Issue: #26
April 4, 2016
This Week:
Tuesday 4/5: Site Council Meeting
4/11-4/15: Spring Break
Auction final wrap up
by Lissa Armato - lissama@gmail.com

We are eager to close the books on this year's auction and still have many people with outstanding balances. If you have yet to pay your bill, please do so ASAP.  If you have any questions please contact Lissa at  auction@thorntoncreek.org

There was a coat left at Club Husky. If you are missing your coat please contact Lissa..

Again thank you for all of your support!

Lissa and Polk
From The Office
Lunch time 100 patriotic
April Lunch Menu
by Jennifer Evans -  jevans@seattleschools.org 

April lunch menu here

From the Library
Ocean Annie Visits
by Virginia Allemann - vaallemann@seattleschools.org

Underwater photographer, filmmaker, author and ocean conservationist, Ocean Annie aka Annie Crawley, brought the ocean to Thornton Creek Elementary Students on April 1. She discussed how important our ocean is in our lives and shared how people are impacting our ocean. Scientists released a report that by 2050 there will be more plastic by weight in our ocean than fish. Ocean Annie just launched the 30 Day Challenge and hopes all of our families will take the challenge.

Some of you may recognize her as she is also the Camp Director of Beach Camp at Sunset Bay www.SunsetBay.com

Check out our latest interactive books on iTunes!


From the Art Studio
News from the Art Studio
by Maria Callahan - mlcallahan@seattleschools.org

I want to say a huge thank you to all those parents who helped create our auction art this year! Parents put in hours and hours of time to make those beautiful pieces. To all those who worked on auction art, I know how hard you worked and I am very grateful to you. All the pieces were gorgeous!

We have a wonderful traveling exhibit from the Junior League of Seattle at our school right now! It will leave on Thursday and will have been with us for 10 days.  This is a terrific opportunity for our students to see some museum works up close. All grade levels have had great discussions thus far.  The art pieces are by Northwest artists. We have focused on a piece of photography by Spike Mafford and a painting/drawing by Fay Jones. Be sure to enjoy the pieces as you walk through our halls this week.

The piece by Fay Jones has helped us to highlight an idea. Images in works can be, or look, like more than one thing. We read the book Duck, Rabbit to illustrate this very point. Now we have an art room joke; if it looks like more than one thing we call it a 'duck/rabbit'. Ms. Jones also creates her pieces with little to no plan in mind. The children had an eager response to this, with lots of wiggling hands in agreement. So we all set down to do a piece, using oil pastels and paint and no plan. This lead us to talk about how you choose a color; does it sing to you or just feel right? We also discussed whether our images were representational, or designs, or a mixture of the two.

Our entire room right now is full of clay pieces. We have clay animals from the Lewis and Clark trail, clay ravens, clay birds and clay tile hearts. Our plan is to display these at our all school art show. So... mark your calendars for Art and Athletic Skills Night on Thursday, May 19th.

Third graders are working on some beautiful weavings right now. I asked them what they enjoy about weaving. There were comments about relaxation, the calming rhythm, getting to use lots of colors, the satisfying feeling of the yarn, and just feeling like you are good at doing it. I love doing weaving the kids for all these reasons and all the problems solving situations that arise. Tangles yarn and knot tying are good problems to solve.

 Some fourth and fifth grade classes are working on flat, articulated puppets or paper mache  hand puppets. Mark and Steve's classes are looking at the work of sculptor Alberto Giacometti. We will be creating our sculptures based on his work.

Students in rooms 3, 6, and 10 are working from a book called My River. We are creating large collages of animals who live in river habitats. And we are singing and laughing often, too.

Come the art studio by anytime!
From Site Council
Site Council Meeting This Tuesday 4/5
by Stacy Earlywine - stacy.earlywine@gmail.com

Site Council meeting is this Tuesday, April 5th at 7pm in the library.  Come learn about the writing curriculum at TC and our Wired for Reading program during the Teacher Talk.  Please note that this meeting is one week earlier than our regular meetings due to Spring Break. 

See you there!

April meeting agenda.
Thank You Auction Volunteers!
by Stacy Earlywine - stacy.earlywine@gmail.com

Another big thank you to all of our Thornton Creek auction volunteers and especially Lissa and Polk.  "We are 1" because of you!

 
After School Enrichment Registration Closes Wednesday April 6th at Noon!
by Susan Rosebrough - susanrosebrough@yahoo.com and Cathy Donohue, Enrichment Committee Co-Chairs

See this link http://tcafterschoolenrichment.weebly.com/ for class descriptions and to register. We are excited to offer a variety of recreational and educational enrichment. Registration is on a first come, first served basis.  Registration will close at NOON on Wednesday, April 6.

Space is available in:

Would you like a free class for your student? Register as a provider assistant for that class!  See this link for more information http://tcafterschoolenrichment.weebly.com/i-want-to-help.html.

Questions? Contact: Tcenrichment@gmail.com
From the Transition Committee
Video Footage
by Katie Zissermann - klzissermann@seattlschools.org

Dear Thornton Creek Community,

We are writing to inform you all that the Thornton Creek Transition Committee will be collecting video footage at Thornton Creek during the month of April. We are making a video meant to communicate Thornton Creek's main core values (Learning by Discovery, Student Responsibility for Learning, Teacher Responsibility for Learning, Responsive Classrooms, Parent Partnership in Learning, and Vibrant School Culture) developed by TC teachers, parents, and students. The video is intended to help educate current, new, and prospective families about our school. We hope to show this video at curriculum night, new parent night, evening school tours, and on our school website. We will be following the FERPA permissions parents have registered with the office.

Students without permission to appear will not be included in the video, and no students names will appear in the video. We are really excited to work with our community to make a great video that informs folks about the heart and soul of Thornton Creek Elementary. Feel free to contact Katie Zissermann at klzissermann@seattlschools.org by April 8th if you have questions about the project.
 
Sincerely, 
The Thornton Creek Transition Committee  
Parent Group Fundraising
Thornton Creek Night at the Mariners
by Erica Lerer  - ericaeirene@yahoo.com
Take me out to the ball game!  Join other Thornton Creek families and enjoy the fun of a Mariner's Game! See our school's name on the big screen during the 4th Inning! The Seattle Mariners are contenders for the pennant this season. Hopes are running high! And the first 20,000 fans will take home Kyle Seager Bobble-Heads!

When: Saturday, May 14, 6:10pm (first pitch)
What: Seattle Mariners vs. LA Angels of Anaheim 
Cost: $15 each ($3 of the ticket will go to the Thornton Creek Parent Group)

A flyer with form for ticket orders will go home in kids' backpacks this week. If you'd like to sit next to friends, please submit the order forms and payment together in one envelope. There will be a box in the office to collect orders.  Ticket order deadline is April 22.

Questions? Email room 14 parent, Erica Lerer ericaeirene@yahoo.com

District Approved Communications to Families
Please Note: Information below is not specifically endorsed by the school, nor have they been vetted by school staff.
Advertising Review/Approval Process

Per Seattle Public School Board Policy, outside materials must be approved before being distributed. The materials must meet district criteria, be approved by the Office of Public Affairs, and must be pre-printed and delivered to the school with the approval form attached.

 

You can find details regarding the review/approval process here. All requests to include information in the Thornton Creek Newsletter should be submitted via this process. 
TC Logo Medium7711 43rd Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98115

TEL: 206-252-5300
FAX: 206-252-5301
In This Issue
Auction
April Lunch Menu
From the Library
From the Art Studio
Site Council News
After School Enrichment
Video Footage
TC at the Mariners
District Approved Communications
calendar icon
CALENDAR 

The 2015-16 Seattle Schools Calendar (in PDF format) can be found here.   
 
Thornton Creek calendar can be found here

April 5
Site Council Meeting

April 11-15
Spring Break

April 25th
Expedition Series Film Screening

May 3
Teacher Appreciation Day

May 10
Site Council Meeting

May 16-19
Spring Book Fair

May 19
Athletic Skills & Art Show Night

May 23rd
Expedition Series Film Screening

May 26
ELOB Exhibition Night

May 30
Memorial Day - No School

Quick Links



Site Council Information & Meeting Minutes
  
  
  
The Source Children's
Library accounts
Thornton Creek is a Box Tops for Education School

 

Thornton Creek Elementary is a Box Tops for Education school! Look for pink Box Top coupons on products you have at home (e.g. Cascadian Farm cereal), then just clip and drop them in the collection basket just inside the front door of the school. For coupon information, go to:  

www.boxtops4education.com 

Say Thank you

We have a tradition at our school of saying "thank you." If you would like to submit a thank-you note, send an email to ae2newseditor@gmail.com or  click here.

I would like to thank Pat Boyle and Tracy Fuentes for organizing Science Night. My kindergartener son was so excited to talk about outer space and it was particularly wonderful to have professionals walk around asking the kids questions. Thanks! 
-Karey Kessler
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