Co-Presidents Welcome By Gena Margason & Julia Prosser Hello Ridgecrest Community-

We have had a great deal of fun so far this school year! In November, the PTA’s Harvest Carnival was incredibly exciting and fun! We would like to recognize and thank the two event chairs Victoria Ormsby and Callie Naholowa’a for all the time and effort they put into the Carnival. In addition, we want to thank all the volunteers who helped plan and run the event, it took a lot of hands! Seeing all the happy faces truly makes it all worthwhile.

In December, we can look forward to our annual Holiday Food and Teen Gift Drive. Each school in the District is asked to focus on one main food item as well as collect gift cards for teen gifts. Ridgecrest has a long tradition of going above and beyond for this event. We also collect one item for the Works, a local nonprofit organization that collects clothing and toiletries for children and teens in the Shoreline School District. Look for more details about the Holiday Food and Teen Gift Drive in upcoming boomerangs.

Finally, we are on the lookout for co-chairs for the PTA-Sponsored Science Night and Bingo Night. If you could help plan and/or organize either of these fantastic events for students and families, please contact us at rcelempta@gmail.com

Seasons Greetings!

In This Issue

A Ridgecrest PTA Newsletter Solid Foundations for a Strong Community

2016-2017 | Issue 3 December

Legislative Update, Read-a-thon ......................................................................... 2 Harvest Carnival, PTSA Fundraiser ........................................................................ 3 Reflections................................................................................................................. 4 Walk-a-thon, Fundraisers, BINGO Night .............................................................. 5 Food Drive & Teen Gift Card Drive, Staff Lunches, Cookie Exchange........... 6 Running Club, Save the Date, Brown Bear Car Wash, Support the Works .... 7 School Bond Information, 2017 Education Conference ................................... 8 Green School Workshop, Smart with Art Class, PTA Board, Calendar of Events ......................................................................................................................... 9

Check out what’s happening at:

www.ridgecrestpta.org

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Legislative Update By Rosalie Contreras Last month, nearly 200 people attended the WA State PTA Legislative Assembly in Olympia to discuss, debate and vote on the legislative platform for the next two years. Out of 10 issues and 3 resolutions, the delegates voted on the top 5 issues to be the primary focus for the next two years. All of the issues are considered important, but ranking the Top 5 helps the State PTA focus energy and resources on these issues that the voting delegation considers a priority. The top five issues for the 2017-2018 Legislative Biennium are:

• Create positive school climates through social emotional learning • Amply Fund Education (McLeary Decision) • Closing the Opportunity Gap • Standards for Paraeducators • "Breakfast After the Bell"

The remaining 5 issues considered (which may still be pursued by WA State PTA Legislative Chair and staff) are:

• Post-Secondary Higher Education • Improving Educational Outcomes for Foster Children • Engaging Families in Student Success • Restorative Justice and School Safety • Removing Barriers to Implementing ECEAP (Early Childhood Education and

Assistance Program)

For details on each of these issues, the resolutions, or to sign up for legislative alerts, please visit http://www.wastatepta.org/advocacy.

Save the Date!

The 2017 PTA Focus Day which will be held on January 16 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), at the Capitol in Olympia. This is an opportunity for PTA members to come prepared to meet with legislators about the Top 5 issues. More information will be posted soon at the link above, or contact Rosalie Contreras at rosalie.contreras@comcast.net if you are interested in going to Olympia.

Read-a-thon: Looking for Volunteers By Susana Guzman We are gearing up for the Read-a-thon that will happen early next year – February 2017. If you are interested in volunteering to help count minutes read in classrooms, we would welcome your help. Ideally, we would like to have a volunteer for each classroom.

Please contact Susana at rc.pta.2015@gmail.com for more information and updates.

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Harvest Carnival By Julia Prosser We hope you all had as much fun as we did this year at the Ridgecrest Harvest Carnival. Like every PTA-sponsored event, it's only possible with the support of our fantastic volunteers.

We had amazing Ridgecrest staff, parents, high school students, middle school and Ridgecrest 6th graders step up and help us put on one of the best Carnivals ever! The Carnival kitchen was manned by a powerhouse duo: Melody Portillo and new RC parent Michael DiDio – thank you both!

These Ridgecrest Staffers signed up to be a part of this super fun event and we thank them bunches: Dr. Sue McPeak, Ms. Cleary, Ms. Miller, Mrs. Witney, Jacqueline Vandivort, Dodge Schaeffer, and Cheryl Coles. Here is a list of all the Ridgecrest Parents, Shorewood, Shorecrest, Kellogg and Ridgecrest students that volunteered to bring this event to your families!

They were a GREAT group to work with and we thank them for their time!

Parent Volunteers Victoria Ormsby Delvene Manning Yasuyo Dunnett Callie Naholowa'a Argelia Peredes Margie Jorgenson Julia Prosser Misty Berg Kristin Bates Andrew Barton Kim Murphy Amy Walgamott Michael DiDio Melissa Gates Cebell Gallion Berry Melody Portillo Gena Margeson Sam Krawczyk Elaine Johnson Neha Raichur Reid Watson Susana Guzman High School Student Volunteers Samaya Sullivan Matt Sergio Tran Vo Begimai Josh Cronister Jessica Hanson Breanna Vong Hannah Jorgensen James Lee Aloki Sakya Kache Garvin Jacob Lee Chelsea Chen Amanda Kagarabi Elise Dorvillias Shiuan Chu Jenny Nguyen Joel Solis Tharis Sutanthavibul Logan Myking Maisie Chen Juan Vargas Jerry Islas Benjamin Svancko Ridgecrest 6th grade Volunteers Temesgan Neguse Sofialena Byhum Myles McMahon Yabsera Legese Nicole Pinedo Giulia Menning Thomas Phillips Logan Thompson Middle School Volunteers Ian Prosser Rory O'Brien Logan Myking

Special Needs PTA Fundraiser December 5th is a no school day in the Shoreline School District! Looking for a fun activity? Come join Shoreline Special Needs PTSA for a day of fun at Elevated Sportz!! Purchase any activities at Elevated Sportz on December 5th and mention Shoreline PTSA and they will donate 20% to the Special Needs PTSA. Purchases must be made day of even in person – no online purchases. Thank you!

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Reflections 2016-2017 By Thomas Chin Thank you to the 62 Ridgecrest students who participated in the annual PTA Art Competition. It was a very exciting year to celebrate art in our school! We would also like to congratulate the 13 students representing 15 pieces of art in 5 different categories who will move onto the District competition.

During the month of December, the finalists’ works from all of the Shoreline public schools will be on display at the Shoreline Center. The district art show will occur on Thursday, January 12, 2017 in the Shoreline Room at the Shoreline Center from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM.

Finalists

Art Category Artist Title Grade Teacher

Film Production Ameli Graff Comedies of the Queen of Hearts

5 Whitney

Film Production Escher Crawford The Robbers: A Comedy 5 Whitney

Film Production Lydia Chin The Art of Making Cookies 5 Whitney

Literature Abbie Krawczyk This Is My Story 6 Lytle

Music Composition

Ronan Connell My Life 5 Whitney

Photography Jack Smevik The Secret Life of Teddy 5 Whitney

Photography Lindsay Chapman-Martin

Forest Fall Down 5 Cleary

Photography Lydia Chin Lava Rock 5 Whitney

Visual Arts Aniah Haupt Symphony of Sounds 5 Whitney

Visual Arts Anika Whitehill Happy Thoughts 4 Della

Visual arts Euan Dunnett Samurai in Me 4 Della

Visual Arts Isa Oquist Finding Peace 5 Whitney

Visual Arts Jack Tribo Oregon Coast 5 Whitney

Visual Arts Lydia Chin My Favorites 5 Whitney

Visual Arts Meira Graff My Sri Lankan Trip 1 Boone

Additional Participants Almquist, Parker Kennedy, Finn Rudberg, Brendan Almquist, Samuel Knapp, Sera Schmidt, Anna Bender, Noah Krawczyk, Ellie Stallings, Kenna Berry, River Lacoma, Sadie Symank, Sophia Bladek, Drew Linville, Thomas Teshome, Selam Brown, Jasper Lua, Jocelyn Thomas, Alexander Campbell, Rosalie Lynass, Ole Thompson, Logan Campbell, Ruby Anne Marcelo, Jordan Turkmen, Melek De Langen, Jonas Margason, Evan Valderas, Jamie Dickson, Maizie Marquez, Emily Vargas, Alexandra Dunnett, Calen Melhuish, Nathan Voigt, Selena Gibbs, Jameson Murthy, Leena Walgamott, River Glesener, Elijah Nasir, Saif Weaver, Alexis Grams, Siana Oquist, Isa Wilson, Lucas Islas, Grace Pazdeni, Abbey Wong, Audrey Jakobsen, Cassis Pearlscott, Elsa Young, Alexis Jakobsen, Haakon Rooks, Neah

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Walkathon: Annual Fundraiser By Mickey Telling Thank you to everyone who turned in their pledges for the walkathon! Our goal for this year was $18,000, and with the help of everyone involved, we surpassed it and have raised over $19,500! The prizes have been ordered and will be passed out when they arrive for all students who turned in $10 or more in pledges.

We had almost 4,000 tickets go into the drawing for other prizes! Congratulations to the winners of the ticket drawings:

Kenneth Adams Naffi Darboe Shivraj Raichur Noelle Baron Cesar Gonzalez-Moreno Nammi Simhadri Noah Bender Avery Hogle Jonah Sterkowicz Chelsea Buss Max Hunter Kayla Trang Elisa Cantu Rudas Jemaneh Nina Vermillion Ronan Connell Aaron Jordan Aki Westlake Andre Cook Luisa Miller

And a big congratulations to our grand prize winner Svea Bengtsson.

This year's class prizes go to Mrs. Witzel's class for the highest average lap per student and Mrs. Gravett's class for raising the most money. Mrs. Witzel will have the privilege of keeping the Golden Shoe in her class until next year and both classes earned a Root Beer Float party.

Thank you again to all our volunteers, teachers, staff, and students in helping make Ridgecrest’s 31st Annual Walkathon such a huge success!

How You Can Help Raise Money for RC PTA By Susana Guzman Amazon Smile: If you shop on Amazon switch to Amazon Smile. To support Ridgecrest, choose Ridgecrest PT A6 12 60. Amazon donates 5% of eligible purchases to Ridgecrest PTA. The link can be found on the Ridgecrest PTA web page or log onto: http://smile.amazon.com/.

Collect Box Tops: Look for the Box Tops for Education labels on food, school supplies, and paper products. Clip them and turn into your classroom. Each label is worth ten cents. If every student turned in 20 box tops it would raise close to $1,000 for the school! Visit www.boxtops4education.com for more information.

If you know of other stores or companies that have a program to support Ridgecrest or if you have any questions please contact Susana at rc.pta.2015@gmail.com. Have a wonderful holiday!

BINGO Night By Susana Guzman We do not currently have a chairperson for this activity. If no one steps forward to volunteer, we will cancel this fun event. If you’re interested please contact Susana at rc.pta.2015@gmail.com or Gena at genapta15@gmail.com. Thanks!

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Food Drive & Teen Gift Card Drive December 6-16, 2016 Our target item for this year is granola bars. We also want to collect gift cards for teens in the amounts of $15-$25 and socks of all sizes.

The Shoreline PTA Council is partnering with the Shoreline Fire Department, Hopelink, Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park, City of Shoreline, and Dale Turner Family YMCA to put on the Holiday Baskets drive. The purpose is to provide quality food and gift support to Shoreline School District families needing assistance this holiday season. We rely on your contributions of non-perishable food items and teen gift cards to make this special event a success! Other “Most Wanted” items include:

Ì canned meats Ì peanut butter Ì pasta and rice Ì canned vegetables Ì fruit cups in water Ì canned soup Ì canned tomato products Ì beans Ì cereal (hot & cold)

Ridgecrest needs volunteers each morning from 8:35 to 9:15 to run the food drive. Please email Lori Lynass at lynassl@gmail.com with questions or to assist.

Monthly Staff Lunches By Elaine Johnson The Staff Appreciation Committee coordinates monthly lunches for the entire school staff of 60+. They do SO much for our kids, feeding them once a month seems like not enough. We’ve made sure every classroom gets involved, so instead of only a few select people cooking for our wonderful staff every month, each classroom will be assigned a month to cook and a theme for the month. We know the entire staff looks forward to these lunches (because they RAVE about them), and with your help we can impress them again this year. We will plan on doing the second Tuesday of the month unless otherwise noted- Dates may change as needed. Thanks for showing them how much we appreciate them for all they do. If you have any questions, please contact either: Heather Moore heather@newhopenorthcity.org or Elaine Johnson laniejohnson@yahoo.com. Visit www.ridgecrestpta.org for schedule.

December Cookie Exchange for RC Staff By Elaine Johnson Each December, we host a cookie exchange for Ridgecrest staff. This year’s exchange is December 13th. Please bring a dozen cookies for the entire staff to take home. We will bag up the goodies and send home with every staff member. To sign up, please use the Perfect Potluck so we know we have enough cookies for everyone. Thanks! http://www.PerfectPotluck.com/meals.php?t=PFTP3301

Another way others can access your meal schedule is: http://www.PerfectPotluck.com Coordinator Last Name: johnson Password: 1650

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Running Club There were 80 students who participated in the fall Running Club. They had a great time and a huge thanks to the coaches: Stacee Robinson, Julia Gochnour, Stephanie Laviola, and Tricia Ramfar.

Save the Dates There are two upcoming PTA events – be sure to mark your calendar!

January PTA Meeting: January 10th at 7 p.m. Join us in the library to hear guest speaker, Superintendent Rebecca Minor, present on the February 2017 bond vote.

Family Dance and 6th Grade Spaghetti Dinner: January 20th at 5 p.m. This fun family event begins with a fundraiser for the 6th graders to earn funds for camp. Then, show your dance moves at our family dance. More details will be sent home in an upcoming boomerang.

Brown Bear Car Wash Tickets The 6th Graders are currently selling Brown Bear Car Wash Tickets that are good at locations all around King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties. Prices are $7 each or 5 tickets for $30. Contact Sanju Chettiar at sanjivani77in@yahoo.com to purchases tickets. Forms are also available in the Ridgecrest office.

Eat Pizza ~ Support The Works! From November 21st to 27th, MOD PIZZA in Lake Forest Park is donating $1 from every pizza sold to The WORKS! MOD Pizza is located at 17171 Bothell Way NE, a004, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155. The Works provides clothing and necessary items for Shoreline School District families experiencing circumstances that make it challenging to clothe their children for school.

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Shoreline School Bond Information On Tuesday, February 14, 2017, Shoreline and Lake Forest Park voters will consider a $250 million school construction bond that will allow the school district to:

• Alleviate elementary overcrowding and prepare for state-funded class size reductions;

• Provide learning environments to support student achievement; • Expand and enhance early learning opportunities; • Design new buildings to enhance school safety and security; and • Capture an estimated 10 percent state match.

Projects to be completed if the bond passes include:

• Constructing an Early Learning Center at the Shoreline Children’s Center site to house tuition-based preschool, Head Start and Early Childhood Education

• Rebuilding Einstein Middle School • Rebuilding Kellogg Middle School • Rebuilding Parkwood Elementary School

The Board made its decision based on a study completed by the Facilities Planning Committee (FPC), consisting of parents, staff and community members, over the past year. The committee thoroughly reviewed each facility’s building condition report, which ranks the facility’s structure, systems and safety components, as well as demographic studies projecting future enrollment growth. The FPC also heard reports and recommendations from the Instructional Program Planning Committee (IPPC), which reviewed the district’s current instructional programs and configurations.

Visit http://www.shorelineschools.org/domain/1122 for additional information and all meeting dates and times.

2017 General & Special Education Conference The 2017 General & Special Education Conference: Brain-Based Science, Learning & Achievement-Pre-K through 12th Grade will be held at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle on March 8, 9, and 10, 2017. Twenty-four, full-day courses will be offered on a variety of topics by some of the "giants" in educational research. Courses are designed for general education teachers, special education teachers, school psychologists, therapists, professional support staff, and administrators. Parents are also encouraged to attend.

Go to the conference website at www.rehabseminars.org for all of the conference details. This will be one of the largest science-based, educational learning conferences that offers full-day courses.

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2016-2017 Ridgecrest PTA Board Click on the Board member name to send an email.

Co-Presidents Gena Margason & Julia Prosser Secretary Renee Calm Treasurer Elaine Johnson Co-VP, Fundraising Susana Guzman & Joanna McMahon Co-VP, Programs Amy Walgamott & Samantha Krawczyk

Calendar of Events

November 21-27 .................................................................................................... Eat Pizza ~ Support The Works 23 .................................................................................................................Early Release (11:15 a.m.) 24-25 .................................................................................................. No School: Thanksgiving Break December 5 .................................................................................................................. No School: Staff Work Day 5 ..................................................................................................................................... PTSA Fundraiser 6-16 .............................................................................................. Food Drive & Teen Gift Card Drive 13 ......................................................................................................... Cookie Exchange for RC Staff 16 .......................................................................................................................................Popcorn Day 21-31 ..............................................................................................................No School: Winter Break January 1-3 ..................................................................................................................No School: Winter Break 10 ......................................................................................................................... PTA Meeting (7 p.m.) 12 ....................................................................................................................... Reflections Reception 16 .................................................................................................................... No School: MLK, Jr. Day 20 .................................................................................... Family Dance & Spaghetti Dinner (5 p.m.) 27 .......................................................................................................................................Popcorn Day 30 ................................................................................................................ No School: Staff Work Day

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