ForWard 10.23.22
Upcoming Events
Thursday, October 27
Ward Fun Run
Saturday, November 5
Grade 5 Parent/Guardian Potluck
Sunday, November 13
Ward Fall Fest
12:30-2:30
See all events on our Calendar
News
From the CoPresidents
Another fun Saturday night in the books - a sincere thanks to Danielle & Justin Lappen for hosting the third grade potluck this weekend! Last up - fifth grade parents will gather in early November,
And now a big week ahead with the Ward Fun Run this Thursday! While all students will participate no matter what - PLEASE help us reach our goal of 90% of students registered. It is quick - the link is below!
As of today at noon:
Participation Goal - Team Sylvester is the first (and only) class to reach 100% participation! Go 2S!
SURPASSING fundraising goal - Congratulations to teams Hingston, Colarusso, Beaulieu-Jones, Santoro, and Kaplan for surpassing the classroom fundraising goal! Way to go!!!
We are mere dollars away from our goal - can you help us get there by Thursday?
You can see how our school is doing at the Ward Fun Run dashboard!
And remember - you can come cheer your runner(s) on and even sign up to help out (link also below). This is truly a FUNdraiser.
Have a great week!
Caitlin, Rashi & Susan
copresidents@wardpto.org
Ward Fun Run - THIS THURSDAY!
1. REGISTER YOUR CHILD: Please help support our FUN Run by registering your child here. Once registered you can easily share your child’s donation page via email or social media to solicit donations from relatives and friends. Donations can also be sent by cash/check to the school; checks can be made out to WardPTO. Donations are per child, not per lap. Regardless of donations, all students get to participate in the Fun Run and all students will receive a t-shirt!
2. JOIN US: We would love to see you on the day of the event to cheer on your child/ren. There are also several volunteer opportunities, including set up, handing out water and snacks, taking photos, guiding students around the course, and helping to clean up! Sign up here.
3. Questions? Contact Penny at ismay@bc.edu
2nd Annual Ward Fall Fest
An event you do not want to miss! Join us at the Ward School playground on November 13th from 12:30-2:30 PM for an epic fall scavenger hunt, crafts, music, cider donuts and light lunch (hot dogs and mini burritos). This event will be fun for the whole family and is open to the entire Ward community…..we are growing stronger as a community together!
In this month of Thanksgiving, we are grateful that as a community we can give back to our neighbors. Please note that we will do this 2 ways at Fall Fest:
The 5th grade will be accepting food donations for the Newton Food Pantry. More details to come on what items are most helpful at this time.
There will be a raffle ($10 tickets) for a beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece. All money raised from the raffle will go to Ward Cares, so Ms. Brogadir has additional funding to support students or families in need.
We are grateful for all you do and look forward to spending the afternoon celebrating our school. Questions? Kerry at kreynolds7@partners.org
Fifth Grade Food Drive - Sneak Peak!
Dear Ward School families,
As their final year service project, Ward’s 5th graders will be running a school-wide food drive over the next couple of weeks. The objective of this food drive will be to gather food donations from the community for the Newton Food Pantry (https://newtonfoodpantry.org/), The Pantry will distribute these donations to families experiencing food insecurity in these times of uncertainty.
You will see and hear from our 5th graders soon as they organize and generate publicity for this event (be on the lookout for a list of items most needed!). Donations can be made at the Ward School Fall Fest on Sunday November 13th 12:30-2:30pm (preferred) or brought to school Mon 11/14 - Wed 11/16 (if necessary).
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Sincerely,
Susan St. Pierre (sestpierre@gmail.com, Mia Inada's mom)
Tony Ezzat (tonebone@mit.edu, Nicholas’s dad)
The Many Fruits of Ward’s Garden
Herb pinwheels, freshly popped popcorn, garlic knots….have your students been bringing home fresh ingredients from the Ward Garden for yummy uses in your kitchen? The Ward Garden does so much more than beautify our school grounds - it is an outdoor classroom for our students. Our amazing garden committee, Heba Haddad, Elizabeth Atlas and Helene Perennes, not only maintain our garden but they are doing a great job teaching our students and carrying on traditions. For example, we celebrated Ward’s 12th Annual Garlic Day this fall. This self-sustaining project started from a handful of garlic bulbs and has been carried on through many Kindergarten classes. Kindergartners plant individual cloves of garlic while we introduce them to the school garden and discuss the life cycle of garlic. The garlic is harvested in late July. In the fall, 1st graders receive a full garlic bulb grown from the cloves they planted as Kindergartners. Extra garlic from the harvest is planted by the incoming Kindergartners to continue the cycle. Thanks amazing garden committee!
Help reduce food waste and support the Newton Community Freedge - Volunteers Needed
We need your help to deliver food donations to the Newton Community "Freedge" (run by the Newton Food Pantry). Cafeteria food that will expire (or otherwise cannot be saved) needs to be delivered to the Freedge, located at 420 Watertown St. (in the parking lot of Central Drapery and Dry Cleaning).
It is a very easy and a small time commitment to collect the food from Ward and deliver it to the Community Freedge:
- Delivery is outside in a parking lot, is contactless, and takes only a few minutes.
- You can sign up for just one time or commit to one or two days a month.
- The items we donate are needed, appreciated, and are gone in a matter of minutes.
- It is very rewarding to deliver food that will otherwise go in the trash, to those in need.
- Volunteers can pick up the donations anytime after 1:45 pm. Sign up here.
Please contact Maria Sullivan at sullivanma@newton.k12.ma.us with any questions.
Community Notes & Announcements
Second Annual Newton Halloween Bike ride
Organized by Ward Parent Jon Leib!
SATURDAY OCT 29 at 11am
This is a family friendly bike ride and all ages and levels are welcome. There will be safety marshals, costumes and prizes. This is a low-stress parent-led large group ride. Costumes are strongly encouraged for this 1.5ish mile ride that starts at the Newton Center playground loops Crystal lake and the Highlands. Parents or guardians must stay with their kids during the ride that ends with a costume contest and snacks (provided by parents) at the playground. If you like the idea of kids biking in costumes, this is the event for you!
We will meet at Newton Centre Playground at 11am on Saturday, 10/29. Reach out to Jonathon Leib with any questions: jonleib@gmail.com or RSVP here: https://www.newtonfamiliesbikes.org/home
Upcoming ASA Hoops Offerings
ASA Hoops is offering School Holiday Clinics throughout the Fall for boys and girls ages 7-15 in Newton (9/26, 10/5, 10/10, 11/10. In addition, after-school and Saturday skills training takes place at 1337 Centre St. Since 1997 ASA has been serving the Newton community offering camps, clinics, skills training and AAU basketball. We hope to see you soon: Register at: asahoops.com / Contact: Coachb@asahoops.com
Please follow Community Notes updates at: https://newtonptocouncil.org/community/
And please continue to follow the PTO on instagram @wardelementary_pto