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SOUTHERN
SEARCHER A Monthly PTA Newsletter
December 2013
Calendar
December 5 ICPTA Christmas Party, TBA,
6:30 p.m. 12 Winter Music Program 7:00pm
(2nd grade and Choir) 19 Winter Parties 2:30pm 20 Early Release @ 1:45 p.m.
23-Jan 3 No School Winter Break
January 1-3 No School 6 Classes Resume 9 ICPTA Council Meeting,
Bridger, 7-8 p.m. 14 PTA Board (Nominating
committee selected) 7 p.m. 17 Free Family Movie Night
featuring Monsters University
6:30 p.m. (Snow Date, Jan. 24) 20 No School (MLK Day) 28 Math/Reading Night 5:30-
7:30pm
29 Early Release – 1:45pm
February 6 ICPTA Founders’ Day Break
fast, Pioneer Ridge Small Gym,
9:30 a.m.
PTA Papa John’s Night
7 Father/Daughter Dance
11 PTA Board (Announce Slate of
Officers) 7 p.m.
12 Valentine Party 2:30-3:30pm
(Kindergarten 2:00-3:00)
13 Early Release 1:45pm
Skate Party No. 3 PTA, 6-8
p.m., B&D South Skate Center,
$4
13-17 No School Parent Teacher
Conferences
18 PTA Unit meeting/Announce
Slate/Founders’ Day/Citizen of
Year 6:00-8:00 pm
The Winter Music Program is
December 12th at 7:00 p.m. The
program is performed by the 2nd
graders and Choir.
Please join us for an evening of
wonderful entertainment.
Parents, please watch for notes coming home from your
child's class regarding the Winter Party.
Most of the parties will be at 2:30 p.m. Room Parents are in
the final stages of planning and gathering items for these
classroom parties. Please consider helping by donating some
items, whether is cups or napkins, cookie or cupcake sprinkles,
game or craft supplies or your time helping during the parties.
Help is always appreciated with set up, serving or supervising
as well as with clean up.
Parties will be held from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 19
for First through Fifth Grades. Kindergarten parties are
from 2-3 p.m.
William Southern
Elementary
PTA Board
for 2013-2014
President
Sheryl Trick
Programs
Amy Jacoby
VP Membership
Sheila Rancatore/Kelly Nelson
Treasurer
Sarah Jarvis
Recording Sec.
Lucia Ferrara/Stephanie Weathers
Corresponding Sec.
Tina Grippy
Historian
Aaron Eaton
William Southern Elementary School PTA
Missouri PTA Website
www.mopta.org
National PTA Website
www.pta.org
Southern Searcher 2
We wish all the William Southern
families and staff a wonderful
holiday season!
The William Southern PTA Board.
A very excited group of 4th and 5th grade choir members from Wil-
liam Southern sang the National Anthem at the Mavericks game on
November 9th. “This is a tradition here at William Southern ever
since the Mavericks started playing hockey about 4 to 5 years ago
here in the Independence area” choir director and music teacher,
Cindy Smith said. We look forward each year to this fun Southern
family night at the Mavericks.
William Southern
Elementary
PTA Committee Chairs
for 2013-2014
Teacher Rep Christy Plack
Book Fair Judy Boutz
T-Shirt Sales Carrie Dixon
Mother/Son Event Stacy Johns
Watchdog Program Michael Ferrara
Sr.
Father/Daut Event Amy Jacoby
Campbells/Box Tops Lisa Patrick
May Picnic*
Movie Night Sheryl Trick
Michele Gregg
Skating Parties Cathy Lee
Room Parent Coord. Michelle Duchene
Field Day Joshua Guthrie
Bulldog Costume Natalie Trick
Holiday Café Tables Maggie Lesnak
Restaurant Nights Shelia Rancatore
Newsletter/Website Lisa Patrick
Hospitality Stacy Johns
Teacher Appreciation Kelly Nelson
School Sign*
Legislation Dana Conley
Reflections Ronda Scott
Nominating Lucia Ferrara
Birthday Book Club Lucia Ferrara
Bulletin Boards Shelia Rancatore &
Kelly Nelson
Picture Day Cindy Standlea
Brandi Standlea
Volunteer Coord. Stacy Johns
Yearbook April Mazeikis
*Need a volunteer to chair the event.
Southern Searcher 3
William Southern PTA
Membership Form
2013-2014
Member Information
Name _______________________________________________________________
*Business memberships -Please include business name above as well as two business cards.
Please Circle One: Individual Business
Street Address _________________________________________________________
City ________________________ State _______ Zip ________________
E-Mail Address _________________________________________________________
Phone Number _________________________________________________________
Additional Members
1) ___________________________2)______________________________
Student Attending William Southern (in case we need to send something to you)
Child’s Name
__________________________________________________________
Grade ____________ Teacher ___________________________________
Number of Adult Memberships _____ X $10 Total $ _________
Number of Business Memberships _____ X $25 Total $ _________
Total Memberships _____ Grand Total $ _________
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING WILLIAM SOUTHERN ELEMENTARY
IN BEING A “PAWTASTIC” PLACE TO BE!
Mark Your
Calendar! William Southern Elementary
PTA is hosting a FREE Family
Movie Night! 6:30 p.m., Friday, January 17
in the School Gym. (Bring a blanket and pillow for floor
seating, parents may bring folding chairs to
sit on at the back of the gym.)
Concessions will be sold for nominal prices.
Southern Searcher 4
School Phone Numbers
William Southern Office 521-5475
Fax 521-5646
Early Education 521-5477
Kids’ Safari 521-5478
Inclement Weather Hotline 521-5305
Nutritional Services 521-5371
Transportation 521-5335
Central Office 521-5300
Cafeteria 521-5599
William Southern was a full house Tuesday, November 12th, for our an-nual Grandparent’s Night. Students traveled to their classrooms to com-plete family trees, interviews, and a variety of crafts with their grandpar-ents.
Grandparents and “Grand-Friends”
also enjoyed cookies in the gym, a pho-
to booth supporting William Southern
technology, and the Scholastic Book
Fair in the Library.
Thank you for joining us for Grand-
parent’s Night.
“Grandparents are a delightful blend of laughter, caring deeds, wonderful stories and Love.”
Impact Screening vs. Testing
When IMPACT begins looking for
students that will qualify for our gift-
ed program, we start with referrals.
A referral can come from a teacher,
parent, principal, or counselor. The
deadline for first through fifth grade
student names from each elementary
school counselor to be turned in to
the IMPACT teachers will
be January 24th. After a child is re-
ferred the next step is screening. The
screening process helps us determine
who is likely to qualify during sum-
mer testing. Screening is different
than testing, but some parents con-
fuse it with testing. If your child does
not pass the screening process, you
will receive a letter thanking you for
allowing us to screen your child and
your child will not move forward in
the process. If your child passes the
screening stage, you will receive a
letter explaining that your child will
go on to summer testing. This does
not mean your child has qualified for
IMPACT. Students must meet the
state guidelines; they will be required
to qualify on an IQ test as well as an
achievement test or a creativity test.
After all testing is completed, a letter
will be sent home during the summer
listing test scores and informing par-
ents if their child has qualified for
IMPACT.
Many times the classroom teacher’s
input is requested during the referral
process, so parents should talk with
their classroom teacher to determine
if they believe the student could be
gifted.
Sheila Bonner 521-5450
IMPACT Teacher of the Gifted
Southern Searcher 5
.
Let Congress Know What Priorities are Important to US
With Congress considering a long-term budget plan, PTA members need to reach out to their Congressmen and ask them to replace the sequester cuts with balanced, smarter alternatives. In October, Congress voted to end the government shutdown and continue funding the government through mid-January 2014. As part of the agreement – members of the House of Representatives and Senate were selected to be part of a budget conference to identify long-term spending before December 15, 2013. That means that members of Congress must hear from constituents NOW about funding priorities important to us. Not sure how to craft a letter to ensure your voice is heard?
Visit http://mopta.org/legislation/advocacy_resources_page.html for templates and sample letters you can use when writing to Congressmen. It's easier than you think!
William Southern Student Council representatives, Mia McClusky and Madi-son Matthison, fifth grade students of Mrs. Allison Howell, deliver “Goodie Bags’ each month to welcome new students to William Southern. A ‘Welcome to Southern” card with the Bulldog mascot and the little bag of gifts is just one way to help new students feel welcome. Student Council representatives from 3rd, 4th and 5th grades rake leaves from the playground which keeps leaves from blowing into the school hallways. Student Council representatives continue to model good “Citizenship” and provide positive leadership roles at William Southern.
D eadline for this newsletter is the
25th of each month. If you
would like to put something in the
newsletter, please e-mail Lisa Patrick
Please send your Box Tops
in for a chance to win a 10
oz. free ice cream treat
from Cherry Berry.
Please put your name on
your bag of Box Tops and
we will put your name into a
drawing for a card.
Please do not send in
expired Box Tops!!
Southern Searcher 6
PTA currently has 80 paid memberships from parents and teachers. Many
thanks to those of you who have already joined by completing a membership
form and paying the $10 annual fee. It's not too late to join! Complete the at-
tached form and send it, along with the fee, via your child's backpack in an en-
velope marked PTA and your child's teacher will make sure it gets to us.
State PTA is offering us a chance to earn extra money for PTA while also in-
creasing our membership. All PTAs across the state who increase their mem-
bership by 10% will be entered in a drawing for $75 dollars. It may not seem
like much but for every 8 additional memberships we get by January, we go into
the drawing.
How would we use $75? This year William Southern teachers can apply for mini
grants to purchase items for their classrooms and this could help. There are
also expenses coming up related to the Father-Daughter dance and the end of
year school picnic that $75 dollars could cover. Did you know that PTA provides
the transportation to the Hy-Vee sponsored lunch for the character award win-
ners each month and helps with bus costs for field trips in all grades? Every
little bit of funding helps us provide some of the extras!
Curious about PTA and want to learn more? Contact any of the members listed
in this newsletter; we'd be happy to answer your questions. You're also welcome
and encouraged to join us at our next meeting on January 14th at 7:00 PM.
W ord of the month Compas-
sion.to understand the challeng-
es of others and to want to do some-
thing about it.
The best way
to cheer
yourself is to
cheer some-
body else up.
Mark Twain
