Volunteers Needed for Community Partners Sign-Up

Friday, October 16th, we need volunteers to sit at tables outside of Smith's and Albertson's to encourage and remind people to link their cards to Tiebreaker Elementary. This has to be done every year and it is a large part of our fundraising income each year. We need volunteers for the following times:

Smith's - Friday, October 16th

3:30 to 5:30 p.m. (2 people)

5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (2 people)

Albertson's - Friday, October 16th

3:30 to 5:30 p.m. (2 people)

5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (2 people)

If you can help, please call Jeana Hansen at 604-4759 or e-mail her at jeana@fatgecko.com. Thank you!

Committee Volunteers Needed

Tiebreaker PTO has the following volunteer positions for the 2009-10 school year. We're looking for volunteers to fill many of these positions:

• PRESIDENT - Heidi Southwick
  
• VICE-PRESIDENT - Amy Stenquist
  
• SECRETARY - Cara Dye
  
• TREASURER - Jill Scott
  
• 25 CENT FRIDAY - Brenda Patterson
  
• ACCELERATED READING - Brett Holyoak & Stacey Rogers
  
• BARNES & NOBLE BOOK FAIR - Euroca Marrott & Cindy Hammon
  
• BIRTHDAY CARDS - Jennie Abbott
  
• BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION - Stephanie Edwards
  
• BULLETIN BOARD - Holly Mickelsen
  
• COMMUNITY PARTNERS - Jeana Hansen
• DONATIONS - Kimberly Wynn
  
• EAT OUT FOR TIEBREAKER NIGHTS - Jeana Hansen
  
• FAMILY FUN NIGHT - Misha Britton & Natalie Grover
  
• FIELD DAY/CARNIVAL - Alexa Finlayson
  
• FUND RAISERS - Lisa Hunsaker & LeAnn Atwood
  
• GRANT WRITER - Paula Decoria
  
• MACARONI THEATER - Russ & Amy Stenquist
  
• NEWSLETTER - Cara Dye
  
• READ-A-THON - Holly Faulkner
• ROOM MOM COORDINATOR - Jennifer Carlson
  
• SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR - Glenette Hillyard & Paula McGary
  
• SPIRIT WEEK - Mattie Weatherly
  
• TEACHER APPRECIATION - Mikki Scott & Takara Taylor
  
• TEACHER REPS - Susan Scheer
• T-SHIRTS - GaeLyn Miller
  
• YEARBOOK - Laura Roberts

Please leave a comment or send us an e-mail if you are willing to head one of these committees, or if you have any questions about any of the positions.

Teacher Appreciation

Tiebreaker students and parents love their teachers, and we want them to know it. During the 2008-09 school year, the Tiebreaker PTO provided lunch for the teachers on the first Wednesday of each month, with the final month being catered by Johnny Carino's.

For the 2009-10 school year, Tiebreaker PTO will provide lunch every other month and a treat or a small gift for teachers on the off months. 

We're always looking for volunteers to help bring food for these lunches.

Box Tops for Education

The Box Tops program is essentially free money for schools. There are many products that have Box Tops. For a complete list, go here. Some of the Box Tops we clip regularly come off the bottoms of Kleenex boxes. Each Box Top is worth ten cents and they add up fast. For the 2008-09 school year, we collected $2,485.50 in Box Tops. Tiebreaker kids are amazing Box Tops collectors.

We have Box Top collection competitions with each class competing against every other class in the school to see which one can collect the most Box Tops. The winning class gets a pizza party with ice cream sundaes at the end of the school year. The class in second place gets an ice cream sundae party and the class in third place gets ice cream sandwiches.

We also have daily Box Top prize drawings. This motivates the kids to keep bringing their Box Tops in. This is important in order to discourage hoarding. Box Tops have expiration dates on them, so we don't want the kids to hoard them so long that they expire. If they bring them in each month, or every other month, we can avoid having too many expired Box Tops. 

AR - Accelerated Reading Program

Tiebreaker PTO runs and supports a successful Accelerated Reading Program. The AR program was implemented to encourage students to read more, because it has been scientifically proven that the only way to become a better reader is to read, and Tiebreaker students read.

Our AR program has an individual reward component, with students earning prizes all year long as they accumulate AR points, and a classroom competition which encourages classrooms to compete against each other.

During the 2008-09 school year, our students read so much that we gave out more AR prizes than we ever have before! We think that makes our AR program pretty successful.

The AR program requires multiple volunteers to be successful. Generally it takes two people to head the program. These committee heads keep track of the points and keep the PTO room stocked with prizes for the students. They also assign and distribute class prizes and maintain a progress display in the hallway.

In addition to the committee heads, the program requires two volunteers from each grade level to assign individual prizes once a week, with the two people alternating weeks.

The AR program is a fun way for parents and grandparents to help out at the school, and it encourages their students to become better readers.

Birthday Cards

This volunteer position consists of making or buying approximately 60 birthday cards for Tiebreaker teachers and staff and distributing them on their respective birthdays. The volunteer will be reimbursed for the costs incurred.

25 Cent Friday

Has your Tiebreaker student ever asked you for money for 25-Cent Friday? We started 25-Cent Friday as a way to support Tiebreaker's AR program. Each Friday, our 25-Cent Friday committee sets up a table outside the lunch room and sells candy, popcorn, and small toy items for a quarter. We have a $2-limit per student each Friday that is strictly enforced. We encourage you to allow your student(s) to participate in this program, as it fully funds our AR Program.