Old Creamery Theater presents "Pinocchio" Nov. 5 in Coralville

The Old Creamery Theatre for Young Audiences has added a performance of Pinocchio to its calendar and will present the show Saturday, Nov. 5, at 10 a.m. at the new Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.

The whole family will love this classic children's tale of a little wooden puppet who's dearest wish is to become a real boy. In this  “Commedia dell’Arte”  production, sound effects, masks and lots of humor make the characters truly unforgettable.

Tickets for Pinocchio are $10 per person. Reservations are highly recommended. For tickets call the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts at (319) 248- 9370 or reserve online at www.coralvillearts.org

Supt. Murley is guest at Monday's PTO meeting

Note: The email sent out this afternoon about the PTO meeting was in error; PTO meets tonight, not Tuesday night.

The Lucas PTO will meet tonight, Monday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. in the Lucas multi-purpose room. Iowa City Community School District Superintendent Steve Murley will be the guest speaker.

Childcare is available.

Lucas celebrates Halloween with K-2 costume parade, classroom parties Oct. 28 at 2 p.m.

Lucas celebrates Halloween this Friday, October 28. Students may wear costumes beginning at 2 p.m. The Annual Halloween Parade for K-2 students takes place at 2 p.m.; classroom parties will also begin at 2 p.m. There is not a dance this year. We will be having a winter dance.

Remember that costumes may not be gory or frightening. Weapons and simulated weapons are absolutely not allowed.

Farm to School – Farmer Fair is Coming to Lucas Nov. 18

Lucas Elementary is partnering with the ICCSD Farm to School Chapter to host a Farmer Fair on November 18. The Farmer Fair will be an in-school field trip for kindergarten through third grade that brings local food, local farmers, and nutrition educators into schools to get kids thinking about where and how their food is grown, and making healthy food choices. 

If you’d like to volunteer to help plan the Farmer Fair and/or help out on November 18, please contact Julia Burton at Burton.Julia@iccsd.k12.ia.us. 

The ICCSD Farm to School Chapter, a project of the Johnson County Local Food Alliance, is one of 19 Iowa Farm to School Chapters throughout the state that is helping to get kids thinking about where their food comes from and adding more local foods to school lunches. Other projects the Chapter is working on include developing a district-wide school gardening program and developing school composting systems.

Learn more about Farmer Fairs, and view photos/videos from the events at Longfellow Elementary (last fall) and Mann Elementary (last spring) at: https://sites.google.com/site/iccsdfarmtoschool/projects.

Lucas teachers receive WalMart gift cards

WalMart selected Lucas Elementary School teachers to receive ten $100 gift cards. Parent Carol Greve, a WalMart employee, nominated Lucas teachers for this award. The teacher names were randomly selected. WalMart has been a strong Lucas supporter. In addition, the school received 500 BOXTOP points.

Support the Roths with Hat Day, meals

Don't forget to wear your favorite hat tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 21, and bring a donation for the Lucy Jane Roth medical fund. Kudos to Student Council for organizing this fundraiser!

In addition, some friends have put together this meal sharing website in the hopes of making hectic evenings go a little more smoothly for Lucy, Jake, Damien and Heather. You can sign up to deliver a dinner any Wednesday or Sunday or call the contact person listed on the site to arrange another day/time.

Free family fun for Halloween

Get a head start on your Halloween celebration at the Iowa City Parks & Recreation Halloween Parade and Carnival, Friday, Oct. 28, from 6-8 p.m. Put on your costumes and meet at the Weather-Dance fountain on the Downtown Plaza at 6 p.m. for a parade to the Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center (corner of Gilbert and Burlington--just a two-block walk.) Then enjoy treats, tricks, prizes, crafts, dancing, face painting, cookie decorating and more at the Rec Center until 8 p.m. There is NO COST to attend this event! All ages are welcome and children MUST be accompanied by an adult.
* In case of inclement weather, the parade will be canceled, but the carnival will be held rain or shine.

Then, on Sunday, Oct. 30, University of Iowa fraternity and sorority members invite kids ages 0-12 to Trick or Treat with the Greeks from 2-5 p.m at the Iowa Memorial Union (corner of Madison and Jefferson Streets.) Wear your costumes and bring your treat bags. Activities will include: crafts, mummy races, a movie, snacks, pumpkin bowling, frosted cookies and more! For more information, call 319-335-3059. Parking is available in the IMU ramp (across Madison St. from the IMU) or North Campus ramp (one block north of IMU.) There is an hourly parking fee, but the event is FREE!

What's for dinner Monday? Pancakes at Lucas!

Don't forget to include the Lucas Pancake Supper in your meal plan for next week. We'll be serving pancakes, sausage, juice and milk from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Lucas multi-purpose room. The cost is $5 for adults, $3 for kids under 12. Lucas staff members are free. 

If you are available to help with this event, even for 30 minutes, please contact PTO Hospitality Co-Chair Emily Spellman at 541-2063 or easpellman@msn.com as soon as possible.

Tip of the hat to Student Council for Roth family fundraiser

Lucas Student Council is sponsoring a Hat Day fundraiser on Friday, Oct. 21. This will be a free-will donation benefitting the Lucy Jane Roth medical fund. Lucy, 2, is the sister of Jake Roth, a current Lucas student. She was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in August and is currently undergoing treatment at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Wear your favorite hat and donate an amount your family finds appropriate. This is a great way for the kids to support Jake and for the Lucas Family to support one of our own.

Hy-Vee "Smart Points" could bring new technology to Lucas

For every $20 of Procter & Gamble products you purchase at Hy-Vee from October 1, 2011– December 30, 2011 you earn 100 SMART Points to donate to the school of your choice. Get 100 additional points when you purchase two (2) or more Sara Lee Fresh Bakery products in the same transaction as your qualifying $20 Procter & Gamble purchase. 

(Participating brands include: Align®, Always®, Aussie®, Bounce®, Bounty®, Braun®, Camay®, Cascade®, Charmin®, Cheer®, Clairol®, Clearblue®, Cover Girl®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Dreft®, Duracell® ,Era®, Febreze®, Fixodent®, Gain®, Gillette®, Gleem®, Head & Shoulders®, Herbal Essences®, Iams®, Joy®, Luvs®, Metamucil®, Mr. Clean®, Natural Instincts®, Nice ‘N Easy®, Olay®, Old Spice®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, Pepto Bismol®, Prilosec OTC®, Pringles®, Puffs®, Pur®, Safeguard®, SaraLee®, Scope®, Secret®, Swiffer®, Tampax®, Tide®, Vicks®.)

Find the promotional code printed on your receipt of purchase, and enter it by clicking on the "Donate Points" button. From there, select the school for which you would like to make a donation. More than 200 schools with the most points will win! Plus, this year the participants with the most points earned from each winning school will win an iPad® for a child at the winning school. 

More information

Educational change is afoot; video asks, "Will Iowa lead or follow?"

This Iowa Future video highlights the drastic changes occurring in Iowa and the world, and shows that schools are struggling to keep up in today's dynamic new global environment. The video premiered at the School Administrators of Iowa Conference, Aug. 3, 2011.

While sharing some sobering statistics about the fast pace of change, it reminds us that "We must prepare our students for their future, not our past."

You're invited to join the conversation at www.iowafuture.org

School district seeks community input in operational audit

The Iowa City Community School District is holding an open meeting on Monday, Oct. 17, from 7-8:30 p.m. in City High Opstad Auditorium regarding the district's operational review, currently underway. Phil Hansen, chief operations officer for Synesi Associates, LLC, will facilitate the session.

This is part of the district's response to several operational errors over the last year. The district retained an outside firm to conduct a process audit to review business procedures and identify ways to mitigate future errors.

This audit will include interviews of District personnel and community members in individual, small group, and open forum settings.  Provide the auditors with as much open, honest feedback as possible will ensure that they have a full and complete understanding of the district's operations and challenges. Community input is crucial to the success of this audit. This specific forum will be facilitated by the auditing organization and not District personnel to allow for an open dialogue.

For more information contact Kate Moreland, ICCSD community relations coordinator, moreland.kate@iccsd.k12.ia.us or 688-1000 ext. 2505.

Volunteers needed for Lucas Pancake Supper Monday

Volunteers are needed to help make and serve pancakes, clear tables and provide other support for the Lucas Elementary School Pancake Supper, which runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. next Monday, October 17, in the Lucas Multipurpose Room. Even if you can only volunteer 30 minutes, you can provide huge support to Lucas PTO and Dads Engaged in Engineering Dreams (DEED), which are sponsoring the event.

If you can help, please contact PTO Hospitality Co-Chair Emily Spellman at 541-2063 or easpellman@msn.com as soon as possible.

See you Monday!

Make a Mighty Difference Tops 2010 Fundraiser

A mighty thanks to the entire Lucas community- parents, teachers, grandparents, neighbors, alumni, and local businesses- who stepped up to support Lucas Elementary school, giving (at last count) $10,525.14 $10,964 (updated October 11). This was our first attempt at a direct donation drive, and we were still able to surpass what our 2010 fall fundraiser brought in!  

As a result of your support, Lucas PTO will be able to continue to help Lucas teachers, provide classroom supplies and educational materials, and support new technology and outdoor learning initiatives. 

Although the formal campaign ends today, you can continue to support Lucas by attending a PTO meeting, by volunteering or — if you haven't done so yet — continue to donate to Lucas PTO any time of year by visiting or www.makeamightydifference.org or sending cash or check to the Lucas Elementary school office.  

If you have feedback regarding the 2011 Make a Mighty Difference campaign or ideas on how we could improve our fundraising efforts, consider attending the PTO meeting in April 2012, where we will dedicate time to discuss this topic. Stay tuned for details as the date approaches. 

The Lucas PTO Fundraising Committee

Little Hawk Baseball Club seeks 8- and 9-year-olds

The Little Hawk Baseball Club, which serves serves as the official feeder system for City High baseball, is looking for 8- and 9-year-olds to participate on baseball teams for the 2012 season. An initial try-out in September yielded 7 boys on each team. Rather than cut players to make one 9U team, they are having a
second tryout to find more participants. This tryout will take place on Thursday, Oct. 13, from 5:30-7 p.m. on Field 3 at Mercer Park. To be eligible to participate, boys must attend an elementary school in the City High district and be either 8 or 9 years old, or younger, on May 1, 2012. Practices will begin in January. More information is available in their tryout flier.

Just three days left to 'Make a Mighty Difference'

As of today, the Lucas Elementary School "Make a Mighty Difference" campaign has raised $9,955.15! Which puts us only about $90 short of matching the amount of money we raised last year, without anyone having to sell popcorn tins and wrapping paper. Way to go, Lucas community! 

With three days left in our campaign, we can do even better during the home stretch.

If you haven't already, please use this final weekend of the campaign to remind your friends, neighbors, co-workers, grandparents etc. of what they've been spared, and to consider showing their appreciation with a donation to support Lucas students' educational experience. 'Like' the campaign on Facebook, or share the link to our website: http://www.makeamightydifference.com

Every dollar makes a difference!

Boost brainpower with breakfast during Iowa Assessments Oct. 10-14

Next week, Oct. 10-14, students in grades 3-6 will be taking the Iowa Assessments, formerly known as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. We will be taking the state assessments each morning. Subjects include reading, math, science, social studies, and language arts. Please make sure your children have a good night’s sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and get to school on time! We anticipate having the results by conference time in November.

Yes you CAN (donate your deposit to Lucas PTO Oct. 8)

Lucas PTO is collecting all for-deposit cans and bottles on Saturday, Oct. 8, from 8:30-10 a.m. Bring those cans and bottles that have been piling up in your garage to the Lucas front entrance on Saturday, and PTO representatives will take them to the Can Shed to redeem for cash to support our projects.

Help the school and save yourself from the Hy-Vee can room. It's a win-win!

Fly away with Peter Pan Oct. 14-16 at City High

City High Drama and the Young Footliters will perform the children’s classic, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan in Opstad Auditorium at City High School. Shows will be held Friday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 16, at 2 p.m.

General admission tickets will be sold either by pre-sale or the evening of the show and are $12 for adults and $5 for children and senior citizens. Ticket order forms are available at www.iowacityhigh.org or www.youngfootliters.org. Ticket forms may then be dropped off at the City High Main Office.  For more information call the City High Main Office at 688-1040.