Archie T. Morrison PTO

April Newsletter

May 16, 2004

Box Tops for Education - Nicki Shaban, our Box Top Coordinator, has announced our basket winners. Our staff member winner was Mrs. Tenenbaum with 204 box tops. Kindergarten student Justin Weitbrecht won with his collection of 280 box tops. Congratulations!
Since October 28th ?– 8,110 box tops were passed in for a total of $811. If you add the $811 to our previous total (Oct.) of $532.42 we have a grand total of $1,343.42. Since we surpassed the $1,000 mark this year, General Mills considers our school a Bronze Award winner and will give us a 5% bonus which should put us over the $1,400.00 mark.
More than 70 students will be invited to an ice cream party this week as a sign of our gratitude to all of the families that sent in more than 100 box tops this school year. Thank you to everyone that helped make this program such a triumph this year!

Spring Fling ?– The Spring Fling was held on April 2nd at Emerald Hall in Braintree. Our Morrison families enjoyed a little touch of summer in April. Thank you to the families and local businesses who donated over 50 raffle items for the raffle table and those who gave their winnings back to the school! Your generosity to the evening was overwhelming! Congratulations to all the lucky winners! More than $500.00 (net expenses ?– hall rental & DJ etc.) was raised.

First Election Day Bake Sale ?– On April 6th the Morrison PTO sponsored its first ?“Election Day Bake Sale?”. Volunteers baked and worked the sales table. Geraldine Gardner will be conducting our next bake sale in November. She?’ll be adding hot soup to the menu. The sale was a huge success bringing in more than $400.00! Thank you to everyone that participated.

A job worth doing is worth doing together. ~ Author Unknown ~

Seminars presented by South Shore Mental Health - The PTO hosted a third seminar presented by South Shore Mental Health on April 13th. The topic was ?“General Parenting Skills?” including discipline techniques. We learned some great tips to encourage better behavior! Kris Clasby, a licensed social worker from South Shore Mental Heath, returned for this presentation. Thank you once again to Mrs. Kane, our school psychologist, for coordinating the seminars for us with S.S.M.H.!

Tree Dedication Ceremony ?– The PTO planted a magnolia tree in honor of Mrs. Ryan on Saturday, May 1st during Clean-Up Day. Mrs. Ryan was instrumental is establishing Clean-Up Day many years ago. She was very touched by our gesture. We all wish Mrs. Ryan well in retirement!

Morrison Apparel Orders ?– Recent Morrison Apparel orders were delivered this week. We added youth navigator jackets and visors (one size fits most) to the list of available Morrison Apparel items. If you have any questions please contact Lisa Heger @ 781-356-4349 or lmh36@beld.net

Special Occasions ?– The PTO celebrated Administrative Professional?’s Day on Wednesday, April 23rd and National School Librarian?’s Day on Wednesday, May 5th. Mrs. Petrelli and Mrs. Mahoney were both treated to flowers and gift certificates as small tokens of our affection for all they do for us. School Nurse?’s Day will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 12th.

Upcoming Events ?–

5th Grade Drug Program Alternative to DARE - ?“Project Alert?”/Quincy Faxon Highpoint conducted two 50 minutes sessions for the 5th grade students on Monday, April 26th and Monday, May 3rd. Thank you to Debbie Fay who made this program possible. The PTO has also arranged for the Braintree High School Chapter of SADD to visit each 5th grade classroom on Wednesday, May 12th for 45 minutes.

Teacher Appreciation Week ?– ?“Teacher Appreciation Week?” will be observed this week (May 3rd ?– May 7th). The PTO would like to take this opportunity to honor our teachers and support staff with your help. We will be hosting a breakfast buffet and a luncheon. There have been some special tokens of appreciation for all the staff.
Classroom teachers will each receive baskets filled with classroom necessities on Friday. Please take a moment and stop by the PTO board to see photos of your generous donations.
We?’d especially like to thank all of the Classroom Communicators who worked very hard preparing for this week and making it such a pleasure for our Morrison staff. The "I appreciate" frames were a very special gift to our teachers. Thank you for your wonderful gifts of time, talent and treasure!

Team player: One who unites others toward a shared destiny through sharing information and ideas, empowering others and developing trust. ~ Dennis Kinlaw ~

2004 ?– 2005 PTO Nominations - The Morrison PTO will be accepting nominations for the following positions: Co-President (1), Secretary (1), Hospitality Committee (3), Arts Council (2) and School Advisory (2). The terms will begin in September 2004. The nomination period will run from Monday, May 10th through Wednesday, May 12th.
If you are looking for an exciting and rewarding volunteer position that will enhance the education of children this could be your chance to make a difference! One that would enable you to work together with other committed parents, teachers and administrators to support a productive, social environment for our Morrison community.
Please see the attached information detailing the positions. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Lisa Heger or Marie-Anne Baker.

Learn to listen. Opportunity could be knocking at your door very softly.
~ Frank Tyger ~

New Principal Welcome ?– Our new principal, Mr. John Riordan has accepted an invitation to attend our Tuesday, May 11th PTO meeting. We?’d like to introduce him to Morrison parents and give you a chance to get acquainted with him before he begins his new role in September. Mr. Riordan grew up in Braintree and is a former Morrison student. Please plan on joining us on May 11th to welcome Mr. Riordan back to Morrison!

PTO Hosted 5th Grade Promotion Dinner ?– 5th grade students, parents and guardians invitations will be coming home soon through the backpacks to a pasta dinner celebration on Tuesday, June 8th at the DAV hall on Liberty Street. RSVPs will be requested. Thank you for enriching our school with your presence. Best wishes to all of you as you begin your exiting journey into middle school. We are going to miss you!

Retirement Reception for Mr. Wyatt ?– Everyone is invited to attend a retirement reception on Monday, June 14th in the cafetorium from 3:30 ?– 5:00pm in honor of Mr. Wyatt. Mr. Wyatt will be leaving us at the end of this school year to pursue his love of music on Cape Cod. Please plan on joining us to wish him well in retirement. Refreshments will be served!

No June PTO Meeting ?– No PTO meeting has been planned for June. We will be taking this time to get acquainted with our incoming PTO officers and begin setting goals for next year. A final PTO newsletter will be distributed in mid-June.

Donate a P.C. to the School ?– Are you thinking of purchasing a new personal computer? If so please consider donating your ?“old?” P.C. to the school. It will go to good use for math, science and reading games to supplement the curriculum. A CD-ROM drive is needed! Please contact Marie-Anne Baker @ 781-843-1118 if you know of anyone who maybe able to help. Thank you!

Looking for a Printer in the Morrison Community - Are you or do you know of a printer that would like the PTO?’s business next year? We need stationary, note cards and a cookbook printed. If so please contact Marie-Anne Baker @ 781-843-1118. Thank you!

2nd Annual Walk for Melanoma ?– The Walk for Melanoma in honor of Paul Huling, a Morrison parent will be held on Saturday, May 15th at Pond Meadow Park (Braintree entrance). Registration is at 9:00am and the 5 mile walk begins at 10:00am. Please contact Rose Huling @ 781-848-7079 for additional information.

?“Taste of Braintree?” ?– Parent Involvement Program (PIP) is running a family event to benefit math, science and technology programs in our schools on Sunday, May 23rd from 12:00pm ?– 4:00pm at F1 Boston. Taste from area restaurants, dip into a chocolate fountain, view a martial arts demo, bid in a silent auction and much, much more! Come, have fun and support a great cause! For ticket information please contact Julie McKinney (a Morrison parent) @ 781-843-2454.