2004 Friday Flyer 10 3rd

Dear Bennett Families,

What a great Walk-a-thon we had! We should all give a huge thank you to the Walk-a-thon committee including Eva Lorenz and Denise Deshaies for organizing this fun, fundraising event. The event seemed to come off without a hitch and the kids loved those new pets of theirs! The food was hot and delicious, the music was energizing and the kids and their families, had lots of fun! We raised over $30,000 and please remember to collect and turn in your pledge money if you haven't already done so. If you work for companies who match pledges (Microsoft, Boeing, etc.) please submit a completed corporate contribution matching form to us with your pledges. We have Microsoft and Boeing matching forms available in the kiosk at Bennett.

The Bennett Curriculum night is Tuesday, October 7th. This is a very informative evening put on by Bennett teachers and staff and we hope you all will be there. Each room-parent will be asking parents to make a small donation for a classroom party fund. Please donate if you can. They will also be asking for parents to sign up for any parties that are still open. Thank you to everyone who is able to support the classroom by volunteering your time or resources.

We are heading full steam into our annual auction but of course it is considerably earlier this year. On November 8th, the Bennett Auction, The Great Pacific Northwest will be held at Glendale Country Club. Your Family Auction Package folders went home last week. Please consider making a family donation as described in the packet. Besides the classroom keepsakes, theme baskets and staff donations, the family packages are a huge part of the auction's success. Invitations for the auction will be out to you mid-October so put it on your calendar now! If you have any questions, please call Dana Tavener or Lis Stulz.

Our first Skate King date is set for October 15th. Students are required to have permission slips to attend and will need to have a 'responsible adult' on the premises in order to attend. The Skate King events are so much fun and we need to make sure every student is safe and accounted for!

The Reflections Art Program is under way. Carol Losi has set up several workshops for your young artist. The theme is 'I am happy when...' . Encourage your child to submit a project. They can express their creativity in art, photography, story telling, poetry, music and dance. Each chance your child has to test and demonstrate their budding talent is such a confidence booster!

We look forward to a fun October and hope your children have settled in well to their classrooms and the routine of school.

Sincerely,

Kristine Keski

PTSA Co-President


Legislative Alert	2
Multicultural Potluck	3
Book Fair	3
Coat Drive	4
Bennett Calendar	4

Inside this issue:

Calendar

October 7: Curriculum Night

October 8: Reflections Art Workshop

October 10: Conference Day, No School

October 15: Skate King Social

October 22: Multicultural Potluck 6:00 pm

October 27-29: BSF Phonathon

November 4&5: Book Fair

November 8: Bennett Auction

November 10: Conference Day, No School

November 11: Veteran's Day, No School

November 13: PTSA General Membership

Meeting

November 14: Picture Retakes

From The Editors

Editors: Karla Ostlund and Janan Carter

We are pleased to serve as editors of The Friday Flyer this year.

Send submissions to thefridayflyer@yahoo.com. Please do not send formatted text produced in a word-processing document. It’s easiest if you just type the information directly into the body of your email program. Please advise us of any specific formatting request in your email.

The deadline for the next issue of The Friday Flyer is October 17th.

Bennett's "Warm Coats for Kids Drive" is October 20-24!

This year the Bennett PTSA will again be sponsoring a kids' coat drive. Please plan to donate your children's outgrown winter coats, fleece coats, hats, and mittens. Items should be clean and in good condition, and may be any size from infants to teenagers. (An adult size coat that would appeal to a teenager would be welcome, too.) They will be collected and redistributed to children in the Bellevue Schools who need a warm coat for the winter.

Thanks for your support! (If you have questions please call Kim McDermott, social concerns committee chair, at 649-5976.)

PHONATHON 2003

Bellevue Schools Foundation (BSF)

Phonathon is coming on October 27-29. Make a difference to our schools! Please make a generous donation to the Bellevue Schools Foundation when volunteers from your school call.

This year, BSF is raising $1.2 million for world-class, district wide academic programs and support services for teachers and struggling students in Bellevue's schools. BSF relies on financial support from parents like you to provide these valuable programs for our students.

Your dollars also support classroom grants, teacher training, book purchases, middle school science, VIBES mentoring, childcare scholarships, and Arts Immersion. Funds raised during Phonathon benefit all students in all Bellevue schools.

Company matching funds double your contribution. Microsoft and Boeing are among the companies that will match employees' donations. Please contact your employer for matching gift forms.

Your help is needed! Please contact BSF to volunteer during

Phonathon. Help is needed for both phoning and clerical work.

LEGISLATIVE ALERT

In the next state legislative session, we will be facing some issues that directly affect Bellevue School District and Bennett Elementary. Although there are many important issues, we would like to draw your attention first to the levy lid limitation proposed by Issaquah PTA.

Bellevue (along with Mercer Island and others) is grandfathered in at a higher levy lid than the state average. This means we can tax ourselves at a higher rate (and collect more funds for schools) than those Districts whose levy lid resides at the statewide limit of 24% (such as Issaquah’s). We have long maintained that the state limit should be RAISED; however, Issaquah has placed an issue on the WSPTA Proposed Legislative Priority Issues to have levy lids, such as ours, LOWERED.

This will be voted on by our PTSA voting delegates and all PTA voting delegates across the state at October’s Legislative Assembly in Yakima. The outcome will determine the state PTAs priorities for legislative issues this year and will affect public policy. It is critical that Bennett Elementary PTSA should make a big effort to keep this issue off the state PTA legislative priorities list by sending as many registered voters as possible to the Legislative Assembly. acknowledge the need to work with our sister districts so all are provided ample school funding—but we cannot support this measure.

Please contact your PTSA representative listed below if you are able to go to Yakima to “lobby” at the Legislative Assembly on October 18.

Laura Hammond 957-1203.

BENNETT BOOK FAIR

"Hats of to Reading" will be the theme for this year's book fair. book fair is an annual fund raiser for the Bennett library. It will be held on Tuesday, November, 4th from 9AM to 8PM and on Wednesday, November, 5th from 9AM to 2PM. again the Secret Garden Book Store from Ballard will be providing us with a wide selection of books. look for the volunteer sign up sheet, which will be posted in the window across from the office. look forward to seeing you and your family there.

Co-chairs, Linda Sewell and Debbie McDowell-McGough

ASK -- Answers for Special Kids

A parent resource, ASK (Answers for Special Kids) is available to provide support to parents of children with special needs. Families with children who have developmental disabilities or special health care needs face unique challenges, and often have many questions. Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Washington’s ASK Resource Line is a toll free state-wide line that parents can call for state and local resource information for children of all ages with developmental disabilities or special health care needs.

ASK Resource Line staff maintain an up-to-date database of state and local providers throughout Washington state who can answer questions about child development, where to seek evaluation services, where to get treatment, medical financing, recreational opportunities, parent support groups and other information for children with special needs. ASK Referral Specialists are bilingual in Spanish, and have access to interpretive services for 50 additional languages. Contacts are: 1-800-322-2588 or www.hmhbwa.org.

WA State PTA, Region 2 Legislative Round Table

Please join us for an evening with your legislators to discuss the Washington State PTA’s priority issues. Thursday, November 20, 2003

7:00 to 9: 00 PM

BEST High School

10903 NE 53rd Street

Kirkland, WA 98033

(425) 828-3293

Plant Care Technician training program to start this November at Cascadia Community College

This program will train people for entry level jobs in commercial greenhouse and with landscape companies.This type of position pays $7.50-$9.00 to start and no additional education is necessary for promotions.There are a variety of year round jobs.We have partnerships with Molbak's, T&L Nursery, Vibrant Plants, Flower World and many others.Space is available but priority is given to current welfare recipients.Low income parents may also be accepted into the program.
Please contact me if you have any questions.

Amy Persell, Workforce Education Program Manager, Cascadia Community College
18345 Campus Way NE
Bothell, WA98011
425.352.8139, apersell@cascadia.ctc.edu

Office skills classes starting Sept. 29

Free training for low-income parents.

Christina Harter, Family Workforce Development Center

425-739-8385, christina.harter@lwtc.edu

Free workshops 6:00—7:30 pm

10/14 Resumes and Cover Letters

10/16 Job Search Strategies

10/21 Interviews and Follow up

YWCA Family Village in Redmond

Mary Lou, (425)556-1350