Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 27, Issue 29, March 17, 2020
From the Principal
Thornhill Learning Plans
In the midst of the current uncertainty around keeping our community safe and when schools will reopen, our magical Thornhill staff has come together to make sure your children keep learning and stay connected.
We’re so lucky to have this community and this team, and I wish you all health and safety until I see you again.
Sincerely, Mr. Daubenspeck
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From the PFC President
I know I am not the first person to say this, but...We are living in strange times.
I have lived through times of war, political dissension, terrorism...and also times of joy and celebration. But I have never seen anything like how the coronavirus has affected us, and in such a short time. Maybe it's because we can't see coronavirus, but we know it is lurking somewhere, that makes it so unique, confusing and scary. PG&E turned the power off for a couple of days last fall, but we knew the lights were going to come back on soon. With coronavirus, we don't know how long it will have a grip on society, or when it will be overcome. The best we can do is follow advice about sheltering in place and do everything we can to slow its spread.
By now, you are well aware of the fact that we canceled our annual auction in order to reduce the chances of possible exposure to coronavirus. This was a difficult, but correct decision taken by the PFC Executive Board and the Auction Committee. As I said last week, we all owe a debt of gratitude to Auction Committee chair Becky Urbano and her committee team. It's never fun to put in a bunch of time on something only to have it taken away from you at the last minute. Becky and her team of parents took on a task that many didn't want to handle, and they worked fast to move the auction to an online event that raises our community spirit--see below for details.
Best of luck to all of you in our homeschooling adventures.
Rex
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Online Auction Fundraiser ---> Together, Alone!
Things are getting suddenly serious but we are still raising money for Thornhill.
Check out the new and improved Flappers and Fedoras ONLINE event.
It’s 1920 meets 2020. We have an amazing variety of wonderful auction offerings - jewelry, sports, entertainment, restaurants, getaways - all which we hope to be able to enjoy soon! Find your favorites and focus all that pent up frustration on bidding for a cause.
In all seriousness, with ongoing budget shortfalls and unexpected stressors on our school and our staff, we need to raise mad money for our kids. School will eventually be back in session and they still need aides, music, PE, the library, art, chromebooks and more… maybe even more than before.
Join us online TONIGHT from 7:30-7:45pm via Zoom as we highlight some auction items in hilarious style. We hope this link will take you right there, Meeting ID 595 598 5619. Call in number: 669-900-6833. Check our Facebook event in the Thornhill Elementary School Families Facebook Group for any updates.
Online Auction #1 - “Flappers”
NOW through Sunday, March 22 at 8pm. Bid Now!
Fabulous items that were going to be in the silent auction at the event.
- We’ve changed the bidding process just a bit… items will stay OPEN for bidding near closing time if there is an active bid within the last 5 minutes it will stay open for another 5 minutes... on and on until it's been 5 minutes since the last bid. This means not all items will close exactly at 8pm. Keep watching until they close to make sure you've won!
- We've added/updated the following items: Townsend Game Trunk, Formoso Beer & Comedy Basket, Formoso Taste of Oakland, Contreras Food/Workout/Gift Cards Basket, Contreras Food/Beer/Workout Basket,
Online Auction #2 - “Fedoras” *** STAY TUNED ***
We originally were going to put up our fancier stuff from March 23-28, but with things changing every day (every hour?), we want to take a pulse of how we are all feeling next week before pressing on. We absolutely still need to raise money, but want to take a slight pause.
Items to Buy
We have a few items in the catalog now for individual purchase - no bidding necessary, just buy!
Thornhill Mural Puzzle in 3 sizes (click on the sizes for a direct link to buy): 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, or buy one for a teacher. Last day to buy is Wednesday, March 25 at 8pm.
Case of Luli rose wine (open until all 20 cases are sold - ONLY 4 ARE LEFT)
Garden Cookbook by Alexis Lavine-Moore
Auction Not Happening FAQs
Bought a ticket? Please consider it a 100% tax deductible donation to Thornhill. Reach out to benefit@thornhillschool.org with any questions or concerns.
Hosted Parties. Unfortunately, we can’t sell spots to parties at this time as we don’t know the dates they will be able to be held. We are reaching out to hosts individually about how to plan these in the future. We hope most of them will still happen with new dates. Stay tuned.
More info to come - thank you for being generous and patient.
-- Your Awesome Auction Team
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Calendar -- ALL SUBJECT TO CHANGE
The website always has the latest calendar information, and here's what's coming up:
Monday, March 16 - Friday, April 3: NO SCHOOL - COVID-19 closure and Spring Recess
Monday April 6 - Friday April 17: Thornhill Read-a-thon
Sunday, April 19: Movie Fundraiser at Parkway Theater (12:30-2:30pm, Parkway)
Wednesday, April 22: Dine Out at Fentons
Friday, May 8: Thornhill Night at the A’s
Saturday, May 16: Thornhill Spring Fling
Be sure also to subscribe to the Thornhill Google Calendar here, and download the OUSD District calendar here.
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About the Thornhill Newsletter
The Thornhill Parent-Faculty Club (PFC) eNews team publishes this weekly newsletter each Tuesday in the school year to communicate school, PFC and OUSD news, events and information.
Email submissions to our Newsletter Chair, Evie Nagy, at newsletter@thornhillschool.org by 8 p.m. Thursday for approval—nothing sent after this will be included in the following week’s newsletter unless there are extremely compelling extenuating circumstances. It’s fine to include text in the body of the email with links and no formatting, and attach photos preferably as 150 x 150, 72 dpi JPG or GIFs only (not embedded in email or Word file). Submissions may be edited for spelling, grammar, brevity and clarity. Advertising and items not related to Thornhill are not accepted, as we need to keep the newsletter focused on need-to-know info for the community.
THANK YOU to everyone who submits articles and to PFC Board Members, Teachers, VP of Communications Erin Proudfoot, PFC President Rex Crum, and Principal Steve Daubenspeck. Member of Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).
Email: webmaster@thornhillschool.org
Website: thornhillschool.org
Location: 5880 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, CA, USA
Phone: 510-339-6800