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| Pleasant Views E-Newsletter |
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Pretty in Pink!
Mr. Palcer was once again
a good sport for the PTA -- this time he offered up his dignity in exchange for motivating PH students to turn in BoxTops. The contest was boys vs. girls. Wonder who won... |
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Upcoming Events
11/1-11/8
Election Day, No School
11/2
PTA Meeting, Lounge
11/9: 7:00pm
Picture Retake Day
11/10
Just Girls Program
11/10, 6:30pm
RSVP by Nov 5th Special Persons Day 11/11 Just Boys Program 11/11, 6:30pm RSVP by Nov 5th Waste Free Lunch 11/17 Tae Kwon Do 11/17: 3:30-4:30pm
Gr. 1-6 Report Cards
11/19
Parent Teacher Conferences, No School
11/22-23
Thanksgiving Recess,
No School
11/24-26
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PTA Presidents' Message
 Fall is definitely here, and celebrating the season at Pleasant Hill's very own Fall Fest was a lot of fun! We hope you had the opportunity to visit the book fair, view the talented art work submitted for the PTA Reflections program, and enjoy the decorated pumpkins.
One of the BEST achievements this past month was fulfilling our PTA fundraising goal!!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! Our profit from the Walk-a-thon was $14,002, which includes all the corporate matching gift programs. Your support provides activities like Fall Fest as well as the theater production the 3rd thru 6th graders attended last week. Your confidence in PTA's goals to enhance our children's learning in and outside the classroom is extraordinary! The winner of "Principal for The Day" went to Rebecca and Elizabeth Pae for
 collecting the most donations! Congratulations to the Pae Family and to YOU for your donations!
Believe it or not, planning for next year begins now and we need your input on fundraising. If you could click on the link below and complete a short survey to give us your anonymous opinion, you will help us with our planning efforts. We are also asking for your opinions about our communication efforts, now that we have moved to this "E-News" communication tool. We sincerely appreciate the brief 3 minutes it will take you to complete the survey. The survey will only be open for 10 days - so don't delay. THANK YOU!!! Please click here to complete our brief survey. Thanks again. |
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Meet the PTA Board
This month we are highlighting the two Board members who organized and distributed the Pleasant Hill PTA Directory.
Klaudia Lannoye, 2nd VP Membership: Klaudia moved back to I llinois to the Palatine area in 2007 with her husband, Mike, and two children Alex and Ryan. Alex is in 4th grade and Ryan is in 2nd grade. Klaudia enjoys watching her children grow and learn at school and volunteers in their classroom any chance she can. She also is a volunteer at St. Theresa Parish where she teaches Religious Education. Klaudia works for herself as an International Tax Consultant, currently working with PepsiCo.
Elizabeth Barker, Co-2nd Vice President Ways and Means:
Elizabeth moved to Palatine in 2004 from Atlanta, GA with her husband Kevin. They h ave two daughters, Alexa is a second grader and Alanna will enter next year as a Kindergartener. Currently a stay at home mom, she enjoys helping out as Room Mom, Multicultural Fest Committee Member, Daisy Scout/Brownie helper, Field Day volunteer and AR parent helper. She also volunteers at Alanna's preschool. In her spare time Elizabeth likes to travel, cook, read, write short stories and wander through any art gallery or museum she can find. |
Fall Fest A Huge Success!
Almost 200 families attended Pleasant Hill's Fall Fest last Friday, and a record number of pumpkins were entered in our pumpkin walk with over 85 entries! Thanks to all the families who decorated pumpkins and to all the volunteers who made this night possible...we couldn't do it without you!
 2010 Pumpkin Walk Winners
Kindergarten: 1st- Leah Saxe; 2nd- Cooper Kelly; 3rd- Theo Cunningham
First Grade: 1st- Lucas Raker; 2nd- Roos Family; 3rd- Riley Dunne
Second Grade: 1st- Kyle Henson; 2nd- Ryan Lannoye; 3rd- Veronica Barto
Third Grade: 1st- Kaitlyn Dunne; 2nd- William Dirkes; 3rd- Eli Hopkins
Fourth Grade: 1st- Alex Lannoye; 2nd- Alex Dirgis; 3rd- Sarina Castella
Fifth Grade: 1st- Cate Novak; 2nd- Stephanie Conglis; 3rd- Maria Barto
Sixth Grade: 1st- Sarah Hynds; 2nd- Jack Hirsch; 3rd- Arianna Fiore Fall Fest Committee |
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 Special Person's Day Nov. 11
Pleasant Hill's tradition of celebrating Veterans and those Special people in your student's life will be held on Thursday, November 11th, from 8:50 until 10:30am. Your child is welcome to invite a Special Person...Parent, Grandparent, Aunt, Uncle, Veteran, etc. with them to school for the morning. All guests will gather in the cafeteria (café) for cake and coffee and brief announcements. Student volunteers will lead guests to classrooms where they'll share in a classroom activity with their student. At 10:00 am, all PH students and guests will gather at the front of the building for a Flag ceremony honoring Veterans and their service. Questions? Contact: Melissa Larsen mklarsen@comcast.net |
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Sign up for Just Boys Event Nov. 11
All 5th and 6th Grade boys and their father's (or other significant male adult) are invited to attend Pleasant Hill's 2nd annual health education event for boys. The evening will focus on health education, proper nutrition, exercise, self-esteem and personal hygiene. The program is meant to help fathers open the lines of communication with their sons as the boys begin to experience adolescent changes. Our guest speaker comes from the Robert Crown Center for Health Education and will help young boys strengthen their confidence. We will combine facts and humor to make the sensitive topics easier to discuss. The event will be held in the PH cafeteria on Thursday, November 11th from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Please RSVP by November 5th. For the RSVP form, click here. For more information, contact Heath and Safety coordinators Lisa Sammons at lsammons@comcast.net or Michelle Gattuso at michelle.gatuso@gmail.com |
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 Picture Retakes
Picture Retake Day is Wednesday, November 10th. Please remember that if you are planning on having your child's picture retaken, the original pictures must be returned at that time.
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Yearbook Photos Needed!
The Yearbook Committee Is looking for Fall Fest and Halloween classroom party pictures. Please submit them by email to Cathy Peterson at dcpeterson12@sbcglobal.net by November 15th. Thank you. |
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Legislative Update
Election Day is coming up on Nov 2. Find your local voting location using this link: http://www.voterinfonet.com
Your vote honors those that fought and died to establish and preserve that right. It's also a great opportunity to impress upon our children how  important it is to be informed and engaged in how our government works. To quote Thomas (Tip) O' Neill, "All politics is local," so get out and vote on November 2.
The Illinois General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on November 16, 2010, at which time the veto session will begin. One of the bills we will be carefully watching is HB6065, the Students with Diabetes Care Act, in which the Governor exercised his amendatory veto power. We are continuing to work with a coalition that is encouraging legislators to over-ride this veto.
If you would like to know more about the 2009/10 Illinois PTA policy initiatives please click here; for more information about the national PTA click here
James Carr |
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Intramurals News
Congratulations to the 6th grade cross country team! Everyone did a fantastic job at the District 15 meet on October 5th.
Top runners winning medals were; Julia L., Jaret C., Finn W. and Eric S.
Other award winners were; (Female) Risa Y., Ivanna C., Hanna M., Kaitlyn S., Emma V., Arianna F., Olena C., Koumani N., Angela P., Lauren B., Linfei L., Skylar S., Sarah H. (Male) Ian W., Josef M., Ben S., Paul S., Jacob G., Nathan H., Garrett K., James L., Adam S., Jackson H., Daniel S., Alex v., Matthew K., Romil H., Ethan C.
A Big thank you goes to Mrs. Bauser for volunteering to help supervise at the meet. The next district wide event is the basketball 2-ball competition February 8th and February 9th (boys and girls). The track and field meet is in May. Back to top |
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Manna Gift Cards
Holiday season is right around the corner! We will be placing two orders for your holiday needs in December. The orders are due on December 1st & 8th and the pick up dates are the following Wednesdays.
Purchased gift cards can be used not only as gifts to somebody, but also for your holiday shopping and your lunch/dinner at restaurants. As you get  the gift cards at full face value, our school earns 2-25% of the discount amount. For example, when you buy a $100 LandsEnd gift card, you get a $100 gift card and our school gets $15 (15% discount amount)!
Please send in your order form along with the payment (check only: payable to PH PTA) by Wednesday, December 1st and/or December 8th. The order form is available under "Helpful Links" on this newsletter and also on our PTA website. The complete list of participating vendors click here.
Questions? Please contact Yukari Lofton at 847-359-1578 or yukari@lofton.net |
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 BoxTops
Our first Boxtops submission is in! Thanks to all the Kindergarten classes for their spectacular collection efforts. Mrs. Kehm's PM Kindergarten was the winner of our "Kindergarten Counts" contest. A HUGE thanks goes out to Mr. Palcer for promoting our "Boys vs. Girls" contest. The boys gave such a great effort, but were defeated by the Girls 2,747 to 2,282. And, true to his word, Mr. Palcer honored the Girls by wearing pink-head to toe. We have generated $1,244 so far this year (last year, we collected $1,400)!! Our goal for this money has yet to be determined, but we will let everyone know as soon as it is decided.
Fall Fest was great. Thank you to everyone for stopping by the booth to look at some of the information, results of the contests this year and to enter the raffle to win a "Basket of Boxtops". Congratulations to our "Basket of Boxtops" winners: Joshua Wenger, Diane Phillips and Joanne Wojcik.
Keep collecting those Boxtops and labels-and all the other labels in our trash-to-cash collection programs. See the overview of all of the programs and the current contest for the kids.
Questions? Chris Howard-Menk, howardmenk@comast.net |
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Make a Difference Club
Pleasant Hill's Make A Difference Club will be collecting Halloween treats for the troops. You can drop off your candy by the front office in November. Palatine's Mayor, Jim Schwantz, will be attending our November 4th meeting. He will talk to the club and help organize all the treats!
Thank you to all the Pleasant Hill families who donated clothes to WINGS last month. We collected over 150 bags of clothes. The WINGS organization was very touched by our generousity. The Daily Herald ran an article about our clothing drive, it appeared in the paper on Oct.18th. Thanks for making a difference for the WINGS organization.
Make a Difference Club is meeting the first and third Thursdays of the month during recess. Second graders through six graders are welcome to join any time. Kids can make a difference by devoting 30 minutes twice a month. If you have any questions please call Laura Kometer at 991-9032.
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Help Wanted!
We have implemented a "Game Station" during recess for the last two years and it has been very successful. Game Station provides a place where kids could come and be introduced to others and engage in a board game as an alternative to the options we have available right now. Sometimes kid s don't want to play sports, have no one else to play with, or just don't feel like using the playground equipment that day. In the last few years there were many kids who participated, made new friends, and enjoyed playing a variety of games.
In order for Game Station to happen this year, I will need many parent volunteers. Each volunteer is committed to at least one hour of time during the lunch hour (12-1:00) each month. In order for us to run Game Station we need two parents for each day it runs, each week. The last two years we have been able to run Game Station for two days a week. So far, this year, we don't have enough volunteers to run it for even one day a week. Please donate an hour or two of your time a month if you are able.
Volunteering would involve:
- Taking out games from storage for the kids to play.
- Reading directions, introducing kids to each other, solving conflicts, and playing games with the students when appropriate.
- Ensuring that the kids clean up when GS is over.
- Putting supplies away.
If you are interested, please email me with your name, phone number/email, as well as the day(s) you can volunteer and how often (weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc). I plan on getting together a schedule as soon as possible. I will then contact volunteers with that information. We will have a meeting to go over the expectations for this job and someone who has run it before will go with you the first time you volunteer.
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer,
Sherri Thomas, Social Worker: 847-963-5955 or Thomass@ccsd15.net
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 Environmental Education
America Recycles Day, held every year on November 15, is a national campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of recycling and buying products made with recycled materials. Buying recycled is the step that closes the recycling loop.
- Commit to recycle and buy recycled products both at home and at work or school. Take the Pledge at americarecyclesday.org (click on 'Take the Pledge' on the right side of the screen, and note the pictures of ALL the things we can recycle).
- Learn what materials you can recycle in your community and do your best to recycle all you can. Visit palatine.il.us and click on 'Village Government', then 'Village Departments', then 'Environmental Health Division', and then 'Refuse and Recycling Information'.
- When shopping, purchase products that are packaged in materials you can recycle locally.
- Don't forget waste reduction is equally as important-look for ways to avoid making garbage in the first place. Try composting!
- Visit the great outdoors and enjoy the clear air, clean water, and litter-free landscapes that recycling helps make possible!
Earth Club will have their first meeting this month, and we want to remind you that we are collecting used athletic shoes (old ones for the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program and newer ones for Share Your Soles) and old cell phones. Simply bring them into school and deposit them in the collection bin outside the front office.
We are also collecting bottle caps and altoid mint containers for a project we're doing in December. It doesn't matter what kinds of bottle caps you bring in-they will be completely covered up. We just need the caps to be in good shape-not bent.
Five Great Ways to Celebrate America Recycles Day . . .Margo Ban, Co-Chair PTA Environmental Education Committee |
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Accelerated Reader (AR)
Listed below are the Pleasant Hill students who achieved 100 AR test points in the months of August and September. Congratulations!
| Aastha | Agarwal | | Oliver | Bai | | Abinhav | Balu | | Alex | Baraban | | Mark | Burger | | Briana | Coman | | Kyle | Heng | | Benjamin | Hung | | Michael | Koziana | | Julia | Leonard | | Joseph | McMillan | | Shreya | Mukherjee | | Hanna | Murakami | | Caitlin | Novak | | Flora | Zheng | | Christopher | Zhu |
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 Parent Education:
Interview with Mrs. Sherri Thomas
By Mudita Rastogi
One of the most valuable services available in the school involves the mental health of our children. Mrs. Sherri Thomas is the Social Worker for Pleasant Hill. Her interview below sheds light on the numerous roles she fulfills.
For starters, how did you end up working at Pleasant Hill and how long have you been here? I started at Pleasant Hill in 1994 right after I graduated with my Masters degree from Loyola School of Social Work. I have been at Pleasant Hill since that time, but have also worked at five other schools in the district during various years when we didn't have full time Social Work Services at Pleasant Hill. This year I am at Pleasant Hill and Central Road Schools.
Tell us a little bit about your typical day at Pleasant Hill. I spend my days seeing students individually, in small groups, or in classroom groups to address any needs they are having that affects their ability to function in class.I also manage student crises, consult with teachers about their students, consult with parents, consult with outside therapists, talk with agencies to locate resources for families in need, and write too many reports. My days are different from one day to the next and I love that.
What are the top three things that parents contact you about? Most parents call me about their child's emotional issues such as fears, anxiety, or depression, or they call about behavioral issues or socialization and peer relationship issues.
What are the biggest challenges you face at work? One of the biggest challenges I seem to face is getting students to take the information that we work on in Social Work sessions and be able to apply that outside of that setting. It's hard to change habits and behaviors even when they are non-productive. It takes a good deal of strength and courage to make changes and I give all my students tons of credit for trying to do that.
How can families go about using the resources you offer? Feel free to call me at 847-963-5955 or email me at thomass@ccsd15.net .
Anything else that you want to add about your role at school? I'm here to help students, teachers, parents, and staff. If there is anything that I can do to support you or your child, always feel free to ask. A School Social Worker's role is to support students that are having a difficult time in school. Sometimes, kids are doing well in school but are struggling outside of school. In that case, I can refer you to other resources outside of school.
OK, now the fun questions:
Cubs or Sox?.........White Sox
Favorite vacation spot?............Hawaii
The book you are reading right now?.........Let the Great World Spin
Milk chocolate, dark chocolate or no chocolate?...........Milk Chocolate
If I win the lottery tonight I would..........Pay off my bills! |
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 Navigate 15:
Community and District for Educational Success
In a move to involve the full force of the community in decisions affecting the future direction of Community Consolidated School District 15, Superintendent Scott Thompson recently announced plans to hold a series of community meetings beginning November 16. A small team of staff and citizens will help plan and implement these meetings. The Facilitating Team has given the process a name: Navigate15. The name reflects the team's goal of using the engagement sessions to guide the future direction of Community Consolidated School District 15.
The task force will seek the opinions and insights of the entire community-parents, residents, and business leaders. Navigate15 hopes to open the lines of communication between the District and the communities it serves and will use that feedback to create connections resulting in meaningful recommendations for District 15.
Beginning on November 16 and continuing into the next year, individuals participating in Navigate15 will study and discuss a variety of topics. What do high performing school districts have that District 15 doesn't? What programs would improve student achievement in District 15 schools? From facilities to finances to demographics to technology, Navigate15 meetings will provide the information needed to make informed recommendations to the school board in August 2011.
Community involvement in Navigate15 is vital to its success and the District has extended an open invitation to participate in the monthly meetings. Seven Navigate15 meetings are scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. on the following dates: November 16, 2010; January 18, February 15, March 22, May 3 and 31, and June 21, 2011. All meetings will be held at Winston Campus (900 E. Palatine Rd., Palatine) in the cafeteria.
To participate in Navigate15, or for more information, call 847-963-3210, or email navigate15@ccsd15.net.
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 Gratitude and Appreciation
Thank you to all those volunteers and chairpersons who helped out this month with Moms & Munchies, Picture Day, Book Fair, Fall Fest, Box Tops, Spirit Wear, MANNA collections, the PTA Family Directory, and Halloween Parties. WOW....that's a lot of hands and hours! What would our children do without you?!
Thanks again, Sherri & Donna
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Pleasant Hill E-News is funded by the Pleasant Hill PTA and produced by Pleasant Hill PTA Volunteers. It is produced monthly and is distributed electronically, as requested by Pleasant Hill families, staff, and community members .
Donna Hirsch, PTA Co-President (gredonhirsch@yahoo.com)
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