Joaquin Miller Elementary School

This is the last weekend to shop JM's Annual Scholastic Book Fair! If you haven't yet already, be sure to grab a couple reads for summer and help us raise funds for our library at the same time! Shop here thru Sunday, April 4: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/.../cptoo.../homepage.do...

It's time for our annual Joaq-a-thon and this year, to stay connected through this virtual event ... we've gone GROOVY! This is always a big fundraiser for JM and we need it now more than ever to keep our programs going strong! Please see Konstella for all the details on this year's GROOVE-A-THON, including how to help your student get sponsors and be ready to move April 16-25! (Plus ... if we hit our $50k goal, Principal Sara White Green will eat a WORM!) https://www.konstella.com/.../6064adf036bc69794fa54b15

PLEASE JOIN US TONIGHT for the PTA Meeting & Healing Spaces Event, Wednesday, March 24th, 6:30 p.m. Tonight's meeting will include a presentation from teachers about last month's Black Lives Matter curriculum and news about our upcoming annual Joaq-a-thon (aka "Groove-a-thon"), but will be followed by a Healing Spaces discussion we felt was critical to hold for our community at this time. Given the alarming rise in anti-Asian racist violence in Oakland and around the country, we want to create space to process, reflect, share, listen, and grieve together as a community. Please join us for the meeting and stay to share your voice during Healing Spaces. Zoom link: https://ousd.zoom.us/j/81105307583

Back by popular demand ... Wednesday, 3/24 is our final Round Table dine-out event of the year! Don't miss your last chance to order take-out, delivery or curbside pickup from the Round Table Pizza at 2854 Mountain Blvd. (Woodminster location, 510-336-3333) from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Just be sure to mention you are with Joaquin Miller BEFORE ordering and 20% will be donated back to our school! (And don't forget ... our general PTA meeting is also Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. Grab a pie and join us, Zoom link on Konstella:))

Today's the day to start shopping BOOKS at JM's Annual Scholastic Book Fair! This event runs through Sunday, April 4 and supports important funding for our beloved library. Shop classics + all the latest titles for your student here: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/boo/cptoolkit/homepage.do

Join us tonight! Tonight's event is part kick-off, part brainstorm and DEFINITELY part celebration, as we officially launch affinity groups among the JM community. Come help define the path for our groups moving forward and connect with other Wolverine families over shared experiences.

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Although we can't be together in person, we are TOGETHER IN SPIRIT, which is the inspiration for our seasonal event, Holiday Lights & Gingerbread Dreams! Starting today thru Dec. 25, you're invited to pick up a gingerbread template from JM, decorate it to your heart's desire, and then come pin it up on our gingerbread display at the school. Please put your name and class on the back of your gingerbread house and feel free to include a holiday message if you like. Finally ... don't forget to take a photo with your gingerbread on display and share it on our private Facebook group (Joaquin Miller Elementary Community, Oakland, CA.) with the hashtag #togetherinspirit for us all to see!

And this week's Staff Shout-Out Winner is...Mr. Little! Woohoo! https://drive.google.com//1yQ8sqL00eDIGGXFt_Zl02OL6p/view

There's still time to get your staff shout-out in this week! Tell a JM staff member how much you appreciate them through this form: https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSe4IBO2oFEN1BrGkt/viewform. Stay tuned for tomorrow's spin + winner announcement!

The Joaquin Miller PTA Board, Equity Team and many others have been dreaming of having affinity groups at JM for a long time and we are excited to announce an Affinity Group Kick-Off Event & Discussion on December 15 @ 6:30 p.m.! We are hoping to use affinity groups to create community and connection in this time of pandemic isolation and to hear the voices of those who haven't been historically centered. Affinity groups are defined by Teaching Tolerance as the following: [A...ffinity groups] allow students/families who share an identityusually a marginalized identityto gather, talk in a safe space about issues related to that identity, and transfer that discussion into action that makes for a more equitable experience at school. To learn more about affinity groups, please visit https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2015/making-space We are starting with the affinity groups listed below, but our hope is to get interested folks together to discuss and brainstorm visions for the affinity groups. We'll present some tools and ideas and work on launching them! We know there are many other ways that JM families identify and that this is not an exhaustive list. We welcome your suggestions and leadership around any other identity, ethnicity, area of interest or need. Please sign up here with your feedback: https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSf7bclDtqNKAGish/viewform And don't forget to join us on Zoom! Join Zoom Meeting ID: 83228220705 Password: 401729