Blythe Park PTA Happenings 12/03/2019

You are invited to attend the District 96 BOE Committee of the Whole meeting on Wednesday, December 4th at 7:00 pm in the Hauser LRC. The board will share facility plans for each of our elementary schools. If you would like to learn more about the facility plans and construction plans, please consider joining us for this important meeting. A preview of plans is available: 2019 Addition and Renovation Plans The meeting will also air live on the Riverside D96 Youtube Channel

Specific school sessions will follow for all 4 elementary schools in January and February.

Blythe Park PTA is excited to introduce engineering in residence programs for our students! Through fundraising and the generous direct donations from parents, the PTA is offering students in kindergarten through 5th grade the opportunity to engage in hands-on STEM activities in the classroom. Code Play Learn is a company located in Oak Park that provides coding classes for elementary through middle school students. Instructors will be in Blythe classrooms for the first three weeks of December.

Code Play Learn instructors will encourage and teach critical thinking to let children explore, learn, and gain confidence in taking on new challenges for the 21st century. Engaging your children with coding experience that will give them tools to reason, design and program robots, solve problems, troubleshoot, and ignite their creativity. Code Play Learn will encourage our students to move from being users of technology to creators with technology!

Kindergarten – 2nd-grade students will receive a one-hour gadget class. This STEM-based class allows students to build their knowledge of engineering, electronics, and design as they construct their gadgets. They will learn about circuits, power, engineering, and movement. Students will bring their gadgets home.

3rd – 5th-grade students will engage in a four day (one hour per day) class where students will work in pairs to engineer battlebots using VEX equipment. At the end of the program, students will take on challenges against other students' battlebots. This STEM-based program allows students to build their knowledge of engineering, electronics, and design as they construct and code their robots.

Through this program, we hope the children will develop their ability to think creatively, work collaboratively and reason systematically. For more information about Code Play Learn and their after school programming please visit www.codeplaylearn.com.

We could use a parent volunteer for each class to help the students with their projects. We still are in need of parents for PM kindergarten and 5th Grade.

If you'd like to volunteer please click below

Registration is open for Hot Lunch – Register your student for the next three months or the remainder of the year (6 months). The Hot Lunch menu will include a slice of cheese pizza, seasonal fruit, a treat, and a drink.

If you have not registered your student by Wednesday, December 18th, they will not have the opportunity to register again for Hot Lunch until the next payment period in March.

Single lunch payments are not available. Also, no prorating, no make-up day, no refunds.

2019-2020 Hot Lunch PAYMENT Schedule –

• PAYMENT #2 Deadline: Wednesday, December 18th
  for December, January, and February ($15 per student for 3 lunches)
  OR remainder of the year ($30 per student for 6 lunches)
• PAYMENT #3 Deadline: Wednesday, March 18th
  for March, April, and May ($15 per student for 3 lunches)

TO REGISTER – Please click on the following button, no matter your payment method (cash, check, credit).

If paying by cash or check (payable to Blythe Park PTA) please place payment in an envelope marked with your family name and “Hot Lunch” and bring to the school office. *NOTE – This program is only for children that have the option of staying at school for lunch.

2019-2020 Hot Lunch will be served on the following days –

• Friday, December 20
  Friday, January 24
  Friday, February 21
• Friday, March 20
  Friday, April 24
  Friday, May 22

Questions? Contact Katie Ford at fordfamily4@rocketmail.com

Blythe Park's annual Cardio Kids Cocoa Run will be held this Thursday, December 5th at 7:40 am.

The Cocoa Run will take place, rain or shine. (If raining, festive exercise stations will be set up in the gymnasium.) Cookies and hot chocolate will be served in the library after the run.

Parents are welcome to attend!

Questions? Contact Ms. Gorman at gormanc@district96.org