Blythe Park PTA Happenings 11/18/2013

The whole school is excited about our Book Fair. An amazing selection of books is headed our way—you can help your child find the books they’ll love to read!

The Scholastic Book Fair will be held on Thursday 11/21 from 7:00-8:00pm during reading night, Friday 11/22 from 3:00-5:00pm after school and on Monday 11/25 from 4:00-8:00pm during parent-teacher conferences. You can also contribute books to the teacher’s classroom library so students will have easy access to reading every day.

If you are interested in volunteering for the book fair, we are looking for a couple more volunteers for set-up (Thursday-8:30-9:30am) and clean-up (Monday-7:45pm).  Please contact Michelle Backus If you are interested at michelle.backus@live.com.

      

Blythe Park Student Council is sponsoring a school wide collection for Operation Support our Troops-America.

To learn more, visit their website: http://www.osotamerica.org/.

The collection will be get a “kick-off” at our school Veterans’ Day program on November, 11th and run through November 22nd

*Below is a list of items currently needed.

*Please send what you can to school during the collection dates above.

*The Student Council members will be writing letters to our troops to accompany the items we collect.

* Our collection will be displayed in front of the office, so students and families can see how much we have collected to help our troops.

Please do not donate glass items, larger sizes than listed or expired items. 

Thank you for helping us support our troops!!

Let’s show our troops how much we care. If you’re a bracelet-maker - send one to the soldiers. We hope to send as many rainbow fun band bracelets in with our collection of foods and personal care items overseas as possible. We want to show the troops we can make something just for them!  If you’re interested, please drop off bracelet(s) by November 22 in the collection boxes in your classroom or in the office!

      

Your November Brain Games worksheet is due this Friday, November 22nd.  Lost your page?   Click on the following link for a new page:  http://www.blytheparkpta.org/?page_id=5759.

Participate in PTA Reflections Program and earn a special Brain Games charm.

REFLECT on the theme.  CREATE an original artwork.  BE RECOGNIZED!

It is PTA Reflections time! Each year the National PTA sponsors the Reflections Program. This program encourages children in grades Kindergarten through 12th grade throughout the nation to explore their artistic talents.

We encourage you to unleash your child’s talents by encouraging participation in this wonderful program.To participate, your child needs to interpret this year’s theme“Believe, Dream Inspire” to one of six artcategories. To get your creative juices flowing, a brief explanation of each category is provided below.

Literature
Poetry, Prose, Drama, Short Stories, Song Lyrics, Fiction and Non-Fiction

Musical Composition
Scores of original composition, with or without words, accompanied with CD, not exceeding five minuteshgh

Photography
Color or black and white prints or collage of photographic prints measuring up to 11×14 inches, including mat.

Visual Arts
Painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, needlework, computer art up to 20” x 24”

Dance/Choreography
DVD, not to exceed five minutes

Film/Video Production
All aspects of the film must be done by the student on DVD not to exceed five minutes.

How does the program work? Your child creates an original work of art in one of the six categories listed above. Each submitted piece will be forwarded to our local District for judging. District winners will move on to the State level. Reflections Program awards culminate with a national winner in each of the six categories. Take a look at the National award-winning entries in the PTA Reflections Program gallery at www.ptareflections.org

All Blythe Park entrants will be awarded a certificate and Reflection ribbon.  General Student Participation Rules and the Official Entry Form are attached. If your child will be entering, please contact Lisa Gaynor for a copy of the detailed rules for their category of interest. All entries must be received to the school office by Monday, December 2nd.

We have a talented group of students at Blythe and we look forward to receiving some great creations. Contact Lisa Gaynor at ltgaynor@aol.com or 708-442-4509 with any questions.

appendix-k-13-14-rules-in-brief

appendix-g-13-14-student-reflections-entry-form1

      

The Young Authors’ Committee will be placing an order for blank books to use for your child(ren)’s Young Author book.  This is not a required assignment for all classes.  Please check with your classroom teacher.

If you would like to purchase any blank or lined books, please complete the order form below and return it with your money to the school office by November 22nd.  Please make checks payable to Riverside Public Schools with Young Author in the memo section.

Please see the attached flyer for more information.

orderdistrict_2013pdf

      

It is time for Blythe Park’s Reading Week!
This year’s reading week will include three different reading related elements – Mystery Readers, Reading Fair and Reading Night

Mystery Readers
Each of your children will have a “mystery reader” join their class.  The “mystery reader” will be reading his or her favorite story to the class.

Reading Fair
Blythe’s will hold its first family Book Fair on Thursday, November 21st at 6:00pm. Your child’s Illustrated book reports will be on display throughout the school to view and enjoy!

Reading Night
Blythe Park PTA will sponsor a reading night on Thursday, November 21 at 6:30pm. Families are invited to come to school in their pajamas to enjoy a story, make a craft and enjoy cookies and milk.  Anne Huston from the Riverside Public Library will be one of our guest readers again that night.

      

Reading night is this week and will include a sock puppet craft.  PTA is still in need of your old socks! Any kind of knee socks will do - colored or white – kids or adult. Got a lot of mismatched socks? We’ll take ‘em – just drop them off at the office by Thursday. Thank you

      

Monday, November 25th is conference/movie night. This year’s feature film, Wreck-It Ralph will be shown at 6:30pm in the auditorium. Drop off the kids while you attend parent/teacher conferences or do a little early holiday shopping at the Scholastic Book Fair.  Popcorn, treats and beverages will be available to purchase at our concession stand.

Had a little too much Halloween candy this year? Consider donating it to PTA for our movie night concession stand. Drop it off any time this week at the school office. Questions – contact Tim Lauger  or Cindy Vitek.

      

PTA is pleased to announce we have been awarded a grant from the Illinois Arts Council for Blythe Park’s upcoming Artist in Residence Program. The program, which will begin January 6, 2014, is a 6 week residency with Striding Lion Performance Group.

Striding Lion will bring actors,  musicians and choreographers to Blythe for in-classroom exercises for the younger grades, and will help 4^th and 5^th graders develop and rehearse a performance piece. The overall theme for all grades is “Respect.”

All students will take to the stage to perform what they’ve learned or produced at a “share out” in the Hauser Auditorium on February 28, 2014, so save the date!

The A-I-R Program is funded by the Illinois Arts Council grant and by your generous support of PTA. Thank you!

      

Treat your kid(s) to a hot lunch and treat yourself to a day off from packing lunches!

The next Hot Lunch Fundraiser is Friday, December 6th, The menu will include: slice of cheese pizza, seasonal fruit, cookie and a drink.  The cost per child is $5.00.  To register your child(ren), go to www.blytheparkpta.org and click on the hot lunch sign-up button located on the right side bar.

If you signed up for Hot Lunch for the remainder of the year, you are all set!  No reservations are needed for the remainder of the year. Thanks for supporting the Hot Lunch Fundraiser!

The reservation deadline is Wednesday, December 4th. Reservations will not be excepted after Wednesday. Please make sure to make your reservation by then.

Questions, reply back to blytheparkpta@yahoo.com or contact Lisa Gaynor at 708-442-4509.