Please note this newsletter is for this week and the week after spring break. Have a great break! A Letter from the President As many of you know, I have been the PAC President since the school opened in August, 2010. It has been quite a journey, and one that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I’m not sure if anyone (myself included) really knew all that PAC would or could accomplish in such a short amount of time. PAC’s mission is to support and enhance the educational experiences of the school’s students by providing an organization through which the parents, school and teachers can work cooperatively, and by providing financial support for programs funded outside of the annual school budget. Since its inception, PAC has supported the school in any and every way. I think we can all agree that Discovery is a special place, mostly due to our stellar staff, but also because of the collaborative efforts of all of the parent volunteers who have worked tirelessly to create such an amazing learning environment for our children. Following is a partial list of PAC’s accomplishments: Purchased and installed a playground Purchased and installed benches, wall hooks and cubbies for classrooms Maintained school grounds and landscaping Purchased various technology items, including smart boards, laptops, printers and a new copier Supported (financially or organizationally) various after school clubs (auditorium rentals, uniforms) Raised funds to purchase additional land for the school campus (currently ongoing) Purchased new furniture, computers, and system scanners for the library Provided financial assistance to room parents for holiday parties Provided teacher assistance and support whenever possible (coordination of room parents and copy assistants) Provided staff appreciation each year (holiday gifts, staff appreciation day, teacher appreciation week) Donated funds for the 8th Grade Washington D.C. trip to decrease trip costs for all of the students Would you like to help further PAC’s mission? The time has come for PAC officer elections, which will be held during the next PAC meeting on Tuesday, April 8th at 7 p.m. Some of us are stepping down, some of us are staying, and some of us are stepping down from current positions to run for new ones. Following are the officer positions and their current status: President: open Vice President: incumbent Jeny Burkhart running for another 2-year term Secretary: open (current Secretary Lisa Apato is stepping down to run for President) Treasurer: open If you are interested in running for any of the PAC officer positions, please submit your name and a brief bio to me by Friday, April 4th, explaining which position you are interested in and why. Candidate bios will be distributed to meeting attendees during the meeting prior to voting. If there is only one contestant for each officer position, the slate will be presented at the meeting, and a vote to approve the slate will be taken by a show of hands of those present at the meeting. A majority vote of those attending the meeting will approve the slate. Absentee votes will not be accepted. If there is more than one person running for each officer position, those candidates will have an opportunity to make a brief presentation explaining why they would like to run for the position and what attributes they could provide to PAC. Voting for each contested office will be done by written ballot. A neutral party will be present to count ballots. Absentee ballots will not be accepted – you must be present at the meeting to vote. If you are not running but still want to further PAC’s mission, please come to this meeting and show your support. After this meeting, continue to show your support by coming to meetings, volunteering in school, and helping at events. It’s up to each and every parent in this school, and not just Discovery staff, to ensure that our children continue to thrive academically. Thank you all for your support during the last four years, and for all that you have done to make Discovery such an amazing school for our children! March 17 & 31, 2014 | Volume 4, Issue 12 DISCOVER OUR WORLD! EAT • LAUGH • DANCE Saturday, April 26th, 6-10 p.m. $50/person Marquette Park Pavilion, Gary Register at: discpac.ejoinme.org/dow Can’t attend? Consider purchasing a sponsorship or making a general donation. Think you may be interested in bidding on auction items? With the purchase of an event ticket, you can bid by proxy. Please contact Janine Girzadas at [email protected] for more details. Basket donations are due this Friday, March 21st. If you would rather donate a small monetary amount, please contact Julie Tegt at [email protected] or Marianne Easter at [email protected] to make alternate arrangements. Upcoming Events March 19: School Board meeting 7 p.m. (please note the time change) March 21: Discover Our World basket donations due March 22-31: Spring Break; no school April 8: PAC meeting 7 p.m. – officer elections April 11-12: Seussical the Musical April 23: Grandfriends’ Day; School Board meeting 6:30 p.m. April 24: Eco Night 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 26: Discover Our World 6-10 p.m. , Marquette Park Pavilion SCRIP Attention Discovery Business Owners!! Let’s highlight the valuable services and businesses our Discovery community has to offer by including a "Discovery's Own" basket for our silent auction! Please consider a donation of goods, services or discounts to help us raise money and spread the word to our community about your business! Our inaugural dismissal sales event took place on Friday, March 15th. With your help, our 2-person team sold $1555 in SCRIP gift cards, earning the school an extra $51. We will be outside for sales again this Friday, March 21st. The sales crew will be out while the first group of cars is lined up and waiting for dismissal to begin. Once the cars start moving, the crew will head to the side parking lot. Know anyone who might be interested in donating auction items? Think gift cards, restaurant gift certificates, and event/sporting tickets. Please contact Erin Labovitz at [email protected] if you have possible donations. Upcoming Order Schedule and Important Notice: Our Distributor will be closed for a short time in April, which means there won’t be any deliveries between April 4th-16th. We will have some inventory on hand and PrestoPay users will still be able to reload and order ScripNow. Week of 03/17: Orders due Tuesday, March 18th by 8:30am for delivery on Friday, 03/21 Week of 03/31: No school on Monday, Orders DUE Tuesday, April 1st by 8:30am for delivery on Friday, 04/04. Orders placed after 8:30am on Tuesday April 1st may NOT be available until 04/18. Calling all bakers! We need help with desserts for this event. If you are interested in donating homemade baked goods, please contact Jeny Burkhart at [email protected]. Seussical, Jr. The Discovery Drama Club will present Seussical, Jr. on April 11th and 12th at 7 p.m. at the Edison High School in Lake Station. The Drama Club has been practicing for weeks and is excited to perform for the Discovery community. Tickets are now available for purchase – please see the attached ticket form for more info. The stage bill is an opportunity for our families to congratulate their Discovery students or advertise their business or services. Families can purchase a shout out, quarter, half, or full page ad before ad space is made available to the general public. Please see the attached form for more info. Questions? Email us at [email protected]. Grandfriends’ Day Grandfriends’ Day will be Wednesday, April 23rd. PAC will be providing refreshments for our visitors throughout the day. If you would like to donate fruit or veggie trays, cheese and crackers, or baked goods please contact Jeny Burkhart at [email protected]. More details about specific activities will be sent home soon. President: Janine Girzadas | [email protected] Vice President: Jeny Burkhart | [email protected] Secretary: Lisa Apato | [email protected] Treasurer: Eric Hull | [email protected] March 17 & 31, 2014 | Volume 4, Issue 12