JFK PTO Update – November 21, 2019
IMPORTANT DATES:
TONIGHT! Bingo Night at JFK - Last call for coin collection for NEF
November
27 - Early Dismissal (Start of Thanksgiving Break)
November
28-29 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)
December
1 - JFK Yearbook Super Special Discount Orders Due
December
4 - Half Day
It’s
Bingo Night at JFK
(TONIGHT 5:30-7pm)
Bingo is
free! Pizza, drinks, and cookies will be for sale, and proceeds will benefit
the JFK Student Activity Fund. Students can purchase food with cash OR with
blue tickets! The JFK PTO will be there selling spirit wear, t-shirts and
sweatshirts in limited sizes. Faculty/Staff, Parents & Guardians &
Siblings of JFK Students are welcome. Prizes and Fun for all! And remember, the
bingo is free/NO CHARGE. Plus, you can win an entire grocery cart of
Thanksgiving food items in the raffle.
LAST CALL
FOR LOOSE CHANGE! Coin
Collection to Benefit NEF
If you
haven’t had a chance to send in your loose change, Bingo Night is a great time
to bring by your coins. All change collected by students will go to the Northampton
Education Foundation (NEF) Endowment for amazing grants in all our schools! Coin
jars will be picked up at the end of the day on Friday, so don’t wait and send
in those pennies if you can. Our JFK jar is only half-full...
JFK PTO
Fundraising Update and Giving of Thanks!
Giving
Tuesday is coming up on December 3, but don’t wait! Here at JFK PTO our mission
is to enrich a student’s academic experience by providing additional funding
for a variety of programming. For the fall session, we are asking
families to donate to our PTO so that we can support three unique cultural
academic programs that make our school special:
● 8th Grade Scholastic Writing Program ●
● 7th Grade Ancient Greece Program ●
● 6th Grade Hero’s Journey ●
Our goal is attainable if every family donates $35.
JFK PTO
is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and all donations are tax-deductible.
Gifts of any amount are deeply appreciated. 100% of every dollar donated
directly benefits our students.
DONATE to
support special programs at JFK (2 ways to donate!):
Write a
check payable to JFK PTO. Add “Cultural Arts” to the memo line. Mail the
check to: JFK PTO, 100 Bridge Road, Florence, MA 01062. OR Send the check to
school with your student to drop off in the office. Look for our online
donation site at Mighty Cause: https://tinyurl.com/y529vnzp
To fund
these three programs, we are hoping to raise $9000. Please help! How about a
new kiln for the art program? A pump for science lab? A book publishing
celebration for English class? These are some of the requests we receive from
teachers at the JFK PTO. Your donations help us help teachers, and we are so
grateful for all the donations we have received so far.
The
annual Scholastic book fair will take place December 9-13. Students will be
able to come to, and shop at, the book fair during the day. Proceeds from the book fair allow us to add to the library and classroom libraries. An evening event,
open to the public, will be held from 5:30-7:30pm on Thursday, December
12.
To make
the book fair a success, we need parent volunteers to help run the cash
register, especially during priority times. Training is provided (it’s
easy), but all volunteers should have a CORI background check on file with the
school. Sign up here:
New this
year for the evening event: the book fair is joining forces with the art
department! During our open-to-the-public book fair event on December 12, there
will be an art show displaying wonderful works of art by our students,
including some which will be available for purchase! For the book fair, there
is also an online shopping option! For more information
(including information on the new eWallet system) and to shop a wide selection
of books and other items from the comfort of your home, visit:
JFK
Silverware Drive
JFK is
organizing a silverware collection to reduce plastic use. You can donate your
items in the JFK office. Look for more info coming home soon.
Our PTO
Survey
We want
as many parents as possible to participate in PTO. Thanks for taking a minute
to give us your feedback! Click here to respond.
JFK
Yearbook Super Special Discount
The 2020
JFK Yearbook is on sale for a special early bird price of $24 until December 1.
After December 1, the price will increase to $27. To get your early bird price,
send a cash or check made out to JFK Middle School in an envelope to
school with your student’s name and homeroom number and “yearbook” in the
notes. Or go to www.coffeepond.com and click “place an order”
then “yearbook”.
JFK PTO
Meeting at the NEF
Our PTO
meetings are held the first Tuesday of the month. If you can’t attend the
meeting but can help via email, sign up at this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040949AEAA2BA75-jfkmspto
We’re still
looking for volunteers! Want to help organize the 7th grade dance? Come
meet faculty and staff at our PTO meetings and let us know, or email us at jfkmspto@gmail.com.
For
December, our regularly scheduled meeting falls on the same date as the Northampton
Education Foundation celebration, so our members will be celebrating. The NEF
celebration will be held Tuesday, December 3 from 6-8pm in the Smith College
Campus Center Carroll Room. Delicious hors d’oeuvres and desserts, live music
by The Northamptones and the JFK Jazz Band, and presentations about the amazing
things that NEF Endowment grants bring to our public schools. This evening is
free to attend, but please RSVP. Guests will be asked to make a gift or pledge
to NEF. Our regularly scheduled meetings will resume on January 7.
Northampton
Special Education Advisory Council
The
mission of the Northampton Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SePAC) is
to work for the understanding, respect, support, and appropriate education for
all children with special needs in our community. The SePAC has both a Facebook
and Yahoo group. For more information, visit:
JFK
School Council
The
School Council meets the third school day Thursday of each month at 5pm in the
JFK Library. The next meeting is December 19.
5 Easy
Ways to Support JFK This Holiday Season
·
Donate online. Our fall annual appeal is happening!
This year, Giving Tuesday is December 3rd.
·
Link to JFK MS PTO through Amazon Smile and donate to Parent-Teacher
Organization of John F Kennedy Middle School Inc. Click here for
instructions on how to use the app.
·
Be sure to vote for us in the Florence
Savings Bank Customers’ Choice Awards before December 31.
·
Send in your Boxtops with your student to the JFK main
office; we can accept Boxtop donations year round. Online we are: JOHN F
KENNEDY MIDDLE SCHOOL| School ID: 573700.
·
Register your Stop and Shop card to benefit JFK Middle School
using ID#05378. Call 1-877-275-2758 to register or log on to www.stopandshop.com
COMMUNITY
EVENTS
Calling All Youth Artists!
Want to
create an original dance, song, play, poem, or video? Join us for the YOUTH
PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL coming to the Northampton Center for the Arts. The inaugural
Youth Performance Festival (YPF) will showcase the work of young artists (8-18
yrs old) in the disciplines of theater, dance, music, poetry, and video. Young
artists will be paired with mentor artists in their field, and over the course
of 6 weekends, the mentor artists will help to guide the young artists in the
creation of original work to be shared with the greater community. Co-sponsored
by the Center for the Arts and Valley Performance Playground, the Festival will
be held February 8-9, 2020. There is an upcoming orientation on Sunday December
8, 2:30-4pm at the Northampton Center for the Arts (33 Hawley St) for anyone
who is interested.
- Are you
interested in sponsoring YPF as a business or an individual? We need your
support! Please contact Kelly Silliman at kelly@nohoarts.org
for more information.
- Are you
interested in being a mentor artist? Email Sarah Marcus at sarah@valleyperformanceplayground.com.
After School Ski with Northampton Parks & Recreation
Northampton
Parks & Recreation will once again be running our After School Ski program
at Berkshire East for students in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade. The program will run
for five weeks on Wednesdays starting January 8 and ending February 5. From
beginners to experienced skiers or snowboarders, this convenient bus trip
departing and arriving at JFK will be a great time! Feel free to check out this
link for more information or
contact Rebecca Learnard at the Parks & Recreation office at rlearnard@northamptonma.gov or call (413) 587-1040.
Registration has already started!
Northampton Parks & Recreation Basketball League
Registration
for winter basketball has begun. Divisions from preschool up to 8th grade. This
is an organized basketball program in which players are placed on teams in
grade divisions and play a full schedule of games. Fundamentals, skill
development, and sportsmanship are emphasized.
Opportunity
for Schools, Parents, Guardians to attend Board of Health Meeting on Tobacco
and Vape Regulations (December 5)
Please
consider attending the upcoming Board of Health meeting to add your voice to
the discussion on restricting the sales of vape and tobacco products in the
City Hall Hearing Room, 210 Main Street, Northampton, MA and start at 5:30pm.
Policy on the table that concerns youth:
- To
restrict all vape sales to adult only retail tobacco stores, where you
have to be 21 to enter
- To
restrict ALL tobacco and vape sales to adult only retail tobacco stores,
where you have to be 21 to enter
What you can do: Speak during the public comment session of these two
meetings. Public comment takes place at the beginning of the meetings at
5:30pm, where the public is encouraged to voice their opinions. Please limit
your comment to under 3 minutes. The schedule for the upcoming BOH meetings is
as follows: Thursday, December 5 at 5:30pm - Hearing for Tobacco Policy
Amendments. The Centers for Disease Control have created a collection of
resources and factsheets on vaping:
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Volunteer with us! Sign up here if you can help the JFK PTO this
year:
