Art Adventure Parents, bring animals in art to life! The Art Adventure program offers students at Horace Mann the chance to study works of art from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This year our K-4 students will study "Amazing Animals in Art" in February. Parent volunteers, called Picture People will present 8 pieces of art to students and explore why artists create images of animals. For more information on how to volunteer, pick-up a Picture Person job description in the office, or contact Dondi and Scott Kazukewicz - 651-699-7396, scottkdesign@visi.com

Thank You! Thank you to the playground volunteers this summer. An intrepid crew led by Tom Idstrom and Jim Johnson completed the install of the equipment. Thank you to the PTA for the Orientation Night food. Liz and Elliott Krelitz led a great crew. Thank you also to the families led by Sarah Ryan that cleaned up the landscaping at our front entry and provided coffee and treats the first few days of school. Thanks to Sarah Ryan and Kelly Trewartha for painting the Eleanor windows. You are all wonderful!

Geckler Fall Fundraiser The annual fall fundraiser is taking place right now. Your students should have brought home a packet this week. The fundraiser runs through Sept. 27, 2007. It is a great opportunity to purchase quality gifts and food items, while supporting our school at the same time.

Remember Your Summer Boxtops Envelopes? The summer drive for Box Tops will continue through the end of Sept.  Each student was given five envelopes during the last week of school and asked to request friends, family and neighbors save Box Tops for Mann.  Our goal is 50 Box Tops donated by each family.  Target gift cards ($10) will be awarded to the top earner in each grade.  If you want your child to be credited, make sure their name and current grade is written on the back of the envelope.  Need extra envelopes?  There are some available in the office. Contact your friends, family and neighbors and ask them to send in their envelopes to Mann!

Mann’s Chess Club Chess Club begins September 25th!  Students will get together before school at 8:00 to play a few games of Chess with friends and classmates.  If you ride the bus or eat breakfast at school, make sure that you are in the Library before 8:15. Any student who knows how to play chess is invited to play.  Please keep in mind that Chess Club participants range in ability from beginner to advanced level players.  Your child only needs to know the basic rules of Chess to play! Look for the sign up flyer to come home or contact Mariana Tennyson at mariana.tennyson@spps.org or call 651-29-8965 x108. Family volunteers and participants are welcomed!

Please Help with Morning Drop Off You may have noticed Saint Paul Police here in the morning this week. Drop offs have created congestion that impacted school buses from other schools. To alleviate congestion, I would ask for your support in two ways. First, if you drop off in the front of the building, please do not double-park and get out with your child. Use the drop off spot, wish your child a good time and have them get right out for school. If you need more time or if there is congestion, you can use Kenneth as an alternate drop off. Students can walk around the school to the Eleanor entry. Thanks for your help.

Communication and Contact This year I have asked for all families to provide their email address on the emergency form. I use our computer system to generate important family news and updates that are time sensitive. The messages can be broadcast via phone and email. It is very important that we have up-to-date contact information. If you have any changes, please let us know. We never provide your contact information to any third party.

Email and SpamJam Our school district uses a spam filter that sometimes keeps parent emails from getting to teachers. If you email a teacher and they do not respond within 24 hours, please give them a call. It’s possible the message was hung up in the spam filter. Once a teacher emails your address from within our system, your emails should have no trouble making it through the filter.

Grants Committee Tired of fundraising? Looking for another way to support the school? The Grants Committee could use your help. If you have any expertise in writing grants, that a bonus! Contact Susan Snyder at sksnyder1@comcast.net or (651)698-3472.

The Art of Giving Schools across the country are getting children as young as kindergartners and preschoolers involved in service learning— a blend between community service and expanded instruction. Many service learning advocates feel that by helping others, children can learn responsibility, build character and citizenship, and discover the special joys of giving. Clearly, with benefits like these, it’s no wonder that more and more schools are making service learning part of the curriculum. That’s why our PTA has chosen “The Art of Giving” for our theme in this year’s family events and activities. But for it to really have an impact on children, it must be equally encouraged at home.

Start young. Encourage even the youngest children to look for ways to help others. There’s almost always someone “littler” who needs a “big girl” or “big boy” to help or someone older who will, with a wink and a nod, be eager for a youngster to “help” them with a job.

Show that YOU care. Whether you can give an hour a day or an hour a month, let your children see you volunteer your time to help those in need. If you can, bring them along as extra hands and let them see the smiles on the faces of the people you’re helping.

Turn Beauty Inside Out Girls in grades 4-8 and their parents are invited to hear Nancy Gruver, found and publisher of New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and their Dreams. The free event is Tuesday, October 2 at 7:00 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center 1375 Saint Paul Avenue. Gruver is a national leader in the movement to empower girls and foster their creativity and self-confidence. Since 2003 she has been the executive director for Dads and Daughters, the national advocacy nonprofit organization for fathers and daughters. She also manages the creation of the newsletter Daughters: For Parents of Girls. Contact Lisa Rosenfield at 651-255-4758 for more information.

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