April 2018

Disco Bingo

Friday night!! April 6, 6:30-8 PM at the Bowman Gym

Come on down dressed in disco attire to play bingo, win prizes and boogie with your friends! Please remember to bring 10 pennies per child as bingo markers.

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Class Basket Raffle

Class baskets arrived at Bowman the morning of Thursday, March 29 and we have a fantastic collection of baskets to raffle off! They will be on display outside the cafeteria through Friday, April 6th ready for you to make your ticket selections. That night, they will be auctioned off in the gym during Disco Bingo (you do not need to be present to win).

Tickets are $1 each, and you can still buy them in the following ways (deadline to order tickets through the classroom flyer was March 29th):

• In rolling carpool line. We will be outside both before and after school the week of April 2-6 with tickets in hand, so have your cash and/or checks ready and we’ll come right to your window to give you your tickets. Checks can be made out to Bowman PTO.
• At the start of Disco Bingo Night

You can purchase as many tickets as you wish, but don’t forget to write your name on each ticket. Then drop the tickets into the bin next to the basket you would like to win! Between April 2-April 6, you can drop your raffle tickets into the bins before and after school and during the start of Bingo Night. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit the PTA. If you have any questions please email: [email protected]. Thank you to all the room parents who put together baskets, and to all the ticket-buyers for your support of this fun event!

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Spaghetti Dinner, A Smashing Success

Thanks to organizer-extraordinaires Theresa Minogue and Victoria Moule the 5th grade Spaghetti Dinner was a smashing success! Their many months of planning and hard work made for a night of fun for the whole Bowman community and we can’t thank them enough for all of the time they put in to making the event run smoothly. Thank you also to all the fifth-grade students who took on their jobs with pride, to the many fifth-grade parent volunteers, to those families who donated desserts, and to all the Bowman students, parents, and staff who attended Spaghetti Dinner and supported the event. Until next year…ciao!

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Tons Of Talent

Bowman put on their annual Variety Show on March 23rd at Clarke Middle School. It was an evening of music, dance and a bit of acting! We know our students have talent, but it also takes a measure of courage to display it on stage. Great job to all of the students that participated! Also a Thank You to Allison Watts and Karin Gehring for organizing and putting on a wonderful show!

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Behind The Scenes – Our Bowman Volunteers

The Bowman PTO (and all of the PTA-run community and enrichment events) is run entirely by volunteers. We are so fortunate to have so many terrific volunteers and we’re excited to introduce a couple of them to you each month.

There are many ways to get involved at Bowman. Please check here to see a list of open PTA positions: http://bit.ly/bowmanptapositions

Martha Rogers – Faculty Volunteer for the PTA

I volunteer for the Bowman PTO because I LOVE the care, competence, and creativity that the PTA offers to the Bowman community. Meetings are always a mix of thoughtful discussion, laughter, and clarifying purpose. They are fun! As a teacher I feel regularly moved to see the thoughtful time and energy that goes into every PTA effort. The results are consistently meaningful support for both adults and children in our various roles.

Kavita Ravi – Math Night Co-ordinator, Bowman School Site Council, Movie Night Assistance

I volunteer with the Bowman PTO by coordinating Family Math Nights and helping with Movie Night, and I also serve on Bowman’s School Site Council. Volunteering helps me become part of the Bowman community and get to know the children (and their parents) that my kids go to school with. I see how all of us working together adds significantly to the children’s school experience. When I volunteer, I am always thinking about how we can improve the activities so children could benefit even more and how more parents could be better connected to our community

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Book Swap And Ice Cream Social

Tuesday, May 15th, 6:30–8:00 pm

The Bowman Book Swap and Ice Cream Social is back for another year! Do your children have books that they’ve outgrown and are ready to pass on? Are you constantly in search of new books for your children to read? If so, participate in the Bowman Book Swap!

Here’s how it will work:

1. 6:30 – 7:00 pm only: Bring up to 5 books per student directly to the gym on Tuesday, May 15th. At the event, you and your child will sort your books by grade level or genre.

2. 6:30 – 8:00 pm: Head to the cafeteria, meet up with friends, and enjoy a cup of Abbott’s frozen custard or sorbet.

3. 7:15 – 8:00 pm only: Return to the gym to select your new books.

Books must be appropriate for grades K–8 and be in gently used condition (no tears or missing pages, no board books). A special thanks to the Denoncourt Family and Abbott’s Frozen Custard for their generous donation of frozen treats this year!

Want to help out? We are looking for a crew of volunteers to help with book organization, set up and clean up. Volunteers will be given priority access to the Book Swap (7:00 – 7:15 pm). To volunteer, visit the Sign-Up Genius link: http://bit.ly/BowmanBookSwap2018

Questions? Contact [email protected]

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It All Adds Up To Fun

Family Math Nights in January, February, and March offered a time for students and parents to enjoy a playful evening of hands-on mathematical exploration. Whether you were stumped by the brain- teasers, tried a new approach with the equations, or solved the puzzles in a snap, it was great to do it together. Thank you to Kavita Ravi, Judy Perry, Sarah Carter, and Lauren Avery for organizing and making the numbers fun! Thanks also to the Bowman custodial staff for their support and to the LHS students who volunteered.

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Math Team News

The 3rd grade before school math team at Bowman recently participated in the second Continental Math League competition of the year, and the 4th and 5th grade teams participated in the fourth Continental Math League competition of the year. There are 2 levels of competitions of the 4th and 5th grades, and the groups from Bowman are registered with the Pythagorean level, the higher of the two levels. Students had to solve 6 problems in 30 minutes. Problems were designed to test students’ reading comprehension, problem solving skills, and the ability to set up and solve complex and challenging problems.

3rd grade: There were 319 teams from around the United States, 34 of them from New England. The median score for the country for the second CML test was 26/36. The Bowman 3rd grade team had 36/36 points for the second test, and 71/72 points for first and second tests combined, among the top 3.5% teams in the country and one of two top teams in New England.

4th grade: There were 148 teams from around the United States, 7 of them from New England. The median score for the country for the fourth test was 22/36. The Bowman 4th grade team had 36/36 points for the fourth test and 132/144 for the four tests combined, among top 8 teams in the country and #1 in New England. 5th grade: There were 161 teams from around the United States, 13 of them from New England. The median score for the country for the fourth test was 21/36. The Bowman 5th grade team had 33/36 points for the fourth test and 141/144 for the four tests combined, among top 7 teams in the country and #2 in New England.

Congratulations to everybody on the excellent performance. Every member of each team worked hard, and can take pride in the accomplishment. The fifth competition for the 4th and 5th grade teams and the third competition for the 3rd grade team are in mid March.

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Curious About Composting?

If you attended the Spaghetti Dinner last month, you might have noticed our 5th grade servers dumping the leftovers into large green bins while cleaning up. The food waste in those green bins was sent to be ‘recycled’, i.e. turned into nutrient-rich compost to be used to grow food on local farms! Sponsored by Lexington Public Schools and supported by the Bowman PTO, the 5th graders were able to keep approx. 260 lbs. of food waste from going to the incinerator, saving fuel and valuable nutrients. The students further decreased the waste generated that evening by recycling all the plastic utensils and water cups.

Starting with composting soiled pizza boxes at Movie Night in January, to the efforts at Spaghetti Dinner, the PTA would like to make waste reduction a priority at all events. This, of course, would not be possible without the continued support of Dr. Anton, Ms. Glick, and Bowman custodial staff and faculty. Thank you for your commitment to helping our students and our community reduce waste!

Wondering how you can help? Parents and students can look for/ask about/use the compost and recycling bins at events and bring your own water bottles. Talk to your students about composting, recycling and ways to reduce waste.

By the way, you can reduce your waste at home and help Bowman at the same time: mention Bowman School in the referral section when you sign up for curbside pick-up from Black Earth Compost (www.blackearthcompost.com/lexington) – you will receive $10 off of your first bill and the Bowman PTO will receive a $10 donation!

If you have any questions or comments or think you might want to be involved in future efforts, just email [email protected].

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