Springer Buzz!
December 20th, 2013

In This Issue

Calendar Dates
News and Announcements
Parent Education Opportunities
Student Extracurricular Activities

Quick Dates for your Calendar

December 6th--February 7th: Kinder Registration
December 20th through January 5th: Winter recess

News and Announcements

Principal's Letter-   This Time of Year
Can I confess something?  I struggle with this time of year.   I'm not a grinch but I get a little stressed out.   The holiday rush, the crowds in the store, the endless commercials selling me something I don't really need, and the frantic pace has made me really question what the holidays are all about.  And yet, every year there are moments that reveal the true meaning of holidays to me.   This year I had the Springer community show me what is important about this time of year.

Like last Saturday: led by Paul Steffen, a team of dads came out and assembled 25 new tables for our students.  They moved them to the new locations and put the old wooden ones by the fire road (contact me if you are looking for a good picnic table for your backyard).  Because of the number of people that came out, the work was all done by noon!  Amazing commitment to Springer.

Or take Tuesday of this week: our students, working with their buddy classrooms, crafted quality goods that will be delivered to the more needier members of our community.  Lap blankets, scarves, wreaths, and decorated picture frames will be delivered to organizations like Lucille Packard Children's Hospital, Villa Siena Retirement Community, the Los Altos Sub Acute Rehabilitation Center, and a Women's Shelter.  Letters to troops, written by our students will be delivered to soldiers overseas, thanks to the help of an organization called A Million Thanks.  The kids took great pride in their work.  One student was overheard saying, "Guys, can you believe we did all of this?"  What great kids we have here! 

It is my sincere wish that you and your family will have a restful and rewarding break.  See you on January 6th. 

Message from the PTA Co-Presidents

Wow!! Can't believe the 1st trimester is nearly over! We want to extend our deepest appreciation to the Springer parent community for their dedication and commitment to ensure that our school remains a high-performing, neighborhood school! Here's a brief summary of what we were able to accomplish
thus far:

FUNDRAISING
BTS
We raised almost $58,000 in donations via the Back To School form! These funds have been applied towards the Technology, Special Events, Birthday Book, Library and General funds!
Book Fair
The Book Fair team sold almost $20K worth of goods, raising $500 for the YMCA's Holiday Store and more than $10K for our school! These funds are already being utilized to purchase books for the Springer Library, as well as books for each of our Classroom Libraries!

Walk-a-thon
The Springer Walkathon never fails to amaze but this year, it has exceeded all expectations!! This annual community gathering is one of our largest family-oriented fundraising activity of the year! And, boy, did it deliver! With your help, we raised $66,300 (after expenses) for Springer!! This translates into more facilities upgrades, library and literature books, math, science, social studies, art and music programs, computers, technological materials and playground equipment for our kids!!
None of these fundraising events could have been accomplished without the generosity of parent volunteers and donations! We're looking forward to the 2014 Springer Auction and the Spring Book Fair!

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

We are so proud of our amazing students and parent volunteers for their work on our school's newest tradition: the "Springer Gives Back" program! They have wholeheartedly embraced the true meaning of the holiday season by thinking of others that are less fortunate in many ways. That includes financially or
physical/emotional health. Due to your efforts, some of the elderly, the sick, the lonely and the down-troddens in our community will smile at least a little bit this holiday season. The Springer PTA is incredibly honored to support this amazing new program!

Another example of our wonderful Springer community is the Table Assembly Party last weekend! As you may recall, thanks to your generous donations, we were able to purchase 25 new tables for our 4th, 5th and 6th graders' lunch areas (to replace the old wooden tables) and a call for volunteers went out to help assemble the tables before the holiday break. Crazy, right? But, the Springer dads came out in force! Paul Steffen lead a team of 20-30 guys to not only assemble the new tables but also move the old tables away to the north perimeter of the campus in under 3 hours! Even a neighbor who was walking his dog (and no kids at Springer) wanted to join in on the fun! He went home and came back with his toolbox :) A huge THANK YOU to everyone that came out to help (too many to list here but you know who you are)!!

Finally, as we begin our holiday break, let's all be thankful for our health, families and friends. Have a safe and happy holiday break and see you in January!

Linda McCartney and LeeAnn Steffen

Springer PTA Co-Presidents

LAEF End of Year Reminders: If you haven’t already contributed to LAEF, make your donation before December 31 to get your deduction for the 2013 tax year.  If you have already given, thank you so much for supporting smaller classes, enrichment, innovation, and STEM at Springer.  

Also, order beautiful holiday cards from TinyPrints using the LAEF storefront, and 25% of the proceeds go to LAEF! Start here: http://www.tinyprints.com/storefront/laef

LAEF Representatives at Springer are:        
Nancy F
Susan Longyear, sue.longyear[at@gmail.com
Brooke Schiller, bbwc@sbcglobal.net
Kristin Najarian, kristin_najarian@yahoo.com

Make Your Tax Deductible Donation Today!  www.laefonline.org

PTA Nominating Committee Volunteers Needed

Looking for a fun, short-term way to get involved with the Springer PTA?  The PTA needs volunteers to join the Nominating Committee whose job it is to determine the slate of officers for next year’s PTA Board.  The PTA Board nominations are held in March.  If interested, please contact us at: springerpta@gmail.com.

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 2014. Please provide a copy of your child’s immunization record to your school office by March 14, 2014.

Lost & Found: The recent cold snap has added many new items to the Springer Lost and Found! Please come take a look! Thank you!

Volunteer at Hot Lunch!
The Hot Lunch team is in need of people to help serve lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Friday is our biggest need. If you are interested and available, please let us know! Thanks! Hilary Burcell (hilary[at]burcell.com) and Anita Leo (amleo73[at]yahoo.com)

December WOW Competition Class Winners
The first WOW competition was held last week, and the top 3 classes with the most walkers and wheelers were Mrs. Crew, Mrs. Hayden/Lammay, and Ms. Hultberg.  Congratulations to the students in those classes! They’ll be getting five extra minutes of recess on future date.  Keep on the lookout for more WOW competitions early next year.

Springer School encourages all of our families to walk, bike, or scoot to school whenever possible, and WOW makes it fun and rewarding for kids to participate.  This free program tracks how many times your child walks or wheels to school. If you would like a tag or have any questions about the program, please contact the WOW team: Kevin Beedon ksbeedon[at]gmail.com, Kacey Fitzpatrick kfitz[at]avalon-enterprises.com or Sharon Tan sharontantan[at]yahoo.com.

Table Assembly Thank You!!!!
A great big thank you to all who helped out with table assembly party. A huge success - we had over 25 people show up Saturday December 14th - assembled 25 tables in under 2 hours - great work to all that helped - including the 3 Boy Scouts as well. If you are missing any tools - I have an extra hammer, wrench, socket driver and socket - please contact Paul Steffen at plsteffen[at]comcast.net to claim.

Thank you and Happy Holidays.
You guys rock and help make Springer great.
Regards,
Paul Steffen

Become a LIVING CLASSROOM docent... share your love of nature with kids!

The Living Classroom is looking for docents to help deliver hands-on garden-based lessons to the students of the Los Altos School District.  No experience necessary as we provide all the training needed!  Our next series of docent trainings will take place from 9-11:30am on January 7that the Mountain View Whisman School District Conference Room (750-A San Pierre Way, MV) and January 13th and 27th at the LASD Conference Room #2 (201 Covington Rd., Los Altos).  Come to one or all of the training days.  Please click here for more details.  

Questions?  Please contact the Living Classroom at livingclassroom@lasdschools.org or visit our website: www.living-classroom.org.

2014 Springer Auction, Call for Amazing and Unique Experiences

The Springer Community is amazingly well connected and extraordinarily unique! Your 2014 auction committee is looking for one-of-a-kind experiences that only the Springer Community can make possible. Here are some ideas:
- Access to unique experiences: sports teams (high school to pro), behind the scenes tours (workplace or other), cultural experiences, etc.
- Access to someone famous, unique or interesting
- Vacation homes (flexible dates are best)
- Air miles or hotel points
Be creative and share your ideas and connections and benefit Springer! You can help make this year's auction amazing!
Please note a follow-up call for Community party ideas will come a little later in the year.
If you have an amazing or unique experience idea to offer, please contact the 2014 Auction Committee at: springerauction@gmail.com.  Or if you prefer, you can fill out our form.

Parent Education Opportunities

Reading in Preterm and Full Term Children

Do you have a six year old? Are you interested in how reading develops?  Here at Stanford, we are 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.

If you are interested in having your child participate in this study, please click here for more details.

Student Extracurricular Activities

EVERYTHING IS PERFECT
Los Altos World Records 2014

Want to be in the Los Altos World Record Book?  Czech Republic artist, Katerina Seda creates collaborative actions that center on the daily lives of ordinary people.  As part of Project Los Altos, SFMOMA on the Go, she is creating a book and exhibition of the people in Los Altos with an “ordinary talent”.  Seda focuses not on feats of strength or skill, but on the everyday attributes that make a person unique – the bluest eyes, the largest collection of baseball cards, legos, or dolls, the biggest holiday light display, etc.  Visit www.everythingisperfect.org for more information and to submit your record.  Deadline for submission is January 31, 2014.

Does Your Son Love to Sing?

The Ragazzi Boys Chorus is holding SingFest 2014, a free half-day mini-camp for boys between the ages of 7 and 10. This low-key, fun event is a great way for boys to "test drive" the Ragazzi Boys Chorus and see if it's right for them.
For more information and to sign up for this event, please click here!
Also, please feel free to reach out to Chris and Vicky Brey, parents of a Ragazzi chorister, for more information. You can look them up in the Springer Directory.

Art Club for 4th-6th grades begins Monday, December 9th! Join us for a 10-week winter session focused on A World of Art.  You will paint, draw and sculpt using traditional art from other cultures as inspiration. Different regions of the world are studied each session!  Using a variety of mediums you will learn new techniques from CSMA faculty while creating art from around the globe!

Register at http://www.arts4all.org/register/index.htm using course #53330

Online registration is now open for the 2014 Girls on the Run season!
Registration is ONLINE ONLY.  To register your daughter, please follow the link: http://www.gotrsv.org/sign_up_a_girl
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-6th grade girls at Springer this coming spring!

Click here for more detailed information!

Los Altos Recreation Upcoming Holiday Events

PreTeen Holiday Camp This camp is for kids 7-12 and runs 9am to 3pm on Friday, Dec 20, Monday, Dec 23 and Tuesday, Dec 24. Your child can attend one, two or all three days of camp.
In addition to our PreTeen Holiday Camp, we’re offering Camp Candy Cane, which runs 3 days (Dec 20, 23 and 24) for the 4-to-6 year old set. Kids can attend one, two or three days. Both Camp Candy Cane and PreTeen Holiday Camp are great for kids and their parents (who might be just a wee bit busy at this time of year)…
Then…the holiday fun continues with a family-friendly concert. Grammy-nominated The Pop Ups will perform on Thursday, December 26,  4pm, at the Hillview Community Center’s Social Hall. The concert is FREE and no registration is required. Just come ready for fun and music.
Lastly, the New Year’s Day Fun Run returns to downtown Los Altos at 9am sharp on…when else…January 1. A fun and free way to welcome the New Year!
For more information on all of these events—plus all of our on-going classes—go to LosAltosRecreation.org and click on the photo of our Holiday Fun kids.
We have HOLIDAY FUN in Los Altos!

LOS ALTOS-MOUNTAIN VIEW PONY BASEBALL - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

Registration is now open for the 2014 baseball season!  LA-MV PONY Baseball is for boys and girls aged 5-19. This is the 29th year serving our community. We hope you and your families will join us on and off the field as we once again make this a very special year for our players, coaches, parents and the community. Practices begin in early March, and games go from late March through the spring.  Please register as early as possible in the coming month for our league's planning purposes. For more information and to register please visit the league website at http://www.lamvpb.org/

MVLA SOFTBALL SIGN-UP
Registration for the Spring 2014 season of MVLA Girls Softball opens on November 1.
Learn more about us at: www.mvlags.org

Public Speaking Classes at Springer
For registration and more information, click here!

How to submit an article to the Springer STAR

If you have an article to submit to Springer Buzz, please send it to the editor at springer.buzz@gmail.com by noon on Monday for inclusion in the next edition.  Late arrivals will be included if possible but can’t be guaranteed! All flyers must be in either WORD or PDF format, accompanied by a brief summary of the activity in the email.