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Originally delivered on 10/1/2018 10:02 am

SUBJECT: October 2018 Brinker PTA Newsletter


 

OCTOBER 2018

 Letter from our PTA President - Alison Grzyb

As September floats away on record setting rainfall, October brings the memories of childhood rushing back and the anticipation of fall and all its offerings.  Autumn is the time we start to feel the cooler temperatures for the walk to school, kids choose their Halloween costumes, pumpkins appear on the porches and is the flavor of everything from coffee and baked goods to soup and stews. “There are no days so delightful as those of a fine October.”  Alexander Smith

PTA kicks off fall in the Brinker community with a bushel of events:

  • October 10 - International Walk to School Day. Get up a little earlier, grab your coffee and meet your neighbors as you walk to Brinker.
  • October 12 â€“ Fall Family Picnic, 5 - 8 pm. Bring your blankets, chairs and picnic baskets and join the community FUN! 
  • October 12 - Yard Sign Deadline. Click here to go purchase.
  • October 19 - Field Day. A time to run, jump and play! 100+ volunteers needed, click here to go to the Membership Toolkit and sign up today.
  • October 22 to 26 â€“ Red Ribbon Week. Students spend the week discussing and reinforcing messages about making healthy life choices and PTA caps it off with a visit by the Mavs Man on Thursday.

Please take time to enjoy this change of seasons and join us for all the fall fun this month.

 
TUESDAY TUNES: SEPTEMBER PERFORMERS

Bravo! Brava! We are proud to recognize our September performers, 1st grader; Carys Huen, 5th grader; Saura Agarwal and 3rd grader; Frances Wang who opened the new Tuesday Tunes season for the 2018-2019 school year. Thank you for sharing your wonderful music right at the beginning of the school year. You all had exceptional performances!

Come join the fun! If your student musician would like to perform for their friends and teachers in an informal setting on Tuesday mornings, please click here to register via the PTA Membership Toolkit. We have several time slots left in the school year!

Benefits of Learning an Instrument

  • Increased brain development and neural activity
  • It improves academic skills - Better test taking and multi-tasking
  • More hand-eye coordination
  • Improved ability to focus
  • It cultivates social skills
  • It refines discipline and patience
  • It boosts self-esteem
  • It introduces children to other cultures
 

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH - STEPHANIE KALEBA 

Stephanie relocated to Plano from Huntington Beach, CA in August, 2017.  Her husband Matt's job at Toyota is what brought the Kaleba family to Texas, and so far they are loving it!  She has 2 daughters:  Ellie is a 7th grader at Renner Middle School and Audrey is a 5th grader at Brinker. Stephanie volunteers her time at the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, the library at Renner Middle School, a Girl Scout Troop leader, and several jobs at Brinker including the library volunteer coordinator, workroom volunteer, and updating the calendar and forms on the Brinker PTA website.  In her free time, Stephanie enjoys traveling, reading, and going for long walks.

 IMPORTANT DATES

 

DON’T DELAY…ORDER YOUR BRINKER YARD SIGN TODAY!

Do you know what the Brinker PTA’s B.E.A.R.S. Campaign is? Do you want a 2018-2019 Brinker yard sign to show your school spirit?  If you want a yard sign, you must donate before October 13th. 

  • B.E.A.R.S (Benefactors for Educators, Academic Resources and Students) provides:
  • Author Visits
  • Scientist Visits
  • Field Trips
  • Library Books
  • Student Headphones
  • Student Agendas
  • Theater Productions
  • And many Brinker Community Events including Fall Family Picnic, The Color Fun Run, and Field Day.

B.E.A.R.S. is Brinker PTA’s primary fundraiser which provides our students and teachers with activities, programs, and resources to enrich their school year. B.E.A.R.S. means no stressful door to door selling of cookies, candles, and popcorn.

No donation is too small.  Donations can be made in any amount. 

With a donation of $100 or more, your family will receive a Brinker Yard Sign.  A donation of $250 or more, you will receive a yard sign and 5 books will be donated to the Brinker Library in your family's name. 

Click here to go to the Membership Toolkit to make your donation. Don't forget to check with your company's HR department to see if they offer corporate matching. We will be happy to help provide any needed school information. B.E.A.R.S. is a simple way for you to support our students and teachers.

Please contact waysandmeans@brinkerpta.org with questions.

 

RESCHEDULED FALL FAMILY PICNIC
AND NEWK'S DINING NIGHT

The Fall Family Picnic is on Friday, October 12 from 5 - 8 pm!  We will have all our community favorites: bounce houses, rock walls, music, cotton candy, snow cones & more!  Bring your blankets, chairs and picnic baskets and join the community FUN!

No time to make a picnic? We gotcha covered!  Newk's will be hosting a PTA Dining Night with 15% of all the proceeds between 4 - 9 pm coming back to Brinker. Pick up your to-go order and join us for all the fun.  

The PTA is excited to celebrate our community and hopes to see everyone there!  If you have any questions, please contact fallpicnic@brinkerpta.org.



ELECTION DAY
NOVEMBER 6

Election day is coming up on November 6th. If you are not registered to vote, please go to votetexas.gov to do so. The deadline to register to vote in the November 6 election, is October 9. Votetexas.gov and collincountytx.gov both have valuable information regarding voting, polling locations and hours, and more. Early voting begins October 22 and ends November 2. Voters are required to have a photo identification, such as a driver’s license or military id.

Sample ballots may also be found at collincountytx.gov.

 

 


RED RIBBON WEEK
OCTOBER 22-26

The Red Ribbon Campaign is the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the Nation and a way for people to take a visible stand against drugs. This year's theme is Life Is Your Journey, Travel Drug Free.â„¢

The PTA is very excited to support Red Ribbon Week by bringing the MavsMan and Champ, the Dallas Mavericks team mascots, to perform at Brinker on Thursday, October 25. The Mavsman and Champ are sure to excite the students with an action-packed dunk show, that includes character role-play, games, and skits to entertain the students with their “JUST SAY NO” message.

Thank you for supporting the Brinker PTA. Your membership and donations have allowed us to bring the MavsMan and Champ to perform at our school.

 



BODY MACHINE FITNESS PTA FUNDRAISER

SAVE the DATE for a NEW workout fundraiser at Body Machine Fitness on Tuesday, October 24 beginning at 7:15 pm. This new workout includes weights and cardio in a HIIT format. The class will be 60 minutes with amazing lighting and a hip DJ to spin party music during the workout. Stay afterwards for smoothies and more!

The class fee is $25 for PTA members/supporters and $15 for Brinker staff. We will receive over 70% off the proceeds back to support our students! We hope you will save the date to join us, and we will send a flyer and link to sign up for this fantastic fundraiser! If you have any questions, please contact waysandmeans@brinkerpta.org.

FOR PARENTS

CULTURAL DIVERSITY DAY
JANUARY 25

This year Cultural Diversity Day will be on Friday January 25th2019. Traditionally, this is a full day event as each class rotates into the gym to learn about different countries. At this point, we have volunteers to lead ChinaJapanCanada, and Mexico.

We are currently looking for 2 more people who are interested in leading a country (of your choice) and contributing ideas for representing that country. If you are interested in helping us with ideas on how to present a country, please contact us at diversity@brinkerpta.org.

 

FIELD DAY
OCTOBER 19

Field Day fun is coming up Friday, October 19!!! We still need volunteers, click here to sign up! K-2 will be morning shift and 3-5 will be afternoon shift! This is one of the kids favorite events of the year! Stay tuned for more details!!!

 



WALK TO SCHOOL DAY
     
OCTOBER 10

International Walk to School Day is a global event that involves communities from more than 40 countries walking and biking to school on the same day. Thousands of schools across America participate in this event every October. Walk your Brinker Bear to school on Wednesday October 10th and be a part of this movement that encourages year-round safe routes to school.

Be sure to mark your calendars and participate in the fun!

 

PLANO ISD Council of PTAs

A post from the Plano ISD Council of PTA’s Facebook Page:

"As our property tax payments continue to go up, the state’s funding for public education continues to go down. www.texastribune.org/

The TX Commission on Public School Finance will deliver a report by December with recommendations for improvements. https://tea.texas.gov/schoolfinancecommission"

PISD VOLUNTEER APPLICATIONS

Have you completed your Volunteer Application for the 2018-19 school year? PISD requires all volunteers to complete this application EVERY school year. We encourage ALL parents to complete and submit an application for security clearance - if you are one of our volunteers or just planning to attend a classroom party. Please visit the PISD Volunteer Application page to access the online application - it takes about 5 minutes to complete.

If you have questions, contact  volunteers@brinkerpta.org.

Click here to go to the PISD Volunteer Application page or here to go to directly to the application

 

 
VIP PROGRAM

Our VIP Program is an awesome, fun way for parents, grandparents or community members, to volunteer and help our Brinker students directly. You commit half an hour a week to assist a student who needs a little extra support in math and/or reading, as well as boosting the student’s confidence in their academics. If you choose to sign up to volunteer, you will submit your available days and times you can be at Brinker to tutor during school hours. You will be paired with a student or may also select whether you prefer to work with the younger or older grades and if you prefer to tutor in reading or math.

You do not need to be a teacher or a former teacher to be able to tutor. The students’ teachers will provide you with the assignments and information for each tutoring session. If interested, please e-mail viptutors@brinkerpta.org.

 



BRINKER SPIRIT

Friday is Brinker Spirit Day, so show your Brinker pride by wearing spirit wear proudly every Friday!  Pre-ordered shirts have all been delivered to your students.  If you have not received your order or have any questions, please contact us at spiritwear@brinkerpta.org

Didn't pre-order spirit wear?  We can help!  Click here to order from the inventory the PTA purchased to help you just in case.  Or come visit our spirit wear table at the Fall Family Picnic on Friday, October 12.  Limited quantities are available, so don't delay.

FOR STUDENTS



BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION


Brinker’s Box Tops for Education Week is October 15th – 19th this year, and Brinker invites you to join us in the celebration and earn cash for our school. Each Box Top you clip and submit is worth 10 cents, and they add up fast!

It's easy to participate! During that week just bring all your box tops from home and drop them in the collection box right outside the gym or bring your box tops to the Fall Family Picnic on October 12th where a member of the PTA will be around to collect them.

If each Brinker child were to simply clip 10 box tops, it would generate nearly $700 for our school. Imagine the possibilities! Thanks for your support!

 

 

 

REFLECTIONS
DEADLINE NOV 2

 
The Brinker PTA encourages all students to express themselves and explore their talents through the National PTA Reflections Program.  The 2018-2019 theme is “Heroes Around Me”, and entries should be dropped off in the Brinker gym by Friday, November 2

 

Use your imagination to create a film, song, artwork, photograph, poem, short story, or dance routine. Click here for the flyer for more information. 

 

For questions, please contact reflections@brinkerpta.org.

 

BRINKER MARATHONERS CLUB

The Brinker Elementary PTA is excited to once again be supporting the Brinker Marathoners Club. The Brinker Marathoners Club was created by the PE coaching team to encourage students to continue to make healthy and active choices. This year, however, students will only be able to earn miles during PE class.

Miles accumulated will continue to be rewarded with toe tokens at different distances and with our, newly designed, 26.2 mile t-shirt. Students have already started to record their miles.

Way to go Brinker students!

SAVE THE DATE

 

BRINKER'S ENCHANTED FOREST BOOK FAIR

Once upon a time in a school not so far away, a book fair took place Monday, November 5th through Friday, November 9th.

Mark your calendars for a magical Family Night on
Wednesday, November 7th. All unicorns, gnomes and fairy grandparents are welcome!

 



Brinker Elementary PTA
3800 Clark Parkway
Plano, TX 75093