April was a great month at Cascade Ridge with some really great community events. First, the Festival of Cultures brought out a great crowd and many families sharing background and history related to their countries and cultures. Many thanks to Cathia Geller and Erin Rooney, our amazingly dedicated co-chairs, who coordinated this hugely successful evening. We hope all who attended found this to be time well-spent with the family and that everyone gained new understanding and appreciation for our diverse community.

We also held our first annual Spelling Bee, and under the fantastic leadership of Rajeev Goel and Bridget Salmick, it was a rousing success. Every night of this two-week contest went smoothly and we understand the kids and parents had a great time. The spelling talents of our kids from kindergarten through 5th grade were very evident, and this was a great opportunity for kids to stand in front of their peers and family and show poise and confidence.

It has certainly been a busy, fruitful, and challenging year at the school, and our students have continued to thrive throughout the year. Our children’s success is a direct benefit of our amazing staff, our wonderfully supportive parents, and our entire community that values the social and educational benefits of a flourishing school. Of course, with 100% participation (one adult registered for every child in the school) of our community in the PTSA, we know that our PTSA has played an important part in another great year through providing financial support to our school and in continuing to provide great program and community events. We are proud of the results of this year and we look forward to continuing to deliver excellence next year as well.

In order to move to the next steps for the next year, we need everyone to provide us with feedback to help set budgets and priorities for next year. Please take 10 minutes of your time to click on https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CascadeRidgeSurvey before May 7 to provide us with your thoughts and your preferences as to where the PTSA should focus time, energy, and funding. This feedback, along with survey results from our staff, is critical for a solid budgeting and planning process and we appreciate your engagement in the process.

Congratulations to our new and returning 2011-12 Executive Committee members who were voted in during our April General Membership meeting. Not only is it a big commitment to serve on this Committee, but it is crucial to our PTSA’s continued success - and it is also very rewarding. Many thanks to everyone who has made this commitment to the PTSA next year; next year will be another great one for our kids and community!

Finally before we hit the crazy days of June, I want to highlight some of the May events coming at Cascade Ridge and in our community:

Can it really be May already and is it true that we have less than two months of school left?! Please enjoy each day of it!

Tina Yerges, PTSA President
tinayerges@msn.com