Since Mary Stitt was principal (or even before her!), OMS parents have been extremely generous towards teachers and staff during the holiday season. We think this is wonderful!

As a PTA we’ve been asked to follow a few guidelines:

• As a liability safeguard, the PTA Room Reps will not collect money for classrooms. This policy changed in 2017. If you can believe it, many districts experience PTA theft so the IL PTA directed us to remove involvement from this money collecting activity.

• Parents (just not PTA Room Reps, taking away the formal PTA process) are welcome to collect for the class! Please keep in mind that not everyone can or will contribute to the gift.

• You may choose to purchase a gift for you child’s teacher independent of a class gift, and that is an equally generous option.

• Gifting of any kind, any time throughout the school year, is entirely OPTIONAL.

We hope this answers some questions. Please feel free to reach out to us at olivepta@gmail.com anytime.

The 5th Grade Committee is collecting baby pictures of all 5th grade students for their end-of-the-year slideshow. Please email one baby picture of your 5th grader to oms5thgrade@gmail.com by December 31st, including your child’s name in the email subject line and picture file name. If you have any questions, please contact Kim Hemminger.

Thank you!

The ABC/25 Foundation is excited to announce Get Burbed as naming sponsor for our annual 5K/1 Mile Challenge! The Just Move It Challenge will now be renamed to ABC/25 Get Burbed Challenge! Get Burbed is a long time supporter of ABC/25 and is also owned by a District 25 family. We are thrilled to partner with Get Burbed and look forward to announcing some race enhancements soon. The t-shirt contest is still underway, BUT reference the attached for new name/guidelines.

Kindness is the theme this year at the holiday storytime! Dr. FitzPatrick and Ms. Davis will read a few books about kindness and facilitate a kindness activity with each grade. We need help from you to make this event a success!
Please click on the link below to sign up.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040D4EA5AC2CA31-holiday

As an Olive fifth grader this year, your child will receive an OMS “Class of 2019” t-shirt. Students will wear it throughout the year, specifically for the class picture, end of year Camp Edwards field trip, and end of year fifth grade breakfast. The t-shirts will list the name of each 5th grader at OMS.
Please watch you child’s back for the form & return it to your classroom teacher by Monday, December 10.

Come join your OMS family and friends in the OMS Commons on Fri, Nov 30th, 7 – 8:30 pm (doors open at 6:45 pm), for a fun-filled night of Bingo! Admission is a non-perishable food donation (bring a can, bring a bag of cans – whatever you can do!) Kids will win cool prizes, families will have fun together, and we’ll help our community friends stock their pantries for the holidays!

Please join the volunteer fun using this Sign Up genius link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA8AA2BA5FF2-bingo

Contact Kristine Spina or Nina Shamoon with questions.

The 2019 Just Move It! Challenge is coming up in April. Please encourage your kids to submit their own design to be entered in the t-shirt contest! Their design could be chosen as the race day t-shirt worn by almost 1,000 people! Details in the attached. Submit to the school office by January 11th.  

5th Grade Boys are invited to attend the Robert Crowne presentation on the physical changes of growing up in the commons with an adult.

December 5, 2018 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. in the OMS Commons

Link to sign up: https://goo.gl/forms/V6O5VGuBJX4W6JQs2

The 5th Grade Committee and Sub-Committees are working hard on a few exciting activities and details to make this last year at Olive Mary-Stitt extra special for the CLASS OF 2019.

Please see the attached letter on many of the details and take note of the areas in BOLD where we could use your help! If you have any questions, please email Jen Rich, Helen Boba and Nathalie Johnson at oms5thgrade@gmail.com.

Calling all 4th and 5th graders! Please save the date, January 10, to attend a special OMS PTA Activity Night with BMX Biker Matt Wilhelm! The event will run from 6:30-7:30 in the OMS Commons. The event is free and no pre-registration is required. Students need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Unfortunately, due to size limitations siblings are not permitted, so please plan accordingly.

Join OMS families for a night out to see a Chicago Wolves hockey game! All OMS families will be seated in the same section, and there will be fun family activities such as face-painting, caricature drawings and more! Chicago Wolves will face off with the Milwaukee Admirals for a fun-filled night at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, 6920 N. Mannheim Road, Rosemont, IL 60018.

Parking is free for the night of the event. More information and registration details in flyer below.

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Looking for a holiday gift idea for your 5th grader? Take advantage of the Thomas holiday spiritwear sale going on from November 2-16. Go to www.HeadsUpApparel.com and select Thomas Middle School as your school and note you are an Olive parent. See flyer below for additional information .

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If you haven’t already purchased a yearbook for the 2018-2019 school year, the time is now! The deadline to purchase is December 1st. Go to treering.com or download the TreeRing app. If you have an account from previous years, please login with your past information.

All are welcome! Please come join us, Tuesday, November 13th for our 2nd General PTA Meeting of the 2018/2019 school year!

We will run through our agenda items, and then we are thrilled to have a guest speaker give a special presentation. Olive parent, Meribeth Cassidy, who is also a Licensed and Certified Occupational Therapist, will discuss social-emotional learning and collaborative problem solving, and how it relates to the way we look at and address behavior in children.

New to this meeting is a child care service provided in collaboration with Hersey High School National Honor Society. Be sure to sign up if you’d like to utilize this service! https://goo.gl/forms/fBOXjx8i6ERCW0fI3

It’s a holiday party!

Grab your spouse, grab your friends or just come and meet some new people at our PTA holiday party!

Join us for a little holiday cheer on Thursday, December 6 at 7 pm at Rolling Green Country Club.

$20 includes one drink ticket and a variety of appetizers. We’ll have a private room to jingle and mingle before the holiday craziness begins.

Buy your tickets here: https://my.cheddarup.com/c/oms-pta-holiday-party

Hope to see you there!

Megan Puzen and Sarah Galla

Please join your OMS PTA friends on Fri, Nov 30th, 7 – 8:30pm for a fun-filled night of Bingo! Admission is a non-perishable food donation! Kids will win prizes, families will have fun together, and we’ll be helping our community friends stock up those cupboards for the holidays.

Please join in the volunteer fun using this Sign Up Genius link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA8AA2BA5FF2-bingo

Please contact Kristine Spina or Nina Shamoon with any questions.

Thank you for generous donations for our Just Jump fundraising activity!! For the second year, this fundraiser was a huge success, raising over $6,000 for the PTA.

The money raised will be used to fund many of the PTA’s programs, clubs and activities for the students. We also want to thank our two P.E. teachers, Mrs. Pusateri and Mrs. LaRoe, who helped make this event successful and fun for all of the OMS students.

THANK YOU to the Olive community!!!

The Box Tops have been counted up and the classroom winners are……

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The first Activity Night will be next Thursday, November 8th for our Kindergarten and 1st grade Owls. Jack the Magic Man will be entertaining our youngest audiences from 6:30-7:30 in the Commons.

Event is free and no pre-registration is required. Unfortunately, due to size limitations, siblings in other grades are not permitted so please plan accordingly. Students should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

We hope to see you there!

Please join your OMS PTA friends on Fri, Nov 30th, 7 – 8:30pm for a fun-filled night of Bingo! Admission is a non-perishable food donation! Kids will win prizes, families will have fun together, and we’ll be helping our community friends stock up those cupboards for the holidays.

Please join in the volunteer fun using this Sign Up Genius link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA8AA2BA5FF2-bingo

Please contact Kristine Spina or Nina Shamoon with any questions.

Volunteers Needed for Hearing/Vision Screening

Our school nurse, Mrs. Henrique, is in need of 3 parent volunteers for 2 sections (total of 6 volunteers) of Hearing and Vision screening on November 8th. The times will be 9:05-12:15 and 1:10-3:30. Parent volunteer’s will assist with walking classes to and back from screening. Please email olivepta@gmail.com if you are interested and available to help out.

PTA Meeting November 13 – Guest Speaker!

Please come join us Tuesday, November 13, for our second general PTA meeting of the 2018/2019 school year! We are so excited that we will have a special guest speaker, Meribeth Cassidy, Licensed and Certified Occupational Therapist and Owner of Step Forward Therapy Inc., who is also a fellow OMS parent. Meribeth will be presenting on a topic that is relevant to anyone who has children in their lives (yes, all of us!). She will discuss the way we look at and address behavior in children. Below is a description of the presentation.

Social-Emotional Learning and Collaborative Problem Solving are advantageous to all. Both children and adults can benefit from redefining behavior and working collaboratively to solve problems. Looking at behavior through a different lens can afford adults the opportunity to build relationships and teach children to problem solve, providing them the tools for life long success.

A little more about Meribeth:
Meribeth Cassidy is passionate and dedicated to helping children succeed. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in Movement Science, and she received her Masters of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Throughout her career, Meribeth has worked in a variety of settings including schools, hospitals, nursing homes and private practice. Meribeth specializes in the assessment and treatment of disorders affecting a child’s ability to function in their daily lives. Her expertise is with children ranging from early childhood through young adults with a variety of challenges including, but not limited to: autism spectrum disorders, Down Syndrome, developmental delays, cerebral palsy (CP), sensory processing disorders, behavior and social issues and impulsivity.

We hope to see you on the 13th!

Spirit Wear will be delivered some time during the week of October 29th – November 2nd. Look for it in your child’s backpack.

Thank you for supporting our spirit wear sale!

Everyone should have received their child’s pictures by now. Please know class pictures will be arriving soon.

If your child was absent or needs a retake, please send back your picture packet to school by Friday, 11/2/18. Retakes will begin promptly in the morning after announcements. Please Note: PM Kindergarten retakes need to be done between 9:00-11:00 am.

Please contact Nina Shamoon with any questions.

Due to the overwhelming response, the October Art Club meeting is FULL! We had to limit to the first 20 responses. Don’t worry, we will be sending out a new sign up the first week of November for the November lesson!

We are excited to announce that the One Book One School program has begun this week. Families are invited to read the book Wishtree together during the months of October and November.

We are very grateful for the support of our membership, because as a result of this generous support, Olive PTA was able to purchase a copy of the book for each family. The books were sent home with the youngest child of each family on Friday, October 12th.

Additionally, a reading schedule and letter explaining the program were tucked inside each book. For more information about the program, please visit the OMS LMC website: https://olivemarystittlmc.weebly.com/one-book-one-school.html.

Preorder your 2018-19 yearbooks by October 31st and save 10%! Go to https://www.treering.com/purchase?PassCode=1014636724843184. Your username and password are the same as previous years. Add a yearbook to your cart for each student. The 10% discount will be applied automatically at checkout.

Our PTA took home a membership award along with the top award, Outstanding Honor Unit Award for 2018! This all happened at the District 37 Illinois PTA Awards Dinner on Monday evening.  PTA District 37 currently consists of 62 local PTA units in the northwest Chicago suburbs, including all of the District 25 schools. Thank you for all of your time, effort and contributions to make Olive PTA so successful!

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