Weekly Blog 11/24

Dear Wines Families,

Here is all the information from Wines during this short week. There are a couple of repeat announcements, but they are important!

Report Cards

Report cards will go home with your child today. If you have any questions regarding the reports, please contact your child’s teacher. Please return the report card envelopes so we can use them again later this year.

Lost and Found

Our Lost and Found items have been on display for a few days. We will be donating many of the items at the end of the day tomorrow (we’ll hang on to coats and snow pants for a little while longer).

Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair begins next week.  Our Family Night at the Fair is next Tuesday, December 2^nd. Thank you to everyone who has signed up to help at the Fair. We still need a few more volunteers. In particular, we need some help next Monday, Dec. 1^st after school to set up. We could always use more help during the Family Night as well. Below is a link to sign up. You can also contact Amy Unsworth directly to sign up (aeu1aeu2@comcast.net)

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/409054DA5AE2B0-wines 

Brownie Troop Pajama/Tissue/Pillow Drive

Our Wines Brownie troop is sponsoring a pajama, boxed tissue, and pillow drive for Safe House from November 24 through December 17. Safe House is in need of new pajamas, sizes newborn to adult XXL, new pillows of various sizes, and boxed tissues. If your family is able to help, please bring items to the purple collection bins near the front doors of the school. Thanks in advance for your help in providing a brighter holiday season for all members of our community.

Art Night: We Still Need EVERYONE to Help

We need 400 glass jars for the luminary project for Art Night. Please help! Requirements: Glass washed with label removed, large enough for woman's hand to fit into. Suggestions: recycled pickles jars, salsa jars, any wide mouth glass food jar, old glass cups, ball mason jars. Please drop off in Mrs. Hendrick's room as soon as possible. We want to begin the project. To volunteer and help with the Winter Walk, please email Lisa Ridha at lridha@reinhartrealtors.com.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Reminder, no school Wed-Friday this week.

David

Weekly Blog 11/19

Dear Wines Families,

I hope this message finds you warm! I have a few important news and notes this week.  

Art Night: We Need Help from EVERY Wines Family

Art Night takes place on February 11^th this year and Ms. Hendrick and the students are already busy getting ready. This year’s event will feature an outdoor walk with a trail marked by glowing luminaries. We need 400 glass jars for this project. Please help! Requirements: Glass washed with label removed, large enough for woman's hand to fit into. Suggestions: recycled pickles jars, salsa jars, any wide mouth glass food jar, old glass cups, ball mason jars. Please drop off in Mrs. Hendrick's room as soon as possible. We want to begin the project. To volunteer and help with the Winter Walk, please email Lisa Ridha at lridha@reinhartrealtors.com. An informational flyer is attached to today’s email.

Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair will be held Tuesday, December 2 - Friday, December 5, 2014 with Family Night taking place Dec. 2^nd. We need volunteers to make this event a success. To volunteer:

1. Click this link to go to our invitation page - www.SignUpGenius.com/go/409054DA5AE2B0-wines
 2. Sign in
 3. Sign up! Choose your spots – Sign Up Genius will send you an automated confirmation and reminders.

If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact Amy Unsworth aeu1aeu2@comcast.net and she can sign you up manually.

Food Drive Ends Friday

Our Student Council Food Drive ends Friday. We are looking not just for canned goods, but also “quick cook” items such as macaroni and cheese, Lipton soups, etc.

Brownie Troop Pajama/Tissue/Pillow Drive

Our Wines Brownie troop is sponsoring a pajama, boxed tissue, and pillow drive for Safe House from November 24 through December 17. Safe House is in need of new pajamas, sizes newborn to adult XXL, new pillows of various sizes, and boxed tissues. If your family is able to help, please bring items to the collection bins near the front doors of the school. Thanks in advance for your help in providing a brighter holiday season for all members of our community.

Report Cards

Report Cards will go home with your child next Monday, November 24^th. Please return the envelope to your child’s teacher.

That’s all for this week. Just a reminder, no school next Wed-Friday.

David

Weekly Blog 11/12

Dear Wines Families,

Busy times here at Wines this week! We have a number of important announcements.

Wines Dining Out Event: Tonight!

One final reminder that tonight, Lena Restaurant downtown is donating 15% of your dinner bill directly to Wines. Give the attached flyer attached to today's email to your server. I hope to see you there.

Movie Night Friday

Our first Movie Night of the year is this Friday beginning at 7:00. The movie is Disney's Robin Hood.  Bring your family and some cozy blankets and settle in to watch with other Wines families in the multipurpose room.  As a reminder, Movie Night is not a drop off event. All students need to be accompanied by an adult.  We hope to see you there!

Student Council Food Drive

Our newly elected Student Council representatives are sponsoring a one week Food Drive next week. In addition to canned food items, we are looking for “quick cook” items such as Lipton Soups, boxed Macaroni and Cheese and other items that can be cooked quickly for families. Thank you in advance!

Candy Donations Have Ended

Today is the last day to bring your leftover Halloween candy to support our Lunches with Love program. We’ve had LOTS of donations and we simply can’t handle more. Thank you for your support.

Book Fair Coming Up!

The Scholastic Book Fair will be held Tuesday, December 2 - Friday, December 5, 2014. There are plenty of spots for volunteering, don't be shy, we need you to help make this a fabulous fair! (Family Night will be Tuesday, December 2nd). Please contact Amy Unsworth at aeu1aeu2@comcast.net if you are interested in volunteering of if you have any questions (an online volunteer sign up will be coming soon as well). Attached to today’s email is a flyer about this annual event.

Skyline Basketball 3-on-3 Tournament

The Skyline Boys Basketball is hosting their 6th Annual Skyline Madness 3-on-3 basketball tournament for 4th-8th grade boys and girls on Saturday December 6th. The information/registration packet was attached to today's email. You can also visit www.aaskylinebasketball.com for more information.  

That’s all for now!

David

Weekly Blog 11/5

Dear Wines Families,

Below is a link to the November Wines Times newsletter. There is lots of important information there. I have a couple other reminders as well.

NOVEMBER WINES TIMES

Spirit Wear

First, a reminder that Spirit Wear is on sale. You can order directly online at https://ugpogo.undergroundshirts.com/groupIndex.php?cart_id=3972. Friday is the final day to order.  If you would like our PTO to provide your child with a Wines T-Shirt via our scholarship program, please click on the link below. This information will only be seen by me.

https://docs.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/forms/d/1bqMfvOM4Yn_IlqF7UUMWL_E9ftLoCGkgdH-_u6VFVgA/viewform

Wines Dining Out Event

Wines Dining Out event next Wednesday night Nov. 12^th at Lena Restaurant downtown. 15% of your dinner tab will go directly to Wines. Attached is the informational flyer. Please join us and spread the word!

David

Weekly Blog 10/29

Dear Wines Families,

There is lots of important information in today’s email, so please take a few moments to read through it.

Halloween

One final reminder that we will be celebrating Halloween Friday afternoon. Our parade through the neighborhood will take place at 2:00 and most classroom activities begin after the parade. We will parade unless it is raining too hard—the cold weather won’t stop us! All costumes must be friendly—no fake blood or weapons. As always, if you have any questions about the appropriateness of a costume or prop, then it probably isn’t appropriate.

No School next Tuesday

There is no school next Tuesday, November 4^th.

Science and Builders Fair

Our Science and Builders Fair is next Thursday evening. We are still looking for more submissions. Attached to today's email is the registration form as well as a document with some great ideas for projects. You can also find these forms on our PTO website www.winespto.org.

Wines Spirit Wear!

Spirit Wear is here!  We are trying a new online ordering system this year and believe it is going to work out better than ever.  Follow the link below to order t-shirts, sweatshirts and caps all with our Wines Elementary school logos.  This year, for the first time, we are offering ladies cut t-shirts as well as dry wick "performance" t-shirts for kids and adults!  Look through the cart at the link below and place your order directly online.  If you prefer to pay by check, print out your cart with your choices and bring it in to the office with a check for the amount due.  Orders are due by the end of the day, Friday, November 7, and will be delivered to students' classrooms the week of Thanksgiving.  Any questions please contact Cindy Warren (cindywarren8@yahoo.com) or Gail Epstein (epsteing@comcast.net).

https://ugpogo.undergroundshirts.com/groupIndex.php?cart_id=3972

Great Ideas Grant Submission Deadline Nov. 1 (that’s Saturday!)

Our PTO loves to say “yes” to Great Ideas. If you or your child has a Great Ideas grant idea, please fill out the very quick online submission. The link for adult form can be found at https://docs.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/forms/d/1vjBwmeRb307zzSeDnjUD_tZhC3whtzl1dc6hLAxEQhI/viewform

The student grant form can be found at https://docs.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/forms/d/1WYks_hRdIlj4lw980LFlB1wfW4jveq1f9p_z7th0uZw/viewform.

Walk to School Friday

 Our final Walk to School opportunity will be this Friday. It has again been a great October tradition. I hope some folks have gotten into a new walking habit and we have more walkers on a daily basis! Big thanks to Anita Fontana for organizing our Walktober celebration.

That’s all for this week!

David

Weekly Blog 10/22

Dear Wines Families,

Well it certainly seems as if the cooler fall weather has arrived a bit early this year. Let’s just hope this doesn’t mean we have another “polar vortex” heading our way this winter! I have a number of important announcements this week.

Run-a-Thon Pledges: Two Days Left!

Our Run-a-Thon pledges have been coming in daily and I want to thank everyone who has helped your child participate. We are very close to meeting our school-wide goal and nearly every class has met their own goal. But we aren’t there yet! We will collect pledges through Friday. Remember, you can make a pledge online at https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto. If you need a new pledge form or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Science and Builders Fair

Last week I sent out the first set of information regarding our annual Science and Builders Fair. With all of the many things going on at Wines right now, I fear that some of us missed the message. We certainly want to continue to have a successful event! The Fair is Thursday, Nov. 6^th and registrations are due on Nov. 3^rd. Attached to today’s email you'll find a registration form and Fair information. Please consider signing up!

Halloween Reminders

We will celebrate Halloween next Friday afternoon. We will parade through our neighborhood beginning at 2:00 and classrooms will have activities during the afternoon as well. Please refer to your child’s teacher’s communication regarding the classroom plans. Students may bring their costumes to school and change into them during the afternoon at the time designated by the teacher. Please remember that costumes must be “friendly.” No fake blood or weapons. A good rule of thumb is that if you have a question about the appropriateness of a costume or prop, then it probably is not appropriate. We understand that not every family chooses to participate in Halloween activities. If you do not want your child to participate, please let me know and we will have an alternative activity planned.

“Mix it Up at Lunch”

I’m pleased to announce that next Wednesday, October 29^th, Wines will be participating in “Mix it Up at Lunch.” Mix it Up at Lunch is a national campaign launched by Teaching Tolerance over a decade ago. Mix It Up at Lunch encourages students to identify, question and cross social boundaries. In our surveys, students have identified the cafeteria as the place where divisions are most clearly drawn. So on one day—October 29 this school year—we ask students to move out of their comfort zones and connect with someone new over lunch. It’s a simple act with profound implications. Studies have shown that interactions across group lines can help reduce prejudice. When students interact with those who are different from them, biases and misperceptions can fall away.

Our students will be assigned to different tables next Wednesday where they will eat lunch and engage in some facilitated conversations. We have a number of teachers who are going to help with the tables, but we could use parent help as well. If you have about an hour to give next week at lunch (lunch runs from 11:45-12:30), please consider signing up to help. We will provide you with everything you need. Here is a link to the volunteer sign up document. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054aadaa2aaa8-parent/. If you want any more information on this event, please visit http://www.tolerance.org/mix-it-up/what-is-mix.

Wines “Dining Out” Event.

On Wednesday, November 12^th, local restaurant Lena is sponsoring a Wines “Dining Out” event. During this evening, 15% of your bill at the restaurant will go directly to Wines. It would be great to fill the restaurant with Wines families! So start calling those babysitters now (although kids are certainly welcome) and join us for this great way to spend an evening and support our school. An informational flyer was attached to today’s email.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Our teachers have been busy in the evenings over the past couple of weeks meeting with parents for conferences. If you were not able to attend your conference, please contact your child’s teacher to reschedule. As always, we want to make sure we meet with every parent.

Walk to School this Friday

Don’t forget, we’ll be walking to school again this Friday!

That’s all for this week!

David