December 14, 2012 - El Carmelo PTA

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER BY THE EL CARMELO PTACHILDHOODMs. Haughney had a “greatchildhood.” She moved a lot whenshe was little, but most of hergrowing up took place in Issaquah,Washington, a suburb of Seattle.For fun, Ms. Haughney lovedplaying outside with hersister and friends. Shealso played soccer andread a lot.Because hermother is ateacher, Ms.Haughney and hersister spent hoursplaying school.Ms. Haughney’s mother stillteaches junior high in Washington.of El CarmeloMeet 3rd Grade Teacher Miche!e HaughneyHer dad worked most of hiscareer for United Airlines. “Thatwas fun because we got to travel alot,” Ms. Haughney said.EDUCATIONMs. Haughney moved toCalifornia for college.She went to LoyolaMarymount Universityin Los Angeles andstayed in the L.A. areafor ten years.CAREER“I always wanted to be a teacher.I would help my mom all the time inher classroom, and I knew it waswhat I wanted to do.”Ms. Haughney’s favorite thingsabout being a teacher at ElCarmelo are the students (“I lovethe students”) and all thewonderful families she has workedwith. She also has fun workingwith people she enjoys.HOBBIESMs. Haughney loves to spendtime with family and friends,doing thingsoutdoors,reading, watchingmovies, going tosporting events, and finding funprojects to do around the house.FAMILYMs. Haughney is married to ahigh school teacher.Their firstbaby (a boy)is due onJanuary19th!Ms. Haughney was interviewedby 4th graderMadeline S.Does your child want tointerview her/hisfavorite teacher forthe Carmeletter?It’s fun and easy.Email carmeletter@paloaltopta.org.LIBRARY NEWSLast week, we celebratedInclusive Schools Week byreading and discussing booksabout people with specialneeds.Over the next few months theprimary classes will be hearing theCalifornia Young ReaderMedal (CYRM) Books, and theintermediate level classes will befocusing on Internet Safety.We now have a great selection of ParentResource books in the library. You are welcometo come in and check them out.The Sponsor-A-Book program and ScholasticBook Fair have provided funds for a big order ofnew books which will be arriving in the library!Thank you to all who have contributed to theseprograms!Enjoy the Winter Holidays,--Leslie Bell (Librarian) lbell@pausd.orgCARMELETTER ● DECEMBER 14, 2012 ● ISSUE 13! PAGE 4

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER BY THE EL CARMELO PTAWHY I’VE STOPPED BUYING GIFT CARDSWritten By Patricia Campbell, campbell.noroian@gmail.com (an El Carmelo parent)They’re just so darnconvenient. That’s why we buythem. The perfect way to showappreciation to your child’steacher or soccer coach, birthdaypresents for kids old enough tolove iTunes (i.e., anyone overseven), Starbucks cards forstocking stuffers. The list goes on.I even get them instead of cashwhen I return things to storesthese days. I think the storesmust realize that many of theseend up getting lost and thereforenever redeemed.The problem is, gift cards (andcredit cards, debit cards, andaffinity cards) have one hugedrawback: they are all made out ofPVC plastic. It’s the perfectplastic for cards because it’s easyto produce, and just rigid andflexible and durable enough tostand up to repeated use. ButPVC is also the most pollutingplastic on the planet, and using itfor gift cards, which are typicallyused once and then thrown away,makes no sense whatsoever. No,they can’t be recycled, no matterwhat the nice cashier at Target hastold you.PVC, or polyvinyl chloride,contains chlorine as one of itschief ingredients. Whenincinerated, it releases dioxins andfurans, two of the mostcarcinogenic compounds knownto science. That’s why PVC isknown among environmentalistsas “Satan’s Resin.”No, you won’t get cancer justfrom handling these cards; we’d allbe dead already if that were thecase! But the current profusion ofPVC cards is a real problem. Ifthey shouldn’t be incinerated, theyend up in landfills, where they willbe with us for decades, or evencenturies, to come.Susan Freinkel, in herexcellent book, Plastic: A ToxicLove Story, estimates that wethrow away more than 75 millioncredit cards each year. And thosefigures don’t include the muchgreater number of gift cards, hotelEL CARMELO’S ANNUAL BOOK EXCHANGEEl Carmelo’s Book Exchange is just around thecorner, providing a perfect opportunity for tradingoutgrown books for wonderful new titles.Students can bring gently used books of anyreading level to their classrooms Monday-Thursday,January 28-31. The books will be collected by ourLeadership Club and sorted by parent volunteers.On Friday, February 1, a box of grade-appropriatebooks will be delivered to each classroom forredistribution. Each child may choose one “newto-you”book for each book donated, up to five.Every student, even those who cannot donate, wi! beable to choose at least one “new-to-you” book.keycards and other plastic cardswe routinely discard. Accordingto Freinkel, there are more than1.5 billion credit cards in use in theUnited States today. A stack ofthem all would reach more thanseventy miles into space!So what seems like a harmlesslittle convenience is, in the longrun, not so harmless. That’s whyI’ve made the choice to just stopbuying them. Starbucks cards canbe reloaded online. Amazon sendsgift certificates by email. And,trust me, teachers and soccercoaches are more than happy toaccept cash.Patricia Campbell is a parentof a 3rd grader at El Carmelo.In her free time, she likes to findcreative ways to re-use plastic.Please look at your family’scollection of children’s books tosee if there are any you are readyto pass on to new owners. Alldonations are welcome, butbooks for older (4th/5th grade) students areespecially appreciated. Books remaining afterthe Book Exchange will be donated.More Book Exchange news to come in Fridayfolders in January! If you have questions, would liketo donate books, or would like to volunteer to sortbooks, please contact Maria Derrick atwesderrick@mindspring.com.CARMELETTER ● DECEMBER 14, 2012 ● ISSUE 13! PAGE 5

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER BY THE EL CARMELO PTAEL CARMELO’S 36TH ANNUAL AUCTION - WE NEED YOU!The PTA Auction is the main source forfunding activities that enrich our children'seducation such as noon art, PE and recessequipment, field trips, buses for field trips,library fund, California Explorer, RevolutionaryPlay, Tall Ship, school site improvements, varioussocial events... and many more.Every year we are amazed at the support fromour parent community.We need you again this year to make the Rock‘n Roll Auction on Saturday, 3/9/13 a success!You can donate in two ways:(1) offer your services such as landscaping,accounting, legal, housekeeping, babysitting, etc.(2) put on an eventSITE COUNCILThe School Site Council is an elected group ofparents and staff that work with the principal todevelop and evaluate school improvementprograms and the school budget.El Carmelo's Site Council meets thesecond Monday every month to discussa wide range of issues. Parents areencouraged to attend the monthlymeetings and address the council duringopen forum. (See the El Carmelowebsite for meeting dates: http://We highly encourage you to host anevent. You’d be surprised how fun andeasy it is to do. It’s one of the best waysto meet other parents. Your event doesn’thave to be a huge party a la Martha Stewart,but it can be a smaller event like lunch for 8.Many times parents are afraid to host an event...so, the Auction Committee is here for you ifyou need ideas or help in getting a group ofhosts together and planning.It's easy to donate, go to http://tinyurl.com/2012elcarmeloauctiondonations. Check it out, orcreate your own fun event. Questions? EmailCynthia Tham at cynthia.tham@gmail.com orKristine Mostofizadeh at kgmostofi@gmail.com.elcarmelo.pausd.org/wordpress/?page_id=37.)In addition to reviewing school-wide initiativesand performance measures, the council will discussthe Safe School Plan. Topics are:๏December: Buildings and Grounds,๏January: School Climate,๏February: Traffic and Safety,๏March: Emergency Preparedness,๏April: Update and Approve Safe School Plan.Questions? Email Kori Shaw at korivan@gmail.com.PARTNERS IN EDUCATION (PIE)Palo Alto Partners InEducation (PiE) conducted theirsecond donation campaignbetween November 9 toNovember 16. At El Carmelo,our goal that week was tocollect donations from 50families who have not donatedso far this school year.During this time, the ElCarmelo community showedphenomenal support to PiE oncampus. El Carmelo parentsWhy is El Carmelo so excellent?Because PiE pays for:Teacher AidesScience EnrichmentArts Instructionand teachers wore blue PiE t-shirts and carried PiE signs; kidswaved blue pompoms; and Mr.Merritt actively emailed andtweeted about the campaign.That week, we collected 28new donations from ElCarmelo. We want to meet andexceed El Carmelo’s donationgoal this year, and we want toremind everyone to donate toPiE. Every El Carmelofamily can donate anamount that is comfortableto them. We are a community,and everyone should pitch in tohelp our kids. Click here todonate: http://www.papie.org.All donations are completelytax deductible, and our childrenwill thank you for making thisvery important contribution totheir education and future!THANK YOU from the PiE team!Faiza Zarroug,fazarroug@gmail.com,Kanwal Raza, kanwalsraza@gmail.com,or Medha Nanal,medha_00@yahoo.comCARMELETTER ● DECEMBER 14, 2012 ● ISSUE 13! PAGE 6

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER BY THE EL CARMELO PTAMAKE MONEY FOR EL CARMELO... AT NO COST TO YOU!!!Do you shop online?Then, you can raise money for ElCarmelo... and it won’t cost you acent! Here are 2 ways:1. Before you shop atAmazon, simply use thelink http://www.tinyurl.com/ElCarmeloAmazon. Youcan shop as usual after using this initial link. A!your account settings wi! stay the same, and the site wi!look the same. Bookmark this link now!The Amazon School Rewards Program donatesbetween 2 and 15% of your purchase price to the ElCarmelo PTA.DECEMBER’S DEVELOPMENTAL ASSET OF THE MONTH:FAMILY LIFE PROVIDES HIGH LEVELS OF LOVE AND SUPPORT.Family support refers to theways that parents, siblings, andextended family show love,encouragement, and comfortto each other. Families are thecornerstone of the social support system for youth.The 2011 survey of Palo Alto youth reveals thatwhile younger youth generally experience and areaware of family support, teenagers do so much lessoften: 89% of PAUSD elementary school students,84% of our middle school students, and 66% ofour high school students reported this asset, basedon their responses to the following statements:I get along well with my parents.My parents give me help and supportwhen I need it.My parents often tell me they love me.Because adolescents require greater autonomyand independence than younger children, effectivefamily support for older youth takes a differentform than in earlier years; however, their need fortheir families is still strong. Adults are challengedto find a balance between giving youth the love andsupport they need to navigate their adolescenceand the independence they need to develop asindividuals.The following discussion topics can be used toopen a dialogue with young people about the waysthat they experience family support:2. Sign up once for eScrip athttp://www.tinyurl.com/ElCarmeloeScrip and enter "ElCarmelo PTA" as the group name, click search, andclick on the found El Carmelo PTA group. Thenfollow the steps to sign up. Once signed up, everytime you shop at a store that you registered (e.g.,your Safeway club card or such), the store willdonate a percentage of your purchase price to theEl Carmelo PTA. Also, visit the eScrip OnlineMall (http://www.tinyurl.com/ElCarmeloOnlineMall) and shop with over 700merchant partners.If you have any questions, contact Grit Denkerat grit.denker@sri.com or (650) 269-1034.✓Does your family provide support in a way that’smeaningful and easy for you to recognize? Why orwhy not?✓Do you and your parents treat each other with thesame kindness and dignity that you’d expect fromyour friends?✓Does your family do things together on a regularbasis? Are there any activities that you’d like toshare (or be willing to share) with your family?Winter break provides families with a chance tospend more time together. We hope you enjoyyour time together and let them know you love andsupport them. For some resources and activities totry together, visit: http://www.projectcornerstone.org/pdfs/December_FamilySupport_ResourceKit.pdf.To get involved in the Palo Alto DevelopmentalAssets Initiative of Project Safety Net, email:devassetspaloalto@gmail.com.What are “Developmental Assets”?They are the positive values, relationships, skills andexperiences that help children and teens thrive. Youngpeople with high asset levels are most likely to makehealthy choices, while those with lower asset levelsare more likely to get involved with negative or riskybehaviors like violence, trouble in school, drug andalcohol use and more. (Search Institute created thedevelopmental assets framework. For moreinformation, visit www.search-institute.org.)CARMELETTER ● DECEMBER 14, 2012 ● ISSUE 13! PAGE 7

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER BY THE EL CARMELO PTAIn AppreciationA sincere thanks to the El Carmelo community...Scholastic Book Fair: KateKaragueuzian-Gibbons andMaria Derrick for organizingthe amazing Scholastic BookFair and to Junko Brierley-Green, Andrea Christensen, LizE!is, Erich Heilman, RosannaJackson, Julia Jacobsen, SripriyaKannan, Susy Kim, Tzielan Lee,Carlee Lopez, Kathy Podo!, DanaRoman, Elisa Schmit, Kori Shaw,Shannon Silva, Lucy Tompkin,Sharon Tobias, Jen Wiener,Heather Wi!iamson, SherwinWong, and Stephanie Youngquistprovided enthusiastic All-Starhelp of all kinds from setup toteardown. A special thank youto Ms. Fehrenbach, Mr. Walton,Amy Love, and Ma$ie Schmitwho spent an eveningdelighting kids with storiesduring our traditional ElCarmelo Milk & CookiesNight, to Jerry Phok, RickeyMoore, and Rosario Yañez whocheerfully tolerated acomplete take-over of the MPRoom, and to JenniferFernandez, Ginny Nagao, andMr. Merritt for unendingsupport before, during, andafter the Fair.PiE Donation Days: KanwalRaza, Medha Nanal, and FaizaZarroug, El Carmelo's bravePiE reps, along with theirarmy of volunteers that worePiE shirts in the school toraise awareness: Mr. Merritt,Abby Domine, A!i Wong, AndreaChristensen, Asmita Runge,Carlee Lopez, Cynthia Tham,Jenny Schmidt, Kate Healey, KoriShaw, Kshama Jirage, LucieThomas, Maria Derrick, RobinMorris, Susy Kim, Tais Schmitt,Yao Lu, teachers and staff.Restaurant NightFundraiser: LucindaBrommersma and Krissy Green,for organizing a fun andyummy evening at Chevy’s.See’s Candies Fundraiser:Tzielan Lee, who provided usthe opportunity to order ourfavorite candy withoutconfronting the long lines.Directory: Ram Ramkumarwho once again heroically puttogether the fabulously usefulEl Carmelo Directory, MariaDerrick who helped to makethe Directory as accurate andup-to-date as possible, toCarlee Lopez, Sarena Kim,Sharon Tobias, Do!y Ivanov andTais Schmitt, who helped withloose ends/proofreading, andto Lucinda Brommersma, MedhaNanal, and Maria Derrick, whohelped with distribution(along with PTA Membershipcards).Inclusive Schools Week:Maria Derrick, who led thelunch time activities onMonday, Wednesday, andThursday; Jessamyn Tardif, wholed the activity on Tuesday;and our Principal Mr. Merritt,who led the discussion onFriday and made the videoabout the dyslexia activity.Thank you also to theLeadership Team, to ourlibrarian Ms. Be!, to theteachers, to aides PaulLazazzera and Ian Cole, and tovolunteers Kate Karagueuzian-Gibbons, Gwen Fischer, FaizaZarroug, and Jessie Chen, whosechildren attended InclusiveSchools in Taiwan and isbringing new insights to ourschool.Submissions for nextCarmeletter dueThursday, 1/24/13Email editable document tocarmeletter@paloaltopta.org.For more info, see the ElCarmelo PTA website(www.elcarmelo.paloaltopta.org/carmeletter.html).Do you receive theEl Carmelo PTA’sweekly eNews?If not, you’re missing out!To subscribe to eNews, emailAbby Domine atabbydomine@yahoo.com.Save money & paper!Read the Carmeletteronline only.To stop receiving paperCarmeletters, emailFaiza Zarroug atfazarroug@gmail.com.CARMELETTER ● DECEMBER 14, 2012 ● ISSUE 13! PAGE 8