Holton parent, Liz Turner, in the news

Holton parent, Liz Turner, was interviewed by the Richmond Times Dispatch. Here is a link to the story.

Dandelion Garden & Hudson House in the News!

Click here to read a story in the Richmond Times Dispatch about Holton's new Dandelion Garden.

June 14, 2010 Dandelion and Hudson House Update

Hudson House Construction Crew
Go check out the outdoor classroom. It is absolutely spectacular!!!!

Once again the temperatures were in the mid 90’s and volunteers were out there Saturday and Sunday. Thank you. Volunteers had the extremely hot job of putting on roof decking. Thanks Holton and community volunteers Chris Chase, Alex Johnson, Stephen McCarthy, Scott Meredith, Don Polaski, Gene Robinson, A. T. Scruggs and Bryan Wingold.

So what’s next?

Depending on the weather, we hope roofers will be able to put the roof on Thursday. Roof Services Corporation is donating the roof and Urban Grid Solar and City Space Construction is donating two solar panels to power ceiling fans. Thanks for the generous donations! Thanks Mary Lorino for making those donations happen!

Additional Outdoor Classroom News:

Diggin’ Committee Contact: Kristin Cummings (kcummings7@verizon.net) and Brad Pearson (wbradp@comcast.net)

•The two VPI classes planted sweet potatoes last week. Thanks to “Sunshine” for planting with the kids. We are going to focus on harvesting any spring vegetables and and filling them in with more summer veggies this week. If you are interested in helping, please let us know. We will also be watering, watering, watering!
•Brad Pearson will be constructing a three-bin compost bin soon.
•Tricycle Gardens is having an open house this Thursday from 6-9pm. A group of us are going to get ideas about urban agriculture and learning gardens. Let ellenshepard@yahoo.com know if you are interested in going with a group. For more details go to tricyclegardens.org.

Dandelion Fundraising Contact: Susanna Raffenot (sraffenot@verizon.net) and Katie Best (kwbest@hotmail.com)

Katie Best will have a table set up at the end of the year picnic selling merchandise with the new Dandelion logo. All proceeds benefit the Dandelion garden.

We have:

•Re-usable sandwich wraps made from Capri Sun wrappers ($5)
•Water bottles ($5) made with recycled plastic
•Organic cotton t-shirts ($10)
•Re-usable grocery/shopping bags ($3.50)

Parents may also email orders to Katie (kwbest@hotmail.com), and she'll deliver merchandise to school.

Nutrition and Health Contact: Kim Lavach (kimlavach@yahoo.com), Gwen and Alan Davis (gwenandalan@msn.com) and John Haddad (johnghaddad@hotmail.com)

The Holton Wellness Committee and Holton parents are compiling a list of questions about food and purchasing for Richmond Public School officials. If you have questions you would like included, please email Gwen and Alan or John.

**Thanks to Mary Elfner for getting Green Duck Compostables & Biodegradable Goods to give us the paper products for the end of the year picnic at a significantly reduced price.
**Chefs Move to Schools—Richmond Public Schools has signed up to be part of the “Chefs Move to Schools” program, run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will pair chefs with interested schools in their communities so together they can create healthy meals that meet the schools’ dietary guidelines and budgets, while teaching young people about nutrition and making balanced and healthy choices. With more than 31 million children participating in the National School Lunch Program and more than 11 million participating in the National School Breakfast Program, good nutrition at school is more important than ever.

Website:
• http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=14&tax_level=1&tax_subject=225
• http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/04/chefs-move-raise-a-healthier-generation-kids

American Heart Association results are in!

Mr. Watkins received the following letter from the American Heart Association announcing the total money Holton raised this year! Go, Lions!

Cordell,

I wanted to send this email to you and to Mr. Hudson to let you know how proud I am of Linwood Holton this year!

Linwood Holton students, faculty/staff, and community raised $7923.94 to support the American Heart Association in 2009-10. These donations will allow us to continue to fund research in the areas of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. The research that you have helped us fund will save lives. In addition to research, your donations will allow us to continue our awareness campaigns such as Go Red for Women and also to allow us to advocate on Capitol Hill on topics like more Physical Education in schools.

Thank you Cordell for all of the hard work that you do make your event a success. I am so proud of the relationships that you build with your students—you connect with them on a level that is impressive and you go out of your way to demonstrate outstanding leadership qualities for them to emulate.

I wish you both a very relaxing summer and I look forward to working with Linwood Holton again next year.

Aleisha Hundley
Youth Market Director

A Few More Volunteers Needed, Please.

Thanks to all who volunteered so far. We are still looking for several volunteers to help with serving food and the Bike Rodeo. Please contact Christina Withers at cmwithers@gmail.com if you can help.

Year Books On Sale Now

Don't forget to buy this year's yearbook for only $8. Cash only, please. Check with your child's teacher or the office for more details.

Volunteers Needed: End of Year Picnic

We are looking for 10-18 volunteers for setting up, serving, and cleaning up for the End of the Year picnic on June 18th. Volunteers are needed for the following shifts:

• 5-6 (3 set up)
• 6-7 (5 servers)
• 7-8 (5 servers),
• 7:30pm (3 clean up)
• 10 additional volunteers for the bike rodeo are also needed.

Please contact Christina Withers at cmwithers@gmail.com if you are able to help.

Field Day Concession Stand Tickets On Sale Now

Tickets are on sale for the Field Day concessions stand. Tickets are 50 cents each.

Please purchase tickets ahead of time in the office or send money in a labeled envelope.

Concession items include:

• Popcorn (1 ticket)
• Pucker Powder (2 tickets)
• Snow cones (2 tickets)
• French fries (2 tickets)
• Hot dogs (2 tickets)
• Hamburgers (3 tickets)
• Pizza (3 tickets)

Field Day Volunteers Needed

Field Day at Linwood Holton Elementary is Wednesday, June 16th!

We are in need of volunteers to assist our students at 20+ stations. If you would like to volunteer we have two time slots available 9:30 - 12 or 12 - 2.

The entire event lasts from 10-2. Activities vary from inside to outside and wet to dry. All activities are 20 minutes.

Please contact Cordell Watkins (804) 467-5799 or cordell_watkins@yahoo.com.

June Dandelion and Hudson House Update

Hudson House Construction Crew

Go check out the outdoor classroom. The temporary fencing is off and we need to tamp down the stone dust so please walk on it. Volunteers did back-breaking work in brutally hot temperatures. We have a lot of thank yous.

The floor which is 35 tons of gravel and sand dust was shoveled, moved, and tamped by more than 20 volunteers from Church of the Nations Mid-Atlantic. Thank you Gwen and Alan Davis for getting your church involved and thanks to the volunteers: Martin Bennett, David Cox, Kaitlin Cox, Karen Cox, Alan Davis, Gloria Green, Mary Hutson, Peggy Lawson, Susan Lawson, Mike Morgan, Jason Pascale, Sara Pascale, Todd Peace, K. H. Rich, Lori Tate, Meredith Tate, Jim Turpin, Laurie Turpin, Bobby Vicker, Rachel Yeatts, and Benjamin Yeatts.

Thanks to Mr. Hudson for coming out to volunteer! Thanks Holton and community volunteers Chris Chase, Stephen McCarthy, Scott Meredith, Terry Murphy, Jean-Philippe Raffenot, Gene Robinson, Stacey Woodson and thanks to Stacy Murphy for bringing lunch.

Thanks to Scott Meredith for getting the 26 tons of gravel donated from a private company and 10 tons of stone dust donated from Luck Stone as well as getting D.W. Cary Hauling Inc to pick up and deliver the materials. Thanks to Scott and Mary Lorino for getting the 600 bricks donated from Riverside Brick. And thanks to Chris Chase, Greg Fowler, Gene Robinson, Stephen McCarthy, Eric Vinson, Chuck Wrenn as well as a number of Holton students for unloading the bricks.

So what’s next?

Schedule subject to change due to weather but the majority of the remaining work will happen next weekend. If you are interested in helping, please contact: Mary Lorino (mary@bam-architects.com).

**June 12/13—Put on plywood roof decking

**Roofers come the week of June 14th

Additional Outdoor Classroom News:

Diggin’ Committee Contact: Kristin Cummings (kcummings7@verizon.net) and Brad Pearson (wbradp@comcast.net)

The remainder of the beds will be planted this week and we will start filling in where there are any bare spots from the spring vegetables. If you are interested in helping, please let us know.

**The beds will require a lot of summer maintenance. We are estimating an hour or so a day for the entire summer. We are exploring different maintenance options but think that we will have two Holton families (teachers welcome as well!) assigned to each week. Families doing maintenance are invited to harvest whatever is ripe. Please let Brad or Kristin know if you are interested.

**Brad Pearson will be constructing a three-bin compost bin over the next week or two.
All Fired Up / Holton Mural Fundraiser
Contact: Susanna Raffenot (sraffenot@verizon.net) and Annie Chamblin
Annie has been going around to all the classes so each class can decorate a tile for their classroom. Every class will have a tile on the shed. Thanks to Rob Fox and Jim Gravgaard for donating those tiles.

Nutrition and Health Contact: Kim Lavach (kimlavach@yahoo.com), Gwen and Alan Davis (gwenandalan@msn.com) and John Haddad (johnghaddad@hotmail.com)

The Holton Wellness Committee and Holton parents are compiling a list of questions about food and purchasing for Richmond Public School officials. If you have questions you would like included, please email Gwen and Alan or John.