Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Weekly Blog 10/25

Dear Wines Families,
Before I get into this week’s notes, just a quick reminder that dismissal is at 1:29 today. There is no PM childcare.

Need part time work? Do you know someone who does?
We have openings for noon hour workers at Wines. The job is a great one for someone with time in the afternoon (11:30-1:00) who would like to work with our kids during the lunch hour. You do not need to commit to 5 days a week (even one day is ok!). If you are able to stay for two hours and willing to do a few extra tasks, we can also pay folks for two hours of work. If you are interested or know someone who is, please contact me directly and I can fill you in on the details.

Science and Builders Fair
The Science and Builders Fair is just about two weeks away! (November 9th- from 7:00- 8:30)  If you are looking for inspiration, log into the website and explore resources and view photos from last year's fair. We'd love to have your aspiring scientist or builder be part of the fair! This is a great, age appropriate introduction to designing a project and presenting! Consider inviting friends or having siblings to do a simple group project - (No school November 7th!)
Registration will be open until November 3rd- just click on the link below from a mobile device.

Spirit Wear: Sales and Samples
There are samples of our spirit wear (including the new items this year) on display outside of the front office. Please follow the link below to place your order for t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, or sweatshirts in both youth and adult sizes.  Please note that there are a couple of new product offerings this year including tri-blend (cotton/poly/rayon) t-shirts that are softer than the basic shirts as well as athletic wicking shirts (called "performance crew").  Online orders will be accepted through Monday, October 30.  Spirit Wear orders will be delivered to students prior to Thanksgiving break.

Volunteers still Needed
There are still a few Wines events that need volunteers. Posted on the bulletin board outside of the library you will find sign up sheets for events we still need help with.

Halloween
We will celebrate Halloween next Tuesday. Our annual parade will be at 2:30 PM. Students can bring costumes to school to be put on in the afternoon when classroom activities begin (please see information from classroom teachers about specific classroom plans). As always, we want Halloween to be a fun day at school. Therefore, we ask that costumes be “friendly”. As a parent, I know how hard it is to find costumes that aren’t scary. We do ask that there be no fake blood or no fake weapons of any kind. The rule of thumb is, if you are questioning whether a costume or accessory is ok, then it probably isn’t. Also, if you would not like your child to participate in Halloween activities, please let me know and we will have an alternative activity here at school.

That’s all for this week!


David

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Weekly Blog 10/18

Dear Wines Families. Here is the news for the week!

Run-a-Thon Success!!!
Last Friday was another FANTASTIC Run-a-Thon success. The kids had a great time, the weather was perfect, and everything went off without a hitch. I want to extend a thank you to all of our volunteers who made the day possible. I want to give a special HUGE thank you to Katie Fife who organized this year’s event. We had a sudden leadership change for the Run-a-Thon this fall and we needed a new point person. Katie has been involved with Run-a-Thon for a number of years taking on the incredibly challenging job of getting the t-shirts produced and distributed (a monumental task). This year, Katie stepped up in pinch and took the entire event on (and still handled the shirts!). THANK YOU Katie!

WE NEED YOUR RUN-A-THON PLEDGES
While the event is behind us, we are still actively collecting Run-a-Thon pledges. We want EVERY student to collect something. Any amount helps. The Run-a-Thon pledge packet went home a couple weeks ago and pledges can be made online easily at https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto/item/run-a-thon-donation-1.

If you are sending the link to friends and family, be sure to tell them your child’s teacher so it can be indicated at checkout.

Spirit Wear Now Available for Purchase
It's time for our annual Wines Spirit Wear sale. Please follow the link below to place your order for t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, or sweatshirts in both youth and adult sizes.  Please note that there are a couple of new product offerings this year including tri-blend (cotton/poly/rayon) t-shirts that are softer than the basic shirts as well as athletic wicking shirts (called "performance crew").  Online orders will be accepted through Monday, October 30.  Spirit Wear orders will be delivered to students prior to Thanksgiving break.


Science and Builders Fair
The Science and Builder Fair Registrations are rolling in! 16 students have already signed up to show our community what makes them curious! No project idea is too simple! If you are looking for inspiration, log into the website and explore resources and view photos from last year's fair.
Registration will be open until November 3rd- just click on the link below from a mobile device.

David


Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Weekly Blog 10/11

Dear Wines Families,

We are in the middle of a great Spirit Week here at Wines! All of this spirit leads into our Run-a-Thon on Friday. We are looking forward to another great event. Our Run-a-Thon is not only a fun day for our kids, it is also one of our primary fundraisers each year. We hope that every Wines student helps collect pledges. A paper pledge form came home last week and pledges can be easily made online. Online pledges can be made at https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto/item/run-a-thon-donation-1
If you are sending the link to friends and family, be sure to tell them your child’s teacher.

Run-a-Thon Volunteers still Needed
We are still in need of volunteers for the Run-a-Thon Friday morning. If you can help out, please go to http://signup.com/go/GcsqHvF.

Science and Builders Fair Nov. 9
All students at Wines are welcome to showcase their creativity in the “Science and Builders Fair” on Thursday November 9th from 7pm to 8:30 pm at the school. Registration is simple and is required to ensure that display space is adequate. 

The website can be accessed from a mobile device and there is a navigation menu at the top left that allows you to view all of the details about the fair, including pictures and links to project ideas, volunteer sign up and of course…registration (which only requires- name, grade and if you are doing a science or builder project.) Please register by November 3rd.


Spirit Wear Sale Coming
Please look for a link in next week’s Wednesday email to order Wines Spirit Wear.

Parent/Teacher Conferences
Our parent teacher conferences will be starting soon. If you have not signed up for a conference, please contact your child’s teacher ASAP. As always, we are looking to meet with 100% of our families to discuss student progress and your child’s Personalized Learning Plan for the year.

Please Collect your Boxtops!
It's time for a Boxtops for Education contest!  Collect Boxtops from your favorite products and send them in to the school marked with your teacher's name.  You can use a ziplock or attach them to a collection sheet.  The winning classes will get a special treat during the last week of school!

Girl Scouts Mom 2 Mom Sale
The Girl Scouts are holding a Mom 2 Mom Sales Plus Expo this Saturday, October 14 9am-3pm at the GS Regional Center 444 James L. Hart Pkwy Ypsilanti. Touch a Truck, Creature Conservancy, games, supervised child care & more! For table rental or more info contact rebeccamariea@yahool.com.

Thanks!

David

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Weekly Blog 10/4

Dear Wines Families,
Thanks to everyone who participated in International Walk to School Day today. We had a great turnout. As a reminder, we will walk each Friday beginning this week for the month of October. Here is the news for this week:

Wines Times
The monthly Wines Times newsletter is ready. Please click on the link below for all of this month’s news from our PTO.

Run-a-Thon is next Friday!!
Our annual Run-a-Thon is next Friday morning. In your child’s Wednesday Folder today, you will find the paper copy of the pledge forms. Pledges can also be made online at https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto/item/run-a-thon-donation-1. Please share the online pledge form for out of town friends and family! The Run-a-Thon is one of them most exciting days of the year and is also one of our few main fundraisers. We hope everyone can participate in collecting pledges.

Spirit Days
The next seven school days will be special spirit days. Tomorrow, Thursday, we will kick off our Run-a-Thon with a pep rally at the end of the day. We are asking any student who has a Run-a-Thon t-shirt from previous years to wear their shirt on Thursday. On Friday, we will celebrate the Michigan/MSU rivalry and if kids are fans of either team, we want them to show their team pride (I hope the maize and blue is more prevalent!).

Next week we will have our annual Spirit Week as we prepare for Run-a-Thon. The days are:
Monday: Crazy Hair Day
Tuesday: Pajama Day
Wednesday: Wacky Sock Day
Thursday: Favorite Team Day
Friday: Run-a-Thon (all students receive a t-shirt and classrooms will have unique themes).

Walk to School
We had a great first day of Walktober today. We will now walk each Friday this month.

That’s all for this week!

David