Meadow Creek school preparations...

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far! I want to update you on what's been going on this last week.

We had a very successful registration day on July 30th at Meadow Creek! Andrea Ballard brought table decorations from Mexico to help make the table stand out. She also took the morning shift to help inform parents. Thank you Andrea!

Many of our parents came to the SI table to check out what was going on. It was great seeing you all!

One of our major goals was to get an updated e-mail distribution list, and we succeeded. 57% of our parents confirmed or changed their email addresses. We now have over half of the incoming Meadow Creek 1st grade class email addresses. We should be able to get the word out on any validated news that we get ahold of.

Parents had a chance to read over the petition that Andrea created, and many signed hoping that we will be able to bridge the communication gap between parents and the school administration.

Copies of the Booster Club By-laws were also on hand for review, and many people expressed interest in having a copy emailed to them. If you would like me to do so, please contact me. (I am still trying to see if I can post a copy on this site, but it's not looking good.)

My current plan is to have a By-law Committee meeting in the first half of September to get this ball rolling again. I will post the date here and in an e-mail about 2 weeks before the meeting. Hopefully that will give everyone time to get a little settled into school life again.

Lastly, at the SI table we had copies of Mr. Wagner's letter that were mailed home to the incoming 5th and 6th grade parents regarding the 6th grade curriculum. The first grade parents were very interested to see what was developing down the pipe, and the sixth grade parents had many comments and questions regarding next years developments. I have e-mailed Mr. Wagner as requested with 6th grade parents concerns and requests. I hope to have a response in the next week, which I will then forward on to 6th grade parents. I'll keep you updated.

Beyond that, we had something unexpected happen. We had several incoming Kindergarten parents come by our table who would like to be kept updated on any future meetings the district will have to get into the program. This is an area where I hope the future booster club will be able to help incoming and interested parents about the program. The word is out there, but not all of the pertinent information is easy to find on the HEB ISD website according to these parents. Opportunity knocks!

Other Meadow Creek news...

We have a new vice-principal this year. Her name is Karie Kuster, and she is coming to us from Wilshire Elementary. Apparently she and Mr. Leonard have traded locations this year. You will also find a new counselor, and her name is Renata Mahoney-Shepherd.

Also, if you went to the carnival last fall, hopefully your family had as good a time as ours did. It raised so many funds last year, that they are only holding two fundraisers this year. The main fundraiser will be the carnival, and it will be held on October 24th. Save the date, and any volunteers will be most welcomed by Gina Skinner. Contact her if you are able to volunteer.

Well, that's all I have to report right now. Hope you all have a great summer!

Karin

Ideas for practicing Spanish in the summer

Q: Do you have any advice for summer activities to keep them practicing Spanish?

A: Off the top of my head: record a cartoon on Saturday morning on Univision. There's a 3 hour block of shows the kids recognize but they're broadcast in Spanish. 3 hours is too much at a time, but I've been pleasantly surprised that Carmen & Gabe seem to follow along with a 30 minute show.

Alternatively, select Spanish as the language on a DVD (again, probably not a full-length movie, but shorter shows).

Check out books from the Spanish section of the public library (Bedford is getting a decent collection, and libraries purchase materials based on the amount of checkouts, so the more we check these out, the more they'll add.). I like to mix up ones kids recognize with other ones I think they'll be able to read/ pronounce. *Even books that seem young for them (Very Hungry Catepillar, for example) are interesting to them if they're trying to decipher the words. My husband has spoken Spanish his whole life but he still learns new vocabulary from children's books! (We all enjoyed the Spanish version of Fancy Nancy, for example.)

I am in the market for computer software directed toward kids (like Rosetta Stone, which I understand is geared toward business people).

I sometimes use http://translate.google.com/ to look things up.

Maybe we could get the kids to network on Webkinz to practice writing in Spanish to each other? I am not crazy about social networks for 6 & 8 year olds but at least that might have a little more purpose.

OK, I've got to go for now. Thanks for asking! I'm sure everyone has some ideas to share. It will be fun to add to the list.

First by-law meeting is set

Please join us at Meadow Creek Elementary School for our first by-law meeting for the HEB Spanish Immersion Booster Club. 

The meeting will take place Tuesday, February 3rd at 6:30 to 8:00 PM in the cafeteria.

I created a rough draft of by-laws that have many questions that need to be answered as of yet. Please look it over and let me know your thoughts. I will warn you...it's 14 pages long.

Thank you for your time!

Karin Bunton

Next meeting

Hi! I hope everyone had a great Christmas! 

I have been promised the cafeteria at Meadow Creek from Mr. Wagner for our next meeting, as well as childcare. I have not had enough people from each school to setup a meeting, and before that, I could not find a place to hold the meeting due to the holidays. 

I had hoped to meet prior to this, however, we will be meeting as soon as possible. I will speak with Mr. Wagner after the break is over. I will also contact everyone on the by-law committee once a date has been settled. At this point, we just need to get the by-laws started.

Thank you for your patience!

Karin Bunton

Contact Information

If you were unable to attend, but would like to participate in future meetings; please send me the following information:

Your Name

Address

City

Zip Code

Primary/Secondary Phone

Email

Child's name in the SI program

His/Her grade

Campus

Also, for those of you who were unable to attend, but would like to help create the bylaws, please contact me as soon as possible.  I am already working on finding a location that is large enough for everyone to attend.

Thank you again!

Karin Bunton

First SI Booster Club Meeting Minutes

September 23, 2008 Booster Club Meeting

I am very happy to say that 29 families were represented at the meeting last night, and that we had parents from each school.  We think there may have been a communication mishap with Bedford Junior High parents, so we are going to try to get the word out to them again. I apologize for this! 

I want to say thank you again to Mr. Wagner, Mr. Megwasser and Mr. Hurbough for their support in getting the word out to all of the parents. Thanks to Bettye Edington for giving us space in the SI newsletter this last week!

The presentation and the meeting minutes are both Google Docs. If you do not have a user name or password with Google, you will need to create one in order to view these documents. 

 Please let me know if I forgot any questions, as I wasn't able to take notes last night. Also, you can leave questions in the comments section of this blog for us to answer. 

Thanks for coming by!

Karin Bunton

First Spanish Immersion Booster Club Meeting

¡Bienvenidos! Welcome!

Please join us for the first meeting to form the HEB Spanish Immersion Booster Club on September 23rd at 6:30 PM at the Meadow Creek Elementary cafeteria.

Also, take a look at the HEB Suzuki Strings by-laws to see a working booster club in our district.

I am really excited about the possibilities of this booster club, and hope to see you next Tuesday!