Only 5 days away...

The 30th Anniversary AMS Celebration is this Saturday, Februrary 2nd ! There will be a number of items up for auction, many of which were created by our AMS students. In addition there are a number of exciting items & trips that were recently donated... please see the list below as a sample of what's to come...& stay tuned for more:


Hand decorated cake stand with coordinating 10 hand decorated plates
Large mod podge mirror
Meditation/yoga basket with toddler handprint peace flags
Toddler collages -- made by Amanda utilizing a piece of art made by each
child
Butterfly chair decorated by the students
Bed canopy/tent decorated by the students
Museum quality, original, abstract acrylics on canvas
Oversized bean bag chairs decorated by the students
Fused glass art hanging
String art masterpiece

Oakley Sunglass Raffle -- anyone who contributes to teacher training will be entered in the raffle.

A trip for two to St Paul Island Alaska , a premiere place for bird watching and seeing a piece of Alaska off the rail belt.

A trip to Kuparuk -- This once-in-a-lifetime tour of the 2nd largest oil field in North America would make for an interesting & educational trip to the North Slope. The ConocoPhillips operated Kuparuk facility has earned the OSHA star award for safety. This is your chance to go farther north then most have traveled (above the Arctic Circle, no less!) and see for yourself where the oil comes from... just remember to bring a coat!

eScrip Update ~ keep it going!

eScrip Progress: November numbers are in. All of you participating in eScrip raised $404 in the month of November! That’s nearly an 8-fold increase from our monthly numbers before the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year! Congratulations!

Month and $ raised for AMS
August: $70
September: $214
October: $276
November: $404!!!!

REMINDER: About 100 AMS families have not yet registered. To register, simply email your Carrs/Safeway card number to Karen.padgett@alaska.com. If you don’t know your number (usually 11 digits starting with 46…), please call Safeway Customer Service at 1-877-723-3929 to find out what it is or sign up for a new one at any Carrs store.

AMS Family needs help

An AMS Family needs our help, they've had a medical emergency and the mother, Kathleen, cannot drive again until June. They need help picking up their kids at school and taking them home. The father, Arlan, is off work on Mondays, so they need help on school days Tuesday through Friday.

For information on how you can help PLEASE see Amy at the front desk, she has all the details including their personal phone numbers. The family is located in East Anchorage.

2 things to know...

1. There's no school on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

2. The upcoming 30th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday February, 2 is the ONLY attendance event of 2008 for AMS. We are having this celebration in lieu of the Spring Auction. Later this Spring there will be an on-line auction to support AMS -- and you'll be able to participate in that from the comfort of your computer chair, couch, etc.

The 30th Anniversary Celebration promises to be a fun-filled evening. Please make sure to get your RSVPs in and ask your fellow AMS friends if they've replied as well... everyone is busy this time of year so please spread the word to the AMS community. We appreciate your help in getting the word out!

Only a few more days left to...

Get your RSVP in for the AMS Event of the Season! The deadline for RSVPs is next week...

The main theme of this year's celebration is honoring our AMS Founder, Betsey Howard. Hors d' Oeuvres, Dessert, Beer and Wine will be served. Your invitation is in your child's folder, if you have misplaced please see Amy at the front desk.

Remember: Saturday February 2, 2008 -- AMS 30th Anniversary Celebration, Hors d' Oeuvres, Dessert, Beer and Wine will be served!!!

THIS event is the only attendance event for AMS for 2008. There will be an on-line auction later in the year but this event on 2/2/08 will be the **only** gathering for celebrating AMS in 2008.

AMS Art at Anchorage Museum... referral needed

Several our of upper elementary students have their art work on display at the Anchorage Museum of Art. The exhibit is located in the hallway by Children's Gallery and the works will be on display through January 25th.

A future AMS family (Fall '08) is looking for a part-time nanny with flexible days and hours (or job share). Care is needed for a 16 month-old from M-F, 10 AM - 2 PM. If you or someone you know is interested please contact Tricia at 344-8875.

Need Volunteer Hours?

The AMS 30th Anniversary Celebration is coming! On Saturday 2/2/08 we'll be toasting 30 years of AMS history as well as the contributions of our founder, Betsey Howard, to our history as a school.

If your looking for volunteer hours please see the AMS Bulletin Board at school. There's plenty of assistance needed for set-up and take-down for this exciting event.

We Need Ideas! + lost & found...

WE’RE LOOKING FOR TWO BIG ITEMS TO BE DONATED TO AMS’ 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION on 2/2/08

HERE ARE SOME IDEAS . . . CAN YOU HELP???

VACATION & GETAWAYS
• Getaway weekend or a week vacation at a hotel, B&B, condo, cabin, ski resort, spa or time-share
• Airline tickets, car rentals, cruises
• Guided fishing trip

SPORTS & ATHLETICS
• Hunting, fishing, skiing, golfing or sailing getaways
• Ski lessons, karate lessons, dance lessons
• Sports memorabilia
• Golf cart, bicycle, scooter

TOURS & ADVENTURES
• Tickets to the theater, ballet, opera, symphony, or concert (in another city?)
• Tickets to college and professional sports events (in Seattle?)

AROUND THE HOME
• Full landscape services (a new backyard?)
• Gazebos, hot tubs, playgrounds

MEDIA
• Computer, PDA, printer, digital camera, CD or DVD player, electronic game equipment
• Television, stereo, telephone, iPhone

FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT
• Progressive dinner, ethnic-themed dinner, catered dinner, wine-tasting
• Birthday party, evening party package with limo service

SOMETHING SPECIAL
• Pedigree puppy or kitten
• Artwork, fine jewelry, antiques, collectibles, jukebox, pinball machine

If you or someone you know can donate ANY of the above please contact Randee or Karin by 1/28/08:

Randee Liles
rrliles@gci.net
830-2152

Karin Goodman
kgoodman@acsalaska.net
250-9893


---> Lost & Found: A ring was recently lost by an AMS Mom in the parking lot/playground area. Please check with Amy at the front desk for a description and if you find the ring please return to Amy so she can make this AMS Mom's day!

Winter Options...

As these winter days start to get brighter there are plenty of outside options. We're also lucky in Anchorage to have a busy indoor life as well in the winter. The Anchorage Public Library system will be starting up it's reading program for this season, and the Anchorage Museum will open it's museum classes in February. Please see the following links for more information:

http://lexicon.ci.anchorage.ak.us/guides/kids/spspring2008.html

http://www.anchoragemuseum.org/art/kids_classes.aspx

Español at AMS

Spanish Update: Please welcome AMS’ newest Spanish Teacher, Maricela Beltran. In November, Maricela began offering Spanish to the afternoon preschool classes. When you see her in the hallways, be sure to say, “Hola” and “Gracias”!! Karen Padgett will still be singing Spanish songs and reading books in Spanish in the 3- and 5-day morning toddler classes.

If you have any interest in teaching Spanish, particularly in the morning preschool classes and/or the afternoon toddler classes, Maricela & Karen will be glad to share the Spanish Montessori curriculum with you. As Maricela & Karen can attest, formal teaching training is not required. And as Karen can attest, being able to sing well isn’t a requirement, either. Some proficiency with Spanish is obviously helpful. The rewards come when the kids say, “Buenos dias” to you in the hallways. Karen says her ulterior motive for teaching is to find out what *really* goes on those classrooms (and it is INSPIRING!!).

Know someone proficient in Spanish that would be interested in teaching the morning preschool &/or afternoon toddler classes? Please contact Karen at:

Karen.padgett@alaska.com

Tuesday 1/8...

is the first day back at school! Our AMS teaching staff will be in meetings on Monday getting ready for the new school year... Happy New Year & Welcome back on Tuesday 1/8/08!

Congrats!

eScrip Contest Update: Congratulations to Angie and Heather’s classrooms!!! Angie’s preschool classroom won the eScrip Classroom Contest award for having the most students’ families & friends signed up on eScrip before Thanksgiving. Heather’s kindergarten classroom won the Contest for having the highest *percentage* of students’ families & friends signed up. Each classroom won $50! Congratulations Angie & Heather & all your students.

During the contest, AMS’ eScrip membership jumped from 100 to 147 participants. At least 8 of the new participants can to attributed to “T.R.” in Heather’s a.m. class. Nice work, kiddo!

eScrip Progress: Approximately 100 AMS families have not yet signed up for eScrip. Over the next couple of months, volunteers will be calling the remaining people not yet signed up and offering to help them get signed up. Please be kind when they call, and please return their call if they leave a message for you J

Here is the most recent eScrip progress (as of 12/31/07)

Month # Participants $ raised for AMS
July 40 $57
August 64 $70
September 94 $214
October 100 $276
November 147 $TBD (available 1/31/08)
December 147 $TBD (available 2/29/08)

REMINDER: To register, simply email your Carrs/Safeway card number to Karen.padgett@alaska.com. If you don’t know your number (usually 11 digits starting with 46…), please call Safeway Customer Service at 1-877-723-3929 to find out what it is or sign up for a new one at any Carrs store.