Pinkerton Elementary PTO: Latest News

The Science of Spin will be at Pinkerton today. All grades will have a 45 minute presentation on the science behind yoyo’s and spinning tops.

Yoyo’s and spinning tops will be sold at school today through Friday. The Science of Spin will adjust the string to your child’s height. Last time, we sold out before Friday.

Please send cash only in an envelope with your child’s name and class on it. They will be able to pick out their yoyo/top after the program today.

The kids have loved this program in the past!

Our All Star Fun Run program kicks off today with a pep rally in the gym at 2:00 p.m. All are welcome to come and watch the fun!

Today your child(ren) will bring home a pledge kit. The kit provides instructions on obtaining pledges and includes a special access code for your child to enter pledges online at All Star Fun Run. You will have two weeks to obtain pledges. Daily prizes are given out at school for students with pledges beginning at $1.00 per lap. Collection of pledged funds will begin February 3rd. The pledged funds (if check or cash) will need to be collected on or before February 9. On-line credit card payments may be made through a pay-pal account. Details on this will be provided soon.

The majority of the raised Pinkerton funds will go towards a Spanish language program for all grades. The remaining funds will be allocated towards teacher classrooms and the PE program.

If you have any questions and/or comments, please e-mail Katie Jobe at jobekatie@verizon.net.

Thank you for your participation. Go Pinkerton students!

Welcome back to school in 2012! I hope you and your family had a wonderful time over the holidays! We are looking forward to a great second semester of school here at Pinkerton!

The Pinkerton staff has been working hard this year on writing integrated curriculum units using the Understanding by Design, or Backward Design approach. Our goal at Pinkerton is to use inquiry-based learning and best practices to prepare our students for the 21st Century. We also strive to recognize their multiple intelligences and interests, and allow them to be active members in their learning process by allowing for self-reflection of learning and goal-setting opportunities.

As you may have noticed, our outdoor learning pavilion is almost complete. We will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony later this spring. Thank you to our PTO, and Drew Smith, for finally helping to make this vision possible. We look forward to using this pavilion for engaging outdoor learning opportunities related to the garden.

Thanks to our wonderful parent support and generosity during our fall write-a-check campaign, we were able to order more technology for our campus through the district’s technology matching funds program. Some of the items ordered were:

• A Macbook Pro cart with 10 laptop computers
• 15 Apple iPod Touches
• 10 Dell Netbook computers

We hope to continue to add more technology items in the future. As you can see, Pinkerton is the place to be for engaging learning opportunities!

Please see the attached flyer CGA Winter Symposium for more details regarding the upcoming event on February 4.

The next Cowpoke Credit Union will be February 3rd in the cafeteria from 7:30-7:45 am. See you there!

Please see the attached flyer Health & Education Expo regarding the upcoming event on Feb. 4 at Coppell High School.

Our All Star Fun Run fundraiser kicks into high gear beginning January 23rd. A pep rally will be held January 23rd at 2:00 p.m. in the gym. For 2 weeks, students will learn these leadership skills – to appreciate, serve others, to be considerate, to encourage, to never give up, and be dependable (known as ASCEND). They also will prepare for their fun run on February 2nd, while trying to earn money for the school. Donations will be requested to support each student’s run goal. K-2nd and 3rd-5th grades will run at 12:30 pm and 1:45 pm, respectively. Please come to support the students. A flyer will be coming home in the students’ folders with more detail.

The majority of the monies raised from the event will go towards a Spanish language program for the entire school. Other proceeds will go to teacher classrooms and the PE program.

Volunteers still are needed for race day to help distribute water and mark t-shirts and for contribution collection days, beginning February 10th. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Katie Jobe at jobekatie@verizon.net.

We plan to hold our first international night at Pinkerton in April and would love volunteers to help plan the event! Please come to our committee meeting on the 25th in the Pinkerton cafeteria to learn more about it. If there is a country you would like showcased at the event, please let us know at the meeting or email Katie Jobe at jobekatie@verizon.net.

The Bluebonnet Reading Program at Pinkerton comes to an end on Friday, January 13. Thank you to all students who participated, and these students will celebrate this reading feat in the Spring. Students will vote for their favorite of the 2011-2012 Bluebonnet books and send in the results to the State of Texas at the end of this month. The winner will be announced in early February. The next Bluebonnet Reading program will begin in April! Congratulations to everyone who read 20 Bluebonnet Books!

We have a visiting author for 5th grade next Thursday, January 19, at 1:20 p.m. His name is Michael Buckley, and he writes the N.E.R.D.S. series and the SISTERS GRIMM series. He will be here for one hour to share his writing experience and sell and autograph his popular books. If you’d like to order one of his books, please see Mrs. Sine. Order forms are being sent out to 5th graders this week.

Thanks!
Cindy Sine
Pinkerton Librarian

The next 6 week session of the Mad Science after school learning labs starts February 2. Please see the attached flyer Mad Science for more information or go to their web site www.madscience.org/dallas.

Does your restaurant feature international cuisine? If so, we need your assistance at our 1st International night. It will give you an opportunity to showcase your restaurant with donated samples as well as enjoy a night filled with entertainment from around the world. However, owners do not have to be present at the event. Please contact Katie Jobe at jobekatie@verizon.net for further details.

If you do not own a restaurant, but know of one whose owner may be interested in this opportunity, please contact Katie Jobe.

Your child is able to participate in the Six Flags Reading Program again this year. Our students can earn a free ticket to Six Flags by reading six hours between January 3 and February 23. That’s about seven weeks! Please look for the bright blue two-sided paper to come home this week that explains the entire program, and it tells how to keep track of the time. Reading for homework or classwork does not count, but you can read to your child or your child can read to you (as well as read silently). The deadline is February 23, and the tickets will be sent to us in May. This is a great reading incentive!

All Bluebonnet participants in third through fifth grade need to turn in their paperwork to Mrs. Sine by Friday, January 13. Students who have read at least five current Bluebonnet books this year are eligible to vote for their favorite one. Those votes will be sent to the State of Texas for tabulation, and the winning book should be announced during the first week of February. This is an exciting time in the world of Bluebonnet books for sure!

Happy New Year! We started off our new year on Tuesday, January 3 with Words of Wisdom on the announcements about setting goals and aspiring to do our very best in whatever we do. In the words of Robert Browning, an English poet, “Our goals are our possibilities.” Students were encouraged to think about some goals they would like to work towards this year and write them down.

In guidance this month, we will be reviewing our conflict management skills and role playing effective ways of handling small problems. It is always fun and enlightening for me to watch the students create their skits that dramatize the small problems they encounter in their day as well as skills they can use to resolve their problems. For extra practice, you might try role playing at home with your children with some “what if” type situations.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

kkirkley@coppellisd.com or 214-496-6876

Come and join us at CiCi’s next Thursday, January 12th from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for Pinkerton Spirit Night. Dine-in or get take-out, but please drop your receipt in the Pinkerton box so your contribution gets counted. Show your school spirit by wearing your Pinkerton t-shirt or a red shirt! CiCi’s is located on Denton Tap in Coppell.

The last Box Tops collection for this school year has begun, and the collection sheets will be coming home soon. However, you can start collecting now by clipping the box top on the dotted line and placing them in a Ziploc bag (which is the preferred method) and include the student’s and teacher’s names. The top collecting class will receive free ice cream treats from Dairy Queen, so the teacher’s name on the submission is imperative!

Please remember to check the expiration dates as expired dates cannot be submitted and will not count towards the contest. Also please ensure that it’s a “Box Tops for Education” and not “Labels for Education” which are often found on canned foods. If you have any questions, please contact Kim Henley, Community Support Coordinator, at kimberly.henley@verizon.net. The collection deadline is Friday, February 17th. Thanks for your participation and good luck!

We are in need of 5 more volunteers to help facilitate our All Star Fun Run fundraiser in January. The fundraiser will last two weeks and is intended to build leadership among the students. On the last day of the fundraiser, the students will run laps around the Pinkerton track while earning money for the school.

Volunteers are primarily needed on race day and for the collection process after the race.

If you are interested and/or would like more information, please e-mail Katie Jobe at jobekatie@verizon.net.

Please turn in any receipts from Vista Ridge Mall by Wednesday January 4th to count towards the 1st half of the year My School is Cool contest. The receipts must be dated August 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011. There is a collection envelope inside the school office or it can be dropped off in Pinkerton’s locker located in the 1st floor atrium of the mall. Vista Ridge distributes $20,000 to the top collecting area schools – $5,000 in January to the top three and an additional $15,000 at the end of school. There are ten schools in the contest and as of now Pinkerton has approximately 4,500 points which is great but New Tech is in first place with over 50,000 points so I know we can get more points! Student enrollment is taken into consideration in tabulating and awarding the top schools. There will be a separate contest for the second half of the school year so please keep saving your receipts and remember Wednesdays are double points. If you have any questions, please contact kimberly.henley@verizon.net, PTO Community Support Coordinator.

Welcome the new year by supporting the PTO next Thursday, January 5th for Pinkerton Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A in Lewisville from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Drive-thru and to-go orders also count towards our total and Chick-fil-A donates a generous 20% of our sales directly back to our PTO. Please remember to drop your receipt or duplicate receipt in the Pinkerton collection box. Show your school spirit by wearing a red shirt or your Pinkerton t-shirt. Chick-fil-A is located at 483 E. Round Grove Road, across from Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville. We hope you’ll join us there!

Please see the attached flyer Red & Black Attack.

Our Bluebonnet Reading Program will end next month on Friday, January 13, 2012. Pinkerton third, fourth, and fifth graders are eligible to participate, and they have been reading and summarizing their 20 books since last May. Be sure all the paperwork is turned in by January 13th. Our celebration will occur later next spring.

Help your student find books to read over the holidays, and have a fabulous, relaxing holiday break.

Cindy Sine
Librarian

Teacher wish lists, classroom holiday parties, musical program, and a teacher luncheon filled the month of December.

Thank you to all who gave the teachers a wish list item!

The 5th grade put on a spectacular holiday show. A big thank you to Mr. Phillips for directing the fun program.

This past Wednesday the teachers enjoyed iFratelli pizza and foods prepared by PTO volunteers and parents. Thank you to all who contributed to the luncheon.

Have a wonderful winter break and new year!

Liam Moore from 5A wants to thank everyone who helped him meet his goal for the Operation Care International “Warm Our Community” coat drive. All of the donated coats from Pinkerton are now being matched with their new owners in hopes of keeping them warm. THANK YOU!

Thanks for all the donations to Metrocrest Social Services! Your generosity will be felt by many families in and around our community.

Have a Happy Holiday!

Please see the attached flyer Candy Grams. This fundraiser supports the 4th Grade Scholarship Fund. Candy Grams are $1 each and will be delivered Thursday, December 15th.

Thanks to those who have already been so generous with your donations to the Metrocrest Drive! Donations of unwrapped toys and canned goods are still being accepted through the morning of December 15th. Metrocrest Social Services will distribute the items to those in need in our area. Donations may be left under the tree in the front entrance area. For more information on Metrocrest, please visit the website at Metrocrest Social Services.

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight…

Now is the time to find out what your teacher is wishing for during this holiday season. We have a BRAND NEW WAY!!!

Go to Volunteer Spot and you can find the wish lists for all of our wonderful Pinkerton teachers. It is a great way to get them something they need in the classroom.

For veteran Pinkerton families this is instead of the wish tree on campus where you would have to go inside Pinkerton and pull an ornament off the tree. We are hoping this makes it easier, more efficient and simpler for families to find out what their teacher would like to have at the holidays.

Of course, this is not required. It is merely a suggestion as you are purchasing gifts for those you are thankful are in the lives of your family.

We appreciate the hard work that all the Pinkerton staff puts forth throughout the year. This is simply a nice time of year to show them that appreciation.

Enjoy the holiday season!

Your Homeroom Coordinators,

Julie Bartolacci & Amy Guerrero

Please be reminded that the 4th and 5th grade Rova Marimba Ensembles along with the 6th grade Zimma-Rimba will be performing at Vista Ridge Mall tonight, December 7th, at 7:00pm. The performance will last approximately 45 minutes. The ensembles will perform in the first floor atrium right beside the large Christmas tree. Don’t forget to turn in your shopping receipts for the My School is Cool contest and remember that shopping at Vista Ridge on Wednesdays earns double points! Go Pinkerton Marimba!

Come and join us at CiCi’s tomorrow night, Thursday, December 8th from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for Pinkerton Spirit Night. Dine in or get take-out, but please drop your receipt in the Pinkerton box so your contribution gets counted. Show your school spirit by wearing your Pinkerton t-shirt or a red shirt! CiCi’s is located on Denton Tap in Coppell. We hope you’ll be there!

For your convenience, a curbside drop off will be available in both loops on Tuesday, December 6th from 7:30-8:00 for the Metrocrest Donation Drive. For a full list of suggested canned goods and toys, please visit the website at Metrocrest Social Services.