Events of interest for current and coming months:

Spring Rummage Sale Just Around the Corner
The Spring Rummage Sale will be held on Saturday, March 29 (9 am-5 pm) and Sunday, March 30 (9 am-1 pm) on the Upper School Campus. We need everyone’s help to make the sale a success. Volunteer shifts begin Thursday afternoon and continue through Sunday. Join us! Just click on the link on the right and pick a shift or two.

Message from PA President Nancy Corwin...
A Time for Reflection  
I would like to take this midyear opportunity to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to all the parents and guardians who contribute their time and effort in so many ways to build and support our community. The timing seems appropriate to reflect on our mission and recent celebrations, and to highlight a few upcoming attractions. Believe it or not it is also time to contemplate ways to participate in the Parents Association (PA) next year!

A primary goal of the PA this year has been to modify our all-school events to achieve a balance of community building and fund raising. Thoughtful and collaborative planning produced intentional modifications in this model. Our recent Rummage and ROAR events demonstrated tremendous success and balance in both areas, and could not have happened without incredible support from Head of School Bernie Noe, Lakeside’s administration, the PA Board, and our amazing community.

Rummage is valued as a unique community-building Lakeside tradition. In an effort to preserve this tradition, we made changes to better match our current level of available volunteers. This year both sales are planned to be shorter and more efficient, thereby easing our volunteer demands and emphasizing fun opportunities to come together as a community. The Fall Sale in October brought together more than 470 parents, guardians, students, faculty, staff, trustees, alums, and alum parents. The timing of this event in early fall provides a wonderful opportunity to welcome new and returning families, and hosting the Sale on campus showcases our school and our community commitment to service and recycling. I hope to see many of you at the Spring Rummage Sale or in the vibrant Rummage Depot. The Rummage Depot is in spectacular shape with a warm and welcoming spirit abounding. Special thanks to this entire team for their tremendous leadership and to everyone in the community for their ongoing support. The Rummage cochair team includes: Karin Barnes, Michelle Bemis, Masayo Bennion, Judy Borish, Cathy Chohlas, Caroline Gallee, Melissa Glerum, Peggy-Paige Most, Silvana Rimoli, Michael Siew, and Nancy Watt.

ROAR (Raising our Allocations Resources) was held off campus this fall for the first time in seven years. Our goal was to revitalize this event through increased interest, attendance, and fund-raising opportunities. “Passport to the World” was held at the spectacular Museum of Flight on November 10, 2007, and was tremendously successful.  It achieved a superb balance between community building and fund raising in an entertaining and inclusive atmosphere. We encouraged everyone to attend, provided confidential financial assistance (e.g., reduced ticket prices), and invited all faculty and staff as our guests. There were a number of highlights including Bernie’s warm welcome, US Director Than Healy’s and Coordinator of Multicultural Education/Diversity TJ Vasser’s roles as MCs, past parent Steve Hardy’s fabulous auctioneer services, an inspirational speech by US English faculty member Tom Doelger, the incredible raffle prize donated by parents (of a current senior) Rick and Anne Steves, a student jazz band led by junior Tommy B., and enthusiastic student volunteers helping in a variety of ways. A new aspect of this event was an amazing array of desserts donated by members of our community. A significant bonus of hosting this event off campus was eliminating the need for numerous volunteers to spend hours transforming Lakeside’s Fieldhouse into a festive venue. More than 500 members of our community enjoyed this magical event, and we significantly increased our revenue. Special thanks to all who contributed to this soaring event including the many volunteers, donors, and attendees. Kudos to the ROAR Cochairs Vivian Chao, Julie Nelson, Irma Suntay, and Lisa Tall for their outstanding creativity and leadership.

In addition to Rummage and ROAR, there have been numerous other meaningful events hosted by the PA. Connie Mao and Carol Odell, Parent Lecture cochairs planned two fascinating educational lectures, one on middle school student relationships and the other on teenage brain development. In addition, the PA Diversity Cochairs, Don Dudley, Holly Jacobson, Rachel Maxwell, and John Weeks organized an interactive panel discussion on “The Importance of Diversity Skills in the EmergingWorkplace.” All three of these educational events were recorded and are available for checkout along with other resources in the PA library. I hope everyone will attend the next exciting PA diversity event, featuring Dr. Howard Gardner, scheduled for Saturday, February 2. Look for more details in this publication.

Other meaningful events this past fall include Parent Peer Group sessions coordinated by Julie Davis and Daniel Malarkey and facilitated by grade-level parents and guardians. FOLA (Friends of Lakeside Athletics) hosted incredible Burgers on the Quad at Homecoming and morning refreshments at the Middle School. The FOLA Co- chairs Lisa Pascualy, Karen Summerville, Carolyn Kitchell, and Mike Velling, identify representatives for each team who coordinate team communication and plan end-of-season celebrations. Kim Moen has been busy overseeing the Parent Potlucks being held the first two weekends in February. Bringing our community together in meaningful ways is a primary focus of the PA.

Announcements:

• The Nominations Committee will continue to accept Nominations. (Forms are available online by clicking on the link at top right. ) Volunteers are essential to the continued success of the PA. Please review this questionnaire and consider volunteering or recommending another parent or guardian. Many of the positions are suitable for a working parent or guardian or may be job shared. The nominations process is very thoughtful, involving a committee of parents and guardians who represent our community, and is chaired this year by Diana Stone.
• The deadline for Allocation requests has been extended to March 7.  (Request forms are available online by clicking on the link at the top of the page.)  We value parent and guardian input about ways to direct some of our gifts to the school. The Allocation Committee includes members of the executive committee as well as representatives from our two primary fund-raising committees. If you have a specific project or capital request, please complete and return this form.

Tremendous teamwork is at the heart of our Parents Association successes. At this midpoint I also wish to thank the 32 class reps who are the backbone of the PA, the remaining committee chairs, numerous volunteers, and Vonnie Breidenstein, the PA’s volunteer coordinator. I am grateful to the dedicated PA Executive Committee including Sandy Resnick, Cindy Musto, Kippy Murphy, Karen Morikubo, Ann Zamojski, and Peter McGanney.  I look forward to many more opportunities to build and celebrate our community throughout the remaining months of this school year, and I welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Nancy Corwin P ’00 ’05 ’09
Lakeside School Parents Association
President 2007-2008

Grade Level News password protected
You may notice something different next time you check your grade level news on the Lakeside web pages.  You will be asked for your password; check your Lakeside Directory on page 1 under Restricted Areas for this year’s password.

Thank you for all you do to contribute to the Lakeside community, from volunteering in the Rummage Depot to providing treats for faculty and staff for APPLE days, every gesture is a valuable gift and helps make this school a vibrant community.