Holiday Baskets - Helping Our Own

A special message from:

The Holiday Basket Committee ~ Diane and Katherine O’Rourke

Stevenson’s PTA has proudly participated in assembling Holiday Baskets for Burbank families in need. This year, Stevenson has specifically asked the Burbank Coordinating Council the families we adopt to receive Holiday Baskets be chosen from Stevenson. We felt it was important to reach out to our own Stevenson families in these trying times of economic hardships. We also felt that knowing the donations we are asking for were going to our very own students and their families would be very fulfilling and rewarding to all of us at Stevenson.

The Holiday Basket Coordinator from the Burbank Coordinating Council made it very clear we would not be given the names of the families we have adopted. No one at Stevenson will know the identities of the adopted families. There will be a preset drop off point and pick up time and place off campus. The Stevenson families chosen won't even know they are the recipients of Holiday Basket created by Stevenson until the day of the pick up.

The goal of the Holiday Basket program is to provide holiday meals for one full day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and gifts for each member of the adopted families. Through a food drive and Giving Tree we hope to collect all the necessary items to create each family a Stevenson Holiday Basket unique to that family’s needs.

Food Drive: We ask that you start sending in your non-perishable food donations with your children on Monday, November 23rd. Volunteers will collect donations each day from classrooms until Friday, December 4th. Suggestions for food items are soups, tuna, can vegetables and fruits, dry cereals, pancake mix, pastas, crackers and peanut butter. Additional items needed are paper goods, and toiletries.

Giving Tree: There will be a poster of a Giving Tree set up at Stevenson. The tree will have paper leaves with the gender, age, and clothing sizes written on each leaf for the 25 adopted family members. The Giving Tree will also be on display during the Holiday Boutique from November 30 to December 3rd. We ask that you drop by and a pick a leaf of your choice. Please return your Holiday Basket donations by December 11th.

Additional information is available on our school website http://stevensonpirates.net/home/current-needs/holiday-baskets/ , classroom blogs and flyers will be sent home with your children. If you would like to get involved with the Holiday Baskets, please contact us at abugnut@aol.com or call 818-522-7218. If you have any connections to clothes, grocery or toy store freebies by all means give us a call.


The Holiday Basket Committee
Diane and Katherine O’Rourke

Holiday Boutique

Hello Room 3 Parents!

The holiday's are fast approaching and FFS is having a HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE! Parents have been working diligently on making some fun gifts for our children to purchase for their parents, grandparents and friends. The boutique will be open Monday, November 30 thru Thursday, December 3 from 2:30 - 4:30.

A note will be sent home with your child for you to write down who they could purchase gifts for. The gifts range from $1 - $5. There will be some baked goods and a little something to drink while you wait outside of the boutique so your child can shop on their own (with the help of volunteers of course). This is a fun time to socialize with other parents and the baked goods will be fresh and tasty!

I encourage you to stop in early in the week so your child gets the best pick of the crop!

Thank you all for your support and it's been a fun half thus far.

Feel free to email with any questions you have.

Sandi

PTA/FFS & The Green Team

Hello everyone!

I wanted to remind you that there is a PTA & FFS meeting this Thursday, November 12, at 7:00PM. The meeting will take place in the Parent Resource Center, which is in Bungalow A. Child care will be provided.

Also, the Green Team will have their 1st official meeting at 6:00 PM that same night, same location. The topic will be current projects and goals for the year – the garden project, recycling and composting. They are also looking for input from parents as to what you think the Green Team could become here at Stevenson.

What is The Green Team? It’s a simple idea and the time seemed right this year to bring a new sense of awareness and participation in our school’s gardens, recycling and overall sustainability. So far, we have given the school’s Old Garden some new life – over the last two weeks the kids from almost all the classrooms have jumped in, gotten their hands wonderfully dirty and planted seeds and seedlings! With a little luck, in a month or so we’ll have some fresh veggies to eat.

Please join us for both meetings if you can.

Thanks!

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

November will be BTAC Food Drive Month in Burbank's Elementary Schools and Stevenson is committed to helping BTAC fill their shelves to help the needy this holiday season. The food drive will run from November 2nd through November 25th.

Burbank Temporary Aid Center has been helping the working poor, homeless and families in need in Burbank for 35 years. This year the need is greater than it has ever been. Thanks to the generous support of our community, BTAC offers a food pantry for groceries and personal hygiene items, daily sack lunches for the homeless, shower and laundry facilities and many other forms of assistance for those who call Burbank home.

The BTAC Pantry is desperately in need of canned and packaged food as well as personal hygiene products.

If you would like to help by donating, your child can bring the item(s) to the classroom. BTAC will come to the school to pick up the donated items throughout the month.

Below is an example of some of the most needed items:

Macaroni and Cheese * Peanut Butter * Cereals * Rice * Pasta * Instant Potatoes * Pancake Mixes * Syrup * Canned Soup * Canned Fruits and Vegetables * Canned Meat (Chicken, Tuna, etc) * Toothbrushes * Toothpaste * Deodorant

With everyone's help, we can make a difference in the lives of others in our community.

If you have any questions about the food drive, please contact Barbara Howell, Executive Director BTAC, at (818) 848-2822.

Thank you!

BOO BASH 2009

Last night's Boo Bash was a blast. A big thank you to all the parents who donated items for the Boo Bash and a special thank you to all those who helped make it a fun night for the kids of Stevenson!

Terri Mahoney ~ Sandi Shearer

Maria Gherardi ~ Deana Garcia

And Michelle Thornsberry (missed getting a picture of you!)

It wouldn't have been the same without you! I hope you all had a much fun as I did.

Thanks to the PTA & FFS for working as hard as they do to put on such wonderful events.

2009 BOO BASH IS ALMOST HERE!!!

There are only a few more days until the Boo Bash!

The PTA/FFS is still in need of some donations to make this year's bash a success.

1st grade parents are being asked to donate Cola

Donations can be dropped off in the Auditorium's Art Gallery which is located near the main gates. Donations can be left:
Wednesday - Friday 8:15 - 9:30 or 1:30 - 3:15

This year’s bash will have lots of food, fun and maybe even a fright or two!

See you there!

RED RIBBON WEEK - OCTOBER 19-23, 2009

This week we are observing "Red Ribbon Week" at Stevenson. It is a national awareness campaign that begin in 1985 to serve as a vehicle for communities and individuals to take a stand for the hopes and dreams of our children through a commitment to drug prevention and education.

There will be various age appropriate activities going on throughout the week to promote healthy choices and to teach our students to be responsible and safe. This is a good week to have conversations or read books regarding this subject as they will be hearing about it school and can open communication that can sometimes be hard to initiate.

To assist you, here are some age appropriate reading choices on the subject of making good choices, being healthy and resisting peer pressure.

1st Grade:

• Hunter's Best Friend at School (by Laura Malone Elliott)
• Oh, the Things You Can Do that are Good for You! (by Tish Rabe)
• How to Behave and Why (by Munro Leaf)

BOO BASH WISH LIST

We need your help to make this year's Boo Bash a success!

All 1st Grade classes are being asked to donate plain white t-shirts (new or gently used) to the arts and crafts booth. If you are going to purchase them, please remember to check the 99 cents store or Dollar Tree. The committee was hoping for a donation totaling 227 shirts! SIZE - YOUTH MEDIUM

Additional Needs:
If you can and would like to contribute any of the items below, please drop them off in the office marked "Tiffany Bakas".

*Black paint, paint brushes or rollers
*Gauze
*Large pieces of Styrofoam
*White sheets
*Shoe boxes
*Any Halloween decorations
*Extra large boxes (refrigerator, water heater, washing machine)
*Wal-Mart Gift Cards

We also need people who can volunteer their time to assist in the game booths, arts & crafts, security, set-up or clean-up. If you would like to sign up, please contact Tiffany Bakas at ptatagteam@stevensonpirates.net, or myself at fourloomies@aol.com. Please put "Boo Bash" in the title in case your e-mail ends up the in the Spam folder.

Don't forget the Cake Decorating Contest! Please check the October 2009 Pirate News for details. Pirate News is available at http://www.stevensonpirates.net/

For those of you who signed up at Back to School Night to work at our game booth, I will contact each of you via e-mail confirming your time.

Together we can make this a wonderful and memorable event for our kids!!

Thanks,
Lisa

Original Art Works Fundraiser!

Hello Parents:

I'm excited to inform you that the fundraiser for Original Art Works will be themed on the amazing author and artist Eric Carle (www.eric-carle.com)! We thought his use of bright colors and his wonderful imagination would be something the kids would enjoy painting and that all family and friends would enjoy as a holiday or birthday gift wrapped pretty and with a bow.

Mrs. Rotunno will be introducing Eric Carle's work to our children on Monday. We'll then put the project together on Tuesday. The following Monday you should receive a packet home with your childs lovely art work along with an order form and a catalog showing you what you can order (e.g. mugs, nightlights, aprons, luggage tags, etc.).

Maybe you could take a few minutes over the weekend to show the kids some pictures from his books...maybe this will get their little brains churning on what they would like to do.

Should you have any questions, please call me at 818-848-3793.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Help Stevenson Win $20,000 in "America’s Favorite School" Contest

VOTE FROM SEPT. 14 - NOV. 8 at www.americasfavoriteschool.com

The school with the most votes wins $20,000! Every week a lucky school wins $500.

TELL your friends, family, co-workers, mail carrier or anyone who will listen and help R.L Stevenson win $20,000. The contest sponsored by Care2 and GreatSchools: http://www.care2.com/schoolcontest/601567?refer=11284.02.1253229485.118932

The more votes our school gets, the better our school’s chances of winning. This contest is a fun opportunity to rally community support for our school as well as a great way to win much-needed financial support in this difficult economy.

Here are some easy things you can do to spread the word and get people to vote for your school:

1) Send an email to your friends and network asking them to vote for your school.

2) Add a banner to your website, blog, Facebook or MySpace page. You can also ask your friends and family to post a banner to support your school. ** Have your friends and family join our facebook group “America's Favorite School R.L Stevenson” and vote, vote, vote!!

3) Post a flyer your local library, your neighborhood coffee shop, or other local venues.

4 We are trying to get noticed by local media. If any of you or anyone you know has a media contact let me know so we can work together on getting helping R.L Stevenson win $20,000.

Together we can do this!

Walk your Child to School - 10/02/09

International Walk your Child to School day took place this past Friday, October 2nd. It was nice to be able to spend a little extra time with the kids on the way to school. It was also a great way to teach them about traffic safety! The Fire and Police Dept were on hand and let the kids check out the fire trucks and motorcycles.

What a fun morning!

We even had a ladder climbing demonstration!

Hello everyone! The latest edition of "The Pirate News" came home today, 9/29/09. I hope you all take a moment to check it out.

I wanted to highlight a couple of items:

International Walk your Child to School Day is this Friday, October 2nd. Join kids and families around the globe and walk or bicycle to school. Refreshments will be served at school.

Red Ribbon Week is taking place the week of October 19 - 23. Red Ribbon Week is a campaign that began in 1985 to raise awareness and empower kids to take a stand against drugs. This is a good week to have conversations with your children about the things they are learning in school.

Flu Clinic is taking place on October 10th. Please pre-register online at https://secure.flubusters.com/ or call (866) 358-2878. Pre-registration cost is $25.00; walk-in rate is $27.00.

Boo Bash is holding a cake decorating contest. Show off your skills, enter a cake! Cakes should be dropped off 10/30 between 8:30 & 4:00.

Join the PTA, Room 3 only had a 37% turn out for the PTA. It is only $5.00 There is a sign up form on page 3 of "The Pirate News"! Let's see if we can get 100% participation!

_____________________________________________________________
Mrs. Rotunno has a few wish list items we would like to pass along to you as well:

• Stickers
• Stamps for excellent work
• Colored copy paper
• Ink/Stamp pads
• Gift cards to Michael's
• Prizes for the treasure box (this can be any little trinkets - erasers, pencils, bouncy balls, etc.)

Back To School Night

We had a wonderful turn out at Back To School Night! Thank you to all of the parents that took the time out of your busy evenings to attend.

I welcome each one of you to contact any of the three room reps with questions, comments, suggestions, etc. We want this year to be a wonderful experience for all of our children and the parents as well.

Sandi

Welcome

Welcome to the Room 3 Blog!

As you know, there are many changes going on in our schools (class sizes, budget cuts, staff changes, etc.) During these times it's important to stay up-to-date on what is taking place at Stevenson. As your 2009-2010 Room Representatives, it is our job to keep you posted on school & class news. We will do this in several ways: Email, phone calls and our new Blog.

We will work together with Mrs. Rotunno on the Blog to provide you with up-to-date information on homework, tests, class projects, class needs and events that are happening at Stevenson.

If you have not filled out the Blue Directory Card, please send an email to Lisa Loomis at fourloomies@aol.com with your name, child's name, home and/or cell number, and email address. We would also like to know if you have anything you would like to volunteer for the class (time, a special talent or hobby, etc.)

This Blog is a new adventure for all of us, and we would appreciate your input on what type of information you would like to see posted here. Your feedback would be most appreciated!

Thank you so much

Mrs. Rotunno's Room Reps
**Sandi Shearer
**Britanny Tauvaga
**Lisa Loomis