The Poly Polar Bear Igloo Construction was a great success! Thank you to all who donated milk jugs – the support for it was amazing! A snowflake with each of the current Poly Drive PTA family names was placed inside the igloo.
Students enjoyed using the igloo during their library time. And while the igloo was eventually disassembled and recycle, it will serve as a mathematics and engineering model during the upcoming STEAM Night at Poly Drive.
Reflections Art Program is a National PTA program. Twelve student artists participated at Poly this year. Several students advanced to the state level: 1st place-Aubri M. and 2nd place-Ronan G. (K-2 Primary division), and 1st place-Emery P. and 2nd place Maren R. (3-5 intermediate division).
State level results were announced in late February, and two Poly artists received Judges Awards: Ronan and Emery. First place winners from state level then advanced to the national level.
All of the Poly Reflections artists’ work will be on show at the Toucan Gallery the week of April 16, with an opening reception beforehand.
A special thank you to our Poly Drive Reflections judges—Ev Bergeron, Mike Caskey, and Kelly Ewing for evaluating the students’ work.
And a huge thank you to PTA Reflections chairperson Deva Gallagher for organizing and guiding the artists in their Reflections endeavors.
On Friday, Nov. 11, nearly 150 people gathered to honor and remember the sacrifices made by members of the armed services. Poly Drive PTA again hosted the Veterans Day Breakfast.
PTA chairperson Dana Ludden reported the breakfast was a success, with community members and Poly families generously donating to the effort. Special thanks to Starbucks, Evergreen IGA, Perkins, Fiesta Mexicana and the Murillo family, and Poly families that donated items. Special recognition also to Mrs. Robinson’s class for setting up America’s White Table to honor our fallen and missing soldiers.
On behalf of the Poly Drive PTA, thank you to all veterans for your service.
A little food, fun, and conversation – sounds like a great mix! Poly PTA provided pizza, families brought dessert and other sides to share, and the mixing commenced. Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers attended each mixer, respectively, to share a welcome message and visit with families.
Thank you to all who shared food for the event, to teachers and staff for joining us, PTA members for their help with the event, organizer Letha McDowell, and all the families that participated.
The first collection of Box Tops for Education brought in about $300. Mrs. Whittmeyer’s class won the free recess for most box tops collected, with 499.
Thanks for your participation, and remember to check out the Box Tops app, along with clipping those bright rectangles. Our goal is $1,000 in Box Tops for the school year.
COINS FOR CHANGE ADDED UP
During October, the combined effort of KC Club and the Poly Drive PTA-Coins for Change-raised funds to benefit those recovering from hurricanes in the Southeast U.S., and wildfires in Montana. Students raised nearly $225 and the PTA donated an additional $75. In total, $300 was distributed among three charitable organizations. Way to give, Polar Bears!
MEMBERSHIP SCOOP WINNERS NAMED
This scoop just in: Winners from the school-wide Membership Scoop competition that concluded Oct. 15 are:
-Teacher gift card raffle winners: Mrs. Whittmeyer and Ms. Hanley
-Classroom ice cream parties: Mrs. Egan’s and Ms. Phillips’, for having the most family PTA memberships.
Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all who’ve joined Poly Drive PTA. Your membership is a win for everyone, as it helps all of our Poly students to achieve their potential. We currently have 85 families and 22 faculty among our PTA membership.
Over 31 days worth of reading, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: that’s what Poly Drive students pulled off during this year’s Read-A-Thon. One hundred thirty four students participated, reading 44,976 minutes. Their efforts brought in $11,316 from generous sponsors. Here are the students that won prizes during Read-A-Thon.
Primary Hall (grades K-2):
Class with most sponsors: Mrs. Whittmeyer (1st grade), $1,915.45 (ice cream party); Class with the most minutes: Mrs. Whittmeyer: 3,925 minutes (extra recess)
Student with most sponsors: Stella N., $530 (Whittmeyer), Chuck E Cheese package; Student with the most minutes: Russell C-G., 780 minutes (Whittmeyer), AMC giftcard
Elementary Hall (grades 3-5):
Class with the most sponsors: Ms. Crasco/ Mrs. Davey (3rd grade), $724.30 (ice cream party); Class with the most minutes: Ms. Crasco/ Mrs. Davey: 4,832 minutes (extra recess)
Student with the most sponsors: Allie B., $287.90 (Ms. Phillips), Reef passes; Student with the most minutes: Jace D., 1,600 minutes (Ms. Phillips), AMC giftcard
Emma O. (Davey/Crasco) and Zoey T. (Wilcox/Blakesly) won a trip to Barnes and Noble to help Mrs. Caskey select books for the library because they were the second place winners for most minutes read. Raffle prize winners were: Benji B. (water bottle and Wise Wonders Children’s Museum passes), Sophie S. (Centennial Ice Arena passes), Samantha S. (Zoo Montana passes), Brayton F. (Sunset Bowl passes), Kamber K. (Toys ’R Us giftcard), Jadon T. (iTunes gift card), Everett D. (bookmarks pack), and Abby E. (bookmarks pack).
Special thanks to all the Poly Drive students, parents, teachers and staff, PTA volunteers and pledge donors that participated in Read-A-Thon 2017, as well as the special guest readers, Mrs. Caskey and chairperson Mandy Williams. Poly Drive PTA extends a huge thank you to prize donors: Zoo Montana, Wise Wonders, Sunset Bowl, Chuck E Cheese, Centennial Ice Arena, Mrs. Caskey, and the Williams/Dayton family.
The proceeds from Read-A-Thon go toward PTA-sponsored initiatives and activities, including Spanish Club, STEAM activities, 1:1 student computing, and the Talent Show.
Poly Drive students and parents logged 1,516.8 miles during the fall 2017 Walk/Bike to School Week, Oct. 2-6. Seventy five parents took 474 trips, logging 582 miles, and 160 students took 1,246 trips with a total of 934.8 miles.
Mrs. Watson’s class won the primary wing free recess with 81.8 miles logged, and Mrs. Egan’s class won the elementary wing recess with 102 miles.
Huge thanks to our walk bike to school week sponsors, Allegra Printing, The Bike Shop on Grand, and Cross Petroleum Service.
Also, we couldn’t have made WBTS week successful without all our parent volunteers. We appreciate all that you do for Poly Drive Elementary Students.
The report on Walk/Bike to School Week for spring 2017 is here! During the week of May 8-12, Poly Drive students logged an impressive 795.3 miles. That’s one-third the length of Mississippi River, or all the way across Montana and half way back!
There were 1,585 trips. Mrs. Egan’s class had 131.7 miles, for a free recess win. And Mrs. Hanley’s fifth-graders logged 97.6 miles, winning them the intermediate grades’ extra recess prize.
What fuels all this energy? While we don’t have a confirmed report, we do know there have been some serious efforts on the Box Tops for Education front. In fact, Mrs. Whittmeyer’s class turned in the most Box Tops (829) winning them an afternoon treat of Wilcoxins ice cream bars. Congratulations and thanks to everyone for participating!
This spring 100 enthusiastic readers participated in Poly Drive Readers. Many people helped made this successful reading enrichment experience possible. Thanks go to the students for participating, parents for encouraging their kids to read, the 13 volunteer facilitators who gave their time and energy to make this program possible, and to the teachers for the use of their classrooms. Facilitators were: Deva G., Briana B., Stephanie W., Maria K., Amber E., Robyn W., Jessica C., Casey B., Kally D., Lisa C., Jenny W., and Jenn D. Thanks also go out to Lucky’s Market for donating 25 pizzas. We appreciate their generous community support. I hope everyone reads some great books this summer and we look forward to next year.
~Kimberly W., chairperson
Poly Drive Elementary PTA 