Upcoming Events at Discovery

We have some exciting events coming up at Discovery over the next month, in addition to Halloween celebrations!

Fall Book Fair: This week is the Fall Book Fair. Students and parents can shop from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today and Tuesday, Oct. 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26, and from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27. Wednesday is the late night, and students are welcome to wear their costumes. You can also order a whole pizza for $15 from Idaho Pizza Co. to pick up in the cafeteria or purchase a slice for $2. We are still looking for parent volunteers to help out during the book fair. If you are interested, check out our signup sheet at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b4da5a72aaafe3-parent.

Box Tops for Education: Please send in any Box Tops for Education by Friday, Oct. 28, to count for the first classroom contest of the year. The classroom that brings in the most Box Tops will win a smoothie party and a free recess.

November PTA Meeting: The next regularly scheduled PTA meeting will be at 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 1 in the Health Room. We will be answering questions and providing updates regarding our Brax Cup fundraiser.

Reflections: The deadline for Reflections art entries is quickly approaching. Please turn art and completed entry form in to classroom teachers by Friday, Nov. 4. To print an entry form or get more information, please visit http://discoverypta.blogspot.com/2016/10/students-can-share-their-stories.html.

Popcorn Friday: The next Popcorn Friday will be Friday, Nov. 4. If you didn't prepay for the entire year at the start of school, you can send in 50 cents with your student on Friday or $3 to pay for the remainder of the year. Just be sure to add a note with your student's and teacher's name. If you're interested in helping bag popcorn, come join other volunteers at 8:30 a.m. Friday in the cafeteria. It takes about an hour.

Discovery Donuts/Reflections Gallery: The PTA will host its third Discovery Donuts from 8 to 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 18, in the cafeteria. This is a great opportunity for students to bring the special adult in their life to share a donut and socialize with other Discovery families. At the same time, everyone can visit the PTA's Reflections Gallery that will be set up in the gym.

Items Needed for Staff Appreciation Lunch

Discovery PTA will host a staff appreciation lunch during parent-teacher conferences next Thursday, Oct. 20. If you would like to contribute something, such a fruit plate, a salad, or dessert, for the luncheon, please sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c49aaa72da6f58-staff2.

What's Popping This Friday?

This Friday will be October's Popcorn Friday. On the first Friday school day of each month, the PTA delivers bags of popcorn for students to enjoy as a snack. If you didn't prepay for the entire year at the start of school, you can send in 50 cents with your student on Friday or $3.50 to pay for the remainder of the year (this pays for seven times, with one month free). Just be sure to add a note with your student's and teacher's name.

If you're interested in helping bag popcorn, come join other volunteers at 8:30 a.m. Friday in the cafeteria. It takes about an hour.

Mark your calendars with the other Popcorn Fridays this school year:

• Nov. 4
• Dec. 2
• Jan. 6
• Feb. 3
• March 10
• April 7
• May 5

Students Can Share Their Stories Through Art

Discovery PTA has announced the 2016-17 Reflections theme, What Is Your Story?, and sent home flyers with students. Reflections is a National PTA initiative that allows students of all ages express themselves from an artistic point of view. Discovery has been participating in this program for several years, and each year we continue to get even more artwork entries from our students. In fact, last year we had more than double the entries from the previous year and had several students go on to the regional competition and one student even going to the state level.

Students have the change to enter into six different categories: dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography, and visual arts (any 2D form). Students can enter one or multiple categories. They must create the piece independently, meaning it is created from the their perspective.

The artwork must be turned into classroom teachers by Friday, Nov. 4; dance, film, music or photography entries can be submitted via email to brookecleverly@yahoo.com.

In addition to turning in the artwork, the student must also include a complete artist statement and entry form. This counts as 50% of the judging. Parents may fill out the form, but the artist statement must be in the student's own words.

To showcase all of our students' pieces of art, we will hold a Discovery Reflections Gallery in the gym from 8 to 9 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 18. This will be at the same time as Discovery Donuts, a great opportunity for families to come share a tasty donut with their students before school starts.

Images of the rules and entry form are below. If you have additional questions, please email brookecleverly@yahoo.com or discoverypta@gmail.com.

Thank You Discovery Families

A huge thank you to all the Discovery families and staff who came out to The Farmstead on Monday night for some fall festivities and to see Mrs. Critser kiss a pig!

We had 583 people in attendance, and The Farmstead will be making a donation to Discovery PTA for $583. With the Kiss a Pig fundraising and The Farmstead donation, we raised a total $1,307.44. These funds will help pay for school initiatives, such as Scholastic News for many grade levels, Reading A-Z for third grade, and busing for the fourth-grade field trip to Celebration Park. At Tuesday's meeting, we also just voted on and approved $200 for the first-grade Christmas craft night coming up in early December.

We couldn't do all of these great things for Discovery without your support!

Video: See Mrs. Critser Kiss the Pig

Thanks to all the Discovery families who came out to The Farmstead tonight! It was great to see all the support around the pig pen yelling for Mrs. Critser to kiss the pig, which she did multiple times. She was such a great sport. If you didn't make it out, you can watch the highlights in the video.

Mrs. Critser to Kiss a Pig Tonight at The Farmtead

All of the pennies have been counted, and Mrs. Critser has won the honor of kissing a pig at 6:30 p.m. tonight at The Farmstead. We raised approximately $725 through students' votes with their pennies and other loose change.

Join us at The Farmstead from 4 to 9 p.m. The Farmstead is offering a discounted admission rate for Discovery families and will donate $1 back for each Discovery admission. Make sure you say you're with Discovery!

Thanks again for everyone who sent in money. Here are the final tallies from the Kiss a Pig competition.

• Mrs. Critser, Safe School Assistant: $174.05
• Mrs. Jensen, PE/Health: $157.57
• Mrs. Olsen, 3rd Grade: $102.83
• Mr. Thie, 5th Grade: $95.30
• Mrs. Wright, Kindergarten: $54.24
• Mr. Dudley, Principal: $38.88
• Mr. Johnson, PE/Health: $32.84
• Mrs. Morris, 4th Grade: $37.89
• Mrs. Arevalo, 2nd Grade: $18.50
• Mrs. Howard, 1st Grade: $12.84

Don't miss Discovery Night at The Farmstead on Monday

It's finally time for Discovery Night at The Farmstead, and it looks like the weather will be cooperating for a nice crisp autumn evening. We hope to see your family out at this fun PTA event.

Our event will be from 4 to 9 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3. The Farmstead is offering a special discounted admission of $5.25 per person, and this includes the MAiZE, hayrides, jumping pillow, cow train, corn box, spider web, and slides. The Farmstead MAiZE this year features Jimmy Fallon and has been featured on The Tonight Show twice; it also has been named the No. 3 corn maze in the country by USA Today. Among the activities not included in the admission are pony rides, pumpkin blaster shots, and pumpkin purchases.

The racing pigs show and much-anticipated kissing of the pig will take place at 6:30 p.m. We raised over $700 in our penny collection last week for the Kiss a Pig competition and will announce the winner on Monday afternoon.

The Farmstead also will donate $1 for every Discovery admission back to the PTA, which we will use for field trips, assemblies, and other classroom initiatives.