June 9, 2017 ~ Step Up Day Schedule

Grade 6
~ 11:30am dismissal – to make space for the Stepping Up 5th Graders

Grade 7
~ 2:45pm dismissal – Regular Schedule

Grade 8
~ 11:30am – 2:30pm – step up to Newton North High School
~ 2:45pm dismissal – from Bigelow Middle School

The usual bus routes will run again for 7th and 8th graders at 2:45pm.  A flyer is attached .

Participate in Bigelow Library’s “Honor a Graduate or Staff Member”  End of Year Book Drive. When you buy a book through this website (Bound to Stay Bound Books), your donation pays for a book bound in a way to increase the lifespan of the book, and for a donor name plate placed in the book for the person you are honoring with your purchase. Help keep the Bigelow Library independent reading collection relevant, interesting, educational, and fun for all our students by purchasing a book today! Your continued support is deeply appreciated.

It is hard to believe that soon our 8th graders will be graduating Bigelow!

Over the summer we automatically remove all 8th grade information from both the PTO mailing list and the Bigelow Directory. The information in the directory will be passed along to Newton North High School,.

This is a good time to update your household contact information, so it’s correctly forward to Newton North and ready for next year if you still have children at Bigelow. But please do not change your children’s grade yet nor remove the 8th grader from either list at this point or you may miss important end of the year information.

If you have any questions, please contact us at bigelowbulldog@gmail.com

All members of the Bigelow Middle School community are part of the PTO and are invited to the Spring Annual Meeting.  The 2017/18 budget will be presented and the incoming leadership will be brought forward for a vote of the PTO community.  If you would like to become more involved in the strategic aspect of the Bigelow PTO, helping direct and manage the overall program for 2017/18, you are encourage to join the board in one of the open positions. Hope to see you on the 7th!

PTO Spring Annual Meeting
Wed, June 7th 2017, from 7pm to 8pm
Bigelow Library

Proposed 2017-2018 Officers, Directors and Nominating Committee Members

• Co-President (Officer) – Jessica Gilmartin
• Co-President – Jennifer Weber
• Co-Vice President Fundraising (Officer) – open
• Co-Vice President Fundraising – open
• Co-Treasurer (Officer) – Miriam Alandydy
• Co-Treasurer  – Michelle Welford
• Co-Secretary (Officer) – Joana Canedo
• Co-Secretary  – open
• Co-President 2018/19 – open  
• Past-President* – Marcia Hernon
  *this position is by right and not subject to approval
• Nominating Committee** – Tracy Carroll (returning)
• Nominating Committee – from Ward feeder school – open
• Nominating Committee – from Lincoln-Elliot feeder school – open
  **One member of the Nominating Committee serves as the Chair and one member of the Board of Directors is appointed by the Board to serve on the Nominating Committee

The 8th grade will be holding a Car Wash and Bake Sale on Thursday June 8th from 3pm to 5pm.  This is a fun event for the 8th grade students and all proceeds will go towards funding 8th grade year end events!

We need parent volunteers to help supervise the car wash, to sell baked goods, and to BAKE!
Please sign up here if you can bake some treats or if you are able to volunteer with the car wash or the bake sale.

If you have any questions, please e-mail bigelowbulldog@gmail.com.

Thank you!

On April 30th, at NewtonServes Day, dozens of volunteers worked hard at Bigelow, building a fence, spreading tons of mulch, pruning and raking dozens of bags of brush, and in general sprucing up the grounds and entrance to the school.

We just received great pictures of that day. Please take a look here.

This is a good opportunity to thank again all of our Bigelow families and staff who worked for Bigelow during NewtonServes Day.

From the Principal’s Office

Please mark you calendars for Step-Up Day,  Friday, June 9.  All sixth graders will be dismissed at 11:30am on this day, so that fifth graders can visit Bigelow, and the usual bus routes will run then.  Seventh graders have a full day and will be dismissed at 2:45pm.  Eighth graders also have a full day.  They will leave Bigelow at 11:30am to visit Newton North High School, and then return by 2:45pm to Bigelow for dismissal.  The usual bus routes will run again for 7th and 8th graders at 2:45pm.  A flyer is attached .

Also, several parents of rising seventh and eighth graders have asked about math classes in these grades.  Attached  is a letter with information about 7th and 8th grade math classes at Bigelow. 

Todd Harrison

From the Library

• Over 50 students submitted haikus
• Haikus were judged on creativity, originality, and attention to haiku form
• A panel of teacher judges chose three top winners and three honorable mentions
• The haikus are displayed on a bulletin board in the library
• Parents are invited to come in and take a look before or after school
• Winners have blue stickers on them and honorable mentions have red stickers

Come and demonstrate your artistic talents at the Paint Bar in West Newton on June 7^th, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm

The Bigelow Outreach Club is sponsoring a night of painting and raising money for the SEGA Girls School in Tanzania! Tickets to the event are $50.00 per person – half of the proceeds go directly to the SEGA School. Order forms with more details will be distributed in homebases during the week of May 1st and can be downloaded here.  More information can be found on the Outreach Club’s website.  This event is open to kids (over the age of 8) and adults.

Please reserve your spots as soon as possible, because the Paint Bar will open this event up to the general public in mid-May. Let’s make this an all Bigelow event!

It was a lovely evening where Bigelow parents, guardians, friends, teachers and staff munched on great food, sipped the Hawaiian Sunrise, bid on great items and most importantly, reconnected with old friends and met new ones. Check out some pictures.

The event raised over $15,000, which will go towards curriculum-enriching programs such as the Creative Arts and Sciences, student scholarships, school grounds upkeep, classroom supplies, as well as gym and technology items not covered by the regular school budget.

MANY THANKS to all who attended, who participated in the auction and to the people and businesses who donated goods, services as well as their time and talents to make our Big Night a great night.

Specifically, thank you to:

• Our wonderful dynamic duo, co-chairs ~ Tammy McKenna and Beth Panella ~ who worked long hours to bring a great concept to fruition.
• The Big Night Committee members for their time and energy to make the whole night come together. They are: Andrea Hemment, Anush Sahakian, Jenifer Siegelman, Jesene Godfrey, Jordana Alford, Joana Canedo, Kyra Mercado, Lex Van der Ploeg, Ola Agoro, Valerie Pontiff.
• The wonderful Bigelow staff who donated one-of-a-kind items to the auction:  Christine Langlois, Crista Cavicchio, Felicia Bennington, Jess Parlon, Joe Eckstrom, Kyra Mercado, Kim LeQuire, Meghan Martin, Michele Parker, Patty Summa, Todd Harrison.
• The volunteers who helped make the evening flawless: Alex Mercado, Aram Brunson, Don McKenna, George Brunson, Megan White, Rob White, Roberta Loredo, Shane McKenna, Tripti Thomas-Travers.
• The local companies who donated or gave us discounts on delectable food, thirst-quenching beverages and various other things:  BG Events & Catering, Sensational Foods, Catering with Distinction, Tastings Caterers, Antoine’s Pastry Shop, The Icing on the Cake, Gordon’s Wine, Taylor Rental,  Be Our Guest, Central Rock Gym.  Please frequent these businesses and use their services!
• The many businesses and organizations who donated items to our silent auction. For a complete list, click here http://bigelowpto.org/big-night-2017-donors/: Please support them!
• To anyone else who contributed to the evening who we forgot to list. Our apologies!

Mahalo!

For information about the items you won at the auction, and how to get them, click here: What did you win at the Big Night Auction? or contact us by e-mail: bigelowbulldog@gmail.com

Please take a look at the final 6 items left on the catalog.