Christmas Shopping Day

Take advantage of our Christmas Shopping Day this year!!  Sign up in the preschool hallway nearest the playground to grab a spot for your kiddo(s) to be taken care of while you're out and about doing whatever it is you need to do.  Join us on Saturday, Dec. 6th, from 9AM-1PM!  If you have a couple of friends that could use a little "free time," have them bring their kiddos too.  It's lots of fun and helps support the school.  Don't forget, wrapping will be offered too!  Ages 2 & up

(More info can be found near the sign-up sheet and also in the December Newsletter)

The AppleSeeds Yearbook

This year, the PVO is going to create a "Yearbook" using pics from throughout the year that had been taken by parents, teachers & staff.  We need your help to make this successful.  It is very easy to upload photos to our school Shutterfly-Sharing Site.  Simply go to https://appleseedspreschoolnc.shutterfly.com/ and enter the "password" that was given out this past week.  You will then enter the site and be able to check out all the photos that have been added and also add your own photos to an album with a few simple "clicks."  If you have any questions regarding this process or if you need to retrieve the password to enter the site, you can contact Laura Bishop at le_hale@hotmail.com for assistance.  Help us make our Yearbook awesome this year!

Teacher Stash

We are using Sign-Up Genius to collect items for a "Teacher Stash" this year.  This hasn't been done in the past, but since we are not providing snacks for the students this year, our teachers can't eat any leftover tidbits and their tummies are running on empty.  Of course, they could bring their snacks from home, but why not show our appreciation by stocking a closet full of yummy goodies for them to choose from.  You can check out how you can get involved in donating to our "Teacher Stash" by clicking on our Sign-Up Genius Link:  www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0D4DAFAC23AAFB6-teacher 

Book Swap & Bake Sale Reminder

Just a quick reminder that Monday & Tuesday are the last days for you to bring in your books for our Book Swap this week on Wednesday & Thursday!  Some of our class boxes are nicely full, but others need a little help.  Also, the start time for the Swap & Bake Sale is 12:30, right after school.  If you have signed up to bring baked goods, please bring them to the church kitchen (down the right hallway from the main entrance) on the morning you signed up for.  Thanks everyone and see you later this week.

Art Auction Volunteers Needed

In April every year we have a "Spring Fling" with games, food, a basket raffle and this year an ART AUCTION.  We did the art auction last year, but it was a last minute addition, so not everyone got to participate.  This year we are on the ball and ready to have a great art auction in conjunction with our "Spring Fling."  Kids love art, and art made by kids is a wonderful gift to us.  We are looking for "Instructors" to sign up for each class of APPLESeeds.  We would love to have a piece of art from each class to auction off at our "Spring Fling" this year.  Each "Instructor" will be responsible for deciding what the class art piece will be (Pinterest will certainly save you some contemplation time), and then will work with the teacher to coordinate a time to get the art project completed.  We would love to have pieces completed throughout the the year (not last minute) so that we may highlight pieces online over the following months in anticipation for the auction in the spring.  Check out our Sign-Up Genius Link if you are interested in helping out with this fun project.  More details are available through the Sign-Up Genius Link and by emailing the PVO.  Thanks in advance for volunteering!

Passive Fundraising

This year at APPLESeeds, we've decided to pay a little more attention to some "passive fundraising" for the school.  There are a couple of super easy ways that we can earn items for our school by taking a few simple steps.  Check them out...

KROGER PLUS CARDS FOR EDUCATION
You can start earning points for our school simply by activating your current Kroger Plus Card with our APPLESeeds Preschool bar code.  The bar code will be sent home in an informational letter, and there are also bar code stickers available hanging in the 3's & 4's hallway.  All you need to do is take that bar code with you the next time you go to Kroger and tell your cashier to link your Plus Card account with APPLESeeds Preschool.  That's it!  We will start earning points every time you swipe your card, and the merchandise that we can earn is pretty cool.  APPLESeeds can earn items as large as big screen tv's and laptops, to playground equipment and science gear.  It really just depends on how many points we earn and what the school needs.

CAMPBELL'S LABELS FOR EDUCATION
Simply cut out the "Labels for Education" labels on your food products and bring them into school to help earn points for cool items for our school.  Drop them in the jar in your child's classroom, and you're done!  You can also activate your Kroger Plus Card to earn points every time you swipe approved "Labels for Education" food items.  Not only will we get a point for each food swiped, but when you clip out your labels and hand them in, we will get points for those too!  Go here to activate your Kroger Plus Card.  www.eLabelsForEducation.com  Make sure when you search you type in "Apple Seeds Preschool."

Book Swap & Bake Sale

Let's get ready for our first event, the 
Book Swap and Bake Sale!!  It will be taking place Wednesday, 9/24 & Thursday, 9/25 right after school in the Church Foyer.  Bring in a gently used book from home to donate between now and 9/23 and drop it in your classroom's box.  For each book you bring in, you can swap for a "new" book during the Bake Sale.  We are accepting both Preschool age and Adult books!!  Yes parents, you can "swap" too!

You can sign up to donate your baked goods on the Volunteer Board at the door near the playground, or through this Sign-Up Genius link: Click Here

Bring your items bagged/wrapped in sellable quantities (one or two items per bag) to the school on either that Wednesday or Thursday.  Please drop them off in the kitchen.  Who doesn't love to read & eat?!

Beginning of the Year Meeting Recap

This week we had two meetings to start off the year right for the PVO.  Realizing that these meetings were difficult to attend by many...(I mean, who really wants to sit in a meeting on the first week of freedom?) we're going to quickly recap what came about from those meetings...

Basically, we had very casual conversations about the events that were set to take place this year.  You can take a look at what we have scheduled in the "Activities" section of this site.  We've already had some awesome folks step up and take charge of spear-heading many of the activities.  We assured these gracious people they would not be alone.  We know all of you are more than willing to help out.  We discussed some additional activities for the year also, including: a potential "Father/Daughter & Mother/Son" event, a whole school end of year picture book/yearbook, a "Reading Under the Stars" night in the Spring in conjunction with Dr. Seuss' birthday, and a Book Exchange & Bake Sale which is actually already in progress.  Such great ideas from these meetings, and we only had a small portion of our PVO there!

That being said, we are always looking for new ideas and for parents that would like to "chair" particular activities.  Take a look at the activities we have for this year and see if anything "speaks" to you.  If you would like to help lead anything listed, please let us know.  Even if someone has already stepped up to lead, the more the merrier.  One of the important fundraisers that we are still looking for help with leading, is the "Pancake Breakfast."  If this is something you think you or a group of you would like to take on, please let us know.

In the past we have used the "Volunteers Needed" bulletin board inside the door by the playground, but considering there are parents that never get to see that board (whether they are at work or have a child in a class on the other side of the building), I believe we are going to be using "Sign Up Genius" more this year to sign up for events/activities.  We are hoping that this helps keep everyone involved, even if you don't get to step into the school very often.

Keep an eye out on this blog and in email, as the Book Exchange & Bake Sale will be coming up very soon!

The Official Home of Everything PVO

Our PVO needed a little "organization," so we've decided to create a PVO Blog!  This is intended to be used as a resource for all involved in the AppleSeeds PVO throughout the year.  The Blog will be updated with ongoing events and info, including reminders for volunteer sign-ups and opportunities.  If you would like to stay "on top of things," please follow our Blog by email, and you will be updated with the latest PVO news.  Let's make it a great year!