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Special Edition PTA Newsletter 05/01/15
 
                Norman Rockwell Elementary PTA
ROCKWELL PTA - 
PLANNING FOR 2015/16 SCHOOL YEAR

 

 

Dear Rockwell Community,

 

It's May 1st - we're in the home stretch for this school year!!

 

As the time has come for us to plan for the following school yearm we'd like to take this time to ask every parent to strongly consider upping your volunteer commitment at our wonderful school. Many of Rockwell's fantastic volunteers will be leaving at the end of the year due to their child graduating to middle school or due to the boundary change. We will miss them all greatly!

 

Thank you to those who have served our school community this year (and past years) and thank you to those who have already committed to fill positions for next year!

 

Rockwell PTA has many positions available and we need your talent! What's the difference between a board and non-board position? Board members meet monthly to discuss, approve, and vote on grant requests and to discuss PTA matters.

 

Good news! Most of our board positions have candidates lined up (some returning, some new),  but we're still looking for lots of chair positions! 

 

What exactly does the PTA do?

We organize to make Norman Rockwell an academically enriching environment for our children by providing financial and volunteer support for the following Rockwell programs and many more:  Educational assemblies, visits from the Toy Maker (enriching STEM learning), Salmon in the Classroom, grade level grants for educational enrichment in the classrooms, buses for educational field trips, Math in Action programs, art docent program, local author visits, school musical, after-school programs, yearbook, teacher appreciation, the weekly Bugle newsletter & PTA website for parents, and much more. Additionally, we plan many special family events throughout the year such as the BBQ, Ice Cream Social & Art Showcase, Heritage Night, Bingo Night, and the school dance. More about PTA here. 

Why we need your help:
Rockwell PTA is made of parents....just like you. We have jobs, we have small children, we have other commitments. Gone are the days when the PTA was only for non-working parents. We ask all of our parents to lend a hand in some way at Rockwell - whether it is volunteering in the classroom, chairing an event, or serving on the board.  Parent involvement is a big part of what makes our school so excellent. Plus you get to know more parents, kids, and staff at Rockwell!

Please take the time to consider one of these available positions. Any position can also have a co-leader...so you can find a friend or someone to partner with and chair it together. We can't do it without all of you. *Unfilled positions may result in events or programs being canceled. 

Have Questions about a position?
Email our nominating committee (Kit Craig & Beth Batig) or PTA President, Cari Scotkin, or anyone on our current board! 

MAY PTA MEETING: 
Our goal is to have every position filled by our next 
General Meeting on May 28th at 7pm for elections. Can you help us?  

Our entire school community is invited to the PTA meetings (only 4 per year...this is the last one for this school year)! We'd love to have you there.

Thank you!
Rockwell PTA


*AVAILABLE BOARD POSITIONS FOR 2015/16

-Membership Chair (upload new members to PTA database, communicate membership information to the school community, actively strive to grow our membership to 100% via a membership drive and awareness at events)

-Special Needs Coordinator (coordinate awareness fair for students and communicate LWSD/PTSA special needs programs to parents)

-Our other board positions have candidates lined up (some returning, some new)! If you're still interested in co-leading a board position, let us know. 

*AVAILABLE CHAIR/CO-CHAIR POSITIONS FOR 2015/16

-PTA Reflections Art Contest chair or co-chairs (Fall/Winter. The Reflections Program is a National PTA and WSPTA cultural arts competition for students. Coordinate Rockwell's submissions, judging, and communicate with parents etc...) Contact: Felice Nightengale

-Yearbook (current committee is looking for an extra member of the team to handle the marketing/sales aspect) Contact: Minerva Butler

-PTA Special Project (asap): Looking for someone tech-savvy to help PTA update/create a new short digital presentation about PTA and Pass the Hat (to be shown this fall on Curriculum Night). Surely someone out there has creative/tech skills!? Contact: Stacy Hatch

-PTA Awards Committee/Volunteer celebration (Spring '16 to coordinate awards, June for the event. We also need help for THIS year!) Contact: Ami King

-PTA Nominating Committee (Spring '16. Helping find candidates for filling the following year's open PTA positions.) Contact: Cari Scotkin

-Readerboards/PTA Bulletin Board (Year round, update bulletin board and main reader board - once to a few times per month. New reader board coming soon.) Contact: Angie Ballas

-Lake WA Schools Foundation Ambassador (Keep our school updated on the LWSF - More Info Here) Contact: Cari Scotkin


ONE TIME EVENTS:

*These kid-favorite, one-time events need to be filled before the end of this school year. Never coordinated an event before? No problem...our VP's of Events will help with the process. 

-Welcome Back Parent Coffee (Sept '15. First day of school coffee for parents after drop off.)

-Heritage Night (January '16/Family Fun event celebrating the diversity at Rockwell)

-Bingo Night (February '16/Family Fun event with Bingo, prizes and dance breaks!)

-School Dance (March '16/Family Fun event - it's a dance party!)

-Co-chair for Ice Cream Social (May '16/Family fun event - one co-chair is already committed.)

-Field Day (June '16. Help out this year and you still have time to train with this years' chairpersons. A lead and committee is preferable.)

-5th Grade promotion (June 2016, typically incoming 4th grade parents run this so the 5th grade parents can enjoy it. Help out this year and train for next year!) A lead parent and a committee is preferable.

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT:

-Chess Club Chair (After-school enrichment program coordinator. Communicate registration info to parents, organize chaperone schedule, etc...)

-Lego Engineering Chair (After-school enrichment program coordinator. Communicate registration info with parents, organize chaperone schedule, etc...)

-4th Grade "Salmon in the Classroom" Parent Chair 
(Coordinate aspects of the salmon program. Incoming 4th grade parent(s) needed for 2015/16) Current Chair: Tim Nightengale




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The Beagle Bugle welcomes article submissions from students and parents.  Student journalists may submit articles about current events, students opinion-editorials and poems or short stories.  Parents may submit articles about PTA events and school related topics. 

Any article that is unrelated to PTA or Rockwell must be approved by the Lake Washington School District, and will be posted on the Community Bulletin Board.  The Lake Washington School District website has more information on the submission and approval process.

Short pieces will be edited for inclusion in the Bugle, longer pieces will be posted on the website with a link in the Bugle.  The Deadline for submissions for the next weekly Bugle is the preceding Thursday.  The Bugle Staff reserves the right to be selective regarding the materials that are publicized.

Contact the Bugle staff or submit articles at rockwellbugle@gmail.com. 
  
Sincerely,
Angie Ballas
Beagle Bugle Editor
Norman Rockwell Elementary PTA