Discovery PTA's November Calendar of Events

November is slated to be a busy month for Discovery Elementary PTA. Please update your calendars with the following dates:

• Nov. 4: There will be no PTA meeting, but be sure to get out and vote since it is Election Day (the next PTA meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 4 p.m. in the Health Room).
• Nov. 7: It’s Popcorn Friday. If you didn’t pre-pay for the entire year, you can send your kiddos in with 50 cents to have popcorn for an afternoon snack!
• Nov. 7: Students’ Reflections art entries are due.
• Nov. 14: Discovery PTA’s annual Moms & Muffins. Moms, this is a chance to come to school and enjoy a muffin with your children from 8 to 9 a.m. in the cafeteria. Also, the Reflections Art Gallery will be on display in the gym at this time. 
• Nov. 21: Get your Box Tops in by this date to help your student’s class win a pizza party!
• Nov. 27: Special wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!

Discovery Students Off to Strong Start on Million Minutes Reading Challenge

The Discovery mustang is on the move! In September, Discovery students have already read 73,025 minutes as part of the Million Minutes Reading Challenge (thank you teachers for sharing your September calendars). Only 926,975 minutes to go!

The Million Minutes Reading Calendars for the September/October period are due Oct. 30. Please have your students turn in their calendars to their teachers. Students who read 300 (or more) minutes in October will receive a coupon to Marie Callender’s Restaurant & Bakery for a free kid’s meal and a slice of pie. The top reader for grades Pre-K- 2nd and the top reader for grades 3^rd- 5th will get to pick out a free book.  And those two winners will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

Look for the November calendar in backpacks this week. Those will be due back to teachers on Dec. 1, and the top two classes that read the most minutes during November will get to wear their PJ’s to school! 

Reflections Deadline Quickly Approaching

With all of the frenzy of fall festivities, it's easy to put out of mind some things with later deadlines. However, the deadline for students' works of art for the PTA Reflections program is just around the corner.

We hope you encourage your children to participate and share their creative sides. This year's theme is "The World Would Be a Better Place if ..."

Students can enter in six different categories:
Dance choreography (make up a dance)
Film production (create a movie)
Literature (write a poem or story)
Music composition (compose a song)
Photography (take a picture)
Visual art (any 2D form - draw, paint, color a picture)

In addition to the piece of art, students will have to complete an artist statement and the entry form, which count as 50 percent of the judging.

Please have your students turn in completed projects by Nov. 7. Any dance, film, music, or photography may be turned in by email to Reflections Chair Brooke Cleverly at brookecleverly@yahoo.com.

For more information on the rules, visit http://www.idahopta.org/REFLECTIONS.html.

Discovery Night at The Farmstead Brings in the Bacon

The Discovery Elementary PTA thanks everyone who came out to The Farmstead last Monday night to enjoy fall festivities and watch kindergarten teacher Mrs. Rojas kiss a pig!

We had 474 people attend from Discovery, and The Farmstead has generously donated $474 to the PTA. In addition to the money that came in for the “Kiss a Pig” contest, we raised a total of $778.73, which will go toward technology and other resources to benefit the school.

Calling All Box Tops

The first Box Tops for Education contest is now underway! The classroom to turn in the most Box Tops by Nov. 21 will get a pizza party.

You can find Box Tops (and sometimes double Box Tops) on hundreds of products, such as Big G Cereals, Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Yoplait Go-Gurts, Chex Mix, Betty Crocker Fruit Flavored Snacks, Progresso Soups, Kleenex Tissues, Ziploc Storage Bags, and even Hanes Socks and Underwear.

Each Box Top is worth 10 cents, and they add up to help teachers buy supplies for their classrooms and to aid Discovery PTA initiatives. Discovery’s goal this year is to earn $2,500.

A big thank you goes to Meghan Wilkison, who has volunteered to be Discovery’s Box Tops for Education coordinator this year!

Start clipping and sending in those Box Tops now and be sure to check those expiration dates—if they are expired, they won’t be counted. 

Keep Logging Those Reading Minutes

“Reading is important, because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything.”  —Tomie dePaola, author and illustrator of  the much-loved “Strega Nona”

Discovery’s Million Minutes Reading Challenge is underway, and we hope you’re encouraging your children to read outside of school or sharing stories with your non-readers. 

If each student reads 10 minutes a day outside of school over the next seven months, it will total more than 1 million minutes. Students in pre-K through second grade may count minutes that they read orally or that someone else reads to them, while students in third through fifth grade must only county minutes that they read on their own.

Below is the PTA’s September/October reading calendar, in case you need a new copy. Every student who reads 300 minutes (or more) during this time period will receive a coupon for a free kid’s meal and a slice of pie from Marie Callender’s. And the top reader from the primary grades and the top reader from the intermediate grades will get to select a free book. Please sign, and have your child return the calendar to his/her teacher by Oct. 30.

And if you need some new reading material in your home, the Discovery Book Fair is coming up Oct. 20-23. Parents are welcome to stop by anytime or on the late night, Oct. 22. More information will be sent home soon about the fall book fair!