North Park Schools

This year the PTA is bringing back Holiday House. This event lets the children shop for holiday gifts for their families for one dollar per gift. The children really enjoy the opportunity to shop on their own for their loved ones. Parents who have volunteered in the past to help with Holiday House know that it is fun and rewarding way to be involved with their children’s school and …jump start your seasonal cheer!

We would like to include an optional crafted gift this year, that the children could make in lieu of one of the gifts on their list. To make this happen, we really need a commitment from at least 15 volunteers.

Please considering lending a day, or half a day, to help with our Elf-ish efforts!

We need help on Wednesday, December 8th to help set up the shop. We need help on Thursday, December 9th and Friday, December 10th to help the kids shop for their family. Please contact Amanda Brown at wilkinsongirl@yahoo.com or 365-0047.

Please indicate which day you can volunteer, and am, pm, or all day and please  be sure your volunteer badge is up-to-date!
AM shift will be 9am–12:30pm
PM shift will be 12:30–4:00pm

Thank you for supporting the North Park Schools PTA.

The PTA survey results have been compiled by our board. You can view online here (opens in new window). Results are compiled in the green column. Comments are in the yellow column.

There continues to be support for our ongoing activities but it looks like we need to work harder to make sure our communications make it home. Boxtops are our most popular fundraiser, followed by labels. The outdoor classroom looks to be the next big idea. Be sure to ask how you can help to make this happen.

Thank you everyone who participated! Look for our 3rd annual survey in the spring 2011.

Remember that Key Card orders are due this Friday September 24th. Orders will head home next week! Please contact Sue Cleland (616)365-7653 or via email at: treasurer@northparkschools.org.

The North Park Schools Fall Carnival will be on October 15 from 5:30-7:30. Please note the change of date.

Please plan on coming with your family to enjoy all of the fun and games! A raffle will be held where you can have a chance to win wonderful prizes from local merchants and service providers. Tickets for the raffle as well as tickets for the games and snacks will be available for sale at a table set up at the front entrance of the school during the carnival. We will also have North Park Spirit Wear t-shirts available for sale at this table.

From now until October 8, the PTA is collecting donations of boxes of any brand of Juice Pouches for the carnival. If you are able to donate a box, please have your child bring it to the office by October 8th. Watch your child’s backpack in the next few weeks for further details about the carnival.

We are in need of volunteers to help run this event. Please contact Emily Akers at 616-378-0123 or feel free to email her at monalove00@hotmail.com. Please know that it’s only with the help from all of you that we can make this carnival a great time for everyone!

On Tuesday, May 11, students at Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Academy and North Park Schools will watch books come alive in a fresh and exciting way as they meet the real people who inspired the characters in Grand Rapids’ Author Sue Stauffacher’s new series with Random House.  They will even meet real alligators!

In “Animal Rescue Team” (Knopf, May 11, 2010), her new series for Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, Stauffacher has created a lovable cast of characters centered around the Carter Family, owners of Carter’s Urban Rescue.  They include fifth-grader, Keisha; her 1^st grade brother, Razi; baby brother, Paulo; Mama and Daddy and Grandma; along with a community of neighbors and friends.  One wacky adventure follows another, involving kids’ interactions with animals, each other and their town, Grand River.  Inspired by events at her 150+ year old farmhouse in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, as well as news items from the surrounding area, Sue keeps kids—and animals—in stitches, while subtly teaching children what to do when they encounter wildlife.

Sue Stauffacher has a long history of making kids laugh while teaching them about compassion, relationships and growing up. Books like “Donuthead,” and “Harry Sue” have won awards from readers as well as organizations like the American Library Association, the Library of Michigan, The N.A.A.C.P., and the Women’s National Book Association.

As the series unfolds—there are four books so far—Sue relies heavily on Grand Rapids’ Public School’s principal and friend, Carrie Tellerico.  With Carrie’s permission, she also became a character in the book.  She is the principal of Langston Hughes Elementary, which is loosely based on Carrie’s own school in GRPS, Martin Luther King Jr., Leadership Academy.  “I’ve worked with Carrie for many years,” says Stauffacher.  “But if I couldn’t imagine what she’d say, I’d call her up and ask her.”

Another developing storyline takes the school’s jump rope team to the division championships in Detroit.  “Coach Rose, who worked with the girls at MLK, was wonderful about explaining how the jump rope competitions work,” says Stauffacher.  “And I learned so much from the jumpers themselves!  So many kids had a hand in developing these stories.”

To write “Gator on the Loose,” the first in the series to be released May 11, Sue worked closely with Dan Malone, Animal Management Supervisor, at John Ball “The public has a lot of misconceptions about what zoos can and can’t do with regard to local wildlife,” says Stauffacher.  “I wanted to make sure I was representing the zoo correctly.  I came away very impressed with their role in keeping all animals wild and safe, not just the ones in their care.  Both for our website and for the book, Dan helped me give kids up-to-date information on some scaly and scary problems…such as what do to if there’s an alligator or snake loose in your neighborhood.”

She also consulted heavily with, and incorporated into the story, David Critchlow, who, with his wife, Carmen, operates Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary in Athens, Michigan.  “David’s sanctuary was a dream come true for me because I was able to write a realistic happy ending for my story.”

For more information on the series, check out Sue’s website and blog at www.suestauffacher.com and learn more about Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary at www.alligatorsanctuary.com

The North Park Schools PTA is sponsoring our 3rd annual Rummage Sale on Saturday May 15^th.  The PTA has been working hard this year to update our early elementary playground.  Recently PTA President, Matthew Patulski, along with our Principal, Rick Noel, have secured new and used playground equipment through the district. Our challenge is the cost. To move and install the pieces at North Park is over $10,000. This playground equipment is scheduled to be installed in early May. Read the details here. Here are ways you can lend a hand:

Drop off times to donate items

• Friday May 7, 8:30am– 9:00am or 3:30pm –4:00pm
• Friday, May 14, 8:30am– 9:00am or 3:30pm –4:00pm

Volunteers Opportunities

• Put signs up on Monday, May 10th
• Set up on Friday May 14th
• Work the sale on Saturday May 15th
• Pickup signs on the 15th

Please support the rummage and bake sale any way you can to help raise the money needed to pay for our new playground!

This week, the PTA is holding its 2010/2011 PTA Officer Elections. Each spring the PTA accepts nominations to fill the following PTA officer positions: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Corresponding Secretary and Recording Secretary. Presently there are two openings on the board: President and Recording Secretary.

Three members who have expressed interest in returning: Vice-President Cathy Cardosa, Treasurer Sue Cleland and Corresponding Secretary Amanda Wilkinson-Brown. You must be a current PTA member to nominate or be nominated as an officer.

Contact any current PTA Officer to nominate a PTA member for a position. Nominations must be in writing and must include your name, who you are nominating, for what position and why. You may submit a nomination via email or paper to any current PTA Officer.

PTA Committee Coordinators

If one of the PTA officer positions listed above is not for you, there are other ways to help support the PTA and all the activities that the PTA does for our students, teachers and community. Throughout the year the PTA needs help from parents in many areas. This year we have had great success with Kim Crawford as our volunteer coordinator.

We want to build on that success by creating four support roles around the key components of the National PTA mission: advocacy for excellent education, communicate to the community about our great school, host social events to build a sense of community, and fundraise to support all of these activities. These are non-elected positions, but they are sorely needed to help the board more effectively share the wealth of opportunities to support our kids and teachers succeed. Responsibility for these roles can be shared as well.

Education Coordinator

Work with our faculty and Principal to identify classroom and campus needs specific to education that the PTA can support, organize support for parents helping out in the classroom keep our classroom magazines subscriptions current, facilitate any software upgrade and purchases, etc.

Communications Coordinator

Help produce our fliers, signs, website, Facebook content, public calendar, PTA Welcome Packs, materials for parents, local media, realtors as needed, work with GRPS PR, keep the PTA bulletin board up to date, etc.

Social Coordinator

Make sure our events through out the year are pulled off with out a hitch such as the fall social, sledding party, holiday movie, etc. Organize meals and PTA table at conferences, Liaise with neighborhood groups and churches on schools’ behalf.

Finance Coordinator

Work with the PTA Treasurer to manage fundraising efforts, funds dispersal requests, collection center upkeep, grant writing, and any other finance related actions.

Last week, our PTA membership approved using PTA funds to finish phase 1 of our playground improvements. Activity has already began with removal of the 60 year old equipment. Over spring break, The GRPS facilities team will begin adding new, lower elementary scaled features including: 6 new swings, a geodesic climbing dome, a 4 seat buck-a-bout, a freestanding slide (not shown) and a whirl scrambler.

The total cost will be $11,300. The PTA is contributing $7000 and a targeted United Way Fund is contributing another $2000. That leaves an additional need of $2300 to complete the work. We need your help!

You can contribute in several ways:

• Contribute online via Chipin–look for the widget at top right on this page and every page on our site.
• Drop your spare change where ever you see a Change drive jug. If you want one, email the PTA from our contact page.
• Purchase your spring perennials, annuals, vegetables, herbs and hanging baskets from our Spring Plant Sale by April 21, 2010. Pick up is May 1, 2010. 50% of all proceeds fund outdoor learning opportunities. This year we are helping to underwrite the playground.
• Shop the North Park Schools Rummage sale May 15, 2010.

Thank you!

With the recent news that the Grand Rapids Public Schools are preemptively cutting early childhood education after the Michigan senate voted to cut funding, We are encouraging our parents to contact their local, state and national political officials to make their concerns know and their voices heard.

Here are contact details and formatting guidance to get your point across:

Address it Right

Your point will more like be be heard if you treat them with respect. When writing a letter, address them as follows:

U.S. Senator

The Honorable (Full name)
United States Senator
Address
Dear Senator (last name):

U.S. Representative

The Honorable (Full name)
United States Senator or (Representative)
Address
Dear Congressman/woman (last name):

Governor

The Honorable Jennifer Granholm
Governor of Michigan
State Capitol
Address
Dear Governor (last name):

State Senator

The Honorable (full name)
State Senator
Address
Dear Senator (last name):

State Representative

The Honorable (full name)
State Representative
Address
Dear Representative (last name):

Michigan Governor

Governor Jennifer Granholm
State Capitol
P.O. Box 30013
Lansing, MI 48909
(517) 373-3400
(517) 335-7858 (Constituent Services)
www.michigan.gov/gov

Contact details

Michigan Legislature: Grand Rapids Area Legislators

State Senators

State Capitol
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909

http://senate.michigan.gov

Sen. Bill Hardiman District 29
(866) 305-2129
SenBHardiman@senate.michigan.gov

Sen. Mark Jansen District 28
(800) 774-1174
senmjansen@senate.michigan.gov

Sen. Wayne Kuipers District 30
(517) 373-6920
senwkuipers@senate.michigan.gov

State Representatives

Address:
State Capitol
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48909

http://house.michigan.gov

Rep. David Agema District 74
(517) 373-8900
daveagema@house.mi.gov

Rep. Robert Dean District 75
(517) 373-2668
robertdean@house.mi.gov

Rep. Kevin Green District 77
(517) 373-2277
kevingreen@house.mi.gov

Rep. Dave Hildenbrand District 86
(517) 373-0846
rephildenbrand@house.mi.gov

Rep. Tom Pearce District 73
(517) 373-0218
tompearce@house.mi.gov

Rep. Roy Schmidt District 76
(877) 976-4769
RoySchmidt@house.mi.gov

Rep. Justin Amash District 72
(517) 373-0840
JustinAmash@house.mi.gov

US Congress

U.S. Senators

Senator Carl Levin
269 Russell-Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-1388
Gerald R. Ford Federal Building
110 Michigan NW; Suite 720
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
levin.senate.gov

Senator Debbie Stabenow
133 Hart, Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4822
3280 Beltline Ct. NE; Suite 400
Grand Rapids, MI 59525
stabenow.senate.gov

U.S. Representatives

Congressman Vern Ehlers
2182 Rayburn—House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3831
US Congress—3rd District
Gerald R. Ford Federal Building
110 Michigan NW,
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
www.house.gov/ehlers
(616) 451-8383

Congressman Peter Hoekstra
2234 Rayburn House of Congress
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4401
US Congress—2nd District
184 S. River Ave.
Holland, MI 49423
(616) 395-0030
www.house.gov/hoekstra