November 2009                                       

The days are shorter, the leaves are falling, the temperature is dropping . . . it is definitely November in Sudbury.  Our PTO committees have been busy organizing our fall events and planning for the months ahead.

The November food pantry collection was a record-breaker!  We collected 1558 items, setting Nixon records for both the total number of items collected in a single month and the number of items collected per student (3.37).  Thanks to everyone who remembered to send in donations.  Special thanks go to our Community Service Committee for organizing and publicizing the food pantry collection and to our 3rd grade teachers who put together a special food pantry presentation at school meeting.  Let’s see if we can set another record in December!

Monster Mash ’09 was a hauntingly huge success and a great opportunity for Nixon families to get together for some Halloween fun!  It was great to see so many of you there enjoying ghost stories in the library and costume contests in the gym in addition to visits to the Haunted Hospital, the Nixon fortune tellers, and the ever-popular Cackling Cake Walk.  Many, many thanks go to our Monster Mash co-chairs, who worked tirelessly to make the event fun for all, and to all the Nixon parents and teachers who volunteered their time and donated cakes, baked goods, beverages, and hospital supplies.  We couldn’t have done it without you! 

We had two other successful events this fall, the gift wrap fundraiser and the fall book fair.  Thank you to our Gift Wrap and Library Committees for all their hard work! 

So far, we have raised more than $10,000 in our 2009-10 Direct Appeal – money that supports all our wonderful programs, including enrichment programs like Bash the Trash and classroom visits by authors Barbara O’Connor, Brian Lies, and Suzy Kline.  Thank you very much to all the families who have contributed.  We have a 30% participation level right now and would love to reach 100% by year end.  It’s never too late to give!  Any amount is greatly appreciated.  Please send your contribution, payable to Nixon PTO, to Dawn Law, 33 Grindstone Lane, Sudbury, or click on the Paypal link on our website.

At our October PTO meeting, we approved our budget for this school year.  If you have any questions regarding our budget or expenditures, or any suggestions as to how we could better serve Nixon, please call or email us.  And, we hope you’ll come to our next PTO meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday, December 15 at 9:15 am in the Nixon cafeteria. 

In this month of Thanksgiving, we are grateful for the generosity and enthusiastic support of all our Nixon families and staff.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Ellen Joachim and Gretchen Findlay

PTO Co-Presidents