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BETHEL PTO NEWS – AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 News You Can Use Our Children. Our School. Our Future. AUGUST 1 st Day of School Monday, August 15 Box Tops Collection August 15-26 Spirit Night: Pelican’s SnoBalls LKW Thursday, August 25 5p-8p SEPTEMBER PTO General Meeting & Family Fun Night Thursday, September 1 6p-8p PTO Executive Board Meeting Friday, September 2 9a Labor Day Holiday/NO SCHOOL Monday, September 5 Spirit Day: Domino’s Pizza Tuesday, September 13 Fun Run Fundraiser Friday, September 23 Spirit Night: Zaxby’s Tuesday, September 27 5p-8p * * * SPIRIT WEAR ORDERS DUE * * * Friday, September 23 * * * SPONSORSHIPS DUE * * * Friday, September 30 OCTOBER PTO Executive Board Meeting Friday, October 7 9a Teacher Dev. Day/NO SCHOOL Monday, October 10 Spirit Day: Domino’s Pizza Tuesday, October 11 Teacher Work Day/NO SCHOOL Friday, October 21 Wonderful Wednesdays Desserts Wednesday, October 26 Look for the SignUpGenius link! UPCOMING EVENTS A Note from the PTO Executive Board… We extend a warm “Welcome” to families & faculty who are new to Bethel and a hearty “Welcome Back” to all of our returning families and staff! We are thrilled to have you as part of our PTO! We’ve been working hard over Summer Break preparing for the 2016-2017 school year and are excited to kick off the year! As such, we have distributed a Welcome Packet, which includes a plethora of information to get you educated on our purpose, programs and plans. We hope you find these pieces helpful. Note: All of these documents can be found on the PTO’s webpage via Bethel’s website. With school budgets feeling the squeeze even tighter this year and Bethel’s ever-increasing headcount, we are once again focusing our efforts on raising the funds needed to ensure Bethel’s teachers and students have the resources they need. “Resources” is an all-encompassing term used for educational items used by teachers in their classrooms. Examples: software such as Accelerated Reader; books for reading centers; classroom area rugs; and testing privacy shields, but not “school supplies” like pencils and glue sticks, which parents provide. As last year’s Fun Run Fundraiser was so wonderfully successful, we are once again partnering with Boosterthon for this year’s major fundraising event scheduled for Friday, September 23. Our fundraising goal is $20K. Parents new to Boosterthon’s program will find that it is a comprehensive character-based program that provides our students with a fun, educational program and awesome prize incentives. Fun Run packets will go home the second week of September. Regarding other avenues of income generation, families have the opportunity to be Bethel Boosters and have their companies support their giving with Corporate Matching Gifts; participate in Rewards Programs and Spirit Nights, including monthly Domino’s Pizza Days (2 nd Tuesday of each month); and purchase Spirit Wear. (See related flyers, Box Tops Collection sheet & sponsorship forms in the Welcome Packet or on our webpage.) We are extremely excited about the Cafeteria Mural Project wherein parent/artist/designer Dina Lowery Vacho will transform our white cafeteria walls into a visual wonderland using images from Dr. Seuss! Families can bring this project to life by becoming sponsors for as little as $25. Please see the “Cafeteria Mural Project” sponsorship form in the Welcome Packet or go to webpage for more information! Cafeteria Mural Sponsorships are due September 30, 2016. Our Executive Board has also been hard at work applying for the National Football League’s (NFL) Play60 program. This fitness and nutrition program encourages children, and their families, to get outside and play for 60 minutes each day. We will provide progress updates as we have information. We extend an open invitation to our monthly Executive Board Meetings, which are held the first Friday of each month at 9:00a in the PTO Mobile Unit. If you can’t attend meetings, you are welcome to contact us via Email at [email protected] with your ideas, concerns and questions. Meeting Minutes are posted on the PTO webpage. We hope to see you at our many events listed in our Upcoming Events (see list at right or webpage calendar), including the Fall General Meeting and Family Fun Night on Thursday September 1 (6p-8p). The PTO will provide a pizza dinner and review our plans for the year, followed by pay-to-play BINGO. Be on the lookout for a digital invitation. Parent/teacher/staff-vendor tables will be offered at no charge for those who would like to share and sell their wares. Email us at [email protected] if you would like a vendor table. There are many ways for you to get involved at Bethel, including the new Wonderful Wednesday Desserts committee, which will allow the PTO to celebrate teacher & staff birthdays by having our wonderful parent- bakers send in their homemade treats for the monthly teachers & staff potluck event. A SignUpGenius link will be sent out from the PTO monthly for this opportunity. If you are interested in volunteering for any of our many committees (see list on next page or on our webpage), Email us at [email protected]. We thank you for your support and look forward to serving Bethel with you! - Bethel PTO Executive Board
