Hunt PTO Update 5/21/2013

REMINDER:  Monday, May 27th is Memorial Day and there is no school.   Enjoy the day with your family! (and cheer on the Hunt kids running on marathon relay teams!)

Hunt concerts coming up this week and next!

Not-to-be-missed spring concerts featuring our Hunt musicians:

• May 22nd - 7-8 pm Hunt Orchestra concert
• May 29th - Chorus concert and bake sale

Remember to bring your used shoes, sandals and boots for Hunt's shoe recycling program to the concert!!

4th Annual Perennial Plant and School-wide Yard Sale

 May 25th from 8:30-2pm

Yard sale donations of household items, sporting goods, holiday items, small furniture, gently used clothing in good and clean condition, DVDs, and children's books will be gratefully accepted this Friday, May 24th from 3-7pm in the cafeteria at Hunt School.

(Sorry, we cannot accept early yard sale donations due to space considerations. We are unable to accept VHS tapes, text books, and any item in non-working condition. Thank you.)

  To arrange for pick-up or drop-off of your donated perennials or yard sale items, or to volunteer, please contact Susan at 951-2571 or susanrutherford@hotmail.com. High School and middle school student volunteers welcome!

Most perennials will be sold for $5! Buy the plants you need while helping to cover the cost of Hunt's Front Entrance Garden Project. It's a win-win!!  All proceeds will support the purchase of outside garbage cans, and shrubs for Hunt's new front entrance gardens.

 If you have perennials ready for donation, kindly drop them off to 50 Sunset Drive or to Hunt in the grassy area between the parking lots and a volunteer will re-pot them.  

Please be sure to ID your plants and place them in pots or plastic bags with water so they will not wilt. 

Thanks and see you at the sale!! 

Come out to support the HUNT marathon relay teams on Sunday, May 26th!

Did you know that Aidan T., Nate B., Lucas B., Jackson E., Hessain T., Chris G., Eamon L., Anders O., Aaron B., Ben H., Phillip G., Olivia N., Simon K., Abdi B., Patrick B., and Seamus B. are all participating in marathon relay teams?  If you and your family are out on the course on Marathon Sunday, please CHEER ON our HUNT relay runners!  

                                       

Dear Parents,

On Tuesday, May 28^th, we are planning to do an appreciation for the staff at Hunt Middle School, and we could use your help. The idea is to have a bunch of treats for their staff meeting at 3 pm that day.


If you would like to contribute to this effort, here is what we need:

Baked goodies (let us know what you would like to contribute)

Fruit salad

Cheese/crackers

Hummus/pita bread

Paper products

Drinks – seltzer, juice, etc.

Flowers

Help with decorating

                                                           


Please let us know if you can help in any way. You can contact me at 863-2611 or kbutts18@gmail.com.


Thanks very much!

Sincerely,

Kathy Butts

 

 

Minutes from the May PTO meeting are included at the end of the Blog

 

 

For parents of students in the class of 2017:  Don't forget there will be an Incoming 9th Grade Parent Orientation on Thursday, May 30th from 7-8 pm at BHS!  Letters were mailed out last weekend.

Student Achievement Celebration Feedback - It is not too late to include your thoughts and impressions about the student achievement celebration held several weeks ago. I will be collecting your emails through the end of this week and will then pass all info on to Mr. Amato and Mrs. Whitmore Sells. These celebrations are for both students and parents and I value you input. The PTO is happy to follow up on your concerns and opinions with Hunt Administration.

Send emails to huntmiddleschool@gmail.com. 

Thanks, Kate Belluche

                                        
New at the Stone Circle

Check out the Stone Circle when you come to the Plant and Yard Sale on Saturday!

Beautiful new shrubs, plants and a tree have been planted around our stone circle recently, and as you can see, they look great. Be sure to stop and take a look at your fundraising dollars at work!  Thanks to Bella Nadworny, Gabi Baumann, and Susan Rutherford for purchasing and planting these new additions to our garden.

Be sure to visit the Stone Circle when you are next at school!

Hunt Garden Committee is looking for a few people to help with watering the front entrance gardens this spring and summer. If you can help water for one week or if you can help water one day per week, anything you can do will help. High school students and scouts are welcome!! Contact Susan if you can help. at 951-2571 or susanrutherford@hotmail.com.

Want an easy way to support Hunt Middle School's Student Council and all Hunt's students? It won't require volunteering or cost you a dime?  Save Box Tops for Education!






Here’s how to help:







**Box Tops for Education are on the packages of hundreds of participating products that you probably use every day. All you need to do is cut them off the box they are on, stick them in a baggie, and send them to school with your middle school student. There is a container for the Box Tops in the main office.






**Did you know that Box Tops are dated and cannot be used if they are past this expiration date??






Make yourself a note on your home or electronic calendar to send in those Box Tops!! Saving them is the first step. Sending them in before they expire is the next.







The student council will be collecting Box Tops all year long, so start saving and sending in your Box Tops today! The collection box is located in the main office.









Thanks for choosing to support the student council by collecting Box Tops!

Hunt's Student Council collects used shoes, sandals and boots for Hunt's shoe recycling program!!

The collection box went missing for a few days, but it's back in the front entrance of Hunt and ready for the collection of your pre-loved shoes, sneakers, boots, athletic foot wear, and sandals. Don't let those shoes fill our landfills! ShoeBox recycling will get them to people who need them, because most shoes still have some life left in them. Simply bring your old shoes to Hunt, place them in the specially marked box, in the front entrance of the school, and a member of the student council will send them to ShoeBox Recycling. Thanks for doing your part! Contact susanrutherford@hotmail.com with any questions. The band, choir, and orchestra concerts are great times to bring them to Hunt!!

Save the Date... May 22nd - 7-8 pm Hunt Orchestra concert May 25th - 8:30 am - 2 pm; 4th Annual New North End Perennial Plant and School-wide Yard Sale May 26th - Vermont City Marathon & Relay -- Go Hunt runners!!! May 27th - Memorial Day - No School May 28th - Staff Appreciation! May 29th - 7-8pm, Hunt chorus Concert/Bake Sale May 30th - Parent Orientation for Incoming 9th Graders at BHS     MINUTES:   Treasurer's Report Brian reported that we will have carryover for 2013-14, including $7,000 in restricted funds to be used for a LED Sign to be installed on North Avenue. We reminded Mr. Amato that the PTO has $600 allocated towards 8th grade graduation. Principals corner Mr Amato talked about both 8th grade and 7th grade transitions. This Tuesday fifth graders visited Hunt during the day and parents came that same night for orientation. New this year is that 6th graders will have a step up day and get to visit their new teams on the last day of school . Mr. Amato has been working with Officer Bertie, Brian Difranco and Homeland Security to conduct a security assessment of Hunt. This free assessment will help identify improvements and hopefully help us build our case for installing cameras at the entrance and several locales around the Hunt campus. 8th grade graduation is on June 13th at 1pm. 8th graders are required to come to school Friday morning to practice for graduation and should be done around 10. (Please, if you're getting your hair done, make it after 10:30!) Students will return to school at 12:30 for line-up. After the graduation there will be a reception in the cafeteria for families. That evening is the 8th grade dance from 7-9pm - like always, No limos please!!! *Volunteers needed to help out at the graduation reception - parents/students of 6th or 7th graders can contact Michelle Virun at mvirum@bsdvt.org for more info. Officer Elections will be held at the first PTO meeting of the new year - 9/19/13. Returning is Brian Pine as Treasurer and Siobhan Donegan as the Blog meister. At present, the posts of President, Secretary, Fundraising and Enrichment Coordinators are up for grabs. Please consider how your talents might serve Hunt middle school - help us be part of the solution. Harvest Dinner The PTO committed continued support and $1000 to the 2013 Harvest Dinner held in October Hunt LED Sign gets closer to reality. We already have $7,000 restricted for this project and it looks like the total cost will be around $8,500. Thank you Brian and Gabi for your leadership on this. Hunt Staff Appreciation is scheduled for May 28th at the weekely Staff Meeting. Kathy Butts and Amy Stuart are organizing parent donations and setting up the event. Mindfulness Program At the meeting last week, we had presenters from the Center for Mindful Learning in to talk about their school program called Modern Mindfulness for Schools. Unfortunately there were no teachers in attendance, but Mr. Amato participated and thought there might be some of you on staff who might be interested in integrating mindfulness into your day to day practice - it is meant to take ~5 minutes/day. There are a number of Burlington schools/individual classrooms signing up for next Fall. Here is a link to the Center's website - there is a short video to watch and you can try out a seesion on the site as well. http://www.cml.me/ There are different pricing options depending upon whether you receive an inservice training or learn it on-line. The PTO is intested in helping pay for the associated costs if a teacher(s) is interested. We are also getting a contact from ADL Middle School in Essex - they are using this program at their MS with great success.