Newsletter for the third week of October, 2008

Tomorrow - Monday, Oct. 13 Board of Education Candidates Forum 7 pm

 

BE AN INFORMED VOTER - Watch the LIVE Broadcast of the BOE Candidates Forum 7 pm 

LIVE on Comcast 95/Verizon42, the Board of Education Candidates Forum 7 pm.                                 If you cannot watch it live, then record it on your Tivo, DVR, or that old fashion videotape player and watch at your convenience and invite your friends, exec board, neighbors, everyone over to watch too! Be an informed voter.   Rebroadcast will be Oct. 17, 19, 24, 26, or 31 from 7 – 9 pm.    

PTA votes.

 

How much do you know about the Board of Education?

• How many people sit on the Board of Education?   

• What are the Board of Education's responsibilities?

• Did you know that the meeting summaries/minutes are posted online and they go all the way back to 1847? Yes, you read correctly - 1847. 

• Did you know that each member is assigned a cluster of schools to visit, attend special events, and to be the point of contact for that community?

• Did you know there is a difference between the BOE and the DOE?

There is a lot more information about the BOE and the DOE at: http://www.hcpss.org/board/           

FYI: The BOE is the 7 members of the Board of Education 

         The DOE is the Dept. of Education or better known as HCPSS.  

Thursday - Oct. 16  BOE meets with PTA Presidents and CAC 7:30 pm at BOE

COAT COLLECTION  7 pm on Nov. 10th at the ARL

The PTA Council Howard County (PTACHC) Family Involvement Committee is sponsoring a Coat Drive to support the Howard County Public School System Pupil Personnel Workers (PPW) efforts to meet the needs of some of our county children. New or gently used (cleaned, all zippers and buttons work, ready to wear) boys and girls coats of all sizes adult are needed. Caps and gloves may also be donated. Please bring your donations to the November 10^th  PTACHC meeting . The PPW staff will be on hand to receive our donations. The PPW staff would like to distribute as many of the items as possible before the holiday season. Any unused items may be donated to the Grassroots shelter by the PPW staff.  Please bring coats at 7 pm before the meeting.  

Thanks in advance for your support of our children.  Questions, contact Nehemiah Spence at ptachc@gmail.com. 

School System Faces Budget Challenges and Seeks to Make Schools More Energy Efficient

Find out more about this and other topics in this month's Parent Teacher Connection TV Show.
- Program host and producer, Bruce Johnson, talks with Superintendent Sydney Cousin about his recent capital budget proposal for 2008-09, his newly reorganized administrative team, and efforts to make schools more energy efficient. 
-PTA Host, Deborah Wessner, interviews the new coordinator of Leadership Development, Glen Heisey, about efforts to identify and mentor leaders from within the system. Heisey, former Hollifield Station Elementary School Principal, discusses how he plans to train teachers interested in becoming administrators in the school system. 
- Parent Host, Jennifer Johnson, talks with Coordinator of Health and Physical Education, Linda Rangos, about the school system's backpack safety guidelines and how they are being used at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Johnson also visits with the "backpack bunch", four 5th graders from Northfield Elementary School, who show Jennifer what they've learned about backpack safety, and how to correctly pack a backpack. 
- 
Parent Teacher Connection is broadcast on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at noon and 5 p.m on Comcast cable channel 95 and Verizon channel 42. 

HOMEWORK HELP IS ONLY A CLICK AWAY!
Got questions?  Find answers here!
Howard County Library  www.hclibrary.org   Free resources are available through the Howard County library to help students with homework, projects and reports.

Ask Us Now!
Chat with librarians for help with research, navigating the Internet, and answers to questions. Librarians are online 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
LearnATest
Online practice tests and courses, including advanced placement, SAT and other undergraduate/graduate school entrance exams, and job related tests in areas such as nursing, teaching, and the military.  Get immediate scoring, complete answer explanations, and analysis of results.
Online Catalog
Research subjects and titles.
Databases
The Library subscribes to databases in the areas of biography, books and reading, countries, cultures and maps, encyclopedias, government, history, literature, study and criticism, newspapers, magazines, and current events, science, student resources, and more.
Live Homework Help
Students in grades 4-12 interact with tutors in math, science, English, and social studies.  Tutors available seven days a week, 2 pm until midnight.
Telephone Reference
During regular library hours, call the information desk at any branch for short answers such as: what is the capital of Kenya?  Who was the 25th president of the United States?  How do I cite a magazine article in my bibliography?  

More free resources are available through the school system website. Once online at www.hcpss.org, click on "Resources for Parents" or "Resources for Students", and select curriculum related links by grade and subject.  (Parents, you will love this website with information specific to each grade and subject!)    

 More Homework Helpers – Online Resources

Note: Some of these websites require user id's and passwords.
Contact your school's library media specialist for log in information

SIRS Researcher:   http://ars.sirs.com   
World Book Online Reference Center:  http://www.worldbookonline.com
Culture Grams:  http://online.culturegrams.com
 

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS

Oct. 13          LIVE on Comcast 95/Verizon42, the Board of Education Candidates 
                        Forum hosted by League of Women Voters 7 pm.  

                    Rebroadcast will be Oct. 17, 19, 24, 26, or 31 from 7 – 9 pm. 

                    Be an informed voter!

Oct. 16           BOE meets with PTA Presidents and CAC 7:30 pm at BOE

Oct. 29           PTACHC Sharing Session/ Workshop at Faulkner Ridge Center,           

                       10598 Marble Faun Lane Time: 7 pm - 9:30 pm  

2nd Mon Nov. 10       PTACHC General membership meeting meets at the ARL - Coat Drive will begin at 7 pm.

Nov. 15         ALL PTAs must complete-990 Forms are due to the IRS www.irs.gov 

Nov. 14/15  MD PTA Fall Convention  for info www.mdpta.org 

Nov. 16-22       American Education Week : http://www.nea.org/aew/index.html

Dec. 1            PTACHC General Membership meeting at ARL 7:30 pm

 

 

Thank you for being an advocate for every child, one voice