Hickory PTA Roundup
October 2025

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From the PTA President
Dear Hickory families, staff and community,
Happy Fall! It’s now time for the reemergence of pumpkin spice drinks, Spirit Halloween stores, and parking lot pumpkin patches. October is also a fun-filled month for school and PTA happenings! See the full newsletter below for a complete list, but in particular I would like to highlight:
The Reflections Art Contest entries are due soon - theme “I Belong!" There will be a Reflections workshop after school from 2:30-3:30 on Wednesday October 8th
Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk, supporting Hickory Elementary and the Torrance Education Foundation
Madrona PTSA’s Trunk or Treat and Halloween Festival - All Hickory students and families are invited
Thank you to everyone who supported us in September: those who signed up to join us during the membership drive, the committee who put on movie night last month, and the volunteers who signed up for our ongoing programs, including Adventures in Art, Copy Center and Library! We appreciate your efforts to support the students and teachers.
Warmly,
Stacey Wong
Upcoming Events!
Participant Waiver and Library Permission Form
September Membership Drive Update
September’s membership drive was promising as the PTA now has 277 members. Thank you to all who participated, we greatly appreciate your support! We are still 146 members shy of our 425 member goal, so we would like to encourage more families, teachers, and community members to join us.
Spiritwear Update
The Spiritwear store has closed with around 1000 orders! Due to the large number of orders, the spiritwear orders are expected to be delivered the week of 10/6 to the students’ classrooms. Thank you for your patience!
PTA-sponsored School Dance
Join us for our Halloween Boo-gie Bash Dance!
🎃 Friday, October 10th | 5–7 PM
Free admission — all Hickory students and their families welcome! The dance will take place outside in the school yard. Costumes are welcome, but be school appropriate (no masks or weapons please). We hope to see you there! Food trucks and snacks by the 5th grade committee will be available for food purchases.
Enter the Reflections Art Contest!
The deadline for students to submit their entries to Reflections, the PTA’s annual art contest is October 12th! We would love to have your student submit their work of art. Contact reflections@hickorypta.net for help with the submission process or any questions or see hickorypta.net/reflections.
Reflections Afterschool Workshop
September Association Meeting and Family Night Update
Our first Association meeting and family night took place on September 25th. If you were not able to attend and would like to see the meeting slides, you can read them here.
At family night, students learned about the Reflections Art Contest and decorated individual puzzle pieces and united them together.
Mark your calendars for our next Association meeting and family night on December 11th!
Red Ribbon Spirit Week
We will be celebrating this special spirit week from October 27-31 at school. Red Ribbon Week is a national anti-drug campaign that emphasizes making good choices. Students can participate each day by wearing the suggested items daily. Educational programming will be provided to students.
Fundraising Update
Thank you to everyone who supported our Bruster’s Restaurant fundraiser! We raised over $500 thanks to you and the lines were going until late in the evening. Look out for additional restaurant fundraisers in the new year.
We have also raised over $700 with our Fund Photos fundraiser. Please consider signing up to do a family photo shoot if you haven’t already (see information below).
Look out for the kickoff of our Direct Donation campaign next month! This is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year, so your participation is appreciated. This is an easy fundraiser as there is nothing to sign up for, volunteer for, attend or sell - you can simply donate.
Fund Photos
Book your family portrait session through the month of November! It’s a great opportunity for holiday cards. 2 digital photos are included in the $50 booking fee and all proceeds go directly to the Hickory PTA..
Library Update
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the opening of our library has been delayed and we will announce when we have a new opening date. We are taking this opportunity to refresh our library inventory to offer our Hounds books that inspire a love of reading and an appreciation of libraries.
If you are interested in donating new books, please visit our Amazon Wish List: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/FX4WSRH8C2FD?ref_=wl_share
If you are interested in donating gently used books, please email library@hickorypta.net.
Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped with the sorting and reorganization so far! When the library is ready to welcome students in the future, we will put out another call for volunteers to help us prepare books for circulation and organize the shelves.
Come Volunteer With Us
We truly appreciate any time and effort you can share with us! Our school events, programs, and activities wouldn’t be possible without the support of our wonderful volunteers.
Volunteer opportunities include:
PTA Programs: Library, Adventures in Art, Copy Center
Event Volunteers: Join our volunteer pool to receive information to help out at events such as spring carnival, school dance, jog-a–thon, and book fair.
Planning Committees: Join a committee to help plan our events or help with library operations.
Board Leadership Positions: if you are interested in joining the current board, please fill out this form.
Library Chair: oversees the operations of the school library. Volunteer and ordering duties will be taken care of by other board members, and the library committee will assist the chair with operations as well.
Hospitality Chair: helps to plan quarterly family night events with the help of a committee.
DEI Chair: Assess Hickory’s accessibility and inclusion needs, help to plan multicultural week, reviews event and program plans to promote inclusiveness.
TUSD volunteer applications through the Raptor system are required for Adventures in Art docents, Copy Center volunteers, Library volunteers and room representatives. Thank you to those of you who have emailed Raptor approvals.
Madrona PTSA Trunk or Treat and Halloween Festival
Get in the spirit of Halloween! Madrona Middle School’s PTSA is hosting their second annual Trunk or Treat and Halloween festival on Friday October 24th from 5:00-7:30 in their school yard (please enter from Opal Street). All Hickory students and families are invited! There is a suggested donation of $10 for participating students and children; accompanying adults are free of charge. The festival will feature a trick or treating trunk section, carnival games, live contests, entertainment by Madrona’s music programs, food trucks and a costume parade. The Hickory PTA will be hosting trunks, so please come out and support us!
Hickory Elementary School Events in October
Skechers Walk on October 19th - sign up your student and family to be walkers to support the school fundraiser here.
Islands Restaurant fundraiser October 22nd - Enjoy a meal out with the family and support the school!
Halloween parade on the morning of October 31st. Classes may have Halloween celebrations (please check with your student’s teacher or room representative)
Skechers Walk - Oct 19
Islands Restaurant Fundraiser - Oct 22
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