by Reg Jones

LFCSA is starting a PTA (Parent Teacher Association) and you are invited to join! As you’ll learn from the overview below, there are many benefits of having a school PTA and getting involved. The first meeting is tonight, which will be filled with great information and the candidates for officer positions will be presented.

What is the function of the PTA? The PTA functions as an entity to, first and foremost, bring our community together in an organized fashion to further the progress of the school. We really want to encourage all of our families to join and participate. We have an amazing school, but we are in our infancy, and our growth and success depends on our community. There are other benefits of joining the PTA, such as terrific insurance, as well as health and dental care for those in need. The list goes on.

Why has LFCSA chosen to start a PTA and how will it help the school? Last year, there were presentations by PTA, PTO (Parent Teacher Organization), and a “Friends of LFCSA” option was also considered. Our community listened to the presentations and opted for a PTA. The great benefit of a PTA for our school, instead of the other above-mentioned organizations, is that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. With so many needs in our first couple of years as a school, the blueprint offered by the PTA organization is a welcome relief. It is much like a franchise. Our PTA program offers us a map by which we can find so many elements that will benefit the growth and organization of our school community.

What benefits does membership offer? There are so many values to PTA membership, but the biggest value is the opportunity to participate in making our school community tremendously successful. Our commitment to our school and PTA is directly tied to the long term success of our children.

How much does it cost to join and what does the money pay for? Membership to PTA is $20 per year for an individual, or $30 per family. Part of the dues go to our membership district, state, and national PTA. The balance of the dues will be used to fund our officers’ attendance at PTA seminars and conventions, and most importantly to fund membership for those in our community who would not otherwise be able to join.

When will meetings be? Our first meeting is tonight, November 1st at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium. At this meeting we will have an overview of PTA and give the officer nominees an opportunity to introduce themselves. Once officers are elected, the frequency of meetings will be determined. Elections will be held November 8th. Ballots will be sent home in the Thursday packet.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting, and are pleased to be providing yet another way for parents to get involved in the school community.

Ms. Pardo’s kindergarteners now have second grade reading buddies from Ms. Marcy’s class.

Every other Friday, the second graders come to the kindergarten class for 20 minutes to read with their new reading pals.

Each second grade student has an assigned kindergarten reading partner to whom they read books. The first meeting on October 27 was a great success.

Both Ms. Marcy and Ms. Pardo agree that this literacy activity is a great way to build community AND create a reading partnership that is mutually beneficial to both students.

by Audrey Fann | photo by Joel Sigerson

Cool Tools vividly teaches strategies for handling all forms of conflict and promotes healthy conflict resolution at LFCSA. Cool Tools was created to ensure a caring community in which all students feel safe to learn and play without threats of physical, verbal, or non-verbal harassment of any type. Our goal is to provide students with an internal “toolbox” they can choose from when conflict arises, not just now, but for the rest of their lives. Practice is essential not only for reinforcing the skills they are learning, but also for retention and transfer to new situations at school and at home. This is where you, the parents, can help. Your child is becoming familiar with the terms and concepts outlined below and will benefit from you talking about them.

Put Ups vs. Put Downs

Put Ups are affirmations, kind words, compliments, smiles, or thumbs-up. In contrast, Put Downs are insults, rumors, threats, unkind words, smirking, or laughing at someone. Put Downs are not okay anywhere at school, and they shouldn’t be okay at home either. Cool Tools teach the 5:1 rule: it takes at least 5 Put Ups to repair 1 Put Down. Squeezing toothpaste from a tube is a good visual that we use at school to explain the concept of a Put Down. Anytime someone says a Put Down, squeeze out some toothpaste. Then ask the person to put ALL of the toothpaste back in the tube. It’s impossible! The children are told to think of a Put Down as the paste—it hangs around with a sticky residue and you can never completely take it back.

Bubble of Space

Cool Tools teach children that everybody has a Bubble of Space as the basic principle of being considerate. Keeping their bodies in check and keeping their hands, feet, and other objects to themselves also makes them aware of their own bubbles and how they should be respected by others. Awareness of their own Bubble of Space allows them to situate themselves to anticipate and avoid conflict whenever possible.

Exit Shoes

Using Exit Shoes are a way to get out of a situation that is not right for you. It is a way to give your child permission to just walk away. When conflict heats up and the chance of compromise goes down, use your Exit Shoes and walk away. It is a cool way to deflate a situation. This tool can be used at home, at school and at the playground. Exit Shoes are a cue to help people stop and think about what they are doing before they act. They allow the person to make a choice and change the situation.

Choice of Voice

Your child has been taught that there are Cool Blue Voices and Red Voices. The Cool Blue Voice is the one used when communicating calmly and speaking normally. If your voice and tone are Cool Blue, then you’re likely going to deflate a situation and help keep it calm. A Red Voice inflates a situation. Cool Tools suggest that when a Red Voice is coming, take deep breathes—and use those Exit Shoes to walk away and chill out until a Cool Blue Voice is ready to speak.

So you know you have 60 volunteer hours to complete, but not too sure how to get started? The wild success that has become LFSCA is owed in no small part to the diverse skills and dedication of the parent volunteer community. Writing down and turning in your hours is just as important as performing them—a motivated parent body on paper is an asset to the school. Dig out your Fall Volunteer Timesheet (sent home in the Thursday Packets) and read on.

Contacting your Classroom Volunteer Coordinator is the quickest route to find volunteering needs when there is a big event requiring many volunteers—such as the upcoming Harvest Arts and Crafts Festival. Several “Work Days” are scheduled throughout the year, and your Classroom Volunteer Coordinator can tell you what’s available and sign you up. Every classroom has a Classroom Volunteer Coordinator.

LFCSA has great committees that do a wide range of important tasks and grow stronger with numbers. LFCSA’s current committees are: Fundraising, Family Support, Volunteer, Communications, Site, Safety, Green Team, and Garden. Contacting a committee and letting them know you are interested in volunteering is another way to hear about volunteer opportunities as they arise.

Need some specific ideas to get your volunteer ball rolling? Here are ten more ways, some obvious, some not so obvious, to get involved:

• Public Relations. If you have PR skills, we could definitely use you. Let the fundraising committee know, fundraising@losfelizarts.org, or George Abrams, site@losfelizarts.org.
• Spanish Translation. Help out translating for Thursday Packets and the office. This is a huge need at our school and an excellent way to fulfill your commitment on your own schedule. Contact Christie Thomas, thursdaypackets@losfelizarts.org.
• Public Liaison. We need a volunteer who can field calls from people interested in becoming Community Partners. Contact George Abrams, site@losfelizarts.org.
• Community Partners Committee. We’re looking for somebody to head this new committee, which will oversee applications from parents who want to get into LFCSA via the Community Partners. For more information about this opportunity contact George Abrams, site@losfelizarts.org.
• Organize Volunteers. Work directly with the Volunteer Coordinator making phone calls from home or work setting up work day schedules. Contact Ellise Taylor-Brebes, volunteer@losfelizarts.org.
• Work in the School’s Garden. Fulfill hours in the garden! Help assisting students with guided lessons, apply for grants, and more. Contact Michele East at garden@losfelizarts.org.
• Indoor Plant Committee. We are getting a bunch of new indoor plants that will need caring for, so jump on this one if you’re interested. We are currently looking for somebody with a green thumb to head up this new committee, as well as about 5 more volunteers to help work it. This is an easy 30 minutes at school after drop-off or before pick-up once a week. Contact George Abrams, site@losfelizarts.org.
• Writers/Photographers. Join the Communications Committee as a writer or photographer for the newsletter and website. Earn hours by taking assignments as they become available. Contact Megan or Ross Hirsch, communications@losfelizarts.org.
• Data Entry. This can be done anytime from your home/office. Knowledge of Excel is helpful, but not necessary. This opportunity is great for parents who find it difficult to get to the school. Contact Michelle Jones, michelle@losfelizarts.org.
• Volunteer in the Front Office. Michelle and the administration can always use your help. Contact Michelle Jones, michelle@losfelizarts.org.

The list doesn’t stop there. We all have skills that are valuable to a growing school like ours. With a little effort and thought, together we can find satisfying ways to contribute our time.

Plastic is a huge recycling program—and a health hazard. It takes 47 million gallons of oil to produce the plastic water bottles Americans use each year. Did you know that 86% percent don’t get recycled? It would be like taking 100,000 cars off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere if they did. In addition, trace amounts of petroleum can leach into plastic, which breaks down with increased exposure to heat and cold (dishwashing, microwaving, freezing). Studies have linked the ingestion of plastic to health and fertility issues. Glass is superior, but impractical for many uses, such as schools. If you have to use plastic, try to recycle it, and explain to your child the importance of recycling.

Cloth grocery bags are hip! Ralphs, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Vons, and Gelson’s all sell cloth bags as alternatives to plastic. Stores also offer a discount when you use your own bags. LFCSA is working on designs for our very own cloth bag. Be on the lookout.

LFCSA’s Green Team recycling committee is headed by Cecily Harrison and Sherrell Cuneo, reachable at gogreen@losfelizarts.org.