Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 24, Issue 21, February 3, 2017
Principal's Letter...
Dear Thunderbird Families and Community,
I hope every one is well and enjoying all this rain, which is clearly helping us out with the drought. Moving forward, there has been a lot happening on the national level the last few weeks with policies being put in place that impact who gets to enter the United States of America. In light of all this, I want to remind all of you that Oakland Unified School District is a Sanctuary District. And specifically, at Thornhill we welcome ALL families. The Thornhill staff stands behind the belief that we are an inclusive school and we are here for you. Feel free to reach out to me or any staff member should you need us.
Highlights of the Week-
We kicked off Black History Month on February 1 with a special dance performance from Pope Flynn’s African Dance class. It was amazing to see the students dancing and Pope even got all of the staff dancing including me! You can imagine the roar of laughter when all the kids saw the staff dancing. It was so fun! But most exciting of all was when Pope called up a student from kindergarten to demonstrate for the whole school. Her name is Jules and she had no idea she would be performing in front of the whole school. Way to go Jules. You Rock!
District Oratorical Competition – February 2. For the first time since 2005, Thornhill participated in the OUSD MLK Oratorical. We had students from 1st grade and 5th grades participate in this event at Castlemont High School. And we have some exciting news for you. A drum role please … The competition results are:
3rd Place:
1st Graders from Mrs. Forbes
Magnolia Stoll
Sophia Espinoza
Joslyn Cox
2nd Place Original Poetry
5th grader from Mrs. Berhnard
Hailey Conner
1st Place 3rd-5th grades
5th graders from Mr. Wilkins
Charlotte Fithian
Ariella Garfinkle
Jordyn Stafford
Lauren Foust
Senai Wilks
Raniyah Robinson-participated in 3rd-5th grade poetry.
Special Thanks to Christina Burden, who managed the process and our participation. Special thanks to Pope Flynn and Bonnie Forbes.
https://goo.gl/photos/ 1GRBoyyRv6kcypXj7
Thunderbirds. I am so proud of you. ROCK ON!
Mr. Daubenspeck
Auction Update
Just five weeks to go!!! Make your checklist!
Do you have your tickets already?
The ticket price has gone up, but today, Friday Feb. 3, you have another chance to get a ticket for only $50, or $99 per couple. Tickets are on sale for 24 hours to celebrate Lunar New Year. Gong Hey Fat Choy!
Also, for all parents who buy a ticket by Feb. 15, we will raffle two gift certificates for a Chinese restaurant (Value of $25 each). Good luck!
Do you have time to help?
Our school auction is approaching fast and we urgently need help with solicitations. Do you have a little bit of time to call a few restaurants or businesses and ask for donations? If so, please email me at benefit@thornhillschool.org. I'll send you a list of restaurants or shops, including phone numbers, and even a little script (Thanks to Molly!) with what you could say. It couldn't be easier!
All proceeds from the auction go to the school, so it's twice the benefit.
Do you have a condo or timeshare?
Or do you know anyone who has a timeshare or a condo, either in the mountains or at the beach? We really would like them as one of our premium auction items! Email me at benefit@thornhillschool.org.
Drive yourself or let someone drive?
There is plenty of parking at the site.
Volunteer?
We still need hands and skills to help with the party organizing, and assembling our auction catalog. We have a SignUpGenius coming up.
Check out the website: www.thornhillschool.org
Contact us: benefit@thornhillschool.org
Have a wonderful weekend, Solvig.
Spring Enrichment Program
The Spring enrichment session begins on Monday, February 6, and ends Thursday, May 25.
Please make a note that there are no Enrichment classes on the following days:
February 20
March 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 31
April 3, 4, 5,, 6, 7
Spring Wrap-up Performances are:
Wednesday, May 24 4:30-5:00 pm
Keyboarding Recital - Friday, May 19
PPAS Drama Performance – May 8 at 5:30 pm
African-American Literature Read-In
Volunteers Needed!
February is African American History Month! To celebrate, schools and libraries across the nation are participating in a National Read-In by holding a variety of literacy-focused activities designed to celebrate the work of African American authors.
The National Read-In is an event that started in 1990 and for the past 3 years, Oakland has hosted a citywide read-in that spans an entire week. We had so much fun doing the read-in last year, we want to do it again!
This year’s citywide read-in will take place the week of February 6 and Lea Stafford and I are coordinating the event and we will be asking for parent volunteers to sign up to read to our classes during the mornings of Wednesday, Feb. 8, and Friday, Feb. 10. Maura Hennessey, our fantastic librarian, will put together a selection of books to choose from, or you can suggest one of your favorites, as long as it is age appropriate and written by an African-American author and/or is a story about African-American history or culture.
If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up! Here is the link to the sign up sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RUiHO8pIFvRCReuFWPicFKVaRazVdk5qF59USHBtPx8/edit?usp=sharing
We need just one volunteer per teacher. Instructions are listed on the sheet, but you are always welcome to email me with questions. Once the sign up sheet is filled, I’ll email the volunteers with more details to prepare them for the day. Again, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at diversity@thornhillschool.org. Thanks so much!
Warmly,
Rachel Estrella
Diversity Chair
Dads Club
Thornhill Dads Club is taking an active role in helping to plan this year’s Auction Night. We are hunting for donated items that Dads Club can offer for the live or silent auction. We need your skills and ideas!
Are you a skilled handyman around the house?
Do you or your company have season tickets anywhere?
Have a ski condo?
Work at a consumer-facing business that could donate its services?
Do you like to plan & host theme parties?
Know anybody famous?
We’re seeking creative, potentially lucrative auction items to populate the Dads Club table! All donations are potentially tax-deductible. Please contact DadsClub@ThornhillSchool.org with any/all suggestions.
SOCIALIZE with Dads Club! Ever wonder why we don’t host a GOLF outing, BOWLING night or POKER game? Why not plan one?
Dads Club will happily sponsor and promote any outing to our 190+ member list – all you have to do is ask! We’ll continue to host our monthly planning meetings every 3rd Thursday at Monaghan’s, but you know what they say about “all work and no play…”
East Bay Flag Football's Spring 2017 Season is Here!
Just because the Super Bowl is this weekend doesn't mean you have to wait until the fall for football to start again.
East Bay Flag Football is about to start its spring 2017 season. Games and practices will be held Sundays from March 5 to May 21at Oakland High School’s football field.
NFL FLAG is a fast paced, fun filled game of 5 on 5 flag football where every player is eligible to receive the ball.
There is no contact and no blocking. It is a style of play that is exciting both to play and watch. In East Bay Flag Football's league, the main emphasis is on good sportsmanship, skills building and FUN.
There are 4 Co-ed divisions: 7-8 (8-10 am), 7-8 & 9-10 (10 am-12 pm), 9-10 (12-2 pm),11-12 (2-4 pm) & 13-15 (4-6 pm). Players may enter individually or as entire teams. Cost is $215. Sibling discounts, head coach discounts and needs based scholarships are available. Proceeds go to Children's Hospital Oakland and Bay Kids.
For online registration and more information, go to www.eastbayflag.com.
Town Hall Meeting on OUSD Finances
Want to know more about the OUSD Budget?
Do you have questions or concerns about how the cuts will impact Thornhill, and other schools.?
Come to an OUSD Budget Town Hall – sponsored by the Montera PTO and the Montera Site Council on Wednesday, February 15 at 7 pm in the MUR (Multi-Use-Room).
Speakers include:
Dr. Devin Dillon, Interim Superintendent OUSD
Nina Senn, District 4 School Board Representative
Vernon Hal, Senior Business Officer OUSD
Kim Davis, Montera parent and co-founder of Parents United for Public Schools
This event is open to all District 4 residents.
Support Our Local Montclair Merchants and Earn Money for Thornhill!
Please take a moment to Register Now on BigPie’s website. When you shop at participating businesses (for example, A Great Good Place for Books, Farmstead Cheese & Wine, Crogan’s, Montclair Sports, Annie’s Hallmark and more), you will use your registered email when you make a purchase and the merchant will give back a percentage of the sale to Thornhill!
Questions? Contact Amy Teeling escrip@thornhillschool.org
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 is not accepted.
THANK YOU to everyone who submits articles and to PFC Board Members, Teachers, VP of Communications Mavis Scanlon, 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