October Monthly News
BROOKER CREEK ELEMENTARY
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
September was an active and successful month. We celebrated National Grandparents Day with a breakfast and close to 400 people attended. I would like to thank PTA for helping us to make this event possible. Please take a moment to read the pieces written below. We have more wonderful events planned for October. November will be busy as well and I hope you join us for the Great American Teach In. You may reach out to Mrs. Ortega if you plan on joining us.
It is my privilege to recognize Brooker Creek's Teacher of the Year and Emerging Teacher of the Year.
Our ever working, present everywhere, Mrs. Shannon Livingston is this year's Teacher of the Year. She has been an art teacher at BCE for a few years and directly teaches every K-5 student. She hosts an Art club for 5th grade students as well... she truly loves teaching our students. Additionally, she takes a lead role in the creation of many of the art pieces and school beautification projects you see around the school.
Ms. Katie Putnam is our Emerging Teacher of the Year. This recognition goes to teachers that are new in their profession. Her dedication to her craft and her students' success does not go unnoticed by anyone. Perhaps her greatest asset is her ability to make relationships with every student. Her future in teaching is indeed very bright.
Trunk or Treat will be taking place on Thursday, October 26. For those that are new to this event, due to our size and limited parking, families are encouraged to dress up and drive SLOWLY through the parking lot, like a reversed parade. Families will not be parking. As you drive through, staff and guests will greet your children with some candy and treats. Additionally, staff and guests will have their vehicles decorated. We will start at 5:00 but don't worry if you cannot arrive at that time. We will keep the line open until 6:30. Once 6:30 arrives, the line will close, but we will wait until the cars remaining in line make it through to see the vehicles. We will team up with a local food bank and collect food donations. If you would like to help us out, please bring canned goods to this event. We will collect them from you near the front office as you drive by. Please consider donating food items that may be used at a Thanksgiving meal as that is the focus of the food collection.
Thank you for your continued support of BCE!
Mr. Hodges
From the Assistant Principal:
Thank you to all grandparents that came out for our Grandparent’s Breakfast. We had an amazing turnout, and everyone seemed to have a fantastic time time. Mr. Shane and the PTA did a great job organizing this event so that those participating did not have to wait to pay or get their breakfast.
Way to go Bobcats!!
I-Station and DreamBox
I-Station and DreamBox are two computer based applications that you may see your student using at home. Please do not assist your student when they are working through the application at home. Both programs are adaptive and designed to meet the student where their needs are. If you or another family member assist them, their results will be skewed and place them in a level they are currently not ready to master. Productive struggle can lead to academic growth. If your student is frustrated, please encourage them to stop and speak with their teacher the following day.
Parent Lunches
We are excited to be starting parent lunches again. Please make sure that you review the schedule ensuring that you come on the correct date.
October 13th- 3rd and 1st Grade
October 20th- PreK3, 2nd and 5th Grade
End of the First Marking Period
Believe it or not, we have passed the Mid-Period and are quickly approaching the end of the first Marking Period. Friday, October 13th is the end of the First Marking Period. It would be wise to check your student grades in FOCUS soon to ensure that they have all assignments turned in. Report Cards will be sent home on Thursday, October 26, 2023.
COUNSELOR'S CORNER
It is Mrs. Hickman’s honor and pleasure to recognize Nolan DeCosimo as our East Lake Sunrise Rotary Club October Student of the Month! Nolan embraces learning whole-heartedly and makes each day count! Nolan enters the room each day with such a friendly “Good morning” to all in ear shot, creating positivity wherever he goes. Last year he represented Brooker Creek as one of 4 students in the USF Leadership Summit and returned to school to meet with principal Hodges and fellow students! Nolan also demonstrates his leadership through his membership in our National Elementary Honor Society. This young man is responsible, hard-working, optimistic, and kind! Singing in chorus is another program where Nolan’s friendly disposition shines!
Outside of school, Nolan plays soccer for West Coast Florida Flames, enjoys the children’s ministry at Revival Christian Church and is a member of a Bible study. He plays the piano/keyboard and trains Muy Thai at Payak in Odessa. We are so proud of Nolan’s accomplishments and character! Congratulations!
Prestigious Paws Citizenship 2023
Emmett McClister **** Ms. Taylor
Lucas Kropp **** Ms. K & Ms. Gina
Brynlee Barberio **** Ms.Renee & Ms.Vargas
Holden Tanner **** Mrs. Allender
Caiden Toscano **** Mrs. Copri
Hazel Smith **** Mrs. Crim
Logan Stone **** Ms. Toye
Chloe Schwegman **** Mrs. Mieras
Francesca Neff **** Mrs. Schwabe
Lauren Breadon **** Mrs. Smekal
Kegan Knez **** Mrs. TenBieg
Duncan Gilpin **** Ms. McSunas
Russell Bodak **** Mrs. Price
Eva Strom **** Mrs. Read
Maddisyn Manning **** Mrs. Skryd
Charlotte Smith **** Mrs. Bailey
Reid Falkenbach **** Mrs. Fox
Ellie Rebmann **** Mrs. McMullen
Nora Fulmer **** Mr. Rademacher
Ethan Samreth **** Mrs. Vinyard
Anthony Faltas **** Ms. Browne
Allyson Tarver **** Mrs. Ficca
Gwen Gardener **** Mrs. Hite
Avery Trueblood **** Mrs. Schuler
Julia Sarkis **** Mrs. Hickman
Mackenzie Mees **** Mrs. Katsourinis
Trinity Truss **** Mrs. Miller
Anna White **** Ms. Smith
Dominic Marzo **** Mrs. Livingston
Tommy Oddo **** Mr. Ross
Nohah Canizio **** PE Department
Mara Hull **** Ms. Iannello
PTA NEWSLETTER
Hello Bobcat Families!
September seemed to fly by! The PTA has been busy, busy! The PTA would like to thank Mr. Hodges, Mrs. Gerber, Mrs. Ortega, and all the Bobcat teachers and staff for including the PTA this year in our Grandparents Breakfast celebration. Our grandparents are so valuable to our school and PTA. From fundraisers to volunteering, we could not do what we do without grandparents and parents! We appreciate everyone’s support!
The executive board and Mrs. Gerber were also able to attend the Pinellas County Council PTA (PCCPTA) annual Fall workshop. This meeting is required so that our PTA remains in compliance with county, state, and national standards, allows us the opportunity to engage in informative meetings to receive a discount on our insurance through PCCPTA, as well as attend other informative seminars related to PTA events and network with other county PTA leaders. It was a fun event and very helpful as we continue to plan and support our school.
I was most excited about the PCCPTA President’s welcome. This year the PCCPTA’s focus is also about returning to basics and remembering what PTA stands for. The goals for the county PTA are to focus on mental health, literacy, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) through Programming, Training, Advocacy (PTA). It was a very powerful speech and I appreciated that it aligned with our back to basics approach this year as well. As we embark on this bright new year at Brooker, it is my hope that we can provide programing for students and families that they desire. We plan on supporting our teachers and staff with appropriate training so they can best utilize their class time and enhance the curriculum, and finally advocate for our students when needed. Our next step as a PTA board is to gather information to accomplish this. So, we need you! I urge you, if you have time, to take this brief survey and provide information related to how you think the PTA can support the school. This survey is part of a bigger program we have been working towards this year, the School of Excellence program. This is a program through the National PTA in which our PTA commits to strengthening family-school partnerships in our school. The survey will take about 5 minutes and provide us with information so we can set our goals and continue to plan and build our programming and support in ways that our stakeholders (you and the staff) see fit. The survey will be open from now until October 15th and is available by accessing this link: https://forms.gle/U5pfmwP2joR88zsN9. It is my hope you will take the few moments and help our PTA.
This month, we also met with some county leaders to check in on the progress of our new playground. I don’t want to jinx it, but it could be arriving on Santa’s sleigh, if not sooner.
Finally, we have some great events coming up for our school in October! Please join us for:
· Family Math and Book Fair night, October 18th from 5:30-7pm. Have some snacks, play some math games, and even participate in a math hunt to lead you to the book fair!
· BCE 2nd Annual drive thru Trunk or Treat will be held October 26th from 5-7pm. Please come in your costumes and drive through to get some fun treats and maybe a few tricks from our community partners and teachers and staff!
· We will be hosting an online wrapping paper and goodies fundraiser from October 23rd-November 12th. Just in time for the holidays, you can buy wrapping paper and goodies and they will ship immediately to your house. All proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards building some new outdoor learning areas for our students.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, you can reach out to me via email at presidentbcepta@gmail.com
Jen Reyes
ART NEWS
More exciting creative installations are in store for our campus this year. In an effort to identify connections between visual arts and other content areas, we will be working with 2 visiting artists from Tallahassee to create a large mural depicting the lifecycle of the butterfly. Rotating small groups of students will be assisting our artists to complete our newest masterpiece. The mural will be painted on the wall as you enter campus adjacent to our live and thriving butterfly garden. (Thank you Garden Club and PTA)
We have been approved to submit a grant through www.finditfunditflorida.com/pinellas
to purchase supplies for this amazing project. If you or your business would like to donate or fully fund this artistic endeavor, please visit the website above and click on the Brooker Creek Elementary link. We have already secured funding through the Pinellas County Art Referendum to pay our visiting artists. THANK YOU VOTERS!!!! Without this referendum passing every 4 years many of our outreach art projects and art budgets would be drastically cut. Pinellas County truly cares about keeping the arts alive and so do I!!!
Tuesday, September 26th, was our first student art show held at the Administration Building in Largo. 10 students were chosen at the end of last school year to represent the amazing work we created here at Brooker Creek. Take a peek at a few of our outstanding artists and their work which will be on display until April. Our next show will be at Dunedin Fine Arts Center this fall. Details coming soon.
*All Parents: Please complete the permission slip that was emailed to you by ARTSONIA last week. This is the exciting online student art gallery we will be launching very soon. Check your junk box if you do not see an email from Artsonia. If we have a current email address for you in Focus, you should have received the email.
Finally, A BIG GRACIAS to all the families who generously donated “Fresh Juicy Markers” to the Art Room over the past month. They have already been put to creative use especially for our 4th grade Roy Lichtenstein inspired self portraits as well as our 5th grade Tag Art designs that are turning out beautifully.
As always, if you have any questions at all feel free to email me @ livingstons@pcsb.org
Happy Fall,
Mrs. Livingston
October Library Media and Technology News Florida Power Library https://www.flpowerlibraries.com/fplsschools
Scholastic Book Fair:
The Brooker Creek Elementary Book Fair will be held Friday, October 13th through Friday October 20th. Our hours this year will be 9am – 3:30pm on Monday through Friday with extended hours on Wednesday, October 18th. We will be open from 4pm-7pm this evening. The Book Fair will also be available online with 24/7 access for any families or friends who cannot attend. Online shopping can be accessed starting September 25th – 26th at:
https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/brookercreekelemschool1
Did you know you can read over 1,000 eBooks online for free from our very own library?
These books can be read on a computer, tablet or smartphone, and can be checked out virtually from our school library through Destiny located in CLEVER. There are over 1,000 titles to choose from. They are impossible to lose, and you don’t have to drive anywhere. Visit our school website to find out how to access our eBook library. https://www.pcsb.org/Page/21455
Help us reach our goal of 500 ebook checkouts! Brooker Creek’s eBook Digital Library collection is growing all the time, and includes:
· Fiction and Non-Fiction
· Battle of the Books 2022-2023
· Boys Read 2022-2023
· Classics
· New & Popular Titles
· Graphic Novels
Danielle Gabbert, Library Media Technology Specialist
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn,
the more places you’ll go.
— Dr. Seuss
PE NEWS
Hey Bobcats! We hope everyone is having a great school year so far! This past month, we've been fitness testing. The students have done a great job and have worked very hard. We also had the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Flag Football Team come out and work with the students. It seemed like the students had a great time and we hope this was a memorable experience for all involved! We will begin our hockey unit soon. A big thanks to the Tampa Bay Lightning for providing us with all the equipment we need to run a fun unit. Just a friendly reminder, we are not allowed to let students participate while wearing Crocs. This is a rule put in place by Pinellas County Schools. If they don't participate, it will affect their grade. If you ever have any questions for us, please don't hesitate to reach out. We hope everyone has an awesome October!!!
PE Dept.
Bobcat Family Den
It’s fall, y’all and we are revving up for some fun activities! October brings many opportunities for collaboration and community building within your Bobcat’s classroom and school. Volunteers, if you have not done so already, please make sure to reactivate your account so that you are able to support your scholar and our school. Not yet a volunteer? I can help you with that! Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have, and I would be happy to walk you through the process. Level 1 and want to be a Level 2? Certain volunteer opportunities require an additional screening called Level 2 and I am delighted to assist you.
Please save the date for the Great American Teach-In (GATI), November 15th. The Great American Teach-In provides an opportunity for parents and members of the community to come in and speak with students about their occupations, hobbies, or areas of interest. Interested in participating in this amazing event? We’d enjoy having you, and I encourage you to reach out to me if you are interested and available.
I appreciate all that you do and I feel fortunate to work with our amazing Bobcats and our community.
Have a great October,
Mrs. Erica Ortega
Elementary School Wellness Guidelines
While we know that students and families enjoy providing treats to students, particularly on birthdays, there are strict rules and guidelines provided for the elementary student consumption of food items. We try to use our best discretion for these situations. The link provided below will take you to the district website outlining the guidelines, but we have included a graphic below. Items such as candy, cupcakes, and donuts do not meet the guidelines and we ask that you please do not provide them as the office staff will remind individuals of the guidelines and the food items will be returned to the adult delivering them. The link and graphic provided list options that are acceptable, and we ask that you make allowable selections when needed. Thank you for understanding.
Lunch with your children
10/13 3rd and 1st
10/20 PreK3, 2nd, and 5th
These types of events are fun for all, but some guidelines must be in place to ensure safety for all. Families are invited to bring food from off campus, but the food must not be shared with other students. Also, students are not allowed to bring their friends with them. Lastly, students must be supervised at all times by their parents. Students should not be running around or jumping off the amphitheater steps. This event is being set up as an opportunity for parents to eat and focus on their children. Thank you for respecting these guidelines.
Students may be signed out on these days through the established procedure. Parents will need to visit the front office or desk and sign out students. A sign out slip will then be provided to parents.
Brooker Creek Elementary
Email: Hodgesjo@pcsb.org
Website: https://www.pcsb.org/brooker-es
Location: 3130 Forelock Road, Tarpon Springs, FL, USA
Phone: 727-943-4600