October 2021

Bowman Broadside

Events

Bowman Book Fair

Wednesday October 20th – October 29th, In the Bowman Gym

Kids will come through with their class to make a WISH LIST!  The Bowman Book Fair will be open during Parent Teacher Conferences on October 21, 22, 28 & 29.

Please visit our webpage at for information on volunteering or contact [email protected] for details. We look forward to seeing you at the Bowman Book Fair.


News

Bowman Spirit Wear

It’s Spirit Wear time! Show your school spirit with colorful shirts, sweatshirts, pants, scarves, and hats. Sale ends on Sunday October 17th. Bowman PTO is offering your favorites: Plaid Flannel Pants, Long and Short Sleeve T-shirts, Hooded and Zip Up Sweatshirts, Tie Dye T-shirts, Knit pom-pom hats, baseball hats, scarves and Dri-fit T-shirts! Children and adult sizes available.

Due to the custom nature of these items, there are NO exchanges or returns so PLEASE be sure of sizes when ordering.

STORE NOW OPEN!  Deadline to order Sunday October 17th. 

*Orders are processed when this store closes NOT after individual orders are placed.  Orders will be directly shipped to the purchaser.*

Questions? Email [email protected]


Bowman Lunch Bins – Please provide and donate!

Lunch is especially challenging this year due to the full return to school and students going through the lunch line – meaning students are no longer eating in classrooms and food is not delivered to classrooms like last year.  Students getting cafeteria lunch now need to carry all of their belongings to their lunch seat (outdoors or an assigned seat in the cafeteria or 2 designated classrooms).

If your student will get cafeteria lunch at any time this year and would benefit from a lunch bin, please provide your student a lunch bin / dish tub (8-12 qt.) that will hold their lunch container (can be clamshell, yogurt box, bagel bag), fruit choice, milk choice, etc.  These bins will be for the personal use for your student, labeled with their name and stored at school.

Bowman PTO has and will provide bins as needed throughout the year, but is unable to source hundreds of bins for lunch at once.

Example lunch bins:

If you are able to, we would appreciate any donations of additional lunch bins for the school!  THANK YOU for your support to make a great lunch experience.


Join or Renew your PTO Membership Today!

Please JOIN or renew your PTO membership for the 2020-2021 school year!

We know how busy everyone is with a million things to do as you get your students ready for the start of school this year! Here’s one more thing that will only take a moment, will directly benefit your student(s), and will earn you new Bowman swag as a thank you! Proceeds directly benefit student enrichment activities (talent show, science fair, math night, playground equipment, etc.) teacher/classroom needs (technology and curricular enhancements), and more! That’s it! Becoming a member of the Bowman PTO is your way of supporting these efforts, and we are aiming to have as close to 100% families participate. Bonus: join before Back to School Night, and receive an extra early bird secret swag item!

On average, we spend  $100 per student through classroom supplies (teacher reimbursements), field trips, playground and sports equipment, staff appreciation, community events, diversity materials, and more. We really appreciate your membership support.


Volunteer Opportunities and Help Needed

PTO Executive Board Open Position: Vice President, Curriculum

Join the executive board to lead our wonderful programming and build new relationships.  Board members typically serve in their term for 2 years and attend monthly Bowman PTO board meetings. Please email [email protected] if you are interested in learning more.

Curriculum enrichment is an integral part of Bowman community building, working with the school to support and extend Bowman’s programming.  Some examples are coordinating volunteers to support the LPS District Big Back Yard Program or enhancing reading and math through extracurricular events and clubs.  In addition, the Curriculum Committee supports the Arts and Specials programming for the school such as Artsonia and ACT.  The VP of Curriculum works with organizers of curriculum enrichment programs including Big Backyard, Book Fair, Book Swap / Stories Under the Stars, Family Math Nights, BOKS, Math Team, and Arts / Specials Support.  This role is a great way to build community with the Bowman staff and faculty as well as parent/guardian volunteers to support students’ most favorite activities.

Time Commitment: 1-2 hours per week for emails/meetings during flexible hours and attend the monthly Bowman PTO board meetings.

Lunch Volunteers Needed

Please sign up to be a Lunch Volunteer. For the 2021-2022 school year, students will eat outside as much as possible, but because students will be socially distanced and spread across multiple lunch locations, we are in need of Lunch Volunteers.  Volunteers can sign up for a lunch shift (two consecutive lunch blocks) so they could expect to be at Bowman for approximately an hour. Times when volunteers are needed would be: 10:50 – 11:45 and 11:55 – 12:50.

**NEW**: See the Lunch Volunteer Training Slideshow

Email [email protected] with any questions.

Library Volunteers Needed!

Library volunteers help with checking in and out books for children, shelving books and organizing the library, and book selection. We are especially in need of volunteers for the following classrooms:  Mr. Curran (4th), Mrs. Udell (4th), Mr. Avery (3rd), Ms. Barbacano (2nd), Mrs. Day (K), and Ms. Lee (K). 

If you are interested in learning more about the responsibilities of a library volunteer, including the time commitment and classroom time slots, please contact Kate Babineau and Meghan Wilson: [email protected]


Donate to the Bowman Mentorship Program

Please sign up to donate games and supplies for the Bowman mentorship program. Bowman is reviving a mentoring program we piloted two years ago. Bowman staff will mentor students who benefit from having additional time engaging in preferred activities with a caring adult. Please drop off your donations in the Bowman lobby. THANK YOU for your support!


CORI Checks and COVID-19 “cleared”

Please remember that it is district policy that anyone who volunteers (lunch, Big Backyard, library, Room Helpers, PTO events, etc) in our school must have a CORI check completed by Lexington Public Schools AND be COVID-19 “cleared” COVID-19: Clearing LPS Volunteers for 2021-22. Any questions regarding the CORI check, please contact Mrs. Ashness ([email protected]) or Mrs. Barnes ([email protected]) in our Main Office. Please do not wait; it can take several days for a “check” to come back which may prevent you from joining in the fun. Any questions regarding the COVID-19 clearing process, please contact Mrs. Claffey ([email protected]). Please note, in addition to requiring an LPS CORI, all volunteers will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.


Support Bowman Through Shopping

Box Tops

And more!!!

Have you signed up for Amazon Smile, the Scrip gift card program, Box Tops, Black Earth Compost and more? Find out how you can Click, Shop, and Support Bowman!


Thank You!

Picture Day

Thank you to Michelle Andronaco for organizing Picture Day.

Staff Appreciation

Thank you to the Staff Appreciation Team (Stephanie Roberts, Janice Patel, and Rita Dulgarian) for assembling an appreciation goody bag for Back to School Night for our teachers and staff.

Room Helpers

Thank you to Melinda Nasardinov and Jackie Anderson for hosting the Room Helper information sessions and getting the program kicked off this year; and to all of the room helpers who are volunteering.

Big Backyard Coordinators

Thank you to Shweta Jain and Geetha Pannerselvam for getting the Bowman Big Backyard volunteer program up an running again this month!

Corporate Sponsors

Thank You to the 2021-22 Bowman Corporate Sponsors for the generous donations!

The generous contributions from the Corporate Sponsors go directly back to the Bowman Elementary School community in the form of teacher reimbursements for classroom supplies, field trips, grade-level grants and more!

The gift baskets contributed by the following sponsors will be included in the Bowman Experiences Auction which is coming up soon! Hope you will have fun participating and bidding for these fun items!


Reminders

November Submissions

Broadside submissions should be sent to Lisa Spitz & Monika Manocha (who will be taking over for Lisa) at [email protected]. The deadline for the November issue is October 22.