Do you enjoy event planning?  Interested in helping give back to our community? The Arlington Heights District 25 Council of PTA is looking for people to help plan their big fundraising event next year.  The money raised helps fund college scholarships to high school seniors who attended District 25 schools. Please email  ahptacouncil@gmail.com for more information.

The delegates of the Illinois PTA 2017 Convention unanimously passed two environment resolutions. They are taking action on climate change concerns and hydraulic fracturing / oil and gas industry drilling concerns  Click here to learn more from the Illinois PTA website.

Thanks everyone for supporting the PTA this past year. We encourage you to sign up for next year’s PTA membership when you complete your online school registration. There will be an option to purchase an Individual or Family membership. We welcome alumni families that want to continue to support our programs. Please email us if you have questions or missed signing up during registration olivepta@gmail.com.   Thank you!

Benefits include:

• Access to Directory Spot App (online school directory and calendar)
• Support to Olive PTA programs: Activity Nights, Art Awareness, Author Visits, Bike Rodeo, Bingo Night, Birthday Books, Camp Fit, Character Counts, Chess Club, Earth Fair, Ecology Club, First Aid for Little People,  Meet and Greet, Robert Crown Health Talks, Reflections, Teacher Appreciation Week, 5th Grade Recognition and much more
• Membership to IL PTA with discounts to many national retailers
• Opportunities to volunteer and meet new people

We are looking for several people to help direct the kids into an alternate entrance in the morning of the last day of school, Friday, June 9th from 8:45-9:05.  The 5th grade breakfast will be going on in the commons and the kids will be entering through an alternate entrance.  They will still be lining up in the same area as usual. Please email olivepta@gmail.com if you would like to help.

True Value is partnering with us the weekend of May 19th – 21st to help us and your garden grow! The PTA will receive $2 for every $10 spent on plants for your garden. When checking out, just mention you are with the Olive Mary Stitt PTA. It’s that simple! See the flyer for more details.

Primary: 9:00-11:45
Intermediate: 12:00-3:15
Lunch Help: Primary 12:15-12:45
Lunch Help: Intermediate 11:30-12:00

We need your help to pull off the best day of the year! Field Day is fun day filled with all kinds of activities Mrs. Pusateri thinks up for the kids. Open the Sign up Genius and pick a time and activity. We have 52 volunteer spots available and they usually fill up fast. Please indicate if you are available on the rain date as well. Contact Stacy Riggs with any additional questions.

Field Day Sign Up Genius

Hungry for an Italian Beef, Hot Dog or Milkshake!?

Join us to wrap up the year at Portillo’s on Thursday, May 18th from 5:00pm-8:00pm.

Portillo’s is located at 806 W. Dundee in Arlington Heights.

Please show them this flyer or state that you are with OMS and a portion of sales will be given back to the OMS PTA. Offer is valid for Dine-In and Drive-Through orders!

Students will be coming home with a brown bag for our annual OMS Character Counts Food Drive. Donations can be brought to classrooms Monday, May 8th through Friday, May 12th. This food drive project helps students understand the ‘Character Counts’ pillars of Caring and Citizenship. Working together, we raise awareness about the issue of hunger and inspire empathy for those facing it. As a collaborative school community with responsible students, we see this as an important opportunity to help others.

Summer is a critical time for the food pantry, because donations drop dramatically during summer. Your generosity will help to sustain the 471 families that depend on the food pantry this summer. The pantry is in need of all types of non-perishable foods. Pantry needs: Beans (dry), Beef Stew, Cereal, Crackers, Dry Milk, Flour, Canned Fruit, Macaroni & Cheese, Canned Meat, Pasta, Oil, Soup, Pasta Sauce, Sugar, Vegetables, Rice, Facial Tissue, Toilet Paper, Paper Towels. Please no glass bottles or jars!

List of Most Needed Items

PLEASE NOTE: There will NOT be a human chain after school (5/12) this year!
The third and fourth graders will load bags onto the truck during morning recess. This change is at the request of the Township, so that they have ample time to receive donations and get them into the pantry.

We thank the fifth grade Service Learning Club for helping with tagging the bags, delivering bags to classrooms and maintaining the incoming donations.

May is a busy month but we have to stop…to plant a tree! Join us on Monday for a tree planting lesson with the Village of Arlington Heights Forestry Division. We also plan to “herb it up” and host our end-of-the-year award ceremony for all of our active members. Hope you can attend!

On Arbor Day, Keep America Beautiful featured Olive-Mary Stitt and its Plastic Film Drive initiated by the Ecology Club last fall. In the weeks leading up to America Recycles Day, OMS students collected bagel bags, dry cleaning bags, plastic shopping bags, packing pillows and shrink wrap from paper towels, water bottles and tissue packs. All of this material was then taken to Jewel on Rand Rd for transfer, meltdown and reuse. Many families continue to collect this material at home and bring it to Jewel, Target, Trader Joe’s and Best Buy for proper recycling. Great job OMS families!

Would you like to get involved and help out on a committee, volunteer as a room rep or work in the LMC next year? Please use this form to volunteer your time. We truly appreciate all of you!

It is that time of year to place your online order for 2017/2018 school year. Online orders due by June 11, 2017. School supply kits will be in placed in your child’s classroom by the first day of school.

Please click here for the attached flier with instructions how to order your supplies and prices. Please review and make sure you are ordering the correct grade for your child. Note: School supplies are notebooks, pencils, etc. requested by each grade. This is not the same as the annual school fee paid during registration. .

If you have any questions, you can contact Kerri Grabovski or Nilima Nanisetty.

School Supply Order Form

School Supply List

Arlington Heights Council of PTAs Scholarship Award 2017

You volunteers are what makes Olive such an amazing school! We would like to invite you to a dessert reception in your honor. If you have served as a committee chair, room representative, or volunteered in any way, please join us. We would also like to thank our 5th grade parents and invite them to this event. Please stay afterwards for the installation of the new PTA executive committee and then join us for drinks after… look for more info on that in the next Twig. Thank you!

Character Counts & the Ecology Club would like to thank all the Olive families and staff that donated to the shoe drive. The 5th grade Service Learning Club demonstrated fantastic teamwork as they sorted, counted and bagged shoes. Updated total: 872 shoes were donated! A Hoot goes out to Katie Murray who donated her time to deliver those shoes to the “Share your Soles” Warehouse on Monday.

First Aid for Little People is a program for our first and second graders coordinated by the PTA. We are still in need of volunteers for certain time slots. We appreciate your help. Please see the sign up genius link.

Please help us celebrate our star studded cast of OMS teachers and staff during Staff Appreciation Week May 1st- 5th. We plan to honor them with special treats throughout the week but can’t make it happen without help from their biggest fans, all of you! Please consider signing up to volunteer your time or make a needed donation. We appreciate your help in making this a special week!

Please be sure to order your OMS Yearbooks by April 25th. Go to TreeRing.com and enter school passcode 1014636724843184. The cost is $13.00 per book.

Each yearbook comes with 2 complementary custom pages. You and your children can personalize by uploading pictures to create a lasting memory of the 2016/2017 school year. Customization must be done and set to “”Print Ready”” by April 25th.

Remember to purchase a Yearbook for EACH of your children. Kids love to sign each others Yearbooks at the end of the school year. This will be your only opportunity to purchase Yearbooks as we will not have extra copies printed.

Any questions, please contact Erika Eng (erikaeng@gmail.com) or Megan Hill (meganhill6@me.com).”

Help us roll out the red carpet to honor the stars of OMS during Staff Appreciation Week. We have a star worthy line-up of optional activities that we hope the students will have fun with.

Monday: VIP – Tell a staff member what makes them “shine”

Tuesday: Behind the Scenes – Wear your teachers favorite color!

Wednesday: Swag Day – Show your teacher that going the “extra” mile makes them “pop”ular by bringing a bag of microwave popcorn and/or a pack of Extra gum.

Thursday: Fan Mail – Compliment our staff with a homemade card!

Friday: Be a Star – Wear your favorite sunglasses!

First Aid For Little People is a program for our first and second graders that is coordinated by the PTA. To make this program a success we need parent volunteers to help out! There will be various time slots that you can choose to sign up for.

Please be sure to order your OMS Yearbooks by April 25th. Go to TreeRing.com and enter school passcode 1014636724843184. The cost is $13.00 per book.

Each yearbook comes with 2 complementary custom pages. You and your children can personalize by uploading pictures to create a lasting memory of 2016/2017 school year. Customization must be done and set to “Print Ready” by April 25th.

Remember to purchase a Yearbook for EACH of your children. Kids love to sign each others Yearbooks at the end of the school year. This will be your only opportunity to purchase Yearbooks as we will not have extra copies printed.

Any questions, please contact Erika Eng (erikaeng@gmail.com) or Megan Hill (meganhill6@me.com).

District 25’s annual 5th Grade Track Meet will be held at South Middle School’s Track on Wednesday, May 10th starting at 4:15 pm. Students can sign up to participate in 2 of the following events: 50 yd, 100 yd, 200 yd, or mile run, plus an optional four-man relay team. With the exception of the mile run, students will be placed in heats by their times.

Students need not be track stars to participate just a willingness to try their best, have some FUN, and see what it’s like to experience an interscholastic event. Permission slips are due to Mrs. Pusateri by MAY 1. Questions or concerns email Mrs. Pusateri.

Please be sure to order your OMS Yearbooks by April 25, 2017. Go to TreeRing.com and enter school passcode 1014636724843184. The cost is $13.00 per book.

Remember to purchase a Yearbook for EACH of your children. Kids love to sign each others Yearbooks at the end of the school year. This will be your only opportunity to purchase Yearbooks as we will not have extra copies printed.

Any questions, please contact Erika Eng (erikaeng@gmail.com) or Megan Hill (meganhill6@me.com).

Join us for a PTA fundraiser the Annual Anderson’s Book Fair! Students will have a chance to preview the book selection during the school day. Stop by in the evening to add to your library. There will also be a selection of books to purchase for your child’s classroom. Books Rock!

This April Character Counts and the Ecology Club are partnering together for a CARING & GREEN cause. Recycle your clean, gently used shoes and help transform a life. Shoes help to prevent disease, help with transportation to work, school or to collect water.

Sneakers, sandals, flip-flops, boots, rain boots, crocs, cleats….we take them all! Shoes get sorted by climate at the Share your Soles warehouse in Historic Pullman. After sorting and cleaning the shoes will be shipped around the world. Donate today & help make a difference!

Shoe drop containers are to the right of stage in Commons.
http://shareyoursoles.org/about/

Our Earth Fair is approaching and you have a special role! Beginning today, we need you to collect clean, dry, non-breakable recyclable materials for our ever-so-popular Trash To Treasure Table at the Earth Fair on Wednesday, April 19th. Gather cool stuff, like paper towel rolls, soap containers, plastics, yogurt containers, delivery boxes, drink containers. We will have our dynamic Mr. DeMarco and our energetic Mrs. P at the Earth Fair to help guide your kids into creativity. Bring recyclable items into the 2nd grade pod each day until Earth Fair and we’ll be ready to move Trash to Treasure! Thank you!