Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 25, Issue 9, October 27, 2017
Walk-a-Thon...Just One Day To Go!
After weeks of anticipation, one of the biggest events of the year is almost here. Tomorrow, the annual Thornhill Walk-a-Thon, the Trek 'n Treat, will kick off bright and early on the schoolyard.
If you haven't set up a donation page, go to your child's dojiggy page to set up donations that can be made online. Walkers can also bring their donation forms to the Walk-a-Thon when they register. A walker will need to have secured $30 in donations to be eligible for Walk-a-Thon prizes.
Here are a few more things to know about the Walk-a-Thon...
For any information, you can visit the Walkathon website. You can also email walkathon@thornhillschool.org.
As of today, we have $9,155 in donations, or 37 percent of our $25,000 Walk-a-Thon goal.
We can still use some volunteers, as just 50 percent of the volunteer spots have been filled. The Walk-a-Thon still needs your help so please sign up here.
One of the biggest perks for walkers is the Otter Pops they get for every seven laps they walk. And we have purchased 1400 Otter Pops for the occasion. Wouldn't you walk seven laps for an Otter Pop?
To go with the Halloween theme of the Walk-a-Thon, how about some Halloween humor?
Q: Why do skeletons have low self-esteem?
A: They have no body to love.
Q: Why did the illiterate witch get kicked out of the coven?
A: She couldn’t spell.
See you Saturday. Make sure your shoes are laced up.
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Principal's Letter...
Dear Thunderbird Families,
Just a short note from me this time. I hope you are all having a wonderful week. I am so glad that we have had cleaner air this week. We are all breathing better and getting back outdoors.
I am so looking forward to the Walk-a-Thon this weekend! This is a great community event, and the weather is supposed to be great. We need you and your support! Come show your Thunderbird spirit!
Sincerely,
Mr. Daubenspeck
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Halloween Parade--October 31
Thornhill's Annual Halloween Parade will take place on--you guessed it--Halloween, Tuesday, Oct. 31.
Forget the Rose Parade. Don't even think about Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Thornhill's Halloween Parade is the one and only parade you need. This year's parade will take place on the playground beginning at 1pm on Tuesday. All Thornhill families are welcome at the parade.
Please also remember that Tuesday is a minimum day, so students will be dismissed after the parade at approximately 1:25 pm. Many classrooms are hosting class parties starting at noon, but check with your child's teacher or room parent for any pertinent details. Don't forget to leave ample time to park, as there will be many parents arriving at the same time. Happy Halloween!
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Thank you Thornhill Community!
Proving that it is possible to both have fun and raise money (that's why they call it "fun"draising!), we want to thank all families who participated in the Dads Club Movie Night on Oct. 20 and the Dine-Out at the Star on Oct. 24. Both events were very successful!
Dads Club did a great job putting Movie Night together and though we all had a great time, some of the dads have reported Post-Traumatic-Popcorn-Disorder, waking up in the night from phantom kernels. If you see one of these dads, please give him a hug and reassure him that he will one day be able to eat popcorn again.
Movie night stats:
· 100+ students in attendance
· 507 bags of popcorn distributed
· 25 kids who actually flossed after movie night
· $1,346 raised for the school
· 4 reports of Sully sightings in bedrooms on Friday night
And our first Dine-Out at The Star was the gift that keeps on giving: Excellent pizza, getting to hang out with fellow-Thornhillians and, especially...Not having to cook on a school night!
Dine-Out night stats:
· 31 families participated
· 496 slices of pizza
· $347.51 raised for the school
· 14 hours of exercise needed to burn off the deep dish calories
Thank you again to Dad's Club and Erin Fredrick (eScrip and Merchant Giveback Coordinator) who organized these events and to all who joined in the fun.
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Shoo The Flu Reminder
Remember, Thornhill will be participating in Shoo The Flu, which will provide free flu vaccinations to students on Monday, Oct. 30. Be sure to download and sign the permission slip and send those with your children on the 30th if you want to participate.
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PFC Meeting--Change Of Date
An RSVP is required to guarantee space for childcare. Please visit the Thornhill Konstella site to let the PFC know how many children you will be bringing to the meeting. Any kids needing care that haven't signed up ahead will be $5 per kid.
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Picture Make-Up Day & Class Pictures - Thursday, November 2
Was your child absent on Picture Day? Did she show up with her shirt on backwards? Did your son stick his tongue out at the photographer?
Well, whatever the reason, if you want a new picture of your little Thunderbird, you will soon have your chance.
MyLegacyUs is coming back to Thornhill on Thursday, November 2. They will be doing two things:
* Class Photos - Each entire class will take a picture together with its teacher - $10 each!
* Picture Make-Ups - If you didn't like your kid's photo!
Also...You will be able to see BOTH the original picture and make-up picture online before ordering and be able to choose which one to order. Please make sure your teacher--and kid--both know that you want a make-up picture taken and they will take one that day. Practice those smiles!
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Our Clean & Green School
Thornhill is working towards becoming a Cleaner & Greener school in partnership with OUSD’s Green Gloves Program, a program focused on reducing OUSD schools' environmental footprints. We want our children, school and our community to be healthy and uphold sustainable practices!
Kindergarten teacher Bonnie Forbes is our fearless Green Gloves Teacher Leader!
Among other efforts that have been implemented, Thornhill now has sorting bins for landfill, recycling and compost. These bins are located in the classrooms and cafeteria, as well as in several outdoor locations. Some classrooms have student Green Glove leaders, and others have students participating in the compost and recycling delivery.
Thornhill is also forging a partnership with Alameda Stop Waste, a local waste-management organization offering age-appropriate training and field trips to help teach our children, staff and parents how to minimize waste.
Adventure Time has also joined the effort and is dedicated to sorting waste appropriately and having the children work together daily to help pick up trash from the yard.
And in the spirit of clean and green, Thornhill’s Fall Sweep will take place on Saturday, Nov. 18, from 9am-12pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to help get our campus cleaned up and a hands-on chance to learn more about best waste sorting practices. If our school grounds are well kept, everyone will benefit and the hope is that this will set the tone as to what we want on going. If you haven’t yet signed up to participate in the Fall Sweep for any amount of time, please do!
Many thanks to everyone in our Thornhill community who dedicate themselves to learning and teaching new ways to improve our sustainability!
Elyse SG Bart
PFC Sustainability Chair
Mama of Eli Bart, 1st Grade
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TK and Kindergarten Tours
The TK and Kindergarten tour dates for 2017-18 have been set and we need volunteers! This is a great way to show our Thunderbird pride to perspective families. We are looking for energetic parents to lead TK/Kinder tours the following dates.
- Wednesday, November 8
- Tuesday, December 5
- Wednesday, December 6
- Wednesday, December 13
We need six parents to help each day from 8:45-10:30am. However, if you can't stay for the tour but can help with coffee/goodies set-up, that would be wonderful as it is just 20 to 30 minutes right around morning drop-off. Sign up here!
If you have friends and/or family who would like to tour Thornhill, here is the Eventbrite link to sign-up please pass on.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Angela Engel & Kalkidan Gebreyohannes
TK/Kinder Co-Chairs
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Library News!
Donations! They just keep coming in! Thank you so much, Thornhill community, for donating so many wonderful books. The students are thrilled, and of course, so am I!
Many thanks to the students and families for the following donations:
Sophia and Lily Espinoza: Tony, Kids' Almanac 2018, Waltz of the Snowflakes, and How to Be an Elephant.
Kaitlyn and Clayton Urbano: Secret Coders: Robots & Repeats and Secrets & Sequences; and Juana & Lucas.
Simone Ricks: One Last Word and Out of Wonder.
Last week’s mystery donation, Fact Attack: The Byte-Sized World of Technology, came from Lindsay Mitchell. Thank you Lindsay and family!
This week, we received Leo: A Ghost Story without an enclosed gift receipt. Let me know if you donated this book!
If you want to donate a book to the library, have a look at the Thornhill Library Amazon Wish List. If you donate directly from the Amazon Wish List, make sure to add a gift note with your student’s name included. Thank you again to all of our donors.
Happy Reading,
Maura Hennessy
Librarian
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Dates To Remember...
If you've gotten this far but still need a reminder of what's coming up on the Thornhill calendar, well...Here are some dates to keep in mind. Remember, you can always get information by visiting the calendar page of the school website.
Saturday, October 28: Walk-a-Thon (10am-4pm)
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About The PFC Newsletter
The Thornhill Parent-Faculty Club (PFC) eNews team publishes this weekly newsletter each Friday in the school year to communicate school, PFC and OUSD news, events and information.
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 and items not related to Thornhill are not accepted.
THANK YOU to everyone who submits articles and to PFC Board Members, Teachers, VPs of Communications Erin Proudfoot and Pamela Schwartz, 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: 5880 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, CA, United States
Phone: (510) 339-6800