10-20-11

THOUGHTS FOR THURSDAY
F R O M T. E . A . M . P O M E L O
Thursday, 10/20/2011
http://teacherweb.com/CA/PomeloDriveElementary/SchoolHomePage/SDHP1.stm
SAVE THE DATE
OCTOBER 2011 CALENDAR
10/21
10/31
Picture Day
Halloween Parade, Fair and
Spooky House
Halloween Grams on
Sale Now!
from the desk of our Principal
Masha Gardner
NOVEMBER 2011 CALENDAR
11/1
11/3
11/3
11/9
11/11
11/14
11/15
11/17
11/24
Candy Split
McTeacher Night
Citizen of the Month
Team Pomelo 7pm
Veteran's Day
Book Fair
Governance Council 6pm
Cookie Kickoff
School Holiday through the 25th
Becoming an affiliated charter school was a time consuming and thought
provoking process. Implementing the school we envisioned is exciting,
challenging, discussion provoking and rewarding. One of the discussions
we need to continually have
is the one about money. Some people assume that as an affiliated
charter, the block grant we are given is sufficient to meet our
needs. Perhaps if we were not committed to providing an outstanding educational experience for all our children, it could be
sufficient. However, our commitment to sustaining an enriched
and supportive environment is expensive. With the block grant,
we have been able to provide classroom Aides for each grade
level and a teaching assistant for our Transitional Kindergarten
program. We have just purchased laptop computers for each
teacher, special projectors are on their way and routers to create
wireless internet connections in each classroom are being established. We have purchased the Accelerated
Reader program which will differentiate reading for every grade 1-5 student and we are providing for an additional teacher for two days each week to help mitigate the large grade 5 classes. We will be paying, out of the
block grant, for GATE testing and consumable workbooks as well as additional educational materials we feel are
needed. If this sounds like a lot - it is. Nevertheless, the funds from our grant cannot sustain our valuable art
program, music education, reading support, physical education or our computer teacher and lab. Without par-
entsʼ generosity and significant fundraising, these important educational components would not be in place. So,
the next time someone from TEAM Pomelo asks if you have contributed to membership or purchased an entertainment book, please remember that the money raised is for the benefit of our students. You might also pay
special attention to the “eBoxTops” information attached to this weekʼs Thoughts. Here is a very effective way
to earn lots of money for our school while doing the regular shopping you are currently doing. As always, thank
you for your support.
Team Pomelo has a new website
www.teampomelo.org
You can make your Team Pomelo donations
via PayPal on this website.
You should still use the school’s website:
http://teacherweb.com/CA/PomeloDriveElementary
for all information relating the school.
The www.teampomelo.org website will be dedicated mainly
to Team Pomelo sponsored events & fundraisers. It will
evolve as the school year progresses. Have a suggestion or
want to help?
Please contact Jennifer Yep at
(818) 347-6747 or jenniferyep@yahoo.com.
When witches go riding and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers, ‘tis near Halloween...
Join your fellow goblins and ghouls for Pomelo’s Annual
Halloween Fair and Spooky House
Monday, October 31st, 2-5pm
Yummy food in the Witches’ Kitchen Carnival Games Frightful Hair and
Tattoos Glow-in-the-Dark BOOtique DJ Spooky Garden Crafts
Joey Magic GAME TRUCK ALL NEW, SUPER-SCARY SPOOKY HOUSE!!
DEADLINE TO
TURN FORM INTO
YOUR CHILD’S
TEACHER IS
OCTOBER 25TH
Wrist Band Offer
For Only $20
- Admission to Event
- Spooky House Entrance (unlimited)
- 2 Food Items
- Drink
- Unlimited Carnival Games
-1 Glow in the dark item
-1 Flea Market Item
-15 minutes of video fun in the Game Truck
Student’s Name
Parent’s Name
Wristband (s)
Individual Tickets
Total Amount $
Regular Ticket Offer
Each Ticket is $1.00
-
Admission to event - 2 tickets
Spooky House - 2 tickets
Food Items - 1 ticket
Drinks - 1 ticket
Carnival Games - 1 to 2 tickets
Glow in the dark items - 1 to 2 tickets
Flea Market Items - 1 ticket
Game Truck - 5 tickets (for 15 min.)
Teacher/Room#
x$20.00=
x$1.00=
Don’t miss it...
CASH/CHECKS MADE PAYABLE TO TEAM POMELO, PLEASE REFERENCE “SPOOKY HOUSE”
Tickets and wrist bands are not refundable. Lost tickets are not replaceable.
HALLOWEEN GRAMS
ORDER FORM
You may order your grams early, have time to write them at home, or even decorate
them. If you would like the extra time, and the convenience of not having to deal with
the rush, please fill out the order form with payment and return it to you classroom. The
grams will then be delivered to your child’s classroom. You will fill out the gram, and
return them to the classroom, or to the office. There will be a box in the office to drop
the completed grams. If you are not sure of the room number of a child, just write the
child’s last name or the teachers name and we will figure out the classroom. Grams will
not be delivered unless payment is collected. Each gram is 50 cents. Please turn in
completed grams by Friday October 28Th!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HALLOWEEN GRAMS
ORDER FORM
Name of Student whom is purchasing gram ____________________________________
Room Number _____________________ Teacher’s name _______________________
How many grams needed? _____________ x 50 cents each
Total enclosed _____________________
Please make checks payable to Team Pomelo
LAST DAY TO TURN IN COMPLETED GRAMS IS 10/28/11!!
Mark your calendars…
SAVE THE DATE…
McTeacher’s Night is fast approaching…
Platt McDonald’s
Thursday, November 3, 2011
4:30 to 7:30pm
Help make McTeacher’s Night bigger and better than ever…
PARTICIPATE!!!
All you have to do is dine-in or simply drive-thru.
Our wonderful teachers and staff members will be there to serve you.
This is a simple and inexpensive way to support our school.
Pomelo Prouds / Drawing for Prizes
Team Pomelo receives 20% of all food sales.
No Flyer Needed
Inside the Pomelo Potting Shed
(October 20, 2011)
PUMPKIN SEED
SAVERS
Carving a pumpkin or two this spooky season?
Help our school garden by sustainable seed saving.
A quick and easy way to help our school garden this season is to save the seeds from pumpkin carving!
Don’t put them in the trash, they are perfectly good for planting and we need all the seeds that we can get.
Here’s how to be a Sustainable Seed Saver for our Pomelo Garden.
Carve your pumpkin and whilst scooping out the insides, also scoop out all the seeds. Pick the seeds out of
the fleshy insides of the pumpkin and put them in a strainer. Then wash them until they are totally clean.
When they are clean, turn them out onto paper towel and dry each one thoroughly. Then spread them out
on a tray or plate and let them air dry for 24 hours. Put them in an envelope and bring them to school.
Between now and Thanksgiving, we’ll have a competition to see which class saves the most seeds. The
class that saves the most will be our champion Sustainable Seed Savers and win a special treat.
PUMPKIN TRIVIA
Pumpkins are fruits, not vegetables. The Giant Pumpkin is the world’s largest fruit, sometimes weighing over
1,000 pounds! Pumpkins are a warm season vegetable - we plant them in the hot summer for harvest in the
fall. It takes around four months from germination to harvest a ripe pumpkin. They grow on vines on the
ground and each vine grows both male and female flowers. They need lots of water to grow.
Inside the pumpkin are seeds that can be dried and used to grow more pumpkins or toasted and eaten!
Another name for pumpkins seeds is Pepita. Pumpkins range in color from white, to yellow, to orange and
all pumpkin fruit contain Vitamin A and potassium. The oldest recorded evidence of pumpkins being grown
is in 7000 and 5500 BC in Mexico. Nowadays, pumpkins are grown all over the world, in every continent
except Antarctica, where they simply will not grow.
**********************************************************************************************
EVERY WEDNESDAY IS GARDEN DAY!
Be a part of our school garden success by volunteering and encouraging your student to volunteer.
Every Wednesday from 9am to 2.30pm. Students in grades 1-5 volunteer at recess and lunch to help
keep our garden looking good and ready for teaching. If your student likes to volunteer, please
remember to dress them appropriately on Wednesdays.
CALLING ALL BROWN THUMBS!
We also need adults to help supervise
groups of students, give out stickers and other ‘no-dirt’ tasks! No garden knowledge necessary.
Core times are 9.45am-10.30am and 11.45am-12.45pm.
Do you have ideas for our Garden Program?
Contact Debra Leith, Program Coordinator, debra@2edendesign.com or call 818.635.7955.
(Inside the Pomelo Potting Shed – TFT 10.20.11 version1)
Want to help your family to eat better?
Want to help your school raise money?
Want to help local farmers?
What’s a CSA? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. A CSA is a community group (like the Pomelo
family) that support small family farms by purchasing some of the farm’s harvest. It’s an easy way to enjoy
sustainably-grown food that’s grown close to home and guaranteed to be organic.
Why have a CSA at my school? Having a CSA at your school means that
children can experience a variety of locally grown seasonal fruits and vegetables.
It is a convenient way for families and faculty to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables
and, through weekly newsletters with pictures and recipes we get to connect
with our food and the farmers who grow it! Your family will thank you for this
convenient and healthy benefit.
How does it work? Go to www.mygoodlifeorganics.com to sign-up for a
subscription. Choose Pomelo Elementary school / Thursday 2:30 as the
pick-up location and make payment on the website. The pre-ordered boxes are
delivered on Thursdays at 2:30PM and parents simply pick it up from school and go!
There are many subscription sizes and frequency is weekly or every other week;
recurring orders can be skipped or cancelled at any time. Our first delivery will be Oct. 27, Thursday.
How much does it cost? There is an annual membership fee of $15. The cost for a weekly box of seasonal
produce is $15 or $25 for all fruit boxes & $25 or $45 for fruit and vegetable boxes. You can go to the website
to get examples of what kind and how much produce is in a box. www.mygoodlifeorganics.com
We need at least 25 subscribers to have a CSA program at Pomelo. If you are interested
or have questions, please contact Jennifer Yep: (818) 347-6747 jenniferyep@yahoo.com
Pomelo CSA is brought to you by Team Pomelo
and our organic school garden program.
Our garden can’t grow enough organic produce to supply
all our Pomelo family every week, so we’ve found a way
to bring organic fruits and veggies direct to you AND
raise money for our school. It’s a win-win! Join today!
Calling all Pomelo Community
Charter School Parents
We need your support and involvement on one of our advisory committees. Take a look at the
committees below and let Christy Durham (cdurham@buckleyla.org) know if you are interested
in being part of our school’s exciting new direction!
Budget and Finance Committee
• advise on annual school budget
Curriculum Committee
• assess existing curriculum
• research new curriculum
• focus on the implementation of the new Language Arts program Treasures
• assist the technology committee with planning professional development
Technology Committee
• survey technology inventory
• develop a technology plan
• work with the communications and curriculum committees
Communications Committee
• review and recommend ongoing procedures to ensure efficient, timely communication
with the Pomelo community
• review and update our current website