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St. Joseph PTF Newsletter
August Edition
Welcome back, Hawks!
This is going to be a fantastic year at St. Joe's! The PTF has a lot of fun planned this school year.
The Back-to-School Pool Party was a great success! The students always enjoy swimming and seeing their friends before the start of school!
The Freeburg Homecoming Parade is August 19th. If you want to join us on the float, we still have some spots available. Please send an email to the PTF if so!
Our teachers reported back to school this week. We are so thankful for our teachers & staff at St. Joe's. To welcome them back, we partnered with The Coffee Pot next door to provide them with some delicious, caffeinated beverages and sweet pastries! Thank you to the St. Joe's staff for your dedication to our students and school!
Congratulations to Annie W. (Kindergarten) for winning the PTF Summer Reading Program "Ultimate Kid Giveaway Basket!" Annie read over 90 books this summer. That's amazing! Congratulations, Annie! Thank you to everyone who participated! I will send your free Pizza Hut personal pan pizza coupon home with your student soon.
Please look below for more information, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
There's more fun still to come!
-PTF Executive Board
Email: stjosephptf@stjcsil.org
St. Joe's Teacher's Wishlist
Let's help support our St. Joe's teachers by purchasing classroom items from their Amazon Wish Lists. You can find the links to these Wish Lists below. Consider buying something for your child's new, former, and future teachers! Our teachers work hard to make our school great. This is a perfect way to thank them for their hard work!
Ms. Cheryl's Amazon Wish List: https://shorturl.at/hnvJ9
Ms. Tarvin's Amazon Wish List: https://shorturl.at/ruPY1
Ms. Zittel's Amazon Wish List: https://shorturl.at/hsQW4
Ms. Zeveski's Amazon Wish List: https://shorturl.at/tuwB8
Ms. Ogilvie's Amazon Wish List: https://rb.gy/fnu4n
Ms. Lintker's Amazon Wish List: https://rb.gy/107e5
Ms. Thomas' Amazon Wish List: https://rb.gy/osrfv
Mr. Middendorff's Amazon Wish List: https://rb.gy/avng3
Upcoming Events
PTF Meeting: August 22nd at 6:30 pm at the St. Joe's Parish Center
Family Dining Night: August 29th at Village Pizza from 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm
St. Joseph Parish Picnic: September 8th - 9th from 4:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Next PTF Meeting: Tuesday, August 22nd at 6:30 p.m.
Open House Back-to-School Uniform Sale
Our uniform store will be on sale on August 13th, after the Open House! All jumpers and skirts will be buy one, get one half-off. The rest of the store will be a "fill a bag" special. Families can fill a bag of gently used uniforms for $5 a bag. We will have tables set up so families have more room to shop for some more uniform attire.
The Sign-Genius for upcoming PTF Events is here!
Every time your family volunteers at a PTF event, you will be entered into a raffle to receive money for your family's tuition! This year there will be two raffles with a $250 tuition raffle in December and another $250 tuition raffle in May. Your entrance stays good all year long with eligibility to win the second raffle, even if you won the first.
Use the link below to sign-up to be a room parent, a standing committee member, or to help with a PTF function or an in-school event! If you are using a mobile device, please scroll toward the top of your screen, and you will find a drop-down menu to select the different categories. All volunteers must complete the Catholic Diocese of Belleville Child Protection. This certification is free and can be completed online. A St. Joe's staff member will help with the process if you need to meet this requirement.
The Parish Picnic committee has also created a Sign-Up Genius for children's games. The PTF is the sponsor of the children's games. We are still in need of volunteers! The children's games will be held on September 9th. Please consider covering a shift for one of our games! Also, we are gathering new & gently used stuffed animals to use as prizes for the Parish Picnic children’s games. Please place the stuffed animals on the convent porch if you want to donate.
As a reminder, we have introduced new ways to make the PTF volunteering process easier. An executive member will assist in administrative items, including collecting RSVPs, planning, and helping during the event. We also have Purchase Order Forms available to help minimize out-of-pocket expenses.
Please note that as the school year progresses, some of these dates may be subject to change! If this occurs, we will provide an update with that new information.
Thank you for helping the PTF provide an excellent experience for our students!
New Changes to the PTF Volunteer Process
- For upcoming PTF functions, we have implemented new payment methods allowing parents to plan events with minimal out-of-pocket expenses. Parents can complete a purchase request form or contact an executive member; the PTF will help coordinate the rest. We will send these forms to all our parents who are signed up to help coordinate a PTF function in advance, along with the anticipated budget.
- For event coordination, an executive member will be a part of the planning committee for all PTF functions to help with the framework and administrative items. We want our parents to be able to donate their time and creativity more efficiently and effectively.
- The PTF email (stjosephptf@stjcsil.org) will be a point of contact for events to help answer questions, keep track of reservations and perform additional administrative tasks.
We hope these changes will make for a better experience for our volunteers, and we are flexible in adapting to the needs of our family volunteers to make your roles easier. We are grateful for your time and dedication to our school and the PTF. Please let us know how we can help better collaborate with our volunteers!
Vote for Mrs. Zittel!
Please see Eckert's Giveaway Post below to find out how to nominate our kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Zittel! She deserves it!
Eckert's Special Announcement
Calling All Kindergarten Teachers
We are excited to celebrate the 150th year of Kindergarten with a special corn maze at our Millstadt Farm that we cut to honor this celebratory year.
During September & October, we will offer this special corn maze experience for our guests to enjoy. On September 16 & 17, we will donate a portion of our admission sales to St. Louis Public School as the Des Peres School of Carondelet was the very first kindergarten in the US.
In addition, we want to give back to Kindergarten classes and teachers throughout the region. We are offering three additional give-back opportunities. Fill out the form below to be entered for your chance to win.
1. Nominate your favorite kindergarten teacher. We will randomly select one teacher to receive homegrown apples, freshly pressed apple cider and apple pie for the class. (valid up to 40 students)
2. Nominate your favorite kindergarten teacher to enjoy a FREE field trip for the class to our Millstadt Farm. Field trip is valid for up to 40 students and includes one pick-your-own pumpkin for each student and all the fun our Millstadt Farm offers. Transportation is not included.
3. Nominate your favorite kindergarten teacher to enjoy free apples for their classroom. We are donating 20,000 apples to the metro-east in early September.
Anyone is welcome to fill out this form. Please tag teachers, school staff, family members - let's celebrate all the work that kindergarten teachers do and honor them in a small way.
Fill out the form: https://forms.gle/5yHDZpTokwd3HCQZ6
Please note, this is a rendering of what the corn maze at our Millstadt Farm looks like. The corn maze will be available every Saturday & Sunday starting September 9.
Birthday Celebration Packages
Everybody loves celebrating their birthday, and we want to join in. All students will receive a special Birthday Celebration Package provided at no cost to our students to celebrate their birthdays. Additionally, there are options to buy affordable add-ons that the PTF will coordinate to help celebrate their special day. For students with summer birthdays, we will celebrate their half-birthday! Also, if your student has a birthday that falls on a day that is not a school day, we will celebrate them the following school day. More information on the flyer below!
Orders should be made at least two weeks in advance and can be placed through the Google Form link below.
Raise Right Gift Cards
You raise money by buying and using gift cards instead of cash or credit to pay for everyday purchases like groceries, gas, dining out, that morning coffee addiction, and even your family’s summer vacation.
It’s easy—and it works! By using gift cards to pay for every day (and not-so-everyday) expenses, your family can earn over $1,000 each year to use towards your child's tuition.
With 750+ brands to choose from, there is a brand for every household need or wish list. Plus, you can pick from eGift cards, physical gift cards, and reload funds digitally onto existing physical gift cards. It’s instant earning with every purchase. Gift cards from RaiseRight have no activation fees, and they never expire.
These gift cards can be purchased after Mass, on the Raise Right app, or by completing the form attached to the email.
Executive Board Members
Deborah Jollenbeck, Vice President
Sarah Wiskamp, Treasurer
Renee Moeckel, Secretary