PTA NEWS FLASH
Indian Knoll Elementary
Letter from the Principal
I am happy to have our winter weather behind us and to move forward with spring in a productive fashion! Our students are working harder than ever to master grade-level standards and to prepare for the Milestone Assessment in April/May, 2021. Please encourage your child to read at home for pleasure whenever they can. The ability to read and comprehend information is the foundation to learning. We value the home to school partnership and will continue to encourage family learning activities and instructional technology programs to enrich our school lessons.
Congratulations to our VIPs. As a recap, we’ve honored several valued stakeholders this year:
- 5th Grade Teacher, Chelsea Leming is a CCSD Teacher of the Year finalist
- Nurse Maria Hicks is our 2021-2022 Support Staff of the Year
- PTA Co-President, Nikki Chambley is our 2021-2022 Volunteer of the Year
- Rising Hills Church is our 2021-2022 Partner of the Year
I would like to thank our wonderful PTA Executive Board and Committee Chairs. They have contributed money for the purchase of more Chromebooks and added additional teacher grants for classroom needs this semester. They support our Staff Member of the Month program, provide teacher appreciation days, and have showered us with treats throughout the year. We are currently looking to fill new PTA chairperson positions, so please let us know if you can serve in this capacity next year. It is a great way to get involved with your children’s school and give back to the community.
I am very proud of our collaborative efforts to stay the course and to make things “as normal” as possible for our students given our circumstances. Thanks again, for your support.
Sincerely,
Kim Cerasoli
Counselor Connections
Mrs. Colleen DeLosh – Grades 4-5
Mrs. Lori Waycaster – Grades K-3
For the month of March we will continue to focus on character education by learning about being kind to others and building one another up with our words and actions.
If you or anyone you know is in need of resources please feel free to contact either one of us at: colleen.delosh@cherokee.k12.ga.us or lori.waycaster@cherokee.k12.ga.us.
2020-2021 IKES Support Staff Employee of the Year ~ Mrs. Maria Hicks
Nurse Maria Hicks and Principal Kim Cerasoli
Nurse Maria Hicks
Assistant Principal Angela Archer, Principal Kim Cerasoli, Nurse Maria Hicks, and Assistant Principal Jennifer Landry
2021 CCSD Teacher of the Year Finalist!
Pictured below:
CCSD Superintendent Dr. Brian Hightower, Mrs. Chelsea Leming, Principal Mrs. Kim Cerasoli, and CCSD Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Debra Murdock
IKES February Teacher of the Month ~ Mrs. Jennifer Schroter
Mrs. Jennifer Schroter
Principal Kim Cerasoli and Mrs. Jennifer Schroter
It’s our 2021-2022 IKES Volunteer of the Year- MRS. NIKKI CHAMBLEY.
Virtual PTA General Meeting
PTA Updates and Announcements
We want to give a huge shoutout to all of our families who have come out to support PTA! Whether you participated in raising money through our Fall Fundraiser, Cherrydale or came out to join us at one of our many spirit nights, we want you to know that your support for your PTA and school are invaluable to us! The funds collected through these efforts are so important as we strive for continuous collaboration to help provide initiatives that our students can benefit from. Even amongst the current safety precautions, we have been able to successfully carry out a number of events. From August to December, we rolled out spirit nights at Buffalo's for our Back to School Night, Johnny's Pizza, Bruster's, 4th and 5th grade Chef Marco's Night, and Dairy Queen! In November, we hosted spirit nights at McDonald's as well as a school wide Marco's Pizza Spirit Night. We had so much fun in December, hosting our final 2020 spirit night at Buffalo's for our tacky sweater themed evening. We have also successfully rolled out and concluded our Cherrydale fundraiser and with your support, were able to raise a lot of money to come back to IKES! We hope you enjoyed our first two sets of designs of spirit wear for the 2020-21 school year! We want to send a special thank you to all who purchased our second design of spirit wear just before the holidays. These were delivered to students prior to the December holiday break. Than you also for all orders for our Spring Spirit Wear Designs! Delivery of orders is expected by or before Spring Break.
As we move through the second half of the school year, we are aware that our current situation continues to evolve. We want you to know that we remain united with you as parents of students at IKES and share a desire to create and maintain a strong and supportive community for all of our students, staff, and families. We want to continue to offer a fun and exciting year, while maintaining the safety and well-being of our IKES community. While we usually plan our events well in advance of the start of school, this year, our approach will be a little different. We will work to minimize changes to our event calendar and maximize the efficient use of our funds towards projects that benefit our entire community. We will be planning digital events and activities to keep all our students, both in person and digital learners, as engaged and involved as possible. Please continue to stay tuned each month!
Get Your PTA Memberships!
Thank you so much to our families, friends, and community members for supporting our school through the purchase of your PTA Memberships during our two membership drives! We truly could not do what we do without the support of our great school family and community! Our most recent membership drive concluded on September 30th, however, memberships are available for purchase for the duration of the school year! Click here to get yours today!
Spotlight on Kindness ~ You! Our IKES Firebird Family
FAMILY....a word that most people associate with those you live with and are related to. But, this IKES FAMILY redefines that word. At Indian Knoll E.S., family means supporting one another and helping one another through our successes and trials. It means building each other up and cheering each other on. One of our fellow Firebirds, Aden Martinez, has been facing a trial of great magnitude and even from afar, his IKES family rallies. Recently, a t-shirt fundraiser for Aden was announced and met with incredible support! Our students and families came out in full support of this wonderful young boy. The fundraiser yielded a sell of over 500 shirts!!
Help us spread some love by sharing wonderful acts of kindness that you do or experience! Let's celebrate compassion together and inspire each other to pay it forward! Please send pictures or stories of your acts of kindness to Nikki Chambley at nchambley.ikespta@gmail.com.
#ikeskindnesscounts #ikeswereinthistogether
Break Out Those Piggy Banks! It's time for the Penny Wars!
- Students/staff drop pennies into tubs. Each birdhouse will have a tub!
- Pennies are worth ONE positive point each and should be put into YOUR HOUSE JAR!
Ready to up the competition?! KEEP READING!
- BRING in nickels, dimes, and quarters to deposit into the tubs of your rival houses and these count as NEGATIVE points for them!
THE VERY BEST PART?! We are donating half of all proceeds to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF)
**NEW THIS YEAR! So that we can include our digital learners and anyone without spare change, we are adding an option to our store where you can donate straight from home! Please visit the IKES PTA Store on MemberHub by clicking the following link:
https://indianknollpta.memberhub.store/store?category=Donations
Thank you in advance for your help and support!
It's IKES Spirit Night at McDonald's
Tuesday, Mar 9, 2021, 05:00 PM
McDonald's, Hickory Flat Highway, Canton, GA, USA
Spring Book Fair! Jungle: Elephants, Tigers, and Books, OH MY!
Our next Scholastic Book Fair will be held in the media center from March 26 through April 2! The book fair offers high quality books that kids want to read, all at affordable prices.
Your child’s teacher will let you know which day your child will be visiting the book fair. Students may pay for books with cash or a check. You can also set up eWallet for safe and secure payment! Just visit our book fair homepage at https://tinyurl.com/ikesspring2021 to get started.
Please contact our media specialist Jennifer Lewis at Jennifer.lewis@cherokeek12.net with any questions you have.
Thank you for supporting the book fair and encouraging a lifelong love of reading!
Box Tops for Education
If you haven't already, please download the Box Tops app! It's a quick and easy way to earn money for your school. It's as easy as 1-2-3!
BIG CHANGES COMING TO BoxTops4Education!!!
BoxTops4Education is in the beginning phases of going completely digital and earning has never been easier!! Follow these simple steps to start earning for our school:
- Download the new BoxTops4Education App
- Create an Account
- Select Indian Knoll Elementary School (Canton, GA)
- Buy BoxTops Products
- Scan Your Receipt within 14 Days of Purchase
- Earn Money for IKES
Please visit the website for more details on how you can earn! https://www.boxtops4education.com/How%20To%20Earn
Spirit Rock Reservations and Painting!!
Another school year brings about opportunity for celebratory shout-outs! Our spirit rock shout-outs were outstanding last year, offering the opportunity for us to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and accomplishments! We can't wait to see all of the creativity on our spirit rock this year! See below for all of the details.
For the 2020-2021 School year, we will also be offering the Spirit Rock for shout-outs on WEEKENDS, HOLIDAYS, and SCHOOL BREAKS! We hope that this will make it easier to provide more opportunities to celebrate our Firebirds!
Spirit Rock Sign-up:
In an effort to make spirit rock sign up as smooth a process as possible, we are continuing our sign-up procedure from last year. Sign-up dates for your special event are listed below. Please click here to go directly to the Spirit Rock Sign-Up:
- August to October dates: released August 7th
- November to February dates: released October 9th
- March to May dates: released February 9th
**Payment will be required at the time of sign up in order to complete your reservation.
***In the event that school is changed over to a digital platform, you will have the option to still paint the rock on the day of your reservation or receive a full refund for the rock rental.
Spirit Rock Painting:
***Please note: Painting for your rock should begin no sooner than 5:00 p.m. on the day before your reservation and will extend through 5:00 p.m. on the date of your reservation.
We have had several parents and/ or family members inquire about hiring someone to paint the spirit rock for their special event. We want to make this a little easier by listing some of those individuals who offer these services. This information can be found in the FAQ document attached to the spirit rock email that will be sent out by Mrs. Cerasoli.
**All of these individuals can be found on Facebook. We will be updating our website soon with this new information.
**Please remember that these services are not affiliated with IKES PTA and will require a separate, additional payment to the artist. Before you book any paint services, please be sure you have reserved and paid your rock reservation with IKES PTA.
If you have any questions regarding spirit rock, please contact Jackie at jackie.ikespta@gmail.com.
IKES Spiritwear Updates!
Thank you to everyone who purchased Fall and/or Winter Spirit wear! We have also just concluded our final spirit wear rollout for the school year. Thank you to everyone for your support through the purchase of spirit wear.
The most recent orders have been submitted and are expected to be delivered before Spring Break. Car magnets, Pony-Os, headbands, and backpack tags can continue to be purchased by visiting our store on MemberHub at: https://indianknollpta.new.memberhub.store/store.
Please contact Rachel Chapman at Rachel.Chapman.ikespta@gmail.com with any questions.
Thank you to our Firebird Flash Card Sponsors!
Thank you to our IKES Sponsors and Community Partners!
PTA
We love to hear from you! Please contact us with any suggestions, comments or questions!
Nikki Chambley Co-President
Jeanette Smith Co-President
jeanettesmith.ikespta@gmail.com
Jennifer Griggs Treasurer
Megan Kaufman Secretary
Christine Dagostino Vice President
Dacia Falter Vice President
Ann Gazell Vice President
Michelle Kramer Vice President
Jennifer Severson Parliamentarian
jenniferseverson.ikespta@gmail.com
Email: ikespta@gmail.com
Website: ikespta.com
Location: 3635 Univeter Road, Canton, GA, United States
Phone: 770-721-6600
Facebook: facebook.com/indianknollelementarypta