Panda Pulse
September 8, 2017
This Week at a Glance
- Direct Donation Campaign
- Odyssey of the Mind
- Spirit Night
- Carpool Safety
- School Picture Day
- Fall Vendor/Craft Fair
- Chess Club
- Workout Wednesdays
- Food For Friends
- Birthday Book Club
- Save the Date: Room Parent meeting
Things to Remember this week!
Thursday, September 14: Odyssey of the Mind student/parent information session at 5:30 pm in the school “Creative Commons” area
Thursday, September 14: Spirit Night at Newk's & Goodberry's, 5 - 9 pm
Penny Road's Direct Donation Campaign
Thank you in advance for your support! If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Greco, VP of Fundraising at jafiori@hotmail.com
Attention all 4th & 5th Graders
Odyssey of the Mind (OM) is an international, fun & educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. The “long term” problems are announced annually by the world-wide OM organization and the teams work on and perform their solutions to compete with other teams at a regional competition. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from 25 other countries participate in the program.
Odyssey of the Mind teaches many skills including: creativity, problem solving, spontaneous and divergent thinking, engineering, construction, teamwork, risk taking, performance skills, time management and so much more! The OM “season” typically runs from November through March, depending on whether or not teams go beyond the regional tournament the first weekend in March.
4th and 5th grade students heard more about the OM program at school on Friday, 9/8 and will bring home additional information. If you would like to learn more, please plan on attending the mandatory student/parent information session on Thursday, September 14th @ 5:30pm in the school “Creative Commons” area.
Please note that this program is 100% run by parents and all OM parents are expected to take some kind of role with their team. In particular, we are in need of great parent coaches for each team that is formed. In addition to the other various volunteer opportunities, we are also looking for a vice-chair for Odyssey. This would be someone to observe & support the chair position during this school year and to potentially be the chair for next year.
A lot more FUN info here: www.odysseyofthemind.com and/or www.ncome.org.
Questions?? Please contact Jessica Vollmer at j.vollmer8@gmail.com or on Konstella.
Penny Road Spirit Night!
Please join us for the first spirit night of the 2017-2018 school year. Take the night off from cooking, enjoy a great meal and dessert, & support Penny Road. Everyone wins!
When: Thursday, September 14, 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where: Newk's & Goodberry's
1144 Kildaire Farm Road, Cary
Remember to tell them you are with Penny Road Elementary and 10% of all proceeds will be given back to the school.
Questions? Please contact Sarah Walden smwalden18@gmail.com or Sara Concini sara.concini@gmail.com
School Picture Day
Mark you Calendar!!! School Picture day is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27. This will be your student's yearbook portrait. Order forms are coming home soon. If you plan to purchase pictures, your student will need to bring the order form & payment to their teacher on Picture Day. For more information, visit www.strawbridge.net.
Wild West Round Up
Chess Club
IMPORTANT CAR PICK UP INFORMATION
- Please don't turn left out of the car pick up lanes onto Penny Road
- In the morning, only let students out by the adults
- Give us a thumbs up if you have your child, a thumbs down if you need your child
- If you are going to switch to the bus system, you will need to make that switch this next week or you will lose your bus seat
- Kindergarten and new parents may want to stand outside your car to help your child at the end of day so your child won't walk by your car (until they learn the system).
Workout Wednesdays will return Wednesday, 9/20!
Each Wednesday from 8:50 to 9:10am your child can come to the gym to get some morning exercise! Twice a month we offer yoga with our wonderful certified yoga teacher and parent volunteer Holly Healy. The other Wednesdays will be a combination of all different types of exercise! There is no advance sign up required, just have your child come and join in the fun!
If you are a parent who loves to exercise, do yoga, Zumba or dance, we would love your help! Moms, dad, aunts, uncles or grandparents are invited to share their passion with our students on Wednesday mornings. Please consider giving just 30 minutes of your time and passion, once a month or just once or twice a year on Wednesday from 8:45-9:10 to get sweaty with our students.
Please email Christine Martin at cmartin@wcpss.net if you are interested in helping.
Food for Friends
Food for Friends is a wonderful program that collects food donations and sends them home in backpacks to some of our Penny Road students to help feed their families over the weekend. We are seeking volunteers to donate food once a month to fill a backpack. We will send out a reminder each week to remind volunteers to bring in their food. Please contact Jenn Evenhouse at jenn.evenhouse@gmail.com or Hannah Baublitz at hannahbissette@hotmail.com if you are interested in helping a Penny Road Panda. Thank you!
Birthday Book Club
Questions? Contact Mrs. Platts at (919) 387-2142.
CALLING ALL ROOM PARENTS!
The PTA will be hosting a brief room parent meeting on Tuesday, September 19th at 9:15am to fill you in on the responsibilities of the job, let you know what's new this year, and answer any questions you may have. We hope you can make it! Watch your email for more details. Contact Laurie Cockman (laurietcockman@nc.rr.com) with any questions.