Nov 2011 Volume 10, Issue 3

Mt. Erie PTA, Chapter 8.2.37 360-293-9541

mtepta@gmail.com http://www.mteriepta.org The Pony Express

President: Silja Shjarback Editor: Kathleen Horr

Executive Committee

President: Silja Shjarback

shjaresa@fidalgo.net

Vice President:

Catherine Houck

chouck8@msn.com

Secretary: Polly Dubbel

hooverdub-

bel@gmail.com

Co-Treasurers:

Jennifer Aggergaard

aggergaad@comcast.net

Gina Thomas

ginat123@comcast.net

Board of Directors

Principal: Peter Donaldson

pdonaldson@asd103.org

Fundraising Chair:

Suzy Gilbert

suzygilbert@gmail.com

Staff Appreciation/Co-

Hospitality: Megan

Atterberry

luccalily@comcast.net

Staff Appreciation/Co-

Hospitality: Jessica Notaro

jessicanotaro@me.com

Membership Co-chair:

Emily Hylton

emilyhylton@comcast.net

Membership Co-chair:

Leslie Tysseling

casaverdegi@hotmail.com

Communication:

Kathleen Horr

kathandruss@msn.com

Volunteer Coordinator &

eblast:

Susan Butler

sjb1992@gmail.com

Legislative: Tanya Twete

DTTwete@gmail.com

Dads of Great Students

(DOGS): Jonathan Vander

Schuur jj2672@yahoo.com

Family Nights: TBD

Ad-Hoc Committees

Winter Reading Program &

Safety Committee:

John Dumas

luccalily@comcast.net

Reflections & Mustang

Points: Aimee Rudge

aimeerudge@gmail.com

Reading is Fundamental:

Kim Dotzauer

kimtraviserik

@frontier.com

PTA Website:

Sarah Nichols

sarah@aquarianaudio.com

Newsletter: Russ Horr

kathandruss@msn.com

Box Tops Co-chair:

Sunni Ausland

ausland@comcast.net

Box Tops Co-chair:

Ellen Kline

ellenkline@comcast.net

Mustang Wear Sales:

Kathryn Jones

jones-family@live.com

Yearbook: Melinda Moore

mmoore@asd103.org

Missoula Children's Thea-

ter: (MCT): Open

eScrip: Open

From the Principal

This week commences our goal

setting conferences with class-

room teachers. This new confer-

ence idea is being implemented

across all elementary schools and

I hope you find the experience

valuable and educational. The

staff is also meeting this week to

review the process and talk about

our next steps. We know how

important it is to communicate

with you concerning your child’s

progress toward his or her goals

and I would appreciate any feed-

back you have on the process to

help us improve for next year.

Our pilot program for evalua-

tions continues to garner state

and national attention and we are

close to potentially securing fi-

nancial assistance from the Kel-

logg Foundation for our work.

Our local Association president

and 6th Grade teacher, Jennie

Beltramini, has met with Gover-

nor Gregoire, Senator Cantwell,

Representative Inslee, and staff

members from Senator Murray’s

office. People are taking notice

and we have now had the oppor-

sences and just a few late arrivals.

I’ve been in contact, either by

letter, phone, or in person, with

several families to discuss the

importance of being on time for

learning and I want to thank all of

you for your personal commit-

ment to support our attendance

program.

We broke ground for the com-

munity garden this week with

heavy equipment from the city

removing sod and tilling the soil.

The school now has a joint com-

mittee with the 29th Street Garden

Club to develop a master plan for

the space and we will be planting

this spring.

We need your help. Our school

drop off and pick up area has be-

come particularly congested and

at times, unsafe. Our goal is to be

as efficient as we can getting stu-

dents into and out of cars. Most

days we have a hundred cars or

more trying to get into the turna-

round. I have recently noticed

several instances where drivers

have left to (see Principal, p. 4)

tunity to complete a self-

assessment on a substantial list of

teacher effectiveness indicators.

In fact, most of this year’s pro-

fessional development has been

tied to the evaluation pilot and

the team is incorporating new

ideas and making changes while

we pilot. Our plan is to have a

recommended model for teacher

and principal evaluation availa-

ble for presentation to the legisla-

ture in late Spring of 2012.

Our Watch D.O.G.S. program

has been terrific. We usually

have two dads a week coming in

to spend time in classrooms with

students. We had a successful

free-pizza dinner and orientation

on October 10 and signed up

several new dads. We’re always

looking for more volunteers

though so please feel free to talk

to me or Jonathan Vander Schuur

(your PTA Watch D.O.G.S. coor-

dinator).

The Every Child Every Day

program has really been one of

our true success stories this year.

Last week we had almost no ab-

Peter Donaldson

PTA MEMBERSHIP

2011-2012

Membership goal 225

Current membership 213

Staff participation goal 75%

Current Staff members 69%

It’s not too late to join Mt. Erie

PTA or renew your membership

for the year! We’re hoping to

meet our goal of 225 members very soon – we’re up to 213

members! Thank you to every-

one who has joined or renewed.

If you haven’t, you can pick up

a membership form at the school

o r f r o m t h e w e b s i t e

(http://mteriepta.org/category/me

mbership/) and return it with

your check to the school office.

PTA member directories will

be distributed before Thanks-

giving, and we want to include

as many members as possible (unless you prefer to opt out).

If you can’t remember

whether you’ve joined PTA,

contact Emily Hylton at emi-

lyhylton@comcast.net or

Leslie Tysseling at casaverde-

gi@ hotmail.com. All mem-

bers receive a membership

card and receipt for their dues.

PTA Membership Update

The first distribution of

books to all students in

grades K-3 will be on Mon-

day, November 28th in the

Mt. Erie library. Throughout

the day, each of the eleven

classes will have a 25 minute

time slot to hear a guest

reader and select a free book

of their choice to take home.

We could still use some

more volunteers to help

make sure kids are finding

the right book or to read

aloud and share why read-

ing is important in their

lives so if you are available

for 25 minutes or a couple

of hours and would like to

be a part of this important

event, please contact Kim

Dotzauer at 588-9491 or

by email at kimtravis-

erik@frontier.com.

Do you plan on volunteering

in the classroom or at a PTA

sponsored event? You MUST

fill out a district volunteer

form in advance! Fill out a

form here:

http://www.asd103.org/images

/stories/pdf/volunteerApp.pdf

and turn it in/email it to Jayne

Branch, volunteer coordinator

for the district. Not sure if

you’re current? Email Ms.

B r a n c h a t

jbranch@asd103.org to see.

RIF Book Distribution Volunteering?

mailto:mtepta@gmail.comhttp://www.mteriepta.org/mailto:shjaresa@fidalgo.netmailto:chouck8@msn.commailto:hooverdubbel@gmail.commailto:hooverdubbel@gmail.commailto:aggergaad@comcast.netmailto:ginat123@comcast.netmailto:pdonaldson@asd103.orgmailto:suzygilbert@gmail.commailto:luccalily@comcast.netmailto:jessicanotaro@me.commailto:emilyhylton@comcast.netmailto:casaverdegi@hotmail.commailto:kathandruss@msn.commailto:sjb1992@gmail.commailto:DTTwete@gmail.commailto:jj2672@yahoo.commailto:luccalily@comcast.netmailto:aimeerudge@gmail.commailto:kimtraviserik@frontier.commailto:kimtraviserik@frontier.commailto:sarah@aquarianaudio.commailto:kathandruss@msn.commailto:ausland@comcast.netmailto:ellenkline@comcast.netmailto:jones-family@live.commailto:mmoore@asd103.orghttp://mteriepta.org/category/membership/http://mteriepta.org/category/membership/mailto:emilyhylton@comcast.netmailto:emilyhylton@comcast.netmailto:casaverdegi@%20hotmail.commailto:casaverdegi@%20hotmail.commailto:kimtraviserik@frontier.commailto:kimtraviserik@frontier.comhttp://www.asd103.org/images/stories/pdf/volunteerApp.pdfhttp://www.asd103.org/images/stories/pdf/volunteerApp.pdfmailto:jbranch@asd103.org

Page 2 The Pony Express

Spooktacular Action: A Huge Success Thank you to all the gob-

lins, ghouls, witches… oops,

we mean donors, volunteers,

bidders, and anyone else who

had a hand in making the

Halloween Spooktacular

Auction on October 22nd a

huge success. We are pleased

to announce that we netted a

profit of approximately

$17,000 during the auction

and exceeded our fundraising

goal for the event!

Not only did we raise a lot

of money to support great

programs and needs at Mount

Erie, we had a great time so-

cializing and getting to know

other families in our school

and community! Everything

from decorations to the food

and the costumes was fantas-

tic! Volunteers worked

countless hours to pull the

event together but in the end,

it was worth it!

Kudos to everyone listed

below for all the support!

2Q Nails

Ace Hardware

Aimee Rudge

Amanda Cardinale Anacortes Cinemas

Anacortes Kayak

Tours

Anacortes Pilates

Anacortes Police

Department

Anthony's

Bart Rulon

Bayside Fitness

Bob Linder

Boxes and Bears Bunnies by the Bay

Burton's

Calico Cupboard

Callie Martin

Cameron’s Living

Room Dining

Cap Sante Yacht

sales

Cascade Mall Mgmt

Catherine Houck

Chris Damarjian

City of Anacortes

Fire department Compass Wines

Compumatter

Costco

Crescent Moon

Yoga

Deception Pass

Tours

Donatello’s

Dr Dan Rasmussen

Embellish

Epicure Erica Johnson

Family Fun Center

& Bullwinkle’s

Restaurant

Fidalgo Bay Coffee

Fidalgo Care Center

Fidalgo Danceworks

Fred Meyer

Frida's

Gere-a-deli

Ginger Orsini

Gordon Bannister

Hugo Helmer Music Island Adventures

Janet Brynteson

Jeanne Hansen Pho-

tography

Jen Aggergaard

Jen Montelongo

Jennifer Bowman

Jessica Notaro

Richard Riddell

Shane Aggergaard

Jim Roe JT Elite

Eric Shjarback

Kate Morrison

Emily Hylton

Kids Stuff

Kristi Lindholm

The PopOffs

Polly Dubbel

Kyle Miller

LEGOLand

Leigh Olsen

Les Schwab

Linda Ricksen Lindsey Koegel

Photography

Majestic Inn & Spa

Mariners Baseball

Megan Atterberry

Melinda Moore

Michelle Murray

Missy Walsh-Smith

MJ D'Amelio

Monique DePaola

Outback Steakhouse Peter Donaldson

Phyllis & Bill

Robillard

Radio Shack

Read Me a Story

Rebecca Berris

Safeway

Salon Bella Bella

and Day Spa

Sarah Yarusso

Seahawks Football

Seattle Sounders

Serenity Salon & Spa

Shane and Jennifer

Aggergaard

Shirley Barrett

Silja Shjarback

Silver Reef Casino

Similk Bay Golf

Course

Simply Yards

Skagit Children’s

Museum Skagit Cyclery

Steve Orsini

Sugar Studio

Suzy Boyes

Suzy Gilbert

Tammy Dellutri

Target

Thai Season Restau-

rant

Thrive Community

Fitness

Tiffany Hargett

Stephanie Magerkurth

Unite

Upstage

Val Holgeertts

Vanessa Caruso

Vaughn and Gina

Thomas

Village Pizza

Vital Aging Naturo-

pathic Clinic

Whidbey Golf and Country Club

Wilson Framing

Woodland Park Zoo

Zap Pro Lube

John Dumas

Westminster Pres-

byterian Church

Tracy Catlin

Sarah Nichols

Pictures from the Spooktacular

Auction, clockwise from the

right: John Dumas and Megan

Atterberry; Joel & Melissa

Reeder and Ed and Michelle

Grohe; The Pop-Offs; Dom Tor

and Aletha Fleming.

Congratulations to all our

wonderful PTA members and

especially our hardworking

Membership Chairs, Emily Hylton and Leslie Tysseling.

We achieved the Bronze level

award from the Washington

State PTA for enrolling 50% of

last year’s membership before

September 30th. Thank you

everyone!

The award is nice but what

is really important is that you, the members, represent our

voice in Olympia in addition to

showing your support for Mt.

Erie students by being in-

volved and informed. Thanks!

The PTA is looking for four

volunteers to participate in a

Safety and Environment Com-

mittee at Mt Erie Elementary. This committee will be a

living committee that focuses

on improving the safety of

students, upgrading the envi-

ronment, and establishing and

managing programs related to

safety and wellness for our

students. If you are interested in par-

ticipating in this committee,

please email John Dumas at

luccalily@comcast.net.

PTA Receives Award Safety Members Wanted

mailto:luccalily@comcast.net

Page 3 The Pony Express

At Mount Erie we CARE

Beginning this month, we

will have the opportunity to

recognize all of our outstand-

ing students at Mt. Erie. Teachers will be choosing

students from their class who

have represented or shown

CARE (Cooperation, Attitude,

Respect, Effort). The children

will be recognized by having

their name and photo on the

bulletin board in the main hall-

way next to the library. Also,

we are starting a question

board where students will be interviewed by a fellow class-

mate. They will have their pho-

to taken and their questions

answered and posted on the

question board, also in the

main hallway.

Mt. Erie PTA expects to

receive $2,500 from the eScrip

program this year. To make

this expectation a reality, we need everyone to sign up their

Safeway Club card with the

eScrip program!

Safeway will donate 1%-4%

of your qualifying grocery

purchases to Mt. Erie PTA.

Translation: if you spend $100

on groceries at Safeway in

November, Mt. Erie PTA re-

ceives $1; if you spend $500

on groceries at Safeway in November, Mt. Erie PTA re-

ceives $15. During the late

summer, Safeway is especially

generous, donating 10% of the

purchase price of specially

marked items to Mt. Erie PTA.

Anyone with a grocery loy-

alty card (i.e. Safeway Club

Card) can sign up--parents,

grandparents, neighbors, aunts, uncles… it’s easy money and

simple to sign-up with the

eScrip program!

1. Go to www.eScrip.com

2. Click on “1-Sign Up”

3. Enter “Mount Erie PTA”

for group name or “8564935”

for group number

4. Enter your Club Card num-

ber

5. Finish the registration with your name, address, phone,

and email

It’s that simple! Please sign

up your Safeway Club Card

with the eScrip program today.

Thank you!

Sales-free Fundraising

This November 7th, fifty four

5th grade students, 11 to 12 chaperones, and Mrs. Brynte-

son, and Mrs. Moore will head

into the North Cascade Moun-

tains for three days and two

nights of ecosystem explora-

tion. In addition, Mr. Don-

aldson will accompany them

on the first day.

They will not be camping

under the stars but they will be

staying in heated, enviro-lodge style accommodations and will

spend most of their days out-

side on trails studying ecosys-tems in small groups.

Four instructors from the

North Cascades Field Insti-

tute’s Mountain School did a

pre-trip classroom visit on

Wednesday, October 26th, and

these instructors will also visit

the classrooms after the Moun-

tain School excursion.

We hope everyone has a fun

and safe trip and wish every-one a grand time!

Mountain School Awaits

MTE Fifth Graders

How would your child finish

this sentence? The 2011 Re-

flections Program wants to

know by asking children to express their ideas artistically.

This is what the PTA Re-

flections Program is all about:

challenging students to create

art inspired by a specific theme

each year using six arts areas:

dance choreography, film pro-

duction, literature, musical

composition, photography, and

visual arts.

This year’s theme is “Diversity Means.” Your child

decides what it means and how

he or she would show it.

Mt. Erie students in all

grades are invited to submit

original artwork by December

1st to be judged within grade divisions. Winning entries ad-

vance to the council, district,

region, and/or state PTA lev-

els. Top state award–winning

entries advance to the national

level of judging but all partici-

pants will be recognized and

their artwork will be displayed.

For more information, rules

and entry forms, visit http://

www.ptareflections.org/cs/about_reflections or please

contact Aimee at aimee-rudge@gmail.com.

Diversity Means...

For the first time, the Mt.

Erie Library Book Fair will be

during regular school hours. The Book Fair will be the

week of December 5-9 from

8:30am to 4:00pm and each

day there will also be a Mus-

tang Mission Special Event for

specific grades. Please come

join your student for a special

student-parent shopping event

at the Book Fair during the

following times:

Kindergarten, 12:10pm -

12:30pm Monday, Dec 5.

2n d graders 11:50am-

12:10pm and 1st graders 12:10pm-12:30pm Tuesday,

Dec 6.

3 rd grader s 12:10pm-

12:30pm Wednesday, Dec 7.

4T H graders 12:10pm-

12:30pm Thursday, Dec 8.

6 t h grader s 11:50am-

12:10pm and 5th graders

12:10pm-12:30pm Friday,

Dec 9.

If you’re all booked up dur-

ing Book Fair week (or just

want to keep shopping), be sure to visit the Book Fair

online at our homepage http://

bookfair s. scholast ic.com/

homepage/mterie and click on

the link to our online Book

Fair. The online Book Fair is

available for an extended time

from November 22 to Decem-

ber 12.

- Find an expanded selection of

books for the whole family: preschool to adults.

- Share your Book Fair with

family and friends by sending

wish lists or eCards.

- All orders are shipped to the

school for FREE and each pur-

chase benefits our school.

Our goal this year is to sell 400

books. Proceeds from the Book

Fair go toward purchasing new

books for the Mt. Erie Library.

We look forward to seeing you

at the book Fair!

Book Fair Blasts Off!

In the coming weeks, the

Safety and Environment Com-

mittee will begin working on

ways to improve and enhance both safety and environment at

Mt Erie Elementary. As part of

this process, we are seeking

questions, comments, concerns

and improvement ideas from

all families to help us build a

“To Do” list to continue mak-

ing Mt Erie a great place for our students!

Please let your voice be

heard by emailing John Dumas

at luccalily@comcast.net.

Safety Suggestions Wanted News from Olympia

As we move into the 2012

legislative session (where we

are looking at more and more

cuts) we have worked with our coalition, the Early Learning

Action Alliance, to develop a

survey to gather information

about the cumulative effects of

budget cuts on children, fami-

lies, providers, and local com-

munities.

Through this survey, we

hope to gather stories from

across the state to share with

legislators during the special and regular sessions.

Please take a few minutes to

complete the survey, and dis-

tribute it widely! https://

childrensalliance.wufoo.com/

forms/early-learning-action-

alliance-community-survey/

With Mitch Everton’s resigna-

tion this past week, there is a

vacancy on the Anacortes

School Board. For those inter-

ested, please go to the ASD

website for more information.

Board Opening Please Note - all weblinks and emails are enabled

in the online version but are underlined and

colored black for printing purposes only. Thanks!

http://www.ptareflections.org/cs/about_reflectionshttp://www.ptareflections.org/cs/about_reflectionshttp://www.ptareflections.org/cs/about_reflectionsmailto:aimeerudge@gmail.commailto:aimeerudge@gmail.comhttp://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/mteriehttp://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/mteriehttp://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/mteriemailto:luccalily@comcast.nethttps://childrensalliance.wufoo.com/forms/early-learning-action-alliance-community-survey/https://childrensalliance.wufoo.com/forms/early-learning-action-alliance-community-survey/https://childrensalliance.wufoo.com/forms/early-learning-action-alliance-community-survey/https://childrensalliance.wufoo.com/forms/early-learning-action-alliance-community-survey/

Page 4 The Pony Express

For more information, contact Sharlene Merritt at 360-293-5181, M-F, 9a-5p

(Principal, p.1) pull ahead of

other cars and then end up

blocking cars still trying to get

into the loop. More importantly, we want

every student to be as safe as

possible when they exit and

enter cars. I have seen students

exit on the inside of the loop

and not on the sidewalk side.

This puts them in the direct

path of other vehicles. I know

we can do better. With your

child’s safety in mind, I have

established a few important reminders for all drivers to pay

attention to during the morning

drop off and afternoon pick up.

1. Try to enter the loop by ap-

proaching from the west. Cars

crossing traffic by approaching

from the east and turning left

make things more difficult.

2. Pull all the way forward

when using the parent drop-off

loop. This is so important for

the general flow of all the cars.

The line of waiting cars often extends back onto 41st street,

blocking all traffic.

3. Once you have pulled as far

forward as possible, stop the

vehicle and have your child

(ren) exit only on the passen-

ger side of the vehicle. Never

allow them to enter or exit the

vehicle on the driver’s side.

4. After your child(ren) has

exited and closed the door, please merge carefully into the

driving loop and exit the

school campus.

5. Do not leave your car unat-

tended in the loop area (even to

“run” in). If you must park and

come into school, please use a

parking space in the lot or on

the inside of the loop.

6. If your child requires assis-

tance when exiting your car,

please park in an appropriate

spot and walk them in rather than park in the drop off/pick

up loop.

7. Please do not use cell

phones while driving in the

loop area.

For the large parking lot

directly across from M Ave:

1. This is a staff and visitor

parking lot only.

2. There should be no drop off

and pick up of students from this lot.

3. It is appropriate to park in

this lot if space exists. If you

do so, exit your vehicle, walk

to the school entrance area or

classroom to wait for your

child, and walk back to your

car together.

4. Please do not encourage

your child to “run” from the

sidewalk or bus area and cross

the bus lane to meet you in this

parking lot. We absolutely cannot have young children

crossing the bus loop unattend-

ed.

Other considerations:

1. Please send a written note if

you are making a change in

your “normal” after school

routine. We can help to have

students be in the right place at

the right time, if we know

ahead of time. Please call be-fore 3 p.m.

2. Do not allow your child to

run between cars or cross 41st

street to get to your car. Use

the crosswalks. Teach them to

be patient and to walk at all

times.

3. Let’s be safe rather than

quick. Thank you.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 Early Re-lease: Dismissal

at Noon.

Conferences

2 Early Re-lease: Dismissal

at Noon.

No Late start.

Conferences

3 Early Re-lease: Dismissal

at Noon.

Conferences

4 Early Re-lease: Dismissal

at Noon.

Conferences

5

6 7 Mountain School Trip-5th

graders.

8 Mountain School Trip-5th

graders.

PTA Board of

Directors Meet-

ing: 2:15p

9 Mountain School Trip-5th

graders.

Late Start

10 Veteran’s Day assembly:

10am

School Board

Meeting: 6:15p

ASD Board Rm

11 No School -

Veteran’s

Day

12

13 14 15 General Membership

Meeting: 6:30p

in the School

Library.

16 Late Start

17 18 19

20 21 22 23 Early Re-lease: Dismissal

at Noon.

No late start.

24 No School - Thanksgiving.

25 No School - Thanksgiving.

26

27 28 Reading is

Fundamen-

tal (RIF)

29 30 Late Start

November 2011

School Year Events

Dec 1 Reflections entries due

Dec 5 - 9 Mt. Erie Library Book Fair 8:30 am to 4:00 pm

Dec 9 Fidalgo DanceWorks’ Nutcracker, Brodniak Hall, TBD

Dec 13 Board of Directors Meeting/Holiday Party 6:30 pm

Dec 16 Presentation of “Christmas Carol” 6:30 pm Mt Erie Stage

Dec 19 - Jan 2 No School (Winter Break)

Jan 9 - Feb 16 Winter Reading Program (tentative dates)

Jan 10 Board of Directors Meeting 2:15 PTA room

Jan 16 No School (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)

Jan 24 General Membership Meeting 6:30-7:30 PM in library

Reflections Inspiration Workshops 12-2pm in gym