Friday Features - 10/26/18 | Smore Newsletters for Education

Last Friday and Saturday, Bradley Gardens opened its doors for our annual $1-2-3 Clothing Sale. Thanks to your donations of gently used clothes, coats, costumes, and shoes, we had quite an array of options for the community to purchase. We had steady traffic all day and sold about $1500 worth of merchandise to our local community. This is enough to help offset a portion of the costs for next month's Thanksgiving Feast. What wasn't sold was donated to our local community - a portion of the infant and toddler clothing went to the Pregnancy Aid Center in Raritan and the remainder was donated to the Bradley Gardens Firehouse's Clothing Shed.

The Clothing Sale brings together current and former BGS families and students to help offer a needed resource to our community. Special thanks to all of our volunteers who folded, sorted, and tidied up before and during the event. Kudos to Rachel Bohach, who transitioned into a co-chair role this year, and helped to steer the Clothing Sale preparations.

If you missed donating for this clothing sale, don't forget we'll be hosting another in the spring!

One other HUGE thank you that we can’t forget - Christine Kedziora waded into our overflowing PTO closet with Briana last week. Together they organized and purged all of our boxes and shelves. It was a tough job, but one that needed doing.Thanks for the help!

- Kelly & Briana, BGS PTO Co-Presidents

Attention 4th Grade Parents - Photographers Needed!

If you're the parent of a 4th grader and LOVE snapping photos, we've got a great EASY volunteer opportunity for you!

Our 4th Grade Yearbook preparations are kicking into gear. We can't be everywhere though, so we need your help to document those special moments from 4th grade.

It's simple - our Yearbook committee will set up our photo collecting site. Each month we'll be asking for submissions from key events during the month. You just post your photos - use your phone, use a fancy camera, just take pictures! We'll sort through them all and organize them for the yearbook.

This month's photo assignment: Halloween Parade & the Halloween Hoot

More details on how to submit your photos for the 4th grade yearbook will be sent home next week.

Reading & Raising to Support BGS

Our Bears are reading up a storm during our Read-Thon. As of Thursday evening, our BGS kids have read over 62,000 minutes and collected pledges of over $3,800! We're more than halfway to both our reading and fundraising goals (100K minutes and $7,500).

Still not quite sure what this activity is all about? Here are a few answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about the Read-a-Thon.

What is the Read-a-Thon anyway?

It's like a jog-a-thon, except your child will be reading books instead of running laps, and earning pledges based on how much they read. Everything is tracked online, which makes inviting sponsors and logging reading much easier.

Here are two videos that explain how to participate in the Reading-Raiser:

- How to authorize your child's Reading-Raiser account: https://youtu.be/Xc81t6If-wo
- How to become a sponsor and invite more sponsors: https://youtu.be/JGvaXCPj8iM

How does it work?

Your child will receive a private online account at https://fund.whooosreading.org/ where he/she will log reading. Parent and student instructions on how to use the website were previously home sent home. Your child will not be able to invite any sponsors without your authorization. Follow this link to view instructions on how to use your parent account.

Why are we doing a Read-a-Thon?

The BGS PTO gathered input at the end of last year and our school community (parents and teachers alike) overwhelmingly asked for fewer, but more impactful fundraisers. You asked for less "products" to buy. Unlike other fundraisers where we keep only 40-60% of each donation, our school keeps 80% of each donation using this program. We are really excited to promote reading and help our school raise the necessary money for our ongoing enrichment activities such as assemblies, subsidizing field trips, and providing teacher grants.

A few final reminders...

We're reading and 'raising until Nov. 10!
If you need your student's login information again, please reach out to their teacher or to bgsptopresident@gmail.com.
Our Read-a-Thon is targeted to be our largest fundraiser of the year. We encourage ALL readers to seek at least 1 sponsor. Even a $5 pledge helps us to provide activities such as our author visits and science assembly for the school.
Even if you log in now, you can still log reading from the beginning of the read-a-thon!
If you or your family/friends pledged money offline, remember they can send their cash pledge or check made out to BGS PTO to school in an envelope marked "Whooo's Reading Chair". Be sure to note who the pledge is supporting by indicating the student name and class.

Own a Business? Advertise with Us!

If you own a business or know someone who does, consider partnering on advertising by sponsoring the PTO. We offer both online and "billboard" type advertising at affordable rates, giving you exposure to more than 200+ families in the BGS community. You can check out sponsorship and advertising opportunities here.