Your Monday Morning Email Blast from Strandwood Elementary

MARCH 9, 2009

Good Morning

Every Monday, Email Club members receive important information regarding upcoming events and communications from The PTA and Strandwood staff via the Email Blast. The Email Blast also provides links to important flyers and new items on the school website. The deadline for submitting your article is Thursday at 5:00pm. All submissions should be sent to strandwood_emailclub@hotmail.com.

In This Issue

Box Tops Contest Winners

More Deep Budget Cuts

What Is It? Guess what the photo is!

Spring Chess Classes

New on the Website!

Science Fair

Race to Witch Mountain

Help PHMS Get a New Field

PHMS Needs an Historian

Turn Off TV Week is Coming

Stars of Strandwood

Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader

Dates, Times and Places

Flyers available in the Office

Box Tops Contest Winners

Congratulations to our two class winners of the Box Tops collection contest: Mrs Beyer, with 602 Box Tops collected and Mrs. Costa, with 348!!!! Those classes will be receiving a goodie bag provided and delivered by Brownie Troop 30265. Keep up the good work and continue to turn them in!

We have already earned over $1,000 for our school!!! What could be easier???? We will be having another contest this Spring!!! Sign up now to see other ways Box Tops for Education can help Strandwood, like the Box Tops Marketplace. Enter your favorite online shopping site through the Marketplace and a portion will be returned to Strandwood. Click here to sign up.

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MDUSD Monday Memo Bits
Facing "worst funding crisis," Board cuts an additional $8.4 million

At one meeting, held last Tuesday night, March 3, the Board of Education approved $8,385,068 in budget cuts, more than double the nearly 7 million dollars in cuts it had approved between December 16, 2008, and February 24, 2009.

The latest action was made necessary when the Governor signed the state budget in February. Under this new budget the District will receive $182,090,499 in state Revenue Limit funding, which is 7 million less than it was scheduled to receive under the state budget the Governor signed last September. And that budget had already reduced spending to K-12 public education, requiring the 7 million dollars in reductions the Board had completed on February 24.

This total of 15 million dollars is IN ADDITION to the 14 million dollars in cuts to this year's budget that the Board approved last spring. The impact of 30 million dollars in budget reductions in the course of one year extends to every area of MDUSD and is felt by every employee. The programs and positions approved for reduction last Tuesday night show how widespread the impact is.

Click here to see exactly where these latest cuts were made. While you are reading the Memo sign up to receive your own weekly copy at the bottom of the page.

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Photo courtesy of the Bargmann family.

Calendar
Click below to go directly to the Strandwood web site calendar.

Fun Facts

Alektorophobia is the fear of chickens.

During Prohibition in the United States, breweries turned to producing ice cream to stay in business.

Deep Thought, Deep Blue and Deeper Blue are three chess-playing IBM computers.

WHAT IS IT?

This is a close up of an object. What is it? The Answer is at the bottom of the page.

Spring Chess Sessions

It's time to sign up for the spring session of after-school chess.

The session is open to Kindergartners (early friends only) as well as Grades 1 - 5. If you're child is enrolled for the current fall session, we hope you'll enroll again for the spring. If you are new to the class and/or to the game of chess, we welcome you to join us.

Spring chess is on Wednesdays 12:35 to 1:35 beginning March 11 and ending May 6, in rooms B-8 and A-3. Chess

Register online through The Berkeley Chess School at www.berkeleychessschool.org or call 510-843-0150. If you would like to print and mail your application click here to download the form.

This will be the last chess session offered at Strandwood for this school year.

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On the Website

You can read the minutes from the February Site Council meeting and the agenda for Tuesdays meeting if you visit the site council page. It should be updated later this morning.

Science Fair

The District Level Science Fair will be held March 21st at the Willow Creek Center. The Strandwood participants are Kathy Hoffman and Christina Bracamontes from Mrs. Chequer's class, Mari Obrochta and Max Vukovojac from Mrs. Schuster's class and Alexandra Flores from Mrs. Beck's class.

Look for more information about the Science Fair next week.

Race to Witch Mountain

Dinner and a Movie Night
Deadline for movie order forms is TODAY!

Don't miss out...be sure to turn in your movie order forms TODAY! The Dinner Dance Auction Committee is sponsoring a Movie Night at the Century Theatre. This year, we're also adding dinner to this fun filled Strandwood night. Buy your movie tickets from us for $10 (Strandwood gets $2.50 from each ticket sold) and go out for dinner at either Rubio's or Pasta Pomodoro then enjoy some dessert at Coco Swirl Frozen Yogurt and Strandwood gets 20% of your total bill donated back to us by these generous merchants!

Order forms were be sent home and are also available in the office. Deadline for movie tickets is TODAY, March 9th, by 3 pm.

Movie: Race to Witch Mountain
Location: PH Downtown Century Theatre
Date: Friday March 13th, Time is to be determined the Wednesday of that week: early evening.
Price: $10.00 (Strandwood gets $2.50 from each ticket sold)
Tickets: Can be purchased through an order form or contact Ghia Vanecek at 501vanecek@comcast.net

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Pleasant Hill Middle School Field Renovation

Pleasant Hill Middle School has been nominated for a complimentary field renovation through a Kellogg's Frosted Flakes contest. They have been entered into a judging period until April 30^th where one hundred fields will be selected and then voted for by the general public, until May 31, 2009. These votes will determine the thirty finalists that receive a rebuilt field.

The more support they can get - the better chances they have of winning. There is no cost, and the prize would not only enhance our community, but it would bring a great light to our children's eyes that attend our school. Remember, many of us will have children attending Pleasant Hill Middle School soon, if not already.

If you have a few minutes and would like to lend your support, please click the link listed below and sign up as a "supporter." All you have to do is give your name and e-mail.

YES, I WANT TO HELP. Click here now.

If for some reason this link does not work for you, go to www.frostedflakes.com and click on "search for a nomination" and enter our city, state, zip, etc.. Then follow the prompts to sign up as a supporter. You are welcome to also leave a note or comment on the web site. The site is tracking the nominations by the minute, so if you are interested in how we are doing simply log on.

Would you like to help a little more?? Spread the word by asking ...

* Your Extended Family (Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents, etc.) & their friends
* Your Friends & their friends
* Your Co-workers & their co-workers
* Our Community Associations & City Workers
* Our Sister Schools
* Your Sports Organizations & their sister organizations
* Your Teachers, Administrative Staff and Students (only if you the parent/guardian approves and feels comfortable with this) & their friends

And if you want to get really crazy - post it on your Facebook Accounts!

I can't guarantee that we will win, but I believe it doesn't hurt to try. And if you want something, shouldn't you pull out all of the stops possible to get what you want?

If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Rader at 4caraders@comcast.net.

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More PHMS help needed

Attention Parents of 5th grade students attending PHMS. We are currently putting together our slate of officers for the 2009-2010 school year. The position of historian still needs to be filled. This position required the presence at our fun and exciting PTSA Executive Board and General meetings, keep logs of volunteer hours, and report the hours to council at the end of the year. This is a great way to meet other parents and become involved in this spectacular school.

Thanks for your help and support.

Ann Lemak

Turn Off TV Week is coming next month