CHANGO NEWS

 NEWS TO USE FROM THE CHANGO PTA

We’ve reached the halfway mark for the school year—time is flying!!

Our January meeting was great. We had two fundraiser presentations (with yummy samples) and chose to go with Gertrude Hawk Chocolates for our last sale of the year. We need a chairperson (or 2) to volunteer for this! Please let one of us know if you’ll do this one.

The Father/Daughter Dance and Mother/Son Bowling are coming up in early February—lots of fun planned. Mrs. Skarka talked more about our project to purchase 50 pairs of snowshoes for the students to use during recess. We’re also in need of volunteers for a new budget committee. Contact Jennifer Carey if interested.

Mrs. Diane Horlacher was presented with the PTA Honorary Lifetime Membership Award and recognized for her amazing compassion and service in working with our children. Congratulations and many thanks!!!(see article)

The winner of January’s class PTA parent participation treat was Mrs. Johnson’s class. Way to go! Attend our March meeting and support your kids!

Also, we had a very successful night out at Friendly’s!! We had over 100 people there just in the first hour, and made approximately $270!!! Thanks for your support!

Our visiting author/illustrator Sheri Amsel gave a fascinating presentation which was enjoyed by a full audience in the Chango Library. She shared stories about various animals, many of whom she encountered while working with her brother, a veterinarian who works on many movie and commercial sets. Her wonderful website can be accessed at www.exploringnature.org, using "cat" as both the sign in and password. It is a GREAT site!!

Remember, it’s not too late to send in your PTA membership if you haven’t already done so. There is no general PTA meeting scheduled for February--

Our next PTA meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 14^th, 7 p.m.. Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

PTA Co-Presidents

Kristin Renauld and Lisa Hodge

• THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL DATED JULY 2006:

• THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION HAS ANNOUNCED THE FOLLOWING 2007 MEDAL WINNERS -The Newbery Medal winner awarded to the "author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children" is The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron.

• PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS – The library is sponsoring our annual Scholastic Book Fair to be held from March 12-16. Consider this a first call for help. More information will follow.

The New York State PTA Founder’s Day dinner will be held at Michael’s Banquet House on Wednesday, March 21^st.  This year Chango has chosen Diane Horlacher the program aide for Language Concepts to receive the Honorary Life Member award.  Diane goes above and beyond what her job description expects of her when working with the children in this program and all children at Chango.  She works selflessly and tirelessly, coming in early and staying late when necessary, to ensure that all of her students share in educational success. 

Any PTA members (teachers, staff members or parents) who would like to join us in recognizing Diane’s great contribution to the children of Chango are invited to attend the Founder’s Day dinner.  If you’re not a PTA member, it’s not too late to join.  Just get your membership form and payment in by March 1^st!  The sign up sheet for the dinner will be located in the main office beginning in mid February.  The cost for the dinner is $28 per person and payment is expected when you sign up.  Checks should be made payable to Shenendehowa Council PTA.

Don’t forget to congratulate Diane when you see her!

Pizza party for the winning class! Currently, Mr. Johnson’s class is in 1^st place with 493, Mrs. Scambati’s is in 2^nd place with 432 and Mrs. Barbagelata’s class is in 3^rd place with 388 collected box tops. The contest will be continued until the end of May. However, the deadline for the next Boxtops redemption is February 28. The more labels you sent in by mid February, the bigger the check for Chango will be in April. Since November, you have collected about 3200 labels, worth $320. Let’s try to make it $500. With 100% participation that’s about 3 labels per child. Everybody can do this! Please!!!!! Thanks to everyone who has already brought in BoxTops this year.

Once again, please mark your calendars for our annual beach party! We will meet you in the gym on March 9^th from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm. We will send out a reminder flyer mid-February. Please come join us for some fun!

 All girls of Chango Elementary School are invited to the Father/Daughter – Snow Angel Dance.

(A grand father, an uncle, or any male adult can serve as a substitute escort).

So, put on your special party outfit and lets have a

fun night of dancing, refreshments, and raffles!

              When:     Friday, February 9, 2007

The Children’s Law Project of the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc. provides free civil (not criminal) legal services to low-income children in Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties. We can help with a range of legal issues, including denial of benefits such as SSI or public assistance, school discipline issues, special education issues, and other civil legal problems. The Project has open intake throughout the day, but the best times to call are 11:00am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-5:00pm. For more information or to determine if you qualify for our services, please call the Legal Aid Society’s Saratoga office at (518) 587-5188 or toll free at (800) 870-8343.

A program of visual arts, theatre, music and creative movement for kids grades 3-8 at the Egg. There are two sessions offered. Each runs for one week Monday through Friday 9am-4pm:

February 19-23 Ready, Set, StART

April 9-13 CooperARTe

Fees: $150 per session or $250 for both (register by 2/9/07)

Special family discounts available.

For more information, call (518) 694-4000 ext. 12

After the great success of our Friendly’s Chango Night Out, we have a similar event planned for the weekend of March 3^rd and 4^th. Mark your calendars! If you eat at Angels restaurant (Near Borders at exit 9) anytime on Saturday, March 3^rd or Sunday, March 4^th, Angels will donate a whopping 30% of your bill to the Chango PTA. It’s so easy! About a week before the event a sheet of coupons will be sent home with the students. Hand out these coupons to friends, relatives, neighbors, the mailman, anyone you can think of! You can copy this sheet as many times as you need. Just be sure to bring a coupon with you when you come to the restaurant. It’s that easy and you have an entire weekend to stop in, so no excuses!

MATH AND THE GIFTED CHILD

Come join Chango math specialist, Meg Cocozzo, for an evening of new ideas and resources to make math more challenging and fun for your child! Learn how to use games, puzzles, websites, newspapers and real world problem solving to challenge your child at home.

Bring your questions and enjoy a fun discussion of how math can be more exciting for your children!

February 8^th at 7:00 pm in the Chango cafeteria.

Sponsored by SAGE (Shenendehowa Advocates for gifted children).

The character words for January were caring and cooperation.

K: Meghan Fuhrmann (Callow)

1: Kelsey Kohler (Sg)

2: Carrie Granger (?)

3: Katie Collins (B)

4: Elizabeth Walther (H)

5: Alexandra Cline (M)

SPECIAL DATES

February 1- "Me, me, me" play 5^th grade