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Originally delivered on 8/14/2023 6:14 am

SUBJECT: Sunrise FFO - August 2023 Digest

Happy kids of all stripes
Sunrise FFO Digest - August 2023
Welcome to the FFO!

Welcome to the Sunrise Drive FFO! Every single Sunrise Drive family is automatically a member of the Family Faculty Organization. We meet monthly to raise funds for school activities and support our amazing Sunrise teachers and staff. You are invited to attend our next meeting. Please read below to find out key dates, times, and activities!

Mark Your Calendars!


  • Aug 18: Principal’s Breakfast: 7-7:30AM (KINDER)
  • Aug 18: FFO Meeting- 8:15 am ALL PARENTS INVITED
  • Aug 22: Curriculum Night 6:00-7:00pm (3rd & 4th)
  • Aug 23: Curriculum Night 6:00-7:00pm (1st & 5th)
  • Aug 24: Curriculum Night 6:00-7:00pm (K & 2nd)
  • Sep 4: Labor Day- No School
  • Sep 8: FFO Executive Board meets – 8:15 am
  • Sep 13: School Picture Day
  • Sep 22: Principal’s Breakfast:7-7:30AM (1st Grade)
  • Sep 22: FFO Meeting- 8:15 am
  • Sep 22: Book Fair Set Up
  • Sep 23: Campus Clean Up/Garden Day
  • Sep 23: Gaslight Theatre Community Builder
  • Sep 25-29: Book Fair
  • Sep 28: Family Picnic & Play: 5:30-7:00
President's Intro

Hello Beautiful Sunrise Drive!


What an incredible opportunity to be a part of this Community. We are off to a great start! Thank you for taking the time to read our Digest and staying in the know of all the cool things going on.


I would like to thank those who have made a donation to Spirit of Sunrise. As you know, we can not partake in any activity without these funds. To date we have 459 students using Membership! 26 families have made a donation; remember we take check or cash if Membership is not convenient. We need more donations in order to proceed in our “typical” activities. Because of these generous families, we have been able to provide tamales, Brueggers, Dunkin, Eegees sub and Salad N Go during the first week to our wonderful staff. These wonderful families have also funded our new drop off signs. The weather took the concrete and paint right off the signs. These generous monetary donations also went towards a breakfast hosted by the District where our entire school staff was recognized for their hard work by the Superintendent. Thank you! We have kinder grants coming up providing a 5 sense exploration.


If you are currently using the BOXTOP app for Sunrise, thank you! We received a check for $36. That’s 360 boxtops submitted by Sunrise! Keep scanning those dimes! Thank you!


Gaslight tickets were a huge success. This is our first community builder at Gaslight since before the pandemic. Sunrise FFO is not making a profit off the sales of the tickets; rather just coordinating and organizing so our families can socialize and have fun outside of school.


Reflecting back on our last communication, 5th grade promotion was executed beautifully. Thank you Fatima Bravo. Thank you to our many volunteers behind the scene who helped decorate, feed and move cones for our now 6th graders. *Sara McNamara*Catherine Welton*Judy Velasco* Nkechi Diallo*Helena Yip* Alissa McKaig*Lori Cole* Elise McLamarrah*  


A huge thank you to Fatima Goodall for decorating Sunrise Drive’s parking lot signs. Your energy and persistence against the weather made us all smile and feel welcomed back.


Sincerely,

Jill Golisch Greene

President



FFO MEETING

Please come join us for our FFO Meeting this Friday, August 18th at 8:15AM in the Library. Stay in the know and hear about what is going at our AMAZING school. We will hear the Principal report from our one and only, Mrs. Davidson, as well as other events happening to give our children the best experience and opportunities here at Sunrise.


MEET OUR SUNRISE FFO
SUNRISE PRINCIPAL
  • What is your name?  Andrea Davidson
  • Where were you born? I am a native Tucsonan!
  • How many years you have been at sunrise?  I started in CFSD as a teacher at Ventana Vista in 1996. I then moved to Sunrise Drive to teach third grade! We started the Sunrise Drive vegetable garden in the front garden beds in 1997. Today, the students enjoy learning in the garden that is much bigger and offers a variety of learning experience as a result of our amazing volunteers and the commitment from our Sunrise FFO! 
  • What do you like to do for fun? I love to swim, garden, and cook healthy food. It makes me smile when my family and friends eat food fresh out of the garden! I do believe that spending time with family and friends around the pool and grill makes a great weekend!
  • What do you love about Sunrise? The students, staff and families make Sunrise Drive a special place to be everyday! It is my honor to work with the beautiful children at Sunrise Drive. Everyday the students impress us with their insights and humor! Our students will make our future bright! I smile as I imagine our students successfully leading our country and world, researching new medical treatments, and creating and innovating to solve problems. 
  • Why is FFO so special? The Sunrise Drive FFO is critical to the success of our learning community. The strength of the members' commitment to our students is observable throughout the campus! I am grateful to have such a talented and dedicated volunteer force serving our students and staff! 
  • Where is one destination place you would love to go?  I enjoy being outside, especially in cool weather!
  • What is one fun fact about you that you can share?  I love watching sports and cheering for the athletes!
SUNRISE FFO PRESIDENT
  • What is your name? Jill Golisch Greene
  • Position in FFO? President
  • Who is/are your kid/kids and grades? Wyatt Golisch/3rd
  • Where were you born? Tucson!
  • What is your occupation? Mommy/Administrator 
  • What do you like to do for fun? Read & hike
  • What’s your favorite restaurant? Tavolinos
  • What do you love about Sunrise? Everything especially the humans ♥️
  • Why did you join FFO? Lori @ the book fair got me hooked, then i started volunteering and haven’t turned back since
  • Where is one destination place you would love to go? Israel
GASLIGHT THEATRE


Did you get your ticket yet?

 If you haven’t heard- Sunrise Drive FFO has booked the local Gaslight Theatre for a special production reserved for Sunrise Drive Family and Friends! 

Tickets are selling fast!! If you’ve never seen a show at the Gaslight - it’s an experience you won’t soon forget! The Gaslight theatre’s original production company has been entertaining Tucson families for almost 45 years. This merry band of talented actors, directors, musicians and technicians takes pride in crafting entertainment for the young, old and everyone in between. Their hilarious spoofs will have the whole crowd roaring with laughter.  They encourage lots of audience participation so be ready to join us as we cheer for the heroes and boo the villains in the hilarious spoof - Henry Porter and the Sorcerer’s Secret! 

Showtime is Saturday, September 23rd @ 3pm. Tickets are $18.50 each and will be on sale through September 1st— but we are selling out quickly, so don’t delay! 

We hope that this fun community building event might turn into an exciting FFO fundraiser for future shows! 


VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR


FFO Exec Board Positions needed for 2023-2024!

Co-Chair VP Webmaster

Co-Chair VP Communications


FFO Chair Positions needed for 2023-2024!

Box Tops

Co-Chair Science Fair


PLEASE CONTACT OUR PRESIDENT JILL GREENE FOR MORE INFORMATION jillgreene3@gmail.com 

SUNRISE GARDEN UPDATES

We might have to call our school garden “Sunrise Botanical Gardens” soon, with the beautiful hanging baskets on the East walkway that 2nd and 3rd grade students planted this last week! Sunrise gardeners learned how to combine “trailers” and “clumpers” to give volume and length to their hanging baskets, while enjoying the sweet aroma of the Chocolate Mint plant in the basket closest to the playground area. Gardeners learned that the tallest living plant is a 379-foot redwood in California, while the shortest plant is the 1/42” Wolffia. 


Our 4th graders successfully hand-pollinated flowers on our Black Diamond watermelon plants, and the new fruit is growing rapidly with the increased humidity in Tucson. Other Garden Club activities this fall include harvesting tomatoes, peppers and herbs and taking turns in the hammock & “pod” swing. 


During excessive heat warning periods, we might skip Garden Club some Tuesdays, since our garden is in direct sun during lunch time, but the garden is open for sensory breaks for students with an EA on every day of school. 


Our school garden produced over 125 pounds of produce this summer, which was boxed up and delivered to Sunrise families. We look forward to another summer harvest surge when the temps consistently cool a bit in the evenings for the plants to send more energy into growing fruit & veggies! 


If you would like to volunteer to help with Garden Club on Tuesdays from 11:00-1:10, please email or text our FFO Garden Coordinator, 

Nkechi: nkechidiallo@gmail.com (509) 879-7639. 


BOXTOPS

Have you tried out the BoxTops app? 

Have you sent info about the app to your family out of state? (YES!! They can help Sunrise too!) 

 

Download the app and scan all receipts to help accumulate box top cash for Sunrise. 

 

HOW DO I DO IT? 

Follow these simple steps for Sunrise Box Tops:

Step 1) Download BoxTops for Education app

Step 2) Setup Profile & Add Sunrise Drive Elementary in Tucson as your school.

Step 3) Shop & scan your receipts to accumulate box top cash for Sunrise!

 

Instacart or online shopper? No problem! Just screenshot your digital receipt, go to “Contact Us” on app, and select “Submit Digital Receipt.” Then upload the screenshot(s) of your receipt. 

 

Thanks for helping Sunrise earn BoxTops cash! 

Helpful FFO Links
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