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SCHOOL NEWS
Family Math Night – Volunteers Needed
Math Around the World, a great event from the Lawrence Hall of Science, is set for next Wednesday, January 23. It's open house style, and runs from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. We need about 8 to 10 volunteers to work the tables. Please email Lisa Zimmer at lzimmer@mvschools.org if you're interested in helping with this great event.
Garden Work Day This Saturday
Come one, come all and plant an apple tree (and help clean up the garden too!) this Saturday, January 19 between 9:00 a.m. and noon. We are celebrating the one year "rebirth" of the Mill Valley Children's Garden by replanting one dozen heirloom apple tree whips. What a great way for kids and parents to make a lasting impact on our school.
Edna Family Dance
The fabulous Edna Family Dance will be held on Saturday, March 1 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
This is a school-wide event for all students and their families. And this year we’re not going to have one band, we’re not going to have two bands, we’re going to have THREE fabulous bands. Just check out the line-up:
• Returning to rock the event will be Greek Wooden Buddha starring Edna’s own Tommy Toy (dad to 5th grader, Maddy). This band is fabulous and so much fun! But wait, that’s not all…
• Headlining the dance will be Chasing Maya, a wonderful band consisting of six Mill Valley children aged 9 to 11, including Edna’s own Ryan and Reed Felder. You won’t want to miss this show.
• Finally, we plan to have an Edna All-Star Parent Jam Band, an open mic for all you Edna parent/musicians/closet rock stars to get up and jam together! Greek Wooden Buddha will provide the rhythm section and back-up; you just provide the music. Interested? Contact Tommy Toy at tommy@wowpianostudios.com or (415) 388-3901.
Donations at the door and proceeds from snack bar sales will be donated to a charity chosen by your hosts, the Rockin’ 5th Graders of Edna Maguire.
Questions? Please contact Nancy Felder at ronancy@pacbell.net or 381-4371.
One Warm Coat Drive was a Terrific Success
Thanks to the Edna Maguire Student Council and all who contributed to One Warm Coat! Together with Park School, we donated approximately 160 coats. Channel 5 News filmed us when we dropped off the coats at the Hyatt Hotel downtown. It was very exciting and the organization was very thankful for our generous contribution.
REMINDERS
Kindergarten Registration starts this week!
For more information, please visit the Mill Valley School District website.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
www.itavmv.org
Social Thinking Speaker Event
Thursday, January 17, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
District Office, 411 Sycamore Ave.
If you are concerned about your child's social skills, this is the workshop for you! Stephanie Madrigal from the internationally acclaimed Center for Social Thinking in San Jose (socialthinking.com) will present social skills strategies that parents can implement at home. This event is a companion to the Social Thinking training that many of the District's staff members received last year. Parent training will allow students to apply their social skills at home for maximum success.
Executive Functioning: Organizational Strategies for Academic Success Speaker Event
Thursday, February 7, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
District Office, 411 Sycamore Ave.
Does your child (or you!) have the homework blues? Does he or she have difficulty relating a story chronologically or skip steps in a multi-step task? Does he or she lack a sense of time? Problems in a student's ability to plan, initiate, sequence, and sustain work will have a significant impact on his or her success at school and in everyday life. Give your child the tools he or she needs to succeed by gaining a better understanding of executive function. Karen Seekamp, MA, MSed, a learning specialist and executive functioning coach, will give you concrete strategies to assist your child, including tips on how to bring that homework binder to life! This seminar will be particularly relevant to parents of fourth through eighth graders, but parents of all District students are welcome.
Speaker Notes
Many parents have asked for notes from our speaker events. Notes of the following events are now available:
1. September 27 – Dan Phillips (technology that can help your child read and write).
2. October 18 – Pauline Nacamuli, Erin Conklin, and Sarah Stoelting (reading strategies).
3. November 1 – Dr. Virginia Bassi, Janet Miller (support for families/siblings of children with learning differences).
Please contact your school representative, Lisa Santos (lsantos@righnowconsulting.com, 388-1005) or Andrea Brandeis (abrandeis@aol.com, 383-9800) to get speaker notes or with any questions or comments you may have.
KIDDO
The 2007-2008 Kiddo! supporter list is coming
Watch for your name in the Pony Express next month as we print a list of the wonderful parents who have generously supported Kiddo! programs this year. Each school's list will then be compiled and printed in our spring newsletter as a public "thank you" to all of our donors who join with Kiddo! to help the children of Mill Valley public schools reach their full potential. If you have not already done so, please make your contribution or pledge payment by the end of January to be included on this list. Mail to Kiddo!, 409 Sycamore Ave, Mill Valley 94941 or go to www.kiddo.org and make your donation online.
If you would like your name to appear on our stationery as a major donor, your gift of $2,500 or more must be received in our office (or a payment method arranged) by the end of January. This is a special way for us to let you know how much we appreciate your generosity in addition to your invitation to the Major Donor Party in the spring.
Attention Sales and Marketing Types—Help us Make a Difference. Kiddo! is seeking fresh talent to help re-launch and rejuvenate our annual Business Campaign. Currently the campaign generates about $170,000 from local businesses, or about 11 percent of annual Kiddo! revenues. We're confident we can increase this share through strategic planning and careful account targeting and cultivation.
Our Business Committee is looking for volunteers with sales and marketing experience or aptitude. Each volunteer will work independently as an account manager, but the Committee will meet approximately once a quarter to review overall strategy and results. On average, we would not expect the work to exceed more than several hours a month.
Please consider this opportunity to tap your professional skills in a convivial setting and support Kiddo!'s great art, music and other wonderful programs for your kids. For more info, please call Deborah Dilley, Business Committee Chair, at 871-1122 or contact the Kiddo! office (info@kiddo.org; 389-7789).
Interested in Helping Build for the Future? Kiddo! is also looking for people to serve on the Kiddo! Endowment Committee. The committee works on both current and planned giving. Meetings are held in the evening on the first Monday of each month. The Kiddo! Endowment Fund currently funds over 10 percent of annual program costs. For more information, please call Trisha Garlock at 389-7789 ext 1 or email tgarlock@kioddo.org. Easy way to generate more money for Kiddo! An internet search engine, Goodsearch.com (powered by Yahoo!), rebates 1 penny per search to charities. It may not sound like much, but if 1,000 people do two searches a day, this would equal $7,300 during a year. With 2,400 students and nearly 4,000 parents (and most of us search the web multiple times each day), the potential could be unlimited! All you have to do is go to www.GoodSearch.com, select Kiddo! Mill Valley the first time you log on, and it will save your designation for future searches. Give it a try and let's see what we can earn in 2008 for your children! |
