PTA NEWS FLASH

Letter from the Principal

IKES Stakeholders,

We have had a wonderful semester full of memorable moments at IKES! Our teachers have been working hard to create a warm and nurturing environment for our students while providing daily rigorous instruction. We have celebrated Grandparents’ Day, Veteran’s Day, and many student successes! December is the time of the season when we teach our children about compassion and giving. On December 21st, we will host IKES Believes and give back to the community through a MUST Ministry toy drive. During the winter break, please take time with your friends and family to recharge your batteries and set New Year goals. We have a fun-filled second semester planned and are excited to host the talent show at Sequoyah High School this year! Thank you for completing the Georgia State Climate Survey regarding our school. This year our school CCRPI score increased and we earned a 4 Star Climate Rating. Our current student achievement goals of reading and math continue to guide academic decisions. We value your partnership and encourage reinforcement of these skills at home. Lastly, if you are in the building over the next few weeks, please check the lost and found. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Kim Cerasoli
Principal

Congratulations to the Marco's Pizza Classroom Party Winners!

Each Spirit Night, Marco's Pizza awards the class with highest participation with a classroom pizza party. Congratulations to Mrs. Tubb's 5th grade class for winning the party for 4th and 5th Grade Box Night and to Mrs. Cayla Williams' 2nd grade class for winning the party for the most recent spirit night which was held on November 13th.

2018 IKES Holiday Shop

2018 IKES Holiday Shop is here! The shop is open all this week from Monday, December 3rd through Friday, December 7th. Students love the annual tradition of picking small gifts for friends and loved ones. Look for more information from your child's teacher on the date/time their class will shop. If you have the capacity, we are always seeking volunteers to work in the holiday shop helping students select gifts. Please register to volunteer at 2018 IKES Holiday Shop Volunteer sign-up.

Buffalo's Cafe Spirit Night

When

Thursday, Dec. 6th, 5-8pm

Where

1625 Ball Ground Highway

Canton, GA

More information

Join us for Spirit Night at Buffalo's Cafe on Thursday, December 6th! Kids can enjoy a balloon artist and a coloring contest at the event. The TOP THREE best coloring sheets will receive a Buffalo’s goody bag! The class with the top participation for the evening will win a free kid’s meal for EVERY student in that class along with a $50 gift card for the teacher. Don’t forget to bring your PTA membership card or your Firebird Flash card and receive 10% off your meal! While you're there, sign up for Kids Club to receive additional benefits for your children throughout the year! Be sure to tell your friends and neighbors too! A portion of all sales from ANYONE who eats there during that time will come directly back to IKES. Let’s show our Firebird spirit!

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Holiday Luncheon for Teachers and Staff

Our Holiday Luncheon for teachers and staff will be held on Friday, December 14th. Mac Momma will be providing lunch and we are setting up a Hot Chocolate Bar for teachers to enjoy! If you would like to volunteer to help host this event or donate supplies for the Hot Chocolate bar, please sign up here. We'd love to have all donations in by Wednesday, December 12th.

Counselor's Corner

Mrs. Colleen DeLosh – Grades 3-5

Mrs. Lori Waycaster – Grades K-2

Our annual IKES Believes in Helping Others holiday program will take place on December 21, 2018. New and unwrapped toys can be donated until Wednesday, December 19 which will benefit those in our community through MUST Ministries. The house that brings in the most toys will earn points.

We will be finishing our Speak Up, Be Safe lessons for all students. Please be sure to ask your student about the safety rules.

We would like to wish you a happy and joyous holiday season. If you or anyone you know is in need of resources please feel free to contact either one of us at: colleen.delosh@cherokee.k12.ga.us or lori.waycaster@cherokee.k12.ga.us.

Five Below Spirit Week from December 15 - 21

When

Saturday, Dec. 15th, 10am to Friday, Dec. 21st, 9pm

Where

Five Below, 1810 Cumming Hwy, Suite 800, Canton, GA 30115

Canton, GA

More information

The holidays are coming and we have a great spirit night to help get you ready while supporting our school! Five Below Spirit Week is December 15 - December 21. Shop all week long for holiday stocking stuffers, gifts, school supplies, and more! This is also a wonderful time of year to give back to others that are less fortunate. Five Below is a great place to pick up a toy to bring into school for the IKES Believes in Helping Others program, where we help make the holidays magical for other boys and girls. We will also set up a donation box in the store for MUST Ministries for much needed outerwear accessories, like hats, gloves, and scarves. Please be sure to download and complete this fundraiser form and bring it in with you to Five Below so that your purchase is credited towards our spirit week. Five Below will donate 10% of all sales this week directly back to IKES. This is a helpful and charitable way to give back not only to IKES, but also to those in the community. This is and has always been the true nature of our Firebird family! Happy holidays!!

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Teacher Favorites List & Birthdays! "Tis the season to celebrate our teachers! We are so fortunate to have the best teachers around! You can find a list of all of our staff favorites and birthdays on the new IKES PTA website page here.	IKES wins 3rd Place in the Airborne Canton Jump Challenge! We'd like to thank Airborne Canton for holding the $1 Jump challenge for all Cherokee County students last month. On select days in November, Airborne offered one hour of jump time for just $1 to get the word out about their new aerial adventure park and highlight their commitment to our schools. IKES won 3rd Place out of all the schools in Cherokee County! As a result, Airborne Canton is making an additional $250 donation to our school. Thank you Firebirds and Airborne Canton!!	IKES Remind Texts Are you getting IKES REMIND text messages? If not, please sign up by following these instructions to receive reminders from the principal related to weather, school events, and special programs. Unlike newsletters and emails, IKES Remind Texts will come straight to your phone and provide up-to-the-minute notifications from the school. Our PTA will also share information about upcoming events and spirit nights.

Teacher Favorites List & Birthdays!

"Tis the season to celebrate our teachers! We are so fortunate to have the best teachers around! You can find a list of all of our staff favorites and birthdays on the new IKES PTA website page here.

IKES wins 3rd Place in the Airborne Canton Jump Challenge!

We'd like to thank Airborne Canton for holding the $1 Jump challenge for all Cherokee County students last month. On select days in November, Airborne offered one hour of jump time for just $1 to get the word out about their new aerial adventure park and highlight their commitment to our schools. IKES won 3rd Place out of all the schools in Cherokee County! As a result, Airborne Canton is making an additional $250 donation to our school. Thank you Firebirds and Airborne Canton!!

IKES Remind Texts

Are you getting IKES REMIND text messages? If not, please sign up by following these instructions to receive reminders from the principal related to weather, school events, and special programs. Unlike newsletters and emails, IKES Remind Texts will come straight to your phone and provide up-to-the-minute notifications from the school. Our PTA will also share information about upcoming events and spirit nights.

Firebird Friday with Airborne Canton!

When

Friday, Jan. 4th 2019 at 11am-10pm

Where

500 Brown Industrial Parkway

Canton, GA

More information

Looking for something fun to do over Winter Break! Come GET AIRBORNE with us at Georgia’s Largest Aerial Adventure Park! Check out pricing and jump time options, book your jump time and complete the safety waiver at the Airborne Canton website here to save time in line or do it when you get there!

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2019 IKES Talent Show

Does your child have a special talent they would like to share? Now is their time to shine! Our IKES Talent Show will be held on Thursday, January 31st at 6:30 pm in the Sequoyah High School Auditorium. Here are a couple of key dates and information:

Auditions will be held in the Indian Knoll Cafeteria on Thursday, January 17th.
Interested students will need to complete an audition packet and turn it in by Tuesday, January 15th. We will post the audition packet on our IKES PTA Facebook page and the IKES PTA website later this week.
Anyone interested in performing, being part of the backstage crew or serving as Emcees for the event will need to submit an audition packet. Only performers and Emcees will need to audition.
Dress Rehearsal will be Monday, January 28th at 6 pm at the Sequoyah High School Auditorium.
Concessions, fan-o-grams, flowers and balloons will be available for purchase at the event.

If you have any questions, please contact Christine Dagostino at cdagostino.ikespta@gmail.com.


IKES Readers Our IKES Readers program is underway but we are always happy to have additional volunteers. If you can donate 30 minutes of individual attention to some students, it would greatly increase their reading and understanding skills and help them become excited about reading! If you're interested, please fill out this quick SurveyMonkey.	Join PTA Thank you so much to all of the Teachers, Staff, IKES Families and other Community Partners who have signed up this year for PTA Membership! Because of your generosity thus far, the PTA has been able to raise $4000 in membership dues which can be used directly to fund some awesome programs this year for our children at Indian Knoll! To join PTA, simply download our Membership form and send it in with your child. Each membership comes with a Firebird Flash Card with savings at over 50 local businesses that you can use the whole school year. For more information on joining the PTA or to check out the list of vendors on our Firebird Flash Card, click here. If you know of someone who owns a business in the community who may be interested in becoming a Community Partner with Indian Knoll Elementary School, please contact Christine Dagostino at cdagostino.ikespta@gmail.com.	Volunteer with PTA Nothing teaches hope, kindness, courage, and compassion like helping others. Whether from home, at school, during the day, evening or weekend, we would love to have your help! Check out our IKES PTA website here for more information on volunteering with the PTA. We have opportunities for everyone. If you wish to be notified of upcoming opportunities, download a volunteer interest form here and send in the completed form with your student. If you have any questions, please email Jennifer Severson at jenniferseverson.ikespta@gmail.com. Our Veteran's Day celebration is on November 9th. We will need help setting up the afternoon before as well as the morning of the event. If you can help with this event, please sign up here. If you have any questions about helping with this event, please contact stephanie.ann.chen@gmail.com

IKES Readers

Our IKES Readers program is underway but we are always happy to have additional volunteers. If you can donate 30 minutes of individual attention to some students, it would greatly increase their reading and understanding skills and help them become excited about reading! If you're interested, please fill out this quick SurveyMonkey.

Join PTA

Thank you so much to all of the Teachers, Staff, IKES Families and other Community Partners who have signed up this year for PTA Membership! Because of your generosity thus far, the PTA has been able to raise $4000 in membership dues which can be used directly to fund some awesome programs this year for our children at Indian Knoll!

To join PTA, simply download our Membership form and send it in with your child. Each membership comes with a Firebird Flash Card with savings at over 50 local businesses that you can use the whole school year. For more information on joining the PTA or to check out the list of vendors on our Firebird Flash Card, click here. If you know of someone who owns a business in the community who may be interested in becoming a Community Partner with Indian Knoll Elementary School, please contact Christine Dagostino at cdagostino.ikespta@gmail.com.

Volunteer with PTA

Nothing teaches hope, kindness, courage, and compassion like helping others. Whether from home, at school, during the day, evening or weekend, we would love to have your help! Check out our IKES PTA website here for more information on volunteering with the PTA. We have opportunities for everyone. If you wish to be notified of upcoming opportunities, download a volunteer interest form here and send in the completed form with your student. If you have any questions, please email Jennifer Severson at jenniferseverson.ikespta@gmail.com.

Our Veteran's Day celebration is on November 9th. We will need help setting up the afternoon before as well as the morning of the event. If you can help with this event, please sign up here. If you have any questions about helping with this event, please contact stephanie.ann.chen@gmail.com