Join the Silent Auction Committee!

Our Spring Fling and Annual Silent Auction will be held at the Brooklyn Lyceum on Friday, March 6th. Last year's Spring Fling raised $26,000 to directly benefit our children through a variety of PS 29-sponsored programs.

We need many, many volunteers to help make this event a complete success! We are looking for parents to solicit and organize donations, draft and print the auction catalog, set-up and clean-up on the day of the event, distribute auction winnings and many more event-related tasks.

This year, we also hope to post all auction items on cMarket, a leading web charity auction service, to increase profit, exposure for our donors, and expand our pool of bidders. Please remember, if the items are on the Internet, then your friends and relatives can place bids as well!!

Our first planning meeting is set for FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2008 at 8:30 a.m., in the outer cafeteria (on the Baltic Street side). If you can donate some time to assist with this event, please come join us! If you are interested, but can't attend our first meeting, please contact co-chair Jeanmarie Giordano.

Hope to see you there!!

Scholastic Book Fair Still Needs Volunteers; Browse After Families As Reading Partners On Friday!

Please get in touch with Jeanmarie Giordano, co-chair of the Scholastic Book Fair, to volunteer your time at the fair, if you haven't yet had the chance to do so. It takes a lot of helping hands to stage the book fair, which has become a vital PS 29 institution that helps forge in our kids a life-long love of reading. We raise funds through the fair to support our other literacy efforts; earn lots of books for our library; and, most significantly, help make finding just-right books really fun for the kids.

Parents of children new to the school are encouraged to volunteer for the fair; it's a great starting point for involvement!

Your support can take a variety of forms: volunteering your time, sending your child in with a few dollars to buy a book on his/her class shopping day, and making your own shopping visit to the fair. Please take a few minutes to stop by for refreshments and browse the selection as an apt follow-up to this Friday's Families As Reading Partners (in your child's classroom, 8:30-9:10 AM). The fair takes place in the outer cafeteria - and we look forward to seeing you there!

Parent Volunteers Needed for Upcoming 2nd & 3rd Grade Enrichment Cycle!

The second and third grade Enrichment Cluster Cycle will begin on Thursday, October 16th! We have 14 staff members facilitating in this cycle, and we'd like to have at least 6 parents, as well. This would give our children 20 clusters to choose from and make their group sizes as small as 10. There will be an information meeting for parents interested in the possibility of facilitating their own cluster on Friday at 9:15 AM, immediately following Families as Learning Partners, 8:25-9:00 AM.

If you are interested, please either email Frank Thomas, assistant principal, or click the letter above, print out the slip and return via backpack mail to your child's teacher. Thank you very much!!

PS 29 is a Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) school. SEM provides enriched learning experiences and higher learning standards for all children through three goals; developing talents in all children, providing a broad range of advanced-level enrichment experiences for all students, and providing advanced follow-up opportunities for young people based on their strengths and interests. The SEM focuses on enrichment for all students through high levels of engagement and the use of enjoyable and challenging learning experiences that are constructed around students' interests, learning styles, and preferred modes of expression.

PS 29 PTA Earns Over $250 From Brooklyn PTA 5K Run

Our PTA earned over $250 from the recent Brooklyn PTA 5K Run, with the second largest enrollment of runners in this first-time event. The event raised over $3,000 for Brooklyn public schools. Stephanie Manske, chair of our SLT's Wellness Committee, organized the PS 29 contingent, and looks forward to rallying our runners (plus walkers and toddlers) for the 2009 race!

Get Ready for the Block Party This Friday, May 30th from 6-9 PM!

This year's Block Party will be tons of fun for the entire family! The PTA extends an enormous thank-you to our 2008 Block Party Co-Sponsors, Brooklyn Bridge Realty, (718. 625.3700) and The Collection at Court Street, (212.603 3494).

The 2008 sponsor of our ever-popular Dunk Tank is Matthew Goldfine of Excel Builders & Renovators Inc. (Renovating Brooklyn since 1994), 718.624.5300.

PS 29 ANNUAL BLOCK PARTY, FRIDAY MAY 30TH , 6-9 PM

ADMISSION IS FREE!!! OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY!

• FOOD - Food will be available for purchase. 
• There will be game and food tickets for sale at the event. $1 = 1 ticket.
• Adult meal - Fried Chicken (Halal), two sides, and a drink - 8 tickets.
• Kid's meal - hot dog, side, and a juice box - 3 tickets.
• Hot Dogs (Kosher and Vegetarian) - 1 ticket.
• Dessert - 2 tickets.

Activities

• Face Painting - 1 Ticket
  
• Athletic Games - Free
  
• Mad Science Project - Free
  
• Cookie Decorating - 1 ticket
  
• Dunk Tank (Dunk your teacher!!)- 2 tickets
  
• 3 Different Craft projects - 1 ticket each
  
• Audrarox !
  
• Teacher Raffle!
  
• Silent Auction!
  

Don't miss out on the fun!

• Volunteers - We still need volunteers!!! Please contact Amy Sirot to sign up to help. This is the biggest block party ever and we need you!!!
• Alumni - If you have a child who is a graduate of PS29, we need him or her! We'd love to see the alumni out there assisting with the games. Again, contact Amy Sirot if you have a graduate who can help out.
• Teacher Raffle - Tickets will be sold every day this coming week in the morning in the front of school, and in the back of the school at pick-up. Raffle tickets are only $2 per ticket!

Dave Eggers' Challenge: Make a Difference in the Lives of Public School Kids & Tell Your Story!

Dave Eggers, winner of the 2008 TED Prize, and founder of 826NYC in Park Slope and 826 Valencia, San Francisco, wishes to collect 1,000 stories of private citizens engaged in their local public schools, and has called upon every adult to bring their time, skill, and energy to bear on the lives of students. The leader or initiator of the three projects that best encapsulate the TED Prize spirit - vision, commitment, fun, partnership, and change – will each receive a pass to TED2009, an ideas conference, in Long Beach, California. 

For the many imaginative, dedicated, and enthusiastic PS 29 parents who've donated their time to help launch great cluster classes; arts residency programs; theatre programs; authors' series; running club/wellness activities; super science saturday programming; salad bar/healthy food initiatives; the new Children's Garden; or any other endeavor that directly impacts the lives of our students, here's a great chance to tell your stories and to inspire others to become involved!

Go to Once Upon A School, to help make Eggers' vision a reality by recording your own story of volunteering or to become inspired to pursue an exciting new project with PS 29 kids!

Volunteers Still Needed For Block Party, Friday, May 30th!!!

Please volunteer to help  at the Annual Block Party on Friday, May 30th. The date is fast approaching and we need you!! You can bring your kids along to help you during your time slot. We need help with games, crafts, set-up, clean-up, and food. If your older kids are PS 29 alums, encourage them to pitch in for their alma mater! Please sign up to help make this event fun for the whole family. Please contact Amy Sirot and let her know how you would like to help.

The PTA is very appreciative of our 2008 Block Party co-sponsors Brooklyn Bridge Realty and The Collection at Court Street.

Super Science Saturday Is The Day After Tomorrow! Help Needed!

Super Science Saturday is the day after tomorrow, from 12 noon-4 PM!! Please have a look HERE for Super Science Saturday news — plus tons of other cool science resources for your family!

To volunteer, contact Elizabeth Kiem!

The PS 29 Children's Garden Is a Reality!

The much-anticipated PS 29 Garden Day on Saturday, March 29th was an enormous success! The PTA extends a gigantic
thank-you to all of the members of the Food & Farming Initiative  - a true collective of parents, teachers and administrators -  for coming together on a bright, sunny day to build four 4'x24' garden beds for the new PS 29 Children's Garden, which also now has official designation as a GreenThumb Garden! (The GreenThumb program provides materials, technical assistance and educational workshops for the volunteers who manage 600 community gardens around New York City.)

Special thanks go to:

• John Ameroso, Cornell University Cooperative Extension Associate, Emerging Initiatives, for designing the beds and leading the building process;
• Stephanie Manske for securing the lumber (below cost);
• Emmanuelle Chiche and her restaurant, Korhogo 126, on Union St., for the generous donation of the lumber;
• Anne Townsend for successfully writing the Independence Community Foundation grant application;
• Independence Community Foundation for the generous Community Quality of Life grant, which will go towards garden materials;
• PS 41 for tools and seeds;
• Sarah Poten for successfully pushing through our GreenThumb application;
• Kamco Supply Corp. for the discounted lumber;
• Amy Sirot for baking the fabulous muffins for the hungry Garden Day workers;
• PS 29 building manager Anthony Acevedo for being amazing every step of the way;
• Caroline Petersen and Alison Cohen for steering, from the parent side, the many facets of the project;
• Nancy Henry and Tina Reres, our science teachers, for not only an extraordinary job coordinating the many components that went into making the day a reality, but, most importantly, for their upcoming work with our kids in our brand-new garden!
• And, of course, principal Melanie Raneri Woods for having the vision and determination to create a school farm in Brooklyn!

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, March 29th For PS 29 Farm Installation

The PS 29 Food & Farming Initiative will need volunteers on Saturday, March 29, to help build the school farm! Details to follow, but it looks like we will need people who are handy, who have some tools, and possibly someone with access to a dump truck. We will build four temporary garden beds under the guidance of John Ameroso, a neighbor from Cornell Cooperative Extension, so the kids can begin planting and learning this spring. Stay tuned for more information; but if you can help, please save the date!

Pastries + Polling Place = PTA Profits, So Please Pitch In!

Please help fill in the remaining gaps during our Super Bake Sale on Super Tuesday! Help is still needed for the following shifts: 6-8 AM, 7-9 AM and 5-7 PM. Also, please do not forget to bake! Baked (or bought) goods should be dropped off in the school lobby before 9 am on Tuesday (2/5) or left on the table at the rear of the auditorium on Monday afternoon. This sale brings in lots of money for the school, so help is appreciated. Please email or call Susan Panepento,( 718) 757-8061. Thanks!

Super Bake Sale On Super Tuesday! Volunteers Needed!

Next Tuesday, February 5th is a rare pivotal Presidential Primary for New York State, not to mention Super Tuesday, and the PTA is sponsoring a super-duper bake sale fundraiser to sweetly spur on the voters! Please bake or buy something for the sale! Donations can be dropped off before 9:00 AM in the school's front lobby.

In addition, WE NEED VOLUNTEERS to work two-hour shifts: 6:00 AM-8:00 AM; 7:00 AM-9:00 AM; 9:00 AM-11:00 AM; 11:00 AM-1:00 PM; 1:00 PM-3:00 PM; 3:00 PM-5:00 PM; 5:00 PM-7:00 PM; and 7:00 PM-9:00 PM.

We also need two or three people who wake up early to pick up bagels at local bakeries and deliver them to the school by 6:30 AM. Please email Susan Panepento or call 718-757-8061 if you can spare a few hours of your time to help. The Election Day Bake Sale is a major PTA breadwinner (sorry for the pun...), so your help really makes a difference!! THANK YOU!

Pinkalicious Is Tomorrow!!!

Vital Theatre will perform Pinkalicious the Musical Friday, December 7th at 6:30 PM in the auditorium! The cast will meet, greet and sign autographs after the show. Leave room for cupcakes!

This Week at a Glance

Pinkalicious Tickets Sales Continue!

Get your tickets before it's too late to Vital Theatre's one-time only performance at PS 29, Friday, December 7th at 6:30 PM! Watch for the ticket-sales table at drop off and pick up! Tickets are only $10 each!

PS 29 Merchandise Sale
Kids came home Friday with PS 29 clothing and merchandise order forms. See the display in the main lobby — and place your orders by Wednesday!

City Harvest Food Drive
The City Harvest Food Drive continues this week! Please drop off packaged and canned foods in the main lobby!

Monday Running Club
Parent and teacher volunteers have steadily helped expand the group of 4th and 5th grade Running Club members to over 60 enthusiastic kids! More kids have been joining each week!

Food and Farming Initiative Ad Hoc Planning Committee:
Kick-Off Meeting, Monday, November 19th, 3:00 PM
All members of the parent and teacher community are welcome!

Holiday Coffee Sale Kicks Off on Monday, November 19th
Coffee samples will be available at drop off tomorrow! Place orders by December 3rd for delivery December 12th!

PE/Wellness Committee Meeting:
Tuesday, November 20th, 5 PM
All members of the parent and faculty community are welcome!

Candy Sale Orders Arrive on Wednesday, Nov. 7th! Volunteers Needed to Help Distribute!!

The Candy Sale orders will be delivered on Wednesday, Nov. 7th. Large orders can be picked up after school in the cafeteria. Small orders will be delivered to your child's classroom.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Liz DiMartino needs help on Wednesday sorting and compiling the merchandise for delivery.

If you are available to help at all on Wednesday, November 7th please report directly to the cafeteria any time after 10 AM. Please contact Liz!! Thank you!!

Scholastic Book Fair Returns, 11/6-11/16

Just in time for Holiday shopping, the Scholastic Book Fair returns to PS 29 from Thursday, November 6th to Friday, November 16th with a great selection of books!

To volunteer to help make this event a success, please contact Jeanmarie Giordano! All efforts are welcome and appreciated!