Dear VPE Families,

August 2024

To all our returning families, welcome back and to all our new families a big welcome! We are so

happy to have everyone here! My name is Kim Lucas, and I am the current PTA president. I am

the mother of three kiddos, Avery (6th grade-SMS), William (4th grade-SCAPA) and Connor (4th

grade- VPE). I'm honored to be serving my second year as your PTA president! I've been

working with the PTA since my oldest started here at VPE.

As this new school year begins, we ask that you support the PTA and our school by joining the

PTA. By joining you are not committing yourself to any volunteering or meetings, you are just

becoming a member of our local and national organization that works to support the school and

the children. Through the PTA we help give the students access to special programs,

technology, additional resources, and fun and enriching events.

We also have many volunteer opportunities throughout the year. In the coming weeks a

volunteer form will be going home with your child and will be posted on the PTA Facebook site.

Indicating and interest on that form won't commit you to anything either- but will let us know to

keep you informed on those events. All our events rely on volunteers to make them happen.

There are numerous ways to get involved and help. We can find something to fit everyone's

schedule and skill set!

The PTA would like to thank you in advance for your support! We are here to serve the students

and families. If you have any questions or ideas, please reach out. Follow our Facebook page

for the most up to date information!

Thank you,

Kimberly Lucas

VPE PTA President

kimlucaspta@gmail.com

Amy Kaper is a Lexington native, married 14 years to her best friend Matt. Their two children Haley (9) and Ty (7) attend VPE. They keep her active shuttling between soccer, baseball, basketball, and track. Their family also includes two dogs and three cats. Amy is a dental hygienist, and Matt works for the Lexington Police Department as well as a member of the United States Air Force. She loves to read, cook, play games, and travel with her husband and children. amy.kaper86@gmail.com

Once upon a time, I was director for education and training with a local family distributing company. I spent 15 years there until I recently took on a new role as “lead parent.” Now my days tend to run together, and consist of finding ways to keep my kids busy enough to avoid knock down drag out arguments, about who hit who?

With my new role as stay-at-home mom, I filled some of my time with volunteering at the school. Last year I participated in the PTA, helping with Teacher Appreciation and as a Homeroom parent. My time volunteering gave me a newfound admiration for what our schools handle day in and day out.

I’m excited to participate further with the PTA to support our kids at Veterans Park Elementary in my role as your Fundraising board member for 24-25! I will be working on the two big fundraising events we have every year. Boosterthon, which is going to raise money for a new scholastic bookroom in the library, and the fun fabulous Art’s Night! Make sure to holler at me… oh my name is Trisha Atcher! Looking forward to meeting you at the events. trishaaatcher@gmail.com

Lisa Amick is a former middle school mathematics teacher of 10 years who is now a mathematics education professor at UK. She has two children that attend VPE. Maverick is in Ms. Dickenson's 1st grade class and loves playing baseball at Southeastern and Benett is in Ms. Waters's 3rd grade class and is a competitive gymnast at Agility. Lisa likes traveling, tacos, and driving her kids to 100 activities so they can live their best lives. lisa.amick@uky.edu

We’re only ONE week away from kicking off our Veterans Park Fun Run fundraiser! We’re looking forward to having fun and building community together to reach our fundraising goals.

Get an overview of our fundraiser by clicking HERE!

Here is the Key Information to help you during the fundraiser:

Fundraising Goal: $80,000

Fundraising Item: Scholastic bookroom - What is that? Makes finding the perfect book for small-group sessions a snap with its proprietary search technology and designed to support effective student implementation.

Kickoff Date (in school): 08/22/2024

Event Date (Fun Run): 08/30/2024

All donations will be collected through our fundraising platform: MyBooster.com

Veterans Park Elementary loves our volunteers! Be on the lookout for a Volunteer Interest Form. This just shows interest in learning about what's needed for these events and does not commit you to anything. Please fill this out and put it in your child's book bag or you can email AshleyDDelucia@gmail.com with your volunteer interests. We're asking everyone to let us know WHERE and How they'd like to help. As, they say, it takes a village, so we're hoping you'll jump in and help when and how works best for you.

Remember the PTA is only as strong as it's volunteers.