions, pick a participating retailer

where you shop, enter you shopper card

number and pick your school: Cullen

Elementary PTA/PTO.

Did you know there’s an easy way to

help us raise money for our school? It’s

called Take Charge of Education®, and

it’s helping our school right now. Here’s

how it works: Visit Target.com/tcoe or

call 1-800-316-6142 to designate our

school, then use your REDcard whenev-

P a g e 5

T h e C u l l e n V o i c e

If you have ever wondered where the money we generate is spent, we have compiled a list of just a handful of

things Cullen PTA has paid for, and/or dollar amounts donated to the school in just the last 7 YEARS!

* MIND Institute computer upgrade for at-home tablet use - $4,000

* Over $31,500 to teachers for supplies and classroom expenses (over the past 7 years)

* Yellow Bus Program - Buses to LA Co. Fair - $3,500 (7 years)

* Field Trip admission & Buses - $67,900 (7 years)

* 4 Outdoor, heavy-duty picnic tables - $3,735.59

* 4 heavy-use tricycles and safety signs - $930.89

* School Nurse thermometer - $258.83

* Classroom Smart Boards - $15,935.72

* Gift to school - $2,217.80

* Computers for school-wide computer lab - $15,000

* Computer Projector - $658.28

* MIND Institute perpetual contract (Our Jiji math lab contract) - $8,616.70

* Digital Camera for PTA/Yearbook use - $343.73

.....That is $154,617.74 in PTA FUNDED EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES & ENRICHMENT and growing every year!

Thank you to all of our generous supporters! Your money is being

well-spent on the Cullen students' education!

*This amount does not include annual school wide programs such as the Cullen Country Carnival, Arts & Science Day, assem-

blies, Art Docent/Enrichment, Science Fair, Weekly Readers, Literacy Week, Spirit Day, Reflections, Red Ribbon Week, Year-

book, Mileage Club, Family Nights, Book Fair, School T-shirts, Special Events, Annual computer lab fees, and DEAP supplies.*

PTA...What have we done for CULLEN lately? by Stacy Dover, Cullen PTA President 2011-13

Advertise your business in The Cullen Voice! Your advertisement will appear in our bimonthly newsletter through May

2013 for the small price of $30. Please contact our editor, Lori Mikesell, with questions and to provide your ad at

belbrax@msn.com or 626-675-6711.

Jump Rope For Heart

P a g e 6

T h e C u l l e n V o i c e

lab for our students...PTA was a big part

of that lab becoming what it is today (we

donated over $15,000 for computers

and a projector).

Our parents and staff create an environ-

ment that is, in my opinion, a top-notch

learning community. To continue being

such, I would encourage you to think

...from Your PTA President (continued)

about how you can help out next

year.....every little bit counts, and you

may be surprised how good you feel.

And if you have been helping, please

know you are appreciated. I hope you

have experienced the same self-less

joy I have working for our kids.

In closing, please join me in welcoming our

new President, Danielle Benschop. She will

be your Cullen PTA President for 2013-14

and has been well-trained to take on the job!

Have a wonderful summer...and see you

next school year!

Cullen's annual Jump Rope For Heart was a

huge success! Students raised over

$6,400.00 for the American Heart Associa-

tion. Thank you for your generous donations

in the fight against heart disease and stroke.

Cullen kids are making a difference!

Cullen Art Show & Family Night

Roger and Tesha Feliciano thank all of the won-

derful parent volunteers who helped with the Cul-

len Art Show & Family Night. It was a fun even-

ing for all and we truly have some amazing artists

at Cullen.

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