Hello Burns Park Families,
We are looking forward to seeing our Penguins show off their costumes during the Annual Burns Park Halloween Parade on October 31! Thanks to everyone who has donated costumes! The next PTO meeting will be Tuesday, November 10 at 7 p.m.
HALLOWEEN CLOSET VOLUNTEERS
The Halloween Closet will open Monday morning for Penguins-in-need to pick out their costumes. We still need volunteers to set up and clean up the closet, as well as help kids shop. We need volunteers between 8:45 p.m. and 1 p.m. Interested? Email your availability to volunteering@bpepto.org and check in at the office. We’ll be setting up in the auditorium.
FAIR OAKS HALLOWEEN WALL FUNDRAISER
Thanks to the generosity of members of our community, You have an incredible opportunity to make a difference—all it takes is for you to carve a pumpkin!
How to Participate: Carve a pumpkin at home, get creative, and bring it to the Fair Oaks Stone Wall (located between Ives Lane and Oak on Fair Oaks Parkway - two streets east of Burns Park) on Wednesday, October 30 or Thursday, Oct. 31 by 3 p.m.
Each pumpkin on the wall will raise $50 for Burns Park Elementary PTO and Community Action Network (CAN). Bring as many pumpkins as you can carve—let's aim to surpass last year’s total of 303 pumpkins and reach 400 this year!
Come See the Magic: The pumpkins will be lit on the evening of October 31. Visit Fair Oaks Parkway on Halloween night to see the wall glowing in all its splendor! After Halloween,on Nov 1st, please return and pick up your carved pumpkin.
Thank you for making a difference! Questions? Contact fundraising@burnsparkpto.org.
CALL FOR YEARBOOK PHOTOS
It is time to start putting together some of our favorite memories to the Burns Park Yearbook and we need your help to make it AWESOME! Please share any photos you may have of your Penguins in action during Burns Park activities using this link.
To upload photos: click on the down arrow to find your child’s grade folder. No identifiers are needed, but please tag your photos with the classroom’s “Teacher name – event.” For example: “Hane – Lansing Field trip.” Please do not include Rec & Ed sport photos.
Here are just some of the activities we'd love to capture in the yearbook:
Have questions? Contact us at yearbook@bpepto.org.
LOST & FOUND
The Lost & Found is currently overflowing with coats, shoes, rain boots, water bottles, books, and more. Our wonderful volunteer took photos that you can view here. Please come claim your family’s lost items weekdays from 8:15 a.m.-4:15 p.m in the hallway between the library and the gym. If you’re coming for a Halloween party or parade, it’s a great time to find a lost item. Unclaimed items will eventually be donated.
IMMEDIATE VOLUNTEER NEEDS
The Burns Park Community is only made stronger by it’s volunteers and we have some immediate needs:
Disability Awareness Workshop Chairs - We need 1 more person to help organize our annual one-day, hands-on workshop for Burns Park 4th graders offering students insight into living with physical disabilities. The chairs will coordinate with the representative from the Disability Network Washtenaw Monroe Livingston and Principal Bullock to set a date for the event. They will work with the Volunteer Coordinator to recruit volunteers to manage the many stations that make up this important workshop. The stations, equipment and directions are provided by the Disability Network Washtenaw Monroe Livingston. They will help prep volunteers in advance to assist students.Contact volunteering@bpepto.org for more information.
Library Morning Helpers - Rachel Erdstein, our building library/media specialist, is collecting all due library materials first thing in the morning. We need a core group of 4-5 volunteers to regularly check-in and shelve materials just after drop off from 8:45-9:15 am. If you are available and willing to help sign up here.
Walk & Talk Coaches - Walk & Talk is an optional lunch recess activity where students in grades 1-5 can choose to walk or run together around a specified loop in Burns Park. For miles completed, kids earn "toe tags" they collect on a chain and wear proudly! Coaches are needed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during lunch recess to organize and distribute student lap cards, keep track of laps completed, and distribute toe tags. Sign up here.
AAPAC BOARD OF EDUCATION CANDIDATES FORUM
The Ann Arbor Parent Advisory Committee (AAPAC) for Special Education is hosting a Q&A forum for the Board of Education candidates on Monday, October 28, at 7 p.m., via Zoom.
This forum will take the place of our November family meeting.
Log in here at:
6:15 – 7 p.m. Individual parent conferences with AAPS Office of Special Education (OSE) Administrators will meet with parents for up to 10 minutes on a first-come, first serve basis. Log into the main Zoom meeting and you will be matched with the OSE Assistant Director based on your child’s school or program to meet in a breakout room so conferences can remain private.
7:00 – 8 p.m. Main Program AAPS Trustee Candidate Forum There are 4 open seats on the AAPS Board of Education this election year, six candidates for three 4-year terms and one candidate for a 2-year term. Each candidate will have the opportunity to answer questions about educating students with disabilities in AAPS. Please come hear what the candidates have to say, and VOTE by November 5!
BOARD OF EDUCATION CANDIDATES RESOURCES ONLINE
Can’t make the AAPAC Forum? The Parent Teacher Organization Council (PTO-C) recommends you check out this CTN Ann Arbor recording of the Ann Arbor Board of Education candidates on YouTube. Each of the candidates were given 3 minutes to share their platforms and the video is less than 20 minutes long!
JOIN THE PTO DIRECTORY
The PTO website has a Directory that allows families to create an account and share contact details and class information, enabling parents to reach out to each other within class, grade level, etc. to set up playdates and otherwise foster a sense of community. Our current PTO directory is opt-in, meaning that families have to proactively create an account on our site to join. Returning families need to update their class assignments and new families should definitely sign up!
Sincerely,
Kory Zhao, PTO President
Michelle Ding, PTO President-Elect
