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Hello Brinker Bears! The end of the school year is here and it is always bittersweet. It is the time of year we all look forward to: year-end spirit assembly, Brinker Bash, no more alarm clocks, no more making school lunches, outside voices all day long and much more. Yet it is balanced by the winds of change that include 5th grade graduation, goodbyes to our friends and teachers, and the change of our Brinker PTA Board and Chairs. I am Sarah Kissel, the incoming PTA President for the 2019-20 school year, and I would like to personally send a heartfelt “Thank you†to all our PTA members and volunteers who served in their many roles this year. Our volunteers gave so much of their time to the events of the past school year as well as to supporting our teachers and staff. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to our outgoing president, Alison Grzyb, for her tireless dedication to our PTA. Alison has given so much of herself during the last two years; and we are all grateful for her efforts. The 2019-2020 Board and Chairs welcome the challenge of carrying forward her legacy. Although this school year is quickly winding down, before you “check out†for Summer Break, please put the following dates on your calendars: - July 1 – PISD Volunteer Security Clearance – for all volunteers is open for the 2019-2020 school year. It is the Plano ISD policy that all volunteers complete the security clearance Volunteer Application every school year. I recommend doing this as soon as possible, so you are ready to start the 2019-2020 school year and able to volunteer. Go to pisd.edu and click on Volunteer Application.
- July 1 - Brinker PTA Membership Toolkit Opens – You will be able to log in to the toolkit and order Brinker Spiritwear, 2019-20 Yearbooks, and 2019-2020 PTA Membership.
- August 9 – Meet the Teacher – 7:30-8:30 am
- August 9 – Back to Brinker Event - 8:00-10:00am in the Brinker Gym. This will be a come and go event immediately following meet-the-teacher
- August 12 – First Day of School
- August 13 – Brinker Back to School Coffee and General PTA Meeting – 7:45 am in the Brinker Library.
Also for our incoming Kindergarteners and their parents, there is a “Kindergarten Meet & Greet†during the summer. More details to follow. All incoming Kindergarteners and their families are invited! If anyone has any questions or concerns over the summer, please do not hesitate to contact me at president@brinkerpta.org. Happy Summer! |
 | | VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH - SHELLY PROWELL
Congratulations to Shelly Prowell, our PTA Volunteer ofthe Month for May. Shelly has been active in kindergarten buddies, lunch buddies, and is always willing to help out as a classroom volunteer for kindergarten and fourth grades. She has been amazing at facilitating the Brinker relationship with Pinstack. Shelly has been married to Jason Prowell for 13 years and is Mom to 4th Grade Kendall and Kindergartener Kolby. When not working as the Director of Sales for Pinstack, she is coaching her kids’ softball and soccer teams and loves traveling all over the world with her family.
Thanks Shelly for all that you do for our school community!! |
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 | | DALLAS OPERA COMES TO BRINKER
Bravo to The Dallas Opera! Brinker 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students were treated to a special performance of “Pepito†brilliantly performed by members of The Dallas Opera. The Jacques Offenbach operetta is part of the Student Performance Programs of the Dallas Opera designed to give students a great introduction into the world of opera. Students saw a fully-staged opera performance, featuring exceptional vocal talents and was accompanied by music on the piano from start to finish, in place of a traditional orchestra.
Bravo to your support of the PTA so exciting Arts in Education programs can visit Brinker! |
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 | | BRINKER PTA AWARDS SCHOLARSHIP AT
BRINKER SENIOR RECEPTION
On May 1st, Brinker alumni from the class of 2019 attended the Brinker Senior Reception in the Brinker Library. They had a great time mingling with old classmates and visiting with their Brinker teachers! Each year, the Brinker PTA awards a $1,000 scholarship to a graduating senior who attended Brinker for at least grades 3rd-5th. This year, after considering several very qualified and deserving candidates who submitted their applications, Rachel Snyder was awarded the 2019 scholarship and was recognized at the annual Brinker Senior Reception. Brinker PTA congratulates Rachel and all of the amazing 2019 graduates! |
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 | | BRINKER BASH - MAY 23 On Thursday, May 23, our Brinker Bears will celebrate their last week of school with music, dancing, games and special frozen treats. Please join us in celebrating a fantastic school year and the official start of summer! Please contact our Brinker Bash co-chairs at brinkerbash@brinkerpta.org with questions. |
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 | | ATTENTION 5th GRADE PARENTS 5th Grade graduation ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 22nd at 9AM in the Brinker gym. Reception to immediately follow. If you have any further questions please contact us at fifthgradeevents@brinkerpta.org. |
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BRINKER 5th GRADE POOL PARTY - MAY 23 Thursday, May 23 6:30 – 8:30 p.m at Tom Muehlenbeck Outdoor Pool This event is for ALL Brinker 5th graders! We will have a DJ, photo booth, food, and other fun surprises!The pool party is NOT a PTA sponsored event and is funded ONLY by parent donations. Donation forms were sent home with students in the last few days.If you have any questions please email fifthgradeevents@brinkerpta.org. |
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 | | LAST DAY TO ORDER SCHOOL SUPPLIES - JUNE 14! Brinker PTA provides parents the opportunity to pre-purchase school supply packs for students for the upcoming school year. These packs contain all of the items included on the teacher's supply list for your child's grade. Click HERE to order online via the membership toolkit. A detailed list of all supplies needed by grade is also available through the link. Please note that this year, these school supplies packages will only be available online for purchase from now - June 14 to ensure delivery of all school supplies before school starts in August. If purchased by June 14, you are guaranteed that your child(ren)'s supplies will be delivered to their classroom before Meet the Teacher. Save yourself time and the hassle of running around next August....get it done now! Prices go up June 15. |
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 | | BACK TO BRINKER - AUG 9
All families are invited to join us for Back to Brinker to be held in the Brinker Gym as a "come and go" event on Friday August 9 from 8:00AM to 10:00AM. You will be able to order this year's school supplies, new spirit wear, and yearbooks, learn about the PTA-sponsored programs, join the PTA, or sign up to volunteer. Come visit with old friends, meet some new ones, and kick off the new school year! See you there!
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 | | 2019-2020 PTA MEMBERSHIP ORDER ONLINE PTA Membership is now open for the 2019-2020 school year online. Click here to purchase yours. We would love to have ALL of our parents join the PTA. Please remember that you do not need to volunteer your time to be a member of the PTA! We understand that some parents simply are unable to volunteer their time. 100% of the membership dues paid by parents are used to support programs for ALL of our Brinker students. Just a few of those programs and student benefits include:
â—¾Tuesday Tunes program
â—¾Teacher Appreciation Events
â—¾Curriculum-based Programs such as Rhythm Path, Drum Fit program and theater productions
â—¾Brinker Color Fun Run
â—¾Brinker Marathon Kids Program
â—¾Field Day
â—¾Fall Family Picnic
â—¾Class Field Trips
â—¾Author and Artist Visits
â—¾Mavs Man and more! Purchasing a membership is easy and your membership positively impacts every child at our school. By joining the Brinker PTA, you are able to vote in PTA meetings and have a voice in PTA matters that directly affect our students. The cost for annual membership is $21.00 for a two-parent family and $13.00 for a single-parent family. We hope you will join our membership and help grow our Brinker community! Please contact us at membership@brinkerpta.org with any questions. |
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 | 2018-2019 SCHOOL YEAR WRAP UP | |
 | | ARTS IN EDUCATION - YEAR END REMARKS
Brinker Bears had an incredible year filled with curriculum based programs, after school activities and author visits. To mention a few, on Tuesdays, we played music like Mozart; studied chess like chess masters on Thursdays; Sam Houston visited our school; became scientists with High Touch High Tech; spun fibers with a professional fiber artist; and engrossed ourselves with performance theater by NTPA and The Dallas Opera. Authors visits enriched our unlimited imaginations and sparked interests in writing. Finally, what treat it was to see the winners of the Reflections program walk on stage to be recognized by PISD. Many parent volunteers make these programs a success for our kids. Every year you support Brinker PTA's Arts in Education programs through countless volunteering hours and donations. For that - we thank you! |
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 | | TUESDAY TUNES WRAP-UP Our final performances this school year came from 1st grade pianist Reina Sell and Kindergartner Navya Patel. Thank you for your outstanding performances!
We appreciate all musicians who participated in the Tuesday Tunes program this school year as well as our wonderful audience. This program is geared towards helping students build their passion for music while developing confidence in performing for their school mates.
For those attending Brinker next year, and will have had two years of formal music training, we hope you will sign up to perform. Watch for sign-up opportunities when the Membership Toolkit opens for the new school year in August.
Email tuesdaytunes@brinkerpta.org with any questions. |
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 | | WATCH D.O.G.S WRAP-UP This year's Watch Dogs program was amazing! To celebrate the year, our Brinker kids and dads watched How to Train Your Dragon 3 on May 17! We had 116 kids and dads attend the movie night. The evening was full of fun memories and was a time to celebrate a great year for all our Watchdogs. As we get ready for the next school year, a sincere 'thank you' to all the dads and father figures who made this year's Watch Dogs program such a success. We had a lot of interest in the program and enjoyed the opportunity to get to know so many of the dads and their kids this year. Please be on the lookout for the dates for the kickoff and sign up for the 2019-2020 school program. Again, thank you for making this year such a success and sharing so many memories with your kids! |
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2019-2010 READING LISTS If you are looking for ways to entertain your Brinker Bear during the summer, reading books from the Texas 2x2 Reading List and Texas Bluebonnet Awards are a great way to keep students engaged and get ahead for the next school year. These award-winning books can be found at our local public libraries. Click on the links below for each reading list: 2x2 Reading List (Grades K-2): http://www.txla.org/groups/2x2-current
Bluebonnet Reading List (Grades 3-5): http://www.txla.org/TBA-nominees Contact  our Literary Enrichment Chair, if you have any questions. literarysupport@brinkerpta.org. | | 
SAVE THOSE BOX TOPS One easy way to help the PTA provide all of the fun and educational events and programs for Brinker students is by saving the “Boxtops for Education†coupons from the products you purchase everyday. One “Boxtop†is worth .10 cents. If every student saves just 10 “Boxtops†this summer, that would be over $700! Boxtops are found on many products, such as Pillsbury, General Mills cereals, Ziplock bags, Progresso, Chex Mix and many, many more. Just snip the “Boxtop coupon†off the packaging and save them - so easy! Please help Brinker PTA with this simple fund-raiser and watch for information in the fall about when and how to submit. | | 
SUMMER RECYCLING = $$$ Did you know that Brinker has a World Wide Wear bin right behind the school? As you clean out your closets this summer, please consider putting your clothing, shoe and old backpack donations in the large blue “World Wide Wear†bin located right behind Brinker. So convenient and easy and Brinker PTA gets paid by the pound for the collected monthly donations! It’s an easy way to raise money for next school year’s PTA budget over the summer. Thank you! |
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 | | 2019-2020 BRINKER PTA BOARDS & CHAIRS
Please join us in congratulating and supporting the following Brinker PTA Members who will volunteer their time to serve in the following positions on the 2019-20 Brinker PTA Board and Chairs. A huge thank you to these volunteers for serving!
Executive Board & Officers
•President – Sarah Kissel
•1st VP Communications – Ryann Bills
•2nd VP Volunteers – Jessica Bader
•3rd VP Ways & Means – Stefani Sereboff
•Secretary – Tara Kesler
•Treasurer – Chris Ortiz
•Historian – Sarika Shivnani
•Parliamentarian – Merina Kovoor
Standing Committee Chairs
•Arts in Education – Ann Lin
•Programs – Melanie Mityas
•Membership – Anita Dewers
•Hospitality – Jennie Jones
•Past Board Member – Jill Levy
Special Committee Chairs
•Bear Facts Newsletter – Hilary Lewinson
•Bear Hugs – Jenifer Johnson
•Book Fair – Katharine Luong/Tracie Stevens
•Box Tops Chair - Melissa Nanson
•Brinker Bash – Querube Tamez
•Canned Food Drive – Emily Chapman
•Chess Enrichment – Melissa Riojas
•Color Run – Manjari Golagani/Crissy Peters
•Community Outreach – Carolyn Meehan/Emily Chapman
•Community Partners – Natalie Luedders/Missy Egan
•Curriculum-Based Programs – Ann Lin
•Cultural Diversity – Christine Diaz/ Simone Lufer
•Directory – Brandy Matthews
•Environmental – OPEN
•Fall Family Picnic – Adrian Satz/Amy Gross
•Field Day – Candice Leinart/Amy Naul
•Fifth Grade Event Chairs – Tara Tavis/Julie Chisum
•Grade Level Coordinator – Jennifer Thompson
•Healthy Lifestyles – Melanie Mityas
•Legislative – Sarah Duffy
•Lost & Found- Chrissy Peters
•Library Coordinator – Christina Saldana
•Literary Enrichment –Suchi Subramanian
•Membership Database – Jen White
•Newcomers – Jen White
•Reading Buddies—Katarina Herrera
•Red Ribbon Week – Stacie Ferguson
•Reflections - Kate Ryan
•School Supplies – Melissa Nanson
•Silent Auction: Melissa Borovay/Katie Stoneham/Kim Sams
•Social Media – Mallory Fitzsimmons
•Spirit Wear – Amy Matz/Amy Young
•Teacher Treats- Amy Walker
•Teacher Appreciation – Jennie Jones
•Tuesday Tunes – Kathleen Tsai
•VIP Tutors – Christine Diaz
•Watch DOGS – Noe Ortiz
•Website – Melanie Humenesky
•Workroom Coordinator - Katie Luong
•Yearbook – Ashley Peyton |
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