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Bear Facts Newsletter President’s Message It’s hard to believe there is just a few weeks left in the school year! I'm really not sure where the year has gone, but it does not appear to be slowing down and these last few weeks continue to be busy ones for PTA. Our final Scholastic Book Fair for the year took place on May 2nd to May 6th. Thank you to all the volunteers and supporters who helped make this event successful. The Bellevue Art Museum will be showcasing works of art in the Briarwood Library the week of May 9th. All students will get a chance to look at the artwork during their normal library time. Be sure to ask your student to tell you about their favorite piece. On May 18th our 5th graders will be heading out to Camp Coleman for a final fare-well to elementary school! A big thank you to all our 5th grad parents who have vol-unteered over the years. You will all be missed! Friday, June 3rd we will host our annual school Carnival, followed by Field Day on Friday, June 10th. Both these events require a lot of parent volunteers. Volunteer information will be posted on the website soon for anyone interested in helping out.

(Continued on page 4)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

March Winners MAH/RAH…...2

Spring Book Fair……...…..……….2

Spring Fundraisers Recap……...2

Carnival………..……….....…….…...3

Field Day….………….....……………3

WSPTA Award/VIS…………….....4

ISF/Community News……….…..5

Calendar……………………………….5

Briarwood Elementary School, Renton WA Issaquah School District Local Unit 2.6.5

May, 2016 Volume 11, Issue 5

2015-2016 PTA BOARD

President: Erin Thacker briarwoodpresident@outlook.com Secretary: Alison Larsson aklarsson@comcast.net Treasurer: Seung Park briarwood.pta.treasurer@gmail.com VP of Fundraising: Rebekkah Leibowitz rebekkahjl@yahoo.com Co-VP of Programs: Nicole Morgan nickycole.nm@gmail.com Tira Will tirataylortatum@gmail.com Michelle Peeples-Art mnpeeples@gmail.com VP of Family Nights: Danielle Hunter dee.hunter@hotmail.com

VP of Volunteers: Kristen Slocum londonslocum@gmail.com

VP of Communications: Michelle Splaver briarwood.pta.media@gmail.com At-Large Members*: Laila Collins Laila.collins@comcast.net Karen Nelson karenandgeoff@comcast.net Staff Liaison*: Kelsey Smith smithk3@issaquah.wednet.edu *Appointed Position—all others selected

Newsletter Editor: Michelle Splaver

Website: http://briarwoodelementarypta.org/Home

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS! To the following Chairs and their teams of volunteers who did an outstanding

job with their March through April events and committees:

Missoula Children’s Theatre: Em ily K lein

McTeacher Night: Lynda Maybury and shadow Brittany Am andus

Otis Spunkmeyer Fundraiser: Sheryl Petersen

Math at Home Mid-Year Drawings: Jen Catherall and Nicole Morgan

Read at Home Mid-Year Drawings: Jen Orton and Nicole Morgan

Science Fair: K ris Pottsmith, K im Ricks, Anu Zade and Greta LaMont

Family Movie Night: Nicole Morgan

Congratulations to the following people who were

nominated by their peers.

March — Katrina Rockey & Darla Vaughan

April — Kris Pottsmith & Tira Will

They will receive flowers for their tireless dedica-tion during the months of March and/or April.

Reminder:

PTA General Membership

Meeting

Monday, May 16 @6:30 PM

Briarwood Library

All are Welcome!!

VOLUNTEERS INSPIRE PRAISE (VIP’S)

Thank you to all that supported

our Spring Fundraiser!! We net-

ted over $7,600!! Congratulations

to Mrs. Rahlfs' class who earned

an Ice Cream Party for the high-

est amount of class sales. Con-

gratulations to Ryann Baker from

Mrs. Harrington's class for having

the highest individual sales total.

We are looking for a co-chair to

help organize this fundraiser next

year in the Spring of 2017. If you

are interested, please contact

Sheryl Petersen.

Program Chair: Sheryl Pe-

tersen, sheryl_pet@hotmail.com

We had a very successful

McTeacher night thanks to our

Staff and Briarwood Families!

Our PTA profit was $2,656 for a

growth of 18% over last year. Tips

were up over 21% from last year.

The 4th Grade won the competi-

tion for the most tips donated

followed by the 5th Grade in sec-

ond place. 100% of the tips went

directly back to the PTA.

Program Chair: Lynda

Maybury ,

lynda.maybury@gmail.com

Programs & Event Updates

MARCH WINNERS OF THE TRAVELING BEAR & MONKEY

Math at Home: Ms. Van Heuven’s Class with 58% Participation

Congratulations! The traveling m onkey, Mathtilda w ill be in your classroom for the month of April in recognition of your classroom achievement!

Program Chair: Jen Catherall, thecatheralls@hotmail.com

Reading at Home: Ms. Van Heuven’s Class with 62% Participation

Congratulations! The traveling bear , Chap w ill be in your classroom for the m onth of April in recognition of your classroom achievement!

Program Chair: Jen Orton, jenchap73@hotmail.com

The Bi-Annual Drawings for these programs will be in May and the Grand Prize Drawings in June!

STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK MAY 2-6

Hopefully April showers will bring May flowers and sunshine for National Teacher Appreciation

Week. We will be blessing our wonderful staff with goodies and fun. Every day will have some-

thing yummy to eat.

On Thursday, May 5 we have a brunch-themed potluck luncheon scheduled (If you're interested in

providing a dish— homemade or store bought for this Brunch-Lunch please contact Nicole and

she will add your email to Sign-Up Genius distribution list, or watch our website.

If you would like to show your appreciation for a particular teacher or staff member for all they do

for our precious children, a list of their “Favorite Things” is on the main page of our website.

Program Chair: Nicole Morgan, nickycole.nm@gmail.com

SPRING

FUNDRAISER

RECAP

SPRING SCHOLASTIC BOGO BOOK FAIR

MAY 2-6

BRIARWOOD LIBRARY

Hours of operation are during lunch recesses and after school.

Special shopping hours are also available Wednesday evening and before school on Friday

morning. Please see the website for a complete list of hours.

Program Chairs: Holly Archibald, nfarchibald@comcast.net and Katie Breuel,

breuel422@comcast.net

THE LUNCH TIME BOOK SWAP

IS COMING ON MAY 27

LUNCH RECESS IN THE COMMMONS

On the day of the book swap, each student can bring gently used books they no longer read or

want from home and swap them for books brought in by other students. This is a book for book

trade. For example, if a student brings 6 books, they will choose 6 books to take home. It’s a great

way to clean out your bookshelves and replenish with new and interesting titles. There will be a

prize awarded to the class with the most participation and students who bring in 10 books will get

their name entered in a special prize drawing.

Program Chair: Tanya Platt, tanyap@microsoft.com

Programs & Event Updates

Congratulations to Mrs. Peschl’s

class who collected 338 Box Tops and

LFE’s in the month of February and

Mrs. Vanderwel’s class who col-

lected 780 Box Tops and LFE’s in the

month of March. Their classrooms

earned free popcorn on popcorn Fri-

day.

The classroom that has collected the

most Box tops/Labels for Education

this school year will earn an Ice

Cream Party in June! The final dead-

line to turn in Box Tops/LFE’s for the

Ice Cream Party is May 31st. You can

still turn Box Tops/LFE’s in until the

end of the school year, they just will

not count for the Ice Cream party.

The Campbell’s Labels for Education

program (Soup labels) will be ending

this year. We can still accept your

labels until the end of the school year.

The Box Tops program will continue

on as usual.

Program Chair: Alison Lars-

son, aklarsson@comcast.net

Briarwood Kindergarten Popsi-

cle Summer Playdates!

Briarwood PTA is hosting its Annual

Summer Popsicle Playdates for In-

coming Kindergartners.

The PTA will be hosting three play-

dates on the playground throughout

the Summer. This is a great time to

meet new friends and parents before

the start of the school year in the

Fall. PTA will provide popsicles for a

cool afternoon snack!

Dates will be announced on our website and through e-news.

Program Chair: K risten Slo-cum, londonslocum@gmail.com

COME ONE COME ALL TO BRIARWOOD’S CARNIVAL!

JUNE 3, 2016 5:30—8:00 PM

Join us for an evening of food, fun and fabulous games and prizes as we celebrate the end of the

school year. Face painting, dessert walk and dunk tank are just a few favorites we are looking for-

ward to.

Carnival Pre-Sale Bracelets will be on sale via the website May 9-27, 2016. The cost is $6/student.

Bracelets will be delivered by Kid Mail on Wednesday, June 1st and are required for all the games

and events. Bracelets will be sold on-site at the Carnival for $7/student– cash only.

Are you a Wanna-Be-Carnie? We need lots of volunteers to make this event happen. Please see the

website to sign up for a volunteer spot today!

Event Chair: Danielle Hunter, dee.hunter@hotmail.com

FIELD DAY IS COMING JUNE 10TH!

Field day will take place the afternoon of Friday, June 10th. This is a fun year-end event for the

entire school. The event will occur rain or shine, so come dressed ready to play! Students will

adventure through a series of different stations where they are challenged to complete a variety

of exciting games. All students will be rewarded with a treat at the end of the event.

We need about 40 volunteers to make this event a success. Please

note: due to safety concerns, only Briarwood students will be al-

lowed to attend and participate in Field Day activities (no younger

siblings please). Please see the website to sign up for a volunteer

spot today!

Event Chairs: Erin Thacker, ekyoung4@hotmail.com and

Danielle Hunter, dee.hunter@hotmail.com

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2016-17 PTA OFFICERS!

Next year’s officers were elected at the General Meeting on April 25, 2016. Thank you to all of

these ladies who made the commitment for the upcoming year!

President: Erin Thacker C0-VP Programs: Tira W ill

Secretary: Alison Larsson Co-VP Programs (ART): Michelle Peeples

Treasurer: Seung Park VP Family Nights: Danielle Hunter

VP Fundraising: Jasm ine Brothers VP Volunteers: Kristen Slocum

C0-VP Programs: Nicole Morgan VP Communications: Michelle Splaver

Beyond Our PTA

Issaquah Council PTSA

Paper Tigers Film Documen-

tary & Panel Discussion

“Exposure to chronic and adverse stress (and the altered brain function that results) leaves a child in a fruitless search for comfort and escape from a brain and body that is permanently stuck in flight or fight. That com-fort comes in the form of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, sex, food and more.” This documentary takes a look at how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) affect teen-age behavior, and how parents, school staff and community members can use positive behav-ior to reinforce societal norms and expectations. Watch the trailer at: http://www.papertigersmovie.com. Before and after the film, Is-saquah School District personnel will discuss real statistics in Is-saquah schools, and how even divorce affects our kid’s behav-iors, and our own community efforts to positively influence classroom learning experiences for all students.

For: Parents of Grade K-12

Date: 05/16/16

Time: 6:30-9:00 p.m.

Location: Issaquah High School Black Box Theater

Upcoming Classes/Training:

Art Docent Training: Recy-

cled May 27 12:00-2:30 PM,

artEast

Training: June 9, 11:00 AM -

12:00 PM, ISD Admin Bldg.

WSPTA AWARDS

Briarwood Elementary has been notified that we will be receiving a Standards of Excellence Award at the

State PTA Convention scheduled in Yakima, Washington, May 20-22. We will let you know what level of

excellence we have earned after the Convention.

Our final General Meeting of the year will take place on Monday, May 16th at 6:30 in the school library. We will be reviewing and approving the school budget for next year, and I hope you will join us. I also want to take this opportunity to highlight some of the major programs and events that PTA supports. When you donate to the Fun Run, buy a tub of cookie dough, clip Box Tops for Educa-tion, attend McTeacher Night, or sign up for E-Scrip through Safeway or Fred Meyer, you are help-ing support these and other wonderful programs:

Additional Educational Assistant Hours in the Classroom

Teacher Stipends & Grants

Family Events such as Pizza Bingo, Art & Family Culture Night, & Carnival

Camp Colman Support (to reduce the cost to families)

Math at Home (MAH)

Staff Appreciation

Assemblies

Science Enrichment Classes

Art Docent Program

Reading at Home (RAH) Program

And we’re not done yet! We still have a number of fun events planned for the remainder of the year

including Scholastic Book Fair this week, Book Swap on May 16th, Field Day on May 23rd, Camp

Colman for our 5th graders at the end of May, and one of our most popular events, Carnival, on

June 6th. We still need LOTS of volunteers for these events so please visit our website to volunteer!

A special thank you to the 5th grade parents who have volunteered over the years and are off to

Maywood next year. We will miss you!

President’s Message (con’t from Page 1)

Upcoming PTA Events MAY:

2-6 Staff Appreciation Week 4 Staff Appreciation Luncheon (Brunch) 4 ISD's Nourish Every Mind Breakfast 7-8 AM 5 RAH/MAH Monthly Log Minutes Deadline 6 Popcorn Friday, 2nd Recess (25 cents/bag) 16 PTA General Meeting, 6:30 PM Briarwood Library 18-20 5th Grade Camp Coleman Trip 20 Popcorn Friday, 2nd Recess (25 cents/bag) 30 Memorial Day—No School

JUNE:

3 Popcorn Friday, 2nd Recess (25 cents/bag) 3 Carnival, 5:30 PM School Grounds 5 RAH/MAH Monthly Log Minutes Deadline 6 PTA General Meeting, 6:30 PM, Off-site TBD 10 Field Day, Afternoon School Grounds 14 5th Grade Promotion, Commons 16 Last Day of School

In Our Community

ISSAQUAH SCHOOL DISTRICT

Upcoming School Board Meetings:

May 25, June 8, June 22

7:00 p.m. at the ISD Administration Building

See the website for complete calendar of activities: issaquah.wednet.edu

ISSAQUAH SCHOOL DISTRICT (ISD) PARTNERS WITH THE KING COUNTY

LIBRARY SYSTEM (KCLS).

In an effort to increase student access to KCLS’ online re-sources, KCLS will be creating special library accounts in its system for all students in our district so they may seam-lessly log in from school, home or from any computer or device. The special student accounts will:

Be easy for students to remember. The account num-ber will utilize each student’s school ID number preceded by the School District number (411). Your child’s school ID number is referred to as the ‘Other ID’ in Family Access under the Student Info tab.

Give each student seamless access. Students will be able to use the array of databases, downloadable materials (through Overdrive) and online homework help services offered by KCLS without needing a physical card.

Not accrue fines or fees. Since students will only be able to access electronic materials it won’t be necessary for students to track due dates. If your student already has a traditional KCLS library card, they will continue to be able to use it to checkout materials from the public library and use in-library computers. This new arrangement between the ISD and KCLS will supple-ment the traditional library card and improve each stu-dent’s ability to access KCLS online research tools as part of their school work. Teachers throughout the district will additionally be able to utilize the many resources available through KCLS to com-plement their curriculum and build students’ experience and expertise utilizing library resources. In early May, KCLS will automatically launch the system to each student in Kindergarten through 12th grade. If you do not wish for your child to be included in the program, please opt out by calling/visiting your student’s school office. We’re truly looking forward to this ongoing collaboration between the King County Library System and the Issaquah School District as both organizations are committed to providing resources and services that help our students succeed

NOT GETTING OUR WEEKLY E-BLASTS?

Create an account on our website (Not the same thing as joining

the PTA—only name and email are required)

Click on the “Weekly E-Blasts” email preference

Dining for Kids - All Day May 4 and June 1! On the first Wednesday of every month, restaurants around the Issaquah

Community will partner with the Foundation to donate a portion of their pro-

ceeds to benefit our students. Join us for Dining for Kids on Wednesday, May

4 and June 1! We have two fantastic locations available to dine at all day:

Gas Lamp Bar & Grill (May 4th) and Flying Pie Pizzaeri (June 1st) Have lunch with friends or co-workers and/or make it a family night out

supporting the Issaquah Schools Foundation!

The Tools 4 School Program is a community-wide partnership led by the Issaquah Schools Foundation to provide new backpacks and school supplies

for 1,000 students in the Issaquah School District. Their goal is for all stu-dents to be geared for success from day one.

Students of the Issaquah School District can register to receive a backpack, school supplies and participate in the Health & Wellness Fair and BBQ Lunch on Saturday, August 20th from 10am—3pm at Eastside Church, 24205 SE Issaquah Fall City Road. On-line Registration and additional in-formation is available at www.isfdn.org/programs/tools-4-school.

If you are interested in filling a backpack please see the website for a list of needed items and other ways you can help or Click Here. Please contact Krista Holmes at krists@isfdn.org. Thank you for your support.