Stacie DeChristopher to Receive Philhower Award

							                            McKinley Buzz
                  For the Week Ending December 3, 2004

                                                          If you have any questions regarding this event, call The
         ALL ABOARD FOR THE                               Town Book Store at 908-233-3535.
         PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE                              ___________________________________________
Monday evening at Barnes and Noble was a                          McKinley Apparel Has Arrived!
spectacular example of the spirit of our McKinley         Sweatshirts and long sleeve tee shirts were distributed to
community. It was wonderful to see so many children       kids on Thursday. We hope you are happy with your
and their parents support our school at this event. The   purchases. There are a few extras available for sale in the
personnel at the store were astounded by the turnout      school store (open Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunch). The
and remarked that they had never experienced such         sweatshirts cost $18 and the long sleeve tees are $15. If you
enthusiasm and support from any other school in the       experience any trouble with your order, please let us
area. Thank you most sincerely for your participation.    know. (call Wendy Connolly, 317-0359) The PTO, once
                                                          again, thanks you for your support! A special shout out
With your help, we raised $937.78 for our children.
                                                          thank you to Michele, Lisa and Ken for helping with
                                                          distribution. ~ Wendy C.
More good news! The lists have been counted, and as       __________________________________________
of November 30, the children of McKinley School
                                                                      THE BUZZ ON THE WEB!
have read 3,787 books towards our 10,000-book goal
                                                           Shouldn’t it be called “The Spider” then? In case you
for the year. We are ahead of our projections, and I’m
                                                           are looking for a copy of the McKinley Buzz, you can
getting closer to being “blue”. Keep reading every
                                                           go online to read what’s new at school. You can also
night!
                                                          sign up to get the Buzz online at home or at work. The
                              ~Claudia J. Andreski
                                                           McKinley website has lots of good information so get
_________________________________________                 connected and get The Buzz in your inbox every week!
       MITTENS, WE NEED MITTENS!                              Just go to www.westfieldnj.com/ms/ and sign up
The McKinley Girl Scouts are again collecting NEW                                  today!
mittens, scarves, gloves, hats and sock for people in      _______________________________________
need (adults as well as children), who live in New
                                                            COUPON BOOKS MUST BE RETURNED
Jersey. This is part of our annual Westfield Girl
                                                                        ASAP!
Scout Mitten Tree Project. Our collection box will
                                                          If you still have a KIDSTUFF Coupon book at your
be located in the Gym foyer. This project runs from       home that you haven’t paid for, please return it or send
November 22 through December 10th. Thank you              in a check to the McKinley PTO for $25.00 right away!
so much in advance for allowing us to help others!!!      Avoid the embarrassing phone calls and reminder
                                                          flyers! The Coupons book sale has closed and we need
                    Thanks ~ Rosemarie Panarese           to close the books on that event. If you need to
**********************************************            purchase an extra book, it’s not too late. Just contact
                                                          Ken Sumner, 654-0941 to arrange to get one. They
      BIG COOKIE DAY IS COMING!
                                                          make great holiday gifts!
Friday, December 10th will be our McKinley’s first        _______________________________________
BIG COOKIE Day! For 50 cents your child can                   SPEAKING OF HOLIDAY GIFTS ….
choose from a variety of BIG COOKIES as a                 The Education Fund of Westfield is sponsoring its
special treat at lunch time.                              annual Winter Stroll in downtown Westfield on
*******************************************               Sunday, December 5th. A percentage of your purchase
          BOOK SIGNING AT THE                             from participating stores will go to the Education Fund
           TOWN BOOK STORE                                which in turn provides grants to all of the Westfield
                                                          schools for everything from reading programs to
On Saturday, December 4th, from 11am to 1pm, author
                                                          computers. It is one of the Education Fund’s primary
Robert J. Skead will be in the store to promote his new   fundraisers and all it requires of the public is to do
chapter book, Elves Can't Tackle. NJ author Skead is      some shopping and support our local stores and
also the author of Hitting Glory (a baseball bat          schools at the same time. So support our schools and
adventure) and Safe at Home (a baseball card mystery).    SHOP!
                                                          ___________________________________________
          TOY DRIVE CONTINUES                                       Kids listen up during the morning announcements to hear
The Junior Optimist Club of Westfield is still                      when it is your day and time to come down. If you haven't
collecting new toys, Video tapes or DVD’s to be                     already... please get yours and your child's permission slip
donated to Children’s Specialized Hospital in                       into the office ASAP. We can not allow children to be in the
Mountainside. If you would like to make a                           Rehearsal Hall during lunchtime without parental consent.
donation, please bring a new toy to the Gym Foyer                   (Extra sign up forms are in the office)
or contact Russ Finestein, 973-635-4500.                                      Blues Mothers, Daddy Oh's, Grandma's and the Pop
                                                                    Pop's and Faculty, we will be in touch via e-mail or flyer as
                                                                    soon as we can.
                  CAN YOU HELP?
A couple of weeks ago, a Westfield family, the                                "SESQUIPEDALITY" is going to be chock full of
Dornfelds, lost everything when a fire swept through                Big Words, Big Show Stopping Numbers, Big Chorus
their apartment. The Dornfelds have a son at Franklin               "Girls" and BIG FUN!! Any questions, please e-mail Julie
and a son at Westfield High School. Franklin families               Fetter at fetters7@comcast.net
have already generously provided furniture and other                *************************************************************
necessities, but if you are interested in providing a                 HELP GIVE THESE NEEDY CHILDREN A HAPPY
monetary gift or a gift card please contact Beth                                             HOLIDAY!!
Ripperger at barip700@aol.com or by phone at 518-                             Senior Girl Scout Troop #498 will be collecting
1615. Just a few years ago a McKinley family faced a
                                                                    donations for Camp Acorn, a camp and winter weekend
similar situation and the other schools provided
                                                                    program for children and young adults with multiple
assistance. Please consider showing how generous the
McKinley community is and help support this family.                 disabilities located in South Jersey. Camp Acorn is in need
Thank you!                                                          of the following supplies to continue its beneficial program
*****************************************                           for these deserving children. Please consider donating art
           ON GOING REMINDERS:                                      supplies, waffle balls and bats, computer paper, computer
    * WRAPPING PAPER: Go to SallyFoster.com to                      games, paper towels, napkins, etc. The collection box will
get extra wrapping paper and a percentage of your                   be in the cruise ship hallway until December 16th. Thank
purchase will go directly to McKinley. Delivery is fast             you for helping us with this important service project!
and reliable!                                                                                                 - Senior Troop #498
    * HOLIDAY GREENS, GIFTS AND PLANTS:
Go to Parker’s Greenhouse in Scotch Plains, mention
“McKinley School” at the check out and 10% of your                  Have a great Weekend From this week’s Buzz Editor,
purchase will come back to McKinley!                                Lisa Black-Polak
                 SAVE THE DATE!                                     If you have articles for next week’s Buzz please
Do you ever have the post-holiday blues? Does all the               send them to thebuzzeditor@yahoo.com or Joyce
shopping and baking and cooking wear you out? Do                    Huber, ljhuber@ibius.jnj.com. Please send your
you like to go out for a fun night without having to                articles by December 8th or leave them in The
wear uncomfortable shoes? We’ve got the event for                   Buzz folder in the PTO mailbox in the office.
you! The McKinley Birthday Bash will be held Friday,
January 29th. There will be more information to follow,
but for now, save the date, get a sitter and be prepared
to beat those January Blues!                                                             LOOKING AHEAD:
*************************************************************        12/4 – Handmade Holiday 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
 KAPERS IS COMING.... KAPERS IS COMING                               12/6 – Southside Strings Concert – Edison
          "SESQUIPEDALITY" is coming to The McKinley                 12/10 – BIG COOKIE DAY
Performing Arts Center March 4th and 5th!                            12/14 – Bond Referendum to refurbish Kehler Stadium.
 It is not too late to sign up to be part of the greatest            Don’t forget to vote polls are open 2:00- 9:00 p.m.
theatrical company around....
          Beginning the week of Monday, December 6th, we
will begin rehearsing the Kaper Kids down in the Rehearsal
Hall (in front of Mrs. Minski's room) during lunchtime.
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