May Mustang Messenger

PRINCIPAL’S NOTE

May 8

PTO Meeting at 6:00 in the Multi

Purpose Room– 2018-19 Elections

May 14

PTO Fund Run Fundraising Begins

May 15

5th/6th Grade Band & Strings

Extravaganza-Spokane Arena 7:00 pm

May 16

PTO Dine Out at Flying Goat ALL DAY

May 23

Pizza with the Principal 5:15 pm in

Multi Purpose Room

May 25

PTO Fund Run envelopes are due

Hats on Day– 50¢ to wear a hat

May 28

Memorial Day– NO School

June 1

PTO Finch Fund Run

June 6

Finch Blood Drive 12:00-5:15 pm

June 7

6th Grade to Silverwood

June 8

All School BBQ

Hats on Day– 50¢ to wear a hat

June 12

PTO All School Tie Dye

June 13

6th Grade Promotion 6:30 pm Finch

Multi Purpose Room

June 14

Spirit Day– Tie Dye & Sunglasses!

Last Day of School!

Main Phone: 354-2600 Attendance: 354-2555

I hope everyone who ran or walked Bloomsday enjoyed their day and have recovered

from the day’s events. I also want to wish all the mothers and grandmothers, and others

who fill that role for our students, a wonderful Mother’s Day this coming weekend. And

just like that, it is May and we are super busy preparing for the end of the year. Please

make sure you check the newsletters and the website to stay up to date on activities at

school.

One activity I would like to invite you to is Pizza with the Principal on May 23rd. I have

really enjoyed the Coffee with the Principal this year, and I have learned a great deal

through my conversations with parents. One suggestion at the last meeting was to offer

something in the evening so those busy in the morning could join, so we are. Pizza and

juice will be served and childcare provided thanks to PTO. The topics to be covered are

generated by the audience, so please feel free to come and participate in a dialogue about

safety, family school activities, or other topics you are interested in.

Another event coming up is our second blood drive on June 6th. We ended up about 4

pints short from our halfway goal back in February so we have some ground to make-up.

Luckily, we are past flu season that kept some donors out, and we learned a little trick.

We can have donors visit the blood bank centers on June 6th and that will count for us.

So if you are close to the downtown or north location, please consider calling them to

schedule an appointment. Everyone else can click on the link on our school homepage.

The goal is 60 pints to earn a $2,000 donation for Finch for STEM activities. Thank you

to those who donated last time, and thank you in advance for those planning on it this

time.

Shane O’Doherty Finch Elementary Principal

Front Row: Kaylub S., David P., Kinsley J-S., Taryn T., Lexie S., Ella S., Tristin R., and Piper G. Second Row: Spencer A., Hallee M., Madison C., Benjamin H., Mag-gie N., Aurielle S., Elliot Y., Sawyer N., Leo V. and Jamie P. Back Row: Mr. O’Doherty., Ashlyn H., Khenzi C., Emma P., Caitin B., Damaris W., Madison N., Matthew M., and Emma S.

Screen Time and Kids

Screen time is a scorching hot button issue between parents and their children: kids can’t seem to get enough while

parents struggle to keep it under control. According to Common Sense Media, 59 percent say their kids are “addicted”

to their screens, while 66 percent say their kids spend too much time on screens.

David L. Hill, MD, FAAP, adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of

Medicine and program director of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Communications and Media, says

too much screen time can be unhealthy for both younger and older children. “The clearest concerns regard sleep and

obesity, but there are also concerns regarding aggression, mood and displacement of other healthier activities,” Hill

told NBC News BETTER.

So what can parents do to better control their kids’ screen time?

Set clear limits: Anya Kamenetz, author of The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life, a

mother of a six-year old and a toddler, monitors her own kids' screen time quite closely. “In our house video watching

is a Saturdays-only activity for the big girl,” she said. “Having clear rules works well for us at this age. During the

week she gets three iPad sessions of 20 minutes to half an hour. We also have exceptions like travel, vacation and sick

days, but even on screen days we make sure to balance with other activities,” she says.

Teach them to priori t ize: Jeremy Horwitz , author of V enture B eat , soft l y bans devices

from his two daughters , aged nine and seven, unt i l al l that needs to get done is done.

“On a school day, our schedule is no iPad or TV unt i l af ter homework is completely

f inished, a l i t t le free t ime, then no devices during dinner, a l i t t le more free t ime, then no

devices or TV unt i l a l is t of chores is complete. We put a hard s top on iPad and TV at

bedt ime,” says Horwitz .

Pract ice what you preach: With her young chi ldren, Kamenetz leads by example and in-

dulges in a l i t t le subterfuge. “I t ry to make sure my kids are absorbed in another act ivi ty

before I quickly check my email . I leave the phone in another room during the morning

and bedt ime rout ines ,” she says, adding that clear l imits now can only help later . “ It ’s

hard to tel l a teenager not to keep a tablet in her bedroom overnight i f you didn’t s tar t

that habi t when she was in grade school ,” she adds.

Enforce the rules: Broken rules require consequences — like repossession.“We’ve tried everything from

physically removing a TV from our family room last year, to locking down the kids' iPads with parental

restrictions last week,” Horwitz admits, adding, “The most effective thing I’ve done is to take physical

possession of the iPads at night, but even that is challenging, because the kids now use their iPads for wake-up

alarms.”

It’s well worth setting limits when it comes to screens. “As our kids become adults, they’ll be surrounded by more and

better technology than we could have ever imagined when we were children,” says Horwitz. “Screens of various sorts

will be everywhere. I would rather teach my children how to utilize technology and properly manage their screen time

now, than leave them at a disadvantage as adults.”

*Article adapted from “Realistic screen time solutions for kids (and their parents)” by: Vivian Manning-Schaffel

Counselor’s Corner

Finch 6th Grade Promotion

June 13th, 6:30 pm

Finch Multi-Purpose Room

Lunch with Mr. O’Doherty is so much fun that we feel like

DANCING!

MEDICATION INFORMATION

On the last day of school, we may have

several doses of your child’s medication

left over. Please stop by the office to pick

up all remaining medications. Unused

medication cannot be sent

home with your child. All

medications that are not

picked up by Monday, June

18th will be disposed of.

Questions? Please call the

Finch Office at 354-2600.

All students entering 6th grade must

receive a Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria,

pertussis) booster to attend school.

Immunization date must be provided to

the school office before school starts this

fall.

Questions: contact Johanna

Yegge, School Nurse, 354-2405

Questions during summer, 354-7298

We are Finch

How many years have you worked at Finch? I have worked at Finch for the past

two years. I’ve worked In SPS for 15 years.

What is your favorite part of your job? My favorite part of my job is working with

children. I love their energy! They make me smile every day!

What are some of the challenges you face? I am challenged by the amount of

content students are asked to learn.

When you are not at work, what do you like to do? When I am not at work, I like to spend time with my family. We

enjoy being outside at the lake, riding bikes, fishing, hiking, and swimming.

What is something most people don’t know about you? I once lived in Belize and worked at a fly fishing lodge.

What college(s) did you attend? I attended North Idaho College, University of Idaho, and Washington State

University.

What was your favorite subject in school? My favorite subject in school was math.

What is your favorite Spokane restaurant? My favorite restaurant is Sushi.com.

Best thing you’ve read/seen/heard lately?

Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up. ~Stephen Hawking

BLOOD DRIVE AT FINCH!

The Inland Northwest Blood Center is donating $2,000 to Finch for student

enrichment if we can donate 60 units of blood over two days, after our 1st blood drive

we only need 34 more units! Please go to www.inbcsaves.org to sign up for the Finch

blood drive on

June 6th from 12:00-5:15

Band and Strings Spectacular Tuesday, May 15th

Our 5th and 6th grade band and strings students, along with students from each Spokane

Elem. School (2,500 students in all), will be showcasing their talents on Tuesday, May 15th at the

Veteran’s Memorial Arena. The performance will begin at 7:00 p.m. The All City Band and

Strings Spectacular is a wonderful opportunity to observe first hand your child’s musical progress

throughout the year. Except for parking, the Evening Spectacular is a free event. Please call Ms.

Keegan or Mr. Blaydon at 354-2600 with any questions.

Moving? If your child(ren) will not be attending Finch next year, please fill out the information below

and return to the office, or you can also email the information to

kathyfi@spokaneschools.org. This information will help with staff and classroom placement

for the 2018-2019 school year. Thank you.

Child’s name _____________________________

Student(s) will attend _____________________________ (name of new school next year)

From Your PTO It was so great to see you all at the dance! Hope you had a great time. Can you believe we have less than two months left until the end of school? We are excited for summer, but even more excited for the upcoming events over the next month and a half! Thank you to all that donated to our Staff Appreciation Week, we REALLY appreciate the time, money and effort put in to the food donations that fed this amazing crew for a whole week! We would not be successful in all that we do without your help. What else is going on this month? See below:

PTO Board Elections are this month! Will you join the team and help organize the events that make our Finch

school year so much fun? If so, we’d love to chat., please contact us if you're interested! Bio sheets are available on the

ledge in the volunteer room by the sign in book. Come cast your vote at our next PTO meeting on Tuesday, May 8th, at

6pm in the multi-purpose room. It will be a pizza party, and our Finch Drama Club will be performing their play at the

conclusion of the meeting!

Our Family Dine Out this month will be at The Flying Goat on May 16th, and it’s an all day event! Go grab a pizza and

let them know you’re supporting Finch. As you know, they will donate a portion of the proceeds back to the school.

We are doing Yearbooks differently this year, please look for the purple papers we sent home via backpack mail.

FUND RUN is right around the corner! It is one of our largest fundraising events of the year and we have some

great prizes lined up for the students who work hard and raise the most money! The Fund Run assembly will be held

May 10th and will kick off this two-week fundraising event, but note that the actual run will be held on June 1st.

Volunteers emails will come for the day of the run, and we do supply lunch for volunteers that day!

The All-School Tie Dye event will be held on June 12th, a volunteer email for this day will be sent home also!

SAVE THE DATE: Our Finch PTO Discount Silverwood Day will be Thursday, June 21st. More information to come!

Finch PTO is on Facebook and Instagram! (@FinchPTO) Follow us to stay in the loop! Not on social media?

Simply sign up for our newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox! Shoot us an email if you’d like to join:

FinchPTO@gmail.com.