Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 27, Issue 15, November 19, 2019
From the principal
Dear Thunderbird Community,
I hope you are having a great week. This week is all minimum days for parent conferences—I hope you all have an opportunity to meet with you child’s teacher and learn more about your student’s growth. Parent conferences are key to partnerships with teachers and the school, and serve to inform you about your child’s development. Thank you for taking the time to attend these conferences; we value this time together.
Sad news: It is with great sadness that I announce that Misty Smith Walton, a parent of the Carl Munck community, has passed recently. Misty was the PTA president and had worked hard to improve her school and community. Our PFC is working on a donation to support her family and if you wish to donate directly, you may do so here.
Native American History Month: As you know this month our students are learning about Native American History. It is my hope that we are having rich discussions about Native Americans at home. There is so much to learn about! Here is a resource for you.
Save the Date: Our annual Benefit Auction will be on Saturday, March 14 at the Fratellanza Club in Oakland. Many more details to come!
Highlight of the week: Thornhill student council elections! I am so proud of all of these students who spent the time to run for positions on the Thornhill Student Council. Thank you for all the time you dedicated to writing, rehearsing, and presenting your speeches. Your courage to lead is impressive. Keep up the good work!!
Happy Thanksgiving Recess!
Mr. Daubenspeck
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Note from the editor
The Thornhill PFC newsletter will be taking Thanksgiving week off for Fall Break (and conveniently timed recovery from knee surgery), so if you have any urgent news for the community, please email vpcommunications@thornhillschool.org to request a Konstella blast.
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BENEFIT AUCTION - SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2020!!!
We have a date! Put it in your calendar! Saturday, March 14, 2020 at the Fratellanza Club. Stay tuned for many more details. Want to help with the planning? We have a team of 20 (yes, 20!) so are super excited that everyone’s part will be small - many hands make light work and we’d love even more hands! (Join the fun committee here.)
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It’s easy-ish being “green”
On any given day, practically everything we do has some sort of environmental implication. The foods we eat, the containers we use to store food, where we shop, the cars we drive, the types of energy that fuels our homes, and so on. The truth is, there’s no sugar coating how hard it can be to integrate sustainable practices into our lives. It’s a choice that we make to change a behavior, and with that, we accept that it may make our lives a little harder or more inconvenient in other ways.
In many cases, there are simple solutions that can go a long way towards reducing waste without being too cumbersome. The Green Team is actively working to bring these solutions to our campus while also being a resource to tackle the more complex issues surrounding waste reduction and sustainability.
We are excited to share highlights of what we’ve been up to.
The Green Team purchased 3 Terracycle boxes for our campus that will be placed in the lunchroom, on the AT porch, and by the Fig Tree after we return from Winter break. These boxes will allow us to collect traditionally non-recyclable items--in this case, candy & snack wrappers--that would normally end up in landfill. The wrappers get shipped to Terracycle, who recycle or upcycle them.
The Green Team will be implementing a broader education plan across the parent, faculty, and student communities. This includes showcasing the work that our 4th grade student leaders are doing and providing ongoing tips and tricks among other things. You’ll be seeing more in future PFC articles as well as on the Green Team tab of the Thornhill website.
Our primary goal is to inspire our community towards sustainable action.
We strive to be a reliable source of education for our community on the very confusing subject of waste management.
We advocate for overall waste reduction in both the student, faculty and parent community.
We aim to create a fun, judgment-free and inclusive culture.
We welcome anyone who is interested in joining our efforts, in whatever capacity and we look forward to supporting Thornhill in these efforts. If you’d like to learn more, please reach out to sustainability@thornhillschool.org.
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Your PFC still needs you!
We’ve been back at school for over 2 months, but still have a few critical positions where we would very truly love your help. Would you please consider jumping in? We would be so appreciative!
Secretary: Attend all PFC meetings and take minutes!
Vice President, Fundraising: Lead the strategy of our fundraising efforts!
Parliamentarian: Take a close look at our bylaws and lead the charge to get them updated!
Co-President: Yes, someone will have to take over from Rex next year, and we hope they could start now and learn the ropes from Rex!
Interested? Questions? Have a parent in mind who would be awesome? Email president@thornhillschool.org.
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Dine Out: Zachary’s Pizza
Deep Dish Deliciousness!
Dine in or take out from Zachary's Pizza on College Ave on Tuesday, December 10 and 15% comes back to Thornhill! Show this flyer (PDF on your phone is fine, or bring a printout) at the register.
Here's the dish...
Who: You! Tired and don't feel like making dinner? Coordinate with a few familiar faces or make new friends over amazingly delicious pizza.
What: Have a great meal, hang with fellow families, and help support Thornhill at the same time.
When: Tuesday, December 10 between 11am and 10pm
Where: Zachary's Pizza, 5801 College Ave., Oakland, CA.
How: When you arrive (to dine in or take out - order ahead works too!), please tell your server you are there for Thornhill. Zachary’s will donate 15% of your bill back to Thornhill PFC.
Eat. Drink. And Raise Money.
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TK/K Coffee & Pastries with the Principal & PFC
TK/K Families,
Please join us for coffee and pastries on the morning of Thursday, December 19 in the TK yard. Principal Daubenspeck, members of the PFC, and the TK & Kindergarten teachers will be there with words of wisdom. We'll also have flyers with ways to become involved, ideas for kid crafts to get through those long vacation days and most importantly, other parents feeling very much like you - connect with each other in this easy way!
Whether this is your first or fourth child in TK/K, please join us to get and give support - one of the reasons you joined Thornhill Elementary. We're all in this together!
Warmly,
Thornhill Hospitality
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Shop & Earn: Last call for Good Eggs
The Good Eggs fundraiser ends on November 30! Please share our code with friends and family that haven't tried Good Eggs before — help us earn Sweet Sydney's cookies for our teachers and hit our bonuses! If 2 new customers join by November 24, we'll unlock cookies for our hardworking teachers. Use our school code tbird2019 at schools.goodeggs.com to join!
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Calendar
The website always has the latest calendar information, and here's what's coming up:
- Monday, November 18 - Friday, November 22: Winter Conference Week (minimum days, no enrichment classes)
- Monday, November 25 - Friday, November 29: NO SCHOOL: Thanksgiving Break
- Monday, December 9: PFC Meeting (6-7pm library) + Taps and Takeout mixer (7-9pm)
- Tuesday, December 10: Dine Out: Zachary's Pizza (11am-10pm, 5801 College Avenue, Oakland)
- Tuesday, December 17: Winter Music Performance, Grades 3-5 (9:15am, MPR)
- Wednesday, December 18: Winter Music Performance, Grades TK-2 (9:15am, MPR)
- Thursday, December 19: TK/K Coffee with the Principal & PFC (8:20am, TK Yard)
- Friday, December 20: Last Day of Fall PFC Enrichment Classes
- Monday, December 23 - Friday, January 3: NO SCHOOL (Winter Break)
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About the Thornhill Newsletter
The Thornhill Parent-Faculty Club (PFC) eNews team publishes this weekly newsletter each Tuesday in the school year to communicate school, PFC and OUSD news, events and information.
Email submissions to our Newsletter Chair, Evie Nagy, at newsletter@thornhillschool.org by 8 p.m. Thursday for approval—nothing sent after this will be included in the following week’s newsletter unless there are extremely compelling extenuating circumstances. It’s fine to include text in the body of the email with links and no formatting, and attach 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, as we need to keep the newsletter focused on need-to-know info for the community.
THANK YOU to everyone who submits articles and to PFC Board Members, Teachers, VP of Communications Erin Proudfoot, PFC President Rex Crum, and Principal Steve Daubenspeck. Member of Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).
Email: webmaster@thornhillschool.org
Website: thornhillschool.org
Location: 5880 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, CA, USA
Phone: 510-339-6800