Thank You & Have a Fun and Safe Summer!
Dear Crocker Farm families,
It probably gets old but isn’t any less true that this has been a year like no other! As we wrap up the 2019-20 school year, the PGO wanted to send a final email before the summer kicks off and we and our children are off singing a familiar chant from my childhood, “No more teachers, no more books….” Well now that I am older, wiser, and especially as I’ve tried to supplement the work of our teachers, I will forever ban this chant. I feel a tremendous amount of gratitude to the adults (teachers, specialists, and administrators) who, at the drop of a hat, learned (and maybe struggled with) new platforms to help continue our children’s education. And as for the books, well, PLEASE keep reading—there really is no summer break for that. If you haven’t done so already, please check out our school library’s online resources.
Even with the disruption of COVID-19, we as a community accomplished a great deal. Remember when we gathered for the Back-to-School Pizza/Potluck in 2019, or to distribute fruit and help run the stations for the Fall Field Day event. Or, with your tremendous generosity, when we added $13,114.53 to our PGO fund. Let’s not forget when we made the commitment to put $500 toward ensuring all Amherst elementary students had the Internet access they needed over the last three months.
We are very grateful to all our volunteers who, over the school year, contributed their presence, time, ideas, energy, culinary skills, and/or funds to making Crocker Farm a place that feels like home.
We’d like to give a special shout-out to PGO leadership and some of our regular volunteers, especially Amanda Robertson, PGO co-chair—our school community benefitted SO much from her time, talent, good humor, and organizational/fundraising skills these past two years. Thanks to Jennie Riley, our treasurer, who even prior to this year was instrumental in re-igniting a culture of giving through the Annual Fund Drive; and Angela Velasquez, who, for the second consecutive year, ran our Barnes & Noble book fundraiser, which surpassed last year’s total raised (we raised $2,524 to spend on books and educational materials for our school library)! Not to mention Tracy Zafian, who, long after her years as chair of the PGO, has been an enduring and dedicated Crocker volunteer for events such as the annual Winter Coat & Clothing Drive and the Book Swap.
Finally, thank you to Farah Ameen and Lexi Monneson-Olson who will be next year’s PGO co-chairs. Neither Farah (Crocker Culture, blog) nor Lexi (as our unofficial photographer) are new to giving of their time or talent!
Last but not least: a big Congratulations to our Sixth Grade graduates—we will miss seeing you (and your parents) at Crocker Farm in the fall!
Immense gratitude to you all!
Paula M. Lima Jones