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Black Lives Matter

“Each and every one of us is born with a clean heart. Our babies know nothing about hate or racism. But soon they begin to learn—and only from us. We keep racism alive. We pass it on to our children. We owe it to our children to help them keep their clean start.”—Ruby Bridges

There is no place in our community for hate. The Bowman PTO supports our entire school community. We embrace our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racist practices to break the cycle of racism and other forms of oppression. We echo the voice of Dr. Hackett and other town leaders in their recent letter: “We must rely on one another during this period of COVID-19 shutdown and school closure and beyond. Now, more than ever, we need to speak up, listen, talk with one another, take action, and effect change. In the Town of Lexington and the Lexington Public Schools community, we all belong. We invite you to partner with us as active “upstanders” who shape history and create a more compassionate, humane world.”

We feel it’s important to have these discussions. Now is the time for us all to embrace change and help stop the cycle of inequality in our country.

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Thank You!

Before the official end of this unprecedented school year is up I wanted to send out a huge Thank You to all of you who have volunteered this past year at Bowman. Some events took place as usual and some had to be postponed until next year, but a lot of hard work went into all of them.

The work of the PTA is made up of hundreds of moving parts and dedicated parents who show up and do the work. Thank you to all the Room Parents and parents who volunteered at school events. Our students light up with joy when they see familiar adults walk into the school to help with Parties, BBY Walks, Field Day, Science Fair, Class Pictures, Disco Bingo, Math Nights, Mystery Readers and so much more.

Thank you to all the Library Volunteers and Composting Volunteers who come to school each week to help our children discover new worlds with reading and assist them in learning how to care for our earth. Thank you also to all of you who donate gifts to the Families in Need program.

This past year the PTA created and implemented an amazing list of programs and events. This is work to be proud of and I want to send a special shout out to the parents who step up and take the lead on bringing these events to our community. A heartfelt thank you goes to parents who took the lead with the following events and programs

• School Directory: Luckshmi Anil, Sowmyashree Belur, and Monica Manocha
• Bowman Broadside: Suman Murali & Lisa Spitz
• Site Council: Karin Ornstein, Alison Stevens, Stacey Caravella, and Valerie Machinist
• METCO Family and Friends: Lisa Premerlani & Taleen Gleeson
• Room Parent Coordinator: Melinda Nasardinov
• Library Coordinators: Kate Babineau, Rebecca Fagan Gorospe, and Meghan Wilson
• Welcoming Committee: Lauren Avery
• Green Team: Lauren Feeney, Carol Berker, Susan Jureidini, Kate Babineau, and Brandy Hartford
• Lost and Found: Tish Apstein & Winnie Tsiang-Pong
• Bowman Writes: Suman Murali, Wendy Short Carlton, and Jo Sun
• Welcome Back Pot Luck: Lauren Avery
• School Picture Day: Michele Andronaco & Brandy Hartford
• Families in Need: Karla Nash & Carrie Rose
• Big Back Yard: Ming Tregay, Victoria Moule, Lori Wright, Karin Ornstein, Aarti Negi, Shannon Murtagh, and Brandy Hartford
• Arts Created Together: Asli Cakim & Liza Leventhal-Byers
• Family Math Night: Kavita Ravi, Sarah Carter, Taleen Gleeson, Lauren Avery, and Stephanie Ryan
• Math Team: Andrew Bennett, Greg Zhang, Alison Stevens, Josh & Karin Ornstein, Heather Losey, Kavita Ravi, Vikram Salman, Ken Schwarz, Uma Viswanath, Yogi Gottemukkula, Andrew Ileto, Sumit Verma, Matthew Chriss, Jon Gillen, Yusuf Gulleth, Hifza Ali, and Sarah Carter
• Big Map Night: Amahl Bishara
• BOKS: Jess and Paul Quattrocchi
• Science Fair: Karla Nash, Jo Sun, Megan Haggerty, Shannon Schwartz, and the Fiedler Family for sponsoring the Fair.
• Book Swap: Sisy Thomas & Melinda Nasardinov
• Teacher Appreciation Activities: Brandy Hartford, Kim Karelis, Janice Patel, and Rita Dulgarian
• Variety Show: Allison Watts, Lora Mulone-Quinlan, and Lacey VerHage
• SEPAC: Lori Wright
• Disco Bingo: Alexa Elliot
• Thank you to the group of parents who make 5th grade an extra special experience for our students in their final year at Bowman: Liza Leventhal & Elizabeth Moeller
• And to the Parents thinking about the bottom line, our Fundraisers… Gary Van Deurse & Alison Stevens, Teacher Auction…Deepa Salman, Anne Norman, Lauren Avery & Lacey VerHage, Class Baskets…Tish Apstein, Susie Hammond, Kristen Grant, Jackie Anderson, Lora Mulone-Quinlan, & Courtney Jones, Spirit Wear…Heather Ford, Wilson Farms Day…Kim Moore, Box Tops…Sharon Huang, Stop and Shop…and Karin Orstien, Amazon Smile.

For those of you who serve on the Executive Committee thank you for your hard work planning, collaborating and problem solving. This group of parents has spent countless hours thinking about how all the pieces fit together to form an enriching and fun calendar of events. All with a sense of humor and good will.

Thank you Rebecca Fagan Gorospe for serving as Co-President with me this year and to Gary Van Deurse for serving with me last year and showing me the ropes.

And to…

• Gary Van Deurse, VP Advisory
• Brandy Hartford & Stephanie Ryan, VP Communications
• Anne Norman, VP Community
• Lauren Avery, VP Events
• Alison Stevens, VP Membership
• Sarah Carter VP, School Support
• Gary Van Deurse & Lacey VerHage, VP Fundraising
• Val Machinist, Secretary
• Winnie Tsiang-Pong & Elaine Read, Treasurers

Special acknowledgment goes to Jenny Corduck and Beth Glick for being invaluable partners in all of this work. Your collaborative spirit and gratitude are appreciated by all of us.

I have learned so much from so many of you serving as Co-President of the Bowman PTO for these past two years and being part of this school community has been a great pleasure. Bowman is a wonderful school and it is a joy to be part of it.

Katie Quick

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PTA Co-Presidents

Many thanks to Katie Quick who has served as PTA Co-President for the past two years. Katie, you have been an inspiration to us all, and you have given so much to the Bowman PTO and our school. We look forward to a few more years with you at Bowman, and we are so happy that you’ll still be on the Bowman PTO Board as VP Advisory for the next year.

Welcome and thank you to Anne Norman, who will be our next PTA Co-President along with Rebecca Fagan Gorospe. Anne has served on the PTA Board for the past two years and we look forward to her leadership. Thank you so much Anne.

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Volunteers Needed

The Bowman PTO is looking for parents volunteers, and we would love to have you on board! Please contact the Co-Presidents at [email protected] if you are interested in any of these fun volunteer opportunities.

VP Membership

We are in need of a committed volunteer who would like to become an active member of the PTA Board and spearhead our PTA membership efforts in 2020-2021. Most of the work will be during the Fall, with some followup later on in the school year. This position would be good for one or two volunteers.

Directory Team Members

We need one or two more parents volunteers to help with our online directory.

Disco Bingo Event Coordinator

Bingo Night is a fun filled night for the whole family with teacher and student Bingo callers. Organizers focus on publicizing the annual event (Early April), obtaining prizes and recruiting Bingo callers. Work in conjunction with the Class Basket Raffle organizers, for this fun-filled fundraiser evening. This is a good position for one or two volunteers.

Class Basket Raffle Coordinator

We are in need of one or two additional volunteers to help with the Class Basket Raffle for the 2020-2021 school year. Raffle Baskets are on display for two weeks in the Spring, and the Raffle is held during Disco Bingo Night. Organizers communicate with room parents, create a signup for baskets, promote and sell raffle tickets before and during the event, and coordinate with Disco Bingo organizers on the evening of the event. This is an important fundraiser for the PTA, and is ideal for a team of 3-4 volunteers.

Bowman Book Fair Coordinator

Help organize and run our Fall Book Fair! We are looking for a parent volunteer to learn the ropes this year, and take over the coordination in a year or two.

For more volunteer Opportunities, Please see the full list here.

Please contact the Co-Presidents at [email protected] if you are interested in any of these volunteer opportunities.

Thank you!