pta pinnacle 5alderwoodpta.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/pta-pinnacle...for their kids (i.e, dance,...

The Alderwood PTA Pinnacle Parents and Teachers Working Together to Achieve the

Heights of Success for Our Children!

Issue #5, March 2, 2015

Upcoming Events!

March 6

March 31

March 12

NO SCHOOL! Staff Development Day

Hearing & Vision Screen

Kindergarten Roundup 6p

March 19 Coffee Chat with Mrs. Rydman and Mrs. Cheshire 8:30a,

March 18 Jogathon!

March 2 Read Across America

March 23-‐27 Parent Teacher Conference Week, Minimum Day All week

Get Ready Alderwood Families for our school’s annual Jog-‐A-‐Thon which takes place on Wednesday, March 18th ! This year’s theme is “The Amazing Race” -‐ a spin-‐off of the hit TV show and race around the world. We have an Amazing school with Amazing kids!

The PTA Jog-‐A-‐Thon committee’s goal this year is to raise $65,000 in order to fund two new much-‐needed Creative Writing and Social Studies programs – specially requested by our teachers – as well as funding of other on-‐going programs supported by the PTA. Through the “Imagination Machine” program our students will learn to express themselves more effectively. Through the Segerstrom Center’s “arts teach” program, history and social sciences will come alive in new ways for our kids to learn! The funds that are raised will also go to help other important programs that the PTA supports such as Meet the Masters, technology for classrooms, and more….!

“The Amazing Race” By committee chair Doug Swardstrom

Continued on page 6…

March 10

PTA Meeting, 830am

The PTA Pinnacle Issue No. 5, March 2, 2015

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Parent Spotlight Meet our IPSF Ambassador – Gwen Aquino!

My name is Gwen Aquino, and I grew up in New York and attended Syracuse University. I am a CPA and started in Public Accounting and then specialized as a Tax Manager. My work has focused on Corporate/Partnership and Individual Tax. I have lived in Irvine for two and a half years with my husband, David, and my two daughters, Alyssa in Kindergarten and Lauren in 6th grade. I love being with my family in the outdoors, going to the beach, cooking and trying new restaurants.

I love being a volunteer for both Alderwood and IPSF because they are both helping our kids in such impactful ways. It brings me so much joy to be around friends and families in our community. I love teaching my girls about community and always “paying it forward.” I love volunteering in my daughter's kindergarten classroom as well as volunteering for the various events at Alderwood such as Team Kids, Book Fair, and Red Ribbon week. I have met amazing friends here at Alderwood and I want to thank you for making Alderwood such an amazing school!

As an IPSF Ambassador, I am the liaison between IPSF and Alderwood. I make sure the events and activities that IPSF offers is being communicated to our school. I attend the IPSF meetings about 3-‐4 times a year as well as gather their happenings on a monthly basis and report that information back to our PTA and to Alderwood. There are so many great events and ways to help our students through IPSF at Alderwood. The most recent one being PATS which most importantly recognizes and appreciates our teachers, but also your donation helps to fund IPSF’s Innovative Teacher & Counseling Award Programs (ITAP/ICAP). Since 1996, IPSF has awarded more than 816 of these grants totaling $814,000 promoting innovation in IUSD classrooms. There are so many fabulous programs in our classrooms because of these grants and your generosity.

For some who don't know, IPSF is the Irvine Public Schools Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is "to enrich the educational experience of each child in every school. We achieve this by providing programs, raising funds, and uniting the community in support of educational excellence."

Similar to our PTA, IPSF raises money directly for our students but for all Irvine schools in the district. Their fundraising is so important for our children and our dollars are matched by the City of Irvine! They raise money

to improve Irvine's public schools in so many ways such as paying for instructional classroom support, nurse hours, music education, summer academy, after school enrichment classes, grants for our teachers, and many specific learning programs in the classroom. To learn more, definitely visit their About Us on their website, www.ipsf.net, and see all of the amazing work they do. You may even see a picture of my daughter, Alyssa, on their website!


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Teacher Spotlight Fantastic Fourth!

Meet our awesome Fourth Grade Teachers!

From L to R, Mrs. Julie Stephenson, Mrs. Julie Yao, Mrs. Shelley Edgar,

and Ms. Nancy Bower

Mrs. Yao is excited to be teaching her first year at Alderwood! She originally grew up in Carlsbad and Fountain Valley before attending UCLA. Afterwards, she received her teaching credential and Master’s degree at UCI and spent her first 10 years teaching in La Puente. While teaching there, she decided to go back to school and earn her doctorate in teacher education at USC. Also during this time, Mrs. Yao met her husband and had 3 rambunctious boys, Brayden (4), Camden (2), and Ryland (10 mos.). In her free time, Mrs. Yao enjoys traveling to international locations, reading novels, and scrapbooking important family memories.

Miss Bower grew up in Irvine! She went to Deerfield Elementary, Venado Middle School, and Irvine High School. Of course she loves UCLA, her college alma mater. This is Miss Bower’s 25th year in education. WOW! Miss Bower has taught grades second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, and she loves them all! When she is not teaching Miss Bower loves spending time with her brothers’ families along with her dog, Bella. In her free time, she loves to read, travel, golf, and garden.

Mrs. Edgar has been teaching at Alderwood for 9 years, with time spent in both third and first grade. She is so excited to be teaching 4th grade this year and loves working with such amazing students, parents, and staff. Mrs. Edgar was born and raised in California and attended UC San Diego. She lives in Portola Hills with her husband, Scott, her two sons, Jack and Brady, and a very large cat named Mr. Peaches. Mrs. Edgar loves movies, traveling, spending time with her family, and is so proud to be a part of the Alderwood team.

Mrs. Stephenson has been teaching for 8 years. Her first two years she spent in 2nd grade, the past 6 years in 4th grade. She has loved teaching in both grade levels. Such a wonderful and fun age to teach! She feels so fortunate to be teaching at such an amazing school. She lives her with her husband James, and son, Mason (20 months old) in Huntington Beach. Mrs. Stephenson was born and raised in Rossmoor, California (near Seal Beach). She attended Cal State Fullerton. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, taking bike rides to the beach, traveling, and enjoying the outdoors.


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Alderwood PTA Meeting Recap

The Alderwood PTA held its fifth member meeting on Tuesday February 18 at 830am, in the PTA room, room 27. Here is a brief recap of the highlights of our meeting! Our next meeting is scheduled for March 31st at 830am. Please come by and join us! All are welcome!

Principal’s Report -‐

Mrs. Cheshire and Mrs. Rydman attended. The issues they highlighted were…

• Emergency Committee – is working on their spring drill and is very appreciative of all the positive parent feedback they have received in response to the parent reunification trial during the fall drill. The committee has also purchased a flat of water with a 50 year shelf life that will ensure that every student has a supply of water for one day if needed. Goal is to purchase another flat of water within the next 2 years.

• SMART Team-‐ started looking at intervention summer school based on grades and assessment testing. This will be by invitation only. Special Ed needs students will also have summer school opportunities as identified thru their IEP (Individualized Education Plan)

• PBIS – Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports – met with every student on campus to reinforce expectations of OWL star behavior, as well as took a student survey on areas of concern in our school… bathroom cleanliness came out as one of the student’s main concerns.

• Common Core Committee -‐ Curriculum Team-‐ is currently focusing on writing. To this end, they met for an an articulation day, focusing on 3 genres K-‐6th. They also had a 2hr staff development day focused on creating a rubric or identifying the steps in writing and are devising mini lessons to align with the

certain skills needed per grade level. • The Instructional Technology Group is working on “Break the Network” Day

• Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) Testing, which replaces the STAR testing for

grades 3-‐6 will take place in May. Due to new testing place requirements, the school will be closed to volunteers during this testing period… more info and exact dates to come.

• LCAP Survey – Mrs. Rydman walked us thru a survery of our local control and accountability plan re: the way funds for our district are planned.

!


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Next Meeting’s Agenda

March 31st at 830am, PTA room

I. Call to Order/Pledge of Allegiance

II. Welcome & Introductions

III. Principal and TOSA’s Update Kara Rydman and Kelli Cheshire -‐ TOSA

IV. Reading & Approval of Minutes -‐ Melanie Loo

V. President’s Report –

VI. Reports of Committee Chairs • TBD

VII. Financial Reports -‐ Shaveen Nanda, Treasurer and Dawn Mortazavi, Financial Secretary

IX. New Business

X. Adjournment

PTA Meeting Recap continued… Committee Chair Reports–

• IPSF – the Irvine Public School Foundation – Ambassador Gwen Aquino came to share the Communities for Cause app. Many of our local businesses will give a percentage of your purchase to our school and IPSF…. Do your normal shopping and help raise money for our kids’ school! Check out the app, select Alderwood IPSF and continue on your normal shopping routine!

• Jogathon -‐ Chairs Rachel and Doug Swardstrom shared that the theme of the Amazing Race had been chosen! Prizes selected were apple products, tech days and a pizza/dessert party! Goal is set at raising 65K to fund supplemental curriculum programs such as social sciences experiences, Science on the Go, and field trips. Sponsorship and Volunteers needed! Please email Rachel at [email protected] if interested or for more info.

• Running Club – Administration lead Laurie Thompson came to share that Running Club was doing well, with currently 112 kids enrolled. The Running Club will be meeting every Monday until May 5th before the kids Run OC marathon! T shirts are ordered!

• Drama Club – Chair Yvonne Mansouri came to share about the new drama club starting up soon with the production Seussical slated for June 4,5, and 6. In conjunction with IPSF, this after school program is open to all participants. Try outs and more info to come soon. Please email Yvonne at [email protected] for more info.

• Mother-‐Daughter Tea – Chair Kristina Lee shared that the event is scheduled for 2/24 with a special evening out for 5th grade mothers and daughters to explain the changes of life. A special guest IUSD speaker will be sharing and generous donations have made dinner and goodie bags available to each girl.

• Meet the Masters – Chair Kristina Lee shared that the program, funded by the PTA to provide education and exposure to the arts for grades 1-‐3, exposes kids to 6 different reknown artist /year. This committee is in need of a chairperson next year. If you are interested please email Kristina at [email protected]

• Nominating Committee – Chair Isis Sosa shared the selection of the Nominating Committee, entrusted with the task of nominating leaders for the upcoming PTA term of 2015-‐16. The committee consists of Doug Swardstrom, Gwen Aquino, Melanie Loo, Shaveen Nanda, and Laleh Redjaian…. With Susan Saucedo and Geena Dougherty as alternates. Open positions include PTA President, vice president, recording secretary and historian. They are also taking suggestions for Parliamentarian and Corresponding Secretary which are positions appointed by the president.


We have some VERY special prizes as incentives for our Alderwood families and kids to help us reach our fundraising goal to fund these important and exciting programs!

-‐ The top 3 families who raise the most money will have their names memorialized in a plaque on the Legacy Wall the school.

-‐ The top student who raises the most money will win one share of Apple Company stock, and a gift card to the Apple Store.

-‐ All kids that raise over $100 will win gift cards – 10% of whatever they raise! -‐ The top 3 classes that raise the most money will win a pizza and tech party, with desserts -‐ Any class that has 100% participation by all families will also win a pizza and tech party, with

desserts -‐

A special thanks to all our Jog-‐A-‐Thon committee parents for their time and efforts! They include: Kelly Hartman, Isis Sosa, Kami Collver, Geena Dougherty, Mona Khanna, Lakshmi Kannan, Lisa Morizono, Laleh Redjaian, Yvonne Mansouri, Afaf Essuqi, Meygan Caston, Val Lalonde, and Doug and Rachel Swardstrom.

Any parents interested in helping, please contact Kelly Hartman, the Volunteer Coordinator for the Jog-‐A-‐Thon, at [email protected]. If you know of a family or business that that would like to be a sponsor for the Jog-‐A-‐Thon -‐ $100, $250, or $500 level (promotion on banner, email, and more) -‐ please send an email to [email protected] for more information.

Let’s all work together to make this one of the best annual Alderwood Jog-‐A-‐Thons ever – raising funds to help our Amazing kids and Amazing Alderwood Elementary School!

The AMAZING RACE continued from page 1….

Date: Friday, March 27th, 2015 Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm Location: Basket ball courts at Alderwood The event consists of three different categories. Event starts with the flag parade where kids are dressed up in their traditional/ national costumes and lined up by alphabetical order to represent their chosen country. Kids will march on the blacktop in the parade waving country flags to begin the event. Next, American national anthem will be sung and will be followed by the fashion show of individual countries. Selected kids will be dressed up in their traditional costumes to represent their selected country and they will walk on the stage in catwalk style. Final and most exciting phase of the event is the talent show, where representatives of each country get the opportunity to perform up to three different acts of their choice. Organizing Committee recommends parents to choose different types of acts by each country for their kids (i.e, dance, playing instruments, singing, etc.) in order to represent diversity within the culture. Alderwood parents will prepare their traditional foods for the audience to enjoy during the show. Tables will be arranged at the end of blacktop area for food display and distribution. Sample sized portions will be available to satisfy your taste buds. All Alderwood parents and kids are encouraged to take part in this popular multicultural event. We'd love to see most of Alderwood teachers and support staff attending this event to appreciate the cultural talents demonstrated by our own kids. - Pat Gunawardhana & Christine Friend International Night Co-Chairs

International Night Comes to Alderwood!


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Wife (Kira), Son (Arik,3), two cats (Rex & Lexi), yes they are brother and sister and rescued!! and Dorothy the goldfish. And another baby boy due in late June!!

• Undergraduate Degree from St. Joseph's University(Philadelphia) • Master's Degree in Teaching Physical Education from Montclair State University(New Jersey) • P.E. Teaching Credential in California • High school football coach for 8 years.

• Things I like to do when not working: spending time with my family, exercising, reading, animal advocacy & welfare and working everyday to be a better husband, father, teacher and coach. • I have been teaching physical education at Alderwood for almost a year now..!! It has been a very special experience for me to see how my p.e. program has taken off and been accepted by an amazing and supportive group of faculty members. Also, Mrs. Rydman and Mrs. Cheshire have been very positive and supportive when I have asked for anything or introduced new units for the students. • I have seen an incredible amount of effort and improvement from my students and a willingness to try new sports, sport skills, and different ways to ensure that they stay physically active. • One of my goals as a teacher has always been to ensure that students can compete and participate

without fear of failure or criticism from myself or from their fellow classmates. At Alderwood, I feel that we have been able to accomplish that. • Some of the sport units I have taught since arriving at Alderwood include: flag football, soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, and hockey. I am also introducing a badminton unit before the end of the school year. I also started teaching yoga stretching last year and we have recently resumed that practice this year. I am a strong believer in being well rounded in physical activities, so I

like to expose my students to many different games and modes of fitness. Through grades 1-‐6, I see each class 2x/week for 45 minute class periods. • Lastly, I can confidently say that all lessons that I plan are developmentally appropriate for our students and I always plan my lessons and units so that the objectives met satisfy the CA Dept. of Education P.E. Model Content Standards. We can all be proud of the positive attitude of our Alderwood students and their awesome effort. • Do not hesitate to stop and introduce yourself to me either before or at the end of the school day. Encourage your children to be physically active and please ask them what they are learning in P.E. much as you would ask them what they are learning in Math or Science. It is just as important to be physically healthy and stimulated as it is mentally.

Physical Education Specialist – Coach Michael Todisco

PTA PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT…

Some Quick Facts about Coach Todisco:


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Your PTA dollars at work…enabling our kids to supplement their learning with educational experiences

2nd grade goes to Knott’s Berry Farm! By Anshu Agarwal

The second graders went on an educational field trip to Knott’s Berry Farm in February 2015. They visited “The Geode Shop”. This shop offers an exciting line of geodes, fossils, minerals, and meteorites from world wide localities. This shop sells

the geologic oddities and petrified dinosaur poop. The students met a Paleontologist and learnt about the prehistoric forms of life through fossils. The students went on “Calico Mine Ride”. This ride carries riders aboard ore cars, on a realistic adventure through dimly lit tunnels of a working gold mine. The students visited the “Outpost” where they learnt about mountains and animals. They could

touch skins of animals, hold live bugs in their hands etc.!


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Your PTA dollars at work…enabling our kids to supplement their learning with educational experiences

4th grade goes to the Honda Center!

By Mrs. Yao

The 4th grade field trip was at the Honda Center and it was called “First Flight.” The theme for this year was “Build a Better Puck” and students were working on math and science skills related to

the puck and hockey. For example, one element the students were studying is if the puck was made out of a different material or had a different shape, how would that affect the way it moved and how well the players could control the puck? Students were given workbooks prior to the field trip to investigate these types of math and science skills related to hockey. At the Honda Center, students were able to explore the workbook activities with real materials and pucks in group activities and then they got to see these experiments for real on the ice. For instance, some of the players were trying to move pucks around on the ice but they were in different shapes (cylinder, pyramid, sphere) to see what would work the best and give them the most control over the puck. So it was a great way for students to investigate math and science skills and see how they are applied in real life situations. The Mighty Ducks team also did a skills competition at the end just for fun.


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The Mother Daughter Tea… February 24, 2015

By Kristina Lee, committee chair

Our annual 5th Grade Mother Daughter Tea was held on the evening of February 24, 2015. IUSD has sponsored this health education evening since 1989. Alderwood PTA provides a budget each year to subsidize the costs of the keynote speaker and health products that are provided to the girls. Dinner, desserts, drinks, goody bags and party favors were provided. Highlights included a mother daughter photo booth and a slideshow highlighting the girls' growing from baby to toddler to today. Over twenty moms volunteered for this event by generously donating money, time, and food. It was a special and touching evening celebrating our 53 fifth grade girls growing up. The evening was also attended by Mrs. Rydman, Mrs. Gavin, Mrs. Gillespie, Mrs. Machesky, Mrs. Mulvany and Neda Afi from the nurse's office.

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