Do you CSA?

You may have seen the Full Circle Farms trucks around town, or run into the various drop-off locations in Anchorage. If your interested in joining or would like a more convenient spot for pick-up (at AMS) please add your name to the list at the front desk. We need 30 members (current or new) to pick-up boxes at AMS in order to qualify as a pick-up location. Please see Amy at the front desk for the list and consult the following website for more information:

http://www.fullcirclefarm.com/

Good news...

As our faithful AMS Parent Blog readers + subscribers know, eScrip is *easy* money for AMS. Just register and shop as you always do, earning valuable $$ for the AMS community. Check out below how much we've easily raised so far!

From Karen Padgett:

eScrip Progress: January 2008 numbers are in. All of you participating in eScrip raised $1700 between August 2007 & January 2008! Congratulations! The biggest contributors in January were Betty Ann Eastur Smith & Lisa Gray. Nice going!!

August 2007, $70
September, $214
October, $276
November, $404
December, $354
January 2008, $360

REMINDER #1: If you’re already registered with eScrip, please remember to also sign up for eScrip “At the Online Mall,” by doing the following at your computer(s):

 Log into your eScrip account (you can log in using just your email address)
 Click on “At the Online Mall” in the upper right corner of the screen
 Click on the blue “Auto Track” circle at the top of the page
 Follow the instructions to download the software
 Whenever you go to the website of a merchant who participates in the eScrip “At the Online Mall” program, a box will pop up in the lower right part of your screen saying what percentage of your purchase will be contributed.

REMINDER #2: 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.

books & beauty

Books for kids. Aquarian Charter School is hosting a community book sale. 50% off suggested retail prices. Open to the public.
Dates: Thursday 5/1 & Friday 5/2: Noon-6PM
Saturday 5/3 8:00 AM - 6 PM
Phone number is 742-4900
Location: 1705 W. 32nd

Mountainview Boys & Girls Club is hosting it's first annual beauty pageant. May 17th from 1:00 to 4:00. For specifics and more information contact John Williams at 223-2004.

AMS Yard Sale!

The AMS Yard Sale is tentatively scheduled for May 24th.

The initial planning meeting will be held on Saturday, April 30th, at Kaladi Brothers (few spots down from Title Wave Books) at 6:00 PM.

Please contact Christy Fagerstrom via email: cnf@alaska.com or via phone (see bulletin board at AMS for her phone #).

~Celebrate Earth Day at AMS~

You may have noticed the AMS Earth Day shirts for sale near the front desk this past week. For just $15 you can purchase a shirt sized right for your child or yourself. A Small fits a toddler/pre-schooler and sizes are available up to adult. Portions of the proceeds support Anchorage's Bird Treatment & Learning Center.

If you've already purchased a shirt for your child, don't forget to throw it on them out the door tomorrow. If you haven't yet just pick-up one tomorrow, they're short-sleeved & could easily fit over a long sleeved top.

For information on Earth Day and educating your child on the significance of this day, please feel free to access the following sites:

http://earthday.wilderness.org/teachers/
http://ww2.earthday.net/
http://www.epa.gov/earthday/

Beautiful weekend for...

Building flower boxes and a sandbox!

Volunteers are needed for 2-3 hours this Saturday, April 19th, to help build the new
preschool sandbox and flower boxes.

Get some sun & volunteer hours while improving the AMS environment!

Interested persons can contact Bryan Smith at 243-5377.

Dinner and a Movie

This Friday, April 18th is AMS Movie Night!

Movie: The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers

For $6 per person, you will enjoy:

-Hoagie Sub Sandwich ~or~ Dino Nuggets
-Chips
-Fruit
-Drink
-Treat!

Movie: Running Time: 77 minutes

Dinner at 5:30
Movie at 6:00

Trailers + Clips: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2593063193/

Spread the word! ~ Sneak peak of Movie Night

We're looking to our dedicated AMS Parent Blog readers & subscribers to spread the word about the upcoming Bid Into Spring Auction. Please help us by emailing your AMS email list and talking to other AMS families. We're looking for gift certificates or donated items for the auction ~ one per family (or more if you want...) would really help put us over our goal!

This year our auction will be entirely online which gives us increased exposure to bidders world-wide. Travel vouchers, hotel gift certificates, Alaskan adventures and restaurants are all great ideas. Boutiques, hairdressers, barbers, coffee shops, etc... Please drop your items or gift certificates off at the front desk ~ and BE SURE to leave your name with your donation ~ we want to make sure to give all our donating AMS families credit for their generosity!

A week from today is the 2nd AMS Movie Night of 2008 ~ Friday, April 18th~ The organizer of this event, Kelly, was kind to share a preview of the menu, your ticket includes the Movie *plus*:

1 sub sandwich or Dino Nuggets
1 bag chips
1 drink
watermelon or apples
treat

PLUS once the movie starts, the following will be for sale for MUCH cheaper then real movie theaters (50 cents - $1-ish)

Popcorn
Airheads
Fruit Roll Ups
Brownies
Chips

~Look for the flyers announcing the featured movie next week~

Need a morning activity for Friday 4/11?

With no school for the toddlers and preschool on Friday, you may be looking for an organized activity. Just down the road is the Spenard Recreation Center. The following details appear on their website, note this is for 3 - 5 year olds but AMS Parent Blog has learned that babies on the hip (or baby bjorn, stroller, etc.) are allowed to accompany!

BIG thanks to AMS Mom Jess for the scoop on this activity.

Title: Kindergym
Date: Apr 4, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Calendar: Parks & Rec Activities
Contact: Melissa McDermott
Description: Location: Spenard Recreation Center Cost: $5 per family Experience a variety of play equipment including scooter, hula hoops, parachutes, jump ropes, cage balls and others to enhance balance, coordination, and cooperative skills in a fun and supervised atmosphere. Parents are encouraged to stay and play. For ages 3-5 yrs.

http://events.muni.org/scripts/view/webevent.pl?cmd=calmonth&userid=guest&calID=89

Need Volunteer Hours?...No School...

An AMS classroom is in need of shelves, if your looking for volunteer hours please refer to the AMS bulletin board for details on how to earn hours while also improving our classroom surroundings!


If you receive this blog via email and are looking for additional hours, please refer back to the original website for previous postings, there are still many volunteer opportunities that need your support:

http://alaskaams.blogspot.com

This Thursday 4/10 and Friday 4/11 there is NO school for the toddler, preschool and kindergarten (both 1/2 day and full day) classes. In addition there is EARLY release at Noon for the Elementary on 4/10 & 4/11. On Monday 4/14 there is NO school (all classes) at AMS.

Where do you shop?

Do you find yourself at the same hairdresser, clothing store, barber, restaurant, cafe, barista, time and again? Are you starting to recognize their faces, their schedules??? THEN you have the PERFECT opportunity for an easy, quick donation to the AMS Bid into Spring Auction.

This year it's easy, please ask one of the places you regularly shop to donate a gift certificate for our Spring Auction! It's a **wonderful** way for local businesses to support our school community as well as gain valuable advertising as a supportive merchant of AMS. Then just drop off the gift certificate to the front desk at AMS. Make sure to included your ~ name ~ so you can get credit for your valuable contribution.

If your in need of volunteer hours see the previous blog entries for details on how you can donate $ for hours of service.

Bid into Spring is planned for May... so get shopping!

What's better then One Movie Night?

Two Movie Nights! Back by popular demand, Friday, April 18th is the next AMS Movie Night. If you made it last time you know how much fun the kids & parents had viewing, snacking and enjoying the delicious Spaghetti Dinner by Kelly and crew. Stay tuned for more details and mark your calendar.

As for telling the kiddos ... that's your call... flyers will go up closer to the event saving some of us with toddlers from the 'when will we get there?!?' questions... Just remember 4/18/08 ~ AMS Movie Night!

Bid into Spring! ~ Do you need Volunteer hours?!?

It's looking more like Spring every day, and with the break-up comes our Bid into Spring auction. This year AMS is trying something new...our Spring Auction will be entirely online! As with last year's auction we're looking towards our AMS community for donations. Although we are focusing on gift certificates, all items, both big and small, will be gratefully accepted. Please bring items to the AMS front desk.

If your family is still in need of volunteer hours, consider this: for every $100.00 your family donates, one hour of volunteer service is added to your account!!

The targeted auction dates will be from May 1st - May 15th... plan some time during those days to find your favorite computer chair and start shopping to support AMS!