A Letter from our PTA President:

Kristen Allen-Bentsen

Hello IVE Families:

By the time you read this letter, we will have completed our science fair at IVE, we will have kicked off our exciting 2008 Walk-a-Thon, and we will be hard at work on our first ever Culture Fair. Each of these spring events is sponsored by the PTA and embodies our mission to create community and foster educational excellence.

This year’s science fair, chaired by the amazing team of Lynne Kunitz and Kim Nardi, featured over 220 entrants. This event gives our kids an opportunity to practice the scientific method while simultaneously encouraging curiosity and creativity (key to life long learning).

Now, we are working hard on our first ever culture night, a night we hope to bring together all IVE families to share a little about the cultures we come from. So far we have over 15 cultures represented including Mexico, Ireland, France, China, Hawaii, Japan and more! We would love to get as many IVE families participating on the sharing end as we can. Getting involved is as easy as bringing cultural items from your home or making a display with maps, flags and/or pictures. There are no speeches or presentations required of you and if you want to be involved, we will try to connect you with other families of the same culture. Contact Lucy at zoufamily@gmail.com or me at kallenbentsen@hotmail.com for more information. If you don’t have a culture to share, please come share in the open house on April 25th from 5 – 8. All the children who attend will receive a “passport” with cultural clues to solve toward winning a small prize. And our own Mrs. Slanina is teaching all the kids a song to sing together during the performance portion of the evening at 6:30.

Finally, we are gearing up for our Walk-a-Thon, which is historically our biggest and most important fundraiser. The funds we raise support all of our PTA programs like Art Docent, Eager Reader, Science-To-Go as well as provide for grade level allocations, field trips and assemblies. This year’s event is being chaired by the fabulous Colleen Gurkin and she and her team have planned some wonderful spirit day prizes for the kids to earn as an entire school, reinforcing our goal to build community and have fun! Mark your calendar, fill up your water bottle, and lace up those walking shoes to join us for the WAT on Friday May 16th. It’s always a great day!

And as busy as the spring promises to be for the PTA, with spring sports and with life in general, I hope that you still find time to stop and enjoy the warmth of an occasionally sunny day, the beauty of the pink cherry trees, the wonderful sound of kids riding their bikes outside and the knowledge that summer is right around the corner!

Kristen