Ritchie Park ES PTA eNews
everychild. onevoice.
March 8, 2013 
CONTENT LINKS
UPCOMING EVENTS 

 

Sunday, March 10

1-5 p.m. Barnes and Noble Book Fair 

 

Monday, March 11

Pre-orders Start for Lucky Grams

 

Friday, March 15

Last Day to pre-order Lucky Grams

 

Monday, March 18

Start of Lucky Gram Week 

 

Wednesday, March 20

Spirit Day: Twins

 

Turn in forms for International Night

 

5-9 p.m. Restaurant Night at Zoe's Kitchen

 

 

Thursday, March 21

Last Day for Lucky Grams

 

7 p.m. Snack Sacks for the Homeless Community Service Night  

Helpful

HELPFUL LINKS

How are we doing? Have Comments? You can send an anonymous survey to the PTA or school, click here. 


2012-13 PTA Officers and Board of Directors 

  

President - Eric Williams 

President Elect - Paul Carlson
VP Programs - Joanne Faulkner
VP Fundraising -Kara Hall
Treasurer -Steve Schuck
Secretary -Rachel Hicks
MCCPTA Rep -Rich Hart
Past President/MCCPTA Rep -Jennifer Young
Membership Chair - Marquette Heaven

Communications Chair - Susan Read
 Teacher Representative - Christine Ballen   

Assistant Principal - Mary Ellen Dixon 

Principal - Catherine Long 

  

 

ThanksA BIG THANK YOU TO...
  • Emily Goldberg and Mimi Arnold for organizing a fun Music and Dance Night.
  • Lisa Bosse for organizing Manna Food Volunteer Events. We collected a lot of cans at Music and Dance Night. 
  • Kim Testa and Janice Woo for several Cultural Arts events.
  • Michael Duenas of the American Optometric Association, for speaking at our PTA meeting. We learned that 3D movies were the best test of your child's vision. 

Turn in your February Volunteer Hours. Send email to Teresa Williams.

Loyalty Card Programs
Contact Steve Schuck for more info.  
School ID: 58180 
(school 6557768)
(school 7852)
(school 00762 Rockville)
(school 219478)
Book Fair This Sunday - Volunteers Still Needed
Join us this Sunday, March 10 from 1 - 5 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble in the Washingtonian Center-Rio. The address is 21 Grand Corner Ave., Gaithersburg. Chorus performs at 1:30 and Instrumental Music at 2:00 p.m. Raffle prizes will be given out every hour. RPES teachers will be reading books!! Please come and support our event! A percentage of your Barnes & Noble purchases will benefit our school, including purchases at the café!

If you can't attend, you can still help the school. Visit BN.COM/bookfairs to support us online from March 11-17
by entering Bookfair ID 10914257 at checkout.

Volunteers are still needed for the event. Sign up here. We need help at the craft/activity tables and floaters and greeters to help direct people. This event is great for MS or HS students who need SSL hours. Slots are only 30 minutes each so please give a little of your time. Contact Debbie Engel or Jeanie Glasser for more information.

What is a Lucky Gram and How Can My Child Get One?
A Lucky Gram is a cool pencil or Tootsie Pop attached to a lucky clover with a special message from the sender. Each Lucky Gram costs $2. Parents can send them to their children, kids can send them to friends, siblings, and teachers.

Proceeds from the Luck Grams will be donated to Free the Children on behalf of Ritchie Park ES. Sparked by an episode of 60 Minutes about the charity Free the Children, the 5th grade class has chosen to raise money to provide clean water to families in Ecuador. Providing clean water to families will enable children to attend school rather than walk long distances to fetch water. $25 provides clean water to a person for life!

Lucky Grams can be pre-ordered between March 11-15 (click here for order form), or purchased in school each morning beginning March 18-21 between 8:30-8:45 a.m. Lucky Grams will be delivered to each child's afternoon class during that week. Cash or checks payable to Ritchie Park ES will be accepted.
Calendar

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

All PTA events until the end of the school year are now on the Ritchie Park Homepage.  

 

Restaurant Night for March will be on March 20 at Zoe's Kitchen in Park Potomac from 5-9 p.m. 20% of proceeds will go to Ritchie Park. The PTA raised about $200 from last month's Elevation Burger Restaurant Night.

The 9th Annual "Snack Sacks for the Homeless" Community Service Night will take place on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. in the APR. We will be making meal bags for an area homeless shelter, crafts for the Children's Inn at NIH. New this year, we will also be collecting and donating pet items for the Montgomery County Humane Society.

Beginning Monday, March 18, please send in the following items with your child:
K-Packaged sliced cheese
1st Grade-Packaged deli meat
2nd Grade-Fruit and/or applesauce cups
3rd graders-Individual bags of snacks (chips, pretzels, crackers)
4th Grade-Jars of peanut butter (for the Humane Society)
5th Grade-Dog and/or cat treats (for the Humane Society)

Please contact Marci Maged at magedpr@aol.com or Julie Baron at juliebaron@verizon.net with any questions. We look forward to seeing you there. Thank you!

International Night will be on Thursday, April 18 from 7-8:30 p.m. We invite everyone to participate! We need volunteers from every continent to share. We would like
tables to fill the gym with displays and activities. This is a chance to share your culture with Ritchie Park families.

Please bring something to share from a specific country-- such as a craft, costume, music, demonstration, photo album, picture, artwork, dance, game, food (note that food may only be served in the gym lobby), toy or other idea. We welcome everything whether it is from your heritage or your vacation. For more information and to volunteer you can fill out this form or  contact Rodney and Rosi Peele. Form are due Wednesday, March 20.

NOCHE INTERNACIONAL DE RITCHIE PARK
Jueves, 18 de abril, 7- 8:30 PM
¡Los invitamos a que participen! Necesitamos a voluntarios de cada continente para que compartan con todos. Queremos que las mesas en el gimnasio estén llenas de exposiciones y actividades. Por favor traiga algo de cualquier país para poder compartir - puede ser artesanía, traje típico, exposición, álbum de fotos, ilustraciones, bailes, juegos u otras cosas. Pueden traer algo que represente su cultura o tal vez algo que trajo de sus vacaciones.

Por favor regrese este formulario al colegio o envíelo por correo electrónico a RPeele@aoa.org antes del miércoles, 20 de marzo. Haga clic aqui­ para información.
Advocacy
ADVOCACY CORNER

Budget Advocacy:  Thank you to all the parents who signed postcards to send to the County Council expressing your support for quality education for our children.  We will contribute about 100 cards toward MCCPTA's advocacy efforts to get the County Council to fund the MCPS CIP and Operating Budgets.  Please plan on coming out to support the testimony of RM Cluster Coordinator and RPES parent, Jennifer Young, before the County Council on either April 9, 10, or 11th.  We will let you know the exact date and time as soon as the Council lets us know.  Your children are the ones who benefit from your support!! 

 

Resolution on Gun Violence:  A resolution has been proposed to MCCPTA by Takoma Park ES that asks MCCPTA to support the National PTA's positions on gun control policy and to make advocacy on such policies a priority for MCCPTA.  Your MCCPTA Delegates will be voting on this resolution at the next Delegates Assembly on Thursday, March 21st.  A vote for the resolution would mean that Ritchie Park supports making advocacy for the National PTA positions on gun control a priority for Montgomery County PTAs.  A vote against the resolution does not mean that we do not support gun control, but rather that we don't feel that MCCPTA should make the National PTA positions a priority for its advocacy efforts.  We need your feedback on this resolution and are very interested to hear your opinions about it.  Please email MCCPTA Delegates Jennifer Young or Rich Hart with any comments.  You can find a copy of the resolution here.

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