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The Springer Buzz November 21, 2014 |
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In This Issue:
Quick Dates for your Calendar:
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Principal’s Message |
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My favorite holiday… I don’t think Thanksgiving gets enough credit. It seems short-shrifted by Christmas, Halloween, and even Valentine’s Day. The reason for the downplaying of Thanksgiving is, probably, that it doesn’t generate the revenue that those other holidays do for the various entities that look to those holidays to make their “bottom line”. But, the fact that Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday that focuses on sales and profit margins is one of the reasons why it’s my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving has always been about getting together with loved ones, family and friends, and spending some quality time around a hearty meal. It commemorates the feast that Pilgrims and Native Americans held to give thanks for making it through a tough time, when colonists were still struggling to scratch out a life on a new continent. Thanksgiving did not become a national holiday until 1863, when President Lincoln made it so in an effort to boost national morale in the middle of the Civil War. The timing of Thanksgiving is also a factor in my listing it as my favorite holiday. It always falls on that late Thursday of November, coinciding with the perfect time to slow down, breathe, and recognize the many blessings we have to be grateful for as we near the end of another calendar year. And who doesn’t like great food, prepared lovingly for people you care about? Yes, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Where ever you are, whomever you are with, I wish you and your family a wonderful, restful, and grateful Thanksgiving next week. Wade Spenader |
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Festival of Lights Parade |
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Festival of Lights Parade: Sunday, 11/30/14, 6:00 p.m. Join your friends and neighbors for an amazing Los Altos holiday tradition! Since 1977, the Festival of Lights Parade has brought "A Child's Holiday Fantasy" to life -- and with renovated floats and newly lit costumes, this year will be our brightest year yet! Visit www.losaltosparade.com for a route map and viewing guidelines (for example, please do not set up before noon on Sunday, and do not use chalk or tape to mark your spots), or even to volunteer. We look forward to seeing you and your family at the parade! |
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Coat Drive |
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Girl Scout Junior Troop 61170 will be hosting a coat drive for One Warm Coat, benefiting Ecumenical Hunger Program located in E. Palo Alto. Coat drive will start Monday, 11/10/14 through Friday, 11/21/14. Collection box will be located in the Springer Office. Questions, please contact Wen Crane at wenbk[at]aol.com. |
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Springer Gives Back - Update |
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Donate Your Travel Size Toiletries to Springer Gives Back! Thank you for donating your travel size toiletries!! We are almost there and have about 75% of what we need. Springer Gives Back is collecting travel size toiletries as part of this year’s community service project. Please bring new and unused travel size toiletries to the bin in the Springer Office. We are grateful for all of your donations, but as a reminder, we can only accept new, unused, and full toiletries. We are also collecting the cardboard bases from the Google Shopping bags if you have those piling up at home. If you would like to donate over the Thanksgiving break, please contact Renee for delivery address. Thanks! Contact Renee Johnsen chefskate@gmail.com with questions. |
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Campus Beautification Work Day on November 22 |
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The Springer Teaching Garden is in dire need of some TLC, and many hands make light work. If you are in town for the Thanksgiving break, please join us on Saturday, Nov 22, between 9am-3pm (for any amount of time you are able) to work in the garden. We will be repairing the fencing, installing new native plants and shrubs (which are used in the Living Classroom garden lessons), spreading mulch, etc. Bring a refillable water bottle, gardening gloves, and any gardening tools you have (such as a shovel, trowel, pick axe, wheelbarrow, mulch shovel or rake, etc.). Please contact Donna Murphy (jcdrm[at]yahoo[dot]com) if you are available to help us out that (or any other) day, or have any questions. |
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LASD Ed Talk |
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STEM & CSTEM |
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Become a Living Classroom Docent! |
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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 Winter Docent Training Session will take place on Monday mornings from 9 - Noon on December 8th & 15th and January 12th & 26th. Please click here for more details. Questions? Please contact the Living Classroom at livingclassroom@lasdschools.org or visit our website: www.living-classroom.org. |
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LASD Looking For Volunteer Interpreters |
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Los Altos School District is looking for volunteer interpreters to assist us during parent/teacher conferences, student meetings and district events. We are seeking assistance with all languages but the most needed are: Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, Japanese and Korean. Please contact Ann Haigh at 650-947-1180 or at ahaigh@lasdschools.org if you are interested. |
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Donate to LAEF on #GIVINGTUESDAY 12.2.14 |
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We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 2, 2014, charities, families, businesses, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. Donate to LAEF on #GivingTuesday and support every child in grades K-8 by funding smaller class sizes, enrichment programs and more junior high electives. Giving to LAEF is investing in what we all value: our children’s education. Donate at www.laefonline.net (or bring a check to the school office on Dec 2) LAEF Questions? Web: www.laefonline.net … Phone: 650.559.0445 ... Email: admin@laefonline.org Thanks in advance for your support of LAEF. The LAEF parent-volunteer team |
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Fun!visor on Fridays |
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"Happy Thanksgiving! “Thank you to the staff and Fun!visor parent volunteers who make lunch recess something great to look forward to! Here is a turkey craft students made in Arts and Games Fun!visor club this week all out of donated and recycled materials. For information on volunteering in one of Springer's many Fun!visor Programs please contact Laurie Pasmooij at laurie.pasmooij[at]mac.com.
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Winter Session of After-School Clubs |
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Our after-school Art Club for Grades K - 2 is now enrolling. Click here for info on class dates, location and time. |
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Student Extracurricular Activities: |
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There are after-school activities at Springer for all grade levels. For a list of all of the activities and more information, please go to Springer’s website by clicking here. |
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Parent Education Opportunities |
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Through enriching presentations from local and national experts on topics of interest to parents, faculty and staff, the MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series seeks to contribute to the academic, physical, and emotional health of our students. All events are free of charge and are for parents, faculty and staff in Los Altos and Mountain View public schools. For a schedule of upcoming presentations, please click here. |
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How to Submit an Article to the Springer Buzz |
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If you have an article to submit to the 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. |