With your help, Schimelpfenig PTA earned the Head Start Award -- 75% of last year's membership by the end of August!  Help us to win the Three-Year High Award -- show more than 100% of last year's membership by November 30th!  We currently have 528 members and our goal is 600 members, one more than last year. Grandparents and other family members can join as Community Members and students can join, too, to support your Schimelpfenig PTA! 

November is Healthy Lifestyles Month.  Try Texas PTA's Healthy@Home Idea Sheet bingo to practice healthy habits with your family.  The bingo sheet is available here.

 
November is Children's Grief Awareness Month. Register for a webinar on November 10th at 2 p.m. EST entitled The Power of Partnership: A Conversation with National PTA and First Book to discuss the value of partnership, the importance of community, and exciting new resources and support for the childhood bereavement field as part of PTA's Healthy Minds initiative.

Webinar Registration - Zoom

The new Parent Education Engagement Program (PEEP) is committed to engaging families in the education of their children and building capacity in all PISD schools to implement family engagement strategies and activities designed to achieve the district and student academic achievement goals.  Workshop classes are offered Monday through Thursday in-person and virtually. Click here to access PEEP classes, information, and registration.

 Election Day is Tuesday, November 2nd.  Early Voting began on October 18 and continues through October 29 on eight Texas Constitutional Amendments.  For more information on this election, click here:  Election Information (collincountytx.gov)

The Teacher Treat bar on Friday was a yummy treat for our Schimelpfenig staff!  Thank you to everyone who donated items and to the volunteers who helped set up and decorate the teacher lounge.   

If you have not already registered, today, November 1st, is the last day to do so!   Sign up to participate in the Fall Waterways Cleanup to make our creeks less polluted and safer for wildlife.  If you are busy on November 6th, individuals and groups can sign up to clean Plano creeks and roadways (pre-creek cleanup!) year round because litter never ends, unfortunately.

November is Healthy Lifestyles Month.  Try Texas PTA's Healthy@Home Idea Sheet bingo to practice healthy habits with your family.  The bingo sheet is available here.

 
November is Children's Grief Awareness Month. Register for a webinar on November 10th at 2 p.m. EST entitled The Power of Partnership: A Conversation with National PTA and First Book to discuss the value of partnership, the importance of community, and exciting new resources and support for the childhood bereavement field as part of PTA's Healthy Minds initiative.

Webinar Registration - Zoom

In the latest Notes From the Backpack podcast, Episode 48, Supporting Students of Color, Dr. Shawn Jones, psychologist and professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University, offers guidance on creating schools that better serve students of color.  Listen to the podcast here:  Supporting Students of Color - Podcast | National PTA

This week is Red Ribbon Week.  Red Ribbon week began in 1985 as a response to the murder of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena, an act that led people in communities across the country to begin wearing Red Ribbons as a symbol of their commitment to raising awareness about the destruction caused by drugs in America. In 1988, National Family Partnership sponsored the first National Red Ribbon Celebration.  Red Ribbon week is celebrated annually from October 23-31 and serves as a way for people to come together to keep children, families, and communities safe, healthy,  and drug-free.  NFP suggests the following ways that families can observe this week at home: 

• Use Red Ribbon Week as an opportunity to continue talking to your kids about drugs. Let them know that alcohol and drug use will not be tolerated.
• Enter the Red Ribbon Photo Contest for a chance to win an iPad for you and your family - and $1,000 for your child's school:  2021 Red Ribbon Photo Contest
• Encourage your kids and other students to take a stab at creating the 2022 National Red Ribbon Theme. Gain national recognition and $500 of Red Ribbon theme merchandise for your child's school. This year's theme was created by Marin Wurst, a 7th grader at Solon Middle School in Solon, Ohio.
• Watch Natural High’s free celebrity drug prevention videos with your child and use their discussion questions to have a conversation with them about drugs and alcohol.
• For more activity ideas, go to:  Red Ribbon Week Activities for Parents. 

Schimelpfenig Middle School will be observing Red Ribbon week starting today with theme days and events.  

• Celebrate Arts & Humanities Month! Halloween is next week! Encourage your child’s creativity by challenging them to create a spooky piece of art. Then share it with National PTA by using #PTAReflections.

• In the latest Notes From the Backpack podcast episode, host and guest Dr. Sameer Hinduja tackles cyberbullying, dangerous social media challenges and more. Listen now.

• National PTA thanks everyone who participated in National Unity Day.  Together we sent a visual message that no child should ever experience bullying. Check out their post and get involved in National Bullying Prevention Month.

You may have noticed that our Fall Social/Fall Treat, originally scheduled for Friday, October 29th, is no longer on the calendar.  PISD recently issued new PTA guidelines, allowing for larger group social events on campus, and we have rescheduled our Social for mid-January.  We will announce more details about the Schimelpfenig PTA Winter Social in this newsletter and on our website, so stay tuned!

Help your Schimelpfenig PTA reach 600 members by October 31st and earn the Snappy Increase award!  We currently have 521 members, we need 79 more members to reach our goal of 600, one more than last year! Click Here to Join!

Parents, Students, Grandparents and other Community Members can join to support Schimelpfenig PTA.  

Thank you in advance for your support!

1. Donate to the PTA online!

Your generous TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation will fund programs, social events, and classroom materials for students as well as SMS staff wish list items.  

We thank you in advance for your contributions!

Please visit here to donate online!

2. You just keep shopping – let these stores do the donating for you!

Visit our Fundraising Page here for more information.

Link your Kroger or Tom Thumb rewards cards to Schimelpfenig to help our school raise money. The stores will donate a percentage back to the school help show their support for the local communities.

• Kroger Community Rewards Program
• Tom Thumb Good Neighbor Program  
• Office Depot
• Box Tops
• Amazon Smile – Same products and prices as Amazon.  Their foundation matches a percentage of your purchases to donate to nonprofits like our school!  So easy and you are helping by shopping.

3. World Wear Project – Clean out your clutter of old toys, kitchen items, unused towels and bedding and of course CLOTHES!  Bring them up to the BIG BLUE Bin located in the west parking lot.  

From Plano ISD to National PTA and many organizations in-between, there are a lot of seminars, talks, podcasts, and other opportunities to gain information and enrichment for both students and their families.  

One program that we at Schimelpfenig PTA sponsor every year is the National PTA Reflections program.  The Reflections program provides opportunities for recognition and access to the arts which boost student confidence and success in the arts and in life. Each year, over 300,000 students in Pre-K through Grade 12 create original works of art in response to a student-selected theme. This 50+ year-old program helps students explore their own thoughts, feelings and ideas, develop artistic literacy, increase confidence and find a love for learning that will help them become more successful in school and in life. The 2021–2022 Reflections theme is I Will Change the World By…  Students submit their completed works of art in one or all of the available arts categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, Visual Arts.  Submissions at Schimelpfenig are due by Monday, November 8th.  For program rules and eligibility, please visit our website HERE.

This year, we have enrolled in National PTA's School of Excellence program, the goal of which is to improve the lines of communication and critical thinking between PTA, school administrators, and our community.  Next week, we will be including a survey in this newsletter that we ask you to complete as step two in our year-long commitment to identifying and implementing an action plan for school improvement.

Plano ISD has a wonderful parent education program this year, with a variety of topics available every month virtually and weekly Lunch and Learn topics meeting in-person.  Please check the QR code or click HERE for the October calendar. Offerings this week include Building Bridges between Parents and Child: A Substance Abuse Prevention Workshop on Monday and Wednesday from 8:30-9:30 a.m. and Rituals and Routines: Why Have Them? on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:15-3:15 p.m.