The Horseshoe Review
The Copeland PTO Newsletter
President's Corner by Karen Thomas
We are almost in the home stretch of the school year. Only 7 more Monday’s left!! Our Mom and Son Ultimate Tailgate was a successful event and the moms and sons had a blast battling against each other.
On Wednesday, April 3rd we did the kickoff for our spring fundraiser, which will be a Color Run. We are excited to put on this event for the first time at Copeland. Flyers with all the details will be going home with your students. The fundraiser funds will be used to purchase new play ground equipment for the students and create a play area for our PPCD and Life Skills students. Let’s get those donations to support our school.
Do you have some special skills that you use in your everyday life and are ready to share them with Copeland? We are currently looking for volunteers to fill chairman positions for the 2018-2019 school year. These programs directly benefit our children, teachers, and staff here at Copeland. It is a great way to become involved, have fun, and meet other volunteers. Keep in mind that if the job seems like more than you want to take on yourself, pick a friend and sign up to be co-chairs! Please email me at copelandptopresident@gmail.com if you are interested in any of the positions below.
Open Board Positions:
Treasurer- This position is a two-year term. The duties include keeping an accurate record of receipts and expenditures, paying out the funds in accordance with the approved budget as authorized by the Board, presenting a financial statement at every meeting and every general meeting. Duties also include organizing a committee to audit the financial account, attending Board meetings and assisting the Board as deemed necessary.
Secretary- This position is a two year term. The duties include recording and presenting for approval all meeting minutes and handling all general correspondence including the bi-monthly newsletter.
Fundraising- This position is a two year term. The duties include investigating options for major and minor fundraisers and presenting options to the board as well as coordinating and over seeing all fundraising activities.
Open Chairman Positions:
Colonial Day – (usually a 5th or 4th grade parent) 5th grade travels back in time to learn how people lived in the colonial days. The kids learn to make candles, go to a typical colonial day of school, learn games, see Benjamin Franklin and many other things. Chairman will recruit volunteers to run each station and work with teachers on layout for the day.
Co-Chair Garden – Co-Chairman works with the Master Gardener and Chairman to organize volunteers for the improvement and maintenance of Copeland’s Imagination Garden.
Co-Chair Spirit Wear – Co-Chairman works with chairman to organizes t-shirt sales and distribution. Duties include communication with vendors, keeping track of supplies, processing of orders and distribution of purchases and ordering dates.
Co-Chair Treasurer – You will work with the PTO Executive Board Treasurer learning the ins and outs of how the books are done and what is all needed in the treasurer position. The objective is for the candidate to move into the role of Treasurer on the PTO Executive Board once the position comes available.
Grade Level Liaison (5th grade only) - Liaisons are responsible for coordinating and overseeing their respective grade level activities and reporting progress to the VIPS Coordinator. Liaisons are encouraged to attend the activities, which include grade 5th grade recognition meetings, Fun Day, Field Days, etc.
Memory Book for 5th grade – this is a special sort of through the years book for our 5th graders. They talk about their favorite memories at Copeland, favorite teachers, and we get to see their Elementary career in pictures from Kinder through 5th grade. We need someone to help organize this. (a 5th grade parent is requested).
Minor Fundraising - Chairman will work with PTO Executive Board Fundraising Coordinator investigating fundraising ideas and working with vendors to get spirit nights setup.
3rd Grade Multi-Cultural Day – Chairman helps organize multi-cultural day which consists of the kids traveling the world to explore food, traditions and games of other countries. Several volunteering opportunities needed from helping in a class room on that day to donating an item.
PE Chair – Chairman works with PE coaches to organize field day and special projects as needed.
Spirit Cart - Co-Chairmen run and operate our Spirit Cart. Duties include selecting and ordering merchandise to be sold at Spirit Cart, scheduling volunteers to help work on Spirit Cart days, providing a current price list and assisting with the counting of money collected at Spirit Cart.
As always, thank you so very much for all you do, and if you have any questions at all please feel free to contact me any time at copelandptopresident@gmail.com.
Copeland Color Run-Spring FUNdraiser by Amanda Ball
We are excited to announce we have kicked off our spring FUNraiser our Copeland Color Run being held on April 17th! 100% of the donations will stay at Copeland!! You read that right, 100% of the donations WILL STAY AT Copeland!!
We are raising funds to buy new playground equipment. There are lots of cool prizes your child can win. Your child could win a finger rocket, Copeland drawstring backpack, silly string fight with your teacher, a kids fit bit or an iPad Mini! Yes, there is an opportunity for a child to win and iPad Mini!!
There are also lots of prizes to be earned as a class. Depending on how much the class raises they could toilet paper their teacher or have a pop corn party. If the entire school raises $25,000 the A-team will have a silly string fight with top 10 earners and if we raise $30,000 Mrs. Melancon will be SLIMED!!! I would love to see that.
Be sure to ask relatives, co-workers & neighbors. You can collect donations and send them in attached to the paper form or have them go to copelandpto.org to make their donation online. You should have seen the flyer in your students backpack this week that explains all the cool prizes. If you missed the flyer, please go to copelandpto.org to get all the information.
We are super excited and can't wait to see everyone at the Color Run!
Volunteer of the Month
VIP’s News by Penelope Miller
We are quickly approaching the end of the school year with lots of activities happening between now and then.
I would like to thank all of those that helped and came out to enjoy the Mother/Son Tailgate event. It turned out to be a fabulous afternoon! A special thank you goes to Handley Dental for helping sponsor the event, by providing all of the delicious pizza!
A quick reminder, April 8th will be Spring picture day at school for our students.
spirit Cart
We have Spirit Cart on Friday, April 12th. We would love for you to come volunteer a couple of hours to help our students purchase items. It's super easy and fun! If you would like to volunteer please click here, April Spirit Cart Sign Up.
1st Grade Music Program by Veronica Flores
Hello everyone! The time has come to get ready for our upcoming 1st grade Music Program.
This year's theme will be "Under the Sea". We need volunteers to help make the performance a success. We will need help getting the stage ready and helping kids with their lines. If you are able to help please click on the link here, 1st Grade Music Program Signup.
The Garden by Tracy Reynolds
The garden is full of plants and the 3rd Grade is waiting for it to grow to harvest some yummy produce.
We need parents to help water. Please sign up even if you can only water once @ https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A044CAAAC22A13-garden1. Watering can be done during school hours or after school.
The 3rd graders love playing in the dirt. Remember on garden days to wear clothes that can get dirty.
Chalk the Walk
Hey all you 3rd, 4th and 5th grade parents!!
Our first of two chalk the walks is coming up this Monday, April 8th! We will be writing inspirational phrases on the sidewalk's at the front, back & side entrances to encourage the students taking the STAAR tests Tuesday & Wednesday.
Please click here, Chalk the Walk, if you would like to help. We would love to fill the sidewalks with messages of encouragement for our students. Even if you can only come for 15 minutes, you could get a few phrases written.
The Birthday Marquee
Support your Copeland PTO and wish your Copeland Colt a HAPPY BIRTHDAY by featuring them on the Copeland Elementary Marquee the week of their birthday.
It's Simple and Easy...
- Choose the week you want to feature your Copeland Colt
- Complete the Birthday Marquee Form
- Submit the $20 Birthday Marquee Fee
- Watch the look on their face when they see their name
Spots are limited to 5 listings per week. You must submit the form and payment by noon on the Friday prior to the week selected. So sign up your Copeland Colt TODAY!
Does your student have a summer birthday or is the week of their birthday already filled up? You can choose any week that is still available. Due to processing, payments must be made online or by cash to guarantee your spot on the birthday marquee.
If you are paying by cash; complete this online form, choose the "pay later" option then submit the payment within two business days to the school front office or send it in with your student.
PTO Executive Board
President Karen Thomas 832-594-3720 copelandptopresident@gmail.com
Vice President Amanda Ball 713-557-0316 copelandvicepresident@gmail.com
Cultural Arts Cree Sanford 713-304-7016 copelandptoculturalarts@gmail.com
Social Media Coordinator LaKishia Edwards 409-338-7667 copelandptosocialmedia@gmail.com
Fundraising Donna Schulze 281-851-4349 copelandptofundraising@gmail.com
Secretary Cynthia Miller 832-326-1545 copelandptosecretary@gmail.com
Treasurer Alya Hidayatallah 281-908-7674 copelandptotreasurer@gmail.com
VIPs Coordinator Penelope Miller 913-433-3050 copelandvips@gmail.com
Sing up to be a PTO Member and be part of the Team!
Logging in as a Volunteer
Working for our kids as a volunteer is both rewarding and important. Below is information on logging your hours in our Raptor Portal and a few reasons why documenting your hours is so important.
To Log Volunteer Hours:
https://apps.raptortech.com/Volunteer/Login/MzYxOlZvbHVudGVlcjplbi1VUw==
This free program will allow you to track your volunteer hours, sign up for events, and communicate with the district Volunteer Coordinator and fellow volunteers. Your Volunteer Portal user account information will be emailed to you.
For detailed instructions click on the link at the top of the newsletter to go to our Copeland PTO homepage.