Cottonwood Creek PTO

Happy Thanksgiving Cottonwood Cougars!!  While this Thanksgiving might look different for most of us, we hope that you have a wonderful and relaxing week off!

And, on behalf of the Cottonwood PTO executive board, thank you to our incredible teachers for an amazing first week of remote learning.  We are so thankful for you!!

In This Issue of The Cottonwood PTO News:

• HELPING HANDS MITTEN COMMUNITY GIVE BACK – GIVE NOW THROUGH 12/10
• LINK TO PTO GENERAL MEETING RECORDING
• RESTAURANT NIGHT at QDOBA – TUES, 12/1
• RESTAURANT NIGHT at CUBA CUBA – THURS, 12/10
• LOST AND FOUND – LAST DAY TO CLAIM MONDAY, 11/23
• CULTURAL CONNECTIONS – SHARE YOUR HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS!
• SPIRIT WEAR FRIDAYS – SHOW YOUR COUGAR SPIRIT!!
• UPCOMING PIN MEETING – TUES, 12/1
• ORDER MINTED HOLIDAY CARDS THIS SEASON AND SUPPORT COTTONWOOD!
• SHOP WITH AMAZONSMILE & KING SOOPERS AND SUPPORT COTTONWOOD!
• AUCTION HELPERS NEEDED!
• YEARBOOK NEEDS YOUR PHOTOS!!
• MEAL PICK UPS DURING REMOTE LEARNING (FOOD & NUTRTION SERVICES)
• DIGITAL LIBRARY CHECK OUT!
• ONLINE COMMUNITY RESOURCES & LINKS
• THANK YOUS!
• IMPORTANT DATES

If you or someone you know is struggling this time of year, please contact Kori Shaiman (kshaiman@cherrycreekschools.org) to get further details on the program. All families will remain anonymous.

COTTONWOOD HELPING HANDS MITTEN COMMUNITY GIVE BACK – NOW THROUGH 12/10

One of our dearest and longest running traditions, the Cottonwood Helping Hands Mitten Drive, is starting today! We aren’t going to let a pandemic stop us from helping one another!

This year, we have 28 kiddos (ages 2-15 years old) in our own community and around 20+ families in our partner school who need a little extra help this holiday season. The need is even greater, due to COVID-19 impacts, so we sincerely hope you can join our efforts! Instead of personally shopping for gifts, you can donate $$ to help with gift cards for each family. Encourage your kids, friends, and neighbors to choose a donor level, from Snowflake($5) to Snow Day($100), and help these families have a great holiday! CLICK HERE TO DONATE. This community service project will run starting today, 11/22 – 12/10.

Our hope is to generate enough money so that each child gets around $50 for gifts.

To add a personal touch, we invite our donors to create a winter or holiday drawing (let the donor levels inspire you!) to share with the families. Please involve your kids, take a photo of their creations (jpeg) and send it to jenniepreece@gmail.com or text it to 617-308-7015. No signatures! Just artwork, which will remain anonymous and enjoyed along with the gift cards!

Thank you so much for your support this holiday season!!!

UPCOMING PIN PRESENTATION – TUES, 12/1

If you are like most people, you have experienced a year full of twists + turns like never before!  If all of this pivoting has made you dizzy or down, we hope you can join us for the PIN speaker on December 1st from 9:15-11:00 am.  Best-selling author and speaker, Rachel Kodanaz will help us Turn Our 2020 Losses Into 2021 Gains!  All events are free to the community…listen live or later at: pinccsd.org

Show your Cougar Spirit EVERY FRIDAY during remote learning by sporting your favorite Cottonwood Spirit Wear! Show and share the Cougar Spirit with your teachers and classmates.  Thanks for supporting Cottonwood!

Thank you to everyone who joined the PTO meeting on Friday!  In case you missed it…please click HERE to watch a recording of the PTO General Meeting (held on November 20). password: 9L28Q0$E

The online auction is going to be an awesome, fun, unique social (virtual) event!!  But help is needed!  We are on the lookout for a few people who would like to join our amazing auction team!  Please email Lauren (lauren.k.kauffman@gmail.com) if you are interested in helping. Lots of different options and roles are available!

Join us at Qdoba for Restaurant Night!  Dine In or Carry Out, but don’t forget to mention Cottonwood Creek when placing your order.  Restaurant nights are a great way to continue supporting Cottonwood and our community during remote learning – thank you for your support!

WHEN:  Wednesday, December 1st, 5pm – 8pm

WHERE:  QDOBA – 10909 E Arapahoe Pl Suite 100. Centennial, CO 80112

HOW:  Dine In or Carry Out.  Be sure to mention Cottonwood Creek when ordering.

RESTAURANT NIGHT at CUBA CUBA – THURS, DECEMBER 10TH

Join us for our first ever Restaurant Day at Cuba Cuba DTC on Thursday December 10th!  Come anytime between 11:00 am – 9:00 pm for dine-in or carry-out, just don’t forget to mention Cottonwood Creek when ordering!

WHEN:  Thursday, December 10th, 11am – 9pm

WHERE:  Cuba Cuba DTC 5322 DTC Blvd, Greenwood Village, CO, US 80111

HOW:  Dine In or Carry Out.  Be sure to mention Cottonwood Creek when ordering.

We have taken pictures of all of the items that were left in the lost and found when we left school last week.

CLICK HERE  to see pictures of all lost and found items.

To claim an item, please email or text the item number to Kim Olson at thornockolson@yahoo.com or 303.720.4076.  All items are being held in Kim’s garage, so please text/email her to arrange a pick up time.  All unclaimed items will be donated on Monday, November 23rd.

Food and Nutrition Services will continue to do free meal distribution for 18 and under during this remote learning time period.

CULTURAL CONNECTIONS brings you PANDEMIC HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS!

This week we are focusing on DIWALI, an Indian festival that was celebrated on November 14. Link to our diwali photo album is HERE.

Happy Diwali, everyone! May this beautiful Festival of Lights bring peace, prosperity, health and happiness in everyone’s life!  Diwali is the biggest and most celebrated Hindu festival…. As with many other Hindu festivals, it celebrates the victory of good over evil, of light over darkness and truth over lies. It is celebrated over 5 days, typically by cleaning out our houses, businesses and surroundings, followed by lighting of earthen lamps “Diyas”, candles and other lights, decorating with flowers and colored powder called Rangoli, wearing new clothes and buying new utensils, making and distributing sweets, and wishing friends and family a joyful and prosperous holiday! The highlight of the festival is the main day- Diwali- when we worship Goddess Lakshmi, the giver of prosperity and wealth. Celebrations also typically include burning fireworks and sparklers….We wish people all over the world much light, happiness, prosperity and love!

Next week is THANKSGIVING! Please send pictures of your pandemic celebrations to culturalconnectionscot@gmail.com for thanksgiving or any holiday you would love for us to be a part of!

Go shopping on www.minted.com this holiday season for your holiday cards and gifts, save 20%, and support Cottonwood Creek all at the same time!! Beautiful holiday cards and gifts await, and the program is so easy!  Here’s how it works:

WHAT:  A shopping give-back fundraiser with minted.com!  Order your holiday cards through Minted this season and receive 20% OFF all holiday cards and gift orders through December 31, 2020.  Every order placed supports the school!

HOW:  Visit www.minted.com to browse and order holiday cards and gifts. Use our online school code at check out: FUNDRAISECOTTONWOOD, and save 20% on your order!

WHEN:  Starting today and running through December 31, 2020

QUESTIONS:  Contact presidents@cottonwoodpto.com

As always, thank you for supporting Cottonwood Creek, and happy shopping!

Want to help raise $25,000 for our school, without donating any money? Ask your family, friends, grandparents and neighbors to follow the steps below and SIGN-UP to support Cottonwood Creek Elementary PTO at King Soopers and AmazonSmile!

Here’s how: Add Cottonwood Creek Elementary PTO to your King Soopers and AmazonSmile accounts (absolutely FREE!), and a portion of every dollar you spend supports our school! Signup once, and you’re done.  It’s that easy!!

Follow these simple steps to link your account:

KING SOOPERS: 

1. Sign In at  www.kingsoopers.com  \ My Account \ Account Summary \ Community Rewards
2. Name: Cottonwood Creek PTO
3. Organization Number: VD201

AMAZONSMILE: 

1. Open Amazon App (from your smart phone) and select settings from bottom right hand corner
2. Under Settings, Select AmazonSmile
3. Choose “Add Charity” or “Change Charity”
4. Click “Search all charitable organizations” and enter “Cottonwood Creek Elementary PTO” as your charity name
5. Select Cottonwood Creek Elementary PTO – Englewood, CO
6. Select Turn ON AmazonSmile
7. Start Shopping!

Share photos of your Cottonwood Cougars for the yearbook!  Please use the link below to SHARE and UPLOAD your photos of 1st Day of School, Spirit Wear Fridays, or Spirit Week by 11/28. Remote Learning folders will be added over Thanksgiving break. Let’s embrace this different year and share those screenshots, pod learning activities, share pics of parents with their “co-workers,” and any other remote learning fun! Thank you to the parents and teachers who have already provided photos for the yearbook!

**We will be giving away a free yearbook to one lucky person that uploads photos by 11/28!  Upload your photos here:
https://tr5.treering.com/school/139988/photos/shared-photo-folders

THE 2020-21 YEARBOOK IS IN THE WORKS!

The 2020-21 yearbook is well under way and available to pre-order. Be sure to capture the memories, and share your photos. Check it off your To-Do List, and order your yearbook today!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK!

Now you can check out books digitally!  EBooks, audiobooks and streaming videos are available from the CCSD Overdrive Digital Library for download to PCs, Macs, Kindles, iPads, smartphones, MP3 players and hundreds of other devices!

Here’s how:

* Log in to the Overdrive catalog at: my.cherrycreekschools.org

* Select the myLibrary tab at the bottom

* Select the image for Overdrive

* Log in with your school computer username (active directory) and password (active directory). Remember, you set your own active directory password. Library staff have no way of knowing what it is.

Click here for on instructional video!

Use these helpful links to stay informed on the latest developments in the Cherry Creek School District.

CCSD Planning Forward Website

CCSD COVID Tracker and Public Health Metrics

CCSD Planning Forward – Frequently Asked Questions

Citizens for Cherry Creek Schools

Kids for Our Community

Mark your calendar for these important dates:

10/25 – 12/31:  Shopping Give-Back Fundraiser with minted.com – save 20% on holiday cards and gifts

11/23 – 11/27:  NO SCHOOL – Happy Thanksgiving!

11 /22 – 12/10:  Cottonwood Helping Hands Mitten Community Give Back 

12/1:  Restaurant Night – QDOBA, 5pm – 8pm (dine in, delivery or carry out)

12/1:  PIN Presentation at 9:15am – Rachel Kodanaz: Living with Loss, One Day at a Time

12/10:  Restaurant Night – Cuba Cuba DTC (dine in or carry out – all day!)

**Get Ready!  The Read4Funds Read-a-Thon is coming in January!!**