“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.”
– Pablo Neruda
Spring is here in full force now! As we spring toward the end of the school year, there is A LOT going on through the PTA. Information is available through the Whittier Weekly, on the Whittier PTA Facebook page, and on the PTA website – www.whittierschoolpta.org.
Volunteer Fair and April PTA Meeting
Please join us at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21st in the Jaguar Jungle (gym) to informally explore the many volunteer opportunities available through the PTA. There truly is something for everyone! The regular PTA meeting will immediately follow the “Fair” and will be chock full of information and will include many items up for vote. We hope to see you there!
At last Friday’s Kindergarten Roundup, the parents of incoming kindergartners were invited to attend the Volunteer Fair and April PTA meeting to begin to get to know what the Whittier PTA is all about and has to offer. If you have a friend or neighbor who will be a first-time Whittier parent next year, please invite them to join you at the April meeting.
FREE babysitting will be available during both the Volunteer Fair and the general PTA meeting. There are always two 6th grade students who serve as babysitters in the art/activities room for the duration of each PTA meeting.
DI Does It Again!
Congratulations to all of the Whittier Destination ImagiNation teams that competed at the state tournament this past weekend. We are so proud of all of all of the DI participants who have dedicated so much time, energy, and creativity toward preparing their team’s solutions to their selected challenges and grateful to the parent team managers who have supported these teams in so many ways. Best wishes to the teams selected to advance to the Global Finals!
Upcoming PTA Meeting Dates:
- April 21 @ 7:00 p.m. at Whittier (Jaguar Jungle) – PTA Volunteer Fair / Monthly PTA General Membership Meeting
- May 19 @ 7:00 p.m. at Whittier (Jaguar Jungle) – Final Monthly PTA General Membership Meeting of the Year
We are so fortunate to have a wonderful Whittier Community. Thank you for all of your support!
Rita Brezina & Valerie Hardy (PTA Co-Presidents)
Tiffany Kuelthau & Debbie Levinthal (PTA Co-Vice Presidents)
Amy Ihde (PTA Secretary)
Corinne Potter (PTA Treasurer)
info@whittierschoolpta.org
whittierschoolpta.org
Experience Sign-Ups
- Scavenger Hunt – May 17th from 3-4pm. Cost is $10 per participant. Open to K-6th grade
- Fair Game Party – April 27th from 4-6pm. Cost is $15 per participant. Open to 4th-6th grade.
- Mother’s Day Craft – May 6th from 3-4 pm. Cost: $10 per participant. Open to K-6th grade.
- Ultimate Frisbee – April 28th(*Rain Date: May 5th) from 3-4:45 pm. Cost is $15 per participant. Open to 1st-6th grade.
- Mother/Daughter Fun Night – May 7th from 6:30-8 pm. Cost is $30 per mother/daughter pair. Open to K-6th grade.
- Father/Son Fun Night – June 2nd from 5-7pm. Cost is $20/father-son pair, $5 more per additional son. Open to K-6th grade.
- Toga Party – August 28th at 7:30 pm. Cost is $30 per participant.
Primary Playground Initiative Update
Interested in helping come up with a fundraising plan for next year? Contact Melissa Rausch, melissarausch@sbcglobal.net, for information about the next fundraising meeting on Wednesday, April 29th.
MARKET DAY
Market Day pick up is this Thursday, April 16 at 1:45 in the Whittier gym. Thank you for your support this month! If you have any questions please contact Kellie Miller at 812-204-4384 or Amy Gassen at 630-971-0689.Social Emotional Learning: Girls and Puberty
Save the Date: Wednesday April 15th from 7-8pm in the Jaguar Gym.Just a reminder that this coming Wednesday, April 15th at 7pm the Social Emotional Learning Committee in conjunction with the PTA will host a presentation and Q and A session around the physical, social and emotional changes our girls begin to go through between the ages of 9 and 12. Parents of girls in 2nd through 6th grade are invited to attend. Sara Felker and a pediatrician will be presenting and fielding questions in the gym at Whittier. Hope to see you there!Presented by the Whittier Social Emotional Learning Committee.Please RSVP and send questions you would like answered to Debbie Levinthal at debbievold@icloud.com. If you have not RSVP’ed yet, no problem, please feel free to come to the event.
The Authors Are Coming….
Has your family room couch grown lumpy with google-eyed blobs that resemble your children, glued to the screen of their current fancy? Or, conversely, do you never even see them…shouting ‘is your reading done?’ at the dust cloud left hanging where their little bodies used to be? Has the conclusion of OBOS and Reading Games left your family bereft of reading inspiration? Well cue the hero music, my friends, because, like a white knight on a galloping steed, Authors Fest is fast approaching!Whittier is delighted to host authors Barb Rosenstock and Blue Balliett on April 16 and 17 for the bi-annual PTA Author’s Fest event. Our authors will be speaking to all grade levels*, discussing their many published works and talking to our children about writing, books, and how they do the work they love. They will also be at the Downers Grove Public Library, along with authors Tom Watson and Laura Huliska-Beith, for a book sale and signing on Friday, April 17. Book sale starts at 6:30 PM, with signing to follow from 7-8 PM.How does this help you with your blobs and disappearing dust-clouders? Elementary, my dear parent pals! Get yourselves to the library or bookstore and pick up a book or two by one of our authors for your kids! Have a question about the book? They can ask the author when they MEET her at school or at the library! Love the book to pieces? Get your copy SIGNED! Little encourages reading more than finding a niche you know you’ll enjoy…maybe these authors are the niche your kids have been looking for! Happy reading!*Presentations at school will take place in the afternoon. AM Kindergarteners are welcome to return to school with a parent/carer to participate in Authors Fest. Details to follow.Whittier Wear
If you are in need of spirit wear for your students the Whittier Wear committee has a variety of t-shirts available for sale. Look for our online store to open again later this month but we do have tie dye shirts, a girls short sleeve design and others available for immediate sale. Email me at debbievold@icloud.com if interested. Prices vary
Mark Your Calendars
- Wednesday, April 15: SEL Presentation: Girls and Puberty
- Thursday, April 16: Market Day Pick-Up (1:45 – 2:45)
- Friday, April 17: Author Fest Book Signing at DG Library
- Friday, April 24: McDonald’s Fun Lunch
- Friday, May 8: Great American Bagel Fun Lunch
- Monday, May 25: No School, Memorial Day
- Wednesday, June 3: Last Day of School if no emergency days are used
- *Wednesday, June 10: Last Day of School
- *June 4-June 10 are emergency days and may be declared holidays if not needed
