Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter

• Final Week: Please Help Us Reach Our Annual Fund Goal!
  
• Annual Fund Spotlight: Gardening & Music
• Straight from the Students: Gardening with Ms. Alexis
• Join Us for ThornChill Fall Festival on October 5!
• Get Cleared to Volunteer at ThornChill Fall Festival!
• Accepting Halloween Costumes and Clothes Hanger Donations For The ThornChill Fall Festival Costume Swap!
• Get Ready to Walk & Roll to School on October 9!
• You're Invited! Artist Reception Benefiting Thornhill Elementary
• Lost and Found Update - Items Now Donated Every Month
• Save the Date - Picture Day is October 3 & 4
• Shop and Earn for Thornhill
• Calendar of Important Dates

Hello Thunderbirds!

There is ONE WEEK LEFT and we have reached 78% of our $220,000 goal with 54% of families participating. A big thank you to those of you who have helped get us this far, we appreciate your generosity! For anyone still on the fence, WE NEED YOUR HELP TO REACH OUR GOAL! It is only through contributions like yours that we can afford special programming for our kids like PE, Library, Gardening, Music and more.

We would love to see 100% of our families participate, with any amount counting toward participation. Your donation goes directly to the classroom and is critical in maintaining the quality experiences we want for our students. Help us get one step closer to our goal of $220,000 - CONTRIBUTE TODAY!

And remember, ANY CLASS with 80% participation or higher by September 30 will receive a POPSICLE PARTY! So just how close is your class to earning those delicious popsicles? Here are the number of donations each class needs to get there!!!

If you've already submitted a company match (thank you!), please send us an email to annualfund@thornhillschool.org to let us know that you've completed the process, as we aren’t always notified automatically.

Did you know that you can double or triple your contribution by taking advantage of your corporate match benefit? Many companies, both large and small, will match donations made by their employees. To see if your employer offers matching gifts, visit Charity Navigator to submit a match request online. It only takes five minutes.

Here are some companies that offer a matching program: Disney, Pixar, AAA, Expedia, Google, Pandora, Kaiser, Genentech, PayPal, Apple, Salesforce, Williams Sonoma, Microsoft.

Thank you for your continued support!
Selam Brown, Stefani Miller, Deepa Lounsbury & Annie Sartor
Annual Fund co-Chairs annualfund@thornhillschool.org

Hello Thunderbirds,

This week we want to highlight two very special programs at Thornhill, Gardening and Music!

Plant, Grow, Learn: The Thornhill Gardening Program

Several years ago, we were lucky enough to add Alexis Lavine-Moore to our team. She has (literally!) brought new life to our Thornhill garden and our campus. Our TK/K/1st grade students have access to biweekly garden instruction. They are getting those little fingers dirty and learning so much in the process.

Students in grades 2-5 also have access to gardening activities upon their teachers' requests, with the PFC covering the cost of any additional hours. Each grade’s class schedule is thoughtfully designed to ensure every student benefits from at least four enrichment sessions. While the types of classes may vary by grade, all students receive a well-rounded learning experience at Thornhill.

Your contribution to the Thornhill Annual Fund directly supports incredible programs for our student community, such as Ms. Alexis and the Thornhill Garden Program.

The Living Jazz Children’s Project (LJCP) provides jazz rooted performing arts education. Their mission is to transform lives through music. The organization is dedicated to designing education and performance programs that empower children and adults, inspire creative growth and unite diverse communities. Fundamental to its work is the understanding that music is an inherent component of a healthy and vibrant society and the belief that every child and adult has the right to accessible, high quality music immersion experiences.

THE CURRICULUM

Rhythm Component

Students in LJCP rhythm classes learn about each other’s cultural backgrounds and demonstrate unity and respect for one another in their class and onstage. Our teaching artists instruct in their respective specialties, which have included: Body Music, Hambone, Afro Cuban percussion, Puerto Rican Bomba/Xica, South African percussion, and/or Hip Hop rhythm and rhyme.

Choral Component

Students learn how music can be a tool for cultural empowerment and social change. At the end of the term, they perform songs at Oakland’s only nondenominational musical tribute to Dr. King, In the Name Of Love. This event honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and features the best talent that the Bay Area has to offer. LJCP students have the opportunity of a lifetime performing alongside these greats.

Dance Component

Their current dance faculty specialize in forms that are integral to the roots and branches of jazz music traditions. Depending on the instructor, students will learn Afro Cuban or Afro Brazilian folkloric and social dances, or Turf dancing, the prized Bay Area-grown discipline of Hip Hop dance.

Ready to contribute? Great! There are a variety of ways to submit your contribution:

You can double or triple your contribution by taking advantage of your corporate match benefit. Many companies, both large and small, will match donations made by their employees. To see if your employer offers matching gifts, visit Charity Navigator to submit a match request online. It only takes five minutes.

Thank you for your continued support!
Selam Brown, Stefani Miller, Deepa Lounsbury & Annie Sartor
Annual Fund co-Chairs
annualfund@thornhillschool.org

Do you have kids’ Halloween costumes gathering dust in a closet? Consider donating them to the ThornChill Fall Festival Halloween Costume Swap! We are gathering your clean, kid-appropriate (nothing too scary or gory, please), and good-condition Halloween costumes for the costume swap. Families will be able to browse the costumes at the ThornChill Fall Festival on October 5 and take home a new-to-you costume FOR FREE!!

Help us make this a success by dropping off your costumes in the bin in front of the school on Wednesday, September 25! If you use the car drop-off lanes on those days, you can hand your bagged costumes to the traffic volunteers who will make sure they get to the bin for you. We are also taking clothes hanger donations! Drop those off in the bin or with the traffic volunteers. Questions? Contact christinefry@gmail.com.

On Wednesday, October 9, Thornhill is participating in the annual International Walk & Roll to School Day! This event encourages our entire school community to help reduce greenhouse gasses by rolling, walking, biking, carpooling, taking mass transit, or using other non-motorized transportation for one day. Last year, half of our students participated by walking or biking to school!

Did you know? Travel to school accounts for approximately 21% of all morning traffic, and transportation is responsible for nearly 40% of the Bay Area’s harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

At Thornhill, we understand that more than 30% of our families live outside the immediate neighborhood, making it difficult to leave the car at home. We recognize that for many, walking or biking may not be feasible. This event is not mandatory and if you are able to participate, we are offering the option to park near Montclair Park or off of Thornhill Dr and join the walk or roll train led by one of our organizers, Marine Thibault. We’ll send out instructions on where to park and meet to make it easier for you to participate.

And if your schedule requires you to head straight to work after drop-off, don’t worry—drive up to the gate and be part of the celebration! All students, regardless of how they arrive at school, will be included in this environmental initiative.

Mark your calendars, share the news with your workplace, and get ready to walk and roll with us!

Friday, September 27, 5-7 PM

Piedmont Center for the Arts

On stage, classical pianist Ellen Walker

Benefiting Thornhill Elementary

Beverages and bites. Family friendly. More information here.

Hurry and find your lost items at school! Lost and Found items will now get donated at the end of EVERY month.

With a history of lost items at school that are never claimed and already 3 racks full of clothes one month into the school year, we've put in place a cycle of donations every month with Oakland nonprofit City Team. Starting September 27 and every subsequent month, the school's Lost and Found will be donated to City Team, which redistributes to the homeless and people in need. Don't wait, keep track of your student's items, label them, and find them at school if they're left behind. A ParentSquare announcement will be sent out to parents monthly, one week before donating the items from the Lost and Found.

Picture day is scheduled for Thursday, October 3 and Friday, October 4. Look out for an announcement from your teacher regarding which day your child will attend. If your child is absent on those dates, don't worry, a make-up day will be scheduled.

ShopRaise Partnership
We’re also excited to introduce our new partnership with ShopRaise this year! Whether you're buying daily essentials like groceries, shopping for home office furniture, or booking your next trip, the ShopRaise app allows you to raise funds for Thornhill Elementary while you shop online—all at no extra cost to you. Now, your everyday shopping can directly support our school. Click the link here to learn more and download the app.

The Thornhill Parent-Faculty Club (PFC) eNews team publishes this weekly newsletter each Tuesday in the school year to communicate school, PFC and OUSD news, events and information. We all have plenty of other things to do, but please try to read it weekly, as it will more than likely answer most questions you have about what’s up at school. Information about how to submit to the newsletter is below, but you can reach out to us at any time at newsletter@thornhillschool.org.

Email submissions to our Newsletter Chair, Annie Sartor, at newsletter@thornhillschool.org by 8 p.m. Thursday for approval—nothing sent after this will be included in the following week’s newsletter unless there are extenuating circumstances. It’s fine to include text in the body of the email with links and no formatting, and attach photos preferably as 150 x 150, 72 dpi JPG or GIFs only (not embedded in email or word file). Submissions may be edited for spelling, grammar, brevity and clarity. Advertising and items not related to Thornhill are not accepted, as we need to keep the newsletter focused on need-to-know info for the community.

THANK YOU to everyone who submits articles and to PFC Board Members, Teachers, PFC co-Presidents Becky Gonzales and Catrina Vrankovich, VP of Communications Jill Evans, and Principal Steve Daubenspeck, member of Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).