Tuesday, May 26, to Friday, May 29, is Spirit Week at Grady Elementary. Here are the themes for each day:
Tuesday: Sports Day
Wednesday: Crazy Hair Day
Thursday: Mix & Match Day
Friday: Super Hero Day
Enjoy this fun-filled week at Grady!
Grady Elementary has won the Hillsborough County PTA’s Superintendent’s Award for Excellence in Increased Membership. The Award was presented by Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins. The award was accepted by Grady Principal Kristine Dosal and PTA President, Debbie Bresnahan. Our school won the award because we had the highest increase in PTA membership of all schools in Hillsborough County. Prior to presenting the award to Grady, Superintendent Eakins spoke about the importance of parental involvement in schools and how parental and teacher cooperation is critical to the success of a school. We are delighted and grateful to be presented with this wonderful honor. At the same award ceremony, Grady also won awards for Volunteerism and a Golden Participation Award for parental involvement. Grady was represented at the award ceremony by Mrs. Dosal (2014 Principal of the Year), Sandra Richmond (nominated for Outstanding Non-Instructional Person), Mr. Florio (2014-15 Grady Teacher of the Year and nominated for Hillsborough County PTA Teacher of the Year), PTA President Debbie Bresnahan, PTA President-Elect Kris House, VP of Event Jennifer Narvaes, VP of Membership MaryAnn Hoffman-Dougill, ASE Club Coordinator Moni Sears, and VP of Communications Ellen Lyons
Receiving the award:
Here's a picture of the group with the Superintendent's Award:
And a picture of the group before the awards ceremony began:
The Spring Musical is May 13! Here are the times for the many events:
Morning:
7:30 am to 8:30 am – buy raffle tickets and bid on silent auction items in front of the school, while enjoying free coffee and pastries. You need not be present to win raffle and silent auction items.
8 am to 8:30 am – Chair set up in the Pavilion. We still need volunteers for this, and it goes quickly with more people. To volunteer, please click here: Volunteer for Set Up or Breakdown of Chairs.
Afternoon and Evening:
3:30 pm to 7:30 pm, Book Fair in the Kathryn Hance Media Center (to volunteer for the Book Fair, click here: Volunteer for Book Fair
4 pm to 7:30 pm, Student Art Presentation in the Cafeteria
4:30 Food Trucks start serving and vendor tables are set up
5:00 pm Silent Auction and Raffle items available under the Pavilion. Raffle tickets are 7 for $5. We take cash, check and credit cards for raffle tickets and silent auction items. To see prizes, click here: Raffle and Silent Auction Items.
5:15 Students in the Chorus to report to Room 26, Actors report to Room 13, Dancers report to your grade level classrooms.
5:30 pm, Introductory remarks, PTA General Meeting
6:00 Spring Musical, How to Be A Pirate in Seven Easy Songs, begins. All other events, except food truck sales, stop during the Spring Musical Performance (from 5:45 pm to 7:00 pm)
7:00 Spring Musical ends, Silent Auction and Raffle Winners Announced. Winners will be notified and their names/prizes will be posted on our website.
7:00 Spring Musical chair breakdown occurs. To volunteer for this please click here: Volunteer for Set Up or Breakdown of Chairs, or simply stay and help. It takes less than 30 minutes if enough people help. Also, we need volunteers with drills (preferably cordless drills) to help break down the stage backdrop after the show. If you have a drill and can help out, please bring your drill and stay after the show to help!
7:00 to 7:30 Book Fair and Art Presentation are re-opened after end of Spring Musical.
Please be quiet during the Principal’s remarks, the PTA General Meeting and especially during the Spring Musical performance. Please remember that all parents should be able to hear their children perform. If you plan to talk during the performance, please proceed to the food truck area for your conversation. Grady students and teachers have worked hard to put on a wonderful show for you!
We look forward to seeing you tomorrow for our many Spring Musical events. If you have any questions, please email VP of Events, Jennifer Narvaes, at [email protected], VP of Volunteers, Chely Sierra, at [email protected], VP of Communications, Ellen Lyons, at [email protected].
Grady Teachers and Staff say, "Thank you" for the delicious sweets! Click for pictures of the sweets provided by Grady Families.
This has been a tremendous Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. Tomorrow is our final day and the theme is desserts. Please bring in, or send your students to school with special dessert treats (brownies, cookies, cake etc.) that are either homemade or store-bought, and preferably individually wrapped (except cake). Please plan to drop off the goodies at the front office on Friday, May 8th before 8:00 a.m
Thanks again for such a fun and wonderful week for our teachers. Teachers that we have talked to feel very appreciated!
Thank you Grady Families for your participation in the gift card give-away on Wednesday. 77 gift cards were donated by families from our school and another 80+ gift cards were funded by money made at the Barnes & Noble Family Night of Reading. A picture of the gift cards donated by families and some of the Barnes & Noble gift cards is attached. Gift card and gift item donations were made by the following families: Patterson, Azevedo, Panos, Andres, Mueller, Matos, Jackson, Sierra, Fitzgerald, Ledford, Dougill, Hammond, Schentrup, Lyons, Boyd, Stemac, Carroll, Sahoo, Andratte and Del Castillo. Some families did not leave their names on the gift cards, and we must simply thank them generally. The teachers loved the gift card give-away and we’ve received several thank you emails from the teachers. The teachers appreciate our strong family supporters and strong PTA, both of which greatly help our school.
Grady's Fence, Phase I, is almost complete. See pictures of the fence and mock-ups of the plaques.
Thank you for a fantastic flower day! So far, Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week has been a wonderful success. We started with Monday Breakfast (see a picture of the breakfast display here: Picture), today was flower day and tomorrow is Hats Off To Teachers and Staff. Please have students wear hats to school and consider giving teachers and staff gifts to show appreciation. If you don’t know what kind of gift card or gift your child’s teacher would like, please review teacher profiles here: Teachers; Administration here: Administration; and Specialists here: Specialists.
In addition to the individual teacher gifts given by students directly to their teachers, there will also be a drawing on the Morning Show, for prizes of gift cards and gift items. Thank you to everyone who has donated gift cards and gift items thus far. To donate gift cards and gift items for the Wednesday give-away, please drop them in the front office before 8 am on Wednesday. Please attach a note with your or your child’s name if you’d like it announced on the Morning Show.
To see more information about Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week, please click here: Teacher and Staff Appreciation. If you have any questions about Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week, please email Avery Maniscalco at [email protected].
Coming up is Grady’s Spring Musical. Grady Elementary PTA has lined up some spectacular raffle baskets and silent auction items for the Spring Musical. To see the items, click here: Baskets and Silent Auction Items.
You can join in the raffle and silent auction even if you don’t plan to attend the Spring Musical. You can buy raffle tickets (1 for $1 or 7 tickets for $5) on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (May 11-13) in front of school.
On Wednesday, May 13, we will not only sell raffle tickets, but we will display the baskets that are the raffle prizes (together with boxes for you deposit raffle tickets in), and we will display the silent auction items for viewing and bidding. We will serve free coffee and pastries, too. It should be a lovely morning for a raffle and silent auction get-together.
The winning raffle tickets will be drawn after the Spring Musical, but you need not be present to win, but please place contact information on the back of your raffle ticket! We will contact all winners of raffled and silent auction items, so feel free to buy tickets even if you are not planning to attend the Spring Musical.
Grady Elementary PTA celebrates and appreciates teachers and staff this week. On Monday, teachers and staff enjoyed coffee, tea, and breakfast treats, as pictured.
Tuesday, May 5, is Flower Day. Please have students bring each of their teachers, and the Grady staff who help our students, a flower to say “thank you for helping us bloom.” The flowers can be hand-made, store bought or picked from your garden (vases are unnecessary as most teachers and staff already have them). Please help shower our teachers and staff in flowers so we can show them just how much they mean to us.
It is not too late to drop a gift card off in the front office for the all-day give-away of gift cards and gift items on Wednesday. Please consider donating a gift card or other gift item of any amount to be given away on Wednesday. To have your child’s name announced when the item is given away, please include a note on the item. Please deliver gift cards and items to the front office today, tomorrow and Wednesday morning. Think of the hard work that teachers do in planning lessons, grading papers, communicating with parents and educating and inspiring our children, and it’s easy to realize just how much they deserve to be appreciated. This is our one-week opportunity to show teachers and staff that we acknowledge and appreciate their effort and commitment, so let’s make it count.
Also, please consider donating a 1.5 hour block or more of time to the Grady Spring Book Fair. Book Fair sales take place from May 13 to May 20, and there are volunteer spots from May 12 (set up) until May 20. We need parents to help children select books, organize books and work the cash register. A complete schedule of volunteer opportunities is available by clicking here: Book Fair Volunteers. You can sign up for your spot just by clicking on it. It is a simple, easy, 1-step way to volunteer. For any Book Fair questions, please contact Mr. Tsourakis at [email protected].
The Grady Elementary PTA Nominating Committee is seeking volunteers for board and committee positions for the 2015-2016 school year. Specifically sought is a Fundraising person to manage the Fall Fundraiser and Tiger Trek and an Events person to plan and execute events at the school. We also need a Social Chair to plan evenings out and social events for our general membership. We need a Dad’s Club Chair to organize events specifically for fathers of Grady students. If you have an interest in one of these roles, or want to talk about customizing a role for yourself based on your talents, please reply by email or write to the Nominating Committee, care of Kris House, at[email protected].
The Grady Elementary Spring Musical featuring the play, How to Be a Pirate: In Seven Easy Songs, is coming up on May 13, from 5 pm to 7:30 pm. In addition to the fantastic student performances, Grady PTA has lined up food trucks, vendors, and a number of silent auction and raffle items, the list of which can be found here: Spring Musical.
Grady Elementary congratulates new Chief of Police for the City of Tampa, Eric Ward. Chief Ward is the husband of first grade teacher, Mrs. Ward. Chief Ward came by the school on Friday and was recognized with a hand-painted banner congratulating him on his achievement. To see a pictures of Chief Ward, Mrs. Ward and her class, as well as a picture of Mrs. Dosal, Mr. Campbell and Chief Ward, with the banner, please click here: TPD Chief Ward Visits Grady Elementary.