*Just a reminder…Monday, Feb. 16 is a teacher workday and there is no school for the kids. Enjoy the three-day weekend!

*Lakeway Elementary's first annual Talent Show was a huge success. 112 students performed on Thursday or Friday night, and we had over 600 people attend the two shows combined. We clearly reached our objectives of providing a fun, family event and an opportunity for the students to cultivate their performance skills, and we raised $3500 for the PTO to spend on campus needs!

We’d like to thank everyone who was involved, and especially Julie Wilson and Tom Seabolt for their time and commitment to see this project through; Diana Porter and Mark Benthall for sharing their time as emcees; our custodian, Jose Herrera, for his great attitude and eagerness to help in any way; our 5th grade tech crew (Garrett Faber, Will Hoenig, Will Jones, Emily McDonald, Erin Murphy, and Colton Vasut) for helping with both shows; Jennifer Neuse, Cynthia Casto, Lori Griggs, Chana Vasut, Melanie Hudelson, Lynn Elliff, Patty Hoenig, Mr. Hicks and his son, Katie Neuse, Kim Stotts, the Cavalettes, Kathy Mennen, Debbie Pate, Felicia Collazo (and her mother), and everyone who helped behind the scenes with ticket sales, decorations, and the bake sale; Mrs. Johnson for playing the piano as our accompanist; Mrs. Acevedo-Tamminga for the use of her equipment and helping with set up; Stokes Sign Company; all the parents who donated delicious baked goods for our successful bake sale; all of the faculty and staff, including Extend-A-Care, for being so flexible with location swapping and equipment borrowing; and finally, thanks to all of the parents (too numerous to name) who jumped in both nights to help with clean up.

*Thank you to all of our Lakeway Elementary volunteers! As of January 31, our volunteers have contributed over 8,200 hours to our school and children! That’s already almost 700 more hours than we volunteered for the entire previous school year.

*The Scottish Rite Learning Center is sponsoring a free lecture about dyslexia at UT Austin (in the LBJ Auditorium) on March 1 from 3pm – 5pm. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP by calling 480-3200 as a reservation is required. More information is posted at www.lakewaypto.org/nelson.pdf.

*The Spring Read-a-Thon starts February 16 and continues through February 27. Check out the details at www.lakewaypto.org/readthon.htm. This is a great way to encourage your kids to read. The top two readers in each grade will earn gift certificates to use at the Spring Book Fair, which starts March 2.

*The Lakeway PTO is in the process of forming its Nominating Committee for the purpose of electing officers for the following two open positions: Secretary and Member at Large/General (two-year terms). If you would like to serve on the Nominating Committee, please contact Penny Fairchild (penny_fairchild@lakewaypto.org). Additionally, if you would like to serve in one of these open positions, please contact Penny. If you would like more information concerning the commitment needed for these positions, please contact Jennifer Neuse (Jennifer_neuse@lakewaypto.org), Melanie Hudelson (mjhudelson@austin.rr.com), or Cynthia Casto (Cynthia_casto@lakewaypto.org).

*The Lakeway PTO will hold the following three General Meetings in the Lakeway Elementary Cafeteria: Tuesday, March 2, at 9:30 a.m. for the purpose of receiving the report of the Nominating Committee and taking nominations from the floor; Tuesday, April 6, at 9:30 a.m. for the purpose of holding the Annual Meeting for the election of new officers; and Tuesday, May 4, at 9:30 a.m. for the installation of newly elected officers and approval of the 2004-2005 budget. Everyone is welcome to attend.

*Ever wondered what happens at a PTO meeting and what the PTO does for LWE? Check out the minutes from previous meetings, which are posted at www.lakewaypto.org/meetings.htm, and the Teacher Wish List (www.lakewaypto.org/wish03.htm), which shows how money raised by the PTO is spent at school.

*The Faculty/Staff Appreciation Committee is in the process of collecting scraps of fabric, beaded trims, feather boa trim, and other decorative items (buttons, old jeans, etc.). There is a collection box inside the front doors at Lakeway Elementary (you can’t miss it…it has a yellow feather boa on it!). Please donate some items so that we can get started on a fun surprise for the LWE Faculty and Staff! We are hoping to have a nice collection of items before Spring Break. Thank you for your continued support!  Please e-mail us with questions: Marla Hiller (mhiller@austin.rr.com), Lisa Osbahr (LOsbahr@austin.rr.com), Marianne Busch (MBUSCH1@austin.rr.com), Belle Gordon (stgbkg@aol.com), and Brenda Booth (BBooth@y2marketing.com).

*To all 5th grade parents: Lake Travis Middle School has many opportunities for you to be involved next year! We need board members, committee chairs, and program chairs. Look for more details soon your child's Tuesday folder. If you have any questions, please contact Kim McCarthy at kmccarthy2@austin.rr.com or 261-7726, Susan Schatz at sschatz@austin.rr.com or 402-1266, or Colleen Moriarty at mmoriarty@austin.rr.com.

*Spanish Club for the Spring will start March 4th. Registration forms went home in this week’s Tuesday folder, or you can print the registration form online at www.lakewaypto.org/spanish.htm. Forms are due by February 20.

*It’s spring cleaning time! Get ready for the annual LWE garage sale, which is Saturday, March 6. You can rent a space for $25 to sell your own items and keep your profits, or donate items to the PTO. All profits from rental spaces and donated items will be used to fund classroom needs at school. For more information, go to www.lakewaypto.org/garage.htm. If you’d like to rent a space, please complete the form and return it to school ASAP as spaces are going quickly!

*The Hill Country Pasta House is providing inexpensive “teacher appreciation” lunches for LTISD teachers on Wednesdays. We need several volunteers to pick up the teachers’ money from school, pick up the lunches from the Pasta House (located on 620 near Hudson Bend), and deliver the lunches to the office by 11am on Wednesdays. If you can help, please contact Cynthia Casto (cynthia_casto@lakewaypto.org). More details are posted at www.lakewaypto.org/pasta.htm.

*Parents on Patrol (POP) still has a few spots that we need to fill. Please help if you can: Wednesdays from 1:30 - 2:30, every other Tuesday from 10:30 – 11:30, and every other Friday from 10:30 – 11:30. If you are interested in volunteering for POP, please contact Karen Herzberg at kstewart12@austin.rr.com or 261-9558. 

The PTO Web site is at www.lakewaypto.org.

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