HSA NEWSLETTER November 2024

Wow! What an Amazing Race this year! To see our students, teachers, and community come together once again to raise a record-breaking amount of money for Race For Education is so amazing. Race For Education is such an important event for Osborne each year. It is our only fundraiser and the money raised goes back into our school. It pays for field trips, assemblies, field day, t-shirts, spirit gear, classroom crafts and games, teacher luncheons, staff appreciation, grade level projects, recess equipment, back to school picnic and so much more. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making this event a great success once again. Hats off to the Race For Education Committee: Dan Morin, Rachel Morin, Heidi McGurgan, Tracey Hartman, Ashley Stephansky, and Lauren Newlin. They worked tirelessly to make this event great in every way possible.

We want to take a moment and talk about volunteering. Please consider giving even a little bit of time to our school. You don’t have to chair an event or be at the school every day. We just need more people to step up and say that they want to help. We have plenty of parents who like to volunteer for the fun things like classroom parties and field day, but we need help in so many other areas. Please consider volunteering in the lunchroom or library, sign up to bring something to the November Soup and Salad luncheon for our teachers, or email the HSA and find out what we need help with during this time of year. We promise you that anything you do to help make our school even better will fill your heart with joy. We are special community and supporting our school, students and staff is one of the greatest gifts we can give.

As we head into the holiday season, we wish you all the best. Enjoy your family, friends, and traditions. As a reminder, if your family needs help in providing gifts or food for your children please reach out to Leah Lindenfelser for support. She runs an amazing program called Room Full of Heart to help anyone going through a hard time and the HSA is honored to support this program each year. Please know that the program does not disclose anyone’s name. The only person who knows you are part of Room Full of Heart is Mrs. Lindenfelser. If you need support, Osborne wants to help you and we are here for you.

Thank You,

Osborne Home & School Association(HSA)

The 2024 Race for Education raised $62,038. This was the highest amount raised in the history of the Race For Education at Osborne! This money will go towards field trips, assemblies, student rewards, field day, fifth grade picnic, teacher appreciation week, classroom supplies, enrichment activities, kindness week and so much more. Each and every student at Osborne will benefit from the Race for Education.

A huge thank you to every business sponsor, parent and individual who donated. Also, thank you to everyone who donated prizes and their time to the Race For Education. As well as a thank you to the volunteers and teachers who wore costumes this year to encourage our students at the race, we think it was a huge hit! Thank you to our Race For Education Committee - they worked for over six months getting the Race together, gathering donations, speaking to sponsors and organizing race day with the principal and teachers at Osborne. Thank you to Dan Morin, Rachel Morin, Tracey Hartman, Heidi McGurgan, Ashley Stephansky, and Lauren Newlin for all their efforts. Thank you to our teachers and staff who always support the HSA and are continuously appreciative of our efforts. Our teachers always want the best for their students and Osborne. We are so lucky to have such an amazing place to send our children each day. A final thank you to our principal, Mr. Canan, who has been extremely supportive to everyone at Osborne. He ran with students during Race, cheered on students and faculty, greeted parents and helped make the day flow perfectly.

Reminder: there will be no classes for students on the following days in November:

• Tuesday, November 5 – In-service Day – No Classes
  
• Friday, November 15 – In-service Day – No Classes
  
• Monday, November 25 & Tuesday, November 26 – Parent-Teacher Conferences - No Classes
  
• Wednesday 27 Staff In-Service Day- No Classes
  
• Thursday 28- Friday 29: Thanksgiving Break (no school)

Osborne will again be collecting candy to show our gratitude to members of our military currently serving our country. Please consider donating any leftover Halloween candy to our project. Please note that we are NOT able to accept snacks such as cookies, chips, pretzels, etc. Our collection will be held each day, this week only.

Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on Monday, November 25th from 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM and Tuesday, November 26th from 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM. The registration window for conferences opens on Monday, November 11th, at 8:00 AM and closes on Wednesday, November 20th at 11:55 PM. Please note in the comment box your preference for “Zoom” or “in-person” conferences. This link goes live Monday morning (11/11/24): https://www.myconferencetime.com/osborne/

Please email Mr. Canan or your student's homeroom teacher for more information or additional assistance.

Fall Festival Parade and Classroom Parties were a great time! We hope you were able to watch the parade and/or volunteer in your child's classroom. Race for Education funds were utilized to purchase crafts, games, and prizes for every grade level!

Join us at Osborne Elementary on Thursday, November 7th as we explore cultures around the world! Osborne families are invited to the annual Cultural Festival that evening from 6:30-8:00PM. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore various counties and their customs, food, music, clothing, dances, and more! There will also be a special live performance by the Steel City Dragons- you DO NOT want to miss it! The event is free for all families!

If you have any additional questions please reach out to Kristen Beddard at kbeddard@gmail.com.

Osborne's annual Veterans Day Program will be on Monday, November 11th. We would like to cordially invite any veterans and current military members to join us for our celebration that day. The program begins at 10:00AM with a coffee and donut social beginning at 9:15AM.

Veterans and current military members interested in participating in this event should complete the information on the invitation that was sent home with students.

All in attendance should bring a photo identification that can be scanned in order to enter the building. Please arrive around 9 AM as there will be a large number of attendees. Parking will be available on the track starting at 9:00 AM.

Join us on Tuesday, November 12th at 9:15AM for our second Open Meeting of the year. We will continue to discuss our plans for the year and various ways to get involved. We still need volunteers for many committees. If you can only come for part of the meeting, that is no problem. We completely understand how busy schedules are and we truly appreciate you giving us any of your time.

Please note that an RSVP is not necessary and a volunteer badge is not required to attend the meeting. Younger siblings are welcome. Future open meetings are scheduled for Tuesdays January 7, March 11 and May 13.

We have teamed up with Original Works to offer a very special online only program. In the beginning of November your child(ren) will bring home their Original Works Order Form with a snapshot of their original artwork and detailed ordering instructions. The order deadline will be November 21st. I hope you are excited as we are to see the truly fantastic artwork our children have been creating!

Please reach out to Ashley Stephansky Original Works Parent Coordinator at mcmastera@gmail.com if you have any questions.

REMINDER: If you responded that you would be interested in making either a monetary or Target gift card donation, we are kindly asking that all of these donations be returned to Osborne by Friday, November 4th. We are, unfortunately, unable to accept checks due to the fact that we have no checking account to cash these donations. We greatly appreciate your donations of cash and Target gift cards. If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please contact Mrs. Gentile (gentilej@qvsd.org), Mrs. Ferguson (fergusonj@qvsd.org), or Mrs. Lindenfelser (lindenfelserl@qvsd.org). Thank you for your support and continued generosity. This project would not be successful without you.

This year, our service project at Osborne will be focused on reducing, reusing, and recycling. We have teamed up with GotSneakers to encourage supporting a circular economy through shoe recycling Rather than a one-day event at Osborne, this service-learning project will be taking place throughout the school year, and wrapping up in February during Kindness Week. Please consider donating your used and out grown sneakers to our school wide project. There are bin around Osborne for sneaker donations. Thanks for your help with our mission to create less waste and encourage textile recycling.

We are treating our AMAZING teachers and staff to a soup and salad luncheon during parent teacher conferences in November. Please bring your salad item and/or soup in a crock pot anytime before 10:30am on Monday, November 25 (remember that there is no school that day due to conferences!) We are asking all contributing volunteers to use a crockpot liner for easier clean-up. We have them available and can send one home with your student; contact us at osbornehsa@gmail.com. Thank you in advance for helping!

The Osborne school librarian, Mrs. Wilkinson, has asked for parent volunteers to shelve books and provide general help in the library. You will need a badge to help! Volunteers are needed during various times/days as listed on the sign up. There are always a lot of books to shelve and cover, classroom decorations, and maker-space materials that need attention. Thank you for your support!

HSA volunteers help students in the cafeteria doing things such as opening lunch items like yogurts and juice boxes, getting napkins, straws, utensils, and just being another set of eyes and ears to help students do their best during lunch period.

You must have a current QV volunteer badge and have completed Mr. Canan's lunch room volunteer training program. Future training dates will be scheduled soon. Volunteer shifts are from 11:15am - 12:10pm for grades Kindergarten & First, 12:00pm-12:50pm for Third & Fourth, and 12:35pm-1:30pm for Second and Fifth.

The HSA is hosting its annual cookie walk for our wonderful Osborne teachers and staff on Monday, December 16th. Whether you are an experienced baker, or a novice, we need you - It's all hands on deck! Please plan to drop off your best creations, or a few dozen from your favorite bakery, by 9:30am that Monday!

This year we have about 70 teachers and staff, and our goal is to have each staff member be able to take home a variety of at least 2 dozen cookies/treats. To reach this goal we will need about 140 dozen cookies/treats total! We will provide boxes so they can take their holiday treats home, but they also nibble on them throughout the day. Is there such a thing as too many cookies?!?!

Feel free to bring a few dozen of one type of cookie, or trays with assorted varieties - just please specify what you will be bringing so we can fill in as needed. We are asking for a minimum of two dozen from each person who signs up, but the more the merrier!! If you'd like to share your recipe please do, and don't forget to let us know if your contribution contains nuts so that we can label accordingly. Thanks so much!

Our Recycle for Reading program will take place again in December! Students will have the opportunity to choose a gently-used book to take home. In the meantime, we'll gladly accept donations of books your kids have outgrown - there's a donation box in the vestibule at school where students can place books. We get lots of requests for "scary" books, fantasy books, books about horses and books about sports. So if you have any of those collecting dust, we would love to take them off your hands. Set a reminder to bring your pile if you come in for teacher conferences later this month!

Please reach out to Ashley Stephansky RFR Parent Coordinator at mcmastera@gmail.com if you have any questions or are interested in helping.

President: Heidi McGurgan

Vice President: Tracey Hartman

Secretary: Lauren Newlin

Treasurer: Ashley Stephansky

If you should have any questions or concerns during the school year; please email us at osbornehsa@gmail.com.

Friday, Nov 4. Deadline for Room Full of Heart donations

Tuesday, Nov. 5 Staff In-Service Day (no classes)

Monday, Nov. 11 - Parent/Teacher conference registration opens

Monday, Nov. 11- Veterans Day Celebration

Tuesday, Nov. 12 - Osborne HSA Open Meeting – 9:15am in the LGI

Friday, Nov. 15 - In-service Day – No School for Students

Monday, Nov. 25 - Soup and Salad Teacher/Staff Luncheon

Monday, Nov. 25 and Tuesday, Nov. 26 - Conference Days - No School for Students

Wednesday, Nov. 27 - Staff In-Service Day (no classes)

Thursday, Nov. 28 - Friday Nov. 29– Thanksgiving Break - No School

December

Tuesday, Dec. 10 - Osborne HSA Executive Board Meeting

Monday, Dec. 16 - Wednesday, Dec. 18: Cookie Walk for Teachers & Staff

Monday, Dec. 16 - Friday, Dec. 20: Osborne Winter Spirit Week (details TBA)

QVSD 2024-2025 Calendar