Sunnyside PTSA Weekly Update Wednesday, February 8, 2023
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~ Find the latest Messenger newsletter from the SES office here. ~

Hello Sunnyside,

If you haven’t had a chance to join a PTSA meeting, we have one coming up in two days. ✌ Join us virtually or in person, this Friday, February 10 at 8:45 am in Room 102! We have loads of exciting items on the agenda, which you can preview here !

Also, if you have a topic you’d like to bring up to the PTSA, join us and you can always bring up your ideas during the New Business portion of our meeting. This is a great way to bring up concerns, questions, or discussions about things that are important to you! Have an idea for an after school club? Come chat with us! And if you can’t make it, not to worry — y ou will get pertinent updates in the weekly PTSA newsletter ! 🙋 Hope you will join us! ❤

Auburn + Heather, PTSA Co-Presidents

Volunteer Opportunities 🙋
Our beloved, annual READ-A-THON begins in less than 2 weeks! 📚
READ-A-THON is super important event for so many reasons:

– supports a love of reading and literacy 📑
– creates opportunities for solidarity and camaraderie in classes and across grade levels 💃
– provides structure where whole community reads together and shares ideas 🙌
– exposes our students to different forms of literature 🌎
– raises a significant amount of money for our school! 💳

*The money raised through this event pays for place-based learning activities, field studies and other classroom trips! It also funds our sustainability staff (the garden program), our Spring Theater program, music at SES, and a variety of other PTSA funded programs.

READ-A-THON runs from Feb 21- March 9th! The theme this year is ” Celebrate your f R E A Dom “. This is going to be a really fun one with: 5 author visits, 3 dress-ups days, “House Cup,” Locker Library, Got Caught Reading, and more! There will also be prizes for reading, participation and fundraising. Get ready to read!

READ-A-THON – Calendar:

  • Feb 15 Online registration for our fundraising platform opens. S ign your kid up to help raise money for our school with our, easy to use, online fundraising platform. The first class in each grade group to get 90% or higher sign-ups will get a prize! More info on how to sign up coming soon .
  • Feb 21 READ-A-THON begins. Your student will come home with a packet. The packet has a reading map to keep track of reading and OFFLINE fundraising. This packet is what they will turn in at the end to get credit for reading units. They will also get a bookmark with a reading tracker to help keep track of reading as well. Start collecting pledges. Share your online page to collect funds from friends and family far and wide!
  • Feb 22 Carson Ellis visits K-5. Buy a signed copy of Carson’s picture book This Story Is Not About a Kitten which will help raise additional funds for our school.
  • Feb 23 Emily Whitman visits 3-8th. Buy a signed copy of Emily’s chapter book, winner of the Oregon Spirit Book Award, The Turning which will help raise additional funds for our school. Also, this is the same day as our Dairy Hill READ-A-THON kickoff fundraiser. Celebrate reading AND eat ice cream! Dairy Hill will donate 10% of all gross sales for the ENTIRE day to SES!
  • Feb 24 DRESS UP DAY – Rainbow Day! Dress in as many colors as possible. Be a rainbow!
  • Mar 1 Alissa Sallah visits 6-8th. Buy a signed copy of Alissa’s graphic novel Weeaboo which will help raise additional funds for our school.
  • Mar 3 DRESS UP DAY – Pajama Day read-in event. Enjoy cozy read-in time during recess.
  • Mar 7 Amber J. Keyser visits 6-8th. Buy a signed copy of Amber’s chapter book The Way Back From Broken which will help raise additional funds for our school.
  • Mar 9 DRESS UP DAY + FINAL READING DAY – Dress as a Book Character Day
  • Mar 13 to 24 TURN IN READING MAP SIGNED BY A PARENT (and any offline donations) to the office.

Thanks so much for your support of our students in their endeavors! Please reach out to Leslie Lothamer at leslielothamer with any questions.

Fundraisers 🎉
The SES Spring Auction is coming back, and we’d love your involvement! 🎉
Details for our Spring gala are coming together! More information to come at Friday’s PTSA meeting, including our exciting announcement regarding the wonderful venue and date we have locked in. It’s going to be an evening to remember!

So, how can you get involved? Well, the gala is our biggest fundraising event of the year–and it’s put on by SES PTSA’s all-volunteer Spring Gala Committee on behalf of Sunnyside Environmental School Foundation (SESF). The purpose of this event is to raise funds that support FTE school staffing for next year as well as our school’s required contribution to the Fund for PPS, which promotes funding equity across the district. This year’s gala will take place in early May. We are still in need of the following:

  • Party Board hosts – many! 👯
  • Class Creative Art Projects Coordinator 🎨
  • Planning Committee Members 👬👭
  • Silent auction donations! 🍾💰🔮🏖🎠🎭

That last bullet point is a biggie: One way every parent can participate in the success of our Spring Gala is by donating to the online silent auction! Reflect on what community connections or resources/talents you might have to contribute and let us know! Some of the things that are most successful are often unique experiences or one-of-a-kind items. 🎢🎪🚝

We are looking for things like vacation homes near or far, business vouchers or merchandise, themed gift baskets, local and handmade goods, professional services, and exclusive opportunities. Have an idea you’re not sure about? Ask us and we’ll see how we can make it work! To learn more about each need, sign up for a role, or give us your event ideas, please fill out our Spring Gala Donations Form. ❤

As always, consider donating to Fred Meyer Rewards and change your beneficiary to Sunnyside Environmental School!

Questions, ideas or submissions for future newsletters? Email Heather at tanky34 or Auburn at auburnmarie3
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