“KITTERY KIDS LIVE”

Shapleigh Middle School

May 18, 2012. 5-8:30 pm

This year’s theme is a Talent Show highlighting our amazing students along with a few extra special Stars of the night. The evening will include a Shop-n-Drop Basket Raffle and Silent Auction, a Cake Walk and the 50/50 Raffle.  To add to our evening of fun, we will have a great concession stand open serving affordable food and refreshments.  We are excited to share in an evening full of fantastic entertainment with our community, while raising money to benefit our Kittery K-8 schools!

The Kittery Kids Live talent show will be open to all students grades K-8.  Shapleigh teachers Mark Gunter and Jennifer Thayer will be coordinating this very special portion of our event along with PTA members and student volunteers. Any and all acts are welcome to audition for the talent show.  You may perform with a group, have background singers and/or musicians, play a musical solo, dance solo or with a group, perform a comedic or drama act or even juggle! Whatever your talent is we want you to showcase it at “Kittery Kids LIVE”.

 Auditions will be held at Shapleigh during the first two weeks in April. Any student that would like to audition should send in their name, grade & teacher, telephone number, email address and talent to Kelly Goss at knkgoose7493@rocketmail.com by March 9^th.  After all entrants have been received auditions will be scheduled on four separate dates. You will be contacted by Kelly Goss as to what date & time your audition will be scheduled.   We will offer a variety of times to accommodate busy schedules.

Donations are a key part of our event, and without them our fundraiser will not be a success.  The PTA appreciates any help you can give us in obtaining donations for both our basket raffle and silent auction.  If you would like to make a personal donation from your family or family business, please contact Bethany Mc Ellin at bdmcellin@comcast.net.   If you are interested in volunteering but are not sure how, or would like more information, please join us at our March 7^th PTA meeting at 6:30pm, (location to be announced on Kittery K-8 homepage and on our Facebook page). This meeting will focus on all of the Kittery Kids Live details. The event committee will discuss their goals for the event, share information on the volunteer opportunities for families and teachers and how you can sign up. If you are unable attend this meeting but would like more information about volunteer opportunities either before and/or during the event, you may contact Kelly Goss, Event coordinator at knkgoose7493@rocketmail.com.

In the coming weeks please look for more information and details about “Kittery Kids Live” in Friday folders,  on our website,  kitterypta.org and on the Kittery K-8 PTA Facebook page.

The Kittery K-8 PTA continually strives to support the students and staff at Mitchell and Shapleigh schools.  We work closely with all of our wonderful teachers to achieve our goals.  One of these goals is to help to create an exceptional educational environment for our children in order to give them the best chance for success in their lives.  In doing so we strive to create great memories for all of our children and incorporate unforgettable experiences filled with fun.  We look forward to hearing from you and thank you all in advance for helping us to make this fundraiser a great success!

Dear Friends and Families of the Kittery K-8 PTA, 

Season’s Greetings to you!  Over the past 4 months the Kittery PTA has been very busy working to achieve great things in our community.  In an effort to improve our communications with families, we would like to update you on all that we have accomplished so far this year.  Below is a breakdown of our Fall 2011 fundraising efforts.  

We also received a surprise donation of over $800 from the employees of Bob’s Clam Hut.  These funds were collected in tip jars and the employees collectively decided to donate their tips to the Kittery K-8 PTA.  A huge thank you to the staff at Bob’s Clam Hut!!!  

All of the money the PTA raises through your generous contributions goes directly to our schools and our students.  We have provided a short breakdown of the current year’s budget on the reverse of this letter.  All of the fall field trips were funded by PTA dollars.  Additionally, the PTA helped fund the travel of the 8^th grade students to the York Micro-Tel pool so they could test their underwater Sea Perch Robots.  Our 8^th graders have worked closely to build these “bots” with their teachers, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Mentors and parent volunteers. The PTA also funded two “rookie” Lego teams that successfully competed in the Maine Robotics State Meet on December 10th.  We are super proud of our students and our faculty for making these robotics programs so successful!  

 In addition to our fundraisers, we have also accomplished great things in our community.  Our Playground Pals program met eight times over the course of the summer and we were able to welcome new Kindergarten families and make new friends.  We hosted two New Family Nights for families entering our community at Mitchell and Shapleigh.  It was fantastic to meet new parents!  Our November Food Drive provided enough food to feed over 100 families in our community!  This was made possible directly from all of your donations and couldn’t have happened without the generosity of all the families in our school system.  Our December Food Drive is well on its way to achieve the same great results.  What a fantastic community we have here in Kittery!  Finally we hosted an informational night for parents on Bullying.  Thank you to all the school staff that participated and made this possible. 

 As always, we appreciate all feedback regarding our events, fundraisers and programs. This fall was our busiest fundraising season yet.  We apologize if we overwhelmed you with all of our offerings but trust that you were able to decide which fundraiser you wanted to participate in. 

Our Original Works magnet fundraiser did receive some negative feedback and we will work diligently to ensure that all of our future fundraisers are positive experiences for everyone in our community.  None of the great accomplishments or opportunities described above would have been possible without your involvement.  Your generous financial contributions and volunteer efforts have directly enriched our student’s lives.  We are truly thankful for your generosity and participation and hope you will continue to support the PTA in 2012. 

 We wish you all a happy holiday season!

 Sincerely,

Susan Johnson, Kittery K-8 PTA Co-Chair
Bethany McEllin, Co-Chair
Carol Lombardi, Treasurer
Cecilia Gagner, Secretary

 PTA 2011-2012 Budget: $20,235

Mitchell School                         Grade Impact                                       Dollars Committed
Field Trips                                            K-3                                                      $4000
Arts Fair                                               K-3                                                      $2000
5-2-1-0 and Garden Project                 K-3                                                      $500
Math Digi-Blocks                                   K-1                                                      $1000
Odyssey of the Mind                             K-3                                                      $205
Kids Club Director Supply Stipend        K-3                                                      $500
Field Trip Scholarship Fund                  K-3                                                      $200

Shapleigh                                              Grade Impact                                       Dollars Committed
Little Amps Music Equipment                6 7 8                                                     $400    
Lego Robotics                                        4-8                                                       $1310
Seacoast Science Center Field Trip        5                                                          $600
York Historical Museum Field Trip           5                                                          $400
A Christmas Carol Field Trip                    6                                                          $620
Encore by Chamber Theatre Field Trip   7                                                          $800
Maine State Museum Field Trip               4                                                          $1000
Boston Museum of Science Field Trip     4                                                          $1000
Seaperch Underwater Robotics               8                                                          $500
Field Trip Scholarship Fund                    4-8                                                       $300
Museum of Fine Arts Field Trip               7                                                          $950
Portland Fine Arts Field Trip                   8                                                          750 

General                                                Grade Impact                                       Dollars Committed
100 Books Program                               3-8                                                       $2200
Awards and Plaques                              all                                                         $200
Childcare for meetings                           all                                                         $300
Marketing                                               all                                                         $300
Teacher Appreciation                            all                                                         $200

A very special thank you to the numerous parent volunteers, Steve Frost and Joe Boudreau for their many hours and tireless efforts to support this engaging, innovative program.

This program is made possible through financial support from the Kittery PTA, so thank you to everyone who supported the fundraising efforts, including purchasing wrapping paper, pies and t-shirts. Your support is making a difference in the lives of students!

Congratulations to everyone involved in the program and good luck on Saturday! The Kittery community is very proud of you.

Our School Guidance Counselors, Dana Rickerich and Marybeth Carbine will share the strategies and tools we utilize in our work to prevent bullying in our schools. Furthermore, School Health Coordinator, Becky Bridges will speak about our future work with Stan Davies, a Bullying Prevention Specialist.

This should prove to be an informative and educational experience for the PTA. Please join us!

There will be a short, general business PTA meeting following the presentation.

Happy eating!

Remember to download your voucher here!

Running from December 1 – 16th

The donations that you make will help over 130 families in the Kittery community

How you can help:

• Donate new toys:  Nothing should be wrapped and there is a collection area in the front lobby at Mitchell.
• Donate non perishable food
• Purchase an outfit or two: Each child on our list receives two outfits, if you are interested in purchasing an item or two, please contact Beth Gilbert at izzys@comcast.net.  All clothing items need to be received as soon as possible.
• Volunteer:  We will need some assistance during the morning hours of the week of December 12th (e-mail Beth Gilbert for more information). The largest number of volunteers is needed on Tuesday December 20th at 9 and Wednesday, December 21st beginning at 8 a.m.

If you would like to help, please contact Beth Gilbert at izzys@comcast.net or  603-380-5948

Order now!

• Where:  G.Willikers! Toy Shop – 13 Market St., Portsmouth, NH
• When:  Wednesday, November 30th
• Time:  6-8pm

Here’s the deal!

• Receive 20% off STOREWIDE!
• Try your luck at winning our toy trivia raffle for a $25.00 gift card
• Bring refreshments to enjoy while you shop and mingle!
• Receive parking validation/refund!
• Take advantage of our FREE gift wrapping! (discount cannot be combined with other store promotions or coupons)

We need 15 shoppers to make this happen! Please rsvp to: Susan Johnson, 207-475-4725 s_h_johnson@comcast.net so that we can help you plan a great night out shopping with your friends!

G.Willikers! will be collecting for the Seacoast Area Firefighters Annual Toy Drive this Holiday Season. Consider supporting children and families in our community with your event discount!