SES newsletters 2007 -2008

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The SES PTSA Messenger 2007-2008
September 28, 2007
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This Week and Beyond, at a Glance

Friday, September 28
• Middle School Back-to-School Dance (cafeteria)
• Eagle Fern Camp Volunteers Meeting, 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium

Sunday, September 30
• Middle School Eagle Fern Camp Botany Campout

Wednesday, October 3
• International Walk & Bike to School Day

Thursday, October 4
• Fifth grade field trip to the Zoo

Saturday, October 6
• SES Community Garden Day

News From Principal Sarah

Morning Meeting Speakers for Middle School
Morning meeting held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning is an important part of the SES middle school curriculum. We are looking for speakers and ask that you consider joining us for 15-20 minutes to share your experiences, expertise, and/or knowledge. Some topics to consider:

Week of October 8
• Rivers I have loved/slide shows of rivers with a good story to go with them (history, legends, etc.)

Week of October 15
• Farmers/ topics around harvest and agricultural issues. Harvest traditions

Week of October 22
• People and organizations that protect rivers and/or salmon

Other possible topics are Native American relationships to salmon and rivers and river occupations (i.e., coast guard fishing, fish and wildlife service, rafting guide, tugboat operator).

Eagle Fern Camp for Middle School
The annual middle school Eagle Fern botany campout begins Sunday evening. It’s a wonderful educational opportunity for our students and great fun! Below is information specific to the middle school regarding our campout.

Eagle Creek Chaperone Meeting 9/28
To assist with planning, a meeting for chaperones will be held Friday, September 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium. We will provide information packets and guidance to the chaperones at this time.

Medications for Eagle Creek
Please check in your child’s medications with the nurse on Thursday or Friday to ensure an easy transition Sunday evening.

Tents Needed
Keep our sons dry at Eagle Creek! We still need tents for the seventh grade boys. If you have a tent (or two) to loan, that would be great. Parents will set up and take down the tents. Many thanks!

Clothing for All Weather
Please remember to bring warm clothing and rain gear. Chances are good we may have a shower or two.

Getting to Eagle Creek Camp
Information on and directions to Eagle Creek Camp can be found at http://www.eagleferncamp.com/.

Arrival, Family Picnic, and Departure
Eagle Creek check-in for students begins at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, October 30 when teachers take responsibility for the students. Families are welcome to come to Eagle Creek earlier and hike, enjoy picnic dinners, and visit, but parents are responsible for their children until 6:30 p.m. When students arrive, we ask that they go to their cabins and have fun.

Pick-up is at 3:00 p.m. sharp on Tuesday, October 2.

Sunday Dinner and Campfire Entertainment
Dinner Sunday evening is bring-your-own picnic beginning at 5:00 p.m. Please bring dessert for the potluck dessert table Sunday evening. Please also consider bringing drinks, snacks and/or produce to share.

Parents who want to sing or play at the first campfire, please let Sarah or John know.

Kitchen Setup and Food Shopping and Hauling
Are you available Sunday at noon to help with kitchen set up? Please call Sherri Hutchinson (503-853-4994), our hero cook, if you can shop or transport food. We also need help with kitchen set up at noon on Sunday, September 30. Please consider joining us!

Site Council Meetings
Please mark you calendar for Site Council meetings!

We will be meeting the second Monday of every month (except November, please see dates below) from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Meetings will be in the library or auditorium, depending on space requirements. Our intention will be to provide childcare for those who pre-register. Please look for that information each month within the reminder note.

Site Council dates: 10/8, 11/5, 12/10,1/14, 2/11, 3/10, 4/14, and 5/12

Site Council chairs are Meg Stalnaker-Smith (503.236.2102 or smithstal@earthlink.net) and Kristen Jones (503.282.5128 or jones6@hevanet.com)

Community Kitchen Is Smelling Good
Did you smell the wonderful aroma of the potatoes the 1st and 2nd graders harvested and roasted last week? Or the aroma of drying figs as Mia prepares for lessons with 4th graders? It's good to see and smell the Community Kitchen in action.

The Community Kitchen should be looking a littler sharper this week after the addition of four student interns and a deep cleaning by parents. Please remember to leave the area clean when you cook – if you don't have time to cleanup, please don't start a project. There is a new calendar on the refrigerator for scheduling projects. Please make sure to write your project on the schedule as early as possible and also alert Mona of your project. Since we use the cafeteria dishwasher, please use courtesy and consideration when doing dishes – a quick check with Mona helps immensely.

We did some sorting and reduced a little clutter. Many nonstandard dishes were moved to the staff room as we think they belong to staff. If you are missing something, please check there or contact me. We will be setting up a "lost and found" area for dishes and containers above the refrigerator in the next couple weeks also. It is most helpful if you label a plate or container you are bringing from home. We have received what looks like a donation of an ice cream maker – but I want to make sure it's a donation, so please send me your name if you brought it in.

For safety, we will be working with our custodial staff to make sure the kitchen area power is locked out when the area is not in use. The key to unlock the power boxes and the knife drawer is in the office key box on a large spoon. Please turn off the power, lock the box, and return the key when you complete a project.

The tea cart is back in action and can be borrowed for meetings. Please return it to the Community Kitchen area and clean the mugs when you are done.

Finally if you plan to do a cooking project with students, at least one adult per project should have a current food handler's card on file in the kitchen. It is easy to get your card online http://www2.co.multnomah.or.us/foodhandlercard/. There are extra handbooks in the kitchen you may take to help you study (shelf above the second stove). Please put a copy of your food handler’s card in the file box above the second stove.

For further information about using the kitchen and prepping projects, see the SES web site section: http://www.environmentalschool.org/community_kitchen/kitchen.html. Enjoy the fall harvest! Cindi Carrell ccarrell@gmail.com or 503-232-0880.

Fall Garden Day
Fall Garden Day is coming soon to the school nearest you on Saturday, October 6!

Fall Garden day is a great opportunity to have our community work together to maintain our gardens. Some of these activities have shopping requirements before Saturday, as well as, being parent leaders for the Saturday component. We are looking for volunteers for any portion. PLEASE contact Mia at miaems@yahoo.com to sign up for any of these components.

The list of possible activities includes:

~Building a sandbox
• decide on design with Sarah Taylor
• buy wood
• lead other adults and students on Saturday

~Setting permeable pavers into the "wall ball" space
• recommend paver choice
• buy pavers (reimbursed)
• lead other adults and students on Saturday

~soil amendments for some beds
• lead on Saturday

~resetting/reworking some borders that surround the classroom beds
• suggestions for any new brick
• brick donations
• leading parents and students on Saturday

~placing rock around solar pond
• select, purchase, and bring beautiful rock to SES before Saturday * leading the placement
• fixing the solar pond (check with Ben Yang first?)

~pruning trees and a tree removed
• bring appropriate tools on Saturday (pruning loppers, saws)
• leader(s) for adults and students

~weeding the beds
• parent leaders that know weed identification

~casting stepping stones
• purchase concrete before hand and bring to school
• knowledgeable leadership on Saturday

~cleaning previously applied grout from west wall
• leader with elbow grease and persistence on Saturday

~tidying up the raspberry area (lowering the paths, pruning, tying back)
• parent leader for Saturday

Frank’s Sixth Grade Math Blog
In order to help communication what is happening in my boys’ sixth grade math class, I have a web page that will list assignments and other events.

The web page is located at: http://franks-math-class.blogspot.com/ I can also be emailed at ses_frank@yahoo.com.

Thanks,
Frank McGowan

Sunnyside Summer Sunflower Camp a Success
We would like to thank all of those who supported Sunnyside Sunflower Camp this summer. We could not have done it without you! We used the camp registration money to buy supplies for our campers and gifts for the wonderful teachers who helped. The remainder of the money will be donated to the K-2 activities.

For Parents of the Campers
At the end of camp, photos were taken of us and the kids but, somehow were lost.
We are hoping to gather as many of the campers as we can in the auditorium on
Wednesday, October 3 at 2:05 pm. to retake a few photos. Please let us know whether or not you will be there. If you have any questions or concerns you can contact us at:
soccergrl849@comcast.net- Sarah
or
brenna.pokadot@gmail.com- Brenna

THANKS TO YOU OUR 8TH GRADE PROJECT IS COMPLETE!!!

NE Bike Bus
Want to bike to SES from NE or join us along the way? A couple families in NE are biking to school together and we want YOU to join our Bike Bus. We have been enjoying the camaraderie and extra safety numbers provide. If you are interested in joining us occasionally or regularly please contact Jay Shuster at lizjay@aracnet.com.

Mexico Travel Guides Needed
Seventh grade Spanish is going on a travel adventure to Mexico! Do you have any old Mexico travel guides that you could donate? Please drop them off anytime next week in Jon Carr's room or inside the door of the library in the box marked Mexico!
Muchisimas gracias y vamos a Mexico!!!
Cori & Jon

Harvest Faire
The annual SES Harvest Faire is coming up on Saturday, October 20 and we need volunteers to make this event a huge success! Volunteer jobs are varied, from washing apples the day of the event, to baking cookies before the event.

Each grade level is involved in the planning and preparation for one part of the faire. Check with your room parent to find out how you can support that event.
If you have already signed up on one of the volunteer lists, someone will contact you. If not, you can email Britt Stoller at bstoller@teleport.com.

SCRIP News
Congratulations to Patty Spencer and family for participating in the SES SCRIP program and winning the drawing for a Powell's gift card! There will be a drawing each week, so join the growing number of families supporting our school through SCRIP and you may win!

Stop by the SCRIP table in front of the main office every Friday at drop-off and pick-up and we'll show you how easy supporting SES through SCRIP is! See you there.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Write us at sesscrip@yahoo.com. Want to help? It's fun and takes only an hour commitment per week!

External Community Events
The items listed below are non-SES sponsored external activities and events that are included as they may be of interest to our community.

Twenty-eight families (many also Sunnyside Families) and one extraordinary teacher invite you, your family and friends to come and shop, shop, shop at the Hawthorne Family Playschool RUMMAGE SALE this Saturday, September 29 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 2828 SE Stephens Avenue (South of Hawthorne & SE 28th -- behind the Safeway). There should be lots and lots of great buys! Another great way to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Please Remember:
Return Your Weekly Friday Envelopes on the Following Monday!!!


Got News?
If you have information for the school community, please email your article to Nicole Cleary at SESMessenger@comcast.net. Email articles must be received by Thursday noon to be included in that week’s Friday Messenger. Please note, if there is no school on Friday, we try to get the newsletter out on Thursday so deadlines are one day earlier.


SES Messenger’s Email Edition
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