Teacher Appreciation Week

Teacher Appreciation Week
Monday, May 14–Friday, May 18
&
Faculty/Staff Buffet Luncheon
Friday, May 18 11am-1pm
in the Walden School cafeteria

To thank our teachers for all their hard work this year, PCC is hosting a teacher appreciation week today through Friday.

• Please bring a note of thanks (blank cards are also provided) to deposit in our black front lobby basket---on the table opposite the front desk.  Notes will be collected through Friday and distributed to teachers on Friday after school.
• If you are willing to help set up, staff, or donate food for Friday's luncheon, please email waldenpcc@gmail.com.

Thank you for all you do to support our teachers!

PCC Election Info

We are looking for potential PCC presidents and vice presidents as well as committee chairs to help keep alive those things that are going well here at Walden and to guide us in efforts to improve those areas that need improvement.  To help support our school, faculty, administration, and students next school year by running for the offices of PCC president or vice president, please submit a 1-3 paragraph bio to waldenpcc@gmail.com by midnight Thursday, May 17.  All who wish to run will be added to the ballot, and we hope to see representatives from upper-grade as well as elementary-school parents.

Elections will be held by secret ballot online via SurveyMonkey beginning the week of May 21 and continuing through June 4.  Questions?  Please email waldenpcc@gmail.com.  Thank you for your continued help and support!

School Library Books Due 5/24

Our children have been enjoying the "new" library these past couple months, and we want to remind families to please return all school library books the last week of school.  (Some books may say "Discovery Junior High," as this was our school's former name.)  We hope to get all the books back so our students have lots of choices when they return in August.

Also, if you wish to donate new or used books to help expand our offerings, please consider the following student and teacher "wishes:"

• contemporary, realistic fiction (as opposed to fantasy fiction) published after 2000
• "Easy Readers" and "Intermediate" books for beginning readers (e.g., Magic Tree House, Junie B. Jones, Encyclopedia Brown, Cam Jansen, Flat Stanley, Amelia Bedelia, Judy Moody, Stink, Rainbow Magic Fairies)
• Spiderman, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek, and other guy show/movie spinoff books
• Percy Jackson series---we have one full set but would love additional copies
• children's poetry books
• children's joke books
• children's foreign language dictionaries and books written in other languages with English translations
  
• comic books and manga (Japanese comic book style)
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid series

Hardcover books are always appreciated, but paperbacks are great, too.  Donated books may be deposited on the library desk upstairs or left in a labeled box at the front desk.  Thank you!!

"Old Turtle" Show Help Requested

Please let us know if you can help with any of the following:
(email waldenpcc@gmail.com or Chantal Downing)

Donations of Materials

• Blue and Black spray paint for the night sky.
• Christmas lights (2) strands for the night sky and the tree --- Kylie Dickson
• Lots of green gauze or tulle to make the top of the tree
• Gold paint for the broken truth
• Green paper or ideas to create a few "grassy areas" on the stage
• Cardboard or other materials we could use to build a "den" for our coyotes and foxes

Volunteer to work with students on the set or costumes
We have made progress on many of the design ideas the kids are coming up with. Here are a few things I can hand over to anyone who might be interested! These are vague descriptions. Some items are pet projects of two or three kids, it would be great if they can help contribute.

• Paint the "Broken Truth" gold and write the text in black.
• Help paint, and hang stars in the "night sky design" created by Mr. Buzz's and Miss Sandi's classes. If you can paint landscapes they are interested in painting a simple mountain scape as well.
• Finish the tree, it still needs greenery. The stage also needs two or three paper grass knolls.
• Help create a comet which can be hung by a pulley system, maybe styrofoam with fabric.
• The coyotes and foxes are eager to help make some sort of den that they can crawl through or sit in. We need a good sized box perhaps and someone to help paint and build.
• Help Miss Rachel's class put together their animal masks. Some cutting still needs to be done.

Volunteers for the Day of the Show (Thursday, May 24 time TBA)
We would love for interested individuals to start coming to rehearsals.

Class Assistants - We need individuals who can come to 1-2 or more rehearsal times, learn the script and help keep a specific class or two on cue during the show. I think one person could supervise two classes, if it works for your schedule.  (Please see class practice times below.)

On the day of the show we also need some production assistance:
Sound - One person who can learn music cues, run the CD player, and monitor mic levels.
Backstage Manager - Our exits go through Miss Melissa's kindergarten room, I am hoping we can use the commons area outside her classroom as our "green room" or backstage. We need one person to help keep the kids calm and occupied while watching for cues to get performers on deck In Miss Melissa's room before their turn rolls around.
Stage Manager - This person will take a position on the stage by the sound system. This person's function is to keep track of the script and "call" performers by communicating with the Backstage Manager to get "on deck" or to "take the stage" when it is their turn.
Set Design and Manager is Derek, from Miss Rachel's class. 

Class Practice Times

• Miss Shelly's class is the Shooting Stars group. They meet every Monday @ 1-1:45 in the gym.Their part is straight forward, though they do carry props.
• Miss Sarai's class is the Beautiful Land, and Landscape. (The landscape happens during Little Girl and Old Turtle) This group meets every Monday 1:45-2:30. This class has many different props and parts.
• Miss Sandi's class is The Village. They meet every Tuesday 12:45-1:30. This class is includes many narrators, and other backstage parts. Other than that, they are put together and can use minimal support.
• Mr. Buzz's class is The Battle. They meet every Thursday 12:45-1:30. This class has props that need to be collected after their parts.
• Miss Rachel's class is Animals. They meet Thursdays 1:30-2:15. They have a main part and them a small group of them have a second part before the finale.
• The Turtle - This part uses two students at a time, from different classes. It might be good to have someone keeping track of our turtle performers and costume throughout the show. Maybe this person could also help Derek, the prop manager.

Thank you for any help you can give!

Inspirations Regional Help Needed

Our Inspirations Art Program had a nice turn out with submissions from students in all grades. Our school winners will be determined this week.  We are also co-hosting the Regional Competition for this year.  The Regional Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, March 3rd from 4-6 pm at Lincoln Academy in Pleasant Grove.

We would appreciate any help you may offer to set up or clean up that evening.  We will need at least 4 volunteers to fill our requirements; please contact Jessica Connors (801.787.8279 or jess_connors@q.com) if you are able to help with

• SET UP from 3-4 PM (2 volunteers needed)
• CLEAN UP from 6-7 PM (2 volunteers needed)

Library Work Days 2/15 & 2/17

"We Love Reading!" Library Work Days
Wednesday, Feb. 15
Friday, Feb. 17

Just a half hour of your time will help us meet our goal of opening the school library in February.  Please join us upstairs in the school library any time:

• Wed. morning (2/15) 9-11:55am
• Fri. morning (no school) (2/17) 10am-12noon

Want to help a different day?  Please email us at waldenpcc@gmail.com.

Thank you to those parents who have already helped; we hope to see you in the library again soon!

Library Work Day 2/8 8:45-11:55am

"We Love Reading!" Library Work Day
Wednesday, Feb. 8

Just a half hour of your time will help us meet our goal of opening the school library in February. Please join us any time this Wed. morning 8:45-11:55am upstairs in the school library (2/8).

Want to help a different day? Please email us at waldenpcc@gmail.com.

Thank you to those parents who have already helped; we hope to see you in the library again soon!

Library Work Day 2/1 8:30-11:15am

"We Love Reading!" Library Work Day
Wednesday, Feb. 1

Just a half hour of your time will help us meet our goal of opening the school library in February.   Please join us any time this Wed. morning 8:30-11:15am upstairs in the school library (2/1).

Want to help a different day?  Please email us at waldenpcc@gmail.com.

Inspirations Art Program 1/13

CALL FOR ENTRIES -- Students interested in competing in this year's Inspirations Art Program are encouraged to use time during their holiday break to get creating!  The competition is open to all students and submissions will be judged according to interpretation of the theme, creativity & originality, and artistic merit.  The theme for this year is: My Favorite Things and the deadline for submissions is FRIDAY, 13 JANUARY 2012 by 3:00 PM.  Many charter schools throughout the state will be involved, and the 1st & 2nd place winners of the competition in each age division and category from our school will be sent to our Regional Competition.

Parents are encouraged to encourage their children in their participation, but please remember that only a student's fully original work may be entered in the competition.  For more details, including rules for each available category, please visit the Inspirations Art Program website.  (NOTE: Multiple deadlines are given on this site, but our students MUST ADHERE to our school competition deadline (Fri, 13 Jan, 3pm) in order to enter -- don't be confused by any other dates).  Also any students wishing to enter in a category outside of the standard 2-D Visual Arts, Photography or Literature should watch for the Student Entry Intent Forms available after the Thanksgiving Break.  Filling in these forms will help us greatly in organizing the competition. Students may submit ONE (1) ENTRY IN EACH CATEGORY if desired.

We also invite parent participation helping our Academic Events Committee execute this great opportunity for our children.  It is crucial that we are able to provide competent impartial judges for each category, and we invite your help in securing these.  If you have connections in our local community and would like to nominate, refer, or suggest local artists who may be willing to serve in this capacity for us, please contact Committee Chair Jessica Connors by text, email or phone: jess_connors@q.com or tel. 801.787.8279.
 
Thank you for your interest and support, and we look forward to appreciating our students' ideas, talents, and initiative through this program.  Happy Creating!

Age Divisions:
•    Kindergarten - 2nd Grade
•    3rd - 5th Grade
•    6th - 8th Grade
•    9th -12th Grade
Available Categories:
•    2-D Visual Arts
•    3-D Art
•    Literature
•    Photography
•    Digital Arts
•    Musical Composition
•    Theatre
•    Choreography/Dance
•    Film/Video

Book Sale Help Needed 11/30

Library Coordinator Megan Keller will be upstairs in the library Wednesday after school and would love some help sorting books for our used-book sale.  If you can help or are interested in helping with other library needs, please contact Megan at megadoula@gmail.com or 801-227-4213.

Letter Board Help Needed

Would you be willing to help us keep the letter board outside updated?  Please email waldenpcc@gmail.com.

Dinner & Boutique Thank You

Thanks to the volunteers and students that made this year’s Holiday Boutique & Spaghetti Dinner a huge success!  We appreciate the support of families that attended the event, as well.  We raised approximately $3000 for our students' expeditions!  We hope that all in attendance had a fun time, and we hope that we have just as much support next year!

And special thanks to Wendy Bunnell, the PCC Fundraising Committee, and all those parents, teachers, and students who donated food, time, and items for this event!

Boutique & Dinner Help Needed

Walden's Spaghetti Dinner & Holiday Boutique fund-raiser directly benefits our Middle and H.S. students. Willing to help with time or food donations? Please email us at waldenpcc@gmail.com.

School Library Volunteers Needed

This week, we have two time slots available for library volunteers.

• Wed. – 2:45-7pm
• Sat. – 3-6pm

Our new library coordinator, Megan Keller, will be upstairs in the library to meet with volunteers and help them find projects to work on at school or projects to take home.

If you’d like to volunteer your time by organizing the library or helping students check out books but cannot attend either of these times, please email us at waldenpcc@gmail.com with your contact info and the times you might best be able to help.

Fall Harvest Carnival 10/27 4-7pm

Annual Fall Harvest Carnival
Thursday, Oct. 27 @ 4-7pm

We would love your help with food donations and food-booth volunteers for Walden’s Annual Fall Carnival.  Currently, we still need:

• food booth help for one hour - We hope to get enough help that each volunteer only needs to spend one hour and can then spend the rest of the time enjoying the carnival!
• food donations - hot dogs, buns, self-rising flour, veg. oil, sm. bags chips, baked goods
• bounce house donation - If anyone has a connection to a bouncy house, we would love to see if we can get one donated for a few hours! We have found one as cheap as $60 for the timeframe, but are hoping to get it donated

If you can help, please email us at waldenpcc@gmail.com. Your donations of time and food can help us overcome the latest set of government school-budget cuts.

School Library

Would you like to help get our school library up and running? Please email us at waldenpcc@gmail.com with your contact info and the times you might best be able to help.

Box Tops for Education by 10/25

Please turn in your Box Tops by Oct. 25 so we can make the fall deadline and redeem them for $$ for our school.

1. Collect “Box Tops for Education” from hundreds of grocery store products
2. Trim them, please.
3. Check the expiration date.
4. Turn them in to the collection box on the lobby table (under the bulletin board).

PCC Meeting 8/31 7:30pm

Parent Community Council Meeting
Wednesday, Aug. 31 @ 7:30pm
in the Walden School gym

For those who were unable to attend one of our meetings 8/16 or 8/17 or who may not have known about them, we will be holding a final opening Parent Community Council Meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 31 @ 7:30pm in the Walden gym.

For those who did attend, please know that we are working to organize you into committees so we all can get going on our projects as soon as possible.

Ryan Norris (on the Health & Welfare Committee) is organizing volunteers to help with parking lot safety and school maintenance. If you can help direct the flow of traffic after school at pickup time (from 2:25-3:05pm) or if you have skills to help with special maintenance projects, please email us at waldenpcc@gmail.com.