Schmucker PTO Newsletter

Welcome back to our returning Spartan families and welcome to all of our new Spartans! We are so excited to work with you this year!

Our PTO Board is ready to make this year great! A big thank you to Jason Bryant (VP), Katie Geoghegan (Treasurer), Rachel Clemans-Bonnell (Recording Secretary) and Vera Tipton (Corresponding Secretary). You are a dream team–so much collective knowledge among these marvelous people! We really appreciate Audrey Schenkel for starting the year off on a festive foot in the staff lounge. She is a marvel at Staff Appreciation and has so many great ideas to celebrate SMS staff all year. Look for chances to get involved! A HUGE thank you to Kelley Wassner who headed up a fantastic PE shirt sale during this year’s walk around. The ordering portal has closed, but there will be another sale in November and there will be shirts for sale in the office ($10).

I wanted to take a minute and explain a change to our PTO dues collection. As a PTO, there are technically no dues to join. All of our families are a part of Schmucker PTO as soon as they enroll a child into the school. We love that about our organization and we’re grateful for your support. However, our PTO still needs funds to operate fully. We need your support to treat teachers and staff to breakfast every month during their all-staff meeting. We need your help getting novels for novel study and beakers for science class. Your support let us get 24 new scooters for gym class and new baskets for frisbee golf. Schmucker is so rich in its enrichment opportunities because of you. We are asking all families to donate $15 as a family contribution. This $15 stretches so very far in the hands of our PTO and teachers. If you are feeling extra generous thanks to the state’s new fee-free educational plan, you can certainly donate more. All families who donate will get a special heart we will put up in our PTO showcase. We are so grateful for you and your gifts of time and treasure.

We look forward to seeing you next month at our first general PTO meeting, September 21st at 4:15.

Warmly,

Sarah Kubinski

PTO President

Schmucker PTO plays a vital role in supplementing the educational experiences of our students. The funds and services the PTO provides allow for opportunities not possible as part of the traditional school budget. Some of the items and activities the PTO plans to fund this year:

• Staff/Teacher Appreciation Events

• Grant teacher classroom requests not covered by the school

• Educational Events

• 8th-grade end of year party

Your kind contributions:

The above opportunities are not possible without the support of our Schmucker families through PTO donations. This year we are asking for $15 per Schmucker Family to be a part of PTO and help to fund these activities. The MORE donations we receive, then the LESS fundraising we will have to do this year.

In the past, the PTO has spent $35 PER STUDENT on enhancements and supplemental programs. Please help us to meet or exceed this amount for the 2023-24 academic year. Every donation, of any amount, enables us to reach this goal. Thank you in advance for your generous support of our students, our schools, and our PTO.

The PTO is a 501(c)3 organization; any financial donation you make is tax-deductible. 100% of your contribution directly funds programs to enrich our school and make our kids proud to be SMS Spartans!

Please use one of the two options to contribute for your PTO donation:

1) You may pay electronically by clicking the link below, which will direct you to our electronic PTO donation site. This is very convenient and can be done so very quickly and easily.

https://tinyurl.com/SMS-PTO-23-24

2) Send a check to school with your student. Please make checks payable to “Schmucker PTO.”

Thank you!

Be sure to cut Box Tops and Spartan Labels! Create an account for yourself & associate it with Schmucker Middle School, then start uploading any receipts with qualifying purchases! Schmucker will be automatically credited with those points!

Scholarship Fundraiser Restaurant Nights

We are so excited to offer a new school fundraising opportunity this year. We will have 2 restaurant nights (one in the fall and one in the spring) to fund scholarships for two graduating Penn seniors who also graduated from Schmucker Middle School. It’s a chance to eat out and raise money to support our amazing SMS graduates as they move onto college or trade schools. Look for more details in future newsletters.

8th Grade Fundraisers

The PTO Board is putting the final touches on at least 2 fundraisers for the 8th grade DC trip. Our plan is to have the fundraisers be school-wide so families have the opportunity to bank funds for 3 years to help with fees. These fundraisers will be announced in our September Newsletter.

To kick things off, a huge shoutout to Victorian Pantry in Granger for providing our SMS teachers and staff with their warm and delicious coffee on the first day of school.

As we move forward, we'll be pampering our exceptional staff with a delightful caramel apple bar in September. It's a small token of our gratitude for the dedication and hard work they put in each day.

Sarah Kubinski - President

Jason Bryant - President Elect

Katie Geoghegan - Treasurer

Rachel Clemans-Bonnell - Recording Secretary

Vera Tipton - Corresponding Secretary

Nina Beck - Book Fair

Audrey Schenkel - Staff Appreciation

Kelley Wassner - Spirit Wear

Still vacant:

8th Grade Party Committee - please email Sarah at schmuckerpto@phm.k12.in.us if interested

The Parent Teacher Organization at Schmucker Middle School plays a vital role in supplementing the educational experiences of our children. The funds raised by our PTO allow our students to have opportunities not funded by the school budget.

Email: schmuckerpto@phm.k12.in.us
Website: schmucker.phmschools.org/pto-information
Location: 56045 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, IN, USA
Phone: 574-258-5661
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SCHMUCKERPTO