Calendar
Monday, Oct. 15 - Staff Appreciation Coffee Cart
Tuesday, Oct. 16 - Vision / Hearing Screening
Friday, Oct.19 - Leap Day / No School
Sat & Sun, Oct. 20 & 21 - WSPTA Legislative Assembly Register here
Monday, Oct. 22 - Picture retakes
Friday, Oct. 26 - Grizzly Times Parade 2:15 - 2:40 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct.30 - Reflections Program Deadline
School
October SchoolPool Is Going Strong!
RMS Parents, did your student walk, bike, bus and carpool to school any day this month so far? Remind your students to keep marking their  SchoolPool  trips on their calendar. They turn it in the at the end of the month, get cool stuff and earn real cash for ASB. Each returned calendar earns RMS ASB $5! Join in on saving the environment and helping RMS students at the same time! Questions? Contact  schoolpool@rmsptsa.org .
Wear orange on October 24 to show we’re together against bullying 
Unity Day is Wednesday, October 24
Make it ORANGE and make it end! What are your true colors when it comes to bullying? If you care about safe and supportive schools and communities make your color  ORANGE  on Unity Day. That’s the day everyone can come together – in schools, communities, and online – and send one large ORANGE message of support, hope and unity. Show that we are together against bullying and united for kindness, acceptance and inclusion.  Read more about Unity Day . 
Reminder : CALLING ALL RMS ARTISTS – REFLECTIONS PROGRAM is HERE!! Show us your Artistic Genius!
The Reflections Program is a National PTA and Washington State PTA cultural arts competition. The theme for our 2018-2019 National Reflections Competition is “Heroes Around Me”. We want to see
how well you can creatively interpret this theme. You may submit your original entry in up to six art areas.
Deadline: October 30th , 2018
Artistic Divisions:
  • Literature
  • Music Composition
  • Photography
  • Visual Arts
  • Film/Video
  • Choreography/Dance
Did you know that 10% of the Washington State winners come from OUR district??!!! We have talent!
For more information - Contact Kim Dearman - Reflections@RMSPTSA.org
PTSA
October 9 Meeting Recap from Your Co Presidents
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our General Membership meeting on Tuesday. If you were not able to attend we streamed it on Facebook, so you can watch the video online. Log in to Facebook and search for "Redmond Middle School PTSA 2.8.80." While you’re there why not “like” & “follow” the page?
At the meeting the standing rules, budget, and goals for the year were approved. We also reported the results of our Annual Financial review and took a quick poll of which of the issues at next weekend’s legislative assembly are of the most interest to families. Read more about it. Draft minutes will be sent to all members in advance of our next general meeting in January; contact  secretary@rmsptsa.org  to see them sooner.
Have a suggestion or a comment for your PTSA? Please contact us. We want to support students and families at our school in a way that works. Looking for something that we can help with? Let us know.
Sincerely,
Ashley & Laura
P.S. We’re due to renew our National PTA School of Excellence designation, please fill out the baseline survey here  so the plan goals can be matched with your needs.
Get Ready for Cookies & Milk  
Congratulations to Sujatha who won the drawing at Tuesday’s meeting. Our next membership contest starts in November and it’s for Grizzly Time classes. Help your student & their teacher prepare by logging in to our website  rmsptsa.org  with your email address and chosen password (reset it if need be) to select their Grizzly Time teacher on your account page. Not certain who their Grizzly Time teacher is? You can find it by logging in to Parent Access clicking Skyward Family access and then clicking schedule. All your student’s teachers will be listed.
We currently have 648 members, thank you for your support. NEW! As of 10/9/2018 student membership are available allowing them to become voting members. If your student would like to vote/participate more fully in the business of our PTSA you can purchase a membership for them on your family account. Join here
Reminder : Legislative Advocacy: Upcoming Membership Meeting Vote
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! October 9th at 7:00 p.m. in the RMS library, come vote on current issues that affect your students! The results of this membership vote will be taken to the annual Washington State PTA legislative assembly by RMS delegates who will join other delegates from PTAs all over the state in deciding the public policy positions that guide state and local advocacy work for WSPTA. 
Click Here to Familiarize yourself with the issues we will vote on.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP.  If you are interested in being a delegate to the Legislative Assembly in Auburn, WA on October 20-21, or participating with our RMS Legislative Advocacy Committee, please email Steve Hitch at  advocacy@rmsptsa.org .
More Volunteers Needed for Vision and Hearing screening
Parent volunteers are needed Tuesday, October 16 th  to lead students to/from classes, in addition to helping the onsite nurses perform testing. This day impacts the needs of our students.  We encourage you to sign up while spots are still available for volunteers .  (Full day volunteers will be served lunch) .  Vision and Hearing Sign Up  plus other October opportunities, too. All shifts are quick, fun and impactful.
Reminder : Family & Community Survey
The best way to make sure every student in our school succeeds is to build a strong partnership between families, the school, and the community. The survey below gives you the opportunity to tell us what our school is doing well to support this partnership and what we can do better. If you would like to help tally and analyze the results, please let us know. This survey is completely anonymous. Please complete this survey as soon as possible and before October 19. 
The Family Involvement Action Team email :  excellence@rmsptsa.org
ASB
Wreath and Poinsettia Sale!!
Redmond ASB will have a Holiday Wreath and Poinsettia sale from Nov. 5 th  – Nov. 16 th . Please plan on buying to support the RMS ASB. Items will be available to picked up on Dec. 10 th
Redmond ASB earns money on Amazon purchases you make when you shop via our unique Amazon URL. Please click on the link and bookmark it. 
Season 2 Sports
All forms and payments for season 2 sports are due by Oct.18 th
Fund the Grizzlies  –  Please donate to the Redmond Middle School Associated Student Body (ASB) to help fund student activities.
Community
Important Flyers
New and International Families Welcome Events
LWPTSA Council and the LWSD are pleased to offer Welcome Events for New and International Families! Parents will hear how to navigate the school system and PTSA will share information about the role of PTSA and how to get involved in schools as well as host the following topics: America 101, managing stress around relocation and events and activities in the Pacific Northwest.
Thursday Oct. 25th, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday Oct. 27th, 9:30 a.m.
(sessions are identical)
Reminder : The Great Washington ShakeOut - Get Ready!
Millions of people worldwide will practice how to Drop, Cover, and Hold On at 10:18 a.m. on October 18* during Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills!. Washingtonians can join them today by registering for the 2018 Great Washington ShakeOut. Participating is a great way for your family or organization to be prepared to survive and recover quickly from big earthquakes– wherever you live, work, or travel. Here's the direct link .
Bear Tracks weekly is produced by RMS PTSA as a benefit to the Redmond Middle School Community. Articles are due on Thursdays for publication the following Monday. Bear Tracks is edited by Ekta Vadlamudi and [YOUR NAME HERE - please email communications.vp@rmsptsa.org if interested in co-editing]. Please review our communication priorities and submit articles to weekly@rmsptsa.org .