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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Hunt PTO Update 3/27/12

Hey There Hunt Families - Hope you are able to come out and support Grease this weekend.  Over 75 Hunt students are involved in this production.  Our young actors would love your support!
 Parent volunteers and cast members gathered over the weekend to build and paint sets for Grease.  Thank you to Alex Messinger for his leadership executing this event and to all the families who helped - we had a full house of helpers and accomplished a great deal.

Hunt Middle School presents GREASE the musical on Friday, March 30th at 7pm and Saturday, March 31st at 4pm.
Admission to both shows is free.  Playbills will be on sale for $5 and there will be a fully stocked concession stand.  DVD's can be preordered at the event.

Please join us before the show on Friday for a homemade pasta dinner of penne, salad, bread and cookies from 5:30-6:30.  On Saturday there will be a soup and chili dinner after the show. We will be serving hearty chicken noodle, vegetarian vegetable, chili, veggies and dip and brownies.

The price for both meals is $8 for adults and $5 for students.

Stop by the Hunt Middle School main office to sign up for one or both of these delicious meals or email martinegulick@gmail.com. Thank you for your support!

March PTO Meeting Minutes included at the end of this post


Save the Date....
  • March 29-31 - Grease - Th- school show at 2pm, Friday 7pm, Sat 4pm
  • April 19th - Hunt Heritage Potluck Dinner 5:30 - 7:00 pm
  • April 12 - Early Release at 12
  • April 13 - No school
  • April 23-27 - School Break - no school!
  • May 16 - Band Concert - 7pm
  • May 23 - Strings Concert - 7pm
  • May 27 - VCM Marathon - Support the Hunt students running!
  • May 30 - Chorus Concert - 7pm

    March PTO Meeting Minutes
    • 10 people in attendance
    • Kudos to the pancake breakfast/silent auction team for a job well organized. Everything seems to be in place and ready for the big day.
    • Principals report: Please help spread the word that the library is open for family hours 5-7 p.m. People can have complete access including a librarian. The parents do not necessarily have to bring a child to use the library and a child doesn't necessarily have to bring a parent if they wish to use the library.
    • Hunt will host the Spiral International program. This program is bringing 30 students from China and they want to target families with middle school aged children. The program is currently looking for host families and the children of the host families can participate in the program for free. The July dates under consideration for this program is either July 9-20 or July 16-27.
    • Sports update: Wayne Pecor is agreeable to sit down and communicate with concerned parents and brainstorm ways to enhance communications for Hunt sports. Marcie will contact Kate Belluche and Susan Rutherford to set a meeting time.
    • NECAP recorded a 7% increase in the math scores. All scores are up but the math marker indicates that the emphasis on math has been paying off. 7% is a huge increase.
    • Grease Update - all is going well. There are people assigned to market the fundraising dinner before and after the Friday and Saturday shows respectively. A flyer went home on 3/15/12. There will be a cast party after the play on Saturday. Cake will be served in the gym.
    • New Business: Jen Tomczak brought several items to share. She encouraged Marcie to consider sending as many kids as possible the the next Tech Jam. Marcie commented that Hunt did send several kids. Also, John Cohn an IBM fellow does assemblies about engineering and science geared toward middle school students.
    • April 11 is Family School Night. Marcie is looking for 6 volunteers to act as guides and give tours of the school. Marcie and her staff have targeted 40 families that Hunt has not connected with throughout the year. This is an attempt to get these families involved.
    • Plant sale/yard sale will take place in May.
    • Next meeting April 19
    • Agenda: Officer Berti will give her internet safety presentation - she was unable to make this meeting due to a death in her family. Diversity Office presentation, Hunt Garden update, Fundraising update

    Tuesday, March 20, 2012

    Hunt PTO update 3/20/12





     Hey There Hunt Families - Take your time, there is a lot of good information  this week. (in my humble opinion...) Happy Spring, Kate B.



    Pancake Breakfast & Silent Auction a huge success!! Your PTO is thrilled to announce that our 1st annual breakfast and auction was a great success.  We raised over $6,200 for 8th grade graduation, 6th grade orientation, Thanksgiving baskets, field trips, and enrichment activities. We want to thank all those who attended the breakfast and bid on the items, and of course all those wonderful volunteers who gave up many hours on a Saturday morning to support our school.

    A huge thank you to the fundraising team of Gabi Baumann, Tammy Kuypers and Susan Rutherford who organized the event, and to George Rutherford, Brian Pine, Helen Hossley, Kate Belluche, Teresa Giallorenzo, Carolyn Gipson, Kathy Schirling, Jane Earley, Matt Perry, and Jenny Tomczak who supported the fundraising team by gathering donations and helping to advertise the event. A huge amount of gratitude goes to those businesses who donated all the items for the auction and breakfast.

    Special thanks to our biggest donor Skirack for giving us a $600 bike for our auction. Parents, please consider checking out Skirack the next time you need a new bike or skis, ski or bike tune-ups, running shoes, athletic clothing, and much more. Shopping at Skirack, and at the other local businesses who donated to our auction, is a great way to show them how grateful we are for thier support! It takes a community to raise a child!


    We still have a few quarts of Certified Organic Pure Maple Syrup, from Hillsboro Sugarworks, donated by Healthy Living, leftover from the breakfast.  It is available to you for the low, low price of $10 per quart. Contact Susan Rutherford at 951-2571 or susanrutherford@hotmail.com to purchase.  At this price, it won't last long!! 

    Did you attend the Pancake Breakfast & Silent Auction and have a great idea for next year to make the event an even bigger success? Please email the fundraising team and let them know at gamabaumann@burlingtontelecom.net We would love to hear your opinions and input. Thanks Gabi, Tammy and SusanRed heart

    Our Marvelous team of volunteers on Saturday included:
    Shirin Hart,  Kate Belluche, Brine Pine, Teresa Gailorenzo,  Martine and Stephen Gulick, Alex and Philip Purl, Kathleen Lynch, Carol Ode, Jon and Tammy Kuypers, George  and Susan Rutherford,  Jenny Tomczak, Carolyn Gibson, Mary Hart, Dorsey Hogg, Barb Prine, Kathy Butts, Jessica Story-Huston, Siobhan Donahue, Kendra Sowers, Ernestine Abel, Ben and Max Truman, Kerry And Christian Holway, Brooke and Anna from BHS, Gabi and Martin Baumann, Michele Clark, Ann Arcovitch, Jean Benoit , Chris Horton  Many, many thanks!

    Yesterday was the sign-up for Spring sports.  You should be hearing something from the coaches in the next few weeks.

    Track and Field practice will start on April 9th.  There will be a team informational meeting on April 5th.  At that time Mrs. Shortsleeve will hand out practice and meet schedules as well as a parent letter. She will also send home a weekly letter every Monday with any updates, nutrition tips, and requests for volunteers and drivers.  Track will practice every Mon, Wed and Thurs from 3:20 to 4:30.
    Questions?  Email Joan at jshortsl@bsdvt.org





    The PTO met last week for March meeting.  Stay tuned for the minutes.  Follow the link below to see the Treasurer's Report: https://docs.google.com/open?id=1Ut-D4Jy-nKPPiqlSguhWjXgfh3m55dghN0AaxGUDrJoKMNcItc_daqjk1u54

    GREASE is the Word!  Don't forget to sign up for dinner with the show! Friday night's dinner is pasta and sauce with a green salad, bread/butter and cookie, served at 5:30. Saturday is your choice of vegetarian vegetable soup, Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup and Chili with beef and beans (recipes from our very own Susan Rutherford, blue ribbon winner in several categories at the Champlain Valley Fair) with bread and a cookie, served after the show. FORMS WERE SENT HOME WITH YOUR CHILDREN - if you didn't get one, they are AVAILABLE IN THE MAIN OFFICE    Need more information???  Contact Martine at 488-4445 or martinegulick@gmail.com

    Jr Iron Chef Competition Please Join us at the Champlain Valley Exposition
    This Saturday March 24 from 9 am- 3 pm
    While supporting our Hunt teams, you are invited to enjoy live entertainment, games and fun children’s activities, purchase delicious lunch prepared by the Burlington School Project, and gather information about farming and food education. 

    Hunt's 3 Middle School Teams will be cooking up a storm in the morning heat from 9:30 to 11:00 am with the Award Ceremony at 12:15pm.  Tickets available at the door: $3/individual , $5/family, children under 3 are free
    The Bully Project is coming to Palace 9 in Burlington.  Haven't heard about this documentary?  Below is some information from the theatre website, but also click on the link included from Common Sense Media   http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/bully

    Release Date: To be Announced (end of March timeframe)
    Studio: The Weinstein Company
    Director: Lee Hirsch
    Genre: Documentary
    MPAA Rating: R (for some language)

    Plot Synopsis: Directed by Sundance and Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Lee Hirsch, "The Bully Project" is a beautifully cinematic, character-driven documentary. At its heart are those with huge stakes in this issue whose stories each represent a different facet of America's bullying crisis.
    "The Bully Project" follows five kids and families over the course of a school year.

    Stories include two families who have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14-year-old daughter who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With an intimate glimpse into homes, classrooms, cafeterias and principals' offices, the film offers insight into the often cruel world of the lives of bullied children.

    As teachers, administrators, kids and parents struggle to find answers, "The Bully Project" examines the dire consequences of bullying through the testimony of strong and courageous youth. Through the power of their stories, the film aims to be a catalyst for change in the way we deal with bullying as parents, teachers, children and society as a whole.

    Burlington School Food Project  We "heart" Vegetables!
    Getting students to eat their vegetables is a constant battle. However, based on a CDC report put out earlier this year through Shelburne Farms and VT FEED, Vermont students are prone to consuming more vegetables that many kids in our country. Although this is dynamite news there still remains room to grow.
    The Burlington School Food Project is always finding ways to urge our students to be adventurous in their food choices. We are constantly reaching out and trying new things. For us experiential learning is one of the best ways to get students more involved in their food.
    Here is a list of some of our emerging project:

    The Burlington High School Greenhouse - Earlier this year Mr. Brian Hoffman, a teacher of science at BHS, offered an unbeatable deal by granting us access to the department's greenhouse. This is a fully functional, glass structure, with automatic sprinklers and temperature sensitive vents. Basically a Farm 2 School dream.  With help from Jenn McGowan and her Healthy City crew, as well as City Market volunteers we plan to have the place cleaned out and ready for an April planting.  Our goal is to use this greenhouse space to grow healthy starts for all of our district's school gardens. Also by using this space as an educational tool teachers will be able to bring students onto the ground floor of food production. For me this is the most magical part of growing fruits and vegetables and I hope that this experience will cultivate new relationships between our students and their vegetables.

    C.P. Smith Heritage Apple Orchard - C.P. Smith, having the space, sun-exposure and proper drainage has become the focal-point for our first ever district apple orchard. This orchard, with the support of principle Thomas Fleury, will house approximately fifteen apple trees of various heritage varieties. Apples play a big role in both the history and landscape of Vermont. Our intent is to offer a space that promotes the examination of both of these topics.  In the spring we hope to: break ground, fill site with compost and plant a cover crop in order to ready the ground for tree planting next year. The learning that can be paired with this project is almost limitless.  

    Our vision includes: community  harvest dinners, food-based education curriculum, district-wide field  trips, taste-tests, pruning workshops, gardening classes, Vermont  storytelling

    New Foods coming soon!  We have been busy this winter developing new local vendor partnerships. Here is what we have coming your way:
    Vermont Bean Crafters  Located at the Mad River Food Hub in Waitsfield, Vermont the Bean Crafters will be making:    Falafel, Black Bean Crumble, Black Bean Burgers,Hummus
    Kingdom Creamery These delicious dairy products come from  a family farm in East Hardwick, Vermont. Our schools will be partaking in their rich and flavor-filled non-fat yogurts. 
    Vermont Soy Company Finally! The USDA recognizes tofu as a source of protein. With that being the case we will now be able to experiment with recipes that include Vermont Soy Tofu

    Save the Date....
    • March 22- May 17 - Hunt Library Evening Hours on Thursdays for Families 5-7pm
    • March 23, 24 - JJ Flynn Theatre presents Narnia - Friday 7pm, Sat 4pm
    • March 23 - Hunt Dance at 7pm
    • March 24 - Junior Iron Chef 9:30-3:30 - Champlain Valley Expo
    • March 24 - Set building day for Grease - all daystarting at 8:30am
    • March 25 - Tech Dress Rehearsal for Grease - Noon - All Cast
    • March 29-31 - Grease - Th- school show at 2pm, Friday 7pm, Sat 4pm
    • April 19th -  Hunt Heritage Potluck Dinner  5:30 - 7:00 pm

    Monday, March 12, 2012

    Hunt PTO Update 3/12/12

    Hey There Hunt Families - Lost an hour of sleep but we gain an hour of sun.  Enjoy the extra light and warm temps!

    PTO Meeting this Thursday, March 15th from 7-8pm in the Library.  There will be childcare in the cafeteria.  Everyone is welcome - find out what's going on at Hunt Middle School and share your ideas about where we're going...

    Meeting Agenda:
    • Special presentation by Officer Rene Berti entitled "Electronic Communications, Your Best Friend or Worst Enemy"
    • Fund raising update -  Helpers list for Pancake B'fast/Silent Auction
    • Sports communication - Marcie
    • Grease update

    PANCAKES and SHOPPING on St. Patrick's Day - Saturday, March 17th, 8.30 - 11.30 am    Pricing: $6 for adults, $4 for children, $15 per family up to 4. Free to kids under 3.

    Breakfast starts at 8:30 and the Silent Auction closes at 11:15 am.  Best choice is to be at the auction for the final bids and closing, but it is not a requirement.  There are more that 100 great auction items valued at more than $8000 - come get a bargain and support the Hunt PTO - after all, all the money goes back to activities/opportunities for YOUR KID!


    Election Day Bake Sale raised $600 and will be split between the PTO and Theatre Committee.  Thank you to Susan Rutherford for providing the organizing leadership and to the many volunteers who both baked and manned the table from 7am-7pm.  We appreciate your time and talents!

    Grease coming soon to Hunt Middle School!  Mark your calendar for Friday, March 30th at 7pm or Saturday, March 31st at 4pm to see ~75 6-8th graders singing, dancing and acting their way through Grease. This is the G rated version, so families are encouraged to attend!  Make a night of it by coming early on Friday for a low cost Spaghetti supper at 5:30 or stay afterwards on Saturday for a Soup/Chile dinner

    Build sets for Grease!    On March 24th we'll be constructing a 10-foot mock turntable and painting a giant jukebox.  We're looking for volunteers to help with the following tasks:
    • Transport set pieces from other schools to Hunt (pickup truck or van required)
    • Picking up lumber (pickup, van, or roof rack needed)
    • Painting and/or carpentry on Saturday March 24, starting at 8:30am
    • Someone who can loan us a good jigsaw for the 24th 
    Please contact Alex Messinger at alex.messinger@gmail.com or 373-0178 for details and/or to volunteer.

    Save the Date....
    • March 15- May 17 - Hunt Library Evening Hours on Thursdays for Families 5-7pm
    • March 15 - PTO meeting in Library - 7-8pm, childcare provided
    • March 17 - Hunt Pancake Breakfast/Silent Auction Fundraiser
    • March 23, 24 - JJ Flynn Theatre presents Narnia - Friday 7pm, Sat 4pm
    • March 24 - Junior Iron Chef 9:30-3:30 - Champlain Valley Expo
    • March 24 - Set building day for Grease - all day...
    • March 25 - Tech Dress Rehearsal for Grease - All Cast
    • March 29-31 - Grease - Th- school show, Friday 7pm, Sat 4pm

    Monday, March 5, 2012

    Hunt PTO Update 3/6/12

    Hey There Hunt Families - Welcome back to school and back to work!

    Chairs in need of TLC...  There are 2 upholstered chairs in the Hunt library in need of some repair. The cording on the front of the arms is loose and needs someone to repair it before it gets worse. Might you have some experience with upholstery?????  Contact the librarian, Diane at: dpawlusi@bsdvt.org

    Green Eggs and Ham for St. Paddy's Day? Actually, no, BUT how about Pancakes??????

    Hunt Middle School Presents: Pancake Breakfast & Silent Auction
    March 17th, 8:30-11:30am
    1364 North Ave., Burlington (Hunt Middle School!)

    Hot breakfast including pancakes, bacon, chicken sausage, orange juice, local apple cider, Vermont maple syrup, fresh hot coffee, & tea.

    Don’t miss this Silent Auction with over 100 valuable items worth more than $8,000, including a $600 Skirack bicycle, lift tickets to local ski resorts, Burton jacket, memberships to local gyms, dozens of gift certificates to local restaurants, bakeries, salons, and much, much more.

    For a full list of auction items (it is impressive!), contact Gabi and she will attach the excel spreadsheet of goodies for you to peruse

    For further information please contact Gabi Baumann at (802) 660-9189 or gamabaumann@burlingtontelecom.net

    EAT PANCAKES AND VOLUNTEER!!   Eating helps, but so does volunteering!!!  Listed below is how you can HELP:

    1. VOLUNTEER:  We are looking to have people sign up for 2 hour shifts (or more) Here's how we've broken it down: 
    For the Pancake Breakfast:
    7am-9am - Set up, cook, (flippin' pancakes), clear and fill food    # of People needed -  8
    9am-11am - Cook, clear and fill food    # of People needed - 8
    11am-1pm - Clean up     # of People needed - 8
    For the Silent Auction:
    7am- 9am - Set up, monitor    # of People needed - 4
    9am-11am - Monitor    # of People needed - 3
    11am- 1pm - Cashier, runners and clean up     # of People needed - 6
    2. DONATE OR FIND STUFF:  We need:
    * Electric Griddles to borrow for the day
    *Wood needed for making signs, any type of wood approx. 3ft high and 2.5-3foot wide would be great
    *  Can you lend us black table cloths or sheets or any black fabric for our silent auction? Preferably for 6 foot tables, but we appreciate any size.
    * Donation of Card Stock and/or poster board (also for the silent auction, to help in labeling)

    PLEASE CONTACT TAMMY KUYPERS IF YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP IN ANYWAY!!
    TAMMY'S INFO:  Email- Kuypers5@yahoo.com
    Cell- 598-4293,  Home - 863-1943
    Thank you all so much for your time and support!!


    Hunt Library Evening Hours for Families 5-7pm on Thursdays starting March 8 - May 17. (not open 4/26) The School Family partnership committee is sponsoring this event. Parents and families are encouraged to come use the library every Thursday from 5-7pm. Families will be able to read, check out books and use the computers/internet. See what our library has to offer!


    Save the Date....

    • March 8- May 17 - Hunt Library Evening Hours for Families 5-7pm
    • March 15 - PTO meeting in Library - 7-8pm, childcare provided
    • March 17 - Hunt Pancake Breakfast/Silent Auction Fundraiser
    • March 23, 24 - JJ Flynn Theatre presents Narnia - Friday 7pm, Sat 4pm
    • March 24 - Junior Iron Chef 9:30-3:30 - Champlain Valley Expo
    • March 24 - Set building day for Grease - all day...
    • March 25 - Tech Dress Rehearsal for Grease - All Cast
    • March 29-31 - Grease - Th- school show, Friday 7pm, Sat 4pm