Creekside Eagle Blast
April 25, 2017
There is a LOT of information in this week’s blast!! We are winding down the school year and have so many exciting things going on!! If you scroll down you will find information about the Next Week’s Teacher Appreciation Activities, Our First Annual Talent Show, Kindergarten Orientation, Several Volunteer Opportunities (including EOG Proctoring!), Spirit Wear Sales and more!!
Here are the highlights for this week…
Community Building Event for our Hispanic Population and their Supporters
TOMORROW, April 26 from 5pm-6:30
*PTA Parents Needed to engage in small group discussions and show support*
(more info below)
Administrative Professionals Day!
TOMORROW, April 26
These are the folks behind the scenes that answer our desperate phone calls to change our child’s transportation, they enroll our kindergartners, they are the gate keepers of our school, they keep us informed, they keep things running smoothly, they kiss boo boo’s, they organize… coordinate… assist… communicate… they wear a thousand hats and tomorrow we have the chance to say, THANK YOU!!
Spring Carnival!!!
Friday, April 28
Volunteers Needed!! More info below
Teacher Appreciation Week is NEXT WEEK!!!
May 1-5
Gift Cards are needed for daily drawings… information below!Teacher Appreciation Week!!!
Be sure to read this Blast all the way through… the format is the same but the information changes weekly.
Please feel free to pass this newsletter along to any Creekside Families you think might like to “be in the know” and encourage them to sign up using the following link: http://eepurl.com/cdKE-b
If your family has left Creekside Elementary and you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please follow the unsubscribe link below.
Dates to Remember:
April 26 – Administrative Professionals Day
April 26 – Community Building Event
April 26 – Deadline for Talent Show Permission Slips
April 28 – Spring Carnival
May 1-5 – Teacher Appreciation Week
May 3 – Early Release Day
May 8-9 – Field Day
May 11 – Spring Curriculum Night
May 18 – Volunteer Breakfast
May 19 – Talent Show
May 31-June 2 – End of Grade Testing (Proctors needed!)
June 8 – Step-up Day
June 8 – 5th Grade Graduation
June 9 – Last day of school!!!
It’s time to get ready for the 2017 Creekside Spring Carnival!
This year we have new games and activities for the kids…Carolina Hurricanes Slap Shot Booth, New Inflatable rides, New Minute to Win It games, Giant Jenga, Baseball and Frisbee Throw, Giant Wheel of Fortune, Plinko, Balloon Darts and more! Over 25 games and activities.
Sell 30 raffle tickets and earn a “free play” wristband to use at the carnival which covers the rides and most of the games. We do have a few “cash only” booths such as Silly String wars (cans of string $2) and Pie Throw (whip cream pies $5 ea). So far Ms. Dubose, Mr. Chambee and Ms. Williams are signed up as targets. Food booths may also be cash only.
We will have punch cards available at the carnival for those not selling raffle tickets. 20 punches for $15 or 10 punches for $8. Ticket tables will be set up as you enter.
Food trucks include Only Burger, Banditos, Flirting with Fire pizza truck, Locopops and Kona Ice. Chick-fil-A sandwich combo (chips, drink + sandwich) will be available at the Mad Popper Popcorn stand along with delicious popcorn. Come hungry!
In order to make the evening a success, we need your help with volunteering at games booths and rides. Shifts are 1 hr and we cannot do it without your help. Middle and High Schoolers may also volunteer. Please use the sign up genius if you can help out:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d49a4a72faa8-creekside5
Donations: We are looking for donations of soft drinks (cans, 2 liters and 22 oz) to use at the pop drop game. All varieties of sodas are fine. We would also like donation of individual baked good items (can be store bought or homemade) for the Cake Walk. Lastly, we need un-iced cupcakes (2 dz) for the Cupcake Creations booth. Sign up for these is on the sign up genius.
Donations can be dropped off next week in carpool lane or brought to the carnival. Thanks for your help!
Looking forward to seeing everyone on Friday, April 28th for an evening of great fun!
Please begin picking up the auction items you won tomorrow.
Drawings for the Raffle will take place tomorrow, 4/26 and winners will be announced on Thursday. There will be a posting at school as well as on FaceBook and the PTA website.
The individual and classroom ticket sale winners will also be revealed tomorrow… check FaceBook!
Thank you again for your support!!
We want to hear the voice of our
Creekside Hispanic community
Please join us for a Creekside Community Building Event
Wednesday, April 26th, 2017, 5:00pm to 6:30pm
Creekside Media center
Free tamales! Free childcare! Translation will be provided.
We will have conversation around the following questions:
● In what ways do you feel like a part of the school community? What more can be done?
● How is the current climate impacting my child/my family?
● What can Creekside and Durham Public Schools do to help me address my child’s needs at home?
Guest speakers will address efforts to make Durham Public Schools a safe and inclusive environment for all students and will respond to questions and comments from the Creekside community. There will also be time for small group discussion.
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** In addition to the events below, please help show your appreciation by sending in Gift Cards for ANY amount ($3, $5, $10…) to ANY store (Target, Starbucks, Jersey Mikes…) by Friday, April 28. You can drop them off in the main office or send them in with your student in an envelope labeled “teacher appreciation week”. We will be doing daily drawings for these gift cards – our hope is to have enough for each teacher to be a winner!! **
Rogers-Herr Middle School
Now open to all grades!!!
The deadline for permission slips is TOMORROW, Wednesday April 26th.
On April 28th parents will receive an email with a link to sign up for tryouts.
Tryouts will be held after school May 2nd and May 4th.
** We need volunteers to assist with the tryouts next week!! **
Kristi Laan by phone or email
(kristi.laan2@gmail.com or 919-632-1889)
Volunteer Opportunities:
Science Olympiad – Creekside students will be completing in the district Science Olympiad competition on Saturday, April 29th. We need volunteers to help run the competition. Volunteers help setup/take down events, guide teams to competition and more. Anytime you can between the hours of 7:00-2:00 on Saturday would be greatly appreciated. Competition will be held at Southern High School. Please contact Tya Tyrrell if interested in volunteering for Science Olympiad.
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EOG Proctors Needed!! – End-of-Grade Assessments (EOGs) are just around the corner and we need your help! According to the NC Testing Procedures, each testing room needs a proctor and a test administrator for test administration. In order to do this, we need 40+ volunteers on two of the three testing days. Testing will occur between 7:30am and 11:30am. If you can assist, sign up at http://signup.com/go/JLy2xc!
Wednesday, May 31… 38+ Proctors Needed
Thursday, June 1… 50+ Proctors Needed
Friday, June 2… 14+ Proctors Needed
*Note – all proctors must be trained to proctor EOGs prior to test administration. We will have Proctor training on the following dates:
May 11 (Spring Curriculum NIght)
May 18 at 8am
May 25 at 8am
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Additional Teacher Appreciation Opportunity – Second Chance Academy is a Durham Public Schools program that helps 3rd-8th graders who are serving a short term suspension (1-10 days) from their regular DPS school. The 6 staff (principal, teachers, and behavioral specialist) work every day to support students who are keeping up with schoolwork while on suspension. They provide academic support as well as group and one-on-one conversations about decision making, approaching conflicts, and other relevant topics, so that students can return to school ready to learn.
Although most of us are unlikely to meet these teachers, the work they do makes all Durham Public Schools more safe and productive, and strengthens the community by offering a positive alternative to suspension. Because the Second Chance staff serves an ever-changing group of students, they do not have PTA support.
Would you join a small group of parents to help provide them with a lunch and goodie bag this year for Teacher Appreciation Week? Gifts of time, money, food, or gift cards would all be helpful.
Contact Amy Rublein for more information. (amy.rublein@gmail.com, 919-215-3487).
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Book Swap for Summer Reading – Gently used books or magazines (appropriate for elementary school age students – please, no board books) can be dropped off with Mrs. Winstead in the Media Center. There is a special need for Spanish titles, non-fiction, and popular series but anything is appreciated!! Donations are needed by May 26. Thank you!!
Please visit the Creekside Online Spirit Wear
Store for new gear!
https://squareup.com/store/creekside-elementary-pta
Stock up and show your Creekside Pride!
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Survey: Homework and Internet Availability
Nationally, 7 in 10 teachers assign homework that requires internet access. But an estimated five million households with school-age children do not have internet access at home. Students that fall into this “homework gap”—households where internet access is limited or unavailable—lag behind in education and are less competitive in the workforce.
But if you’re a parent with children in North Carolina’s K-12 schools you already know what happens when your children and/or their classmates can’t meaningfully access the internet.
Many of you spend hours each week driving your children to a nearby McDonalds or Starbucks to use their Wi-Fi because internet is not available to your house or it’s too expensive. Or trek to the local library multiple times a week so your kids can use the computers because your digital device is broken, being used by one of your other children, or you don’t have one at home because buying one doesn’t fit in your budget.
The State of North Carolina wants to help ensure no child in the K-12 schools falls into the homework gap. But to do so, the State needs to know how widespread the homework gap is and potential challenges students face in accessing digital resources.
To identify this data, our partners, the Broadband Infrastructure Office and the FridayInstitute, are conducting a survey of North Carolina households with K-12 students. We would like to encourage you to take the survey so policy makers and education stakeholders can design solutions to this issue.
The anonymous, short survey is available in English and Spanish and can be found here K-12 Internet Access at Home Survey (Encuesta de Accesso a Internet K-12 en el Hogar)(or at below link).
It remains open until April 30, 2017.
Should you have any questions, concerns, or feedback, you can reach out to the Broadband Infrastructure Office directly at: broadband@nc.gov or (919) 754-6695.
Survey Link: http://bit.ly/k12hwgap
Crayola Color Cycle Program at Creekside Continues – We are excited to report that we are going to continue the marker recycling program started last year in conjunction with Crayola. It’s called CrayolaColorCycle – an amazing program devised to turn used markers into energy! Last year Creekside recycled 2,148 markers. Let’s see if we can beat that number this year!!
All around Creekside Elementary students and teachers will be collecting used markers (all brands of plastic markers, not just Crayola markers, that includes dry erase markers and highlighters), that are ready to be discarded. The markers will then be sent to a facility where they will be converted into clean fuel. This fuel can be used to power vehicles, heat homes, cook meals and more!
Please help support our efforts by sending your kids in with any used markers you may have around the house. Drop-off boxes will be located in each classroom for your child to deposit the markers. These boxes will remain in the classrooms throughout the year for continued marker recycling.
Thank you in advance for participating! With the help of parents like you across the country, the Crayola ColorCycle program can keep tons of plastic out of landfills each year.
Joining is easy… click here: bit.ly/JoinCESPTA
$10 each ($5 for staff)
Please continue to support the businesses that support our school!
Erica Libertore at ericalibertore@gmail.com ***
Link your Harris Teeter VIC card to Creekside #5611.
Link your Kroger card to Creekside by asking at the Customer Service desk. We earn points for every dollar spent at Kroger toward purchases for our school.
Clip BOX TOPS and Labels for Education. Students may bring in Box Tops and labels every Friday to the Box Top store at the front of the school to trade them in for cool prizes.
Amazon Smile Account https://smile.amazon.com/ch/84-1644408
Creekside Elementary PTA 