Thank you to all families who participated in our Coat Drive and the Cub Scout Food Drive. Together we collected over 500 lbs of food and coats and jackets for families in need. Your generosity is so appreciated!

Chocolate for a good cause, what could be sweeter? Buy delicious See's Candies to show your support for Alamo Elementary School PTA! Our virtual storefront offers a wide variety of options for all of your gift-giving needs and will be open until December 3rd. At the Holiday Shop on December 9th, the PTA will be selling a limited number of the 3.5oz boxes, perfect for stuffing those stockings! Visit our Yum-Raising shop to purchase your favorites today.

Now go, eat chocolate!

Save the Date!

Alamo School's HOLIDAY SHOP is December 9th from 4-6 at Alamo Elementary in the MPR.

The PTA hosts this annual event so students can have their own wonderful experience of holiday shopping for friends and family. We transform the MPR into a festive Gift Shop, where parents let their children shop on their own. Younger children are escorted by elves to help kids pick out their special surprise gifts. If you feel your younger child requires a parent, please only have one parent accompany your child. Mark your calendars, bring your kids and give them cash or check to buy you, their siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandparents a present! Most gifts are under $10. Don’t miss out on this Alamo kid favorite!

TO make this a successful event, we need:

• Holiday Shop Chairperson! If you are interested in learning how to throw this event, you can learn from us this year, and next year you can be in charge of Holiday Shop! If you are interested, please reach out to taradavina@yahoo.com. We really need someone next year so we can continue this incredible event.

• Gift donations! Anything from wrapping paper to jewelry, sports items, barbecue stuff, handmade products, candles, books, puzzles, beauty products, games, toys…you name it, we need it! If you can get your company to make any donations, whether it’s products or money, so that we can purchase items, we need it! Go through your house and see what you might already have. Drop all donations to the office.

• Volunteers! We still help decorating, clean up, and gift wrapping help the night of the event. Please view the sign-up genius and volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4EADAD2CA5FE3-holiday

• Kid Vendors! In addition to the Holiday Shop, we will have a separate area for kids to set up a table as a vendor and showcase their homemade products. They can set their price point and all proceeds go directly to them. All we ask is that they donate one item to the holiday shop. Vendor tables will be limited, so please don't hesitate to reach out as soon as possible to reserve your spot. The vendor table is for kids 18 and under. Reserve your table at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4EADAD2CA5FE3-holiday .

• Shopping helpers (Elves)! We need older kids (6th grade and up) to come and help the younger kids shop. We would love if all kids can be in a holiday hat to stand out. Each of them will wait at the door and help the younger kids by bringing them in to help shop for their parents. Need them to arrive by 3:45. Please sign your kids up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4EADAD2CA5FE3-holiday

If you have any questions, please contact Tara Gilad at taradavina@yahoo.com. We appreciate all your help!! Thank you!

Important Upcoming Health Event SUDDEN ARRHYTHMIC DEATH SADS: TUESDAY, November 16, 7-8:30 pm

Jordan Maler (DVHS Class of 2011) was healthy, happy, living and working in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, he died suddenly in November of 2019. Jordan was a member of the first four-year graduating class of DVHS, a core member of the Student Leadership Team, a National Honor Society Student, a member of the Wildcat Track Team, and an Intern for the Mayor’s office, among many other activities. After graduation, he attended and graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Orfalea School of Business. He was well into his career, with two years at Facebook and two years at Pinterest when he passed. As a high school student, Jordan complained of “a racing heart,” which his doctors and others dismissed as academic pressure-related anxiety. He was happy and seemingly healthy, but an undetected cardiac arrhythmia caused sudden cardiac arrest that took his life.

Learn more about the genetic conditions that cause Sudden Arrhythmic Death, or SADS. You’ll hear from Jordan’s family who faced this tragic, preventable loss, along with critical information from a Clinical Pediatric Cardiologist to best support parents' awareness of the signs and symptoms of this condition.

Has your child

• Ever complained of a “racing heart”?

• Fainted during exercise, excitement, or when startled?

• Felt consistent or unusual chest pain and/or shortness of breath during exercise?

Does your family

• Have a history of unexpected, unexplained sudden death under the age of 40?

• Know about the genetic conditions that cause SADS?

Have You Heard? Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) claims more than 356,000 lives each year and is the third leading cause of death in the United States. More than 23,000 of those deaths are young people who appear healthy. Sudden Cardiac Arrest occurs in both athletes and non-athletes alike.

Zoom Registration - Open to the Community Register in advance for this zoom event. Please feel free to submit questions for the presenters during registration. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Thank you and enjoy your Thanksgiving break!

Michelle Petersen and Nicole Rocca, PTA Presidents

Square 1 art: Only a few days remain to purchase one-of-a-kind gifts for the whole family and raise funds for our school. You can even upload art for another child or add/replace current artwork pieces to choose from. Check out the Square 1 website for all available items to personalize, or scan the QR code on your catalog. Order due date is this Wednesday, November 17th, and items will be delivered in early December.

Art announcement: Please give a warm welcome to our new art teacher Mrs. Sara Padash! She has a BA in architecture and her passions include art and design. She has lived in the Bay Area for the past ten years and worked for four years at Golestan Kids in Berkeley. Mrs. Padash enjoys working on her own art projects and takes joy in creating art with her students and her own young children. We are excited to have our art program continue and to have this creative outlet for our students.

Save the Date: Mark your calendar for Saturday, May 21, 2022, and join us at the Blackhawk Sports Complex for Bocce, Bubbles and BBQ! This evening will include a bocce tournament, cocktail hour, silent auction, live auction and dinner! Come ready to mingle, bid on auction items, compete for raffle prizes and have fun! Bocce playing is encouraged, but is not required. This event is in lieu of our traditional gala and we are excited for this change. More details to come in the new year!

*Interested in helping plan Bocce, Bubbles and BBQ? Please contact: alamo.edfundauction@srvef.org

Giving Tuesday: Tuesday, November 30th is Giving Tuesday. Please consider giving to Alamo in a number of ways. We have an Amazon Wish List set up for classroom items our teachers would love to have! Please read the instructions here on how to access and purchase items from their list to be sent directly to the school (*Use Amazon Smile for extra credit!). You can also donate directly to the Annual Giving Campaign here or write a check to “Alamo Ed Fund” and deliver it to the office at any time. Don’t forget to submit a corporate match form to your employer if applicable. We thank you for your generosity and hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Holiday Givebacks: Get a head start on your holiday shopping! Are you going to buy holiday cards or photo books with Shutterfly, Tinyprints or Minted? Would you like to get a gift card or Kendra Scott jewelry for a special someone? Part of your purchase can benefit the Ed Fund at no extra cost to you. View our special holiday giveback information for Kendra Scott, Shutterfly, Minted and Sloat Garden Centers here. See our everyday retail info here and don’t forget to sign up for Amazon Smile and designate “Alamo Elementary SRVED Fund” as your charitable organization.

• Follow us on Instagram! @alamoedfund
  
• School Loop Website for all Ed Fund news and events.
• E-mail: alamo.edfund@srvef.org

Lauren Cymerys
Ed Fund President