Weekly Blog 4/26

Dear Wines Families,

As I mentioned in Wednesday’s email, we have a number of additional announcements that were not in the Wines Times. So here goes:

Art Night
Just a reminder that tonight is Art Night. Janice Hendrick and her excellent group of volunteers have been very busy and the school looks like an art museum. We hope to see you tonight! Art Night is from 6:30-8:00. Thanks to everyone for all of your help and willingness to volunteer. Special thanks to Sonnet Meek and her son Teddy Curtner who brought in over 35 cans that are much needed to display some of our work tonight.

Girls on the Run 5K Event at Wines
Parents we need your help in making this event a success for our Girls!Our Wines "Girls on the Run" team is holding a practice 5k event after school on Tuesday, April 30 and would like to invite you to run with us, cheer for us, or quench our thirst! We will be starting at the front of school at 4pm.  Our route takes us through the Creal Park neighborhood. Come to school at 4pm and run with us or help us out with a water stop in the neighborhood.  Sign up here if you can help: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/409054DA5AE2B0-girls/1605923. We are practicing for the end of the season run with all the Girls on the Run teams in southeastern Michigan which will take place on May 19 at Eastern Michigan University. We'd love to see you there too. For more information about the event or how to sign up to run with your daughter or support your Wines team, go to http://girlsontherunsemi.org/events/GOTR-events.php.  If you would like to help with our practice 5k or for more information, contact coach Jennifer Hall at a2halls@gmail.com.

Help and Materials Needed for 2nd Grade Instrument-Making Project
The instrument-making unit is about to begin for 2nd graders, and we need families (any Wines families!) to donate these items:

Large empty oatmeal containers
Duct tape
PVC pipe, ½ inch and larger
A few clean 2 liter soda bottles
A few yards of clean garden hose
Sturdy cardboard shoe boxes with lids
Please send supplies in to the music room by May 1st. We also need parent volunteers for the project. It’s a fun project and the kids really appreciate your help. Contact Ms. McNally at mcnally@aaps.k12.mi.us if you can help during your 2nd grader’s music class. Thank you very much!

Great Ideas Grants
Turn a great idea into a program that benefits the Wines community. So far this school year, the program has funded 13 grants, including:

Portable digital storage for the library
Digital cameras for school use
Student “Be Green” club
Automatic pencil sharpeners for classrooms
 Applications due May 1st. Applications can be found in the office or on the Wines PTO Website.  If you have any questions or want help filling out an application, please email Annemarie Dolan atakilburndolan@comcast.net.

More Miller Construction Information
One thing that I did not mention related to the Miller Road construction is the fact that due to the construction, there has been an increase in traffic in the neighborhoods around our school. Please be sure to keep your speeds down and look for children walking. We have lots of walkers and we want to continue to encourage walking to school and we want to make sure they are safe!

Yearbook
Last call for pictures for the yearbook!  We are in need of photos of Halloween and group photos from the classrooms.   Please email (in high resolution format) to debbietirico@me.com and indicate which classroom teacher.  Deadline is Thursday!!

Wines Auction
It's hard to believe, but the Wines Country Fair is about 6 weeks away!  That means the auction and raffle committees are busy rounding up donations from local businesses and you, the families at Wines.  Please consider donating or sponsoring an item for the auction.  Last year we had 30 items and raised over $9000.  If you would like to donate an item or sponsor an item with a monetary donation, please contact Anna Morgan at annamorganforest@yahoo.com or Debbie Tirico at debbietirico@me.com.

Can't think of an item…. here are some from the Auction that we've seen in prior years. We would love to see these and new ideas for this year!  Can you help?

Tickets to sporting events
Wine tasting
Vacation homes
Golf Outings
Classroom Pizza Party
Local restaurants and entertainment

Have a great (and sunny!) weekend.

David