Rice Lake PTO

September 11 - Magazine fundraiser kickoff
September 18 - Welcome Back BINGO
September 18 - 1st turn in day for Magazine Sales
September 25 - 2nd turn in day for Magazine Sales
October 8 - Board Meeting
October 8 - Parent Meeting   "Saving for College"

November 5 - Board Meeting

November 5 - Parent Meeting

December 10 - Board Meeting

December 10 - Sing A Long

January 14 - Board Meeting

January 29 - Sock Hop  7-8:30pm.

February 11 - Board Meeting

February 11 - Parent Meeting

March 11 - Board Meeting

March 11 - 5^th Grade Transition

March 21- Carnival 

April 8 - Board Meeting

May 1 - Smart Run

May 6 - Board Meeting

May 6 - Award Night

May 6 - Staff Appreciation Breakfast

May 11-13 - Volunteer appreciation lunches

June 4 - Ice Cream Social

President: Patty Jennrich 651-717-9873
Vice President: Maura Muenzer 651-490-7672
Secretary: Vicki Capistrant 651-484-0238
Treasurer: Dawn Poellinger 651-483-6890
Community Liaison: Bill Fischer 651-762-1755
Volunteer Coordinator: Suzy Guthmueller 651-484-6634

We're just 6 SmartBoards short of our goal of outfitting all the
classrooms with SmartBoards!

This is no small task we're undertaking.  It's going to take about
$20,000 to get there.  While it is a challenge, I know we have a
great community of support and I know we can count on all of you for
help.

Here are some ways you can help:

1) Write a check to the PTO and put "SmartBoards" in the memo.  It's a
tax deduction and 100% of your donation will go to SmartBoards.  Send it in with your child in an envelop marked "RLEPTO"

2) Help us find grant programs. We've got a few leads, but consider
where you work, where your neighbors work, where you shop, etc.  If
they have a grant program that could help Rice Lake Elementary, we'd
like to hear about it.  Send your leads to rlepto@googlegroups.com and
we'll take it from there.  Send us the basics: the name of the
organization, the name of the grant program, a link to the
oarganizations web site and any information about the program you can
provide to help us get started.

3) Sign up for the 2nd Annual RLE Smart Run committee.  We somehow
made it happen with a committee of three last year (huge thanks and
kudos go out to Sandi Hammersten and Lynn Olson for that).  We're
looking  to have a 6-person committee this year.  Committee meetings
will start in January and the event will be in May.  Email
rlepto@googlegroups.com if you are interested.

Thanks everyone for any help you can contribute!

Magazine sales are in full swing! If I had time to read all the magazines that seem interesting, my son would get the limo ride with a single customer. Unfortunately for him, I know I won't have time to read them all, so he's going to have to work a little harder (perhaps by asking mom?). I hope you and your kids are enjoying the experience and all the prizes.

The magazine sale is the primary source of revenue for the PTO. Without this event, the PTO would be extremely limited in what we could actually do. What is it the PTO does, you ask? We do a lot of things you probably already know about. Welcome back bingo, the sock hop, the carnival and the ice cream social are some of the big ones.

Before I get too far, I need to thank the small army of wonderful volunteers that make all these events and programs happen. If we had a stellar fundraiser, but didn't have the dedicated volunteers to back it up, we wouldn't be able to get many things accomplished.

To really understand what it is the PTO is about, you could read through the bylaws, which are posted here: http://www.isd12.org/rle/Bylaws.pdf

For the really curious, the board meeting minutes are posted here: http://www.isd12.org/rle/rlpto.htm.

For those without insomnia, I'll provide a quick synopsis of what the PTO does in a typical year.

To raise funds, the PTO coordinates the annual magazine and spirit wear sales. Thanks to a hard working committee, we're also able to sponsor the carnival. Last year, the PTO added a Smart Run specifically to raise money for SmartBoards. This year, we plan to acquire some funds via grants and will be asking parents to help us find grant programs that we should consider. Selling magazines is the primary fundraiser for the PTO.

Thanks to those funds and the great community of volunteers, we're able to do a number of things:

Social Events. Welcome Back Bingo, Sock Hop, Ice Cream Social, Family Reading Night

Each grade level is given access to funds for things not covered by the district. Examples: Laminated maps for 3rd grade, vocabulary enrichment books for 4th grade, painted butterfly kits for 1st grade, brain pop for 5th grade

Volunteer support. Volunteer coordination and Sibling Care

Educational Programs. Special assemblies, Directed activities, guided reading, etc.

Professional Development for teaching staff.

Appreciation and Recognition. Volunteer appreciation lunch, teacher and staff appreciation events, student recognition.

Capital Improvements - Smartboards, the climbing wall expansion, etc.

Basic administration. Filing required legal and financial documents, maintaining the rlepto.org web site, etc.

Your child(ren) may be selling the magazines to get the limo ride to pizza served by Mr. Buerkley, but these are a few of the reasons why the magazine sale is so important to the Rice Lake Elementary Community.

Bill Fischer
RLEPTO Community Liaison

Sept 12th 1st Magazine turn in and Bingo
Sept 19th 2nd and final Magazine turn in
Oct 7th Board Meeting and Parent Meeting
Nov 8th Book Fair
Nov 11th Board and Parent Meeting
Dec 9th Sing-A-Long
Jan 13th Board Meeting
Jan 30th Sock Hop
Feb 10th Board and Parent Meeting
March 17th Board and Parent Meeting - 5th Grade Transition
March 29th Carnival
April 14th Board Meeting
May 7th Teach Appreciation Breakfast
May 12th Board Meeting and Award Night
May 12-14th Volunteer Lunches
May 28th 5th grade party
May 29th Ice Cream Social