Your Monday Morning Roadrunner from Strandwood Elementary

NOVEMBER 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 Roadrunner. The Roadrunner also provides links to important flyers and new items on the school website. Do you have any comments about this Roadrunner or suggestions for future Roadrunner articles or features? Drop us a line at strandwood_emailclub@hotmail.com.

In This Issue

Sutter's Fort Meeting

Great American Fundraiser

Opera a la Carte Performance

It's Movie Night Time

Veteran's Day

Box Tops Contest Winner

5th Grade Outdoor Education

Dinner Dance Parking Spot

Save Your Capri Sun Pouches

eScript Coordinator Needed

After School Computer Class

Parent Teacher Conferences

Attention Field Trip Drivers

Kindergarten Pre-Registration

Strandwood Dinner Dance Auction

Santa is Dropping In to Concord Airport

Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Dates, Times and Places

Flyers Available

Sutter's Fort Meeting

The 4th Grade parent only informational meeting is tonight, November 9th, at 7pm in the Strandwood Library. See y'all there!

Great American Fundraiser

IMPORTANT NOTICE!! Your Fundraiser items are on their way!

Dear Parents and Guardians, Your student will be receiving his/her fundraising products on Thursday, November 12th. Please make arrangements to have your student picked up that day if they have a large order. Some boxes may be too heavy for students to carry.

(Please note we have NO STORAGE available at school for any cookie dough that was not picked up. Please pick up the merchandise on THIS DAY ONLY. If you are unavailable, please make arrangements for a neighbor to pick up your order on your behalf).

Photo courtesy of the Bargmann family.

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

FACT or NOT?

The items below may or may not be facts. It's up to you to figure that out.

A group of jellyfish is a smuth or fluther.

Stuart Sutcliffe was the fifth Beatle.

All birds lay eggs.

WHAT IS IT?

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

Opera a' la Carte Performance

Mr. Wright has arraigned for the San Francisco Opera and their Opra-a-la-carte program to visit us for an upper grade assembly this Thursday at 10:00am.

This engaging in-school program consists of a forty-five minute adapted presentation of a main stage opera! Masterfully designed, OALC reaches over 130 schools a year. This mini-opera, sung in English, is brought to your school by professional costumed singers, a pianist, and a docent who tell a classic operatic story with your students in the speaking roles! Students receive coaching and rehearsal with the performers and join in an assembly presentation.

For more information about the San Francisco Opera and their K-12 programs please click here.

Movie Night is This Friday

Strandwood students and families are invited to attend a free movie showing of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder on Friday, November 13th at 6:15 pm in the multi-use room.

Popcorn and water will be provided. Please bring a blanket, pillow or low chair so that everyone will be able to see. Space is limited to the first 225 people to sign up via e-mail to freemovienight@gmail.com. If you are able to help with set up, sign in, popcorn or clean up, please indicate so in your e-mail

Veteran's Day - November 11th

Veterans Day History

In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, D.C., became the focal point of reverence for America's veterans. Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation's highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc deTriomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I fighting at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The day became known as "Armistice Day."

Armistice Day Changed To Honor All Veterans

The first celebration using the term Veterans Day occurred in Birmingham , Alabama , in 1947. Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran, organized "National Veterans Day," which included a parade and other festivities, to honor all veterans. The event was held on November 11, then designated Armistice Day. Later, U.S. Representative Edward Rees of Kansas proposed a bill that would change Armistice Day to Veterans Day. In 1954, Congress passed the bill that President Eisenhower signed proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day. Raymond Weeks received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Reagan in November 1982. Weeks' local parade and ceremonies are now an annual event celebrated nationwide.

On Memorial Day 1958, two more unidentified American war dead were brought from overseas and interred in the plaza beside the unknown soldier of World War I. One was killed in World War II, the other in the Korean War. In 1984, an unknown serviceman from the Vietnam War was placed alongside the others. The remains from Vietnam were exhumed May 14, 1998 , identified as Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie, and removed for burial. To honor these men, symbolic of all Americans who gave their lives in all wars, an Army honor guard, the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day and night vigil.

National Ceremonies Held at Arlington National Cemetery

The focal point for official, national ceremonies for Veterans Day continues to be the memorial amphitheater built around the Tomb of the Unknowns. At 11 a.m. on November 11, a combined color guard representing all military services executes "Present Arms" at the tomb. The nation's tribute to its war dead is symbolized by the laying of a presidential wreath. The bugler plays "taps."

Additional Information

Additional information on the history of Veterans Day, the Veterans Day National Committee, the national ceremony, a gallery of Veterans Day posters and an informative Veteran's Day resource guide can be found on the Internet at http://www.ca.goc/vetsday.

Box Tops Webkinz Contest

Congratulations to Cheyton Alvarado in Mr. Brown's class for turning in the most Box Tops in October. He is now the proud ower of a new Webkinz Elephant!!

Collect Box Tops from your favorite products. Look for the 10 cent Box Top coupons on hundreds of your favorite products from 30 1st Graders

General Mills cereals, Ziploc�, Kleenex� and Huggies�.

Please turn in all Box Tops to the office in a baggie with the student's name and amount enclosed. The nest prize will be awared Dec. 1. Dont' forget to check out the Box Tops Marketplace where you can shop at over 60 online stores including JcPenney and Land's End. A portion of every qualifying purchase is donated to Strandwood - all at no additional cost to you. Visit our Strandwood website for a complete list of participating stores. All that Christmas shopping can really help Strandwood!!!

5th Grade Outdoor Education

Next week, the entire 5th grade class is off to Sempervirens Outdoor School (SVOS) which is a residential environmental education program located in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Big Basin Redwoods State Park. SVOS is the latest addition to the Exploring New Horizons (ENH) family, a non-profit organization founded in 1979 and dedicated to providing high quality, affordable environmental education for the greater San Francisco Bay Area. They will spend 5 days at the camp working on 3 core concepts: Nature Appreciation and Understanding, Cooperation and Teamwork and, Citizenship and Empowerment. You can view a short video of the camp by clicking here.

DDA Parking Spot

OK, we know the parking lot can get full early but please don't park in the stall with this sign.

Every year, this reserved parking spot is auctioned off during the Dinner Dance Auction. If you would like to own this special spot for a month next year make sure you attend the Dinner Dance on March 6, 2010.

Save Your Capri Sun Drink Pouches

RESPECT THE POUCH!!! Every year BILLIONS of drink pouches end up in dumpsters and landfills across America. TerraCycle, Capri Sun and Honest Kids are working together to put an end to this awful loss of resources. As an eco-friendly innovator, TerraCycle converts the used drink pouches into unique fashion bags, tote bags, pencil cases, and other items for kids and adults!

TerraCycle is proud to team up with the largest producer of drink pouches in the country, Capri Sun, and a young organic entry into the market, Honest Kids, to help address this problem! Together with your help we CAN make a difference! (and even earn 2 cents a pouch!) Please start a collection at home: saving and gathering pouches from parties, soccer games, picnics at the park, etc....Starting Monday, November 9th there will bill collection bins in the cafeteria where you can deposit your pouches at any time. Please just make sure they are empty!! The fourth graders will do the rest as they will use the funds to help with outdoor education for 2010. Check out http://www.terracycle.net for more information.

eScript Coordinator Needed

The PTA needs your help!!
We are currently in need of someone to take over the eScrip coordinator position. If you are interested, please contact Lea Harrington at harringtonlea@yahoo.com for more information and a job description. Thanks

After School Computer Class

Want to learn how to create Web pages or write in a blog? Students can have fun learning new media skills in the fall after-school computer class that starts November 10. For details and to sign up, visit: http://www.strandwood.net

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher conferences will be held from December 7th through the 18th. Dismissal will be at 1:40pm for 1st - 5th grades on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday will still be a 12:30pm dismissal.

Your teachers will be scheduling the meeting with you soon. Please, show up on time for your meeting as there isn't much room between conferences.

Attention Field Trip Drivers

Those parents who drive on field trips must provide the office with a completed Transportation Certification and Authorization form and a current copy of their automobile insurance every school year. These documents are thrown away at the end of the year and not carried over from year to year.

There are also insurance minimums that must be maintained. For a list of those, and a copy of the TRANSPORTATION OF STUDENTS IN PRIVATELY-OWNED VEHICLES form please click here. Fill it out on line, print it and bring it to Gayle in the office along with a copy of your current insurance coverage statement. Do not bring your evidence of liability card unless it shows all your coverage limits.

* Note - The insurance requirements are in addition to the TB and fingerprinting requirements.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Kindergarten Pre-Registration for 2010-2011 School Year

Pre-registration of children eligible for kindergarten in August 2010 will be conducted in all Mt. Diablo Unified School District elementary schools on a first-come basis starting Tuesday, February 2, 2010. The hours of registration will be 9:00 - 11:00 am and 1:00 - 3:00 pm.

Click here for more information. Click here for more information in Spanish.

Strandwood Dinner Dance Auction

Planning is well underway for the 13th Annual Dinner Dance Auction on March 6, 2010 - but we need your help. The decorations committee is in need of empty Chianti bottles (the bottles with the raffia) and corks, so start collecting NOW! Also, room parents and party planners

- please start taking pictures of class events so that we may have a wide variety of photos for our auction slide show. Kelly Gallagher will be collecting photos on disk or flash drive. Check out our website for more Auction information, include a FAQs page, list of important dates and class project ideas. If you have any questions or would like to submit a donation for the auction, please contact Lea Harrington (harringtonlea@yahoo.com) or Cindy Turner (pcturner@sbcglobal.net ).

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Santa is Dropping in to the Concord Airport.

Contra Costa County Airports, in conjunction with Bay Area Skydiving and the Crowne Plaza Hotel, are pleased to announce the return of Skydiving Santa. Santa will be descending upon Buchanan Field and Byron Airports on Saturday, December 5, 2009. This event benefits the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.

Watch for more information and a link to the flyer in next week's Roadrunner.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

1) Elevation is the height of land above what?

2) True or False-The words "his", "our", and "your" are called personal pronouns.

3) Sterling silver is a combination of silver and copper. Which one of the following is also a combination of two or more metals? A) Aluminum B) Lead or C) Brass

4) When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, who became the next President?

5) Pirate Long John Silver appears in what classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson?

6) What island country is less than 100 miles south of Florida? A) Cuba B) Bermuda C) Panama

Answers are at the bottom of the page.

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Dates, Times and Places

November 9 - Sutter's Fort Environmental Living Program meeting.
November 9 - Field Trip - 4th Grade to Lawrance Hall of Science - 9:30 am - 2:00 pm
November 10 - School Site Council Meeting - 3:15 pm in the Library
November 11 - Holiday - Veteran's Day
November 12 - Opera-a-la-carte performance - Upper grades - 10:00 am

November 12 - Make a Difference Golf Tournament to support MDUSD athletics.
November 13 - Movie Night
November 16 - 20 - Field Trip - 5th Grade Outdoor Education

November 20 - Principal Pizza Lunch
November 20 - Field Trip - 1st Grade to Lesher Regional Center for the Arts10:00 - 12:30