Two great Silent Auction events took place in April in our library.  “Librarian for the Day” and “Books and Burgers.” Vintage families bid on these events as a way to fund raise for our school and show their kids a good time.
 
Third grader, Oren Stewart, from room 17, took over the library as “Librarian for the Day”. Giving Mrs. Forbes the day off, he read to classes, checked out books to them, and made arrangements for an author visit in the fall. Oren met with author Adam T. Newman and talked about his books.  He was given a t-shirt and an autographed book and then went on to read Mr. Newman’s book, “How to Catch a Cold” to several first grade and kindergarten classes throughout the day. Oren looked over the school calendar with the principal and chose a date, then called Mr. Newman and set up the coming visit.  Mrs. Forbes says that Oren, (called Mr. Stewart by the students) would make a wonderful librarian one day. “He was a natural!,” said Mrs. Forbes.

Another event that took place this month in the library was the “Books and Burgers” lunch. Mrs. Forbes and six students enjoyed In N’ Out hamburgers while talking about books, their families, fun things they like to do, and more. Mrs. Forbes provided book bags, bookmarks and lots and lots of books for the kids to choose. Each student left with a full bag of books and a full tummy!  Mrs. Forbes said that it was a blast and very fun getting to know the kids better!

Vintage students in Girl Scout Troop 6226 recently donated 22 books to our library! According to troop leader Nancy Alderete, the girls are sharing a portion of their cookie profits to help build our library book collection. The girls each chose a book from a pre-selected list made up by our librarian, Mrs. Forbes. Each girl will be the first to check out the book they chose and then it will be put into circulation for all Vintage students to enjoy! Thank you Troop 6226! You’re the best!!

During the week of May 2nd to May 6th, help us celebrate and honor all our Vintage staff (teachers, aides, lab assistants, custodians, office, cafeteria, playground and lunch supervisors) who work hard as a team to make Vintage a great place to learn. Vintage is a stand out school due to all their hard work and extra time and effort they put into their work day.  Below are some fun ways to show them that you appreciate what they are doing for our students.  Reminder: On Tuesday, May 3rd, a special luncheon will be served to the staff.  If you signed up to donate something towards Tuesday's event, don't forget to send it by Tuesday morning 8AM.

Scholastic Book Company honored Vintage Magnet and Librarian, Mrs. Forbes on Friday, April 26th, 2016 at our monthly PTA meeting. John Hales, Regional Field Supervisor and Gary Allen, Book Fair Field Representative, presented Mrs. Forbes and Mrs. Mourao, our principal, with a 3 foot by 4 foot check for $1,000 Scholastic Dollars. Our school was also given a huge banner to hang outside our library. These awards were given because of our second place win in the Scholastic National Book Fair Contest.

Mrs. Forbes entered the contest back in December after hosting our “Monster Book Fair”. Schools have to present a portfolio of pictures and documentation indicating why they had “The Best Book Fair Ever!” Mrs. Forbes also included a 12 minute video showing how the fair was run.

John Hales talked about the importance of reading with our parents and even did a book talk! He shared that Scholastic does 125,000 book fairs a year! Not all schools enter the national contest, but we are told that hundreds do. Mr. Hale and Mr. Allen both agreed that Vintage had done a fantastic job and that we should be proud of our win! We were also told by another rep that we were the only first time entry.

Mrs. Forbes received the check and she plans to spend it on books for the library. Parent, Seth Levine volunteered to hang the sign up as well, so be sure to look for it hanging across the front of our library! Mrs. Forbes also reminded everyone that she could not have done this without the help of her “Monster Mom Team” and many other Vintage parents.

Vintage's Student Council headed a movement to make students at Vintage aware of their impact on our world. This is the 46th year of a Earth Day movement. This year Earth Day fell on April 22. In 1970, the first Earth Day was started to make people more conscientious about our environment.  Students at Vintage made a pledge to help make a positive impact on our earth.  Some pledged to take shorter baths,  to plant a tree, to pick up trash, to not litter, and to recycle.  Vintage students and Girl Scout Troop 6226 posted hand made posters to encourage students to be good environmental citizens.  Let's all agree to make everyday "Earth Day."

To all of Vintages hardworking, devoted, giving, thoughtful, generous volunteers, Vintage staff and students thank you for the bottom of their hearts.  Your making time in your busy, hectic days does not go unnoticed.  The Volunteer Tea held Thursday, April 21, was but a small token of our school's appreciation for what all our volunteers do.  Many of you spend a lot of time and effort each week to make this a better place at for students and for staff.  Others have  stepped forward to help when needed for special events.  Every volunteer effort has made a difference for our school so please know that we don't take you for granted.

Click here for photos of our 2016 Volunteer Tea.

"Saturday, April 16th, 2016 a group of dedicated and industrious Vintage families, friends, and staff rolled up their sleeves and pitched in where needed to give our dear school, Vintage Magnet, its second deep cleaning for the year.  Twice a year Vintage holds "School Beautification" days. 

Volunteers assemble in the morning and are assigned to a wish list of chores that, most often, wouldn't get done if it wasn't for our volunteers pitching in.  Rooms are given a deeper cleaning. Garden areas are weeded, watered, planted, edged, racked, trimmed, and more.  Tables are scrubbed inside and outside.  Walk ways are power washed (when a power washer is available). Store rooms are cleaned out and straightened up.  These are just a few examples of the work accomplished by our wonderful volunteers.  

So, THANK YOU, for coming out and pitching in.  We would also like to thank those of you that couldn't make it but donated cleaning supplies, plants, and/or funds for plants and supplies. 

Thanks to the families of:
H. NcNichols, S. and A. Bullis, S. Ulloa-Ramos, J. Goxioloa, J. Jensen, L. Rice, C. Whitmore, H. and H. Martin, B. Gomez, J. Karapetian, E. Doyle, F. and F.  De Quiros, O. Stewart, E. Hernandez, S. and A. Diosdado, N. Ponce, D. and V. Reyes, A. Orantes, N. Wilson, S. Jimenez, and any other family group we may have missed. 

Also, a big thanks to Vintage Staff: Mrs. Liu, Mrs. Rios, Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Mouroa (and her husband), Mrs. Klugh, Mrs. Forbes, Mrs. Stone, Mr. Hal, and Mr. Alton.

Click here to see some photos from Spring School Beautification Day 2016.

April 1, 2016 5th grade students put on their walking shoes and walked and walked and walked to earn money to go to Hess Kramer Science Camp on May 19th.  The camp is a culminating event which has proven a fun, educational, memorable year-end trip for Vintage 5th graders.  A big thank you to all that contributed to the students for the Walk-A-Thon.  About $4,500 dollars was raised by five classrooms.  This event was assisted by some awesome parents and friends who provided water, oranges, and cheered the walkers onward.

Click here for some photos of the 2016 5th Grade Walk-A-Thon.

Vintage families and staff - join PTA for Dodgers Night on Saturday, June 4th, 2016 at 7:10 PM.  Tickets are on sale NOW!  Tickets are non-refundable.  If you want to be near another family please indicate such. Tickets will be emailed to you so make sure you clearly write you email address.  Tickets are limited availability so reserve soon.  Last day to purchase: Friday, May 13th, 2016.  Checks made payable to: Vintage PTA.

Game will be Dodgers vs the Braves.
Ticket Options:
All-You-Can-Eat Pavilion tickets are $45/ea
Infield Reserve tickets are $30/ea

Click here for the ticket order form.

The Vintage Lego Robotics League was created to inspire students to pursue dreams of engineering careers. What started over 7 years ago as a small group of students, and a parent who was able to visualize what the program could be, is now something that makes Vintage Magnet stand out from many other schools.
 
A team of faithful Vintage alumni parents runs the VLR league. Roger Orvis, Luis Alacron, Vaughn Sandstrom, and Tomas Deleon have been with the league for the past 7 years. They have helped create, modify, and run the league to ensure that all of our students who participate come away with problem solving skills, knowledge of programing, and engineering skills. Mr. Bullis has been involved with Vintage Lego Robotics for the past 7 years in various capacities, this season as the coordinator of the program.
 
The league has been meeting every Thursday night since January. During this time, teams collaborate, create, and design robots that complete certain task that have been outlined. Also during the Thursday night practices, lead coaches have been assisting teams that need help with programing and problem solving. Thursday night practices were created so that the teams coach can get help from the lead coaches and to collaborate and problem solve with other teams.
 
The league has 3 trials. The first 2 trials are meant to be more of a learning experience than truly a competition. During the first 2 trials, the lead coaches assist as needed. This is also where the kids are taught the rules of the trials, and where new strategies are also formed. The final trial, which will be held on May 7th, is a culmination of everything that the team has learned. The coaches are all required to sit in the audience, and the teams come up to the front and in 2 minutes the teams must execute as many tasks as they can. This event is special because it is when we get to see all the hard work come together, and see how each team has grown since the beginning of the league. We invite you to come on May 7th @9am! It will be a lot of fun!
 
The future of Vintage Lego Robotics:  As many of you know technology is advancing every minute is seems like. Vintage has always prided itself on being on the cutting edge of technology. Next year (2016-2017) we are hoping to change things up a bit and expand to what is called VEX robotics. We will hopefully be partnering up with some funding options to get this started next school year. In the mean time check out the vex robotics site, (http://www.vexrobotics.com/) and check back for details. We also want to thank Mrs. Mourao for her continued support of the Robotics program.
 
For more details about the league go to:  http://www.mrbullis.com
 
Click here to check out some photos of our second LEGO Robotics tournament.