What is the First Friday Coffee?

On the First Friday of every month, the PTO sponsors a get-together in the front lobby at drop-off time.  Coffee, hot cocoa, and treats are served in the front lobby for parents, starting about 7:45.

First Fridays have been great, with fantastic food (especially thank the Wadlingtons if you see them!) and good attendance.  If you haven't attended before, it's a great chance to meet other parents and visit with teachers; many have a substitute the first hour of school so they can make it. Derek and Kim Wadlington pull it all together, and we have recently started having one grade at a time join in to provide the food (tell your room parent if you're willing to help; you may receive a call to do so this year).

What is the Spaghetti Dinner?

The Spring Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction, usually held in late March, is our major fundraiser of the year.  If it's a success, we are able to offer Camp GBLUES, a really unique opportunity, to all of our students at no additional cost for families.  The dinner is on a Saturday, with all-you-can eat pasta, salad, and breadsticks, as well as a spot of dessert.   The silent auction, with both handmade items and donations from local businesses, runs throughout the afternoon and evening, and brings in the most money that day. 

Wondering how you can help? 
(1) Come! Eat! Bid! Bring your friends and family. 
(2) Donate to the silent auction.  Each classroom donates items for a themed basket, and we'd love to have your handcrafted items.  If you run a small business or know someone who does and has something to contribute, we will happily accept those as well!  We will also sell some specialty baked goods (what do you have to show off?).
(3) Volunteer to help. 

For 2011:
* The dinner will be held on Saturday, March 26, from 5-8 pm

*Ms. Deibler, our music teacher, is organizing students and student teachers to provide musical entertainment through the evening.  Please contact her if you would like to take part.

*Auction:  We will also have items available for viewing and bidding at the school for the week prior to March 26th, to try to bring in some of the campus community and others who may not be able to attend.  Children love the excitement of the auction, and we're having a special table for them this year, with items targeted to the $3-$5 range.

What is Camp GBLUES?

Camp GBLUES is a beautiful, unique opportunity for children to learn about and in our Pennsylvania woodlands.   With successful fundraising, it is offered to all students at Grace B. Luhrs as part of the regular school experience and at no extra cost to families.

For grades K-2, it is a day camp  on Thursday.  Grades 3-5 stay overnight and also enjoy a 1/2 day at camp the next day.  Lessons are taught mostly by Shippensburg University students, with some back up from parents, teachers, and university professors.  We need parents to lead family groups, help in the kitchen, and stay overnight.  Plan now if you need to finish clearances (me!).  All students will be released from school when the buses get back at approximately 1 pm on Friday.

After a few complications, Camp 2011 is now SET for April 28-29 (Thursday and Friday) at Camp Penn, a return to the venue of our past.  Peek at Camp Penn here:
http://www.susumcamps.org/camp-penn

2010-2011 Room Parents

Our excellent teachers have recruited room parents to serve as PTO envoys to their classroom's parents.  The room parents will, we hope, be able to contact & utilize more of the talent and enthusiasm we have out there. (aka:  they'll ask you to do things for the PTO.  Thank you in advance for saying yes!  Coersion?  Just semantics...)

A bit late (posted here, anyway), the 2010-2011 room parents are:

K – Misty Butler

1 – Erika Kyle

2 – Jennifer Clough

3 – Nicole Aikey

4 – Michelle Keyes

5 – Derek & Kim Wadlington

Pending reasons you may hear from yours soon:

Spaghetti Dinner help & First Fridays food

January 2011 newsletter

Hello, Parents & Teachers!
We're sad our mini winterfest PTO meeting was canceled this week, but hope we can utilize new media to bridge communication until our next general meeting (March 10th:  game night!).  Please watch for our PTO e-mails and offer your feedback and help in response.  If e-mail is not convenient for you, please call me anytime:  300-3635 with questions or offers.

All of our attention is focused on March 26th's Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction, our major fundraiser of the year.  If it's a success, we are able to offer Camp GBLUES, a really unique opportunity, to all of our students at no additional cost for families.  The dinner is on a Saturday, with all-you-can eat pasta, salad, and breadsticks, as well as a spot of dessert.  Mrs. Deibler, our music teacher, is organizing students and student teachers to provide musical entertainment through the evening. The silent auction, with both handmade items and donations from local businesses, runs throughout the afternoon and evening, and brings in the most money that day.  We will also have items available for viewing and bidding at the school for the week prior to March 26th, to try to bring in some of the campus community and others who may not be able to attend.  Children love the excitement of the auction, and we're having a special table for them, with items targeted to the $3-$5 range.

Wondering how you can help? 
(1) Come! Eat! Bid! Bring your friends and family. 
(2) Donate to the silent auction.  Each classroom donates items for a themed basket, and we'd love to have your handcrafted items.  If you run a small business or know someone who does and has something to contribute, we will happily accept those as well!  We will also sell some specialty baked goods (what do you have to show off?).
(3) Volunteer to help.  We'll start trolling for volunteers for that-night help (cooking, serving, cleaning, running the auction) via an e-mail at the end of the week.  You may reply to the e-mail or sign up in the lobby for hour-long shifts (though of course we'll take you for longer).  We'll do a last volunteer push at our First Friday coffee on the morning of February 4th, then room parents will solicit help to fill all of our slots.  Since we have such a small student body, we need a higher-than-usual rate of parent participation.  Thank you for always giving it!  We are, in particular, looking for someone to shadow Rae-Ann Sprecher-Frey this year to head up the Spaghetti Dinner next year.  Think about it... (it's almost down to a smooth science and ready for you to step right in!).

After a few complications, Camp is now SET for April 28-29 (Thursday and Friday) at Camp Penn, a return to the venue of our past.  It's a day camp for grades K-2 on Thursday, and grades 3-5 stay overnight and also enjoy a 1/2 day at camp the next day.  Lessons are taught mostly by Shippensburg University students, with some back up from parents, teachers, and university professors.  We need parents to lead family groups, help in the kitchen, and stay overnight.  Plan now if you need to finish clearances (me!).  All students will be released from school when the buses get back at approximately 1 pm on Friday.

I'm working on getting summaries of all our major activities easily accessible on our PTO blog:  GBLUESPTO.blogspot.com.  Look on the right side bar.

First Fridays have been great, with fantastic food (especially thank the Wadlingtons if you see them!) and good attendance.  If you haven't attended before, it's a great chance to meet other parents and visit with teachers; many have a substitute the first hour of school so they can make it.  Thanks for your PTO support this year, most recently with the Holiday Store, fundraiser, and Thanksgiving Feast.  We need you!

Best,
Valerie Goates
2010-2011 PTO Coordinator

FF2010

Thanks for your interest in our Fall Festival!

Fall Festival 2010

 Friday, October 22nd

5:00-8:00 pm

sponsored by  Grace B. Luhrs University Elementary School

(with great support from the university community)

@ the Shippensburg University Student Activities Field

 (that's the area at the back of campus by the big parking lot, with the hockey rink, and all the sports fields/courts)

oh! the autumnal goodness!

carnival games*hay maze*free wagon rides*nature crafts*relay races*zip line*pocket fairy*good fortunes*adventures*science zone*good clean fun*scarecrow making*educational prizes*cupcake walk*bake sale

$5 wristband for unlimited games & adventures

$3 wristband for crafts

(gourd painting, leaf prints, cornhusk dolls, burlap embroidery & wood medallions)

Inexpensive & delicious food:  soups, BBQ sandwiches, baked potatoes, breadsticks, cocoa, and hot & cold cider

plus an extraordinary bake sale.

extra details you may be interested in:

*Our festival is only possible in its current form with the generous service of our GBLUES parents and so many university groups:  SU Education Association, Kappa Delta Psi, Alpha Phi Omega, the Human Communications classes of Felicia Shearer and Dr. D, the SU Adventure Club... Thank them when you see them!

*Scarecrows!  All Supplies will be ready for some fine scarecrow stuffing.  You can take one home for $5.

*Your $5 green wristband gets you full access to 15 carnival games and all of the activities.  Games earn tickets, which children can exchange at our prize store:  we have prepared great prizes, above the usual little plastic junky carnival fare:  donated books and games, craft kits, nature treasures, art and writing supplies, and (can't help it!) glowsticks.

*A $3 purple craft wristband allows one each of the 5 autumnal-themed craft offerings (they'll each have a unique hole punch to mark your participation).  Because of limited supplies, if you want to do multiples, you many only after purchasing a second wristband (just try to beat that price at any other festival!).  Making the crafts unlimited sometimes leads to more reckless work, and we want our carefully-prepared projects to be as special as possible. 

*Curious about the science zone?  This year, our mad scientists have prepared great learning adventures like making slime, a giant bubble, and mentos/coke rockets.  

*The adventure zone will train kids on rock climbing safety, and the zip line is run by certified belayers with child-sized harnesses generously loaned

*giveaways! Certificates to the Clymnasium, mums, and other decorations will be given to lucky attendees.  Watch for drawing tickets near the cashier's table.

*the pocket fairy and good fortune teller are exciting new additions this year:  be sure not to miss them!

Full menu and prices: coming soon!

Fall Festival Buttons!

Oh no!  I forgot to set a deadline.  So that I can order them in time, I need all button design submissions by Wednesday, October 6th.  Midnight, let's say, for you creative night owls ;).

a reminder of "what-the-hoot-the?" (Marian used to say this when she was 5 and I still think it's really funny), from the parent newsletter:

* FALL FESTIVAL BUTTONS! We will be selling small pin-on buttons featuring original student art this year.  Any student may submit (to the office) a 4” square two-dimensional artwork to be considered We will choose the 5 designs that best fit the Fall Festival’s autumnal theme, and print 40 of each design in a full-color limited edition button to sell for $1 each at Fall Fest.  Keep in mind that the finished products will be round and 1.25” diameter as you plan your design.  We’re all excited to be your collectors!

***edit****

I've received a few buttonly queries, and thought I'd answer them here on the off-chance that anyone's reading & has the same concerns.

Q1:  Does this mean that only the middle circle of 1.25” diameter of the design will show, so the design should focus on that area?

If so, why does the artwork need to be 4” square?

 

Or does it mean that you’ll be scaling down the designs?  Say, by a factor of 2 perhaps?

A1:  Hi, thanks for your button interest :).  I hope I can clarify.

The finished button will be 1.25" diameter, and show a scaled-down version of the entire artwork.  I rather arbitrarily asked for 4" submission, a size I have worked with before in making buttons from my children's artwork.  It's easy for me to work with:  I can scan the art & send to my button woman, who then scales it down for me.  It's hard for most young children to do fine work that might be appropriate for the size, but  their drawings look great on wee buttons when shrunk.  I have observed that starting with a smaller-than-standard 4" keeps kids thinking small, but also keeps them from adding the kind of detail that would be lost when miniaturized.

 

Q2:  Do you know if the teachers are telling kiddos about this or are we (as parents) to work with the kids/tell them about this?  I am happy to do the latter, but just wasn’t sure if they were working on it at school at all…  Thanks – hope you are having a (rainy) good day!

A2:   It's just a home project; there was some concern about the perils of competition, so I'm keeping it low-key.

Q3:  I hope that you are all doing well.

[My girls] are beginning to work on designs for the Fall Festival buttons. Should I give them a 4x4 square piece of paper that they fill in with their own design? Do they need to worry about the button being a circle?

I am deficient in artsy things and can't figure out how a 4x4 square turns into a button:)

Thank you!

A3:  I think that starting with a 4" square piece of paper is a great idea.  I'd suggest that they think of a rounded design, but their precision isn't necessary, and starting with a square will likely keep their design close to the desired parameters.    I have an excellent button gal who does quick graphic work, and will add margins as necessary.  I explained the 4" decision above; it's a bit arbitrary, but has worked for me in the past.