Weekly Blog 4/25

Dear Wines Families,
I have a number of important announcements this week. Please take a few minutes to read through this (long) blog posting.

Art Night

One final reminder that our K-5 Art Night is Friday evening beginning at 6:30. While everything is nearly ready for the evening, we could always use a few more volunteers. Here are links to sign up to bring food: www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084BAAAE283-artnight and/or volunteer to supervise a fun craft like Paper Hats, Face Painting, Beading with Wire, Fish Printing or Puppets:www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084BAAAE283-artnight1.

Wear it Blue for Autism Awareness!

In honor of April being Autism Awareness Month, Wines will be participating in our first annual Wines Wear it Blue Day on Monday, April 30th. All students and staff will be encouraged to wear blue that day. In addition, we will be hosting a breakfast to recognize our teachers and staff who work in the Communications classrooms. If you would like to make a food or refreshment donation for the breakfast, please sign up online at the link below or contact: kellyvansingel@yahoo.com
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0E49A8A628A57-breakfast.

Final “Great Ideas” Grants

Our final Great Ideas grant deadline of the school year is quickly approaching. We are accepting applications until May 1st.  There are adult and student grant forms available on the Wines website (www.wines.a2schools.org) and hard copies are available in the office.  Don’t let a great idea go to waste!!

Science Olympiad

Last Saturday our Science Olympiad team competed against 24 other schools in Washtenaw County. The kids had fun, learned a lot, and did a great job! There were officially 1621 student participants representing 25 schools. They competed in 20 different events in what is the largest Elementary Science Olympiad in the country. Every school earned at least one medal. Both our 2nd/3rd teams and our 4th/5th grade teams finished 3rd overall and earned a trophy. While there was so much more to Olympiad than winning, it is nice to see the fruits of all of our fine work!

I’d like to thank all of our volunteers who helped make Science Olympiad such a success at Wines. A special thank you to Kelly Michaels Soluk who coordinated the entire event and coached a team. I’d also like to thank Erin Telemaco for serving as volunteer coordinator. Finally, a thank you to our coaches and assistant coaches: Thank you to Chris Patel, Shireen Syed, Phil Rodgers, Marcie Austerberry, Maha Ali, Amy Cohn, Anke Eichstaedt, Nasreen Islam, Robin Hescheles, Nicole Brittis, Sue Smith, Michael Smith, Debbie Tirico, Patty Kersch, Michael Austerberry, Ann Scott, Sam Patel, Michael Dempsey, Michael Gaies, Joanne Keeling, Marc Bradshaw, Rick Witten, John Whitney, Donna Whitney, Mori Richner, Jaspreet Sawney, Carol Davis, Marc Bradshaw     Kelly Michaels Soluk, John Younger, Carol Lively, and Russ Derry.

Classroom Basket Collections for the Country Fair & Raffle!

The classroom baskets based on themes for each grade are a huge addition to the Wines Country Fair & Raffle each year.  Kids enjoy having an active role in selecting and bringing in a donation.  They see the end result when their donation is part of a nice collection of items in that category – with a basket full of tickets in front of it!

Baskets will be available in your child’s classroom for any donations between
May 3 – May 18.

Please donate what you can!
This year’s themes are:
Kindergarten: Arts & Crafts
1st Grade: Legos
2nd Grade: Legos
3rd Grade: Camping & Outdoor Adventures
4th Grade: Sports & Backyard Fun
5th Grade: It’s a High Tech World
Any questions? Contact Margaret Compton at bagladycompton@yahoo.com
Or Sheila Nicholas at Sheila_nicholas@yahoo.com

Landscape Coordinator Needed

Our current landscape coordinator is stepping down, and we need a volunteer to help take care of the Wines grounds over the summer. The coordinator will organize an 'adopt-a-garden' program and make sure the volunteer families weed and water their gardens over the summer. Please contact Carol Lively (carol.lively@sbcglobal.net), Elissa Gaies (egaies@umich.edu), or Becky Maley (rhmaley@aol.com) if you are interested.

Bike to School Day

Looking ahead, Wines will be participating in National Bike to School Day on Wednesday, May 9th. More information to come, but it might be time to get the bikes out and grease the chains, check the brakes, etc.!!

Sorry for the long posting, but it is a busy time of year!!

David

Weekly Blog 4/18

Dear Wines Families,

I have just a few announcements today. First, I want to remind all of our Science Olympiad participants that this Saturday is the annual competition at Pioneer. Wines will bring another outstanding team of 100 students to Pioneer. We will be competing against nearly 1600 students from across Washtenaw County. Kelly Michaels Soluk, who coordinates Science Olympiad at Wines (no small task!!!) recently shared with me that more students in Ann Arbor participate in Science Olympiad than do Rec & Ed soccer!!

I also want to remind everyone that next Friday evening, April 27^th is Art Night. Mrs. Hendrick is busy preparing a show that will feature art from ALL Wines students!! The evening begins at 6:30 PM. We are still looking for volunteers for the event to help hang art, help with art activities that evening, set up and clean up, and my personal favorite, help at the dessert table!! Please contact Patricia Beals at pferrer@umich.edu if you can volunteer.

That’s all for now!! 

David

Weekly Blog 4/11

Dear Wines Families,

Please check your email today as the April Wines Times was attached. Thus, I will keep this week's blog posting brief. 

 

I do want to remind everyone that tomorrow night, Thursday, there is an important PTO meeting beginning at 7:00 PM in the Media Center. At the meeting, Robert Allen and Elaine Brown from the Superintendent’s cabinet will be in attendance to talk about the upcoming Technology Bond. In addition, the PTO will be holding elections for executive board members for next year. We are still in need of a nominee for Secretary. If you are interested, please contact Elissa Gaies at egaies@umich.edu. Our 5^th grade choir will also be performing at the PTO meeting. If you haven’t attended a meeting this year, Thursday would be a great opportunity!! As always, childcare will be provided. 

 

Don’t forget to take some time to read the attached Wines Times.

David

Weekly Blog 3/28

Dear Wines Families,

As I hope everyone knows, we are not in school next week for Spring Break. When we return, we will begin the race to the end of the year! It will be an exciting time and one of continued hard work.

As we look ahead to next year, we will begin our class placement decision-making process during the months of April and May. If you would like to provide information about your child that will help us make placement decisions, please click on the link below and take our survey. Surveys are due by Friday, April 13th. As always, we will not consider any requests for specific teachers.

CLASS PLACEMENT PARENT INFORMATION

When we return from break, I want to remind everyone that at our April 12th PTO meeting, representatives from the Superintendent’s cabinet will be in attendance to discuss the upcoming Technology Bond. I encourage everyone to become informed about the bond. A public meeting about the bond is scheduled for Monday, April 16th at 6:30 PM at Pioneer High School.

Have a nice week away from Wines.

David

Weekly Blog 3/21

Dear Wines Families, 

What a beautiful couple of days of weather we are having. Everyone here at school seems to have an early case of "spring fever," but the kids and staff are still working hard. I have just a few items this week: 

First, please tune in to the School Board meeting tonight as our 5th grade choir lead by Ms. McNally will open the meeting. The meeting begins at 7:00 and will be broadcast on your local CTN channel. 

Our next Wines Times will be delayed a week due to Spring Break. The April edition will come out on April 11th (Spring Break is the week of April 2nd). 

Friday is our annual Wines Wahoo held at Forsythe Middle School. The Wahoo begins at 6:30. At the end of this message is one final announcement about the event. 

Last call for Lost and Found items. We will make another donation to charity over Spring Break. If your child is missing anything, it is likely in our ever expanding Lost and Found collection! 

Attached to today's email is a flyer with the latest after school offerings for after school activities through Rec and Ed. 

A reminder that there are two upcoming opportunities to learn about the May 8th Tech Bond. On Thursday, April 12th, members of the Superintendent's cabinet will be at our PTO meeting to discuss the Bond. In addition, there will be a public meeting on April 16th at 6:30 PM at Pioneer High School. I hope everyone can attend one or both of these opportunities. 

Finally, just a reminder that school ends at 3:42. We have had a number of children being picked up well after 4:00 recently--well after our pick up line traffic has cleared. We do not have after school supervision for students unless you have signed up for childcare (which is a wonderful option!). This is a safety issue. Please plan accordingly. 

Below is the Wines Wahoo info and request for more volunteers. 

David

Don't forget...  Wines Wahoo this Friday (3/23) from 6:30 - 8:30 @ Forsythe Middle School

Is all this warm weather putting you in the mood for limbo, dancing, playing and fun?  Then come to the Wahoo this Friday night!!  

The Wines Wahoo is a luau-themed, fun, family event for all Wines students, their parents and younger siblings. The Wahoo includes music provided by a kid friendly DJ, fun activities in the gym, face painting, and tattoos. There will be pizza, snacks and beverages for sale.  A parent or other adult over the age of 18 must accompany each Wines student. Children over 5th grade will not be admitted to the event. Younger siblings are, however, invited to participate.

There is a suggested donation of $5 per family that helps to cover the cost of the DJ and decorations. There is also a nominal fee for the food.

 

We still need a few more volunteers.  Please sign-up at the Volunteer Spot site.  It's easy -- Just enter your contact information and then select an activity.

 

Questions? Contact Bobbi Coluni (bobbi.coluni@gmail.com) 734-604-0807

Weekly Blog 3/14

Dear Wines Families,

After a spring-like winter, I guess we should have expected for summer to arrive this week! Hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather. With the weather changing, please make sure kids still come to school prepared for anything. Boots are still important at this time of year because we will have mud around for quite a while. In addition, the weather changes so quickly that warm morning weather can wind up being hats and gloves weather by lunch recess. I’d rather kids have too many clothes than not enough.

With that said, when kids get warm, they tend to take things off and leave them on the playground. As a result, our Lost and Found is again bursting at the seams. We will make another charity donation from our Lost and Found during Spring Break, so please come have a look before then.

Your child’s report card will be sent home in his/her backpack on Monday, March 19^th.

I know many parents have asked me about the Technology Bond vote that is taking place on May 8^th. If you would like more information about the Bond, there are many opportunities. In our office right next to Robin, there is an informational binder and there are also pamphlets in our office. In addition, on Thursday April 12^th, members of the Superintendent’s cabinet will be speaking at our PTO meeting about the Bond. The meeting starts at 7:00. There is also a public meeting taking place at Pioneer High School on Monday, April 16^th at 6:30 PM. I encourage everyone to learn as much as you can about this bond.

Attached to today’s email is the most recent Art Room Newsletter from Mrs. Hendrick. Please also see below the information about the Wines Wahoo that is taking place next Friday!

David

Wines Wahoo - Friday, March 23rd, 2012 from 6:30 - 8:30 @ Forsythe Middle School

Are you enjoying this balmy weather?  Just a reminder about the upcoming Wines Wahoo and a plea for additional volunteers to make the event a success.  

The Wines Wahoo is a luau-themed, fun, family event for all Wines students, their parents and younger siblings. The Wahoo includes music provided by a kid friendly DJ, fun activities in the gym, face painting, and tattoos. There will be pizza, snacks and beverages for sale.  A parent or other adult over the age of 18 must accompany each Wines student. Children over 5th grade will not be admitted to the event. Younger siblings are, however, invited to participate.  There is a suggested donation of $5 per family that helps to cover the cost of the DJ and decorations. There is also a nominal fee for the food. 

Volunteers Needed!!  We still need about 25 more volunteers to help with set-up, admissions, refreshments, pictures, gym monitoring and clean-up.  

Sign up here!   It's easy -- Just enter your contact information and then select an activity.

Questions? Contact Bobbi Coluni (bobbi.coluni@gmail.com) 734-604-0807

Weekly Blog 2/29

Dear Wines Families, 

First off, I want to send out a quick leap year intellectual exercise. Please notice that the title of this week's blog is "Weekly Blog 2/29." The exercise question is, when will be the next time I will ever be able to post something with that subject line? 

Now on to more important things. I hope everyone had a nice week away from Wines last week. Now that we are back, we are hard at work and as I visit classrooms, the kids look like they were never away. I don't have a lot of news this week. However, next week our 4th graders will be taking part in our annual Disability Awareness Day Workshop. I want to thank Kelly Van Singel for organizing this outstanding experience and for the many volunteers we have lined up. We could still use a few more volunteers. Still needed are folks willing to bring in some fruit, bottled water, granola bars, etc. for our parent volunteers and our participants from the Center for Independent Living. Workshop volunteers and food donation contacts can be made on the volunteerspot link from winespto.org or by via email: kellyvansingel@yahoo.com or click directly on http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/1162345645418412084. Attached to this email is a flyer about the day. 

 

That's all for now. 

 

David