MSD PTCA, Frederick Campus

Wednesday, April 14: Schedule

2010-04-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

PTCA planned an exciting evening for you that you shouldn't miss!

5:30 p.m. PTCA's Scholastic Book Fair with light refreshment.

6 p.m. MAP Presentation by Lisa Houck. Interpreter provided. Activities for your child provided by Student Leaders.

7 p.m. Last PTCA meeting. Interpreter provided. Activities for your child provided by Student Leaders.

We, the PTCA leadership team, hope to see you tonight!

PTCA Meeting Tonight!

2010-03-10T14:18:00.000-08:00

Meeting Agenda

Holiday Morning Gathering Wrap-up
Treasurer's Report
Spring Book Fair, April 12-23
Teacher Appreciation Day, May 6
Hands for Haiti Update, Julie Walkup
Yearbook Update, Committee Member
Community Service Update, Committee Member

The next PTCA meeting will be on April 14th. We will have a workshop for parents to be announced shortly.

PTCA Meeting on February 10th is Cancelled

2010-02-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

Due to another snowstorm, the meeting is cancelled. We will announce the next meeting date as soon as the logistics are worked out. We will announce through this blog and MSD Frederick mass email. Enjoy the snow. Stay warm and safe!

Next PTCA Meeting- Wednesday, February 10th

2010-01-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

There will not be a meeting in January. We will meet in February on Wednesday, the 10th. The meeting agenda will be posted few days before the meeting.

Upcoming Holiday Events. Hope to see you there!

2009-11-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

Saturday, November 28:

MSD Parents Night Out , 7 PM at Firestone’s Culinary Tavern, www.firestonesrestaurant.com

Friday, December 4:

PTCA Bouzaar , 2 PM- 8 PM at MSD Elementary Gym

Wednesday, December 9:

PTCA Monthly Meeting, 6 PM-8 PM at MSD Elementary Conference Room. Interpreter provided. Children activities provided.

Saturday, December 12:

Holiday Morning Gathering, 9 AM-11 AM at MSD Elementary Cafeteria

November 11, 2009 Meeting Notes

2009-11-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

PTCA Meeting Notes
November 11, 2009

1. PTCA Family Movie Night (Jennifer Yost Ortiz, Terri Dietz): We had a good number of attendees, many families with young to older kids. We got several new members to join PTCA. Families enjoyed pizza and popcorn. Even though there was a big mess of popcorn on the floor (which we cleaned up!), everyone really enjoyed it. Terri Dietz signed the story with Edna Johnston—the kids loved it! Check out our blog about this event at msdfptca.blogspot.com.

2. Committee Reports and Updates from Staff
Yearbook (Julie Walkup): things are going along well. So far there are two meetings for training on the computer software, the guy will come to teach committee members how to use it. People really supportive of the elementary yearbook activities. We already see support from the school for this endeavor.

Outreach (Erin Buck): ASDC conference planning, we need more volunteers! There will be a meeting next week. Dorm staff meetings, regular staff meetings and then parent meetings will be hosted at each campus (Columbia Campus meetings are on Mondays, Frederick meetings are on Wednesdays). The request for volunteers has been posted on our PTCA blog (msdfptca.blogspot.com).

Community Service (Emily Shaw): A Complaint Free World campaign is getting support from Elementary, Middle, and High Schools. We need to get bracelets and interested teachers to begin the program. Holiday service ideas are needed. Julie Walkup mentioned the Deaf school in Belarus could use donations. There are needs lists for local pantries, we could do a drive for this. We discussed the possibility of making blankets for a local shelter or senior citizens? CSD has a senior citizen program, need to contact Jackie Kanekuni for more information.

Holiday Bouzaar (Andrea Guettler): 12 people are signed up to sell things at the “Bouzaar” and 2 more people are possible tables. PTCA is charging $15 for use of a table, vendors keep all their own proceeds. We need 4 or 5 people to bake things as a fundraiser for PTCA. Mary Lynn Lally said if we need more tables we can put in a work request for more tables. Andrea emailed all the classes who are doing fundraising (like 5th and 8th grades) and offered free tables for them to sell their wares. She hasn’t heard anything back from them as of yet.

Scholastic Book Fair (Becky Jo Baker) We need to use up the Scholastic Bucks we earned by November 27th and figure out where to give the books. Becky Jo Baker and Lisa Herberger talked about maybe doing a fundraiser at the Holiday Gathering where PTCA members could buy one book and get one free. Another option is to donate some profits to the Family Ed Department and Elementary School since it was a lower school book fair. We could give $20 gift certificates to every elementary school teacher and donate $100 to Family Ed. Lisa and Becky Jo will go to the warehouse in Columbia to get books. For the March book fair we will have the teachers give us their wish lists so parents can have the option to buy those books for the teachers. We will have two weeks for the March fair so it will be longer with more events/activities to promote it.

Elementary School: Mary Lynn Lally reported about the possibility of moving the playground equipment, it’s too expensive to move, unfortunately. Jennifer Yost Ortiz said that the playground equipment issue was brought up at the MSD Foundation meeting yesterday, and there is a possibility of getting a grant from them to cover an expanded/improved playground. They discussed the possibility of moving the fence in the Elementary School back several feet. They replied that they need to consider safety policies, codes etc (that was why they moved the fence closer to the building in the first place but they are thinking that they will have to move it further back). In order to request funding from the MSD Foundation, they need a formal letter from the PTCA. We will get more information about that very soon.

3. Upcoming Events
Community Service for Thanksgiving (already discussed)
Happy Hour for Parents: Will occur on Nov. 28th, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. For families who are out of town that weekend, no worries, we will have another Happy Hour in the future. We’d like to pick a local bar/restaurant to support, however, most of these establishments are in older buildings with narrow rooms. Erin Buck recommended checking with the local bars during that weekend because it is very busy. La Paz is a good place to host a Happy Hour because the upstairs is open and tends to be available for larger groups.

Holiday Gathering: Who will be Santa? Mary Lynn Lally has a suit. We could ask Bruce Hubbard. Others?? Jennifer Yost Ortiz suggested we could give out red noses to the kids. Julie Wojnar mentioned that there are red noses for a dollar from the dollar store. We will have hot chocolate and donuts and an ASL storytelling component. We could have a blanket making station as well.

4. Open discussion
Terri Dietz suggested we could send out holiday cards from the PTCA and advertise the blog and PTCA’s email address. We need someone to take the lead on this activity.

Julie Walkup brought up again the homework pass, one family couldn’t come because of the homework. Mary Lynn Lally said she’ll send out an email to the classroom teachers about this. The child/ren of parents who will attend future PTCA’s meetings will be excused from homework the evening of the meeting.

Parents really like the idea of having a one-hour PTCA meeting followed by a workshop on different topics relevant to our members. We will draw more families this way. We compiled a list of some ideas for future workshops. We should identify experts to present these topics so we can contact them in advance. Possible topics to discuss include:
Bullying (Patricia Hughes? Marjorie Sonnenstrahl?); Orientation to a Complaint Free World for parents; Jimmy Gore’s system for teaching English with his system (MVL); Others??

Julie Wojnar mentioned doing another Family Math Night as a possible PTCA activity. This would be a great activity to include all of the departments.

5. Reading Fluency Workshop (after the meeting). Thank you Sue Hill for a wonderful workshop on reading fluency! We look forward to more workshops featuring your expertise for our members!!

November 11th Meeting Agenda

2009-11-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

Report on PTCA Family Movie Night
Committee Reports
Upcoming Events

-Thanksgiving Community Service

-MSD Parents Happy Hour, November 28th

-Bouzaar, December 4th

-Holiday Morning Gathering, December 12th

Fluency in Reading Workshop by Sue Hill

"PTCA Family Movie Night" Premieres!

2009-11-09T02:06:00.001-08:00

PTCA Frederick hosted a Pizza dinner and Family Movie Night on Friday, November 6. About 40 people gathered in the new Elementary School cafetorium for a dinner of yummy pizza from Il Forno. We had cheese, pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, and no-cheese pizza to fit the various tastes of all who came.

After the dinner social, the kids were buzzing with energy and anticipation. We went down the hallway to the Multipurpose Room in the Family Education wing of Elementary for the movie. It felt very much like a "family style movie premiere" because it was the first time that the grand motorized ceiling movie screen from the ceiling has been used!

We gathered chairs, sofas, and yes, sleeping bags in a semi circle around the screen, and settled in. No movie is complete without popcorn, which was passed around. As we got comfortable before the start of the movie, Lisa greeted the audience and briefly talked about old movies: long, long, long ago before you children were born, before your parents, and some of your grandparents were born, movies were "silent" and black and white. Later sound and color were added. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were a very famous comedy team that worked together for over 30 years through that time. Then Lisa asked the audience if they could remember some characters from Mother Goose i.e. Little Miss Muffett, The Three Pigs, Little Bo Peep, and noted they would be featured in the movie, "March of the Wooden Soldiers", a Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy film (1934). Then it was time to turn out the lights and enjoy this classic film. A good time was had by all!

***
Thank you to Lori Bonheyo for holding the date and helping get word out.

Thank you to the wonderful folks in Elementary and Family Education who gave us suggestions, support, and helped us make this night happen. Mary Lynn Lally, Elizabeth Rewolinski, Marsha Flowers, Lori Moers, Maryann Swann.

Thank you to Abbey Roin for loaning me your Mother Goose book and for the pictures of three characters.

Thank you to Alex Simmons for his tech expertise and his patience working out the details with us to make this Movie Night happen. We were glad to have you, Cody, and Alexa join us for part of the evening.

Thank you to Emily Shaw for calling the pizza place with our order.

Thank you to Mike and Dave at Il Forno for great pizza.

Thank you to Becky Jo Baker and her three children, Kylie, AJ, and Eorja for making the personal delivery of nine boxes of pizza!

Thank you to Terri Dietz and Edna Johnston for helping sign the movie out loud in ASL.

Thank you to Jennifer Ortiz for helping coordinate the cleanup after the event.

Thank you to Marisa, Megan, and Mia Montoya for being patient with mommy on Friday afternoon while we were running around getting things set, looking for a copy of Mother Goose, and for helping us get ready.

...and Thank you to George Herberger, my father, and their grandpa for loaning us the movie!

Family Movie Night---TONIGHT!

2009-11-06T06:25:00.000-08:00

October 2009 PTCA Meeting: Elementary Conference Room

2009-11-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

Guest Bette Hicks came to talk about VRSCA, (video relay services consumer assn?) an organization that is dedicated to making sure that all VRS users have a ten-digit number by the November deadline. There is a website for VRSCA but Bette was not sure if it ended in "org. or gov".

Becky Jo reported on the Scholastic Bookfair. The next one will be between the weeks of March 1-12 2010. Definite dates will be determined later. The bookfair Oct 1-3 did well, and we thank ML, Betty, Marsha, the families who bought books and materials and the volunteers who helped for all their support! We will receive Scholastic Book credit to help PTCA help the school.

Next PTCA meeting, we will have a reading workshop. Several parents expressed interest in having Sue Hill come and talk about reading. This will take place before the PTCA meeting starts. More notes below.

Julie Walkup reported on the first meeting for the Elementary Yearbook committee will be October 26. This will be a Family Ed. and Elementary yearbook. Forgot to invite parents to the meeting. Training for software will be in November.

Movie Night Fundraiser. It was decided that Movie Night for PTCA will take place on a Friday in November after checking with Lori Bonheyo's master calendar for the school. Middle School and other organizations may have events for fundraising mid Nov, so possibly first Friday in November. PTCA would like to host more fun events for families and members this year.

Holiday Bazaar/Boutique is set for 2-8 pm December 4 on Friday night. Booths for rent are available for individuals and small business owners who would like to participate. Contact Andrea Guettler for more information about getting a booth or helping out as a volunteer.

Nov 13th, there will be a Magic Show, a fundraiser.

Reading Workshop Strategies, Sue Hill will come to talk to PTCA members on November 11 at 6pm before the regular PTCA meeting starts at 7pm.

Shared Reading Project and materials, someone asked about this. MSD did not win the contract grant to be part of the SRP. We will keep trying for another year. For now, all the current materials available at MSD are at the Family Education Resource Center room. Some are VHS tapes, and some families no longer have VCR's. This is one issue.
Clerc Center can present to MSD for free about techniques for reading and literacy.

Family Directory was briefly discussed. Parent brought up her experience with sons' school, it was decided that families could opt in or out of this, and put down information they are comfortable sharing. Print or online version. MSD can possibly help with copying.

We should have New Family/ Welcome and Get-together events.

ASDC- American Society of Deaf Children will have a conference at MSD in 2011. Five hundred people are expected to attend, June 22-26. Erin Buck is the contact person and gathering volunteers for a committee.

Power Store needs more donations.

Parent concerns about young kids playing sports and practicing at late hours, after the Middle School and High School students are finished with their practices after school-- they are using the Elementary gym after After School Programs concludes at 430pm. This was noted, especially basketball and football. Grades 2-3 are impacted. Vicky Kitsembel and Jerry Mabashov are the contact persons for Elementary Sports. PTCA suggested that thoughts and comments be gathered and the group write a letter to the Athletic Department.

Interpreter for PTCA meetings. After some discussion it was agreed we would wait to hear back from Lisa Houck how this will be handled.

Asked about the Playground structure at old Elementary Building. Lisa had heard it cost 17,000 and was purchased by PTCA some years ago. After some discussion it was determined that the Elementary students are not satisfied with the current playground features and miss the old playground setup. Encourage parents to contact Mary Lynn Lally, Lisa Houck, and Suzanne Swartzman with their thoughts, concerns, and feedback. Possibly move playground structure to new Elem grounds, up for discussion.

Next meeting will be November 11 at 6 p.m. See you there!

Message from Erin Buck re: 2011 ASDC Conference

2009-11-06T06:09:00.001-08:00

From a press release by Erin Rae Buck, Outreach Coordinator at MSD:

I’m happy to announce that Maryland School for the Deaf (MSD) is the proud host of the 2011 American Society for Deaf Children (ASDC) Biennial Conference! This event will be held from June 22nd – June 26th, 2011. ASDC is a national, independent, non-profit organization that has been helping families raising children who are deaf or hard of hearing since 1967. Families attending this national conference experience five information and fun filled days of family and children’s activities, presentations, and interaction with parents and peers sharing similar experiences. The friendships made and the information gathered makes this conference invaluable to families across the nation. More information about ASDC and previous conferences can be found on their website at www.deafchildren.org.

By hosting this national conference, MSD has the opportunity to show the nation what we’re made of! Our Baltimore/Washington DC area location will attract many families to this conference and allow us to showcase MSD’s excellence and the pride we have in our community. MSD is fortunate to have two large accommodating campuses to welcome and serve participants from all over the country.

In order to show MSD at its best, we need strong support from parents, MSD staff and students, and the community at large. We need your talents, ideas, feedback, and encouragement to plan and solidify the conference program. Please see the attached flyer for a list of planning committees.

The first informational meetings for interested participants are rapidly approaching. Meetings have been established at each campus to accommodate volunteers. The meeting at the Columbia Campus will be held at 6:00pm in the Auditorium on Monday, November 16th. The meeting at the Frederick Campus will be held at 6:00pm in the Elementary Conference Room in the new Elementary building on Wednesday, November 18th. Please attend the meeting location that best meets your availability. Interpreters will be provided. I look forward to meeting all curious members of our community! Please contact me by phone at 301-360-2054 (V) or via email at erin.buck@msd.edu if you have any questions.

Erin Rae Buck
Outreach Coordinator
Maryland School for the Deaf
V (301) 360-2054
erin.buck@msd.edu

Thank You!

2009-10-05T14:03:00.001-07:00

Thank you to all of you who came to the Scholastic Book Fair in the new MSD Elementary Building!

Our first-time MSDF PTCA fundraising effort sold over $1,450 worth of books and items in combined sales on Thursday, Friday and an extended day today. A percentage of sales will go to support MSD Frederick's PTCA and hopefully help us get started with some programs for students and families we would like to hold this year.

Thank you to Mary Lynn Lally, The Elementary School Assistant Principal for loaning us her brand-new conference room for a secure Book Fair setup and cheering us on with her support.

Thank you to all the Family Education and Elementary teachers and MSD staff members who dropped in to browse, discuss favorite books, help put up posters, take pictures, and assist students with purchases.

Thank you to all the parents, teachers, and families who came on Thursday night, Friday morning, and encouraged us to consider extending the event through Monday. We hope you enjoyed the donuts, cinnamon pretzels, coffee, beverages, and conversation!

It was so much fun, that we plan to host another in the spring. Be sure to be on the lookout for announcements about a March event!

PTCA meeting, October 14th, 6p

2009-10-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

Please join us next Wednesday, Oct. 14th, at 6p in the Elementary School Building for our monthly PTCA meeting.

We are now able to accommodate children! Our High School Student Leaders will be hosting a variety of child-centered leadership activities for your children while we conduct our meeting.

Mark your calendars in advance as our meetings are held on the second Wednesday of every month at 6p in the Elementary School.

Hope to see you next week!
PTCA Leadership Team

Come on Over to the Book Fair!

2009-10-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

Dear MSD Parents and Community Friends,

The Maryland School for the Deaf, Frederick Parent Teacher Counselor Association will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair fundraiser this week, October 1 and 2 in the new Elementary School lobby.

Thursday, October 1, 4-7pm
Friday, October 2 9-12

Please come on over to the Book Fair and help support MSD's PTCA. There is a wonderful variety of books for preschool and Elementary readers to appeal to different interests. Do your shopping for the fall and winter holidays! Refreshments will be provided.

We need your help to make the organization stronger this year and raise money to hold family and parent activities and community projects this year!

We look forward to seeing all of you, the MSD community, friends, and families!
Thank you,

The PTCA Team

PTCA Meetings

2009-09-19T07:29:00.001-07:00

The first PTCA meeting for the 2009-10 academic year will be on Wednesday, September 9. The location and meeting agenda will be announced by September 4.

We will make many decisions during this first meeting of the year. Your presence is important to us! Come and share your thoughts and vote. If you are unable to come, please have someone come on your behalf or email us your wishes for the year.

PTCA Frederick Meetings will be regularly scheduled on the second Wednesday of each month. Reminders will be sent through this blog, MSD campus email distributions, and flyers in backpacks. Alumni of MSD are always welcome to PTCA meetings and to volunteer for our events!

Please email the PTCA team with any questions or comments at MSDFPTCA@gmail.com.

The interim team consists of Emily Shaw, Becky Jo Baker, Lisa Herberger, and Jennifer Yost Ortiz. This team will lead PTCA for the interim and would like to discuss the issue of leadership at the meeting on September 9.

PTCA at Registration Day

2009-09-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

MSD Frederick's Registration Day at the new Elementary Building was a huge success! We passed out flyers with the help of some students. We also had a table in the new Elementary building cafeteria and welcomed visitors with information about PTCA, membership forms, and sign up sheets.

We enjoyed meeting families and talking with each of you. Many of you signed up to be on one or more committees within the PTCA. Some committees are looking for talented people like you! We are very excited about this year and know that things will go upward.

Together, we will make PTCA stronger than ever! MSD needs us. We need MSD. Ultimately, our children need us to create a greater sense of community that will make a huge difference in their development and education.

We hope to see you this year!

Welcome to the Maryland School for the Deaf, Frederick PTCA Blog!

2009-09-19T07:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Maryland School for the Deaf (MSD), Frederick Campus' Parent Teacher Counselor Association (PTCA) Blog!

This blog was established to keep PTCA members, alumni, and the MSD community informed about PTCA meetings, goals, projects, and events for the 2009-10 school year. Monthly PTCA meeting minutes will be posted here. Event pictures will be posted here too. Save the below addresses in your web browsers for future reference:

www.ptcafrederick.com
www.msdfptca.blogspot.com
MSDFPTCA@gmailcom

We also welcome blog/vlog entries from PTCA members that have been screened by the PTCA team for appropriateness. This will become the place to communicate.

We look forward to a great school year!