FFO Sunday Spotlight Newsletter-11/2

Posted Date: 11/02/25 (10:00 AM)

FFO Sunday Spotlight

Weekly Community Newsletter

November 2, 2025

President's Message

Happy November, Mustang Families!

I hope you all survived Halloween week and evening and are ready for a great November at Manzanita. This week is the kickoff of our fall Book Fair and our Holiday Service Project. Tomorrow, our counselors, Shea Flores and Kit Heyser will give us the details of the project, but we have invited, Olivia Bruntmyer, the Engagement Coordinator at Aviva Children’s Services to our FFO Meeting this Friday to tell us more about it in person. We hope you can join us for this special opportunity on how to help the children of our Tucson Community.

On Friday, we will also have our third grade Principal's Breakfast and our STEM Family Night. Mrs. Smerz and her team have a very exciting night planned for us all! Looking forward to seeing you there!

In gratitude,

🍁🧡🍂🧡

Bri Volpe

MZ FFO President

mzffopresident@gmail.com

November Dine Out

Manzanita STEM Night & Book Fair Shopping

Once Upon A Book Fair-11/7-11/14

Get ready–the Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school! Find bestselling series and characters that students love from more than 100 publishers. Plus every purchase benefits our school. We hope you can join us for the Best. Week. Ever!

To Prepare for the Fair, you can:

create an e-wallet NOW
add to teachers' and our librarian's e-wallets
contribute to "Share the Fair"
preview the books at our fair
sign up to volunteer

Manzanita Book Fair Homepage

LIBRARY eWALLET

Volunteer for the Book Fair

October Staff Appreciation

On Thursday, October 30th, the staff was received a fun and festive build your own trail mix bar thanks to Emmy Marshall and Celeste McBirnie, our Staff Appreciation chairs. With Halloween being on a Friday this year, we knew the week would be extra busy and tiresome for our amazing staff. We hope they enjoyed this special snack to get them through it and know that having staff like them is a REALLY BIG TREAT!!!

Community Connections

Grade Level Opportunities:

Yesterday, Honey Pie, our fourth rep, organized a fun parent social at the Hop Shop. Thank you Honey, for putting this together and thanks to all those that attended.

THIS WEEK:

*Third Grade Principal's Breakfast: 11/7 @ 7:15 am

*Kindergarten Walk & Talk: 11/7 @ 7:35 am

HOME HAPPENINGS:

We would love to see how your Mustangs are involved outside of school together. Please email Bri Volpe at: mzffopresident@gmail.com with any fun outings or extracurricular connections.

4th Grade Parent Social

Upcoming Grade Level Opportunities

Volunteer Opportunities

Have an extra hour to give during your week?

We would LOVE your help on campus at one of our clubs:

Board Games, Gardening, and Miler's!

Click here for: Board Games Club Sign Up:

2 SPOTS OPEN 11/4
2 SPOTS OPEN 11/7

Click here for: Garden Club Sign Up

5 SPOTS OPEN 11/14

Click here for: Miler's Club Sign Up

3 SPOTS OPEN 11/3 @ 12pm
1 SPOT OPEN 11/5 @ 12pm

Any questions? Reach out to our Volunteer Coordinator, Kristin @ kkhmichels@yahoo.com

LAST FEW DAYS to order Art to Remember

This semester, our school is participating in a unique fundraising program with Art to Remember that gives you the opportunity to purchase keepsake items with your child's artwork on them. The best part is that every keepsake order supports our school's art program.

TImeline:

11/5: Main order deadline for keepsakes
12/3: Orders arrive at school or are shipped to family homes (if you choose)

Just head to ArtToRemember.com and search for your child's name, enter their online code, and start shopping.

Our School's Ordering Website

YEARBOOKS on SALE NOW!

Get a jump start on ordering your student's yearbook. The school code is: 26593 or use the link below.

Please keep track of your order information for future reference. The front office does not have the history of orders and we will not be ordering extra yearbooks for families to buy at the end of the school year.

We would love any and all photos you take at events or in the classroom. If you have photos to contribute, please organize them here:

Yearbook Photo Drive

Order Your Yearbook

Spirit Wear Store

Have you ordered your fall and winter Spirit Wear yet? There are so many cute options for hoodies, sweatpants, and long-sleeve t-shirts! There are also NEW keychains as requested after SIlver Mustang lunches. :)

As always, thanks for showing your school spirit and supporting our school. It's been so fun to see all the awesome designs around campus!

Any questions, comments, or ideas, please email Melissa Furrier: melissafurrier@gmail.com

Get Your Mustang Gear HERE!

Upcoming Events at Manzanita

November:

11/3: National School Psychologist Week, & Adopt-a-Family Kickoff
11/5: Order Deadline for Art to Remember & Chipotle Dine Out from 5-9pm
11/7: Principal's Breakfast for 3rd Grade @ 7:15 am: RSVP HERE & Kindergarten Walk & Talk
11/7: FFO Meeting at 8:15 am in the CARE BUILDING
11/7: BOOK FAIR KICKOFF & STEM Family Night @ 5:30 pm
11/10-11/14: Book Fair
11/11: VETERAN'S DAY-No School
11/13: Tapas for Teachers, 5:30 pm @ Contigo
11/14: 2nd Grade Ice Cream Social @ Frost after school and Multiage Parent Social @ Union Public House, 4:00-6:00 pm
11/20: School Picture Retakes
11/24: Gratitude Lunch
11/26-11/28: THANKSGIVING BREAK: No School

Earn $ for Manzanita through our Community Partner!

Earn money for Manzanita when you shop at Fry’s Foods and use your Fry’s VIP card!

To participate: register your Fry's VIP card at:

www.fryscommunityrewards.com

Designate Manzanita Elementary School as your organization (#66275)
Use your registered VIP card when making purchases at Fry’s and Manzanita will earn a percentage of the $500,000 that Fry’s gives away every 13 weeks.
The amount we earn is based on the number of families participating and the total amount in purchases

FFO Contact Info

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us. You can reach out via the following links:

Email: Bri Volpe @ mzffopresident@gmail.com
Instagram-FOLLOW US!
Website
Executive Board
Committee Chairs

Mustang Bucks Donation