New Web Site + Blog Posts by Email ....

Working on a new WPPA Web site ... wilshireparents.org is coming soon. Hoping to have the site ready to roll by early August. Also working on a WPPA packet of information that will go out in the back-to-school mailing.

Would love to know your thoughts and feedback! What would be helpful to have on the site? Please send your comments and feedback to president@wilshireparents.org.

Also, we are attempting to send out blog posts by email. If you want to subscribe (or re-subscribe) to the WPPA blog, please send an email with BLOG SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Getting the Ball Rolling

As the school year finishes, WPPA's work for next year is just beginning! Thanks to everyone who filled out surveys and volunteer forms last week. Kids will be enjoying their Popsicles on Thursday afternoon!

Here's an update on what's been happening with WPPA:

1) We have a new, expanded Executive Board next year! The board will be:

President: Melissa Gutierrez Nelson
Vice-President: Julie Pierce
Treasurer: Kim Nogosek
Secretary: Teri Anderson
Volunteer Coordinators: Shiela Grand and Tessie Rodkewich

Giant props to the new board members .... thanks for being willing to take on these new roles! With a larger board and new energy, I'm so excited for what WPPA will be able to do next year!

2) We have Silent Auction Chairs! They are Shannon Geier and Carolie Carlson. There were LOTS of people who felt strongly about continuing this event. But these fabulous two actually stepped up to make sure we could keep it going!! THANKS!! For those who are interested in helping, but didn't want to chair ... now is your chance. We are looking for Silent Auction committee members who would like to help plan and organize this event. Contact Melissa for information.

3) We have a Chair for the Bunny Clogs Concert/Fundraiser: Kate Hillsheim (And yes. For those of you who know Kate, she doesn't have a child starting at WP until the fall. I DID ask for permission before I started stalking her for her mad event-planning skills). We are so excited and lucky to have Kate's talents and energy as we launch this brand-new event. We are hoping this concert will be in the fall. Planning will happen this summer. Stay tuned for more details!

Email Subscriptions No Longer

So, I didn't read the fine print. FeedBlitz, the service that provides email subscriptions for this blog, only provides it free for a little while. After that, they start to charge. Apparantly FeedBlitz needs to make money, which proves quite unfortunate for us.

So, for now (unless anyone can point us towards a free service, which would be great!), you can no longer get updates to your email account. Please check back often for news and updates.

Above Resorting to Bribery? Nope.

Make sure to check your kids' Friday folders today! You will find three things:

1) WPPA Survey : An opportunity to give general constructive feedback about WPPA.
2) Candy Bar Survey: An attempt to gauge participation in next fall's Candy Bar Sale.
3) Volunteer Information: We will use this to develop a Volunteer Database with contact information, availability, etc. This will be used for all WPPA events/activities.

I know, this is a super busy time of year. It's gorgeous out. And no one wants to fill out a survey. So, in an attempt to sweeten the deal, WPPA will treat every classroom that returns more than half of their surveys to popsicles during the last week of school.

And if your kids are anything like mine, they may help ... um ... remind you to fill out the forms and turn them in so they can get their treats.

All shady tactics aside, I hope you will look at the information and take the time to fill it out. Hopefully it will help WPPA know what we've been doing right and what we can do even better next year! Thanks for your help!

Moving Muscle Needed!!

Jolene Hodson is still in dire need of MANY able bodies to help pack up and move at school. As you know, every single thing -- down to the last sheet of paper -- needs to be boxed up and moved out of the school for the summer due to construction. Many of the teachers need help in preparing their rooms for this huge endeavor.

So please!! Volunteer to help. Times available include:

Wednesday, May 27 : 4-9 p.m.

Thursday, May 28 : 4-9 p.m.

Tuesday, June 2 : 4-9 p.m.

Thursday, June 4 : 4-9 p.m.

Friday, June 5: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ANY amount of time would be greatly appreciated -- even if you cannot stay for the whole shift. If you are able to volunteer, or if you have any questions, please contact Jolene at jhodson@stanthony.k12.mn.us.

May Meeting Minutes

The minutes for the May WPPA minutes are posted on the WPPA web site. Check it out!

At the risk of sounding redundant ....

There's been great feedback about Silent Auction. Here's what we know: some people love it, some people hate it, it's a ton of work and it makes a whole lot of money.

Looking forward, the ideas for what it could be next year are wide open. We could do it exactly as we've done it before. Or, we could mix it up.

A lot of people seem very enthusiastic (based on our completely unscientific, talking-to-people-in-halls-and-volunteer-room kind of poll) about shaking things up a bit. Could we make this an adults-only event? Could we have it off site? Could we have music or entertainment? Could we find a way to provide child care while parents enjoy a fun night out? Other schools nearby have gone this route and had great results.

No decisions have been made . These are simply questions that have been asked. But without chairs of this event, we can't really move beyond the questions to creating a plan.

So, um ... at the risk of sounding horribly redundant ... anyone wanna chair?

Blog Propoganda

Thanks for checking out this blog! We think it will be a great way to keep people connected. Please help us out by spreading the word. Send this link to all your Wilshire Park friends and tell them to subscribe!

http://wppa.blogspot.com/

Silent Auction Reminder

The school year is quickly rolling to a close ... can you believe it?

Just a reminder: we still need Silent Auction Chairs and we need them before the end of this school year.

As you know, without chairs, we cannot have this event. And since we set the budget over the summer, we need to know whether to plan for this revenue ... or not.

Now, this is not meant to be all gloom and doom ... the sky isn't falling or anything. If we don't have Silent Auction, we will just have to make adjustments to the budget. It's not ideal, but it's not the end of the world.

There were many people who gave enthusiastic feedback that they wanted to see Silent Auction continue. So if you are passionate about this event, and want to see it continue, know that we need chairs to make it happen.

Please contact Melissa with any questions or for more information.