2009 – 2010 Pennekamp PTA Committees
and Descriptions
Student
Services Committees:
Artists
in Residence (AIR): PTA funds programs to provide
classrooms with access to talented artists throughout the school year. Ms. Radha teaches drama which result in
performances for peers and parents (i.e., Three Piggy Opera). Mr. Hugo teaches
a wide variety of art classes, and Ms. Dulce provides dance instruction. Both students and teachers look forward
to learning from these artists! Contact: Kim
Friedman (jkefriedman@earthlink.net).
Authors’
Week: For one week at the beginning of the
New Year, the PTA organizes and funds a week dedicated to reading and writing
for students. The week includes an
assembly presentation by a children’s book author, a writer’s workshop for 5th
graders, and parents volunteering as Mystery Readers. Mystery
Cultural
Arts: PTA sponsors three assemblies a year
featuring artists representing many cultures. They incorporate dance and storytelling into their
performances. All family members
are welcome to attend. Also, the
academic curriculum of 5th grade classes is enhanced by performances
of “Letter to Harriet Tubman” and “I, Nate Love”. Contact: Susan Holton (
Daffodil
Days: This committee coordinates “Daffodil
Days,” a spring fundraiser benefiting the American Cancer Society. Contact: Sharon Kay (sakay@roadrunner.com).
Family
to Family: This committee offers a helping hand to
Pennekamp families needing assistance during difficult times. They may make meals, offer babysitting
or carpooling, help with grocery shopping, etc. Contact: Kathy Martens (kdmartens@adelphia.net).
Fifth
Grade Promotion and End-of-the-Year Party: 5th
graders are given a rousing send off as they leave Pennekamp for MBMS. The event takes place in June and
requires fifth-grade parent volunteers.
The 5th Grade students also raise money for a gift to be given to
Pennekamp from their class. Contact: Kim Friedman
(jkefriedman@earthlink.net) or Charmaine Nielsen (cn819@aol.com).
Halloween
Costume Closet: Donate a new or gently used costumes
to be donated to a local family shelter. Contact: Nicole Meyer (nicmmeyer@gmail.com).
Halloween
Parade: Students parade around the field in
their costumes to delight parents and one another with their characters and
creativity. Contact: Jeanette Thue (jeanettethue@msn.com).
Ice
Cream: Every Friday after school, PTA sells
ice cream to students to celebrate the end of a great week. Students purchase ice cream in the
cafeteria and then mingle with one another and parents. This is a longstanding Pennekamp
tradition! Contact: Nikki Donovan (
Marquee: Ever notice the marquee on
School
Photos: Pennekamp students have their school
photos taken by Lifetouch Studios in September. A make-up photo day is scheduled in mid October for those
absent on the original photo day. Contact:
Leanne Huebner (lpyott@yahoo.com). **For family
photos, see fundraising committees.
Science
Fair: In late spring, the PTA sponsors
students who want to apply scientific methods to better understand their
world. Projects are displayed at
Open House in early June. Contact:
Jennifer Claman (clamanfamily@roadrunner.com).
Talent
Show: Each spring, Pennekamp mounts a
spectacular display of students’ great ideas/talents. Acting,
singing, dancing, and playing piano are just some of the acts seen over
the years. Contact:
T-Shirts: Every year, a new T-Shirt is designed and printed for
Pennekampers to wear to demonstrate their school spirit. Dragons wear their shirts every Friday
and on field trips. Contact: Gina
Meyer (ginabmeyer@yahoo.com)
or
Yearbook: PK publishes a yearbook that chronicles the school
year. Photos are solicited through
your child’s room parent during the year. Contact:
Young at Art (YAA): This visual
arts enrichment program focuses on enhancing students’ creative
processes and visual perceptions. The program utilizes numerous community
resources in the Arts and trains very dedicated parent volunteers on a
monthly basis. These parent
volunteers bring the projects to life in each classroom by walking students
through a series of easy, step-by-step instructions to allow each child to
create the featured artwork themselves.
The program explores the art of a variety of artists and art movements
each year, using a variety of mediums.
Every child will have one of their works displayed in the ‘Young At Art’
gallery during Pennekamp’s annual Open House. Contact: Lindy Welk (beach.welks@verizon.net)
or
Operations
Committees:
Campus Enhancements: This committee maintains the lovely potted gardens outside
classrooms, organizes campus “pride days” for sprucing up our grounds, and
helps find ways to improve the overall appearance of the campus. Contact: Maureen Gold (mksgold@msn.com).
Clothing and
Directory/Parent Handbook: Parents know it is one of the most important books in the
house! The PK Directory provides
the names/phone numbers for all your child’s classmates, teachers’ extensions
at school, and critical information about PTA and Pennekamp. A copy of the Directory is provided
free to each PTA member. The
Directory accepts local advertisements.
Extra copies are available for purchase. Contact: Karen Chan (
Dragon eNews: Pennekamp’s PTA sends out a weekly e-mail newsletter on
Monday evenings to parents, teachers and administrators containing information
about school events, a calendar of upcoming events, a link to Principal
Go Green: Students and parents participate in ongoing activities to
improve the environment. The goal
is to educate Pennekamp families on the importance of the three R’s: reduce,
reuse, recycle. Programs include
bringing a “trashless” lunch on Tuesdays, ‘Walk to School’ Wednesdays, and
recycling in the classroom/lunchroom.
Go Green merchandise is available to purchase. Contact: Mariel Waller (mvdhrew@aol.com)
or Maureen Gold (
Growing
Great: During
Harvest-of-the-Month tasting, a seasonal fresh fruit or vegetable is sampled in
the cafeteria during lunch. Displays illustrate the farm to table cycle with
samples of live plants, seeds, different varieties of produce being sampled and
nutrition facts. Our
Historian: The Pennekamp Historian compiles photographs and other
memorabilia from the school year.
They maintain the bulletin boards on the Pennekamp campus. Contact: Ann Parsons (
Hospitality: The PTA serves snacks at PTA events such as general PTA
meetings. Hospitality chairs
organize and set up snacks (usually juice, cookies, coffee), paid for by PTA. Contact: Pamela Noel.
Kindergarten/New Parent Social: Just prior to the start of school in September, Pennekamp
hosts a “welcome” social for in-coming Kindergarten/DK families as well as
anyone new to our school. Contact: Binny Patel (binnypatel@hotmail.com).
Library Volunteer Coordinator: Library volunteers help students locate and check out books,
re-shelve books, and generally support the work of our Library Media
Specialist. Contact: Susan Holton (
PTA Reflections: Reflections is a national PTA recognition program that asks
students to express themselves creatively with any of the following arts
(musical composition, photography, literature, visual arts, dance choreography
or video production) based on a theme.
Judges at PK review the work by category and grade. Winners are forwarded to the Manhattan
Beach Council, State, and even the National PTA. The 2009-20010 theme is “Beauty Is…!" and entries will
be due in the Fall. Contact: Loli Ramezani (laleh.ramezani@bt.com).
PTA Website: The Pennekamp PTA has an award-winning website,
www.pkpta.org, which is updated weekly with the latest PTA and school
information. The Tuesday Green
Sheet, Parent Handbook, and Tuesday envelope fliers are only a few examples of
the information available. Contact: Judi Walley (ljss.walley@verizon.net).
Room Parent Coordinator: Each class has two ‘Room Parent’ volunteers to support the
classroom teacher and PTA. The ‘Events
Coordinator’ plans two class parties, helps with one teacher/staff luncheon,
organizes two class gifts and plans something special for Teacher Appreciation
Day, and assists with the Jog-a-thon and Halloween Parade. The “PTA Liaison” gathers contact
information for each family in the class, finds a parent who will take
classroom photos, sends emails to class families with information from PTA or
MBEF, and attends four evening PTA meetings a year. Room Parents are solicited in September. Contact:
Scholastic Books: To support our school Library, PTA sends the monthly
Scholastic Books flyer home with students in their Tuesday envelope. Orders are compiled and sent to
Scholastic, and the books are then sent home with students. Contact: Carol Dafesh (rivfish@verizon.net) or Stephanie Mibu (smibu@roadrunner.com).
Science Lab Coordinator: Science Lab volunteers help students with their science
experiments and generally support the work of our Science Specialist. Contact:
Staff Appreciation Days: PK has the best teachers, instructional assistants,
custodians and administrative staff.
Once a month, we host a lunch to show them they are appreciated. Contact:
Technology Liaison: The tech liaison coordinates development of the PTA
technology budget with the PTA executive board and PK and MBUSD administration
and staff. The tech liaison also provides oversight of PTA technology
expenditures and participates as PK PTA representative to district, MBEF and
other technology groups as needed. Contact: Rajeev Mishra (rajeev_mishra@ea.epson.com).
Tuesday Envelope Stuffers: This committee meets every Tuesday morning to “stuff” the
weekly Tuesday Envelopes with all sorts of communication, including the “Green
Sheet,” to keep you well informed. Contact: Arlene King (teamking.mb@verizon.net)
or
Membership
Committees:
Membership
Drive: This position works closely with the VP-Membership
to ensure a successful membership campaign for the school year. Responsibilities include helping to
update and assemble the annual PTA ‘membership packet’ that goes to each
Pennekamp family on the first day of school, updating and maintaining the
membership database, and assisting with communications and events that help
stimulate PTA membership. Contact: Leslie
Averback-Lee (leslieaverback@yahoo.com).
Matching
Gifts: Many employers offer matching gift
programs that match the funds their employees donate to Pennekamp PTA and
MBEF. This position helps raise
awareness about employer matching gift programs, including identifying and
promoting employers that offer such programs. This person coordinates the steps involved in applying for
gifts and collect matching gift funds. Contact:
Fundraising Committees:
Scrip/eScrip: Scrip is one of our biggest fundraisers, yet it costs
families nothing to participate!
Buy scrip at school through your Tuesday envelope or during ice cream
sales on selected Fridays. It’s
easy, convenient, and we have a great selection of vendors! Also, don’t miss the opportunity to
register your credit cards with eScrip or your grocery club cards to earn money
for Pennekamp while you shop. The
Scrip Committee is a great volunteer opportunity for parents with younger
children who can only donate limited time to PTA. Contact: Kelly Schmit (kls4999@aol.com)
or
Book Fair: Once a year, the Pennekamp PTA sponsors a book fair
featuring current, high-quality fiction, nonfiction, and gifts for PK students
and their families. In conjunction
with the Book Fair and through its Joy of Reading Program, PTA collects new
books to donate to less fortunate students at a school in
Box Tops: Cash for Trash! Before recycling those boxes from General
Mills and other products, tear off the little “Boxtops for Education” symbol on
the top and send it to school. We
pack them up every few months and send them in for redemption. Each symbol is worth ten cents. Last
year Pennekamp received over $2,000 from this program. Classrooms with the most ‘Boxtops’ win
monthly ice cream parties. Contact: Nikki
Donovan (nikoladonovan@gmail.com).
Dragon
Movie Night: A Pennekamp family celebration with
a movie under the stars. The event and popcorn are free. Food and drinks are
available for purchase. A teacher raffle tops off the evening. The tentative
date is May 16. Contact: Karen Cavallo (cavallo5@verizon.net) or Cindy Poirier (cpoirier@sequel-us.com).
Family Portraits: Once a year, the PTA sponsors Family Portraits. For a modest fee, a family gets a
sitting and a photograph. Our
photographer offers packages as well, including holiday photo cards delivered
in time for the winter holidays.
Contact: Stephanie Mibu (smibu@roadrunner.com). **For school
photos, see student services committees.
Gift Wrap: During September, the Pennekamp PTA has a gift wrap
fundraising drive. We offer high
quality wrapping paper, stationery, and gifts just in time for the holidays. Students are encouraged to sell
wrapping paper to family and friends.
PK PTA nets a 50% profit on all sales. Contact: Alison Biancamono (abiancamano@roadrunner.com)
or Karen McGory (kmcgory@mapmarketinginc.com).
Jog-A-Thon: The mighty Dragons of Pennekamp show their strength in the
spring at our Jog-A-Thon.
Sponsored by parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends, our tireless
Dragons run around the field for as many laps as their little legs can
take. The Jog-A-Thon traditionally
raises money for special projects at school. Contact: Karen Patton (karenpatton@roadrunner.com).
Parent Party: The Pennekamp Parent Party provides an opportunity for
parents to meet one another and enjoy an evening of dinner, dancing, and
fun! This lively event also
includes a silent auction which raises needed funds for PK. Contact:
Christine Dillon (cdillon7466@aol.com), Pennie Stepczyk (pennie17@verizon.net)
or Amy Staszkow (amys@blueroomevents.com).
Parking
Raffle: Parents can compete in a raffle for
a convenient parking space right in the Rowell parking lot for either early
drop off, afternoon kindergarten drop off, kindergarten pick-up or early and
late pick ups. These privileges
last the entire school year. Contact:
School Supplies: Parents will have the opportunity to take care of next fall’s
school supply needs right here at school.
All you have to do is fill out the required form and your child’s school
supplies will be delivered to school before school starts in August. Your child’s school supplies will
be custom packed according to the requirements of the Pennekamp teachers for
each specific grade. Contact: Linda
McCrary (mccrarycali@yahoo.com).
Year-end
Gifts/Scrip: PK families have the opportunity to
thank other teachers and staff that work with our children. All gifts are tallied and the
recipients get a scrip gift certificate for the total amount. Last year these $1 contributions added
up to one substantial gift for each person. Your name will appear on a thank you card or your gift can
be anonymous. Contact: Carol Dafesh (rivfish@verizon.net).
Pennekamp Elementary School
110 S. Rowell Avenue, Manhattan Beach CA 90266
Phone: 310-798-6223 Fax: 310-303-3839