The Eastern Star Family Newsletter

As we head into spring break, I want to wish all of our Eastern Elementary families a restful and joyful week. We are so proud of the progress our students have made so far. Let’s return refreshed and ready to finish the year strong, shining bright all the way to the finish line!

#ShineBrightTogether

• April 6: School resumes after Spring Break
• April 14, 6:00-7:00: PTO Meeting
• April 15. 3:20-3:40: TBA SRCU Deposit Day
• April 16: Early Release; Dismissal at 1:57 p.m.
• April 24: Popcorn Friday
• April 30, 2:00-3:00: Lower Elementary Talent Show at CHS Auditorium
• TCAPS 25-26 Calendar

Thank you to everyone who signed up to be an Eastern volunteer through DOGS/MOMS. We are changing the way we coordinate volunteers through this program. Each Friday we will include sign ups for classrooms/school areas that need extra support.

We will also reach out to those who have signed up with DOGS/MOMS. If you would like to be on that list, please fill out the Watch DOGS/MOMS Volunteer Form.

Volunteer Areas:

Ms. Ross: 1st Grade Volunteers

Mrs. LaBarre: 2nd Grade Volunteers

Mrs. Stout: 4th Grade Volunteers

Mrs. Kearney: 5th Grade Volunteers

April Recess Volunteers

April Lunchroom Volunteers

While the string of March inclement weather days messed with some of our scheduled March is Reading Month activities, we hope our students and families were able to take advantage of the time to do some reading while at home. During school days, Eastern celebrated in many ways: buddy classrooms read together; Mr. Swegles, Representative Coffia and the TC Trojan Football team visited classrooms to read; some teachers hosted Flashlight Friday for their students; we did a morning “beach read” and the book fair and book swap brought the opportunity to find new reading material.

Congratulations to our Design-A-Bookmark winners:

Thank you to all who entered the contest. We’re always amazed at the creativity, hard work and artistic talent in the entries - it makes it very hard to choose just one from each grade!

• Preschool - Beau in Mrs. Roeder’s Class

• Junior Kindergarten - Ethan in Mrs. Odette’s Class

• Kindergarten - Audrey in Ms. Freeman’s Class

• 1st Grade - Corey in Dr. Chaprnka’s Class

• 2nd Grade - Paige in Ms. Stoudt’s Class

• 3rd Grade - Finlee in Mrs. Shembarger’s Class

• 4th Grade - Mack in Mrs. Nelson’s Class

• 5th Grade - Morgan in Mrs. Annelin’s Class

Pit Spitters Reading Bingo will be accepted through Tuesday, April 7th.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who helped the activities run smoothly including PTO, Student Council, the Traverse City Pit Spitters and our very dedicated library volunteers. And, thank you to all the families who supported the library through the book fair and donated books to the book swap.

We hope you and your students continue to spring into reading and read into spring!

The Cook's Assistant performs a variety of tasks in the preparation and cooking of food; helps with production records, inventory and conforms to schedules established by the Kitchen Leader. The Cook’s Assistant reports to the building Kitchen Leader or other kitchen workers as assigned by the Kitchen Leader.

Eastern is once again asking families to send us a post card of your spring break travels -- whether that's leaving town or staying in Traverse City. Send your post card to:

Eastern Elementary School

1600 Eastern Avenue

Traverse City, MI 49686

We will create a bulletin board with the post cards!

The Great Lakes Region 2026 Child Safety Conference is coming to the Central High School Auditorium in Traverse City on Thursday, May 7. This event provides a dedicated space for officers, parents, and faculty to learn about protecting children in schools, sports, and across the community.

The afternoon and evening will feature four sessions led by national and local experts:

• 4:00 PM – Campus Safety: MSU Deputy Chief of Police Chris Rozman will draw on 25 years of experience to discuss security risks and building a positive safety culture.

• 5:00 PM – Bullying and Abuse Prevention: Jenna Baker of the Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center and Prosecuting Attorney Noelle Moeggenberg will provide training on awareness and reporting child abuse.

• 6:00 PM – Online Exploitation: Founding partner of Marsh Law Firm, James Marsh, will share insights on protecting children from digital threats.

• 7:00 PM – Keynote Presentation: Renowned advocate and attorney Rachael Denhollander will deliver the keynote on supporting injured students through trauma-informed care.

Per our dismissal protocol for our JK-5 students, the only two building exit points are the cafeteria doors for our JK students and the front door for all others. We have noticed increase traffic out of the back door. All students must exit in the two aforementioned exit areas. This area is not supervised and not in line with our building protocol that helps to ensure to student safety.

We love birthdays and we all need to celebrate as many as possible. Here at Eastern, students get a card from the office with a sticker, a shout out on the announcements, and anything extra that the classroom teacher may do.

I would ask you to review our district/building expectations regarding celebrations and birthday parties. Below you find wording from our Student/Parent Elementary Handbook.

CELEBRATIONS/PARTIES
Classroom celebrations/parties can offer a fun learning experience and an opportunity to celebrate cultural traditions. For example: a school’s Halloween celebration typically includes a parade of costumes that highlight a student’s creativity and ingenuity. Celebrations/parties should not interfere with the instructional program. Each school may have a special way to recognize birthdays. A note on sensitivity: please refrain from sending invitations to birthday parties, balloons, gifts, or food during the school day for your child’s birthday.

Auction Donations Needed

No item is too big or too small! We are accepting all donations to be used during our Spring Fundraiser on April 25th!

Ideas:

- School spirit baskets

- Foodie baskets – non-perishables, please!

- Local gift certificates

- Local experiences

- Sports memorabilia

- Event tickets to a college or pro sports team

Email EasternElementarySchoolPTO@gmail.com

Last Call for Sponsors to Join Our Cast!

We are thrilled to announce the Eastern Elementary Spring Auction Fundraiser, and this year, we’re celebrating Hollywood Through the Ages: From Hollywood Legends to Modern Day Icons.

Save the Date

• When: April 25th, 2026

• Where: The Peninsula Room

• Adults Only

More details to come!

We are officially calling all sponsors to join our cast!

Would you like to see your company name in the spotlight? We invite you to be a sponsor! Your partnership will not only contribute to the success of this fundraiser, but it will also provide excellent visibility for your business within our school community. To make it even better, your sponsorship is tax deductible, as the Eastern Elementary PTO is a registered 501(c)3 charitable organization.

Your sponsorship will make a direct impact on Eastern Elementary with 100% of the net proceeds from the event going back to the school.

Email easternelementaryschoolpto@gmail.com to become a sponsor.

Red Carpet Sponsorship: $750

• Reserved Table at Event
• Eight (8) event tickets ($320 value)
• Company logo on the auction program, bidding cards, and displayed throughout the event
• Social media shoutouts

Leading Role Sponsorship: $500

• Six (6) event tickets ($240) value
• Company logo on the auction program, bidding cards, and displayed throughout the event
  
  

Rising Star Sponsorship: $250

• Two (2) event tickets ($80 value)
• Company logo on the auction program

Video Game Club

Eastern's Video Game Club is on the hunt for some new games!

We're looking for:

- 2x Nintendo Switch consoles

- Nintendo Switch games

Do you have a Switch collecting dust at home? Why not give it life where it'll bring joy to our community of gamers?

Proposals

We will be pausing proposal applications until after our Spring Auction on April 25th. A brief pause will allow us to host the event and calculate final proceeds to ensure a strong, sustainable fund to support Fall 2026 staff startup and student field trips. Thanks for understanding!

PTO Links:

BUDGET: 25/26 PTO approved budget.

PENDING / GRANTED PROPOSALS: Log of what has been submitted or accepted for the 25/26 school year

BREAKFAST

MONDAY

Donut

fruit and milk

TUESDAY

cereal

fruit and milk

WEDNESDAY

mini pancakes

fruit and milk

THURSDAY

Cereal

fruit and milk

FRIDAY

sweet breads

fruit and milk

LUNCH 4/6

1st choice: Louie's hotdogs with fries

2nd choice: boneless chicken wings with fries

3rd choice: sunbutter and jelly, cheese stick and crackers

TUESDAY

1st choice: Cheese quesadilla

2nd choice: Ham & cheese sub

3rd choice: Sunbutter & jelly with cheese stick and crackers

WEDNESDAY

1st choice: Pasta with marinara & meatballs with bread stick

2nd choice: sunbutter & jelly with yogurt & graham crackers

No 3rd choice

THURSDAY

1st choice:English muffin with egg, sausage and cheese

2nd choice: sausage wrapped with pancake on a stick

3rd choice: sunbutter & jelly with yogurt & crackers

FRIDAY

1st choice Cheese pizza

2nd choice: pepperoni pizza

3rd choice: sunbutter & jelly with cheese stick & crackers

Caesar Salad

Elementary Handbook

LEAP Website

School Menus

TCAPS Volunteer Form

TCAPS Volunteer Standards of Conduct

WATCH D.O.G.S. Sign Up

WATCH D.O.G.S. Calendar (see where D.O.G.S. have already signed up)