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THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!  
A huge thank you to everyone who helped with and attended the auction on Friday!  We would liked to give special thanks to Sarah Keibler, Emily Taibl, and Betsy Vo for their leadership in organizing and putting on this wonderful evening.  This evening would not have been as successful without the efforts of a large team of volunteers from Spiritridge and the larger community.  And the event would not have been as fun or successful without the presence of all those who attended.  We have a great commUNITY at Spiritridge and this was a wonderful commUNITY effort!

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ArchiTech Night is May 19th 6:30 - 8:30
ArchiTech Night is an event to explore architecture and some technologies related to building. Bring a display board about your favorite building or structure, architecture, or interior design for Academic Challenge credit. Join in the Minecraft games.  Play Well is coming to present the Lego challenges.  More info and links at tinyurl.com/architechnight2015. 

We still need volunteers to help check in the projects in the morning, set up the projects, and clean up afterwards. Please won't you help? Sign up here.

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Food & Friendship Night is May 20th 6-8pm.  Please join us!

What is Food and Friendship night?
An opportunity for ALL  to share and hear multiple perspectives and build connections with each other. Spiritridge has been immersed in Equity training and is committed to Equity to ensure we are meeting the needs of all of our families. Among the  goals are reaching families who feel disconnected, embracing diversity, and creating a learning community that best serves our students.

How is the evening for Food & Friendship structured?
After some time for food and general socializing, children will break off into groups for their own fun, while. parents join table discussions to discuss an open-ended question. Everyone will participate in two round table discussions. The goal and purpose of the evening is to build relationship and make connections with each other.

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Internet Safety Night May 28th 
Spiritridge and Eastgate PTSA are hosting an evening with Stefanie Thomas,Victim Advocate with Seattle Police Department Internet Crimes against Children Task Force.

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Bellevue Teachers Join Statewide Effort
"We are a community that believes in the value of education," Dr Mills said in his letter to parents last week. Teachers and parents in Bellevue and around the state are frustrated with the state legislature's failure to fund education. On Wednesday, May 20th, all Bellevue school teachers are joining in the statewide movement to take action by walking out of our schools after students’ class time concludes for the day.  This will happen from 2-4pm.  Spiritridge teachers are walking out and could use our support. Come stand with our teachers and show your support! Let's together tell the legislator that it is time to fund education. Our kids deserve it. Meet at 2:00 on the 142nd Place SE overpass between SE Eastgate Way and SE 36th St. Carpool. Parking may be possible at the park and ride.

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Call for Golden Acorn & Outstanding Advocate Award Nominations
NOMINATIONS DUE BEFORE 5/22/2015 to Awards@spiritridge.org or in the PTSA mailbox in the school office

The Spiritridge community is thankful for the many volunteers who work with school staff to create our Spiritridge Family. Each year, we reflect on those making significant contributions to support the larger school community, and perhaps beyond the school walls with the Golden Acorn Award.  This year we are adding an Outstanding Advocate Award to recognize individuals actively involved at Spiritridge and the community to benefit the lives of children. Both awards are recognized locally and at the State PTSA level.  Please take a moment to reflect upon those who are “always there,” providing a helping hand or taking charge and leading event-planning and activities that benefit our children. Nomination form and more information on the PTSA website here.

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The Egg Drop is coming May 26th, are you ready????

The annual Spiritridge Egg Drop will be held on Tuesday 5/26. This event is always a HUGE hit with lots of fun contraptions!

The Challenge: To build an egg container/lander that will protect a raw, uncooked egg as it is launched from a 70-foot high ladder.

How the competition works: All containers must be made at home prior to the event. Students will bring their unsealed, eggless landing device to school the morning of the launch. Volunteers will collect the landers, install the egg and prep the container for launch. Here is a link to the official rules. Contact Susie Pietz with questions. 

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Book Exchange
Bring your collection of gently used books to trade or donate.  Please place books (up to 10) in a bag labeled with the reading grade level.  Books will be collected in front of the school Tuesday and Wednesday, June 2nd and 3rd.  New books may be picked up on Thursday, June 4th during lunch recess.  We need a few volunteers to help collect books and monitor the exchange.  If you can help please contact Anne Hill.
 

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Book Repair Volunteers Needed
Have you ever noticed that the books your child borrows from the classroom for daily reading look a little worn?  There's a group of parents who are working on repairing those classroom books.  Join us in the Library work room on Mondays or Fridays from 2:45 - 3:30 to learn how we repair these books for our teachers.  We use tape, glue and cold laminate (contact paper) to increase the lifespan of classroom books.  If the idea of gift-wrapping a pile of paperback books  doesn't give you pause, you have the ability to help.  Questions? Email Cat. 

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Target's ThanksABillion Campaign
Target is donating $5 million through their #ThanksABillion campaign.  All you need do is thank a teacher through their website and Target will give $25 to Spiritridge.There is a limit of one (1) Donation per Facebook ID during the Promotion Period.Get started here.

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Save your Box Tops and Labels for Education
Keep earning money for Spiritridge by collecting Box Tops and Soup Labels! Many of the Box Tops expire on June 1, so please turn them in to the collection box in the office before then. Expired box tops cannot be redeemed. We also have an opportunity to earn bonus points for Labels for Education submitted in May. Check out the Fundraising page on the PTSA website for more details, or contact redemption@spiritridge.org with questions.

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Seeking Panther Post Editors for Next Year 

Join the Communications team as one of  the Panther Post editors!  All you need is basic computer familiarity  and an enthusiasm for sharing information a few hours every few weeks. This is a great way to volunteer behind the scenes with a rotating turn at publishing the newsletter every few weeks.  Email communications@spiritridge.org if you would like to participate or want to learn more.

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Bellevue School District RULER program recognized in the Seattle Times
Check out the article on the great success of  the RULER program used in all Bellevue Elementary schools to promote emotional learning. Here is a link to the recent article.

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