The Spartan Scoop – Skyline High PTSA

www.skylineptsa.org “Stronger Together”

September 9, 2009 – Issue #1 Highlights

PTSA News

General Membership Meeting – We invite you to join us at our first GM meeting for the 2009-2010 year on September 14 in the Skyline library at 7pm. We will cover some very important business first – approval of our budget, standing rules, and 3 levy endorsements. In addition, we will have guest speakers from Skyline and SATPrep, Inc. to talk about the actual SAT/ACT tests, the Preliminary SAT (PSAT), and the mock SAT/ACT offerings through the PTSA. Finally, Principal Lisa Hechtman will be on hand to answer your questions on a variety of subjects surrounding Skyline and your students.

Thank you!! – Thank you for becoming a member of the Skyline High PTSA! Our goal is to achieve 100% membership for the 5^th year in a row and with your help we have come very close already. Membership is a huge barometer of the health and effectiveness of an organization. It gives an adult “voice” to support every student at Skyline. We are “Stronger Together”!

School Grant – In keeping with membership we of course ask you all for monetary support as well. At Skyline, we try to run our organization very lean so that we can squeeze every penny possible into student support. The first we want to highlight is a $10,000 school-wide grant to create more opportunities for the fine arts graduation requirement. We will be presenting this check during half time at the September 18 football game.

College Readiness – Skyline PTSA continues to offer opportunities for students to prepare for the SAT and ACT tests. Forms can be found on our website and questions can be answered by Molly Bellehumeur. The current deadlines are as follows:

·         The fall SAT prep course being held at Skyline begins on September 21^st and the registration deadline is September 15^th.

·         The fall mock SAT test is being given at Skyline on September 26^th and the registration deadline is September 21^st.

·         The fall mock ACT test is being given at Skyline on October 3^rd and the registration deadline is September 26^th.

Thank you volunteers!! – Thank you to the parents who came in early, stayed late, and kept a smile on their face the first two days of school. The staff was very appreciative of all of our hard work. We did everything from helping with traffic flow, pictures, planners, lunch lines and textbook distribution. Our help allowed staff the freedom to mingle with students and troubleshoot issues.

Flash Drives – The PTSA has entered into an agreement with Pexagon Technologies to offer personalized flash drives as a fundraiser (fundraising code FL3SKYHP). Every student needs this device as a way to transfer their electronic homework from school to home and back. These allow you to pick a color, add the Spartan logo if you wish (CLE# 8967) and the student’s name. These make great gifts and can be great for college students, personal use (imagine photos, file backup, and much more). You can take care of this through Pexagon Tech and 20% of the proceeds will come back to the PTSA.

Reflections – This national PTA arts competition will be kicking off soon. This year’s theme is “Beauty is…” Get those creative juices flowing and start thinking about ideas. More detailed information will be available shortly. For questions, please contact Reflections Chair, Lauri Cikatz or 425-427-9157.

Community Service – Yes, this program is continuing this year with the first collection to be during lunchtimes the first week of each month beginning on Monday, October 5. Stay tuned for more information coming soon.

Freshman Campus – Remember you are a part of Skyline too! We want to welcome you to join us at any event or meeting that we are running.

Community News

Teen Center – Good news ~after a lot of effort by many, including Vanessa Martinez, Sammamish will own the old library for the community! Plans are to purchase the building and it will be run by the Boys and Girls Club of Redmond. If you want to keep in touch with how things are going, become a friend of their efforts on Facebook  or watch out for developments in the local press.

Issaquah Schools Foundation – PTSA partners with the ISF to provide additional resources and support for all the students in our district. ISF is moving the Nourish Every Mind luncheon to the spring and running the “Calling for Kids” campaign in the fall. High School students will be calling families on October 20 & 21. For more information visit the ISF website.

Volunteers for Issaquah Schools (VIS) – We want to encourage everyone to make sure they register to vote.  The Issaquah School District will have three levies on the February ballot. VIS is the all volunteer organization that runs the campaign to pass the levies. To find out more visit the VIS website.

Scholarship Opportunity – In support of the College Bound Scholarship efforts, the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) is looking for creative videos from middle or high school students that encourage students to go to college. Video topics might include: Dreaming big and thinking about college early on. Going to college and all the benefits a higher education can provide. Paying for college and all the great programs available to help you get there.

            Prizes will be awarded. Winning videos will also be posted on Washington State’s official YouTube website, and screenings will be held at the Washington State School Directors’ Association annual convention in November 2009. Deadline for entries is October 19, 2009.

            For more information, including contest rules and entry forms, visit the HECB website.

For more information go to www.skylineptsa.org or contact Heather Gillette or Caroline Brown, Skyline PTSA Co-Presidents