Shout out to our sponsors

We have to give a big hip hooray for our awesome, amazing sponsors of Fall Festival. Their generous donations helped make this free community even possible! So thank you to:

Advanced Dental Group, The Bunny Clogs, Kiwanis Club of St. Anthony, The McCleary Family, The Pierce Family Foundation and St. Anthony Mobil.

Please make sure to thank these families/businesses for their commitment to our school community.

Almost there!

Thanks to everyone who has volunteered to help with Fall Festival on October 9. We are so excited (yes, that picture is supposed to show us being excited) for this event!

We are in need of volunteers for clean up after the event. Time slots are available between 2-3:30 p.m. Any bit of time will help! Email Tessie R. if you are available.

Spiritwear Orders Due!!

Just a reminder! Order forms for Spiritwear are due THIS FRIDAY, October 1. To download an order form click here.

Fall Conference Meals

Just beginning to plan for fall (November) conference meals for the staff. Do you know of a restaurant that would like to donate a meal to our hard-working teachers on long conference days?

Email us if you do!

Bookcrobatics?

You've seen the name under entertainment on all the Fall Festival pieces. But have you been wondering what exactly bookcrobatics IS??

Check out their web site for information and a video!

Just ONE of the many great reasons to come to Fall Festival on Saturday, October 9.

Handy?

We are in need of some help -- either brain power, or muscle power or BOTH to help solve an issue for Fall Festival.

Trying to think of a structure that would support the backdrop (banners) behind the stage. Does anyone with this skill set: 1) have any ideas of something we could use or build and/or 2) want to build us something???

Any questions or suggestions can be directed to Julie Pierce at jlpiercemn@comcast.net or 612-789-4091.

STEM

As part of this year's approved budget, WPPA allotted $2500 towards the STEM program. You can learn more about the STEM program here.

The Principal's Report at the October meeting will include a more detailed list of some items that WPPA has helped fund for the STEM program.

Meeting Minutes: September 2010

Here are the minutes from the September meeting.

Fall!!

Volunteer sheets have been coming in for Fall Festival. Thanks for the help everyone ... keep it coming! If you haven't signed-up, can you help out? Please consider giving your time for this fun and free community event -- we need LOTS more volunteers! If you need a volunteer sign-up sheet, you can download it here.

Also, don't forget -- we will have lots of pumpkins for sale (proceeds will help cover the cost of hosting this event). So make sure you buy yours at the event!

Paparazzi Wanted

Kari Tholkes (our uber fantastical yearbook editor) is looking for some help taking SPIRIT DAYS photos this week. Wednesday (sports day), Thursday (hat day) and Friday (WP Spirit Days & SAVHS Homecoming).

Can you help? Send an email to president@wilshireparents.org and we will make sure Kari gets it!

Passing On ...

This was passed on to us by a WP Parent. Thanks for the tip!

Office Depot has a ream of Office Depot brand copier paper for only $.50 through Wednesday 9/22. Limit two per household. You buy it for $6.29/ea. Then mail in for a $5.79/ream Visa gift card. Just think if every family (and extended family) bought two reams, the copier room would be overflowing! There is a Office Depot near Bylery's in Roseville. Pass it on.

What is the Role of a PTO?

Many parents we've talked to have asked something along the lines of, "So ... what does WPPA actually do?"

Our web site and the materials we sent home in the summer mailing give a full overview and some specifics. But if you want the condensed, general version, PTO Today gives a pretty good summary of what the purpose of a PTO is.

We really like this piece that outlines (in quick, table format) what a PTO DOES and DOESN'T do. Give it a read, would you?

New Parents

Thanks to everyone who came to the New Parent Welcome today! We enjoyed meeting and chatting with everyone.

Hope to see everyone again soon!

Fund Request

A fund request for $1544.23 was presented to the group at the September meeting. As with all fund requests over $500, the request was submitted at one meeting and will be voted on at the following meeting, to give parents a chance to review the request, ask questions and make their decision. We will be voting on this request at the October meeting.

The fund request comes from Wilshire Park teachers Barb Heil and Kristie Frudden. The purpose is to beautify the school entryway. Specifics of the request can be found here:

• Letter of Request
• Photo of Bench
• Photo of Cabinet

To see a copy of our 2010-2010 budget, click here. For more information on how fund requests and budget works, please see our web site under fundraising.

If you have any questions, please send an email to president@wilshireparents.org.

Money, Money, Money

At each September WPPA meeting, the board presents the proposed budget for the year. After review, discussion and a vote, the budget was approved by the group. Here is a copy of the 2010-2011 budget. It will also be on our blog (side bar) under downloads.

For more information on how our budget works, you can go to the WPPA web site. Look under fundraising for the link to budget.

For any questions on the budget, please email president@wilshireparents.org.

Need MORE chocolate???

We have more boxes available for those who are still pounding the pavement selling chocolate!

To order more, send an email to candybars@wilshireparents.org OR fill out a form in the office and put in the WPPA box.

Where did that cabinet go?!?!

So did you notice? They moved the cabinet for save-and-send collections. It is now in the entry way closest to the volunteer room. Keep saving those items, they bring in lots of money for our school! For a list of items, click here.

Weekly Round Up: September 13-17

Hope everyone had a fabulous first week of school! A couple things to think about this coming week:

* Monday (9/13) is our first meeting of the year. Hope to see you at 7 p.m. in the multi-purpose room.

* We've been hearing about lots of families busy selling chocolate bars! Thanks for all your work. Remember, if you need to order additional cases, you can email candybars@wilshireparents.org

* Spiritwear order forms were sent home on 9/10. Don't forget to place your order -- due October 1.

* If you haven't turned in your contact information for WPPA Grade Liaisons, please do so soon! Liaisons are hoping to complete the contact sheets and start connecting with families ASAP.

* Friday (9/17) is our New Parent Welcome. We hope to see you in the multi-purpose room either before (8:30-9:30) or after (3-4 p.m.) school for conversation and refreshments. We want to get to know you!

Happy New Year!

The first day of school. A new year and new possibilities. Hope it was a GREAT day for your family!

Candy Bar Sales

Just a reminder for grades 1-5. Stop by the WPPA table at Meet & Greet (n the lunchroom) to pick up your candy bars for the fall fundraiser. We will be there with 500 boxes of World's Finest Chocolate, ready to dole it all out!

You can download extra order forms/permission slips here.

Spiritwear Order Form

The Spiritwear order form will be on the sidebar of this blog under 2010-2011 Downloads. We will also have forms at Meet & Greet. See you there on September 7! We will be in the lunchroom. Stop by and see us!

Show Your School Spirit!

As it turns out, we will be able to offer the Wilshire Park Panda shirts in EIGHT colors this year. As you may know, WPPA sells these shirts as a community builder, and we do not make a profit from the sale. We try to keep items as affordable as possible. These shirts will be $7 for a short-sleeve tee and $8 for a long-sleeve tee.

Thanks again to Steve Campbell for designing the shirts this year. And also to Tessie Rodkewich for all her work coordinating the sale!

Newest Feature!

We are very excited about the newest feature of this WPPA Blog. Check out the handy-dandy widget on the top right-hand side. It allows you to translate the entire web page into a myriad of languages.

Hopeful that this, and working with the ELL staff, will help us keep more of our ELL families in the loop. Check it out!

More Spiritwear Designs

We are really excited to offer many options for our Spiritwear this year! In addition to the Wilshire Park tees, we will be introducing this additional design in blue or pink.

While we will continue to offer the royal blue embroidered hoodie, we are also offering a full-zip option. These sweatshirts will come in black or pink and have Wilshire Park embroidered on the front and will have a paw print on the sleeve (stay tuned more pictures).

Look for order forms at Meet & Greet or in the first weeks of school.

Crossing Guard Help

Hey parents! Jolene Hodson, Wilshire Park's fantastic volunteer coordinator is looking for help! She needs parents who can help with crossing guard duties before or after school during the first week or so of school. Contact Jolene for more details at jhodson@stanthony.k12.mn.us