Principal’s Message

Sellers Family,

Fall is upon us and we can see the season changing around us. Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. Once again we have a month full of wonderful activities and events happening at Sellers. The Teachers, Room Moms, and PTA are doing a wonderful job to expose our students to a variety of learning experiences inside and outside of the classroom. I would like to tell you about some of the upcoming events that I am excited about.

Many of you are familiar with our after school program offered by Chess Masters. This year they are offering a new program called Spotlight Kids. It is a Drama program. I am sure that many of our students will be excited to participate in these drama classes. It will give our students a chance to explore their creative side and build confidence in front of others. The Chess Masters program has proven to be organized and productive and I am looking forward to a good response to this new program. Later in the year we will once again offer the Spanish Explorers program. This program gives the students an introduction to language learning.

Also in November we will be holding our annual Hearts for the Holidays craft day. This event was started by a group of teachers that wanted to give back to the community by bringing the joy of the Holidays to the residents of the San Dimas Retirement Center. Students that participate will be assigned a craft by grade level. They will create holiday crafts that will be taken to the Retirement Center to help decorate the home during the Holiday season. If you are interested in helping with this wonderful program please contact the office for more information.

One of the goals for the Glendora Unified School District is to promote a college going culture. We would like to help our students to make these goals early and build the desire to attend college at an early age. We are preparing our students now to live and work in a world that will be very different than today. Many will be working in careers that do not exist yet using technology that has not yet been invented. The need for a college education is only getting greater and greater. To expose our students to the ideas of college we will have tickets for the UCLA “I’m Going to College” day on November 10th. The event sponsored by UCLA will include a college fair for elementary and middle schoolstudents and free tickets to the UCLA vs. Arizona football game. Please be looking for more information to come on this event. It is a great day for the whole family.

Another family event that will be coming to Sellers is our Family Portrait night. This will be held in our cafeteria the evening of November 8th from 5pm to 8pm. You can make reservations online at www.familyportraitfun.com. Just click on the link to find your event and enter Sellers. The sitting fee is $30.00 and includes a 10x13 portrait with $15.00 of that coming back to the school. This is a great chance to get those family portraits taken in an easy, low pressure setting.

With all these activities going on you may wonder if we have time for education here at Sellers. Well our teachers have many wonderful things going on in class. I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to drop in classrooms each day to see the powerful teaching and learning taking place. Our teachers went to the District wide training on Write from the Beginning on October 15th. This program is the extension of the Thinking Maps training that took place last year. Students have been using Thinking Maps the past year to visualize and make the connections to the curriculum. These are tools that students will be able to use as they move and progress through out their educational careers. As you can see there are many wonderful things happening each month at Sellers!

Can you believe we’re already heading into November. The last three months of the year are my favorite. If you haven’t been able to tell by now, I love the holidays and all of the traditions they stand for. In last years Sellers Sez I touched on my families Thanksgiving Day game playing traditions. Our Scrabble marathon brings out the not so pretty side of everyone involved. But, that is not my families main Thanksgiving tradition. I don’t even know if I should tell you what it is. I didn’t have the courage last year. I just don’t know if you would understand.

There are probably a select few who may have the same affliction. But, we are a rare breed. My closest friends know what I am talking about. They know all about my families weird tradition, some have even joined us for Thanksgiving and brought their siblings with them to wonder at the sight of it all. Okay, here it is………

I have never eaten a Thanksgiving dinner that wasn’t served by the glowing lights of a Christmas tree. Yes, that’s right. I said Christmas tree! This tradition all started before I was born. My mother had a race with a close neighbor to see who could get their Christmas decorations up first. My mom would always lose by a day or two. Then one year my mom was determined to win! She pulled her drapes shut the week before Thanksgiving and put up all of her decorations, tree and all. Of course my mother won the race that year. Our neighbor was stunned.

That years victory started a long loved tradition of eating our Thanksgiving dinner by the Christmas tree. I am sure you have figured out by now that our tree is artificial, so we can have it up for a long time. You see, I am allergic to pine trees. I love to smell them, but I cannot decorate one without breaking out in hives. The neighbor has since passed, but her daughter, my mother, my sister and myself keep the traditional race alive. We always call to say “Hey, I have my tree up, do you?”

Everything else about our Thanksgiving is pretty much average. We have a large golden turkey, carved by my Pop. Everyone fights for the first piece with the crispy skin. My mom (like everyone else’s mom) makes the best stuffing on the planet. I homemake the pumpkin pies and cranberry sauce. And we all eat ourselves silly!! And if we are sitting by a Christmas tree or not, we all give thanks for our family and friends and wish for everyone to be healthy and happy.

No matter how traditional or non-traditional your families holidays are, I hope you find yourselves in good health and good company.

Tami Wilkenfeldt

November 8th is Portrait Night at Sellers. We are once again using Laurie Giery's Portrait Fun Studio. It's fun, quick and easy, so invite your family, friends and neighbors to participate. For a sitting fee of $30, each family will receive a beautiful 10X13 all white background family portrait printed in either color OR black and white. The portraits will be available to view on the Family Portrait Fun website and delivered to your home in time for the holidays. All appointments for sittings will be made ONLINE at www.FamilyPortraitFun.com only. This is a fantastic way to bring your Sellers family together and raise funds for our school.

Theme 2007-2008: "I Can Make a Difference By . . ."

All entries are due in the office Friday, November 2, 2007 by 2:00 p.m. Thank you to all who participate. From what has been turned in so far, it looks as if our judges will have a tough time with all of your wonderful entries. Winners will be notified as soon as possible. Best Wishes. Please call Sophia if you have any questions: (626) 914-4506.

Wednesday, November 28th 1:30 to 5:00: Mold Me and Make Me Pottery Studio will be assisting us to make this a great event. This will be a wonderful opportunity for your children to have fun while making you something special for the holidays. We look forward to seeing all of you there.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Laurie Lehine (626)786-1167 or Jennifer Helmer (626) 347-0596

Nicholas Casabella

Jordyn Tetone

Natalie Sirna

Nick Franco

Jack Mowry

Madison Padilla

Dylan Fosselman

Scott Brashear

Julie Egan

Alexia Molinari

Madison Anderson

Cole Barron

Nicholas Guzman

Erin Costigliolo

Sara Hutchinson

McKenna Martin

Jacob Fulton

Taylor Bouma

Connor Anderson

Javin Shepard

Iam Gregory

Annette O'Young

Ian Lehine

Brandan Godfrey

Natalie Le

Nikki Zavala

Dalton Helmer

Christian Cyr

Brittany Phelan

Niyusha Zarnegar

Brooke Phelan

Vincent Franco

Savannah Young

Keaton Gregus

Dallas Liu

Christopher Cox

Michael Fichera

Emily Martau

Amelia Feick

Auston Ferrarer

Kayla Gosnell

Chloe Rodriguez

Brianna Abangan

Alec Teves

Jack Dunaway

Isabella Perez

Amanda Terzino

Zachary Wittenberg

Emma Pulido

Madison Willis

Mikayla Askey

Airam Gallegos

Keiana Lo

Emily Dupont

Jadan Gonzalez

Allison Barrett

McKenna Manke

Morgan Samora

Colt Becker

Chantz Dettmann

Josh Cunningham

Sarah Sutton

Just a reminder . . . all copies of the pictures taken at the Walk-A-Thon, Halloween Parade, Field Trips, Class Photos, etc. should be submitted to the "Yearbook Box" located in the front office NOW! The first yearbook deadline for the first few months of school is coming up soon. Please submit only professionally developed pictures (i.e. Target, Costco, etc.) and mark on the back the name of the activity, grade level and/or teacher. We also accept, (and prefer) pictures on CD. If you submit a CD, please place the pictures in folders and name them accordingly.

Thank you!

Yearbook Committee

We have extended the 5th grade tribute deadline to Friday, November 9, 2007. This will be the last day to turn in your special tribute(s) to your graduating 5th grader! All tributes will be in color! Additional forms are located in the front office.

If you have any questions, please contact Dena Wood-Manke (ph: 626/914-4040 or e-mail: dena.woodmanke@verizon.net). Thank you!

Yearbook Committee

Thank you to all of the parents, family and friends who generously donated money to our school Walk-a-thon. Your donations help our school continue to run its many enriching programs. A big thanks also to everyone that showed up to help fill water bottles, tally laps, hand out popsicles and the many other little things that helped this event run smoothly.

Andrea Molinari

Holiday Toy Drive

This is our second year participating in a Holiday Toy Drive at Sellers. Last year we filled 5 boxes with gifts for our community. This year the Toy Drive will run from November 5th through December 14th. This toy drive will benefit children in our area during the holiday season. We will have drop off boxes for toy donations located in the office during school hours. The toy guidelines are: they must be new, worth at least $10 and unwrapped. This is a worthwhile project and it will bring the joy of a gift to many children who might not otherwise receive a present for the holidays. So, when you are out shopping this season remember our Holiday Toy Drive.

Please consider shopping online for products at the Box Top Marketplace. This Fall consider ordering your Holiday gifts online instead of calling the (800) number. Make purchases through merchants found in the Box Top Marketplace, such as Nordstrom, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Sears, Gap, Old-Navy, Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, KB Toys, and many more.

 Sign-up and Shop – go to www.boxtops4education.com, click on promotions and coupons, sign-up, and then start shopping online at the Box Tops Marketplace.

Are you earning free cash for our school yet? Just sign up your Vons, Macy’s and/or other credit/debit cards to get one. All parents, teachers, friends and families who shop at Vons (up to 4%) or Macy’s (up to 6%), please sign-up your cards and automatically earn free cash for our school. Don’t put it off, do it before holiday shopping. It just takes 5 minutes!

Sign-up at eScrip.com, mail, or call eScrip form – It’s Free! Select Margaret R. Sellers Elementary to be the beneficiary. Go to eScrip.com or call 1-800-559-8917.

Sellers Elementary is now collecting Labels for Education

Save proofs of purchases from participating Campbell products and send them to school along with your BOX TOPS. Look for any of these products: All Campbell’s Soup, Campbell’s, Prego pasta sauces, Swanson, V8 Splash Beverages, and Pepperidge Farm Cookies & Crackers, such as Goldfish Crackers.

The District has Health Clerk positions open and hopes to fill these openings with LVNs. If you hold a LVN license and are interested in working part time (generally from 3-5 hours per day) please contact Personnel Services for more information at 963-1611 ext. 300. You may also apply directly on Edjoin.org. Thanks!

Gigi Maurizio, Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Services

Staci Travisano for the great time all of the mothers and daughters had at High School Musical on Ice!!

Linda Nelli and Heather Bliss for making sure all of your super Sellers students are recognized at our Vikings Day Awards.

Lori Workman for taking on the task of Garden Mom Coordinator. The gardens are already looking good.

Joe Scerri for being the kindergarten garden coordinator, even though you do not have a kindergartner. You have really gone above and beyond what was expected.

Renee Barrett for helping our kids make better choices during Red Ribbon Week.

Jennifer Helmer and Laurie Lehine for kicking off our holiday season with Holiday Ceramics Night.

Kerri Kerr and Trisa Rodriguez for rolling all of those quarters for our Vikings Day Treat Sales and for my once a month Ding Dong fix!!

Wendy Cadima for coordinating all of our Box Tops, eScrip and Campbell’s soup labels. Thanks to your efforts, our totals have soared!

Colleen Burson for organizing our Book Cart. Your program helps promote the love of reading in our students!

Andrea Molinari for organizing our successful Walk-a-thon. The PTA school year would struggle without all of your efforts!

As always, thank you to all of our room moms and class helpers. You  photocopy, cut, paste and stuff many Wednesday folders. Without you the days and weeks would not pass by as smoothly.