Dear Preschool Families,

This month we have the opportunity to teach our children about loving our neighbors and sharing with them. Unity Presbyterian Church is currently collecting non-perishable food items for the Fort Mill Care Center to provide a Thanksgiving meal for Fort Mill families who find themselves in need of food. We would love the children to bring some items to Preschool during October. We will help the children place the items in our church display when we have Chapel later this month.

The items specifically requested by the Care Center for the month of October include the following: cereal, oatmeal, grits, soup, canned meat, canned fruit, pie crust mix, evaporated milk, cranberry sauce, and boxed instant potatoes. If you are overdue in cleaning out your pantry - those items (as long as not expired and not opened) are welcome too. Please send your items during the month of October. Preschool staff will accept them during the car line.

Thanks in advance for your participation and for sharing with others the wondrous gifts that God has given us.

Blessings,

Ms. Linda

Director - Unity Preschool

This year Ms. Jane is also visiting our Four's class once a month to share a science lesson with our students. They studied apples in September and are studying leaves in October. She has lessons planned on measurement, trees, magnets, seeds/plants, insects, and birds for the remainder of the year. We are so grateful that Ms. Jane shares her wonderful stories and wealth of knowledge with our students.

Orange Day: Wear ORANGE on Thursday, October 12

Black Day: Wear BLACK on Thursday, October 26

Our next Spirit Day is Tuesday, October 31. We will celebrate Halloween in our classrooms. Your child's teacher will send party requests through SeeSaw later this month. Children are welcome to wear Halloween-themed shirts, but please do not send them in costumes. The novelty wears off quickly and we do not want to misplace costume pieces.

Our November Spirit Day will be Thursday, November 16. We will have a Thanksgiving Feast prepared by some special friends of the preschool. A sign-up for items will be sent in the November newsletter.

Our next school order will be sent home before Thanksgiving so that you can purchase Christmas gifts. You are, however, welcome to order any time of the year on the Scholastic website. If you use our Class Code (GXCK8) I will be notified and can finalize the order and have it sent to school.

Ms. Elizabeth: Ms. Elizabeth is the Lead Teacher for the Owls Class. This is her third year teaching the Fours class at Unity. She was a kindergarten teacher in Charlotte and in Fort Mill before taking time off to take care of her daughter, Katherine, who is now in the Fish Class (Fours) at Unity. Ms. Elizabeth moved back to Fort Mill in 2015. She enjoys spending time with her daughter, her husband, Simon, and her dog, Janson.

A few of Ms. Elizabeth’s favorites:

Food: Spicy; lives on chips and salsa

Music: likes it all

Books: Prince of Tides, A Bad Case of Stripes - David Shannon(a story about being yourself), The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein, Matilda - Roald Dahl

Activity: Painting; reading; running/walking outside and preferably at the beach.

Ms. Sarah: Our family of four moved to the Carolinas from Michigan 12 years ago. The warm weather suits me just fine. In fact, summer is my absolute favorite season. My husband and I have two girls: Katherine (18) is a Freshman at Clemson and Elizabeth Grace (9) is a fourth grade student at River Trails Elementary. Our family loves taking trips to the beach and to the mountains. Another warm weather favorite of mine is gardening. Planting flowers gives me great joy and pleasure. l enjoy nothing more than filling up the back of my vehicle in the spring with beautiful annuals.

I cherish spending time with my family. Especially with how rushed we all are nowadays. To me, time is one of the most important things you can give your loved ones. Both of my girls love to play golf, so I spend lots of time on the course! I also enjoy cooking and being in the kitchen with my husband. We make a great team when it comes to food.

I love “Oldies” music...60’s and 70’s. Anything from the Beatles, The Stones, to CCR, Bob Seger and Rod Stewart...I could go on and on! Being from Detroit, Motown music has a special place in my heart too.

I really enjoy reading when time lends itself and I have read many good books. One that stands out in particular is The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I thoroughly enjoy reading or watching period pieces. My favorite series though, is Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling has an amazing imagination!

That pretty much sums it up for me, other than being a part of such a special community and playing such a tremendous role in the lives of our precious children. There’s no doubt in my mind that God led me to Unity Presbyterian for a reason when I enrolled my youngest daughter in the program seven years ago.

*No School (Fours) - Monday, October 9: This is a teacher work day for the FMSD.

*Tuition: Our next tuition withdrawal date will be Wednesday, November 1st.

*Folder Reminder: Please remember to empty your child's folder at least every week!

*Label Clothes/Backpacks/Water Bottles: Please remember to label all items that you send to school so that we can make sure they go home with the correct child.