The WashinGTon News

Washington GT Magnet Elementary School 1000 Fayetteville Street Raleigh, NC 27601 919-856-7960 September March 2013 2012 Edition Edition

From Your PTA Leadership

Dear Washington Families, Spring is on its way! Lace up your roller skates and mark your calendar for School Spirit Night at Jellybeans on Saturday, March 9th. Its always a lot of fun hope to see you there! We also have an advocacy program coming upon March 21st at 7:00 pm we will be hosting a parent workshop on Internet Safety. We hope that you can come and learn some very helpful ways to keep your child safe while on the internet. Spanish translation will be provided at this workshop. We had a wonderfully successful Math and Science Night and Science Fair. Congratulations to all students who participated by entering Science Fair projects. We thank all the families who came out to support this annual tradition and experience classrooms full of learning and fun! The magnet application period has closed for next school year, and we have learned that Washington was the most requested magnet school by far! A vibrant PTA is a part of what makes Washington a great school, so as we enter the homestretch of another school year, wed like to take this time to ask you to contribute to the PTA as a volunteer. Volunteers are immeasurable to the success of the PTA. We are looking for volunteers to fill positions for the upcoming 2013-14 school year, so please take a look on page 4 to see how you can help. We encourage you to take a moment and consider what you can do to help make our school the best it can be! Amy Jones, PTA President Stephany Enders, PTA Vice-President docteachjones@me.com stephany.enders@gmail.com 919-602-7577 919-830-6031

Newsletter Information
Would you like to see your information printed in the April 8th edition of the newsletter? Just send your articles/pictures by March 29th to Ann Overton at aoverton@aoassociates.net. Editing for space/content may occur. Thanks for contributing!

PTA BREAKING NEWS

Snacks Needed for Camp Morning Star
Snacks are needed for after school tutoring and Camp Morning Star Saturday sessions. If you would like to donate any items, please drop them at the office with Jean Sculati's name on them. Thanks!!

Inside this issue:

Upcoming Events Program Recaps Kudos/Thank Yous Yearbook info Open PTA positions School Transport. Reading Programs Calendar 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 5

EOG Proctors Needed

EOG Schedule for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade: Tuesday, May 21st Reading Wednesday, May 22nd Math Wednesday, May 29th 5th Grade Science Proctors are needed for all days. You cannot proctor in the same grade that you have a student. Proctor trainings will be held on May 7th at 9:30 and 3:00. May 9th at 9:30, May 10th at 12:00noon, May 13th 9:30 and 5:30pm. Please contact Jean Sculati at jsculati@wcpss.net if you would like to volunteer. Please indicate which day(s) you would like to proctor and what training you can attend. If none of the training days work for you we can work out another time. Thank you very much!!

Washington GT Elementary Magnet School Newsletter March 2013

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Upcoming Events
PTA Volunteer Fair
TUESDAY, MARCH 5th, 8:45 am9:30 am
Washington Elementary is an outstanding school, right!?! PTA-sponsored programs including Spelling Bee, Science Fair, Arts and Letters Night, Math and Science Night, Artist-In-Residence, Writer-In-Residence, School Play production, Scholastic Book Fair, IPads for classroom use, Core Curriculum material, new books for the Media Center, Teacher grants, and many, many more ALL contribute to the success of our school. However, we could not do it without the help of many parents involved. We invite you to attend the PTA Volunteer Fair on Tuesday, March 5th at 8:45 9:30 am so you can explore any interests you have with the PTA. The Volunteer Fair will be followed by the March PTA Board meeting. Feel free to stay and see what goes on. Coffee and snacks will be provided at the Volunteer Fair. Questions? Contact Stephany Enders at 919830-6031

School Spirit Night at JELLYBEANS!

SATURDAY, March 9th 5:15 - 7:00 pm
Washington will celebrate School Spirit Night at JELLYBEANS in Cary on Saturday, March 9th from 5:15 to 7:00 pm. During this time, JELLYBEANS Super Skate Center will be closed to the public that Washington families and staff can enjoy a private skate and show their school spirit! Admission is $5.00, and includes regular skate rental. In-line or speed skate rentals are $1.00 extra. Parents, siblings and teachers are welcome as well. The discounted admission prices will apply for all, except for non-skating parents and teachers. so

JELLYBEANS public session will begin at 7pm, and you are welcome to stay for no additional charge, as long as you are there before 6:30pm. So put on your Wizard Wear, grab your skates and your family, and join Washington for this fun annual event! JELLYBEANS in Cary is located at: 1120 Buck Jones Road Raleigh, NC 27606. If you have any questions, please contact Stephany Enders at 830-6031.

Internet Safety Workshop for Parents

THURSDAY, MARCH 21st, 7:00 pm
Branden Madden, Outreach Specialist from the NC Department of Justice will be at Washington for a special workshop for parents on how to help keep our kids safe while exploring the internet. Join us as we learn the risks associated with being online that directly affect our children and prevention tips to keep them safe. The workshop will be held in the Media Center. Spanish interpretation will be provided! A flyer will be sent home with more information.

Courtyard Cleanup Day

MONDAY, APRIL 8th, 8:30 am12:00 pm
On April 8th from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm, volunteers from Lenovo will be coming to Washington to help spruce up the courtyard and other school grounds. This is a great opportunity for us to beautify our school! We need some parent volunteers to help coordinate this event and be team leaders for the Lenovo volunteers. In addition to volunteers, we also need shovels, rakes, and wheel barrows. If you would like to help out with this event, contact Erin Peters at ena_peters@yahoo.com.

Staff Appreciation Week

MONDAY APRIL 22ndFRIDAY, APRIL 26
Every year, the PTA has hosts a Staff Appreciation Week. This year the PTA will be hosting this event the week of April 22nd. The teachers and staff will be treated to several days of pampering in the Wizard Oasis Spa in our newly transformed teachers lounge. The teachers will enjoy relaxing spa treatments and delicious snacks. If you are willing to volunteer for this most appreciated event, please email Kate Graham at katiegrahamnc@gmail.com or Stephany Enders at stephany.enders@gmail.com . We are especially in need of parents with massage, nail or spa experience! As always, we will need lots of parent support for this special event. Each grade level will be asked to donate something to assist, such as snacks, drinks or supplies. Be on the lookout for an email from your room parent with a list of requested donations. Please help us to show our appreciation to our wonderful teachers and staff for all they do for our kids!

Washington GT Elementary Magnet School Newsletter March 2013

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Spelling Bee Recap

On Saturday, February 23rd, the regional Spelling Bee was held at North Carolina State University. Our school winner, Sahil Pontula, spelled his way through many rounds and many hours to be one of the last six contestants out of 92 champion spellers! His sister Arya Pontula, a former Washington student now in middle school, was also one of the last six. The competition included students from Wake, Chatham, Orange and Durham schools. Our congratulations and admiration go out to Sahil and Arya for this amazing accomplishment!

Science Fair Recap

Congratulations to all the students who created science projects to share with us this year. You know we have students with so much talent, creativity, and work ethic when the judges need to interview a LOT of children and can't make up their minds about winners. We sent Pranav Chockalingam (5th), Zoe Willis (4th), and Dante Mobley (3rd) onto regional competition, and Pranav was one of eight kids selected to compete in the NC Science and Engineering Fair on March 12 and 13! Dante won a special award from Water Works for his water-related project. Congratulations to these three kids for their performance at Regionals. Additionally, we awarded "Best Model, Display, or Collection" to Dylan Causey for his hands-on demonstration of calderas, and "Best K-2 Project" to Zoe Willis for her experiment on plant growth. T-shirts this year were designed by Nihal Mohammed and were awarded to the top 3 scoring projects in each grade. If your child wasn't present at the award ceremony and is listed below, please contact Heidi Hoopes or Teresa Fortner to receive their shirt.

2012-2013 Washington Elementary Science Fair Winners

Kindergarten Second Grade (ties) Fourth Grade

Kylie Willis
Toby Hoopes Omkar Tharuvesamhi

Alex Mastropolo
Raghav Arun Keshav Varadarajan Sofia Gore Sean Darney

Zoe Willis
Tushaar Jain
Sid Ravi

First Grade

Smruti Patil
Hannah Fredlin Alex Michnowics

Fifth Grade

Third Grade

Pranav Chockalingam
Kimille Leathers
Nikhilganeesh Varadarajan

Dylan Causey
Kevin Pramojaney
Dante Mobley

KUDOS!

GREAT JOB!

THANKS!

WELL DONE!

Science Fair Thank you to all our volunteersthis is a huge event and requires a lot of planning and work during Science Fair. A special thank you to Heidi Hoopes and Teresa Fortner for their tireless efforts at helping our students showcase their scientific talent! Thanks to Amy Liu, Bee Loo, Binita Sura, Divya Jain, Frank Alexander, Hemal Surti, Hirwa Patel, Jayshri Patel, John Twomey, Judy Fredlin, Julie Willis, Kaberi Das, Kristin Jerger, Marina Enslen, Mary Katherine Brewer, Ruthnika, Susan Darney, Tanya Riley, Uma Sankar, and Yan Xu for all of your help and dedication!

Math & Science Night A huge thanks to everyone who helped make Washington Elementarys Math & Science Night
a rousing success! Its always neat to see the kids (and their parents!) so engaged with all the presenters. Thanks again for all you did for our students. Thanks to Tim Hazelhurst, Bill Overton, Sally Hurley, Ms. Hoffman, Julie von Haefen Ruchika Jain, Bee Loo, and Adam Twiss.

Washington GT Elementary Magnet School Newsletter March 2013

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Yearbooks
YEARBOOK SALES GOING ON NOW!
A 2012-2013 Washington Yearbook order form should have been sent home in your Monday folder. ALL ORDERS ARE DUE BACK TO YOUR TEACHER BY MARCH 15TH! Yearbooks are $17 and checks should be made payable to Washington PTA. If you need additional order forms or have questions, please contact Julie von Haefen at julievonhaefen@yahoo.com. Yearbooks will not be sold at the end of the school year, so don't lose out- order yours now!

PTA Open Positions for 2013-2014

The PTA nominating committee is already hard at work filling the open positions for the 2013 - 2014 school year. There are a number of positions/opportunities still available, many of which do not require you to be at the school during the day. A great big thank you goes out to all of the members that have already committed to a position with the board! Listed below are some of the positions that we are looking to fill for the 2013 2014 school year. Please feel free to contact Joel Johnson (writejoeljohnson@gmail.com) or Heidi Hoopes (heidih@gmail.com) if you have any questions or would like to discuss your interest/availability for any of the following: Staff Appreciation Chair & Co-Chair (2 positions) PTA Treasurer PTA Secretary Student Directory Student Picture Day Hospitality Teacher Start-up Funds Math & Science Courtyard Book Fair Chair & Co-Chair (2 positions) Reading Programs Media Center Volunteers Field Day Coordinator Cultural Arts Chair & Co-Chair (2 positions) Science Fair Co-Chair Spelling Bee Coordinator Outside Grants Coordinator

Media Center
Dedicate-A-Book
We are pleased to announce our Library Media/PTA Program called, Dedicate a Book. This is a book dedication program that was started by a Washington parent over 10 years ago in cooperation with Quail Ridge Books. Heres how it works: Media Center librarians choose an assortment of childrens books ideal for our Washington library. The list is published on the PTA website, and copies of the books are available to preview in the Media Center office. Parents can purchase one or more of those books which will then be added to the library collection. A book plate will be put in the front of the book in honor or in memory of an individual for whom you want to dedicate the book. This program is a great opportunity to honor a child, teacher, grandparent, or other loved one with a special book that will be enjoyed and read over and over by our students at Washington. The program will run April 22-May 2nd. Look for more information in the next newsletter.

School Transportation
Potential Express Bus Option for Cary/Morrisville Area
Bee Loo, a Washington Parent, is working with the WCPSS Transportation Department to organize an express bus from the Cary/Morrisville area to and from Washington Elem. Because there are more students in this area attending the school, the neighborhood bus route is getting long. The result is that the departure time for some students is as early as 7:20 am and arrival time home as late as 5:30 pm. An express bus will have only one stop which allows minimal traveling time. We are trying to set up an express bus for the coming 2013-2014 school year. We will propose Davis Drive Elementary for the stop location. With only one stop, the departure time in the morning will be around 8:10 am and arrival time will be around 4:30 pm. If you live in this area and are interested in the express bus option, please contact Bee at loobe@att.net as soon as possible.
Washington GT Elementary Magnet School Newsletter March 2013 Page 4

Reading Programs
completed 10 or more reading logs: KINDERGARTEN- Toby Hoopes (13), Claire vonHaefen (12), Odin Yocum (11), Nuha Ahmed (16), Lauren Cook (23), Zane Foote (22), Lucia Guastaferro (11), Shreyan Kancharia (10), Timothy Liu (11), Isaac Barefoot (29), Addie Beuhler (11), Ani Calhoun (22), Amanda Qiao (11),Lucas Reyes (10), Omkar Tharuvesanchi (15), Sereena Kumar (11), Layla McDonald (11), Gabriella Stolbikova (15). FIRST GRADE- Denali Crane (10), Fritz Enders (13), Mark Everitt (10), Naomi Ito (16), Luke Rodgers (12), Katie Williams (10), Nathan Brueggeman (15), Leah Fine-Carroll (15), Meredith Johnston (10), Sofia Launer (16), Anna Vandelinde (15), Chloe Ari (15), Kanah Boykin (66), Kathryn Brewer (26), Adley Calhoun (38), Sri Dumpala (10), Joshua George (16), Luka Ison (30), kavin Kumaran (11), Ella Melton (16), Annika Moorjani (10), Akhil Narayana (13), Juliete Pittenger (30), Karissa Yeung (23), Jillian Yinger (11), Diego Caban (13),Ezana Enquobahrie (10), Maddie Fisher (10), Hannah Fredlin (25), Nidhi Gandhi (12), Nicole Jackson (20), Mrenaal Jain (10), Maddy Kodey (13), Hannah Liles (11), Alexander Michnowicz (12), Maliyah Morrison (10), Shreya Ravi (15), marcus Wetzell (10). Way to go K-1 readers! Pictures are on the Media Center wall for all of these students. The following classes have achieved 100% participation: Mrs. Baildon, Mrs. Jackson, Mr. Orgas, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Rowell, Mrs. Wilkinson, and Ms. Witkowski. Wed like every K-1 student to receive a participation prize at the end of this years program in May. We know youre reading, so write it down and turn it in! Remember, additional reading logs are available at the Media Center desk, through your childs teacher, and on the PTA website. To print reading logs from the website, first go to the school website at http://washingtones.wcpss.net , click on PTA on the bar at the top, then click the Downloads tab and scroll down the list until you see Books & Beyond Reading Log.

Books and Beyond- Heres this months update on our K-1 readers. The following students have

Book Adventure- The much anticipated Book Adventure Store will be held in the Media Center on April 12th! Students
may take quizzes through Sunday, March 24th to earn a shopping pass for the store. A student must have a minimum of 400 points during the third quarter to receive a shopping pass. A cumulative total of 1200 points since the start of this years program will allow students to shop the 2nd table, and students with 1800 points or more will be able to shop the third and highest table. We encourage each student to set a personal goal and take quizzes regularly throughout the quarter. If you have questions about the PTA Reading Programs or would like to volunteer, please contact Jennifer Wakeford at jswakeford@yahoo.com or 387-8024.

Donations Needed
Our Kindergarten classes are in need of supplies of extra clothing to have on hand for students who may spill or have accidents. You can drop the items in any Kindergarten classroom. We all share to make sure the children's needs are met. We would welcome both boys' and girls' clean underwear and long pants, size 5-8. We also need boys' and girls' shoes, size 11-3. Any shoelaces and small belts, are also appreciated.

WashinGTon Events Calendar

MARCH
T 5 S 9 F 15 Th 21 Th 28 F 29 PTA Board Meeting, 9:30 am Spirit Night @ Jellybeans Early Release Internet Safety Workshop Teacher Workday Holiday
Page 5

APRIL
M 8 T 9 F 19 M 22 Courtyard Cleanup Day PTA Board Meeting, 9:30 am Early Release Dedicate-A-Book starts

Washington GT Elementary Magnet School Newsletter March 2013