Please join us for Grady Family Night, from 5 pm until 9 pm, on November 11, at Beef O'Brady's, located at 2819 S. MacDill Avenue (MacDill and Bay To Bay).  Please mention Grady Elementary to your server to ensure Grady Elementary receives 20% of your purchase.  Even though it is a school holiday, it’s still a great day to take a holiday from cooking and support Grady Elementary.

The 2015 Reflections Art Contest was a tremendous success.  37 students entered pieces of artwork into the contest.  The contest was judged by a retired art teacher who is not associated with Grady Elementary or its PTA.  The judge said it was very difficult to judge the contest because the artwork was fantastic and that Grady has many great young artists.  Each of the students who submitted artwork was rewarded with a Young Artist Ribbon and an ice cream party.  Pictures of the ice cream party and the contestants with their art submissions are here: Reflections Photos.  Congratulations to the winners of the Reflections Art Contest, who will move on to the district competition: First Place:  Simrah Fahimuddin; Second Place:  Elijah Carpena; and Third Place:  Connor Shea. 

The Tiger Leadership Council is spearheading the Pasta for Pennies Campaign, raising money to help cure Leukemia and Lymphoma.  The campaign started October 30 with letters and collection boxes sent home to each student and ends on Monday, November 9.  Students can donate pennies, nickels, dimes, etc. (and we even take checks).  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask Ms. Dickens at[email protected]. 

Also, The Tiger Leadership Council is collecting names from students that they want to honor on our Veteran's Day Wall of Honor, called: Our "Stars in Fighting for Freedom."  The names will be put on a star and placed on a banner in our hallway. 

The Grady Spelling Bee is coming up.  Last year Grady Elementary became the first elementary school in Hillsborough County to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  This year we are participating again.  A complete list of spelling words for the Spelling Bee is going home in backpacks this week.  Please start spelling now because the class-specific spelling bee takes place on November 20 via written test and the school-wide spelling bee, comprised of the winners from each class, takes place in the cafeteria on December 16 at 8:30 am.  Parents of the class winners are invited to attend the school-wide Spelling Bee.  Class winners will receive a Spelling Bee T-shirt and a $5 Yogurtology gift card.  First, Second and Third place school-wide winners will receive beautiful trophies.  The first place winner will proceed to the regional Scripps Spelling Bee. To see pictures of last year’s Spelling Bee, please click here:  2014 Spelling Bee Photos.

Grady Elementary is about to adopt a new website.  The website that you are used to seeing will be taken over by the PTA and will still be available with a complete calendar, teacher profiles, photo galleries, and news updates.  The Grady PTA website may be found atwww.gradytigers.org.  We will continue to update the Grady PTA website daily, so just go to the site anytime to see what is happening at school.

Please volunteer to present at the Great American Teach In on November 19, 2015.  You can present on any topic or career.  The kids truly appreciate hearing from adults in their community.  To present, please email Nancy Barra at[email protected].

On November 17, there will be a program on ADHD and Anxiety at Tampa Day School, presented by Dr. Wendy Rice and Dr. Norrine Russel of the ADHD Parent Support Network.  The program addresses the questions of "what does the combination of ADHD and anxiety look like?" and "how do we help those children in school?"  For more information, please click here:Program on ADHD and Anxiety.  

Finally, there are 8 days left to shop the Grady Stella & Dot Trunk Show!!  Please click here to see the show: http://www.stelladot.com/ts/h08b6.  All the proceeds go to Grady Elementary!

The Storybook Parade is this Friday, October 30 starting at approximately 8:30 am in front of the school.  Please do not park in the car loop or at the US Post Office located at 1002 S. Church Avenue when attending the parade.  Enjoy a free cup of Kahwa coffee from Grady PTA while you wait for the parade to begin.  

Thank you to everyone who volunteered at the Fall Festival.  The event was fantastic and it truly took a team of parents and teachers to pull it off.  Thank you to the many parents who volunteered time working the booths as well as those who purchased wristbands, food, and tickets to slime Mr. Tsourakis.  Your efforts raised $6,547.00 in revenue before expenses for Grady.  Thank  you to everyone who baked for the bake sale.  Your work raised $357.00 to pay for the Fifth Grade End-of-Year Banquet.

To see pictures of the Fall Festival, click here: Fall Festival Photos.  To see a YouTube video of Mr. Tsourakis being slimed, please click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IuNBzI1jhk. If you have pictures for the website or yearbook please send them via reply to this email or to [email protected].  We will gratefully post and/or publish your pictures. 

Tomorrow is the deadline to submit posters for the Red Ribbon Week poster contest.  For more information about the posters, click here:  Red Ribbon Week Activities.

Please sign up for Great American Teach In which will take place all day November 19, 2015.  For more information about Great American Teach In, please click here: Great American Teach In

We will need volunteers to help serve ice cream and other frozen treats at the Reflections Artists’ Party on Wednesday, November 4, from 1:30 pm to 2 pm in the Art Room.  Please email [email protected] to volunteer.