Old Desert Garden, Balboa Park

Dear Birney

Giving back to the community where we are living is a vital part of a full and rewarding life. Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA) has an opportunity to clean up and to plant some desert plants at the Old Desert Garden, Balboa Park on Saturday, March 31 from 9 am to 1 pm.

We would like to invite school staff and parents to join us together to make our community the better place to live. Breakfast will be provided at the Hsi Fang Temple located at 4536 Park Blvd., San Diego, Ca 92116 at 8:15 am. We will carpool together to the Balboa Park around 8:45 a.m. For those who wants to go directly to the Balboa Park, here is the location, 2130 Pan American Road West.

We hope you can join us, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Warmly regards,
Ellen Bach

Easter Egg Hunts and Festivals

Below are a list of some of San Diego's Easter Events and Activities.

Sun, Apr 9 (Time TBA)
LGBT Community Easter Egg Hunt
Founded in 2003 by City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez and Linda Childers, the Easter Egg Hunt is an annual event where children and parents of LGBT community and other families come together for a day of fun in the park. During the first year, over 125 children attended with their families. In 2004, over 300 children were in attendance. 2005 brought over 400 children to Trolley Barn Park for the egg hunt, with each taking home an Easter Basket full of goodies, stuffed animals, toys and even bikes and wagons, all donated by businesses, friends and families of the LGBT community.



Sat, Mar 24 from 12:00 p to 3:00 p
Piazza Carmel, San Diego
Eggcitement is Guaranteed Easter Egg Hunt - Enjoy Easter Egg Hunt, Petting Zoo, Pony Rides, face painting, balloon art, & more. ... CA While supplies last, children get a FREE Easter basket to decorate & a treasure map to find prizes.

Sat, Mar 31 at 9:30 a
Reformation Lutheran Church, San Diego
Easter for Kids is on Saturday, March 31, from 9:30-noon for children ages 3-12. Lunch will be served in the gym at noon and an egg hunt will follow.

Sat, Mar 31 at 10:00 a to 2:00 p
Foothills United Methodist Church, La Mesa
Come hunt for eggs, make crafts, sing, play and celebrate Easter! Foothills United Methodist Church is putting on its annual Eggstravaganza family fair.

Sun, Apr 1 from 7:00 a to 11:00 a
Vista Optimist Club, 600 Optimist Way, Vista CA
Egg Hunt and All you can eat Pancake and Sausage Breakfast - Breakfast, Games and Pictures.

Mon, Apr 2 from noon to 2:30 p
North Park Recreation Center, 4044 Idaho St.
Children and teens, ages 2 to 16 are invited to bring a basket to hunt for eggs at the Spring Egg Hunt. Get your picture taken with the Spring Bunny. Free. (619) 235-1152.

Mon, Apr 2 from noon to 2 p
The Mountain View Community Center at 641 S. Boundary St.
Spring Egg Hunt Celebration with potato sack races, a jelly bean count contest and more. Free. (619) 527-3417.

Mon, Apr 2 from 1 p to 4 p
Normal Heights, Adams Avenue Recreation Center, 3491 Adams Ave.
Children ages 2 to 12 are encouraged to bring a basket to hunt for eggs. An inflatable jump, clowns and a bubble show are part of the fun. Free. (619) 235-1149.

Tue, Apr 3 from 10 a to 1 p
City Heights Recreation Center, 4380 Landis St.
Carnival games, craft-making activities, and pictures with the Spring Bunny for children ages 2 to 12 are a part of the Spring Egg Hunt. $2 photo fee. (619) 641-6125.

Tue, Apr 3 from noon to 4 p
Ingram Plaza, at the corner of Roosevelt and Cushing roads, Liberty Station
A concert by Rockola and an Easter Scavenger Hunt are part of the festivities.

Tue, Apr 3 from 10 a to 1 p
Pacific Beach Recreation Center, 1405 Diamond St.
Meet the Spring Bunny and hunt for candy-filled eggs. Free. (858) 581-9927.

Wed, Apr 4 at 9 a
San Diego First Assembly, 8404 Phyllis Place, San Diego.
Youngsters ages 12 and younger are invited to an Easter Egg Hunt with a petting zoo, face-painting and more. Free. (858) 560-1870.

Fri, Apr 6 at 2:30 p
Westgate Hotel, San Diego
Easter Bunny Teas - Enjoy the visit from Easter Bunny and a magician as well as our egg hunt and other activities for children. Easter For Kids.

Sat, Apr 7 at 10 a
Urban Church
Urban Church will be having their 4th annual FREE Bunny Bash and Easter Egg Hunt at 4346 Park Boulevard. Make sure to join us and Invite your friends and family as we will have thousands of eggs and prizes for children of all ages. Urban Church gives away thousands of eggs filled with candy and fun toys, prize-give-a-ways, bikes and much more!

Sat, Apr 7 from 10:00a to 12:00p
Lighthouse Christian Church, Oceanside CA
Community Easter Egg Hunt Lighthouse Christian Church invites children ages 2 through 5th grade to bring a ...

Sun, Apr 8 8:30a
San Diego First Assembly, San Diego
On Easter Sunday, April 8, come to a huge Easter Egg Hunt, free for the entire community. The event begins at 8:30 am with a petting zoo, 15 carnival games, face painting, craft table, and the Easter Bunny.

Sun, Apr 8 12:00p
Life Christian Church, Vista
“We invite you to join us for our annual Easter Egg Hunt! We have over 50,000 candy filled eggs and loads of free prizes. Eggstravaganza!

Jog-A-Thon 2012

On behalf of Friends of Alice Birney Elementary and the entire Birney community. . .
THANK YOU !!!
to Jennifer Ayala, our Jog a Thon committee chair extraordinaire!

A huge THANK YOU also goes out to all the people who helped make this year's Jog a Thon a fun, healthy success! It was a lot of work, but well worth it.

Jog a Thon Committee members:
Brenda Anderson
Carrie Binder
Debbie Brinker
Elizabeth Austin
Joe Foty- Ascent Real Estate
Nancy Wolfiing – Ascent Real Estate
Sara McLure

Our extended team that helped us get to the finish line:
Becky Jones
Beth Lunde
Claire Kreger
Hershey Sanchez
Kai Lombard, PTA President
Kim Gomez
Kim Seling
Konnie Dadmun
Lindsey Kovelant (Room 5)
John Amat
John Budlong
Maggie Boyd
Michelle Livermore
Molly McJohn
Robert Hunt
Samantha Boice
Sandy Barksdale

And many more volunteers for the day of the event! Birney ROCKS!!!

Star Pary and Carnival on March 23rd

Join us for our
6th Annual Star Gazing Party
The San Diego Astronomy Association
will be on our playground
Friday, March 23 from 7:00-8:30 pm.

Come share in this family event.

Everyone is welcome.

Also Happening...
Carnival!
from 6:00-7:00 pm.
including games, prizes, concessions and fun.
Fun for the Whole Family!

ICES Has Spring Break Camps - Sign Up Now!

Activities:
Themed days, show & tell, talent show, gardening, sports, theater, relay races, arts & crafts, library, dance, computer, physical fitness, running club, demonstrations, playground, movies, and more...

Snacks provided, please bring a lunch, water bottle and sunscreen.

Program Hours: 9 am - 3 pm

• Early drop off is available from 6:30 am - 9 am for an additional $10 per week.
• Late pick up is available from 3 pm - 6 pm for and additional $10 per week.
• Students picked up after 6 pm will be charged $1 per minute.

Program Dates:

1. April 9 - 13
2. April 16-20
3. April 23-27

Program Fee:

$130 per week (4-5 days)
$80 per week (3 days)
$52 per week (2 days)
$37 per week (1 day)

Full Payment is due upon registration to secure child's spot. We need at least 20 children registered per week in order to run the program. Payment is nonrefundable, however, if program is unable to meet required number of attendance, check will be voided.

Thank you for you support! If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Allie Chi at alicebirney@iceseducation.org or 619-727-9417.

Open Minds offer Spring Break Camps

Spring Camps below!
All camps run 9-3 each day. Partial week, ½ day & extended day care available. All camps require 4 pre-registered students to run. Call for drop-in availability.

Register Here

April 2-6 Spanish Fun
Put your beginning to advanced Spanish skills into practice with five days of creative and fun activities all run in a Spanish immersion environment. No formal lessons taught, just interesting and engaging experiences all conducted in Spanish. See how much fun you can have with all things Spanish. Best for ages 4 and older.

April 9-13 Art Around theWorld
Come and explore art from around the world. Each day we visit different countries, play with different aspects of the culture from those countries and create art inspired by those countries. Throughout the day we weave in life skill discussion which are tied to the class theme for that day, helping the students to explore both art and life. Art Around the World is designed to increase artistic expression, self-awareness and social skills. Best for ages 4 and older.

April 16-20 OpenMinds Discovery
Learn more about YOU in this great camp that explores Life Skill themes such as Courage, Teamwork, Leadership, Perseverance, and Creativity. This fun camp includes theatre games, outdoor game instruction, meaningful art projects, and other activities which support our life skill theme for each day. Best for ages 4 and older.

April 23 - 27 Diggn' n' Dirt Earth Sciences
Here is a chance for your child to have fun with gardening and earth sciences! This indoor/outdoor adventure camp will have students tending plants, harvesting food, learning about life cycles and nutrition, composting, and exploring all that dirt rocks, seeds and garden creatures have to offer. These concepts are taught through hands on experiments, books, art projects, and garden/science based games. Life skill themes that apply to the earth science experiences are woven into each day, helping the students to grow strong along with their plants! Best for ages four and older.

Stand Up For Education!

Stand Up For Education Demonstration & March on Saturday March 10th.

• When: Saturday, March 10, 9 a.m. to noon
• Where: Presidents Way/Park Blvd, Balboa Park,
• Age limit: All ages

Join us in getting the word out to the general public, the government, and the media just how devastating this next round of budget cuts will be to the education of all children in California's public schools and how we can do things differently!
Check out this site for more information.
http://www.kpbs.org/events/2012/mar/10/13003/

Run for the Green - Jog-a-thon 2012

Birney parents, kids and teachers love the unique, whole child approach to learning Birney provides. All totaled, a librarian, Spanish, art, and IB certification and training cost $75,000 per year or $150 per student. These funds are NOT in the budget for Birney for the 2012-13 school year. Only successful fund raising efforts will preserve the things that make Birney a special, successful, high achieving school.

Birney’s 5th Annual Jog-A-Thon, on March 16th, hopes to raise $25,000 to help pay for these programs for the 2012-2013 school year. Just $50 per student will help us reach our goal. For the next two weeks, please help your child collect donations from family, friends, neighbors and businesses with the sponsor forms sent home last week. If you need additional forms or envelopes contact jennifer@ayala-arch.com or download forms at www.friendsofalicebirney.org.

Prizes will be awarded for:
Students who raise $35: a FriarFit jump rope.
Students who raise $50: a special edition T-shirt.
Students who raise $75: museum passes!.
Students who raise $100: restaurant and store gift cards.

Classes who raise the most money will win pizza parties! Classes that collect the most sponsors will win otter pops! And whoever raises the most money will win an iPod Nano!

And teachers, the Friend’s of Alice Birney Elementary is thinking of you, too! We have great prizes for your efforts as well: spa gift cards, deluxe chocolate gift packages, restaurant and store gift certificates, and much more!

Let's do this together!!!

Click here for a copy of the t-shirt competition form.

Click this link, for more Jog-A-Thon information and pledge form.

Winners of the CPK Night

Ms. Copeland's Class (Rm.14) won the Classroom Pizza Party and $250.00 school supplies sponsorship!

CPK will be donating $678.30 back to Alice Birney Elementary!!! Great job!