Principal Newsletter // September 9th, 2024

Sep 9

Dear Appleton Community…

The Cost of a Great School

One thing I am proud of is Appleton’s reputation as a “Great School.” Often, when a new family to our area is touring our school, I will tell them that if they told a grocery store cashier or a bank employee that their children were going to attend Appleton, the worker would impressively state…”Appleton! Oh, that’s a Great School.”

So what does it take to make a Great School? Surely resources like money come to mind with this question. But even with massive amounts of money, many schools would likely fall short of the description, Great School. It must cost something because everything costs something. So, what is the cost to be a Great School?

It is my belief that the Great School title is likely harder to possess than by mere monetary resources. A Great School is cherished by the community. Perhaps a timely example for Appleton was the Carnival. The carnival was not just a fun-filled evening for our students and their families but also a testament to the spirit and dedication that defines our school. From the countless hours spent planning, setting up, and running the various booths and activities, to the smiles and positive energy you all brought to the event, your contributions were truly remarkable.

It is moments like these that endear our school to the community and strengthen our reputation as a place where excellence and commitment go hand in hand. The enthusiasm and support from our staff and PTA do not go unnoticed and are deeply appreciated by everyone who steps through our doors. Your willingness to sacrifice your time and energy for the benefit of our students and their families is a powerful reminder of the difference we can make when we work together.

In a nutshell, what does it cost to have a Great School…sacrifice. And I’m so happy we have the reputation for being a Great School.

~ Principal Corey Hafey

Carnival Success!

The Annual Appleton Carnival was a great success! I saw so many smiling faces! It was a fun event that builds community connections, a sense of belonging, and aids the Appleton P.T.A.’s efforts to support so many of the programs that benefit your children.

Thank you for all of your cake donations.

Thank you to all of the staff members and volunteers who covered booths, the food area and the big cleanup afterwards.

Thank you for getting donations for the silent auction. Thank you to all of the silent auction donations.

Of course we couldn’t have this much fun without the hard work and dedication of the P.T.A. members, teachers, and parents who volunteered their time to make this event so successful.

Hillbilly Grill Supports Appleton to Rave Reviews!

Hillbilly Grill once again did a marvelous job for the Carnival dinner! Stephanie and Tim Gwinn are Appleton parents who happen to also own the Hillbilly Grill catering and food truck. Besides the great food and atmosphere, they make a donation of a percentage of the profits back to the school. Delicious!

Contact Stephanie if you have catering needs: 303-909-5095 or chefsteff@hillbillycatering.com

Thank You Volunteers and Game Donations

Fellowship Church - Two of our most popular games (Plinko and Fill It Up) were donated once again. Thank you Pastors Will and Shaun for the donations and loading them up.
Bump n Jump - Both bump n jumps were donated by owner Mike. Contact him at 970-208-3967 for your next party. His donations over several years have saved us so much money and have made the event so much fun!
River of Life Church - Multiple volunteers showed up who don’t even have kids that attend Appleton.
Fruita High School, Palisade High School, Grand Junction High School & Redlands Middle School student volunteers. These young people supported several games and stations and helped us throughout the evening.

Special Thanks To:

Vanessa Bradley – P.T.A. Vice-President & Carnival Coordinator. Vanessa spent dozens of hours organizing, making phone calls, and providing labor so we could have a great event. Truly deserves everyone’s thankful admiration.

Vanessa Bradley, Lacey Milligan, Amanda Builteman, & Sarah Weber - Silent Auction Organizers & Donation Team - So many others of you searched all over the community to get donations. There are so many of you, I’d hate to miss someone but know that your specific efforts have supported your children with several thousand dollars in donations.

Clayton Newitt, Patrick Higgs, & Elias Diaz - Cleanup/Custodial Team. Cleaning up for over 1,500 people in a short time frame is a huge job.

Joe Kuta – P.T.A. President (hours of support, planning, and leadership)

Brooke Bray - P.T.A. Treasurer (in charge of prize acquisition and hours of volunteering)

Blubee Media & Jared Johnson - Carnival commercial, food and beverage organization.

The Appleton Staff - Lots of extra hours organizing and volunteering for this event. For many, Friday was a 14 hour day; some came in on the weekend, as well.

An event this big takes lots and lots of work and partnerships. Everyone who participated in this event deserves a big Appleton THANK YOU!

More Carnival Winners!

We will be contacting all winners of Pie in the Face bids, Front Row Seats at Programs, Ice Cream with the Principal, and other bids very soon.

We do have the winners for the Estimation Jars contests and the totals:

Amount in Each Jar: Winning Guesses:

Jolly Ranchers – 183 Carter Pollert – 182

M & Ms - 1,244 Daniel Bajorek - 1,248

Life Savers/Jolly Ranchers – 333 Jane Hampson’s 2 year old brother, Luke - 333

Attendance Comparison Raises Concern - Did you see this?!

Appleton students missed a whopping 319 days for the month of August! This is compared to last year’s already too high 200 missed days for August 2023. It’s really tough for kids to stay up on their reading, writing, and arithmetic when they are out of school so frequently.

City Market Fundraiser - Please Register Your Value Card

Simply by registering your City Market Value Card, our school can earn a percentage of all purchases you make. We have earned thousands of dollars for our PTA through this low effort moneymaker.

go to: https://www.citymarket.com/topic/city-market-community-rewards and click on “Enroll Now”
Create an account
Find “Appleton Elementary PTA” and click on “Enroll”
OR
1. Open City Market App on your phone
2. Select the three lines in the upper right hand corner (hamburger)
3. Select "rewards" from the dropdown menu
4. Select "community rewards"
5. search for organization: type: Appleton
6. select "Appleton Elementary Parent Teacher Association
7. Hit the 'enroll" button
Simply by registering your City Market Value Card, our school can earn a percentage of all purchases you make. We have earned thousands of dollars for our PTA through this low effort moneymaker.

Go Bookworms!