Due to anticipated poor road conditions, all afternoon activities are cancelled, including BASE, choir, basketball, tutoring and Girl Scouts.

This would be a good afternoon to bring in your pies for the CEC Pie Drive as weather conditions may be worse in the morning.

Tomorrow, Nov. 18, is a Dress of Choice Day for all students (unless your student has received two uniform violations since the last DOC day).

There is no school next week, Nov. 21-25, as it is Thanksgiving Break. Whether you're traveling or celebrating the holiday at home, we hope you have a fantastic break and are able to spend quality time with family and friends.

Be sure to ask your student to check Lost and Found! There are piles of jackets, coats, water bottles, (somewhat stinky) lunch boxes, etc. If your student lost something valuable, such as a smart watch, glasses or jewelry, see the front office staff.

To prepare for donation, Student Council is cleaning out Lost and Found and returning items that are CLEARLY labeled with both first and last name. They plan to box up any remaining items on Wednesday, Dec. 21, and donate them.

The CEC Faculty and Staff Pie Drive is happening NOW!

Please see the SignupGenius to donate a pie and/or volunteer. Pies will be collected TODAY, Nov. 17, during afternoon carpool and again TOMORROW, Nov. 18, during morning carpool. Pies can also be dropped off at the front office from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. tomorrow, Nov. 18, ONLY.

Due to health considerations, we humbly request donations of only store or restaurant-bought pies. Any and all flavors are appreciated, however we do request pies that DO NOT REQUIRE REFRIGERATION.

Thank you for helping to start a new CEC tradition at Ben Franklin Academy!

Thank you for honoring and celebrating our Veterans! We had an amazing turnout for our Veterans Day celebration last week, our largest to date. We hosted 120 people--80 veterans and their guests, as well as many BFA families. From the entire CEC and BFA community, we cannot THANK YOU all enough for your contributions and volunteerism making this event a success. Before the end of the day Friday, we had already received these email comments from a few guests:

“While my dad and I were waiting to head into the gym we befriended a man who had no connection to the school but was there because he received an email about it through the American Legion. He had been a 19-year old medical helicopter pilot in Vietnam. He was clearly impressed when we all walked into the gym. He said he’d never received a greeting like he did at BFA and was very appreciative and impressed. Thank you for reminding me why teaching our children about veterans and Veterans Day is important, and thank you for being part of someone’s healing journey.”

“My husband and I have attended Veterans Day celebrations at other schools and I can truthfully say BFA goes above and beyond to make their Veterans feel loved and appreciated!!”

We would like to extend our appreciation and recognition to all of our amazing family volunteers who decorated the school, helped with planning and assisted at the event, CEC Officer Nikki Busto who coordinated the event, CEC Vice Chair Amy Marks who was the co-coordinator, Heather Kimball for creating the assembly video, guest speakers John and Faith Wailes (also BFA parents), guest speaker Patti Ehline, Andy Michaud who played bagpipes, trumpeter Mark Stallins, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1106 Color Guard, Douglas County Sargent Brad Pru with his K-9 demonstration, as well as Mason MacDonald who led kindies and first graders in performing military cadence. We would also like to recognize our local Kneaders and several Starbucks stores for not only donating food and beverages, but also volunteering their time serving at our event. We'd also like to thank BFA's Student Council and NJHS members who acted as hosts and ambassadors during the event.

We’re so grateful to these volunteers for sharing their time and talents with us.

Each month, a volunteer will be randomly chosen through a drawing to win a fun, surprise gift. All you have to do to be eligible to win, is log at least ONE hour of volunteer service in the month prior to the drawing.

This month, Lindsey Neumann is the winner of our drawing for her volunteer time in October, and has won a $10 gift card for Starbucks. Congratulations, Lindsey! And, thank you again for your volunteer time at BFA.

With November comes an opportunity to focus on two more of Ben Franklin’s virtues: Sincerity and Humility.

Interestingly, sincerity was thought of as a moral trait only a few centuries before Ben Franklin added it to his list of virtues. Prior to that, sincerity was used to describe the integrity of physical objects, such as a chair or a candle. It wasn’t until the 1500’s when sincerity was used to describe a person whose communication matched their inward state. “Use not hurtful deceit,” Franklin wrote, “think innocently and justly, and if you speak, speak accordingly.” Today, we might say he’s encouraging us to speak from our hearts. However, sincerity shouldn’t be confused with honesty. With all sincerity, one can say that the sky is purple, or that the Broncos are having a terrific 2022-23 season, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. 

Humility was the thirteenth and final virtue Ben Franklin added to his list. To learn more about why he was encouraged to add humility to his list of virtues, check out this short article. 

This month, you have a great reason to indulge in a dozen (or two) Krispy Kreme doughnuts! From December 1-9, more than 50 percent of your order price will be donated back to the BFA PTO when you purchase via our fundraising sales page! Simply make your purchase online, visit your local store, and redeem your doughnuts using your code. Treat yourself, or even gift them to friends and family.

This link (grouprai.se/krispykreme5622sa) can be shared with anyone, and the offer can be redeemed at any location in the country (except Conneticut). So, feel free to share this with friends and family all over America! 

After you purchase via the fundraising sales page you will immediately get an email confirmation with a link to access the redemption code. Once you click: "Redeem (or Gift) your Dozens" in the email, you will be able to see all the Digital Dozens associated with your order. From here, you can choose to redeem or gift each dozen individually. You do not have to redeem your digital dozens at the same time (each dozen has a unique code). 

These Digital Dozens are for a glazed dozen only. Happy doughnut shopping!

The BFA PTO will use RaiseRight (formerly SCRIP) for holiday staff gifting again this year. This convenient, online program replaces room parent collections and facilitates convenient group gifting. Each family makes one payment through MySchoolBucks for all of their teacher and staff gifts. At the end of collections, each staff member receives an email with the total collected on their behalf and is able to select gift cards they would like to receive.

Participation in the RaiseRight program is completely voluntary. You are welcome to participate with any amount, or alternatively gift the teachers and staff on your own. Families will be able to place RaiseRight orders via MySchoolBucks and pay by credit card. You may designate how much you would like to give to each teacher/staff member in one-dollar increments. Collections will take place Nov. 28 through Dec. 4, with gift cards being distributed during the week before Winter Break.

If you have questions, please visit the PTO webpage or contact Rebecca Mullenix, RaiseRight committee manager.

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Committee is seeking input from parents as they plan this school year's activities, including the annual STEM Expo and classroom presentations. To prepare for these events, they could use your input and potentially your expertise, so they kindly request that you complete the survey linked below by end-of-day tomorrow, Nov. 18.

Make plans to join members of the BFA PTO for their holiday gathering! This FUN event is for all of the adults who make BFA a special community (PTO members AND non-members) and will be held at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at Old Blinking Light (9344 Dorchester St., Highlands Ranch). Dinner will be provided by the PTO, and there will even be a gift exchange! Look for a SignUpGenius to come out soon with more details and to RSVP. Happy holidays!

You’re also invited to join the PTO for their December meeting prior to the holiday gathering at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14, in the Sanders Science Lab.

The middle school girls basketball season is right around the corner! Registration is OPEN NOW through MySchoolBucks; players must be registered and complete waivers to try out.

On tryout days, players should bring a water bottle and athletic clothes/shoes. They’ll stay in carpool until All Call, then meet their coaches in the Thunder gym to try out. 

• Tryouts: From 4 - 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19, AND Tuesday, Dec. 20
• Callbacks (if needed): From 4 - 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 21

After teams are finalized, a payment of $200 will be invoiced for the season through MySchoolBucks and includes a sweatshirt, warm-up and locker sticker. The C team will be $100 and includes the same package as A and B team. 

If you are a King Soopers or Amazon shopper, you can help earn money for BFA by signing up for King Soopers Community Rewards and Amazon Smile. Here's how:

To sign up for King Soopers Community Rewards:

1. Sign in to your digital account at King Soopers Community Rewards. If you haven't already set up an account, set up your account and link your King Soopers card or phone number to your account.
2. Click on Community Rewards, Enroll Now and search for Ben Franklin Parent Teacher Organization or enter our code, XN773. Click Save.
3. Next time you check out at King Soopers or City Market, scan your card (or enter your alternate ID), and BFA will get money back from your purchase.

It's exciting how quickly this program adds up and how much our school can earn. From July to September of this year, BFA has earned $2,427 back from this program!

To sign up for Amazon Smile:

1. Go to: smile.amazon.com, and click Get Started.
2. Enter Ben Franklin Academy Parent-Teacher Organization in the search box, and select BFA PTO as the organization that you want to support.
3. Once you have signed up for Amazon Smile online, you can enable Amazon Smile through the Amazon app, by selecting Gifting and Charity from the menu in the lower right-hand corner, then Amazon Smile. 

You can find out more information about the AmazonSmile program including how to link your Amazon account to BFA, click here.

Please contact Andreya Flanigan, PTO fundraising coordinator with any questions. Thank you, again, for your support of BFA and the PTO!