December Meeting
Mood:  lucky

We had a great meeting this week.  There were so many things to talk about! 

First:  The Vending Machine.  At the November meeting, a parent approached the board with concerns about the vending machine.  During the last month, the PTO has been talking to teachers and parents about it and have developed a Code of Conduct that will be posted by the machine and sent home for parents and students to sign.  We feel this Code addresses the concerns brought up at the meeting, and encourage you to read it carefully when it comes home.  It will also be posted on our website for you and your studets to review anytime. 

Second:  Barnes and Noble Book Fair. We are very excited about this fun fund raiser!  This is the first time we have done a book fair with this store, and we have so many fun activities planned for the day!  Be sure to check your child's backpack for a schedule of when his/her class will be shopping or highlighted in the store.  Be sure to stick around for the others too--we have live music, breakfast with the Principal, dinner with the teachers...a really fun day!  Stop by the Gift Wrap table and have your gifts wrapped by our students, faculty and parents too!

 

November Fund Raiser
Mood:  a-ok

Well! Today, November 8, is the newest fund raiser for the PTO!  Farrelli's Supper Club is hosting Kachina School for the whole day.  The movies sound like a lot of fun!  I am not going to be able to come, and I am so sad about that.  I hope we get a great turnout--especially because folks could come to any movie the whole day!  They are showing "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" at noon and 5--the prime family times--so it should appeal!  Thanks for Jan Tremblay for heading this dinner out for us!

And the cookie dough sale ended this week.  It is usually a good fund raiser for us, so I am hoping that the fact that the price is the same as last year, $10 each tub, and that we are selling at holiday time and not in the Spring will all help sales.  The incentive--a pie in Mr. Steve's face--was inspired!  The kids will have fun with that one!  We'll have to do it again in the Spring with the Scholastic Book Fair's "What would YOU do for reading?" incentive! hehehe

Looking forward to the Chick-Fil-A fundraising night on December 7, and especially the Barnes and Noble Book Fair on December 12! 

October's Jumping!
Mood:  happy

Well, we're almost out of October--but the busiest part of the month is still coming up! 

Cookie Dough Sale!  Did you know...other schools are charging up to $15 for their tubs of dough?!  Did you know...all of our items--including pumpkin logs and cinnamon rolls--are all still $10 each?!  And they'll be here November 20.  That is a whole week before the Thanksgiving break--so it is a perfect time to get the cookies ready for all the family get-togethers coming up!  The money from the sale is for Playground Improvement--so I know your students are eager!  Be sure to ask family and friends for their support!

We also have a PTO Dinner Out on November 8 at Ferrelli's Supper Club.  We don't know what movie they are going to show that day, but you can take the family down for the matinee or the dinner shows, and it is all part of our fund raiser!  Come check out an interesting experience!

Fall Family BBQ
Mood:  happy

It's late--but what a great night!  The Family Fall BBQ was tonight at Cactus Park.  We had lots of people come out, and everyone seemed to have a good time.  Thanks to Dave Columb, Bill Kostel and Steve Johnston for doing all the grilling!  They also set up the food tables and planned how to serve dinner.  They were wonderful--I've already heard that the burgers were great!

Thanks also too Brenda Spangrud, Karen Grant and Lori Glover for all the help with the raffle!  Karen made the boxes and signs for the raffle tables, Brenda helped set up and brought a table for the displays, and Lori was a great help selling tickets!  Can't forget the clean up crew--Steve, Rhonda, Dave and Julie were a nice part of the evening too!

Everyone worked so hard!  I am so blessed to have these folks around to make these nights such a success! 

The raffle was a big hit!  Some really nice donations were raffled off--an hour of massage, special cakes and Mary Kay goodies were all donated by our parents!  What a wonderful support system we've got at KCDS!

I've got some pictures up on the website from the raffle--I'm going to try to get even more up of everyone having a good time.  Thanks to Donna Johnson and Steve Johnston for taking pictures of all the fun.

There is a PTO dinner out coming in October.  That should be fun!  I can't wait to get that one planned and get our families out together again.

The next big fund raiser is the Cookie Dough sale.  Set to begin October 19, after the break, I'm eager to see how we do with that!

I was frustrated that so many people didn't seem to be hearing about our events--but the turn out at the BBQ sure shows that the word is getting out about our family events.  Thanks to everyone who came tonight and who supported KCDS with their attendance, and their raffle tickets.

BBQ and Auction
Mood:  cool

The BBQ/Silent Auction was great!  I had a wonderful time; I hope everyone else did too.  There were some spectacular baskets from the classes!  I am so proud of all the work they did.  The class moms were a great help--they are sure appreciated.  The Kindergarten basket was voted as the "best" basket of the night, and the class had an ice cream sandwich party last Friday in recognition of their work.  Their basket was also the big money-getter of the night with a winning bid of $300!  Way to go Kindergarten!

The BBQ was nice too--thanks to our volunteer grill masters!  We also had some delicious side dishes--thanks to everyone who brought chips, salads, and goodies!  It is your support that makes these types of nights so much fun.

Next school year, I hope to institute more "family night" events.  Besides the big events--the Fall and Spring BBQs, Spring Silent Auction--I plan to have movie nights, games nights, Story Time and various craft parties throughout the year.  These events can be so much fun for the parents to get to know each other, and they really build a sense of community that stays with families even after 8th grade graduation.

Speaking of graduation--it is coming up soon!  This year, the PTO has purchased the Kindergarten class a set of caps and gowns for a graduation ceremony.  They'll look so grown up!

May is starting busy--the PTO is throwing a Volunteer Appreciation breakfast Thursday morning, and a Teacher Appreciation lunch Friday after school.  This is really a week for us, and everyone, to show how much our support system--the volunteers--are appreciated, and how much our teachers are valued.  There are signs in the hallways for the teachers--the kids are encouraged to sign them with notes of thanks.  I hope some grown ups do too.

Next big event for the PTO is the Bear Drive!  On May 15th, students are encouraged to come to the Arrowhead Mall Build-a-Bear Workshop, where for $10, the student can build a stuffed animal to give to the kids at Phoenix Children's Hospital.  It can be a really special time--I hope everyone participates.  This is an event close to my heart, and I would love to be able to tell people that Kachina Country Day School really came through for those kids.

So--there are 14 days left of school!  There are more events, field trips and fun times coming before we ever get to the summer break!  Keep coming back to the blog and website to check us out!