The Twain Times

Mark Twain Elementary School

January 20, 2015

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Dear Mark Twain Families,

I want to wish you all a very Happy and Healthy 2015! It is great to be back in the swing of life at Mark Twain. We have some exciting community and FUNdraising events planned for the spring semester. Stay tuned to the Twain Times, red folders and e-mail communications from your room parents.

We are making plans for the 2015-16 school year. The PTO Board Nominating Committee will be formed and announced at the next PTO meeting. The committee is responsible for reviewing nominations and selecting an officers' and directors' slate for the PTO Board that is representative of the Mark Twain Community. If you are interested in being part of the committee or would like to get more involved on the PTO Board next year, please reach out to me at tvhouck@msn.com.

Bingo Night was a great success and likely raised more than $5,500. Special thanks to Nicole Shah and Kathleen Fenoy for organizing a great time for the kiddos. I would also like to thank Ticket-Stop for their generous donation of four rodeo tickets to Bingo Night. We look forward to having Ticket-Stop as part of the Mark Twain Family.

Rock your Change! Now through January 30, we'll have a school-wide competition to see which grade level can raise the most money for Bash Baskets. The grade level that raises the most money will win a Donut Party! Bring your coins and add them to the water jugs set up in the front rotunda.

Don't forget that Friday, January 23, students and teachers

can dress like their favorite rock stars or in rock and roll attire. The Bash committee will be taking photos of our own Mark Twain Rock Stars before they all head out on tour!

I look forward to seeing you all this morning and have a wonderful week. Go Twain Tigers!

Tony Houck

Mark Twain PTO President

If you want to help plan a great event, please join us:

Math + Science Night

Planning Meeting

Wednesday, January 21

8:00 am in the cafeteria

and

Save the Date :

Math + Science Night

Thursday, February 26

5:30 - 7:30 pm

Math Night and Science Night will be combined this year for one incredibly exciting evening. To make it happen, we

need volunteer support. Help us get ready to "Party at the Parthenon"! No expertise required - just a passion for enriching our students' inherent curiosity, demonstrating that math and science are all around us in so many interesting ways, and planning a night of fun.

For questions, contact Irene Chang at icchang@prodigy.net or Megan Rose at meganrose72@gmail.com.

Art Night

Thursday, January 29

5:30 - 7:30 pm

Enjoy working with Clay, Paint Like the Artist, Origami, Snowflakes and many other fun art activities. There will be a raffle with art prizes. Dinner will be available for purchase from Curbside Sliderz and Cousins Maine Lobster food trucks. We need your help to make Art Night special. Please sign up to volunteer here. We look forward to seeing you for another great night.

Huckleberry Bash 2015

Please join us for the Huckleberry Bash! Come dressed in your best rock and roll attire and get ready to Rock and Roll All Night!

Enjoy a fun evening with great food catered by BB's Caf�, live entertainment, a master DJ, dancing and open bar sponsored by Audi Central Houston.

Bid on your favorite items and parties in the silent auction and prepare to outbid your friends on some amazing items in our live auction. Grab a group of friends (old and new) and purchase a table together - we guarantee you will have a great time.

To purchase a table or individual tickets online, please click here.

Host a Bash Social

"Bash Socials" are student or parent social events planned and hosted by individual or group of parents during the year. Once planned, socials are then made available for purchase at the Bash at a set price per person (or per couple) until all slots are filled.

Now is the time to get your group of hosts together, brainstorm ideas for fun adult and kid parties and SIGN UP! As you work out the party details, think about the NUMBER OF PEOPLE and AGE range, choose your LOCATION and select a DATE for your party.

The hosts are responsible for underwriting the cost of the event. Download and complete the Bash Socials donor form here and return it to Carlotta Ramirez (adult socials) or Holly Lee (kid socials) by email or to the Bash Socials box in the PTO Workroom by Friday, January 30.

Contact Carlotta cramirez@mfah.org or Holly hollyzlee@yahoo.com for more information. Forms are also available in the PTO Workroom or on the PTO website.

The first time graffiti appeared in a bathroom shared by middle and high school boys, the community was quite shocked. When the negative behavior continued despite administrators' best efforts to stop it, many people became frustrated, including the students themselves.

One day, some student leaders came to the middle school principal and said, "The school really needs to fix this. What is the administration going to do?"

"Well, boys, this is happening when adults are not around," the principal said. "And we are not going to punish everyone for the actions of a single person or a small group by putting in cameras or requiring hall passes to use the bathroom. That is not the culture of our school."

The room grew quiet. "So what will happen?" said a student. "Because you're right. This goes on when adults aren't around."

"But who is around?" asked the principal. The boys looked at each other, and then one said, "We are." They each nodded in agreement. "That's right," the principal said. And soon after, the vandalism stopped.

...........................................................

+Student Coalitions are processing and resolving these kinds of challenges on +School campuses. To see Roberts Elementary (HISD)'s +Student Coalition in action, watch our 10-minute film, Raising +Children, Raising +Voices. To read about the +Student Coalition concept and other fundamental +Works ideas, download a PDF of our +School Community Guide at http://bit.ly/1tQZRPp.

For more information about Mark Twain Elementary, visit marktwainpto.org or houstonisd.org/Twaines. To receive the Twain Times e-newsletter, please sign-up here. For submission guidelines, visit marktwainpto.org/communications.