December

The Howler

Happy Holidays!

Dear Parents,

As you do holiday shopping this month, please link your Fry's card to Coyote Trail. This opportunity has potential to really make positive changes in your child's classroom and it's so simple.

Click Here to link your Fry's card to Coyote Trail. *Remember, even if you did this last year, you need to renew it again this year. Encourage neighbors, friends and relatives to do the same with their Fry's card. After you sign up, you don't need to do anything else but shop!

This Month:

The school is accepting donations for the holidays, especially non-perishable food and drinks.

Holiday Concerts for band, orchestra and choir will be December 6 at 6:30 pm. All 5th and 6th graders need to arrive at 6 pm and wear nice dress clothes.

The 6th Grade Rock and Mineral Shop will open on December 5 and run through December 9. You can shop Monday - Thursday from 8:30 am to 2 pm. On Friday, the hours are 8:30 am to noon AND 6 pm-7:30 pm. The shop is primarily located in Miss Smoot's room, G 104, but will also be in the cafeteria during Snowfall.

On December 9 from 6:00-7:30 pm, Student Leadership is hosting Snowfall. This event offers you a chance for family fun. It will be filled with crafts, games and treats. You can also get some shopping done at the 6th grade Rock Shop. (see above)

Skip cooking, December 22, and head to our Chipotle Fundraiser night, where Coyote Trail gets 50% of the profit.


The annual All School Sing Along will be December 22 from 9:30-10:30 in the cafeteria. 

Also December 22 is the end of the semester and early dismissal at 11:00 AM.

Winter Break, School Resumes January 9, 2017

Upcoming Events

In the coming weeks, look for more information on this event in emails, papers home and our Facebook pages located here and here.

January 18 - Mama's Hawaiian Barbeque fundraiser, 11 am- 9 pm

Volunteer Extraordinaire

Angela Toy volunteers in a variety of ways at Coyote Trail. She helps in classrooms, works in the library during the book fairs, helps at the carnival and uses her joy of and talent at cooking and baking in helping with the cake walk at the carnival and staff luncheons. She said volunteering means a lot to her two children, who attend the school. She also likes to meet their friends, see what the kids are learning and enjoys helping because the staff and teachers are so friendly and welcoming. 

In her spare time, Mrs. Toy enjoys exercising and family time with her husband of 15 years, Shawn, and their children.

She said, " You don't have to invest a lot of time or know about what the children are learning to help out. It is not hard and very rewarding to volunteer at school." 

ABC Staff Member

Lisa Johnson loves working at Coyote Trail as the Gifted Education teacher, coach and builder of the Odyssey of the Mind club and director of the Makerspace/STEM lab/Science library. In her spare time, she likes to create new lessons and bike ride. She has three grown children and has been married to her husband, Dallas, for 25 years. They met when she was teaching 4th grade in Texas.

October Super Star Students

Each month, every teacher chooses one student,

who will attend lunch, catered by Texas Roadhouse, with

Mr. Johnson and the school counselor,  Ms. Lopez.

The subject in November was Reading and the lunch was the 18th. The students also participate in an activity with Mr. Johnson. Last month, students read articles in magazines and shared the stories with the rest of the group.

   The next Super Star lunch will be held December 16.

The following students were selected in November:

Kindergarten

Sarah Goldstein
Savannah Gum

First Grade

Scarlett Obral
Wyatt Rudd
Natalie McKinney

Second Grade

Ruby Maldonado
Abby Peterson
Kendyl Shields

Third Grade

Xander Ultsch

Ryanna Drey
Sienna Hunnicut

Fourth Grade

Sybil Fitzgerald
Austyn Cameron
Lauren Walker

Fifth Grade

Anneta Disang
Kyra Glasner
Ariel Salgado

Sixth Grade

Cadence Blankship
Jimmy Mikronis
Ashlee McDaniel

Bridge
Araceli Estrella

Great Things are Happening at Coyote Trail

A sincere thank you to those who contributed to our Thanksgiving meal donations. We were able to supply several families at Coyote Trail and in the district with a holiday meal.

Makerspace Update: Lisa Johnson reports that the Makerspace is coming along. Thank you for all the donations. The space still needs someone to organize it. Also, Mrs. Johnson is looking for donations of duct tape, masking tape, bottle caps and

hot glue gun sticks.

The Culver's mascot, Scoopy, visited the school to hand out coupons and promote the fundraiser.

The teacher tree is up in the lobby now. Each teacher has placed 3 ornaments on the trees detailing the items they need in their classrooms. Here is a sampling:

• Walmart, Target or Michael's Gift Cards
• Kleenex
• Sharpies
• Dry Erase markers
• Copy Paper
• Cardstock

Please stop by the office if you would like to pick a

teacher specific ornament.

Teacher Gifts

Do you ever wonder what your child's teacher really likes? If so, the front office has a new "like" book. The binder is full of teacher profiles including the things they LIKE the most.

This book is available for anyone to peruse at their convenience, but is not required reading.

Field Trips

In November:

November 7 - 1^st grade, Buckler, Fry’s

November 15 - 4^th grade, GEM, Flandrau Science Center. Students participated in hands on marine biology exploration. Activities included squid dissection, shark dissection, creating plankton and intertidal zone exploration.

November 15 - 4^th grade, Pettigrew and Nicolarsen, Saguaro National Park

November 21 - 4^th grade, Water Festival at Crossroads Park

November 23 - 4^th grade, Calderon, Saguaro National Park

Upcoming:

December 7 - 2nd grade, UA Flandrau Science Center

December 12 - 6^th grade, Reid Park Zoo

December 21 - 6^th grade, Harkin’s for movie reward

Ways to Raise Money For Coyote Trail

• November 21-January 7, make an eye appointment with Dr. Jennifer Bodley. Dr. Bodley will donate money to Coyote Trail when you get an eye exam or contact lens exam. In addition, if you purchase glasses that are more than $125, you will get $25 off.  To obtain a flyer for this promotion, contact the front office.
• Raytheon Employees: Raytheon's "Matching Gifts for Education Program" is designed to encourage Raytheon employees to support education with their personal contributions. Coyote Trail is eligible for matching gifts under this program, which means that if you do a tax credit donation to Coyote Trail, Raytheon will match your gift, doubling the amount of your donation up to $10,000! The Matching Gifts for Education program can be found here on the Raytheon network.
• Box Tops - collect box tops on many common pantry-type foods, Kleenex and frozen foods. *Remember to ask family and friends to collect Box Tops, too, and turn them into the front office or your child's teacher.





Labels for Education - program no longer in effect.

November PTF Meeting News

• Mr. Johnson requested money for movie licensing, so that classrooms can watch movies, at school, without violating federal law.
• Mr. Johnson also requested money for a Tortoise Habitat and supplies for a small tortoise the school acquired. Some PTF members were able to locate donated materials
• Lisa Johnson asked that PTF hold money for Odyssey of the Mind.
• PTF set aside some funds for Thanksgiving dinners, should the school not obtain enough donations.
• Our community relations coordinator, Tim Weiler, is working on getting items donated for the Volleyball Court.
• The PTF discussed the carnival
• The PTF also received updates on the Harkins, Golden Corral, Original Artworks and Culver's fundraisers.

Parent Teacher Friends (PTF) Board Members

Nicole Glasner - President

Kathryn Mikronis - Vice President

Keri D'Aiuto - Secretary

Barbara Lewis-Partch - Treasurer

Nikki Grubbs - Newsletter Editor

Celinda Garcia - Special Events

Courtney Cameron - Volunteer Coordinator

Tim Weiler - Community Relations

Carrie and Darrell Blanchard - Hospitality

Mellodie Stratman - Staff Liason

Lori Valentine - Staff Liason

Please e-mail any member of the board with any 

questions, comments, concerns at coyotetrailptf@gmail.com


PTF Board meetings are held the second Wednesday of every month at 3 pm. 
Everyone is welcome! 
Next Meeting: December 14

Next month's meeting will be January 11, 2017

*You may have noticed this issue of The Howler included advertisements. If you are interested in advertising in our newsletter, please contact me (Nikki Grubbs) at coyotetrailptf@gmail.com Thank you!

Prices are as follows:

Small- $5/month
Medium - $10/month
Large- $20/month
Extra Large - $40/month