From: NeenaArora@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2012 6:59 PM
To: merriam-parents@merriampto.org
Subject: MERRIAM PTO N2K -- WEEK OF 1/9/11

Merriam PTO N2K ( Need to Know)
From the PTO Board: Neena Arora, Kristina Rychlik, Dianna McNeish and Eleni Digenis-Bury
WEEK OF 1/9/12
Summary Calendar Of Events Camp Fair 1/26 – Save the Date and Help, Bake or Donate Follow Merriam PTO on Twitter Cashless Fundraising Update Message From AB PIP Calendar Of Events 1/11 Theme Day 1/16 Monday -- No School 1/23 Kindergarten Change Over 1/25 Wednesday – Donuts with Dad/Muffins with Mom ( 7:45 AM), PTO meeting (8:30 AM) with Camp Fair prep (9:00 AM) 1/26 Thursday – Camp Fair 2/10 to 2/17 Scholastic Book Fair 3/17 Saturday – Save the Date For Merriam School Auction Camp Fair 1/26 – Save the Date and Help, Bake or Donate Save the Date ~ Help, Bake or Donate Mark your calendar for Thurs 1/26 ~ the Camp Fair Date to help, bake or donate! Camp Fair, Merriam’s 2^nd largest fundraiser, raises huge funds for Classroom Assistants. It’s the only fundraiser that earns money from businesses, not Merriam families. *Your long-time Fair Co-Chairs, Trudy Khosla (8 years) and Marisa Olson* (5 years) appreciate your help. Last year, 123 Merriam parents set-up/worked the Fair, donated supplies or baked. We need that much help this year for the same great success! It’s FAST and easier than ever to view ways to help and to sign up! No more emails back and forth! Go to our new Camp Fair web site: http://merriamcampfair.camp7.org/ and click on the Event Volunteer option: After collecting your email address, our web site will display the different types of help needed at specified times on Jan 26 (Fair date), and the morn of Jan 25. You’ll sign up with a click! If you can’t help, please consider attending the Fair. High Fair attendance keeps Camps returning year after year. You’ll find great summer camps for your kids! To share ideas or ask questions: merriamcampfair@aol.com Thank you! Follow Merriam PTO on Twitter! The Merriam PTO now officially has a Twitter account! Please keep in mind that this is a work-in-progress, and as of this writing, we have not yet finalized exactly what we will tweet, when we will tweet, and details surrounding how we will manage our account. We don’t plan to send a barrage of information in this way, yet hope it will be helpful for last-minute reminders and other things. You may sign up from a button on our web-site: www.merriamPTO.org . Many thanks to Amy Fedyk for bringing up this idea and doing all the legwork to get started! Cashless Fundraising Update Thank you to all who have been diligently sending in your Box Tops for Education labels and Donelan’s cash register receipts! We are well on our way to having an excellent fundraising total for this school year. Remember that these small efforts on your part translate into valuable, FREE educational equipment and supplies for Merriam. So keep up the good work! Just as a reminder, there are two boxes in the school ofﬁce to collect the Box Tops and receipts. You can send them in at any time during the school year. Please note that only Donelan’s receipts dated September 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012, will be eligible for this program. As in previous years, your participation in the Donelan’s program entitles you to enter a sweepstakes to win $500 in free groceries (for Mom and Dad) and an iPod Shufﬂe (for students)! It’s Donelan’s way of saying thank you for helping it enhance the education of its customers’ children. All you have to do is ﬁll out the entry form that came home in your child's Friday school paperwork packet send it back to school with your receipts by January 15, 2012. You’ll ﬁnd the contest rules at http://www.shoppercredit.com/shoppercontest. If you have any questions, contact Sandy Cummings at sbcummings1@verizon.net. Message From AB PIP The Acton Boxborough Parent Involvement Project will be hosting the annual Family Math Game night at the Sargent Memorial Library in Boxborough on Thursday January 19, from 5pm to 8pm. AB PIP STEM hosts a range of education enrichment events in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Family Math Game Night features Domino Math Games, KenKen and Sudoku. Village Art will also be there with a craft activity connecting math and art. New this year is Legos! Come build from our plentiful supply of Legos. MIT-Lincoln Labs will be presenting a robotics demonstration. If you are interested in helping with this event, email actonpip@gmail.org. For more information about AB PIP STEM visit actonpip.org.