Bear Lake PATS (Parents and Teachers for Students)
PATS mission statement
The mission of the PATS group is to enhance the overall school experience through positive interaction, volunteerism, fund raising, and event planning. Parents + Teachers + Students + Community = SUCCESS!
www.bearlake.k12.mi.us

PLEASE NOTE:
PATS meetings will be taking place the 3rd (third) Thursday of each month from 3 – 4 p.m. in the media center / library at Bear Lake School – 7748 Cody Street, Bear Lake.
(This is a change from our previously listed third Monday of each month at 7 p.m. schedule from last year.)
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The meeting dates for October 2011 through May 2012 are as follows:
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Thursday, February 16th, 2012
Thursday, March 15th, 2012
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
Thursday, May 17th, 2012 (ELECTIONS!)
(no meeting in July).

***Free childcare will be provided in a teacher’s classroom by Bear Lake High/Middle School students, and snacks will be provided to the children through the SEEDS program.***

All are welcome, and encouraged, to attend!

YEAR END Report and Thank You’s! SEE BELOW

Hello,

Let me introduce our group – we are the newly reorganized Bear Lake PATS (Parents And Teachers for Students) group.  We are the parent / teacher organization for Bear Lake Schools.

After several years of not having any organized parent / teacher association within the school, a core group of parents with students who attend Bear Lake Schools have gotten together to reorganize and reinvent PATS, and to further invest in our children’s education and future.

We would like to inform the Bear Lake Community that we are here and share some of our goals / philosophies, and we see the Bulletin as an excellent way to do so!  Our primary goals are to help bridge some of the gaps between state and school funding and to assist Bear Lake School teachers in providing (and our children in receiving) the very best education possible.

While PATS regrouped (forgive the pun!) in the fall of 2009, we really gained momentum in late winter / early spring of 2010.  Although the PATS group has only three fundraisers (two school bake sales and one bottle drive) under our collective belts, we now have an account and a fund balance through the school / Huntington Bank!  We are planning to make that balance grow by organizing other fundraisers, including our recently completed cooperative effort raffle between PATS and the Ladies of the Lake, which culminated during Autumn’s Glory Day on October 2, 2010.

During spring conferences, PATS had an informational table and surveys available to teachers and parents at Bear Lake Schools to garner interest and participation in the PATS group and to acquire ideas as to what our school community would like to see the PATS group accomplish.  Through a joint effort with the school, PATS information was included in a packet provided to parents during the Kindergarten Round Up event.

To date, the PATS group has purchased a set of new accelerated reader books for Bear Lake Elementary School.  We celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week by purchasing Village Café gift certificates for each of our Bear Lake School teachers.  Members of the PATS group, along with teachers and students, entered a float in the Bear Lake Days parade to introduce PATS to the community.  Our biggest, and most successful, project to date was the PATS Raffle, which was a joint effort with the Ladies of the Lake, and included raffles prizes of two beautiful, handmade quilts and one lovely, handmade tapestry, as well as several generous prizes donated by Bear Lake area merchants and $500.00 worth of Silpada jewelry donated to PATS by members of the Ladies of the Lake.

We have been advertising our monthly meetings and fundraisers through every avenue possible.  As you can see, we have a lot of momentum already!

Please note that one does not have to be a parent, teacher, or student to become involved in PATS.  Everyone is welcomed!  contact us at bearlakepats@yahoo.com
Parents + Teachers + Students + Community = SUCCESS!

YEAR END Report and Thank You’s!
Dear Parents / Guardians / Students,
We can’t believe the end of the school year is upon us already!  It has been an exciting and productive school year for PATS, which has included purchasing  school library books (20 books in English / 20 books in Spanish) and contributing $550.00 to the school’s text book fund.  PATS also helped purchase physical education equipment, brought in two assembly guests (Toma the Mime, and Gary “the Shark Guy” Knapp), and sponsored the third marking period’s Student Character Assembly.  Our work in support of all Bear Lake Schools’ teachers and students continues.

We would like to update you on new information.

ELECTIONS:

At the 05/19/2011 regularly scheduled meeting, we elected new board members.  The PATS Board for the 2011 / 2012 school year is as follows:
Chairperson: Janette May
Vice Chairperson: Jeff Harthun
Treasurer: Melanie Ware
Secretary: Rhonda Ide
Congratulations and welcome new Board members!  We anticipate the continuation and addition of great things in PATS’ future under your leadership.
BIKE-A-THON UPDATE:
PATS would like to congratulate the top two fundraisers in each division of the first annual PATS Bike-A-Thon, which was held on May 7, 2011.
K – 2nd:  Riley Ward and Kalissa Swanson
3rd – 5th: Kaiden Hejl and Gary McBride
6th – 8th:  Richard Smith and Michael Belinsky

All Bike-A-Thon participants did an EXCELLENT job, and we hope to see even more students next year!  The PATS group is thankful for everything our Bear Lake Schools’ teachers and staff did to make this such a success!  The PATS group appreciates having such dedicated, caring, and generous school staff with whom to work.
CANDY DRIVE UPDATE:
PATS would like to congratulate Mrs. Edmondson’s first grade class for bringing in the most candy during the candy drive and would like to extend a big thank you to all parents / guardians / students who participated!

HELP WANTED:
PATS is seeking student volunteers who would like to decorate and ride their bikes in the 2011 Bear Lake Days parade on July 9th!  Participants will decorate their bikes beforehand and bring them to the Bear Lake High School parking lot to meet the adult PATS members / volunteers one hour before the parade begins.
Please note: please have your children wear school colors (red/white), and advise them that they must wear a bicycle helmet at all times while riding their bikes.  Please contact PATS Chairperson Janette May to sign up (or if you have any questions) (231) 864-3392.
FUNDRAISERS:
We would like to remind parents/guardians that PATS is collecting Spartan  and Campbell’s Soup labels, and Box Tops for Education UPC codes, all year long.  These are fundraisers in which more parents can participate.  PATS hopes to hold our second Bottle Drive fundraiser in the fall, after the 2011/2012 school year begins.  PATS is also looking into the following possibilities: holding a silent auction, student ski day, Hats for Pats, West Shore Assemblies, and more!

Have a happy, safe, and fun summer!
Sincerely,
Bear Lake PATS