The Wild West

Hi folks, Jon Wennstrom here! The first week of school sure went by quickly. I really enjoyed meeting all the Buchanan students and families and I know our teachers did as well. As much as we prepare and organize the school, the real magic doesn't happen until the students walk in the door. Seeing the excitement on their faces and hearing their positive voices all week long was an amazing experience! This week we learned routines for arrival, dismissal, lunch room and recess. Each day was better than the last. I know next week will be even smoother!

Next week we have two special events going on at Buchanan. We have our Scholastic Book Fair going on all week and we have our annual Curriculum Night and Open House. Our Book Fair theme this year is "The Wild West" and students will have an opportunity to browse the selections and an opportunity to purchase. It will also be accessible during our Curriculum Night and Open House event.  Make sure to check it out when you come!

 Thank you to our fantastic Book Fair volunteers!!

UPCOMING EVENTS AT BUCHANAN

Monday, September 11 - Friday, September 15: Scholastic Book Fair

Thursday, September 14: Curriculum Night & Open House 6:00-7:30 PM

• 6:00-6:30 PM Curriculum Night for Grades K-2 in the classrooms (older students will be supervised on the playground)
• 6:30-7:00 PM Open House for ALL grades (parents & students invited into classrooms)
• 7:00-7:30 PM Curriculum Night for Grades 3&4 in the classrooms (younger students will be supervised on the playground)
• We ask that only school-aged students attend the event. Thank You!

Thursday, September 21: PTA General Membership Meeting 7:00 PM

Wednesday, September 27: Lifetouch Picture Day
Friday, September 29: PTA FUN RUN 6:30-8:00 PM

Click on the link below to see the Buchanan feature in the Livonia Observer!

Back To School Article

MEET THE BUCHANAN STAFF

Kristen Blazek - Elementary Support Teacher (EST)

Hello Buchanan families!  I am the Elementary Support Teacher.  At Buchanan, I wear many different hats.  I help children with health issues, academic, social emotional and behavioral challenges.  I have been at Buchanan for 22 years.  I started off as a teacher and have taught grades K, 1, 2,4 and 6.  I am married to Jeff and I have 2 children, Ashley and Dalton.  I also have a very energetic dog named Diezel.  I am a huge Michigan State fan.  Go Green!

My goal for this year is to make everyone feel safe and welcome!  I love getting to know and working with the children individually or in a small group setting. 

5 words to describe Buchanan: Caring, dedicated, safe, kind and nurturing.

ONLINE PAYMENT PROCESS AND LUNCH ACCOUNT ACCESS HAS CHANGED 

**PARENT CONNECT CAN NO LONGER BE UTILIZED TO VIEW OR ADD MONEY TO YOUR STUDENT’S ACCOUNT
To do so, please go to: www.mypaymentsplus.com  Use this service to: • Check account balances online • Make payments using a credit card, debit card, or e-check • Auto-pay your student’s account when it reaches a low balance threshold • Monitor cafeteria purchase history and receive low balance alerts

PTA POINTS

Parents- we have many free money programs that will help raise money for our school!

• Kroger- please link your Kroger Plus card to Buchanan. Your community rewards program expires every June, so please renew or sign up for the first time

• Busch's- please link your card to Buchanan

• Amazon Smile- please use this link when shopping with Amazon, http://smile.amazon.com/ch/38-2618912. We will earn money for our school.

• Box Tops- will be collected throughout the year. Please send in Box Tops in a sealed baggie or envelope with student name, teacher name and grade. We will have two contests, the class with the highest amount of Box Tops turned in will win a pizza party from the PTA!

• Looking for help planning your next Disney vacation? One of our parents, Kelly Petit can help! She has kindly offered to give a portion of her commission back to the PTA! Please check out the site and see how we involve the kids in the planning process.

http://www.kellyamouseexpert.com

 or contact us directly

at 1-734-620-3260 or kpetit@themouseexperts.com 

Interested in ordering Buchanan spirit wear? Please click on this link, www.buchananspiritwear.com to order. All orders will be sent directly to your house! There will be free shipping weeks available throughout the year. 

We have many volunteer opportunities still available, please click on the sign up genius link, http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e44a4ae2ca1f94-volunteer, if you are interested. 

We are looking for volunteers for our Fall Book Fair, September 11-15. We will be open for shopping on September 14 for curriculum night. If you would like to help, please click here http://tinyurl.com/BuchananWildWest

The Fun Run is the PTA’s biggest fundraiser of the year.  This year we are inviting the whole family to join in the fun for our first ever family fun GLOW run. The run will take place on the back playground on Friday, September 29th from 6:30-8:00 p.m.

The Fun Run promotes health and fitness to our students while helping us reach our budget goals. Please help us reach our fundraising goal by supporting our Fun Run!

Please help your child reach the individual student goal of $50. That’s just five $10 pledges!

Our total school goal is $15,000.

Register your child for our Fun Run by visiting http://www.thegetmovincrew.com/

Did you know that Buchanan teachers donate money each Friday when they wear jeans? Teachers pay $1 each week for the opportunity to wear jeans and that money is then collected for a student assistance fund for Buchanan families in times of need or for other service projects. We are currently looking at using our funds for hurricane relief efforts. Friday Jean Day is a way for our staff to have fun while still serving a good cause. Great things are happening at Buchanan!