Week of November 15, 2016

MAGGIE WALKER DRAMA CLUB PRESENTS
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Foster Solomon

November 17, 18 & 19 at 7:00 p.m.

Julius Caesar is one of the several plays written by Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history. Although the title is Julius Caesar, Caesar is not the most visible character in its action, appearing alive in only three scenes. Marcus Brutus speaks more than four times as many lines, and the central psychological drama of the play focuses on Brutus’ struggle between the conflicting demands of honor, patriotism, and friendship. 

This cast of 29 students is one of MLWGS’s largest casts ever, but there are even more students involved in the tech and stage crew.  Together, all have worked hard to bring this production to the Maggie Walker stage.  Hope to see you at the show!

Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults.  Purchase tickets online here(http://www.bro wnpapertickets.com/event/2709002) or at the door.

Questions? Please contact maggiewalkerdrama@gmail.com.




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SCRIP FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS


Only one more opportunity to place holiday gift card orders! More than 400 DIFFERENT retailers from which to choose and from all over the country! Gift cards to your favorite retail stores, hotels, gas stations, and restaurants are worth their full face value, cost nothing extra to the purchaser, raise money for the PTSA, and make great holiday gifts! The final date to place your order is Tuesday, November 29. Cards will be delivered December 6/7. Please make sure your order is in the SCRIP box in Valenta Williams' first floor office Room #100 by 2 p.m. on that Tuesday. You can pick up an order form in the SCRIP box in Office #100 or download a form on the MLWGS website by selecting "Support" and then "PTSA and Booster Groups".

A full list of available gift cards and denominations can be found by logging on to www.unitedscrip.com. If you see something you want on the master list that isn't on our Maggie Walker order form, write it in and we can get it for you. 

Questions? Please contact Lori Bekenstein at lori.bek@verizon.net.




NIGHT OF THE DRAGON AUCTION COMMITTEE
NEEDS HELP PLANNING

The Night of the Dragon is a joint effort between the PTSA and the Foundation to raise money for the school and students. Two meetings have been held, and unfortunately, very few people attended them. Although the committee has received several emails from parents willing to help on the day of the actual auction, the real work is in the planning of the auction and starts now. The auction, which is the major fundraiser for Maggie Walker, will not be a success without more volunteers helping to organize and plan. 

Please help make this important event a financial success for MLWGS! The meetings last approximately one hour and are held at 5:30 in room 153 at Maggie Walker. The dates are: Tuesday November 29, Monday December 12, Thursday January 5, Thursday January 12, Thursday January 26, Thursday February 2, and Thursday February 16.

Please come to the next meeting and learn how you can help! If you have any questions, please email auctionmlwgs@gmail.com.




PTSA GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Proposed PTSA Budget Amendment and
Program on Mentorship and Senior Seminars

A fabulous program on the Mentorship and Senior Seminar Opportunities will be presented at the next PTSA General Membership Meeting, December 5 at 8:00 a.m in room 153. The first few minutes of the meeting will be used to present any new PTSA business, including asking the membership to approve an increase in the landscaping budget. 

Many parents, students and visitors have noticed the improvements to our gardens in the past six months, especially outside of the Blue Stone Lobby and the marque. The PTSA Landscaping Chair, Julie Hendricks, has been working hard with the MLWGS Gardening Club and the National Honor Society to make these improvements. The next area they want to concentrate on is the islands in the parking lot. Not only are they in bad shape, but they also pose a safety concern since the overgrown trees block our security cameras view of the back area.

The work that needs to be done to improve the islands and address the safety concerns is more than our wonderful volunteers and students can do alone. Bids were requested from three companies, and after reviewing them, the PTSA would like to hire EarthKeepers to do the work.  The work would include pruning and trimming trees, removing heavy overgrowth from the back three islands, clearing weeds, grass, regrading, mulching and planting Liriope grass on all the islands. In order to do the work, and still have money left for spring maintenance, the Landscaping Committee is asking that their budget be increased $1400, from $1800 to $3200. A vote by the membership is needed at the General Membership Meeting to approve this request. 

The PTSA Board strongly recommends approving this request. For the past two years, less than half the landscaping budget was spent, and now work needs to be done. This is not only Julie’s first full year as Landscaping Chair, but the Gardening Club is also new. We are excited to now have an enthusiastic group working to improve our school and address this safety issue. If you have any questions about landscaping or the landscaping budget, please email the PTSA VP of Events at debtaminger@gmail.com.

The PTSA Board thanks Landscaping, the Gardening Club, and the National Honor Society for all their hard work making our school look wonderful! 




PTSA BOARD MEETINGS


PTSA Board meetings are always open to observation by parents.  Please consider attending one of our meetings to get a detailed view of what we have going on, and to get a feel for whether a volunteer position next year might be of interest to you.  We have a great group of parent volunteers and enjoy working together to support the school.  There will come a day when the kids have all graduated and experiences like these will no longer present themselves!

All PTSA Board Meetings take place in Room 153 at 7:00 p.m. on the following dates:

  • 12/12/16
  • 1/9/17
  • 2/13/17
  • 3/13/17
  • 4/3/17
  • 5/8/17
  • 6/12/17


Questions may be directed to PTSA President George Nyfeler at gnyfeler@nyfelerassociates.com or to PTSA President-Elect Anthony Taylor at anthony.l.taylor82@gmail.com.