Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter

Hello Thunderbirds,

Thank you to the families who have contributed to the Annual Fund - we are moved by your generosity. The Annual Fund is Thornhill’s first and most significant fundraising effort of the school year because its proceeds fund up to 50% of the current year’s operating budget. Your donations provide incredible programs for our students, such as Library, PE, Gardening, Music, SIX teaching assistants for student support and more!

We are at the half-way point of our campaign and have reached 35% of our goal of $220,000 with 27% of families participating.

We are aiming for 100% participation, so - we still need help! While the suggested donation amount is $1,100 per student, we welcome contributions of any size. Please consider supporting Thornhill at whatever level you are able.

The Thornhill PFC’s overall mission is to bridge the gap between district and state funding. The success of the Annual Fund is a collective effort that helps to bring the vision and mission of our school to life.

Ready to donate? Great! There are a variety of ways to submit your donation:

Thank you for your continued support!

Selam Brown, Stefani Miller, Deepa Lounsbury & Annie Sartor

Annual Fund Co-Chairs

annualfund@thornhillschool.org

This week, we’re getting to know our fabulous Teaching Assistants for Student Support (TASS)! At Thornhill, our fundraising efforts help close the gaps left by state and district funding. Recognizing the importance of additional staff for student success, the PFC fully funds SIX Teaching Assistants to support our students.

These Teaching Assistants play a vital role in helping teachers manage classrooms and other tasks, allowing teachers to focus on instruction and addressing individual student needs. This teamwork fosters personalized attention, ultimately improving the quality of the learning experience for all students.

From L to R: Moises Gonzalez, Mariana Moreno-Hernandez, Chelsea Graf, Vicki MIx-Lopez, Ansel Burnama

Moises Gonzalez

I attended Unity High Charter School and Rudsdale continuation here in East Oakland! I am a musician who loves to spend time with family and who also loves playing sports. I’m also very passionate about helping my community, especially when it comes to the upcoming youth of Oakland because I am a product of these roots. I know how important it is to be a figure to those behind us which is why thankfully I am back for my second year as being a part of the Thornhill family! Very excited to see what this year brings.

Mariana Moreno-Hernandez

I am a second year TASS member at Thornhill, supporting teachers and students. A mother of 4 beautiful children, three boys and a daughter. I also have a fur baby named Abby. During my free time I enjoy going on walks and traveling with my family.

Chelsea Graf

Originally an Indiana Hoosier, my husband and I packed our car and headed to California in August of 2016. When I am not playing Lego’s, Barbies, or Magnatiles with my Thunderbirds (TK & 1st), you can find me hiking, wading in creeks, or taking care of my 50+ plants. I love the outdoors, the California sunshine, and exploring this beautiful state with my family. We love animals and veggies so much that we’re all vegetarian!

Rebecca Rivera

Hi, my name is Rebecca, and last year was my first year working at Thornhill as an after school TK teacher. This year I’m excited to work as a Teaching Assistant/Student Support staff member! Outside of work I really enjoy being active, such as going on hikes and just being involved with nature. I also really enjoy cooking and baking; it’s one of my favorite things to do while I binge watch a TV show I really love!

Vicki Mix-Lopez

I am a proud paraprofessional, mom and grandma (Gigi). I have worked as a paraeducator I, II, and III for Washington Unified and as an art teacher for an afterschool program. I enjoy going to the beach, painting, crafting, gardening and watching the local deer. I am returning to my hometown of Oakland to work at Thornhill elementary where I am very excited to help our young Thunderbirds thrive!

Ansel Burnama

Yo! Go Cougars, Wildcats, and Trojans (Vannoy, Creekside, CVHS)! I am a recent graduate of Castro Valley High School and I am so excited to be part of the TASS team! When not at Thornhill supporting teachers and staff, you can find me giving my all at church, the basketball court or with my dogs. I love to hangout with friends and family - preferably over a competitive activity.

Ready to donate? Great! There are a variety of ways to submit your donation:

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

This week, we would like to focus on National Latino Heritage Month with you! This celebration runs September 15 through October 15 and is a chance to celebrate the history, culture and many contributions the LatinX community brings to the U.S. This month was chosen as it encompasses the Independence Days of several Latin American countries, including:

• September 15 - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua

• September 16 - Mexico

• September 18 - Chile
  
  

You may also see this month named National Hispanic Heritage Month. Hispanic and Latino are the two most used terms to describe Americans with Latin American and Caribbean ancestry. You may often see these terms used interchangeably, but people understand and use these terms differently. The term “Latino” is used to describe the diverse geography, heritage, cultural, racial and ancestral ties of people to Latin America or the Caribbean. For many, the term "Latino" also creates room for acknowledging Black, Indigenous, Asian, and other heritages on equal terms with European ancestry. The term “Hispanic”, however, is used to signal a connection to the Spanish language.

If you would like to know more, please click here.

Our school community will be celebrating Latino Heritage Month at our ThornChill Fall Festival on October 5, so if you’d like to volunteer for this fun and meaningful school event, you can sign up here.

Oakland will also be celebrating in style; click here for local events!

¡Feliz Mes de la Herencia Latina!

Please feel free to reach out any time if you have ideas for Inclusion and Belonging at Thornhill. You can reach us at diversity@thornhillschool.org

Thank you!

Inclusion and Belonging Team

Taking care of our Campus through Lessons on Garbology

Last Friday, the Sustainability Team completed waste sorting education across all classrooms. Students are collectively being mindful and responsible when sorting their waste in the classroom, outside on campus, and at lunchtime in the cafeteria. We hope they're bringing this good behavior home, too! Thank you to all teachers for your support in this education! Nolan, my kindergarten student, came home from school last week proudly sharing his lesson about reducing waste through composting, recycling, and Ridwell.

To top it off, all restrooms around the school now have compost bins for paper towels. Way to go on landfill waste reduction, Thornhill!

Open Role Highlight: Food Recovery / Food Waste Reduction Lead 🥕🍑

Are you passionate about fighting food waste and hunger? Thornhill has a surplus of lunches and snacks delivered to school each day and we have an opportunity to redistribute boxes of fresh produce and untouched meals and snacks into our own school community and/or to those in need in Oakland. The sustainability team is working with OUSD to better manage our lunch meal delivery volume and reduce food waste at the cafeteria. Our school has begun to actively monitor what gets eaten by our kids to calibrate the volume of food getting sent each day. Even if perfectly calibrated, we will likely always have boxes of extra food. We are looking for someone to help coordinate this food recovery which includes building connections to the community, ensuring the food is safe (guidelines provided), coordinating a team of rotating volunteers, and working with us to build long term solutions. If you are curious or see yourself in this role, please contact us at sustainability@thornhillschool.org

Mark your calendars!

• Next Thornhill Sustainability & Beautification Team meeting on October 4, 2024 at 5pm at Taps & Takeout. All parents and kids are welcome!

• Thornhill is participating in International Walk 👟 and Roll 🚲 to School Day on October 9.

Thank you,

Marine and the Green Team

The BIPOC Advisory Council (BAC) warmly invites you to our next ThornChill Fall Festival Planning Meeting on Thursday, September 12 at 6:00pm via Zoom.

This is your chance to volunteer, share ideas, and help make this year’s ThornChill Fall Festival - the first official school-wide event of the year - truly unforgettable! Whether you’re a seasoned pro or new to Thornhill, everyone’s welcome. It’s also a fantastic way to connect with other Thornhill families and get involved in our school community. You can log in to the Zoom meeting here.

Meeting ID: 892 5918 1195

Passcode: 562666

We are also excited to let you know that volunteer sign-ups are now available on Konstella! There are many ways to help out if you can, including volunteering your time, donating items and bringing a dish for our very popular Passport Pot-Luck!! You can check out all volunteer options and sign-up here.

Thank you! We can’t wait to see you there!

Konstella is Thornhill’s communications platform for Parent Faculty Club (PFC) announcements and parent-to-parent communication. There are classroom groups, committees, the school directory, a calendar, the opportunity to share photos, and more.

Konstella provides a space for us to reach everyone (like we are doing now!) with information about community events, fundraisers, and other activities. PFC committees need a space to brainstorm and plan, and Room Parents in each classroom need to be able to communicate about class parties, gifts for teachers and other important things. Thornhill families also need to be able to find each other for playdates and other kinds of parent-to-parent communication. Luckily the Konstella directory allows you to not only contact the other parents/guardians in your class, but also to reach other listed families at the school.

ShopRaise Partnership
We’re 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).