PTA Newsletter-May 2021

 PTA Donations: 

We were so excited to present a $12,000 check to Mrs. Hill for our school. Another $12k was invested in chrome book carts, chrome books & iPads at the start of the year; and in addition to this, we have given grants to our teachers three times this year totaling over $20k. We were able to replace the teacher's refrigerator upstairs, maintain our beautiful Bear Garden, help feed our science lab animals, and love our teachers and staff with meals throughout the year.

Learning Packets:

To make sure that the skills built over the last nine months remain sharp, the PTA, with guidance from our wonderful teachers, have updated our online Summer Learning Packet for each grade level. Participation is OPTIONAL. The packets are available at any time on our blog.

1. Choose the grade level that your child will be in next year.
2. Print it off.
3. Have your student complete the work over the summer.
4. Return the packets to your child's new teacher during the first week of school, no later than Friday, August 20.

Students who complete their Summer Learning Packet and return it to school by August 20 will be rewarded with a prize from the PTA.

School Supplies:

We need your help unloading pallets and distributing school supplies this summer. Please consider volunteering! 

Unloading Pallets: Tuesday, June 29 7am-8am

Distributing Supplies to Classrooms: Tuesday, July 27 7am-11am

Uniform Resale: 

Donate your gently-used uniforms to the PTA today or tomorrow. The uniform container is in the foyer by the front office. Skirt hangers are needed at this time. 

Uniform Drop-Off - July 16-17 from 11:00 am- 1:00 pm. 
Uniform Sale - July 23 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. All prices are as marked.
Half Price Day - July 24 from 10 am – 12 pm. This includes $10 Grab Bags* (Plaid excluded).

All events are in the Bear Cafeteria. We need your help to make this happen!

Please consider volunteering for the Uniform Resale here.

Congratulations to our 5th Graders! 

Teacher Appreciation 2021

Teacher Appreciation 2021

May 3^rd-7^th

We are so thankful for our teachers, specialists, and support staff at Bear Exploration Center. They have all gone above and beyond this year to ensure our students are getting the best education! Below are some suggestions of how we can show our appreciation whether your child is in person or learning virtually.

 

Monday, May 3rd

Shower your Classroom Teachers with Flowers 

Bring your teacher their favorite (or any!) flower.

Draw your teacher a flower, take a picture & email it to him/her.

Tuesday, May 4th

Specials for our Specialists

Bring a Specialist their favorite (or any!) flower.

Draw a Specialist a flower, take a picture & email it to him/her.

or

Deliver a gift card to a Specialist with a note of encouragement.

Send a digital gift card to a Specialist’s favorite place & email a note of encouragement.

                                                                       

Tamara Bibbins, Mary Bonikowski, Carlos Booker, Sarah Fell, Loretta Harrison, Claudia Hoit, Laurie Houlditch, Mary Ellen Lanier, Amy Marshall, Jessica Myers, Sueanne Reynolds, Hannah Tremlett

 

                                                                                      

Wednesday, May 5th 

Treat your Classroom Teachers 

Deliver your Teacher’s favorite snack or candy with a note of encouragement.

Email a note or video of encouragement to your Teacher.

 

                                                                       

Thursday, May 6th

Surprise the Lunchroom*, Environmental* and Office Staff

Bring a Lunchroom, Environmental or Office Staff their favorite (or any!) flower.

Draw a Lunchroom, Environmental or Office Staff a flower, take a picture & email it to him/her.

or

Deliver a gift card to a Lunchroom, Environmental or Office Staff with a note of encouragement.

Send a digital gift card to a Lunchroom, Environmental or Office Staff & email a note of encouragement.

                                                                                          .       

Principal, Elizabeth Hill; Vice Principal, Brandi Moody; Secretary, Carol Lasater; Bookkeeper, Amy Robinson; Office Assistant, Janie Hodgson; Lunchroom Staff*: Olivia, Mr. Tony, Alecia, Callie, Linda  Environmental Workers*: Tony Green, Wanda, Jessica    

  

 

Friday, May 7th 

Classroom Teacher’s Favorites

Deliver a gift card to your Teacher with a note of encouragement.

Send a digital gift card to your Teacher’s favorite place & email a note of encouragement.

 

*If you want to send something to the lunchroom staff or environmental workers please email it to bearexploration.pta@gmail.com

 

Teacher’s Favorites on the Bear PTA Facebook page in the files section, or on the Bear Exploration Center PTABlog

PTA Newsletter-April 2021

Book Fair

The Book Fair is here!

Open in person (only for face to face students) from April 26-30 at school from 8am-4pm.

Open online from April 21-May 4!

More information on our Bear PTA Facebook page & through the link below.

https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=bearexplorationcenter

 

PTA Executive Board Slate

On behalf of the nominating committee, I, Mindy Craymer, submit the following slate of names for the 2021-2022 Bear PTA Officers:

 

Whittington Black - President

Kelly Stanton - 1^st Vice President Membership

Anna Wamsted - 2^nd Vice President Fundraising

Stephanie Williams - Secretary 

Lee Johnson - Treasurer 

Jill Sexton - Communication 

 

If there are any other nominations, please verify with the nominee and submit the recommendation to me, Mindy Craymer, at mac9-6@juno.com by Friday, April 30, no later than 11:59 p.m.

 

School Supplies

School Supply order forms for the 2021-2022 school year will be available this week.  Watch for an email from your homeroom teacher & Mrs. Hill. If you are experiencing an economic challenge, please let us know; and we will work with you to create a payment plan. They will be due by Monday, May 10th.  

 

Teacher Appreciation 

We still plan to recognize our wonderful teachers, administration, lunchroom staff, and environmental staff during the week of May 3^rd -7^th.  More details will be coming middle of this week.

French Toast Uniform Store

 Bear Families we have an exciting announcement. While you can purchase your student uniforms from a variety of stores, we have a new opportunity to support our school along the way. French Toast offers quality items for our students with fabulous discounts throughout the year.

***Please note that the plaid and new dry-fit items will be available June 1, 2021.

We are excited to partner with French Toast to bring you an easy way to shop online.

Note: This does not replace our Bear Store.

https://www.frenchtoast.com/schoolbox/schools/bear-exploration-center-QS44FBY

Alabama Broadband Connectivity

 Starting this month, MPS students who qualify for free and reduce lunch will receive wifi vouchers to assist with internet connectivity for distance learning. 

The program, Alabama Broadband Connectivity (ABC), will provide the wifi vouchers. The vouchers will help cover equipment and service costs for high-speed internet service from the fall through December 31, 2020. Families who qualify will receive a letter via mail to their home address. Please make sure all contact information for your student is correct. For more information, please visit https://abcstudents.org. 

Discount Card Time!

Ahoy Mateys! It’s Discount Card time! 

Orders open today, August 20 and run through September 17. 

 

Discounts cards are our main fundraiser for Bear PTA. We ask each student to sell 5 cards or “Just Give” $50. This is how we are able to put thousands of dollars back into our AMAZING school!  These cards sell themselves with discounts from so many fabulous, local businesses. 

 

Like everything else, this will look a bit different. Here are your options for selling and buying: 

 

1) Pre-order Discount Cards through Bear PTA Memberhub Store to be mailed* directly to you for $11 each. 

 

2) Pre-order Discount Cards through BearPTA Memberhub Store and choose a designated pickup date** for $10 each. 

 

3) On Site Purchasing with Cash/Check at any Pickup Day and receive your cards immediately.  

 

4) Just Give to the Bear PTA through the Bear PTA Memberhub Store in any amount if selling cards isn’t something you’d like to do. 

 

*Pre-ordered cards will be mailed each Tuesday beginning August 25th. 

**all pickups will be in the Bear Carpool circle on Churchill Drive. 

 

Pickup Dates and Times:

Wednesday, August 26th 5:30pm-6:30pm

Saturday, August 29th 8am-9am 

Sunday, September 13th 3pm-4pm

Wednesday, September 16th 5:30pm-6:30pm

 

Pre Order Discount Cards at the Bear PTAMemberhub Store today! 

 

https://bearexploration.memberhub.store

There are great PRIZES to motivate students to sell even more. 

The top seller will win a Nintendo Switch Lite.

Every Student that sells 25 or more cards will be entered into a drawing for a $200 Visa Gift Card.

For every 10 cards sold, the student will get his or her name entered in a drawing for a $100 Visa Gift Card.  (If you sell 30 cards, your student's name will be entered in the drawing three times). 

Bear PTA Newsletter-May 2020

This school year started as an Adventure, but who knew then what an adventure it would be! We are excited to be finishing strong even in the strangest of circumstances. There are a few important PTA items we would like to highlight as we conclude this school year.

Summer Packets
You can print off optional Summer Packets for rising 1st-5th graders on the Bear PTA Blog.  Students who complete their upcoming grade level packet and return it to their new teacher by August 14th will receive a prize from the PTA.

Click here for Summer Packets

Alabama PTA

The Bear PTA placed 1st in the Alabama PTA Family-Partnerships Awards in the Sharing Power Elementary Division! We were also recognized for 22 consecutive years of 100% PTA participation!

PTA Executive Board Slate
The following slate of names for the 2020-2021 Bear PTA Executive Officers was submitted in our April newsletter. No other nominations were submitted to the Nominating Chair, Mindy Craymer; so the 2020-2021 Slate stands as is:

Anna Wamsted-President
Traci Schell - 1st Vice President Membership
Kelly Stanton -2nd Vice President Fundraising
Whittington Black-Secretary
Lee Johnson-Treasurer
Jill Sexton-Communications

A huge thank you to Mollye Gunnells who has served as the Treasurer for the past two years.  She has spent many hours volunteering and will be greatly missed on the Executive Board. Thank you Mollye for all of your hard work!

Uniform Drop Off and Resale
The Uniform Resale is tentatively set for July 23-24. We will most likely have uniform donation drop-off days prior to that. More information on this will be posted to our PTA Facebook page.

2020-2021 Bear’s Prepaid School Supplies
The deadline for the prepaid school supplies was May 7th. For anyone that has not paid, please go to https://bearexploration.memberhub.store/ and pay online.

2020-2021 Floyd Middle Magnet’s (Rising 6th Graders) Prepaid Classroom Supplies   
Fifth graders attending Floyd Middle Magnet School next year can pay the mandatory classroom supply fee online at https://fmms.memberhub.store/  or mail checks or money orders (no cash) made payable to FMMS PTSA to P.O. Box 11185, Montgomery, AL 36111.

The fee is $25 per student, due by June 16th. This $25 classroom supply fee includes Clorox wipes, tissue, hand sanitizer, paper towels, and a Floyd Planner.

Students will receive a classroom supply list from their individual teacher prior to the start of school, e.g. notebooks, calculators, composition notebooks etc. This information will also be listed on the Floyd Middle Magnet School page, as well as, the PTSA page. Stay tuned…and Welcome to FMMS!

Virtual Teacher Appreciation Week
Thank you to everyone that virtually loved on our teachers last week with notes, videos, pictures, and gifts!  The PTA recognized how much we appreciate our teachers by delivering Awesome Teacher yard signs to their homes. Every teacher, administrator, and staff member also received a gift card from the PTA.  Thank you all for loving our teachers so well!

Congratulations 
Congratulations to one of our wonderful 5th grade teacher Mrs. Geesey on her retirement.  Bear has been blessed to have her as teacher.  Thank you for teaching so many of our students. You will be missed!

Congratulations to all of our 5th graders that are leaving Bear this year.  We know Bear has set a solid foundation for your continued success.

We hope that everyone has a safe summer, and we look forward to seeing so many of you in August!

Always there has been an adventure just around the corner—and the world is still full of corners. –Roy Chapman Andrews