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It's hard to believe that it is already mid-November! We had so many exciting events in October and now Abingdon and the PTA are gearing up for more fun activities in December, including the world famous Abingdon
Holiday Shop, the always exciting
Project GIFT Showcase, our Annual
AFAC Food Drive, and the
5th Grade Concert showcasing Abingdon's wonderful musical talents.
The Abingdon PTA's membership dues will be submited at the end of the month to both the Arlington County PTA and the state PTA. We are so pleased to announce that we have over 180 members this year, which is about a 10% increase over last year. Additionally, the membership drive raised over $4,000 that will go towards the PTA's budget for this year.
Thank you to all the families that joined and made such generous donations! It's not too late to join. You can still join online via the
PTA website or contact
abingdonptamembership@gmail.com if you need a membership form.
READ-A-THON Wrap Up Reminder
Just a quick reminder that there are only four more days for your child to pick a prize in the Read-A-Thon if they earned money from soliciting sponsorships. To select their prize, just log onto your Read-A-Thon page and click on the "Shop for Prizes" icon and add prizes to your shopping cart. These will be automatially ordered on Friday. Thank you again for all of your support for this wonderful fundraiser.
Fairlington 5K Brings Hope to Abingdon Family
Abingdon Elementary School and the Fairlington Citizens Association recently presented a check for $20,000 from last April's Fairlington 5K & Silent Auction to A Cure for Ellie, a non-profit foundation launched in 2013 by the parents of Abingdon 3rd grader Ellie McGinn. Ellie suffers from a rare and degenerative disease known as Leukoencephalopathy with Brain Stem and Spinal Cord Involvement and Lactate Elevation. The genetic condition affects the brain and spinal cord, most often developing in children, impairing their ability to walk, then even to stand and coordinate fine and gross motor skills. The race and auction have helped the McGinn family raise enough money to jump start medical research at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore that will provide a roadmap towards nanotherapy, the outcomes of which will become a powerful tool for testing new and effective medications to save Ellie.
The family must now come up with $3.8 million to keep the research effort going. In order to raise awareness and additional funds, Ellie recently took to Facebook and Twitter to issue "The Ellie Challenge," calling on friends and family to attempt to correctly say the name of her hard-to-pronounce disease on video for a chance to rename it. Those who fail, have been asked to make a donation of any size to fund critical research. All who participate are asked to post their videos on Facebook or Twitter and issue the same challenge to three others that they know. Dozens of Abingdon families have already taken the challenge.
"One boy in Ellie's class pronounced the name correctly and suggested we call it 'The Awesome Disease,'" said Ellie's mom Beth. "So far, that is our frontrunner."
Next year's Fairlington 5K will be held Saturday, April 29, 2017. The Silent Auction will take place the week before on Friday, April 21. For more information, visit the race website at fairlington5k.com.
Gifted Services Presentation - November 15 at 6:30 pm
CHANGE IN LOCATION
Due to evening construction, the November and December PTA meetings will be held in the gymnasium trailer with babysitting in the third grade trailer pod. This month's PTA meeting will feature a presentation by Abingdon's
Gifted Services Resource Teacher, Ms. Jackie Firster. Free pizza and childcare (for children ages 3 and up) will be provided! Next month's meeting on December 20 will feature a presentation on the benefits of Abingdon's designation as a Title 1 school.
School Photo Re-Take Day - November 16
Last call for picture re-takes! If you would like to have a re-take of your child, please return your complete package to your child's teacher by the 16th and let your teacher know that you would like a re-take. If your child was absent on picture day last month, you should have received a new picture order form last week.
Spirit Day - November 22
We've got spirit, yes we do! We've got spirit, how about you? Let's all show our Abingdon Spirit by wearing Abingdon spirit gear or the color red on Tuesday, November 22. Need new spirit gear? There are two easy ways to order:
- Visit the PTA's website at
AbingdonPTA.org and click on the "Shop" tab on the right side of the page to order online using a credit card.
- Complete the order form in tomorrow's Tuesday folder and return it along with cash or a check (payable to Abingdon PTA) to your child's teacher.
Order by November 18 to receive your gear in time for Spirit Day (while supplies last)!
Mark Your Calendars Now for These Upcoming Events!
December is going to be another busy month at Abingdon, so make sure not to miss these exciting events:
Project GIFT Showcase "Amazing Abingdon" - December 1
Holiday Shop - December 6
5th Grade Holiday Concert - December 14
Annual AFAC Food Drive - December 12 - 16
There are so many things to give thanks for this month, and that definitely includes our amazing Abingdon community of families and school staff! Thank you for all of your support throughout the year.
Sincerely,
Jeni Hornback
Abingdon PTA President
P.S. If your child is no longer attending Abingdon and you wish to be removed from this email list, please send an email to: abingdonelementarypta@gmail.com or "Safe Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of this page. If you know of new families who are attending Abingdon this fall, please send their name and email addresses to: abingdonelementarypta@gmail.com to be added to the list.
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PTA Questions, suggestions or concerns?
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