There are great traditions at the end of the school year at Whitney. In our PTO meetings, the phrase "end of the year activities" is bandied about when discussing fundraising. Now, it's that time of year and all of your fundraising efforts are about to be realized with fun activities.
We will have a FREE Ice Cream Social for students and their family to celebrate the end of the school year. This event is FREE to students and their families on April 14 from 4-5:30pm. There will be a Book Fair in the library and the Community Center will have sign ups for summer activities.
This spring semester has been marred by an ugly Legislative session. If you ever wondered whether or not our children listen to our adult conversations you must read the letter the PTO received from a Whitney student. One of our very own wrote to the PTO to express her concern for the school because of the budget cuts. She overheard her Nana discussing the education budget proposals and became so concerned she was moved to do something. This particular student has recruited a friend and they have started with chocolate chip cookies and an Apple Betty recipe and are holding their own bake sale during the Ice Cream Social to benefit the school.
My emotions range from ecstatic that young people (very young people at that!) care enough about their school to volunteer their time and energy to raise money in such a direct way and I feel a bit deflated because our children must they are a burden. To some extent, maybe that's the message the Legislature is sending to our kids and teachers: they are a "burden to the state."
Teachers and students are NOT a burden to the state. Teachers have the most important job in the world, teaching our young people how to become all the things we need them to be tomorrow. Students aren't just numbers in desks, they are our children and we love them unconditionally. When did we all become so jaded as to believe education is a burden?
So, here is what I'm proposing, if you feel like our students and teachers are not burdens and should be celebrated for what they have accomplished all year, then come to the school on April 14 and enjoy some FREE ice cream! If you can, bring some baked goods to contribute to this very special bake sale and take some time to do some extra special bake sale shopping.
While my waistline cannot afford more chocolate chip cookies, I cannot wait to make this bake sale purchase. Please join me in supporting these very civic minded students. Take time to shake their hands too, I have a feeling that someday these young women will be important people.
Nikki Rutledge
-Whitney Parent
Friday, March 18, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Coke Addicts Win us a Library Makeover!
Has your Coke addiction ever won you anything? Chances are good that it has. The Coca-Cola Company is well known for their market savvy promotions and is an incredibly generous education sponsor.
Having said this, have you noticed the mycokerewards.com program associated with many Coca-Cola products? On the underside of Coca-Cola product caps and inside boxes of their products, you will find My Coke Reward codes (usually 12 digits). When you purchase Coca-Cola products such as Sprite, Coke, Dasani water or even Subway meals, you can collect the codes. From the mycokerewards.com website, you enter the code and either collect the points for your own purposes or you can DONATE them to your school.
This is where I come in. Whitney Elementary School collects My Coke Reward codes and uses those points to buy things for the school. For example, our prior purchases include a video camera for the school and all we had to do to earn it was collect the tops of Coca-Cola products and then submit them to the mycokerewards.com/schools site.
Currently, there is a sweepstakes going on, we can earn 1 entry into the contest for every 5 points donated to our school from March 15 - April 30 2011. Coca-Cola Company is giving two lucky schools $10,000 for library books.
How to Donate:
1. Purchase Coca-Cola products to get My Coke Rewards codes. (They're on hundreds of different packages).
2. Go to mycokerewards.com/schools. (Register if you're not already a member.)
3. Search for our school by zip code or state. Click on Whitney Elementary School and then click "Donate Points Now" and enter the number of points from your account you would like to donate.
This is a double win, we can enter the sweepstakes while collecting points at the same time. If you have a lot of points but not a lot of time to submit them on the site, feel free to drop them by the Whitney office and have the office staff put them with the Capri Sun containers, I will submit all of the codes for our school.
Nikki Rutledge
-Whitney Parent
Having said this, have you noticed the mycokerewards.com program associated with many Coca-Cola products? On the underside of Coca-Cola product caps and inside boxes of their products, you will find My Coke Reward codes (usually 12 digits). When you purchase Coca-Cola products such as Sprite, Coke, Dasani water or even Subway meals, you can collect the codes. From the mycokerewards.com website, you enter the code and either collect the points for your own purposes or you can DONATE them to your school.
This is where I come in. Whitney Elementary School collects My Coke Reward codes and uses those points to buy things for the school. For example, our prior purchases include a video camera for the school and all we had to do to earn it was collect the tops of Coca-Cola products and then submit them to the mycokerewards.com/schools site.
Currently, there is a sweepstakes going on, we can earn 1 entry into the contest for every 5 points donated to our school from March 15 - April 30 2011. Coca-Cola Company is giving two lucky schools $10,000 for library books.
How to Donate:
1. Purchase Coca-Cola products to get My Coke Rewards codes. (They're on hundreds of different packages).
2. Go to mycokerewards.com/schools. (Register if you're not already a member.)
3. Search for our school by zip code or state. Click on Whitney Elementary School and then click "Donate Points Now" and enter the number of points from your account you would like to donate.
This is a double win, we can enter the sweepstakes while collecting points at the same time. If you have a lot of points but not a lot of time to submit them on the site, feel free to drop them by the Whitney office and have the office staff put them with the Capri Sun containers, I will submit all of the codes for our school.
Nikki Rutledge
-Whitney Parent
Friday, March 4, 2011
Journees de Revolution
Nearly two decades ago, my high school AP European History teacher stepped out of his classroom for a cup of coffee. He did this everyday at the same time before class (creatures of habit beware). On this particular day, a handful of us stormed the class and barricaded ourselves inside his classroom in the French Revolutionary (1848) style. Demands? I can't remember what our demands were or if there were any demands other than to bring us our own carafe of coffee. While our teacher may have been perturbed at our little Journees de Revolution (Day of Revolution) we could tell he was a little surprised and delighted his teachings had sunk in.
I have listened to legislators and teachers, read about plans and engaged in numerous conversations with other parents about the current education reform http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2011/S1069.htm.
I understand the problem, there is a budget shortfall. Idaho is suffering a shortfall of tax revenue. Fewer people working means fewer people paying payroll taxes as well as less money coming into the system via sales tax. It's more complicated than I've made it sound but I get the overall gist of the problem, as do the majority of Idahoans. Less money means we need to cut back and the education reform bill has proposed ways to remove costs from classrooms by means of consolidation and cutbacks in teacher benefits. This means putting more students in classes, cutting the payroll by eliminating teachers and using technology in place of live classroom instruction.
In the business world, we have also embraced this type of instruction, for better and for worse, when we found scarcity in technical instructors. After all, finding a technical instructor for a start up technology in Malaysia is not as easy as finding one in Palo Alto. It's a good solution, for adults with the discipline to work independently. For adults without the discipline to sit at their desks and avoid distractions like playing fetch with the dog and napping, it's a disastrous waste of time and money. Rushing into such a teaching paradigm shift is unwise. Parents want to see better results than simply what one might see from experimentation. (Believe me, the first year of their lives felt like one giant experiment, we expect the tried and true practice of education to actually work.)
Parents want more education, not less. Full day kindergarten? Bring-it-on. Businesses want a better educated workforce, not less. Health care and law enforcements professionals NEED a better educated populace, not less. There is visible opposition to the education reform in the 2011 Idaho Legislature from parents, teachers and even students. However, this opposition is not translating into opposition from Legislators. Is there a less visible majority of constituents out there calling representatives to support education reform? If the majority supports this particular education reform, then let it become law. However, if you harbor a shread of doubt, give that doubt voice.
We can agree without being disagreeable and it is possible to find fault with parts of the whole or good in the whole with which you don't agree. The important thing is that you translate your feelings into words and express them to your elected representatives. Call, write or email your representatives. Calling is said to be best, there is some rumor that emails are not being read in a timely manner and your views might not be heard. The Statehouse is a public venue, open to the public on the weekends. Visit with your children to show them where our State's business is conducted. Showing up sends a strong message that you care and you might even be able to slip a note under your representatives office door. We live in a free society where such public protests are not only tolerated but encouraged to keep the Republic strong; no barricades necessary!
I might be nearly 20 years removed from my little Journees de Revolution, but that history teacher is why I write this Blog entry. Out of the many teachers who taught me well, Patrick McHugh inspired me the most. While he may now be retired (probably gratefully after some of the stunts we pulled), Patrick McHugh lives on as the teacher who still inspires me to read Machiavelli, gives me joy when I listen to Les Miserables and even shudders of recognition when I listen to Sting's St. Augustine in Hell (you had to be there). This is what teachers mean to me and why I support living, breathing teachers in front of our students, if only to see the shock, surprise and sheer delight of 15 chairs piled in front of their classroom door in the name of education.
Legislative District 17
State Senator
Elliot Werk (D)
6810 Randolph Drive
Boise ID 83709
State Representative A
Bill Killen (D)
734 S Coral Place
Boise ID 83705
State Representative B
Sue Chew (D)
1304 Lincoln Ave
Boise ID 83706
Legislative District 18
State Senator
Mitch Toryanski (R)
5848 S Schooner Pl
Boise ID 83716
State Representative A
Julie Ellsworth (R)
PO Box 668
Boise ID 83701
State Representative B
Phylis K King (D)
2107 Palouse
Boise ID 83705
Nikki Rutledge
Whitney Parent
I have listened to legislators and teachers, read about plans and engaged in numerous conversations with other parents about the current education reform http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2011/S1069.htm.
I understand the problem, there is a budget shortfall. Idaho is suffering a shortfall of tax revenue. Fewer people working means fewer people paying payroll taxes as well as less money coming into the system via sales tax. It's more complicated than I've made it sound but I get the overall gist of the problem, as do the majority of Idahoans. Less money means we need to cut back and the education reform bill has proposed ways to remove costs from classrooms by means of consolidation and cutbacks in teacher benefits. This means putting more students in classes, cutting the payroll by eliminating teachers and using technology in place of live classroom instruction.
In the business world, we have also embraced this type of instruction, for better and for worse, when we found scarcity in technical instructors. After all, finding a technical instructor for a start up technology in Malaysia is not as easy as finding one in Palo Alto. It's a good solution, for adults with the discipline to work independently. For adults without the discipline to sit at their desks and avoid distractions like playing fetch with the dog and napping, it's a disastrous waste of time and money. Rushing into such a teaching paradigm shift is unwise. Parents want to see better results than simply what one might see from experimentation. (Believe me, the first year of their lives felt like one giant experiment, we expect the tried and true practice of education to actually work.)
Parents want more education, not less. Full day kindergarten? Bring-it-on. Businesses want a better educated workforce, not less. Health care and law enforcements professionals NEED a better educated populace, not less. There is visible opposition to the education reform in the 2011 Idaho Legislature from parents, teachers and even students. However, this opposition is not translating into opposition from Legislators. Is there a less visible majority of constituents out there calling representatives to support education reform? If the majority supports this particular education reform, then let it become law. However, if you harbor a shread of doubt, give that doubt voice.
We can agree without being disagreeable and it is possible to find fault with parts of the whole or good in the whole with which you don't agree. The important thing is that you translate your feelings into words and express them to your elected representatives. Call, write or email your representatives. Calling is said to be best, there is some rumor that emails are not being read in a timely manner and your views might not be heard. The Statehouse is a public venue, open to the public on the weekends. Visit with your children to show them where our State's business is conducted. Showing up sends a strong message that you care and you might even be able to slip a note under your representatives office door. We live in a free society where such public protests are not only tolerated but encouraged to keep the Republic strong; no barricades necessary!
I might be nearly 20 years removed from my little Journees de Revolution, but that history teacher is why I write this Blog entry. Out of the many teachers who taught me well, Patrick McHugh inspired me the most. While he may now be retired (probably gratefully after some of the stunts we pulled), Patrick McHugh lives on as the teacher who still inspires me to read Machiavelli, gives me joy when I listen to Les Miserables and even shudders of recognition when I listen to Sting's St. Augustine in Hell (you had to be there). This is what teachers mean to me and why I support living, breathing teachers in front of our students, if only to see the shock, surprise and sheer delight of 15 chairs piled in front of their classroom door in the name of education.
Legislative District 17
State Senator
Elliot Werk (D)
6810 Randolph Drive
Boise ID 83709
State Representative A
Bill Killen (D)
734 S Coral Place
Boise ID 83705
State Representative B
Sue Chew (D)
1304 Lincoln Ave
Boise ID 83706
Legislative District 18
State Senator
Mitch Toryanski (R)
5848 S Schooner Pl
Boise ID 83716
State Representative A
Julie Ellsworth (R)
PO Box 668
Boise ID 83701
State Representative B
Phylis K King (D)
2107 Palouse
Boise ID 83705
Nikki Rutledge
Whitney Parent
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