Originally delivered on 11/6/2023 8:41 pm

SUBJECT: LTMS PTO Newsletter - November 2023

What's Up Ahead

11/10/23 Principal's Picnic
11/15/23 Pie Market Day
11/16/23 PTO Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A - 5-8 pm (must use app)
11/17/23 LTMS Armor Day
12/01/23 Winter Wonderland Dance hosted by LTMS StuCo
1/26/24 KAZAAM! 6th Grade Party

Message from the PTO President

November 2023

Hello and Happy Fall!

GO VOTE! Voter turnout has been extremely low in our district and as a parent at LTMS, this bond will have a direct impact on your child. Election Day is Tuesday, November 7th. For more information about LTISD Bond 2023 and voting locations, visit https://www.ltisdschools.org/bond

It’s hard to believe that we are quickly approaching Thanksgiving and soon after, the winter break. There are many things to be thankful for and some of the most important ones in our children’s lives are their teachers, aides, mentors, tutors, and coaches.

As we roll into November and towards the Thanksgiving break, please sign up to donate pies for our Pie Market Day scheduled for Wednesday, November 15th. Our PTO makes sure each staff person at LTMS receives a pie before the holiday break and it has become a tradition that we all look forward to. Please know that due to district policy, we ask that you donate only store-bought pies (not homemade), so that we can safely give these desserts to our teachers and staff. If you’d rather us get the pie for you, we will also be taking donations through SignUp Genius and our awesome SAC team will make sure they are delivered to school.

Our fundraising efforts are still going strong and we have almost reached our goal!! Our PTO will continue working hard the rest of this year to plan next semester, which will be full of events for our students! Please join us at our next scheduled PTO General Board meeting in the New Year on Thursday, February 22nd 2024. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact info@ltmspto.org.

Go KNIGHTS!
Michelle Lovering
LTMS PTO President

LTISD Bond 2023

Learn the Facts

Visit the LTISD Bond page to learn more - in particular, the Frequently Asked Questions section is helpful to explain this process to parents who are new to Texas or who simply need clarification.

Election is Tuesday, November 7, from 7am-7pm.

Fundraising

World's Fastest Fundraiser is No Hassle!

Allows LTMS PTO to use 100% of the proceeds on:

Campus Requests: Supplies for Classrooms and Workrooms
Fun Field Days and Events Per Grade Level
Dances and Celebrations
Supportive Roles to LTMS - Teacher Appreciation Events & Student Events

Our Goal this Year is $9,000.

Without your Continued Generosity, none of this is possible! We depend on your support to continue these vital programs for our students and staff. Every donation matters!

DONATE

Thank You to our World's Fastest Fundraiser Donors!

We really appreciate all the family donations that have been made so far. If you would like your name on this list, donate now and be sure to leave your family name in the donation recognition field.

The Williams Family

Zak And Sacha Crosby

The Suh Family

Gail McClung

The Hanken Family

Marissa Saunders

The Elliott Family

The Staben Family

The Howe Family

The Schatte Family

The Krothe Family

The Mahmood Family

The Acuna Family

Eric & Melissa Bauer

The Mathiason Family

The Zimmerman Family

Brianne Poole

Stephanie Kocik

The Mitchell Family

The Trent Hughes Family

The Hawkins Family

Cortney Neves

Leslie Ouellette

Ranjit Gujja

The Zazado Family

The Centella Family

The Soto Family

The Fellin Family

The Kasian Family

Lyndie Percivill

Meghan And Mike N

Brianne Poole

Jennifer Fransen

Leah Lee

Shellie Chang

Rachel Estes

Laura Kuhr

Christopher Worley

Harper Rehme

Shelby Carr

Byron Wilkinson

Nicole Wood

Claire Kinnersley

Kathy Krukewitt

Kimberly Fortino

Tracy Tasa

The West Family

The Carroll Family

Justin Dalton

The Sitra Family

Phil And Susie Sublett

The Mead Family

Tuli Davenport

The Miranda Family

The Long Family

Krushi Setlur

The Lovering Family

Kelly Toye

Kamila Radford

Brian And Shayla Price

Amy Stine

Reema Desai

Staci Curtis

Nicole Shapiro

Noelle Mcdaniel

Rick Correa

The Hoover Family

Aubrey And Joseph Shaw

The Villa’S Family

Sarah Jackson

Kristyna Smith

Mandy Shanklin

Hazard

Erika Shepler

Jody Verhoeff

Estela

Nile West

Pavel Podniesinski

Sheree Martin

Chareese Hatfield

Nathan Downie

Atiya P. Syed Makandar

Nicole Martin

Beatriz Jackson

Julia Pollema

Meredith Piccirillo

Diana Gonzales

Sarah Jackson

Anonymous Donors

DONATE

Spirit Nights

Thank you to everyone who came out for our P Terry's Spirit Night held on October 24. You helped us raise $284. A generous LTMS family became our latest Knight In Shining Armor by matching the Spirit Night total. That brings our total for our P. Terry's Spirit Night to $568!

Mark your calendars for our next Spirit Night. It will be held on Thursday, November 16th at Chick-fil-A Lakeway. For this event, are excited to announce that another family has already stepped up to be our November Knight in Shining Armor and will match the proceeds from that night's total. Be sure to use the Chick-fil-A app to give us credit.

If you are interested in being a Knight in Shining Armor for an upcoming Spirit Night, please contact Jocelyn Fary-Holzwarth or Tina Broussard at fundraising@ltmspto.org.

LTMS Pie Market Day

It's November, and that means it's time for our annual Thanksgiving Pie Market Day!

As a thank you before the Thanksgiving holiday break, we send each staff member home with a pie! How awesome is that?!?

We are in need of 100 pies for Wednesday, November 15th to make this year's Pie Market a success!

Reminder: We are only able to accept store-bought pies.

If you are going to bring a store-bought pie to donate, you can drop it off in the car rider line on Wednesday morning.

If you would like the PTO to purchase a pie for you, please click the PTO BUYS MY PIE link below and send us your money.

Sign Up for a Pie HERE

We appreciate all you do for the teachers and staff, and we could not have wonderful events, like the Pie Market, without you! We are truly THANKFUL for all of our magnificent volunteers!

Brooke Williams and Melanie Lockhart

SAC Co-chairs

Upcoming Events

2023 Principal's Cookout is this Friday

The LTMS PTO will host the 2023 Principal's Cookout this Friday, November 10, 2023.

The cookout is from 11:30am to 1:45pm, with Cow Bells food truck grilling up the burgers, cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, and hot dogs. There will also be plenty of French fries and all of the fixins needed to customize those burgers and dogs.

LTMS Armor Day

On Friday, November 17, 2023, students will participate in the first Armor Day at LTMS. Students will have the opportunity to give back to LTMS while helping to beautify their campus.

We could use your help with supplies. Please consider donating Magic Erasers (melamine foam pads) to be used on Armor Day. They can be dropped off at the front office by you or your student.

2023 Winter Wonderland Dance

The LTMS Student Council will be hosting the 2023 Winter Wonderland Dance at LTMS. This year's dance will be held on Friday, December 1 from 6-8pm in the school cafeteria.

The dance will feature music, a photo booth, a dance floor big enough for everyone, and a variety of food and drinks.

We do have a need for volunteers for this event, so if you are available to help with the setup, cleanup, or can chaperone, see the Winter Wonderland Signup Genius page or contact StuCo sponsor Mr. Assorgi at assorgifr@ltisdschools.org.

Tickets are $5 per student and can be purchased at the door on the night of the dance.

Mark your calendar - It is time for the KAZAAM! 6th Grade party

Watch for information in the new year about the upcoming KAZZAM! party for the 6th grade class.
Friday, January 26th, after school from 4:10-6:00pm

For more information on how you can help out or volunteer, please contact our Grade Level Reps at: 6thgrade@ltmspto.org

Current Volunteer Needs

Occasionally, our PTO receives requests from teachers or staff to arrange for volunteer help on campus. This is exactly what a Parent Teacher Organization is for - to work together to improve the educational experience for our students.

Current volunteer needs on campus:

7th Grade Resource Reading Partners - Sign Up Here

Day of Service 2024

We are still seeking volunteers for the 2024 Day of Service Planning Committee.

Lake Travis Middle School and our PTO support and facilitate an annual Day Of Service community outreach event where almost every student participates, either on or off campus, to serve others in the greater Lake Travis/Austin community.

Day of Service had a two year hiatus due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but returned in the spring of 2023 with great success. We have facilitated five Day of Service events supporting 25-40+ service sites working with a broad range of services, from senior citizen care to animal shelters.

This is a large event requiring many volunteers and we still need volunteers in the following positions:

Sponsorship Team
Plaques & Certificate Team
T-Shirt Art Design Team
On Campus Organizations
Communications and Volunteer Recruitment Team
Supplies Team
Return to School/Rally Team

Some volunteer work needs to begin now and other positions require work in the spring semester. Feel free to reach out to our Day of Service Coordinator, Janina Roberts, with any questions about how you can support Day of Service at dayofservice@ltmspto.org.

And we will need MANY parent volunteers on the day of the event. Please mark March 28, 2024 on your calendars!

Treasurer's Snapshot

We are in the home stretch with our effort to reach our World's Fastest Fundraiser goal. Your donations make it possible for us to do the following:

Fulfill supply requests for classrooms and workrooms
Sponsor grade-level events
Host seasonal school dances and celebrations
Serve as a supportive role for Teacher Appreciation and Student events at LTMS.

LTMS PTO operates on a very small budget. Our total expected income for the year totals $26,595, with the rest of the income coming from spirit store sales, business sponsorships, school supply sales, spirit night and our new program, Knights in Shining Armor. To see where your donations go, you can review the 2023-24 LTMS PTO Approved Budget.

Presently, our fundraising efforts stand at $8,145. Your donation can help us cross the finish line for this year's fundraising efforts. Visit our World's Fastest Fundraiser donation page to learn more.

More Fundraising Opportunities

Not sure how else to help the LTMS PTO raise funds? Here are just a few more examples of how you can help:

Community Partners

Do you own a local business and wish to partner with us to impact the programs and activities provided to our students and teachers? As a valued business sponsor you will be recognized through various benefits depending on the sponsorship level you choose.

This year we have a brand new and very exciting sponsorship packet for local businesses. If you are affiliated with a local business, this sponsorship opportunity will not only help the LTMS PTO, but it will also give your business increased exposure. If you are interested in learning more, email Jocelyn Fary-Holzwarth or Tina Broussard at fundraising@ltmspto.org

We hope your business will join us in supporting education in our community.

Double Your Donation

Did you know that you can increase the impact of your PTO donation with a matching gift? Employee matching gift programs are corporate giving programs in which the company matches donations made by employees to eligible non-profit organizations like LTMS. It is a simple and effective way to double your contribution at no additional cost to you. Details here.

Volunteer Grants Make a Difference

Volunteer grants are corporate giving programs in which companies provide monetary donations to non-profit organizations where employees volunteer regularly. If you volunteer at LTMS, it’s an easy way to provide the school with additional financial support at no cost to you! Details here.

Spirit Store

No matter the season, Spirit Store is OPEN! and stocked with shirts, stickers, and other LTMS swag. You will receive an email notification when your order is fulfilled and ready for pick up at the school. All in-stock items purchased through Curriculum Night are ready in the office now.

Note: Hoodie orders are in and are being delivered.

Purchases of LTMS gear support PTO fundraising efforts. Thank you for your generosity!

General Meeting and Principal's Coffee

Everyone is a member of the PTO at LTMS! We do not charge dues to participate and everyone is invited to attend General Membership Meetings, which give a glimpse into what is happening at the school and inform you of upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

As our kids mature, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for parents to be in the classroom. PTO gives you the chance to be on campus and support your student through special events.

And when General Meetings are paired with Principal's Coffees, you get the opportunity to ask our Principal questions and learn first-hand what's on the horizon. Plus, you get free coffee in the morning!

Our next General Meeting and Principal's coffee is scheduled for Thursday, February 22, 2024. We hope to see you there.

Helpful Info for Parents

Lake Travis ISD Mobile App

The Lake Travis ISD Mobile App for both iOS and Android devices is available for download. With the app, you can set your preferences so that you can receive notifications from more than one school, access SMART tag and txConnect parent portal pages, view lunch menus and account balances, and easily access district and campus event calendars.

Search your app store for Lake Travis ISD and look for the LT logo to ensure that you are downloading the correct app.

Community Partners

Thank you to our wonderful PTO sponsors. Please take time to patronize our Community Partners who have been generous in their support to our school!

If you are interested in becoming a Sponsor or know a business that would, please let us know: fundraising@ltmspto.org or visit our Community Partners page for more information.

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors