the post oak school volume xviii, number 6a weekly ... · pdf filekomal and vijay kale. janet...
TRANSCRIPT
Field Day is here! Pack a picnic and bring the whole family to run around the Post Oak backyard, socialize with other Post Oak families, slide down inf latables,
toss around the earthball, play instruments and musical games, and lots of other fun activities. Field Day festivities will have lots of old favorites from previous years along with some new features, including the Veggie Pals and fortune cookie baking with our High School students. Chairs Mary Vaeza-Lopez and Bernadette Verzosa have
been working hard to bring everything together for this year’s event, along with the help of many parent volunteers. Thank you to everyone who has been involved, and to everyone who has signed up to volunteer at the event. Please join us for this Post Oak family-fun community event, and remember to purchase your raff le tickets for some great prizes in the three Mystery Box Raff les. This is a free event and the sale of raff le tickets covers the cost of Field Day. Look inside for parking information and other details. See you Saturday!
SaturdayV O L U M E X V I I I , N U M B E R 6A weekly publication of The Post Oak School
O C T O B E R 18 , 2 0 1 2Available online at
www.postoakschool.org
i n t h i s i s s u e : F I E L D D A Y D E T A I L S • A N N U A L F U N D U P D A T E • G R A N D O P E N I N G P H O T O S
F I E L D DAY 2 01 2 !
T h e We e k l y
POST
The weather forecast is predicting mostly sunny skies for Field Day 2012: Healthy Mind, Healthy Body! Perfect for the one day out of each school year the whole Post Oak community gets a chance to picnic and play.
You’ll want to arrive early for all the fun activities. In addition to the always popular Earthball games, cake walk, bounce houses, and dunk tanks, a deejay will be spinning family-friendly music to lead kids and parents in creative movement and dance, and Houston Symphony trombonist Allen Barnhill will play “name that tune” with songs from The Baby Elephant Walk to ones by Bach and Bacharach. Also, everyone will love the Instrument Petting Zoo and Veggie Pals, a troupe that puts the fun in learning about nutrition.
This Field Day is especially significant with the presence of our first group of High School Students and their families. You’ll meet the high school students during the Mystery Box
drawings – they will pick our raffle winners!
We want to especially thank our many parent volunteers who dedicated their time and talents to making Field Day a wonderful day for all of us to enjoy! •
Bernadette Verzosa & Mary Vaeza-Lopez, Field Day Co-Chairs
FieldHealthyBody
MindHealthy
DaySat., Oct. 2010 a.m.–1 p.m.
Purchase raffle tickets on Field Day!
Your purchase goes towards funding this
event. Thank you!
BISSONNET ST.
EPISCOPALHIGH SCHOOL
GORDONELEMENTARY
INDICATES EXTRA PARKING AT EHS
PARKING MAP
THE POST OAK SCHOOL
FIELD DAYFAMILY PICNIC
ENTER
FIELD DAYENTRANCE
GATEA
VEN
UE
B
PA G E 2 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2
WHEN Saturday, Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
WHERE Post Oak gym, field, and playground. Enter through the Post Oak field entrance off of the Episcopal High School driveway.
WHO All Post Oak families (relatives and friends are welcome to attend, too!)
WHAT There will be activities for children from Infant Community through High School… and parents have fun, too.
MORE DETAILS Parking is available on the Post Oak lot, at Episcopal High School (see map), along Avenue B, and across Bissonnet at the park behind Gordon Elementary.
PLEASE NOTE: parents must supervise their children on the playground. To ensure your child’s safety, signs will be posted to identify the age levels for the different playground sections. Please pay attention to the signs as they reflect ASTM playground safety standards for the different equipment. There are different areas for Infant Community, Primary, and the older children (Elementary–High School).
All costs for Field Day are defrayed by the raffle of class Mystery Boxes. Room parents (and other coordinators) have made an enticing array of creatively decorated boxes to be raffled off. There will be drawings at three different times: 11 a.m., noon, and 12:45 p.m. Remember, this event is strictly a fun raiser and not a fundraiser. However, we do want to cover the costs for the event, so please do your part and buy a raffle ticket or two.
FOOD & WATERThere will not be food for sale, so bring a picnic lunch and a blanket to spread out on the playing field.
We ask that you bring reusable water bottles to reduce plastic waste. Water will be available to refill your water bottles.
ACTIVITIES ◆ Houston Symphony Instrument Petting Zoo ◆ The Patch Obstacle Course ◆ Fortune Cookie Baking with High School Students
◆ Face Painting with Middle Schoolers ◆ Visor Craft Table ◆ Dunk Tank
◆ Bounce Houses & Slides ◆ Balloon Artists ◆ Cake walk with Moeller’s orange rolls and clementines
◆ Earthball games Catch with Parachute 10:30 High Jump 11:10 Hold It Up 11:40 Circle Time Trial 12:15
◆ Raffle Drawings at 11, 12 and 12:50
SPECIAL INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCESVeggie Pals, 10:30 a.m. & 12:15 p.m.
Allen Barnhill, Houston Symphony principal trombonist, 11:20 a.m.
NOTES OF GRATITUDE ◆ Thanks to EHS for additional parking. ◆ Thanks to room parents for organizing the
Mystery Box raffle and to all parents for contributing to those boxes.
◆ Thanks to each of you for purchasing raffle tickets.
◆ And big thanks to our terrific Field Day chairs Mary Vaeza-Lopez and Bernadette Verzosa, the POPA Chairs Laura Citardi, Jessica Gregg, and Whitney Walsh, and all the volunteers for making this great family event happen.
Field Day Details!
Extra T-shirts on sale at Field Day. Grab one while they last!
PA G E 3O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2
Three weeks into the campaign, the Annual Fund has been nothing short of extraordinary! A full sprint from the starting line has brought us past the half-way point of our $250,000 goal. Thanks to all employees, parents, trustees, and grandparents who have shown their early and generous support!
We still have much to do! Together with everyone’s support we can reach our goal. With four weeks remaining, we hope to get all families involved and understanding why the Annual Fund is so important to our school. Talk to your class captains, read your brochure, learn more, and give to the Post Oak Fund!
Ashley and Herbert Addison
Shonali and Rakesh Agrawal
Irma Alarcon
Daniel Anastacio
Nazario Anastacio
Mirna Andrade-Salgado and José Salgado
Anonymous
Frank Apollo
Alma Armendariz
Stephanie and Phil Arnett
Elenir and Rony Avritscher
Diana and Juan Balderas
Jessica and Darrell Barger
Tamara and William Basham
Steve Beeman
Mary Birk
Vivian Blum
Jessica and Ben Braun
Jennifer and Christian Brenckmann
Courtney and Bill Bucy
Erin and Brett Busby
Kimberly and Michael Callahan
Ruth Cañas
Sara and Juan Pablo Cata
Millie Chavez
Deepa and Rajesh Chelapurath
Dinah Chetrit
Anthony Cisneros
Laura and Martin Citardi
Danielle Dalsey
Kelly and Garth Davis
Kelly and James Davis
Lissa Debes
Sandra DeLeon
Maneesha and Manoj Devashish
Elizabeth DiCesare
Andrea and Robert Dilger
Victoria and Gislar Donnenberg
Anne Singleton and Jack Douglas
Lauren and David Dressler
Bob Duboise and Dale Duboise
Tina and John Duboise
Erica and Glenn Engle
Kathleen and Richard Evans
Laurie and Leland Fondren
Abbe and Adam Forman
Asenet Garcia
Amy and Blair Garrou
Karri and Alfredo Garth
Lilia Garza
Eva and Enrique Gasca
Tanya and Jerry Gee
Cathy and Tim Goff
Shekkola Gray
Janice and Barrett Green
Jeremy Grisbee
Sowmini and Ravi Gudimetla
Sophia Banu and Muzammil Hanif
Theresa and Travis Hanson
Vicki and Robert Harvey
Kristin and Joey Hayles
Debbie and Todd Henderson
Claudia and David Hertzog
Jada Hickman
Kelly and Blake Hill
Anh and Doanh Hoang
Carol and John Howenstine
Cynthia and Darren Hubbard
JPMorgan Chase Foundation
Catherine and Andrew Kaldis
Komal and Vijay Kale
Janet and Mario Kapusta
Hallie and Eugene Kim
Kinder Morgan
Cynthia DeLaney and Stephan Kinsella
Lili and Hans Kirchner
Amy, Lloyd, and Kirchner
Orly and Yoel Kluk
Christina Kopanidis-Cantu and Jorge Cantu
Vasanthi and Ramanan Krishnamoorti
Marcel and Matthew Lake
Vivian and Kenneth Lee
Susan and Timothy Leverenz
Renée and Michael Locklar
Deidre Lodrig
Kathy and John Long
Lupe Lopez
Lucinda and Javier Loya
Michelle and Thomas Lu
Robin and Jeff Lunsford
Monica and Richard Lyn-Cook
Sunila Madiman
Harold Malveaux
Jenny and André Marshall
John and Lori Martinez
Marcela Martinez
Elizabeth Matthews
Tanya Bennett and David McConkey
Alison and Blaine McElroy
Kelly McNamara
Muriel and Marcel Meicler
we can•
Together2 0 1 3 P O ST OA K F U N D D R I V E
THANK YOU FOR YOUR EARLY PARTICIPATION!WE HAVE FOUR WEEKS TO GO!
PA G E 4 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2
If you have contributed and your name is not on this list, please accept our apologies and contact
Christina Cantu in the Development Office. EMPLOYEES 100%
TRUSTEES 86%
PARENTS 94/247
GRANDPARENTS 4
2012 POST OAK FUND DRIVE
TOGETHER WE CAN!
100%CONTRIBUTIONS AS
OF 10/16/2012
Michele Meicler
Manuel Mejia
Regina and Bert Mellinger
Sara Jurney and Todd Mensing
Paula and Mark Mey
Jessica and Philipp Meyer
Pat and Bill Mitchell
Nandita Gupta and Vikas Mittal
Mary and John Moore
Monica Moreno
Sarah and James Moudry
Diana Muñiz
Kate and Lance Murphy
Kathryn Murphy
Kavitha and Sattva Neelapu
Debbie Nickerson
Corine and Joel Noronha
Susan Hardwick-Smith and Kevin O’Gorman
Wendy and Meir O’Hanna
Emily Hansen and Patrick O’Heron
Heather and Brenden O’Neill
Diana and Albert Onofre
Patricia Onofre
Catherine and Robert Orr
Janet Ott
Sharon Engelstein and Aaron Parazette
Jaana Porra and Michael Parks
Julie Parraguirre
Stelli and Todd Parsapour
Melissa Coleman and Robert Pascoe
Norma Paulin
Jenna Pel
Christine Peterson
Lisa and Patrick Phelps
Jacqueline and Robert Phillpott
Maya and Errol Pinto
Post Oak Dads’ Club
Shelley and James Quillin
Laura and Thomas Rahlfs
Lisa and John Reed
Elizabeth Reese
Celia Rodriguez
Heidi and Bryan Rosenstrauch
Andrea and Anthony Russo
Safeway Inc.
Alicia Kowalchuk and Benjamin Saldaña
Jessica Samano
Suzan and Jeremy Samuels
Daniela and Manolo Sanchez
Farrell and Stuart Saunders
Kate and Greg Scheinman
Shonali Jacob and Jeff Schneider
Sherri and Charles Schugart
Meara Schwartz
Elaine Schweizer
Jacqualin and Jeff Seely
Zeenath and Arjun Selvakumar
B.R. Simon
Beth Smith
Mirani Smith
Hifa Sobhani
Valerie and Michael Sonsino
Simran and Manish Sood
Evy and Nickolas Spiliotis
Jenee and Nick Stefanakis
Mary and Garland Stephens
Nina Strane
Erin and Tom Stus
Anita Taj
Target
Diego Tax
Aimee and Greg Taylor
Catherine Than and Hoang Quan Vu
Nikayla and Aaron Thomas
Jeni and Matt Thompson
Phylis Tomlinson
Jennifer and Sam Touchet
Tamara and Robert Townsend
Mark Tucker
Ryan Tucker
Irving Valencia
Daniel Vicente
Molly and Coert Voorhees
Whitney and Marc Walsh
Jamie Ward
Melanie Gray and Mark Wawro
Debbie and Richard Williams
Vallette and Russell Windham
James Winslow
Miriam Winton
Constance and Jeffrey Woodman
Terry and Karl Wygant
Samantha and Charles Wykoff
Kim and Chuck Yates
Phoebe Yeager
Anita and Alan Ying
Carlie and Richard Yoo
Daniela Weil and Erik Zanker
Jennifer and Fernando Zumbado
PA G E 5O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2
“WANNA BE STARTIN’ SOMETHING”
PICK UP A PACKETPick up auction donation packets so that you’ll be prepared when asking for a donation! Packets are available for pick-up in the front office. If you have any questions about the auction, please contact Gala Chairs:
Jian Short, Erin Stus,
MORE “HOT STUFF”Tickets, Travel, Dining, Gift Cards, and More
Do you shop? Do you travel? Do you have season tickets? Do you eat out?
We’re fairly confident that you answered “Yes” to one of those questions! Talk to the store, hotel, or restaurant manager. Requests from valued customers are much more likely to result in a donation than cold solicitations.
THE HOST WITH THE MOST!Do you like to entertain? The Gala is looking for people to host events. Events can be for adults, children, or family. Usually, these items are sold on a per-person basis with all proceeds going towards the Gala fundraising goal. Your donation will need to include location and cover the cost of the event. You set the number of attendees.
■ Progressive Dinner – families partner to host a dinner party
■ Indian or Asian Dinner ■ Wine Tastings
“GOOD TIMES” EXPERIENCESSome of the most sought-after events and experiences are donated by our very own community using their own professions, hobbies, and talents. Don’t limit yourself though! Most of us have friends, neighbors, family members who might have something to offer, they just need to be asked!
■ Doctor for a Day ■ Photography Class ■ Behind the Scenes ■ Guided canoe trip
“HOT STUFF” NEEDED FOR SILENT AUCTION In addition to the classroom art projects in the Live Auction, the Gala also holds a very large silent auction offering an impressive selection of items donated primarily by our parent and faculty/staff communities.
“THINK IT OVER” UNDERWRITINGWe’ve already had a very good response to the underwriting packets that were sent a couple of weeks ago! Whether you decide to underwrite individually or to split a table, it all goes to support the school and this major fundraising event. Underwriting opportunities begin at $500 per couple and $1000+ underwriting levels are invited to an Underwriting Cocktail Reception in January. For your convenience, an Underwriting reply form is on back of this newsletter. Deadline to be listed as an underwriter in the invitation is Nov 9. So be a “Cool Cat” and become an underwriter today!
THE 2013 POST OAK GALA
CATCH A LITTLE “FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER”
PA G E 6 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2
MONDAY, OCT. 22
Middle School
High School
Emily Hansen
Miriam Winton
Orly Kluk
TUESDAY, OCT. 23
Errol Pinto
Sarah Moudry
Julie Parraguirre
Danielle Dalsey
Kathy Long
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24
Maya Pinto
Deidre Lodrig
Tamara Townsend
Tamara Basham
Hifa Sobhani
THURSDAY, OCT. 25
Debbie Nickerson
Phoebe Yeager
Beth Smith
Make-up pictures
Volunteer sign-up sheets will be at the front desk starting Monday, 10/22!
THE POST OAK BOOK FAIR
THURSDAY, NOV. 1 9 A.M.–9 P.M.
BARNES & NOBLE 3003 W. HOLCOMBE BLVD.
BOOK FAIR CHAIRS: HILLERY HUGG & MARY STEPHENS
Join us for this fun-filled
event for the entire family!
You can purchase books for
your child’s class, the school
library, and your friends and
family. A percentage of all
purchases (books, music,
games, toys, DVDs, etc.)
made that day go directly
to our school. Shop all day
at Barnes & Noble, but be
there from 4–7 p.m. for
activities featuring puppets,
robots, readings, bookmark-
making, and more!
Individual Student Pictures Are Next Week
Mon.–Thurs., Oct. 22–25
PA G E 7O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2
High School Grand OpeningA hearty thank you to all those who braved the weather to come celebrate the Grand Opening of Post Oak High School this week. There was no dampening of spirits in this evening of smiles, festivity, and, mmmm, lots of grilled cheese goodness. A highlight of the evening’s brief program was a reading by High School student —the first to enroll through early admission—about her experience in choosing to attend Post Oak.
“I am really glad that I chose Post Oak High School because it is so different and unique from any other high school and is truly the best high school that I could be so fortunate to attend.” Look for the full piece in the next Weekly Post. In closing, the high school students buried a time capsule containing videos, among other items.
Thank you again for your support in the creation of a high school which fosters not only strong academics, but also creativity and innovation. Here’s to the successful and bright futures of our Post Oak High School students! •
PA G E 8 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2
Still looking for Parent Volunteers for Post Oak’s 50th Anniversary Committee
Sign up through the link on homepage or contact Kathryn Murphy at [email protected].
(2013–14 is our celebration year)
It’ll be nifty turning
50
REMINDER
DATE CHANGE
Third grade standardized testing
has moved from Dec. 3–7 to Nov. 12–16.
Guests Bring VarietyIn an effort to bring variety and cultural enrichment to Expanded Year Contract Days, we will be hosting an assortment of guests throughout the school year.
On October 12, a representative from the Fort Bend Museum visited the class. Claire Rogers, Museum Site Manager, led a program that delved into the history of the region. Students learned about items that nineteenth century pioneers brought with them while exploring Texas. The program also featured demonstrations of butter churning and wheel spinning, just as early settlers used to do. -Asenet Garcia & Jenna Pel
PA G E 1 0 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2
South American Sojourn for Two Post Oak Dadsby Rakesh Agrawal and Sonny Harpavat, Post Oak parents
This summer two Post Oak parents, Rakesh Agrawal and Dr. Sanjiv Harpavat, traveled to South America. First, Dr. Harpavat went with a group of other doctors and volunteers to a small town outside of Santa Cruz, Bolivia named Montero. There they worked in hospitals and clinics taking care of children. They treated different diseases including malnutrition, diarrhea, tuberculosis, spinal cord problems, and poor vision.
The group also cared for 120 girls living in an orphanage. The girls do not have many of the things we have, but they have two of the most important things: spirit and enthusiasm. Catholic nuns run the orphanage and act like the girls’ parents. The children have many talents like weaving, playing basketball, and dancing. Some weaved and sold beautiful table cloths. On the last night they did a performance of dances from all around the world, including a Russian ballet and a Bollywood dance. Now the doctors’
group is trying to build a computer lab for the orphanage, and is also helping one young girl fulfill her dream of going to medical school to become a doctor.
After Bolivia, Sanjiv traveled to Cuzco, Peru where he was joined by Rakesh and another friend. Cuzco was the center of the ancient Incan empire, which ended in the 1500s when the Spaniards came to the west side of South America. Before that the Incan empire was vast (3,000 miles long), rich (it had lots of gold), and very sophisticated. Rakesh and Sanjiv trekked 58 kilometers through the mountains to a maximum elevation of 15,000 feet to the lost Incan city of Machu Picchu. They saw a city with magnificent stone houses and temples. In the center was the Sun Temple, which made a perfect image with sun light only during the equinox. At the top was a quarry full of rocks. The Incas used it to make all of their buildings. This shows us that Incas were extremely talented and intelligent! Both Rakesh and Sanjiv came back with many pictures and stories to share. •
PA G E 1 1O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2
C A L E N DA R N OT I C E B OA R D
O C T O B E R 2 1 – 2 7
Mon–Thu10/22–25 Individual school pictures
Tue10/23
The Post Oak Middle School Experience (all parents welcome)7:00 p.m.
Thu10/25
Infant Community Parent Education7:00 p.m.
Fri10/26
Conference dayInfant Community in session.Classes not in session: only students w/ expanded year contracts attend
O C T O B E R 2 8 – N O V E M B E R 3
Tue10/30
HS Halloween Party5:00–8:00 p.m.
Wed10/31 Halloween
Thu–Fri11/1–2 Vision and hearing screening
Thu11/1
Book FairAll Saints Day
Fri11/2
Montessori Journey6:00–9:00 p.m.($ & reg. required)
Sat11/3
Montessori Journey8:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Sun11/4 Daylight Saving Time ends
Check out our calendar online or download a copy
at www.postoakschool.org
A B O U T T H E W E E K L Y P O S TThe Weekly Post appears on most Fridays of the regular school year.
You can receive a printed copy from your oldest child, or a PDF version online.
Submit letters, articles, or photos in electronic form by 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday before publication to Communications Coordinator Elaine Schweizer ([email protected]). If publication is
on a Thursday due to school closure on Friday, then the deadline is 5:00 p.m. on the preceding Monday.
All photos in The Weekly Post are by Elaine Schweizer unless otherwise noted.
The Post Oak School was founded in 1963 and accredited by both the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS)
4600 Bissonnet, Bellaire, Texas 77401 • Telephone: 713-661-6688 • Fax: 713-661-4959 • www.postoakschool.org
Grandparents’ Days invitationsGrandparents’ Days will soon be here! If you would like your child’s grandparents or other relatives/friends to be invited to this year’s Grandparents’ Days (November 19 & 20), please visit www.postoakschool.org and submit their mailing information. Please include anyone you think would like to observe and/or interact with your children in their Montessori environment. Invitations will be mailed directly to those individuals in late October. •
Gra
ndparentsandFriends
Gra
ndparentsandFriends
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The Post Oak School cordially invites you to
GRANDPARENTS’ DAY(other relatives and close friends are also invited)
Monday or TuesdayNovember 24 or 25, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m.
See your grandchildren at work in
their Montessori school.
To allow the younger students (Infant and Primary)
to maintain their work cycle, we request that
you view them through the observation window.
In the Elementary and Middle School levels,
you are welcome to interact with the students.
RSVPPlease email [email protected]
with your name and address, the names of your
grandchildren, and which day you plan to visit.
Or mail back the enclosed postcard.
Event schedule and directions are on the back.
PROGRAM(for both days)
9:00 – 9:15 a.m. Arrival/Breakfast
9:15 – 9:45 a.m. Welcome - John Long, Head of School
9:45 – 10:45 a.m. Guided tours: Infant & Primary classrooms.
Classroom visits :
Elementary & Middle School
(Note: Middle School students
are not on campus Monday
morning)
10:45 a.m. Departure.
Thank you for joining us!
�DIRECTIONS
The Post Oak School is located one block inside the 610 West Loop, on the corner of Avenue B and
Bissonnet. The entrance gate is on Avenue B. Parking is available on the school grounds.
The Post Oak School, 4600 Bissonnet, Bellaire, TX 77401Phone: 713-661-6688
Fournace
610WestLoop
Bissonnet
Avenue B
Southwest Freeway (59)
The Post Oak School
Bissonnet
N
Infant Community Parent EducationTHURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 7 P.M.
in the common room
THE DIARY OF A TODDLER: A look at your child’s
daily schedule at school
PA G E 1 2 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2