SW PTA News Spring 2009

Dear Southwest Families,

On February 17^th we celebrated (and hosted) Founders’ Day, along with our fellow PTAs, those members who’ve made numerous and continuous contributions to PTA initiatives. Our Educator-of the Year award was presented to Ms. Emily Kramer. We recognized Mrs. Kathy Rohan with a PTA Life Membership. Distinguished Service Scroll awards were presented to Mrs. Mary Ellen Adamitis, Mrs. Jan Wazio and Mrs. Margie Kuchan. Mrs. Melanie Senerchia and Mrs. Anne Marie Putlak were presented with Achievement Awards, and Mrs. Susan Romano was presented the Book of Recognition. A T.H.A.N.K.S. award was presented to Ms. Denise Thomas for her continuous dedication to and support of PTA activities. Thank you to the award committee for identifying these members who have done much for our children. Thank you also to all who made this evening so enjoyable.

I’d like to share our slate of nominees for our PTA board for SY 2009/2010:

President – Kate Bradley

1^st Vice-President – Mary Deering

2^nd Vice-President – Dana Kremposky

Treasurer – Michelle Aldape

Recording Secretary – Josephine Pogue

Corresponding Secretary – Bree O’Connor

Historian – Tish Moore

Anyone notice our new school banner? This year’s winning banner was designed by Jacob Ottenfeld, a 5^th grader. Congratulations to Jacob! Nice job!

We just finished our Light Bulbs 4 Learning fundraiser. With 29 students participating and total sales of $1,173, we made a profit of $457 which will be used toward an all-school spring activity. These students & families sold 466 compact fluorescent light bulbs with

the equivalencies of:

• Eliminating 287,056 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
• The removal of 24 cars from the road for one year
• The saving of 29 acres of forest
• Life cycle energy savings of 186,400 kWh

Thanks to everyone for your support of this fundraiser. Next up – Flower Bulbs!

Mark your calendar now for our next PTA meeting on Thursday, April 2 at 9:00 a.m. It is my hope that you will feel welcome and join us. I look forward to seeing you there.

Spring is finally . . . just around the corner . . . I hope! Looking forward to warmer temperatures, brighter days and lots of fun activities to wrap up the school year.

Sincerely,

Tish Moore

PTA President

PTA Meeting

Our next PTA meeting is on Thursday, April 2nd at 9:00 am in the school front hallway. Please mark your calendar!

Upcoming Events/Meetings

3/18 Market Day pick-up

3/18 School Bd. Mtg. at CJH

3/18 – 19 Book Fair

4/2 PTA Mtg. at 9 am

4/2 PTA Spring Dinner

4/3 Report Cards go home!

4/6 Reading Week at SW

4/7 Dismissal at 11:30 am

4/10 – 4/17 Spring Break!

4/22 Market Day pick-up

4/22 School Bd. Mtg. @ CJH

4/27 Spring Contest

Lights! Camera! Book Fair!

March 18 & 19

We’re getting ready for another exciting book fair. If you’d like to help, contact Melanie Senerchia 425-3375 at or Diane Kelly at 422-6898.

Keep Those Pop Tabs Coming!! Thank you to the families that have sent in their pop tabs: v Scott & Christian McDonogh v Seamus Rabbitte v Jonathan Hammons v Vince Kempczynski v Michael Sheehan v Sam Senerchia v Mrs. Harte We have filled over 5 “houses” so far. All proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Thanks you again and keep them coming! Mrs. Luchtenburg

SWPTA Minutes Copies of the minutes of the PTA meetings are available on the PTA table outside the school office and are posted on the District 124 website at ‘d124.org’ Attention SWPTA Chairpersons! Prior to distributing any flyer, newsletter, etc. to our Southwest families regarding a PTA event, please be sure to provide an advance courtesy copy to the PTA President, Tish Moore. You may drop it off in the PTA box located in the office.

Safety Reminder: Parking Regulations During pickup and dropoff times, there is no parking or waiting along the west side of Central Park north of the bike rack or along the south side of 99^th St west of Central Park. For the safety of the children, there is no entry to the school parking lot during these times and parking barriers should never be moved to gain entry to the lot.

Recycling Printer Cartridges and Cell Phones–Bring your used inkjet and laser jet cartridges and old cell phones to school for our recycling program. Place your cartridges/cell phones in a plastic bag and leave them in the basket on the PTA cart in the school office. For questions, contact Sue Burns 708-422-2138. Newspapers and Magazines–Our school can get additional funds from your old newspapers and magazines! Just bundle them up and drop them off in our green and yellow recycling bin on the south side of the school.

Campbell’s Soup Labels Campbell’s no longer accepts labels from their soup cans. Instead, we are asked to clip and send proofs of purchase; look for the Labels for Education logo printed next to the UPC bar code on eligible products. We will be count “points” rather than “labels” and will redeem them for items in a product catalog. So look for those proofs of purchase and help SW earn points! General Mills “Box Tops” Clip: We are collecting Box Tops for Education once again. Please be sure to keep track of the products you purchase and remove these valuable labels. Southwest School receives funds for each box top we turn in. Shop: Shop at your favorite online stores at btfe.com/marketplace and SW will earn 8% of each qualifying purchase. Buy books: Purchase books online at Barnes & Noble through the Box Tops Reading Room. To learn more, visit btfe.com and thanks for helping us earn extra money for school activities.

Questions/Comments?

If you have any questions or comments about the information you receive, please contact the person listed on the flyer or Tish Moore at swpta@D124.org.-

A Note from the Editor

If you have any newsworthy items for this newsletter, please e-mail them to Beth Grisolano at grisolanoj@sbcglobal.net