From PTO Today - Top 6 Exercises

From the April 2010 issue of PTO Today - "The #1 Resource for Parent Groups":

Top 6 Exercises for PTO Leaders

1. Cookie dough shrugs - Hold a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough in each hand; scrunch shoulders upward. Repeat until cooke dough thaws.

2. Dunk Tank Water Aerobics - March in place or swim in circles for one hour. Who cares who's watching - you've just burned 500 calories!

3. Welcome Lunges - Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, step far forward with one foot and hug new parents as they enter the school building. Repeat as needed, alternating sides.

4. Budget Crunches - Do a sit-up for every dollar your teacher luncheon committee has spent over its budget.

5. Principal Pilates - Bend over backward, jump through hoops, and stand on your head until he approves the space permit for bingo night.

6. Student Bench Presses - Lying on a cafeteria bench, lift a student above your head. Start with the little kindergarteners for the first few weeks, then work your way up to the bigger weights, like 5th graders.

PTO stands for Parent Teacher Organizations, which includes those units similar to a PTA or PTSA but who don't fall under the national umbrella of National PTA.

One member's poem about bankruptcy

From PTA member Glenn Grimm:

"Bankruptcy - Foreclosure"

With a credit card
and their good name
They were drawn
like a moth to a flame

-GG

Cookie dough pick-up times

Don't forget to pick up your cookie dough orders at Mt. View Elementary:

Wednesday, April 28th - 2-6 p.m.

Please come by to pick up during these times or have your student pick up as they are leaving school!

Thanks very much for supporting Mt. View and PTA through this fundraiser!!

Our 2009-2010 Business Partners

Please support our Business Partners! If you would like to become a Business Partner of Mt. View PTA, please contact Tara-Lyn Poole. Click the ads below for a larger picture.

You can visit them on the web:
Van Dorm - Annie Robinson & Beverly Thomas
Mary Kay - Tara-Lyn Poole
Akbar's Karate School
Pampered Chef - Tabitha Gant
Edward Jones - Janelle Embrey
Sunshine Cleaning - Laura Herrick (http://www.olympiasunshinecleaning.org)

Please send in your pics for the yearbook

If you have any fabulous pics that should be considered for the upcoming yearbook, please send them to our Yearbook Chair, Jodi Boutin. She asks that they be received by the 20th - a mere two days away. This was announced at last week's PTA meeting but I failed to publish this to the web site immediately. Please accept my apologies for the delay!

- Brian Morgan
PTA President (2009-2010)

Here are your April meeting minutes!

Here is a link to April's meeting minutes, in case you weren't able to join us. We had a slightly longer meeting, with my apologies, but elected next year's officers, appointed a Budget Committee and a Financial Review Committee - all important and necessary business! Thanks so very much to those of you who could attend and make sure we could have a quorum of at least ten members.

See you in May! We need a quorum yet again so that we can review and hopefully approve a budget for 2010-2011, allowing next year's Board to spend PTA monies over the summer, if necessary. This is frequently helpful in preparing for the year, particularly for Open House before the 1st day of school.

Here is the link to the list of next year's officers - please congratulate and thank them!

Mt. View PTA reimbursement form

Here is the Mt. View PTA's reimbursement request form (Adobe or Word), especially handy for teachers who are requesting either reimbursement for school supplies or for upcoming field trips and the like... please submit either electronically to us at mtviewpta@hotmail.com or put it in the PTA mailbox in the staff lounge.

Thanks!

Budget update from NTPS Superintendent

Good morning!

As you may have heard, the Legislature finally passed the state budget. The forecast for state funding for the near future is still rather grim, but a long-term plan is in place for the state to fully-fund basic education by 2018.

Today, I am pleased to announce that our own budget reductions will be much less than originally anticipated. At this time, we expect net reductions for our district to come in around $500,000. This will be covered for the most part by the elimination of a state Learning Improvement Day (LID) and attrition. We will also need to continue to find efficiencies and continue to be good stewards of the resources that we are provided. That said, the good news is in short – no staff cuts.

This is possible in part because the state has raised the levy lid to 28 percent, providing the opportunity for districts to raise more local resources on their own. Though North Thurston Public Schools will not take advantage of this full amount, it will allow us to collect more local levy funding based on February’s election. While I am thankful that we will not need to make any significant reductions in our classrooms, and appreciate the tough decisions that legislators had to make this year - I am disappointed that they did not fulfill their constitutional responsibility and again passed the burden of Basic Education funding further onto the shoulders of local voters.

This is the least we have had to cut from our budget in many years and for that we should be grateful, but also not lose site of the task we all have in keeping full funding of basic education at the forefront of our district and state.

Thank you again for all you do each and every day for children despite these obstacles and tight resources. You are doing an amazing job for students and our community and I continue to be inspired by your dedication!

Sincerely,

Raj Manhas

April PTA newsletter posted

The latest and greatest edition of the PTA newsletter is now available here. It will also come home via kid mail as soon as possible. If you have anything you would like considered for publication in the May edition, please contact Tara-Lyn Poole no later than Friday, April 30th.

Congratulations to your 2010-2011 officers

Congratulations to the incoming officers, elected at tonight's meeting and who will take office on July 1, 2010:

President - Tara-Lyn Poole
Co-VP - Raegan Stevens
Co-VP - Jodi Boutin
Co-Secretary - Cat Potter
Co-Secretary - Laura Herrick
Treasurer - Tabitha Gant

You'll see above a nice mix of current and new Board members, with Tara-Lyn serving as Co-VP this year and Tabitha as Treasurer. It's always good to have some new faces and ideas!

Please thank them and support them as they take on these roles. Thanks for stepping up and volunteering to serve as officers and Board members! Mt. View and PTA will be better off with you being involved and integral in what PTA does best - supports students and the learning environment.

Have you ever seen your principal in a tutu?

Around the District

Principals dress up for reading and hearts: To an outside visitor, seeing two grown men dressed up in a purple tutu and tiara, and a Sponge Bob costume (respectively) might have been a bit shocking, but then they don't know much about principals Randy Weeks (Mountain View) and Gary Culbertson (Lacey). While the dynamic duo donned their costumes for different causes on the same day, the support and giggles they received from students were universal and well worth any humiliation suffered. Mountain View raised nearly $3,500 for the school's annual "Jump Rope For Heart, Hoops For Heart," fundraiser, which supports research and awareness for heart problems by the American Heart Association. Lacey students made reading their cause, by circling the school twice with paper chain links earned by reading 10 minutes for kindergartners to an hour for staff for over a month. To honor them, principal Culbertson dressed up as cartoon character Sponge Bob Sponge Square Pants. Read more in The Olympian.

The above is taken from the NTPS Success pages