Hello, Brentwood families! 

Thank you for supporting our recent—and very successful fundraising events—Brentwood After Dark and the Used Book Sale. Our volunteer committees put so much thoughtful care into creating fun and meaningful ways for our community to connect with each other and support our school and public education. We appreciate all of you!

March is Women's History Month and to celebrate, we'd like to share with you some interesting and accomplished Texan women you may never have heard of; read about Bessie Coleman, Caro Crawford Brown, Emma Tenayuca, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, and Hermelinda Rodriguez later in this newsletter. Here are some book suggestions that you and your kids might choose to read this month:

• “Rad American Women A-Z,” by Kate Schatz. Following the alphabet, kids can learn about the many women, including Billie Jean King and Angela Davis, who made great contributions to American history.
• “Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed The World,” by Susan Hood. Stories of women who made their mark on the world early on, such as Ruby Bridges, the inspiring 6-year-old who helped desegregate an all-white school in the South, and Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space.
• “Hidden Figures,” by Margot Lee Shetterly. This is the real-life story of NASA’s Black women mathematicians, key figures in America’s space program who battled racism and sex discrimination from WWII through the Cold War.
• “My Own Words,” by Ruth Bader Ginsberg. This 2018 collection of writings from the feminist icon discusses her opinions on everything from gender equality to the inner workings of the nation’s highest court to her love of opera.

March 24–28 is AISD Pride Week! Bulldogs love and celebrate each other for what makes us who we are, and here at Brentwood we will be celebrating Pride Week with a variety of activities throughout the week:

Monday, March 24 All are welcome! Kick off our Pride Week with a contest. Create an art piece (either visual art or a poem or essay) using one of Pride Week’s themes. Tell or show us why celebrating Pride Week is so important or what the week means to you.  The top 3 entries will be selected for a $20 gift card to Black Pearl Books. Submissions can be turned in at the office and are due by the end of the school day, Friday, March 28.

Tuesday, March 25 Differences are beYOUtiful! It’s wacky socks day—wear something fun that expresses your unique and awesome self.

Wednesday, March 26 I am beYOUtiful! Wear something that makes you feel beautiful, confident, and proud of who you are. Meet at the school for our annual Pride Week Meet and Greet from 5–6:30 p.m. Enjoy snacks, write postcards to send to our legislators, and show your creative side by decorating posters for Saturday’s Pride parade.

Thursday, March 27 Our community is beYOUtiful! Take the opportunity to talk with new people and celebrate our diverse community. Stop by the Pride table on your way into the building to write a kind note to our Brentwood community!

Friday, March 28 All the colors! Wear your Brentwood pride shirt or any pride or rainbow shirt. Don’t forget to snap a picture of all your “beYOUtiful” colors. Place your order for our newest Brentwood Pride shirt! (The spring spirit store will be open until March 14.)

Saturday, March 29 - Brentwood Pride Parade!
Meet in front of Brentwood Elementary at 10 a.m. for a short Pride Parade that ends at Brentwood Park. During the gathering, we’ll decorate the school’s entrance with positive chalk messages. Pride stickers, posters, and flags will be available while supplies last!

Stock up on your Brentwood Bulldogs gear with new and classic designs now through March 14 at the newly launched Brentwood Spring Spirit Store. The shop is open for one more week for purchasing, at which point orders will be printed and delivered to school. (Pick-up instructions to come after Spring Break.)

Brentwood Pride shirts are available in this batch of merchandise and will be delivered first in order to arrive on time for our community's Pride celebrations beginning the week of March 24. Brentwood Rocks shirts are available on the PTA website for preorder through March 13. (Event tickets also are available on the website and at the event, being held on Saturday, April 5.)

Thank you for shopping with us and supporting the Brentwood PTA and your child's education. 

The Bulldog Bolt is back! On Monday, March 28, Brentwood students will again participate in our Bulldog Bolt fun run. This year, we are singular with our purpose to support teachers in the classroom, in the way we believe—and they tell us—will be most impactful. Every dollar raised through the Bulldog Bolt will go directly toward hiring a Content Interventionist/Instructional Coach, which is a role proven to enhance teacher effectiveness, job satisfaction, and student success. 

Specifically, this position will provide essential support and professional development for our teachers—leading to stronger instruction and improved student outcomes. Research shows that coaching increases teacher retention and student success. Full transparency: if we do not meet our goal, funds will support a part-time coach or be used for instructional resources and materials to benefit our campus. 

Last year was our first time to run a school fundraiser, and we learned a lot! Brentwood will keep significantly more of the funds raised this year after that initial investment year, and we’re excited to manage more aspects of this event directly. We heard your feedback: this year, we will be focusing on whole-class incentives and prizes as they each meet their fundraising goals. Brentwood staff are primarily organizing this fundraiser in order to reduce the cost of the platform fee by 10 percent (compared to last year). Here are the amazing things we were able to do thanks to your efforts at last year’s Bolt:

• 10% of total profits from the fundraiser went back to teachers to use for whatever they needed for their classrooms
• Lead4ward Conference at Kalahari for 3rd–5th grade teachers
• Substitute pay for teachers to have data days and additional planning days 
• K-2 Heggerty: Bridges to Reading Kits refreshed and ordered
• NCEA Conference fees for Mrs. Tigelaar
• Schoolwide bulletin boards (replacing tack strips)
• Keynote speaker for staff at PAC with Mac Vertical Team 
• Fund this year's Bulldog Bolt to make it our own and purchase supplies and cover Brentwood Park rental fees!

We need your support to fund this critical position. Your donation—big or small—will make a difference. Investing in our teachers means investing in our students and the future of Brentwood Elementary.

Thank you for being a part of this important effort. Together, we can ensure that our teachers receive the support they deserve and our students continue to thrive. Sign up online at MyBooster.com. Need help signing up? Video instructions are HERE. 

The Brentwood Bike Bus will commence on Thursday, March 27, starting at Violet Crown City Church and looping south on Arroyo Seco to Romeria and back up to the back entrance of the school. Hop on anywhere along the route! Woom, Austin Youth Fitness, and Brentwood parent volunteers will lead the ride, with refreshments and prizes at the post-ride celebration!

Joining us on the kick-off is Sam Balto, founder of Bus Bike World. Check out Coach Balto’s Instagram, @coachbalto. Click here for more information and to register for the event. (And click here if you’re wondering what the heck this wondrous-sounding “bike bus” is.)

The 15th annual Brentwood Rocks all-ages rock concert and fundraiser is almost here… On April 5, bring your blankets and chairs and coolers to get your rock and roll on with:

• Live performances by Big Wy's Brass Band, the Lamar Dance Company, and School of Rock Austin
• Kid activities, local vendors, and community groups 
• Free Top Notch corn dogs (until they’re gone) and Casey's New Orleans Snowballs available for purchase
• and Ms. Beck serving as emcee extraordinaire 

Wristbands are $10 and will be sold on the PTA website and at the door. Kids under 12 are free. T-shirts are available for pre-order until March 13 and in limited quantities at the door—buy them now to get the size you want! The event is public and all are welcome. Bring the whole family and rock out for a good cause.

Thank you to everyone who helped make Rally Day a success! We saw many Brentwood community members and teachers there, all united in our love and support of our Texas public schools.

Currently, the House Public Education committee meetings are underway over our two biggest legislative priorities: increasing funding and saying no to vouchers (HB 2, the House School Funding Bill relating to public education and public school finance, and HB 3, the House School Voucher Bill).

Now it's time for members of the House Public Education Committee to hear what the parents, students, educators, administrators, and community members want and need in their local public schools. There are a number of ways you can do this:

1. Write a comment. This becomes a part of the public record; the more comments they hear from constituents, the better. Anyone in Texas with an email address can leave comments!
2. Show up.There will be an opportunity to testify, but you don't have to testify if you show up—it also helps for the reps to see a lot of faces in the audience throughout the day, so they know we're paying attention. Wear your PTA or school shirt!
3. Testify. This is our chance to let them know who we are and what we stand for. Wear your PTA or school shirt!

As you're crafting your message, think about staying as focused and partner-oriented as possible. Here are some resources available through the ACPTA to help you get up to speed:

• House Public Education Committee. This includes the school districts and towns they represent, in case you know someone who lives there and can use that connection in your testimony or writing.
• Legislative Priorities Folder. The legislative priorities, spelled out in English and Spanish in a number of formats, are in this folder, along with overviews of Voucher and School Funding facts, articles, images, and more.
• Advocacy in the 89th Legislative Session. Find advocacy tips and information for all of our ACPTA advocates.

Bessie Coleman (1892–1926) – The first black woman (as well as the first Native American woman) to earn a pilot’s license, Coleman was a pioneer in aviation. During World War I, no one in the United States would teach a woman or an African American to fly. Undeterred, Coleman went to France to learn to fly. She became a "barnstormer," or exhibition pilot, giving air shows in Chicago. Coleman died in an accident at the age of 34. 

Caro Crawford Brown (1908–2001) – The first Texan and first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in reporting, in 1955, she wrote a series of articles exposing the virulent corruption of political boss George Parr. Brown’s fearless reporting led to Parr’s eventual downfall, and she was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1986.

Emma Tenayuca (1916–1999) – Born and raised in San Antonio, Tenayuca was a worker on the picket line, striking against the Fink Cigar Company, when she was first arrested at the age of 16, in 1932. A fierce labor rights activist, she led 12,000 San Antonio workers, mostly Hispanic women, in the Pecan-Shellers Strike of 1938 to fight against wage cuts.

Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1911–1956) – The greatest female athlete of the first half of the 20th century, according to the Associated Press, Zaharias mastered nearly every sport from basketball to boxing at a time when being a female athlete was frowned upon. She qualified for five events in the 1932 Olympics. And while battling cancer, she won her third U.S. Women’s Open in golf and her sixth Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award.

Hermelinda Rodriguez (1922–1998) – A bilingual education pioneer, Rodriguez became Austin ISD’s first Mexican-American principal in 1967, at Zavala Elementary, and implemented Austin’s first bilingual curriculum, earning national acclaim and the nickname “mother of bilingual education.”  In 1981, she became the district’s Director of Elementary School Management, the highest district post held by a Mexican American up until that time. Rodriguez’s contributions to bilingual education were recognized with a nomination to the White House Council on Education in the early 1970s. Rodriguez Elementary School, in southeast Austin, is named for this Mexican-American trailblazer.

On the Calendar

Follow along on Konstella or subscribe to our Brentwood Elementary Google Calendar to stay in the know about upcoming school events, holidays, and PTA activities. Here are a few items of note below.

• Thursday, March 13 Field Day (see volunteer sign-up on Konstella)
• Thursday & Friday, March 13 & 14 Brentwood Rocks and Spring Merch (including Pride) pre-order deadlines
• Friday, March 14–Friday, March 21 SPRING BREAK!
• March 24–29 Celebrate Pride Week
• Thursday, March 27 Bike Bus kick-off
• Monday, March 28 Bulldog Bolt fun run
• Saturday, March 29 Pride Parade
• Saturday, March 29 Spring “It’s My Campus” day (details to come)
• Monday, March 31 No School!
• Saturday, April 5 Brentwood Rocks

Brentwood PTA runs an annual, donate-one-time-per-year, no-hassle fundraiser we call the Bulldog Fund. The donations collected in this fund are used for essential (and at times all-too-expensive) programming like literacy and math software, library books, music, art, and more. Donate HERE!

Do you happen to have a program, event, or volunteer need that you would like published in the Bulldog Bark, on the PTA website, or sent out via social channels? Simply email communications@brentwoodpta.com for consideration.

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