Blake High School PTSA

Nominations are sought for the Marian Greenblatt Education Fund awards for outstanding Montgomery County teachers. The Fund presents awards to three veteran teachers and one first-year teacher. Winners are chosen for their ability to inspire their students to achieve and to encourage younger teachers to be the best they can be. Since 1989, the Fund has recognized 62 teachers for excellence.

Three veteran teachers receive $1,000 each. The first-year teacher receives $500. In addition, each winning teacher receives a plaque, as does the school. One of the veteran teachers is chosen Montgomery County Teacher of the Year and receives use of a new car for a year and other awards.

Parents may write letters of support for any Blake teacher that they think is outstanding. Letters of support can be sent directly to the Fund or to Blake High School, Attn: Principal Goodman. All nominations are due Friday, January 15, 2010. For more information, see the Marian Greenblatt Education Fund web page.

The winter holidays are approaching quickly. What better way to say thanks to the Blake Staff then to bake a batch of delicious cookies for them? The PTSA will celebrate on Thursday December 17th during lunch with a Cookie Fest. Please send in cookies that morning to the office with your name and the recipe.

Volunteers are needed on that day to help set up and clean up, 10am – 1pm. Let us know how you can help!! Contact Patrice Kelly and Cathy Clark, coordinators, at kellychirigosATaolDOTcom.

Staff Appreciation Events for the rest of this school year (dates will be set after Nov. pie fest):

Nov. 19 – annual pie fest
Dec. – cookie celebration
Jan – mailbox stuffer
Feb – chocolate fest
Mar – mail box stuffer
April – Ice Cream social
May – Staff Appreciation week- mail box stuffers and salad bar lunch
June 16th – last day of school lunch

For more information, or to volunteer, please contact Patrice Kelly at kellychirigosATaolDOTcom.

The first Blake PTSA staff appreciation event (A is for Apple) was held October 21. Staff appreciation events are a way for parents and students to say thanks to the staff for everything they do for us.

Watch this space for announcements of future staff appreciation events.

If you’d like to volunteer for future events, contact the coordinators, Patrice Kelly and Cathy Clark, at: kellychirigosATaol.com.

At the September PTSA membership meeting, Principal Carole Goodman noted that one way parents can show their appreciation to Blake staff without spending any money is to send them an email whenever they’ve done an outstanding job or helped their children in a special way. Mrs. Goodman requests that parents cc: her on such emails so that she can place a copy of the note in the staff member’s permanent file.

Note: A current list of all Blake staff, including email addresses, is available on the Blake online Staff Directory.