Bobcat Tracks- October 2016
Connecting our Community
Letter from our PFC President
Dear Bobcat Families,

First of all a HUGE thank you to Stefanie Lee, Jennifer McCullock and their volunteers (including the great staff at Dianne Adair!) for another FUN Walk-A-Thon.  Not everyone can take on a job as big as Stefanie and Jennifer have (for three years in a row!), but please don't underestimate how important and impactful even the smallest of supporting roles is.  Soliciting volunteers isn't a favorite job for most people, but *having* volunteers is such a morale booster - in addition to the actual help.  So please find the names of all the people who helped to make Friday's Walk-A-Thon a success on the right side bar and thank them!  We wouldn't have these events without people like Stefanie and Jennifer; but we also wouldn't have them without that team!  And thank you too to all the room parents who helped solicit this team. 

And please see the article in this Tracks about our School Makers Faire.  It was a grand success, with many attendees, lots of different booths - many run by students - and fun had by all! Thank you Clair Boomer and her team for putting this together. There have already been many requests to make this an annual event! 

Next weekend we have another important event at school - the Fall Fest.  It's a long-standing tradition and a lot of fun for kids and parents alike.  It is also the beginning of the fundraising that happens in order to send the current 4th grade to Outdoor School next November.  Outdoor School is something that 5th graders have been looking forward to "my whole life" (as Mrs. Schuler reported hearing).  It's also quite a bit of money.  The Fall Fest is headed up by 4th grade families (thank you Amy Walters and Emerald Bristol!), and other 4th grade families play a big supporting role.  But we do need the help of the whole community to make this work.  Please come out that day and have fun.  And please consider if you might have an hour or two to help where help is needed.  There are many spots left.   To sign up on Konstella, click here.  4th grade families in particular, we really need you!!  We do not want to be trying to close a massive fundraising gap next October.

And a word about Konstella.  Philip Juarez, our Communications Chair, along with Suzanne Leibowitz, our Head Room Parent, are working hard to iron out the wrinkles and help people onboard and understand this new channel.  But none of us at Bancroft have used it before and it's a learning curve.  We believe the curve is worth it and we hope, at the least, you've seen the value in having the directory available on your phone!  If you have suggestions for things that could work better, Philip will happily accept your ideas.  And thank you for working with us and your room parents as we navigate this change.  And another huge thank you to room parents for all your efforts along these lines! 

Happy Fall to everyone.  

Mari Mielcarski
President, Bancroft PFC 
Fall Fest, Saturday October 29th
Bancroft Halloween Festival
Saturday, October 29
3:00 - 5:30pm

Join us for Bancroft's favorite spooktacular event - the Bancroft Fall Festival!  Wear your costume and get ready for some tricks and treats.  We'll have lots of BOO-tastic games, prizes, food, music, airbrush tattoos, the popular CAKE WALK, ghostly HAUNTED HOUSE and more!  It's one of the biggest events of the year!
 
SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER FOR YOUR CLASS BOOTH HERE-volunteer slots still available!

PURCHASE ADVANCED TICKETS HERE
 
Tickets will be available for purchase the day of the event and advanced tickets can be picked up at Will Call table. All proceeds go to support the Outdoor Ed program for the 4th Grade Class.
 
AND DON'T FORGET THE CAKE WALK!
We're looking for baked treats to make our Cake Walk game at the Fall Festival a scrumptious success! Donate your favorite cake, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, Rice Krispie treats or whatever your specialty!  Drop off your tasty treats the day before Fall Fest between 7:45am - 10:00am on Friday, Oct. 28 to the Multi-Use Room.   If you need to drop off on Saturday morning, contact Courtney Russell.
Traffic Safety
Hi Bobcat Families!

First, I would like to thank those who have taken the time to volunteer for traffic duties. All of us appreciate it!

To ensure the safety of our students, Bancroft relies on ALL families to help with traffic and morning greeter duty from 7:30 - 8:00am. Traffic Duty is one of the most important volunteer opportunities and requires 30 minutes of your time!  We want to ensure the safety of our children as well as keep those lines of cars moving. 

Konstella is our new volunteering application, you may sign up through the app, or your room parents can help you with signing up. 

As you know, we've assigned grade levels with specific months to help out our community! Of course you can always sign up for a time that is convenient for you!  The following are the assigned traffic duty months for each grade:

October: Kindergarten & 1st grade
November: 4th grade
December: 5th grade
January: 3rd grade
February: 2nd grade
March: 1st grade
April: Kindergarten
May: 4th & 5th grades
June: 2nd & 3rd grades

If you have any questions, please contact  Jolyn Duquette,
Bancroft PFC Traffic Coordinator.

Benefit for Bancroft
If we get just 100 people using this, we estimate it could mean $8,000 a year for Bancroft - without anything out of our pockets! We've had three people using it for the last 5.5 months, and they've sent $111 to Bancroft - just through their regular daily purchases.

Retailers include CVS, Amazon, Target, Starbucks, 
Whole Foods, and many more!

Download the FREE app and select Bancroft Parent Faculty Club as your beneficiary to start giving.

Find more information in the app or at www.benefit-mobile.com. Feel free to forward this information to family and friends. The more people who participate, the more funds we will raise.

If you have any questions, please email Sarah Hansell.

Walk-A-Thon

Walk a Thon pledge money is due Friday October 28th
 
Thank you for making the event a huge success for our school and students! Stay tuned for the November tracks with a follow up on the Walk A Thon Event!

Walk a thon pledges can be turned in anytime, however must be turned in by this Friday October 28th to be eligible for the class and individual prizes.  Please return your pledge envelopes to your teachers.
 
Remember - there are great prizes available for students and classes with the most pledge donations collected! There is also a class prize for the first class to return the most pledge envelopes!!
 
Winners will be announced on Tuesday, November 1st.
 
Questions? Contact Event Co-Chairs Stefanie Lee and Jennifer McCullock at  bancroft_daec@sbcglobal.net


Bancroft School Makers Faire

Close to 200 members of the Bancroft Community participated in the inaugural School Makers Faire on Friday, Oct 21st.

Student Makers presented projects from recycled musical instruments and yarn dolls to giant bubbles and Lego creations. Participants also created silk-screen shirts, made and launched rockets, and learned how to fix bicycles.   Many thanks to our PFC Family Nights lead Clair Boomer and her two right-hand women Sandra Heinen and Tatyana Espinoza for a spectacular family event.  This successful night of ingenuity and creativity already has members of our Bancroft community talking about making it an annual event. A big thank you to our participants: Kestrel Taschdijan (Analog Gererative Art), Nyah Smith (Clay & Playdough), Caleb Horgan (MindStorm Lego Robot), Cian Horgan (Recycled Musical Instruments), Farah & Sage Floyd (Yarn Dolls), Ephrem Goh (Magnetic Force & Power Generator), Leila Evans (Catapult), Benjamin Marchesini (Bionicle Makuda Creation), Iniya Suresh (Piano Performance), Sofie Mustille (Drawing and Poetry Display), Olive Wright (Giant Bubbles), Julian & Megan Heinen (Rocket Launching), Bike Concord (Bike Repair Demos), Wes & Patrick Tulipano (Silk Screening) and Roger, Gen & Ethan Liu and Violeta & Kiana Franco (Bookend Making Kits donated by Home Depot). 

Thank you also to all our student maker parents who assisted their children with their stations.  We are looking forward to the next School Makers Faire!
 
P.E.A.K. Education Foundation

2016 Turkey Trot Registration Now Open!
An East Bay Thanksgiving Day Family Tradition

This Thanksgiving, before the big meal, games and pumpkin pie, why not get a little exercise with a few thousand of your neighbors. The Forma Gym Turkey Trot is an event the entire family can enjoy. There are several races to choose from including Kids Fun Runs, 10K Run*, and 5K run or walk, and festival areas with costume contest.

By running the Turkey Trot you will also be giving back to your local community through our beneficiaries like the Food Bank, WCEF, PEAK, and The Wellness City Challenge.

*Note: The 10K is a run only - There is a time limit of 1 hour 45 minutes.

The event takes place in beautiful Downtown Walnut Creek and goes through a flat terrain of neighborhoods, businesses, and part of the Iron Horse Trail.

Proceeds from the Turkey Trot, sponsored by Forma Gym, benefit both PEAK Education Foundation and the Walnut Creek Education Foundation as well as other charitable organizations dedicated to helping improve the health and well-being of children and families. 

Over the past 4 years, the Turkey Trot has raised over $70,000 for Walnut Creek schools

You can be part of the fun even if you don't run.   We need help handing out race materials beforehand, checking in participants, water stations, race guides etc.   It takes over 200 volunteers so we need YOU!  

For more information about the race or to registe r online CLICK HERE.

Community Service Day
Thank you to all those that came out and dedicated their time on Community Service Day! 

We had a great turn out and accomplished our goal of refreshing paw prints, creating news ones, and best of all, sprucing up the beautiful garden. And a special thanks to Mrs. Schuler for all her help as support. We couldn't have done it without you!

Janelle Anderson
Volunteer Day Coordinator

Dine2Donate
  Hi Bancroft Families,

Last month's Dine2Donate at Round Table Pizza earned us over$250.  

I f any of you have pictures from the event please email them to me.

Our next event will be coming up soon with hopes that we can partner with Wingstop in Pleasant Hill.  If you have any dining connections and/or suggestions please let me know.

Thank you for your support!
Dine2Donate Coordinator
Sloat Fundraiser 
Thank you to all who participated in this year's first Growing Up Green fundraiser put on by Sloat Garden Center. 

Sloat donated 10% back from all purchases made by Bancroft Families from Sept. 23-Oct. 2 resulting in a $50 Sloat Garden Center gift card for our Bancroft Garden Program. 

The next Growing Up Green fundraising dates begin this Friday, October 28 and goes through November 6. For our school to get 10% back on your purchase just mention Bancroft Elementary at checkout. Other fundraising weeks will be Nov 25-Dec 11, Jan 13-22, Feb 10-19 and Mar 24-April 2. 

Thanks for supporting our garden program!

Click here for a flyer.
Box Tops for Education
Putting your best paw forward!

Are you looking for an easy way to raise funds for our school?  And a fun way to get our kids involved in the fundraising?  Then please join us in the quest to exceed our goals for COLLECTING Box Tops  off of the items you already buy!

Every month, the classroom with the MOST Box Tops collected will be awarded the honor of having our new "rotating bobcat trophy" grace their classroom (and the class photo with trophy will be displayed at the front of the courtyard to celebrate their school spirit!).  And, if that class collects more than 150 labels, it will also be awarded EXTRA recess time (the kids' favorite!).  At the end of the year, the class with the MOST labels collected will also receive EXTRA recess time and popsicles!

As a bonus, we will have a monthly raffle to win a Bancroft paw print for students that have collected a minimum of 15 labels that month!  

Just a few easy steps to collect:

Step 1:  When grocery shopping, look for  Box Tops on your favorite products

Step 2: Before recycling the box, can, or packaging, cut off the label

Step 3: Save the labels in an envelope

Step 4: When ready to turn them into Bancroft for "free" money for our school:

- count your labels,

- put them in an envelope or plastic bag,

- write your student's name, teacher's name, and # of labels on the envelope and

- leave in the Box Tops / Labels for Education box in the office for your student's class.


 

If you are interested in learning more, feel free to reach out to your Box Tops coordinator, Alyson Ogden or go to this link.

Auction

 
The next auction meeting will be  Thursday, Nov 3rd at 7pm
at Cherisse Riney's home. We would love to have you join our team in putting on this fun, unifying event.

If you are interested, please contact Cherisse Riney .

Bobcat Ice Cream Social



Thanks to our PFC hospitality team Jennifer Juarez, Tatyana Espinoza and Rachel Gould for hosting our 2016 Ice Cream Social i n September. 

Hundreds from our Bobcat community enjoyed ice cream treats while they mingled on the blacktop. Our favorite Bobcat stopped by to take part of the fun! Thanks again for all who volunteered to help in this annual family event.
Upcoming Dates
10/28: Walk-A-Thon Pledges Due

10/28-11/6: Sloat Fundraiser - Growing Up Green

10/29: Fall Fest, 3-5:30pm, Bancroft

10/31: Kinder Parade: Early Friends 10:20am, Late Friends 1:15pm

11/2:  ELAC 7:45-9:30am, Library

11/2: Make-up Picture Day

11/4: Spirit Wear Order Deadline

11/4: Life Skills Assembly, Gr 3-5, 8:10-8:40am, MUR

11/8: PFC Meeting, 7pm

11/9: Life Skills Assembly, Gr 1 &2, 8:10-8:40am, MUR

11/11: Veterans Day - no school

11/15-18: 5th grade Outdoor School

11/21-25: Thanksgiving Break - no school

Visit the Bancroft online calendar for future dates.
Thank You!
A big thank you to Janelle Anderson and all of the volunteers who stepped up on Volunteer Day! All of you did a wonderful job improving our school. 

Thank you Clair Boomer and her team for organizing Bancroft's School Maker's Faire. It was a great success! Also, thanks to everyone who participated. 

Thank you to Stefanie Lee and Jennifer McCullock for organizing another successful walk-a-thon and to all of the parent volunteers who supported this event:  Josh Canham, Violeta Franco, Courtney Russel, Ashley Noe, Angela Sandoval, Kate Sri, Sherri Herman, Janelle Anderson, Margarethe Falkenberg, Marga Marshall, Gosia Dunning, Jonathan Dy, Katalin Vorberg, Jennifer Chlebick, Estela Hernandez, Lisa Quinones, Katy Schultz, Jenn Boswell, Thien Nguyen, Areej Albahrani, Zuzana Lencesova, Janley Gonzalez, Frankie English, Sylvia Lock, Molly De La Rosa, Patricia Geday, Jennifer Chlebick, Jason Whitehead, Sarah Rhodes, Gina Dyson, Lauren Hooper, Laura Choi, Katalin Vonberg, Jason Spicer, Juliana Pinzon, Jennifer Enson, Erika Reynoso, Sam Miller.   A super special thank you to the staff from Dianne Adair, Dallas Cooney, Danielle Cooney, Harrison Cursi, Nick Friel,  and to
Linelle Rooney for their huge help! 

Thank you  Elizabeth Real for organizing Dine2Donate fundraiser at Roundtable Restaurant. 

Thank you to Jolyn Duquette and to all the traffic volunteers  for keeping our Bancroft Bobcats safe!
Budget Update
For prior Tracks, Principal's Messages and PFC Meeting Minutes
Please refer to the PFC website's archive
Ongoing Fundraisers
dollar a day


Earn cash for our school!
Collect Box Tops and drop them in the collection bin in the office.

 
B enefit is a free iPhone or Android phone app that can be used to pay for your everyday purchases such as groceries, clothes, home goods, and more. You can pay on site at the store or online. A portion of your purchase goes directly back to Bancroft

Basementeers receive 10% off every item every day and 10% of profits go back to your favorite local charity like Bancroft Elementary.
Contact Us
Bancroft Elementary
925-933-3405
Spirit Wear
Show your school spirit by purchasing Bancroft Spirit Wear.
2016-2017 Bancroft spirit wear in youth sizes has been created with a brand new design for this school year.
  
Every Friday is spirit wear day at Bancroft. A spirit trophy rotates throughout the school year, and is held by the classroom with the most spirit. Help your classroom win by showing off your Bobcat pride!

The next "order by" date is Nov 4 and information and order forms can be found on the PFC website

Please contact  Tatiana Diaz, Spirit Wear Coordinator, with any questions.