Family Fitness/CATCH (Coordinated Approach To Children's Health) Night is Wednesday, October 16th!

Bring your family to the Mills gym to participate in fun fitness activities from 5:00 to 6:30pm. There will be speed and agility exercises, Spikeball, obstacle course relays, pedestrian/bike safety information, health and wellness displays, Fitness gram practice, and more.

Family Book fair night will be in the library during the same time.

See you there!!!!

Mills PE Department

The “Arctic” Fall Book Fair is almost here!

School Book Fair hours:

Our Fall book fair is coming to the library. We will be previewing a few of the many books available at the fair in the coming weeks and sending home a book fair flyer. As always, books may also be purchased online through Scholastic Book Fairs by accessing this link: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/mills. Online sales will be available Oct. 10th thru Oct. 23rd, and will be shipped directly to you.

Something new this year is eWallet, a safe, convenient payment option for your little shoppers, and we are urging parents to take advantage of it. Instead of sending cash, you may use a credit card to fund your child’s eWallet account with the convenience of setting a limit. At the conclusion of book fair, any unspent funds are then credited back to you. No currency to worry about!!! If this sounds like something in which you would be interested, follow the website link above. The feature will be available for activating/funding beginning Sept 27th.

We LOVE book fair volunteers, so if you are interested in helping with setting up or taking down the fair or helping cashier and stock during the fair, please sign up on the volunteer link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F084DA5A72AA64-fall. Please note: all AISD school volunteers are now required to complete the Austin Partners In Education (APIE) background check on a yearly basis prior to volunteering at any school event, field trip, or in the classroom. If you haven't completed your APIE application this year, please take a moment to do so now (https://www.austinpartners.org). It will only take about 5 or so minutes of your time to complete the online application, but it takes a few days to process, so please take that into account before planning to volunteer.

Don’t miss out on your chance to order a copy of the 2020 Mills Elementary Yearbook. It’s the best way to remember this year's events, classmates and friends.

Purchase a yearbook on or before October 25th, and your name will be entered to win some Yearbook Swag! Three winners will be chosen.

Yearbooks are on sale for $25 until May 5th.

Go to www.balfour.com and enter Mills Elementary Austin. Purchase a yearbook online using a credit or debit card.

Hello Mills Families,

Mills PTA hopes you and your student(s) are excited about the Reflections art contest. Have you been wondering what Reflections is about? Please read the Frequently Asked Questions and testimonial below…

Q: Is Reflections an after school program?
A: No. Reflections is a participation program (as well as competition) offered by PTA. Entries should be inspired by this year’s theme Look Within. All students that submit their entries in one of the 6 categories (dance choreography, literature, film production, photography, visual arts, and music composition) will have their entry recognized at a Celebration Gallery at Mills on Thursday, November 14th at 5:30 PM. The entries deemed the top 20% will move on to the Austin city PTA level.

Q: When are entries due?
A: Entries are due by the end of day on Friday, October 25, 2019. There is a Look Within box in the front office where entries can be submitted. Be sure to include your entry form with your entry!

Q: How do I enter?
A: Submit your entry(s) in the Look WIthin box in the front office. Entries must be accompanied by an entry form. You can find the forms in the office or on the Mills PTA website. Dance, Film, and Music entries must be submit on a USB drive. Literature entries can be handwritten or typed. Photography entries cannot be any larger than 11x14 including matting and should not be framed. Visual Arts entries cannot exceed 24x30 including matting and should not be framed.

Q: Can you show me an example of past entries?
A: Yes. The Texas PTA website has a gallery of past winners for last year’s theme of “Heroes Around Me”.

Q: Are there rules for each category?
A: Yes! Please go to the Reflections page on the Mills PTA website to read the rules for each category.

Q: Do you know of anyone that has participated in this program?
A: Yes! Our very own 5th grade teacher Mrs. Jackson has experience with the program. Her daughter participated in high school. Her description of her daughter’s experience is:

“My daughter entered the Reflections contest in high school last year in the Music Composition category. She won at the school level and her name was announced on the intercom and put in the weekly letter from the principal. She won again at the city PTA level and her name was announced again. She then received an honorable mention at the state PTA level and was awarded a lovely certificate and was again listed in the newsletter and called out over the intercom for the whole school to hear. This contest boosted her self confidence and gave her a way to shine.”

Q: How are the top 20% entries chosen?
A: Entries are analyzed on artistic merit, creativity, mastery of the medium, and interpretation of the theme by a non-Mills affiliated judge or judges qualified in that specific category. Note that a well-developed concept carries more weight than the technique. Emphasis is on how well the student uses his or her artistic vision to portray the theme.

If you have any further questions, please contact Kathy Adelson at kathy.adelson@axiaoi.com.

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