Canned Food Drive: Last Week

Our student council canned food drive continues through to Friday the 16th, and we very much appreciate your support as we assist hungry families in our community.

Picture Galleries

Book Fair

Family Groups - Kindness and Generosity

Pre-K - Kwanzaa Celebration

Middle School - Caroling for Cans

Third Grade - October and November Pictures

Play With the Pros

Record Breaking Sales at the Barnes and Noble Book Fair

Thank you to the Saklan Valley community for your support through book purchases and donations and to the parents who generously volunteered their time at the gift wrap and school tables. I’d also like to thank Martha Goodbar, who chaired this event. We enjoyed poetry reading by our very own students, grades 1-5. It was wonderful to see so many families spending time together reading books. Please check the library website for updated information: Click here!

Kim Moebius, Librarian

Parent Association Meeting

In case you missed it: Nearly thirty parents were in attendance Thursday and enjoyed wonderful goodies generously provided by the fifth grade parents. Katie Fahrner, fourth grade Saklan mother and child psychologist, offered a terrific presentation advising us on how to teach your child to understand and express feelings and to use positive and helpful thoughts; how to promote your child’s authentic and appropriate self-esteem; how to teach them social behavior and social problem solving skills, and how to promote positive peer affiliations. After her fine presentation, (available here), she took questions in a heartwarming emotional session that resembled the Oprah show at its best! Thank you Katie!

Play with the Pros

A huge thank you goes from us to the terrific Cheaney family, Calbert and Yvette, for offering again the Play with the Pros Basketball Clinic. This year Calbert brought along his teammate Adonal Foyle, and the two of them joined with our own Terrance O’Kelly for a two hour long intensive drill session. Afterwards they signed autographs and took pictures with the kids—they were really great sports! Altogether, forty children participated, about a quarter of them from our school, and three quarters children from our community at large. It was a GREAT TIME OUT!

News from Our Alumni

Speaking of basketball, a recent communication brings word that the Bentley High School JV Basketball team features among its five starters three Saklan graduates, Adam Green, Tom Andrew, and Dustin Swiggett, and in its first game of the season Dustin was the team’s leading scorer. Another way to look at Saklan: as a basketball factory feeder for top prep squads!

Auction

Dear Saklan Families,

We know that it is just the beginning of the holiday season and that the month of March may seem far away. However, the Auction Committee is already preparing for our 2006 Annual Auction and needs your help to make the event a success.

(Save the Date: March 18, 2006)

This event is key to our school’s annual fundraising effort. We ask that each family make it a priority to participate by both donating items and attending.

Here’s how you can help…

If you already have an item in mind, please fill out a donation form and return it to Karen Lane in the office by Friday, January 6th. (Blank Donation Forms have been included in the Friday Folders this week and are also available in the front office.)

Electronic forms are available through the Auction Portal (www.saklan.org/auction/).

For those of you who would like suggestions, a “Shopping/Wish List” is available through the Auction Portal as well.

Identifying our donation gaps early will help us a great deal as we move forward.

Thank you for all of your support and enthusiasm. Many of you have already so generously pledged your donations and assistance for which we are extremely grateful.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We are willing to assist in any way possible. Happy Holidays! --- The Auction Committee

Extended Day News

I have two important reminders about the next two weeks in Extended Day. The first reminder is that Wednesday, December 14th Extended Day will be closing at 4 p.m. This is the evening of our faculty holiday party, and we would like all our staff members to attend the party. The second reminder is that school is dismissed at noon on Friday, December 16th. Extended Day will be open until 6 p.m. Our fantastic teachers have special holiday projects planned for our children.

Winter Enrichment

We are accepting winter enrichment registration forms now until December 16th. I strongly encourage all parents to sign up now because our classes are filling up fast! All new forms are available in the Extended Day foyer. We are offering our usual Gymnastics, Science, Dance, Chess, Voice, Spanish, and Kid’s Kuisine. We have added Cartooning class for elementary students in grades 1 through 5. All forms and payments should be turned in to Kim Carlock or Karen Lane. Please check out our new bulletin boards and fantastic art work also!

Hot Lunch Update

Food for Thought Catering Company, our hot lunch provider, originally did not schedule any hot lunch for December 15th. However, they have now set a menu and are allowing our Saklan families to go back onto their website, www.myhotlunch.com, to order lunch just for that day. Fortunately, you do not have to reorder the entire month. If this option does not work for you, please pack your child a lunch. There will not be enough food at school to make several lunches. Questions, concerns, or comments about this matter can be e-mailed to Kim Carlock at kparks@saklan.org.