Hunt PTO Update 12/2/12

         Hope everyone has remembered 

to change the calendar to...

and is ready for some snow!

Here's what's happening in our school community:

The Hunt December newsletter is now available online.  
Read on to catch up on all of the news!

http://hunt.bsd.schoolfusion.us/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=244755&sessionid=0c9bfb2fd981fb65fb216274165d20d4

Hunt PTO Wreath Sale a Huge Success!!

We wanted to say THANKS to all the great volunteers who participated in the PTO Wreath Sale. Thank you for all your help and support during this very successful fundraiser. We appreciate the time and energy you put into selling the wreaths by making phone calls, sending out emails, and going door-to-door. Huge thanks as well to the volunteers who delivered  all those wreaths to our customers!

We sold a record 342 wreaths, kissing balls and center pieces and made $4000.- in profit. This is already half of our PTO General Fund budget for this year!

Thanks go to Susan Rutherford and family, Jane Earley, Kathy Olwell and Brian Pine for their outstanding efforts in sales. Huge thanks as well to Megan Peek, Chris Horton, Bella Nadworny, Ann Arcovitch, Kate Belluche, Jenny Tomczak, Brook Martenis, Rebecca Kaplan, Anne Williams, Siobhan Donegan, Kathleen Lynch, Martine Gulick, Dasha Zentrichova, Tammy Kuypers, Kerry Holway, Staci Lasker, Kate Trombly, Dorsey Hogg and Michele Bottino. For everyone else I missed on this list...Thank you! 

We would like to send out a warm and grateful THANK YOU to Gabrielle Baumann for her leadership on this fundraising event and all her hard work and energy in this and all Hunt Fundraising Events in her position as chair of the Fundraising Team.

HUNT MIDDLE SCHOOL

December 3^rd to 14^th

Please bring your 

non-perishable food items 

to help our community.

Monetary donations also gratefully accepted.  

Checks can be made out to Hunt Middle School.  Food items will also be collected at all Hunt Music Concerts:  

• December 5 -  Chorus Concert
• December 12 - Strings Concert
• December 19 - Band Concert

The PTO survey results can be accessed via the link below.   PLEASE READ THEM!!!! 

Thank you to all the parents who took the time to fill out the survey - it was enlightening and will help Hunt school and the PTO better serve families.  If you have ideas for improvements at Hunt, we will be tickled to hear them.  Email the PTO at huntmiddleschool@gmail.com
https://docs.google.com/open?id=1qMvZh0iqb6eITf-bDoKUEPDS5BgG_wrGdPTO-05PlgdSqZfkcitnvuv86p2T

There will be no December PTO meeting.  

The PTO Board will be getting together to review the results of the survey and plans for the new year.  If you have burning issues that need to be discussed before the January meeting, please email us at huntmiddleschool@gmail.com.

Common Core is Coming...

You may have read in the paper or heard your child's teacher talking about Common Core Standards and how BSD is aligning its curriculum to Common Core Standards.  Wondering what that's all about?  The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort to establish a shared set of clear educational standards for English language arts and mathematics that states can voluntarily adopt. 

The standards have been informed by the best available evidence and the highest state standards across the country and globe and designed by a diverse group of teachers, experts, parents, and school administrators, so they reflect both our aspirations for our children and the realities of the classroom. 

These standards are designed to ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to go to college or enter the workforce and that parents, teachers, and students have a clear understanding of what is expected of them. The standards are benchmarked to international standards to guarantee that our students are competitive in the emerging global marketplace.

Click on the link for Common Core FAQ's:  http://www.corestandards.org/frequently-asked-questions
Click on the link for the Common Core List of books:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/AR2010031000025.html

Burlington New American Parents for Change Student Placement Research Report   

November 19, 2012

Members of the Burlington New American Parents for Change, representing families from Bhutanese Nepali, Somali Bantu, Vietnamese, Burundian and Somali communities, met Monday evening at Cathedral Church of St. Paul to talk about student placement within the Burlington School District. / EMILY McMANAMY/Free Press

Immigrant families have been resettling in Burlington throughout our city’s history. In the past few years, new refugee families have come to Burlington from Somalia, Burundi, Bhutan, and many other countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Today, in Burlington Schools the home language of about 20% of our students is not English.  Click on the link below to read the report - good reading!

http://www.bsdvt.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/2383192/File/Main%20Page/2012-2013/Burlington%20New%20American%20Parents%20for%20Change%20Student%20Placement%20Research%20Report.pdf?sessionid=976e1006f16dd23d7257793a51391b98

Hunt Winter Concerts coming right up!

Hunt Middle school has three Winter concerts coming up, all starting at 7 pm - 

• December 5 -  Chorus Concert
• December 12 - Strings Concert
• December 19 - Band Concert

At each concert there will be a bake sale table with a variety of goodies, fresh fruit and water.  The proceeds of these sales goes to the 
Hunt Theatre committee . 

Your generosity helps keep the arts alive at Hunt.  We would love for you to send in goodies, cups of fresh fruit and/or water for one or more of these events.  We would also love to sell some of these goodies back to you and your family! (shameless, I know...)

Here is what we need:

·         Yummy baked goods – brownies, cookies, cupcakes, dessert bars, cups of pudding, slices of cake wrapped up with a fork…Be Creative and remember that frosting sells!  On the healthier side, cups of washed grapes, raisins/dried fruit, clementine oranges, gluten free (yes, please!) wrapped snack, small bags of chips/crackers

Items can be brought to the event and dropped at the bake sale table around 6:30 (same time your kid will need to get to Hunt).  Many folks will buy a goodie to eat before the show while they wait for the start at 7.  If you can let us know that you will send something in, it helps with our planning.  You can reply back to this email.  Either way, we will happily accept your donation without RSVP.

Thanks in advance for your participation and enjoy the shows!  Kate B.

UNO Dough Raiser for DC
Fundraiser For DC/Philadelphia trip 

 Every OTHER Thursday, 

December 6th, 2012 - March 14th, 2013

Every other Thursday (starting this week and continuing through March 14th) bring in one of the special HUNT coupons and  UNOs will donate 20% of your bill (food AND drink) to the Hunt school trip fund. 

Please contact Chris at cj.mitchell@ge.com to receive an electronic copy of the coupon.  Printouts will also be sent home with students.  Thanks for supporting our DC Travelers!

YARD SALE FUNDRAISER 
for the 5 day DC/Philadelphia trip in April

Saturday, December 8th from 10 am - 4pm
at the BHS Circle on North Ave.

                            We need DONATIONS this week 

                               and SHOPPERS on Saturday!

                  Please come out to support our travelers! 

 Organizers are looking for high quality, gently used items to sell.  If you have household items, games, toys, furniture, kitchen supplies, camping gear, sporting equipment or any other good quality sell-able items, please let us know.  

We’ve got the truck and the manpower to pick up items if necessary. Proceeds will benefit the Close Up Washington program at Hunt Middle School, which is sending 15 students to Washington D.C. in April. For donations or other questions, contact J.P. at jpgagnon@bsdvt.org.

 I

Are you a Health Care Professional?

Hunt Middle School is looking for speakers 

in the following areas:

                      Neurology

                      Digestion

                      Respiration and circulation

                      Reproduction

Contact Jennifer Sutton, Hunt Middle School Outreach Coordinator, if you might be interested in presenting to a class. Phone:  310-4998 or jsutton@bsdvt.org

HUNT MIDDLE SCHOOL 
WINTER ONE-ACT
The Hunt/EMS/Very Merry Theatre winter One Act Festival is Jan 11-12. Hunt Middle School 6th, 7th and 8th graders will be performing a yet TBD show (announced early next week) to be directed by Trish Denton. They'll rehearse 3:30-4:45 on Mondays and 2:25-3:45 on Wednesdays.

There's a $50 participation fee payable to Hunt Drama but, as always, no student will be turned away so scholarships will be provided on request. Contact Don at 355-1461 or donwrightvt@yahoo.com with questions.

Save the Date.... 

• December 3 -14 - Hunt Food Drive
• December 5 -  Chorus Concert
• December 6 - DC Fundraiser Night at UNO
• December 8 - Philly/DC trip yard sale at BHS Circle
• December 12 - Early Release
• December 12 - Strings Concert
• December 19 - Band Concert
• December 24 - January 1st - No School
• February 2nd, 2013 - Jr. Iron Chef