Dicken Family Newsletter
4.19.24
Principal's Corner
Upcoming Dates
Saturday, April 20 8:00am - 9:00pm Science Olympiad (WESO) @ Pioneer High School
Friday, April 26, 3:48 - 4:45 WESO End of Season Pizza Party - Dicken MPR
Thursday, May 2 12:45 - 2:45 - 5th Grade Transition Day - Slauson
- Tuesday, May 14 6:00 - 7:00 Y5/Kinder Spring Concert
- Wednesday, May 15 1:00 Dismissal, Early Release
- Monday, May 20 12:30 - 3:00 4th Grade Disability Awareness Workshop
- Tuesday, May 21 6:30 - 7:30 5th Grade Instrumental Concert
- Monday, May 26 - Memorial Day - No School
- Friday, May 31 - Ice Cream Social
- Monday, June 10 Field Day
- Tuesday, June 11 6:00 - 7:30 5th Grade Promotion
- Thursday, June 13 Last Day of School - Half Day
Earth Week
Thanks to our Student Lighthouse Team for organizing a Spirit Week to promote awareness of our environment and Planet Earth!
Monday, April 22nd - Earth Day - Dress like a gardener / farmer.
Tuesday, April 23rd- Wear green to support plant life.
Wednesday, April 24th- Wear blue to support clean water.
Thursday, April 25th- Wear something that has been reused or recycled.
Friday, April 26th- Dress as an (endangered) animal to support those we share the earth with.
All week:
School wide “Plant Drive” –Students are welcome to bring in plants to support our Earth Week initiatives, helping to make our school more green. They can be plants for the school/ classrooms, seeds for the garden, clippings or seedlings from plants at home; any donation will work! Seeds will be planted in the Dicken garden.
Outdoor Dumpsters
A friendly reminder that our outdoor Recycling Dumpster is for school use only. Thank you!
The Character Effect
This week, students learned about the character strength of "Mindfulness" which is one of the tenants TCE is based on.
All the Best,
Heather
PTO News
Message from the PTO President
Happy Friday Dolphins,
Good luck to all of the Dolphins who are participating in WESO tomorrow! We'd like to thank all the coaches and volunteers who have worked so hard with our Dolphin students this semester to get the students ready for tomorrow's competition.
The PTO met last week and approved a parent organized Teacher & Parent night out on May 19th, so be on the lookout for more information about that in the near future.
Here are a few ways that the Dicken PTO has used the funds we've raised this year to help our school this week:
The PTO is also recruiting for next year's board. If you are interested in learning about the open positions please reach out to me or other current board members to find out more about these roles. Descriptions on each of the open positions can be found below.
If you have any questions about these initiatives, or how you can be more involved in the Dicken PTO, please do not hesitate to reach out!
Hallie
—Hallie Jewell, Dicken PTO President
Want to connect with other parents and caregivers outside of school?
Click here for the Dicken Elementary Parents Facebook group.
Find information about events, meeting minutes, and more on the PTO website at www.dickenpto.com
Upcoming PTO Meeting Dates
All PTO Meetings take place on the third Thursday of each month from 7 - 8:30 pm via Zoom.
All Dicken community members are welcome to attend PTO meetings.
Click here for the Zoom link.
Thursday, May 16
Thursday, June 20
More Helpful Links:
** Join the PTO! **
We have the following openings for the 2024-2025 PTO board. If you are interested in one of these positions or learning more, please reach out to Hallie at dickenptopresident@gmail.com. All PTO Board members are expected to attend (via Zoom) our monthly PTO meetings on the 3rd Thursday of the month.
President-Elect (1 opening):
The PTO President is responsible for overseeing the work of the officers and committees of the PTO to promote community, fundraising and volunteerism. The PTO President also creates meeting agendas and facilitates PTO board meetings. This position will shadow the current President for one full year before taking over for the 25/26 and 26/27 school years.
PTO Treasurer-Elect (1 opening):
Responsible for the financial accounting aspects of PTO. This position will shadow the current Treasurer for one full year before taking over for the 25/26 and 26/27 school years.
Secretary (1 opening):
A great role for a new Dicken Parent or one who wants to learn about the PTO Board! This involves attending all PTO meetings and taking minutes during the meeting. You also create the Dicken Directory at the beginning of the school year.
Hospitality (2 openings):
This is a great position for you if you love planning, hosting and spreading joy for all Dolphins! You will also get to meet a lot of people and develop a deeper understanding of (and relationship with) the Dicken community. You can expect a lot of activity in September-October leading up to the Pumpkin Patch and April-May leading up to the Ice Cream Social. For these beloved events, you can just follow the playbook or add your own unique spin! And you'll be massively supported by volunteers on the "day of." Other ongoing responsibilities include: regularly stocking the teachers' lounge snacks and occasionally organizing catering for staff luncheons. Historically, this position has been co-chaired by two parents.
Fundraising Chair/Co-chair (1 or 2 openings):
The fundraising chairperson is responsible for helping the PTO board reach our fundraising goals for the annual budget. The Fundraising chair oversee the Read-a-thon (and assist the Dash chair) which are the two major fundraising efforts for the year. The fundraising chair is also responsible to facilitating smaller fundraisers throughout the year, like Community Nights Out.
Enrichment (1 or 2 openings):
The PTO Enrichment team works to bring a variety of valuable programs to the school that enhance the curriculum and provide a culturally enriching experience for our Dolphin students. The enrichment team plans assemblies, Super Science Day and other events throughout the year. For the last two years this position has been co-chaired by two parents.
Save the Date: Dicken Ice Cream Social
Save the date for this year's Dicken Ice Cream Social!
Friday, May 31
5:30 - 7:30 pm
Watch this space for more details!
Original Works Gallery: Open through 5/11
We have exciting news! Our Original Works Online Gallery will remain open through 5/11.
You can continue to place orders during this Late Order Phase of our program.
PLEASE NOTE:
Orders placed during this time period will arrive after the main order, no promised date.
Keep in mind, the products make great gifts for any time of the year!
Thanks so much for your support of our amazing art program!
How to order:
- Visit the Original Works site.
- Enter school code Dic
- Search gallery using the teacher or title (provided on the order forms sent home in backpack mail: example: Dic012)
- Order by clicking the image of the product you want to order.
- Please note: you will need the 6-digit student code provided on the order form sent homd in backpack mail.
- All orders are processed and shipped to the school for distribution.
Dicken Garden News
What’s Happening in the Garden
Weeding, weeding, weeding! We are also adding soil and amendments, repurposing materials to build trellises and protection for plants the bunnies like to eat. And there are some cool weather crops we can plant for a spring harvest! Recess gardening is during lunch recess on Fridays. Parents, let me know if you can help supervise.
Student volunteers wanted to start seeds indoors.
We are looking for student volunteers to start seeds at home for transplant into Dicken Garden. All you need is a sunny window. You will be provided with seeds, soil, container, and instructions. Starting our own seeds allows us to push back our harvest date , so there is more to pick when school starts in the fall. We’ll be starting peppers, tomatoes, celery, broccoli, brussels sprouts, eggplant. Almost everything else will be sown directly in the garden in May or June.
Recess Gardening on Fridays!
Students will get a chance to garden during their lunch recess! Every Friday (weather permitting) and perhaps some other days we will be bringing groups of students into the garden. If your student is interested, please be aware that they may get dirty on gardening days, and dress accordingly. getting dirty. We are always looking for volunteers to help with recess gardening, if you are available let us know!
Contact Anne at amcerickson@gmail.com if you’d like to help!
Stay informed by joining the Dicken Garden What’s App Group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gv8MVaJ7rYi1OLjd4jGM8y
Mabel's Labels Fundraiser!
Support our Fundraiser - Dicken Elementary PTO
Buy Mabel's Labels waterproof, durable labels to help reduce classroom mix-ups and keep your items coming home!
Use code: BTS10 for 10% off your purchase
Search Dicken Elementary PTO (Ann Arbor) on the Mabel's Labels website for a portion of your purchase to go directly toward our school!