Weekly Blog 5/27

Dear Wines Families, 

By the time most of you read this, our 5th graders along with Julie Spiroff, Janet Heaton, and I will be well on our way to Camp Tanuga! But we will be home just in time to enjoy the Country Fair and Raffle on Friday. Below is the final message regarding the Country Fair. We'll see you Friday! 

David

Get Ready for the Wines’ Country Fair, Raffle & Auction!
Friday May 29^th 6-8:30 p.m. on the Playground

Join Us for Family Fun and One of Wines’ Biggest Fundraisers!
Food, Games, Inflatables, Cake Walk, Raffle, Auction & More!

Volunteer Sign Up - Sign up via volunteerspot.com or please contact Cristina Rojas at cristina_rojas@yahoo.com

Wristband, Food & Raffle Ticket Sales
Advance Ticket Sales at Wines (May 26-29) - purchase tickets at the sales table outside the main school doors before and after school. (cash, check, or credit card.) Ticket Sales at the Fair (May 29) - purchase tickets onsite at ticket tables outside the school. (cash, check, or credit card). Tickets are NOT available at the school office.

Cake Walk Donations - Calling all Bakers Kindergarten through 5^th Grade!  
Jiffy Mix is helping out with a donation of cake and frosting mixes for our student bakers. Mixes can be picked up the week of the Country fair. Cakes, cupcakes, and other baked good can be dropped off Friday, May 29. Ribbons will be awarded for student baked donations showing the most Wines spirit. Please include the child’s name and grade on a note taped to the baked good.

We look forward to seeing you Friday, May 29^th! The Wines Country Fair, Raffle and Auction Team: Christy Hale (Chale1084@yahoo.com), Kerianne Tupac (kmtupac@umich.edu), Mary Nickson (mnickson@umich.edu)

Look for the Country Fair flyer in today's folders. 

Weekly Blog 5/20

Dear Wines Families,

It’s hard to believe that the Country Fair and Auction is just over a week away. Included in today’s email was information from our organizing committee. In addition, there were two important attachments. The first is information all about the fair including Cake Walk information, ticket sales, and information about the raffle. The second attachment has pictures of the amazing classroom projects that were created by students that will be available at this year’s auction. In addition, we have some information from Girls on the Run in today’s email.

The Raffle/Silent Auction is Around the Corner!

Silent Auction News

NEW THIS YEAR! The Silent Auction is moving - look for the big tent outside on the playground. In addition to the regular wonderful auction items, each classroom worked on a personalized project for the Silent Auction. The kids made simply amazing projects - check them out in the attached file! 

Raffle Donations Needed

The raffle/silent auction committee is hard at work collecting prizes for the upcoming raffle and silent auction at the Country Fair on May
29.  We hope families will consider making a prize donation. 

Some popular Raffle items to donate:  $1 scratch-off lottery tickets, cotton-candy and ice-cream makers, movie candy & gum, board games, iTunes cards, Quality 16 movie passes, and U-M sports regalia. We welcome ALL prizes and really hope you may surprise us with a great prize idea.  To see our complete wish list click on the link: http://bit.ly/WinesRaffleWishes   Don't have time to shop? Consider making a monetary donation and we’ll do the shopping for you. Just contact us to make arrangements. Donations may be placed in the bin labeled "raffle” located under the counter in the work room off the office. 

Classroom Basket Items Needed

Don’t forget to bring in items for the classroom baskets. Collection boxes are in each classroom. The classroom themes this year are:

K - Arts & Crafts

1 - Legos

2 - The Wonderful World of Science

3 - Camping, Swimming & Outdoor Fun

4 - Sports & Outdoor Fun

5 - It's A High Tech World

Stay tuned for a sneak peak at all the Raffle and Silent Auction items for this year. Thank you for your continued support!!
Kerianne Tupac, Raffle/Silent Auction Committee Chair

kmtupac@umich.edu

The Wines Girls on the Run team loves the Humane Society of Huron Valley!

The GOTR team is celebrating a successful season by collecting donations for the Humane Society (wish list at http://www.hshv.org/site/PageNavigator/help/wishlist.html). Donation boxes are located near the entrance to the school office. Please help us give back to the community by bringing in pet food, pet toys, and pet supplies byThursday, May 28. Contact Coach Suzanne (admiraal@umich.edu) if you have questions about our project. Thank you!

That’s all (for now…) Please look at your email and take a look at the important Country Fair attachment as well.

David

Weekly Blog 5/5

Hello Wines Families, 

I have a number of important announcements today and a few are important to get out today, so this week's blog post is a day early. 

Vote Today!

I hope our entire Wines community gets out and votes today. There is an important School Bond proposal on the ballot. If you need some more information regarding the bond before you hit the polls, below is the link I sent out last week. 

http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/aaps/bond_video

Bike To School Day Tomorrow/ACES

Another time sensitive item. Tomorrow we will be participating in the annual Bike to School Day as well as ACES (All Children Exercise Simultaneously). We encourage kids to ride to school. In addition, during the morning, Ms. Wahl will lead our entire school on a walk to take part in ACES. Please note, in the event of inclement weather (it should be fine based on tomorrow's forecast) please make a family decision regarding if your child will ride to school. There will not be a formal "cancellation" announcement in the event of bad weather. 

Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast

Our staff would like to invite every volunteer to our school to our annual Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast on May 22. We will meet at 8:00 in the Media Center. Individual teachers will be contacting volunteers, but we know that every Wines parent volunteers in one way or another so everyone is invited! 

Class/Grade Leve Picnics

As a building in conjunction with PTO leadership, we have made a decision that instead of individual classroom/grade level end of year picnics at various locations around town, we will instead have one large school-wide celebration. This will take place the afternoon of June 9th. This will be a culminating celebration for many things. In addition to celebrating the end of the school year, we will celebrate our success during March is Reading Month and I will become a human ice cream sundae. We will also hold the staff/student kickball game for the winning class from the raffle and each student will receive ice cream. In the coming days, teachers will reach out as to how classroom parents can help out that day. There are many reasons why we are making this change. If you have specific questions, please contact me directly. 

Parking Lot

I want to remind parents that students are not allowed to use the cross walk in front of school without an adult accompanying them during the busy pick up and drop off times. If you choose not to use the lineup and park instead, please walk with your child to or from school. This is a critical safety issue. I've stopped a small few recently when I am out there, but I've received reports of students crossing before I come out in the morning. Also, I generally come outside around 8:40 each morning. Students should not be lining up before that time as they are not sufficiently supervised. 

That's all for this week! 

David

Weekly Blog 4/29

Dear Wines Families,
Spring seems to finally be here! With spring comes nice weather and it also brings busy times to Wines as we inch closer to the end of the school year. Over the coming weeks, my weekly emails may begin to be a bit longer and additional emails will begin to come from me as we prepare for end of the year activities--the Country Fair and Raffle in particular. So please spend a few minutes making sure you are up to date with everything. Thanks!

Parent Input for Class Placement 
We will soon begin making initial determinations of student placement for next fall. We do not yet know our classroom configurations or our staffing assignments yet, but we will begin making those decisions soon. Below is a link to a survey for parents to provide input to us as we make these placements. The survey is optional. As always, we do not accept requests for individual teachers, but the survey does allow you to highlight things about your child for us to consider. Below is the link.
PARENT INPUT SURVEY FOR CLASS PLACEMENT

Please Vote May 5
Next Tuesday there is a School Bond Proposal on the ballot. I encourage our families to educate yourselves about the bond and be sure you get to the polls next Tuesday. Below is a link to an informational video about the proposal.
http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/aaps/bond_video

Great Ideas Grant Deadline
The final Great Ideas Grant applications are due this Friday. Our PTO would love to support parent and student great ideas. Below are links to the adult and student proposals.
Adult Grant Application
Student Grant Application

Girls on the Run Practice 5K at Wines on Tuesday, May 5

The Wines Girls on the Run team will be holding a practice 5K after school on Tuesday, May 5, and you are invited to run with us, cheer for us, or volunteer at our water station! The practice 5K will begin at approximately 4 PM near the Wines main entrance. Our route loops through the Creal Park neighborhood twice before ending at the Wines main entrance. This event is part of our preparation for the season finale: the Girls on the Run 5K on UM's North Campus on May 17. Please e-mail Coach Suzanne Admiraal (admiraal@umich.edu) for more information or to volunteer to help out on May 5. Thank you for your support!

That's all for this week! 

David

Weekly Blog 4/2

Dear Wines Families,

Just a short post this week. Below is a link to the April Wines Times newsletter. Please take some time to read it as there is a lot of important information. Have a wonderful spring break. If you are traveling, please travel safely.

WINES TIMES NEWSLETTER

David

Weekly Blog 3/25

Dear Wines Families, 

I have a couple of new announcements today and a couple of reminders from my email I sent Monday. 

Disability Awareness Workshop

We are in need of volunteers for our annual Disability Awareness Workshop scheduled for April 23. The workshop is for 4th graders, but you need not be a 4th grade parent to volunteer. This is a great event where our students learn the challenges and opportunities faced by persons with various disabilities. If you can join us, please click on the link below to volunteer. If you have any questions, please contact Jessi Averill at jessi.averill@gmail.com or267-495-6208. 

Click HERE to volunteer. 

Wahoo Thanks! 

I want to thank all of our volunteers that made last Friday's Wines Wahoo such a success. We couldn't have done it without you! A big thank you to our coordinator, Denise Duffy, for all of your hard work!

Climate Survey Reminder

Thank you to everyone who has already filled out their parent climate survey. If you haven't had a chance, please look for an email from Dr. Swift that came out Monday with the subject "please share your voice." There is a link to your survey in that email. This is very important information for us. 

Next Year's Plans

Finally, just a reminder to fill out the brief form if you are not coming back to Wines next year or you may not be coming back to Wines. We are busy preparing for next year and we need accurate projections. Below is a link. 

STUDENTS NOT RETURNING

David

Weekly Blog 3/18

Dear Wines Families,

I have a number of important announcements this week.

Wines Wahoo

Friday evening is the annual Wines Wahoo at Forsythe beginning at 6:30 PM. This luau-themed event is among the most popular Wines traditions. We are still in need of a few volunteers to make the Wahoo a success. If you can help out, please follow the link below.

http://vols.pt/ooYKEz

Climate Surveys

The annual school climate survey window opens next Monday. We are hopeful that all Wines families fill out the short survey as it gives us great feedback on the areas where we are having success and areas where we need to focus our improvement efforts. Please look for an email from “K-12 Insight” on Monday which will give you a personalized link to the survey. We do use this information to inform how we work with our community and so I hope you will participate.

Report Cards

Please look for your child’s report card in today’s Wednesday Folder. If you have any questions regarding the information contained in the report card, do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. Please return the envelope so we can use them again in the spring.

Disability Awareness Workshop

Our annual 4^th Grade Disability Awareness Workshop takes place on April 23^rd. This is a wonderful event exposing our students to the challenges and opportunities faced by persons with disabilities. We will be in need of volunteers for the event. You certainly do not need to be a 4^th grade parent to help. Please contact our coordinator, Jessi Averill at jessi.averill@gmail.com or 267-495-6208.

Lost and Found

Our Lost and Found is again very full. We will be donating all remaining items before Spring Break. Please have a look and encourage your kids to look for lost belongings.

Food Drive

Our Rotary/Food Gatherers Food Drive is off to a slow start. Please bring in your non-perishable food items!

Art Room News

The latest Art Room news from Mrs. Hendrick was attached to today's email.

That’s all for now.

David