The PTO sponsored programming by the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence (”the Center”) which included a teacher in-service day on January 16, 2009.  Our principal, Ms. Chamberlain, worked with the Center to plan the in-service.  During the in-service, the Center shared the information that they gained from the HDES students that participated in the focus groups during October 2008.  At the February 10 PTO meeting, the PTO will hear from teachers regarding the information they received at the in-service and they will discuss how they will implement the information.

Congratulations to our new PTO President, HDES parent Kelly Byron!  Kelly began her term as President on January 1, 2009 after having served as President of the Children’s Discovery Museum in Augusta.  She is, without a doubt, the the best organized President the PTO has ever seen!   Welcome and thank you to Kelly!

At our November 12th meeting, Renee Page one of our parents who works for Healthy Communities of the Capital Area (HCCA), the Healthy Maine Partnership that serves our towns, gave a brief presentation about all that HCCA has to offer our school and community. HCCA offers resources and technical support related to tobacco and substance use prevention and treatment, increased physical activity opportunities, improved nutrition, and sun safety. Click on the link below to view Renee’s PowerPoint presentation. If you have any questions or are interested in any of the resources available through HCCA for our schools, please contact Renee at rpage@mcd.org or 207-588-5020.hdes_pto_intro_to_hmp_1112081

Around the holidays do you feel anxious, irritable or depressed? The
practice of yoga can help alleviate these negative emotions and bring back a
feeling of joy. Give yourself the gift of stress free holidays. Register for
my 4 week Holiday Yoga Class beginning Wednesday November 19th @ 6pm.
Sign-up for the session before the 19th and get the first class free. That’s
$30 for 4 classes or $12 to drop-in. Contact Josselyn of Full Lotus Yoga
Studio for more info.
E-mail: fulllotus@roadrunner.com
Phone: 582-0265

September – December 2008 – Hannaford Helps Schools.  Save your slips and turn them in to the PTO during September through December 2008.  It’s easy to participate – watch for details this Fall.  Last year HDES was a top participant in central Maine and received a bonus check for our school!  Contact:  Aimee Ellis, aimeeellis@roadrunner.com

We are looking for some good ideas for a great FUNdraiser for this Spring.    Why?  Without the efforts of the PTO, our kids would not have the field trips and in-school presentations that they love so much.  The PTO also funds the popular Star of the Week Program and the Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week.    All of these efforts require funding and it’s up to us to get the job done. In the past, we’ve had a great time building community while at the same time raising funds through read-a-thons and math-a-thons.  We’ve had bulb sales and garage sales.  Should we recycle these ideas or come up with some new ones?  What do you think?  Please email Kristin at kristinaiello@roadrunner.com and share your thoughts.

Thanks to the efforts of parent Maria Fuentes, our PTO Star of the Week coordinator, and her dedicated parent volunteers, we are going to begin Star of the Week program on Monday, September 8!  

The Star of the Week program is run by the PTO throughout the school year.  Every Monday, PTO volunteers choose randomly one student from every classroom to be honored.  The kids are photographed and interviewed for their own special poster.  They receive a ’star of the week’ ribbon, a voucher to attend the school store, and their poster displayed for a week.   It is an understatement to say that they kids LOVE this program, and of course parents and teachers love it, too.

Without volunteers, the program would not work.  Please consider helping with this effort.   If you want to find out more about how you can help, please call Maria at 592-0227.     

The PTO extends a warm welcome to all new HDES families.  Our meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.  Our next meeting is Tuesday, September 9 in the library.   Babysitting is provided.   Please join us!

On May 13, the PTO elected its new officers for the 2008-2009 school year.  Kristin Aiello will continue as President until January 2009.  Kelly Byron will then serve as our President.  Jennifer Bechard was elected as Vice President. Dena Albert was re-elected as Secretary and Debbie Paszyc as Treasurer.  We are delighted to have such a dedicated and talented group of leaders for our PTO.  We all look forward to another great school year!