Earth Day

Hi folks, Jon Wennstrom here! Although we celebrated Earth Day this week, we try to make every day Earth Day at Buchanan. We cultivate our Buchanan Oasis Garden with flowers and plants native to Michigan, we recycle daily, and we teach our students the importance of caring for our planet. It was great to see our students doing so many neat projects and I know our planet is in good hands with the students we have at Buchanan! 

Don't forget to Vote on May 4th and remember the students will not have school that day to allow for voters in the building. 

PTA POINTS

• 2021-2022 PTA Executive Board: Elections for the Buchanan PTA Executive Board for the 2021-2022 school year were held at the PTA meeting on April 20. Congratulations and welcome to next year's board:

President: Valerie Jackson

1st Vice President: Mary Anne LaCaprara

2nd Vice President: Amy Oppie

Treasurer: Amy Owens

Recording Secretary: Katie Klann

Corresponding Secretary: Jill Allevato

• Teacher Appreciation: Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up (the week of May 3). The PTA has plans to show our wonderful staff how much we appreciate them throughout the month of May, but we thought it would be helpful to re-share the Staff Gift Guide we shared during the holiday season with our families who may want to show their favorite staff members their appreciation. The Staff Gift Guide is attached to Mr. Wennstrom's email.

• PTA Membership: It's not too late to become a PTA member! Membership does not require anything from you other than the $7.00 membership fee, but it gives you a voice in decisions affecting our school, staff, and students and shows your support for our school, staff, and students. Purchase your membership here: https://buchanan.new.memberhub.store/store

• Spirit Wear: To purchase Buchanan-branded items, please visit our spirit wear store here: https://buchananspiritwear.com 

• Follow the PTA on Facebook: @BuchananElementarySchoolPTA

• Contact the PTA via Email: pta.buchanan1@gmail.com

• Next PTA Meeting: Tuesday, June 8

We celebrated Administrative Professionals Day this week as well! How lucky we are to have Mrs. Pepple and Mrs. Flack in our main office! 

Livonia Virtual Elementary 2021-2022

This weekend you will receive another correspondence regarding Livonia Virtual(LV) 2021-2022 at the Elementary level along with the election link.  Please carefully review all LV materials prior to consideration of Livonia Virtual for your student.  If you request your child to have in-person instruction for the next year, there is no need to complete any forms.  They will automatically be enrolled for in-person instruction.

Looking to the future

Hi folks, Jon Wennstrom here! We had our incoming Kindergarten parent information night this week and I was so excited to welcome our newest members of the Buchanan community! It's hard to believe that we are preparing to welcome the class of 2034 into our building. The virtual event was recorded and can be found our our Buchanan webpage. One of the exciting things about the world of education is that we are always looking to the future and always ready to welcome new students and families into our school! Great things are happening at Buchanan! 

LAST CHANCE FOR BOOKS! 

There are still a few sets of books available from author Dennis Mathew.  Payment must be in the form of a check made out to Dennis Mathew. You may purchase one book for $12 or the set for $20. This is a first come first serve opportunity and good while books are available.

Dennis Mathew Book Order

PTA POINTS

• PTA Meeting: Please join us on Tuesday, April 20 at 7:00pm for our April PTA meeting. We will be holding elections for the 2021-2022 PTA Board. Zoom info below:

• Topic: Buchanan PTA Meeting

• Time: Apr 20, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

• Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84333283094

Meeting ID: 843 3328 3094

Passcode: 0JgcSW

• PTA Membership: It's not too late to become a PTA member! Membership does not require anything from you other than the $7.00 membership fee, but it gives you a voice in decisions affecting our school, staff, and students and shows your support for our school, staff, and students. Purchase your membership here: https://buchanan.new.memberhub.store/store

• Spirit Wear: To purchase Buchanan-branded items, please visit our spirit wear store here: https://buchananspiritwear.com 

• Follow the PTA on Facebook: @BuchananElementarySchoolPTA

• Contact the PTA via Email: pta.buchanan1@gmail.com

Congratulations to Mrs. Parnell! She is this year’s recipient of the Wayne County Parent Advisory Committee (WCPAC) Special Recognition Award!! She will receive her award on May 20th during the virtual award ceremony and we are very excited for her!!

Buchanan will begin M-Step testing for our 3rd and 4th grade students the week of April 26. Your child's teacher will be sending home a testing calendar for their classroom. If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher. Thank you for your continued support! 

Flexibility

Hi folks, Jon Wennstrom here! With the year we have had with Covid and all the mitigation factors that come with it, the most important quality in the educational world has been flexibility. From remote to in-person instruction, from virtual assemblies to calendar changes, we have made changes as necessary, but still managed to provide a quality education for our students. For that flexibility from both staff and families, I am very proud of our Buchanan Team! Thank you for your continued support and flexibility this year. It is appreciated!

CALENDAR CHANGE

Please note that the teacher Professional Development day has been moved from Friday, April 30 to Tuesday, May 4 to coincide with the Bond Voting Day. Students will have school on Friday, April 30 and will NOT have school on Tuesday, May 4. 

We recently had a virtual assembly with acclaimed author Dennis Mathew. We have a very limited number of his books at the school that may be purchased by Buchanan Families. To order copies of the books please fill out the form attached to this email and return to your student’s classroom teacher with a check. Livonia Virtual families may turn in a form and check tomorrow (Friday, April 9) during your materials pick up. Payment must be in the form of a check made out to Dennis Mathew. You may purchase one book for $12 or the set for $20. This is a first come, first serve event and valid only as long as supplies last. If interested, please return form with payment to your child's teacher ASAP. Thank you!

PTA POINTS

• Read-A-Thon: Thank you to everyone who participated in the Buchanan Read-A-Thon! Students who earned prizes should have received them this week - either sent home in their backpack or along with their materials at Materials Pickup. Raffle prize winners will be drawn during next week's Celebrate Monday video. 

• LAST CALL for Yearbooks: Today, Friday, April 9 is the last day to order your yearbook. https://ybpay.lifetouch.com (Yearbook ID: 1643321).

• PTA Membership: It's not too late to become a PTA member! Membership does not require anything from you other than the $7.00 membership fee, but it gives you a voice in decisions affecting our school, staff, and students and shows your support for our school, staff, and students. Purchase your membership here: https://buchanan.new.memberhub.store/store

• Spirit Wear: To purchase Buchanan-branded items, please visit our spirit wear store here: https://buchananspiritwear.com 

• Follow the PTA on Facebook: @BuchananElementarySchoolPTA

• Contact the PTA via Email: pta.buchanan1@gmail.com

• Next PTA Meeting: Tuesday, April 20

Dear Parents of Third and Fourth Grade Students,

We will be administering the M-STEP test this year for our students. In person students will take the test in their classrooms using Chromebooks and Livonia Virtual students will be invited in at designated times to use our computer lab with their classroom teacher. The window for testing will be Monday, April 26 through May 14. Our hope is to have the majority of our students finished the first two weeks. 

We will be sending out testing schedules by the end of next week and lab times for our Livonia Virtual Students. LV students will need to be transported to and from the school and students will need to wear a mask while in the building. For those families that wish to opt out of the testing this year, there is a form on our Buchanan web page that you may fill out digitally. Again, more information will come out in a week, but we wanted to update our families of our plan to move forward with testing. Thank you for your continued support!

We will be hosting a VIRTUAL parent information night for incoming Kindergarten parents on Wednesday, April 14 at 6:00 PM. 

Also, Buchanan Elementary has been selected as one of three schools in Livonia to be featured in a new Kindergarten Video. We will have camera crews outside the school on Tuesday morning, April 13 to see the busses coming into the school and will be visiting our Kindergarten classrooms that morning. So if you see video cameras on Tuesday morning, know that they are capturing some of the great things happening at Buchanan!! 

Hello, Heart Heroes! Which character is your favorite Heart Hero this year? Can you remember

each character’s heart healthy message? Now it’s time to go online and take the challenge!

PLUS you get a free wristband just for signing up with Jump Rope For Heart! JRFH Link

It's Easy Being Green

Hi folks, Jon Wennstrom here! Kermit the frog famously said "It's not easy being green", but it sure was easy for our Buchanan students this week! We had fun with St. Patrick's Day and our some of our students even did a virtual Leprechaun scavenger hunt and I saw that students in SACC were building Leprechaun traps. We are always looking for ways to make learning fun at Buchanan! 

UPCOMING EVENTS AT BUCHANAN

• Tuesday, March 23: PTA Meeting in the Library Media Center 7:00 PM (Masks required)
• Wednesday, March 24: Virtual Author Visits with Dennis Mathew 
• Friday, March 26: Last Day of School before Spring Break (I should have my hair dyed by then!)

On Wednesday, March 24, Children's author Dennis Mathew will be hosting a Virtual School Visit. Below are the links for the "Assemblies"

Virtual Author Visit Grades K-2 6:00 PM

Virtual Author Visit Grade 3&4 7:00 PM

No School Monday, March 29 - Friday, April 2

PTA POINTS

• PTA Meeting: We will have our first in-person PTA meeting of the year on Tuesday, March 23 at 7:00pm in the library. Masks are required. We hope to see you there!

• Read-A-Thon: It's the final day of the Buchanan Read-A-Thon, and we still need about 10,000 reading minutes to reach our goal (and for Mr. Wennstrom to dye his hair), so keep logging those minutes! If you have not already done so, it's not too late to register - students' donation pages will remain active and accept donations through March 25. Please visit https://www.getmovinfundhub.com/ to register or re-login to your parent dashboard and complete your child’s student webpage (use Building ID: 5d49989d85ce5). 

• Virtual Book Fair (March 11 - 24): Our Book Fair is online and helps our students discover new books, favorite characters, and more! Every purchase earns our school rewards for much needed resources. Plus, shipping is free on book-only purchases over $25.Thank you for instilling a love of reading and supporting our Book Fair! Visit the following link to shop: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/buchananelementaryschool10

• LAST CALL for FREE SHIPPING on Spirit Wear: Orders placed between now and Monday, March 22 will receive FREE SHIPPING. This is the final free shipping period of the school year. Please visit our spirit wear store here: https://buchananspiritwear.com

• Yearbooks: If you would like a yearbook for this school year, please place your order at https://ybpay.lifetouch.com (Yearbook ID: 1643321) by Friday, April 9. 

• Five Below Fundraiser: We will be holding another Five Below Fundraiser from March 28 through April 3. Please show the flyer attached to Mr. Wennstrom's email when you check out for 10% of your purchase to be donated to the PTA. This is a great opportunity to shop for Easter and Spring Break activities!

• PTA Membership: It's not too late to become a PTA member! Membership does not require anything from you other than the $7.00 membership fee, but it gives you a voice in decisions affecting our school, staff, and students and shows your support for our school, staff, and students. Purchase your membership here: https://buchanan.new.memberhub.store/store

• Follow the PTA on Facebook: @BuchananElementarySchoolPTA

• Contact the PTA via Email: pta.buchanan1@gmail.com

Ms. Kaufman’s 4th Grade was chosen to participate in the STEM Through Literature Kits for Kids project developed by Wayne RESA, the Wayne Regional STEM Network (MiSTEM), and the Nutty Scientists of Southeast Michigan and funded by the MiSTEM Network and the Early Literacy Grant.

The kits are designed to get students reading, to give them practice applying the Engineering Design Cycle, to bolster their imaginations through innovation and creativity, and to explore the wonders of STEM.

Each teacher has received a STEM kit for each student that includes the materials needed for 8 STEM activities, 4 hardcover books, and 2 hardcover books for each student.

Recently, there was an update to the District's face mask requirement, which included a ban on neck gaiters. After further research into the latest studies and recommendations from the CDC and the MDHHS, Livonia Public Schools has amended face covering requirements. Based on current research and CDC guidance, students, staff, and visitors may continue to wear a neck gaiter only if it worn "doubled up." This means the wearer would be required to either wear two (2) gaiters over their mouth and nose, one on top of the other, or would be required to fold a single gaiter in half so double the material will cover both the mouth and nose. We apologize for any confusion. Thank you

Congratulations to our Students of the Month for the theme of INTEGRITY!! 

KINDERGARTEN                                            FIRST GRADE

Mrs. Pillai - Layla K                                          Mrs. Jones - Nicholas L.

Ms. Haapala - Owen T.                                      Mrs. Hurula - Nathan R. 

Mrs. Stromberg - Sophia O.                              Mrs. Kamin - Natalia Z.

Mrs. Mcguigan - Vivian V.                                Mrs. Hochkins - Megan P.

                                                                           Mrs. Sparrow - J.J. 

SECOND GRADE                                            THIRD GRADE

Mrs. Drolet - Derek L.                                       Mrs. Duff - Mallory O.

Mrs. Tanner - Jack M.                                        Mrs. Trantham - Aubrey H. 

Ms. Adams - Sandy M.                                      Mrs. Allmayer - Mayar A.

Mrs. Gruenewald - Izzy S.                                 Mrs. Edwards - Jeremy M.

Mrs. Benson - Eloise F.                                      Ms. Yost - Scarlet S.

FOURTH GRADE

Mrs. Banter - Diti Z.

Mrs. Ringler - Sheylynn L.

Ms. Medellin - Cali C.

Ms. Kaufman - Mattilyn P.

Miss Brown - Anna L. 

The students will receive certificates and will be announced on the Celebrate Monday Video!

Records Day

Hi folks, Jon Wennstrom here! As a music lover, records day sounds like a lot of fun to me. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with vinyl and is actually a lot of work. Records day is the time when teachers update their files, review student assessments and most importantly work on report cards. It's an important day, because communicating with parents how students are progressing is essential for the home-school connection. Report cards will not be printed this year, but will be viewable on Friday, March 19 through parent connect. A reminder of how to access report cards will be sent home to assist families next week. Thank you for your continued support! 

UPCOMING EVENTS AT BUCHANAN

• Thursday, March 18: Read in your PJ's Spirit Wear Day
• Friday, March 19: No School for Students/PD Day for Teachers/Last day of Read-a-Thon
• Tuesday, March 23: PTA Meeting 7:00 PM (In person - Masks required)
• Wednesday, March 24: Virtual Author Visits (Links will be sent out prior)

PTA POINTS

• Read-A-Thon: It's the final week of the Buchanan Read-A-Thon, and we are only about halfway to our reading goal. Our students have logged about 50,000 reading minutes, but we need to get to 100,000 for Mr. Wennstrom to dye his hair, so make sure you are logging those minutes! If you have not already done so, please visit https://www.getmovinfundhub.com/ to register or re-login to your parent dashboard and complete your child’s student webpage (Use Building ID: 5d49989d85ce5). This is where you can donate or share your child's donation page with friends and family, and where you will log your child's reading minutes. There are prizes for reading and for raising money. Please see the flyer attached to Mr. Wennstrom's email for details. 

• Book Fair (March 11 - 24): Our Book Fair is online and helps our students discover new books, favorite characters, and more! Every purchase earns our school rewards for much needed resources. Plus, shipping is free on book-only purchases over $25.Thank you for instilling a love of reading and supporting our Book Fair! Visit the following link to shop: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/buchananelementaryschool10

• FREE SHIPPING on Spirit Wear: Orders placed between now and March 22 will receive FREE SHIPPING. This is the final free shipping period of the school year. Please visit our spirit wear store here: https://buchananspiritwear.com

• PTA Board Nominations: Nominations are open for the 2021-2022 PTA Executive Board. If you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else (with their permission), please fill out a Nomination Form (attached to Mr. Wennstrom's email). Nomination forms are due Thursday, March 18. Elections will take place at the PTA meeting on April 20, 2021.

• Yearbooks: If you would like a yearbook for this school year, please place your order at https://ybpay.lifetouch.com (Yearbook ID: 1643321) by Friday, April 9. 

• Photos for Yearbook: If you have photographs from this school year that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the yearbook, please email them to pta.buchanan1@gmail.com. It is going to be a challenge to fill the yearbook this year, so we would love any school-related photos (e.g., first day of school, at-home learning set up, bus stop, walking to school, posing with assignments/projects, students dressed up for special theme days, etc.).

• PTA Membership: It's not too late to become a PTA member! Membership does not require anything from you other than the $7.00 membership fee, but it gives you a voice in decisions affecting our school, staff, and students and shows your support for our school, staff, and students. Purchase your membership here: https://buchanan.new.memberhub.store/store

• Follow the PTA on Facebook: @BuchananElementarySchoolPTA

• Contact the PTA via Email: pta.buchanan1@gmail.com

• Next PTA Meeting: Tuesday, March 23 (In person in the LMC - Masks required)

Dress as your favorite literary character! 

What Color Will It Be??

Hi folks, Jon Wennstrom here! I've made a promise to our students that IF we reach our schoolwide goal for the Read-a-Thon, that I will dye my hair whatever color the top reader chooses. Now, I'm not going for the spray on/wash out color. I'm going ALL THE WAY. My hair will be bleached and then dyed with whatever color is chosen. Unlike Snoopy below, I can only do one color though. I hope it's a color I like, because I will be stuck with it for 6 to 8 weeks!! My goal is to have it dyed just before we go to spring break, so the kids can see the product of their hard work. They will also have the reminder of Reading Month through April and May each time they look at my hair. Maybe YOUR child will be the one to pick the color!! 

UPCOMING EVENTS AT BUCHANAN

• Friday, March 12: Dress as your favorite book character Spirt Day! Students dismissed at 12:20 PM (No lunch served)
• Thursday, March 18: Read in your Pajamas Spirit Day! 
• Friday, March 19: Report Cards viewable in Parent Connect. No School for Students. 

PTA POINTS

• Read-A-Thon: The Buchanan Read-A-Thon is off to an amazing start! We have already raised over $7,500 and our students have logged over 15,000 reading minutes! If you have not already done so, please visit https://www.getmovinfundhub.com/ to register or re-login to your parent dashboard and complete your child’s student webpage (Use Building ID: 5d49989d85ce5). This is where you can donate or share your child's donation page with friends and family, and where you will log your child's reading minutes. There are prizes for reading and for raising money. Please see the flyer attached to Mr. Wennstrom's email for details. 

• FREE SHIPPING on Spirit Wear: Orders placed between now and March 22 will receive FREE SHIPPING. This is the final free shipping period of the school year. Please visit our spirit wear store here: https://buchananspiritwear.com 

• PTA Board Nominations: Nominations are open for the 2021-2022 PTA Executive Board. If you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else (with their permission), please fill out a Nomination Form (attached to Mr. Wennstrom's email). Nomination forms are due Thursday, March 18. Elections will take place at the PTA meeting on April 20, 2021.

• Yearbooks: If you would like a yearbook for this school year, please place your order at https://ybpay.lifetouch.com (Yearbook ID: 1643321) by Friday, April 9. 

• Photos for Yearbook: If you have photographs from this school year that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the yearbook, please email them to pta.buchanan1@gmail.com. It is going to be a challenge to fill the yearbook this year, so we would love any school-related photos (e.g., first day of school, at-home learning set up, bus stop, walking to school, posing with assignments/projects, students dressed up for special theme days, etc.).

• PTA Membership: It's not too late to become a PTA member! Membership does not require anything from you other than the $7.00 membership fee, but it gives you a voice in decisions affecting our school, staff, and students and shows your support for our school, staff, and students. Purchase your membership here: https://buchanan.new.memberhub.store/store

• Follow the PTA on Facebook: @BuchananElementarySchoolPTA

• Contact the PTA via Email: pta.buchanan1@gmail.com

• Next PTA Meeting: Tuesday, March 23

Looking for activities for your kids to do outside of the school day? Check out the Community Hub section on the district's homepage to see flyers from local youth-oriented programs! 

Please see the flyer attached in this email for information on the 2021 Bond Proposal! 

The Buchanan Bears love to read!! 

Let's Get Ready to Read!

Hi folks, Jon Wennstrom here! We are getting ready to start our annual March is Reading Month! Although things look a little different this year, due to Covid, we are doing our best to keep things fun and exciting for our students. Our fabulous PTA has organized a "Read-a-Thon" for students to earn prizes and also to raise money for our school. They have also planned fun Spirit Wear days throughout the month. Many of the staff members are recording videos as they read with their pets for the students to view and we will have a virtual author visit at the end of March. While we always promote reading at Buchanan, March is a time to celebrate the love of literacy and have some fun while we do it! 

Acclaimed children's author Dennis Mathew will be facilitating Virtual Author Visits for our students the evening of March 24! 

UPCOMING EVENTS AT BUCHANAN

• Monday, March 1: Read-a-Thon kick off
• Friday, March 5: Wear Something You Can READ Spirit Day & Livonia Virtual Material Pick up in the gym 3:00-4:00 PM

• Friday, March 12: Dress Like a Book Character Spirit Day, Students dismissed at 12:40 PM (no lunch served). Teacher Records Day in the afternoon.

• Thursday, March 18: Report Cards viewable in Parent Connect, READ in you Pajamas Spirt Day
• Friday, March 19: No School for Students (Teacher Professional Development Day)

• Tuesday, March 23: PTA Meeting at 7:00 PM
• Wednesday, March 24: Virtual Author Assemblies (K-2 6:00 PM, 3rd&4th 7:00 PM)

PTA POINTS

• Buchanan Read-A-Thon: The Buchanan PTA presents the Buchanan Read-A-Thon from March 1 through March 19! This is a fundraiser that promotes good reading habits and will help us replenish our funds so we can maintain a healthy budget. The most important thing you can do is visit https://www.getmovinfundhub.com/ to register or re-login to your parent dashboard and complete your child’s student webpage. This is where you can donate or share your child's donation page with friends and family, and where you will log your child's reading minutes. There are prizes for reading and for raising money. Please see the flyer attached to Mr. Wennstrom's email for details. 

• PTA Board Nominations: Nominations are open for the 2021-2022 PTA Executive Board. If you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else (with their permission), please fill out a Nomination Form (attached to Mr. Wennstrom's email). Nomination forms are due Thursday, March 18. Elections will take place at the PTA meeting on April 20, 2021.

• Yearbooks: If you would like a yearbook for this school year, please place your order at https://ybpay.lifetouch.com (Yearbook ID: 1643321) by Friday, April 9. 

• Photos for Yearbook: If you have photographs from this school year that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the yearbook, please email them to pta.buchanan1@gmail.com. It is going to be a challenge to fill the yearbook this year, so we would love any school-related photos (e.g., first day of school, at-home learning set up, bus stop, walking to school, posing with assignments/projects, students dressed up for special theme days, etc.).

• PTA Membership: Please consider becoming a PTA member! Membership does not require anything from you other than the $7.00 membership fee, but it gives you a voice in decisions affecting our school, staff, and students and shows your support for our school, staff, and students. Purchase your membership here: https://buchanan.new.memberhub.store/store

• Spirit Wear: To purchase Buchanan-branded items, please visit our spirit wear store here: https://buchananspiritwear.com The next free-shipping period will be March 5 through March 22.

• Follow the PTA on Facebook: @BuchananElementarySchoolPTA

• Contact the PTA via Email: pta.buchanan1@gmail.com

• Next PTA Meeting: Tuesday, March 23

Buchanan is proud to present our Students of the Month for the theme of EMPATHY!!

KINDERGARTEN                                        FIRST GRADE

Mrs. McGuigan - Isabella N.                         Mrs. Hochkins - Emily G.

Ms. Haapala - Jude H.                                    Mrs. Jones - Destiny M.

Mrs. Pillai - Lucas P.                                      Mrs. Sparrow - Zuri S.

Mrs. Stromberg - Adam A.                             Mrs. Hurula - Amelia B.

                                                                        Mrs. Kamin - Landon L. 

SECOND GRADE                                         THIRD GRADE

Mrs. Drolet - Mila M.                                     Ms. Yost - Lucy C.

Ms. Adams - Houghton B.                              Mrs. Edwards - Dylan H. 

Mrs. Gruenewald - Emma J.                           Mrs. Duff - Ailish O. 

Mrs. Tanner - Brooklynn V.                            Mrs. Allmayer - Emma K.

Mrs. Benson - Emily P.                                   Mrs. Trantham - Ronin L. 

FOURTH GRADE

Ms. Kaufman - Michaela W.

Mrs. Ringler - Jacob B.

Ms. Medellin - Elyse D. 

Mrs. Banter - Lola G.

Miss Brown - Lilah B.