KEMPO Weekly Newsletter - 11/19/200

Thanks to everyone who attended the KEMPO social hour on November 18, 2009. If you have a preferred night or time, please let us know at keystone.parents@gmail.com

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UN Dinner - Online Recipe Request & Video

The food was such a huge success at the UN Dinner, we would like to create a online recipe folder. Please send in your recipes, along with the country it’s from, that you made for the UN Dinner tokeystone.parents@gmail.com. If you only have a recipe on paper, please make a copy and leave it in the KEMPOmailbox upstairs. We’ll do our best to put it on there. If you used an online recipe. Please send us the pointer.

Also, here is a pointer to the audience participation video from the UN Dinner. Thanks to Ms. Walton for leading the musical event.

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Ideas in Progress and Request for feedback

Would you be interested in a babysitting to give you some time to go holiday shopping? If so, what timeframe, day of week and time? Comment on the KEMPO blog.

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Tip of the week - Event

Event: Festival of Trees

Date: November 21, 2009 - December 5, 2009
Location: Methuen, Massachusetts

The Festival of Trees, an annual event, was begun to fund the restoration of the Tenney Gatehouse. It is a magical event held annually by the Festival of Trees, Inc., to celebrate the spirit of the holiday season. For more information see the KEMPO blog.

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Have a very Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!

Keystone Montessori Parent Organization Weekly Newsletter - 11/12/2009

KEMPO social hour on November 18, 2009

We will have a KEMPO social hour and meeting from 6 to 8 pm on Wednesday, November 18, In an effort to accomodate work schedules, we have chosen an evening schedule and we hope that you can attend. This is your opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas about how KEMPO can make a difference and also to discuss any concerns you might have. We would like to share with you activities we are planning and look for your ideas and input. We will provide refreshments; however, childcare will not be available. Please RSVP to keystone.parents@gmail.com.

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KEMPO’s mission for the 2009/2010 school year:

Our mission for this school year is to help foster a greater sense of community and belonging among Keystone families, by organizing and hosting events every month. We believe that a vibrant and active parent community strengthens the school and creates an environment where students will enjoy their overall experience at the school.

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Meet the KEMPO Board members:

Co-Presidents: Leela Obilichetti and Radhika Pillai

Leela is a high tech software manager, and currently she is a full-time mom to her daughter, who attends Children’s House classroom 1.

Radhika is a marketing and brand management professional, who is currently a full-time mom to her son, who attends the Lower Elementary classroom.

Treasurer: Nandita Agarwal

Nandita’s son attends Children’s House classroom 4; Nandita owns a custom jewelry business.

Secretary: This position is currently open and available to parents who might be interested.

Other members of the board:

Karen Uttecht was President of KEMPO from 2007 to 2009 and is currently working towards her graduate degree in Computer Science at UMass Lowell. Her daughter attends the Lower Elementary classroom and her son goes to Children’s House classroom 1.

Diana Lawton is an author and food writer, and her son attends the Lower Elementary classroom. Diana is helping out with KEMPO’s fundraising activities.

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Tip of the week

Event - Town Halls Benefit Concert

Date: Saturday, November 21, 2009

The Chelmsford, MA Town Halls Benefit Concert will feature talented local artists. For more information see the KEMPO blog.

KEMPO Weekly Newsletter - 11/05/2009

Dear Parents,

We want to keep you updated with KEMPO news with our weekly newsletter. Our web site, www.keystoneparents.org, is also up and running and is being updated regularly.

UN Dinner pictures posted on website

This week, we have posted some pictures from the UN Dinner that was held on October 25, 2009. Do check them out at www.keystoneparents.org . We are incredibly thankful for the volunteers who spent time copying, organizing, shopping, setting up, breaking down and much more. Huge rounds of applause go to: Prem & Priya Rao, Jennifer Lucil, Kim Proulx, Anuja, Srikant, Carla, Srikant and Laksmi, Priyem, Natasha and all those who jumped in to help with the breakdown at the end of the event

KEMPO Social Hour(s)

In order to better accommodate parents’ work schedules, KEMPO will be hosting social hour(s) on Wednesday November 18^th from 6 pm to 8 pm at the school. All Keystone parents are invited. This will be a great opportunity if you have ideas on how KEMPO can help build a stronger parent community or if you have any concerns that you think KEMPO can help address. Refreshments will be provided. However, due to the late hours, child care will not be available.

Robert and Katy Siegler donate $100 to KEMPO

We want to extend a big thank you to Robert and Katy Siegler (parents of Claire Siegler in Lower Elementary) for their generous donation of $100 to support KEMPO. Your donation is greatly appreciated by all of us at KEMPO and the school!

Lastly, we want to let you know about some of the easy ways in which you can support Keystone while you are out shopping:

Box Tops for Education: (see attached flyer) Keystone earns 10 cents for every Box Top for Education coupon you give to the school. These coupons can be found on products you use every day, from Cheerios cereal to Ziploc bags. Our goal is to raise $500 this year - so far, we've raised $47.20. Just three coupons a month from every member of our school community would get us to this goal. For more about the program, visit http://www.boxtops4education.com . Drop your box tops off at the front desk in the lobby; there's a collection box on the bookshelf in front of Kathy Bundy's desk.

Target's Take Charge of Education Program: When you shop at Target and use their REDcard credit or check cards, Target will donate 1 percent of your purchase to Keystone. All you have to do register your card online and designate Keystone as your school of choice. Sign up here: www.target.com/tcoe

Hannaford Helps Schools Program: Through December 6, 2009, purchases earn three school dollars for every four participating products purchased at Hannaford's Drum Hill store. You'll get the dollars at the register -- just put them in the Keystone slot in the collection tower at the exit. That's it! In March, Hannaford will send Keystone a check. For a list of participating brands, click on the Hannaford Helps Schools link at http://www.hannaford.com

We are also in the process of registering Keystone for the Stop & Shop A+ Bonus Bucks program, where points accrue every time you use the Shop & Stop card. We will keep you posted with details as soon as they become available.

As always, we welcome suggestions; do let us know if you have content ideas for our web site.