Weekly Blog 3/14

Dear Wines Families,

I have just a couple announcements today.

Report Cards/PLP’s

The March Report Card and updated Personalized Learning Plan for each student will be coming home tomorrow in your child’s backpack. Please take some time to review your child’s progress. You will notice a signature line for the PLP. Parents do not need to sign the March PLP. If you have any questions about the report card or PLP, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

Burns Park Run—Wines Benefits!

Thursday March 14 is the deadline for early registration for the Burns Park 5K on May 6th.  Runners in grades K - 12 can have $10 of their registration fee donated to the Wines PTO.  Registration remains open until May if your schedule frees up and the money can still be donated!  For more information see https://www.burnsparkrun.org/.

That’s all for this week!

David

Weekly Blog 3/7

Dear Wines Families,

I have a lot of information today.

Wahoo Wow!!

Our annual Wines Wahoo was another smashing success. Thanks to everyone who was able to attend and big thanks to the small army of volunteers who made the event possible. I want to give a special thank you to Michelle Sigakis who took on the role of event planner this year. Michelle not only organized this large event but also made some subtle changes that made the night even more successful.

Speaking of volunteers like Michelle, I want to quickly remind everyone that while it may seem like our PTO and our PTO events are organized by a large, well oiled “machine”, in truth, our PTO leadership team is small and our event coordinators are an even smaller group. In the coming weeks, please look for information about opportunities to get involved with some of our larger events with the possibility of taking on a leadership role in subsequent years. We are looking for families with young students to take on leadership roles as many of our coordinators have children who will be leaving Wines soon. If you are a new family and/or a family that will be with us for a while, please consider these opportunities to learn now so that later you can take on a leadership role. We need you!!! The first such opportunity is to help learn about running the Wines Auction. See below.

Wines Auction

With the Auction getting closer we are looking for donations. If you are able to donate to the auction, some ideas are: 

Restaurant and other Gift Cards, Wine priced at $25+ for the wine pull, Sports Tickets and Memorabilia, Vacation homes and any other items you would like to donate.  

Also we are still looking for someone to start learning how to run the auction.  If you would like some more information about this please email Tracie Clarke at traciemcginty@hotmail.com 

Student Council Used Book Drive

Wines Student Council is continuing to work on acts of kindness. To connect an act of kindness to March Is Reading Month, student council is holding a drive for gently used children's books. Be kind and spread the joy of reading! Look for collection boxes labeled by genre in the main hallway. 

Great Ideas Grants: Deadline Extended!

We only received a couple of PTO Great Ideas Grant applications so the deadline has been extended until next Monday. The adult application can be found at: https://docs.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_68l6yDUh-WYtpHFWv_0k3PwF36eLoFfoOGOpKjIt_dF6qg/viewform

The student application can be found at: https://docs.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKyn1faZ3i0CY5qtzHxLwqGYC3ofY2UFFKvw-pWwOjE8SppA/viewform

Forsythe Young Scientists Expo

The Young Scientists Expo with Scientist Spotlight will be at Forsythe Middle School, Sunday, March 11 from 1-4 PM.  Visit over 100 student projects!  Meet U-M scientists from the U-M Museum of Natural History's Science Communication Fellows program and participate in activities related to their research!  There will be activities for everyone, as well as the chance to see the results of so much hard work by the students.

Details:

Location: Forsythe Middle School, 1655 Newport Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48103

1:00pm: Expo opens to view student projects and visit exhibitors

1:30: Awards Ceremony for student scientists

4:00pm: Close

Thanks!

David

Weekly Blog 2/28

Dear Wines Families,

Just a reminder that we dismiss at 1:29 this afternoon. There is one more Early Release this year on May 23^rd.

March is Reading Month is Here!

While every month is reading month, we celebrate the joy of reading each March. We are not counting minutes this year, but rather encouraging every student to read nightly and turn in their March is Reading Month reading log each week. The first log is going home today in the Wednesday Folder and they should be returned each Thursday. 

Wines Wahoo: This Friday March 2^nd

Thank you to everyone who has signed up to volunteer so far! The annual Wines Wahoo is scheduled for March 2^nd at Forsythe Middle School. This Wines tradition needs volunteers to make it another fantastic event. Please click on the link below to volunteer.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c4da5a622a75-wines

Disability Awareness Workshop

Our annual Disability Awareness Workshop takes place on Wednesday, March 21. We will need parent volunteers to help out with this wonderful event for our 4th grade students. To volunteer, please use the sign up link  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080c48afaf28a31-disability

Any questions, please contact Jessi Averill 267-495-6208 or jessi.averill@gmail.com

PLTW Recognition!

Yesterday we received word that Wines has been selected as a Project Lead the Way “Distinguished School”. We are extremely proud to receive this honor and we thank our fantastic PLTW teacher, Sarah Schemanske, for all of her work with our kids! Below is a link to a short video announcement about the recognition.

http://storage.pardot.com/82012/115626/School_Recognition_Script_v5.mp4

David

Weekly Blog 2/21

Dear Wines Families,

I hope you are staying dry during this lovely stretch of weather we are having! I have just a couple of pieces of news today.

Disability Awareness Workshop

Our annual Disability Awareness Workshop takes place on Wednesday, March 21. We will need parent volunteers to help out with this wonderful event for our 4th grade students. You do not need to be a 4th grade parent to help! 

To volunteer, please use the sign up link  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080c48afaf28a31-disability
Any questions, please contact Jessi Averill 267-495-6208 or jessi.averill@gmail.com

Wines Auction: April 14

Our annual Wines Auction (both silent and live) will be held again this year at Null Tap House in Dexter on April 14 beginning at 6:00PM. Please mark your calendars for this fantastic wines “adult” event!

Early Release: Wednesday Feb. 28

Our next Early Release is next Wednesday, Feb. 28. Students are dismissed at 1:29. There is no PM childcare that day. 

That’s all for this week!

David

Weekly Blog 2/7: Snow Day Edition

Dear Wines Families,

Well, today was a bit of an unexpected snow day. Here is the news for the week.  

Wines Times

The January Wines Times newsletter is ready. Below is a link. Please take some time to read through all the important information from our PTO.

http://winespto.org/docs/WT-Feb2018.pdf

Reminder: RSVP for Parent Involvement Day

Thank you to everyone who has RSVP’d for Parent Involvement Day on Monday, Feb. 12^th. If you are planning on coming, please fill out the RSVP at the link below. It is especially important to RSVP if you are staying for lunch so we can be sure to order enough food!

https://goo.gl/forms/lyXchvz8PJggxjf32

Flu Update and Precautions

As many of you know all too well, the flu has hit Washtenaw County and has made its way into Wines. Below is a link to information from our school district regarding the flu.

http://bit.ly/AAPSfluprevent

Please help us prevent the spread of flu by following the suggestions at the link. In addition, if your child is going to be home sick and you are leaving a message with us on our voicemail, please indicate the symptoms your child has and if your child has been officially diagnosed with the flu, please let us know that information. Also, while children’s Motrin is certainly a game changer for busy parents, please don’t “cover” your child’s fever with medication in the morning. Motrin wears off after a few hours and our office is often full of sick students at about 1:00 each day. These students not only feel horrible, they are potentially spreading the flu.

Wines Wahoo: March 2^nd

The annual Wines Wahoo is scheduled for March 2^nd at Forsythe Middle School. This Wines tradition needs volunteers to make it another fantastic event. Please click on the link below to volunteer.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c4da5a622a75-wines

4^th Grade Disability Awareness Workshop

Our annual 4^th grade Disability Awareness Workshop takes place March 21^st. We need volunteers for this important event as well. You don’t have to be a 4^th grade parent to volunteer! Below is the link. There is more information about this event in today’s Wines Times newsletter.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080c48afaf28a31-disability

Revised Lunch Menu due to Snow Day

Thursday- Breakfast for lunch

Friday-Nacho lunch

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday will remain the same

Next Thursday-Chicken patty sandwich 

No School Friday Feb. 16^th, Monday Feb. 19^th

Just a reminder that we have a short “mid winter break” this year.

David