Odle Viking News June 21, 2012

The Odle Viking News is distributed on the first and third Wednesday of every month. Submission requests are due on the first and third Monday, and may be sent to the newsletter editor. This deadline is strictly enforced.

Thursday, June 21, 2012 Success = Odle's Only Option

This last edition of the Viking News is packed with breaking news! Read below about our Sucess Initiative Grant, the recipients of the Outstanding Educator Award, Volunteer Opportunities, and much more!

Calendar

Friday, June 22	8:00 - 9:45 am	All 8^th Grade Celebration, Gym
Friday, June 22		Last Day of School
Monday, Aug 27 to	Tuesday, Aug 28	Taking Care of Business Days
Tuesday, Sept 4		First Day of School 2012-2013
Tuesday, Sept 11	6:00 pm	Back to School Ice Cream Social, Odle Track - Mark Your Calendars!

Upcoming Events

8th Grade Celebration - Friday, June 22

To the Families and Friends of Odle Middle School's 8th Graders:

The students and faculty of Odle Middle School cordially invite you to attend a recognition and farewell ceremony for our 8th grade students:

Date: Friday, June 22

Time: 8:00 am - 9:45 am

Place: Odle Gym

Important Parking Information:

Odle Middle School's parking is limited. An additional parking location is Lake Sammamish Four Square Church, 14434 NE 8th. As a courtesy to our neighbor, please do NOT park at the Aquatic Center.

Odle PTSA

Presidents' Message

Dear Parents and Teachers of Odle,

We would like to thank you for another great year at Odle. The 2011/2012 school year was very special with the launch of Success Initiative. Indeed, there was no other option but success at Odle this year. Odle has been a special place for our children where they have been able to realize how much potential they have.

Whether you were ...

a math athlete who shined at State and National level
a student who witnessed great academic progress
a player in Odle Symphony Orchestra which was the only middle school orchestra chosen to perform on the main stage during prime time at the National Music Educator Conference
a member of our #1 jazz band at the Frontier Jazz Festival
a talented performer at Odle's very cool Lip Sync event
a student of the quarter for your personal demonstrations of perseverance, respect, decency, compassion and integrity, school spirit or academic excellence

Everybody has much to be proud of!

With a very successful Spring Fundraiser where $15,000 was collected, we are hoping to continue to support our faculty in all areas bringing more success going forward.

For those who leave middle school behind, we hope you enjoyed your time at Odle and we wish you the very best. For all of you who return next year, we are looking forward to serving you as Odle PTSA Co-Presidents and to meeting with you at Odle events throughout the year. We encourage you to find ways to volunteer and enjoy our wonderful community from within.

Enjoy the summer,

Krista Hammer & Dominique Vincenti

PTSA Board of Directors Thanks

Krista and Dominique would like to thank the talented team of PTSA Board of Directors members of 2011-2012! We enjoyed working with all of you! Thank you for your many hours of hard work and your dedication to the Odle Community:

Vice President Fundraising, Julia Krill

Vice President Outreach, Adam Dibba

Vice President Communications, Jana Pallis

Treasurer, Erica Wei Li

Assistant Treasurer, Dionne Gordon

Secretary, Linda DeBruin

At-large Grants, Linda Deardorff

At-large Membership and FOOM Liaison, Kim McDermott

At-large Leg Rep, Vibes Liaison, Catherine Smith

At-Large Prism Liaison, Lei He

PTSA On-line Survey

Your opinion matters! Please take about 5 minutes to complete Odle PTSA's on-line survey. We need everyone's feedback so that we can do a great job next year! Thanks!

Click here to take the survey

Continue to contribute to Odle Middle School through the Safeway eScrip program throughout the summer!

If you have not done so already, you can register your Safeway Rewards Card at www.escrip.com to donate a portion of your purchases to Odle MS. Additionally, from August 8 - September 11, is Safeway's '10% Goes Back to Schools' promotion. It's as easy as:

1) Look for the School Bus Tags

2) Use your Club Card to buy participating items

3) Pick a school to get 10% at the end of the program (eScrip customers contribute automatically)

Odle News

Success Initiative Grant from Bellevue Schools Foundation

Dear Odle Parent(s) / Guardian(s):

I'm pleased to announce the following email from the Bellevue Schools Foundation:

The Bellevue Schools Foundation is pleased to inform you that our board of trustees has approved funding for the Success Initiative at Odle for the 2012-13 school year. The total grant amount is $60,000.

Thank you for your dedication to success for all students. Best wishes for a restful summer and a fantastic 2012-13 school year.

I am so grateful to the Foundation for their generous support of our work at Odle and urge you to join me in thanking the Bellevue Schools Foundation for that support. I'm looking forward to a great year in 2012 - 2013! I hope all Odle families have a wonderful, restful summer break! Thanks again to the Bellevue Schools Foundation for their generous support of Odle Middle School!

Eric McDowell

Principal

Parent Homework

Mark your calendar to check the Odle website early August so that you can PRINT your Taking Care of Business Packet. Complete your forms and bring them with you on either August 27th or 28th depending on your student's grade level. (A very limited number of packets will be available in the Odle main office in August for people without access to a computer.
Before you get in summer mode, please take the PTSA survey.
Click here to take the survey

Lost and Found

LOST AND FOUND ITEMS IN THE MAIN OFFICE: Be sure to stop and check the lost and found in the main office for items such as phones, iPods, house keys, jewelry, pencil boxes, USB's and other small items. We also have quite a collection of hats from this year and last year. All items will be donated after this week. Also check the lost and found in the hallway past the kitchen for jackets, lunch boxes, and other items. After this week, those items will be donated as well.

FOOM Year End Appreciation and Announcement

Huge THANK YOU to all parents, PTSA, Odle administration team, and our music teachers!! Because of your support, guidance and generosity, FOOM, as a one-year-old booster club, had produced three "Sounds of Odle" CDs featuring our talented young musicians at Odle, and was able to provide funding through grants and fundraising activities for Odle music program.

The fund was used to purchase music, two cellos, two violas, cello travel cases, repair and clean band instruments, pay for coaches and choir accompanist. FOOM also helped raise ASB band and orchestra funds to pay for buses (for festival), etc.

Especially, we want to recognize and thank the current FOOM Board members who have gone above and beyond for their leadership, commitment and contribution from April, 2011 till now:

Vicki Liao, President

Kim McDermott, VP of Band / Jazz Band, FOOM representative on Odle PTSA Board

Julie Fay, VP of Orchestra

Beth Schrader, VP of Choir

Catherine Smith, Secretary

Ying Wang, Treasurer

Linda Deardorff, Grant Adviser

As our 8^th grade music students say good-bye to us, some of our board members will also move on. We want to thank in advance and welcome the following 6^th grade parents and 7^th grade parents to the FOOM board starting July 1, 2012:

Vicki Liao, President

Arlene Hoffman, VP of Band / Jazz Band

Shirley Lim, VP of Orchestra

TBD, VP of Choir

Nandini Shrinidhi, Secretary

Ying Wang, Treasurer

Debbie Li, grant advisor

In addition, we want to thank Vikram Madan for his ongoing graphic design support to the creation of "Sounds of Odle". And we are excited that Luanne Lemmer who has built the Spiritridge Elementary PTSA website, will build the website for Odle music. Stay tuned...

Band / Orchestra Concert Dress Recycling Program

Often our students wear their concert dress clothing only a few times before outgrowing them. If you have any black pants, black skirts, white shirts, black shirts, or black shoes that you wish to donate, please bring them to the FOOM collection box by the office during the last week of school. These items will be available for purchase for $5 per item during the Taking Care of Business days in the summer.

Instrument Donation

If you have instruments that you no longer use, please consider donating them to Odle music program. Currently, band needs two bassoons, and all unused string and/or wind instruments are welcome. Please contact Mr. Roberts or Mr. Blough.

Interlake Marching Band for Incoming Freshmen

Please contact marie.harris@comcast.net to be added to the distribution list if your 8^th grade band students are interested in joining the Marching Band at Interlake High School next year. Emails will be sent to inform incoming freshmen about the marching band including practices during the summer.

Do your regular shopping and have merchants contribute % sales to FOOM

We are happy to introduce you to MCP LocalScrip, an additional resource for FOOM to raise funds through myCommunityPlace (MCP). https://mycommunityplace.com.

...through online stores... you sign up through our school's link on MCP...

MCP offers an online network of brand-name merchants who award a portion of every sale made through their websites to FOOM. All you have to do is go to school's link: https://mcpbadge.com/page/ie/?s=0617832549, click "sign up", and shop at more than 50 merchants for the things you buy everyday (from Starbucks, Barnes&Noble, Lowe's, and iTunes, etc.). Help the Odle Music program by doing your everyday shopping through MCP. Thank you for your heart and support to excellent music education that is accessible to all students at Odle!!

Questions? Contact vickiliao168@gmail.com

Volunteer Needs

Odle PTSA Needs You--Join the Fun

Where can people with different interests and talents get together to do some good? On the Odle PTSA, of course, in one of two open chair positions: Legislative Representative and Reflections.

The Legislative Representative will keep the Odle community informed of developments in Olympia that are important to education here at home. This job requires a minimal time commitment-the Legislative Representative subscribes to the state PTSA newsletter and receives information from the local PTSA council representative to share with the Odle PTSA and the community through the Viking News. This is a perfect job for someone who works.

Reflections is a national PTSA arts contest open to all students at Odle-but only if there is a Reflections Chair. All submissions must be through a local school PTSA, and Odle students will not be able to participate without a Chair in place. The Chair gets to work at the beginning of the school year, but his or her work is done in January. The Chair will publicize the competition, help students understand the rules and entry forms, collect submissions, identify volunteer judges from the community, display submissions in the school and plan a simple reception in the library for participants and their parents. No experience or training is necessary, but the previous Reflections Chair may be available to mentor the new chair.

Interested in any of these positions? Please contact odleptsa@hotmail.com.

Volunteers for Taking Care of Business Days

Volunteers Needed - If you might be able to help out during one of the Taking Care of Business days (8/27 and 8/28), please email odleptsa@hotmail.com now so we can contact you in August. We use many high school students, but do still need adult volunteers each shift to keep things running smoothly.

Viking Hut Volunteers

If you would like to volunteer for the Viking Hut next year, please contact Cathi Hervey herveyjc@hotmail.com.

Ovations

Outstanding Educator Award Recipients

Congratulations to this year's Outstanding Educator Award Recipients:

Deanna Burmester
Jacob Duke

Thank you for your outstanding contributions and commitment to our Odle community!

Math Club News

Odle students Patrick Wang (7^th grade) and Abhi Sivaprasad (8^th grade) represented Washington State (with 2 other team members from other schools, coached by Odle's coach Li Jiang) in MathCounts National held on 5/11 in Orlando FL. Washington State team won 3^rd place in national competition! Both Patrick and Abhi were ranked in top 25% among all participants. Congratulations to Patrick and Abhi and to Odle for contributing to WA State's success in this highly competitive national competition.

Odle 6th grade math team of Richard Dong, Daniel He, Anthony Lu and Kevin Ma participated in the 2012 Math is Cool Master's competition on May 19th in Moses Lake. Odle team won the first place in the team competition (Elite division). The following individuals also won the individual award by finishing in top 8 of individual contest:

2nd place: Richard Dong

6th place: Daniel He

7th place: Anthony Lu

Thank You

Viking Hut Thanks

Thank You very much to all of you who have spent many hours this year donating your time to the students during lunch at the Viking Hut. This can be a THANKLESS job, but the students really do love having the hut open and it could not have been done without YOU! Odle truly does have the best volunteers!!

Jessica Akers, Linnea Eng, Laurie Angelo, Debbie Patel, Laurie Beck, Holly Oppfelt, Laura Buchthal, Jiyun Son, Nancy Barnett, John Spurrier, Dana Brudie, Ticson Mach, Gwen Burks, Tonya Paszeiz, Sara Gillam, Catherine Smith, Chuck Gillam, Carl Hu, Kris Gisum Kim, Jill Sulzburg, Michelle Harmon, Maura Sullivan, Cathi Hervey, Archana Verma, Laura Hitchins, Pam Way, Robin Hansen, Lisa White, Beth Hom, DeeAnn Wilson, Julia Krill, Diane Wong, Luanne Lemmer, Sibel Yildiz, Cecilia Lui and Sandra Yee.

8th Grade Party Thanks

Thank you to everyone who helped make the 8th grade party held last Friday a success! First of all, thank you to our fabulous PE teachers who worked around us as we set up during 7th period and tutorial: Nick Castilleja, Tanya Pilichowski and Chris Sampson. Thank to Mr. Castilleja's 7th period class for helping setup!

Thank you to the planning committee:

Julia Krill, Catherine Smith, Nancy Barnett, Beth Hom, Linda Deardorff, Susan Broussard, Lisa White, JMarie Johnson Kola, Tracey Nguyen, Laura Buchthal, Kim McDermott, and Pam Way.

And thank you to the volunteers, both beforehand and during the party:

Carl Hu, Cathi Hervey, Alyssa Deardorff, Matthew Hervey, Sophi White, June Jo Lee, Hua Hu, Libby Budinger, Elan Ellinger, Liming Qin, Sarah Hayne, Shelly Mackie, Mita Ganguly, Azita Afshar, Alagu Palaniappan, Alyssa Buchthal, Ping Xie, Ruchi Shastri, Connor Krill, Mark Kola, Gail Lasprogata, Grace Conrad, Heidi Kim, Ilona Larson and Susan Skovron.

Yearbook Thanks

The Odle community would like to say thank you to the following people who helped pass out yearbooks this week - and all those parents and students who helped at the last minute without signing up:

Carl Hu, Sheila Tecson, Aubrey DeVine, Laurie Beck, Patty Roberts, Dominique Vincenti, Catherine Smith, Rita Frost, Bharti Arora, Whitney DeVine, Laura Buchthal, Shirley Lim, Margaret David and Sayee.

Field Day Thanks

Three cheers to all of the parent volunteers who helped PTSA set-up and serve refreshments to the kids on Field Day!

Jo Ann Bergh, Chihiro Harscoet, Kim Byungseok, Holly Oppfelt, May Zhao, Sandy Lompe, Shuping Guan, Rita Frost, Sandra Gan, Bharti Arora, Maryanne Regan, Patty Roberts, William Rodriguez

& a big thanks to Sara Rowe for purchasing all of the trail mix ingredients!

Lip Sync Hits a Chord

Thank you Laura Buchthal and Cathi Hervey for chairing this exciting event! Thanks also go to Beth Hom, Nancy Barnett, Kim McDermott and Deanna Burmester who all helped out in a big way. Finally, thank you to all of the volunteers for their contributions. Odle students are a creative and talented bunch. We appreciate you helping them shine!

Odle's 3rd Annual "Be the Bridge" Book Drive

Thank you Odle for contributing books to this year's book drive. A thousand books were gathered this year from the UW book store in Bellevue, the Secret Garden book store in Ballard (via author Erica Bauermeister and a charity started by the Seattle 7 group of local authors), Sammamish High School, and Odle. These books are being used for summer reading projects with Odle students and siblings.

Co-coordinators, Alyssa Deardorff and Linda Deardorff

Thank You, Student of the Quarter Coordinators

Thanks to Susan Skovron and teacher Deanna Burmester for ensuring that Students of the Quarter could be recognized and appreciated throughout this year for their hardwork and positive contributions to Odle. Deanna Burmester coordinated with the faculty to identify these outstanding students, and Susan Skovron organized the student-parent recognition parties. Susan also displayed the pictures of all of our honor roll students and Students of the Quarter in the hall. All of the students who were appreciated and their parents, appreciate this program and the efforts of coordinators Deanna and Susan.

Bellevue School District News

Boundary Review Update

Who represents you and your school on the Boundary Review Committee? The names of committee members are posted on the district web site--just go to the front page and look for the Boundary Review item and follow the links from the front page. The committee is scheduled to hold their first meeting in August. Any boundary revision recommendation will be the product of the citizen-based Boundary Review Committee which will start its work in August 2012. There are no proposals at this time. In the meantime, and throughout the process, you can provide input and perspective as well as ask questions (be sure to check the Boundary FAQ first) at any time by sending an e-mail to Boundary@bsd405.org or calling our Communications Department at 425.456.4000. Information about schools and neighborhoods will be provided to the committee once they begin to meet.

Community News and Events

Stevenson Elementary and Lake Hills Elementary Summer Food Program

Stevenson Elementary

Days: Monday - Friday, June 25th - August 24th

Times: Breakfast 8:30 - 9:00, Lunch 11:45 - 12:30

There will be no meal service July 4th.

Free for all kids ages 2 - 18!

Lake Hills Elementary

Days: Monday - Friday, July 9th - August 10th

Times: Breakfast 7:00 - 8:00, Lunch 11:00 - 1:00

Free for all kids ages 2 - 18!

Questions? Contact Larry Gilman 425-456-4548

Bellevue Schools Foundation News

Tyee Middle School Students Blast Off!

Most middle schoolers might think twice about going to school on a Saturday morning. But one group of Tyee Middle School science students looked forward to Saturdays at school. They spent hours designing, programming, engineering and building satellites that were launched to about 90,000 feet. One 7th grader reported "I've never had so much fun at school in my life!" Learn more about Pacific Science Center's Expo Day

Many Thanks to Republic Services

"You gave us a reason to use our first-ever drum roll to announce our lead sponsor!" explained 2012 Spring for Schools Chair Marianne Heywood as she thanked representatives from Republic Services at the June meeting of the Foundation Board and accepted their check for the first half of their $40,000 sponsorship.

Republic Services' Municipal Relationship Manager Janet Prichard and General Manager Jeff Borgida were pleased with the timing of their visit as it gave them the opportunity to meet the District's new superintendent. As Janet explained to Dr. Mills, "Our future workforce depends on the work of our schools. It's not often top-of-mind when one thinks about trash and recycling collection, but our behind the scenes workforce are the men and women who are STEM graduates who find the engineering solutions to today's complex environmental issues." It's exciting to all of us who work on behalf of the Foundation to have the support of such thoughtful and long-term partners.

Come See Us Over the Summer

Planning to attend the Strawberry Festival (6/23-24) or the Bellevue Family 4th this summer? Stop by our booth and say hello! We'll be sharing information about the Foundation and our work to support Bellevue schools.

Educational Connections Series Will Return This Fall

We launched our popular new Education Connections series this spring, featuring engaging speakers on education-related topics of interest. The events took place at the Wilburton Instructional Service Center and complimentary lunch was provided courtesy of the Foundation and the fantastic students in Newport High School's Culinary Arts Program

Topics covered included an introduction to school funding, arts education, and technology.

We're pleased to announce that the series will return this fall with a new lineup of topics and speakers. Stay tuned for more details!

Family Health and Safety Fair

Free!!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Stevenson Elementary, 14220 NE 8th Street, Bellevue, WA 98007

Information, Fun and Services for the Whole Family!

Free Health Screenings

Food, Prize Drawings, Children's Activities, and More!

For more information, click here

Bellevue Girls Basketball Summer Camp

Dates: June 25 - June 28

Location: International School, 445 128th Ave. SE, Bellevue, WA 98005

Session 1:

Time: 8:30 - 11:30 AM

Cost: $160 (Includes t-shirt)

Open to all girls entering (3rd - 5th grades in fall 2012)

Session 2:

Time: 12:00 - 3:00 PM

Cost: $160 (Includes t-shirt)

Open to all girls entering (6th - 8th grades in fall 2012)

Camp will be directed by Bellevue High School Head Girls' Basketball Coach Leah Krautter and her staff. Bellevue High School players will assist Coach K in leading drills, running stations, and coaching teams of campers. BGB Summer Camp emphasizes individual skill work and team play with a focus on fundamentals. Players will learn and practice offensive skills such as proper footwork, spacing, cutting, and screening as well as defensive positioning and helpside. Campers will have the opportunity to learn some of the offensive sets and defenses run at Bellevue High School and show their skills in daily competitions. At BGB Summer Camp we teach players how to be selfless, confident, and coachable.

For more information, contact Rusty Holmes at cell: 206-715-3321

Summer Teen and Tween Girls Yoga, Wellness and Personal Empowerment Camp - The Tara Project

Being a teen girl is challenging in this day and age! Pressure from friends, media and popular culture combine to make is almost impossible for young women to know who they are, to dream and create their future and to grow into confident and independent women. The Tara Project was created by women to support teen and tween girls in discovering deep self-awareness, clarity about their values and a sense of belonging and commitment to their communities. Our week-long summer programs are leadership intensives for girls ages 11-14 years and ages 15-19 years. Our teams empower young women participants to develop a healthy relationship with themselves and with others so they can take action to be strong leaders in our local and global communities. Over the course of one week, girls practice beginner yoga and meditation; learn about nutrition and wellness, as well as healthy body image; learn communication tools to use their voice more effectively and compassionately; discover how to support themselves and their friends in the face of bullying; and how to be calm and at peace while dealing with school pressure and decisions about their futures. Our goal is to inspire and empower girls ages 11-19 and to have FUN.

This summer the camps will be offered at Shakti Vinyasa Yoga in Bellevue and Be Luminous Yoga in Seattle. The week of July 9 is for girls ages 15-19. The week of July 16 is for girls ages 11-14. Both camps will be held from 1:30-4:30, Monday through Friday.

For more information and to register go to www.summerteentara.com. Questions? Email info@summerteentara.com or Gail at glasprogata@hotmail.com.

Attention please, all parents of 8^th grade band members!

Parents, if your band student is planning to attend InterlakeHigh School next fall, and will be a member of the band program, the Interlake Music Parents Association would like to welcome you and let you know about summer band camp, or "Early Week" as it is called at Interlake! This is a mandatory event for all members of the band program each summer, so we are trying to spread the word as soon as possible so that you can put Early Week on your calendars for the week of August 13-17. This event is a great opportunity for the students to prepare for the marching band season, meet their band directors and their classmates, and have a great time! The hours are from 9am to 3pm each day, and the week will end with a fun barbecue for the kids on Friday.

In order to keep you informed about Early Week, we would like to ask that you send us an e-mail with your students' name and instrument played to Kathryn at Pechasnw@aol.com. We also encourage you to join the mailing list for the Interlake Music Parents Association (IMPA) newsletter by clicking on the following link:

http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=b5u8ugeab&p=oi&m=1104029799361

We look forward to hearing from you!