Nov. 14-18 Parent Teacher Conferences Book Fair Early Out all week Nov. 17 Family Night – Book Fair Nov. 18 Spirit Day Nov. 21-25 Thanksgiving – Fall Break Dec. 6 Early Out Dec. 8 4th/5th Holiday Program Dec. 15 Kindergarten Performance Dec. 16 Spirit Day

Dec. 19-Jan. 2 Winter Break Jan. 3 Early Out / PTA Meeting

November, 2016

cullenelementary.com * 440 N. Live Oak, Glendora, CA * 626-852-4593

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On Facebook, search for “Cullen Elementary School PTA” and “like” our page.

Follow our page for updates and reminders of

important events.

Principal’s Message By Dr.Cheryl Bonner

Dear Cullen Families,

If you have driven past schools in surrounding communities, you might have noticed the recent addition of solar shade structures, and if you have driven down Grand Ave in recent weeks, you may have observed how quickly the solar shade structures are going in at La Fetra. Solar shade structures are going in at all 10 Glendora Unified schools and work will begin at Cullen this month. Solar panels will be installed in our parking lot and over part of our playground area. The structures will provide shaded areas for students and staff as well as provide the school district with energy and cost savings.

Glendora Unified School District has entered into a 25 year Power Purchase Agreement with PFMG Solar LLC to buy electricity at a fixed rate at our 10 schools. This 2.32 megawatt solar project is estimated to save the district approximately $8-$10 million dollars over the 25 year contract. The district has no upfront cost or capital investment for the solar system. The systems are designed to provide solar power for 70% of the historical consumption of the sites.

What this means for Cullen families… During the construction period at Cullen, currently scheduled to begin December 15, two-thirds of the parking lot will be fenced off. We anticipate being able to continue with the drive through, but we will be unable to have cars wait for kids who do not respond the first or second time called. In order to keep things moving we will be asking cars to move on, even if they do not have their children, if their children have not responded. In the past, the people working in the parking lot

have been lenient calling children repeatedly, and have even gone looking while others wait. We will not do this when construction is occurring. I would suggest that this is a good time to work with your children to pay attention and respond when called or you will be asked to go out and circle the block to get back in line. Pick up and drop off from the temporary staff parking off of Leadora is not permitted.

Thank you to all of the parents who walk in to pick up students. Thank you for waiting in the front quad, in the circle bench area and for supervising your children if you wait for upper graders as classes are in session until 2:27.

I hope you will each make an effort to attend parent teacher conferences and PTA’s book fair, the week of November 14-18 as well as I hope it is a fantastic week off, the week following parent teacher conferences, November 21-25.

PTA President’s Message By Betsie Ridnouer betsielu@ridnouer.com I can’t express just how proud I am of our PTA and our school! Students, parents, teachers, and staff all came together in force and together raised over $30,000 in our Move-a-Thon Fundraiser! Thanks to Griselda Pinedo and her special team of volunteers for Rockin’ The Walk! One hundred percent of the money raised goes directly to Cullen students to support their learning.

With over 600 of our Cullen family joining PTA this year, it’s no wonder we have such an amazing force for our students! Special thanks to Lynda Lewallen for getting the word out about how important membership is and recruiting so many new Jedis with our “Star Wars” themed membership drive. Even though the membership drive is over, it’s not too late to become a member of PTA. Purchase your membership online at: https://cullenpta.myschoolcentral.com.

We had a great turnout for Family Night in September with a relaxing and easy night of board games, snacks, and door prizes. Thank you to Faith Verner putting together this fun night.

and all of her volunteers for, once again, bringing together the Carnival so effortlessly and without a hitch.

Mileage Club has begun! Students can walk or run during their lunch recess to receive charms and chances to win gift cards. Volunteers are needed to help on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sign up to volunteer on the cullenelementary.com website or http://signup.com/go/PxWtLH. Help support our students’ fitness! Thanks to Robert Flemming for supporting this important activity!

Coming up November 14-18 is the Scholastic Book Fair! This is a great time to find new books and gifts for your kids at great prices. Plan ahead for special Christmas gifts and holiday reading! We need lots of volunteers for this event, too! Volunteer sign ups are on the cullenelemetntary.com website or: signupgenius.com/go/20F054DA8A92FABF85-cullen/16055405.

Our next Association meeting is January 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria. Come find out what’s going on in our school and find out if you’d like to get involved.

Thank you to Robin Quayle for overseeing the Reflections projects, and thanks to those students who participated! Over 60 budding Cullen artists interpreted, “What’s Your Story,” in various mediums.

We celebrated Red Ribbon Week and healthy, drug-free living October 24-28. Thank you to Donna Montalbo and her team of volunteers for decking out the school in red and making it look amazing! Students expressed their healthy lifestyles with a different, fun theme for each day of the week and were treated to healthy snacks of veggies donated by the district.

Walk to School day was October 5 and the parking lot was quiet! Thanks to all the students who walked in and to Robert Flemming for organizing volunteers and prizes for walking students. Special thanks, also, to Detective Farino from Glendora Police Department for keeping our students safe.

With all the hard work we put in at the beginning of the year, we needed a little fun. The Cullen Carnival was just what we needed to celebrate our achievements and let loose! Students and their families and friends came out for games and food on Halloween day. Thank you to Heidi Hanson

Attent ion Cul len PTA members:

There will be an association meeting held on

Monday, January 9th at 6:30 PM in the Cullen cafeteria.

At this association meeting,

the nominating committee will be elected.

.

* Legal Disclaimer

Reference to any specific donor does not constitute endorsement of any product, service, organization, company or content. Donors, businesses, organizations, products, services, companies, content, or the use of any trade, business, firm, or corporation name are not vetted, recommended, favored or endorsed by Cullen Elementary School PTA nor Cullen Elementary School.

Cullen Students Hear

Bestselling Author, Gordon Korman

By Amelia Nielson-Stowell If you want to write a really great story, write about your favorite topic. That was advice New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman shared with Cullen Elementary School’s fourth- and fifth-graders.

Korman spoke to roughly 230 students in the upper grades on Thursday, Nov. 10 in a special author event sponsored by Scholastic.

“The last thing you want to be when you’re writing is bored. Because when you’re bored when you’re writing, you write bored,” Korman said.

The author of over 80 books for kids and young adults, Korman shared a few lessons with aspiring writers. At the beginning of his writing career when he was still a teenager and close in age to his characters, he wrote about personal experiences. Today at 53, he has to get a little more creative to find stories that relate to his audience.

Korman loves old movies and said he based his latest book series “Swindle” off those movie storylines, like bank jobs, jewel heists and fugitive escapes. Nickelodeon is making the “Swindle” series into a made-for-TV movie.

“If you think about them, they’re old movie plots reinvented,” he said.

A Canadian native, Korman wrote his first book when he was 12 years old, and his Seventh Grade English assignment became his first novel, “This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall!”

“I got a B+ on the assignment — how lame was that?” Korman told the kids, to a room full of laughs. Back in the 70s, he had to write the entire book in cursive on a marble notebook, and he was deducted a grade for messiness. But he was enthusiastic about his story — his mom typed it up on their computer and he mailed it to the address on the back of the Scholastic book order. The Scholastic employee who opened that piece of mail passed it on to his boss, and Korman ended up

signing his first book contract with Scholastic at the age of 13.

Today, more than 17 million copies of Korman’s novels are in print, and they’ve been translated into 14 languages. And Korman, a father of three, lives in New York with his three kids. His latest novel “Slacker” is based off his 17-year-old son who Korman admitted is kind of a slacker – he loves sitting on the couch and playing video games. He read an excerpt from “Slacker” to Cullen students, a scene where the main character is so engrossed in his gaming that he forgets to take dinner out of the oven and the house catches fire.

Cullen students were eager to ask Korman questions during a Q & A period, wanting to know who his favorite character is (Jonah Wizard from “39 Clues”), how he starts writing a book once he has an idea (make an outline) and what’s his favorite book series that’s not his own (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing,” Harry Potter, Percy Jackson).

Over 150 students lined-up with copies of Korman’s books to get an autograph. Logan Green, a fifth-grader, said the “Swindle” series are his favorite Korman books.

“I liked hearing him today because he has good perspective on writing and knows what kids like,” Green said.

Korman’s speaking engagement kicks off Cullen’s annual Scholastic Book Fair, which runs from Monday, Nov. 14 to Friday, Nov. 18 in the cafeteria.

Use Role Models to Highl ight Important

Character Traits

Encourage your Chi ld to do more than the

Bare Minimum It was a windy evening when Juan took the recycling to the curb. Instead of leaving the papers to blow around the neighborhood, he did something extra. He placed a rock on them so they would not become litter.

Juan had learned to do more than the bare minimum. It’s a great lesson in responsibility—and it’s something you can teach in your home.

For instance, you could ask your child to think about doing the following “extras” in the kitchen:

• If he makes a snack after school, does he leave the kitchen clean?

• If he uses the last of the peanut butter, does he tell someone to add it to the grocery list?

• If he pours the rest of the water out of a pitcher, does he refill it?

Helping your child do more than the bare minimum will also help him be successful in school:

• Instead of leaving his backpack where someone could trip over it, he places it in his cubby.

• Instead of turning in a sloppy report, he takes the time to write it out neatly.

• Instead of waiting until the last minute to work on his project, he starts early and goes beyond what is expected. He includes an illustration in his essay. He adds a great cover to his report.

Reprinted with permission from the December 2016 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2016 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc. Source: S.

Although you are the primary role model in your child’s life, you don’t have to be the only one. Here’s how to draw upon people she knows to help instill positive character traits: • Talk about relatives, friends or

celebrities who show respect, responsibility, compassion or other desirable traits. Make it a point to say how much you admire them and why.

• Share your heroes with your child. Talk about people such as Anne Frank, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa. Discuss the traits you admire in them.

Encourage your child to find or draw pictures of people she admires and tell you why. Heroes can be fictional—from books, movies or television—or people she knows, such as an uncle who volunteers with Habitat for Humanity or a grandmother who worked long hours to put a child through college.

Reprinted with permission from the December 2016 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2016 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.

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