PTO NEWSLETTER

The Kromrey PTO Newsletter is part of the Kromrey eNews Newsletter.

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May 4-8, 2020 - Kromrey Teacher Appreciation Week

Hello from the Kromrey PTO,

This is teacher appreciation week and we are encouraging all our parents and students to give the gift of gratitude to your teachers!

Please take a moment to say "thank you"! Send an email. Make a brief video. Write a poem. Whatever inspires you to take action to show appreciation. We (the kids and parents) see how hard the teachers are working to make online learning as effective as possible.

We know it's a brave new world for everyone and we're all in uncharted territory. Teachers, students, and parents all experimenting with new technologies, new curriculum, and new ways of staying connected with each other.

We appreciate all the creative ways that our teachers are helping students do their best work under challenging circumstances.

All the best,

The Kromrey PTO team

This email was sent on May 4, 2020 to Kromrey Families who are subscribed to receive PTO information.

Staff Appreciation Week - May 4-8, 2020

You are invited to help show appreciation to the Kromrey Staff for their dedication, hard work, and passion for teaching from May 4 through May 8. Please use these daily activities as suggestions of how to express your gratitude. Thank you!

Make a “thank you” sign. Take a photo of yourself holding the sign. Email the photo to your teachers!

Use sidewalk chalk to thank your teachers and show your Kromrey Cougar Pride! If you don’t have sidewalk chalk, hang a teacher appreciation sign in your window! Make your own sign or use this printable sign.

Email your teachers to share a favorite memory from this year.

Write a poem for your teachers. If you’d like, make it rhyme, it only takes a little time!

Take a photo of yourself reading, writing, playing music or doing art. Share the photo with your teachers!

The Kromrey PTO sincerely thanks the Kromrey staff for their commitment and constant support of our students!

"Thank You Themes" to inspire families to connect & say "Thanks!" >>

Teacher Appreciation Week

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February 2020 Kromrey PTO Newsletter

Spirit Night 2020 Is Coming Soon! (March 13th)

Kromrey spirit night is one of the most fun, festive, and exciting events of the school year! Please encourage your 6th-8th grade students to attend. The goal of the event is to promote healthy choices for teens and a spirit of connectedness to Kromrey. The cost is $7.00 to pay for snacks, dinner, games, movies, prizes, tournaments, and a DJ for the dance. Spirit Night is open to all 6th-8th grade students.

See link to the Kromrey website: https://mcpasd.k12.wi.us/kromrey/news/spirit-night-march-13th

Poetry Slam is Coming! Mr. Ricks is Leading the Way!

From Mr. Ricks Monthly Message: “We are under a month away from Kromrey’s first annual Poetry Slam! As a former teen slam poetry champion and poetry coach I have been giving mini lessons on poetry in literacy classes. I have done four so far and have four more on my calendar. If your student is a writer, performer, or interested in trying something new, please encourage them to sign up for the Poetry Slam on March 18th. You can sign up at kromreypto.org.”The Poetry Slam is March 18th at 6:30 pm

Acting in a Greek Play with “Artist in Residence” APT’s David Daniel

Carol Deyoung provided a few action photos of an arts enrichment program funded by the PTO. David Daniel from the American Players Theatre led the kids in an exciting, energetic, and enthusiastic learning experience. Thanks to Carol for leading this program!For more background on David Daniel, please follow the link: fhttps://americanplayers.org/about/people/david-daniel-actor

The Green Schools of MCPASD March 19th

The Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy and MCPASD are joining forces to promote Green Schools. Please plan to attend a talk by MCPASD Director of Communications Perry Hibner on March 19th. He will cover a wide array of topics including: sustainable efforts across the District, the commitment the District has made to sustainability, and how students are playing a role in the culture of sustainability.Mr. Hibner’s talk begins at 6:30 pm and will be held in Kromrey Community room 510. It is open to the public.

Chipotle Restaurant Night Fundraising Success

Thanks to you for dining at Chipotle and supporting our first restaurant night fundraiser. We raised over $250 for the PTO. Those funds will be redirected toward enrichment events like the coming Kromrey Spirit Night.

The ”We Love the Kromrey Staff Appreciation Luncheon” was held on Feb 12th, just in time for Valentine’s Day

As we reported last month, the PTO was honored to recognize the great work that the teachers and administrators are doing at Kromrey. Their commitment to our community’s success is second-to-none.The luncheon on Feb. 12th went very well, with many staff coming in to take advantage of the Costco pizza, side salads, veggies, fruit and many desserts. The PTO paid for 11 pizzas and Kromrey families brought in all the sides, water, and dessert. The staff were very appreciative of the luncheon. The PTO plans to hold another similar event in May during Staff Appreciation Week. Food contributions from families were so generous that the PTO is shifting to having families bring in ALL the main dishes, side dishes, water and dessert during the next Staff Appreciation Week.The PTO Board would also like to thank Christine Laufenberg and Jennifer Stewart for leading the luncheon for 175 people. Successful events are always led by exceptional volunteers; thank you to Chris and Jen for a job well done!

Cougar Community Connections Event held on Feb 19th. "Youth Empowerment; Bridging Gaps"

On February 19th, PTO’s Community Connections held its first speaker series event. About 20 participants - parents and students - gathered to hear our guest speaker Dr. Beatriz Aguilar discuss “Youth Empowerment; Bridging Gaps”. She talked about the benefits of pursuing post secondary education and minority representation. Then a panel of high school students answered questions about their own experience at MHS. Our participants were very interested and had lots of questions for our MHS students. Last, we had Mr. Greg Benz from MHS talk a little about Carrier Pathways at MHS, as one of the many opportunities our students have.Stay tuned for our next event, April 8th at 6:30 pm our guest speaker Dr. Hentz from CEO’s of Tomorrow will talk about how young generations can influence their world through social entrepreneurship.

PTO Funding Follow-up By Kelli Maring

The after-school club “Be Kromrey” partnered with the PTO for funding one of our recent projects. In the beginning of the school year, students in ELT created a school logo. A month later, all ELT classes voted on the winning logo and our school reached a winner. In an effort to create engagement and excitement, this project was presented with an incentive for the winning team. Our PTO so graciously funded stickers and pins with the winning logo to the students that won!

Online Donations to the Kromrey PTO

Events like Kromrey Spirit Night, the Artist in Residence series, Cougar Connections, Staff Appreciation luncheon, and the Kromrey Logo contest all depend on your generous financial support. Separate fundraising events like the Chipotle Restaurant night do raise some money, but the largest portion of our funding comes from you, our Kromrey families.If you haven’t had the opportunity to donate, please follow this link to the PTO website and click on the red "PTO Donations" button. It’s quick, it’s easy, and your gift produces great results for your kids. Thank you!!!

https://www.kromreypto.org/donate

Communications Tools and Resources

There are many ways to stay connected with everything happening at Kromrey:

● eNews signup - www.mcpasd.k12.wi.us/kromrey/enews-signup

● Kromrey PTO website - www.kromreypto.org/

● Subscribe to the Kromrey PTO e-mail list - www.kromreypto.org/about

● Kromrey PTO Facebook - www.facebook.com/KromreyMiddleSchoolPTO/

● PTO Monthly Newsletters - www.kromreypto.org/news

PTO Board Members

President - Danielle Boorstein

Treasurer - Sam Garlock

Communications – Chris Jones

Sunshine Fund – Melissa Dale

Events – Rebecca Charles

Fundraising – Fran Priddy

We'd love to hear from you!

Please contact us at: www.kromreypto.org/contact

January 2020 Kromrey PTO Newsletter

“Be Kromrey” Assemblies Held on Jan 24th to Celebrate the Kromrey Community and Focus on the 2nd Semester Theme of Kindness

With the band placed front-and-center, all 5-6th and 7-8th graders enjoyed an hour of music, “positive shout-outs”, an entertaining “name-that-tune” competition, recognition for “positive referrals”, and a sneak preview of entrants in the upcoming Poetry Slam event scheduled for March 18th.

Mr. Luebke emphasized the progress the students made with “Be Kromrey’s” 1st semester theme of Community and he encouraged everyone to embrace the 2nd semester theme of Kindness.

Specifically, Mr. Luebke encouraged the students to consider three things:

Each of us can contribute to helping make someone else’s day great
Each of us can notice other people around us
Each of us can take action to be kind to others in ways that helps them in that moment when they need a boost

For more details on the Be Kromrey program, please see the website here: https://sites.google.com/a/mcpasd.k12.wi.us/kms-pbis/

If you have questions about PBIS or have ideas on how you can help please contact Bill Luebke by email at bluebke@mcpasd.k12.wi.us.

Wednesday, February 19 at 6:30 pm

Dr. Beatriz Aguilar from Edgewood College “Youth Empowerment; Bridging Gaps”

Please join the PTO on February 19th at 6:30 pm in the Kromrey Middle School auditorium for a presentation by guest speaker Dr. Beatriz Aguilar from Edgewood College. Dr. Aguilar will talk about the value of pursuing higher educations and the importance of planning before going to high school. Then she will lead a panel discussion with MHS students about their own experiences and the barriers they’ve encountered in this process. The event is held in collaboration with the Latino Student Union advisor Alejandra Vasquez. All students and families are invited to attend!

Kromrey PTO Sunshine Committee Extends its Partnership with MOM

The PTO Sunshine Committee is embarking on an exciting new partnership with Middleton Outreach Ministry (MOM) and Nichole Carlisle, the Kromrey school social worker. A small group of representatives from MOM and the PTO, along with Ms. Carlisle, met to determine where PTO and MOM resources overlap and how to best leverage those resources to meet the needs of Kromrey students and families. The group discussed pooling available resources to provide snacks for students in need and to stretch the limited resources of both organizations. They also discussed how to coordinate efforts to ensure the school supply drives at MOM and the PTO are optimized to best serve the student population. Finally, the group discussed how to coordinate around needs related to clothing and beds/bedding for students. We are looking forward to more collaboration with this group to identify and meet the needs of our Kromrey students and families.

The ”We Love the Kromrey Staff Appreciation Luncheon” is on Feb 12th, Just in Time for Valentine’s Day

It’s the PTO’s honor and privilege to recognize the great work our teachers are doing at Kromrey. As we’ve seen in prior newsletters, the commitment and performance of our Kromrey teachers, administrators, students, and parents is second-to-none. It’s always valuable to take a moment to acknowledge that our middle school, and all the schools within our district, either “significantly exceeded expectations” or “exceeded expectations”. We can always do better and we’re always striving to improve, but we also want to express our appreciation (and our Valentine’s Day Love) to the teachers who make it happen all day, every day. Thank You!

The Kromrey Music Teachers Partner with the PTO to Encourage a Flourishing Music Program

By Darlayne Coughlin, Kromrey Band Teacher

The Kromrey Middle School Music Department would like to greatly thank the Kromrey PTO for supporting our fees to be a part of the Wisconsin School Music Association. The biggest event supported by this association is the District Solo and Ensemble Festival that is coming up at Middleton High School on Saturday, February 22nd. Kromrey will have 36 small ensembles (groups of 2-5 students from band, choir or orchestra) performing at the event. Five special large ensembles of students, included a clarinet choir, flute choir, saxophone choir, woodwind choir, brass choir and double reed ensemble will also perform at the event. In addition, a large number of 6th-8th grade students will perform solos: 107 solo events at the Class B & C levels. Most noteworthy are students taking on the challenge of performing Class A, the most difficult level of music. At this level, there are 2 choir soloists, 4 piano soloists, 7 string soloists and 16 band soloists. Should the student's performance earn a starred first, they will be granted the opportunity to advance to the State Solo and Ensemble Festival at UW-Platteville in late April.

In addition, 8th grade band, choir and orchestra students will be participating in the Beyond the Notes Music Festival at the Kalahari in late May. WSMA supports a Concert Group Festival Experience in which students perform as an entire ensemble for a panel of clinicians. The clinicians provide written and verbal critique for the ensemble and students have the opportunity to listen to other groups from around the state perform as well. The goals of this festival experience are to: 1) improve students' music performance 2) increase students' understanding of music literature and music concepts 3) motivate students to continue their study of music 4) establish standards of excellence in music performance and 5) provide opportunities for students to understand the relationship of music experiences to other life experiences. We are excited that for the first time ever, choir and orchestra are going to be part of this festival.

Lastly, WSMA offers our students the opportunity to perform in the WSMA Middle Level State Honors Project. The project offers musically accomplished youth in 6th, 7th or 8th grades, the opportunity to rehearse and perform with nationally-known conductors in a professional setting. All Honors groups (Band, Choir and Orchestra) students who make the group receive their music in August and meet for the first time the day before their fall performance. In the Fall of 2019, Kromrey had 3 orchestra students and 7 band students selected to participate while 4 others were selected as alternates. Each year, around 1100 auditions occur for the 311 available positions in the Middle Level Honors State Music Project.

Spirit Night 2020 Will be Held on Friday, March 13th from 3:40 – 8:30

Spirit night is one of the most fun, festive, and exciting events of the school year! The goal of the event is to promote healthy choices for teens and a spirit of connectedness to Kromrey. The cost is $7.00 to pay for snacks, dinner, games, movies, prizes, tournaments, and a DJ for the dance. Spirit Night is open to all 6th-8th grade students. Please encourage your 6th-8th grade students to attend.

See link to the Kromrey website: https://mcpasd.k12.wi.us/kromrey/news/spirit-night-march-13th

Kromrey Poetry Slam is Coming on Wednesday, March 18th at 6:30 pm

The poetry slam is one of Mr. Ricks favorite events! He can't wait to join Kromrey's emerging poets in this artistic extravaganza! Please sign up here to perform your poem: https://www.kromreypto.org/poetry-slam

WHAT IS THE POETRY SLAM?

The Kromrey Poetry Slam is a non-competitive poetry reading event. Students may recite original poems or poems written by published authors. Take a few minutes to find a published poem that “speaks to you” or try to write your own poem. www.poetryfoundation.org is an excellent site for written poetry and poetry videos.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

Students: All Kromrey students are invited to participate in the Kromrey Poetry Slam. Families: All families are welcome to attend the Kromrey Poetry Slam as audience members to support and encourage the students.

WHAT IS A POETRY SLAM LIKE?

Students will recite their pre-approved poetry on the Kromrey stage for an audience of family & friends. The collaborative and non-competitive nature of the Kromrey Poetry Slam means that the audience listens, supports, and encourages the students. In keeping with the tradition of a typical poetry slam, audience members will snap their fingers instead of clapping. The atmosphere will be warm and inviting for everyone.