FSUS PTSA

Letter from the President - February 2010

juanita09 — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:22:46 +0000

Valentine’s Day came early to FSUS PTSA.

A huge thank you goes out to all of you who donated clothes, household items and electronics for our Goodwill Donation Drive. We were able to secure $1,000 in vouchers for students and families in need. The FSUS community has a very giving heart! Special thanks to Michelle Carruthers for coordinating this event and for standing outside in subfreezing weather to collect everyone’s donations.

PTSA is focused this month on finding our next group of leaders to help guide our organization through the 2010-2011 school year. If you’ve been wondering how you can get more involved in our school and make a positive difference in the lives of our students, teachers and families this is it! Our Nominating Committee is tasked with finding a candidate for each of our elected positions: President, 1st Vice President - Fundraising, 2nd Vice President - Membership, 3rd Vice President - Programs, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer.

I can tell you that I have found the past two years very rewarding because I’ve had the pleasure of working with a strong team of people - officers, committee chairs and volunteers. These are people with families and jobs and community commitments who found time to give back to our school. If enough people step forward to help then no one person is overwhelmed. Having a strong PTSA sends a message to our kids that their education is important - to themselves, to their families and to our school community.

Elections will be held at our April General Assembly meeting, which is scheduled for April 20, 2010 at 6:30pm in the Cafeteria. If you are interested in any of these positions or would like to learn more about them please contact a member of our Nominating Committee or send me an email and I’ll pass it along. Your Nominating Committee is:

· Precious Boatwright, precious.boatwright@MyFWC.com

· Katie Broome, kev05@fsu.edu

· Kristina Birard, kbirard@fsu.edu

Please also be on the lookout this month for more information about the FSUS Relay for Life. We will need participants as well as volunteers to make this event a success. There will be a brochure and a website soon. In the meantime you can get more information from Megan Brink at mbrink@fsu.edu or Danielle in the Front Office.

Sincerely,

Kasey Chapin

FSUS PTSA President
“All of Us”
ka_chapin@yahoo.com

Health & Safety Committee

juanita09 — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:21:16 +0000

Health & Safety Committee

GARDEN CLUB - The FALL Garden Club members just completed Phase 2 harvest last week! In October the garden was prepared and the kids planted a variety or winter, root vegetables to grow through the cold season. We also planted some lettuces which were harvested before the winter break. At the first harvest, the kids also picked radishes and onions and we prepared salads which they tested and proudly ate. It was enriching to see the kids discover that their hard work paid off in a delicious and healthy treat. In the second harvest, we picked more ripe vegetables and herbs that we donated to The Shelter Kitchen, a local homeless shelter in downtown Tallahassee that serves dinner to the homeless community seven nights a week. This is our contribution to our local metro community.

There will be one more harvest in a couple weeks when our cabbages are ripe. Each child will be able to take home a green or red cabbage that their family can prepare together. A recipe list will accompany their harvest so the family can work together to make a delicious side or main dish. Our hope is the kids will partake in this recipe because they actually planted and cared for it.

We will be opening registration for the Spring Garden Club in the coming month. The Spring Garden club will produce another bounty of vegetables that our kids can test. However, our intent is to start a new tradition in that on the Friday of each harvest week the Garden Club members will be gathering vegetables for our own needful student families to distribute through our new FSUS Food Pantry. We will work in conjunction with the Student Outreach committee to see that our families can be offered these fresh vegetables along with the available staple items. This is our contribution to our own school community.

TREE PLANTINGS - A great big THANK YOU to Danni Vogt for his wonderful work in planting fifteen new trees in a variety of species on our campus. The trees were purchased as a long term investment for our campus by the Health and Safety Committee as a vision to begin to “green” our campus. The trees in the future will provide some needed respite and protection from the suns harsh rays. Additionally mature trees can assist in the filtration of our air from harmful effects of environmental hazards. We chose the locations based on where we anticipated that the most students would gather and where it would be advantageous for students and families to enjoy, i.e., near the soccer and track fields, in the outdoor lunch and other student gathering areas. This yearly effort in “greening” our campus is a pet project of the H&S Committee.

HEALTH AND SAFETY FAIR - The 2010 Health and safety Fair is slated for Thursday, March 25th! Watch for fliers and e-communications and plan to join your child as they move through the more than 25 health and safety specialty booths geared toward students at every level. Representatives from many State and local agencies as well as private enterprise will be present to speak to your kids about a variety of issues from eating right, to exercise, yoga techniques, health and safety hazards in your community and so much more! Parents will be provided with a complete list of vendors prior to the event. The fair is tentatively slated for 11 am to 3 pm. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

MORE!! - There are several other very important Child Safety projects on the planning board at this time including personal child safety protection, traffic safety and child security.

Please complete this SURVEY to express any safety concerns you may have. Be a voice! We have conducted a safety sub-committee meeting comprised of concerned parents, and welcome your input and participation.

Please contact PTSA Health and Safety Committee Chair, Robin Spillias at 850.210.3818, or robinspillias@embarqmail.com

Cafeteria Fundraiser

juanita09 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:57:52 +0000

Help raise some dough for our cafeteria! Delicious dinner rolls are a great addition to your weekday or holiday meals. Rolls will be made fresh and will include freezing and reheating instructions. All proceeds will go to the Tomahawk Café for the purchase of an electronic sign and for training and staff development. Click the link for more information. http://fsusptsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/rolls-order-form.pdf

Letter from the President - December 2009

juanita09 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:46:20 +0000

Happy Holidays!

I hope you enjoy these next few weeks of celebration with family and friends. The best part of the holiday season is the spirit of generosity and giving. I really appreciate how hard everyone has been working to make this a great year for FSUS. Dr. Grantham recently sent home a letter to FSUS parents in which he thanked PTSA for our efforts on behalf of the school. Thank you, Dr. G., for your support and recognition.

One of the events he mentioned was “Walking for Trina”. I want to recognize the real heroines of that event - Dottie Meadows, Kate Pulver and Cheryl Simon. These ladies embody the spirit of giving and loving thy neighbor, and I was very happy to volunteer at their event.

I would also like to recognize Julie Lengacher for organizing our third Second Harvest Food Drive. Every year is bigger and better. Julie and her volunteers collected over 2700 pounds of food almost doubling last year’s total, and Mr. Mullings’ class wowed everyone with their impressive donation of 727 items. Mr. Mullings will receive our new “Top Class Can” which goes to the class with the most donations.

Precious Boatwright went to the Florida PTA conference in Orlando last month and accepted the Safety Award on behalf of FSUS PTSA. Bonnie Abellera wrote our award-winning entry detailing the efforts of Heidi Abernethy and Danni Vogt to create a safer environment for our students. Heidi hosted a Cyber Safety program for all our middle and high school students. Danni organized our Bike Rodeo and Health & Wellness Fair. Thanks to all of you for your hard work!

If you would like to give back this month we will have volunteer opportunities with our Holiday Shop, December 7-10 helping students find little gifts for their family and friends. We will also be helping the Tomahawk Café staff with their Dinner Roll Fundraiser, December 14-17. All proceeds will go to the Cafeteria for the purchase of an electronic sign and for staff development and training. Our kids visit the cafeteria at least once a day, and the cafeteria staff was the first school team to have 100% membership in PTSA this year. We are so pleased to help them reach their goals.

Finally, our Administration would like your help with making the Faculty and Staff Holiday Party very special. If you would like to donate a door prize for this event, please contact Dr. Grantham’s office.

Wishing you all the best!

Kasey Chapin
FSUS PTSA President
FSUS PTSA
“All of Us”

Bake Sale, Box Tops & Holiday Shop

juanita09 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:43:52 +0000

BAKE SALE
Thanks to all of you who donated baked goods towards our Bake Sale which was held Sunday, November 15th at the South wood Harvest Gathering, it was a huge success!

We had a lot of Yummy individual baked items, Beautiful cakes and pies for our Cake Walk and lots of cup cakes for kids to decorate.

Our cake walk was a huge success! Everyone was having a lot of fun walking for a cake they had spotted and some continued to walk until they finally won! The cup cake station was a hit again this year and the kids really enjoyed decorating by themselves. We also had some items donated and we sold a few tickets for a drawing and everyone seemed to like this too!

We’re pleased to say that we raised $526.00 and ALL money will go towards our Teachers and Staff Appreciation Week in May. We hope to make this a wonderful week for them ALL!!

Again, WE thank everyone for your support and participation…We couldn’t have done this without your help!

BOX TOPS, CAMPBELLS LABELS, TYSON A+ AND COMMUNITY COFFEE LABELS
Our next collection period for ALL the above labels will be December 11th . We sent a Turkey Box Tops collection sheet home with each Elementary Student in hopes that each student will enjoy filling up their turkey over the break and turning them in before the collection period. During the holiday break look around your house and kitchen for all the labels you will be using and make sure you turn them all in to a collection bin or your teacher in a bag clearly marked with your name, grade and your teachers name.

We continue to encourage all of our middle and high school students to participate and turn in their labels. Remember, 2 students in Middle School and 2 students in High School with the most labels will receive a $10 gift card to Best Buy

The 1st and 2nd grade Box Tops challenge has been determined. Ms. Wills drew the 2 lucky winners for the Littlest Pet Shop and Bakugan and they were:

· Maddie - 1st grade/Durham - Littlest Pet Shop

· Gabriel - 2nd grade/Taylor - Bakugan

Also, our 3rd grade - 5th grade students had a Dollar Bill Box Tops challenge. The deadline for this challenge is coming up and we will let everyone know the winners of the 2 $5.00 gift cards to Block Buster in next month’s newsletter.

Thanks to all our 1st and 2nd graders and our 3rd - 5th graders who participated and ALL of you will be receiving a goody bag at the next collection period.

HOLIDAY SHOP IS COMING!
The PTSA is having our Annual “Holiday Shop” hosted by “Kids Korner Gift Shoppe” to allow ALL students the chance to purchase gifts, at a low cost, for family and friends. The Holiday Shop will be held in the library on December 7th - December 10th from 8:30 - 2:30 each day. Each Elementary Class will be assigned a specific day and time and will come with their class and teacher on that specific day to shop. Each student will receive an envelope to bring their money to school with their name and the people they are purchasing gifts for; we will have volunteers who can help them purchase these gifts.

If you have a Middle or High School student, this shop is open to them during any of these hours. They are invited to visit the shop during these times; they will not be assigned a specific time.

We will need several volunteers each day during these hours to help us with the Holiday Shop. If you are able to help or have any questions, please contact: Alicia Cherry: anc2@embarqmail.com or Trevor Brumbley: tbrumbley@csu.com

Letter from the President - November 2009

juanita09 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:51:44 +0000

Dear FSUS Families,

The first nine weeks of school are over and FSUS PTSA is going strong. I’m going to take this opportunity to give thanks for our many blessings this year.

First, thank you, our members, for joining and volunteering to help our school be the best it can be. Our goal every year is to increase our membership. Why? We don’t just want the dues. It is our goal because we want our kids to go to the kind of school where the parents, teachers and students make a commitment to service, education and community. Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”. Thank you for joining PTSA and by doing so indicating that supporting FSUS and working together is important to you.

Thanks to the Administration, Faculty and Staff for working with us to make our events a success and for being responsive to any questions or concerns we bring forward.

Thanks to all of our committee chairs and volunteers. We have already had a successful Fall fundraiser and General Assembly meeting, fed our families at Open House, hosted our first FSUS Dads’ event with “Donuts for Dads”, started our elementary school vegetable gardens, hosted a bike rodeo, enjoyed two Family Fun Nights at Chick-Fil-A and Skate World, kicked off the Principal’s A/R Reading Challenge, granted Teacher Mini-Grants for travel to educational conferences, and started a Room Parent Program.

This month we look forward to being of service to others in need as we collect food for the Second Harvest Fall Food Drive. This is also the month we will be accepting entries for our Reflections Arts Program, launching Teacher MiniGrants for Hospitality events, and hosting a Bake Sale at the SouthWood Harvest Gathering. Check out all of our upcoming events below and in our new Google calendar of events!

It truly takes “All of Us” to get things done. Thank you all so much for being part of it.

Kasey Chapin
FSUS PTSA President

Box Tops and Labels for Education

juanita09 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:39:17 +0000

We would like to Thank EVERYONE who participated in our first collection of Box Tops, Campbell’s labels for Education, Community Coffee Labels, Tyson A+ and Nestle Water. We collected 6900 Box Tops, 3150 Campbell’s Labels, 50 Tyson A+ Labels, 1000 Community Coffee Labels and 3800 Nestle Labels. We had 190 Elementary Students participate, 17 middle and high school students and 13 Elementary Teachers. A special “Thank You” goes out to: Ms. Streukens, Ms. Rosati and Ms. Kinney for collecting and turning in their own personal labels and to Mr. Straz for getting his students to participate and also to Our “Cafeteria Staff” for supporting our program by turning in labels collected from the cafeteria…with EVERYONES help we can continue to make this program Grow…Remember, it’s FREE Money to help our school.

The following were our top winners:

$10 Gift Card each to Borders Book Store:

Gage - Ms. Cole/1st Grade - 2800 Labels

Nia - Ms. Durham/1st Grade - 667 Labels

Amy - Ms. Larson/5th Grade - 328 Labels

Karyelle - Ms. Gregory/5th Grade - 560 Labels

$10 Gift Card each to Best Buy:

Daniel - 7th Grade - 283 Labels

Amber - 8th Grade - 285 Labels

Tres - 9th Grade - 213 Labels

Katie - 10th - 334 Labels

We have a change in one of our programs…Nestle Pure Life Water No Longer Participates and has discontinued their labels program. Therefore, we are NO LONGER ABLE TO ACCEPT NESTLE WATER LABELS OR GIVE CREDIT TO STUDENTS FOR THESE LABELS…SO, WE THANK EVERYONE WHO HAS TURNED IN THESE LABELS, BUT WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCEPT ANY MORE AFTER THIS.

Remember to put your labels in a zip lock bag or envelope and include your Name, Grade and Teacher on the front, this is the only way we are able to credit each student. You don’t need to write your name on each individual label, just the bag or envelope you put all of them in.

Thanks again and PLEASE KEEP CLIPPING!

Alicia Cherry & Trevor Brumbley
Box Top for Education Committee

PTSA Annual Second Harvest Fall Food Drive

juanita09 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:36:58 +0000

The PTSA’s Second Harvest Fall Food Drive starts today and runs all week long!!

The need for donations from the community is at an all-time high. We will be collecting non-perishable food items, as well as toiletries, in the classrooms. Brown paper grocery bags have been passed out to teachers. If everyone brought just 1 or 2 items, think of how much we would have by the end of the week!

Every collection has been greater than the one preceding it! In fact, this year Florida High received a plaque from Second Harvest for our continued service to the community. I have been blown away by the generosity of the students and faculty at Florida High! Here’s looking to an even bigger weigh-in than ever before. Keep it up!

We could still use a few helpers for the last day of the collection. CLICK HERE to see the time and to sign up!

If you have any questions feel free to contact Julie Lengacher.

Julie Lengacher
Second Harvest Food Drive Coordinator

Teacher Mini Grants

juanita09 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:28:02 +0000

Teacher-Staff Education Mini- Grant Application / 2009-2010
The purpose of the FSUS PTSA Teacher Education Mini-Grant program is to provide supplemental funding for FSUS teachers and staff to attend professional development courses and conferences. This supplemental funding must not exceed $250 per teacher per school year.

Teacher-Staff Hospitality Mini-Grant Application / 2009-2010
The purpose of the FSUS PTSA Hospitality Mini-Grant program is to make funds available for FSUS teachers and staff to provide food and beverage, decoration and other hospitality-related items for meetings and/or events that serve an educational purpose. These funds should only be sought after attempts to have the items donated have proven unsuccessful. Hospitality grant requests may be made in any amount, but must not exceed $250 per teacher per school year.

Letter from the President - October 2009

juanita09 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:57:11 +0000

Hello FSUS Families!

”O” is for October and, lately, it is for Online. Both Florida State University Schools News and FSUS PTSA now have Facebook Pages. Become a “Fan” and get all the latest info on what is happening at our school and with PTSA. PTSA has also updated our website and offers an online events calendar powered by Google that you can automatically download to your online calendar. It is very easy and very convenient! Special thanks to Tamara McElroy for all her hard work improving our communication.

“O” is also for Outside as PTSA begins our Elementary School Garden program this Friday and our Bike Rodeo later this month. Read Robin’s update to find out how to participate in these great programs. We are especially proud of the FSUS Varsity Track Team for volunteering their time to help organize and supervise this event!

Speaking of student volunteers, I’d also like to thank high schoolers Olivia H., Reika G., and Anthony M. for babysitting during our first General Assembly meeting. We all learned a lot about Swine Flu from Debbie Tolsma of the Leon County Health Department. If you missed her presentation the latest news on the flu is available at http://www.myflusafety.com/.

Thank you for being a member of FSUS PTSA. I look forward to seeing you at Skate World for Family Fun Night or any of our other events this month.

Sincerely,

Kasey Chapin
FSUS PTSA President