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La Liaison
A Publication of the Normandale PTO
November 16, 2011
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Important Dates | |
November
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17 |
K-12 Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4:00-8:00 p.m. | |
18 |
˝ Day Kindergarten Classes NOT in Session - Parent/Teacher Conferences
K+ is IN Session | |
21 |
K-12 classes NOT in Session; Parent/Teacher Conferences, 12:00-8:00 p.m. | |
22-23 |
K-12 Classes NOT in Session | |
24-25 |
Thanksgiving Holiday (No School) |
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Give to the Max Day | |
Edina Ed Fund's 2011 "Give To The Max Day" is on November 16, 2011. GiveMN's Give to the Max Day amplifies your giving impact in a number of ways. First, a $1,000 "Golden Ticket" will be given to a random donor's charity every hour. You could be that donor! Also, your donation on November 16, could put us on the leader board to win $10,000 or even $20,000 for the most number of donors for the Edina Ed Fund. To make a donation click on the following link.
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Pick Up Your Gift Wrap Order Thursday, November 17 | |
Your Innisbrook gift wrap orders are arriving soon! Mark your calendar and please stop by the Normandale Auditorium on Thursday, November 17 between 2:30-7:30p.m. to pick up your order. Anything not picked up that day will be placed on tables outside the Auditorium for self-serve pick-up.
PLEASE HELP: We need two parent volunteers to help organize the shipment when it arrives at 9a.m. on the 17th and a few parents (and/or older kids) to help distribute that afternoon/evening. Please contact Jim DeSimone if you're able to help.
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Are You One of the 88? | |
Or are you one of the 371?
Thank you to the 371 families that have paid their PTO Dues as of November 11!!!
But there are still 88 families that have not yet paid - and the PTO needs your dues to help fund the intern program as well as other programs that support the mission of Normandale.
If you have not yet paid, please log on to the PTO website where you can download a form and pay by check, or pay via the convenient Paypal option.
If you are unsure whether you have paid already, please contact John Conte.
(If your dues are paid through employer payroll deductions and/or matching contributions, please let John know so that we can track separately.)
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Registration is Open for Jr. Great Books Participants | |
Junior Great Books is a wonderful reading program that Normandale participates in during the months of January, February, and March. It is open to children Grade 2 through Grade 5. The parent-led groups meet once a week during the students' lunch & recess. Click here for more information and to print the registration form, The registration deadline is Wednesday, November 30th.
When your students participate in Junior Great Books programs, they evolve from passive listeners to critical thinkers. Through reading, discussion, writing, and other classroom activities, students improve their:
- Critical thinking
- Reading comprehension
- Writing
- Listening
- Speaking
We are still in need of parent (or other interested family-member) leaders! JGB relies on volunteers to lead the discussion groups. We will not be able to accommodate all of the students that want to participate if we don't have enough leaders. Please see the registration form for more information about becoming a group leader. Please contact Kim Glenna with questions.
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Barnes and Noble Book Fair | |
Friday, December 2, 2011
9am to 10pm
Barnes & Noble Edina Galleria
- Hear James Hawthorne lead the Normandale Chorale at 6:30pm
- Meet Normandale's fabulous Teacher Interns at 7pm for French Storytime
- Try out new educational games with your kids - 7:30pm - 8:30pm
- Purchase books & games to donate to your child's teacher and your school
- Start your holiday shopping & meet other Normandale Families!!!!
- Grab a snack in the café and remember, ALL purchases in the store, including the café or a Nook Reader, count until the doors are locked!!!!!
Present this voucher and a percentage of your Barnes & Noble purchases will benefit Normandale.
Can't attend our bookfair at Barnes & Noble? Visit the Barnes and Noble website to support us online from December 2 - December 7 by entering Bookfair ID 10523462 at checkout.
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A BIG THANK YOU FROM THE INTERNS | |
We, the French interns, would like to thank all of the volunteer parents who participated, cooked, animated, hosted, made possible the amazing Thanksgiving dinner we had yesterday. We had a great time, learned a lot about the American culture, tasted some really good food and were just happy to hang with each other and the parents for the whole day.
We never get to know exactly who make all these events possible so, through this note, we wanted to let all the volunteers know that we are very grateful and amazed at the amount of work and energy they put in making sure we have the best experience over here.
From all the interns, merci merci merci beaucoup!
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Attention All 5th Grade Band Parents | |
The 5th grade Winter Band Concert performances are scheduled for Monday Dec 5 at 1:00pm and 7:00pm in the Normandale auditorium. Parents are welcome to attend either performance. See you there!
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The Lost needs to be Found | |
Normandale's Lost & Found is overflowing!!!! For those new to Normandale, the Lost and Found is located across from the Art room. Please encourage your children to look for any lost items or look while attending conferences. Items not claimed will be donated to charity following Thanksgiving break.
To prevent lost items, please label all clothing, water bottles, and lunch/snack bags. |
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Stack Up Against Hunger | |
Sport Stacking event to get food to those who need it .......and set a Guinness Record too!
Thursday November 17, 7:45-8:15am in the small gym
Grades K-8
(any school, plus adults and older siblings welcome!)
Cost is $2, or free with donation of 2 cans of food. Food donations to go to STEP through the Emergency Food Shelf Network.
Bring your cups for stacking (or use ours)
Try the Stack Attack obstacle course
30 minutes of stacking!
Normandale students will be brought upstairs after the event. Students from other schools must have transportation arranged by parents. Email John Hannemann if you have questions.
Volunteers Needed. Please sign up on the Stack Up wiki.
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Intern Lending Network | |
Winter is right around the corner!!
And, we want to make sure our Interns are prepared for the cold weather.
This year, we've created an online Wish List to improve the efficiency of our lending program. The Wish List is located at the Edina Intern website - upper left column.
Be sure to check out all the other cool information there, too!!
If you are able to fulfill an Intern's wish, please do the following:
- Complete the "Fulfilled By" columns.
- Contact the Intern via email and arrange to drop off the item (maybe at school or maybe at their host family's house.)
- Contact the Intern in the spring to retrieve your item.
It's a great and easy way to support our Interns.
Thanks in advance for your generosity!!
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Adult Fundraiser Housekeeping | |
It's time to close the books on yet another wonderful community building school fundraising event. Please check these things off your "to do" list before Nov. 23.
- If you are still interested in signing up for an open Community Connection event, go here to see what is available.
- If you attended the event and have an unpaid invoice, please submit payment via PayPal or check made payable to Normandale PTO. Please contact Jackie Olson if you have any questions. (Community Connection invoices will be sent at the end of November to families who signed up after the event.)
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HUGE THANKS to our Adult Fundraiser Volunteers | |
Thank you for supporting our children, our school and our wonderful intern program.
Merci beaucoup to our wonderful French Immersion community for helping make the Party @ Pinstripes a screaming success. A special thanks to those who donated Community Connections, wine, auction, and raffle items. Your generosity helped deliver more than $25,000 to the school! This profit will help fund the intern program in grades K-9 and enhance the learning experience for all our children.
Here are some of the evening's highlights:
- More than 250 parents of "Frenchies" attended the event
- 3 lucky winner went home with 30 bottles of wine each
- 52 Community Connections were offered
- An energetic group danced until the DJ stopped cranking tunes
A special thanks to our fun, scrappy, and resourceful planning committee. You all rock!
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Laura Anderson |
Karen Meyer | |
Katie Brothers |
Jackie Olson | |
Chris Deets |
Jen Rewey | |
Lisa Enriquez |
Kirsten Rewey | |
Nancy Fergesen |
Barb Romanelli | |
Laurel Fischbach |
Rita Swanson | |
Erica Gardner |
Julie Tonsager-Tabor | |
Sandra Jezierski |
Julie Wohlford |
Finally, the PTO would like to recognize Chris Deets, Julie Wohlford, and Jackie Olson for all their efforts to create a wonderful event at Pinstripes. Once again, you have gone above and beyond with all the hours you dedicated to the planning and execution of the event. We are so grateful!
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School Funding Referendums Pass | |
Both of the distict funding referendums on yesterday's ballot passed. Thank you to everyone who voted in favor of supporting our schools.
The numbers:
- Question #1: Renewal of general school funding:
- 81.04% voted yes (6424 total votes)
- 18.96% voted no (1503 total votes)
- Question #2: Increase in technology funding:
- 72.19% voted yes (5716 total votes)
- 27.81% voted no (2202 total votes)
- Voter Turnout:
- 29.65% (7,927 out of 26,736 registered voters)
The overwhelming approval of these referendums says a lot about us as a community and the importance we place upon our schools and the education of our children. Our votes yesterday not only will result in increased funding for our schools, but will also send a clear message to our elected representatives that school funding is among our highest priorities.
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Van Drivers Wanted | |
The Edina Family Center needs van drivers to transport preschool-aged students to and from the Edina Community Center for classes. Must have good driving record.
Monday - Friday (school days)
Shifts Available:
Tuesday and Thursday
8:45 am - 9:45am
12:00-12:45pm
Monday-Wednesday-Friday
3:00 - 4:00 pm
Any or all shifts available. Positions pays $15.63 per hour. If interested, please call Jane Leese at 952-848-3965 or Mary Streier at 952-848-3985.
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La Liaison is published every Wednesday. Submit articles to LaLiaison_MN@hotmail.com by noon Monday prior to your desired publication date. Unless designated otherwise, articles will be published in La Liaison for two issues and then removed.
Editors: Deb Gardner and Angie Porter . |
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