FSUS PTSA

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
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

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

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.