Parent Teacher Club

District 31 benefits from a high level of parental support and involvement through the Parent Teacher Club organization. The Parent Teacher Club sponsors programs to raise money for the schools. A major purchase made for District 31 recently was the furniture for the Field School Auditorium Lobby. In the 2008-09 school year, the PTC provided $18,000 in funding for wall mounted projectors and document cameras to expand the use of technology in District 31 classrooms.

Parents volunteer in the classrooms and provide a range of supplemental activities including cultural arts assemblies, author-in-residence presentations, the Parent Publishing Center, an art appreciation program, the Wildcat Times Student Newspaper, holiday parties, teacher appreciation activities, graduation celebrations and much more.

To volunteer or for more information:
Call: PTC voice mail phone line at 847-832-2291
Email: ptc@district31.net

Parent Teacher Club information flyer (pdf)

Parent Teacher Club information flyer in Korean (pdf)

PTC News Notes

PTC Executive Board for the 2010-11 School Year

The PTC Executive Board for the 2010-11 school year includes: (seated left to right) Holly Anderson, Vice President of Publicity and Communication; Ruthie Rosenberg, Past President; Suzanne Kahn, President; Leslie Resis, Treasurer; (standing left to right) Amy Tamul, Vice President of Fundraising; Lisa Chron, Corresponding Secretary; Carolyn Welch, Vice President of School Activities; and Maria Kotsinis, Vice President of Community Resources.

PTC Meetings

All District 31 parents are encouraged to attend Parent Teacher Club meetings throughout the school year and get involved! PTC meetings are scheduled on the following dates:

Thursday, September 10: 1:15 p.m., Winkelman School

Thursday, October 8: 1:15 p.m., Winkelman School

Thursday, November 12: 1:15 p.m., Winkelman School

Thursday, December 3: 7:30 p.m., Field School

Thursday, January 14: 1:15 p.m., Winkelman School

Thursday, March 11: 1:15 p.m., Winkelman School

Thursday, May 6: PTC Appreciation Coffee, 1:30 p.m., Winkelman School

Click on the link above for a pdf copy of the minutes.

PTC Offers "Be Seen Going Green" Reusable Bags

For an order form and more information about tote bags and lunch bags, click here.

PTC Spirit Wear

For Winkelman and
Field spirit wear
information and
order forms,
click here.

PTC Blizzard Days for Winkelman and Field

2009 Halloween on Ice

Check out the Halloween on Ice 09 Photo Gallery: click here

Photos courtesy of Scott Rosenberg and Leslie Berkowitz

New! One Cause Fundraising Program

Box Tops for Education and Tyson A+ Fundraiser

Dear Parents,

As we all know, with Box Tops for Education and Tyson A+ programs, the small change can really add up. That’s why Winkelman School is continuing its commitment to education by collecting Box Tops and Tyson labels. General Mills brands include but are not limited to: Cheerios, Huggies, Pillsbury, Cottonelle, Pillsbury, Ziploc, Hefty, Avery, Betty Crocker and many more. Clip out the entire official coupon and send it in. Tyson products can either come in a bag or box. Just look for the labels with the “Project A+” symbol. Please send in the entire Tyson label. Please have your children bring all of their “Box Tops for Education” and “Tyson A+” labels to school. Designated boxes have been placed in each classroom.  Help us turn dimes and quarters into dollars for Winkelman. Click here for list of products (pdf)...

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. Thank you for your support.

Gabrielle Skaja
glskaja@comcast.net
Box Tops and Tyson A+ coordinator

Cartridge Recycling Program Earns Money for Schools

District 31 families can help the Parent Teacher Club raise money for the schools by bringing empty inkjet and toner cartridges to the school offices for recycling. The PTC receives $1 for each cartridge recycled. In addition to the school program, the recycling company offers a corporate partnership program in which recycling bins can be located in parents’ offices. The cartridges would be collected once a month and the money would be sent to the schools. For more information, call the PTC voicemail phone line at 847-832-2291.

PTC Committees

Art Enrichment
Art Enrichment is an educational program sponsored by the Parent Teacher Club. Parent volunteers teach kids about fine art, artists, artistic terms, and lead a short hands-on art activity in the classroom. Art enrichment days are scheduled with the classroom teacher 6 times per year based upon a mutually agreed time. Lesson plans, reproductions of the art pieces, and art supplies are provided. A short training session is available in September for volunteers who wish to attend. Typically, there are 2 volunteers per classroom so that each volunteer teaches 3 times. Each lesson along with the art activity takes approximately 45 minutes. This is a fun way to get into the classroom and get to know the kids. Volunteers can sign up through the PTC.

Bingo Night Committee
The Bingo committee is responsible for planning and executing the PTC's major Spring fundraise -- our family Bingo Night. We usually have about 7 core volunteers for the Bingo committee to help with the key areas of Food, Publicity, Ticket Sales, Prize Collection, Raffle Program, Bingo equipment and Volunteer Coordinator for the event. At the event, we generally ask approximately 20 people to help with the food service, prize verification and raffle sales. The volunteers on the main committee will have a few planning meetings beginning in November and running through the event in late February. We rely on strong volunteer support to make sure Bingo continues to be a fun family social event and a great fundraiser for District 31.

Blizzard Committee
The Dairy Queen Blizzard committee distributes order forms to the students, collects & tallies the orders, distributes tickets, and on the blizzard day at school heads up the distribution of the ice cream during the lunch periods that go from 10:30am to 1pm. Room parents are assigned one month per grade level to assist with distribution during the lunch periods. The PTC offers the DQ Blizzards once a month (except December & March).

Box Tops/Tyson A+ Committee
Our committee sends out information to parents in the beginning of the school year, especially to new families - including a list of GM and Tyson products that include box tops and coupons on them. We run a contest throughout the school year to encourage coupon collection. We collect box tops from classrooms and submit them to General Mills and Tyson throughout the year - once in the Fall (holiday break), end of February, and the end of school year. We solicit food establishments to donate food for each winning classroom’s party. Every box top or Tyson coupon we collect is money raised for our schools.

Gardening and Grounds Committee
This committee is comprised of a few volunteers who plant seasonal flowers and plants in the pots outside the entrances to both schools.

Hospitality Committee
This committee is made up of parent volunteers who are willing to supply baked or bought goods for the benefit of the Winkelman and Field School teachers, approximately 4 times per year. The dates are during the November and March conferences, Valentines Day and Teacher Appreciation Day. The chairs of the committees contact you via e-mail prior to the date and suggest an item they would like donated from you. It is usually a dessert item, but they may also ask you for other varieties of food items, such as an appetizer or salad. The chairs of the committee will also let you know where and when to drop off your items.

NCDAA: Northbrook Citizens for Drug & Alcohol Awareness (Just Say No)
Volunteers will attend approximately 8 meetings from October thru May. There is also a representative from each Northbrook school district at these meetings. There is an annual poster contest amongst all Northbrook grade schools (K-5). Posters are displayed in many Northbrook businesses and in the Northbrook Star and the Communicator. In May there is a Walk and Rally which starts at United Methodist Church and ends at St. Norbert's Gym with Jr. High bands, a DJ, and recognition to the contest winners. It's a good way to meet people from other Northbrook schools as well as showing support for this positive community wide program.

Parent Publishing Committee
The publishing committee turns student written stories into “published books.” Volunteers proofread students’ stories as well as interview these young authors for the “About the Author” page that is included in the back of every book. Interview questions are provided for you. Additional volunteers type the stories, create title pages, and book covers. Teachers sign their classes up for interview and proofreading times throughout the year, so that by year’s end, every Winkelman student has a published book. We meet with the kids 3 times a week from 9-11am from the end of November through April. It is helpful to have at least 20 interviewers that will cover our scheduled meeting times. You can sign up for weekly, bi weekly or monthly time slots. We ideally like to have 20 typists on our list. Typists are needed to help with the final stage of the publishing process. Story typing is done on volunteer’s personal computers. Rough drafts will be sent home to the volunteers via their children. Typing is a great way to volunteer if your daytime schedule is busy.

Welcome Committee
The Welcome Committee greets new families to our district, answers questions, and explains how the PTC works in hopes that new families will want to get involved. Prior to Welcoming Day, the committee makes 50-75 copies of the District 31 newsletter. On Welcoming Day we set up tables with refreshments and the newsletter in the front foyer of Winkelman School. Custodians will help with the table and coffee set up. The committee is available that day to give school tours and answer any questions. The committee is also available to answer any questions that may arise for new families throughout the school year.

The Wildcat Times
The Wildcat Times is an after-school program sponsored by the Parent Teacher Club. It provides a non-competitive environment where fourth and fifth grade students write a newspaper for the benefit of the entire school. Each edition offers students a fun and rewarding opportunity to develop their researching, interviewing and writing skills. In addition, they learn other components of a school newspaper including logo design, illustration and using digital photography to enhance the articles. As a Wildcat Times staff member, they are responsible for attending scheduled meetings and completing their chosen assignment within the constraints of a deadline. They may work independently or in collaboration with others. The Wildcat Times is published three times during the school year.

Winkelman Book Clubs (Formerly known as Junior Great Books)
We are making a big change to the old Junior Great Books program this year by updating the literature and trying to make reading exciting for the kids. Children in each grade will have the opportunity to join the Winkelman Book Club and will meet one day a week during their lunch/recess for several weeks with parent volunteers. The children will be assigned readings from a popular chapter book and should come prepared to discuss their reading and do some fun activities based on the story. We will be looking for many (15 –20) parent volunteers interested in leading the book club groups through out the school year.