Due to our Spring Sing nights next week, this months Diversity & Inclusion Committee Meeting will be on Wednesday 3/18 7:00 PM. All are welcome!

• Thursday 3/5 7:00 PM Our next PTO meeting will be held on Thursday, March 5th at 7pm in the Irving Auditorium.  Mr. Sakellaris, Irving 3rd Grade Teacher, will be leading our learning session for March. He will teach us “how to support your child’s learning at home”! All are welcome and childcare is always available.
• Daily: Volunteers needed during lunch hour (11:30 am – 12:25 pm) to guide kids through composting and recycling. Only a one hour commitment whenever it is convenient for your schedule! Seniors and College Students Welcome! The kids love seeing friendly faces in the lunchroom!

Next Week: SPRING SING Concerts 

• Tuesday, March 10th
  Kindergarten – 6:45pm
  Grade 1 – 7:15pm
• Wednesday, March 11th
  Grade 2 – 6:45pm
  Grade 3 – 7:15pm
• Thursday, March 12th
  Grade 4 – 6:45
  Grade 5 – 7:15pm

And if you participated in the online auction, you will be contacted this week if you won and about the parties, the Parent Parties that are not sold out will be added to the square site along with the Teacher Parties. Thanks Irving!

 

Irving School has worked with DivInc to plan immersive activities for the entire school community to enjoy during Black History Month! The last week of the month, February 24th-28th, we are proudly presenting African Heritage Week, which will engage students in highlighting the rich legacies of African Americans to our society.

To culminate our Black History Month and African Heritage Week celebrations, all of our students will be working on a collage project entitled, “Black is Beautiful”, on Friday, February 28th. The finished works will then be displayed throughout the school.

These collages will be created using images taken from predominantly African American publications, such as Essence Magazine, Ebony Magazine, Jet Magazine, and other postitive media portrayals.

We would like to strongly suggest that volunteers who represent a variety of skin tones, (parents, caregivers, and community members), join us in the classroom to help lead the students in this project. The intention is to also help illustrate the diversity and beauty that is the African Diaspora.! This home-school connection will surely be the highlight of the week for our students!

Please review the available slots below for your child’s class and click on the button to sign up.

Knikia Dantzler, a third grade parent and member of DivInc, will be leading this project the day of, and will be coordinating with volunteers. Any questions regarding the project can be directed to her thru email: dantknik@my.dom.edu

Thank you so much for all of your help, and Happy Black History Month!

Please view the SignUp Genius and choose a slot, Only an hour of your time during the day!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e49abaf2aa1f94-black

Let’s face it – parenting the under 5 crowd can make one lonely for adult conversation. And making friends as an adult can be hard.  And you don’t always want to volunteer helping the kids, you get enough of them at home!

That’s why today we are focusing on the great committees of Trivia Night, Room Parents, Class Baskets and Auction & Parent Parties.  What’s great about these 4 committees is that they all have various commitment levels, and at various times during the year. One of them is bound to fit into your schedule, and will help you get to know other parents by just having fun AND by giving back to our wonderful community.

Trivia Night:

Who They Are: Committee- Kara Sakellaris, Nick Sakellaris, Courntey Sakellaris, Nicole Daniel, Alicia Boddy, and the Biggins family.

What They Do: Organize parents fundraiser trivia contest in November.

• Nick writes all trivia and MC’s the event.
• Kara does score keeping, raffles, and money.
• Daniel, Boddy, and Biggins family DOMINATE donations from community (money, raffle items, food to be served as part of the event).

Time Commitment:  They plan late September and early October-November. Event is early to middle of November.

Additional Thing To Know: Biggins family has secured Fitzgeralds and handled all sign-ups for past 2 years.

Room Parent Coordinator:

Who They Are: Jessica Ocken, Michelle Ahring and Mindy Everett

What They Do: Ensure that each classroom as at least two room parents to help with social and academic events and to serve as a link between the teacher and other parents.

Time Commitment: Much of the recruiting and organizing is done in early part of the school year.  Lots of the work is done via email (either as Room Parent Coordinator or as Room Parent) as you relay messages from the PTO and teachers, or organize class parties, gifts and baskets (see below).

Fun Fair Class Auction Baskets:

Who They Are: Lettie Sullivan and Jessica Royer Ocken co-chairs.

What They Do: Organize parents and teachers to provide donations for class baskets and supervise basket auction during fun fair in February.  (They make sure the classes baskets are collected, and then organize the bid sheets and work they tables during the Fun Fair).

Time Commitment?

• First of all, Jessica recommends that at least one of the co-chairs also be the room parent co-chair – as you’d already be keeping a database of emails and names of room parents.
• Work on the baskets should start in January. Next year they’ll have a whole list of basket ideas so that the room parents can utilize what works.
• Lots of time on email (explaining the baskets, helping them choose themes, giving them instructions and deadlines, and letting them know where to drop off their completed baskets for the Fun Fair.
• Monitor bidding the day of fun fair – then coordinate who won, payment and pickup.

Jessica’s Additional Thought: “It’s a pretty short-term commitment that’s a good way to get to know people and have fun. The Fun Fair is always a great day, and it was exciting to be there and in the mix of all the action”.

And Finally: Auction and Parent Parties:

Who They Are: Michelle Ahring (Auction and Parent Parties), Kelly Belmont & Jennifer Carizey (Auction)

What They Do: Generate donations, coordinate marketing, and handle sponsor recognition. Lots of opportunities for people who can volunteer any amount of time.  For the Parent Parties: Generate and organize parent parties for the online auction.

Time Commitment: Michelle started looking for committee co-chairs last summer.  Made first fb post asking if anyone wanted to help in the early fall.  Had first meeting in November.  Decided who would be in charge of what and laid out a to-do list.  Once early January hits they are on the ground and running.  It’s a big job made bigger with not-enough-help.  If this committee had 2 more co-chairs it would be ideal.  Michelle spends about 6 to 8 hours a week for 5 weeks on this, myself.

Michelle’s Additional Thought: “I feel proud of the items we’ve gathered and the parent parties we’ve helped create.  It’s incredibly rewarding knowing how much money we are going to be raising for our school.  I love Irving and the community of people that make it up and am honored to give back.”

So if you are looking for a way to meet other parents, and have fun doing non-kid things – reach out to us to get involved! Thanks for reading!

• 2/24-2/28 African American History Week – Details here!  Check calendartoo for daily events.
• The Irving Online Silent Auction is open until 2/28th @ 10pm.  Log in, sign-up and add your credit card information. http://one.bidpal.net/irvingsilentauction
• Teacher Parties! Did you miss the chance to sign up for some? We still have a handful left! Check out our square site for details and to purchase tickets.
  • • Friday, March 6th from 3 – 5 pm: Fun Friday Pizza, Sundaes and a Movie with Ms. Brinson and Ms. Stenger! $25 – 1 Space Available
    • Wednesday, March 18th from 2:30 – 4:30 pm – Join Ms. Kaunelis, Ms. Pelling and Ms. Zience for popcorn and a movie! We will be watching Secret Life of Pets 2 and enjoying some yummy popcorn in Ms. Kaunelis’ room (218)! $15 – 15 Spaces Available
    • Thursday, April 2nd from 3:00 pm-5:00pm – Join Señora Zaragoza to watch “Dora the Explorer and the Lost City of Gold” in Spanish. Enjoy snacks and drinks while you watch! $15 – 2 Spaces Available
    • Tuesday, April 7th, from 3 to 4:15 pm – Do you enjoy drawing, doodling, writing, and expressing yourself? Come to Mrs. Heidloff’s Artists’ Retreat! Students will enjoy a relaxing afternoon of creativity and collaboration with new friends. Students can bring their favorite notebooks, pens, pencils, and/or markers. Mrs. Heidloff will provide a snack and some drawing tools to share. $15 – 10 Spaces Available
    • Wednesday, April 8th @ 2:30 pm – Title 1 Team Ice Cream Social – Come to Room 208, play games and make ice cream sundaes! $15 – 1 Space Available
    • Friday, April 24th @ 11:30 – Nail Party with the 1st Grade Team. Bring your lunch to Ms. Gibson’s room, eat lunch and get your nails done! $15 – 1 Space Available
    • Spring TBD @ 11:30 – Join the kindergarten teachers for a Garden Party. We will bring our lunches outside for a picnic, garden exploration, and games during the lunch hour. This is open to Kindergarten Only. $10 – 2 Spaces Available