Jie Ming PTA Newsletter
October 2019
Happy 2019-20 school year parents, families, teachers, and students! The Jie Ming PTA is excited to usher in a new year, with new possibilities.
Our school has never been fuller. I encourage each of you to say, "hi", and introduce yourself to a new family member, or someone you haven't met before. As one community, we will be strong and a great support for our kids!
The PTA has been involved with Jie Ming since the beginning. We have done lots of amazing things for the school, including Chinese New Year performances, carnivals, extracurricular activities, community building events, advocacy work, supporting field trips, and much more. As many of our founding families are graduating on to other schools, I encourage you to step up and see where you can serve.
There is no shortage of great ideas and ways to make a difference here! The only shortage we have is in people helping make it happen, as we are entirely volunteer-based. If we don't have people to do things, some things will not get done. That's where you come in! I will be providing ways to get involved, big and small, in these newsletters and at PTA meetings. Please reach out to me directly if you have ideas too!
Our school is the best school, in my humble opinion, and I am honored to do what I can to keep it that way and make it better. I look forward to our work together!
Adam Jass, PTA President, president@jiemingpta.org
Questions / comments? Email us: info@jiemingpta.org
Contents
Upcoming Events
10/3 -- Board Meeting
10/10 -- PTA Meeting
10/24 -- Curriculum Night
10/27 -- Family Meetup
11/9 -- Silent Auction and Great Gathering
Do you want events on your Google or Outlook calendar? View/subscribe to digital calendars:
Next PTA Meeting
When: Thursday, October 10 from 6-7 PM
Where: Jie Ming Cafeteria
Topics:
- Discuss this year's budget
- Find Members-At-Large
Bring your ideas and passion, and enjoy some snacks! Childcare is provided.
Volunteer Survey
Take this quick survey about the needs we have, and see where you fit! We will follow up with you to get you connected with the right resources to make an impact. Everything helps!
Special Request - Librarians Needed!
Did you know that Jie Ming has a library, but no librarian? Shocking! The lack of school funding hits home here, and makes it difficult to manage this valuable resource for our kids. Volunteer librarians make it happen, though! Do you have some time during the day that you can come in to re-shelve books, help kids check books out, etc? Please email us at info@jiemingpta.org and we will get you details on what to do. This is a HIGH PRIORITY need right now.
Room Parents
Our teachers have requested a very specific thing: a Room Parent for each classroom. What is a Room Parent?
- The teacher will go to the Room Parent with requests / needs
- The Room Parent will communicate with other parents in the classroom and find a way to make it happen
This makes it a lot easier for the teachers to ask for what they need, and to get it without a lot of effort (and our teachers work super hard already!). Examples could be if they have a lot of copying and filing to do, they may ask the Room Parent to find volunteers to help. The Room Parent asks the rest of the group, someone offers to help, and the work gets done. Not too hard, but very impactful for our teachers!
Can you be the Room Parent for your child's classroom? If so:
- Email your child's teacher and tell them you can help and be a Room Parent. Tell them the best way to get a hold of you when they have things they need.
- Email info@jiemingpta.org or message Adam Jass on Konstella to let him know, and he will assign you as the Lead in that classroom. Then, on Konstella, other parents in the room will know you are their go-to person!
As this program gets off the ground, I'm sure many of you will have great ideas for improving it. We would love to hear those ideas, and to have help implementing them! Don't shy away from indicating your interest on the Volunteer Survey or emailing us at info@jiemingpta.org.
Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Recap
CLICK HERE to fill out a brief survey (deadline FRIDAY, 10/4/19)
What a fun night! Families joined together to celebrate this traditional Chinese holiday with music, games, food, a lion dance, and so much laughter and joy. Thanks for joining us!
Big thank you to all the hard-working volunteers that made it happen. Our planning and execution committee included: Christine Nesseth, Rebecca Tsai, Stacy Bennig, Carlos da Cruz, Wenjuan Li, Jennifer Marcus Newton, Kelly Miller, Lihong Qin, Rebekah Rexius, Karine Rupp-Stanko, Hue Soo, and Joe Waln. If you see them, make sure to thank them! If you are considering joining the planning team for next year, email us at info@jiemingpta.org!
2nd Annual Silent Auction & Great Gathering
Save the date!
When: November 9, 2019 at 7PM
Location: Film North 550 Vandalia St #120
Join fellow parents and community members for delicious food, drinks and a fabulous silent auction to support the Jie Ming PTA! Limited childcare will be provided on site for a fee.
Your help needed!
This event is critical to raising the funds necessary to support our school. Here's how you can help make it wildly successful:
- Come! And bring a friend!
- Consider donating a Great Gathering or other silent auction item. Great Gatherings are fun experiences donated by Jie Ming families and bid on at the silent auction. Past examples include Harry Potter movie nights, wine tastings, and food demonstrations.
- Invite others to donate items for the silent auction! We have 2 easy letters available for asking for business sponsorships and individual Great Gathering donations. Fill in the recipient's name, print, and give it them. Don't forget to tell them how much you love Jie Ming!
Great Gathering request letter
Business sponsorship request letter
Auction or raffle donation form
Chinese New Year - Planning committee forming this month!
The Chinese New Year celebration is one of Jie Ming's oldest traditions. With whole-school participation, all the children and staff work super hard for months to put on awesome performances for all of us to enjoy. Click o the image above to view last year's performance. The Chinese New Year Committee puts together the logistics, costumes, program, volunteers, and much more to make this community building event spectacular! We need a large planning team to make it happen. Questions? Ready to dive in? You can join on Konsella or email us at info@jiemingpta.org.
STEAM Challenges
Our awesome science teacher Dr. Bonnie Laabs organizes school-wise monthly STEAM take-home challenges. You will get more details in newsletters and with kids in their backpacks. Encourage your children to participate! These are great opportunities to learn outside the classroom. Funding for the materials is provided by the PTA.
Additional materials are needed to keep the program going. Check out the needs and sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050b45afab22aaff2-donations
PTA-Provided Resource: Free Parent Education Sessions
Did you know that Konstella, our private social network for Jie Ming families, also offers parent education sessions?
Normally, these sessions need to be purchased, but our Jie Ming community has received 2 free sessions available for everyone to use! Simply click on the links below, log into your Konstella account, and listen!
- "How to Support Your Child’s Reading and Writing" by Jennifer Serravallo, N.Y. Times bestselling author (40 minutes). Access this session by clicking here
- "Questions Parents Should Ask About Technology at Their Schools" by Jacqui Murray, Adjunct Professor, K-18 Technology Master Teacher, Author (16 minutes). Access this session by clicking here
Not on Konstella yet? Click here to join. It only takes a minute, and connects you with the rest of the community. Most Jie Ming families are on Konstella, and use it to stay connected to friends and classmates, ask questions, find volunteer opportunities, and support one another.
Volunteer Spotlight
This is a recurring section where we highlight volunteers that are making our school and PTA tick. Who will it be next time? Could it be you? If you have a suggested volunteer to highlight, email Adam at president@jiemingpta.org!
Resources
What / Who is the PTA?
The Parent Teacher Association of Jie Ming is a community of passionate, involved parents and Jie Ming staff that want to make our school even better for our students. The PTA is involved and organizes many things throughout the year:
Events: Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, Chinese New Year performance, Spring Carnival, Meet-ups, Movie Nights
Fundraisers: Fundraiser and Silent Auction, Read-A-Thon, Box Tops for Education
Services:
- Classroom grants for materials that the school can't provide
- Volunteer organizing
- Tools for communication and collaboration including our Facebook group, Konstella, website, and regular meetings
- Spirit Wear and branded items
- Yearbook
- Health and Wellness Initiatives
- Zero-Waste school initiative
- Promotion of our school
Most importantly, we provide places and opportunities for all families to engage with each other. This helps us work together to find and implement the best solutions for our kids. It takes all of us to make this possible. Thank you for your energy, time, and support!
Support Our School
Box Tops for Education
Clipping Box Tops is an easy way to earn cash for our school with purchases you already make. Drop off your BoxTops in the marked collection tub on a table in the main entry hallway. Clip those pink Box Tops and send them to school with your student throughout the year, before their expiration date! You can multiply your impact from the same purchases by downloading the free app for Apple or Google.
Amazon shopper?
Up to 2% of all your purchases can go to Jie Ming PTA.
- Set Jie Ming Mandarin Academy as your charity for smile.amazon.com
- Whenever you shop on Amazon, type smile.amazon.com into the browser, and all your purchases will qualify!
Compostable Materials Available
Our school is working hard to be a Zero Waste school. As part of this initiative, our Zero Waste Committee is partnering with Macalester Plymouth United Church on the Compostable Everything program. The PTA provides these materials for free to teachers and for school events.
What does this mean for you? You can use this form to order compostable materials for your own events and use! More details are available on the Zero-Waste Materials page, or on the form.
Spirit Wear
Spirit wear can be purchased at PTA events and on the PTA website. On Fridays ONLY, Spirit wear can be worn in place of the school uniform. Youth and adult sizes available. Order Spirit Wear today
Get Connected, Stay Connected
Most Jie Ming families are on Konstella, using it to join groups and committees, create playdates, ask questions, and more. To join Jie Ming's Konstella site, click here
The PTA manages a closed parent group on Facebook that some parents use to share information with and pose questions to the larger Jie Ming parent community. Search for: Jie Míng Mandarin Immersion Academy and request to join.
The Jie Ming PTA website www.jiemingpta.org is a resource for parents. Think of it as the hub to connect you to everything else.
Being a PTA member is a simple way to show your support for the many parent volunteers that work hard to build a strong, vibrant school community. Become a member by clicking here today!