Amherst 250th Gala

Amherst Youth Basketball

Amherst Youth Basketball (AYBL)
Games begin Saturday January 9, 2010

It’s not too LATE...
Teams are being formed!!!

Coed League - $99
Grades K-2 Instructional Division (Players in this division practice but play no formal games)
Practices will be held at Fort River and Wildwood on Saturdays or Sundays.

Boys’ Divisions - $129
Grades 3 & 4 Sundays - Wildwood/Hadley Elementary
Grades 5 & 6 Saturdays - Middle School/Hadley Elementary
Grades 7 & 8 Saturdays - Middle School
Grades 9 - 12 Saturdays - High School

Girls’ Divisions - $129
Grades 3 & 4 Sundays - Wildwood/Hadley Elementary
Grades 5 & 6 Saturdays - Middle School/Hadley Elementary
Grades 7 & 8 Saturdays - Middle School
Grades 9 - 12 Saturdays - Middle School

Fee Reductions Available
up to 75%

To register, call Amherst Leisure Services at 259-3065, visit lsse.org,
or stop by our office in the Bangs Community Center.
Amherst Youth Basketball (AYBL)
*Not a school sponsored event.

More H1N1 Vaccination Clinics

H1N1 Flu Vaccination Clinics

University Health Services and the Town of Amherst are hosting walk-in H1N1 flu vaccination clinics Wednesday, Dec. 2, noon - 6 p.m. at the UMass Campus Center Auditorium; and Saturday, Dec. 12, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

at the Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk, Amherst. Clinics are open to ages 6 months - 65, while supplies last. There is no cost to you

for vaccination.

To save time, follow these steps:

Download the registration form and vaccine information from from

www.umass.edu/uhs or www.amherstma.gov.

Photocopy both sides of your insurance card.

Bring the completed form, your insurance card and card copies to the clinic.

Forms and information will also be available at the door.

The Centers for Disease Control and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health recommend vaccination for everyone in the target groups, including those who have had a recent flu-like illness. However, anyone who is currently ill and has a fever cannot be vaccinated.

Maintaining excellent schools meeting

Please attend an organizational meeting to harness parent energy in addressing the current Amherst/Amherst Regional budget crisis.

When: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 7 p.m.

Where: At MJ Viederman's home, 150 Blackberry Lane, Amherst. Long driveway at the end of the street -- park at the circle and walk into the long driveway, or drive in and park along the left side of the roadway.

Who: Everyone interested in maintaining excellent schools in our community.

Why: The budget situation this year has the potential of making all of our schools unrecognizable. If we work together to utilize the wealth of skill, creativity, and knowledge as a community, then we can build a cooperative plan for all students to continue to excel.

Bring: A smile, your calendar, and all of your ideas.

Enthusiastically supported by the ARMS FSP
Amherst Regional Middle School Family School Partnership

H1N1 vaccinations

At the Select Board meeting tonight the town announced that there will be H1N1 vaccinations offered at the Middle School on Wednesday 11/11 9am-1pm for children under age 17 or pregnant woman or those caring for infants under 6 months.

Submitted by Town Meeting member Clare Bertrand

Amherst 250th Parade DVDs for sale

DVDs of Amherst's 250th Parade on September 27th are now available for $10. Full coverage of the event includes the group who marched for Amherst Elementary Schools. Produced by ACTV, these DVDs make a great souvenir of the event!
Contact Catherine Stryker on 413 695 7124 to place your order.

And

A DVD produced by the 250th Celebration Committee is on sale. It is a 90 minute video with all marching units in the parade and footage of the Clydesdales in downtown shot earlier in the week. A tremendous souvenir of the 250th parade. Parade was filmed by Patrick Serio a professional videographer from neighboring Hadley. for more information click on this site. http://www.amherst250.org/index.php?id=65

Mt Holyoke Study

Professor Francine Deutsch from Mount Holyoke College is conducting a study on how parents balance housework and childcare. We are particularly looking for families where both spouses work at least 20 hours/week for pay, are native speakers, and where the fathers share the load of household chores and parenting tasks. Participating couples will each take part in a 15-minute phone interview with a student research assistant at their convenient time.
If you are interested in our study, please contact Fong at ta20p@mtholyoke.edu, or 413-230-6793.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration!

Free Family Event

Dear Teachers and Parents,

We are looking forward to seeing your students next Tuesday for the Cirque Mechanics performance of A Birdhouse Factory. In anticipation of this event the Fine Arts Center is hosting a FREE family circus day on Sunday, November 8^th from 2pm – 4:30pm in the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall lobby. If you have e-lists for parents or other appropriate means of contacting families we would appreciate your sharing this information. Hope to see you there!

Want to Run Away and Join the Circus!?
Join us for Wunderle's Big Top Workshop

Sunday, November 8, 2:00 – 4:30 PM, Concert Hall Lobby, free and open to all ages!

An interactive circus adventure appropriate for a wide range of skill levels and ages. Participants can partake in the entire workshop or leave at any point. Equipment to be taught may include, but is not limited to: juggling scarves, balls, rings, and clubs, spinning plates, devil sticks, diablos, feathers, hula hoops, and jump ropes. Plus, human stunts such as clowning and entertaining tricks for all will be taught. A former international performer with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Troy Wunderle is the founder of Wunderle's Big Top Circus and is the Big Top Tour Director of Circus Smirkus in Vermont.

Wunderle's Big Top Workshop is presented in anticipation of the appearance of Cirque Mechanics in Birdhouse Factory: an extraordinary troupe of Cirque du Soleil, Pickle Family Circus, and Moscow Circus veterans who transform the mundane into the magnificent. Cirque Mechanics will perform at the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall on Tuesday, November 10 at 7:30 PM and a sold-out school performance that morning at 10am.

For more information on Wunderle's Big Top Workshop, see www.bigtopadventures.com. Information and tickets for the November 10 evening performance by Cirque Mechanics are available at the Fine Arts Center website.

Halina Kusleika
Assistant Director of Programming, Fine Arts Center
15 Curry Hicks
University of Massachusetts Amherst
100 Hicks Way
Amherst, MA 01003-9267
ph. 413.545.4157
fax 413.545.0132
www.fineartscenter.com

Stop and Shop, Big Y and More....

This is an easy way to raise funds for our school and it doesn’t cost you anything except for a few minutes of your time to sign up at the places that you shop. If you have friends or family members that shop at Stop and Shop, Big Y, Target, Atkins, and A 2 Z. Let them know they can designate Mark’s Meadow Elementary School to benefit from their purchases. As the holidays approach please look at these store for your purchases.

Last year and this school year-to-date our families that have enrolled in Big Y’s Education Express program have earned a total of more than 450,000 Education Express Points for Mark’s Meadow. These points will be redeemed to purchase school equipment from the Big Y Education Express catalog. In the past we have purchased a drum set for the Music department. So this program really helps us in keeping our programs full of fun and enriching. It is necessary to enroll your card every year. If you have not re-enrolled your Big Y card for this school year please take the time to do so. You can do this by going online to http://www.bigy.com/education/edexp_sign_up.php, or simply stop by Big Y customer service next time you are in the store.

This school year 46 families and staff members have re-enrolled in Stop & Shop’s A + education reward program. Last year we had 98 families signed up and earned over $1000 for the PGG. It is necessary to enroll your card every year. If you have not re-enrolled your Stop & Shop card yet, you can do this by going online to http://www.stopandshop.com/aplus or simply stop by Stop & Shop customer service next time you are in the store. Our school number is 05187.

We currently have only 13 families enrolled in Target’s Red Card Program: Take Charge of Education. Last year we earned $375 from Target. Our school ID # is 58646.Sign up now. https://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-005174.

Don’t forget to mention Mark’s Meadow at A 2 Z. We earned over $135 in gift certificates last year. These gift certificates were used as prizes at community events last year.

Atkins is also offering education rewards as well. Please use your cards that were given out last year when shopping at Atkins we have the opportunity to earn as much as $500. If you don’t have an Atkins card please send and email to marksmeadow@gmail.com to request one.

You and your family members will be relieved and glad to sign up for these programs when they find out they don’t have to buy wrapping paper to raise money for our school.

AMHERSTOPOLY ORDER FORM

AEF Trivia Bee Raises $6150 For Our Schools!

The Amherst Regional Middle School auditorium was "abuzz" with contestants and spectators at the Amherst Education Foundation's 15th Annual Trivia Bee on Thursday, October 29. 120 contestants, many in costumes, competed for bragging rights to the title of Amherst area trivia champion. Hosted by AEF President Katie Allan Zobel and emceed by State Representative Ellen Story, the evening of challenge, wit and fun netted a record $6,150.00 for the benefit of Amherst, Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury schools.

While area schools are the big winners from the event, bragging rights belong to the team of bee champion Jones Group Realtors, comprised of Doug Albertson, Tim McGee, Maureen Porter and Micki Sanderson, who won an exciting sudden death playoff against competitors New England Finishing and the Amherst College Center for Community Engagement. Winning prizes for best costume were the teams from Atkinson Family Practice (Slum"doc" Millionaires), Attorney David Noonan (the Harry Potters) and Minuteman Pest Control (the H1N1 Swine Patrol.) Awards for best team spirit went to the Amherst Club, New England Greenscape and the Amherst College Center for Community Engagement. The audience contest, themed Amherst 250th, offered a unique glimpse into Amherst 's past and was won by Jackie Churchill.

The trivia bee marks AEF's first fundraising event since the organization completed its strategic plan last year, and launches what promises to be a new era in AEF history. AEF's mission is to provide significant and consistent support for area teachers and students by awarding grants, funding district-wide projects, and encouraging teacher innovation and academic excellence.

The event was underwritten by Northampton Cooperative Bank and made possible by the local businesses who provided sponsorships for the teams, donated prizes and/or helped with publicity. The Amherst Education Foundation is profoundly grateful to these businesses for their support, and is already looking forward to another successful Trivia Bee in 2010. For more information, or to make a tax-deductible gift to the schools via AEF, please visit our website at www.amhersteducationfoundation.org.