FAIRMOUNT FOCUS
Published monthly by Fairmount PTA
Editor: Deb Hall (editor@fairmountpta.org)

EXECUTIVE BOARD
President:Kristi Mladenovic (president@fairmountpta.org)
Vice President (External Enrichment): Jodi Williams (vp@fairmountpta.org)
2nd Vice President: Sally Mills (smills@jeffco.k12.co.us)
Secretary: Alison Beck (secretary@fairmountpta.org)
Treasurer:Kristina Klug (treasurer@fairmountpta.org)
VP of Finance:Becky Asbury (finance@fairmountpta.org)
Fundraising Chair:Jessica Nauslar (jnauslar@yahoo.com)
3rd VP (Classroom Support):Mara Orchard (classroomsupport@fairmountpta.org)
4th VP (Enrichment):Laura Warren (enrichment@fairmountpta.org)
IT Vice President:Kristi Mladenovic (it@fairmountpta.org)

For a list of other coordinators, click HERE!

• Principal's Message
  
• Grocery Card Program
  
• Student/Parent Breakfast
  
• PTA Happenings
  
• STEM Update
  
• News from the LMC
  
• Mindset Masters
  
• From the Cafeteria
  
• Milk Caps for Moo-la
  
• Reflections Celebration of Art
  
• Fairmount Annual Talent Show
  
• Yearbook Sales & Baby Page Info
  

Upgraded Drinking Fountains

Thank you PTA for upgrading our water fountains by the library! Students now have a water bottle filler along with nicer, colder fountains. We encourage all students to bring a water bottle and fill up during the day.

Report Cards

At Fairmount, we believe in partnering with you to provide the best education for all of our students. So it was wonderful to see our parents at Conference Nights in October!  The official end of the first trimester is November 9th, and report cards will be sent home on November 16th. If you have any questions when you receive the report, please contact your child’s teacher or me.

Lunch on the Roof

What fun we had having lunch on the roof last month! Mrs. Kruse and I had the pleasure of eating lunch with our Silent Auction winners on a beautiful October afternoon. Thank you again for all of your support to our classrooms!

Thanksgiving

All of us at Fairmount wish our students and families a joyful Thanksgiving! Students will not have school the week of November 19th. We’ll see everyone back at school on Monday, November 26th.

As always, if you have a question, comment, or suggestion, please call the office, stop by, or email me at smills@jeffco.k12.co.us.

GROCERY CARD PROGRAM

October Gift Card Raffle Winner!

Thank you to everyone who purchased or reloaded their grocery cards in October.
A $25 gift card to Starbucks goes to Becky Backo! Congratulations, Becky!

Who wants to win a $25 gift card to Regal Cinemas next month?

All you need to do is purchase a reloadable gift card OR reload the card you already have, and you will automatically be entered to win! It is so easy to help the PTA fund school projects, earn cash back, and even win a gift card! If you don’t have your reloadable gift card yet, visit the PTA website for more information. If you have a card from last year, keep using it!  We pick a winner each month, so don’t miss out!

So far this year, Fairmount has raised $12,886 with your reloads. That’s 32% toward our goal for the year. Keep reloading those cards! Each reload benefits our school and our children!

***Help needed! The Fairmount PTA is looking for someone to help with accounting for the grocery card fundraiser. Are you comfortable with Excel? A working parent who wants to help? This position is done completely on your own time! It involves tracking the grocery card reloads and calculating the year-end credits each family earns. Card management is already handled by someone else, so it is strictly Excel bookkeeping. If you are interested in helping out or have questions, please contact enrichment@fairmountpta.org.

STUDENT/PARENT BREAKFAST

Come and have breakfast at school with your children on

Friday, November 16th, from 7:00–8:30 a.m.


We will enjoy traditional pancakes hot off the griddle,

breakfast burritos, fruit, milk, juice, and coffee!



This event is for Fairmount students and their parents or guardians.

After a yummy breakfast with you, there will be an opportunity to have your picture taken together and a choice for students of . . .

* supervised play on the playground (weather permitting)
* movie time in the gym until the school day begins!

There will be a suggested donation of $3.00/person taken at the door.

Contact Stacy Atkins, satkins59@gmail.com, with questions.

THANK YOU

to

1st BANK of
ARVADA
at WESTWOODS

for their continued
support ofFairmount!

PTA HAPPENINGS

We know that we don’t have to tell you that good education isn’t just about teachers and school—your involvement as a parent really matters. There have been hundreds of research studies on parents and school, and they all show the same thing: when parents get involved in their children’s education, good things happen—grades go up, test scores rise, and behavior improves. Plus, children with involved parents are more likely to pass their classes, graduate, and further their education after high school. And when lots of parents get involved, it helps teachers and the school. We, as your PTA Board, are so grateful to serve a community that shows how much parent involvement matters. Currently, we have some open coordinator positions we need your help with or the programs they support risk going away.

PTA Co-Secretary: This person will shadow the current secretary throughout the year and learn the duties of the position. Co-Secretary will then become Secretary next year. This is a PTA Board–elected position.

PTA Co-Fundraising Chair: This person will shadow our current Fundraising Chair, then become our Fundraising Chair next year. This is a PTA Board–appointed position.

Grocery Fundraising Accountant: We need someone (preferably with Microsoft Excel experience) to input our Grocery Card Program accounting information. This is a job that can be done at home. Great for working moms or dads.

PTA Co-Classroom Support Chair: This person will shadow our current Classroom Support Chair, then become our Classroom Support Chair next year. This is a PTA Board–appointed position.

Learning Landscape Coordinator: This person(s) will continue the educational procurement of the Learning Landscape vision (past projects included upgraded playground equipment, shaded sand box, outdoor classroom, track and basketball goals, etc.).

Fairmount Firebird 5K Chase Co-Coordinator: We would love to find someone to shadow the current coordinator and then to become the coordinator for the Fairmount 5K Chase next year.

Co-IT Vice President: This person will be responsible for keeping the PTA website up to date and to troubleshoot any issues. No website experience is necessary, but a good understanding of Microsoft and HP programs is critical. Person should have access to a desktop computer. The current IT Vice President will train you! This is a PTA Board–appointed position.

PROGRAMS & EVENTS TO WATCH FOR:

The Student/Parent Breakfast is coming this month! Come spend some quality time with your children by having breakfast at school with us on Friday, November 16, from 7:00 to 8:30 a.m. We will enjoy the traditional pancakes hot off the griddle, breakfast burritos, fruit, milk, juice, and coffee! This event is for Fairmount students only and their parent(s)/guardian(s).

Angel Fund: In response to feedback received in last spring’s survey, the PTA has established an Angel Fund. This Fund is available to Fairmount students in need of financial support and can be used for school supplies, clothing, enrichment programs, etc. All requests will be made to the principal, and names will be kept confidential. Since this is a pilot program, requests will be evaluated on a first-come, first-served basis until the $1,000 budget is exhausted for the year. This is subject to modification at any time. Click HEREfor an Angel Fund Request Form.

Our next PTA Meeting is Tuesday, February 5th, in the library at 9:00 a.m. Please join us; all are welcome and we would love to see you there!

A BIG THANK-YOU TO:

Molly Given for finding the guest speaker at last month’s PTA meeting. Also for continually providing our Fairmount community with so much great information about legislative, judicial, and electoral issues related to education in our county and state.

All the Parent Room Representatives and other parents for assisting with the Halloween parties in each of the classrooms. Each of you put in a spooktacular effort with the games and treats. Between the parties and the parade, our children had a hauntingly good time.

Bess Bunyak for coordinating the Reflections art program and hosting the Celebration of Art ceremony. Our Fairmount students are a talented bunch!

Angie Spann and the Hospitality Committee for all the food that was prepared and served to the teachers during conference week. GREAT JOB!

Book Cart Program Volunteers—This program is for the younger students and encourages reading a variety of books and pushes their reading to a higher level. Thank you, volunteers, for your weekly commitment to this great program!

Kyle Turner for organizing and handling the Fairmount Spirit Wear orders and distribution. The new apparel looks great!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Visit www.fairmountpta.org today

—The Fairmount PTA Board

STEM UPDATE

—Angie Blomquist, STEM Teacher

Kindergarten — After a few weeks of engineering, the kindergartners are becoming tech savvy. We have been using apps and taking pictures, including selfies (for their iPad home screens)! Ask your kindergartner about their Seesaw Getting to Know Me assignment where they drew a self-portrait, took a picture of it, and used the microphone to tell a little about themselves. We used the same app, Seesaw, in math to practice counting in different ways.

1st — First graders had fun making mini catapults and completing challenges with candy pumpkins. The students had a chance to launch a class pumpkin after their pumpkin patch field trip on October 10th. Special thanks to Brian Poteet and Aaron Klang for the hard work they put into building the trebuchet! First graders have also experimented with different types of solids while building a tall, stable tower. Ask your child how to stand on a toilet paper roll without crushing it!

2nd — Second graders differentiated between the specialist and generalist species during our Bird Beak Lab, where they attempted to pick up “food” in different environments with different types of “beaks.” Using a video game design, students shared information about a specific type of plant and included all components necessary for survival within their game.

3rd — Third graders enhanced their learning about life cycles of plants and animals while differentiating between complete and incomplete metamorphosis. We culminated the unit by making an adult frog and prey that their homemade creation could catch in its mouth. I’m sure you saw these come home! During the game Disruptus, your children became master innovators having to create, improve, transform, or disrupt an object.

4th — Fourth graders explored different parts of an electric circuit and pinpointed necessary components for a complete circuit. Using their new knowledge, students completed challenges creating light and powering a fan with a Snap Circuit Board and Little Bits. Makey Makey was the final circuitry tool used as students discovered which materials conduct electricity (and which do not)!

5th — Fifth graders created a character sketch on Google Draw which included six precise, detailed, and descriptive character attributes to go with their creative picture. They can show you on their Google Drive. In math, they compared and ordered decimals and talked about real-world situations where a thousandth of a second could make a big difference (Olympics, Nascar, etc.). Each class created a Jamestown Fort replica with their small group, encompassing all the main components studied in their social studies unit.

Halloween STEM activities: Classes experimented with a Halloween STEM activity.

Catapult Day: Students built miniature catapults and completed a series of launch challenges.

*Pictures of student work accessible on my website (click HERE).

NEWS FROM THE LMC

(Library Media Center)

—Andi Johnson, Digital Teacher Librarian

 
Enchanted Forest Book Fair: A Huge Success!

Many thanks to all of you for supporting our Enchanted Forest Book Fair! It was fabulous to see all of the students having so much fun picking out new books to read. What a great way to support the literacy goals for our students and raise money for our school. This important fundraiser allows us to purchase new books for our library as well as technology resources like Discovery Education Streaming and PebbleGo. Many thanks!!

Also, thank you, thank you to these wonderful ladies who volunteered their time to help with our book fair:

Jenna Armitage                   Gerri Bauer                           Alison Beck
Katherine Broome               Carly Fenton                         Anita Hasenkampf
Jennifer Heineman              Megan Kim                           Kristina Klug
Jen Kos                               Kristi Mladenovic                  Carrie Thompson
Jodi Williams

Congratulations to these students for winning the Guessing Jar Contest at the book fair! The 1st place winners won the Guessing Jar contents, and each of these students won a gift certificate to the book fair:

Grades K–2:
1st Place—Peyton Kelley (K, Thomas)
2nd Place—Jonathan Barron (K, Arleth)
3rd Place (tied)—Jackson Flora (1, Wilson)
3rd Place (tied)—Ryder Schneck (2, McQuaid)

Grades 3–5:
1st Place—Emerson Drake (3, Bakanec)
2nd Place—Corbin Jensen (1, Trebilcock)
3rd Place (tied)—Maddie Floyd (4, Rogers)
3rd Place (tied)—Trevor Haigler (3, Wakefield)

Library Collaboration

Fifth graders learned about Information Literacy, including website validity and how to avoid plagiarism by citing their sources.

Third graders prepared for their Day in Denver field trip and learned how to use Google My Maps to track their paths and pinpoint the places of interest that they have seen. They took pictures on iPads and are uploading them to the map pinpoints.

Spelling Bee . . . Save the Date!

The Fairmount Spelling Bee for 4th and 5th graders will be held on Friday, January 25, 2019. The written qualifying pretest will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 16. Lists with practice words will be sent home with those students who qualify after Jan. 16.

MINDSET MASTERS

At Fairmount, “We C.A.R.E.” (Community, Attitude, Respect, and Excellence) has been a standing phrase through our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports system (PBIS). Aligned with this focus, we promote and teach five growth mindsets within the classrooms:

Persistence
Empathy
Resilience
Optimism
Flexibility

Every month students are recognized as “Mindset Masters” for their use of the different mindsets. The following students were chosen by their teachers for this month, and their names will be posted, throughout the entire month of NOVEMBER, in the hallway leading from the cafeteria to outside.

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Kruse at christine.kruse@jeffco.k12.co.us.

Saving Milk Caps =

$ MOO-LA FOR Fairmount!

Thank you to those families who have contributed to the success of our partnership with Longmont Dairy for the “Milk Caps for Moo-la” program!

With your support, so far this school year we have collected 2,300 product caps, raising $115 for our school! Not only does Fairmount benefit by receiving 5 cents for every cap we collect, but we save many caps from going to a landfill by returning these to the dairy so they can be recycled.

How can you help if you aren’t already participating? Just start saving Longmont Dairy product caps if you already have products delivered to your home (or sign up with Longmont Dairy if you wish to be part of their delivery program: http://www.longmontdairy.com/sign-up.php). Collect caps from family, friends, and neighbors, too! Clean caps should be placed in plastic bags with the student’s name, grade, and number of caps enclosed written on the outside of the bag. Place bags of caps in the “Milk Caps for Moo-la” collection box right inside the main entrance of our school.

Our Fairmount PTA sponsors the monthly prize drawing from students who have collected and contributed caps. To compete in the monthly drawing, students must place caps in the collection container by the last school day of each month. The monthly winner is then revealed the next week during the morning announcements.

This school year’s “Moo-la” monthly winner has received a $5 gift certificate to Little Caesars:

August/September               Talon King, 3rd grade
October                                 TBD, drawing Nov. 5

Be sure to have your milk caps in by November 30 to be included in the next drawing! Feel free to contact the Fairmount “Moo-la” parent volunteer, Candace Vorthman, at candace@vorthman.com, with any questions you may have.

YEARBOOK SALES &

YEARBOOK BABY PAGES

Deadline to purchase a yearbook baby page for your student is December 8th!
Click HERE for more details!

Deadline to purchase a yearbook for your student is March 29th!
Click HERE for yearbook package info!

Follow Fairmount Elementary
on FACEBOOK