Mark Your Calendars for the Next General Association Meeting
We have a special speaker lined up for our next PTSA General Association meeting on Tuesday, February 21, 2011and we hope you can join us in the school library at 7:00 p.m. Our school board representative Noel Gallo will speak to us on important matters that will directly affect our students and schools next year. Some topics include: OUSD school closures and boundary changes, updates on state funding for schools, including Governor Brown’s weighted pupil funding system which would be a huge departure from the current system in which districts’ revenues differ dramatically based on allocations of dozens of specially designated “categorical” programs, and the Mutual Matching proposal by Superintendent Smith to modify the current teacher placement process to give more say to the principal and site staff to choose teachers who are aligned with the culture, climate, philosophies and priorities of the school. For more information about this meeting and open PTSA positions for the next school year, please email president@ednabrewer.net.
Mark Your Calendars !!
Beautification Day Rescheduled
Brewer Beautification Day scheduled for next Saturday has been rescheduled to Saturday, February 25th from 9 to noon.
Our gardens should have had plenty of rain by then and will need our love .
Please hold a space open in your day to drop by and help out for an hour or two.
Pizza and Prizes for those who make a morning of it!
Help Needed! ACT Ticket Prize Sales Fridays at Lunch
Our teachers are working to build positive school culture by awarding students with ACT tickets when they display Panther PRIDE. Students can then use their tickets to buy prizes at lunches on most Fridays. Can you help on a Friday in February, March, April, or May? If so, please email president@ednabrewer.net.
7th Grade Field Trip is in the Works!
The PTSA is working with the 7th Grade Family Heads to plan a field trip to the Monterey Bay Acquarium for this spring. Stay tuned for more information about this great trip for both Transformers and Legends!
The MLK Jr. Oratorical Festival is Coming!
The 2012 Martin Luther King Jr. Oratorical festival is coming soon. There are four categories for oral presentation: original poem or essay, individual poetry (one student reciting a poem written by someone else), individual speech or essay (one student reciting a speech or essay by someone else), and choral or skit (2+ students reciting a piece, either original or written by someone else).
Sixth, seventh and eighth graders are welcome to participate in the category of their choice. Only 4 submissions (individual or group) are allowed from Brewer, and we can only have two choral entries. There is also an essay contest for seventh and eighth graders only, with first place in the district getting $1,000 cash!
The topic is an expository essay about a person who improved the world we live in, and the judges are expecting essays to show research into the person’s background and accomplishments. No citations are necessary, however, so the intensity of the research is low.
Students should have their choices ready by January 25. The due date for submissions is January 27. Aly Jones will work with students and help them practice at least twice a week before the competition. don’t have to be performance ready by January 25th as we’ll practice at least twice a week before the competition. The first round of competition will be February 24th at Acts Full Gospel Church.
For more information on the competition as a whole, visit tapestryleps.com. Thank you for your support!
—Aly Jones
School News
Exciting Staff Additions to Brewer!
Please help welcome several additional staff-members to our terrific staff!
First of all, our school has a new part-time nurse!
OUSD Nurse Misha Gregory works a two-day shift at Edna Brewer, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her office is located adjacent to the back door of the Panther Playhouse, also near the entry to the Pilots Hallway. Nurse Gregory’s email is misha.gregory@ousd.k12.ca.us and her cell phone is 510-773-1760.
Second, Mr. Aquino is back!
Mr. Aquino returned to Brewer on Friday, January 20th! Mr. Aquino is supporting the sixth grade during Ms. Travaille’s maternity leave as a substitute administrator. He will work until mid- to late-March.
Mr. Pasarow will continue to work in tandem with Mr. Aquino and then be the lone sixth grade administrator in April before Ms. Travaille’s return in May.
Our Transformers have an interim science teacher!
Ms. Jeri Schneider will teach life science to the Transformers for the balance of the school year. Please introduce yourself and welcome her to our team. We all have valuable things to share with Ms. Schneider, like student knowledge, teaching materials, positive reinforcement methods, operating the scan tron, laminating machine, to name a few.
Finally, Safe Passages and Edna Brewer are working on hiring an interim After School Program Coordinator. We are making progress and believe that a new coordinator will be in place by January 27th, 2012. Ms. Danielle has done a great job of being the Coordinator until an interim is hired. Great communities, like ours, deal well with challenges like mid-year turnover. I’m thankful to Ms. Danielle and to all of our teachers and students for making this the positive learning community that it is. Goooooooo Panthers!!
—Principal Pasarow
It’s Bee Season, so Bee There!
The OUSD annual district-wide Spelling Bee will be held on Thursday, February 9th. Edna Brewer will be holding a school-wide spelling be on Tuesday, January 31st to determine who will represent the mighty Panthers at the District event. The school competition is open to all students in all grades. All students are welcome to participate.
A practice bee will be held Tuesday, January 24th at lunch. The final bee will be held after school 1/31 in the gym. Participation in practice bee is not required to compete in final bee. Interested students can contact their ELA (English) teacher for more details and word lists.
Next PTSA Meeting
Mark your calendars for the next General Association Meeting on Tuesday, February 21! We have a special speaker lined up and we hope you can join us in the school library at 7:00 p.m. Our school board representative, Noel Gallo, will speak to us on important matters that will directly affect our students and schools next year. Some discussion topics include: OUSD school closures and boundary changes, updates on state funding for schools, including Governor Brown’s weighted pupil funding system. This system would be a huge departure from the current system in which districts’ revenues differ dramatically based on allocations of dozens of specially designated “categorical” programs. We will also discuss the Mutual Matching proposal by Superintendent Smith to modify the current teacher placement process. The goal of the proposal is to give more say to the principal and site staff so they may choose teachers who are aligned with the culture, climate, philosophies and priorities of the school. You can find out about Mutual Matching on the OUSD website. If you can’t make the meeting but want to provide input on this proposal, you can also contact Mr. Gallo by email at Noel.gallo@ousd.k12.ca.us.
Exciting Mosaic Art Project for the Brewer Community!
EBMS is joining forces with the Crucible — an industrial arts organization in West Oakland — to undertake an exciting community arts project! Working at the Crucible, Brewer students will create a three dimensional sculpture of the Brewer Panther and several panther paws to be installed in the “pit” area outside the seventh grade buildings.
The Crucible Sculpture Garden Project is a collaborative public art project intended to bring art and beauty to the Brewer campus. We are transforming the “pit” into a beautiful and colorful space for students to enjoy. This project began in 2006 with the students working collaboratively with The Crucible to create whimsical metal flowers which now decorate the walls of the “pit.” The project continues the industrial arts theme, with students creating a life size glass mosaic black panther and ceramic panther paws. Students and their families are invited to participate!
The panther project will be built over five Friday evenings at the Crucible and one Saturday at Brewer for installing all the parts.
Space is limited to 50 students! Students must sign up to participate in this event.
The sign up date is this Thursday, January 19th. Please look for the sign up table in the courtyard at lunch time. If we have more students interested than spots, a lottery will be used to select participants.
Students will be assigned to one Friday evening from the following dates:
February 3, 10, and 17 and March 2 and 9. We also will have one Saturday workday to install the panther and paws in the “pit.” Each Friday night will have a different group of 10-12 students working on the panther and paws.
Friday Night Schedule:
5:00pm — Leave from Edna Brewer (rides available if needed)
5:30pm — Arrive at the Crucible
5:30-6:00pm — Dinner, meet the artist and safety talk
6:00-8:00pm — Art making!
8:00-8:30pm — Clean up
8:30pm — Parents pick up their child at the Crucible
We will need parents to carpool students from Brewer to the Crucible at 5pm (all parents must bring their own child home). If you are able to, please contact Amanda Feinstein (programs@ednabrewer.net) to volunteer.
Encourage your child to sign up!
Auction Fiesta!
January 15, 2012
We are excited to announce that Edna Brewer’s first ever auction: a Fiesta! will be taking place on Saturday, April 28, from 6-10pm at the Uptown in Oakland. It is sure to be a fantastic adult only evening of community fun and fundraising.
We are collecting merchandise for the event, and need the assistance of the entire Brewer community to make this night a success. Please think about how you can contribute and let us know at fundraising@ednabrewer.net. Visit our Website to learn about more ways you can help!
Thanks for all you do,
Lisa Downes
PTSA Fundraising and Auction Co-chair
510.532.5913
