Morningstar-final publish v2.pdf - Resident Interactive
Morningstar-final publish v2.pdf - Resident Interactive
Morningstar-final publish v2.pdf - Resident Interactive
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10<br />
Do you have a new and innovative idea to enhance the learning at<br />
MES The Morningside PTA has allocated monies for our 2011-<br />
2012 Grants Program. This program is designed to encourage<br />
our MES community (teacher, staff, parent and student) to apply<br />
for financial assistance for programs that will enhance the learning<br />
environment through new and inventive methods. Over the years,<br />
the committee awarded grants to a wide range of programs including<br />
heath & wellness, cultural events, curriculum support, etc... Grant<br />
applications can be found on the MES website under Enrichment<br />
and Clubs - Grants. The Grants Committee will accept applications<br />
in 1 cycle during the Fall. The PTA Grants Committee is chaired by<br />
Michelle Constantinides.<br />
The Green Team will be co-chaired this year by Willa<br />
Paton-Smith, Shannon Skinner, and Lynette Slovensky<br />
with a continued focus on reducing waste, improving<br />
recycling efforts and conserving energy. Back again this<br />
year at the August Meet & Greet will be our promotion<br />
of Waste Free Lunches. Reducing the use of disposables, plastic<br />
baggies, and excess packaging in our children’s lunches can greatly<br />
reduce the volume of trash we send each day to the landfill. Stop by<br />
the Green Team table at Meet & Greet to purchase affordable lunch<br />
packaging products that are all PBA free.<br />
We’ll have tips to help your family put your best “green” foot forward<br />
this school year. Also, look for the Green Team and Student Council<br />
to partner again this year on a fall recycling drive. We invite everyone<br />
to support the effort to make MES a greener school!<br />
Our Wellness Committee chairs, Erin Richmond and Elizabeth Lietz,<br />
will be working to encourage fitness and healthily eating habits for<br />
students, staff, and the entire MES community. We will resume Wellness<br />
Wednesday’s, Fresh Fruit Friday’s and continue our monthly food<br />
tastings, with the help of our sponsors Rosebud and Murphy’s, where<br />
students sample a delicious recipe featuring a vegetable currently being<br />
grown in the garden. We are passionate about promoting healthy<br />
living for our school.<br />
MES has a wonderful Garden program that allows students the opportunity<br />
to plant, nurture and taste the wonder of fresh vegetables.<br />
Supported by the PTA, Schoolyard Sprouts, Murphy’s, Rosebud,<br />
Whole Foods Briarcliff and Farmer D Organics, the garden is an<br />
outdoor learning environment for students year round.<br />
Carrie Roetger, a veteran Morningside teacher, works coordinating<br />
curriculum each month with the grade level teachers. The garden<br />
experience includes lessons on soil and water, social studies, weather,<br />
temperature, growing local food, composting, grids in the garden,<br />
greenhouse gardening, and much more. The curriculum was developed<br />
for Schoolyard Sprouts by the Georgia State University Department<br />
of Dietetics to meet APS guidelines, and can be found on the<br />
Schoolyard Sprouts website, www.schoolyardsprouts.org. Throughout<br />
the year, the garden committee is always looking for volunteers to<br />
help with classes in the garden, regular garden maintenance, or to<br />
work on special work days. Stop by and see what’s growing!<br />
All of our Enrichment programs focus on providing rewarding and<br />
exciting educational experiences for our children. We are looking<br />
forward to another fabulous year. Many thanks to the parent volunteers<br />
who work hard to make these events happen and to the PTA<br />
fundraising team for raising the money needed to support them. We<br />
always need more volunteers, so if you see a program you are interested<br />
in, please come join in.<br />
Astrid Horlbeck<br />
Vice President for Enrichment<br />
astridahorlbeck@gmail.com<br />
COMMUNICATIONS<br />
Stay in touch with Morningside! It is our goal to make sure that<br />
every Morningside family is well aware of the terrific things going on<br />
at school each week. Here are the ways we communicate with our<br />
school community:<br />
Digital Dolphin<br />
This weekly e-mail newsletter includes brief descriptions of what is<br />
happening at school. It is delivered to your inbox over the weekend<br />
so that you can get ready for the week ahead. To sign up for the<br />
Digital Dolphin, go to the school website, www.morningsideschool.<br />
org, and enter your e-mail address in the box on the home page. At<br />
the printing of this newsletter, there is still a need for a Digital Dolphin<br />
editor or co-editors. Annelle Dunn is the returning editor of the<br />
Digital Dolphin<br />
Morningside Memo<br />
The Morningside Memo comes out early each month. Look for it in<br />
your child’s Wednesday folder. The Memo keeps you up-to-date about<br />
all the things going on. It features updates from our principal and<br />
PTA, overviews of upcoming activities, tips from our school counselor<br />
and articles from our Wellness and Green committees and much<br />
more. Our Memo team includes Scott Edelman and Judith Cavill as<br />
co-editors, and Gisela Mesbahi as graphic designer.<br />
www.morningsideschool.org<br />
Be sure to bookmark the MES website. This is the fastest way to find<br />
out about what’s going on at school. There are calendars, forms, supply<br />
lists, copies of newsletters and more. Get in the habit of using the website;<br />
you’ll be glad you did! The website is managed by Michael Schulz.<br />
<strong>Morningstar</strong><br />
This newsletter, which you are currently reading, is <strong>publish</strong>ed each<br />
summer to kick off the school year. Our <strong>Morningstar</strong> team includes<br />
Lane Chalfant and Gisela Mesbahi.<br />
Bulletin Board<br />
If you are walking the halls, check out the latest news on the PTA<br />
bulletin board located outside of the auditorium. The board is maintained<br />
by Julia Rafter.<br />
Yearbook<br />
Distributed in May, the yearbook is a wonderful memento of life at<br />
Morningside. Leslie Muscarella heads up the yearbook team.<br />
Calendar<br />
The calendar is maintained by Debbie Mobley. She will be the PTA<br />
representative on the SLAM (School Logistics and Management)<br />
committee and will be the point of contact for all PTA scheduling.<br />
The calendar chair is the PTA representative on the SLAM.