YOU have Made a Mighty Difference!

The Lucas PTO has concluded its annual direct-ask fundraiser and once again, Lucas families and friends have answered the call with stunning generosity, donating more than $10,600! This money allows the PTO to fund improvements in our outdoor space (including a more natural playscape,) books for the library, field trips (such as School of the Wild,) visiting artists (such as OPERA Iowa,) and more.

THANK YOU to these donors whose generosity added up to $10,684.61 for Lucas students:

Abundant Playscapes
Alpla, Inc 

Century Roofing Co. Inc. 

ConAgra Foods 

Expectations 

Short’s Burgers 

UI Community Credit Union 

Anonymous (6) 

John and Marcia Anderson 

Dana and Julie Aschenbrenner 

John and Michelle Bacon 

Renee and Sara Baird 

Jennifer & Dawn BarbouRoske 

Joe and Karla Bell 

Brian and Nancy Cassady 

Claire Chapnick and Gerald Sorokin 

Judy and Ben Clark 

Ernest Cox and Samantha Solimeo 

Mary and R.J. Daughenbaugh 

Deborah Dickinson 

Tobi and Damond Drake 

Ryan Downing and Jennifer Sherer 

Mindy Farmer 

Dawn Fitzpatrick and Brad McDowell 

Mike Frasier and Jennifer Horn-Frasier 

Crystal and Stan Galloway 

Kyle and Sarah Galloway 

Maureen Geraghty 

Gary and Sara Glenn 

Amanda and James Goodrich 

Dave and Amy Greazel 

Phillip and Andrea Gugliuzza 

Ronald and Beverly Herman 

Ben and Brooke Hill 

John and Marilyn Holloway 

John and Margaret Holmes 

Sarah Holmes and Zara Wanlass 

Ruthanne Hyduke 

Chris and Sheral Jensen 

Diane Johnson 

Sheila and Brandon Johnson 

Bill and Holly Kenyon 

John and Mary Kenyon 

Jenilyn Lewis 

Les and Nancy Lipschutz 

Der-Fa Lu and Stephen Heywood 

Roger and Jennifer Lusala 

Sarah and Andrew Lynch 

Debbie and Joseph Manning 

Tara and Rod Martin 

Jun-Nicole Matsushita and Huy Tong 

Rose Metz 

Diane Molander 

Paul and Shelby Myers-Verhage 

Ha and Phil Nguyen 

Tung Nguyen 

Susan Nicol and Don Bates 

Michelle Norman and Michelle Wikner 

L. Charles and Cathy Novak 

Debra and Brian Parrott 

Joe Pavelich 

Mike and Pat Pavelich 

Kevin and Michele Pellinen 

Christine and Jay Phillips 

Anna and Benjamin Plank 

Steve and Nancy Pohlman 

Sara and Erika Riggs 

Erin and Rob Rindels 

Bryan and Lisa Ringen 

Heather and Damien Roth 

Joel and Mary Sherer 

John Shoop 

Eric Siron 

Erin Snyder 

David Snyder 

Barbara Solomon and Jeff Arnold 

Renee Speh and Anthony Miller 

Suellen and Will Swain 

Norm and Connie Thoreson 

Hao Tong 

Andrew and Leslie Veit 

Mr. and Mrs. George Veit 

Patricia Verhage and James Blanchard 

Larry and Marilyn Walberg 

Zara Wanlass 

Steve and Joanne Young 

Last chance for lost & found

Are your drawers and closets less stuffed then they used to be? Perhaps some of your family's items have found a new home--in the Lucas Lost & Found! We have several clothing items including coats, hats, gloves, sweatshirts, etc. that need to be claimed. We will display the items in the school entryway starting Monday, December 17, through Wednesday, December 19. All unclaimed items will be donated on December 20.

School Buddies volunteers needed

Spend your lunch hour helping a child who needs extra support and guidance from a mentor like you.

School Buddies volunteers meet with a student one day a week. The volunteer and child spend their time together playing board games, reading, eating lunch, working on academics or just hanging out and talking. This relationship-focused program, coordinated by Big Brothers Big Sisters and Lucas staff, has been shown to boost participants’ academic and social skills. Lucas supporters can volunteer here or at one of the other nine elementary schools throughout the district that offer the School Buddies program.

For more information, contact Elyse Sable of Big Brothers Big Sisters at 319-337-2145 or elyse@bbbsjc.org.

Target card can be the gift that keeps on giving all year round for Lucas

If you shop at Target with a REDcard (credit or debit) this holiday season (or any time of year!) Target will donate up to 1% of your shopping total to the school of your choice. And we happen to think Lucas would make an excellent choice. Funds through this program are directed to the Lucas principal once a year in August.

Here's how to make the magic happen:

From this link: http://www.target.com/redcard/benefits-target-rewards
Scroll down to find Take Charge of Education
click Enroll
Under have a REDcard? click find a school

(If you don't have a target card and would like one, click learn more about REDcard)

Enter City, State click submit and find Robert Lucas and click on it
click select this school

Enter your first and last name and your REDcard number
click complete enrollment

DPO to hear about Kirkwood Regional Center at Dec. 12 meeting

The next Districtwide Parents Organization (DPO) meeting will be this Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 11:30 a.m. at West High School, 2901 Melrose Ave. The meetings are open to all residents in the Iowa City Community School District.

Jon Weih will discuss The Kirkwood Regional Center - Johnson County, which will be built on the University of Iowa’s Oakdale Campus. Weih is interim director of the new regional center, which is scheduled to open in 2015, and is director of student services/student life at Kirkwood’s Iowa City campus. The regional center will support and enhance science and math education for K-12 students, and provide adaptable training that matches the specific needs of employers in the area.

No PTO meeting next week; info session on ICCSD Revenue Purpose Statement is Dec. 12 at Lucas

Just a reminder that there is no monthly PTO meeting in December. We'll return to our usual second Monday of the month schedule in January. We encourage you instead to use next week's "one hour school meeting" slot on your calendar to attend Superintendent Steve Murley's information session about the upcoming vote on a new Revenue Purpose Statement for the district. The meeting is Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. at Lucas.

Lucas t-shirts make great gifts!

Just a reminder that the PTO is still selling 50th anniversary t-shirts as well as last year's black Lucas t-shirts, either of which would make a fabulous gift for the Lucas student in your life. If said Lucas student happened not to bring home the t-shirt order form, fear not, we bring you news of joy! The form is available online. Return it with payment to the office by Dec. 14 to receive your items before the winter break.

Student Council demonstrates spirit of giving with food drive

The Lucas Student Council annual food drive runs through Dec. 14. Each class has a collection box and the class that brings in the most items will have a pizza party. Contributions will be delivered to the Johnson County Crisis Center on the afternoon of Dec. 14. If you are available to help drive the items to the Crisis Center, please contact Renee Hansen.

The Crisis Center lists the following among its most needed items: canned fruit & 100% fruit juice, canned meat & tuna, hearty soups & stews, pastas & rice, canned vegetables, baby diapers (all sizes), baby formula & food.

Winter coats, snow pants available to those in need

Anyone in need of a winter coat or snow pants is invited to visit the former Roosevelt Elementary (611 Greenwood Drive) this week, Dec 5, 6, 7 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. each day to choose from a collection spearheaded by Longfellow Elementary 4th graders. The Coats of Kindness Drive includes items from infant to adult sizes.