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Miner Elementary School, the Miner Parent Teacher Organization, and Miner's urban farming partner Cultivate the City are proud to announce that Miner has been awarded a two-year, $35,000 grant to build and grow its school garden program. The grant, from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, is to support staff as they grow the number of students and teachers who use the garden to teach and to learn.
“The garden is already an amazing space, but this grant will push the opportunities to the next level for all of our scholars as we focus on educating the whole child,” said Principal Bruce Jackson. Cultivate the City, Miner and the PTO will work together to integrate experiential learning from the gardens into school programming and instruction, particularly around healthy eating and STEM lessons; expand the garden infrastructure; and help students and teachers use and apply urban farming in their educational and personal lives. "We're so excited to help take the Miner garden to the next level and getting more little hands in the dirt,” said Niraj Ray, the founder of Cultivate the City. Miner will have two grant-funded garden staff:
Miner administrators, the PTO and Cultivate the City kicked off grant implementation with OSSE on Thursday morning and are ready to get started as soon as the grant become active on October 1. “We've been a proud partner of Cultivate the City for the past two years as we've worked together to revitalize Miner’s incredible gardens,” said David Treat, president of the PTO. “We are grateful for their expertise in helping Miner take the next steps to transform our gardens into an instructional space, and we hope it becomes a source of pride for our students, teachers, families, and community.” The Miner PTO and Cultivate the City developed the grant application on behalf of Miner. Lindsey Jones-Renaud, the chair of the PTO's Fundraising & Grants Committee, and Victoria Mirowski of Cultivate the City, lead the effort to develop, write, and submit the grant application to OSSE. The school garden program they designed ensures that Miner will fulfill the grant requirements to broaden and integrate garden, nutrition, and STEM-related instruction throughout Miner. The Miner community greatly appreciates the work of Lindsey, Victoria, and all who helped bring this grant to Miner! Join Miner @ Capitol Hill's Walk to School Day celebration!
On Wednesday, October 4, parents and students from schools across Capitol Hill will be gathering at Lincoln Park for a celebration of International Walk to School Day. There is an amazing lineup of VIP's who will be attending to help celebrate and promote the benefits of walking to school. VIP's include: Miner's Principal Jackson, Mayor Muriel Bowser, DCPS Chancellor Antwan Wilson, Ward 6 City Councilman Charles Allen, U.S. Representatives John Lewis and Eleanor Holmes Norton and many others. There will be free coffee from Zeke's (bring your own cup!), snacks, speeches, fun activities for the kids, warm-up exercises, a marching band, cheerleaders and more! Miner had a GREAT group of families participate last fall and we're hoping even more families will join us this year! The Miner delegation will depart Lincoln Park at the corner of East Capitol & Tennessee Ave, NE to walk/bike/scoot to Miner at 8:20AM with Mayor Bowser!! Hope to see you bright and early on Wednesday morning! Celebration/Rally Schedule 7:30AM - Participants Arrive: Students and families will be invited to go to different "stations" to collect stickers and participate in activities (including helmet fittings) 7:45AM - J.O. Wilson ES cheerleader performance 7:50AM - Kathy Pugh and Gabriella Boston (local fitness celebrities!) lead participants in a stretching/fitness activity 7:53 - 8:10AM - National Walk to School Day Kick Off & VIP Remarks 1. Welcome/Intro: Councilmember Charles Allen (Ward 6) 2. Remarks: Bella Dihn-Zarr, National Transportation Safety Board 3. Remarks: Vince Vaise, National Park Service 4. Remarks: DC Mayor Muriel Bowser 5. Remarks: DCPS Chancellor Antwan Wilson 6. Remarks: Congressman John Lewis 7. Departure Announcements: George Blackmon, CHPSPO
 A huge THANK YOU!! goes out to PTO volunteers Matt, CarolAnne, Tiffany, and Mariana for organizing all the coats, backpacks, uniforms, and other clothing in the school's new "Family Support Center." These items are now available to the school's Systems of Care team (Social Workers, Psychologist, Behavior Staff) to distribute to families in need.
Relatedly, THANK YOU!! for the incredible response to our Uniform Drive during the first couple weeks of school! We are now pretty well covered in smaller sizes, but there's still a need for larger sizes. Specifically:
If you wish to contribute, you may drop off your donations in the Main Office or give them to any PTO officer. And be sure to let us know if you would like a receipt for your contribution. Miner PTO SY17-18 General Meeting Special Topic Interest Survey: Please let us know which Special Topics you'd like to see presented at the PTO's monthly General Meetings. See our survey page: http://www.minerelementary.org/surveys--feedback.html Cultivate the City Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program: Miner’s long-term partner, Cultivate the City, is taking reservations for the Fall 2017 edition of their CSA program. This has been a popular program at Miner for the past couple of years. For more information, see our Partners page (http://www.minerelementary.org/community-partners.html) or go directly to Cultivate the City’s website: http://www.cultivatethecity.com/produce-csa *** VOLUNTEER & DONATION OPPORTUNITIES *** “Move!Play!Grow!” Donation Drive is now underway! This is the PTO's primary fundraiser for the 2017-18 school year and our goal is to raise $25,000 over the next nine months. There are four ways you can contribute: online, by check, make a pledge, and employer matching. Business sponsorships are also available. Visit the Move!Play!Grow! information page: http://www.minerelementary.org/donate-moveplaygrow.html
Reminder: The Miner PTO is a 501c(3) non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible! The Miner PTO is planning a "Welcome Back" breakfast for the teachers and staff this coming Wednesday, September 20th - the morning of Back to School Night. We're looking for a few volunteers to help out in a couple different areas. Please sign up at the link below, or send an email to Justin Burniske at jburniske@gmail.com. Sign up form: https://goo.gl/forms/YhJyc22GMfQxgCsk1 THANK YOU for the incredible response to our Uniform Drive during the first couple weeks of school! We are now pretty well covered in smaller sizes, but there's still a need for larger sizes. Specifically: pants 6/7, 8/10, 12/14; shirts Small, Medium, Large; boys underwear Small, Medium, Large; girls underwear 6, 8, 10; and socks. If you wish to contribute, you may drop off your donations in the Main Office or give them to any PTO officer. And be sure to let us know if you would like a receipt for your contribution. The PTO needs YOU! We've hit the ground running and have an immediate need for volunteers for several specific tasks: Member of the PTO's "Needs Assessment" team; News/copywriter for local blogs and media (such as Hill Rag); "Tweeter" to tweet from the PTO's Twitter account; Manager for our spirit wear and the Spirit Store; and a Researcher to investigate stage curtains. Details about these tasks/roles are available on the Volunteer page of Miner's website: http://www.minerelementary.org/volunteer.html. If you're interested in any of these areas, please email minerpto@gmail.com. Tuesday, September 19
Wednesday, September 20
Thursday, September 21
Friday, September 22
*** SAVE-THE-DATE *** Wednesday, October 4: Walk to School Day
At each Miner PTO General Meeting, the agenda usually includes one or two "Special Topics." These short presentations vary from meeting to meeting, and are conducted by invited outside guests, Miner staff, or sometimes even parents. A number of special topics are repeated every year (such as presentations on standardized testing in March), but the majority of topics can be anything that the PTO membership is interested in hearing about.
To help the PTO plan which special topics to schedule for our meetings this year, we've created an anonymous interest survey here: https://goo.gl/forms/s3diZwdZR3GtXd272. It's open to any parent, staff or community member who regularly attends our General Meetings (typically the first Tuesday of every month). Please let us know which topics you'd like to hear about. Not only can you choose as many pre-existing options as you like, but please suggest additional topics not on the list. Thank you!! At last night's PTO General Meeting, the results of the PTO Executive Board and LSAT Parent Representative elections were announced. Congratulations go out to:
PTO Executive Board for SY17-18: David Treat - President (parent) - incumbent Julie Muir - Vice President (parent) Derek Herr - Treasurer (parent) Ms. Lindsay Brown - Secretary (ECE teacher) - incumbent Ms. Carol Betts - Teacher Rep (K teacher) For more information about the Miner PTO, visit http://www.minerelementary.org/parent-teacher-organization.html LSAT Parent Representatives for SY17-18: Tammy Alexander Shantal Hill Hill Thomas Andrew Whitehead For more information about the Miner LSAT, visit http://www.minerelementary.org/lsat.html LSAT and PTO Elections end on Tuesday, September 12: Please make your voice heard at Miner! Vote for Parent Representatives to the LSAT and PTO Executive Board. You may return your ballot to the ballot box in the main office no later than Tuesday at 6:00 PM (one ballot per family, please). More information about the election here: http://www.minerelementary.org/lsat-pto-election.html
PTO membership is automatic, and there are no dues: All Parents/Guardians and Miner staff are automatically considered members of the PTO. So whether you want to hear how to get more involved at Miner, or just hear about what's going on, come to our monthly PTO meetings! To help make it easier for families to participate, light refreshments and free babysitting are always provided. More information about the PTO here: http://www.minerelementary.org/parent-teacher-organization.html Cultivate the City Community-Support Agriculture (CSA) Program: Miner’s long-term partner, Cultivate the City, is taking reservations for the Fall 2017 edition of their CSA program. This has been a popular program at Miner for the past couple of years. For more information, see our Partners page (http://www.minerelementary.org/community-partners.html) or go directly to Cultivate the City’s website: http://www.cultivatethecity.com/produce-csa *** VOLUNTEER & DONATION OPPORTUNITIES *** “Move!Play!Grow!” Donation Drive is now underway! This is the PTO's primary fundraiser for the 2017-18 school year and our goal is to raise $25,000 over the next nine months. There are four ways you can contribute: online, by check, make a pledge, and employer matching. Business sponsorships are also available. More information about Move!Play!Grow! is here: http://www.minerelementary.org/donate-moveplaygrow.html The Miner PTO is a 501c(3) non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible! Coat hangers needed for the Family Support Center: Both adult size and child sizes are needed so we can organize our inventory of coats, backpacks, uniforms, and other items to be provided to families in need. Just drop off donations at the front desk. See the Donation page for more information about this and other in-kind donations needed: http://www.minerelementary.org/donate.html |
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