Ready for Winter Break?

Tuesday night is CiCi's Pizza Night. Drop in or carry out for pizza and pasta.

Burks is celebrating the holidays with Holiday Parties Friday afternoon. Parents are always welcome, don't forget to bring a picture ID with you!

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Gift Shop was full of Smiles

The Gift Shop was not only fun but a huge learning experience for the kids. Among the lessons they learned were thinking of others and budgeting. Why you can't buy something for $2.25 when you have only $2 can be very difficult to understand when you are a little kid! Thanks to all the volunteer "elves" who helped with money dilemmas, crowd control and added Christmas cheer!

Last 2 PTO Events of the Year

It was hard wake the kids this morning after a whole week of sleeping in. But there are a few things going on to catch their interest this week-

Tuesday the 2nd is McDonald's Night. I heard a rumor that teachers may be lending a hand at the counter between 6pm-8pm but it hasn't been confirmed.

Wednesday the 3rd through Friday the 5th is our Holiday Gift Shop, where kids can buy inexpensive gifts for their family. Kids LOVED it last year, which was one of the reasons we decided to do it again. However PTO is high on enthusiasm but very low on volunteers. If you can volunteer for an hour or two during the school day, it would help make the event a success. Just send us an email or return the volunteer sheet to school with your student on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What do you do this week when you get tired of eating turkey and shopping? You can drop by the Festival of Trees and check out Burk’s entry, A Candy Cane Christmas. All sizes of trees, wreaths and gingerbread houses will be auctioned off on Saturday night and are available for public viewing on Sunday and Monday. All proceeds go to Project Graduation, something Burks’ PTO feels is pretty important since one day our kids will graduate from high school too! For more information, go to their website http://www.projectgraduationmckinney.com/

Hopefully your student came home with tales from Science Place field trip. My son’s been talking about a movie about caves and how magnets have pluses and minuses. Take a look at the Museum of Science and Nature’s website to get an idea of what your student saw http://www.natureandscience.org/

Pre-Thanksgiving Thanks

The Chili Cook-Off was a spectacular event, thanks to all of the teachers who created some great chili-making memories for their students!

In case you missed it, Mrs. Kelly's Lightning Strike Chipolte Roadkill Chili won the best chili. Mrs. McGuire's Lava-Licious Chili (my favorite name!) won the best presentation. Her chili was actually served out of the volcano. Mrs. Gregorash won best title, I don't have it right now but I remember the phrase "hair-raising" being used. Winners for each grade were: K- Mrs. Hernandez, 1st- Mrs. Smith, 2nd- Mrs. Baker, 3rd- Mrs. Kelly, 4th- Mrs. Gonzalez, 5th- Mrs. McGuire and Staff- Front Office.

A special thanks to our judges who tasted enough chili to last a lifetime. Kenny Moore, Manager of Brookshires, has been kind enough to donate food items to Burks at various times in the past. Commercial Real Estate Broker Mark Cantrell also graciously stepped in to help judge the 33 different kinds of chili. Mark attended Burks when it was West Ward and Kenny's kids, who are grown now, also went to Burks. De StAubin has two children going to Burks right now. De is McKinney's Senior Animal Control Officer and he is the one responsible for Burks' kindergarteners getting a free subscription to KIND News, a newspaper put out by the Huname Society about animals for kids. These guys took their job seriously, even going back for seconds, in order to pick the best chili. The competition was fierce with teachers adding all sorts of secret ingredients.

More thanks goes to Cory St Aubin and the PTO Board, who planned the event. And a final thank you to all the parents who bought cooking ingredients, rounded up chili themed items and spooned out chili. Next year we'll work on making all that good chili last a little longer, send us your suggestions if you have any!

This week will be a fast one ending with the school-wide field trip on Friday. Tuesday is Burks' CiCi's Pizza Night. A few reminders before the holiday: don't forget to check Lost and Found for missing coats and jackets and remember to save any Box Tops you may come across while you are cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Enjoy the Fall Break!

Book Fair & Chili Cook-Off

Skippy Jon Jones and Diary of a Wimpy Kid are some of the most popular books at the Book Fair. There are also plenty of picture books for younger kids and chapter books for the older ones. Plus cookbooks for moms and teachers and reference books and thingamajigs for everyone. The Book Fair will be in the library all week and each class will have a chance to look around. Talk to your child about what they saw and liked. This is a great way to encourage reading in your house, whether you buy some books or check them out at the library!

You may have already gotten a note sent home about an item to pitch in for the Chili Cook-Off. I had to buy some shredded cheese. Some classes are getting awfully fancy, I heard Mrs. Gregorash's chili recipe has 4 different kinds of meat!
Come and taste all the different variations of chili on Thursday night at the Chili Cook-Off from 6-8pm. It's only one dollar to sample all the chili. For another dollar you can get a whole bowl of last year's winning recipe. 4th grade will be there selling sodas to help fund next year's 5th grade Field Trip.

Is your child feeding the Lost and Found monster?

The weather for Field Day was beautiful!
There were plenty of PALs (MISD High School Volunteers who are awesome!) helping out so parent volunteers got to spend some quality time with their child's class. It was really sweet to see how the younger kids treated each other. During the relay race they often waited, baton in hand, for the other team to pass the baton so that the 2 new runners could start off together. As the grades got older, you could really see that competitive streak start kicking in! There was a bit of a competitive streak in the teachers too, many lent a hand when it came to winning tug of war.

As you might remember the day started off a little chilly but warmed up after lunch. You know what this means- LOTS of left behind jackets and long sleeved shirts. Our Lost and Found is overflowing! Please help us control the lost and found monster by reminding your student to look for any cold weather item you may not have seen return to your house.

Tomorrow is McDonald's Night- remember to put your receipt in the box or tell your cashier you're from Burks!

Fall Weather = Chili

My house still smells like the cookies I baked for the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon today. I think parents could use some treats to fortify themselves for the parent teacher conferences too! At least there was plenty of coffee available for everyone.

The cold weather makes me think of the Chili Cook-Off. Chili is perfect on days like this. This year there are a lot new teachers not familiar with the Cook-Off. I'm sure they could use a little extra help with recipes and decorating. The most important part of the chili is left up to the kids- thinking of that perfect name. Armadilly Chili is still one of my favorites, what will they come up with this year?

More soup please!

This week has flown by and I forgot to update on Monday!

Next week promises to be an even busier week. Teacher Conferences are on Monday and that is also the day for our Potluck Teacher Appreciation Luncheon. Judy Poe is still searching for cooks to stir up a pot of soup. Bread and desserts are also welcome!
And if a 4 day week is not exciting enough, Field Day is on Friday, which is also Halloween.

Our thoughts are with 5th graders at Science Camp this week. Remember, no student is ever denied the chance to go based on financial need. 5th grade raises money with it's catalog fundraiser, t-shirt sales and soda stands at events. Thanks to all the parents who chaperoned and teachers and staff that do a lot of the behind the scenes work to make the camp possible!

Fundraiser Ends Today - Sort Of

The fundraiser ends today - Monday, October 13th.
Can you still turn in your child's form and money tomorrow? Yes.
How about Wednesday? Yes, but that's pushing it.
How about Thursday? That's cutting it very close but we will still probably accept it.

Why do we want the orders on Monday if we don't send it out to the fundraising company until later in the week? Because it takes a long time to double check the forms and count the money. A lot of forms don't have a complete name on them (It's nice that Burks is such a small school that as long as there's a first name you can pretty much track down whose it is. I think Mrs. Montgomery has every student's name memorized!). Some orders are short a few dollars but more often there will be an extra $10 or $20 that we need to send back. So it takes a few days to straighten out those that end up in the "problem" file. Make it easy on PTO and turn your orders in on time!

Thursday is the Bingo Night from 6-8pm. There will be 12 fabulous rounds of bingo with callers like Superintendent Tom Crowe and our very own School Board Member, Judy Poe. Bingo cards, snacks and soda are a dollar each. Or if you are serious bingo player, 12 cards (one for each round) will sell for the bargain price of $10. The proceeds will go towards the school's field trip to the Science Place. This is not a PTO event but about every program at school involves teachers and parents anyway, doesn't it?

Tuesday is our first McDonald's Night. You know the drill, tell the cashier that you're from Burks and we will recieve a percentage of your sale. The current Happy Meal Star Wars toys are very popular at our house!

This week PTO is going to start planning for November's Chili Cook-off. You would not believe all the behind-the-scenes work that goes on by PTO, teachers and students! Not to mention the judges, who this year will sample over 20 different chili dishes. To ensure we don't run out this year, we're planning to have a big extra pot of last year's winning chili.

Students can turn in tickets every day that they sell something from the fundraiser. Every morning Mrs. Bendorf picks three tickets. Two get to win a little Kung Fu Panda bear and one gets the chance to have a giant Kung Fu Panda stay in their classroom for the day. It was a very exciting day in Kindergarten when one of my son's classmates won the bear for Mrs. Freshcoln's class! Even the older grades seem to like the spending the day with a huge Kung Fu Panda.

Busy October

Thanks to the moms that came out to help on Picture Day. Not only did Burks appreciate their help, but so did the photographers at Lifetouch. They gave each of the moms that volunteered one free package of photos. There are many more volunteer opportunities coming up in October with unforseen rewards and benefits!

To give teachers plenty of time for their conferences without growling stomachs, PTO is having the Teacher Appreciation Potluck Luncheon on Parent/Teacher Conference Day Monday, October 27. If you are interested in showing off your cooking or baking skills, get in touch with Judy Poe who is wonderful at coordinating all the crock pot soups, breads and desserts.

Field Day is another great opportunity for volunteers. Volunteers are needed for the morning and afternoon sessions of Field Day on Friday, October 31 (Halloween). For more info, contact Coach Klemm or Coach Hall (Did anyone see them at the Wellness Fair this weekend? We did!)

On top of that, Kinder is going on a field trip to the pumpkin patch, 3rd grade is heading to the symphony and 5th grade's camp is comping up too! Fill out those background checks now so you are ready to jump in and participate!

By now you should have seen our Fundraising Catalog floating around your house. I've already found something I want to order, a splash guard for the microwave. This is PTO's big fundraiser for the year where we get the majority of our money for school supplies and activities, from balloons and helium to author visits. All forms and money are due by September 13th.

Benefits of Volunteering & Fundraising Friday

If you haven't had a chance to take a look at the Handbook of Volunteer Opportunities, it's not too late to fill out the form or even just let us know what you are interested in doing. We've already had parents helping out on Curriculum Night and this week a few parents will be keeping the lines moving on Picture Day. These are great opportunities to help out the school and also to get to know the kids in your child's class and their other school friends.

Our Catalog Fundraiser starts this Friday, keep an eye for the fundraising packet! This year there is also a chance to take orders online- great for when your family is not in town. And the product will be delivered right to them, free of charge!

See you at CiCi's

This Tuesday is our first CiCi's Pizza Night from 5:00 to 9:30. Let the cashier know that you're from Burks and they will ring you up on their second register. Burks will then get 10% from all transactions done on that register! This includes families that eat at CiCi's and those that get their orders to go. CiCi's is at the Northeast corner of Central and Virginia.

CiCi's Pizza Night is every third Tuesday of the month for the rest of the year. Next month we are also starting a McDonald's Night. This is a no-brainer fundraiser, I know everyone at Burks must eat at McDonald's at least once a month!

Our myway email address went awry, you can reach us at our new email: burkspto@yahoo.com.

Don't Miss Curriculum Night

PTO President Teri Kirkpatrick will be leading the PTO meeting in the cafeteria on Curriculum Night. She'll talk a little about PTO's plans and goals for this year.

Teri initiated the PTO survey last year and the response was impressive. Most parents said they'd like about 3 PTO meetings and that they'd rather just pay money than have a second fundraiser. In the added notes more than one parent asked to do away with goldfish as a prize at the Carnival. I wonder if one of those comments came from one of the many parents that I saw in the pet department at Walmart buying a fish tank the night of the Carnival (Our goldfish, Sparks, just got upgraded to a 10 gallon tank).

If the PTO survey never surfaced at your house or you thought of something you would like to have added, don't hesitate to let us know. You can drop off a note in PTO's box (just outside of Mrs. Bendorf's office), or send an email to burkspto@myway.com, or talk to her directly about what you would like to see PTO do or how you would like to help!

Today is Science Day at Burks. Students are also getting a dose of science in P.E. this year. Ask your student what the Bone of the Week is this week. Last week was clavicle, skull was the week before.

Curriculum Night Meeting

This year's first PTO meeting will be at Curriculum Night on Thursday, September 11th.

I think the details are still being ironed out but it looks like K-2 will have their curriculum night from 6-6:45 and then there will be a half an hour long PTO meeting in the cafeteria and then 3-5th will have their curriculum night from 7:15-8:00. This is to give a chance for parents with students in different grades to meet their teachers. I heard rumors of some goody being served during the break too. Burks should be sending something official out soon...

BRING IN YOUR BOX TOPS AND NESTLE PURE LIFE WATER LABELS!

We are NOT collecting Campbell Soup labels this year- this program awards points when you turn in your labels, not money like Box Tops. It takes an enormous amount of points to buy something substantial so we'd rather focus on Box Tops and Nestle Life water labels where we get a nice little check for the school! Last year we made about $350, this year we are aiming for $500. I know we can do it!

Get Ready to Volunteer!

PTO volunteers, room parents and field trip helpers all need to fill out the MISD volunteer application. To quote MISD's website: "This is to ensure that all students have an opportunity to learn and grow in a safe environment. The volunteer application process is just one effort used by the school administration to make our schools safe." Makes sense, doesn't it?

Filling out the volunteer form for the second time is so easy! If none of your information has changed, you just keep hitting "continue." I was done in 2 minutes! Whether your information has changed or not you still need to submit one every year.
Even if you've never filled it out before it does not take too long. Here's the link:

http://www.mckinneyisd.net/departments/communications/volunteer_application/

Filling out the form does not commit you to volunteering. It just clears you ahead of time for when you wish to volunteer at school.

If you are interested in going above and beyond helping out in your child's classroom or at PTO events, talk to Eva Madera with CIS at Burks about mentoring opportunities. You can give her a call at Burks or email her at evam@mckinneyisd.net

Let's have a great year!

New Hours

School starts in a week! Don't forget the new school hours 8:45-3:45. How are you going to spend your extra 15 minutes in the morning?

See you at Burks this Friday

Teachers are busy at school this week getting classrooms ready for the school year. You will be able to meet your child's teachers and droop off your supplies on Supply and Say Hi Night from 4-6 this Friday.

At 6pm there will be a meeting for 5th grade parents about this year's science camp. Science camp is being held in the Fall instead of the Spring this year, allowing them to do different experiments.

Ice cream and pre-packaged school supplies will be available in the cafeteria, while you're there check out our lost and found rack, it's not big gigantic box any more!

New is the Word of the Month

Everything is new at Burks!
New Teachers, new portables, old teachers in new positions...
On account of all that is new, Burks is having a Raisin' of the Barn on August 14th, 9-3. What's that? A chance to help teachers, old and new, get their classrooms ready. You can drop in for an hour or all day and help with bulletin boards, name tags or making copies. There will even be things you can pick up to do at home. Give Lauren Nunez a call for more info: 903-267-3905

Supply and Say Hi Night, a little early this year, on Friday, August 15th. PTO will have free ice cream in the cafeteria. If you bought pre-packaged school supplies in May, they will be available for pick up and if you did not buy one, a few extra for each grade will be on sale.

Also new is a new system for signing in at the front. There is even a new part-time staff member at the front office to help implement the system. Be prepared, you must have a photo ID with you! You should be getting a letter soon from Burks talking about these changes and other important information.

Talent Show on TV!

For those of you who didn't order the DVD of the Talent Show, you can catch it on MISD's cable channel 98 at 9am, 2:30pm and 8:30pm. Even if you have the DVD, it's a whole new experience to watch it on 'real' TV.

New PTO President Teri Kirkpatrick hasn't wasted any time this summer finding ways to improve the dreaded Lost and Found box. Expect to see a brand new Lost and Found area with bins and bars for hanging up all those lost jackets in the cafeteria. We can't guarantee the students won't still lose their coats but at least now they will be easier to find!

School's Out!

The Talent Show was a wonderful way to end the year!
We'll be updating the blog once a month during the summer.
Have a safe and fun vacation!

Soaring Eagle Scholarship

PTO is honored to award the Soaring Eagle Scholarship to McKinney North's Jacqueline Anthony.
Jackie is captain of North's soccer team and also plays select soccer. She will continue to play soccer at Harding University while studying pre-med (!). She plans to be an orthopedic surgeon so after her soccer career she can stay connected to sports. A former Burks student as well as a leader and an athlete, her accomplishments serve as an inspiration to the current students at Burks.


For those who can't wait to see Eddie Coker again- he's back in McKinney on June 20th to play a benefit concert. Check out his webpage for more details: http://www.eddiecoker.com/htdocs/showEdNew.asp

Prepackaged school supplies are on sale until the end of the year.

Parents & Pre-Packaged School Supplies

The first question I was asked when I became PTO president last year was "How about pre-packaged school supplies?" It was the most frequently asked question I had all year. I am happy to say PTO listened and today order forms for pre-packaged school supplies are going home with students.

Other concerns parents raised were about the school grounds- improving the playground and beautifying the campus. I think Mrs. Bendorf has some things in mind (did you notice flowers planted in front of the school this spring?) but it's something PTO can look into as well.

Students and parents asked about yearbooks. Teri Kirkpatrick, PTO's brand new president, is already checking out yearbook companies and seeing what is affordable.

One thing PTO would like to do is have more general meetings for the public. Hopefully that will give parents a chance to voice their ideas and give us feedback on what is working and what is not. Parents can always email us or drop us a note at the PTO box at school.
Keep your suggestions and comments coming!

The year isn't over yet!

PTO is working on counting the many Box Tops and Labels for Education students turn in. As soon as we empty our collection containers, they are overflowing again with those Pure Life water labels! At the beginning of the year we were earing almost $100 a month with our Box Tops. This money goes to PTO and funds activities and supplies for students and improvements around the Burks.

Also still in the works are pre-packaged school supplies. Pre-packaged school supplies are something parents have been asking about all year long. I hope to have the order forms to send home by next week.

Book Fair & Math & Science Family Night

This posting is late because I was busy helping kindergartners make books lists at the Book Fair. In the Fall many of them were struggling to write their names, today they were writing their names, book titles and prices!

All students visit the Book Fair with their classes, but it is also open before and after school and all the way until 8pm on our Family Night this Thursday. Parents are welcome to stop by the Book Fair at anytime during the school day. For parents who buy teacher presents at the end of the year, I think this is a perfect opportunity to buy something you know the teacher really would like. Each teacher has a wish list of books attached to a brown bag on top of the shelves at the Book Fair.

For Family Night we are having a Math & Science Road Trip with fun math and science activities created by the teachers. PTO will also be selling hot dogs, chips and soda.

The brain behind the Book Fair is PTO's Clair Wall, whose daughter boasts the title "student living closest to Burks." If you are interested in helping with the Book Fair next year, drop in and say hi. If you don't know who Clair is, just follow the South African accent!

CARNIVAL THIS FRIDAY!

Come join us for our Luau Carnival!

Games, prizes and INFLATABLES! That means 3 kinds of bounce houses!

This Friday, May 2nd, from 6:00-8:00 at Burks.

All proceeds benefit Burks and Burks' PTO.

Busy PTO

This Thursday is the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon. If you would like to bring a dessert for the teachers, just drop it off at the library before 10:30 on the 24th. Thanks!

PTO is busy until the last few weeks of school- next week is the Carnival and the week after that is the Book Fair and the "Math and Science Roadtrip" Family Night. Mid-May PTO will be selling Pre-Packaged School Supplies. More information is coming your way about these events as they unfold. Don't forget to consider volunteering, we need all the help we can get!

A Texas Tea

One of PTO's most popular events isn't advertised or attended by students. Our Teacher Appreciation Luncheons are for Burks' teachers and staff to show them how much we appreciate all the time, patience and creativity they put in to teaching our children.

Bar-b-que is on the menu for this Spring's Teacher Appreciation Luncheon. Teapots and fresh plants will adorn the tables. Show your child's teacher (or last year's teacher or next year's teacher!) how much you appreciate their hard work by contributing a home-made or bought dessert item to this "Texas Tea." You or your child may drop off goodies at the library on the morning of the luncheon, Thursday, April 24th. Thanks!

Singing & Slime

PTO Meeting This Week

Everyone had a great time at the Eddie Coker concert- pictures will be posted soon.

If you are interested in helping plan fun family Burks activities, or just wonder what PTO is up to, drop by our monthly meeting this Thursday, April 10, at 5:30 at Burks. Just walk up to Burks' front door and we'll be there to let you in!

Sunny, 70 and Slimey

It's expected to be a sunny 70 degress on Friday with a few clouds. Perfect weather for a picnic and outdoor concert! I wonder if the top 3 coin-collecting teachers that will be slimed are wishing for rain instead?

PTO is selling cheese and pepperoni pizza slices for $1 starting at 6:00pm. 4th grade is getting a jump start on their science camp fund by selling drinks and desserts for a dollar as well.

Eddie Coker CDs will be on sale for $15 at the concert. Stick around after the concert and Eddie will sign your CD!

54 Days...

Now that spring break is over, the countdown to summer vacation is about to start. But PTO is already thinking about next school year and looking at Pre-Ordered School Supplies. Parents will be able to order them in May and pick them up at Meet the Teacher Night in August.

Burks Family Picnic and Outdoor Concert is only 2 weeks away. Eddie Coker will start the concert at 6:30 but you won't want to miss any of the pre-cocnert activity. You can either bring your own food or starting at 6:00 you can buy pizza, desserts and drinks. Food is not the only reason to get there early. There are rumors that "winning" teachers (and maybe even Mrs. Bendorf) will be slimed in conncection with the Coins for the Cure coin drive. You will have to see for yourself if the rumors are true.

Getting ready for Eddie

PTO is busy making plans for the Burks' Family Picnic and Outdoor Concert with Eddie Coker on Friday, April 4th. Eddie Coker has played for kids around Texas for years. Haven't heard of him? Burks is going to start playing his music in the hallways and you can check out his website at http://www.eddiecoker.com/

We spent this morning watching his free online videos at http://www.eddiecoker.com/htdocs/videoSelector.html and now we're all doing the Woo Woo Dance. Woo Woo! Have a great Spring Break!

PTO's Presidential Race

Are you ready for kids to wave at you as walk through school, have Mr. Young call you "Madame Presidente," and plan family nights that make students very excited?
Then you are ready to be PTO's next President!
Or perhaps you'd perfer a position with a little less responsibility like Publicity Chairperson or Fundraiser Coordinator.

The PTO board has several openings for next year inlcuding President, Vice-President, Fundraiser Coordinator and Publicity Chairperson. There will be more positions open in 2009 as our secretary, treasurer and book fair coordinator will have students moving on to Middle School. If you are interested in getting more involved, consider volunteering for one of these positions or perhaps acting as an apprentice to our current treasurer and book fair coordinator.
If you are interested or would like to nominate someone else, contact me or speak with Judy Montgomery at the front desk. I am also always happy to hear any ideas parents have about PTO events or volunteering!
Thanks,
Erika

Burks students ruled the Chick-fil-A playground last Tuesday at Burks' Spirit Night. This was our easiest fundraiser to plan ever- all we had to do was show up and eat. Chicken nuggets and milkshakes were students' favorites. We're already looking forward to doing this again in the Fall!

Who doesn't love chicken nuggets?

Tuesday night is Burks' Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A. You can go to Chick-fil-A on 75 & 380 at any time on Tuesday, drive through or dine in to raise money for Burks PTO. How easy is that? They will donate 15% of the money from those little forms. They have more forms at the register if you don't have the flyer Burks sent home.

1st grader Cynthia de la Garza won the Penny Drive Raffle to help out Caldwell's Coach Mooney's son. Her brother Austen already has a Sponge Bob laundry basket so now she has one of her own.

Valentine Festivities

The dance was full of activity- dancing, coloring, eating and posing for pictures. Many girls were in their finest as well as a few boys. But the most fabulous thing at the dance may have not been noticed by too many- Burks' brand new sound system! Burks PTO donated money for the new sound system and MISD Fine Arts Department covered the rest of the hefty amount. It does all kinds of fancy things that will benefit choir performances, recitals, Good Morning Burks and dances.

I did not take pictures but if you have a photo of your Burks Sweetheart you would like me to post, just send it to our email: burkspto@myway.com and I will get it on this week.

I predict pink colored food will be popular at the Valentine's Day Parties on Thursday. Don't forget, parents are always welcome to attend! Valentine Carnations will be delivered to classrooms on Thursday as well. It's not too late to buy a carnation and help 5th Graders with their Science Camp fund -just send in the pink slip or give school a call.

Dance and Color the Night Away!

Start brushing up on your dance moves! The Burks Family Valentine Dance is this Thursday, the 7th, from 6:30-8:00. Get ready for your favorite line dances like the Cha Cha Slide, the Electric Slide, the Cotton Eyed Joe and the Bunny Hop! For those who need a break between dances there will be a Coloring Station for kids who want to enter our Coloring Contest or simply make a Valentine. The dance is FREE. There will be sweets and cookies, thanks to donations from 3rd, 4th & 5th grades. 5th grade will be selling refreshments in their quest to earn money for Science Camp. See you there!

Tornados 5, Avalanche 1

Although not a PTO event, how can we not mention last Friday's Texas Tornado hockey game, possibly the most anticipated event of the year? Student went crazy over a chance to watch a fast-paced sport where fighting is allowed, ride on a school bus with all their friends plus a snack to top it off. When they returned to school after the game, they were happy and exhausted. Kudos to the staff, teachers and chaperones who coordinated an army of students from school to the stadium and back safely!

Chili Today, Hot Tamale...

There's nothing better than a hot bowl of chili when it's cold outside!
Try Mrs. Freshcoln's Class' award winning chili recipe from the 2006-2007 Chili Cook-Off.

Queen Bee Chili
2 lbs burger meat browned
1 onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 each: red, green and yellow bell pepper
2 cans beans
1 can tomato sauce
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can mushrooms
2 tbsp chili powder
salt, pepper and sugar to taste

Cook meat, drain. Add ingredients to a crock pot, simmer 4-6 hours.

This month has been more like chili morning, hot afternoon, making it perfect weather for students to lose their coats. If your student is missing a coat or jacket, check out the overflowing Lost & Found box in the cafeteria.

Back to School & Brookshires

Back to school in a brand new year! PTO has some exciting events planned, my favorite is the free, outdoor Eddie Coker concert in April.

Cindy Howard, the hardest working collector of Boxtops and Labels for Education ever, discovered a way for Burks to garner a ginormous amount of points in January.

In Thursday's (1/3/08) mail, I received a flyer from Brookshire's grocery. One the front of the ad it has a bonus certificate for 100 bonus points through Campbell's. This could be pretty big for Burks.

Clip the certificate, attach 5 UPC's & the cash register receipt dated between 1/2/08 - 1/29/08 (any grocery store) & put into your child's classroom collection or put in the PTO box. You can shop for 5 soup cans & enclose the cash register receipt as the certificate indicates.

If you would just like to send the certificates to school, that would be great too. I can add these certificates into our next mailing for a HUGE return on our point collections! Copies are not allowed, so as many people saving these as possible could be HUGE in our collections for the month!

Keep an eye out for that mailer certificate!