DouglasPTA

Building a community, one member at a time.

Walking through the doors last week, you could feel it; the vibe feels fresh, the excitement feels new, it’s electric and infectious. This school year is going to be epic, and we are HERE for it! Our PTA President, Bette Brownfield, was elected towards the end of the school year in June and was welcomed enthusiastically. She hit the ground running and has been non-stop ever since. The list of accomplishments from her and the PTA Board are ever mounting, which we will cover further down in the blog. This list is nothing short of amazing! Sitting down with her to get a feel for her vision this year, I asked her what goal she hopes to attain. In typical Bette fashion, her immediate response was “a lot” but when prodded to narrow it down, her vision is simple, she wants to build a stronger community by Douglas families joining our PTA. Her intent is 200 families, as of today we are 126. Can you help her achieve her vision?

What does a PTA Membership look like?

The answer is simple. Whatever you want it to! The PTA Mission is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. To sum it up; PTA is for every one! If this means you are able to Volunteer once a week, once a month or to simply sign up as part of your child’s educational experience by joining in name only. We welcome you and embrace any and all contributions. There is no time commitment necessary!

Why Join the PTA?

To connect and be informed of all school activities
Strengthened family-school partnerships
Show your child you are engaged and supportive in their education
Advocate for students and staff with positive changes
Support school activities and programs
Create a strong sense of community that strengthens your school
Have fun and meet new families!

Please consider joining today(Join Today)! Don’t forget to check out our Spirit Wear, a great way to display your dragon pride while supporting the PTA! Heads-up, pre-orders close September 6th for certain styles.

Your PTA has been busy, August Accomplishments:

100 yards of mulch delivered and spread by O’Brien’s Tree Service.
Campus Beautification and clean-up headed by our committee chairs for grounds and garden, Erin Taylor and Casey Young. Countless volunteers and families came to spruce up the butterfly and learning garden and overall campus! We are beyond grateful for every one of you.
A team of volunteers assisted our new Physical Education instructor Mr. Tommy Hagar in the gymnasium by cleaning and prepping the area for the new school year.
New drum caps were purchased and installed in the Musical Playground. The cost to the PTA was $796.
PTA commissioned artist Erika Edgerly to brighten our hallways with a large mural in the front of the school.
PTA Volunteers painted and refreshed pillars in the Media Center.
Nearly $6000 worth of library bound books was purchased for the Media Center using Scholastic money from the 2024 Book Fair.
Purchased new musical instruments (Boomwackers and 3 Remo drums, 1 Remo Percussion set) for student exploration and learning
Refreshed our Spirit Wear line to include more product offerings. Please keep a lookout for the Fall line dropping soon!
Popsicles on the Playground to welcome our newest Families.
Catered a Breakfast for the staff for back to school.

It’s a Wrap 2023-2024

As we’ve now wrapped up the 2023-24 school year, the Douglas PTA Board would like to thank you for the generous support of your time, energy, and funding during the past year. With your support, the PTA was able to provide for Douglas students and teachers in a variety of ways, including:

Supporting our teachers and staff throughout the year with catered meals on Douglas family nights, Teacher Appreciation Week, holidays, as well as a monthly snack cart
Upgrading the school’s communication system with 18 new digital Walkie Talkies to be better fitted for emergency situations, in addition to being utilized during carpool
Hosting the first School-wide dance post pandemic
Purchasing nine 100% non-toxic, child-accessible, and extremely durable modular beds for the new Douglas community garden
Ordering over $14,000 of Scholastic books for the media center through your support of the Book Fair
Purchasing 24 new scooters and Omnikin balls for the Physical Education Specialist
Funding $5,000 for four Cultural Arts performances including artist Michael Beadle, artist and workshop with Virginia Maier, performances of The Magic of African Rhythm and Didgeridoo Down Under
Planning Spirit Nights throughout the year at local restaurants and businesses
Supporting Fall Family Night and Arts & Science Night
Providing a hot dog dinner to all families that attended Arts & Science Night
Providing $4,000 in teacher reimbursements throughout the year for needed classroom supplies and materials
Covering the cost for another year where our students can participate in Odyssey of the Mind
Purchasing 24 durable steel outdoor portable combo desks for an outdoor learning classroom in our existing pavilion
Purchasing 2 new wheelchair accessible picnic tables with steel construction to protect against the elements
Ordering and installing a new portable bike rack that can hold up to 18 bikes
Purchasing 3 new 6 ft. park benches
Funding the annual Spring Musical “Imagine a Dragon”
Supporting Field Day with supplies, materials, and refreshments
Creating the Dragon Box, a needs based support system of gift cards utilized by school counselors and social workers for food, gas, clothing, etc.
Stocking the Teachers’ Lounges with coffees, teas, and creamers
Planning and funding the 5th Grade Reception, including pizza and t-shirts for all 5th grade students
Hosting three major fundraisers: DragonFire, RaiseCraze, and the Silent Auction
Ordering replacement drum caps for the outdoor musical playground
Purchasing new chalkboards for the Kindergarten playground
Planning and hosting the beloved Variety Show
And much more!

We are so thankful for everyone in our Douglas community and all that goes into supporting each and every student. We hope that you will join the PTA this year (no volunteering is necessary to be a member). If you’d like to volunteer with the PTA next year, complete this google form to get involved for the 2024-25 school year. Not sure which committee or events to pick? Check out our Committee Descriptions. With your continued support, the Douglas PTA stands ready to support teachers and staff as we are already planning for next year!

Nominations Open for PTA Board Positions

Looking for ways to get more involved in our school community? Have a special set or organizational skills that you’re willing to share? Wanting to help optimize/broaden community involvement? Thinking there should be additional/new community activities?

If so, please consider volunteering for a position on the PTA Board! We have three vacancies we need to fill due to term limits:

President
VP Programs
Communications

We would love for you to be a part of our PTA Board! If you’re interested in supporting our students and teachers, feel free to nominate yourself or somebody else who is willing and qualified to serve. Please email any questions or nominations to douglaspta@gmail.com by Sunday, May 19.

Dec. 10 Dragoneer Updates

Fall Festival

A big shoutout to our wonderful teachers, staff and volunteers that made this year’s Fall Festival a fun success! Thank you!

Dragon Fire Update

Drum roll please…. This year’s Dragon Fire no-fuss fundraiser raised over $10,200! Thank you to everyone who donated. All of your contributions go directly toward supporting our school. It’s never too late to give. You can contribute by giving cash, check (made payable to Douglas PTA, Paypal, or PTA Givebacks Site (formerly called Memberhub). Your continued support is truly appreciated!

Pie a Teacher

As part of our Dragon Fire campaign, students participated on this year’s spin of our annual Coin Wars. Students could place their coins in the buckets of teachers they wanted to see get a pie in the face! This year’s “winners” were Ms. Faison-Bullock, Mr. Steltenpohl, Ms. Bache-Wiig, and Mr. McDonald. Thank you for being great sports!

Art Competition Douglas Yearbook Cover Contest

Ms.. Edgerly will be hosting a yearbook cover contest for the 2023-2024 school year. Students are encouraged to create an original piece of art that represents this year’s theme: Diary of a Dragon. All grades are encouraged to participate. If your child is interested, please click on this link.

Carpool Casanova

Douglas was nominated and chosen to have Mix 101.5 Carpool Casanova visit our carpool this past Friday. Bryan Lord from MIX Mornings transformed into the “Carpool Casanova” and entertained our students, staff, and families in the carpool line with his silky vocal notes of perfection! Members of the PTA decorated the entrance and students, staff and parents showed support by dressing in every shade of pink. You can watch a recording of the event on the Mix 101.5 Facebook page.

2023-24 Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Ms. Saleh, Douglas’ Teacher of the Year, and to Mrs. Hagemann, Douglas’ Teacher Assistant of the

Spirit Night

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A last week. We raised a total of $72.09! Save the date for our next Spirit Night on Monday, Dec. 18 at Salt and Lime Cabo Grill in the North Ridge Shopping Center located on Falls of the Neuse Road. More details coming!

Winter Concert Performed by the Douglas Elementary Creative Arts & Science Magnet School Chorus

Finally, a huge round of applause to our very own Douglas Elementary Creative Arts & Science Magnet School Chorus, who performed their Winter Concert at the Cardinal Senior Center Thursday night, as well as two performances on Friday for our students and staff. The Douglas Elementary Chorus winter concert celebrated December holidays as they sung about special preparations for the seven principles of Kwanzaa, the miracle and lights of Hanukkah, the festive atmosphere of Las Posadas, and the traditional music of Christmas. The songs shared the universal messages of peace, hope, and goodwill in our school and community. You can find the complete program here. Many thanks to our Chorus Director, Ms. Zelasky, and Douglas parent, Kevin Johnson, for accompanying on piano!

Fall in Love with Douglas Fall Festival

We’re gearing up for our Fall Festival on Thursday, November 30 from 5:30-7 p.m. Douglas families can expect a coat swap, popcorn, cotton candy, photos, activities, games, a cake walk, and Kona Ice. We look forward to seeing you there!

We Need Help!

Can you help us make the fall festival a huge success? Here’s what we need:

• Cake Walk supplies: Donate a cake, pie, cupcakes, cookies, and other baked goods to our Cake Walk here.

• Volunteers are needed: Help at the Fall Festival popping popcorn, distributing cotton candy, and selling spirit wear. Sign up here.

• Coats and Winter Wear Donations: For our Coat Swap, drop off clean, gently-used coats and winter wear at school— or hand them to any of the staff in carpool. Find a new-to-you coat to take home! All are welcome – you don’t need to give a coat to take a coat!

If you can’t help this time, Douglas Elementary’s PTA offers many opportunities for families to get involved. We are grateful for any time that you are able to volunteer. Click here to pitch in!

Thanksgiving Pies for Teachers

Update: We reached our goal of 85 pies! Thank you for supporting our wonderful teachers and staff!

Any way you slice it, we’re thankful for our Douglas teachers and staff! Show your gratitude to them this Thanksgiving and gift a Douglas teacher or staff member a delicious pie.

Pies are $12 and sales support our neighbors at Sanderson High School’s Academy of Finance. The specific flavor of pie will be determined by the PTA. Pies will be delivered directly to the school. You do not need to do anything after finalizing your purchase! Easy peasy!

We have close to 85 employees and we’d love to show our thanks each and every amazing Douglas staff member with a pie. This is a quick campaign — don’t delay! Please purchase your pies by the end of the day, Monday, Nov. 6.

Thank you for supporting our awesome teachers and staff!