As we head into our final days of school before our winter break, the PTO wants to thank everyone for all their efforts over the first months of school.  We have already done so much this year!  Again, much of our work depends on parent volunteer power, but also do remember that we need to raise funds to support our many PTO programs.  Many thanks to all of the Burr families who have already contributed to our Gift for Burr fundraising campaign.  We couldn't do our work this year without you!  For those of you who have not yet made a donation, please know that EVERY donation matters and we are really striving to meet our ambitious goal of every Burr family making a contribution. If you have any questions about the campaign, please contact giftforburr@gmail.com.

A few volunteer thank-yous are, as always, in order:

Many thanks to Erika Drezner and Amanda Loftus for co-chairing our first Inclusive Schools Week at Burr. We look forward to building on their work over the course of the year and building this tradition into our annual school calendar moving forward.

The first BOOYA event at the Auburndale Community Library was very successful this weekend! Many thanks to all of the families who contributed baked goods and stopped by to support the sale. Also thank you to our 5th grade bake sale workers and Tracy Carter, who set up the hot beverages. Finally, many thanks to Mr. Gaita, who chaperoned the kids during the event and then drove our leftover goodies to the Pine Street Inn immediately after the event. In all, the BOOYAers raised $240.75 and were able to dedicate 17 new books to the library right at the event!

Speaking of books, our annual bookfair wrapped up a week ago--and it was a great success. Lots of Burr kids went home with good reads and our teachers and Ms. Mayer received many gift books for their classrooms and the library.  Many thanks to the trusty bookfair team of Nancy Caulfield, Rose Dieffenbach, Hema Soundararajan, Judy Greenblatt, Beth Tierney, Alex Swan, and Dana Hanson.
 
Have you received a friendly "thank you" call about the Gift for Burr campaign?  A group of trusty callers were recruited to call EVERY family at Burr--no easy task. Many thanks to these folks who agreed to help out: Jessica Avery, Margaret Crook, Nancy Caulfield, Steve DeJesus, Diana Fisher-Gomberg, Dana Hanson, Lizbeth Heyer, Weiqun Shi, Erika Drezner, Beth Tierney, Bill Hoch, Denise Chicoine, Alex Swan, Kristen Herbert, Jaye Schneider, and Tricia Bombara.
 
Many thanks to Pam McVey and her team of terrific room parents.  These are the folks who work closely with our beloved classroom teachers to give them the support they need to make the year great for our kids: Tricia  Bombara, Jill Greblick, Andrea Flint, Trisha Kelleher, Kristin Frohn, Marni Caputo, Christine Gallivan, Sherri Sonia, Stephanie Mamis, Bijal Dalal, Deborah Jackson, Felicia Falchuk, Liz Morefield, Johanne Campbell, Carey Ranta, Tricia Marucci, Joanmarie Lee, Jodi Schaefer, Jodi, Hema Soundarajan, Tracy Carter, Lisa Fisher, Susan Foster, Jan Shoyer, Helen Kwong, Junko Shibuya, Sue Donnellan, Mary Lewis, Anne-Marie Regan, Ellen Regan, Margaret Crook, Shohreh Harris, Sara DeSimone Scott, Cathy Perri, Lin Themelis, Sheilarae Lau, and Pamela Dapsis-Marin.
 
As you can see, we have so many folks to thank for their work on the PTO. And, these are just the ones we can track down to list-so many of you help out in other ways...we are so grateful for ALL of your efforts, big and small.
 
Have a great winter vacation, everyone!
 
Steve & Dana