FFO Sunday Spotlight Newsletter-11/9

Posted Date: 11/09/25 (10:00 AM)

FFO Sunday Spotlight

Weekly Community Newsletter

November 9, 2025

President's Message

Good morning, Mustang Families!

It was wonderful to see so many of you at one, some, or all of our events on Friday! A special thanks to the following for providing hands-on learning opportunities for our families at STEM Night and the Book Fair: Christian Roessler, University of Arizona College of Optics, Armin Sorooshian, Code Ninja, Lego FLL Teams, Tucson Electric Power, Adam Leu, Nitin Patel, Math League Students, Laura Surdeanu, Jenny Sipe, Ted Tucker, Emmy Marshall, Matt Quick, Leslie Mohktarian and Anita Strickler.

We also appreciate all the hard work Mrs. Smerz and her team put into planning such an amazing evening. Thanks to Mr. Greg, Mrs. Cook, Ms. Moricz, Mr. Allie, Ms. Tobin, and Mr. Henikman for such an engaging and enriching night!

Just wanted to give a shout out to the families that have dined out in support of our FFO this semester! Due to your support, we've already earned 2/3 of our Dine Out Budget! WOW!!! Here's a snapshot of our earnings:

Fentonelli's-$246
Doughbird-$280.73
Papa John's (at Trunk-or-Treat)-$65
Chipotle-$244.69

Thank you to Katie Castillo and Stephanie Zwaga for organizing these for us! We are already looking forward to Beyond Bread on December 10th! 🤩

And last, but certainly not least, THANK YOU to all of our Manzanita Veterans!!! We are grateful for you and your service! 🇺🇸 ❤️ 🇺🇸 💙

Bri Volpe

MZ FFO President

mzffopresident@gmail.com

Thanks for supporting our Math League at STEM Night!

This Friday: Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day

Once Upon A Book Fair-11/10-11/14

The Book Fair is here! Thank you to the following volunteers that helped with set up and decorating on Wednesday: Megan Smith, Renave Hlavinka, Megan Belen, Molly Johnson, Anthony Payson, and Isabel Corres-Sohrab.

Thank you to these volunteers that helped on Friday for the opening and Family Night Shopping: Marci Petti, Renaye Hlavinka, Adam Levine, Tina Ienna-Balisteri, Marie Hantzarides, and Amirtha Wickramage.

There are a few volunteer slots that opened for tomorrow if you have an hour or two. Click the button below to sign up!

Don't forget to:

create an e-wallet
add to teachers' and our librarian's e-wallets
contribute to "Share the Fair"

Manzanita Book Fair Homepage

LIBRARY eWALLET

Volunteer for the Book Fair

Garden Club Updates:

This past Wednesday, Ms. Michel's class harvested what was left of the Three Sisters. They got a lot of beans, a hill even! And they are keeping some of the corn and beans that survived.

First grade will do a winter veggie planting on 11/12 and 11/13.

Lastly, a cotton and a kumquat tree are coming our way soon! How exciting!

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Home Happenings

Team Captain Underpants coached by Paul Nagy & Matt Landau

Go Kindergarten and First Grade MUSTANGS! You are SOCCER STARS!

Team Captain Underpants Mustangs:

Jeremy Landau, Beckham Nagy, Leo Papariella, Hayden Yoder, Noah Brown, Ceci Lee, Ernest Leu, Kennedy Sellers, Gabriel Quijada, Morgan Tardiff, and Ryleigh Baker

Upcoming Grade Level Opportunities

Ciao Down Pizza-Get together with your MZ friends!

Thanks to Jessica Papariella for sharing this community opportunity!

✏️ Homework Happy Hour Just Got Even Better! ✏️

📚 Each week during Homework Happy Hour, the school with the most students showing up will win a $100 donation to their PTO!

Bring in your scholars for Homework Happy Hour-M-TR, 1:30-5:30 PM
Let us know what school they attend
The school with the biggest turnout wins that week's donation

💡 Each school can win up to 2 times a month, then we'll rotate the love to keep it fair and fun for everyone.

Ciao Down Oro Valley

10565 N Oracle Road #111

Oro Valley, AZ 85737

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 11/14

Click here for: Garden Club Sign Up

5 SPOTS OPEN 11/14

Click here for: Miler's Club Sign Up

3 SPOTS OPEN 11/10 @ 12pm
2 SPOTS OPEN 11/12 @ 10:50 am
3 SPOTS OPEN 11/12 @ 12pm

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

Holiday Gift Drive

We're thrilled to join Aviva Children's Services in supporting their annual Holiday Program! Aviva Children's Services changes the lives of more than 3,700 children in foster care each year by providing emergency resources, ongoing family support, and comprehensive behavioral health services.

There are several ways to get involved! Gather your children and choose items from the wish lists provided below. For those shopping at local stores, please deliver unwrapped gifts to Manzanita Elementary by December 4th. Alternatively, if you choose to shop online, you can arrange for gifts to be shipped directly to Aviva.

Target: https://bit.ly/AvivaHolidayTarget
Amazon: https://bit.ly/AvivaHolidayAmazon
Walmart: https://bit.ly/AvivaHolidayWalmart

If you prefer, you can also make a direct donation to Aviva Children's Services through our Manzanita Holiday Gift Drive page HERE.

Let's demonstrate our Mustang Spirit and spread some holiday cheer!

Thank you for supporting families in need this holiday season!

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-please add your photos!

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!

Date Extended-Designs now due November 14th!

Upcoming Events at Manzanita

November:

11/3-12/4: Holiday Gift Drive
11/10-11/14: Book Fair
11/11: VETERAN'S DAY- No School
11/12: 2nd Grade Ice Cream Social @ Frost after school
11/13: Tapas for Teachers, 5:30 pm @ Contigo
11/14: Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day @ 7:20 am & Multiage Parent Social @ Union Public House, 4:00-6:00 pm
11/20: School Picture Retakes
11/24: Gratitude Gathering-Picnic Lunch
11/26-11/28: THANKSGIVING BREAK- No School

Thank you, Mustang Bucks Donors!

We have officially raised over $30K! What an outstanding accomplisment due to our VERY generous community. Thank you to our recent donors:

Brown
Chu
Lehrman
Pena

Mustang Bucks Donation

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