Burr Bulletin
May 29, 2012 
burr
In This Issue
PTO Co-Presidents' Letter
Mayfair
Library Book Sale
Community News
Mark your Calendar
May 23 - June 8
5th Grade Art Exhibit

June 5
Color Day

June 13
GUYS Read Book Group

 

June 6
 Color Day

 

June 7
Color Day, Rain Date

 

June 8
Step Up Day, Grade 5

 

June 14
Moving On Ceremony
 
June 15
Last Day of School for Students, Noon dismissal

Quick Links
Email PTO Board
Email School Council
Email Bulletin Editors

Burr PTO website

Past Burr Bulletins
(UN:burr / PW:171pine)

Newton Public Schools website

School Committee newsletters
Fundraising Links
OneCause
 
Target: Take Charge of Education 
 
BoxTops for Education
 
 

Burr News 

PTO Co-Presidents' Letter 

Dear Burr Community,

 

The Burr School is making a beautiful transition from Spring to Summer! We had a fabulous May Fair - thanks to Valarie Wastcoat, Maren Oslund, Jenny McKee-Heinstein, Kelly Brown, Diana Salemme and Sloane Goldhagen. And the garden looks great! We're all looking forward to nurturing it through the summer. Special thanks to the organizers Kelly Brown, Marlen Gibson, Dana Hanson,  Stephaine Mamis, Meghan Ulland and all the volunteers!

 

The PTO held it's final meeting this past week. Rachael McCarthy and Jessica Avery gave us some insight to the budget and fundraising for next year. Overall it looks like we'll just meet our budget goals and we're planning on level funding for next year.

This will allow all of the curriculum enrichment and social activities that the PTO has planned for next year to be fully funded. Thank you all for your support on this and special thanks go to the Gift for Burr committee - Dana Hanson, Beth Viveiros, Nancy Caulfield, Margaret Crook and Tricia Bombara. Look for budget details in September, as we'll vote on the final budget early next year.

 

The PTO also completed election of new board members for next year. The new members are:

 

Co-President: Jason Wong

Communications Coordinator: Tricia Bombara

Community Building Coordinator: Bijal Dalal

Education Support Coordinator: Beth Tierney

 

We would like to extend our gratitude and tremendous thanks to all of the outgoing board members:  Tracy Carter (Co-President), Colette Burke (Communications Coordinator) and Maren Oslund (Community Building Coordinator). And especially Jason Wong who not only served the PTO as Education Support Coordinator last year, but is coming back again as Co-President.

 

We were privileged to have representatives Superintendent Dr. David Fleishman, Diana Fisher Gomberg and Jonathan Yeo from the School Committee attend the meeting as well. They gave an overview then answered questions on many topics including, changes to the buffer zone, spending on technology and the Newton Schools Foundation's initiative to raise funds by selling naming rights to high school spaces.

FYI - The proposed change to the buffer zone will potentially send some new students to Williams or Franklin Schools. If you happen to live in the buffer zone don't worry! If you're already in Burr you can stay in Burr - that goes for younger siblings as well.

 

As this is the last co-president's letter (not the last bulletin!) we want to thank the editors who work quietly but very diligently behind the scenes to make sure we all get all the Burr news!  They do a tremendous job organizing all of the content and getting out to us on time every week!  Many Thanks to all of the Editors:  Ellen Chu, Vicky Gifford, Barbara Thompson, Sarah Treacy, and Jeff Yerkes and a special thanks to Junko Shibuya who has tirelessly sent out Burr Bulletin reminders every week when we moved to an online newsletter and has helped distribute print copies of the Bulletin for the last 11 years.

 

Your friends,

Tracy and Ted

Your PTO Co-Presidents

Mayfair Committee Thank You!

The Mayfair Committee would like to thank you all for making this years fair a success. They say it takes a village to raise a child. This event takes a village to pull off each year or as the flyers said all hands on deck. We have not tallied the final numbers as we need a few more receipts on expenses but it looks like we made @ $ 2000 which will help the PTO get closer to the goal for the 2011-2012 year. We could not do this without the help of all of these folks:

 

Pam Mc Vey our Bake Sale Coordinator managed to bake and staff and juggle her kids and neices and nephews to sporting events. All the wodnerful and talented Burr Bakers in the community that helped us on this day and in the past on election days. An honorable mention needs to go to Julianna Walsh for baking some amazing cheese cakes and key lime pies all on her own. And to the creative cook who made the icecream cone cup cakes. Yum!!!!!

 

Steve Regan for Daddies on the Grill. Steve once again loaded his truck and trailer up with food and dragged out his grill and gear and man did he cook up a storm. Thanks to all of his helpers Jeff & Dylan Foster, Jason & Jocelyn Wong, Steve De Jesus, Ted Vahey and to Star/Shaws for the generous donation of food.

 

Stephanie Mamis and Ellen Regan for Plant Sale coordination and staffing. Vinnie Mastroianni for helping Stephanie pick out such beautiful flowers and plants and getting them at a discount. Calvin& Piper Mamis, Lydia Mastroianni and Wil Brown for helping unload plants that morning. And thanks to Marleen Gibson, Megan Ulland and Beckey Warner for growing, potting and donating some plants.

 

Jack Tobin- for helping us get set up and missing a gorgeous day near the ocean to help us run the fair.

 

And to ALL our Volunteers :

 

Set Up Crew

Steve DeJesus- thanks for coming early and getting out most the tables and chairs.  Justin Lee- An Alum that showed up to help for a day of community service!   Joey Torcasio - Football Set up and staffing and help for the day.  Eric Bobby -set up the Green Team stations and helped to get folks to help   Ella and Beth Tierney - Tattoo Parlor set up and for jumping in to empty slots all day.  Tracy Carter for bringing her Circus tent and giving us some shade.  Jean Giglio,Heakyung Chai,Mei Zhand, Ann Lee , Rachael & Todd McCarthy & family, Karen & Adam Kamholz,Michelle & Andrew Ruttenburg, Kathy & Claus Neilson,T.J. Oslund, Ted Vahey, Alex K-Z, Corey Gelb-Bicknell, Nicholas Hoch,Beth Viveros  Agnes and Aidan Gee , Meg Salgado, Deshan Liu, Colette Burke & Isabell, Denise Chicoine, Jennifer Harris.

 

Bake Sale    

 Pam Mc Vey, Maya and Lily Fisher Gomberg, Julianna Walsh, Tricia Marucci

 

Bouncy House -Time Keeper

 Lisa Ferrante-Walsh, Heidi Bankmann, Libby & Abby Brooks, Judy O'Neil, Alex Swan

  

Cake Walk

Sloane Goldhagen, Laura Capello, and a Showa Girl

 

Cake Decorating

Thanks to Jim Alden of Wally's Ice Cream, Diana Fisher-Gomberg, Kelsey Garvin of Keltic Crust and Celia Friedman (5th grader) for coming to judge. The cakes were AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again congrats to our winners:

 1st place: Danny, Gwen and Marion Carter - The Vey Hungry Caterpiller

        2nd place: Elliot and Lola Oslund - Where the Wild Things Are

        3rd place: Stephanie and Calvin and Piper Mamis-

 

 

Caped Crusader

Jenny Heinstein                                 

 

Crafts

 Deanna Salemme, Maureen Vahey, Colette Burke and Showa Girls.  

 

Facepaint

Dana Hanson, Wequin Shi and the Showa Girls

 

Football Toss

Joey Torcasio, Alesia Gillum, Liz Bobby, Ellen Chu, Justin Lee

 

Green Team Table

Eric Bobby, Denise Chicoine and Nicholas Hoch ,Rachael McCarthy, Gail Mc Donald, Hope & Amos Kellman , Natasha Sharma & Claudia Flint

 

Lollipop Board

Stacey & Delaney Bates, Dina Hajjaj-Saouli, Jean Giglio, Lisa Dallaire, Margaret Crook, Louisa & Max Hunt and a whole bunch of kids who stocked and licked and laughed thanks

 

Lucky Ducks

Hadar Agam, Beth Tierney, Judy ONeil, Rachael McCarthy, Michelle Mackay, Ellen Chu, Heidi Bankmann

                                               

Minute to Win It  

T J Oslund, Nathaniel Klein, Susandra Passerbu Ma, Iqbal & Christian Kurker, Sarah Sian, Julie Asfahl

 

Obstacle Course Bouncy    

Rachael McCarthy, Liz Bobby, Jennifer Harris, Limor Sinay, Lisa Ferrante-Walsh, Tricia Bombara for hours of safety patrol on our floppy houseand TJ Oslund.  

 

Potato Sack Races

Jennifer Getchell & twins, Melanie,Michael,Chiara and Sophia Ryals & family for hours of jumping duty and to Amanda Loftus

 

Radar Baseball

Jim Walsh, Yigal Agam, Justin Lee, Rachael McCarthy

 

Tattoo 

Melanie & Sophia Ryals, Louisa Hunt, Jennifer & Robert Getchell, Alina Zheng, Meher Ahmed, Naila Ahmed, Andrea, Kaylee and Benji Federmann, Wequin Shi

                                              

Tickets

Ann Langenfeld ,Vicki Gifford, Maeve Bartlett, James Loftus

 

Treasure Chest

Susan Florio, Beth & Danny Viveiros, Sarah O'Neil , Dan Finkelstein , Isadora Loftus, Sharon Reilly

 

Clean Up

Man it went fast this year thank you!!!!!! Jack was happy to get out of there at a reasonable hour!  Dina Hajjaj-Saouli ,Liliana & Matthew Richard, Beth Tierney, Rob Heinstein, Tricia Bombara, Xing Tong, Lisa & Nico Pagana, Justin Lee, Dana Hanson, Steve De Jesus, Claus Neilson, TJ Oslund.

And to anyone else who jumped in to help out thank you and please accept our apologies for us not writing down your name in the moment so that we would have it now. THANKS A MILLION!!!!!!!

 

A special thanks to

T J, Elliot & Lola; John, Nik, Noah and Johnny; John, Daniel and Ava; Rob, Noah and Kaela; Mayer, Noah and Cloe; Peter, Tim and Wil for putting up with us the week before the event and for helping us that day to keep busy and allow us to work. We hope you had some fun too!

 

We were so happy that Mother nature cooperated this year. We hope that everyone had a blast!   Thank You!!

The Mayfair Committee 2011 & 2012

Maren Oslund, Valerie Wastcoat, Deanna Salemme, Jenny Heinstein, Sloane Goldhagen & Kelly Brown

 

Library Book Sale Thanks & Request
The Library Gift Book Sale has ended and not only was it a success, it was also paperless this year! Thanks to all of you who dedicated a library book to a teacher. I would also like to thank Pam McVey, Lisa Pagana, Johanne Campbell, Andrea Flint, and Valerie Wastcoat for their help with the morning, afternoon and Mayfair displays and sales.

I could still use a little help putting the stickers in the books and organizing the books by class so students can take them home. Please contact me if you have a little time this week to come to the library and help with that.

And finally, we need a volunteer to take over the Library Gift Book Sale next year since this will be my last year as a Burr parent. I will be happy to discuss what's involved in running this if you are interested and this job could easily be divided and shared between two people.

Gretchen Becker
781 443-5909
Classroom Garden Thanks and Summer Garden Watering Club Sign Ups
The Burr Garden Classroom is all planted and ready to GROW. We invite Burr families, friends, and neighbors to visit our garden regularly all summer long. Ask your children which garden they helped plant and try to visit it a few times over the growing season through the fall. The garden/playground area is a great place to see Burr friends--late afternoons and early evenings are a popular time and you'll likely run into some folks you know while visiting! Vegetables may be harvested during the summer as long as a child is with an adult (let's try to let the watermelons and pumpkins grow big, though!).

Many thanks to all of our teachers for supporting the Garden Classroom. It's a lot of classes to schedule during a very busy time of year. We really appreciate your support! Marlene Gibson, Megan Ulland, Dana Hanson, and Jessica Avery planned the gardens and shopped for the plants and seeds. Tracy Carter and Jack Tobin helped us get our garden water plumbing back in order. Many thanks to Stephanie Mamis & Ellen Regan for leftover May Fair plant donations.

The following parents helped us during the classroom planting days last Wednesday and Thursday:   Natalie Moresco, Horatio Montalvan, Kelly Brown, Catherine Moore, Debi Tocman, Lisa Pagana, Louise Griffin,  Zoya Zvagin, Tricia Bombara, Stephanie Mamis, Kim Tulimieri, Maureen Vahey, Mei Zhang, Megan Ulland, Marlene Gibson, and Dana Hanson
 

...and our apologies to anyone we may have missed...our brains were a little fried from the heat!

 

Jessica Avery coordinates our summer Burr Watering Garden Club and is still looking for volunteer families. This group of parents is vital to the long-term success of our garden. When the kids arrive in the fall and see 10 foot sunflowers, giant pumpkins , and riotous flower beds, it's because of YOUR work. Please contact Jessica as soon as possible to sign up for a full or partial week this summer. We'll give you the simple directions you need to lend a hand. No green thumbs necessary!

NPS News 

Lincoln-Eliot Spring Fair

Carnival Games! Prizes!

Craft Fair! Face Painting!
Moon Bounces! Food! Fun!
 
Saturday, June 2, 2012
11am-4pm
191 Pearl Street, Newton
All proceeds to benefit the Lincoln-Eliot PTO

Community News 

Coyote Reporting and Safety Information

If you see a Coyote in Newton please report it via the City of Newton Website.   Reporting will help the Animal Control staff. Also, you can log on to see a map of when and where Coyotes have been seen.

Child Safety
When children are outside, there's a chance they might see a coyote or a fox.


Explain to children:

*  Never go near or try to feed wild animals or any animal you don't  know.

*  Talk loudly, so the coyote or fox knows you are there.

*  Don't run, but slowly back away, toward a building or house.

*  Make yourself look bigger by putting your arms over your head or opening your jacket.
Why?
* Instinctively, coyotes and foxes (and pet dogs) will follow after anything that runs, including a person, so you don't want to run from them.
* The bigger you look, the scarier you look to an animal.
* Some children may think that a coyote (or fox) is someone's dog.
* Encourage children to find and tell an adult immediately.

Safety Concerns:
If you have concerns or questions, contact the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife at (508) 389-6300, or email.


If you decide that is aggressive and has abnormal behavior,requires an immediate response, you should contact local Public Safety officials (911), or the Massachusetts Environmental Police can be reached 24/7 at (800) 632-8075.

To contact the City of Newton's Animal Control Officer, please call
617-796-2109, or e-mail Officer Torres.

For more information on living among coyotes, please see:
Living With Coyotes


For more important facts and tips from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife visit Mass Wildlife.

 

Math Power Camp at Green Planet Kids

MATH POWER "CAMP" offered at Green Planet Kids in Newton Highlands this summer!

 

This fun and engaging program is led by Christine Moynihan, Ph.D., former principal of the Williams School in Newton!  You don't have to be "good at math" to enjoy this program. It's all about having fun with numbers, learning to think creatively, and making connections in order to solve problems.

 

The program is offered during the weeks of June 25th to 29th, and July 16th to 20th.   Morning session for Grades 2- 5, and Afternoon session for Grades 4-8.

 

Find out more about the program at our MATH POWER Open House on Thursday, June 7th @ 7:00 pm.   Please call us @ (617) 332-7841 to save a space for your family!

Newton Mustangs Youth Football and Cheer

The Newton Pop Warner Little Scholars Mustangs and the Newton Youth Football and Cheer Cougars are excited to announce that we have combined our efforts to create a new organization dedicated to bringing quality football and cheer opportunities to all Newton students and residents.  Our name is "Newton Mustangs Youth Football and Cheer."

To kick off the 2012 season we are hosting a Newton Mustangs Youth Football and Cheer night on Thursday, May 31st at The Fessenden School.  Times are 6pm to 8pm.  Please arrive at 5:30 to get ready to participate in all of the fun.  Please wear shorts, a t-shirt, sneakers or cleats, and bring a full water bottle.  This event will feature former college football coaches and players as well as professional cheer organizers.  The head coaches of the upcoming season will also be there. 
 

We invite all parents to meet the coaches of your children and maybe even volunteer to join them as coaches in the fall. Finally, we have invited guest speakers to talk about player safety as well.
 
For questions contact your coach or the president:
Todd Fawcett President 
Eric Busa 3rd E1
Ron Sullivan 6th
Victor Benson 7th B 
FOR CHEER: Kim Carson 857-231-1963 
The Art of Musical Comedy at Newton Cultural Center

The Art of Musical Comedy


An afternoon program for students ages 7-13 at the Newton Cultural Center.  In this exciting, new afternoon program, students learn what it takes to be a master of the art of musical comedy performance. Students will hone their acting skills with improv and theater games, used by such illustrious theater companies as Chicago's Second City. They will learn to sing and dance their favorite show tunes, from shows ranging from "The Sound of Music"to "Wicked." This will culminate, at the end of the program, in a Broadway-style cabaret performance of these songs for family and friends.

  

Mondays - Thursdays, June 25 - July 12, 1:00 - 3:00pm (no class July 4th) $225.

   

Visit www.newtonculturalcenter.org or call 617-527-8283 for more information.