Happy December! Hemlock had such a wonderful month of November. The hallways are beginning to buzz with the magic of the holiday season. The children enjoyed their Thanksgiving activities with their teachers, classes and families, especially our Fall Festival Family Fun event. Thank you to Sophia Armieri and Danielle Cullum who organized such a special morning.
We hosted our first Joint Primaries School PTA meeting at Hemlock, and welcomed Kristian Blum, the co-chair of the Digital Citizenship Committee, who gave an informative presentation on raising awareness around the impact of electronic devices on mental health. The presentation can be found here. Kristian shares some great resources to help families navigate the virtual world safely, so be sure to check it out.
Thank you to all families who donated non-perishable goods to Island Harvest’s food bank through the school’s annual food drive led by the Hemlock Service Learning committee. And a special thank you to the committee members: Gillian Burns, Maria Khawaja and Alyssa Vitez who coordinated this effort.
The Primary Schools are holding their annual Toys for Tots drive through December 13th. If you are interested in participating, new, unwrapped toys can be placed in a box in the school’s main lobby on these dates.
The Beautification Committee will be decorating the outside of Hemlock for Winter this week! Thank you to all the parents who submitted donations, and to our Beautification committee led by Amanda Ferrari and Tania Sofia, for making Hemlock look so festive year-round.
Now that December is here, we are very much looking forward to the holiday season ahead! The children have been working hard to prepare for their winter concerts and look forward to showcasing their hard work. Please see below for the days and times of the performances or refer to the message sent by Mrs. Odone on Parent Square.
We are excited to announce that the PTA will be selling Garden City Sportswear at the Garden City Historical Society’s Holiday Market on December 6th from 7 - 9:30 pm and December 7th from 11 am - 4 pm. Items for sale will include the most popular items from this Fall including kids tie-dye sweatshirts, adult sweatshirts and puffer vests, Christmas pajama pants, kids gloves, holiday mugs, fuzzy socks and ornaments. Come on down and do some holiday shopping!
Lastly, the Pick a Reading Partner (PARP) committee will be hosting their annual virtual reading of The Polar Express with a special guest appearance from Santa on December 18th at 7:30 pm. Look out for an email from the PTA for details on how to register for this event.
From all of us at the Garden City PTA, we wish you a joy filled holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Kristen Whitaker
Hemlock PTA Director
hemlock@gardencitypta.org
www.gardencitypta.org
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