Good morning Leopold families. In defiance of the weather, we are beginning to plan some exciting spring events!
2014 Timber Wolf Trample!
Planning is underway. Here are some important things to know:

• The 9th annual Timber Wolf Trample fun run will take place on May 10. Information on last year's Trample can be found here.
  
• Again this year, we will be holding a t-shirt design contest for our "official" Trample t-shirts. Forms should go home with kids this week, and will be available online as well. All Leopold students are welcome and encouraged to enter their design!
  
• Leading up to the Trample, we will hold a Spirit Week, with fun dress up days that coincide with donations to important causes in our area. We are excited to work with the new Leopold student council to plan Spirit Week events.
  
• A major component of the Trample, as well as a significant funding source for many of our activities and events throughout the year, is the sponsorship campaign. Businesses are asked to donate toward our event, and in return, they receive advertising on our materials. If you work at, or know of, a business that might be interested in becoming a 2014 Timber Wolf Trample sponsor, please contact Pam Baumartner ([email protected]) so that we can add them to our list. You do not have to ask for the sponsorship (although you are welcome to, personal connections always work best), as Pam is also happy to add them to her contact list.

Spring Grounds Cleanup
Please mark your calendars for our spring grounds cleanup on April 26 from 9 am-12 pm. We will work on cleaning up our grounds and getting the garden ready for spring, as well as some possible playground improvements. Many hands make light work so we encourage families and neighbors to join in a fun day of taking pride in our school. More information will come about how you can play an active role in making our school and community look great!

PFO Meeting
Our next PFO family meeting will be Tuesday, March 11 at 7 pm in the Leopold library. Everyone is welcome to attend! We will be having Mr. Beaman, our REACH science teacher talk to us about the REACH science program. Every Leopold student spends time in Mr. Beaman's class during the school year so come find out what fun and exciting things they're up to in this unique program. Mr. Budd, 3rd grade teacher, will talk about fun math activities and how parents can support math skills at home for kids of all ages. Both will be able to answer questions parents have as well. We will also have a quick PFO update as well as a principal update. If you need childcare other than Open Schoolhouse, please let me know in advance.

Science Night
Science Night is scheduled to take place at Open Schoolhouse TOMORROW March 4th from 6pm-8pm. We hope that this event will show families how fun science is, and expose students to different areas of science. This event will include family challenges, hands-on experiments, and cool demonstrations. Science Night will also feature "MaGicEnergy," an interactive show that includes juggling, storytelling, and magic and inspires kids to engage in environmental stewardship. We are looking for volunteers to participate in Science Night by facilitating interactive exploration stations, serving food, and assisting with set up and tear down. MUCH HELP IS STILL NEEDED to support our awesome Open Schoolhouse group who is sponsoring this fun event for our kids! Please review this online sign up and see how you can participate. Any questions/comments, please contact Kao Yong Thao (608-204-4334,[email protected]) 

Leopold Garage Sale
Calling bargain hunters and closet cleaners! The Leopold garage sale is scheduled for April 5. Items to donate for the garage sale can be brought in on Friday, April 4 (drop-off time to be determined). Mrs. Czech is organizing the garage sale and would like a few parent volunteers to help out! If you are interested in helping (and getting a first look at the goods), you can email Mrs. Czech at [email protected].

DLI Summit
DLI parents are invited to attend a DLI Summit and BoE Forum. This is a summit designed for DLI parents, teachers and stakeholders who want to have conversations with other parents and stakeholders from all the MMSD DLI schools.  The DLI Summit is being organized by Nuestro Mundo parents and the Latino Education Council and will be hosted at Centro Hispano on Sat. March 8th from 9 -1:30.  Food and childcare provided. RSVP requested as seats are limited. The Board of Ed. candidates will be there over lunch to hear from families.  Backpack flyers were sent home with DLI students.

Race to Equity Project
Last week, Sara Dawkins (PFO VP) and I attended a presentation on the Wisconsin Councils of Children and Families' (WCCF) Race to Equity project.  This was an eye-opening presentation about a multi-year project to reduce racial disparities in Dane County. I would encourage everyone to visit the project's website at http://racetoequity.net. and review the first report issued by the project. Presentations have been given by Race to Equity throughout Dane County to various groups. The presentation we went to at Franklin Elementary School was very well attended. We are considering ways to bring this discussion to Leopold for our community and families as well. It is worth your time to look at and understand some of the powerful data that has been collected so far.


COMMUNITY NEWS


Madison Reads Leopold
On March 1st there will be a free public reading from Aldo Leopold's work at the UW Arboretum Visitor Center from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM on Saturday, March 1st. Eric Liljequist, a retired teacher from Leopold, is one of the readers.

Thanks everyone. Have a great week!

Kris

Hello Leopold Families! Fall is in the air and we are excited to kick off some fun fall events for Leopold!
An Apple Affair
Tomorrow night (Monday, October 7), the PFO will host An Apple Affair - an event to raise money for iPads and technology at Leopold, at Lilliana's restaurant (2951 Triverton Park Drive in Fitchburg) from 6-8 pm. This adults-only event will feature apple-themed appetizers that Chef Dave has prepared especially for this evening, as well as several exciting raffle baskets including UW Football tickets, Nutcracker tickets, a golf package, spa packages, hand-made pottery and art, fitness packages and much more!

Tickets are $30 per person and can still be purchased online here: http://www.leopoldpfo.org/an-apple-affair.html, or by sending a check to school tomorrow marked "PFO An Apple Affair".  You can also reply to this email to let me know if you are planning on coming and pay at the door.

We have had a great response to this event! If you are unable to attend, we would encourage you to consider a donation. All donations made for this event will go directly toward the purchase of technology at our school. Donations can be made here:
http://www.leopoldpfo.org/an-apple-affair.html. Leopold is a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization and your donation is tax deductible.

Open House
Tuesday, October 8, from 6-7 pm is the annual Leopold all-school open house. Families of students in all grades, including 4K, are encouraged to attend. Open House is a chance for students to show parents and family members where and how they work and learn each day. The PFO will serve ice cream in the cafeteria at Open House!

Get to Know Each Other Nights will continue next week with 4th Grade on October 15 and 5th grade on October 22.

Harvest Fest
We are very excited for our first-ever Harvest Fest! Harvest Fest will be held on October 19, from 1-4 pm. Come to Leopold for this fun fall event featuring face painting, cake walk, live music, hay wagon rides, pumpkin launch, gunny sack races, dunk tank, prize drawings, demonstrations in salsa dancing, rainbow loom, The Cups Song, and much, much more!

A wrist band will be required for everyone over 2 years old to come to Harvest Fest! Order forms should come home Monday for wrist bands, as well as information about donations for the cake walk and grade level prize baskets.

We need many volunteers to make this a successful event. Please visit our online volunteer signup here and sign up for one or more activities. Middle and high schoolers are welcome to sign up for volunteer shifts. We encourage every Leopold family to take at least one shift for this big event.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084AACAE2CA13-harvest

Additional PFO Volunteer Opportunities
Lori Zink, our school nurse, needs volunteers to help with vision screening on October 17 and October 29. This is an easy and fun way to help out at school. Just a few volunteers are needed for each shift. An online sign is available here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084AACAE2CA13-vision

And last but not least, there is one more volunteer spot to fill for picture retake day, which will be held on November 8. That sign up can be found here:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084AACAE2CA13-picture2.  Thanks to those of you who came out to volunteer for picture day last week!


Box Top Collection
Remember our ongoing Box Top collection contest! The deadline for our first contest is November 15. The class that collects the most Box Tops (prorated for class size) will receive a pizza party! The class that collects the most BoxTops throughout the year will receive a class party at Pump It Up. So, get cutting and turn those Box Tops in to your students teacher by November 15.

Box Top collection forms were sent home this year at registration so you could get an early start on collection! If you did not get a Box Top collection sheet, please visit our blog here http://www.leopoldpfo.org/leopold-pfo-blog.html where one is posted. Leopold gets 10cents for every Box Top collected, so be sure to ask friends and family to save them too! You can also shop through the eBox Tops marketplace to earn additional Box Tops for our school.  https://www.boxtops4education.com/marketplace

Lunch Buddies
If you are interested in really making a different in the life of a Leopold student, we have a number of students who are in need of lunch buddies. The lunch buddies program, run by Social Worker, Sandra Rivera and Vista volunteer, Adam Emmert, helps pair kids who might benefit from some one-on-one adult interaction and positive conversation. Volunteers would spend lunch and the lunch recess with a student, both eating and then doing an activity of mutual agreement such as an indoor or outdoor game, etc. Lunch and recess times vary for different grades, but placements can be made from 11-1. Volunteers can choose to spend 30 minutes (with one student) to an hour (with two students back to back) one or more days a week. If anyone is interested or knows someone who might be interested, please let Adam Emmart know. There is an application and disclosure to fill out to be a lunch buddy. Please contact Adam at [email protected] if you are interested in helping a student in this way!

Early Childhood Resource Fair
The Madison Early Childhood Council will host an Early Childhood Resource Fair on Tuesday, October 29 from 6-8 pm at Leopold. There will be activities including screening and resources as well as face painting, pizza and prizes.


Thanks everyone! Hope to see you tomorrow night at Lilliana's! Have a great week.