The Parker Lion's Tale

B.Haverkamp

Parker Elementary - The 2002 National GRAMMY® Signature Elementary School

January 2013 Volume 24 No. 5

See PTO - page 2 See SUZUKI - page 2

The Elementary School of Choice in HISD

Suzuki Workshop 2013 –

“Simply Suzuki”Honoring

Dr. Shinichi SuzukiThis February 6th, 7th, and 8th,

Parker will hold its 34th annual Suzuki Workshop! Master Suzuki instructors from around the country will offer daily instruction to cello and violin students, culminating in a Friday evening con-cert at Westbury Baptist Church per-formed by our children. This three-day workshop is an invaluable educational experience for our students. Parental participation is essential in making this a unique and rewarding event. We can’t do this without you.

A set of information and order forms went out to all violin and cello stu-dents the week of January 7th. Contact your child’s private lesson teacher if you did not receive the order forms.

The following are suggestions of where your help is needed:

Place an ad in the concert •program

Provide dessert or assist with food •service during workshop

Help decorate the school for the •event

Work at the check-in desk to help •connect parents with their children and clinicians/lesson rooms

Transport instruments and stools •

PTO PRESIDENT’S MID-YEAR ADDRESS

It seems that there are three kinds of parents in every school: Those who are always involved, always there and on every committee. Then, group two are the ones that are getting their feet wet and would like to get involved, but aren't sure exactly what involved is... "Should I ask? If I do ask, will I be sucked into a black hole and have too much to do because nobody else will come forward".... and the third being those that have so much other stuff going on that they couldn't possibly add this to their plate right now. Most of us swing back and forth from one category to the other depending on the day of the week andhourofthedaywefindourselvesin at the moment. Regardless of where youfindyourself,weappreciateyouforbeing a part of the Parker family.

We are halfway through the school year and as strange as it may seem when we are barely returning from Winter Break, now is the time to start consider-ing what role we'll play in the PTO next year. Several of the spots on the PTO Executive Board are currently held by 5th grade parents and parents, like my-self, who have reached our term limits. We are actively searching for our future officersandvolunteers.

If you would be interested in serv-

Safety Concerns I know we were all affected by

the tragedies in Connecticut last month andthatithascausedusalltoreflectonschool safety. Parker has made a few changes and will continue to evaluate certain policies in an effort to ensure the safety of our children. Our side gates on Willowbend and Stillbrooke are now open in the morning from 7:30 AM to 8:05 AM. Additionally, all parents and visitors will be required to enter through the front of the school and will not be allowed to enter through either of the secure entrances from our parking lot that requires access cards. Please sign-in inthemainofficeeachandeverytimeyou visit Parker.

We will continue to examine our practices and security measures and may make more changes in the coming weeks and months. Safety of our children is a top priority for myself, as well as, all of our Parker staff. Although these changes may cause a small amount of inconvenience, I believe they are neces-sary steps we must take. Thank you for your continued support.

Ms. Frodine, Principal

Code of CooperationMake bright decisionsUse good judgmentSpeak with respectInteract with others positivelyControl your own behavior

Jazz Violinist visits Jazz Class

In from San Francisco, jazz vio-linist Katie Haverkamp dropped in on Al Campbell’s Jazz class on Thursday, December 20th. She performed for the students, showing them how violin can fuse with the typical brass, woodwind, percussion, and guitars associated with jazz. (Campbell’s Jazz class has a cou-ple of vioinists this year.) According to several jazz students’ mothers, their chil-dren came home agog after Haverkamp’s visit and motivated to practice.

Haverkamp is a past alumna of Parker, learning Suzuki Violin in grades 1st through 5th. Al Campbell was her instructor in the intermediate violin mag-net class. She attended Lanier Middle School (performing as a member of its award winning orchestra), and the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, performing both violin and viola, class of 2006. She moved out to San Francisco several years ago and has been working with and learning from the jazz community there. Thanks to her many years of Suzuki and classical violin instruction, Katie has had a rich basis upon which to build her jazz per-formance. She performs most Sundays with joy. She loves performing – her violin is her second voice.

B. HaverkampA Parker Proud & Thankful Parent

between the concert venue and school both before and after the Friday con-cert

Hand out programs before the •concert

Please think about how you can contribute and return all order forms and volunteer commitments by Monday, January 21, 2013.

Thank you for your support! ~~♪♫♪♫♫♪~~

Stephanie DuffeyRegina Puccio

2012 Suzuki Workshop Chairs

SUZUKI - from page 1 PTO - from page 1

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Thank YouI would like to thank the wonderful

Parker Family for its wishes of condo-lence upon the death of my husband, Lanny J. Haverkamp, on December 15, 2012. The many kindnesses – the gift card from the PTO, the many cards of caring, the hugs – have been so very much appreciated. Thank you.

Barbara Haverkamp & Family

WE OURVOLUNTEERS!

ing on this year's Nominating Commit-tee, please contact me. If taking on a leadership role in the PTO is something you've always wanted to do or you know of someone you think would be a wonderful asset to our school, please let me know. The rewards of smiling Parker children and teachers, and lasting friendships, can't be beat!

Robyn PerryPTO President

Letters to SantaLetters to Santa was a big hit!

Student Council received 176 letters to be delivered to Santa Claus through Ma-cy’s. For every letter that we donated, Macy’s will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish foundation to make dreams come true for terminally ill children here in the United States. A big thank you goes out to Kierra Jones for bringing this program to our attention and another big thank you to all the students who made their wish lists for Santa.

Ms. Benjamin

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JOYOUS MUSIC FILLED THE AIR

I want to congratulate all the per-forming groups who played Holiday concerts at Parker and around the city. Everyonedidaterrificjob!Ireceivedwonderful comments about all the groups that went off campus. Besides the concerts at Parker, we had groups play at both Bering Hardware stores, Houston City Club for the Houston Rotary, Goldberg Towers, Chase Bank, KTSU Twelve Tastes of Christmas, Bayland AARP holiday meeting, Her-mann Park and Grace Episcopal Church. Some small groups of band students also played at Wal-Mart Grocery, Kroger and Whole Foods to help raise money for the trip to New Orleans. I would say we had a very successful December Concert Season. Thank you to all the music teachers for all their hard work preparing the students.

Carol Kehlenbrink

HEALTH BEAT H a p p y N e w Ye a r t o A l l ! I hope everyone had a great holi-

day and remained healthy. This is the time of year when we can become susceptibletocoldsandflu.Makesureyour children are dressed appropri-ately for school and our ever-changing weather. Make sure your children get plenty of rest and eat a good breakfast.

Flu season is hitting Houston especially hard this year. It is not too late to get a flu shot. If your child hasnot receivedaflushotyet,pleasemake sure they get one. It takes two weeks for the vaccine to be in full force.

If your child does become ill, please remember to keep them home. Children must be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school. Lastly, remember that children are NOT permitted to carry medicines in their backpacks or pockets. This includes cough drops, Tylenol, Sudafed, Advil--any medi-cine, prescription or over-the-counter. If your child does need medicine during the school day, please see me about obtaining an HISD medication form.

If you have any health concerns you would like to discuss with me about your child, please feel free to call me at Parker or drop by.

Angela Smith R.N.

Parker Chorus Measures Up The Parker Chorus has been busy this Fall/Winter! The Parker Advanced

Chorus performed at a Rotary Club Luncheon at the Houston City Club on No-vember 16, 2012. They also sang holiday songs in the beautiful marble lobby of the Chase Bank downtown on December 19, 2012.

On December 13th, the Beginning and Advanced Choruses gave their Win-ter concert at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church to a standing ovation by the audience. Several talented Parker Piano students gave a pre-choral concert to the delight of the crowd.

Some of Parker’s advanced chorus students participated in the Deck the Halls of Burlinghall Parade (near Burlinghall and Atwell) in Westbury on Saturday, De-cember 15th at 5 PM. They rode in the truck with Santa Claus, sang holiday songs and threw out lots of candy. A lot of fun was had by all!

The Advanced Chorus has been invited to perform at the most prestigious choral event in USA, the American Choral Directors Association Convention, in Dallas, Texas, in March 2013. The Parker Advanced Chorus was the ONLY elementary school chorus in the entire nation, chosen by audition, to perform at the convention. This is a huge honor and speaks so well of Parker Elementary, HISD and the City of Houston. It is truly amazing what these children have been able to accomplish under the direction of Mrs. Simpson. The Advanced Chorus has raised about 35% of the funds needed for this trip (toward the cost to perform at this convention, including travel, hotel and food). If you have a great idea for a quick and easy fundraiser, please contact Ellen Tagtmeier at etagtmeier@comcast.net or 713-504-8197.

If you would like to contribute a tax-deductible donation to support the Advanced Chorus, we/they would be grateful. Please make your check payable to:ParkerPTOwith“AdvancedChorusFundraiser”notedinthememofieldofthe check. Mail your donation to:

Parker ElementaryAttn: Marianna Simpson, Chorus Director10626 AtwellHouston, TX 77096 You can also make a donation on line at our school website which is www.

parkerlementaryschool.com by clicking on the “Donate to Parker” link in the upper right corner and selecting chorus for “please select where to donate.”

If you have not yet seen the wonderful video about the Parker Elementary music program, which showcases our chorus singing throughout, please go to our school website (www.parkerlementaryschool.com) and click on the “Parker Music Magnet Video - View the Video of Parker’s Grammy Winning Music Program.”

Thank you again for your consideration and support of our wonderful cho-rus!

Ellen Tagtmeier

It is the policy of the Houston Independent School District not to discriminate on the basis of age, color, handicap or disability, ancestry, national origin, marital status, race, religion, sex, veteran status, or political affiliation in its educa-tional or employment programs and activities.

Early Dismissal DaysPlease place the following dates

on your calendar for HISD’s early dis-missal days:

January 30, 2013 (reserved for •Parent-Teacher Conferences)

February 20, 2013 •On early dismissal days, all stu-

dents will be dismissed at 12:30 PM. Magnet classes and the Afterschool Care Program will not operate on these days.

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The PARKER LION’S TALE is pub-lished each month by the Parker PTO. The deadline to submit articles for the February 2013 issue will be January 23, 2013. Please drop your news in the PTO fileboxore-mailmeatlionstale7@ya-hoo.com. Contact me at 713-729-3505 toletmeknowwheretofindyourarticle.Barbara Haverkamp, Editor & Layout

Carnation SalesCan you believe it? Valentine’s

Day is right around the corner. Stu-dent Council will be selling carna-tions to be delivered to your child on Valentine’s Day, February 14th. Look for aflyer togohome inyourchild’sTuesday folder at the end of January. You may purchase as many carna-tions as you like for your child, their friends and teachers. Don’t be left out!

EXERCISE OF THE MONTH

Dance is one of my favorite ex-ercises! I like to turn on my Xbox and play the latest dance games but you don’t need a video game for dancing, just music! Some of the boys are prob-ably thinking that they don’t dance and no one is going to make them, but it is tons of fun. I’m not talking about danc-ing like a ballerina, unless you like that sort of thing, but you can strum your air guitar, play your fake drums or even dotheCubanshuffle.Evenjustjump-ing around and moving different body

4th - Andrew DonovanRunner-up: Jekai Bogan

parts will do. So get up and keep mov-ing. Dancing will help you to live a heart healthy life.

Coach Benjamin

Congratulations Parker Elementary’sBest of the Best Spellers 2012 - 2013

Grade Level Finalists3rd - Kaden SandersRunner-up: Seva Raman

5th - Christine Bowyer & Mary Phillips(two-way tie for champion)

Classroom Contestants3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th GradeJonathan Torres Serena West David RosenCesar Cristino Miguel Tucker Alexandra MaynardJaheim Joseph Ivette Moctezuma Mary Phillips (tie)Jaden Walker Mario Gonzalez Thomas Girardet (tie)Mylah Wilson Amy Sanchez Angie TovarKeith Armwood Corie Martin Jasmine RubioKatalina Vazquez Mohammad Rizvi Leah EllisTia Falls Taylor Scott Parker TagtmeierKaden Sanders Eric Rosen Christine BowyerSeva Raman Andrew Donovan Amayah GabrielSamson Colburn Jekai BoganZyon Johnson Samera Hayes[plain=classroom/grade level champion -- italic=grade level runner-up]

Next Parker Spelling Bee – January 11, 2013!

FRIDAYS WITH FRODINE

Parents, meet with Principal Frodine on one Friday morning each month to share concerns or to ask ques-tions about Parker. It will be an informal time to chat over coffee. Fridays with Frodine will be held in the library from 8:15-9 AM on:

January 11, 2013February 1March 1April 12May 3Please remember to sign in at the

front desk before attending Fridays with Frodine.

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The Holiday Concert with a TwistThey should not clap between move-ments, but only when instruments are lowered. A Parker audience is a very well-behaved audience.

The children were close to the perfectaudienceforthefirsttensongs,then came Jingle Bells. The kindergar-teners just couldn’t help themselves; they started singing along softly. The 2nd graders joined in and their voices bloomed. They all knew Jingle Bells.

Up on the House Top triggered another spontaneous sing along. My Dreidel evoked singing again. Then there were several songs, all perfectly performed, but unknown to the younger audiencemembers.ThefinalsongwasWe Wish You a Merry Christmas. Yes, the students couldn’t contain themselves again. They sang along.

I’d expected a wonderful holi-day concert and I certainly got it. The unexpected audience sing-a-long was frosting on my holiday cupcake.

Barbara Haverkamp

The afternoon performance of the Parker Performing Strings and Guitars Holiday Concert, on December 11, was enchanting. Of course, I expected wonderful performances from Parker’s musicians. Parker musicians perform on campus and across Houston dur-ing December bringing holiday joy to thousands. What I didn’t expect was the reaction of the audience.

Students from kindergarten and 2nd grade made up the lion’s share of the audience, joining about 50 parents and friends. (The latter performance would be strictly for parents and friends.)

If you’ve been around Parker for any length of time, you know that Parker audiences receive instruction on how to be a good audience. The students aretaughttositflatonthefloor.Theymust clap with their hands only. There is no hooting or cheering. (This rule is loosened only for the performance of Jazz & Poetry in February. The student audience can’t resist Bubbha Thomas, the star of Jazz & Poetry.) Students are not to talk to one another. They should respectfully observe the performance.

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Parker Elementary presents:

Suzuki Workshop 2013 –

“Simply Suzuki”Honoring

Dr. Shinichi Suzuki

Friday February 8th6:30 PM

Westbury Baptist Church

Admission free

Parker CalendarJanuary 20137 Teacher Prep Day8 Students Return SDMC Meeting – 3:30 PM10 Suzuki Workshop Meeting – 8:30 AM Part of 3rd grade to Museum11 MAGNET APPLICATION DEADLINE! Fridays with Frodine – 8:15-9 AM - Library Parker Spelling Bee – 8:15 AM Attendance Jam Report Cards14 Tempo Session II – 9:45 AM15 PTO Meeting – 6 PM17 Chik-fil-AFamilyNightbenefitingParker18 Spanish Club Meeting – 8:15 AM21 Martin Luther King Holiday – no school23 Magnet Matinee – 3 PM26 All-City Band Concert28 Tempo Session II – 9:45 a.m.30 Early Dismissal as 12:30 PM February1 Fridays with Frodine – 8:15-9 AM - Library 4 Tempo Session II – 9:45 AM5 Workshop Clinician concert – 3 PM SDMC Meeting – 3:30 PM6-8 Suzuki Workshop8 Suzuki Workshop Concert @ Westbury Baptist Church-6:30PM11 Tempo Session II - 9:45 AM 12 PTO Meeting – 6 PM14 Valentines Parties - 2:15 AM15 Jazz & Poetry – 8:30 AM

Items on the calendar are accurate as of press time. For ques-tions regarding possible cancellations and new times, please call

the main office at 713-726-3634.

10626 AtwellPhone no. 713-726-3634

Website address:http://www.parkerelementaryschool.com

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Music quote“Everywhere in the world, music enhances a hall, with one exception: Carnegie Hall enhances the music.” By Isaac SternSource: www.brainyquote.com

Courtesy Robin Gibson

Teacher and Staff Appreciation

LunchOn 12/12/12 Parker parents

recognized our wonderful teachers and staff with a chili cook-off and lunch. We had 16 delicious chilis entered in the cook-off and the clear winner was a chili made by Mary Francis. I hope she will share her recipe.

Our next 5 runner-ups, were as follows: Shane Strudwick, Julie Jaramillo, Heather Linn, Autumn Jamison and Katie Bauer. Thank you to all the parents that entered their chili and donated other items to the luncheon. Also, thank you to all the parents that helped with a gift of time in setting up, serving and cleaning up for this annual event.

The chili cook-off was so well received that I think we can look forward to it again next year—start testing out your chili recipes for next time.

Chris Strudwick