A successful Walk A Thon by Donaldson students. Mrs. King’s fourth grade class had fun walking the gym. (due to the cold, windy day) See page 4 for ad-ditional details.

FROM THE DONALDSON PTA

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NEWS & REMINDERS

FROM THE OFFICE

All homework requested will be available for pick up at the end of the school day. All requests for home-work should be made by noon.

OPEN HOUSE

“Like” Donaldson PTA on Facebook and stay updated on events and reminders.

Zoe Gulasky, Tara Coulter, Mrs. Nolan and Taylor Coulter

Logan Mackey, Mrs. Mackey and Zachary Marshall

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LETTER FROM OUR PTA PRESIDENT

It is hard to believe that it is October already. I hope that everyone has settled into a routine. This school year has started off with a bang. There has been a good response to the amount of parents that have signed up to be part of the Donaldson PTA. If you have not signed up yet, YES, there is still time to sign up to be part of this PTA. It is just $6.00. Being a part of the PTA allows you to volunteer for the many events that we have, providing you have your clearances. One of our first events was our book fair that was successful, especially during open house. A huge thank you goes out to Kristin Cook and Pam Norris for chairing this event. Then we had the Walk A Thon which raised over $5,300 for our PTA and the events that we sponsor. A huge thank you goes out to Carla Vidmar for chairing this annual event. The next item on our plate is our annual Sarris candy Christmas sale that kicks off in November. To end the first half of the school year we will hold our annual Santa Shop; held the first week of December. So you see just because it is only October we have had many successful events, with many more coming our way. So again if you have already signed up for the PTA-thank you. Again you still have time to be part of this hard working special group of parents who make up this great PTA. Thank you to everyone for making the start of the school year successful and here is too many more months of success!

Paula Kwiatkowski

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Thank you parents and grandparents for your donations

at our 2nd Walk A Thon. We raised

$5,336

Winning class: Mrs. Wolf’s pM K

Grand prize winner: Julianne Brindle (K PM Ms. Wolf) K: Aidan Boyce (Ms. Wolf AM) 1st: Gianna Hart (Mrs. Prevade) 2nd: Gus Psaros (Mrs. Claus) 3rd: Lindsay Danzik (Mrs. Sekelik) 4th: Caleb Boros (Mrs. Ordich) 5th: Lauren Bayer(Mrs. Mangan)

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YEARBOOKS 2011-2012

Would you like to contribute your photos to our school’s year-book? Please go to replayit.com and find Donaldson. Register your name and create a password. From that point, you can up-load pictures for consideration to the book. Any questions or concerns, please contact Anne Harris-Crowe, anneharriscrowe@yahoo.com, or Jessica Marshall, jessicamar-shall777@gmail.com. We are looking forward to a great year!

It’s not too late to join the PTA and be an active part of your child’s education. Membership is only $6.00 and allows you to participate in all of the PTA functions. PTA membership must be renewed each year and is a separate entity at each school so if you have children in the middle school and Donaldson, these are two separate mem-berships. Also, anyone can be a PTA member: mothers, fathers, aunts, un-cles, grandparents. All are welcome to join. Just fill out the mem-bership form included here, and send it in to your child’s teacher in an envelope marked “PTA Membership.” Thank you to everyone who already joined. If you forgot to pick up your membership card at open house, I will be sending them home with your child some-time in the next month. Thank you again for being part of the PTA.

Patty Giura Membership Chair

PTA MEMBERSHIP

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Donaldson Yearbook

Order Form

You may order your yearbook online at www.jostensyearbooks.com or complete this order

form and return it by January 31, 2012. Please make all checks payable

to Donaldson PTA in the amount of $12.00. Child’s Name: _________________________________ Teacher’s Name: _______________________________ Grade: ___________ Quantity of Books: ___________

Any questions, please contact:

Anne Harris-Crowe, anneharriscrowe@yahoo.com

Or

Jessica Marshall, jessicamarshall777@gmail.com

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SANTA SHOP

There is a chill in the air. There are many places that are already gearing up for the holiday season. The Donaldson PTA is no exception! The annual PTA Santa Shop is scheduled for December 5-9. The setup will take place on Friday, December 2. This event takes many hands to be successful. If you have your clearances and would like to volunteer please email paulakiwi@comcast.net. If you can not volunteer but would still like to help, we can use rolls of wrapping paper and scotch tape. We ask that you send these items the last week of November.

Paula Kwiatkowski & Cheryl Zimmerman

Save the date Holiday Bingo

December 1, 2011

Details to follow

RECYCLING

Don’t forget to help the PTA earn Staples Rewards by recycling your used printer cartridges. Drop them in the receptacle in the school entrance way or send them in to school with your child. Recycling your cartridges assists the PTA in buying numerous supplies for various committees. Email any questions to Cheryl Zimmerman at mattncheryl1@comcast.net

Art fair

This school year the Art Fair will be held on Thursday, March 29, 2012 from 6:30pm-8:30pm. The art fair has been very successful in the past. This event is free of charge and enables children to use their imaginations and their creativity. Many different craft tables are setup and supervised by the teachers and the volunteers. If you would like to participate in the upcoming event, please contact me.

Lisa Pichi, Art Fair Chair #724-695-3154

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STUDENT INVTERVIEWS

Second Grade by Mikie Crowe My teachers and classes at Donaldson have al-ways been fun but second grade is my favorite. Mrs. Stone is really good at teaching us. She makes grammar cool. We made bullying post-ers and did book reports. Our class is practicing adding with Rocket Math. Mrs. Stone is the best.teacher ever. We have the best class.

Third Grade by Andrea Russo This year, the third graders in Donaldson are

switching for science and math class. I really

like our science unit . We are studying rocks

and minerals. So far in the unit, we have

learned that some pumice floats and others do

not. We did this through an experiment. In

minerals, we are creating a field guide to help

us learn what each one looks, smells and feels

like. It has been a lot of fun. I think Mrs. Barr

is a great science teacher and I hope we get to

do more experiments throughout the year.

If you would like to have your child write an article, please contact Anne Harris-Crowe at anneharriscrowe@yahoo.com. It would be

great to have a lot of children participate!!!!!

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Thank you to everyone who ordered Market Day for October 2011. We had a total of 46 customers this month. With our sales we earned $316.78. We have, so far, raised $607.42 this school year. This is a great start with only 2 months into the school year. Our goal is to raise $2500 for the school year. If you have never placed a Market Day order please consider ordering. It's a simple way of getting some of your monthly groceries without having to run to the store. Market Day has some great new items. If you have any questions or would like to know more about Market Day please feel free to contact myself or go to the Marketday website at www.marketday.com.

Vicky Danzik, Chair

MARKET DAY

Sale Dates:

November 8, 2011 December 6, 2011 January 17, 2012 February 21, 2012

March 13, 2012 April 17, 2012 May 15, 2012 June 12, 2012

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Because this is a National Competition: the rules are strictly

implemented for each category.

Please be advised to visit ptareflections.org for specific guidelines

for all 6 areas of art submissions.

Forms need to be filled out, signed, and accompany the art.

MONDAY OCTOBER 24th

Michelle Giacomino mgiacomino@msn.com

724-926-3558

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Have you ever wondered what the Donaldson PTA is all about. Did you ever wonder how do I get involved? I have a great idea for the PTA but didn't know who to give it to. If you have answers to any of these questions. Please join us at our monthly Committee Meetings in the Donaldson Cafe-teria. Everyone is welcome to come and join us. We would love to have you join us with your comments, ideas or any concerns you have.

http://www.westasd.org/webpages/dpta/

PTA CALENDAR FOR 2011-2012

January 9 PTA Committee Chair Meeting 30 Sarris Easter Candy Sale Begins

February 21 PTA General Meeting 24 Talent Show

November March 7 Sarris Christmas Sale Begins 9 PTA Family Fun Fest 14 PTA Committee Chair Meeting 12 PTA Committee Chair Meeting 21 Sarris Christmas Sale Ends

April December 10 PTA Meeting/Elections of Officers

1 Holiday Bingo

5-9 Santa Shop May 13 PTA Committee Chair Meeting 7 thru 11 Teacher Appreciation Week 14 PTA Committee Chair Meeting