Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 9, Issue 10, October 28, 2016
From The PFC Co-Presidents
Happy Friday Thunderbird Families,
As we head into the weekend, many of you are probably putting your last-minute touches on Halloween costumes. The Thornhill Halloween Parade, an annual school tradition, will take place on Monday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. on the playground. All Thornhill families are welcome at the parade. Please remember that Monday is a minimum day, so students will be dismissed after the parade at approximately 1:25 p.m. Please speak to your classroom teacher and/or room parent for more dismissal details.
It was great to see so many Thornhill families at Tuesday night’s Middle School Fair, which was sponsored by the PFC. Many Thornhill alums attended and were excited to share their middle school experience with us. Great job and thanks go to Dan Bridgman and Andy Espinoza, our PFC members-at-large who organized the event.
Many, many thanks to you, our wonderful parent community, for all your contributions to the Back to School Donation Drive. We are still counting; however, we can excitedly report that we’ve surpassed our $160,000 goal! Nice work! Special shout out to Christine Pereira, BSDD Chair for all her hard work to get you donating (along with helpers Dan & Kacey Bridgman and Angela Engel, our VP Fundraising). While the donation drive is officially over, it’s never too late to contribute. We’re planning an all school treat to celebrate – watch the newsletter for an announcement soon!
The Parent Faculty Club is always looking for help from you, the parents! Do you have a special skill/talent that you think we could use? Are you handy with power tools or garden equipment? Are you a BBQ master or a gourmet cook/chef? Do you like to read to kids? Do you like to throw parties for children or adults? Do you have a favorite local business that you could ask to support Thornhill? These are just a few of the many ways that your time and talents are needed. Please let us know how you can help!
See you Monday at the Halloween parade!
Shauna Fithian & Shanyn Lloyd Gibson
Thornhill Mural Facelift
It is now time for our school to look as grand as it is to our kids...and YOU CAN HELP!
Please help us fund an exciting, inspirational facelift for the front of our school with a fantastic, four-panel mural planned for the four mobile classrooms facing Thornhill Drive.
The design will be inspiring to our kids and represents the power of learning, creativity and imagination that is cultivated every day at Thornhill Elementary. You can see examples of the panels here in the newsletter, and in the school lobby.
Many parents are donating their talents, time and the necessary equipment they have to help us make this happen.
Now we need your help to fund supplies required to bring this beautiful mural to life!
It will take several weeks to complete the project and we need your support! Our goal is $5,000 and the design team (Thornhill parents) has launched a GoFundMe campaign to make it easy for you to contribute and tell others.
Visit: gofundme.com/thornhill-mural and please give whatever you can today!
We recognize Thornhill families already go the extra mile to make Thornhill the special place that it is. If every family and supporter of the school chips in, we can reach our goal to transform the face of Thornhill and create a rich environment that kids can enjoy every day for years to come.
Thank you for your support! Please share the link and spread the word!
Dads Club Coat Donation Drive
Dads Club is sponsoring a donation drive during the month of November working with national charity One Warm Coat. Please look for the collection bin in the school lobby and bring in clean, gently used coats of all types and sizes to donate.
All coats collected by the Thornhill community will directly benefit local needs when we deliver them to Alameda County Social Services and East Oakland Youth Development Center. Did you know that a warm winter coat is a budget “extra” for 1 in 5 children living in poverty in the U.S.? Thunderbirds, please help us make a difference this holiday season… one coat at a time!
Thornhill Movie Night was a huge success! Dads Club hosted a record audience of 110 kids for our Halloween-themed movie and costume contest. Besides the big winners, everyone left with some candy and spooky grab-bag goodies. At the end, the kids even helped us clean up the explosion of popcorn that littered the floor! While you parents and guardians enjoyed a couple hours of peace, we raised over $1,100 for the school. Thank you!
Thanks to all members who enjoyed themselves at our monthly social at Monaghan’s last week. Our next meeting will be on the third Thursday of November, the 17th, from 8-9:30 p.m. (location TBD).
Library News
The lights are off. Jack-o-lanterns are glowing. Rain is falling. A librarian couldn’t ask for a more perfect setting for some Halloween stories!
We’re reading slightly less scary stories for the younger kids, but as you get to fourth grade. . .
LOOK OUT!
Ask your students what stories we read in the library this week, and if their spines felt just a little tingly.
Thank you to Jacob and Riley Croteau-DeFreece and their family for their huge donation of 16 new books from the library wishlist!
I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark, by Debbie Levy
Going Wild, by Lisa McMann
Never Girls Collection #1, #2, #3, and Under the Lagoon, by Kiki Thorpe
Asterix Omnibus 1, by R. Goscinny
Do you want to leave a gift to the library in your child’s name? Check out the Amazon Wishlist to see which books the library would love to add to the collection. Feel free to support our local bookstores by making your purchases there. Thank you for supporting the library!
Happy Scary Reading,
Maura Hennessy
Librarian
Make-up Picture Day...November 3
There have been a lot of complaints with the school portraits of many of our students. As such, we have contacted the portrait company and requested to have all the students retake their pictures.
This is not a requirement, however. Some parents are content with their students' photos and that is fine, but students will be retaking pictures anyway. If at all possible, we need families that are purchasing picture packs to contact the office, so we may keep a list of who gets actual re-prints.
Mark you calendars...Re-takes will be on Thursday, November 3rd.
Thank you,
Christina Burden
Attendance Specialist
Thornhill Elementary
Reading At A Great Good Place for Books
NYT best-selling author Madeline Levine says: "Packed with useful, practical advice and how-to's, this book promises to be one that every parent will wish they had from day one."
Christine Carter of the Greater Good Science Center: "'What Great Parents Do' is the only parenting playbook you need. No book has better distilled, science-based parenting tips than this one! A must read!"
eScrip + Benefit...Raise Money For Thornhill
Benefit is a FREE mobile shopping app that raises money without asking for a dime. Buy and redeem gift cards on your mobile device instantly! When you shop at over 80 participating retailers, Benefit gives Thornhill 3-20% of every transaction. Watch this video and see how easy it is to earn for Thornhill Parent Faculty Club with the Benefit App.
How can 10 = 100?
10 = $100 when 10 Thornhill Parent Faculty Club supporters start using Benefit Mobile! Between Oct 15th and November 30th, 2016, when Thornhill Parent Faculty Club gets 10 supporters to download the Benefit Mobile app and choose Thornhill Parent Faculty Club as their beneficiary, and also make their first purchase in the app by Nov 30th, then Thornhill Parent Faculty Club will get a $100 bonus! For every 10 after that, another $100 can be earned, and so on.
About the PFC Newsletter
Email submissions to our Newsletter Chair, Rex Crum, at newsletter@thornhillschool.org by 3 P.M. Wednesday for approval, including Word or Text files with links and no formatting and 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 is not accepted.
THANK YOU to everyone who submits articles and to PFC Board Members, Teachers, VP of Communications Mavis Scanlon, PFC Co-Presidents Shauna Fithian and Shanyn Lloyd-Gibson and Principal Steve Daubenspeck. Member of Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).
Email: newsletter@thornhillschool.org
Website: thornhillschool.org
Location: 5800 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, CA, United States
Phone: (510) 339-6800