May 2014 PTO Newsletter

Galatas Elementary School PTO
“Helping Hounds” Newsletter
May 2014 Children
Parents
The purpose of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is to (a) promote the welfare of children at, and promote the mission of, Galatas Elementary,
as expressed by its Administration, under the direction of the Principal; (b) foster cooperation between parents, teachers, and the Administration for
the purpose of educating the children at Galatas; (c) unite school and community efforts in securing the best education for Galatas students; and
(d) engage in fundraising activities for the educational and recreational benefit of the children and faculty at Galatas, as determined by the
Teachers
PTO and in accordance with the PTO by-laws.
The PTO Newsletter, as well as other information related to the PTO, is available online at
http://galatas.conroeisd.net/PTO/.
A Note from the PTO President...
A Note from the Principal...
Dear Parents,
Dear Parents,
This has been an amazing year at Galatas, and I feel so
lucky to have been a part of it. Through your support,
PTO has been able to bring fun and educational
programs for every grade. In addition, we have been able
to complete our improvements for the playground
(shades and kickball structure to be installed over the
summer) and we have been able to provide much
needed supplies for our wonderful teachers. Thank you
for your generosity and willingness to support our school
in so many ways!
It has been an amazing year! Thank you for supporting our
students, faculty and staff through programs, school gifts,
your time and talents. Our students have had so many wonderful opportunities including, but not limited to: in-house
field trips, Science Camp, Sci Tech, Science Fair, Mathletics, tutoring, Fine Arts Programs, Safety Patrol, and Junior
Achievement. It is through the collaboration of our faculty,
PTO, and community that we are able to provide these outstanding educational activities and events.
It has been my privilege to serve as president of the PTO
these past two years. I have been so grateful for two
wonderful Boards – every member has gone above and
beyond to make each PTO event and service run
smoothly and successfully. I am so proud of all they have
accomplished. Their efforts have made a tremendous
difference for our school and our children. I am truly
honored to have been given the chance to work with
them and you, and I am excited that I will have the
chance to continue working with the PTO enrichment
programs next year.
Thank you for a fabulous year! Have a safe and relaxing
summer and I’ll see you next year!
Sincerely,
Kristen Miller
I am happy to report that our third and fourth grade students
performed well on their state assessments (STAAR). Their
hard work and dedication to their academics is reflected in
their scores. We are all so proud of them!
On the last day of school, we will say goodbye to our fourth
grade Top Dogs. It has been fun to watch them grow
throughout the years. We will miss them, but know they are
entering Mitchell Intermediate well prepared and ready to
shine! We hope that you will join us for clap-out on June 6,
as we honor our fourth grade students one last time. I know
we will continue to see great things from this class in the
years to come.
Please enjoy all the end of the year activities and your summer break! We look forward to welcoming our Galatas Greyhounds back to school in August for another exciting year.
Best regards,
Denae Wilker
Galatas PTO “Helping Hounds” Newsletter
Page 2
A Word of Thanks
Corporate Partners and Grants
Thanks for a Great Year!
Throughout the year, the PTO has many opportunities to solicit support for the various programs that are planned
and we always receive wonderful, generous responses. There is the sale of advertisement in the PTO directory
and the sponsorships and donations for Springettii and Field day. We also receive many generous donations and
discounts for Teacher Appreciation Day and our in-house field trips. For all of these we are truly grateful.
We would also like to take a moment to thank all of our many corporate sponsors who helped support us during the
2013 / 2014 school year. Your generous donations to the PTO and to the School helped us to enhance the learning
expressions for all of the Galatas Greyhounds.
We would especially like to thank two of our major program sponsors:
Thank you to Dr. Wheeler, Dr. Archidiacono and the entire Wheeler Pediatric Dentistry Team for
your sponsorship of the Accelerated Reader program. Your support entirely funded this learning
tool that hopefully leads our children to develop a love of reading.
Thank you to Dr. Keith Wagner of Farmers Insurance for supporting the PTO Art Appreciation contest and for your generous donation to the Galatas Art program activity fund. These funds allowed
our Art Instructor Mrs. Walker, to upgrade the quality of the materials she used in fostering those
budding art skills and imaginations in various forms of Art expression. Hopefully your child
brought home a few new masterpieces for you to enjoy!
Finally, we would like to thank many of our parents and friends of Galatas who have taken the time and effort to tap
into the opportunities that our local Corporations offer for employees and families in the form of Volunteer and
Matching Gifts programs. These funds have been used by the Galatas staff to supplement their program budgets
and to give our students a “notch above” experience during the year. If you or your business would like to make a
difference in the lives of our Galatas students next year, and you have some ideas on how you would like to help,
please contact our incoming PTO President, Mrs. Jenn Goin.
Have a Great Summer!
Norb Flynn
Galatas Grants Coordinator
SPIRIT NIGHT—THANKS
A big thank you to all of the local businesses that supported our monthly spirit nights! Thank you to all of the parents who supported our spirit nights. We hope you enjoyed these fun and delicious fundraisers! The money raised
was used to purchase items from the teacher wish lists.
Thank you to:
 Black Walnut
 Learning Express
 Ghengis Grill
 Sk8town
 Chick-fil-A
 Which Which
 Red Mango
 Pei Wei
 Crust Pizza
Galatas PTO “Helping Hounds” Newsletter
Page 3
A Word of Thanks
Box Tops Surpasses Yearly Goal with $4,604.97
Thanks to the strong support of families and teachers, Galatas collected a whopping 45,060 Box
Tops this year! We earned approximately an additional 1,000 eBoxTops through online shopping
and bonuses for a grand total of $4,604.97 for our school. Our goal for the year was $4,500. We collected almost
3,000 more Box Tops this year than we had by May of last year.
Congratulations to Section 32, Mrs. Goodson's class, for winning the title of this year's top collecting class. These
students brought in 3,015 Box Tops this year. Section K3, Mrs. Malden's class, finished a close second place with
2,833 Box Tops collected.
Keep clipping over the summer! Also, be on the lookout for bonus promotions such as HEB's Bonus Box Top Certificate, which was offered last June.
Junior Achievement - Spring 2014
A huge thank you to everyone involved in making this year a very successful
Junior Achievement program at Galatas! We were wonderfully represented by
great parent volunteers in all classes from 1st through 4th Grade, who gave up
their precious time to teach the children about varying levels of economics,
from needs and wants to entrepreneurship, and helped students understand
the world as a global economy.
A special thank you to all our wonderful volunteers:
Dawn Simpson
Isaac White
Tom Cassard
Norb Flynn
Lance Raper
Jane Douglas
Kim Thomas
Nelly Antimo
Romney Haas
Julie Warrington
Katy Clark
Christi Wetzel
Carrie Hanson
Melody Clegg
Fernando Ortega
Jane Parker
Tracy Halverson
Linda Nadler
Allyson Hutcheson
Lance Craft
Laura Moral
April Fortenberry
Julie Olson
Nancy Ayre
Cassie Henderson
Lindsay Patchell
Sarah Jaudes
Dana Haas
Scott Miller
Nishma Shah
Madonna Bishai
Brian Sallee
Blakely Cook
Liz Teoh
Liza Curran
Heather Posuk
DeAnna Garcia
Mario Menendez
Naomi Fernandez
Laura Von Loh
Marianne Walker
Galatas PTO “Helping Hounds” Newsletter
Page 4
Educational Enrichment
In-House PTO Sponsored Field Trips
Thank you PTO for sponsoring in-house field trips for our students! The in-house field trip presentations are picked
by our teachers to enrich the curriculum in a fun and educational way. A special thanks to Arianna di Francesco for
working with our staff to organize these valuable enrichment opportunities.
First Grade
Did you know that flies, bumblebees, butterflies, moths, bats and hummingbirds
all pollinate plants? The first graders learned this and more through a special
presentation from the Houston Museum of Natural Science entitled “Plants and
Pollinators”. They learned about the anatomy of a plant, what plants need to
grow, and the importance of pollination to the plant kingdom and the foods we
eat.
Second Grade
Our second grade students had a blast witnessing demonstrations of combustion, color
changes, and polymers, and watching the incredible effects of liquid nitrogen during the
Houston Museum of Natural Science “Cool Chemistry” presentation. They also learned
about some fascinating ways we use chemistry: how fireworks get their color, why diapers are so absorbent, and what makes a car go!
Third Grade
Our third graders were able to experience what it is like to be a paleontologist for the day when the Houston Museum of Natural Science visited. Each class was treated to a presentation about the many kinds of fossils, how they
are made, and what fossils tell us about ancient life. Afterwards, they were given samples of real fossilized sediment
to analyze and compare to a fossil identification guide. Many of our students found shark teeth and shells on their
mini fossil dig.
Galatas PTO “Helping Hounds” Newsletter
Page 5
Educational Enrichment
.....Cont’d In-House Field Trips
Fourth Grade
Our fourth graders were treated to “Texas Snakes and
More”, a snake and reptile show. They were taught about
the balance of nature between the environment and snakes
and reptiles and also how to identify the differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes. It was a fun,
interactive, and hands on presentation. “Clint the Snake
Man” invited all students to pet and handle the animals if
they wanted.
Space Science Camp
Our school has been transformed into an active space station with our very own mission control. Throughout this week
our students have traveled to the moon, viewed the night sky in our planetarium, launched rockets, learned about moon
phases, and learned what life is like for astronauts. They had presenters and demonstrations about meteorites and comets and lots of hands on science activities. Our future astronauts also tasted a few space snacks including astronaut ice
cream, pudding, and Oreo moons!
Thank you PTO for sponsoring this week for our students! Also a very special thank you to Kristen Miller, Teresa Kester,
Norb Flynn, Liz Teoh, Tricia Miller, Arianna di Francesco, Eloise Nix, Amy Eads, Christie Murphy, Robin Pyle, and the
many parent volunteers that have made this week possible! Ask your child what their favorite space camp activity was.
Galatas PTO “Helping Hounds” Newsletter
Page 6
For Your Information
School Supplies—Order yours today!
Galatas PTO offers school supply packs as a service to our families. We sell the
packs at cost (this is not a fundraiser) through EPI. The packs offer the convenience
of "one-stop" online ordering and are delivered to your child's classroom before the
first day of school for you.
To Order:
1. Go to www.epipacks.com
2. Enter the school ID - GAL005
3. Follow the instructions to complete your order
4. Keep your online confirmation as a receipt
After June 15th, EPI will close the site, and we will be unable to sell any more packs.
Don't miss out! Order yours today!
Sales tax will be charged at checkout. Contact Christy Drickamer or Patti Kimmel with questions.
Thank you PTO for all your hard work and generous donations.
These enrichment programs could not be made possible without
your generous contributions.