Browning PTA

Our Planet is in Trouble
For thousands of years, our planet has given us energy – lots of energy!  Unfortunately, in the process, we’ve put our planet under stress and now it needs our help.  To keep our planet healthy, we must find better ways of getting and using energy. 

Join ENERGY STAR in the fight to save our planet by learning ways to become more energy efficient.

For more information, visit the Energy Star Kids website @ http://www.energystar.gov/kids  or review this PDF Document

Just another way our Browning Families can help in “Growing Up Green!”

It’s a new year – a time of fresh experiences and beginnings.   We hope that everyone enjoyed a joyous holiday season!  The following are just a few ways you can  help ensure the rest of this school year is the best yet!

• January 23 - NATIONAL HANDWRITING DAY:  In this age of texting & typing, please encourage your child to reaquaint themselves with using the “old fashioned” pen or pencil & practice their “John Hancocks” on Jan. 23rd for National Handwriting Day!  On this date, John Hancock (one of our founding fathers) signed our nation’s Constitution. 
• February 11 – GO GREEN NIGHT:  Protecting the environment has always been important and has gained a lot of attention lately, but how much do our kids know about it?  From turning off the water when brushing your teeth to sending emails instead of newsletters, there are many ways we can all do our part to help the environment.  Please join us on February 11th from 6:30-8PM for a family fun event to help show us all the importance of the 3 R’s:  REDUCE, REUSE, & RECYCLE!
• March 11th – FAMILY READING NIGHT:  Please join us from 6:30-8PM for a celebration of reading!  Research validates that children who read at home do better in school & are more likely to do succeed academically when their parents are involved in their school.  We hope to set the scene for a Family Reading night like no other for all!  

As always, these events would not be possible without our amazing volunteers! 

Best Regards,

YOUR BROWNING PTA

We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and wish all of you a very happy and healthy 2010! To do our part in “Growing Up Green,” we’re working to shorten our newsletter & are posting information about events & fundraisers on our website to help reduce amount of paper sent home. We will no longer be sending home reminders in the students’ backpacks! To add your e-mail address, please contact Chris Washeleski at [email protected].

Browning Families, Students, & Staff:

Please feel free to deposit any Well Wishes, Holiday Cards, Notes of Support, Etc. for “speedy delivery” to Jessica & the Baker family in the large gift wrapped box outside of the Browning Office.

Jessica Baker is a delightful 6th Grade student at Browning Elementary. A talented & energetic soccer player, Jessica’s family (Mom Terri, Dad Jeff, & brothers John, Ryan, and Jacob) became concerned when she wasn’t quite herself becoming weak & lethargic early this summer. After numerous doctor visits & declining health, Jessica was diagnosed on June 20, 2009 with T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma Stage III. For more information on Jessica’s diagnosis & updates on how she is doing, please visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jessicabaker10

As you can imagine, Jessica & her family’s world was and continues to be turned upside down. They have experienced a lot in a short period of time. They are deeply appreciative of the outpouring of support they have received from family, friends, neighbors, the Browning community, the soccer community, and all the wonderful people whom they did not even know before Jessica’s illness.

Anything you can do to help brighten the lives of Jessica & her family during this difficult time would be greatly appreciated!

Best Regards,

Michelle Pugh, Browning PTA President

Jessica Baker PTA Special Delivery Post Dec09

Dear Parents:   Thank you to all the parents that contributed to our 2009/10 Balloon Launch Fundraiser for Browning’s PTA.  We had a successful event with 12 students receiving their balloon cards back and raising $5,091.20 to go towards our Browning Elementary children.  Some of our students received some really nice notes back with their returned balloon cards.    Our event was highlighted in the C & G Newspaper giving our event local press.

The PTA raffled an overnight stay to the Kalahari Resort.  Each student of Browning had their name in the drawing with a minimum donation of $20.00 with a $40.00 maximum per family.  The winner of the Kalahari stay is Austin Rasho.  Congratulations!  

Thank you for your generosity and for your support along the way.  We look forward to a rewarding, educational and fun year for our Browning Students.

2009/10 PTA Sponsored Event
Balloons Found/Calculated in Approximate Air Miles

Jeffrey             Pre-K/Room 2                         Sterling Heights, MI

(Mrs. Washburn found)            Less than 1

Bobby              Grade K                                   Sterling Heights, MI                  Less than 1

(Found by the church)

Casey               Pre-K/Room 2                         Sterling Heights, MI                  Less than 1

(near school)

Shawn              Grade 4/Room 12                    China Township, MI                 32 Air Miles *

Victoria G.       Grade 5                                    No City Given – Canada          Unknown

Milan                Grade K p.m.                           Simcoe, Ontario                       140 Air Miles

Samantha         Grade 2/Room 9                      Westfield, NY                          177 Air Miles

Parker              Grade 3/Room 24                    Buffalo, NY                              212 Air Miles

Logan N.          Grade 1/Room 16                    Dushore, PA                            349 Air Miles

Michael O.       Grade K                                   Udora, ON  (note)                   419 Air Miles

Madison           Grade 5/Room 16                    Chatham Twp., PA (note)         420 Air Miles

Jonathan           Grade 6/Room 24                    Wellsville, NY                          446 Air Miles

Did you know that: The distance between Wellsville, NY and Hartford, CT is 111 air miles WOW that balloon went far!

* Balloon that went in a totally different direction!

PTA Sponsored Family Fun Go Green Night!

When: Thursday, February 11th, 2010
6:30P-8:00PM

Where: Browning Elementary School

FREE– Your donation of used cell phones, batteries, ink cartridges, & bottles/cans at the door will be greatly appreciated!

Protecting the environment has always been important.  However, the concept of “Going Green” has become more widespread and, yes, even fashionable recently.  From reusable bags to organic t-shirts/vegetables, saving the planet has gained a lot of attention from adults but what do our children really know about it?   

In order to make this event a success, several volunteers and donations are still needed.   If you are able to contribute your time or one of the following items, please contact Michelle Pugh ([email protected] or 566-2450) or one of our amazing Recycling Club sponsors ([email protected] or [email protected]):

• clean/used girls tights or men’s tube socks
• assorted felt, buttons, ribbons
• scrap paper
• snacks (i.e. apples, veggies, organic/locally grown products)

As always, your time, consideration, and participation would be greatly appreciated!

 Best Regards,

Your Browning PTA

Please join us for Family Literacy Night on Thursday, March 11th from 6:30-8PM for a celebration of reading!  Research validates that children who read at home do better in school & are more likely to do succeed academically when their parents are involved in their school.  We hope to set the scene for a Family Literacy Night like no other for all!  

Theme of the evening will be “Reading Makes Your Knowledge Grow.”  We’ll be decorating with flower cut-outs, set up a “book garden” book exchange where families/students can “plant” their gently used book and “pick” one to take home, serve raw vegetables/dip & other fun book themed snacks, set up a station for students to decorate a garden pot & plant a seed, and make their own sunflower reading charts.  We’ll have a few guest readers & our wonderful 3rd Grade teachers are planning a Poet’s Corner & Commercial opportunity for their students & their families.

To make this family fun event a huge success, we needed a great planning team.  Many thanks to the following volunteers!  If you can assist with Family Literacy Night in any capacity, please contact Michelle Pugh at [email protected] or 566-2450.

• Jen Sornig & Carrie VanLuven – “Snack Masters” to brainstorm book-related refreshments, recruit volunteers to supply food, and oversee the refreshment table.
• Deb Beger and Kim Liepshutz – Book Swap Cops to recruit volunteers to collect gently read book, set up the book swap table, and help children choose books to take home.  To ensure every child goes home with at least one book, the Book Swap Cops will be seeking donations of used, age-appropriate books ahead of time. 
• Setup & Cleanup Captain still needed to recruit volunteers to help set up the evening’s activities and clean up at the end of the night.

Dear UCS Supporter:

 Our visits to Lansing are having a positive effect!

 This week, we had the opportunity not only to meet with our local legislators, but Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop met with our delegation for nearly an hour, hearing our concerns.

While we still haven’t finished the job, our local legislators are beginning to understand that parents have high expectations for their children’s future, and that a strong public education system is critical to their success.  Understanding is the first step; motivating our legislators to act on behalf of students is the second.

 Even when we aren’t in Lansing, it’s critical that we continue to press ahead with our message.  Within the week, the legislature must come up with funding to offset the $127 per pupil reductions made through the Governor’s executive order cuts.

I urge you to continue to write, telephone, email and fax your legislators.  Ask them:

• Will you agree to use federal stimulus dollars set aside for 2010-2011 to eliminate the $127 per pupil cuts?  This support would allow school districts to make it through this school year without devastating cuts and provide time to plan for next year.  If they won’t support it, why?
• Are you willing to modify the way public schools are funded?  Proposal A no longer provides a stable source of school funding.  If not, what are your ideas to provide for the education of Michigan’s children?
• Because the current system of school funding depends upon revenues from income and sales taxes, are you willing to consider such revenue enhancements as income tax on retiree pensions and certain IRAs and/or a tax on services such as haircuts and other items currently exempt from tax?  If not, what ideas do you have to improve revenues?

 I thank each of you for your continuing support of our students.  This experience has truly been a grass roots effort and I am very proud of the success we already have achieved.  I look forward to continuing this relationship and, as always, if you need to contact me, please feel free to do so. 

Sincerely,

 Christine M. Johns, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Please mark May 16, 2010 on your calendar for Browning’s first golf outing to be held at Cracklewood Golf Course (located at 24 Mile and Romeo Plank) with a start at 1:30pm! Family and friends are welcome to participate in the fun. If you have any questions or ideas, please contact one of our co-chairs – Marcy Steixner or Sue Medina who have volunteered for this event!

The PTA is having our first BINGO night for the Browning students! $5.00 per person will include a bag of chips, Capri Sun drink, highlighter and three bingo cards. Wear something green and get a free raffle ticket. Hot dogs, pop, cheesecake and coffee will be available to purchase. This event will be from 6:00p.m.-8:00p.m. on Friday, March 5th (NEW DATE)