• Thank you Spirit Committee Chairs John Erwin and Matt Torregrossa for coordinating a successful Muffin Man Mornin'  and thanks to all the Dads/Father Figures for joining their student on Friday morning for coffee and muffins. 
• Kudos to Selena Crochet and Laurie Pitzer for coordinating a very successful book fair. We truly appreciate all of your support. We don't have any final numbers yet, all proceeds will benefit the OFE library.   
• Thank you to all volunteers who helped Merin Noonan and Nancy Grieg at the Arboretum work day this past Saturday. 

• Thank you to OFE PTA Teacher Appreciation committee chairs Kathleen Orr and Renee Dahlmeier who provided Pies in the Pods to teachers before Thanksgiving.

• Edward Lo
• Tyerra Osborne
• Elizabeth Johnson 

1.       Wrath of the Black Manta for my Nintendo

2.       A Super Nintendo

3.       A Joe Montana Football

4.       My first Daisy bb gun

5.       A 1978 Ford Thunderbird (The Green Machine)...my first car

Thank you Coach Barefield to contributing to our Spotlight and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

(Editorial comment: for any OFE Students reading this, the 8-bit Nintendo, or NES, and the 16-bit Super Nintendo, or SNES, were gaming systems that totally ruled and dominated youth pop culture for the good part of two decades)

2014-2015 Fall Festival Committee Chairs

A Big Thank You to our Committee Chairs for an Amazing Event!

We would like to thank our Committee Members:

• Christina Rapazzo  for organizing the Volunteers and being our Room Parent Liason. 
• Maricela Pina for helping with decorations and hand making all the pennant banners.
• Selena Crochet and Jenn Brown for organizing the T-shirt distribution.
• Jill Davis for organizing and obtaining all food items, and helping with obtaining Sponsorship.
• Lisa Buss, Jen Sudduth and Courtney Zavala for helping with obtaining Sponsorship.
• Betsy Denson for advertising our Fall Festival. 
• Sarah Ordonez for managing the finances and the ticket and bobby bracelets sales
• Amber Caver and Robin Day for support in all areas. 

All these ladies were in charge of specific tasks but all went above and beyond and helped out overall in all areas of Fall Festival.  These are outstanding women that gave many hours to ensure that the Festival would be a success and we greatly appreciate all their hard work. 
 

A Special Thanks to: 

• Jill Standley for sewing all the beautiful banners at each individual booth.
• Elyssa Horvath for the publicity banners and Sponsor Banners
• Herman Lam for web page support
• Ms. Sotelo for arranging and organizing staff as well as many other things pertinent to the Fall Festival.
• Mr. Sanchez for coming in on his day off to help out set up and clean up.
• Mr. Roy for helping students make the Coat of Arms. 
• Robert Martinez and the many wonderful dads that came to help set up & cook early in the morning and stayed to clean up after the event.  
• Greg Ryden for building the catapults
• All teachers and staff that helped out during the festival. 
• Lastly the many, many volunteers that helped out at the booths. 

Everyone is greatly appreciated and we are in awe of all the help that we received this year. It was a big event and would not have been successful without the help of the many wonderful volunteers. 

Thank you, 

Hien Reynoso and Christina Amos

Jean Young has been an Oak Forest teacher, parent and grandparent of an Oak Forest student for 39 years. At the present time, granddaughter Ne'vaeh Young is in Mrs. Wilkerson's Fifth Grade class and nephew Anthony Gray is in Ms. Locander's Fifth Grade class.

Jean started working at Oak Forest in 1975. Her generational connection started when her older son graduated from Oak Forest in 1980. Five of her grandchildren attended and graduated from OFE.  Her dedication and commitment goes back 39 years ago when she worked at Oak Forest School as a teacher, Testing Coordinator and Title I Coordinator. Jean retired from OFE in 2012, and now is a PTA volunteer when the opportunity permits.

She says that Oak Forest School has always been an excellent school. "My favorite thing about Oak Forest is the diversity of the school and that the administration, teachers and staff care and respect all children," she said. "They commit to their teaching that each and every child shall grow to their potential. The opportunities and engaging activities that the school and PTA provide enhances the learning experience, and the exposure makes a well-rounded student."   

Jean says it has been important to her to be a PTA member for 39 years because there's strength in numbers and the PTA advocates for quality education. "The PTA lifted my pleasurable satisfaction often with the Teacher Appreciation Breakfasts and Luncheons, and supported my classroom with educational materials for many years," says Jean. "I remember an active PTA when I attended high school, but, who can remember that far back? I never realized the effect of PTA until I began working at Oak Forest School."

Don't forget to sign up for Kroger Rewards if you haven't already.  Every time you use your Kroger Plus card, Kroger will donate money to Oak Forest Elementary.  All you need to do is go to the following website and enroll in their Community Rewards Program.  Choose Oak Forest Elementary PTA / Organization No. 90142 as your reward choice!

            www.kroger.com/communityrewards