Weekly Blog 1/9

Dear Wines Families,

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a nice winter break and were able to relax and have some family time. It was great to see all of the kids arrive back to school on Monday. Students and staff are “back to business” and it seems like we never left.

There are a number of important announcements this week.

Lunchtime Extra Specials start January 15th!
The Lunchtime Extra Specials activities start next Tuesday and we still need volunteers!! We only need a commitment of one lunchtime per week for 7 weeks (skipping mid-Winter Break) and younger siblings are more than welcome!

We are in need of volunteers to lead Board Games and Speed Stacking (Tuesdays). We also need additional help with: Free Dance (Wednesdays), Sewing & Crafts (Wednesdays), Knitting—Beginning & Experienced (Thursdays), Paper Airplanes (Thursdays), and Origami (Fridays)

If you have time to help us with this fun and much-loved activity, please visit VolunteerSpot at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4DA9A629A13-parent and sign up today. You can also email shisy786@yahoo.com with your activity preference and availability. We look forward to seeing you at lunch next week!

REGISTER NOW FOR GIRLS ON THE RUN - SPRING 2013
Registration is now open for Girls on the Run for Spring 2013.  Session starts March 12. Wines team meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school until 5:30. Open to girls in grades 3-5. Come join the fun! For more information, contact Jennifer Hall at a2halls@gmail.com or (734) 213-6037.

Kindergarten Round Up
Our annual Kindergarten Round Up will take place on Thursday, February 7th from 6:30-7:30 PM. If you have a child who will be 5 years old by Nov. 1, 2013, please come to Round Up with your child! You can begin registering your child at any time beginning now. Please help spread the word to your friends and neighbors as well.

PTO Meeting
Our next PTO meeting will be taking place next Tuesday, January 15th at 7:00 PM. Heather Herrick, our School Social Worker, will be at the meeting and will speak briefly about talking to kids about violence in the wake of the tragedy in Connecticut. I will also be speaking about current security measures in place. As always, free childcare will be available.

Thanks for Giving!!
Our four simultaneous giving opportunities in December were incredibly successful. Thank you to everyone for participating in our Food Drive with Food Gatherers, our Coat Drive, the Wish List items for the Ann Arbor Preschool, and/or our Puzzle Collection for Peer Pals. I’m happy to report that we donated 542 pounds of food to Food Gatherers, collected 95 coats or other winter garments, nearly filled all of the wish list items for the preschool, and we have more puzzles than our Peer Pals know what to do with!! Thank you Wines!

David