News Around The Creek
September 15, 2014
Calendar:
September 8-24: The Giving Garden Soil Drive
September 15: Run Club Begins
September 16: PTA Meeting 7-8pm, media center
September 22: Reflections Art Contest Kickoff Week
September 23: Book Fair Family Night, 5-7:30pm
September 25: The Giving Garden Work Day, 6:30pm
October 2: Book Fair Family Night, 5-7:30pm
October 10: BoxTops Contest #1 ends
President's Message:
The next General PTA meting is this Tuesday, September 16th, at 7PM in the media center. The first twenty members to attend will receive a free MCES car magnet.
The PTA and MCES will host the BAC (Board Advisory Council) breakfast in the Media Center on Wednesday, September 17th.
Vision Martial Arts in Cary on Kildaire Farm Road is the first MCES Corporate Sponsor for the 2014-2015 school year. Thank you Vision Martial Art for your support.
Book Fair: September 22 - October 3
2014 Scholastic Book Fair is coming to the Media Center this fall!
Theme: Sir Read-A-Lot's Castle: Enter the Kingdom of Books!
Dates: September 22 - 26 for Tracks 3&4
September 29 - October 3 for Tracks 1&2
Family Nights: 5:00-7:30pm on Tuesday, September 23 for Tracks 3&4
5:00-7:30pm on Thursday, October 2 for Tracks 1&2
You will be receiving a packet of information in the Tuesday folder prior to your Book Fair week, so please keep an eye out for it. Track 1 families: your Book Fair information packet will come home in the Tuesday folder prior to your track out in September.
Each class will attend the book fair during the school day between Monday and Wednesday to make out their individual wish lists. The kids will bring their wish lists home for you to preview. If you'd like to make a purchase, you can do so in one of four ways:
1. Come in person to the Media Center between 8:00am-3:00pm. We accept cash, checks (made out to MCE PTA) and credit/debit cards!
2. Send cash or check (made out to MCE PTA) for the total amount** to school with your child along with their wish list. Each class will have an opportunity to attend the book fair again on Thursday or Friday for the children who are planning to make purchases. If you'd like to circle the books on the wishlist that you allow them to purchase, that is extremely helpful to our volunteers.
3. Attend one of the family nights and make your purchase in person. You are welcome to attend either family night - the content will be identical - as your family schedule allows.
4. Purchase books online between September 19 - October 10 via our Book Fair website: http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/mces All books ordered online will be delivered to the school and distributed to your child's teacher the week after the online sale ends.
**no sales tax (example: if the book price is $4.99, then the sale total is $4.99)
Book Fair App
Scholastic has designed a free Book Fair app that you can download to your smart phone to assist you as you shop the Book Fair. Finding the right books at the Fair is fun and easy with the Book Fair App. Check out the latest features and download today!
http://middlecreekpta.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/8/7/22878008/bookfairapp.png
Volunteering
We will need lots of help during the book fair - if you would like to work a shift either during the day or at family night, please sign up on our Sign Up Genius here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f054ba8a92c7-book1
Classroom Wish Lists
At Middle Creek, each classroom has a classroom library. Your teachers are in need of books to fill up their classroom libraries. Please make sure to stop by the Classroom Wish List poster board - located in the Media Center - to purchase a book for your child's classroom library. Please also do not forget to purchase books for our specialists, CCR teachers and AU team to fill up their classroom libraries. This is a great way to show your appreciation for the outstanding staff at Middle Creek Elementary!
All For Books and Penny Wars
Throughout each book fair week, the penny wars begin! Each week, the grade levels are pitted against each other to compete to see which grade level can come up with the most loose pocket change. Pennies count towards your grade level's total and silver coins count against the total. (So bring in lots of quarters, dimes and nickels and fill up your sibling's grade level jar.) :-) The winning grade level gets bragging rights for the year and great community service satisfaction that they have bought a lot of books for kids who would otherwise not be able to purchase a book for themselves. The money remains here at MCE and is used to purchase a book for each child involved in the Holiday Helpers program run by Mrs. Fillard. Any leftover funds are used to purchase an additional book for their Holiday presents.
We appreciate all the support that our Middle Creek families give during the Book Fair!
Any questions? Email Beth Lewis (beth_lewisfamily@yahoo.com) or Emily Gardner (emilydell9977@yahoo.com)
Empty Water Bottles Needed:
A box labeled for the donated bottles will be in the hallway leading to the Kindergarten.
Science Olympiad:
Any student in grades 3-5 can join Science Olympiad and take advantage of this great
opportunity to learn about science and prepare for upcoming science requirements. Please join us for one or more Introductory Sessions where students can explore different topics.
Introductory Sessions (after school 3:15-4:15):
September : Wed., 9/17
October : Wed., 10/15
November : Wed., 11/12
Tournament : 3/28/2015
Mark your calendar! In order for your child to stay for any of these events (1) Please sign and return the registration form sent home with your student. (2) Email their teacher that they will be staying after school.
In order to hold these sessions we need some parents to be there to assist with monitoring the kids. Please email Tina Gibson at gibsontina@earthlink.net to sign up!
2014-15 Reflections Art Contest & Show
The Giving Garden:
The Giving Garden (Middle Creek Elementary Schools Garden) is having a “SOIL DRIVE” September 8-24. The garden is in need of soil for its boxes. Please drop off 1 bag of garden soil, peat moss or Black Kow near the garden gate. The Giving Garden is located at the BACK of the school and can be accessed by using the SERVICE ENTRANCE to MCES off of West Lake Rd.
On Thursday September 25 at 6:30 pm, we will be having a garden work day. Please come and bring your kids! If MCES kids work IN the garden on that day, they will be given a GIVING GARDEN HOMEWORK PASS !!! Bring a shovel and rake, as well as gardening gloves.
“LIKE” us on Facebook! Search “Middle Creek Elementary School Garden”. New pictures and information on the garden are posted there.
We also have a blog at middlecreekpta.weebly.com
Run Club:
September 2014
Dear parents of 3rd-5th grade,
We are happy to announce that the Running Club of MCES will be beginning again soon! We had such a successful year last year and hope to continue a great tradition! We look forward to motivating students to achieve a healthy lifestyle and to continue to be physically fit.
We will be trying a new way of running the program this year. We will offer run club in two sessions, a fall AND a spring. Each will be a 10 week session. We will meet on Monday afternoons from 3:00-4:00. Instead of having a MCES 5K, we will then participate in a local 5K at the end of each session. You will be responsible for paying the registration for your childand if we have students who need financial support, we will assist them.
We plan to launch the Run Club on September 15th. We will practice running various distances off campus but in surrounding neighborhoods when we have sufficient volunteers. If we do not have enough volunteers we will plan to run around the “track” area at Middle Creek Park. On days that the weather does not cooperate, we will work on skills and drills in the gym at MCES.
Please note that this is an after-school club and you will be required to pick your child up on Monday afternoons at 4:00. If you are unable to meet the stated guidelines, please refrain from registering for the club. If you fail to adhere to the time guidelines your child will be asked not to return. Of course if there are extenuating circumstances we are willing to work with you,but not on a continuing basis.
Your child will also need to CHECK OUT with their “coach” each day when leaving. If you are allowing your child to participate , but ride home with someone other than yourself, you will need to include a note with your signature stating that your child will ride with another parent. In addition, please provide the person’s full name and a contact number.
Track Out: Students are not required to attend during track out. However, if a parent chooses for their child to participate, transportation must be provided to and from each session. (I would highly recommend running on those days even if you cannot attend.)
Proper attire is a MUST for the run club. Students that do not have proper foot attire will not be allowed to run. They must wear sneakers/running shoes. They also need to wear comfortable running clothes, no jeans, jewelry etc. A water bottle is also encouraged.
If you would like for your child to participate in the Run/Fit Club, you MUST sign up on thegoogle doc so that you will receive email updates regarding practice days and information regarding the races.
***If you do not sign up you will not receive a permission slip and notifications. The deadline for signing up is September 10th.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OLyLB_UxuFUAn-QkBJB-IKCB1hes3meG5x_xT0yg6kA/edit?usp=sharing
**opens best using Google Chrome Browser **
Schedule:
Session 1
September 15th, 22nd, 29th
October 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th
November 3rd, 10th, 17th
RACE DAY: November 22nd –Apex Turkey Trot 10AM http://www.apexnc.org/turkeytrot
Session 2
February 16th, 23rd
March 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th
April 6th, 13th, 20th
RACE DAY: APRIL 25th-TBD
***Please notify me (Lisa Woodard, lnwoodard@wcpss.net) if your child has a medical condition that requires interventions or a current health plan with Wake County Schools. (i.e. asthma, diabetes, allergies, etc.)
***If you are interested in volunteering to run, I will be sending out a Sign-up Genius next week.
Best regards,
Lisa Woodard
Spelling Bee:
Fourth Annual MCES Spelling Bee
"Bee" on the lookout! Spelling bee study guides will be distributed to students the week of Sept 2 for tracks 1, 3, and 4 and Sept 9 for track 2.
Classroom bees will be held October 13-17 for tracks 1, 2, and 3 and October 20-24 for track 4. Our fourth annual spelling bee will be held on Saturday, December 6 at 1pm. For questions or to volunteer, email SpellingBeeMCES@gmail.com.
Want To Win A Pizza Party?!!:
Top classes at this time:
Track 1--Howard, Spina and Huml
Track 2--Poirier, Duhamel and Stein
Track 3--Slozak, Ebner and Harward
Track 4 - TBA
?'s contact Taryn Jessup, tjessup23@aol.com
For a list of BoxTop products, www.boxtops4education.com
School Store Volunteers Needed:
School Store is looking for a few volunteers to run the store on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. if you can help, please contact Stephanie Petty , stephaniepettyrn@yahoo.com
Tuesdays: K-2 kids welcome from 8:00-8:25amThursdays: 3-5 kids welcome from 8:00-8:25am
The school store sells little pencils, erasers, fun little school items for kids to purchase - prices range from $0.10 - $2.00, so kids can easily afford to buy something even with a little bit of pocket change. It is located at the end of the main hallway, adjacent to the 2nd grade hallway.