ICS PTSA NEWSLETTER
September 22nd , 2019
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES
September 25th
Curriculum night 6:00-8:30 PM ICS
October 2nd PTSA Board meeting 7:00-9:00 PM LWSRC
October 8th PTSA Parent Meeting 7:00-9:00 PM ICS Lyceum
October 17th Phoenix Flocial (Middle School Social) 2:45-3:45 PM ICS Lyceum
October 17th Phoenix Formal (High School) 7:30-10:00 PM ICS Lyceum
VOLUNTEERING
Legislative Liaison Committee: Chairperson(s) Needed 
One or two parents are needed to lead the PTSA Legislative Liaison committee . Legislative liaisons serve as community advocates for ICS and its students and bring community information back to our school. More specifically, legislative liaisons attend community meetings where there is information that might impact ICS and bring that information back to the ICS community via forwarding the information to the ICS PTSA Board and/or posting the information as articles in the ICS PTSA weekly newsletter . 
 
Parents interested in this role must be available to attend an upcoming event, the 41st Annual, Washington State Parent-Teacher Association (WSPTA) Legislative Assembly at Bellevue Community College on October 26th-27th. 
 
Please contact ICS PTSA VP Of Information Support, Tom Resing, if you are interested in this position or have any questions.
ICS Website Committee Seeking an Additional Volunteer
The ICS PTSA website committee keeps the ICS PTSA website up to date, approves and manage user accounts, and runs reports as needed. If you'd like to volunteer for this committee, having a working knowledge of any web content management system will be helpful, and familiarity with Joomla would be a bonus.
Typical work includes:
  1. User Administration on website (approval, password resets etc)
  2. Weekly updates to website
  3. Website maintenance/updates/enhancement
  4. Volunteer data management (training will be provided)
We would like this new committee member to join the website committee this year and plan to continue on with this volunteer position through the following year or longer if possible. If you are interested in this position or would like more information, please contact ICS PTSA VP of Information Support, Tom Resing.
New Volunteer Position Available: ICS Sustainability Coordinator
Would you like to see ICS become even more "green?" Are you interested in promoting sustainability programs at ICS?  The Lake Washington PTSA Council is looking for a parent representative from ICS to represent our school on the Council's Sustainability Committee. The initial commitment for this position is to attend the meetings of Sustainability Committee at the district level and coordinate with student groups like the Green Team at ICS to explore how we can promote sustainability in the school community.  If you are interested in this role, please contact our PTSA Community and Facilities Support VP, Casey Engstrom, and she can help you connect with the sustainability team on the Lake Washington PTSA Council.
First site work party! 
Grab your work gloves and join us for the first site work party of the year on Saturday, October 12th from 9:00am - noon. Participation is open for all family members that are middle-school aged and older. All hours worked count towards the 30 hour annual minimum family goal, including up to 10 hours annually by the students (this is one of the only ways that student hours count towards the goal, if the student attends with their parent).
Additional details:
  • The work party takes place rain or shine, please dress weather-appropriately
  • Work gloves/garden gloves are highly recommended
  • No tools are provided, so you must bring your own
  • Duties will primarily be focused on weeding, pruning and laying mulch, recommended tools include:
    • Hand weeding tools (hand shovels, digging tools, hula hoe, etc...)
    • Rakes
    • Shovels
    • Hand Shears
    • Hedge Shears
  • Refreshments will be provided
If you're unable to make this date, we have additional work parties scheduled for the dates below. And for any questions, please contact Tracy Botsford.
Lunchroom volunteers needed!
We are urgently looking for some help in the lunchroom with set up and clean up. Come and get a head start on your volunteer hours by signing up at ICS Lunchroom volunteer registration.
Additional details:
  • Parents volunteers are required to help with set up/ clean up of tables and chairs, before and after lunch. No kitchen assignments this year.
  • The new Lyceum head staff member is Mr. Jason Diaz. Please contact him at the start of your shift.
  • For new volunteers, please plan to arrive 5 mins before the start time, so you can familiarize yourself with the duties. 
Schedule options:
  • Mon, Tue, Friday
A service: 10:45am -11:45am. Please arrive earlier to set up tables and help clean up between the 2 sessions (1 hour).
B Service: 12:20pm -12:50pm.  Help clean up and collect chairs after lunch (30 mins)
  • Thursday
A service: 10:45am -11:45am (1 hour)
B Service: 12:15pm -1:15pm ( 30mins)
 
You are encouraged to register for both A and B service on the same date, so that you can claim 2 volunteer hours instead of 1.5 hours.
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Robotics Club information and registration session
Meeting date and time: Sep 27th Friday at 2:30 - 3:15 PM at Room #165 
Relevant audience: all grades of ICS students, but 6th, 7th and 8th grades are recommended.
 
Co-chair: Doug Houts and Takeyoshi Nakamura; Advisor: Bart Massee; Annual fee: $50 
  
ICS PTSA Robotics Club will meet once a week after school on Fridays at 2:15pm - 4:00pm in Room # 165. The club will concentrate on robotics skills (planning, building, programming, analyzing), teamwork and leadership skills. Students will work with the VEX IQ system. At least two parent volunteers are needed at each weekly session. Parents with either hardware or software experience, or anyone that is good at working with their hands and building things are ideal. Our club will participate in two local and regional VEX competitions. 
We are also looking for any parent volunteers to run the club such as supervising the club hours. You do not have to have robotics skill or experience although it is nice to have them.  
  
Information and registration session for new and returning students with supporting parents are scheduled on Sep 27th at 2:30 - 3:15 PM at Room #165. If your son or daughter is interested in, please come by. 
  
Reflections 2019-2020 :
Reflections is a National PTA arts recognition program that helps students explore their own thoughts, feelings and ideas, develop artistic literacy, increase confidence, and find a love for learning that will help them become more successful not only in school, but in life.
 
Theme 2019-2020 : Look Within
Due Date : Thursday, Oct 31st 2019
Categories : (Click on hyperlinks for the complete rules and Entry Forms)
Questions? Please send email to reflections@icsptsa.org
ICS Math Club
ICS Math club is looking for students who would like to participate in  AMC8 math competition this year. For participation request, please fill out this online form.
If you have any questions, please contact  icsmathrocks@gmail.com.  
REPEATED ARTICLES
Get Your Logo Wear!
If you missed placing your Logo wear order on Registration Day, you can still place an order by September 27. There are samples available to view at the front office, and you can complete your order form and submit your check there as well. Delivery is expected in late October. If you have questions please email logo-wear@icsptsa.org
Attention 6th Grade Parents!
If you ordered PE clothes and did not pick them up on Registration Day, you can collect them from the office. If you still need to order PE clothes - please contact the school office.
Calling All ICS Parents: Last Week to Complete Online Volunteer Sign Up! 
To indicate your volunteer interests for the 2019-20 school year, please complete the Volunteer Signup Form.  
 
To access this form, you will first need to register for an ICS PTSA account if you do not already have one, and then log-in to your account. This is done on the ICS PTSA website. Once your account is approved (for new accounts only), log in, and you will find the "Volunteer Signup Form" under the "Volunteering" tab on the left-hand side on the page. Please sign up for no more than four areas. The website also has more info on the clubs, committees, and activities where your help is needed.  
 
Returning parents: please complete the interest list even if you did so last fall. We do not use information from the previous year. We create new volunteer lists each year with current information and preferences.  
 
Please remember that, as an ICS family, you have committed to 30 hours of volunteer time per year. All families, especially those new to ICS, should be sure to review our Volunteering Requirements. This document will provide you with some background information and will answer many common questions about volunteering.
 
The Volunteer Signup Form will close on this coming Friday, September 27th. After that, you will need to contact the committee chairs directly to volunteer. Please get an early start on your volunteer hours, as it is very frustrating to be "short" on hours at the end of the school year.  
 
Have fun volunteering, and please know that volunteers play an essential role in our ICS community! If you have any questions, please contact the Volunteer Coordinators, Julie Kotler and Shahenda Eltoukhy.
Interested in Interacting with a Japanese Student?
Each October, ICS welcomes 5 students and their teacher from Kobe University Secondary School (KUSS) in Japan. If you and your ICS student are interested in playing tour guide to the Japanese students during the week of 10/4 to 10/12, please consider volunteering with us on the International Partnership Committee. You can get a head start on your volunteer hours early in the school year while showing off our beautiful Pacific Northwest area after school and weekends to our Japanese exchange students. All class levels can participate. Please email us   for details.