OPEN POSITIONS
• President or Co-Presidents
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

If you are not ready to be a PTSA officer, consider being a committee chairperson. As a member of the PTSA leadership team, you can:

·  Make decisions that help enhance your student’s school experience
·  Support communications between Blake and the parent community
·  Organize activities that support student achievement and family fun
·  Meet new and veteran parents in the school community
·  Be “In the Know” about the many facets of Blake

Help Blake continue to be a leader in the school community. We have a higher PTSA membership than other schools in the NEC.

The next PTSA meeting will be held on Tuesday April 20, at 7:00 p.m. A slate of nominees for officer positions will be presented, and nominations can be made from the floor. We must fill the officer positions for the PTSA, and so the nominating committee is hard at work trying to identify parents willing to take on leadership positions at Blake. Please step up and volunteer for an officer position.

If interested in a position or knowing more about a position, contact Beth Blevins at vp@blakeptsa.org, or other members of the nominating committee:

Sara Watson: saradwatsonATaolDOTcom
Muriel Cooper: murielcooper01ATyahooDOTcom
Orit Chicherio: oritilATyahooDOTcom, and
Jack Goble: jackwgobleATyahooDOTcom

f you are not ready to be a PTSA officer, consider being a committee chairperson, especially if you have worked with the committee before, and even if you have not. We also have a real need for many Committee Chairpersons.
For a list of PTSA committees and activities, see the PTSA Committees website.

Please consider becoming a committee chair for next school year. Step up and get involved!

Hello Blake families,

By now you have received your 2010 After Prom donation letter.  To date we have received donations from 63 families totaling about 48% of our $10,000 goal.

First, we want to thank those of you that have sent in your donations and want to remind those of you that have not to pull out the yellow/blue paper from the inbox on your desk and send your donation in for the best Blake event ever!  Should you have misplaced your letter we have uploaded the After Prom letter on this web site for you to print out and send in. You may also pay online via PayPal—for more information, see our After Prom page.

For those of you who are Freshman and Sophomore parents, you may be wondering why you should help.  The After Prom is an event that your children will attend as upperclassmen and we depend on all Blake families to help make this annual event a success.  Please help us continue our strong Bengal tradition of “paying it forward!”

The 2010 After Prom committee has been planning and fundraising throughout the school year with after-school pizza sales, Spirit Buttons and Dine-Out events, but our biggest fundraising source is direct contributions from you, our Blake Families.  Please help us make this the best After Prom yet and send in your donations today.  In these difficult economic times, any amount is greatly appreciated!

In addition, on your donation form there is a place for you to volunteer to help the night of the After Prom.  We need approximately 75 parents to help during the After Prom (May 14/15).  This is a fun, busy event and we have many opportunities to participate so please sign up now to help out.  If you have any questions about being a volunteer, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Cathy Clark at jclark0007ATaolDOTcom.

Last, we are offering bus transportation from the Prom to the After Prom should there be enough interest. Reservations must be made by April 19 and we must have a full bus to be able to offer this service.  See the bottom of your form for details and cost.

Thank you again from the ’10 After Prom committee.  We truly appreciate your support and are looking forward to putting together the best After Prom yet.  If you have any questions please contact either Maura or Diane listed below.

Your After Prom ’10 Co-Chairs
Maura McMullen – mcmullens2ATverizonDOTnet
Diane Bush – dbush10892ATverizonDOTnet

New or gently used books (hardcover and paperback)—fiction, nonfiction, mystery, science fiction, romance, young adult, children’s, cookbooks, history, politics, health, test prep, foreign language, other

Other media—CDs, DVDs, books on tape, videos, comics, manga

Donation opportunities
At the store: Donations may be brought directly to the store on drop-off days, the first of which is scheduled for this coming Saturday, January 30, from 10 to 1. People will be available to unload your car at the curb in front of the store in Cloverly and, on request, give you a donation receipt.

Donations may be carried into the store Thursday, January 28, 4-7 pm.

At school: Donations may be brought to the Blake High School main office (300 Norwood Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20905).

For more information, contact Orit at 301-384-3324, 240-460-1534, or oritilATyahooDOTcom.

Other dates:
We will also be moving books from the school storage shed to the store on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 26 after school. Anyone who can help load or unload the truck would be greatly appreciated. Students too.

Our first book-sorting party will take place this Thursday, January 28, from 4 to 7 (and later, if anyone wants to keep going) at the store in Cloverly Shopping Center (742 Cloverly St.). If you have a folding table you could loan for that day or for the month, please bring it along–we should try to avoid having to bend over too much to sort the books. Please pass the word along to family, friends, people you see on the street, etc. We can use all the help we can get.

Also,  we’ll be collecting books, DVDs, CDs, and other media at the store on Saturday, January 30, from 10 to 1. All you need to do is pull up in your car, and someone will take your boxes and bags out for you.

Volunteer and SSL opportunities: This undertaking offers many SSL opportunities for students, particularly on drop-off days, during the sale, and immediately after the sale. Have your students contact Ms. Rigney at school or Orit Lowy Chicherio (oritilATyahooDOTcom) if they’d like to help out.

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.