If your committee’s plans for the year have changed and you need to adjust your budget, please let Sarah Van Huis know no later than January 31. A budget amendment will be presented at the February PTA meeting.

Congratulations to the Reflections participants who have moved on to Region! All Reflections pieces moved from Local Council. 14 pieces have moved on to Region! We will keep you posted on those that move on to State.
Congratulations to the following Region participants:

• Adelaide Galla – Visual Art, World of Heroes
  
• Charlotte DeRosa – Literature, True Heroes
  
• Vivienne DeRosa – Literature, Heros Every Day
  
• Devin Joseph – Literature, Heroes Around Me: Book 2 of Silliness and Laughs
  
• Varun Joshi – Literature, Hurricane Matthew
  
• Vivienne DeRosa – Photo, Not Just Play
  
• Madelyn Eidle – Photo, My Hero, Annie
  
• Laina Halley – Photo, In the Shadows of the Heroes
  
• Serena Joseph – Photo, Saving Zebras
  
• Vivienne DeRosa – Film, Real Friends
  
• Charlotte DeRosa – Dance, Be a Believer
  
• Vivienne DeRosa – Dance, We Are All Warriors
  
• Vivienne DeRosa – Music, Heroes Every Day
  
• Carson Holt – Music, Infinity War

Come join us Thursday, February 7th for the first PTA meeting of 2019! Our Nominating Committee will be voted in and we will also have a guest speaker, fitness expert and trainer, Molly Siegel (who also happens to be an Olive parent)!

Meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the OMS Commons, and all are welcome.

Help us welcome our littlest Owls and their families at Kindergarten Registration on January 23 from 4 pm to 6:45 pm.

Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044AADAE22A02-kindergarten

Olive Mary Stitt PTA is seeking nominations for officers to serve for the 2019-2020 school year. Executive positions for nomination include:

• Co-President
• 1st Vice President
• 2nd Vice President (Ways & Means)
• Treasurer
• Secretary

Each term is for two years.

If you or someone you know is interested in serving Olive Mary Stitt in one of the above positions, please complete this nomination form.

You may also complete this form to submit nominations.

Time to put OMS Parents to the test! Who will be the smartest of them all? Join us for Trivia Night on Saturday, February 2nd to find out! The ADULT-ONLY evening will include a generous raffle table, brain-busting trivia, and prizes. There will be a cash bar and you may bring your own food, decorations and tableware. You are also encouraged to dress up and decorate your table in your favorite theme, whether it be sports, television show, movie, or decade! This is optional, but there will be a prize for the best theme table! Grab your team of 8, pick your team name and register today! Deadline is Friday, January 18, but SPACE IS LIMITED.

This event is SOLD OUT!

Just to keep everyone in the loop, Skating Night will be moved to April 25th, 2019. We are in the process of securing a location, so stay tuned!

It’s 2019 so you know what that means…. It’s almost time for our February Box Tops for Education Challenge!

The challenge will run from Monday, February 11th
thru Friday, February 15th.

Each box top turned in means 10¢ for our school. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot but they add up fast! In October we earned over $500!

Please send in all non-expired, trimmed box tops, with your child, to school anytime during that week. There will be a bag in each room for collection. The top class in K-2 and 3-5 will get to choose a prize.

Any questions – please contact Gina Groberski

Join us for the January session of Art Club! We have an exciting project planned so plan to get messy and creative!

Sign-up link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZiQ4wHXNTWtfHx1P-LU0JWh8rOJPnnWhToqpFgFvmt5UamA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Dear Parents: just a reminder – here are the planned “no school” days:

• Monday, January 21st – Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday
  
• Monday, February 18th – President’s Day
  
• Thursday, March 21st – Parent Teacher Conferences
  
• Friday, March 22nd – Parent Teacher Conferences
  
• March 25-29th – Spring Break
  

Do you want to be part of the team that welcomes our littlest Owls? Then step up to co-chair the 2019/2020 Kindergarten Mentoring Committee! The description is below. Contact olivepta@gmail.com if interested.

Mentoring/Kindergarten:

• In early January, committee should meet to discuss upcoming Incoming Kindergarten registration that is usually the 1st week of February. Discuss playdate dates for May, June, July, and August, class t-shirt order and any other business. Develop forms for the February meeting to be included in all the packets (sign up form and class t-shirt order form). Talk to the school office about making a brief presentation at the meeting in February to welcome.
• Establish an email list from the interest form completed by the parents. Communicate with incoming Kindergarten families reminding them about upcoming playdates, screening days, and form due dates, and offer to answer any questions that they might have.
• Design a class t-shirt with the incoming class year on it. Find a place to get the t-shirts and coordinate the order.
• Coordinate approximately 4 playdates.

Mark your calendars for our PTA’s Council Celebration of all SD25 Students who participated in the “Heroes Around Me” Reflections Art Program!

You are invited to join us on Wednesday, January 30th February 6th*, to celebrate creativity and recognize local students!

*Due to weather concerns, this event has been postponed until Wednesday, February 6th at Windsor Elementary School in the Commons.
Please RSVP via the following link – https://goo.gl/forms/nTfPsiSy92jH94RP2

We look forward to seeing everyone on Jan 30th @ 7 PM! Feb 6th at 7 p.m.  Please note, artwork will be on display and certificates will be handed out starting at 7:15 p.m. Students are welcome to take their artwork home with them at the end of the evening.

For those of you who ordered class photos, please know that there was an error in printing and we had to have them all reprinted. They should be arriving soon.

Thank you for your patience.

Support the AHC-PTA Scholarship Fund!

The Arlington Heights Council of PTAs (AHCPTAs) together with its nine school Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) in School District 25 (SD25), uses donations and the money it raises each year to help college-bound local seniors pay for college-related costs. Scholarships are available to worthy students through an application and blind selection process. The amount of scholarships awarded each year depends solely on the amount received through local sponsorships and the support of our SD25 PTAs. Donations $500 or greater will receive an invitation to the Scholarship Award Event.

Donations are tax deductible! ACHPTAs is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Thank you for your generosity. Every donation helps give the gift of education!

Link to donation page: https://sd25.revtrak.net/PTA/AH-Council-Of-PTAs/?fbclid=IwAR2GB6AejWfRpCeFs8uAsES_D3Y9GGcGLV_tDGLNcnqGsFIZfkZ6PYxcCM4

STEAM Night is coming to OMS!

A fun, hands on, interactive night for ALL (young and old) to explore the world of Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math! Local businesses and community members will be present to show how STEAM is in our everyday lives.

The 4th Grade concert will be held during the night as well! This event is open to all OMS families but to help us with our supply counts for some of our stations please let us know if you think you will be attending.

This is just for a rough head count nothing more. Attendance survey: https://docs.google.com/

Send one baby photo of your choice – During the celebration, we will play a photo montage slideshow that will include baby pictures, 5th grade pictures, and other candid photos from the students’ 6 years at OMS. Please baby pics ASAP, we can get started on that piece of the DVD.

Send pictures to Kim Hemminger at kjhemminger@gmail.com 

Please submit any receipts before December 19 to get reimbursed before break. Receipts can be emailed directly to olivetreasurer@gmail.com or put in the binder.

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.