| January 7 | | School Resumes | | January 9 | | Chess Session 2 Begins | | January 13 - 17 | | College & Career Week | | January 20 | | No School, MLK Day | | January 22 | | Science & Engineering Fair Projects Due | | January 24 | | SAGE Event | | January 27 | | High Tech High Touch (Kindergarden) | | Newcomers Coffee (2pm) |
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Click below for a message from our PTA President: |
| ANNUAL BRINKER CANNED FOOD DRIVE More than 5,000 items were collected in our Holiday Canned Food Drive benefiting Minnie’s Food Pantry! Our Brinker Bears really came together to help families in need in our Plano community. Our mighty 2nd graders collected the most cans with 1,426 items! Way to Go Brinker! |
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2019-2020 PTA LIFETIME MEMBERS Congratulations to our 2019-2020 PTA Lifetime Members Lindsey Girlinghouse, Amy Matz, Amy Young, Tara Tevis, and Jill Levy! This honor is given to individuals for outstanding service and dedication to our children. Lifetime members are recomended via nomination by parents, teachers or staff and are voted on by our Lifetime Membership Selection Commitee. Thank you to these members for their many years of amazing support of our PTA and its efforts here at Brinker.
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 Sam Houston Visits 4th Grade On December 12, our Brinker PTA invited Sam Houston to come speak about his life experiences to our 4th Graders. Students enjoyed hearing from this "real-life" Texas Hero that complemented their course studies on Texas History. Ask your historian what they learned from this Texas Hero! |
|  Dallas Symphony Orchestra On December 16, Brinker PTA sponsored a very special performance by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet Ensemble through their Symphony YES! program. Brinker Bears were treated to an intimate and delightful concert experience by world famous musicians right in our Brinker gym. |
|  Annual Class Winter Parties On December 19 our students attended their Winter parties! A HUGE thank you to our lead & classroom representatives and volunteers who made the winter parties a huge success! Fun was had by all with crafts, snacks, and games in the classroom. It was a great way to kick off winter break and couldn't have been done without our amazing volunteers! |
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 December Volunteer of the Month: Susan Duggan Congratulations to our December Volunteer of the Month, Susan Duggan! Susan and her husband Jim have been a Brinker Family for many years. Their family includes Jacob (2nd grade at Brinker), James (6th grade at Renner), and Triplet sophomores in college! Susan and Jim own Duggan Management Services, working in commercial real estate. Susan is always willing to help out our amazing PTA and teachers, from volunteering in the classroom to helping at our food drive, she loves being a part of so many wonderful projects our PTA provides to our Brinker students. The Duggan family loves to travel, golf & attend OU & TTU football games! In the new year, Susan’s goal is to spend even more quality time with their children & enjoy every moment fully with them! Thank you Susan for all that you do for our school!
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|  December Tuesday Tunes Performers Let’s give a big round of applause for 3rd grader Allie Moroni, 4th grader Lucas Liu, and 2nd grader Lilah Ortiz!!! Thank you for sharing your exquisite music with the school in the final month of 2019! Also, congratulations to every young musician who helped make Tuesday Tunes a success during the first half of the 2019-2020 school year. All of the performances were spectacular, and we look forward to more in 2020. If you have any questions about our Tuesday Tunes program, please email ktsai@brinkerpta.org. |
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| PTA NEWCOMERS COFFEE Monday, January 27 at 2 PM Happy 2020! It’s hard to believe we are halfway through the school year. We have had a wonderful fall season filled with many fun events and activities. If your family joined Brinker in the last few months or you’re a Brinker parent who wants to become more involved, please join us for our Newcomers Coffee sponsored by the Brinker PTA. It will be held on Monday, January 27 at 2 PM in our library, right before pickup. Come learn about upcoming school events and volunteer opportunities. We can get acquainted and answer any questions you have. We hope to see you there! |
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| YEARBOOK ART CONTEST
Calling all 5th grade artists!
The theme of this year’s yearbook is Bear Tracks to the Future! This is your chance for your 5th grader to show their creative talent and make history for our school’s first ever yearbook cover design contest.
1st Place artwork will be on the Front Cover, 2nd Place artwork will be on the Back Cover. Judges will be looking for art that represents the theme, school spirit, shows originality, and genuine effort. Their original drawing should reflect this theme & what it means to them.
Submission guidelines are as follows:
• Use a full sheet of plain white paper, 8 1â„2†x 11†(Vertical orientation)
• Make it colorful; crayons and markers work best
• Your submission must be an original handmade design; it cannot be a computer download/printout
• One submission per student please
• The theme wording, Bear Tracks to the Future, Must be included somewhere in your artwork.
• Print or sign your name, legibly, in the bottom right corner of your artwork, about 1â„2†from the edge of the paper
• Please note: The background color of the book will be blue this year.
• Please submit your artwork to your homeroom teacher
**If any of the above requested items are missing from submitted artwork, the artwork WILL NOT be included in the voting**
Submission deadline is on Friday, January 10, 2020. Voting will take place after winter break by all 5th Grade Students.
Questions? Please contact Maria Cross at mcross@brinkerpta.org
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| CHESS SESSION 2 REGISTRATION Chess Session 2 registration is now open HERE! The session starts Thursday January 9th and will run through Thursday February 27th, from 4:15pm to 5:15pm in the Brinker Library. The cost is $180 per student and all grades & skill levels are welcome. Space is limited, so register today! |
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| ATTENTION 5th GRADE PARENTS! Slideshow Photos Needed for 5th Graders We are busy working on the 5th grade slideshow & yearbook, and need some special photos of our 5th Graders. 1. Please email ONE baby & ONE current photo of your child (saved as Last Name, First Name) by January 30. 2. Please send several group photos of your child & friends over the years at Brinker.
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| COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS
2020 SAGE Summer Expo- 2/1, 11:00-2:00 in the PSH cafeteria 2200 Independence Pkwy, building C Discover 60+ summer camps, programs and resources for all students, especially those with special needs and gifted students for preschool through high school. More info here: http://www/planopta.org/summerexpo Plano West Lacrosse Play the fastest game on two feet, and the fastest growing sport in the US! Find information about Kindergarten though 12th grade sign up for the Sprint Season at www.planowestlacrosse.org |
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| VOLUNTEERS NEEDED We have many opportunities for you to get involved! volunteers are always needed to help make our PTA events, programs and activities a success. Here are a few of our upcoming volunteer needs. Check our volunteer section of the website HERE to sign up for the below and other volunteer opportunities. SAGE: Our Bi-annual SAGE event will be taking place in January. SAGE stands for Special and Gifted Education, and is an opportunity for students to experience, hands on through a series of activity stations, how students of different abilities learn and interact with their environment. This event requires a lot of volunteer support. Please be on on the lookout for our volunteer sign up for this event soon! If you would like more information on the SAGE event, contact cdiaz@brinkerpta.org.
VIP: Our Spring VIP session starts in January. If you would like to help mentor a Brinker student who needs a little extra support in reading and math, please consider volunteering for this awesome program! Volunteers commit 30 minutes, one time a week during the session (day and time is flexible and can be scheduled based on your availability!). If you would like more information on the VIP program, please contact cdiaz@brinkerpta.org. Science Fair: Our Brinker Science Fair is in need of judges to help review the entries! So many of our budding Brinker scientists work very hard on these entries and we would love your help in judging all of the terrific projects! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our VP of volunteers at jbader@brinkerpta.org |
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| Have you downloaded the new BOX TOP app? The Box Tops program is going digital! The download is available on the App Store and Google Play. Just link your account to Brinker Elementary and start scanning your receipts! Brinker will receive $.10 for every eligible purchase. For more information on the Digital BOX TOP program, click HERE. If you still have traditional box tops at home, you can turn those in by February 25th! Just have your kids drop them in the Box Tops canister as they enter the school.
Questions? Email Melissa Nanson at mnanson@brinkerpta.org |
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It's never too late to join the PTA! our membership form is always open and we encourage all of our parents and community members to join. Not a member yet? Click the join button for more information or to join today!
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NATIONAL SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE Dear Brinker Parents, Our PTA has completed the initial application to become a National PTA School of Excellence. The primary objective of the program is to help PTAs and schools strengthen family-school partnerships to benefit all students' academic success and general well-being. After compiling the initial survey results, our main objective is to “increase family engagement supporting student successâ€. Your survey responses indicate that our PTA is strong in encouraging parents to volunteer and communicating in multiple ways. We have room for improvement in having friendly signs in multiple languages and translating communications. Part of our initiative to increase family engagement is information-gathering to make sure our objectives are targeted and specific to the needs of our community. We would like to form a multi-cultural and multi-lingual group of parents who can help us make sure we are meeting the needs of our membership and Brinker parents. If you are interested in consulting with us on making sure all of our families feel welcome and engaged, please email our PTA president at skissel@brinkerpta.org. Have you ever wondered how you can support your child’s academic success at home? We would like to share an incredible resource with you from our National PTA. Parents’ Guide to student success is a roadmap for parents available in multiple languages, to help you understand what your child should be learning in each grade, how to support their success at home, and even how to strengthen your relationship with your child’s teacher. https://www.pta.org/home/family-resources/Parents-Guides-to-Student-Success Please check back with our newsletters, weekly reminders, and social media for more resources to increase family engagement. As always, contact our excellence team with any questions or suggestions! Sincerely, School of Excellence Team 2019
Estimados padres de familia de Brinker: Nuestro PTA (Asociación de Padres y Maestros) ha completado la solicitud inicial para convertirse en Escuela de Excelencia PTA Nacional. El objetivo principal del programa es ayudar al PTA y a las escuelas a fortalecer la alianza familia-escuela para beneficiar el éxito académico y el bienestar general de todos los estudiantes. Después de obtener los resultados iniciales de la encuesta, nuestro objetivo principal es "aumentar la participación familiar apoyando el éxito del estudiante". Las respuestas de la encuesta indican que nuestro PTA es consistente en motivar a los padres a ser voluntarios y a comunicarse de diferentes formas. Tenemos oportunidad para mejorar en proveer letreros amigables en varios idiomas y en traducir las comunicaciones. Parte de nuestra iniciativa para aumentar la participación de la familia en la escuela es la recopilación de información para asegurarnos de que nuestros objetivos son cumplidos y especÃficos a las necesidades de nuestra comunidad. Nos gustarÃa formar un grupo de padres multiculturales y multilingües que puedan ayudarnos en asegurarnos de que satisfacemos las necesidades de nuestros miembros y padres de Brinker. Si usted está interesado en asesorarnos para asegurarse de que todas nuestras familias se sientan bienvenidas y quieran involucrarse con la escuela, envie un correo electrónico a nuestra presidente del PTA a skissel@brinkerpta.org. ¿Alguna vez se ha preguntado cómo puede apoyar el éxito académico de su hijo en casa? Nos gustarÃa compartir con usted un recurso increÃble de nuestro PTA Nacional. La GuÃa para padres sobre el éxito de los estudiantes es un recurso para padres disponible en varios idiomas para ayudarlo a entender lo que su hijo debe aprender en cada grado, cómo apoyar su éxito en casa e incluso cómo fortalecer la relación con el maestro de su hijo. https://www.pta.org/home/family-resources/Parents-Guides-to-Student-Success Favor de consultar nuestros boletines, recordatorios semanales y redes sociales para obtener más información de como aumentar la participación de toda la familia en la escuela. ¡Y como siempre, contacte a nuestro excelente equipo en caso de tener cualquier pregunta o sugerencia! Atentamente, Equipo Brinker - Escuela de Excelencia 2019 |
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