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Gan Parents' Association
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Welcome to all new and returning Gan families!
The Gan Parents’ Association (GPA), our Interim Gan Director, Sheri Brown, and our wonderful Gan staff look forward to making the 2011-2012 school year a great one.
For most of us, the Gan is our children’s first early education experience. The GPA can help your family get the most out of your nursery school experience. We provide a forum for sharing ideas and developing new school-related activities. Throughout the year, we have a wide range of programs for both parents and children including family Shabbat dinners, activities to teach our children about tzedakah, speakers on parenting and other relevant topics, and several other fun, social events. The “GPA Activity Summary” provides a complete list of activities and a brief explanation of each.
We use the dues for activities including providing lunch for the staff at their monthly meetings, the Lag B’Omer Bonfire, teachers’ birthday gifts, the Tzedakah Project, and much much more!! The annual membership fee of $60 per GAN child makes these special programs possible and subsidizes many other programs our children enjoy. To pay your dues by credit card or pay pal, please follow this link:
Your purchases can earn money for the Gan! The Gan Hayeled participates in programs with Safeway and Harris Teeter that give a percentage of your shopping costs automatically to the school at no extra cost to you.
You can register yourself at the links below:
SAFEWAY
Use Group ID 1034322 to sign up your card.
HARRIS TEETER
Use Group ID 1180 to sign up your card.
This program costs nothing to participate, and can make a real difference to our school. If you have relatives who shop at either store, please consider asking them to enroll their cards, too.
Please note that ALL cards need to be signed up each school year. Even if you signed your cards up in the past, they need to be signed up again.
If you would rather not sign your card up yourself, you can send your card information to Susan Burgess at skburgess@gmail.com and she will sign up your card.
GPA SILENT AUCTION
Mark your calendars! The GPA's Annual Silent Auction is being held on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012. Please join us for an evening of food, libations, and fun!
This is the Gan's largest fundraiser of the year and we need your help to make it great! If you your someone you know is interested in donating an item or service to the Silent Auction, please complete the attached form or contact the co-chairs at gansilentauction@gmail.com by February 17, 2012. Some of the best donations are the most personalized, so consider your talents and be as creative as you want to be!
All proceeds from the auction go directly toward school improvements and the GPA's amazing projects. Last year's auction proceeds went to funding the science program, purchasing tech equipment, and furthering teacher education.
It's the children who benefit, so let's make this great!
BAGELS AND COFFEE
Join us for Bagels and Coffee, Friday Feb. 24 (8:45–10:00 am) in Wasserman. Jennifer Kaplan, pediatrician at Children’s Pediatricians and Associates, a Washingtonian Top Doctor, and Gan mom, will discuss raising healthy children and answer parents' questions. No RSVP necessary! Just show up! Any questions or to volunteer, please contact Susan Burgess skburgess@gmail.com or Jessica Cutler jessicamcutler@gmail.com.
TZINGO
Sunday February 26th, 4pm to 6pm
TZINGO is a fun-filled afternoon for our Gan students that not only fulfills the mitzvah of tzedakah but helps our children understand tzedakah in a tangible way. Plus, the kids will have a great time (and a pizza dinner to boot)! The afternoon starts off with making hamantashen to eat and decorating the charity gift baskets with cards to give for tzedakah. We then have a blast with a rousing game of TZINGO (a version of picture bingo) and prizes. The whole afternoon is capped off with pizza dinner and the delicious hamantashen that the kids have baked! Please bring a children's book, toy, game, or DVD for the charity baskets, which will be delivered to sick children undergoing treatment through the auspices of Hope for Henry.
TZINGO is the primary fundraiser for the worthy organizations supported by the GPA- Hope for Henry, Jewish Women International's Library Project, which provides libraries for children in Domestic Violence Shelters in the United States, and the Youth Renewal Fund which supports under-priviledged children in Israel with educational resources. THIS IS OUR BIGGEST TZEDAKAH FUNDRAISER OF THE YEAR AND WE ASK YOUR SUPPORT.
RABBI/PARENT/CHILD PROGRAM – Talking to Children About God
Join the Rabbi for a good conversation and free lunch on Monday, February 27 at 11 am.
Meet with other parents while your children are still in school for a lively discussion led by the Rabbi about talking to children about God. After the discussion, you will pick up your child from their classroom and you and your child will participate in an arts and craft activity led by a Gan teacher. Then we will join together in the Gan space for a festive lunch. Babysitting provided for Gan-age children not in school on Mondays.
This is a monthly project that involves the entire school. Volunteers from the GPA coordinate the collection and delivery of food and essentials to Martha's Table, a non-profit organization that assists children and families in need. In order to increase participation, each month a few classes are the "sponsors" and a classroom component of making or collecting sandwiches/supplies is involved. Families are also encouraged to make sandwiches at home, even when not your classes' month.
If you make sandwiches at home, please follow these easy steps to feed the homeless of Martha’s Table:
- Mark your calendars with the days to bring sandwiches on the third Wednesday of the month
Oct 18, 19; Nov 15, 16; Dec 20, 21; Jan 17, 18; Feb 14, 15; Mar 20, 21; Apr 17, 18
- Place either 2 slices of cheese (no condiments) or jelly and soy nut/sunflower butter on whole wheat bread.
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Place each sandwich individually in a plastic Ziploc bag so the volunteers on the Martha’s Table mobile food van can distribute the sandwiches easily to the homeless.
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Place the sandwiches back into the loaf bag.
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Bring them with you when you drop your child off on sandwich brigade days.
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If you have any questions, or to volunteer, please contact GPA co-presidents Rachel Strong and Alex Wisotsky at gpa@adasisrael.org.
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Membership
