Whittier WildChat
January 24, 2018
Whittier School photo
We show respect. We make good choices. We solve our problems. It's what Wildcats do!
Upcoming Events
Global Reading Challenge
The Global Reading Challenge is underway! Students in the 4th and 5th grades are busy reading from an amazing selection of 10 books. The in-school competition for Whittier will take place February 8th. Support your student by asking them about the books they are reading or quizzing them with practice questions.

Check-out this year's books on the Seattle Public Library's site 

Volunteers Needed for 2018 School Tour Night
Do you remember when you were new to Whittier? Whittier is having its school tour night on February 8th from 6 to 8pm. We need about 3 more volunteers to help lead the groups. We have an amazing script to help you know what to say and you get to wear a cool yellow sash! Please consider volunteering so we can give our new families a warm  welcome to our school. Contact Jennifer Mannheim if you can help.

STEM Fair Planning Social at Barking Dog
Come to the Barking Dog to discuss how we can get our Wildcats and Wildcat parents excited and interested in participation in this year's STEM fair. This event is open to all parents who would like to learn more, get involved and bring Science, Technology, Engineering and Math to the forefront for the future.

WHERE: Barking Dog Alehouse - 705 NW 70th Street (Owned/operated by a Wildcat parent)

WHEN: February 7th, 5pm - 7pm

DETAILS: Light appetizers provided, great menu available for purchase; STEM Fair Co-Chairs to discuss details on the fair, how to get involved, ideas for projects; get Involved and sign-up for parent volunteers; ideas on getting STEM more ingrained into daily life at home; details on guest presenters coming to Whittier prior to winter break; STEM related trivia and socializing.

Call for volunteers for STEM Fair presentations
This year's STEM Fair will look a little bit different and we need your help. On Tuesday (2/13/18) and Thursday (2/15/18) afternoon during the week before Midwinter Break, every class will have the opportunity to see a presentation by one of four STEM professionals (eight speakers total). The presentations will be about 10 minutes with 5 minutes of Q&A.
We are looking for volunteers to help the presenters set up and be there to help them whenever they need it. The presentations start at 12:15 pm and will last until 2:10 pm. We would expect you to be there around 11:30 am to help with setting up and getting the presenters organized and to help clean up. 

We would love to have you help us out. Please contact us at events.whittierpta@gmail.com if you have any questions and sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e094ea4a72eaafe3-stem1 to help us make this year's STEM Fair even more exciting!

PTA Information
Catucky Derby
Calling all Whittier Families! The Holidays are officially over and our Auction team is in need of more items for our April Auction. We've extended the deadline for donations to the end of the month to ensure we have the best and most items for this years auction. We are well short of our goal of 400+ items and we need everyone to dig deep and help us have the BEST auction ever!

Ask your friends and families to help donate items, experiences or gift cards. Some top items that we'd love to receive are:
  • Gift Card to your favourite restaurants
  • Gift Baskets (put one together or get your class to build one!)
  • Hand-Made items or experiences (do you want to host a mama-rita party? or a Daddio-brew-fest?)
  • Experiences such as tickets to shows, games, etc.
  • Nights away to cabins or Getaways
We also need 1 parent volunteer to head up our art project for Barrett's, McGrath's, and Hansen's classrooms. These amazing art pieces are auctioned off at the event. You could have the most amazing piece of art completed by your child and their class. Can you help lead in one of these classrooms? We know there are MANY pintrest loving parents out there who have a secret desire to help create an original piece of art that will go for $$$!!!!

The Whittier PTA auction takes place every other year so it's essential that we make this event count. It provides necessary funding for important school-related programs such as safety patrol, nurse time, scholarships and enrichment programs. Every child deserves it's support!

For additional information or questions, please email  whittierauction@gmail.com

PTA Budget Committee Looking for a Volunteer
The PTA Board is forming a Budget Committee to formulate the PTA Budget for 2018-19. This Committee works mid-January through March. If you're interested in how the PTA supports our school financially and would like to participate in that conversation, please contact Kate Mathews, Whittier PTA Treasurer, for more information: treasurer.whittierpta@gmail.com.

Charitable Deduction Letters
The Whittier PTA Fundraising Team has issued official receipt letters to everyone who donated $250 or more via the Annual Give in the 2017 calendar year. ($250 is the official IRS threshold for requiring written confirmation, but you can claim any donation amount as a deduction.) Many of you received your letter when you picked up your hoodie - and we've sent out the remainder in the last week. If you donated last year and still need a letter from us, let us know immediately at fundraising.whittierpta@gmail.com so we can respond prior to the January 31 filing deadline.

And of course, there's always time to donate for 2018 as a cash donation or by contributing to the upcoming Catucky Derby Whittier PTA Auction.

Thank you for your tremendous support. You fuel our school!
--Justin Fenton and Mark Butler, Fundraising Co-Chairs

 
School News
Committee on Positive Behavioral Interventions 
and Supports- Respond By Today! 
Our school has a new committee this year working on PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) in which we will work on identifying what it means to be a Wildcat and how we teach into expected wildcat behaviors. This is a several year process we are involved in with central office support staff and are in the first phase. This is where we identify our current reality so that we can then get eventually design our desired state. It is important that all stakeholders share input in each part of the process.

P lease take a few minutes to complete this very short survey (only one question!) on what you identify as misbehaviors in your home. Your input is extremely important as we develop our school-wide values for next school year. The PBIS team will be grouping misbehaviors identified by both staff and families to find common themes. We will then select 4 values that target our school's specific needs. We are asking that you respond by January 24th so that we can begin this work. Thank you so much!

After School Enrichment at Whittier
Seattle Adventure Sports
Sign up at whitk3win18.brownpapertickets.com
Dates 1/19/2018 to 3/30/2018 (no class Feb 23rd
Time: 2:25 to 4pm
Price: $257 for the 10 sessions.

Welcome to winter quarter at Outdoor Wilderness- where we meet the rain and cool weather head on. We'll practice good outdoor living skills to say warm and dry- some days in our Lavvu - a Scandinavian tipi- and some days in shelters we build ourselves. This quarter we'll of course improve on our shelter building ability- we'll be tested every day by the conditions- but we'll always have a warm and dry backup plan t make sure that everyone is staying warm and happy! Topics we'll be covering this quarter include: animal tacking & identification, leave no trace wilderness ethics, and native plant identification, and of course lots and lots of games and fun activities! * If anyone needs assistance with warm/weatherproof clothes, Seattle Adventures Sports does have loaners- please ask!* If we get 8 students enrolled there will be scholarships available.


Sign Up Now for After School Programs with Mr. Buck!
*See Mr. Buck for a sign-up form or you may also email him at BCBuck@seattleschools.org. Space in each program is limited.

Thursday Gamers Group, Grade 3-5- 10 sessions. Bring your favorite board, tabletop, card games to share and play with friends or learn and play new games with Mr. Buck.
WHEN: Every Thursday, January 25 - April 5 (No Mid-Winter session Feb. 22)
WHERE: Room 103 (Art) *Students will meet in the gym after school and walk down with Mr. Buck at 2:45.
TIME: 2:45-3:45
COST: $40 Please contact Mr. Buck directly to inquire about scholarships.

Brennan Buck
Whittier Elementary School, Visual Arts (K-5)
bcbuck@seattleschools.org
District News
Snow and Winter Weather Notification Information
Snowflake graphic
From time to time, winter weather may change the normal schedule at your student's school.
As winter approaches, now is a good time to review how you will receive urgent weather information from Seattle Public Schools and how to manage your communication preferences.

For more information, please visit the  District Website .

2017-18 District Calendar 
Notes From the Front Office
Thank you! to the 3rd Grade families for a wonderful staff lunch on January 17th. We enjoyed all the yummy soups and sides!

Ms. Childers' 5th grade class participated in a garbage sorting experiment earlier this month. They calculated the total number of pieces in the receptacles and then how many contaminants were in each.
  • The recycling can had 55% actual recyclable materials, 18% garbage, and 27% compostable items.
  • The garbage can had 60% actual garbage, 20% recyclable materials, and 20% compostable items.
  • The compost had 69% actual compost, 29% garbage, and 2% recyclable materials.
On Tuesday they presented these stats to all lunch periods with a very entertaining skit. Ask your student what they learned and how they could do a better job disposing of their garbage in each of the provided containers.

Help Wanted: Lunch & Recess Volunteers
Lunch and recess times provide important social, emotional and physical breaks for our students. We are at lunch and on the playground with your children everyday but can always use extra help to:

·  Monitor play to ensure safety
·  Help students with playground equipment
·  Assist students who are learning new games and social settings
·  Referee sports games on the playground
·  Encourage kids to eat
·  Remind students to stay in their seats
·  Open food containers
·  Assist students with cleaning up and putting away their lunches
·  Grant bathroom permissions

Volunteering at lunch and/or recess is a fun way to help out, and a great way to be involved in your child's school day!

~~~~~IT'S GREAT TO BE A WILDCAT~~~~~

-Miss Monica & Miss Rebecca
   
Community News & Events
We are Game Changers: A Workshop to Prepare Women to Coach Youth Sports - Urban Horticulture Center, University of Washington - February 3, 2018, 9am - 12:30pm PST
The workshop is for women who have a couple years or no experience coaching. The aim is to help address the gap-- 78% of you sport coaches are men, which means there is a lot of space for women to bridge that gap. It's Saturday, 2/3, 9am-12:30pm at Urban Horticulture Center at the University of Washington. Here is the link to more information.


BHS Gymnastics Kids Camps 
Due to popular demand, the Ballard High School Gymnastics team is hosting 1 more Kids Camps!! 

BHS Gymnastics Kids Camps for Grades K-5 will be held on the following dates at the Ballard High School gym. Tickets are $45 per date, per camper (additional campers from the same family are $40 per date). No gymnastics experience is needed!
  • Camp 2: Saturday, January 27th from 1pm to 4pm
Please follow this link to make registration and payment easy:
Feel free to contact Kimball Mullins (Kids Camp coordinator) at  kimball_mullins@yahoo.com  with questions.

Thanks,
Stephanie Gundel
Ballard High School Gymnastics Head Coach

Thank You!!
Want to thank someone at Whittier? Send your submissions.
   
Lunch Menu
View the January lunch menu here.
Calendar
Wed., Jan. 31st
-Day between semesters, No School

Tues., Feb. 6th, 6:30-8:00pm
-DANDI Mtg., Whittier Library

Thurs., Feb. 8th
-Global Reading In-School Challenge (4th and 5th grade), Whittier Library

Thurs., Feb.8th, 6:30-7:30pm
Whittier Elementary Tour for Prospective Families

Email us  with upcoming event details.
Shopping for Whittier
Support our Wildcats by shopping! (Really!) These retailers donate a % of your purchases to Whittier...
 

-AmazonSmile - Select "Whittier PTA Seattle Council" during the easy set-up at smile.amazon.com. Bookmark it and click it every time you shop! (Tech support tip: Amazon Smile only works on browsers, not the Amazon app.)


-Fred Meyer - 
Link your Fred Meyer Rewards card to Whittier PTA (NPO# 85919). You keep your Rewards points!


-Ballard Market - 
Look for the jar labeled Ballard Market receipts on the table in the lobby and stuff your collected receipts inside.

Get Involved

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