Dragon Dialogue The Seth Paine Elementary School Newsletter Upcoming Events PTO President s Letter April 2016 PTO Meeting Tuesday, April 5 7:00 SP library Olympic T-Shirt Contest Deadline: Friday, April 8 JJ s Yogurt Dessert Night Friday, April 22 Fun Fair Saturday, April 23 Final Book Club Monday, April 25 3 4:15 Newsletter Submission Deadline Monday, April 25 Feed the Dragon Turn-in Thursday, April 28 May PTO Meeting Thursday, May 12 Seth Paine Olympics Thursday, June 2 LZ High School Welcome back from Spring Break. Whether you went away or stayed home, I hope everyone is feeling refreshed and ready to finish up the school year. The PTO is starting plans for next year. Our current executive board will be changing a little bit. Myself, and Tracy Suykerbuyk, our Treasurer, will continue our current roles for next year. However, Sara Woitel, our Secretary, and Debbie Miller, our Vice President, will not be on the board again next year. If you or someone you know is interested in filling one of these positions please let me know ASAP. Nominations will be announced at our next PTO meeting on Tuesday, April 5 th and then voting will take place at our May meeting on Thursday, May 12 th (please note date change for May meeting). We have a few events coming up that will require volunteers. The 1 st event is Fun Fair, which will be on April 23 rd, and the second is our Olympics on Thursday, June 2 nd. Please see further in this newsletter for sign-ups to help at these events. Without volunteers, these events are not possible, so we greatly appreciate you volunteering your time. Lastly, the PTO will be providing a t-shirt to all students for the Olympics. We currently have a contest to design the logo that will be on the t-shirts. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, April 8 th. Please see the contest flyer further in this newsletter. I hope to see you at the PTO meeting on Tuesday, April 5 th. As always, free childcare will be provided. As mentioned above, the PTO meeting for May has been changed from Tuesday, May 10 th to Thursday, May 12 th. Thank you, Tara Elder 1
Spring Grants Submitted by Susan Short The PTO Grant Committee met in March to review and discuss approval for the spring grant applications. Don t forget to ask your students if they have used any of the new equipment or supplies in their classes or specials! In music, Mrs. Saflarski will have a new Bluetooth speaker that she can connect to the school ipod or ipad. This upgrade from the small Bluetooth device she had been using will allow presets for songs that are used regularly as well as ease of choosing songs which will save time. In Physical Education, the students will be able to play with new volleyball and bowling equipment. Students will have access to padded stools when they no longer wish to stand at the standing desks (these desks were also purchased with PTO grant funds). 2015-2016 PTO Executive Board President Tara Elder spptopresident@gmail.com Vice-President Debbie Miller spptovicepresident@gmail.com Treasurer Tracy Suykerbuyk tracysuy@yahoo.com Secretary Sara Woitel woitel5@gmail.com Lisa Rucker has graciously agreed to chair the grant committee next year. Thank you to all the grant committee volunteers this year: Mrs. Rothermel, Tara Elder, Cindy Malin, Tracy Suykerbuyk, Vicky Johnson-Skinner, Debbie Miller, and Lisa Rucker. It was a pleasure serving with you! If you would like to submit information about your activity or event, please email Christy Medley at cmmedley@webmedleys.com Newsletter submission deadline is April 25, 2016 Contact: Christy Middlebrook christymarie92@yahoo.com to volunteer 2
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SETH PAINE DRAGON RUNNERS I am very excited to announce that after months of discussion, the after school running program for boys has finally become a reality!! Thanks to an amazing group of parents, we are pleased to be able to offer this program to 3 rd, 4 th and 5 th grade boys. Beginning on April 6 th, almost 40 boys will be lacing up their running shoes and hitting the pavement! We will be meeting after school every Monday and Wednesday for 7 weeks to learn about the benefits and proper techniques of running, work on team building, and give the boys a chance to improve their running skills and endurance. We will have several guest speakers and trainers, including some Middle School and High School runners and coaches who will be coming to talk with the boys and be their running buddies for a session. The boys will work together using fun exercises to set and meet personal goals and encourage each other. To celebrate their hard work and completion of the program, our runners will be participating in the Lake Zurich COLOR VIBE 5K at Paulus Park on Sunday, May 22 nd. The boys are really looking forward to this! What better way to celebrate their achievements than by crossing the finish line with their friends while being showered in an array of neon powders!! In this race there will be no last place. Everyone wins simply by participating, feeling pride in their individual accomplishments, and cheering on their fellow runners. The boys will leave with an improved sense of self-esteem and having learned how to encourage and respect each other, as well as how truly beneficial running is to their bodies as they grow and develop. There are still opportunities for parents to get involved. If you have tips that you would like to share with the boys, would like to lead a session, or just want to come out and run, we would love to have you join us! Please contact Kim Wrzesinski at OutdoorGirl88@yahoo.com if you would like to attend one or more meetings. Let s Run!! ~ Kim Wrzesinski Attention parents of 5th graders! We will be planning a 5th grade picnic on the last day of school to wish our kids well as they move away from Seth Paine. If you are interested in helping plan the event, please contact Cindy Malin at cindarae@me.com or 773-251-9966. 7
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Thank you for supporting the Seth Paine Soiree! Over 100 adults attended the fun and festive night. We are truly grateful to all the donors, volunteers, and attendees who helped us raise thousands of dollars that evening. The money earned at the Soiree contributes to the overall PTO budget and enables the PTO to pay for things like school assemblies, Olympic T- shirts, teacher grants, and more. Thanks for soiree-ing with us! ATTENDEES 11
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