rachel carson middle school

2009-2010 RCMS PTA Officers

President	Christine Clark
7th grade VP	Karen Andrich
8th grade VP	Sofi Cahoon
Secretary	Courtney Bulger
Treasurer	Diana Tycer-Bice

Dear Parents,

As I write this I find it hard to believe that the first quarter is almost over! Students are settled into their routines and every time I am at Carson, I am always in awe at how smoothly things run on a daily basis.

Thanks to everyone who let Subway “make dinner” at the 7th grade BTS night in September. A big thank you to the NJHS volunteers who did a GREAT job feeding everyone and who were such phenomenal sales people that ALL of the subs were sold! The money that we raise on Subway sales and at our Spirit Dining Nights goes back to Carson to help defray costs of things such as student development, technology expenses and staff development. We are still in need of someone to coordinate the spirit dining nights. Spirit Dining Nights are a great way to meet other families in the RCMS community and let someone else do the cooking! If you are interested in getting involved please give me a call or send me an email. It does not involve a lot of time, but gives back to RCMS in a big way.

I would also like to thank all of the parent volunteers who have helped out with gym uniforms, picture day, magazine sales and making the BTS nights a great success. Thank you to the parents who have joined the PTA. We currently have approximately 681 members and we would like to try to exceed our membership from last year. If you did not join at BTS nights it is still NOT TOO LATE to join the PTA or donate to Friends of Carson. As of this writing, we have exceeded our anticipated donations from Friends of Carson which has raised over $8000. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Joining the PTA is our way of saying we care about our children and their school community. Throughout the years, PTA has focused on a variety of issues which affect our children including nutrition, physical fitness, substance abuse, school lunches and family life education as well as many more. The majority of your contributions stay at Rachel Carson, but the money that goes to state and national PTAs help support these and many other programs. If you would like to learn more about PTA, please visit www.pta.org.

Thanks again to Jeannine Dollard for all of her hard work putting the directory together. The directory will be available for $5.00 (make checks payable to RCMS PTA). Directories will be available for sale during student lunches and in the front office. Keep an eye out for the sale dates.

The Magazine Drive is coming to a close, and I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to Debbie Perreault for all of her hard work coordinating volunteers and to ALL of the volunteers who have made this program such a success. The RCMS staff certainly appreciates all of you who have purchased magazines or donated your time during the prize and tally days.

If you have not already done so, please sign up for Giant Bonus Bucks or with your VIC card at Harris Teeter. Even if you registered last year, you must reregister each year. You may sign up at your local store or online. For Giant the web address is www.giantfood.com/aplus; the RCMS ID number is 03624 (password YJQK). For Harris Teeter, go to www.harristeeter.com; login is TIE6719 (password CARSON1). We also have Box tops for Education at RCMS so remember to save those box tops! We are still in need of a coordinator for this program so if you are interested in getting involved or have any questions please DO NOT HESITATE to get in touch with me.

Lastly, we are still in need of someone(s) who have a special talent for party planning…think celebrity wedding coordinator…JUST KIDDING! We are still without a coordinator for the 8th grade celebration, so if you want to let your party planning skills shine please give me a call or send me an email. If we do not have a coordinator for this event it cannot happen. This is the event that marks the “graduation” celebration of our 8th graders onto high school. These memories last a lifetime. My 24 year-old still talks about his RCMS celebration today as he remains friends with those he has been friends with since middle school.

Let me just close by saying I feel so fortunate to be a part of this community. I know how busy life can be and I am always so impressed by how giving and enthusiastic the staff, parents and kids of RCMS are. We ask a lot and you give a lot but never without a tremendous level of caring. I look forward to seeing you at the PTA meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the library. Please note: the November meeting will be held at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, November 11 during the Open House. PLEASE be mindful of flu season; WASH YOUR HANDS, GET YOUR FLU SHOT and if you or your children have any flu-like symptoms, PLEASE do not send them to school. As a nurse I want to see as many people as possible stay healthy during flu season!

PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE to call or email me with any comments, questions or concerns.