Dicken Family Newsletter
2.25.22
Principal's Corner
Upcoming Dates
- Monday, February 28 - Friday, March 4: Read Across America Week
- Tuesday, March 1: PTO Read-a-thon Begins!
Appreciation
Thank you to all who were able to join us for Wednesday's Black History Month Celebration. The recording link and password were emailed to families yesterday. Many thanks once again to Ms. Erickson, Ms. McHale, Ms. Elbode and Mr. Maier for putting together this wonderful presentation.
Rec & Ed Classes
Our AAPS Rec & Ed Department is pleased to announce upcoming opportunities for classes and camps:
Tuesdays: 3:48-5:30PM
4/19-5/24
K-5th
Class ID: 1331.302
Wednesdays: 3:48-5:30PM
4/27-6/1
K-4th
Class ID: 1401.307
Thursdays: 3:48-5:00PM
The Natural Wonders of Science @ Dicken
4/21-5/26
1st-5th
Class ID: 1395.302
...
Read Across America Week
Next week is Read Across America Spirit Week!
- Monday, February 28: Hat Day
- Tuesday, March 1: Self Pride - Wear your Favorite Color
- Wednesday, March 2: Sports Jersey
- Thursday, March 3: Animal Print, Stripes or Spots
- Friday, March 4: Dicken Dolphin School Pride Day
Participation is entirely optional.
Heather
Message from the PTO President
We're getting excited for March! All month long, Dicken will be participating in a Read-a-thon/March is reading month event. We are excited to enjoy fun books together!
We have set a date for the racial equity challenge. It will be April 11th from 6:30-8:30. Watch for additional details and the link to sign up in future newsletters.
Dicken Directory | Form For Directory Inclusion
—Jenifer Miller, Dicken PTO President
Dicken Elementary parents’ Facebook group
Upcoming Event Dates:
Nicola's Fundraiser: February 27 - March 5
Community Night Out - Blaze Pizza - March 3
Read-a-thon: March 1 - 25
Dicken PTO Board Meeting - March 17
Racial Equity Challenge - April 11
Dicken PTO Board Meeting - April 21
Dicken PTO Board Meeting - May 19
PTO Silent Auction - May 22
All PTO meetings are currently scheduled to take place over Zoom. All are welcome to attend!
Announcing: Read-a-thon & March is Reading Month!
In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March is designated as National Reading Month. The primary audience for Dr. Seuss’ books is children, but his writings have insight for all ages. As he said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
To celebrate March is Reading Month within our Dicken Community, the PTO has organized many events and opportunities for everyone at Dicken to read more books, raise money for our school and library, have fun and win some great prizes. All of these activities are optional, but we encourage all of our students, teachers, staff and families to participate.
To kick off March is Reading Month, the PTO and the classroom teachers have partnered to select and gift books for each of our students. These books will be delivered early next week, along with a Dicken bookmark and a reading calendar for students and staff to track their reading minutes throughout the month for our Read-a-thon.
The Dicken Read-a-thon
After the success of last year’s Read-a-thon, we are thrilled to bring back the Read-a-thon this year! The Read-a-thon will begin on Tuesday, March 1, and go through Friday, March 25, which is the last day of school before spring break. During the month we will ask students and Dicken staff to track all of their reading minutes (both minutes spent reading at school and at home count!) and submit them weekly (each Monday and then Friday the 25th) on a Google form.
The PTO has determined that every classroom that reaches 100% participation will receive a class party later this spring. If the entire school reaches 100% participation, we will have an extra surprise for the school to celebrate this incredible achievement!
In addition, all students and staff who track their minutes will be put into a raffle to win one of twenty $10 gift cards to Nicola’s Books. The raffle drawing will take place during the April PTO meeting, and winners will be notified the following day.
Read-a-thon Fundraising Event
The PTO hopes that the Read-a-thon is a fun opportunity for students to spend more time enjoying books, while also raising money to help support our school. Once again Dicken will be using the 99 Pledges platform for our fundraising efforts. The goal set for each student is $25.
Each family will be getting an email from 99Pledges on Tuesday, March 1. The Dicken community fundraising homepage can be found above; however, each student will also have an individual page that they can send to family and friends to collect donations.
With the success of the Dicken Dash in the fall, we would like to use the funds raised during the Read-a-thon to help support and enhance Dicken’s library, classroom libraries and literacy programs at Dicken. The PTO has also pledged to donate 25% of funds raised to Peace Neighborhood Center, a local organization that serves many Dicken families to provide programs for children, families, and individuals who are affected by social and economic problems. Their services include: advocacy, emergency assistance, after-school programs, summer day camps, college and career preparation, individual and family counseling, and family enrichment.
Other Opportunities to Support Dicken During March is Reading Month
Nicola’s Fundraiser
Starting on Sunday, February 27, and running through Saturday, March 5, Nicola’s Books located in Westgate Shopping Center will be holding a fundraiser for Dicken. Twenty percent of in-store and online purchases (web promo code: Dicken) made during the week will come back to our school. Please tell friends and family to check out Nicola’s and help support our Dolphins if they are shopping next week. All purchases (with the exception of newspapers, magazines and gift cards) are eligible when you mention the Dicken fundraiser at check out or use the promo code “Dicken” when you shop online. Thanks for supporting our local businesses!
Ms. McHale’s Dicken Library Amazon Wishlist
Our school librarian Ms. McHale has been working on putting together an Amazon Wishlist of books and other items that will enhance the diversity of our library and create a more dynamic, engaging and educational library space for our Dicken students. If you can support our library, it would be greatly appreciated.
Celebrating March is Reading Month in Style!
To celebrate March is Reading Month, we are having multiple spirit days during the month of March. Participation is always optional but it’s always fun to see the students who dress up and get into the spirit of these fun days!
Upcoming Spirit Days:
February 28 - Favorite Hat Day
March 1 - Favorite Color Day
March 2 - Sports Day
March 3 - Animal Day
March 4 - Dicken Spirit Day
March 11 - Hair Love Day
March 18 - Favorite Literary Character Day
March 25 - Pajama Day
Last Call for WESO Coaches!
If your child wants to participate, please consider coaching a team! All materials will be provided and zoom training for event coaches starts next week. The schedule for zoom trainings is as follows:
- Monday, Feb 28th: 7 PM: Read It/Build It; 8 PM: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
- Tuesday, March 1: 7 PM: Feathered Friends, Aerodynamics; 8 PM: Pentathlon
- Wednesday, March 2: 7 PM: Mystery Architecture; 8 PM: The Human Machine
- Thursday, March 3: 7 PM: On Target; 8 PM: iRobot
- Saturday, March 5: 2 PM: Write It/Build It
- Monday, March 7: 7 PM: Potions
- Wednesday, March 9: 7 PM: iCompute
AAPS Resource | Ann Arbor PTO Council
The PTO Council is the umbrella organization supporting PTOs throughout Ann Arbor Public Schools. It has as its members a representative from each PTO and PTSO in the district.
The PTO Council's mission is to promote excellence in our schools through communication and advocacy. This is accomplished by providing a forum for communication and cooperation and by acting as an advocate for member PTOs with district administration and with the Board of Education, and beyond.
Join the PTOC meeting February 28 7:00-8:30
Topics: Safety to and from school/Building community during and after COVID
Find the zoom link at:
https://www.a2schools.org/Page/7954
All AAPS parents and community members welcome!
Community Night Out: Thursday, March 3 - Blaze Pizza
5 - 8 pm
DINE IN, BLAZE PIZZA APP, OR BLAZEPIZZA.COM
980 W. Eisenhower Pkwy, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
For In-store: Show this flyer to a cashier
For Pickup and Carryout: Enter code 1205A into the 'Promo Code field at checkout.
*Save the Date* Dicken Silent Auction
Back and taking place in person, this year's Silent Auction will be held on Sunday, May 22nd at Bill's Beer Garden (218 S Ashley St, Ann Arbor). This is a parents-only event (free to attend!), and a chance to hang out with other adults in the Dicken community.
Watch this space for updates!