Challenger PTA News – March 2017 - Page 1 of 5

Challenger PTA News March 2017 – Challenger PTA Chapter 2.6.6 challengerpta.org

Your 2016-2017 Challenger PTA Officers are:

Co-Presidents Co-VPs Co-Treasurers Co-Secretaries Membership

Libby Kell

Melissa Sarzalejo

Alison Greer

Kendra Campbell

Shirley Rullan

Heather Matthews

Briana Segura

Wendy Pacifici

Amy Hammingh

Sam Salvador

Like us on Facebook at Challenger Elementary PTA, and visit our website, www.challengerpta.org

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER:

3/10

Golden Acorn Award

Ceremony 3:00pm MPR

Karate West Parents Night

Out 6:30-9:30pm

3/24

Science Fair 6:30-8:00pm MPR

3/31

Last Day to Order Yearbooks

4/4

Family Engineering Night

IN THIS ISSUE:

Presidents’ Message

Help Needed

Yearbook Orders

Golden Acorn Awards

Eager Reader

Parents Night Out

Science Fair

Art Walk Planning

Family Engineering Night

Thank Yous

After School Programs

Box Tops

Popcorn Fridays

Presidents’ Message Hello Families and Happy March! We are well on our way to spring, and we have some fun and exciting things going on at Challenger!

We just had our book swap last Friday to kick off our Eager Reader! Thank you to all who swapped books and donated. And thank you to the chairs and volunteers who made it happen!

I love how Eager Reader lights a fire under my kids to get excited about reading. Don’t forget to go on the PTA website to approve your students’ minutes every week. There are some great prizes, and you can check your class progress on the bulletin board across from the office. Happy reading!

We also have the science fair coming up. The registration deadline is March 20th, and then join us for the science fair family night on March 25th and see all the fabulous student projects!

Finally we have a parent education opportunity coming up on April 25th. Jessica Lahey will speak to us about her book The Gift of Failure. To register, and for more information go to http://parentwiser.org.

Our next PTA general meeting is March 21st at 7:00 PM. Please join us, everyone is welcome!

Sincerely, Melissa Sarzalejo and Libby Kell PTA Co-Presidents melissa.sarzalejo@gmail.com, emkell1972@gmail.com

Challenger PTA News – March 2017 - Page 2 of 5

Get the scoop!

Eager Reader began on March 1st Great job reading, Challenger Comets! We are off to a great start!

As of March 5th we have 427 students logging minutes and a total of 64,816 minutes approved! Just a quick reminder, if you haven’t already done so, please verify/update your student’s teacher on their reading log so they

get credit and their class gets credit for the minutes. We have several reading logs that do not have a teacher assignment listed so those totals cannot be applied until a teacher is listed. Also, the student reading log password is our schools Mascot which is Comets (the C must be capitalized). All information about this year’s Eager Reader program can be found on the PTA website at

www.challengerpta.org by simply clicking on the Eager Reader icon on the left-hand side of the PTA homepage. Answers on how to update your student’s teacher, how to set up your student’s reading log (and what the student reading log password is), how

to approve minutes and more can be found on the Eager Reader homepage under the FAQ icon. Please check it out!

2017 Golden Acorn Outstanding Educator Ceremony

When: Friday, March 10th at 3:00pm Where: Challenger’s MPR

Recipients will be announced at a short ceremony this Friday. Everyone is invited to attend the ceremony so please mark your calendars and join us in celebrating our fabulous volunteers and educators! Refreshments

will be served immediately following the awards presentation.

Order Your Yearbook Today!

Can you believe it's that time of year? Purchasing a Challenger yearbook is a great way to preserve your child's

school memories! Yearbooks for the 2016-2017 school year are $15 each. Hurry and order yours

now; the deadline of March 31st is fast approaching. Order online by going

to: http://challengerpta.org/Page/Programs/Yearbook

We invite you to help our school be the best it can be! If you have a desire to help our students or have talents and ideas to share, the PTA would love your involvement! Currently, there are many areas where we need your help:

SCIENCE FAIR SHADOW – Shadow the current event chairs for ideas on how to coordinate next year’s science fair. Contact Linda Mori at lmoriwa@gmail.com ASAP.

SCIENCE FAIR VOLUNTEER – A variety of jobs are available and need to be filled before the science fair on March 24. Visit the PTA website or contact Linda Mori at lmoriwa@gmail.com to sign up.

BOX TOP COORDINATOR – Help raise hundreds of dollars for the school with minimal effort! Approximately two hrs/month. Can be done mostly from home.

LEGISLATIVE ADVOCATE – Keep parents informed about current legislation affecting children. Many PTA resources and information available.

SPIRITWEAR – Coordinate orders for Challenger shirts and sweatshirts.

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK – Say thank you to our teachers and assist the coordinators with various tasks.

ART WALK COMMITTEE – Help plan the upcoming Art Walk.

BOOK FAIR CO-CHAIR – Shadow the current event chair to learn how to coordinate next year’s Book Fair. Preparations will begin soon, so contact Jennifer Laramore with any questions: laramore96@hotmail.com

Whether you can give a ½ hour or multiple hours, we need YOU! Contact our volunteer coordinators, Jessica Nangalia at amitandjess@gmail.com, Rachelle Roberts at rachelleroberts998@yahoo.com, or Valerie Darling at val@valeriedarling.com for more opportunities, information, or to sign up.

Challenger PTA News – March 2017 - Page 3 of 5

October 14th

November 4th

December 2nd

January 6th

February 3rd

March 3rd April 7th

May 5th

June 2nd

or 3 Box Tops If you have any questions about popcorn Friday’s please contact:

Calling all Bakers!

ake sale

More Scoop!

Upcoming Parents Night Out Karate West is offering Parent’s Night Out every month to Challenger Students.

6:30-9:30pm – dinner is included!

Here is the upcoming schedule: March 10th * April 7th * May 12th * June 2nd For more information about future Parents Night Out events or to register, go to Karatewest.com and click on Parents Night

Out. Please note that all attendees must be pre-registered online. They can no longer take drop offs/payments at the door!

Science Fair 2017 – I Spy Science Science Fair 2017 will be Friday, March 24th 2017 during the day. Family Night will be Friday, March 24th from 6:30-8:00pm. Science Fair is for everyone (kindergarten included). If your scientist is doing a time-lapse experiment, it is a good idea to start the experiments now. Students are welcome to do the experiment with a buddy, sibling or friend from another class.

Parents @ Family Night

Parents – if you have a passion for hobbies like Amateur Radio, Telescopes, Lego or anything else that exposes kids to Science/Technology, we can reserve a table for you at Family Night!! You can introduce kids to your hobby and get them thinking and spying science! Contact Piyush Gupta (piyush@sdf.lonestar.org) or Linda Mori (lmoriwa@gmail.com) and we can make sure you are the star of family night!

Volunteers Needed Urgently We need Runners and Judges. This isn’t a big time commitment at all! Contact us; we

can help find something that works for your schedule. Or sign up here:

http://challengerpta.org/packet/volunteer

Also, if you haven’t yet volunteered at Challenger this year, background checks are required; please sign up early so you will be cleared in time.

Dream Big: Destination Science Camp Destination Science has donated a free week of camp to a student at Challenger! All

students who register for the PTA Science Fair will have a chance to win this week filled with exploration and discovery.

Visit http://destinationscience.org for information.

Interested in making the Art Walk a success? Come be a part of the planning committee! The Art Walk has been a fun Challenger tradition where parents, grandparents and community members tour the students’ artwork and

participate in hands-on art activities. We need your help! New ideas and any level of commitment welcome. The committee will have a brief, initial meeting on Monday, March 27th at 8:30 am. Contact Rachelle Roberts at

rachelleroberts998@yahoo.com to RSVP or if you are interested but can’t make the meeting.

Challenger PTA News – March 2017 - Page 4 of 5

More Scoop!

Family Engineering Night at Challenger will be April 4th. Mark your calendars! This night is designed for families to do hands on activities alongside their children.

We are looking for volunteers to help prepare the kits, manage RSVPs, send out communication, help find community volunteers, and attend the event. We would like to involve other community members to help run the

event so that parents can attend the event. If you are interested in helping out, please sign up online on the PTA web site or email Paula Nocente-Casey at

caseyp@issaquah.wednet.edu . We would like to thank ISF for providing funding for these nights!

Thank you to the 5th grade families who donated to this month’s Staff Appreciation Breakfast! Thank you for helping these very important people start off their day with the most important meal of the day! We could

not have done it without you! Thank you Chauncey Salman, Yvette Artman, Karine Frachon, Tanu Garg, Deepa Majumdar, Rachelle Hrncirik, Sujatha Dereddy, Shannon Harada, Afshan Khan, Lauren Brown,

Shannon DeHart, Wendy Glazer, Elizabeth Scott-Winkler, Lisa Hodson, Jennifer Laramore, Danielle Vermeulen, Yevgeniy Malteyey, Lisa Hudman, Rachelle Roberts, Emily Lee, Raelena Ellison and Ekta Dokania.

The staff loved each and every dish!! Next month’s lunch will be donated by the 2nd grade families. Please ask your room coordinator for more

information!

Interested in After School Programs? The after school programs at Challenger are not sponsored by the school or PTA. However, as a

convenience, we do have a listing of the available enrichment classes on our website. Current offerings

include an art class, STEM Lego class, and performing arts class. More information available at:

http://challengerpta.org/Page/Programs/Enrichment

Challenger PTA News – March 2017 - Page 5 of 5

Drum Roll Please…..We have a Winner!

Our last Box Top submission for this school year has been completed.

Congratulations to Miss Spada’s class for turning in the most Box Tops and winning free frozen yogurt coupons to TCBY!

Special thanks to Erica Sumioka and Sana Iqbal for helping with Box Tops this year!

We raised a total of $789 this year in Box Tops! Thank you to everyone for sending in your Box Tops.

Be sure to track our progress at www.boxtops4education.com.

We will continue to collect Box Tops for the remainder of the school year but they won’t be submitted until our next submission deadline in November 2017.

If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer McCommon at tjpmccommon@msn.com

2017 Upcoming PTA Popcorn Friday schedule:

April 7th

May 5th

June 2nd

Leave your Box Tops and Quarters at home-Popcorn is Free for the rest of the school year!

Special thank you to Satoi Morrison, Rachel Wax and Maria Sandoval for popping this month!

If you have any questions about popcorn Fridays please contact:

Jennifer McCommon at tjpmccommon@msn.com

More Scoop!

Upcoming ParentWiser Events For more information go to www.parentwiser.org.

March 15th Disciplina Positiva para Padres (Positive Discipline, in Spanish), 6-8pm at Issaquah Valley

Elementary. A special invitation for our Spanish-speaking families. Join parent educator Lupita Zamora for an informative 6-class series in positive discipline, in your native Spanish language. This first session is FREE, where you can sign up for the 5 remaining classes at $40 per person. For parents of K-12, childcare provided if needed.

April 25th The Gift of Failure: Fostering Intrinsic Motivation and Resilience in Kids by national

keynote and author, Jessica Lahey, at 10am or 7pm. In today’s culture, do we coddle our kids enough? Too much? Jessica Lahey summarizes the current research on autonomy-supportive parenting and teaching, competence, rewards, praise, and failure, and gives us advice on how to allow students to succeed over the long term. Join our community book read of Gift of Failure to prepare for a cultural change! For parents of K-12. New - WATCH ONLINE! Did you miss Amy Lang’s talk on Birds+Bees+Kids? That event, plus 28 additional high caliber online parent ed talks from NextGenEd, are now available on ParentWiser.org! With a click, enjoy parent ed on a variety of current topics from the convenience of your home, anytime. Audio downloads are included to listen on-the-go. ParentWiser is thrilled to offer these for FREE with your PTSA membership to any Issaquah district school. Enjoy! ParentWiser events are FREE for Issaquah school district PTSA members; donations requested for non-members at registration or at the door; sponsored by Issaquah PTSA Council, Issaquah Schools Foundation and Swedish Medical of Issaquah.