Dear Parents:

The first half of the school year has been a very busy one for PTA! Our committees have brought some wonderful programs to our school. Cultural Arts continues to enrich and challenge our children's school experience. The entire school enjoyed learning about the Lenape Indians and other various Native Americans through stories and songs. The Bierkos' musical talent entertained grades 3-5 with their "Everyone's A Winner" program. The children have also enjoyed visits by "Imagine If" by Jamie, a musical cure for tv-itis, an "Abe Lincoln" presentation, a musical performance using recycled materials and a visit by author/illustrator, Don Brown. The committee has many more programs planned for the rest of the year.

ASCAP programs kept the children busy after school this fall. They enjoyed some old favorites as well as some new ones. Look for the spring classes to be just as fun filled. Science In A Shoebox continues to be a popular item with our children who enjoy doing experiments at home. PARP's kickoff was "magical". This year's theme is "reading is magic". The PARP Committee has worked hard to help our children and their parents develop a positive attitude towards reading. Keep the "magic" going!

Our fund raisers continue to be a great success because of your enthusiasm and support. The children enjoyed another Scholastic Book Fair. In addition to our profit, our school received $325.00 in "free" books. Congratulations to fifth grader, Samantha Goltz, who won the $25.00 raffle as well as the $25.00 raffle for Mrs. Zeller's classroom. Our library received $100.00 in donated books and $175.00 was divided between all classrooms (approx. three books/class) on behalf of PTA.

Our bake sales have been enjoyed by all. The proceeds are used to purchase educational material for our classrooms. School Spirit Day continues to be a big hit with the children. They are proud to be part of Little Tor and enjoy "adopting" the Little Tor Tiger for the class with the most school spirit. So remember ... be bold and wear red and gold on the first Friday of each month. The Yearbook Committee is in full swing offering the parents of Little Tor the opportunity to place two types of ads in this year's yearbook - a one-line booster ad for $5.00 or a business card size ad for $10.00. Make your checks payable to "Little Tor PTA". The "big screen" arrived at our school with the showing of "Mouse Hunt", thanks to our Family Movie Night Committee. A good time was enjoyed by all. Our classrooms received "new" outdoor recess equipment thanks to the efforts of our Playground Committee.

The Health and Safety Committee has been busy sending home informational fliers to help inform and educate. We look forward to the adult and pediatric CPR instruction courses being offered to the parents and staff members of Little Tor. The classes filled up quickly due to the large response. Membership has worked hard to reach as many as possible to join PTA. We are proud to inform you that we have reached near 90% membership. Congratulations to Ms. Robertson's kindergarten class. They were the first to achieve 100% membership this year. An award of $15.00 was given to Ms. Robertson to purchase books and/or educational material for her classroom. Thanks to all who have joined PTA - you make our programs possible and help support PTA's efforts throughout the state and nation. Our Recognition Committee has been busy. In honor of School Custodian, School Nurse and School Counselor months, we recognized our custodians, Mrs. Garvey, Rita Schmidt and Jody Janis for all they do for our school. We appreciate you so much! The Reflections program had quite a few entries. Children who participated, as well as their families, were invited to a Reflections reception. Awards were presented to the winners of the competition, whose entries were sent to the state PTA competition level. Congratulations to all those who participated.

We are so proud of our very own second grader, Ian Pena, whose visual arts entry was selected to be part of the state PTA competition. Way to go Ian! All entries will be displayed at school for your viewing pleasure.

We would like to thank all the committees and volunteers for working so hard to help make these programs happen. A special thanks to our wonderful Hospitality Committee for supplying us with coffee and goodies throughout the year. Another special thank you to our Newsletter editors for bringing us this issue. We appreciate all your hard work and dedication. Special thanks to Mrs. Tolomeo for all her support and guidance to help make these programs possible. To our school secretary, Mrs. Eileen Savage, thank you for your patience and help in getting things done. To our teachers and teaching assistants who work so hard for our children, we applaud you and appreciate your support.

PTA has many more programs planned for the rest of the school year. We hope to bring you a Talent Show and Family Fun Night. These programs are possible because of PTA membership, hard work and enthusiastic volunteers. Please join and help to continue to have "success shine on everyone at Little Tor".