Welcome To Panther Tracks
News, updates, and reminders for the coming week and more going forward. La traducción al español está en la parte inferior. የአማርኛ ትርጉም ከታች ነው።
Needed: STEAM Day Volunteers
This year PBES is hoping to host a STEAM Day on Friday, March 14, 2025 (Pi Day!). At this point we are in our initial recruitment stage for speakers, presenters, activity leaders, community partners, etc. Eventually we will also be seeking parent volunteers to help out with donations and to be extra hands on the actual day of the event. If you like to learn more about volunteering for STEAM day or have contacts in STEAM related fields that might be open to volunteering, please see this PBES STEAM Info Letter.
Needed: Girls on the Run Coaches
Girls on the Run is back for the spring season! It's a girls empowerment program for girls in grades 3-5. Joyce McDonough has once again volunteered to serve as the head coach but she is seeking at least FIVE assistant coaches to have a 40-person team. For more information on Girls on the Run, click here and also review the email Joyce sent to the PBES PTA listserv on 1/12/25. If you're at all interested in coaching, please fill out this Google form by 1/23.
GeoBowl Kicks Off This Week
We are celebrating the launch of the 2025 GeoBowl at Piney Branch Elementary! The GeoBowl is an optional Geography Competition – this year it focuses on the geography of the United States. Students will be coming home with a packet that is full of maps and geographic trivia. GeoBowl packets are due February 7th! Volunteers are needed to serve as packet correctors (particularly for the following classes - Berardi, Brooking, Gazda, Granados, Luker, Madsen, Patrick, Serra, Tolson), coaches and GeoBowl competition volunteers. Sign up here.
Coming Soon: Readathon
The Readathon is a school-wide event that encourages students to read every day and it will start on Friday, February 7 with a book giveaway and then last for three weeks in February. The PBES PTA is hoping to raise $4,000 through the Readathon! Families will receive more information about the Readathon later in January. But for now, please consider donating books or sign up to volunteer.
We need volunteers to staff the kick-off book giveaway at Piney Branch on Friday, February 7. We also need 3 volunteers to tabulate student reading logs each weekend of the Readathon (the weekends of Feb. 14, 21, and 28). This is something you can do at home! The sign-up sheet is located here.
In addition, you can donate new or gently used books for our book giveaway kick-off event. If you have books you would like to donate, please drop them off on the porches of 436 Lincoln Ave. or 7301 Takoma Ave. We take any grade-appropriate book and are particularly interested in graphic novels and books in Spanish. Please ONLY drop books appropriate for grades 3-5 (no baby books or adult books).
Upcoming Dates
This week
- All week: GeoBowl kickoff assemblies
- Thursday, January 16: Fifth Grade Parent Meeting for Spring Field Trip to Philadelphia at 7 pm (virtual)
This month
- January 20: No school for students (Inauguration Day)
- January 29: No school for students (grading and planning day)
Translation | Traducción | ትርጉም
