Hickory PTA Roundup
November 2023
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From the PTA President
Hello Hickory Families and Friends!
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all generous support you've given to the Hickory community in the few short months that we've been back in school. You've become PTA members, made donations to the PTA, and volunteered so many hours already. You are all constantly showing up for the students, teachers, and staff and it's wonderful to see!
With Gratitude,
Amy Brownstone
Calendar at a Glance
November 9, 2023: PTA Board Meeting (virtual)
November 10, 2023: No School
November 20 - 24, 2023: No School
November 29, 2023: Lost & Found - Front Gate
December 1, 2023: Lost & Found - Back Gate
December 4-8, 2023: Book Fair
Direct Donation Campaign
The Hickory PTA is 58% of the way to its $19,000 Fall fundraising goal.
As we enter our final month of our Direct Donation fundraiser, we are encouraging our Hickory community to participate in Giving Tuesday, a global generosity movement that takes place each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. If you haven't already, please consider making a donation to the Hickory PTA on or before November 28, 2023. And don't forget that some employers may match your donation dollar for dollar! This means that your donation will count twice as much in support of our school. Please contact your employer to find out if they participate in Corporate Matching or Giving Tuesday programs.
All donations received will continue to fund Hickory PTA programs like Study Trips, Library, Adventures in Art, Teacher Grants, Community Events, and so much more.
Please visit https://www.hickorypta.net/donations for more information.
Lost and Found
Lost and Found is located in Room 31 at the front of campus. Volunteers are working hard to reunite lost items with their owners but we need your help. Please write your child's name and room number on items brought to school. This will allow our volunteers to bring lost items to the classroom instead of into Room 31.
Please see the Hickory PTA Calendar for the Lost and Found cart rollout dates at the Front and Park Gates.
Book Fair
Hickory's Book Fair committee is excited to announce this year's partnership with Literati. Come join us for a joyful and triumphant Book Fair sponsored by the Hickory PTA. Book Fair will be held in the school library December 4-8, 2023. Our Hounds will be able to shop during their scheduled library times, lunch and after school until 4:30pm.
Please be on the lookout for more details on our social media and email.
Decor contributions would be greatly appreciated for our "Grinch" theme (new, gently used, or borrowed Holiday/Grinch). An Amazon Wish List is available if you would like to directly donate to our Book Fair.
Project Hope Food & Personal Care Item Drive 11/20/23 - 12/7/23
As we get close to the holidays, we have an opportunity to join forces with Project HOPE to help our homeless/foster care students and TUSD families in need. The following items can be donated between 11/20/23 and 12/7/23 by dropping them off to a cart outside of the Hickory office by the front gate.
Food Items:
Cereal boxes
Granola Bars boxes
Canned Tuna
Mac N Cheese (no easy mac please)
Spaghetti Sauce
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Chef Boy R Dee
SpaghettiOs
Personal Care Items:
Shampoo
Bodywash
Deodorant
Toothbrushes
More information about Project HOPE, a Torrance Council of PTAs program, can be found here. For questions about Hickory's participation in Project HOPE, please email events@hickorypta.net.
Winter Fest 2024
The PTA will be putting on a Winter Festival on Friday, January 26, 2024 from 4-7 pm. This fun-filled event will include games, crafts, entertainment, food, a silent auction, raffle, children’s activity companies, and a snow play area.
Games and Prizes Coordinator
If you would like to be involved in the planning process, we are seeking a coordinator for the games and prizes. The games are one of the most popular activities among the students. If you are interested, please email Stacey Wong at events@hickorypta.net.
In-Kind Donations
Interested in supporting Hickory PTA through in-kind donations? These are any material goods or services that you can donate, such as movie tickets, gift cards, iPads, Kindles, toys, spa services, hotel stays, etc that could be auctioned or raffled off at our upcoming Winter Festival. If you would like to contribute a donation, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/DvcXiAAvDcJUGsVv5. For more information you can also contact Sunny Joo at treasurer@hickorypta.net
Entertainment
Does your student participate in an activity or group that does performances? We are seeking groups to perform at the Winter Festival. Please contact Lina Awshee at store@hickorypta.net.
Program Updates
Spiritwear
The Hickory PTA would like to give a big thank you to our Spiritwear co-chairs, Lina Awshee and Sawa Funai, for their hard work this Summer and Fall! From inventory control to sales and delivery, these ladies have been busy!
And thank you to all of our Hickory Hounds who have purchased new Spiritwear this year. It's so great to see everyone wearing their class colors at Friday assemblies. Our online store will be open through the end of the November, but we will close it for the winter while our volunteers get our inventory organized. Please note that any open orders will be delivered as soon as we have it from our vendor.
Adventures in Art
Adventures in Art is a volunteer run and PTA funded fine arts program that provides 5 projects to all our students each year. Last month our volunteer docents attended their first Workshop and have started teaching Project #1, Gorey's Guest, to all of our students. Docents will be attending Workshop 2 at the end of the month to start teaching The Colors of Snow to our Hickory Hounds. If you are interested in volunteering as an AIA helper for one of our amazing docents, please contact your child's teacher for more information.
Healthy Ever After
Healthy Ever After is a program sponsored by Torrance Memorial Medical Center and was created for the Torrance Unified School District's Elementary Schools to promote healthy eating and lifestyles. Last month all of our students participated in the first lesson on healthy grains and were able to try Whole Grain Savory Pizza Crackers. Thank you to our HEA volunteers for distributing the snacks to all the classes.
Membership
Our PTA is now 297 Members strong! Let's keep the momentum going and get us past the 300 mark and closer to our goal of 400 members. Joining the PTA is a small but meaningful way to not only support the Hickory PTA, but also all of the programs we fund for the school.
Remember, becoming a member does not mean you are obligated to volunteer. So become a member and encourage grandparents, aunts, uncles, and local business and neighbors to join the Hickory PTA today! https://jointotem.com/ca/torrance/hickory-pta.
Library
We need your help filling our library with popular books and requests from our hounds. Please consider purchasing a book from our library wish list or donating gently used books. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, please contact Nilza Bertulano: library@hickorypta.net. Check out photos of our awesome library here.
Movie Night
Thank you to our Movie Night chair, Julie Yancy, and all of the volunteers that helped the event run smoothly! It was a treat to watch The Super Mario Bros. on a very big screen on such a nice night. The PTA is also thankful to Kona Ice who kept the shave ice truck open throughout the event and gifted the PTA with a donation of $250.
Red Ribbon Week "Be Kind to Your Mind"
Thank you to our Red Ribbon Week chair, Deputy Sheriff Brittany Fraser, for planning Hickory's Red Ribbon Week activities for our Hickory Hounds. The Red Ribbon Campaign is the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation reaching millions of young people during Red Ribbon Week, October 23rd - October 31st each year. We'd also like to thank Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi for providing our students with Red Ribbon Week bookmarks which were available to students in the Hickory Library.
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