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

A little late this week, but here's some information about what's going on at Leopold!

COME TO SCIENCE NIGHT TONIGHT FROM 6-8 PM!  Ms. Kosterman says you don't want to miss out on your chance to walk on water (and cornstarch), learn about cells with superpowers, launch film canister rockets, build the tallest tower, watch dry ice in action and many more exciting hands-on activities. Come out for a night of excitement, exploration and ingenuity!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MS. PERSIKE'S KINDERGARTEN CLASS, winners of our March Box Tops contest. They collected 494 Box Tops this round! Mrs. Persike's class will receive an ice cream party from Pump it Up, our Box Tops party sponsor. We collected more than 5,700 Box Tops this round. What a great job everyone is doing!! Watch for the next collection sheet in boxes in a few weeks with a deadline of May 13 for the final party of the year.

YEARBOOK production is in full swing! Some important info on yearbooks...

(1) Attention 5th Grade Parents - Sponsor the Yearbook!

If you are the parent of a 5th grader at Leopold, sponsor the yearbook for only $15!  Your donation includes a personalized message to your child (under their school photo) in the back of the yearbook.  Sponsorship Forms are available here.

(2) Book Bowl, Spelling Bee & Geography Bee Photos Needed!

We are looking for group and individual photos for the yearbook from these events.  If you took photos, please e-mail copies to Jana Olson ([email protected]).  Thank you!

(3) Field Trip & Classroom Photos Needed for the Yearbook!

Did you take photos of a class field trip or class party?  We'd love to include them in the 2012-2013 Leopold yearbook.  Please send the photos to Jana Olson ([email protected]).  Include the grade level of the children in the photos.  Thank you!

LEOPOLD SPIRIT WEAR is available for order through this week only. New items offered. Please visit here for a printable form or online ordering.

THE TIMBER WOLF TRAMPLE T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST voting was held last Tuesday evening in our school library. We had 30 voters come through and view the 24 entries we received. Thank you to everyone who participated. Congratulations to the following students:

K - Catherine Arnold

1 - Sandy Flores

2 - Kate Aman-Lavicky

3 - Jake Hansen / Divondre Hughes

4 - Isabel Kreger

5 - Joey Aman-Lavicky

Overall winner of the t-shirt design:  Joey Aman-Lavicky

All of the entries are on display on the PFO bulletin board in the lobby and I hope to have them posted on our Facebook page soon too.

THE TIMBER WOLF TRAMPLE is scheduled for May 11. In the next few weeks, registration forms and donation collection sheets will be distributed. Please note that you do NOT have to pay or collect donations to participate in the run, although we encourage kids to try.  Collecting donations is a large part of the PFO's budget and a great way for neighbors, friends and families to support our students. Incentive prizes are offered for donations collected.  More information on the event can be found here.

THE PFO HAS BEEN WORKING ON SOME UPDATES TO OUR LOBBY. Next time you're at school, take a look at our gallery wall, which will change out on a regular basis and allow featured students to take home their framed artwork! We also have a wall honoring our namesake, Aldo Leopold. We are continuing to make updates to this space to make it warm and inviting for our families and guests.

THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF A LOCAL KELLEY WILLIAMSON COMPANY STATION, Leopold School has been awarded a $500 ExxonMobil Educational Alliance grant.  The money will be used for math and science materials.

Funded by the ExxonMobil Corporation, the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program is designed to provide local Exxon and Mobil dealers with an opportunity to invest in the future of their community through educational grants to neighborhood schools.  We appreciate this generous support of our school community!

GET FIT IN FITCHBURG! Saturday, April 13, the City of Fitchburg will host a free health and wellness fair for Fitchburg Families at Leopold Elementary. Please visit the PFO blog here for a flyer with all of the details.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support of our school and the PFO!

Kris

Hello families. An exciting week lies ahead at Leopold!
Science Night Tuesday
Remember to come to Science Night on Tuesday, March 5th from 6-8. Mrs. Kosterman says you don't want to miss out on your chance to walk on water (and cornstarch), learn about cells with superpowers, launch film canister rockets, build the tallest tower, watch dry ice in action and many more exciting hands-on activities. Come out for a night of excitement, exploration and ingenuity!

T-shirt Design Contest Deadline
Remind your young artists that entries for the Timber Wolf Trample T-Shirt Design Contest are due Tuesday, March 5, at the end of the school day. Bring them in to your classroom teacher or the school office. For the indecisive, multiple entries from one artist will be accepted. Additional information and forms can be found here.

Plan to join us next Tuesday, March 12, in the school library, for judging the entries!

Community School Task Force
Leopold has been identified as a Community School supporting the West High attendance area, and a Parent Task Force is being put together to support this effort. Please come to a Parent Task Force Attendance Area meeting on Thursday, March 7 from 6-7:30 p.m. The purpose of Parent Task Force is:
1. To address barriers and access in opportunities
2. To collectively share and generate information about promising practices
3. To recognize family
4. To build social and political capital of traditionally disenfranchised families
5. To provide opportunities for shared governance and build social capital
6. To make recommendations to MMSD Administration for what parents want in their Community Schools.
Please see the attached flyer for more information.

Box Tops
Thanks to all parents and students for their continued Box Tops efforts for Leopold. We are finishing up counting for this round and we'll announce the winners soon. We are on an amazing pace for this year!

We also have a check for $204 coming from amazon.com. This is money we made just for clicking on the amazon.com ad on the PFO website when we go to make a purchase.  This amount is double what we made last year, so keep those clicks coming! Once you enter amazon through the PFO site a few times, it will become a habit for every time you shop at amazon.com. The link can be foundhere.

Kindergarten Registration
Tomorrow, March 4, from 1-6, is kindergarten registration. If you have an incoming kindergartener who is not currently in an MMSD 4K program, they will need to register for kindergarten. I'm registering my youngest and I'm torn between the sadness of letting her go and cheering that they're all finally in school! 

Lobby Updates
The PFO has been working with the school on some minor updates to the lobby space to make things more inviting and cohesive. Over the next few weeks, some of these changes will start to take shape. We look forward to making our school even more inviting.

Thanks everyone. Have a great week!