Springer Star Newsletter

November 30th 2012

In This Issue

Calendar Dates

News and Announcements

Student Extracurricular Activities

Quick Dates for your Calendar

December 4th, 3.15pm: PYT Theatre performances

December 6th, 7pm:  Kindergarten and New Family Information Night in the Multi

December 14th, 1pm: Upper Grade Music Concert

December 19th, 7pm: Springer Singers Concert  

Friday, December 21st: No School: Winter Break begins

News and Announcements

The Springer Class of 2013 asks the community to donate used or unwanted bicycles!

As part of Project Friday, the 6th grade's Project-Based Learning activity designed to help out the community, a group of 6th graders are asking for your help.  The goal is to take used or unwanted bicycles, refurbish/repair them, and donate them to needier children.  We will take complete bikes, used parts, tires and inner tubes.  Please drop off any donations to the Springer office.  For questions, please contact Mr. Spenader.

Tuesday December 6th, there will be Peninsula Youth Theatre performances in the Multi.

3.15pm Henny Penny, performed by grades 1-3

4pm Beauty and the Beast, performed by grades 4-6.

All are welcome to attend!

Pertussis Booster for Students in grade 6: Students currently in grade 6 must have proof of a Tdap or Dtap (Pertussis or Whooping Cough) booster given after their 7th birthday (after 10th birthday is recommended) in order to begin seventh grade in August of 2013. Please provide a copy of your child’s immunization record to the office by March 15, 2013.

Coin Drive for Children in Ecuador!

Dear Parents of Springer Students,

    I am Brooke Bettinger, the student council Publicity Officer. A coin drive will be going on in the office, starting Monday. The money will go to Free the Children, who will then send it to a poor village in Ecuador. It will help kids get an education and better health care. You don’t have to donate a $100; any spare change is good. In Ecuador, six cents can buy enough bread to serve one person. Imagine what we could do together as a school!

    Please remind your child to bring in spare change and drop it in the suitcase in the office. Since our fundraiser is linked with the program at lunch, “Run for Your Life,” we are trying to run the distance it would take to reach the village. But, first we must take a “flight” to Mexico City since we can only walk on land. We are not actually going to send your child to our destination, but we can raise money for the village while helping us reach our goal of running the distance to Ecuador. Thank you and please fasten your seatbelts for the flight!

                                                    Sincerely,

                                Brooke Bettinger- Publicity Officer

WOW!

Thanks to all the Springer Stingers who are actively participating in the WOW program! On Monday, December 3rd, we will be recognizing everyone that completed 25 trips and/or 25 miles through the first three months of the year. We will have a table before and after school to hand out the awards.  

We want to recognize all the students that have achieved 25 trips or 25 miles. However, we have 16 active tags that achieved the recognition level but are not assigned to a student.  If one of the following tags is associated with your child, can you please email us so we can make sure he/she is recognized.

The unassigned tags are:

44402066, 4441159, 4444933, 4448231, 4441978, 5081743, 5087324, 1508303, 4443828, 44448609, 4441165, 44448525, 44449644, 5087154, 4443916, 5089684.

Also, if would be great if all parents could go to www.boltage.org and doublecheck the accuracy of your child's activity log.

THANKS again!  Please feel free to contact Kacey Fitzpatrick or Kevin Beedon if you have any questions.

SPRINGER ALL STAR BOOK FAIR - WHO AND HOW!

WHO:  First of all, a Huge thanks to everyone who made the Springer All Star Book Fair a success, especially:

Mr. Spenader for trusting us to put this event together and sharing our excitement

Christie Gammons, Laurie Pasmooij, Lisa Goldman and all the parents and students who made decorations for the Walkathon for sharing them with us to decorate the Multi

Nancy Miller for providing and serving coffee and treats for the Staff Sneak Peek

The Springer Student Council and their advisers, for promoting Spirit Days  

Donna Murphy for her help and guidance with VolunteerSpot

The amazing Karen Eichstadt-Coy for once again planning a fantastic Family Picnic far better than we ever could have imagined and organizing our food vendors, Quick Dog, Gold Rush, MoBowl, and Waffle Amore, most of whom donated a portion of their profits to the Springer PTA!  

Our Springer All Stars, Mr. Heeb and Mr. Spenader and our guests, San Jose Giants Ryan Cavan and San Jose Shaker Mia for bringing books to life as our featured readers during the Family Picnic.

Our Teachers and Staff for their unwavering support and for helping get the word out and sharing their excitement with the children.  

Our All Star Volunteer Families who gave their time, passion, and energy to help us set up and run the Book Fair, in particular Tila Enser, Fiona Graham, Jenny Jun, Anita Leo, Heidi Rockett, Cheri and Landon Rodriguez, Sharon Tan, and Tara Tucker, for their many, many hours of help.

And last, but certainly not least, to YOU, the Springer Community for your participation and incredible generosity!

AND HOW!  We are very excited to announce that during the Springer All Star Book Fair, we sold over $20,750 worth of goods, raising more than $10,700 for our school!  We have already begun putting these funds to good use, purchasing books for the Springer Library as well as $200 worth of books for each of our Classroom Libraries!

Thank you all for your support and generosity and we look forward to seeing you at the next Springer Book Fair!

Keep on reading!

Elena, Denise, & Kathy

YUMMY NEW HOT LUNCH ITEMS ON KID CHOW’S MENU

Now that fall is officially upon us, it’s time to for a menu change!  We’ve posted our Nov-Jan. menu online at www.kidchow.com.  Check out some of our yummy new items, many of which are based on your kids’ feedback during our fall campus visits: chicken pot pie, beef, chicken or cheese enchiladas, bbq chicken sandwich, chicken pesto flatbread, samosas, asian teriyaki bbq wings as well as your kids’ old favorites, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, pizza pockets, corn dogs, and macaroni and cheese.

This fall, we’ve been chatting with hundreds of kids on the school campuses we serve, sharing photos of our new food items to make them aware of Kid Chow’s menu variety and changes.  They’ve been extraordinarily positive, and based on their comments, we encourage you to get them involved in selecting their lunches, whether they order by themselves or circle a printed menu, as they are more likely to enjoy their lunch when they are involved in the process.  As you settle into the busy holiday season we hope you enjoy the convenience of Kid Chow’s lunch program. We’d be delighted to serve your kids and take lunch prep off your plate!

CANDY FOR THE TROOPS: The tally is in. The delivery has been made. Hope Services is in awe. 360 pounds of candy went to Operation Care and Comfort. 45 pounds got kept for Springer's gingerbread houses. 15 pounds went to the Mountain View Day Laborer Center. That totals 420 pounds of Halloween candy. Thank you for participating in a program that repurposed items that we didn't wish to keep for ourselves, and that will be used without all of it going in the trash!

Student Extracurricular Activities

Do you have a six year old? Are you interested in how reading develops?  Stanford Medical School is conducting a longitudinal research study which uses psychological testing and new brain imaging technology to see how reading skills develop in preterm and full-term children.

Children aged 5 years and 9 months to 6 years and 5 months are eligible to have their reading, language and thinking skills evaluated, at no cost.  Find out more here.

Los Altos Recreation Department

Sign ups for Los Altos Recreation HOLIDAY CAMPS begin this week. Camps include Camp Candy Cane (3 ½-5yrs and 6-7yrs), Pre-Teen Holiday Camp (8-12yrs) and Ice Skating Camp (6-12yrs). Registration begins Wed, Nov 28, for Los Altos residents and Wed, Dec 5, for all others. Join us for some holiday fun!

Also, make plans to visit the Los Altos Recreation Department’s annual GINGERBREAD HOUSE EXHIBIT. Houses will be on display December 3-7, at the Hillview Community Center (97 Hillview Ave), Room 2, from 8am – 5pm. It is FREE and it is FESTIVE! Come by and enjoy!

To check out and/or register online for all of our upcoming classes and activities, go to losaltosrecreation.org and click on the photo of our new WINTER 2013 RECREATION GUIDE. And remember, we have a great variety of adult classes, too. Check them out!

“ ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”

Reviewed as a “charming alternative to the Nutcracker,” this show is performed by over 130 students representing 45 peninsula schools (including Springer).  Performances at Woodside Performing Arts Center on Sunday December 9th (1:00pm and 4:00pm), Saturday December 15th, (1:00pm and 4:00pm) and Sunday December 16th, (1:00 and 4:00). Tickets available at www.twasthenight.org or by calling 650-323-5292.

The 2012-13 Education Programs are off to a great start at the California Theatre Center! Exciting things are happening at CTC, and we want you to be part of the action!   Check out the Newsletter for Holiday Season 2012 by clicking here.

Girls on the Run Program Sign Ups December 1st!

The two words that best describe Girls on the Run are “FUN” and “RUN”.  Every aspect of this program is geared toward helping girls feel good about who they are - physically, emotionally and socially. We are excited to offer this great program to the 3rd-5th grade girls at Springer this coming spring!  Click here for more detailed information!

Spartans Sports Camp Holiday Basketball Camp, December 26th-29th

Visit www.SpartansSportsCamp.com or call (650)479-5906 for more information

Math Olympiad - Sports for the Mind! Interested in fun, innovative, and challenging math problems?  Fridays after school.  For registration and more information, click here.

Springer Singers: Mondays after school.  Gr.1-3 2:30-3:30pm; Gr. 4-6 2:45-3:30pm

Academic Chess Club, Thursdays after school, see flier for details

How to submit an article to the Springer STAR

Please send your submission to the editor at springer_star@yahoo.com by noon on Monday for inclusion in the next edition. All flyers must be in either WORD or PDF format, accompanied by a brief summary of the activity in the email.  Late arrivals will be included if possible but can’t be guaranteed!