PTSA news 9-12

September
2012
www.gpesptsa.org
Welcome! from your PTSA president
Dear Glacier Park families,
Welcome to the 2012
-2013 school year! I would
like to say a big thank you
to the wonderful people
who have joined the PTSA
Board, and I look forward
to working with you.
In this issue:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Check out Spirit Wear design
See new website and FB group
Order your yearbook – in color
Mark ‘popcorn days’ on calendar
Try teaching art at Glacier Park
Save the carnival: Volunteer!
The year ahead promises
to be an exciting one with many activities to participate in and volunteer with. These include GRR, Family Nights, Book Fair, Popcorn
Days, Art Docent program, Read-a-thon (will replace Walk-a-thon), to
name just a few. We are excited to support the Glacier Park community
through teacher grants, program support and volunteer hours.
The PTSA is an organization run by volunteers, and we encourage you
to get involved at whatever level of commitment you can provide. We
have opportunities requiring an hour of your time to weekly/monthly roles to leadership positions. It is a chance to meet friendly people
while supporting our incredible school.
Feel free to contact me at chicagokat705@comcast.net with any questions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Warmly,
Katrina
September
at GPES
Tuesday, 9-4
First day of school, gr. 1-5
Friday, 9-7
First day of kindergarten
Thursday, 9-20
PTSA general meeting and
volunteer training, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, 9-21
Cherrydale fundraiser kickoff
Monday, 9-24
Open House, 5:30 p.m.
Save the date
Friday, 10-5
Cherrydale orders due
Monday, 10-15
Spirit Wear orders due
Wednesday, 10-17
Reflections art due
Tuesday, 11-6
Reflections ceremony, 7 p.m.
Friday, 11-9
PTSA Sock Hop, 7 p.m.
This year’s PTSA executive board
President: Katrina Montgomery
Co-vice presidents: Alison Schepel and Kristine Munson
Secretary: Betsey Sommer
Treasurer: Heather Ballard
Cashier: Christina Terbovic
Tuesday, 11-13
Fall Book Fair begins
Thursday, 11-15
Spirit Wear and Cherrydale
order pick up
Glacier Park Elementary School PTSA
September 2012 Newsletter - 2
Cool PTSA stuff for Polar Bears
Check out new Spirit Wear design and styles
At right is the new design for Glacier Park Spirit
Wear this year. The background is a deep, royal, Glacier Park blue. An order form with pictures of clothing is included in this Welcome Packet.
Spirit Wear is not a fundraiser for PTSA; we offer it
solely to boost school spirit.
This year we will offer T-shirts and sweatshirts
(hoodie and zip up), and we also have a few new exciting items to choose from: shorts, tie-dye T-shirts
and umbrellas. Samples will be available to try on at
Open House on Monday, Sept. 24.
You may place your orders online again this year:
Check the PTSA website – www.glacierparkptsa.org
– to be directed to the ordering site where you can
pay by credit card. Orders must be turned in no later
than Monday, Oct. 15: no exceptions!
Orders may be picked up the night of late confer- Spirit Wear on Fridays!
ences, Thursday, Nov. 15.
If you have any questions please contact Trista RopRemind your child to show school spirit by donning pel at troppel@comcast.net.
Join our new Facebook group
The PTSA has moved from a Facebook page to a Facebook
group this year. That means one extra step for you at first. But
after you join, posts will appear in your email, so you won’t need
to remember to check the page anymore. Here’s what to do:
1. Click on https://www.facebook.com/groups/gpesptsa/.
2. Click on “Join” in the right-hand column.
3. Wait for administrator approval.
Don’t want posts to show up in your email? Just click “Notifications” and turn this feature to “off.”
Not on Facebook? You can still view calendar items and notifications on our website, which has a new look this year: www.
glacierparkptsa.org.
Yearbooks add color
For the first time, Glacier Park
yearbooks will be printed in color.
Don’t miss out – pre-orders are
available now.
You can pre-order yearbooks on
the PTSA Membership Form in
this welcome packet.
Yearbooks cost $15 each, but if
you sign up for the PTSA Family
Bundle, one yearbook is included.
Sales occur only twice a year. The
next sale will be in March. Questions? Contact Selyna Clayton at
jsclayton4@comcast.net.
Glacier Park Elementary School PTSA
September 2012 Newsletter - 3
More cool PTSA stuff for Polar Bears
Get into GRR logs to boost reading
Glacier River to Reading (GRR) is a PTSA-sponsored program which
encourages reading outside of the classroom.
To participate, students are required to read for 20 days out of the
month for 10 minutes (grades K-2) or 20 minutes (grades 3-5). A form
is sent home each month with your student, indicating month, grade,
student name, days read and required signatures.
Forms need to be turned in by the fifth day of the following month in
order to qualify for a prize, which varies each month. Late forms will
receive credit for reading but no prize. Students who turn in their form
for six or more months will then qualify for an end-of-the-year celebration.
Happy reading!
Reflections competition makes ‘magic’
The national PTSA sponsors a cultural arts competition each year that
it calls “Reflections.” Students are invited to submit entries that reflect
a theme.
The new theme for the 2012-2013 Reflections is “The Magic of a Moment.”
Students may start now to come up with ideas for the competition.
Remember, students may choose from any of the following areas to be
creative:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Photography
Dance
Literature
Visual Arts
Music Composition
Film/Video
In November, the PTSA will honor the participants in a ceremony at
Glacier Park. See the flyer in this Welcome Packet for more information
about how to enter. All entries are due Wednesday, Oct. 17.
If you would like more details on Reflections, please visit the Washington State PTA website: www.wastatepta.org (click under “Programs”
and then on “Reflections”), or contact Alison Hagee at abhagee@
gmail.com or Laura Gindroz at lgindroz@yahoo.com.
Popcorn Days
Remind
your
student
to bring a quarter for
“popcorn day” this year. One
Friday per month, PTSA will sell
bags of popcorn for 25 cents in
the shed during first recess.
Mark these popcorn Fridays
on your calendar:
October 19
November 16
December 14
January 18
February 8
March 22
April 19
May 17
June 13 (OK, this one is
a Thursday, but it’s the
Second Annual Popcorn
Palooza. Free popcorn!)
Questions? Want to help with
popcorn sales? Please contact Katrina Montgomery at
chicagokat705@comcast.net
or 425-413-1498.
Glacier Park Elementary School PTSA
pOp QUIZ:
September 2012 Newsletter - 4
Name the Glacier Park programs paid for entirely or
partially by PTSA.
artdocents
interactivewhiteboards
projectors
MissoulaChildren’sTheater
CampCasey
libraryandclassroombooks
Raz-Kidsonlinereading
studentagendas
studentandfamilyassemblies
fieldtriptransportation
kindergartenbookbags
netbookcomputers
schooldances
mainentrancemural
So many ways to help...
landscaping
ZeroHourclasses
broadcastingclubequipment
GRRreading
playgroundequipment
... all these and more!
Glacier Park
1. Join PTSA.
The first thing you should do is join PTSA. For the cost of a couple movie tickets, you will help support all
of the terrific programs listed above and more, and you will be added to our email list and have the option
to join or new Facebook group (see page 2). This year, you can even bundle your yearbook order with your
membership. See the membership information included in this Welcome Packet for details.
2. Volunteer.
Not sure how you might want to
volunteer this year? Sign up to be
a “volunteer at large,” and we’ll
contact you if we need help.
Spring carnival axed
unless volunteers step up
Some Glacier Park events don’t
even make it onto the annual calendar unless parents volunteer to
plan them. Such is the case with
the popular school carnival. It isn’t
on the calendar now because the
PTSA can’t find anyone to coordinate it. We could use not just a
carnival chair but a “carnival committee.” Consider volunteering
with friends to make the carnival
happen.
PTSA is also looking for people
to create bulletin boards. If you’d
like to volunteer, please contact
Katrina Montgomery at chicagokat705@comcast.net.
You don’t need to be an artist to teach art
One fun way to volunteer is to become an art docent, and we have
an immediate need for them in
all grades – but particularly at the
kindergarten level.
are followed by a fun, hands-on
project that relates to the areas of
focus.
Training is provided by the Interurban Center for the Arts. Classes
You don’t need to have any artis- guide volunteers through the protic ability to do this, and the time cess of researching artists, chooscommitment is minimal.
ing related hands-on projects, and
presenting lessons.
An art docent lesson only takes
about 45 minutes to an hour once Grandparents are welcome as art
a month. You will present a fa- docents as well.
mous artist and one of his or her
pieces. (We have all the informa- Please contact your child’s teacher
tion you will need in our art do- or Alison Hagee at 425-413-5199
cent packets). Your presentations or abhagee@gmail.com.
Glacier Park Elementary School PTSA
September 2012 Newsletter - 5
3. Make purchases that benefit PTSA.
So many programs donate a portion of their proceeds to Glacier Park’s PTSA. Here are some to consider
for this year:
Participate in the PTSA’s Fall Fundraiser
It’s time for the PTSA’s big Fall Fundraiser, spon- the top-selling classroom. The
sored by Cherrydale, which can ship purchases this top two winning teachers get a
year to your home. The catalog and order form will $50 Cherrydale shopping spree!
be sent home with students on Friday, Sept. 21.
Orders are due by Friday,
Please come by the Fall Fundraiser table at Open Oct. 5. They may be picked up the night of late conHouse on Monday, Sept. 24, to see some of the great ferences, Thursday, Nov. 15. If you have any quesitems and fabulous prizes that Cherrydale has to of- tions, please contact Taunya Fermstad at fermstad@
fer this year. We will also have a teacher bonus for msn.com.
Buy cute labels for family items
Oliver’s Labels are
a cute and practical way to identify
all of your family’s belongings and help keep them
out of the “lost and never found” pile. The waterproof labels and tags are made of high-performance,
scuff-proof materials and are dishwasher, microwave
and washer-dryer safe. Be sure to use the following
link to purchase, and Glacier Park will receive a portion of the proceeds:
www.oliverslabels.com/glacierparkelementaryptsa.
Sign up for eScrip at Safeway
The eScrip program is a huge fundraiser for Glacier
Park, but with the opening of Fred Meyer, we are
concerned that our profits may drop this year. Please
help keep eScrip fundraising strong by signing up for
eScrip at Safeway. Please call Amber Puzey if you
have any questions: 360-886-5421.
Clip box tops and product labels
An easy way to earn cash for our
school is through the Box Tops
for Education and Labels for
Education programs. Clip the
box tops or save labels and caps from hundreds of
participating products. Each one is worth 10 cents.
Keep them in a recloseable bag, then either hold
onto them for a contest later in the year or put them
in the blue Polar Bear box in the school entryway.
Read more at http://boxtops4education.com and
http://labelsforeducation.com.
Seeking local business support
Are you a business owner
or do you know one who
would like to support Glacier Park?
GPES PTSA is fundraising with MSN Offers for
Schools. We are looking for
any and all business owners who would like to
increase their customer base, promote their
business and help raise funds for our school.
Here is how the program works:
• MSN Offers for Schools will work with you
and your business to set up a special offer
(similar to a Groupon or Living Social deal).
• The offer will run on Glacier Park’s own
MSN Offers for Schools daily deal site
AND the site of any other schools participating in the MSN Offers for Schools program in your community. Your offer will be
featured on the MSNOffers.com page.
• Our school will receive between 10 and 15
percent of ALL the deals sold.
• Your business will be promoted throughout
your community at no cost to you.
Visit http://msnoffersforschools.com or contact Kristine at kristinemunson@me.com.