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Wood PTA Resources
to Note and to Use
Wood PTA Web Site
Please visit today! Go to
http://www.WoodPTA.org/
Where you can get and stay engaged:
- Learn about upcoming events
- See the minutes from previous PTA meetings
- Subscribe to e-Wood, our up-to-the-minute List Serv
- Find County and other online resources for you and your child
- Keep in touch with the Wood community
E-Wood - Wood's e-mail group
Join E-Wood, the Wood PTA's email group/listserv on Yahoo! Groups. It facilitates communication between parents and the school and keeps you informed of upcoming school and PTA events. It is open to all parents, guardians, administrators and teachers of MS Wood. Once you have subscribed, you can choose to receive an email of every newly posted message, or a "Daily Digests" with all messages for the day in one email, or you can read the messages on the website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ewood/ To subscribe, please email to ewood-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. To post, send an email to ewood@yahoogroups.com. When posting to E-Wood, please comply with our E-Wood Rules (there is no solicitation for business!) To unsubscribe, please email ewood-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.
These resources are your resources. We welcome your input and participation! |
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Contribute... Easily
Box Tops
Clip box tops and earn cash for Wood Middle School!
It's easy to find Box Tops. In fact, you may have some in your home right now. Clip Box Tops from hundreds of your favorite products. Each Box Top coupon is worth 10¢ for Wood Middle School, and that adds up fast! They do expire so send them in to the front office at Wood today. (Visit the Web site http://www.btfe.com/productsfor a complete list of participating Box Tops products.)
Labels for Education
CLIP - Clip and save UPCs and beverage caps from participating Labels For Education® products.
GIVE - Give the UPCs and beverage caps to the coordinator - There is a box in the front office at Wood.
EARN - Your school can redeem points for FREE educational resources!
Safeway's eScrip
Renew or sign up with your Safeway Club Card today! Renew by November 1.
If you participated last year, please renew so that Wood can continue to earn contributions.
· Go to http://www.eScrip.com/
· Click on "YES RENEW!"
· Enter either your phone number, email or Club Card number
Not signed up?
· Go to http://www.eScrip.com/
· Click on "1-Sign Up"
· Enter your Club Card number
Giant's A+ School Rewards
Starting October 7, 2011 through March 29, 2012 E.B. Wood Middle School will have the opportunity to earn cash through Giant A+ School Rewards Program.
All you have to do is:
Log on to http://www.giantfood.com/aplusto register online
OR
Dial 1-877-275-2758 to register your club savings card over the phone. After you register your card, each shopping trip at Giant using your Giant card earns CASH for our school! Each month, the amount of cash awarded will be updated on the Giant website. You can track the amount of points you earn for our school by checking your grocery receipt and online when you create an account. Our school will receive a check at the end of the program. The money can be used for any of our school's educational needs.
Remember, even if you registered your card last year, you must re-register this year for our school to receive credit. Attending to this simple process makes a HUGE difference to our school. We need your support. Please be sure to register your card to benefit Wood Middle School using ID #00736. |
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Houekeeping Notes
We appreciate all the fundraising support our parents and the extended Wood community give to us and our students and thank you for it. Unfortunately, in the past couple of years returned checks have become a problem. Please know that for each bounced check the PTA absorbs the cost of not just the check amount, but also a returned check fee. In order to preserve fairness and assure that PTA funds go to benefit students and the community, we must pursue reimbursement for the check and the fee more diligently than in the past. We hope this will not be a problem for anyone in the community and that we will not have to handle anything of this sort this year...
If you have recently assisted with a PTA event and/or for another reason you have expenses for which you need to be reimbursed, please note - There are reimbursement forms in the office at Wood. Please fill them out and attach your receipts and leave this package in the PTA Treasurer mailbox at Wood or scan and email the form and receipts to Jason Stitt. In most cases, payment will be disbursed approximately 2 weeks after receipts are received.
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Greetings, and welcome to the first newsletter of the 2011-2012 school year. We hope you enjoy this issue and find interesting and useful information within it. We welcome your feedback. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact Jack Ward, our newsletter editor.
Our request for... You!
Please be sure to attend the next PTA meeting, one week from today - on Tuesday, 11 October, at 7:00 PM. Child care and pizza for the children are provided. Please contact Amy Kines, PTA President, to let her know if you plan to bring any children - so we can be sure to have enough pizza!  Says Amy, "We want everyone to be able to attend, and don't want to see anyone miss meetings because of child care limitations. And we want to continue our trend and tradition of inclusion. Please come out to the next meeting - or any meeting you can. We need your voice and involvement to make Wood even better for the kids, the parents,and the entire community." There will be a pot luck from 6:30 until 7:00, with the meeting to follow. There will be a presentation from guest speaker Dana Tofig, MCPS Communications Director - covering "Communication in 2011 - What's Out There?" We hope to see you there!
A word about The Word
Many of us wonder where PTA funds go to and what they accomplish. Most of us take it on faith that they are spent wisely, and some of us wish we had more information. Nothing can replace regular attendance at PTA meetings, but in this year's newsletters, we offer a new, regular column -"The Line Item", where we will examine one budget line item from the PTA budget for the year and explore what it funds, and what a difference it makes. Each issue will cover a different item. We encourage you to come out to the PTA meetings and get involved in the dicsussions of how to make a difference in our school and learn about all the topics of interest to you. To whet your appetite and inspire your own visions, please see The Line Item, this month and in the months to come.
Also new this year is a regular column we call "Parent Power". The topic for this monthly piece is ways that parents can and are making a difference in the Wood community. This doesn't always begin, end, or even have to do with the PTA - but it takes parents who are involved. As with our other column, we hope Parent Power inspires many more of us to be even more active on behalf of our children and our Wood community.
Enjoy! |
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The Line Item
Deep within the secret recesses of the PTA budget office, there is a hidden and secretive fund for "Cultural Arts". Well, not really... The PTA budget is available to any PTA member who requests a copy; It is discussed and available for review at every PTA meeting; and the Cultural Arts line item funds some of the most visible, well-attended, and popular events during the school day.
The cultural arts budget funds several assemblies, intended to give our students experiences beyond those offered by MCPS. Among them are Puck's Pals and a Poetry Slam. If your student was at Wood last year, you probably heard about this, and read about it in The Wood Word. The artist who did the poetry slam last November, Gayle Danley, returned this past spring and had a "masters class" with about 75 students. In coordination with topics taught in their classes, students found another way to reach out and express themselves and to relate their classroom learning to real world artistic and cultural forms.
We are always looking for more ideas for cultural arts assemblies - and as you will read in the piece below, these do not always involve spending money. Sometimes parents have connections that allows them to bring cultural arts to the students in new and exciting ways... |
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Parent Power
The importance of membership
The simplest, easiest way to make a difference in Wood is through the PTA. The PTA is set up to gather and channel energy, funds, time, and enthusiasm out of the community and into the classroom and the school - where it enriches the lives of our students. If you want a voice and a vote, please become a member, attend our meetings, get involved! Voice your concerns and share your ideas. If you have a pressing concern, don't hesitate to reach out to the PTA board directly - through email or phone. Input from membership is all factored in to what initiatives we put forth in the coming year's budget. Ideas proposed at the PTA meetings often turn into events and programs directly benefitting your students.
If you're interested in specific funds and "line items" in our budget, please consider getting involved with the budget process. The budget is developed by a committee of the treasurer and at least 2 other parents. We will be looking for at least 2 volunteers in the Spring to assist with putting together an operating budget for the 2012-2013 school year. Also, we will need a treasurer for the 2012-2013 school year so there again is another opportunity to get involved.
The importance of You
All of the above still rings true... But please don't think you need to spend money or use the PTA to make a difference. PTA Cultural Arts Chair Leigh Dencker arranged for a visit from a composer and musician who entertained and inspired students - And she did so without any PTA dollars. (Read more about this event in the section on Cultural Arts, below.) Perhaps you have some connections, perhaps you don't. Perhaps you have time to volunteer at the Book Fair. Perhaps not. In any case, there is something you can give that will enrich the life of your student and the lives of others. So please, give a little bit of yourself. |
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Music and Cultural Arts News
Recent Events
Recently we had a guest violinist and composer, Angel Rio, from Honduras, perform for both orchestras- with the help of Leigh Dencker. Although he spoke very little English, students were able to feel a connection to this artist through music. They could understand his musical jokes, feel his passion for his artistry, and a few students even got the chance to perform and dance with him!
All of the musical ensembles are doing a great job this year and the numbers in each group are the highest in 4 years. The focus this year in Advanced Band and Advanced Orchestra is musicality- understanding the composers' intentions, feeling the mood, and conveying emotions through music to an audience. In Chorus our main focus is sightsinging and in our concert music singing in 3 or 4 parts, which is extremely difficult to do at such a young age. Beginning Band and Beginning Orchestra are focusing on tone quality, more difficult rhythmic figures, and following and reacting to a conductor.
Future Events
Wood's renowned International Night is Wednesday, October 5th - it will be a fun night of talent, food, and culture. If you are available to volunteer with food or backstage, if you can lend any international or sporting outfits, or if you can donate food, please contact Ms. Elizabeth Blauser or Ms. Dana Sato.
Winter Concert for everyone starts Wednesday, December 14th at 7pm. Students will see a Winter Concert "teaser" druing thier first period.
The Wood Middle School Drama Department has completed auditions and is in rehearsals for the Fall production of "Harvey"! Students who are interested in crew will start to be called in the middle of October. Performance dates are December 1, 2, and 3. |
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Looking Ahead
Wood's Fall Book Fair is coming up in November! It starts on the Monday after Thanksgiving (11/28/2011) and ends on Saturday (12/3/2011). The Book Fair is open all week before and during school hours and Friday and Saturday before, during and after all school play performances. Please come support Wood and get a jump on some early holiday shopping at the same time. Our book fairs have been very successful in raising money for the PTA which directly benefits programs and activities for both students and teachers. So come out and help make it another great year at the Book Fair!
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