Blythe Park PTA Happenings 11/17/2014

Celebrate Reading with Blythe Park this week!

Book Swap-A-Rama
Do you have a bunch of books that have been read in your at home book shelves?  Donate those books to the Blythe Park Book Swap-A-Rama.  On Thursday, November 20th, those children that gave a book will be able to get a book.  Please place donated books in the bins located outside each classroom.  The flyer below has additional information.   Any questions, contact Patty Prodanich or Julie Laube.

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Reading Night
Blythe Park PTA will sponsor a reading night on Thursday, November 20th from 6:00-7:00pm. 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.

Scholastic Book Fair
The Scholastic Book Fair is a reading event that brings to school the books kids want to read. It’s a wonderful selection of engaging and affordable books for every reading level. Please make plans to visit our Book Fair and be involved in shaping your child’s reading habits.

Book Fair dates & times:
Thursday 11/20,  6-7pm -  during Family Reading Night
Friday 11/21,  3-5pm -  after school
Monday 11/24,  4-8pm -  during P/T conferences & Family Movie Night

Before you visit the Fair, be sure to download the Book Fairs app to help you find the right books for your child and create a wish list.  For more information, visit: scholastic.com/apps/bookfairs.  Remember, up to 40% of all purchases benefit our school.  We look forward to seeing you and your family at our Book Fair!

    

Did your school pictures turn out not so good? Lifetime Photography will be returning to Blythe Park for retakes on Tuesday, November 18th. Parents who would like their child’s picture retaken should send back the original set of pictures they received.

    

The Original Works program provides each student the opportunity to have the artwork you have created in class, reproduced onto products such as magnets, tiles, note cards, mugs, mouse pads and many other items.  This is a great way for you to share your artwork with family and friends.

You should have received artwork and product information in your child’s backpack last week.  Now is the time to place your order.  If you are interested in ordering, please bring your completed order form and payment to school no later than Tuesday, November 18^th – No exceptions.  We would like to have the product back before winter break.

If you have questions please contact Carmia Stanovich cstanovich@yahoo.com or Julie Stack- stackjulie@yahoo.com for additional assistance.

    

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

The next Hot Lunch Fundraiser will be held on Friday, November 21st.  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.  Reservations will begin this Tuesday for the November Hot Lunch.

Reservation deadline is Wednesday, November 19th. This program is only for children that have the option of staying at school for lunch.

If you have made sign-up and paid for the entire year, no reservations are needed.

    

Cardio Kids will meet this week on Thursday, November 20th and Friday, November 21st.   Please have your runners/walkers dressed appropriately for the activity and the weather and be ready to go at 7:50am  This the last week of Cardio Kids until Spring and we will celebrate the end of the first sesion with the Cocoa Run!

This Friday, November 21st, Cardio Kids will hold our first annual Cocoa Run!  All Cardio Kids will be running.  Mr.Bartelt, Ms. Ravenhorst and Ms. Gorman would love if parents joined us for this run as well.  We will begin a little earlier that morning (7:40 AM).  There will be music, Santa/Elf hats , cookies and hot chocolate. If any parents would like to run, please email Ms. Gorman so she will know how many hats to order. Looking forward to everyone coming out to join the fun!

    

Monday, November 24th is parent-teacher conference/movie night. This year’s feature film, The Lego Movie, will be shown at 6:00pm 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 Alex Torres or Debbie Galloway

    

Blythe Park Student Council is sponsoring a school wide collection for Operation Support our Troops-America (http://www.osotamerica.org/)

We will KICK OFF the collection at our school Veterans’ Day program on November 11th and November 25th.

*Below is a list of items currently needed.

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

*Letters are also welcome. See guideline below.

*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.

Items Needed:

• Individual cold drink mix  packets (Gatorade, Propel, etc.)
• Slim Jims/Jerky
• Individually wrapped snacks
• Granola, protein and snack bars
• Crackers (12oz. box or less)
• Foot Powder (20oz. or less)
• Coffee singles or 1 lb. bags of ground coffee
• Lotion for men (12oz. or less)
• Non-aerosol shaving cream/deodorant (travel size)
• Hand sanitizer (12oz. or less)
• Toliet Paper
• Socks (white or black athletic-no visible logos)

Please do not donate glass items, larger sizes than listed or expired items.  No prepacked boxes can be accepted.

Letter Writing Guidelines:  Address all letters to “Dear military person”.  Please do not seal the letters. The letters do not require postage and if you would like the individual that receives your letter to possibly write back, include your name and address.  Thank you for supporting our troops!!

    

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 “The World Would Be A Better Place If…” to one of six art categories. 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 Friday, December 5th

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.

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app-d-student-entry-form-fillable

    

You don’t want to miss the Five Below Blythe Park days December 2nd through December 7th. Five Below will donate back 10% of all your holiday purchases to our PTA. Make your list and head over to either the North Riverside or Countryside locations. Please bring the attached flyer to the event, so we can get credit for your purchase. A hard copy will also be in your students backpack Wednesday. For more information contact Julie Stack 773-251-0168.

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The Blythe Park PTA extends an invitation to all Blythe Park families to remember someone special in yourlife and help build our library collection at the same time. How does the program work? You select and purchase a book from the library wish list and create your personalized dedication. Blythe Park PTA will print your dedication in your book and the book will be donated to our school library.   Please use the instructions below to access the on-line wish list.  Please see the attached flyer for more information. Any questions, contact Julie Laube at 447-8722.

To access wish list:

1. Go to: to http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/20GBB9B1EE5EG/ref=cm_sw_em_r_wsg_Cxswub019E3BC_wb

2. Click on Wish Lists

3. Search Blythe Park Librarian’s name, Patty Prodanich

4. Click on Celebration Books/Blythe Park School

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