Coming soon!  TigerTrek student Walk-a-thon on November 17th

WHAT: The annual Grady Walkathon will take place on November 17^th. Your child will have an opportunity to raise money in a fun way! 

WHY: This PTA fundraiser will have no food to buy, magazines to order or catalogs to look through. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to Grady to benefit your children and our school.  It's a great way for your child to have fun while they exercise.

HOW: Students can ask family members, friends and neighbors to support Grady by pledging money towards their participation. Parents may also take this form to work to ask co-workers to support their child at Grady. You can also donate online here: Donate online. 

For your convenience, per-lap pledges have been replaced by flat donations.  However, your walker will still enjoy competing for prizes on the number of laps completed.

GOALS AND INCENTIVES:

-  We encourage every walker to raise at least $35 in donations.

-  The PTA has worked hard to win sponsorship from local businesses.  There will be hundreds of prizes from Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Xtreme Juice, Yogurtology, Pinarama Lanes and more! Others have graciously donated money and you’ll see their logos on the event T-shirt.

-  The event T-shirt will be award to walkers who raise a minimum of $35.  Your child is welcome to wear their Tiger Trek t-shirt on Spirit Day… so expect their excitement. 

IMPORTANT DATES:

-  Tuesday, October 24th- Donation Envelope will go home with your child.  The outside of the envelope will be used to record and collect donations. 

-  Monday, October 30th- deadline to return the Donation Envelope by to guarantee your child has their t-shirt for the Walk-a-thon.  Envelopes turned in after that, which meet the $35 threshold will still receive the t-shirt, it just may not be in time for Tiger Trek. 

-  Friday, November 17th- date of Tiger Trek Walk-a-thon

The Fall Festival was a great time for families to mingle and have fun!  I think it was our biggest year ever and we saw many students who have moved on to middle school return to enjoy the festivities or work some of the stations. 

We would like to thank all of our parent and teacher volunteers - the Fall Festival would not be possible without your time and dedication.  A special thanks to the dads and Mrs. Doremus for keeping the food tent running so smoothly! Thank you also to Mr. Tsourakis for being such a good sport about being slimed! 

We hope everyone enjoyed the Fall Festival as much as we did!

To see some pictures of the Fall Festival, please click here. We are working on getting a video of Mr. Tsourakis being slimed. 

We have some exciting events coming up!  Please click on the links for additional information.

·         10/13-20 - Grady "Wild West Book Fair" in the Kathryn Hance Media Center. Please click on Volunteer at the Book Fair to see the volunteer schedule and sign up. The Book Fair is also online from October 8-21.  Click on this link to see learn more:  Online Book Fair. If we reach the Book Fair sales goal of $11,000, Media Specialist Nick Tsourakis will be SLIMED during the Fall Festival! 

·         10/20 – Grady Fall Festival from 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm at Grady.  It’s a very fun family night with lots of games, two inflatable play areas and plenty of food. Please click on Fall Festival for more information and click on the Order Form to order your wristbands – they are $20 for 1st Wristband and $15 for each additional Wristband. Today is the final day to pre-order Wristbands. 

To make the fall festival successful, we depend on parent volunteers to help run the games and booths. To volunteer for a PTA booth, please sign-up on our volunteer form, or contact the homeroom parent for your child's classroom, or your child’s teacher. Thank you to all of the parents that have already signed up to volunteer.

·         10/31 - Storybook Parade at Grady 

·         11/5 – Tampa Bay Food Truck Rally and Silent Auction in support of End 68 Hours of Hunger. Click End 68 Hours of Hunger for more information.

·         11/17 – Tiger Trek Walk-a-thon

·         3/3 – Grady’s adult only Auction Night at Christ the King. Click here to purchase tickets. To donate items for the auction, please contact Julie Alexander at [email protected].

Please keep collecting Box Tops for Grady and turn them in to your teachers by October 23^rd. If you have any questions regarding Box Tops, please contact Kat Cowley at [email protected].

Yearbooks are on sale! To buy a yearbook for your child go to http://www.strawbridge.net/order-online/ and use online code: 112045.  You can also purchase yearbook ads for 5^th graders only. To purchase an ad for your 5^th grader, go to https://gradytigers.org/fifth-grade-yearbook-ads. Contact Norma Maiz with any questions about yearbooks at [email protected].

Pasta for Pennies benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society  (LLS) is beginning on Thursday, October 19 and running through November 3.  Pasta for Pennies is the student series fundraising program that helps local cancer patients by raising funds needed to support blood cancer research.  Students will receive a flyer and a small box to collect their change (as well as any bills or checks) on Thursday.  The classroom with the highest amount collected will receive a pasta lunch from Olive Garden.

To see pictures of Art & Family Night, please click here:  Art & Family Night at Chick-fil-A.

Congratulations to Melinda Dickens, Debonique Grigsby and Kim Young, who are being awarded for their commitment to excellence in education!

Melinda Dickens, fourth grade teacher, has been named Grady Teacher of the Year.  Debonique Grigsby, Art Specialist, has been named Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year.   And, Kim Young has been named Instructional Support Person of the Year.  Each winner has brought their best efforts and utilized their talents to serve the students at Grady. 

Guidance Counselor, Ms. Nancy Barra, asks us to read the October Home & School Connection. 

The Fall Festival is coming up on Friday, October 20^th from 5 pm until 7:30 pm at Grady.  Please join us for an amazing event!  We will have a variety of carnival games with prizes; a giant inflatable obstacle course, as well as a regular bounce house; a photo booth; temporary tattoos and hair, nail and face painting at the “Bootique;” and more.  This event provides hours of fun, food and family time.

In addition, if we reach the Book Fair sales goal of $11,000, Media Specialist Nick Tsourakis will be SLIMED during the Festival! 

To make the fall festival successful, we depend on parent volunteers to help run the games and booths – please consider taking a shift at your child’s classroom booth or a PTA booth to help our kids enjoy a successful event. To volunteer for a PTA booth, please sign-up on our volunteer form, or contact the homeroom parent for your child's classroom, or your child’s teacher.  Special note – we need some Dads to grill some hot dogs!

Admission to the festival itself is free for children and adults, but the games, bounce houses, "Bootique" and food cost money.  Without a wristband, game tickets are $1 each. You can purchase a wristband for your child that entitles each child to unlimited games, bouncing, "Bootique" visits and popcorn. Wristbands are just $20 for the first child and $15 for each additional wristband if you purchase before October 17th.  This is a substantial discount from the day-of-event wristband price of $25.  To purchase a wristband using our Cisco-certified secure online registration and payment system (all credit cards accepted), please click here: Wristband Order Form. If you wish to pay by cash or check, please complete the Wristband Order Form that was sent home and submit to your teacher with the cash or check.

Wristband pick up is will-call style at the event.  All wristbands will be available for pick up on the night of the Fall Festival at the PTA table.  You’ll be asked for the name and teacher of the student under whose name you made the wristband reservation.

Hot dogs, chips and drinks will be available for purchase with $1 tickets. There will also be a donation-only bake sale, which benefits the fifth grade end of year activities. If you would like to donate baked goods for the fifth grade bake sale, please drop them off to Jaime Patterson on Thursday or Friday morning; or during festival set-up. Ideally they are individually wrapped for easy sale.

To see photos of last year’s Fall Festival, click here: 2016 Fall Festival and to see photos from 2015, click here: 2015 Fall Festival Photos.  To see a video of Mr. Tsourakis being slimed at the 2016 Fall Festival, please click here: 2016 Sliming.