President’s Report
Dear Parents:
Our children have now received their first nine weeks report cards and I am now officially in the swing of the 2002- 2003 school year. I can also happily report that the Morrow children have not been late once this year. Yes, I know it is shocking. I chock it up to being a new middle school parent and all the pressure that entails. I hope your first nine weeks have been as smooth as our family’s.

I would like to thank all parents who have attended the PTO’s first two meetings. The attendance has been amazing. I truly think that offering a morning and evening meeting has been very successful. The morning meetings are held in the cafeteria and the evening meetings are held in room #302. Thank you for all of your input and help in planning upcoming events, It is nice to see new parents involved.

Speaking of involvement... Over the next few weeks two of the PTO’s biggest events will be taking place, Make-A- Difference Day, October 26, and our school’s annual Harvest Festival, November 8 & 9. We will need everyone’s help. Sharmon Miller is in charge of our Make-A-Difference Day activities. We will take this opportunity to make a difference at our own school. We will be working on the school grounds and will also be laying wood chips on the playground. We are also going to paint the elementary school’s bathrooms. Gigi Kady is going to be in charge of this aspect of Make-A- Difference Day. The painting area will be for the adults. I encourage all families at St. John School to take part in this national event. We will begin at 8:00 until and with Saturday soccer games just come and do as much as you and your family can.

Harvest Festival is steaming forward. Charlotte Ford has done a fantastic job along with her committee. Please read her article and mark the dates on your calendar. There will be some surprises this year and we hope you make this date a priority for your family. With the funds raised from the Harvest Festival, the PTO is truly able to make a difference in your children’s lives at St. John’s. This is the reason that we work so hard on this event.

Skate Night will be held tonight at 6:00PM at the Skate Factory. This evening is a wonderful way to get to know other families as you fight to keep your balance.
Finally, St. John’s Middle School soccer teams play on Friday night at Harders’ Park. If you are looking for something to do on a Friday night ask Coach Redaelli about the boys and girls schedules. Generally the girls play first and the boys’ game is immediately following. Our school is so small and most of the younger kids know the names of the middle school students. Please join us as we cheer for these athletes who are so talented. We should be so proud of both of our Panther teams.
Sincerely, Nicki Morrow:872-8995

Make-A-Difference Day
If you and your family would like to take part in this year’s event, please call me at 872-7406. We will be planting plants, weeding, picking up trash, laying wood chips on the playground and just generally sprucing up the campus. All students are welcome. However, parental supervision is necessary. Along with our event, St. Jude’s will be hosting their annual flea market on the church’s grounds. There will be an increase in traffic and we will need to be careful in crossing the street with the kids. Make- A-Difference Day is a national day of volunteerism and what a better way to introduce it to your kids then at their own school. Rakes, shovels, wheel barrows, and gloves marked with your family’s name are a must for the day. We want the kids to help spread the wood chips on their playground. If you could bring their tools from home plastic or otherwise, that would be great.
Also, if you would like to bring some plants to donate to the school to be planted on Make-A-Difference Day that would be wonderful. Also, gift cards to local hardware stores or monetary donations to help off-set the cost of the painting of the school’s bathrooms would also be greatly appreciated.
We hope that you will join us for this exciting day. Please call me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Sharmon Miller

Harvest Festival News
We are very excited to report that we have raised $12,102.00 in sponsorship money for this year’s Harvest Festival. We would like to thank everyone who donated and also to everyone who helped to acquire a donation.

T-shirts will be coming out this week. Dr. Collins has agreed to allow the children to wear their Harvest Festival shirts everyday instead of their uniform shirts. Thank you to Cindy Cottingham for her hard work with chairing the t shirts. This year’s t-shirt design winner is Grace Rhea, 5th grade. She did a fantastic job along with all of the students who submitted a design. We are so blessed to have such talented students at St. John’s.

Patty McDaniel is hard at work planning the “Adult only” Harvest Festival Kick Off Block Party, October 8. Thank you to the Bay Point Marriott and Mr. David Bartek for underwriting the evening’s event. Along with a cook out, we will have our teacher’s famous live “Service Auction”. Our party will move outside and plan on dancing under the stars as we are entertained by the local band “Angry Old Men”. Mark your calendars and we will have more info as we get closer.

The planning for the Harvest Festival for Saturday, November 9 is going well. Silent Auction has some really great items, Disney ticketsl Thank you to Katherine Faucheux and Tern Kinsey for their hard work. Crystal Martinez has booked some new rides for the day’s event including a Rock Climbing Wall and a Bungee Run. Barb Husum and Melodee Weber are the Queens of the Kitchen with George Husum and Outback Steakhouse tempting your taste buds for lunch. The classroom booths are going to be great with a pie throwing booth, the always popular Cake Walk, and the fun Silly Shower. Invite your friends to join you for a day of fun.

Our next meeting will be held on Monday, November 4th at 8:00AM in the cafeteria. Everyone is welcome. Yours truly,
Charlotte Ford, 960-1479