Volume 15, Edition 1 September 2012 - Mary Munford PTA · Volume 15, Edition 1 September 2012 ......

Volume 15, Edition 1 September 2012

From Your President By Allie Woodruff Welcome back to school Monarchs!

What a great start to the year – we hope many of you made it to the Back to School Picnic last Sunday. The weather was perfect and we en‐joyed music provided by Kurt Stemhagen (a Munford Parent) and his band Rockfish Willie. There was even a guest appearance by Mr Muzik on his banjo! We welcomed First District School Board Rep Kim Bridges and Albert Hill Middle School PTA President Sarah Gross to join us at a table that was frequented by many to answer a variety of questions about RPS and our feeder middle school. We also had a good showing at our SPOOKY SATURDAY table, manned by Mandy Patterson, our Chairperson for this year’s event. Mandy (mother of Jack, first grade) has been signing up volunteers like crazy for the big day. Her husband Trent designed our Spooky Saturday t‐shirt this year, pre‐sale order forms were sent home in last week’s Monday envelope. We even have our own Facebook page – check it out at www.facebook.com/SpookySaturday!

You may have noticed some changes since the summer in the main front office – we have Interior Beautification Chair Ann Gill to thank for that! It is now painted a cool light blue with spruced up mailboxes for the teachers AND some great new vintage benches! There will be more projects going on around the lobby area during the school year. Keep your eyes open for bright changes that will make the school look better than ever, including the renovated Mary Munford portrait newly hung in its original spot, to round out the fresh new look. Other interior im‐provement projects may need a few helping hands to complete. Info will be posted on the NList Help Volunteer website as they become avail‐able.

Speaking of NList Help….we will have our new Volunteer Coordinator Kirsta Millar speak for a few minutes at Back to School Night about a new PTA initiative called “Three for Me” to involve ALL families in the Continued on page 5

In This Issue... From Your President -Page 1

Lego Robotics - Page 2

Volunteerism - Page 3

SOCCER Update - Page 3

Mr. Vassar’s Adventure - Page 4

PTA News - Page 5

See Our Garden Grow! - Page 6

SPOOKY SATURDAY - Page 7

Clip & Save - Page 7

Back to School Picnic - Page 8

Upcoming Events PTA Board Meeting - Tues., Sept. 25, 7:00 p.m. Playground Cleanup - Sat., Sept. 29, 8:30 a.m. - Noon Early Dismissal - Fri., Oct. 8, 12:30 p.m. NO SCHOOL (Parent Teacher Conferences) - Fri., Oct. 12 Bon Air Art Show - Oct. 20 - 21

SPOOKY SATURDAY - Satur-day, Oct. 27, 3 - 7 p.m. NO SCHOOL - ELECTION DAY, Tues., Nov. 6

2012 Lego Robotics at Mary Munford! Officially named FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL)

What is FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL)? FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology”. In 1988, LEGO Group part‐nered with FIRST to create a S.T.E.M (Science, Technol‐ogy, Engineering, Math) program combining creativity with learning. FLL teams use the LEGO NXT Mindstorm technology to design, build and program an automated robot to accomplish certain missions. Teams will re‐search real‐world challenges facing today’s scientists and present their findings to a panel of judges. To showcase their work, FLL teams compete in tournaments and present their innovative solutions to a panel of judges. Read more about FLL and other FIRST programs at http://www.usFIRST.org. For information about the Virginia/DC FLL Region, go to: http://www.vadcfll.org/.

1st, 2nd & 3rd grade teams attend practice once per week, culminating in a brief presentation to the other Mary Munford Jr. FLL teams (and their par‐ents) one day after school in our auditorium. 4th & 5th grade teams attend practice about twice per week and will compete on one of the first three Saturdays in November, with the most likely date being 11/17. Teams advancing to the state cham‐

pionship would also compete December 8th & 9th in Harrisonburg (as did one Mary Munford FLL team led by Steve Yauger last year). Note that we are actively recruiting coaches and have an acute need for coaching 4th/5th grade FLL teams which we will staff with two coaches per team. The FLL Coach Guide material allows for new coaches to come from non‐technical backgrounds. Past FLL coaches, Steve Yauger and George Nyfeler, are available for questions and general information before and during the 8‐week season from mid‐September until mid‐November. Ex‐tremely helpful is that the kids do all of the work!

Anyone who has already signed up for Mary Munford Lego Robotics should have received a confirmation email by Monday, September 8th. Others wishing for their 1st thru 5th grader to participate, please contact Kelli Smith at [email protected] or George Nyfeler at [email protected] as soon as possible. For all grade levels, the cost is $40 per child.

Mrs. Liz Gill is the newest member of the Mary Munford community and will be teaching grade 3 in room 201 this year. Mrs. Gill has a long relationship with Mary Munford. She lives in the neighborhood and served as PTA president at Munford and Albert Hill. She has two children, both of whom attended Munford (and both are now at the Governor's School). Mrs. Gill has been a substitute teacher for the past several years and last year worked most of the year with Mr. Ashauer. Mrs. Gill is a graduate of UVA. HOO-ray for Room 201!

MM WELCOMES MRS. GILL TO THIRD GRADE CLASSROOM

MUNFORD KICKS OFF FALL SOCCER SEASON

Fall soccer is set to begin practice and games the week of September 17. Teams and practice days are posted on the registration website as of Wednesday, September 12. As with most seasons, the game schedules are distributed soon before the first game. U8 games will be played at Mary Mun‐ford and will start sometime between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. U10 and U12 games will be played at

Bryan Park and typically have start times ranging from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Please be mindful that the soccer committee is working as fast as possible to complete the registration, team assignments, and game schedules, and all participants will be receiving pertinent information as soon as it is available. We have a large, popular league and we want everyone to enjoy this experience!

Registration for Spring Soccer will begin in late February. Please be sure to mark your calendars now so you can register on time. Registrations are accepted on a first‐come, first‐served basis. For more information, please check out the Soccer page on the MM website, or contact Jessica Hendricks at [email protected].

There is no greater calling than to serve!

Calling All Volunteers! The 2012-2013 school year is packed with exciting activities and events for our students and their families. But, we need helping hands to make these events a success. Volunteers are needed to help with a variety of tasks, from organizing games for Spooky Saturday to facilitating lunch time reading groups and helping teachers with classroom projects. Please volunteer wherever and whenever you can. Mary Munford uses a website called NListHelp to coordinate volunteers for both school-wide and class-room events. Once you join the NlistHelp site you will be able to see what volunteer opportunities are available, what timeslots, who else is volunteering etc. - the entire volunteer schedule is real-time and on-line. Sign-up with the click of a mouse! If you have not joined the main Mary Munford School-wide NListHelp site, do it today! To join, just enter the link below in your browser, and follow the instructions. Please note: you will need to re-join NlistHelp at the beginning of each school year – even if you were a member last year. How to Sign Up for NListHelp: Sign-up URL: https://www.nlisthelp.com/join Owner email address: [email protected] Site password: helpnow If you have questions about volunteering at Mary Munford, please contact Kirsta Millar, Volunteer Coordi-nator at [email protected].

SHOW YOUR SCHOOL SPIRIT - WEAR IT WITH PRIDE! Thank you to all the families who have already ordered their Spiritwear through Zimmzang.com. We can't wait to see the halls filled with children showing off their school spirit! Don’t forget to go online at www.zimmzang.com/School-Store-Pages/MMES before our store closes on September 18th!* The Merchandise Mavens Lucy Ackerly and Megan Pollard *The Spiritstore will not open again until the Spring so be sure to get your holiday orders in today!

Mr. Vassar Dresses Up To Make History Come Alive!

Excerpts From a Press Release Issued by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation:

John Vassar, a 4th-grade teacher at Mary Munford Elementary in Richmond City and 15 other educators from Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland will bring to their classrooms new knowledge and ex-perience gained during the 2012 Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Summer Teacher Institute, that was held July 8 - 13 at Jamestown Set-tlement and Yorktown Victory Center history museums. Correlated with the Virginia Standards of Learning and national curriculum objec-tives, the institute emphasized interactive, inquiry-based methods of teaching American history. A major component of the program was

the opportunity for participants to work in period costume alongside museum historical interpreters.

The institute included tours of the museums’ exhibition galleries and outdoor living-history areas – re-created Powhatan Indian village, 1607 ships and 1610-14 colonial fort at Jamestown Settlement, and re-created Continental Army encampment and 1780s farm at the Yorktown Victory Center. Teachers also toured Historic Jamestowne, site of America’s first permanent English settlement administered by the Na-tional Park Service and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (on behalf of Preservation Virginia), and Yorktown National Battlefield, site of the decisive military engagement of the American Revolution. In-stitute participants attended a Colonial Williamsburg African-American music evening program.

Participants attended presentations on Powhatan Indian culture, the origins of the Jamestown col-ony, indentured servitude and slavery, the chronology of the American Revolution, and the seasonal cycle of work on an 18th-century farm. They also took part in “A Sea Grammar” and “A School for the Sol-dier,” hands-on programs featuring 17th-century seamanship and 18th-century military life.

Before spending three mornings as costumed historical interpreters, the educators attended work-shops on historical clothing and interpretation theory and methods. The institute concluded with presenta-tions of lesson plans developed during the week. Each partici pant received a kit of reproduction artifacts to use in the classroom.

The teacher institute was provided at no cost to the participants or their school districts through grants from a private family foundation. The 16 participants were selected from a competitive pool of applicants.

The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, the Virginia state agency that operates Jamestown Settle-ment and the Yorktown Victory Center, offers structured educational programs for students at the two museums and in outreach settings. Outreach programming was presented in 104 of Virginia’s 132 school districts during the 2011-12 school year. The Foundation also partners with Virginia school districts to train educators in historical content and hands-on teaching methodology and supports the Colonial Wil-liamsburg Teacher Institute in Early American History with historical content, teaching strategies and on-site instruction.

For more information about Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation education programs, call (888) 868-7593 toll-free or (757) 253-4939 or visit www.historyisfun.org.

CONGRATULATIONS MR. VASSAR!

The Mary Munford PTA is a vibrant and active organization that sponsors many school-related activities and events, such as Spooky Saturday, the soccer program, and the after school enrichment programs, to name a few. Your involvement and PTA membership help provide the many opportunities and resources that make Munford such a special school. Many Munford parents have already joined the PTA this year and we thank you for your support! If you have not joined and would like to, then you can pick up the white Virginia PTA envelope in the school lobby or at any of the upcoming school events. It costs just $5 to become a member of this amazing or-ganization. We strive for each parent to join the PTA. Grandparents and other family members are more than welcome, too! Everyone who joins before November 15 will be entered into a drawing to win one of four $25 Target gift cards. For membership info, contact Beth Simms, PTA Vice-President, Membership [email protected].

JOIN THE PTA AND SUPPORT YOUR SCHOOL!

2011-12 PTA Executive Board:

Greg Muzik, Principal

Allie Woodruff, President

Ali Rios, President-Elect

Beth Simms, VP, Membership

Dana Kuhlen, VP, Programs

Anne McCray, Secretary

Mary-Margaret Park, Treasurer

Elizabeth Dunn, Teacher Representative

Mary Carpenter, Communications Chair

Kathy Peaseley, Curriculum Chair

Mark Smith, Legislation Chair

Ann Gill, Interior Beautification Chair

Amie Knapp, Buildings and Grounds Chair

Jennifer McCluskey, Appreciation/Orientation Chair

Kirsta Millar, Volunteer Coordination Chair

Kelli Smith, Extracurricular Activities Chair

Willcox Dunn, Soccer Chair

Christina Nagi, Environmental Chair

Sarah Gobble, Community of Caring Chair

Megan Pollard, Fundraising Chair

Alumni Relations Chair - [Open Position]

Continued from page 1

wide array of volunteer opportunities at Mary Munford. Parents are invited to come out to Back to School Night to learn more about this program!

As your PTA President for this coming year, the Board Members and I are excited to continue working with all those parents and volunteers who we’ve come to know well. We also hope to get better acquainted with the many return‐ing and new families who have joined Mary Munford this fall. We all look forward to a great year for our students by way of the many and varied educational programs, “After School Enrichment” offerings, sports programs and fun evening and weekend events spaced throughout the school year that will foster chil‐dren and parents to gather and meet new friends and families.

As always, a huge thank you to our dedicated and enthusiastic group of teachers and to Mr. Muzik for making Munford the best school in the universe!

Welcome back! Allie Woodruff

Allie Woodruff PTA President

President’s Letter, Continued

By Christina Nagi

Many students, teachers and parents have helped to build our school garden. We also have a great partnership with Victory Boxes which provided the vegetables and the raised bed system to kick off our garden project. Mr. Muzik and a group of dedicated teachers also attended a semi-nar this summer to help our school incorporate the garden into the curriculum. The Environ-mental Committee will help the Munford commu-nity organize garden activities to inspire our stu-dents to value plants and participate in the stew-ardship of the schoolyard throughout the year. If

you would like to participate, please contact Christina Nagi at [email protected]. Visit our garden and help us GROW!

Look How The Garden Grows At Mary Munford School!

Lunchtime Reading is for grades 1 - 5. Children meet in groups with a parent volunteer during their lunch break and dis-cuss a book that they read at home. The sessions meet during lunch twice a week for 3 weeks. Each group is limited to 8 chil-dren, with as many groups for each grade as there are volunteers to run them. Par-ent volunteers facilitate discussion of character development, plot, the events of the story, and what might happen next. Sometimes the facilitator plans an activity to go along with the book.

The Winter session will meet October 29 - November 12. The Spring session will meet March 3 - 18. Cost is $5 for the books.

If you are interested in leading a group, contact Catherine Hailes at [email protected] or 402-7611.

GRAB LUNCH AND HELP KIDS READ!

SCENES FROM FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Greetings Mary Mun-ford Read-ers! We are ready to celebrate all

of those who reached their Summer Acceler-ated Reader goals. An ice cream party will be held on Friday Septem-ber 21, 2012 for AR stars! Please keep read-ing and taking those AR tests. The first quarter ends November 5. For more info on AR, please contact Mrs. Pease-ley (5th grade teacher) or Lisa Wilkes at [email protected].

SPOOKY SATURDAY - ALWAYS A BOOOOst For Our School! The 20th Annual Spooky Saturday will be held on October 27th, from 3 pm to 7pm, at the school. It's a special anniversary year, which means a few awesome surprises, so rain or shine, there will be spooky fun and food for all ages! The annual t-shirts can be purchased by pre-sale only, so expect your notice in the Monday folders, or order at spe-cial tables during upcoming PTA events throughout September. Act fast to insure you get your shirt. Contact Mandy Patterson, Chair for Spooky Saturday this year ([email protected]) to inquire about more volunteer opportunities (much needed!), as well as forms for sponsorship opportunities for businesses and indi-

viduals. Many, many enthusiastic individuals are needed for this important Mary Munford fundraiser, so a min-ute of your time can make a ton of difference!

Look for PRE-SALE TICKETS available during the week of Spooky Saturday (special discounts on rolls of 50 tick-ets). Kirsta Millar will also be working with room parents for volunteers for each class so please answer the call and sign up for a shift . . . or two! We look forward to seeing you at this incredibly fun and spooktacular event. Look for Spooky Saturday's Facebook page very soon for more daily and weekly announcements! Don’t be a ghost! Get your costumes ready and mark your calendars as we celebrate 20 years of bewitching fun and frivolity on Oct. 27th!

We Care and We’re There

Community of Caring is a PTA sponsored effort to provide assistance when needed to members of the MM community. Assistance may be in the form of meal assistance, expressions of sympathy, food or clothing, carpool assistance during times of crisis or personal need. If you would be willing to be contacted to help respond to these calls for assistance, please send your name and email address to [email protected].

Whether dropping off, or picking up, whether in a car, on foot or on your bike, PLEASE be very careful in the school zone. We are still see-ing children being dropped off on the west side of Westmoreland and crossing the street without going to a marked crosswalk. This is very dangerous. Please walk to the corner of Grove and Westmoreland and use the crosswalk and pedestrian light to cross to the school side. We are also seeing a number of U-turns in the middle of Westmoreland and Commonwealth. Leave yourself enough travel time to circle around the school in the direction you are headed. Finally, slow down. Observe the traffic signals and keep our children and our neighbors safe!

ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT ACCIDENTS!

It's raining Boxtops! These tiny squares can be found on over 300 products...and online ! Just go to www.btfe.com for a complete listing! Simply clip & save, then turn in your boxtops at Mary Munford.

The school receives 10 cents for every boxtop that we collect! This equaled over $1,000 for our school last year! Please bring all of your clipped / trimmed boxtops to your blue classroom collection bin. The class that collects the most boxtops wins a class party! Spread the word; grandpar-ents, aunts, uncles -- even your churches, neighborhoods and private schools -- would love to support our cause by clipping for us! Hey, It's Hip to Clip!! If you are interested in over see-ing your classroom collection bin, please contact Sarah Elliott at [email protected].

Mary Munford Grounds Clean-Up

Saturday, September 29th - 8:30am– Noon. Please come out for as little or as much time as you can and bring your rakes, shovels, garden gloves and wheelbar-rows! We will be mulching the playgrounds and need as many hands (big and small!) as we can get. Please contact Amie Knapp at [email protected] if you have any questions. Donuts, coffee and juice will be provided. We Need Every-

one’s Help To Make Mary Munford Look Great For The 2012-2013 School Year!

SCENES FROM BACK TO SCHOOL PICNIC ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS IN THE

MARY MUNFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

THE MONARCH MESSAGE Put your ad in the homes of families committed to public-school education and its

involvement in the community—they want to support your business!

Published four times a year: September, December, February and May

Reaches 550 Families in the Mary Munford Neighborhood

Advertising fees go to Munford PTA and directly benefit the school and its students!

BUSINESS CARD $25 QUARTER PAGE $40

HALF-PAGE $70 FULL-PAGE $100

2012-2013 Publication Schedule

To place an ad, or for more information, contact the Newsletter Editor, Sharon Maitland Moon at [email protected]

MARY MUNFORD MODEL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

211 WESTMORELAND AVENUE RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23226

(804) 780-6267

ISSUE DEADLINE PUB. DATE

September 9/4/12 9/10/12

December 11/27/12 12/3/12

February 1/28/13 2/4/13

May 4/29/13 5/6/13

Mr. Muzik enjoys a grand time at the Summer Kindergarten Playdate. Families new and old gathered at the playground to get acquainted!

Volume 15, Edition 1 September 2012 - Mary Munford PTA · Volume 15, Edition 1 September 2012 ......

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Transcript of Volume 15, Edition 1 September 2012 - Mary Munford PTA · Volume 15, Edition 1 September 2012 ......