The Art Committee at Sunnyside is reviving the literary journal with the aim at providing each child the opportunity to publish a written word or work of art in a collective magazine that will be created by the school and made available to each child and for sale to all families and friends. The journal will be released at the Spring Fest on May 22. In order to make that release date, the teachers, administration, parents, and, especially the students, must all rally around a shared vision and a set of achievable milestones.
All grades, K-5, will participate and we would like to recruit 4th and 5th grade volunteers to assist in the layout and production of the journal. In this first volume of “The Ray” we would like to utilize the title of the magazine and focus on the themes of growth. If you look up “ray” in the dictionary, you will find 16 definitions from a ray of sunshine (or other scientific applications) to a ray of hope. The theme of “growth”; therefore, can be interpreted in many scientific or personal ways. A ray of sunshine, as an example, fosters growth in plants, food, and nurtures the world. A student may want to focus on growth in a more personal nature. For example, how has he/she “grown” this year at Sunnyside?
The idea is to have fun with the theme and ultimately be proud of the final results!
Please contact Wendi Norris at wendi @ freynorris.com with any questions or comments.
5:30pm - 7:30pm
School Cafeteria
Join Sunnyside families, students and staff for our International Potluck featuring delicious food and lots of fun. Wear an international outfit and bring something from another country to share.
Please bring an international salad or main dish to serve at least 8 adults, depending on your last name.
Last name starts:
A - L bring a salad or vegetable
M - Z bring a main dish - please label vegetarian dishes
Remember: label all your dishes with your child’s name and room.
Return the form to your teacher.
Sunnyside Elementary
PTA Times
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Principal: Nancy Schlenke
PTA President: Kari Gray
PTA everychild.onevoice.®
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PTA Meeting January 25th, 2009 , 5:30pm
Come and meet other parents at the monthly PTA meeting and learn about what is going on at Sunnyside. FREE refreshments and childcare provided.
During the January business meeting the PTA Bylaw Amendments and Standing Rules will be presented to the membership for approval. Both Bylaws and Standing Rules require two-thirds (2/3rd) vote of the membership in attendance for passage.
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Winter Read-a-thon Results
Thanks students and parents for making the Read-A-Thon a success; 140 students read 50579 minutes, or 843 hours. .
Winning classrooms will receive a grade level appropriate reference book, either a dictionary, atlas, or thesaurus.
- Kindergarten- Ms. Converse’s class read 7178 minutes.
- 1st Grade - Ms. Quillin’s class read 4216 minutes.
- 2nd Grade - Ms. Bell’s class read 5294 minutes.
- 3rd Grade - Ms. Lee’s class read 5803 minutes.
- School Winners - Ms. Rensman 4th/5th Grade Class read 9494 minutes and will have a pizza party.
Individual winners received a $10 Scholastic Books gift certificate.
- Kindergarten– Gabriel Amrull from Ms. Converse’s class.
- 1st Grade – Quinn Armentrout & Olivia Chaplin from Ms. Quillin’s class.
- 2nd Grade –John Luiz Agranum from Ms. Bell’s class.
- 3rd Grade – Eve Ngyuen from Ms. Lee’s class.
School Winner –
Una Chan from Ms. Hilmoe’s class received a $25 Scholastic Books gift certificate
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“Tap the Sky” Grant Awarded to Sunnyside
Sunnyside Elementary, in conjunction with the SFUSD Department of Sustainability and Green Schoolyard Alliance, has been awarded a grant to implement a rainwater reclamation program. The addition of a rainwater cistern to the school garden will give students a more complete picture of ecology, life sciences, and sustainability concepts. Sunnyside students will use the rainwater harvesting, composting and vermiculture programs to make a self sustainable, organic school garden.
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Help Wanted! 2010 Sunnyside Events
Sunnyside needs your help. Contact Kari Gray at kehgray@yahoo.com if you can help with any of these projects or events
JANUARY 16 10:00am– Bring your chainsaws, hedge clippers, shovels, work gloves, loppers and other gardening tools. We need to remove shrubs and hedges to prepare the beds for planting. Contact Cathy Meyer at (415) 794-2203 or mulkeymeyer@ att.net if you are available
January 21st - Math and Science Night
5:00 to 7:30pmFood Sales and Donations
Drop off baked goods in the office or help sell food in the cafeteria at 5:00pm . Prepare a potluck dish for the teachers to eat before the event starts. If you would like to help your student’s classroom with their project, contact their teacher directly. Contact Katy Nelson at pkweir@comcast.net or (415) 216-8773 if you can help.
Saturday, February 6 & 20
10:00am - Amend soil, install beds, reseed grass, plant flowering shrubs and drought tolerant plants. Contact Cathy Meyer at (415) 794-2203 or mulkeymeyer@ att.net if you are available.
International Potluck Set-up and clean up
Thursday, Feb 11 5:00pm- Greet and manage volunteers, accept food donations and set up cafeteria and hallways for event. Help clear tables and get the cafeteria ready for the next school day. Contact Kari Gray at kehgray@yahoo.com to volunteer.
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SpringFest 2010 - Planning Meeting
Wednesday, February 3rd at 5:30pm
School Library
It’s time to start planning for SpringFest! SpringFest will be Saturday, May 22.Come to our first meeting to find out more about our biggest event of the year. Share your ideas about raffle prizes, carnival games, food sales, and the student art show.
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2010 Sunnyside Events - At a Glance
Math and Science Night
Thursday, January 21st 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Please join us for fun games and activities!
Parents, caregivers and students visit each classroom to do hands-on math or science projects together. Students get their Math & Science Passports “stamped” to receive a small participation prize.
Pizza and baked goods will be available for sale from 5:00pm to 6:00pm in the cafeteria for an early dinner. If you can help set up or sell pizza, meet in the cafeteria at 5:00pm . If you can donate baked goods, please leave them in the office before 5pm. Contact Katy Nelson at pkweir@comcast.net or (415) 216-8773 if you can help.
International Potluck Dinner
Thursday, February 11th 5:30 – 7:30pm
Hope to see all our Sunnyside friends for a cherished tradition, the International Potluck Dinner held in the cafeteria/auditorium. Bring a favorite potluck dish to share with your Sunnyside friends. If you can help set up, clean up or serve food, look for the sign up forms going home soon! Katy Nelson at pkweir@comcast.net or (415) 216-8773 if you can help.
The Sunnyside Green Team is working on a number of projects promoting sustainability that are both practical and inexpensive to implement.
Safe Routes To Schools
Mapping Classroom Envelopes and Utilities
Composting & Vermiculture (worm bins)
Green Wednesday Envelopes
Join the Green Team today! Contact Julie Tonroy at contact3tees@yahoo.com.
In support of the Green Team and the school garden, a compost bin has been constructed. Students will compost snack scraps directly into the stage one compost box. The SF Department of Environment will deliver classroom compost boxes next week. The garden team will provide classrooms with a list of appropriate composting materials.
Worm bins have been purchased! Next week, teachers who signed up for the program will receive a worm bin complete with instructions itemizing which food scraps grow a healthy worm population. Worms grown by the students will be eventually be added to the container gardens and our 2nd and 3rd stage compost. The worm castings will be used to make compost tea.
The garden is growing! Feel free to look around the school yard and ask your student about their plants.
November Activities
• Outline the SpringFest garden fundraiser – Seeds will be sown in the classrooms in late January.
• Contact Sloat Garden Supply and other garden supply companies for seed donations.
• Review age/grade appropriate garden activities recommended by the SF Green Schoolyard Alliance.
Contact me if you are available to help. Cathy Meyer, (415) 794-2203 or mulkeymeyer@att.net.
Work has started near the Kindergarten entrance. Eight shrubs and some stumps were removed to make the area compliant with SFUSD landscaping regulations.
This month a landscaping schematic will be prepared, including: Benches, ornamental drought tolerant plants, and a Sunnyside Elementary sign above the entrance. Potted plants will also be strategically placed on top of the brick walls lining the stairway, making the stairs safer – no more kids jumping off the wall!
Lori Chaplin procured a bike rack from the school district. The bike rack will be installed as part of this project. Another Community Challenge Grant build day will be scheduled soon – look for the flyer in your Wednesday envelopes. Cathy - (415) 794-2203 or mulkeymeyer@att.net
The Sunnyside PTA has established a new Fundraising Committee. This group will review potential fundraising activities to determine if they are appropriate and a good “fit’ for Sunnyside and represent the PTA goals. After assessing fundraising opportunities, the committee will make recommendations to the PTA Board and present plans to during the general business meeting. If you are interested in being a part of this Committee, please contact Katherine Nielsen at 415-265-9482 or k.maida.nielsen@gmail.com.
Sheila Cahill will start a garden club after school hours. Wendy Chisholm and students in the Excel after school program already help maintain the ornamental garden and container boxes. They will work with Sheila growing, experimenting, exploring, and having fun in the garden. All students are welcome to join!
Contact Sheila Cahill at sheilacahill@gmail.com for more information.
The Kid Serve Mosaic Mural Residency has started. Muralist Josef Norris (Adi’s dad) is working with Ms. Capitan and Ms. Rensman’s 4th graders and the entire Kindergarten class. We started with a slide show and discussion of San Francisco murals. The 4th graders created lino-cuts that will be used to create custom made ceramic tiles. The Kindergarteners are doing ceramic leaf imprints that will also appear on the finished murals.
This upcoming week the 4th graders will take a field trip to Balmy Alley, home to over 25 murals. The Kindergarteners will be making mosaic picture frames.
There has been a lot of activity in the garden over the past month. Some students brought seeds and cuttings from home to plant in the containers. Others transplanted class projects and will be able to see the plants complete a life cycle for the first time.
Projects Completed in September & October
Thank you to David Bouche, Sheila Cahill, Riz Gauche, Miri Kim, Sean Lynch, Joe Meyer, and Sam Tonroy for coming on the September 25th Garden Build Day. They were able to finish the shed, amend soil in the existing containers, and build new ½ barrel containers to provide more space to accommodate the growing student population.
As this is only the second growing season for the garden, the goal for this semester is simple – to grow plants to maturity. Over the past two weeks, most of the classes have sowed seeds, transplanted flowers and root tops in their containers. Thank You to Wendy Chisholm, Karen Franklin, Julie Kessler, Katy Nelson, Dana Pluck, Julie Tonroy, and Suzanne Walsh for helping the students plant seeds!
Seeds have already germinated in Ms. Yee’s and Ms. Plack’s containers. If all goes well the students will harvest and eat their vegetables in December. The classes will also harvest seeds to be planted during the next growing season.
Fall Semester Projects
Compost Bin - The bin will be constructed during the October 24th CCG build day. Students will compost snack scraps to support the container gardens, which require more amendment than gardens grown directly in the ground. Composting will also give students a more complete picture of ecology as a whole system.
Vermiculture Bins – Worm bins are another way to expose students to the entire life cycle. Over time, the students will see the worms break down paper towels and food scraps – creating nutrient rich soil amendment. Worm offspring will be added to the garden containers and the worm castings will be used to “brew” compost tea.
Goals for 2010
- Grow plants to establish an annual SpringFest plant sale.
- Write grants to fund a part-time garden coordinator.
- Work with teachers to integrate the use of the garden as a classroom tool.
- Install drip irrigation to support the established ornamental garden surrounding the play structure.
- Experiment with plants that attract butterflies, native species, companion planting, and herbs.
The garden program welcomes any ideas you have. Some projects may take longer to implement, but like all gardens ours needs a little time and TLC to grow. Please contact Cathy Meyer at mulkeymeyer@ att.net if you would like to become more involved.
