Charger Chatter

January 27th, 2016

Editor: editor@cherrycrest-ptsa.org

Upcoming Events

January

28th - Odle Middle School Information Night 6pm

 

February

1st - Passport Club Check Point

2nd - Kindergarten Information Night 6:30pm

3rd - WPTSA Focus Day in Olympia 12pm

6th - PTSA Comm(UNITY) Gala 6pm

8th - Global Reading Challenge 1:15pm

15-19th - Mid-Winter Break - NO SCHOOL

26th - Festival of Cultures 7pm

PTSA Comm(UNITY) Gala News

THANK YOU to Our Gala Sponsors!
 
THANK YOU to our
2016 PTSA Comm(UNITY) Gala
Platinum and Gold Sponsors! 
 
We appreciate your support!



Plan Your Transportation to the
PTSA Comm(UNITY) Gala!
 
2016 PTSA Gala Attendees Arrive in Style!
Shuttle Express is pleased to provide a 20% discount on limos/town cars/SUVs and larger group transportation vehicles for this year's Gala at Novelty Hill/Januik Winery in Woodinville. To reserve your transportation and receive the Cherry Crest discount, please contact Shuttle Express: Sarah Gooch at sgooch@shuttleexpress.net or 425-981-7016. 

Curriculum Enhancement

All Curriculum Enhancement (CE) activities are funded by the Cherry Crest PTSA.  Without your support, these activities would not be possible.

Upcoming Activities:
Jan 28th - 5th graders attend "Internet Safety" workshop
Jan 29th - 4th graders go on a field trip to "Camp Waskowitz"

Past Event:
On November 24th, our 4th graders attended a full day workshop called "Legacy of Potlach" presented by Ronn Wilson (of Cedar and Salmon). The workshop exposed students to Pacific Northwest culture and history through storytelling, games and performance.
Curriculum tie-in: Social Studies

PTSA News

Congratulations to Our
Spelling Bee Winner!
On January 22nd, the school cafeteria was buzzing with excitement when 21 finalists showed off their incredible spelling skills at our all-school Spelling Bee Finals. The PTSA would like to extend a big thank you to Shikha Jain for organizing the event, to our pronouncers Tom and Elizabeth Nugent, the judges Melissa Young and Janna Lux, Rhea Lwin for hosting the evening, and all the many parent volunteers who pulled together their time and energies to make it a successful event.

Congratulations to the winners: Nidhi Gaonkar (1st place), Pranav Karthik Mruthyunjayan (2nd place), and Aparna Srinidhi Jagannathan (3rd place). Nidhi will be representing Cherry Crest at the King/Snohomish County Regional Spelling Bee in March! Good luck Nidhi!
 
Questions or feedback? Email spellingbee@cherrycrest-ptsa.org. 
 Congratulations to Art Reflections Award Recipients!
We had outstanding representation of Cherry Crest in the Reflections Art Program at the Bellevue Council. About 10% of the entries were from Cherry Crest. Among them,18 entries received awards and are listed below.
 
Congratulations to the award recipients & thank you to all students who participated this year!
 
Category
Student Name
Award
Music Composition
Sabrina Lawler
Outstanding Interpretation
Literature
Sai Balaji Nagarajan
Outstanding Interpretation
Literature
Ahan Das Chowdhury
Outstanding Interpretation
  
  
  
Dance Choreography
Alina Sycz
Award of  Merit
Literature
Sadhana Ramesh Babu
Award of  Merit
Literature
Pranav Karthik Mruthyunjayan
Award of  Merit
Literature
Tara Saini
Award of  Merit
Music Composition
Nishka Kacheria
Award of  Merit
Visual Arts
Anjana Vaidyaraman
Award of  Merit
Visual Arts
Ananya Vaidyaraman
Award of  Merit
Visual Arts
Ellie Yan
Award of  Merit
Visual Arts
Grace Z.Wang
Award of  Merit
Visual Arts
Krithipriya Narendran
Award of  Merit
Visual Arts
Nikhita Penugonda
Award of  Merit
Visual Arts
Palak Kumar
Award of  Merit
Visual Arts
Sabrina Lawler
Award of  Merit
  
  
  
Visual Arts
Aparna Srinidhi Jagannathan
Award of Excellence
Literature
Naveli Shukla
Award of Excellence
Order Art Reflections 'Best in Show' Notecards by Feb 1st
This year the Bellevue PTSA Council is offering a set of 10 notecards with illustrations by 2016 Reflections Program Best in Show Award Winners.  A set of 10 cards costs $10. 

This program supports Reflections outreach for all Bellevue schools so that each and every student has the opportunity to participate in this artistic program free of any cost to themselves. The back of the cards will indicate the first name of the artist and the school. This is a great opportunity to purchase some excellent all-purpose cards from our very talented students and support the continuation of this worthwhile arts program!
 
Order forms can be downloaded here. Orders will be taken until Monday, February 1st.

Send payment by cash or check to Bellevue PTSA Council - 12111 NE 1st Street, Bellevue, WA  98005
 
Questions?  Contact reflections@cherrycrest-ptsa.org.

Festival of Cultures is February 26th!
The annual Festival of Cultures will be on Friday, February 26th at 7:00pm! 

This is a unique and wonderful family event where our kids have the opportunity to discover the various cultures that are part of the Cherry Crest Comm(UNITY).  There are many ways to showcase your country or state: food, crafts, traditions, languages, history, geography, games, performance - your choice! 
  
Last year several countries were represented: Israel, India, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Great Britain, Ireland, Finland, Canada and South Africa.  Join us to make this year's event even better with even more countries represented including regions of the United States!
  
To volunteer for a country, performance or to help with the event, please sign-up here.
 
 Questions?  Contact Catherine Schifano at festivalofcultures@cherrycrest-ptsa.org.

Meet Your Legislator in Olympia at WSPTA Focus Day!
Join Washington State PTA in Olympia for the 2016 Focus Day on Wednesday, February 3rd.  The WSPTA has reserved the Columbia Room, 1st floor of the Legislative Building as a place to gather, share information and prepare for the day's events.  Bring your family and friends to meet with legislators and to rally in the main capitol building's Rotunda at 12:00pm.

If you can't attend, please send a letter to your legislator letting him or her know why funding basic education is important to you and your child. If you need help finding your legislator, click here.

Questions?  Contact president@cherrycrest-ptsa.org.
 Passport Club Check Point Day on Monday, February 1st
Passport Club's next Immigration Check Point Day is quickly approaching and will be on 
Monday, February 1st.
  
Destinations can be found in the Passport Club Study Maps Guide. For February's check point, please refer to the map study guide for January.  The Level 1 countries for February are: Mozambique, New Zealand, China, Pakistan and Venezuela.  Remember, if your student missed any passport times, you can download the map and give your student the test at their level.  Have you child turn in their test at the next meeting and they can earn their stamp for that month.

Passport Club is a parent driven activity and thus we count on all of your support to enrich kids understanding of World Geography. We need volunteers and there are different levels of support which can be provided, from cutting stamps at home to pulling books for display in the library that are representative of this month's countries to be traveled. On Monday, February 1st, we need volunteers to test children at Check Points.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact passportclub@cherrycrest-ptsa.org.

 Special Needs Community Resource Fair
  
Bellevue Special Needs PTA and Bellevue Parks Department are co-sponsoring a community resource fair for children with special needs. Exhibitors will include service providers and organizations in the Bellevue area that offer programs for children with special needs. 
  
When: Saturday, January 30th  1:00pm - 4:00pm
Where: Highland Community Center - 14224 Bel-Red Road, Bellevue
For more information:
www.bellevuespecialneedspta.com

School News
Global Reading Challenge Begins on February 8th
Global Reading Challenge 2016!

The first challenge will be held on Monday, February 8th in the school cafeteria at 1:15pm.  Families and parents of participants are welcome to attend. No photography or videography will be allowed during the event, but families may take pictures after.

Questions? Contact our Librarian, Mrs. Lux.  

Parent Information Nights for
2016-2017 School Year
To help families transition to the next academic step, each Bellevue neighborhood school offers a Parent Information Night relevant to incoming Kindergartners, current 5th graders and current 8th graders. In addition, every choice school hosts an information night for interested families.  Please visit the Planning For Fall 2016 information page on the BSD website for a complete list of dates and locations.
Cherry Crest is a feeder school for Odle Middle School.  Odle's Parent Information Night is tomorrow, Thursday, January 28th, 6:00pm - 8:30pm.
  
Please note some sessions may be closed to students who do not reside within the attendance area for that school. 

On-Site After School Activities
All on-site activities occur at Cherry Crest.  Some activities are sponsored and operated by the school or the PTSA, others are provided by outside non-profit and for-profit vendors.
After School Programs Starting Soon at Cherry Crest
 

 




For complete list of after school programs currently offered at Cherry Crest, visit our On-Site After School Programs on the PTSA Website.

Community Bulletins
In the Community Bulletins section, we pass along information submitted to the PTSA newsletter editor which may be of interest to Cherry Crest Families.  No sponsorship or endorsement is made or implied by the PTSA or the Bellevue School District.  For entire list of active postings, please see the Community Bulletins page on the PTSA Website.
New Community Bulletins



 
 
 
 
 
   
For a list of all current bulletins, visit the PTSA Website.
In This Issue
Thank You Gala Sponsors!!!
Plan Your Transportation to the Gala!
Congratulations to Spelling Bee Winner!
Congratulations to Art Reflections Award Recipients!
Order Art Reflections 'Best in Show' Notecards by Mon, 2/1!
Festival of Cultures is Fri, 2/26
Meet Your Legislator on Wed, 2/3
Passport Club Check Point Day Next Mon, 2/1
Special Needs Community Resource Fair on Sat, 1/30
Global Reading Challenge Begins Mon, 2/8
BSD Parent Information Nights for 2016-17
After School Programs at Cherry Crest
Bellevue Parks, Summer Camp Fair, and More in Community Bulletins
ESSENTIAL LINKS
Shop for Cherry Crest!
When purchasing on Amazon.com, start your shopping here with the Cherry Crest PTSA Amazon link.
Up to 6% of your purchases benefits the Cherry Crest PTSA!
Cherry Crest PTSA Mission Statement
The Cherry Crest PTA serves as a resource to unify parents, teachers, students and the community to support our Cherry Crest staff.  We provide outstanding educational enhancement opportunities for every child and work on building a strong community.
Submission Deadlines

The Cherry Crest Charger Chatter is emailed to families and staff on Tuesday mornings. The deadline for submissions to the Chatter is the preceding Wednesday at 7pm.

Submissions should be made via email as plain text. Flyers or attachments may be submitted electronically in PDF format, but will be included at the discretion of the editorial team. Send all submissions to the editor at editor@cherrycrest-ptsa.org.
Information contained in directories, Newsletters or membership lists published by Cherry Crest Elementary PTSA may not be used for purposes of solicitation either commercial, political or ideological or any other purpose not consistent with the Washington Congress of Parents and Teachers By-Laws.
Fridays are Spirit Day!
Everyone should wear the color red or sport Cherry Crest apparel to show their School Spirit every Friday! Please browse our CCPTSA sponsored Spirit Gear store. 5% of all items purchased goes back to the Cherry Crest PTSA!