Here's the link to the PTA's
October Newsletter

October Calendar Events

Box Tops for Education Class Competition:  Help your class win the Box Tops competition.  Collect “Box Tops for Education” labels, and then turn them in to your teacher by October 22.  Box Tops earn our school funds for things like student folders and planners.

Cookie Dough:  Right in time for Thanksgiving break, cookie dough will arrive making your holiday treat preparation simple.  Help JME PTA fund field trip buses with one of our biggest fundraisers of the year!  Last year, cookie dough sales funded 15% of all PTA activities.  Let’s see if we can bring that up to 20% this year!  Our goal is to sell 1375 tubs of cookie dough.  Last year we sold 1000 tubs!  We can do this Team Timberwolf!  Orders need to be turned in by October 12.

Auction Planning Meeting:  Help make this year’s auction the most fun and successful one yet!  We will meet at Wendy Dexter’s house to discuss theme, ticket sales, sponsors, and donations.  Come with your great ideas and leave with a full tummy.  We will be eating while we meet.  Please call or email for directions. 510-219-3326 or wendy@condorcountry.com.

Homecoming Float:  Help the float committee construct this year’s float after school on Fridays in Room 11.  Bring your creativity and your kids.  This is a fun way to get involved!

Yankee Candle: Just in time for holiday giving, this new fundraiser is designed to make your holiday shopping and decorating easy.  Catalogs will be in Monday Mail on the 29^th.

Membership Drive: This past month our John Muir PTA brought a whale to school, created an original music CD, started creating the homecoming float, and hosted the amazing Timberwolf Trot.  These activities can only happen with the help of parents and friends of the JME community.  The best way to ensure you can be a part of the action is to become a member of our PTA.  This October, the PTA will be holding a friendly contest to see which grade level can achieve the highest percentage of membership.  We already have over 100 members, but we would love to double that number or more! For each membership you buy ($10), your child(ren) will receive a credit.  If you buy 2 memberships and have 1 student, they receive 2 credits or if you have 2 or more students they each receive 2 credits.  Any grade level that reaches 100% membership, each student will receive a surprise.  The grade level that achieves the highest percentage, will win a special grand prize (TBD).  So look for the flyers next week and join us in making JME a dynamic learning community for all of our students!  The contest will end October 26th.

Membership percentages as of 9/27:

K= 20%   1st= 32%   2nd= 34%   3rd= 35%    4th= 40%    5th= 22%    SDC= 36%

Tune Little CCTimes article

http://www.contracostatimes.com/martinez/ci_21628047/john-muir-elementary-students-get-crash-course-songwriting

 Timberwolf Trot is Today!!!! Parents are welcome to cheer on our Timberwolves at 8:50. If you're able to help tally all those laps, please let Emily or any other volunteers know you are there to help!

GOOOOO Timberwolves!

Whale Week articles

http://www.contracostatimes.com/contra-costa-times/ci_21518150/john-muir-elementary-students-martinez-get-whale-science

Here's a short video clip of puttting the whale skeleton together!
http://bcove.me/87taublk

Wendy & "Mouse" the Baby Blue Whale

Peter dropping some whale knowledge on his audience

 Wow! Whale week at JME has been AWESOME!! I've been getting whale facts from my daughter all week long! Did you know a whale's tongue weighs as much as an elephant? Crazy huh?  Monday was a whale of an event - Superintendent Rami Muth called all the elementary school families & invited them to check out the whale skeleton & our very own model whale. During the few hours I was there, we had a constant flow of kids come in to check out the whale. At any given point there were about 20 kids inside the whale learning all about the friendly, smart mammals from Wendy or Peter while more kids were lining up for their turn in the whale. In addition to our own JME Timberwolves, I saw kids from John Swett, Morello Park & even kids all the way from Stranwood!! Parents & students all loved checking out the skeleton & the blubber experiment as well.

A HUGE thanks to Wendy for putting so much time & effort & just plain LOVE into this experience for our lucky kids at John Muir! A shout out to Peter Crowley, Amanda Tamo, Jen Kennedy, Suzy Snyder, Melvy Exline, Emily Selby, Carrie McConn, Gwen, Kelly Jensen, Sheilah Young, & Dan Sudran of Mission Science Workshop for bringing the skeleton! Thank you so much to all the folks that helped make our Whale Week fantastic!

Back to School Tip - Waste Free Lunches Can Save You Money!!

I wanted to share some of these facts & tips about our kids lunches with you before the start of the school year. Please take a moment to click on the link below & find out how you can help generate less waste & save money - just by packing your kids' lunch! 

Top facts:

• Eliminating disposable packaging and single-serving items can save families $250 a year. (Wastefreelunches.org)
• 40 billion plastic utensils are used every year in just the United States. The majority of these are thrown out after just one use. (Worldcentric.org)
• Families spend $85 a year on disposable plastic baggies. (Sierra Club)
• Each child who brings a brown bag lunch to school every day generates 67 pounds of waste by the end of the school year. (EPA)

We'll create less waste for our school, community & our one and only planet earth!!  Please click on the following link for more information.


Thanks!


Ellen


Ways to Encourage Waste Free Lunches in Schools - reuseit.com

Welcome to the 2012/2013 School Year!

Welcome to the 2012/2013 School Year!

The PTA welcomes you back for another great year at John Muir Elementary!  We have plans for many fun and exciting events this school year including the third annual Walk-a-thon, Science Night, Pasta Feed, and the Auction Dinner Dance just to name a few. We look forward to your support for this year's fundraisers, they are a crucial part of the PTA budget.  Last year we were able to fund the Timberwolf reading program, noon duty supervisors, para-educators, field trip buses for all grade levels, 5th grade planners, 5th grade promotion, Teacher Appreciation Week, spirit-wear sporting our brand new Timberwolf logo, family bingo night, and snacks during the week of STAR testing.

We not only encourage all of you to show your commitment to JME by joining PTA, we ask that you show your support by participating in the numerous events and programs that we have planned throughout the year.  The children love to see their parents, grandparents and family members participating at school. Your participation might be that of a committee member, volunteer, or as an attendee.  Whatever level of participation you select, your time and involvement will certainly be appreciated.  

Our goal this year is to have 300 PTA members.  Remember not just mom and dad can join, we welcome grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, etc.  There will be a contest between the classrooms and the winning room will receive a pizza party provided by the PTA. 

Thank you again, and we look forward to a successful year at John Muir!

John Muir PTA 

John Muir Campus Cleanup

JME Cleanup Day Pics!




I want to personally thank everyone who came to the John Muir Elementary Campus today to work together to beautify and clean up our campus this morning.  The Mormon Helping Hands team, under the guidance of Wes Brinkman, Maynard Christenson and Troy Williams, and the PTA under the guidance of Wendy Dexter, have created a beautiful campus, all ready for our last days of school together for the 2011-2012 year.  You will notice cleaned and weeded garden beds by the amphitheater, cleaned beds in all areas of the campus, new plants and trees offering color and lasting shade, and a great deal of litter covering the playground is now gone!  Thank you to all for your hard work and positive spirit to beautify our school campus.

Lauran

--
Lauran Hawker

Principal, John Muir Elementary School

925-313-0470

205 Vista Way

Martinez, CA  94553

Earth Day is April 22!! Here are some ideas for ways you can celebrate!

Come celebrate Earth Day & John Muir's birthday with us!!! This Saturday, The John Muir National Historic Site will hold events to celebrate our name sake's 174th birthday & the 42nd Anniversary of Earth Day. Admission & parking is free!! Hope to see you there!


 Click on the links below for more details. 
http://www.johnmuirassociation.org/php/bday-earthday/bday-earthday.php
http://www.johnmuirassociation.org/down/Earthday_Events12.pdf




Donate clothes to the Earth Month Contest clothes drive (green and white bin at school)


Attend the California Academy of Sciences or Chabot Space and Science Center’s Earth Week Activities  http://www.chabotspace.org/index.htm

Plant a native plant or tree!

Don't forget to 'follow' our blog to receive updates! We'd love to hear how you celebrated Earth Day! Please leave us a comment!

The John Muir Elementary Earth Hour Challenge 2012

What are you willing to do to save the planet? We challenge you to join millions of others and take part in Earth Hour this Saturday, March 31st at 8:30 pm by turning off your lights, computers & tv's for at least an hour. Encourage your family & friends to take part in this year's Earth Hour & stay tuned for upcoming events to celebrate John Muir Day on April 21st & Earth  Day on April 22nd.

1. What is Earth Hour?

Earth Hour is a global movement uniting people to protect the planet. On the last Saturday of March every year, Earth Hour brings together communities from across the world celebrating a commitment to the planet by switching off lights for one designated hour.

2. When does Earth Hour take place?

Earth Hour 2012 will be held on Saturday March 31 between 8.30PM and 9.30PM in your local time zone.

3. What does Earth Hour aim to achieve?

Earth Hour aims to encourage an interconnected global community to share the opportunities and challenges of creating a sustainable world.

4. What does Earth Hour ask people to do?

Earth Hour encourages individuals, businesses and governments to show leadership on environmental solutions through their actions, to use Earth Hour as a platform to showcase to the world what measures they are taking to reduce their environmental impact. Earth Hour asks everyone to take personal accountability for their impact on the planet and make behavioural changes to facilitate a sustainable lifestyle. Taking the first step is as easy as turning off your lights. By switching off your lights for Earth Hour you are acknowledging and celebrating your commitment to do something more for the planet that goes beyond the hour.

John Muir PTA Auction!

The countdown to our 2012 Hollywood Nights Auction begins!!! This year's auction is on March 10th at the Martinez Masonic Hall. Tickets are now on sale for $25 each & include a delicious tri tip & chicken dinner or grilled portobello mushroom. Tickets are on sale Fridays after school or leave your check made payable to John Muir PTA in an envelope with your name and number in the office & we'll respond with a receipt. There will be music accompanying a silent & live auction, as well as some opportunities to sign up for some really cool events! We hope you're planning on joining us!


If you have something to donate to this year's auction, please contact Danielle Kelly at dskelly67@yahoo.com or Ellen Concepcion at concepcions2002@gmail.com. We are also currently accepting donations of wine for the wine toss. Please contact Danielle Kelly to arrange a drop off time at her home. 


All proceeds go to the PTA to help pay for para educators, noon duty supervisors, Timberwolf reading program, field trip buses & other great givebacks to our school!


Thank you so mush for your support!


JME PTA

Young Rembrandts Classes!

Drawing classes start on Wednesday, 2/15/12!!!