Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Weekly Blog 10/25

Dear Wines Families,
Since tomorrow is a half day of school, I wanted to get this week’s message out a bit early. Speaking of the half day, our bell will ring at 11:53. There is no after school childcare at Wines and no after school Rec and Ed classes. Our staff will be engaged in important professional development during the afternoon.

Run-a-Thon
Our Run-a-Thon was another great event. Now is the time to collect all of our pledges. You can still send in your pledges all week. Online pledges can be made at https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto/item/run-a-thon-donation-1.
While there is no minimum donation—and every penny helps—to reach our goal we want to average about $50 per child. Again, ANY amount helps and most importantly, we want every child to participate.

Science and Builders Fair: Nov. 10
All students at Wines are welcome to participate in the "Science and Builders Fair" on Thursday November 10th from 7pm to 8 PM at the school.  Registration is simple and is required. 20 projects registered in this last week!

The website can be accessed from a mobile device and there is a navigation menu at the top left allowing you to view a resource page filled with links to idea sites! The website contains all of the details about the fair, registration, and volunteering sign up too. Please register by November 4th! 

The website contains all of the details about the fair, registration, volunteer sign up and resources.  http://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com/ 
Hope to see you there!

PTO Great Ideas Grants
Do you have a great idea? The Great ideas Grant program is an opportunity for Wines students, parents, and staff to turn a great idea into a funded program to benefit the Wines community! The grant approval committee meets twice a year to vote on applications. Submissions are now accepted online only.  The first deadline is fast approaching, November 1st. The links for the Adult and Child application can be found on the Wines PTO website: www.winespto.org. Don’t let a great idea go to waste! Submit now! Submit several!
Contact: Sarah Ball – sjcball@yahoo.com

That’s all for this week.

David

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Weekly Blog 10/19

Dear Wines Families,

I just have a few announcements today, but they are important!

Run-a-Thon Friday
Our annual Run-a-Thon is this Friday. We’ve had a fantastic Spirit Week this week in anticipation of the event. While this is certainly an incredibly fun event, it is also one of our major fundraisers of the year. We are hopeful that EVERY Wines student participates and earns pledges.  The kids received their pledge envelopes last week. Online pledges are also available. Go to: https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto/item/run-a-thon-donation-1 to make a pledge online. You can share this link with friends and family. Please alert your friends and family of your child’s teacher and in the notes section, please have them type in your child’s name.

Run-a-Thon running times:
2nd grade: 9:30
1st grade: 9:50
3rd grade: 10:10
4th grade: 10:30
Kindergarten: 10:50
5th grade: 11:10

Halloween Information
We will be celebrating Halloween at Wines on Monday, Oct. 31st. Students may bring costumes to school to be worn in the afternoon (students may not come to school in costume). We will have an all school parade through the neighborhood beginning at 2:00. Most classroom activities will follow the parade though a few classes will have their activities before the parade. Please refer to information from your child’s teacher regarding plans in the classroom.

We understand and appreciate that not all Wines families celebrate Halloween. If you would like your child not to participate, please let me know as there will be an alternate activity.

Costume Questions??
We would like costumes to be as friendly as possible. Our basic rule is that we do not allow any fake blood or fake weapons. My rule of thumb for parents is this: if you have a question as to whether or not a costume or a prop is appropriate for school, it probably isn’t appropriate!!

Half Day of School Wednesday, Oct. 26
We have a half-day of school on Wednesday, Oct. 26. Our end of day bell will ring at 11:53 AM. Teachers will spend the afternoon engaged in professional development.

Science and Builders Fair: Nov. 10
All students at Wines are welcome to participate in the “Science and Builders Fair” on Thursday November 10th from 7pm to 8 pm at the school.  Registration is simple and is required.  Fill out the registration form on the event website by November 4th. Parents, please note that you may not be able to access this site from your work computer. (For example, testing revealed that the University of Michigan has a firewall that will prohibit entry.) It works from a mobile device and there is a navigation menu at the top left. 
The website contains all of the details about the fair, registration, volunteer sign up and resources.   http://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com/ 
Hope to see you there!

That’s all for this week. I hope to see you at the Run-a-Thon on Friday.


David

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Weekly Blog 10/12

Dear Wines Families,

We have lots of important things happening at Wines right now so I have a few announcements plus the October Wines Times Newsletter from our PTO is hot off the presses. Please take a moment to read through today’s messages.

Wines Times
Below is a link to the Wines Times Newsletter for October. Please have a look!

Run-a-Thon: Next Friday!!!!
Our annual Run-a-Thon is next Friday morning. We are getting excited here and we will kick everything off on Friday with a Pep Rally featuring Skyline basketball players, the Skyline Drum Line, and a special appearance from Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton!

We still need volunteers for the Run-a-Thon. Below is a link to volunteer

Students will receive their pledge envelopes in on Friday. Also, online pledging is already active. You can go to https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto/item/run-a-thon-donation-1 to make an online donation. This is the perfect way to reach out of town friends and family. I just made my online pledge and it only take a couple of seconds!! If you are sending this link to friends and family, be sure to let them know your child’s classroom teacher.  Also, please put the student’s name in the notes section at checkout.

Run-a-Thon Spirit Week
As we get ready for next week’s event, we will hold our annual Run-a-Thon Spirit Week next week.

Monday: Wacky Hair Day
Tuesday: Favorite Team Day
Wednesday: Pajama Day
Thursday: Crazy Sock Day
Friday: Run-a-Thon Spirit Day

Run-a-Thon running times:
2nd grade: 9:30
1st grade: 9:50
3rd grade: 10:10
4th grade: 10:30
Kindergarten: 10:50
5th grade: 11:10

Science and Builders Fair Nov. 10th
All students at Wines are welcome to participate in the “Science and Builders Fair” on Thursday November 10th from 7pm to 8 pm at the school.  Registration is simple and is required.  Fill out the registration form on the event website by November 4th. Parents, please note that you may not be able to access this site from your work computer. (For example, testing revealed that the University of Michigan has a firewall that will prohibit entry.) It works from a mobile device and there is a navigation menu at the top left. 
The website contains all of the details about the fair, registration, volunteer sign up and resources.  http://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com/ 
Hope to see you there!

PTO Great Ideas Grants
Do you have a great idea? The Great ideas Grant program is an opportunity for Wines students, parents, and staff to turn a great idea into a funded program to benefit the Wines community! The grant approval committee meets twice a year to vote on applications. Submissions are now accepted online only.  The first deadline is fast approaching, November 1st. The links for the Adult and Child application can be found on the Wines PTO website: www.winespto.org. Don’t let a great idea go to waste! Submit now! Submit several!
Contact: Sarah Ball – sjcball@yahoo.com

 Lost and Found: Leaving soon…
In an effort to keep on top of our Lost and Found, we are going to donate items every six weeks. We will be cleaning out the Lost and Found next Thursday, Oct. 20th. Please remind your child to have a look for lost items. Also, please label your child’s belongings. Lunchboxes are a particularly “un-labeled” item. Thanks!

That’s all for this week!

David


Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Weekly Blog 10/5

Dear Wines Families.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Walk to School Day today. We are still tabulating the results but it certainly appears that we had nearly 100% student participation today! Here is all the news for Wines this week!

Run-a-Thon is Coming Up!
Our annual Run-a-Thon takes place on Friday, Oct. 21st. We will kick off the Run-a-Thon with our annual pep rally next Friday afternoon. The week of the event will be a special spirit week. The week will include:

Mon. Oct. 17: Crazy Hair Day
Tues. Oct. 18 - Favorite Team Day
Wed. Oct. 19 - Pajama Day
Thurs. Oct. 20 - Crazy Sock Day
Fri. Oct. 21 - Wines Run-a-Thon Spirit Day

Look for an email soon regarding volunteer opportunities. The Run-a-Thon will take place during the morning of Oct. 21 and every Wines student will participate. Please join us to volunteer or just cheer the kids on! Every student will receive a T-Shirt and there will be adult T-Shirts on sale the day of the event for $15.

Auction Committee Volunteers Needed
We are looking to put together an Auction Committee to help the wines auction run smoothly. Last school year was our first off-site auction and as well as being a success it was fun night out!
So did you attend and have any ideas that may help us or are you new to Wines and think this might sound like a great opportunity to get to know people while helping your child's school? We shall have a kick-off TOMORROW October 6th at 8.50am (after drop off) in the teachers lounge. If you know you'd like to help but can't make it please email me at traciemcginty@hotmail.com

Skyline Soccer Game
The final Skyline home soccer game of the season is next Monday, Oct. 10. All elementary and middle school students receive free admission. There are MANY Wines alumni on the team so check them out!

That's all for this week. As always, don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
David