Category Archives: From the PTO

Haiku Poetry Contest

April is national poetry month. The Bigelow Library is holding its annual haiku writing contest.

What is a haiku?

A form of Japanese poetry about nature or  a season.  It consists of 17 syllables formatted like the poem below.

how the birds quarrel (5)
among themselves this morning (7)
over one small worm (5)

Stop by the library for more information. All submissions are due by Friday, April 28.
There will be prizes for the top three most creative submissions. Do haiku today!

NewtonServes – Bigelow Beautification

NewtonServes is a Day of Community Service that brings together over 1,000 volunteers of all ages to complete more than 50 community projects for the benefit of numerous non-profit organizations and City of Newton departments. Volunteers work in teams on morning, afternoon or all day projects throughout the city, such as cleaning up parks, planting gardens, building and painting school bookshelves, spring cleaning at non-profit organizations and helping senior citizens. This year it will take place on Sunday, April 30, from 9am to 4pm.

There are many volunteering opportunities all around the city, including:

Bigelow Beautification
Join us as we beautify the grounds of Bigelow Middle School. We plan to clean and mulch garden beds, prune shrubs and trees, etc. outdoors. We also may build a short wooden fence to protect planting beds from foot traffic.
Please bring some tools.

NewtonServes is a project of Newton Community Pride, Mayor’s Office for Cultural Affairs and the Newton Parks and Recreation Department

Bigelow Middle School 2016-2017 Yearbook

Yearbooks are on sale now!
The order forms were given out in homerooms this week.

Bigelow Middle School 2016-2017 Yearbook
Durable hard cover with original design by 8th grade artists
All-color pages
Price: $25
Payments: cash, check or online
Deadline to order: April 13th
(after April 13th you can still pay by cash/check but only while supplies last)

Order online at https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/Order/SelectJob   (Bigelow’s code: 1945917)

If you would rather pay by cash or check (payable to: Bigelow Middle School), please place payment in a sealed envelope with your child’s name and homeroom written on the front. Your child should give the envelope to their homeroom teacher.

You can be part of the Bigelow PTO Board – join us next year

Is your child heading to Bigelow next year? Middle school is a very different experience for kids and parents so getting involved is a great way to stay connected with the school community! There are many PTO Board roles available for next year as well as committee chair positions and we would love to have representation from all the feeder school parents.

  • Co-Vice President Fundraising (Officer) (2)
  • Co-Secretary (Officer) (1)
  • Co-Treasurer (Officer) (1)
  • Co-President-Elect (2)
  • Nominating Committee Member (from the Ward district)
  • Nominating Committee Member (from the Lincoln-Eliot district)
  • Nominating Committee Member (from the Underwood district)
  • Nominating Committee Member (from the Mason-Rice district)
    * One of the Nominating Committee Members will serve as Nominating Chair

Please contact your Nominating Committee representatives or Tracy Carroll, Nominating Committee chair, for more information. Thank you!

Tracy Carroll – tracy_carroll@yahoo.com, 617-913-9332
Miriam Alandydy – miriam.alandydy@gmail.com (Lincoln-Eliot)
Una Simmons – una@ethannet.com (Underwood)
Beth Hicks – beth.hicks@gmail.com (Ward)

Big Night committee meeting on Thursday – all are invited!

If you want to help with the planning of the Bigelow Big Night Lual 2017, our next committee meeting will be Thursday, April 6th, at 7pm, at Beth Panella’s house, 5 Channing Road in Newton Center. Please contact Beth at beth.panella@comcast.net for more information.

We still need donations to our silent auction. You can donate by clicking here or you can help by soliciting local businesses for a donation. Click here for a printable business solicitation letter and donation form.

We appreciate all your help!

Thank you,
Tammy McKenna and Beth Panella – your event co-chairs

Parents and guardians of 8th graders: we need volunteers

We’re rapidly approaching the end of the year with lots of exciting activities for our 8th graders. We need parents to volunteer to support our students as we successfully bring their 8th grade experience to the finish line.

Jessie Gilmartin will host an organizing meeting for interested volunteer parents and guardians of 8th graders at her home at 11 Garrison Street in Chestnut Hill, (617) 281-4535, on Sunday April 9th from 7:30 to 8:30 pm.   The time of the meeting changed to 2pm – 3pm. 

Some volunteer opportunities include supporting the 8th grade graduation reception, the 8th grade dance, and supporting fundraising activities surrounding the 8th grade trips.    

We hope you can help!

Big Night planning is going well – we still need your help!

The date is set: Saturday, May 20th
The venue is beautiful: the Commander’s Mansion in Watertown
Ticket sales will be available in early April. Stay tuned for more details.

Now we need all the help we can get to make our biggest fundraiser of the year a great night for all!

Please consider making a donation to our silent auction. Tickets to sporting events, gift cards for services, restaurant gift certificates, vacation getaways, jewelry, artwork, a dinner or cocktail party, memberships etc. are all appreciated. Or you might want to sponsor a portion of the evening? Click here to donate to the online auction or become a sponsor.

You can also help by soliciting local businesses for an auction donation. Click here for a printable business solicitation letter and donation form.

If you want to help with the planning, our next committee meeting will be Monday, March 27th, at Beth Panella’s house, 5 Channing Road in Newton Center. Please contact Beth at beth.panella@comcast.net for more information.

Thank you,
Tammy McKenna and Beth Panella – your event co-chairs