Elternbrief, May 2nd, 2013

Calling all community members! We are launching a special one-timespring fundraiser to support the move to our new Como site school. In particular, we want to beautify the interior and exterior spaces and give the school a feel of global citizenship to match our mission. We also want to develop our new playground/play scape area and promote STEM and performing arts.

The Kick off starts Monday after school where we ask you all to join us for hot dogs and a look at some plans for the new space. The fundraiser will continue all next week. To donate please go to www.tinyurl.com/tcgis. More information can be found in this edition of the Elternbrief.

End of Year Picnic

As we say goodbye to our University location we decided that the TCGIS End of the School Year Picnic will be held at Como Park Pavilion near our new school location. On June 6th, students will be dropped of directly at Como Park Pavilion by parents. We will have games and events before the big noon time feed. All our welcome to celebrate with us! Please read more about the plan here.

Recycling

TCGIS is very proud of Simon Kile (6th grade) who has increased recycling at our school. He has taken some great steps to fulfill on our school's value of sustainability. Please read more about his program below.

5th and 6th grade information night

I would like to invite the parents of the current 4th grade class to attend an information session on next year's 5th grade program next Thursday, May 9 at 6:30 pm in Room 210. I would also like to invite the parents of the current 5th grade class to an information session on next year's sixth grade program the same evening, Thursday, May 9th at 7:30pm. Please mark your calendars.

Vielen Dank!

Ann Jurewicz

Director

TCGIS

Swimming in Sport is coming in May!

We are extremely fortunate that the YMCA is once again offering us the opportunity to receive free swimming instruction and water safety. This year, the classes will be available for students in grades 1-8. All Sport sections will be swimming from May 6th- May 31st.

The YMCA is asking that all parents once again sign permission slips. In the next few weeks, the slips will be made available both in hard copy and electronically. Parent volunteers (dads too) would be greatly appreciated to help with hair drying, clothing management, and general supervision. Along with permission slips, I will be sending e-mails to individual teachers with the specific dates and times that each class will be swimming to make it easier to know which day(s) are the Sport days. Swimming in the elementary grades is such a unique opportunity and I am looking forward to sharing the fun with all of our students!!!

Have a good week!

---Coach Rosenthal

MCA Testing Update

We have completed our math and reading MCA testing with just a few students to complete make-up testing.

You might have heard news about the statewide challenges being faced this year with online testing. While we can't control everything, we want to assure you that we are doing our best at TCGIS to make our upcoming online testing as smooth as possible.

Again, please make sure that your student gets good sleep, eats a good breakfast and brings a book to read. Also, please make sure your student arrives on time as testing begins promptly at 8:30.

Thank you for your support,

Jane Hall-Dayle

Assistant Director

Graduation News:

Please mark your calendars: Graduation will take place Sunday, June 2nd at the GAI. The ceremony will be from 2-3 pm, followed by a reception (cake, punch and coffee) from 3-5pm.

For the ceremony only, you will receive four tickets; graduates do not need tickets. Tickets are not required for the reception. Please see Jane Hall-Dayle if you need more tickets.

Thank you to all the families who have sent us wonderful baby pictures. If you have not yet done so, please send a few pictures to school. Molly or Blaine will scan them and your child can take them home the same day. TCGIS is excited to honor our first graduation class and we look forward to celebrating this special event with you all!

Student Driven Recycling Program

Simon Kile (6th grade) has put together a more comprehensive recycling program for TCGIS. With only a little teacher assistance, he has found ways to make our school greener. Please be aware of the recent changes that have taken place in the way our school recycles.

Program highlights that have already begun:

The kids can now recycle Tetra Paks (milk cartons) during lunch
Yogurt cups are being recycled in the cafeteria
Lunch kits (like lunchables)
Energy bar and granola bar wrappers
Juice pouches

We are implementing a few more changes from now until the move, and our school gets money for each item recycled. We will have collections while we are packing, but feel free to add your own items from home. Items we will collect include:

Calculators
Other e-waste (phones, PDAs, MP3, keyboards, mice, etc.)
Scotch Tape rolls
Broken or used-up pens, markers and mechanical pencils (no wood please)
Colgate and other toothpaste tubes
Toothbrushes
Plastic bags/Ziplocs

Other items we are recycling:

U.S. Made Crayons
Binders
School Supplies (empty glue sticks/packages)

Thanks for recycling!

Action Requested: Undeposited Check Information for PTO Financial Review

The PTO Executive Committee is in the process of reviewing its financial paperwork. To support this process, if you have written any checks to the PTO between June 2011 and January 2013, the Executive Committee asks that you review your bank account to determine if there are any undeposited checks written to TCGIS PTO. If you find any undeposited checks, please fill out this form. This information is secure
and will not be shared. Checks written after January 2013 have ben deposted and do not need to be checked.

The Executive Committee will follow up with those who report undepositted checks in the near future. Contact PTO President Karin Spencer at [email protected] if you
have any questions.

TCGIS Students Participating in Schiller Statue Re-Dedication at Como Park

Saturday, May 11th

St. Paul Public Arts is planning a re-dedication ceremony for the Schiller statue in Como Park. It will take place on Saturday, May 11, at 10:00am. You are welcome to join us at this event! TCGIS middle school students have been invited to recite a Schiller poem at this celebration. The performance offer was sent to the middle school students earlier in the week. If you are interested in reciting there is still space and a need for performers. Please contact Valentin Solakhau at [email protected].

Blumenkranz at the Festival of Nations

(River Centre St Paul) May 3rd and 4th

This is the 3rd year in a row that the Blumenkranz Dance Troupe will perform at the Festival of Nations. Join us on May 3rd, Friday, and May 4th, Saturday, at this largest and longest multicultural celebration in Minnesota (more info online at http://festivalofnations.com)

Schedule:

Friday, May 3rd

12:00pm & 2:00pm - Austrian Program: Waltz Cotillion (Emperor Waltz)

12:35pm & 2:35pm - German Program: B�ndertanz

Saturday, May 4th

11:10am - Austrian Children: Mix Polka (Klarinetten-Zauber)

12:35pm - German Children: Strumpfhosentanz

1:10pm - Austrian Teens: Waltz Cotillion

1:50pm - German Teens: B�ndertanz

SUMMER KINDERCLUB AND G.A.I. - LANGUAGE CAMPS

Thank you to all that have registered by our April 30th deadline!

Please note: Registrations are still accepted with limited space available.

Our Summer camps are filling up quickly, and at this point the following camp weeks are FULL:

week 7 - Sports and Games

week 8 - German Cooking

week 10 - Life in the Middle Ages

week 11 - German Safari

Registration for those weeks is only available for certain days (days opposite to an already part-time registered child that need to be filled). Please contact me prior to submitting a registration for availability.

For all other camp weeks availability is limited and registration preference is given to families signing up for an entire week orfor days that are opposite to an already part-time registered child that need to be filled.

Extended Kinderclub in the afternoon hours from 12:00 - 4:30pm or 6:00pm is still available for all weeks!

We are excited about the large interest and are looking forward to a fun-filled Summer! Please email me with any questions you may have!

"Move to Excellence" Fundraising Campaign

Kick-off this Monday, May 6th, 3:20-4:00 pm

Join us for some food, performances, and information about the new facility for TCGIS.

"Move to Excellence" is a fundraising campaign to facilitate the move to our new location near Como Park. It is organized and executed by a group of U of M students as a service learning component of their COMM 5401: Process of Persuasion class; the campaign was developed in partnership with the Development and Communications committee of the School Board.

The Move to Excellence campaign will take place May 6th - 10th with each day highlighting a different advantage or opportunity that the new location will bring to TCGIS. As we all know, the move to the new, permanent facility is a tremendous opportunity - a once in a lifetime opportunity! The move also comes with some challenges for the entire school community: organizationally as well as financially. In order to best position the move and the school, we are reaching out to parents with this special one-time appeal. Your support can help us be more successful and offer more options in the new building. All donations will be collected through the school's GiveMN site (www.tinyurl.com/tcgis) and are 100% tax deductible. Thank you for your consideration and participation in next week's Kick-off as we continue to Move to Excellence in a new home!

TCGIS School Board Elections
See attachment for info on each of the six candidates

We are pleased to announce that there will be 6 candidates running for election to the TCGIS School Board on Friday May 17th. Each candidate brings unique qualifications and their submitted statements are below. The candidates are being invited to the May 7th PTO meeting and the May 10th Kaffeeklatsch to create opportunities for you to meet them.

Get Ready: The Plant Sale is Coming

Calling all gardening enthusiasts! Winter snow will surely melt, and spring planting will begin again soon. We are in need of pretty flowers, shrubs, veggies, and herbs for the annual PTO Plant Swap. If you'd like to share from your bounty, please donate plants at the front desk at school, May 15-17. Please bring plants in a small pot or carton and label the variety.

Come back on Friday May 17th before and after school, where we will sell these plants for a small fee ($2-$5). This is a great way to divide your plants, find new plants for your garden that come from another TCGIS home, and easily and generously give to the school at the same time. That's what this Plant Swap is all about! Contact Sara Scholtens (612-310-7630) with questions or to volunteer.

Library Fundraising Book Sale
May 17th!
As you may have heard, we are moving locations over the summer and the library is eager to only move the best and the brightest of our library to our great new location. Over the years, many families have donated materials to the library and we've had a large number of donations ALREADY this year. In fact, we have so many books that we don't need anymore donations to make our book sale a great success. But we do need YOU to come out and support the library and the school by purchasing some of our books. We have lots of German language books for both kids and adults ready to find their new homes. We are also looking for volunteers to help with the sale, so if books are your thing and you want to help out, contact Blaine Strobe at [email protected] for more information.

Concert Band Performance

Sunday, May 19 at 4:00 pm

The TCGIS Concert Band will perform a short concert on Sunday, May 19 at 4pm at Hope Lutheran Church, 5728 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis. A small reception will follow.

Free will donations will be accepted to help cover the rental of the church.

If you have questions, please contact Krista Johnson [email protected].

German Volunteer Opportunity:

Festival of Nations May 2-5

The Festival of Nations� is the largest and longest running multicultural festival in Minnesota, celebrating cultural diversity with food, music, demonstrations, exhibits and dance. At the Festival of Nations we are able to renew a sense of pride in our respective ethnic heritages. At the same time we have the opportunity to develop an appreciation, rather then just a tolerance of the culture of others as we build for the future together. The festival runs from May 2-5 in downtown Saint Paul at the RiverCentre.

The Germanic-American Institute is proud to represent the German culture every year at the Festival of Nations. We feel it is an important part of our mission and an excellent opportunity to introduce and educate thousands of people about Germany. To do this, we enlist the tremendous help of over 100 volunteers.

We are currently looking for volunteers to work 5 hour shifts.

You will receive a free meal from the German caf� and entrance to the Festival so you can explore before or after your shift.

Please contact Julie Elias for volunteer opportunities at: [email protected].

Performing Arts Update

Click here to read more about what's going on in Performing Arts this month.

Educating Children for Informed and Active World Citizenship

The Elternbrief is published electronically Thursdays throughout the school-year and on an as-needed basis at other times. Submissions are due by 3 PM on Tuesdays. Content printed at the discretion of the TCGIS administration.