Announcements 10.16.15

• If you have paid your dues and would like a receipt, please see our treasurer, Penny Julian. 
• A jacket was left behind at St. Paul's after classes. It's a boys size 7-8 orange sweatshirt hoodie from Gymboree. It's hanging on the coat rack inside our usual entrance at the church.
• We could use some household items for crafts. If you can save and donate cardboard egg cartons, 20 oz. soda or water bottles, toilet paper and paper towel tubes, and twistable milk jug caps, please see Jen Fjare and/or Rachelle Johnson.
• Term 2 begins next Friday, October 23. The CB Fire Department will be putting on a demonstration for classes from PreK to 5th Grades, so our schedule will be changed slightly next week. Please make sure all kids bring a jacket as the demonstration will be outside.
• We're holding normal classes on Friday, October 30, with no observance of Halloween.
• If you are new or have not had a chance to familiarize yourself with our bell and dismissal system, we ask you to read up on them here. 

• We also started a new name tag and color coding system yesterday. The system may need some fine-tuning as we all get used to it, but if you were absent or didn't hear the announcements, here's the basic idea:
• Each group/grade level has a color. Those colors will stay consistent all year, and are reflected in the ink color used on the name tags. This will help us sort out which younger kids are in which group at a glance.
• Bins that match the group and name tag colors will be on tables in the Fellowship Hall. Those tables will also stay consistent through the year. You can find your name tag in the appropriate color bin when you arrive, and can return your tags to the same color bin before you leave. 
• Adults who are part of an age-specific team can leave their tags with that group's bins. For example, if you're a teacher/helper on the 1st-2nd Grade team, keep your name tag with that group's bins. If you're on the PE, Parties, or Field Trips teams, there is a separate bin for your name tags.
• Kids should sit by classes during opening and dismissal. Adults and also probably 6th-12th graders will need to stand as there aren't enough tables and chairs for everyone. This way parents can help keep the younger kids at their tables and help maintain calm. 
• If you were at classes yesterday and could NOT find your name tag or your child's name tag, please email us at mindfullearningcenter@gmail.com. Lisa is working on making sure that tags have been created for everyone, and this will help her find and fill any gaps. 
• Please, please, please try to remember to NOT take your name tags home. Teachers, help collect tags from your second period students, especially the younger kids. Parents, check your kids before you head out the door. Double check your friends. The fewer tags we have to pay to replace, the more funds we have available for other supplies and activities.
• Let's all try very hard to remember to keep this system going all year. It's easy to keep this up for a few weeks and then let it slide, but it's one of several steps we're taking to help manage our large numbers. We're also hearing from a lot of people that they want help learning all the new faces and names, both returning members learning our new members' names, and especially our new members who have the entire group to learn from scratch. "I find names way too easy to learn and remember," said no one EVER, so hopefully this will help all of us.

Thanks for your help and cooperation as we cook up new schemes to help keep things moving as smoothly as possible. Constructive feedback is always welcome. 

See you next week!