Blythe Park PTA Happenings 04/13/2015

llinois largest waterpark, Raging Waves Waterpark, located in Yorkville is offering a fitness program for kids.

Children are invited to Plunge into Fitness this spring as Raging Waves Waterpark joins the battle against childhood obesity. The fitness initiative runs now through April 13th, and each child completing the program requirements during this time period will receive a free Raging Waves full day admission pass.

The Plunge into fitness program requires a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise each day, which totals 25 hours for the seven week period. Any activity that increases heart rate qualifies including: walking, running, biking, playing team sports, skateboarding, swimming, jumping rope and hopscotch. The fitness log that needs to be completed is attached. Once complete, a parent will sign it and the child will turn it into the school office by April 13th.

Any questions, contact Mia Stanovich at cstanovich@yahoo.com.

2015-fitness-log

2015-plunge-english-flier-v3-1

    

Please join us for the Blythe Park PTA April meeting to be held this Thursday, April 16th at 7:00pm in the lunch room.  Come find out about PTA’s May and June events.  The election for the Blythe Park PTA executive board for the 2015-2016 school year will take place.

Refreshments will be served!  We look forward to seeing you!

The agenda and minutes have been posted.   Please click on the links below to review them.

Meeting Agenda/Minutes for Approval: http://www.blytheparkpta.org/?page_id=22

    

Blythe Park’s Spring Run & Walk club for students in grades 2nd - 5th will begin this Thursday morning, April 17th.  Please have your runners/walkers dressed appropriately for the activity and the weather and be ready to go 7:50am.  The club will meet every Thursday and Friday morning from 7:50-8:10am on the dates listed below.  The students will join Ms. Gorman and Mr. Bartelt in a run around the Blythe Park Campus.  Four laps around the school equals one mile.  Students will be tracked with the goal of completing an incremental marathon.  Parents are welcome to join as well.

• April - 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, 30th
• All May Thursday & Fridays

We will need volunteer patrols to ensure the kids are safe along the course.  If you would like to help in this role, please click on the button below:

    

The Bargain Books & More sale is this Friday and Saturday!

This great event will be held in the gym at Blythe Park on Friday, April 17th from 3-6pm and Saturday, April 18th from 9a-12noon.

We are still accepting donations, just drop off a bag or box in front of the office. We are excepting donations of children’s and adult books, complete games and puzzles, movies, CDS, even magazines for our annual “Bargain Books & More Sale”.

We are still in need of volunteers to help with set-up and clean-up.  Set-up will be held this Friday, April 17th at 1:00pm in the gym.  We have two hours to set-up and be open for business at 3:00pm.  Clean-up will be held from 12:00pm-1:00pm on Saturday, April 18th.  If you can help for either, please e-mail Jan Ellen Eckardt at jeeckardt@hotmail.com

Blythe’s first craft/vendor fair to be held this Saturday!

Blythe’s first indoor vendor/craft fair will be held this Saturday, April 18 from 9 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. along with our Bargain Books and More Sale. Come check out all the vendors.  There will be jewelry, crafts, Tastefully Simple, Usborne books, Jamberry nails and more.

It is not too late to be a vendor! We’re looking for vendor participants who would like to sell their crafts or assorted wares during Blythe’s annual used book sale. Each vendor will receive a booth space with a 6-foot table for a $15 fee on which they’ll be able to showcase their offerings, including crafts, vendor-sponsored wares (Avon, Tupperware, etc.), household items or toys.

For more information or to reserve your space, please contact Linda Sanduski at 708-443-5597 or lsanduski@topco.com by Wednesday, April 15th.

Bake Sale this Saturday!  Looking for bakers!

Blythe Park PTA’s will be holding a bake sale in conjunction with the Bargain Book & More sale this Saturday, April 18th.  We are looking for bakers!    Please click on the button below to sign up to be a baker.

Please drop off all baked good the morning of the event.  Please packaged muffins, cookies, and cupcakes into packages of 3 or 4 and include the name of the baked goods on each package.  Please note if the baked good has nuts.  If you have any questions, please contact Claudia Chapulis at leelufive@hotmail.com

    

Blythe Park will be celebrating science during the month of April.  The science celebration will have four different cool related science activities:

Friday, April 17th - Science Assembly
On April 17th, all the children will participate in Steve Belliveau’s “Getting Excited about Science” Assembly. This 45-minute assembly will provide twists to science experiments which exhibit the principles of: Static Electricity, Air Pressure, Water Pressure, Sound, Light/Color/Eyes, Friction, Pulleys, Distribution of Weight, Conservation of Energy and Inductive and Deductive Reasoning. Other Science topics include Chemistry, Astronomy, Science Fair, Green Science, and more.  Check out his website - http://getscience.net/pages/school-assemblies.html

April 22nd-23rd - In-Class Experiments
As part of their science curriculum, each student will be participating in an in-class experiment. Blythe Park PTA has hired High Touch-High Tech to conduct hands-on science workshops for each class.  Each classroom teacher has selected a hands on experiment that a scientist from High Touch-High Tech will lead each classroom through.  Make sure to ask your children about them.

NEW THIS YEAR - April 20, 22, 27 and 29 - “Science and a Sandwich”
To encourage participation in the Science Fair, Blythe Park PTA will be holding four “Science and a Sandwich Sessions” during lunch.  On April 20th and April 22nd, the lunch sessions will be executing a science experiment.  On April 27th and April 29th, students will receive help in making presentation boards of the experiments completed the prior week for the science fair.  Each of the lunch science experiment sessions has a capacity of 16 students.  Please sign-up by clicking on the button below.

April 30th - Science Fair
Bring out the scientist in your child and be a part of the Blythe Park’s Science Fair to be held at 6:30pm on Thursday, April 30th prior to Spring Open House.  Now is the time to start thinking about your science experiment idea.  RSVPs are due Friday, April 24th.  Please sign-up going to the right bar at www.blytheparkpta.org and clicking on the science night button.

Need to Know Details:

Students will conduct their own science experiment at home to either display or demonstrate at the Science Fair. Each student’s display will be set-up on a card table. There will be no judging. Each student will receive a participation award. Students may work individually or in a group of no more than two students. Each participating student will be required to follow the five steps of the Scientific Method and complete and bring the Scientific Method worksheet with their experiment. Participation is optional.

scientific-method-worksheet

Great Resources

Looking for ideas for your science experiment?  Check out these resources.

Websites:

• National Science Digital Library - http://nsdl.org
• Science Buddies - http://www.sciencebuddies.org/
• Virtual Science Fair - http://www.virtualsciencefair.com/

    

The Blythe Park Bike Safety Rodeo is Back!

Mrs. Jill Glawe and the Blythe Park PTA are excited to offer our students an exciting event for April’s Wellness Wednesday. Our Blythe Park Bike Safety Rodeo is back!  The rodeo will take place Wednesday April 22^nd for grades 1-5 and Friday, April 24^th for our kindergarten students.

Officer Brian Greenewald from the Riverside Police Department will speak to the students about bike safety and rules of the road for bicyclists.  Bike riding stations will be available to test students’ navigation skills.  Some of the stations include: a figure eight course, “slow race” to target balance, and a start and stop station. Additionally Mr. Tim Eckardt will speak to the students about taking care of your bike (i.e. how to fix the chain, check tires, lock it safely, etc.), and an adaptive bike will be on hand for the students to view. Children’s bikes will be made available so students will not have to bring their own.  Please note, though, that students must bring their own helmet to participate.

In addition to the Wellness Wednesday activities, the Illinois PTA has invited schools to participate in a statewide Bike Safety Challenge conducted by the League of Illinois Bicyclists. Students will complete an interactive, online quiz at www.BikeSafetyQuiz.com, The Bike Safety Quiz is fun and educational, with Secretary of State-approved questions about bicycle laws and safety techniques. The students go to BikeSafetyQuiz.com and select the appropriate quiz: Child Bicyclist.  They will be prompted to enter a class code.  Class codes are as follows:

Kindergarten-168600001

1^st -168601001

2^nd-168602001

3^rd-168603001

4^th-168604001

5th Pollock -168605001

5th Wydra-168606001

Students who finish can print a Certificate of Completion. Prizes will be offered to the class that has the most students participate in the quiz (please note that younger students may need help from their parents to take the quiz). A more detailed explanation of the quiz is attached to this email. This is a timely opportunity for Blythe Park!

The Blythe Park Bike Safety Rodeo is certain to be both a fun and important event.  If you have any questions regarding the rodeo, please feel free to contact Ms. Gorman or Mrs. Glawe.  Thank you!

bikesafetyquizinstructions

March Fitness Logs Are Due!

March fitness logs for the Bulldog Challenge are due by this Wednesday, March 4th.  March calendars will be coming home and are also available on the website (www.blytheparkpta.org).  Keep exercising —it helps you keep warm!

    

Hauser Jr. High has earned a tremendous reputation for generosity over the last 43 years, serving as the number one collector of food in Illinois.  Our school community has collected and donated over 1,600,000 non-perishable items to the food pantry to date, with over 70,000 food items donated last year!

The Salvation Army’s Red Shield food pantry located in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood is the recipient of the collection, and Hauser’s efforts sustain hundreds of families for six months.

The Salvation Army is counting on  the Hauser communit to fill the shelves again this year.  There is currently a pod in the Hauser parking lot that they are trying to fill.  Please help Hauser “Pack the PODS” to capacity!

To help Hauser, drop non-perishable items in the box located outside the Blythe Park office or drop them off on Saturday, April 18th from 9a-12pm in the Hauser parking lot.  For every 10 cans dropped off,  you will be entered into a raffle.  The Salvation Army’s Steel Drum band will be performing all morning.

If you prefer to make a monetary donation, you can either send a check or cash to the Hauser office (checks made payable to Hauser PTO) or click on the link below and use  to make a payment with a credit card or PayPal account.

    

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, April 24th.  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.

Reservation deadline is Wednesday, April 22nd. This program is only for children that have the option of staying at school for lunch.

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

    

Blythe Park School will be celebrating Earth Week the week of April 20th

Please have your child wear the following color t-shirts to celebrate Earth Week.

Monday, April 21: Wear a BROWN shirt for SOIL.
Tuesday, April 22: Wear a GREEN shirt for PLANTS.
Wednesday, April 23: Wear a Blue shirt for WATER.
Thursday, April 24: Wear a YELLOW shirt for SUN
Friday, April 25: Wear a WHITE shirt for the AIR

Classes with the highest participation will be getting popcorn!