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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Creative Olive students in grades 2-5 are invited to come to our first Art Club meeting. Art Club will meet the last Tuesday of each month from 3:35–4:45 pm. Each meeting will be an independent exploration of a wide variety of art experiences. Parent volunteers are welcome (no art experience required).

Sign up here. Space is limited.

UPDATE: Deadline Extended!!!  Submissions are now due Friday, November 2, 2018. 

What? – There are seven different categories: visual arts, photography, literature, dance choreography, film, music and special artist (for students meeting ADA definition of disability). In addition, children can enter into the Theme Search contest to select next years theme for Reflections .

When? – Submissions are due in to Olive by October 26th, 2018  November 2, 2018.

Where? – The Olive front office.

Who? – All students from Pre-K through 12th grade may enter as many pieces as they would like.

Contact Kim Hemminger or Leena Joshi with questions.

Entry rules and official entry form for the Reflections Contests

Entry Form for the Theme Search Contest

Rules for each category:

1. Visual Arts Rules
2. Special Artist Rules
3. Photography Rules
4. Film
5. Literature Rules
6. Dance Choreography Rules
7. Music

Our annual Box Top challenge will take place from October 22nd – 26th. Box Tops can be found on items you use everyday from Ziploc bags to boxes of Kleenex and everything in between! Each one is worth 10 cents and they add up quickly! Any money that we collect goes right back to our school! If every child at Olive collected just 2 Box Tops per month for the whole school year, that would add up to over $1200!!

Just for clipping a label off of something that you were going to buy for your house anyway!

1. Clip
2. Save
3. Send to School, in a baggie labeled with your child’s name, during our 2 Box Top Challenge weeks (October & February)…

It’s that easy! Oh and the 2 classrooms (K-2 & 3-5) that collect the most will get to vote on a class prize with their teacher! Sooooo….let’s get clipping! Clipping Box Tops is cool! Let’s earn $ for our school! boxtopsforeducation.com

The Owl Way – “Warm the Nest” Coat Drive begins Monday, October 15 and ends Thursday, November 15.

Please begin to collect child/adult coats & winter gear for our October to November “Warm the Nest” service project. New or clean gently used items such as coats, snow-pants, boots, scarves, mittens, gloves, and hats will be accepted.

Beginning October 15, items can be placed in the large box marked “The Owl Way – Coat Drive” located in the commons. Let’s show how much OMS cares about those in need in our community! Please email Lianne Paterson or Amanda Noascono with any questions.

The PTA’s Activity Nights are scheduled for 11/8 (Kindergarten and 1st Grade), 1/10 (4th and 5th grades) and 3/7 (2nd & 3rd grades). These events are free and will be held in the OMS Commons. The shows will be from 6:30-7:30. 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. More information regarding each show will be shared as we get closer to each event – please mark your calendars for now!

Thank you to those that made our House Hop a successful fundraiser this year! We appreciate the more than 150 people that attended! Thank you to Melissa Tuescher for helping get things started and recruiting hosts. Thank you Tiffany Brown for coordination help and Prabhath and Nilima Nannisetty for passing out invitations. Very special thank you to Jen Ortman for all the printing needs including name tags and invitations. Most of all thank you to our amazing hosts: David and Jessica Nienhueser, Laura and Brian Polese, Sarah and Trideep Das, Chris and Rachael Hooker, Satish and Yeulanda Degala, Jeff and Chavon Thune, Jon and Andrea Patrick, Brian and Megan Carlson, Mike and Kristin Johnson, Dan and Kate Glynn, Chris Jones and Mary Beth Canty, Bryan and Melanie Varrato, Michael and Sheraleen Thompson, Nate and Alicia Sather, Sankrant and Dimple Reddy, Mike and Karyn Paciorek, Mel and Becky Kleist, Bob and Carrie Donovan, Steve and Erin Sencion, Will and Jen Ortman, and Bill and Angie Frye.

With themes of Oktoberfest, Havana Nights, Red Carpet, Casino, 1/2 Way to St. Patrick’s Day and College Party, everyone was sure to have a great time!

If you are interested in hosting next year please reach out to Megan Kerpec at megan.kerpec@yahoo.com to get on the list. Thanks!

Olive students in grades K-5 who are interested in chess are invited to join the Chess Club. All levels are welcome — from beginner to experienced player (we’ll teach you the rules!).

Chess Club will meet from 3:35 – 4:35 pm on the following dates (Tuesdays): October 23rd, November 13th, December 4th, January 8th & 29th, February 19th, and March 12th. Each meeting is an independent lesson; attend as many as you can. Parent volunteers are welcome during our meetings (no Chess experience required).

Sign up here. Space is limited.

In previous years, all PTA members received paper PTA Membership cards. This year you will be receiving an email from “Olive PTA Dues” with a subject line of “Receipt of Parent/Guardian Dues” which will contain a link that will allow you to print off your PTA membership card. Expect the email in the upcoming weeks!

In an effort to give everyone a voice, Olive PTA is rolling out the ‘Parent Voices‘ form in which you can send over comments, questions, ideas or suggestions. These can be suggestions for speaker topics at meetings, comments on what you like or how to improve. This is even an opportunity to suggest a discussion on an issue that you feel might be of interest to the community. You can leave your contact information or submit anonymously. This is you school community, and we want to help make it the best it can be, so let us hear from you!

Last call for Spirit Wear! There are samples in the commons on display. Please use this link: https://www.headsupapparel.com and enter in Olive to check out all of this year’s styles and order online. Sale ends on Friday, Sept 28th. If you have any questions, please contact Becky Hany or Stacey Esposito