Chesterbrook PTA Digest PLUS

because of vendor contracts and reliance on large numbers of volunteers.

Have a question you'd like to have answered? Send your questions to Ask Chester and we'll answer them here and/or on our website. Check out our new FAQs section on the website for more as the year goes on.

Chesterbrook Business Friends

Jake
Sullivan
Realtor

Chesterbrook PTA Digest PLUS

January 24, 2012

Dear Chesterbrook Families,

I am amazed and grateful for this community of parents. Our PTA is always working to balance the fundraising appeals with the services provided. Check out just a handful of these amazing activities and take pride in knowing that your efforts & funding enable great things for our children:

On the Social & Enrichment front, our Health & Wellness committee launched Healthy Snack Fridays and challenged us to a 5K run in September; the entire student body watched the Maryland Science Center presentation (ask your kids about the cannon!); we are hosting storyteller Jim Weiss at our next Family Fun event Feb. 10, and International Night, a delicious opportunity to taste the world in one place, returns on Feb. 3. Many more activities are on tap for the rest of the year, so stay tuned.

Our Facilities also benefit from PTA dollars - an improved Track coming this spring; the continuation of the beautiful and educational Library Mural; and let us not forget last year's success of a new gym floor with volleyball post holes drilled for easy conversion of gym space, and an outdoor volleyball court.

Our Teachers & School also benefit. Teachers were treated to a holiday breakfast in December and will have a luncheon during Teacher Appreciation Week; teacher educational opportunities - additional continuing education & coursework are made available; our book fairs support library purchases; even the school supply kits purchased (and conveniently delivered directly to our kids' classrooms before the first day of school) directly benefit PTA programs and services.

Look for a longer article in next month's Digest Plus with more details of all the ways your dollars help our children, teachers, and school. Please support your PTA this fundraising season and give a special thanks to yourself and your friends for their volunteer efforts. Together you make the Chesterbrook PTA a vibrant & successful partner in our children's education.

Warm Regards,

Beth Mahood,
President Chesterbrook PTA

PTA Meeting Tries to Help Make McLean Safe Streets

By: Michele Pearce, Founder of McLean Safe Streets Campaign

Last fall, on International Walk to School Day, a group of parents organized in connection with the "Make McLean Streets Safe Campaign". The campaign aims to address two issues: safety for children/families walking to Chesterbrook and traffic enforcement issues on Kirby Road and other roads surrounding the school such as Chesterbrook Road. Over the last few years, speeding on our roads has increased and numbers of children and families at Chesterbrook report being "side-swiped" as they navigate routes to the school. Other concerns are lack of signage surrounding the school indicating that drivers should slow down and the lack of contiguous sidewalks around Chesterbrook and in our surrounding communities.

Since then, in connection with the PTA, we've met with Supervisor Foust and other county officials to see what can be done in the near and long-term to make walking routes for our children and families safe. And to learn what law enforcement officials are doing to address traffic issues. Officials acknowledged the pedestrian/traffic safety issues. In fact, Steve Thompson, the Captain at the McLean Police Station stated that traffic safety is so concerning on Kirby that he won't place patrols on the road. Supervisor Foust indicated that sidewalks would cost a significant amount of money and likely require homeowner consent to build sidewalks from our communities to the school. Supervisor Foust also pointed out that many of the roads (particularly Kirby) belong to the State of Virginia and we as a community must petition the state to implement "traffic calming measures" such as medians to help pedestrians cross our streets safely.

Supervisor Foust committed to conducting a traffic study and we are exploring an application to the State of Virginia "Safe Routes to School Program" which provides money to build sidewalks and improve walking routes to schools. Once the study is done, we will meet with officials to learn what they propose as a plan for the way ahead. If you are interested in serving on the "Make McLean Streets Safe Campaign" team to facilitate these issues, please contact Michele Pearce at saferoutes@chesterbrookpta.org. We plan to meet soon to set goals and objectives. This effort will require all of us to work together to get results. Some ideas mentioned at the PTA meeting include:

-A school crossing guard;
-Contiguous sidewalks;
-Better signage around the school; and
-Excessive speeding fine signs.

Parents in other McLean neighborhoods petitioned the county for sidewalks, medians, and school crossing guards and were successful. In fact, most sidewalk/pedestrian safety projects funded by the County in the last few years are concentrated in other areas of McLean. No money has been dedicated to the Chesterbrook School area despite the great need. We hope you'll join our efforts to get this changed!

Tech, Tech; Everywhere...PART 1

By Aisha Kashif

Click here, swipe there, zoom in, zoom out, cut and paste, Voila! It is truly amazing what these tiny gestures enable us to achieve. They have become a part of our lives in more ways than one. They have granted us access to incredible resources, have allowed us to get connected, irrespective of boundaries and have changed the very ways in which students and teachers interact with each other. Gone are the days, when there was a "blackboard" and teachers had to speak "loudly" in order to reach everyone. Now, Blackboard is the name of a website where students can post comments, view homework assignments and can also access their textbooks in the comfort of their homes!

At Chesterbrook, Kurt Kohls is the School Based Technology Specialist who has been instrumental in introducing and assisting teachers, showing them different ways in which software and hardware tools can be integrated within the curriculum. And now, thanks to new technological innovations and also to the generosity of the parent community at the school, the students are enhancing their learning and creativity in a number of ways.

Starting in Kindergarten, students get a whole year of tech instruction on computer basics. Using the mouse, feeling comfortable with opening folders and files, etc. are all introduced. Taking these skills with them, students in Grade 1 use programs like Pixie, Image Blender, Share for Webpage creation and others. They also get the experience to try MS Office. Grade 2 uses Kidspiration (mind mapping software for organizing stories), Pixie, Blackboard, and various websites for all areas of the curriculum. Grade 3 adds in Type to Learn, Mapmaker's Toolkit and Google Earth. Grade 4 adds in Inspiration (Similar to Kidspiration). Grade 5 adds in more of the Office Suite, including PowerPoint and Grade 6 adds in Excel.

Each classroom in Grades 1 and 2 has three to four desktop computers. Each class in Grade 3 has eight netbooks for their use. Grades 3-6 students have their own network IDs and passwords and they can manage and save their most important pieces of work individually. They are also able to take this work with them when they leave Chesterbrook.

The computer inventory has been continually enhanced at the school, thanks recently to funds raised through the Summer Quest program. Each class from Grades 4-6 has their own set of laptops. The school also has seven iPads with three more in the pipeline. Teachers are able to check them out as needed. Besides the classroom laptops, two netbook carts can also be checked out if the need arises. And then, there is Mimio® (see below). We'll discuss this innovative tool, which turns any whiteboard into an interactive whiteboard, in Part 2 next month.

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To learn more about all this technology at work, join Mr. Fuqua and Mr. Kohls for a special Principal's Coffee on Feb. 15. Mr Kohls will be giving a special presentation and parents will be able to experience much of the technology their children are using firsthand.

"To me, it's all about being ahead of the curve. What students take away from being exposed to these marvelous pieces of technology is learning how to utilize different software pieces and technology in the appropriate way and how to integrate them in their work and lives," says Mr. Kohls. "They should know how to identify the right tool for the job. When they leave here, they will possess a more discerning eye which will ensure lifelong learning and growth."

Online Auction Needs Your Help!

Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, VA

By Julia Nelson, VP Fundraising Chesterbrook PTA

The PTA's annual online auction is Chesterbrook's premier fundraising event...and it opens in less than three weeks! We really need your help now. While we're off to a good start, with more than 140 auction items so far, our goal is 300 or more!

This year families will have a chance to bid on items including a weekend at the beautiful Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg; Capitals hockey tickets; the American Girl Doll of the Year; rounds of golf; fitness classes; children's art and music lessons, and much more. There are items for all ages and in all price ranges! To see a preview of items available to date, check out the Auction site www.biddingforgood.com/chesterbrook

Please consider donating an item or a service or ask someone to do so. All you need is this Donor Form. Our auction provides great publicity for any donor as we include their logo and link to their website!

Do you frequent a particular salon, restaurant, or gift shop? Ask them for a gift certificate.
Are you a professional? Donate a couple of hours of your time.
Do you have a second home you'd be willing to offer for a weekend or a week?
Buy a gift card and donate it.
Know a dog groomer, trainer or walker who might want great publicity in exchange for a donation?
Have tickets to a sporting event, theater or concert that you cannot attend? Please donate.
We'd welcome frequent flyer miles that you may never use.

More details about the auction are available on the PTA website. If you have any questions, please contact Julia Nelson at auction@chesterbrookpta.org

Save the Date: Fun Fair is March 10th!!

2011 Fun Fair Cochairs

By Trisha Downey and Kim Johnson, Fun Fair Co-Chairs

Save the Date! Saturday, March 10th is the annual Chesterbrook Fun Fair! Carnival games, Moon bounces, Cupcake Walk, Face Painting, Teacher raffle, Basket raffle and lots more fun is on the agenda from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

We are pleased to announce three new and exciting changes this year:

The Cake Walk will be replaced by a Cupcake Walk. We are pleased to report that we have arranged donations from a variety of upscale bakeries. Come and win a delicious gourmet cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake, Fluffy Thoughts, Sprinkles and our very own Esquire Confections.
More carnival games!
Volunteer recruitment to be via Sign up Genius versus through your child's homeroom. We need approximately 140 volunteers to run a successful event and only ask for 2 hours of your time (this could be split in half with your spouse) so please sign up early to work in your first choice area.

Please save your gently used books and stuffed animalsfor our musical chairs book walk. This was very successful and fun last year and we hope you will once again go through your children's book cases and toy bins and pass along books and stuffed animals that are still in good condition for us to give away as the prizes for this activity. (All remaining books are donated to a school in need.) We'd also like to thank you for all the donations of extra Halloween candy for our Guesstimates game. We will not have to buy much (if any) candy this year!

If you would like to get more involved in the Fun Fair, there are several lead positions that will be open next year. Please contact us at funfair@chesterbrookpta.org if you are interested in shadowing a lead position this year so you can lead in 2013. It is a fun way to get involved and meet people in our school!

More information will be coming in the weeks to come, so stay tuned for more details. This event is a fun day for families and raises a lot of money that goes back to the school for things like the new gym floor, library mural, additional teacher education and much more!

Family Fun Event: Storytelling with Jim Weiss!

By Melissa House, Family Fun Events Chair

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Chesterbrook families and friends are invited to this special event, brought to you by our PTA, on Friday, February 10 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Chesterbrook Elementary School cafeteria. Hearing well-told stories can help with reading comprehension as a child learns the structure of stories and develops the listening skills associated with hearing a story told or read aloud. At our storytelling event, Jim will tell several stories designed to entertain and appeal to kids of all ages.

We hope you and your family can join us for an evening of engaging stories and community fun. Kids are welcome to bring a comfy blanket, quilt or flat pillow to sit on to get up close to the action.

Summer Quest Registration Coming Soon!

Chesterbrook's very own summer camp, Summer Quest, is ramping up for another fun, convenient, affordable and rewarding camp experience for kids from rising Kindergarteners to rising 7th graders!

This year there will be 4 one-week sessions:

July 9 - 13
July 16 - 20
July 23 - 27
July 30 - August 3

As always, Summer Quest will offer a wide variety of activities that include the academic as well as athletic, artistic, musical and just plain FUN! Some will be delicious (quite a few cooking choices). Some will be amazing (Can science really do that?). All will be unforgettable.

Classes are taught by Chesterbrook teachers and are not limited to just Chesterbrook students. Friends, cousins, neighbors are welcome to register as well.

Details on each class and registration information are coming shortly, so stay tuned!

International Night Back for Second Year

By Kate Garcia, Secretary Chesterbrook PTA

Next Friday, February 3rd marks the second annual Chesterbrook ES International Night. Started last year, the family fun event is a celebration of the wide variety of cultures represented at our school. Families volunteer to "host" a country table. The country can be one they are from, one where their ancestors lived, or just a place they love. Volunteers provide bite-size snacks from their countries - as well as complete a provided display board as they choose with fun facts, photographs, mementos or whatever they wish from their country.

International Night 2010

Everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy the food, fun, and fellow Chesterbrook families. The event will be in the cafeteria from 6 to 7:30 p.m. (Please remember that this event is not meant to provide you with dinner, just sample sized snacks. Also, it is not a drop-off event.)

Anyone interested in hosting a country can sign-up on our International Night Sign-up Genius or contact Nancy Stuckwisch, International Night Committee Chair for more information at NJEStuckwisch@gmail.com. We are hoping to have countries from all six inhabited continents. So far we have 16 families representing 13 countries from Asia, South America, Australia and Europe. We need North American and African representatives. We are happy to have any new countries join us.

We look forward to seeing you and your family there!

Grocery Card and Box Tops Programs Pay Off!

By Maryam Redjaee, VP Membership Chesterbrook PTA

Thank you, Chesterbrook Families! Through December 2011, you've helped Chesterbrook earn over $6,000 from our various grocery card programs! We've received $3,531 from Safeway's eScrip Program, $2,728 from Giant's A+ BonusBucks, $166 from Harris Teeter's Together in Education Program.

Box Tops Scissors Adding to that, the Fall Box Tops for Education collection netted an additional $484 for the school. Please keep saving and sending in your Box Tops for the spring submission which will be sent in at the end of February. Remember, each coupon is worth 10 cents for our school...and bonus coupons are worth even more.

If you haven't registered your grocery cards, please do so today. Instructions are included on the Register Grocery Cards tab of the Chesterbrook PTA website. Questions? Please contact Maryam Redjaee at vpmembership@chesterbrookpta.org.

Recycling Program Still Going Strong

collection bin Just a reminder that Chesterbrook is participating in the eScrip Recycling program in which we collect used laser/toner and inkjet cartridges, cell phones, digital cameras, GPS devices and laptops and turn this electronic waste into CASH for our school while helping the environment.

Donations can be deposited in the big green box located across the school library entrance. Or you are welcome to use backpack mail -- just mark your item(s) with a note marked "recycle" to make sure it gets to the eScrip recycling box.

Thank you for your support. Questions? Contact Maryam Redjaee at vpmembership@chesterbrookpta.org

Teens Got SLEEP?

Are your sixth grade students ready to get up an hour earlier to go to Longfellow next year? Did you know that Longfellow Middle School starts at 7:45 a.m. and McLean High School starts at 7:20 a.m.? In the 1960s, Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) high school start times were 8:15 a.m., but in an effort to control bus costs, FCPS began shifting to earlier high school start times reaching the 7:20 a.m. time by the late 1990s.

In 2004, two parent advocates, Sandy Evans and Phyllis Payne, created an organization called SLEEP (Start Later for Excellence in Education Proposal) to alert our community about the problems with early secondary school start times. Their goal was to synchronize Fairfax County Public School clocks with students' body clocks so teens are in school during their most alert hours and can achieve their full academic potential.

SLEEP reports that sleep deprivation is an inevitable result for students caught in a squeeze between early school start times and changing adolescent sleep cycles. READ MORE ....

Future Planning for Families with Special Needs Students

Families with special needs students are invited to attend Future Planning for Families with Special Needs Students hosted by the Arlington Family Network on Thursday, February 2 from 7 - 8:30 p.m. at Washington-Lee High School.

Presenter Christopher Waddell, co-founder of the Arlington County Special Needs PTA (SEPTA), will cover topics including:

What financial issues and plans should a parent or guardian of a child with special needs consider?
What tax saving strategies are there for families with medical issues, and what can I deduct this year?
What are the legal and financial issues I need to consider as my child transitions out of High School?

Christopher Waddell is past president of the Autism Society of America Northern Virginia Chapter and regularly appears in national and local media, including Money Magazine, Business Week, CNBC, Comcast CNN, Financial Planning magazine, and Money Magazine.

The Road to College

Have a child in middle or high school or just want to get a jump-start on what you need to know about college? Ann Dolin of Educational Connections, the guest speaker at our November PTA meeting, has put together several web-based seminars to inform parents as their kids enter the crucial years leading up to college.

Each web session is a Wednesday evening from 8 to 8:45 p.m. and is "attended" from your home computer. Session topics and dates include:

Three Crucial Skills that Every High School Student Must Have for College Success (February 1)
Planning for College: Deciding Which Classes and Tests to Take and When to Take Them (February 8)

Please RSVP to nick@ectutoring.com and indicate in which webinars you'd like to participate. An email with easy access instructions will be sent to you several days before the date of each webinar.

Friday Afternoon Chess Club

For the children who could not be in Chesterbrook's after school chess club, we've just heard of an opportunity for all ages to play. The Friday Afternoon Chess Club meets at Great Falls Library every Friday from 1 - 5:30 pm. All ages and all skill levels welcome. Chess sets are provided, or you may bring your own. Location: Great Falls Library, 9830 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA. Call 703-757-8560 for more information. Please note that the Chesterbrook PTA does not sponsor, manage, or endorse this program; we're just passing along the details.

Life-Threatening Allergies Handbook Now Available

A new handbook, Management of Life-Threatening Allergies, is now available online to assist schools to care for students with life-threatening allergic conditions and to provide parents guidance about how allergies are addressed in Fairfax County Public Schools. Topics includes allergies and anaphylaxis, prevention, emergency procedures, best practices, and emotional wellness.

The manual was developed as a result of a collaborative effort between parents, community members, Fairfax County Public Schools, and the Fairfax County Health Department who were part of an Allergy Review Team.FCPS Guidelines - Management of Life-Threatening Allergies:
http://www.fcps.edu/dss/osp/healthservices/AllergyHandbook.pdf

Upcoming Events

January 24 -- Evening Band Concert 7 p.m.

January 26 -- 6th Grade Science Fair

January 27 -- Second Quarter ends

January 30 & 31 -- Student Holidays

February 3 -- International Night 6:30 p.m.

February 10 -- A Storytelling Evening with Jim Weiss 6:30 p.m.

February 12 - Online Auction Opens (through March 4)

February 15 -- Principal's Coffee 11 a.m.

March 10 -- Fun Fair 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

March 13 -- Kindergarten Orientation 7-8 p.m.

The Digest PLUS is co-edited by Elizabeth Ende and Gina Manning. If you have a story idea or any comments, please share them with us at editor@chesterbrookpta.org. Thank you!

Chesterbrook PTA Newsletters Disclaimer

The Chesterbrook PTA Newsletter (Weekly Digest and Digest PLUS) may contain external links to non-Chesterbrook ES PTA websites and access to certain third-party services, which may include, without limitation, social bookmarking services. These external links and services are provided as a convenience, and the Chesterbrook ES PTA is not responsible for the content of any linked website or use of any third-service service. Any external link to a non-Chesterbrook ES PTA website or service accessed from the Chesterbrook PTA Newsletter is independent from the Chesterbrook ES PTA, and the Chesterbrook ES PTA has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policy, terms of use and practices of such website or service. Any such website or service has terms of use and a privacy policy different from the Chesterbrook ES PTA's privacy policy. In addition, an external link to any non-Chesterbrook ES PTA website or access to a third-party service does not imply that the Chesterbrook ES PTA endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content or use of such website or service. By using any such website or service, you expressly release the Chesterbrook ES PTA from any liability arising from your use of such third-party website and service and any related content.