President's News - GardenCityPTA

President's January Letter

Posted on 01/11/2010

President's Letter - January 2010

Happy New Year Parents!

I hope everyone had a joyful (and restful!) holiday break. It is hard to believe that it is 2010 and the school year continues on.

I hope that many of you will be able to join me at the PTA’s Health Awareness Night which takes place on Thursday, January 28^th at 7:30pm in the High School library. Weight Specialist, Dr. Joanna Dolgoff will be educating us with her “RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT, EAT RIGHT” presentation. Topics will include Proper Nutrition for Kids, Breaking Bad Eating Habits, Avoiding the Traps That Make Children Gain Weight as well as many others. These issues affect children of all ages and this should be a very informative evening for everyone.

The PTA is currently entering into its “Nominating Season” where we are looking for interested parents to fill our Executive Board positions for the 2010/11 school year. The following PTA positions will be vacated this year: President-Elect, High School Director, Homestead Director, Locust Director, 1^st VP/Budget, and 3^rd VP/Technology. If you know of anyone you feel would be a fantastic volunteer and who might be interested in filling any of these positions, or if YOU would be interested, please contact our Executive VP, Lisa Sutherland, who is in charge of our Nominating Committee. Her email address is tomlisamax@aol.com.

Soon the school district Budget Work Sessions will begin taking place. The first Board of Education Budget Work Session is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, February 9^th in the High School library. The topic of this meeting will be an “Overview of the Superintendent’s Budget and Revenues.” All of the Board of Ed Budget Work Sessions are open to the public. I encourage everyone to stay informed and come to these extremely informative meetings. The PTA will publish the schedule of the Board of Education Budget Work Sessions on the PTA website, so please be sure to check out this information, click on “Budget” under the “Committee Info” tab above. (Note: The Budget Vote will take place on Tuesday, May 18^th.)

Thank you to everyone who purchased PTA Sportswear from our recent Sportswear Sale. Please remember that 100% of the proceeds from this sale go directly back to our schools and our children in the form of PTA grants. Some recent PTA grants given to our schools include courtyard/garden materials, author visits, character development and anti-bullying speakers, an educational publishing center and we even co-sponsored Challenge Day which took place recently at the HS. Additionally, in the last couple of years, the PTA has granted 16 Smart Boards - including the necessary projectors - to the school district for use in our classrooms.

Please be sure to mark your calendar for the annual PTA Dinner which is scheduled for Thursday, March 18^th from 6:30pm to 10:30pm and will be held once again at the beautiful Inn at New Hyde Park. Grab a babysitter and make this a fun night out with your friends. If you would like to make a donation or have any questions, please contact our Dinner Chair people: Diana Campbell @ dcampbell@gardencitypta.org or Stacy Stankey @ sstandkey@gardencitypta.org. More info will be coming so check out our PTA website (and I am sure I will remind you of this event a few more times in the next couple of months!)

Again, a quick reminder that you can still join the PTA if you haven’t already done so. Please contact your school’s respective PTA membership rep to find out how or simply go to the Membership page listed under the “Committee Info” tab on our PTA website.

As always, thank you for your continued support. If you have any great ideas or suggestions on how we, as a PTA can better serve you the parents or better facilitate the needs of our children, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Stay Warm!

Julie Germano

Garden City PTA President

jgermano@gardencitypta.org

P.S. If you have a moment and you would like a little chuckle, please read the attached “Job Description”. Enjoy!

President's Letter September 2009

Hello Parents and Welcome Back to School!!
(Or at least welcome back to your Garden City Schools’ PTA!!)

My name is Julie Germano and I am honored to be your PTA president for the 2009/2010 school year.    The Garden City PTA is always striving to improve how it functions and this year the Garden City PTA has changed its leadership hierarchy. There is now a President as well as a President-Elect and an Executive Vice-President. The President-Elect will take on the President’s role after one year. This year, our President-Elect is Gail Madigan and our Executive Vice-President is Lisa Sutherland. We are all working together to provide the best for our children…academically, socially, and emotionally. If you have any concerns or ideas, we are here to listen to you so please do not hesitate to contact any of us as well as any of the school PTA Directors.

The Garden City PTA has already been hard at work – all for the benefit of our children!   Many of our committees are up and running – and offering many new ideas to further enhance our children’s education and experiences. One committee that we still need a co-chair for is the PTA Dinner. If anyone has any interest in co-chairing this very important event, please contact Gail Madigan at gmadigan@gardencitypta.org. The PTA really appreciates the time and effort that goes into coordinating the dinner – so if you are up to donating your enthusiasm and talents for this vital fundraiser, we would love to talk to you as soon as possible!!

I encourage members to stay abreast of State and National PTA issues by logging on to our website at www.gardencitypta.org and clicking on our new “Advocacy” tab.   Your membership in the PTA helps children not only here in Garden City but across the country!

And speaking of membership, if you have not received our 2009/2010 PTA Membership form, again, please go to our website and click on Membership. This year’s Membership Committee has come up with many exciting ideas to reward our Garden City PTA Members. One such incentive is that if you send in your Membership dues before September 15th, you will be entered into our raffle for a $200 American Express Gift Card (which was generously donated to the PTA). We are also offering PTA incentive prices on our Plant Sale items, PTA Dinner tickets and on Sportswear.

This brings me to our PTA Sportswear Sale which is currently taking place! Like the Membership form, if you have not received a sportswear form, soon you will be able to download it off our PTA website. As you have come to expect, there are many wonderful items available. Remember: All proceeds from the Sportswear Sale go directly back to our children’s schools in the form of grants. Over the last few years, the PTA has been able to grant to the schools Smart Boards, Author Visits, Anti-Bullying Performances, curriculum enhancing Books and DVDs and many more items.

The PTA would also like to welcome the new teachers and staff to the district as well as our new Science Coordinator, Dr. Elena Cascio; our new High School Assistant Principal, Mr. Kevin Steingruebner and our
new 6-12 Special Education Coordinator, Mr. Glenn Stewart. We look forward to them sharing their talents and experience with our district.
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Finally, please be mindful of our children whether driving to or from our schools. Our children are our #1 priority, so please remember to drive slowly around our schools to ensure their safety at all times.

Thanks so much,
Julie Germano
Garden City PTA President
jgermano@gardencitypta.org
(516) 292-6737