PTA Mission Statement: It is the mission of the Fair Haven PTA to promote the welfare, safety and educational development of our children in the home, school and community through the cooperative efforts of parents and teachers.

A P u B L i C A T i O N O F T h E P A R E N T T E A C h E R A S S O C i A T i O N • F A i R h A v E N N J • M A y / J u N E 2 0 1 3

From the PTa PresidentThe 2012–2013 school year has flown by. i have had the privilege of working with so many Fair haven parents this year. it has been a pleasure for me to serve as the PTA President. i had a lot of fun and definitely learned so much along the way. i end the year with an appreciation for being part of such a wonderful community.

When i began the year i adopted my motto from my youngest child’s favorite book, Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes. Pete keeps stepping in every-thing in his brand new white shoes, causing the shoes to change colors. in the end, he steps in a puddle, which makes his shoes white again. The moral of the story, according to the author, is “No matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song, because it’s all good.” i can’t tell you how many times i went back to that line this year. it really is true, no matter what happened this year it always ended up work-ing out. All of the volunteers did an amazing job of making it ‘all good’. i thank you all for that!

Thanks to the generous sup-port of parents, we were able to raise funds for our children and the schools they attend. This year the PTA sponsored numerous assemblies at both schools, provided the teach-ers at Sickles School with

iPads that have been used to enhance the students’ learning experiences on a daily basis, purchased new rugs for all of the Sickles classrooms, and financially supported many pro-grams at Knollwood, including Stokes, the 8th grade dance, Centra State, and DARE, to name a few. in addition, we contributed towards the school and classroom libraries, pro-vided financial assistance for educational class trips and hosted Staff Appreciation week for our amazing teachers and staff. All of this is made pos-sible by the constant support of the parents, through endless hours of volunteering, as well as attending and supporting our fundraisers.

i end the year with a feeling of accomplishment. Thank you to all who have helped along the way. To my PTA Board, it has been so much fun working with you. i wish you the best of luck next year as you continue on our mission, which is to pro-mote the welfare, safety and educational development of our children. i especially thank my own “friends and family” for their support and for sharing me with the PTA.

i wish you all a safe, fun-filled summer.

Laura Nolan

PTa MeetingsMay 9th, Knollwood APR, 1:15pm

Nelson Ribon will be speaking about “Transition Day” and what parents and students can expect as

the move over to Knollwood in September.

The 2013–2014 PTA Executive Board slate of candidates will be presented.

June 13th, PTA meeting and Parents Night Out, The Downtown, Red Bank, 7:00 pm

SAvE ThE DATE !rachel Simmons

Forrestdale Middle School, rumsonMay 8th, 7:00–9:00pm

rachel Simmons, author, educator and coach will speak, answer questions and sign books next week in Rumson. Sponsored by

the Fair haven PTA, the Rumson PTO and the Junior League of Monmouth County, this is an event every parent of girls will find valuable.

As an intimate observer of girls’ social worlds, speaker rachel Simmons offers parents a

window into the hidden culture of girls’ aggression. Every year, she empowers

thousands of parents to help their daughters negotiate some of the most

painful moments of their lives.Weaving down-to-earth advice with analysis of girl’s development, Simmons provides

parents with concrete strategies and scripts to help kids cope with best friends, worst enemies and everything in between.

Simmons also coaches parents on monitoring their girls’ use of social media

dancing With the StarsOn behalf of the Fair Haven PTA, thank you to all of the “Friends and Families of Fair Haven” who vol-unteered, supported, and attended our sold-out, first ever evening fundraising event. The “Dancing with

the Fair Haven Stars,” was held on March 23rd at Navesink Country Club. We raised over

$31,000 to use towards achieving our mission to promote the welfare, safety and educational development of the children of Fair Haven!

The night wouldn’t have happened without the dedication of our brave dancing “stars:”

Lauren and Rob Steets, Theresa and Shannon Winters and Jen and Jesse Muscarello, who hustled, tangoed, and rum-baed in competition for the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy. After months of instruction with Dianna Dray of D’s Latin and Ballroom Dance Studio in Fair Haven, these couples left it all on the dance floor and wowed everyone with their costumes, talent and enthusiasm. The judges’ scores were very close, but at the end of the night, the Winters —with their sultry tango—took home the Mirror Ball Trophy! It was an exciting finale to a wonderful evening.

Three lucky winners took home mini iPads from our Mirror Ball Raffle: Bennett Coleman, Sandy Sandoli and Tracy Rehder, and the winner of the 50/50 was Stephanie Busch.

Many thanks again to our generous sponsors, Kick Dance Studios, Mario Venancio of Gloria Nilson Realtors, Lauren Porter of Edward Jones, and Coastal Décor. In addition, thank you to; our Mirror Ball iPad Mini Raffle sponsors, Andrew and Stephanie Bates, The Haven, and Mike Halfacre, our host, for keeping the rest of us on the dance floor throughout the night!

Thank you to Megan Pelino-Whalen and Cheryl McBarron, and their all-star team of volunteers, especially Judy Horan and Kathy Ramirez, our auction chairs. Please go to www.fairhavenpta.com or to the PTA facebook page for photos and video of the dancers’ performances. Questions? Contact Bennett Coleman, bennettcoleman@mac.com. !

attention Third Grade Families!Tuesday, june 4th is Transition Day for the Third grade students. (Rain Date: June 10th)

Friday, june 14th is the Third grade show. Families are invited to attend the 9:30am performance in the Sickles School APR.

Charitable Giving

For our final event of the year, the Charitable Giving committee is throwing a Baby Shower! During the week of May 20th–24th we will be collecting much needed baby supplies for families stay-ing at the Ronald McDonald House in Long Branch. All items donated must be NEW. Items requested include: preemie & newborn cloth-ing (especially neutral or boys), baby grooming/care products, hooded towels, dia-pers, small hangers, bottles, pacifiers, teething rings, baby toys, and gift cards to Babies R Us, Toys R Us, or Target. Alternatively, there are larger/more expensive items on the

RMH wish list, such as infant carriers, car seats, strollers, etc. Grouping together to donate one of these larger items instead is also wel-comed and encouraged.

The staff of the Ronald McDonald House in Long Branch has been amazed at the caring and generosity of our Sickles and Knollwood families, and has expressed deepest thanks for all you have done for their families. We thank you for helping to make our efforts for them so successful, and thank you in advance for your participation and support in this Baby Shower!

Look for our flyer in early May. In the meantime, please contact Jen Amabile (theamabiles@verizon.net ), Steph Giardino (sgiardino@hotmail.com ), or Rachel Griffin (thegriffinfive@gmail.com) with any questions. !

Sickles and Knollwood Book Fairs

Thank you to all of our Book Fair volunteers! The Fairs were a great success and we could not have

done it without you. We hope to see you again next year!

Beth delVecchio, Peggy dengler, Kerry Macguire, Beth Sanville and Heather Sypeck, the Sickles Team

Claire Theodore, debbie Gerbman, and diane Hogan-nives, the Knollwood Team

Fifth Grade BabysittingJust in time for a summer job! The Fifth Grade Babysitting Course will be held on May 31st and June 3rd. This course will cover all the babysitting essentials; safety, infant care, sticky situations, what to play with the kids and some basic first aid. Keep an eye out for information and sign-ups. Questions? Contact Heather Boyle at hboyle@hotmail.com. !

Family Fun dayKeansburg Waterpark, Thursday, June 20th

Temperatures are rising and this school year is soon com-ing to an end! Please join us on Thursday, June 20th from 2:00 pm–4:00 pm, at the newly rebuilt Keansburg Waterpark to celebrate the end of the school year with friends. Ticket information soon to come on the PTA Blast emails. As always, please feel free to contact Melanie Brown at browns717@gmail.com or Elle Riva at eleanorriva@aol.com, if you have any questions. !

Sickles Field dayA fun-filled day for all. Students will participate in various activities as a class. Please have your child wear sneakers and clothing appropriate for outdoor activity.

First–Third Grades: Wednesday, June 5th (Rain Date: Thursday, June 6th)

aM & PM Kindergarten: Friday, June 7th (No Rain Date)

Sickles art dayThank you to Maureen Schmid and Courtney Kemler

for running Sickles Art Day on April 19th. The “under the Sea” theme was a huge hit with

the students. They enjoyed every craft from the crab handprint bags to the

shark tooth necklaces.

Once again, the tie dye table was a real crowd pleaser.

Box Tops for educationWay to go Sickles Families! To date, Sickles School stu-dents have collected 19,072 box tops! Ms. Brown’s

class leads submissions with 1,672 box tops, Mrs. Maguire’s class has a total of 1,650, and Mrs. Spano’s class has 1,564 box tops submitted. Keep Clipping! Let’s beat last year’s

total of 29,323 box tops. The winning classroom will receive a pizza party in June for all of their hard work.

Please remember the last day to submit box tops is Friday, May 31st.

Questions? Contact Sharon Everett at scemje@msn.com. !

Staff appreciation WeekSickles and Knollwood Schools will be

celebrating Staff Appreciation the week of May 6th. The theme this year is

“Around the World” with cultural foods and decor for each day of the week for our staff! Monday we will be providing a yummy French Pastry

Breakfast. Tuesday the staff will experi-ence a refreshing snack in the Caribbean.

Wednesday we will be hosting an All American Luncheon. Thursday will feature a Mexican Fiesta. On Friday all staff will go home with an English-themed school spirit gift. We invite the children to participate by bringing in a flower for their homeroom teacher on Monday, May 6th. No need to purchase flowers. Blossoms from your garden or trees will let them know how much they are appreciated. Vases, provided by the PTA, will be on each teacher’s desk waiting to be filled. Thank you in advance for your help and support. We hope to convey to all our teachers and staff, through a fun-filled week, how much they are truly appreciated!!

May/june Calendar5/6–10: Staff Appreciation Week5/6: Manners and Mingling, 5th grade, Knollwood APR, 3:15pm–4:30pm5/8: Rachel Simmons at Forrestdale School, Rumson, 7:00pm 5/9: PTA Meeting, Knollwood APR, 1:15pm5/13: Manners and Mingling, 5th grade, Knollwood APR, 3:15pm–4:30pm5/22: Board of Education Meeting, Knollwood Media Center, 7:30pm6/13: PTA Meeting/Parents Night Out, The Downtown, Red Bank, 7:00pm6/20: Runaway Rapids Waterpark, Keansburg 2:00pm–4:00pm6/21: Last Day of School

6/26: Board of Education Meeting, Knollwood Media Center, 7:30pm

Think recycleDon’t forget to recycle your old electronics. We earn money for the fol-lowing gadgets: Cell phones, laptops, digital cameras, and iPods. You can also check the website to make sure your item is a qualifying product at http://www.thinkrecycle.com/en/qualifying-products. Please be sure to check, as any old items or broken items we send in will take away from the money we earn. This is an easy way for you to get rid of unwanted items while earning money for your child’s school! All items can be dropped off at 34 William Street. Please contact Josephine Lindgren with any questions at (917) 816-1119. !

Seventh annual art ShowStephanie Bates, Art Show Coordinator

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who gave so generously of their time and energy to make this year’s Art Show a tremendous success! It couldn’t happen without you! The Art Show is a true collaboration of teachers, students and parents—hats off to all of you. !

THanK yOu! THanK yOu! THanK yOu!

Adriene Makstein for creatively assembling and editing our newsletters all year.

George diSpigno, of The Copyroom, for printing all of our PTA Newsletters.

Patti Cruz and Kirsten Ward for distributing the newsletters at Sickles and Knollwood.

Judy Horan and Lauren Steets for organizing the class parents and communi-

cating with them throughout the school year.

Carrie Eustace and Stephanie Lynch for running the Art Gallery at Sickles.

Kelly Busch for chairing the Goodwill program.

Kathryne Singleton for managing all of the publicity for the PTA events.

Heather Boyle and Stephanie Lynch for keeping the flowerpots at the schools

looking beautiful every season.

Stephanie Palmer-Bates and Carolyn Riley for copying and distributing

all of the PTA correspondence this year.

Sharon Everett and Kathy Sullivan for running the successful Box Tops for

Education program at Sickles.

Marie Noglows for chairing another Super 50/50 for the PTA.

Carolyn Rue and her committee for managing the TCSP program this year.

Suzanne Drastal for running the very educational and fun Third Grade Science Club.

Vanessa Spagnuola and Kerri Kostulias for planning all of the wonderful

PTA-sponsored assemblies.

Tara Jordan for managing the recess equipment at the schools.

Ellen Ashinoff and Kathleen Beausoleil for running Friend of Different Learners.

Nenita Kilper for providing “going green” tips for the PTA newsletters.

Josephine Lindgren for collecting the items for our recycling program.

Heather Boyle and Amy Mannino for running Manners and Mingling for the fifth grade.

Kerry Maguire for organizing all of the library volunteers this year at Sickles.

Melanie Brown and Elle Riva for running all of the Family Fun events for

our school community.

Heather Boyle for coordinating the fifth grade Babysitting program.

To the hardworking book fair chairs… Beth DelVecchio, Peggy Dengler, Kerry Maguire, Beth Sanville and

Heather Sypeck at Sickles and Debbie Gerbman, Diane Hogan-Nives

and Claire Theodore at Knollwood.

Patti Cruz and Mary Newman for making Staff Appreciation Week so special for all of

the Fair Haven Public Schools’ staff.

Heather Gorman and Sandi Papa for wel-coming all of the new families to Fair Haven.

Donna Ridgeway for collecting all of the clothing for our Used Clothing Drives.

Jen Amabile, Steph Giardino and Rachel Griffin for running the

Charitable Giving program, which benefitted Ronald McDonald House.

Stephanie Palmer-Bates for converting Knollwood into an “Art Gallery” for

the annual District Art Show.

A special thanks to the “Friends and Family” of Fair Haven who contributed to the auction

for our Dancing with the Stars event.

Finally, thank you to all of the parent volunteers that have helped out in any way

this year. Without you we couldn’t exist.