John Hay Elementary is hosting a Sock Hop this Friday, March 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. to raise money for their all girls sister school in Afghanistan as part of the “Journey With an Afghan School” program.

The John Hay Citizenship Committee and Student Council are hosting an evening of great music, dancing, a cupcake walk, face painting and food.  All proceeds will continue to support our sister school in Afghanistan.

According to John Hay volunteer coordinator Lynn Baker, all proceeds from the Sock Hop will go toward helping the Afghan school build six more classrooms. Admission is $12 per family at the door. Once inside, tickets will be sold for 50 cents each that will be redeemable for concessions, face painting and the cupcake walk.

“Journey With an Afghan School” is the brainchild of Seattle woman Julie Bolz, who has been working to raise money for the construction of 19 schools and repairing of more than a dozen others in the Balkh province in northern Afghanistan. Read the Seattle Times piece on Bolz’s project here.

Before joining their friends and family to watch the Superbowl on Sunday, Queen Anne parents, teachers and students volunteered their time running the Help for Haiti Rummage Sale, raising just shy of $20,000 for post-earthquake aide.

This is the second time Coe Elementary, John Hay and McClure Middle School have gotten together to run a major sale event for charity. The three schools first teamed up in 2005, just after the tsunami, and successfully raised $10,000. When the earthquake hit Haiti, the organizers decided to run the event again. This time they raised $19,200.

“The same group all came together and decided to do it again,” said organizers and former John Hay parent Mimi Gan. Their goal was to beat their previous record. “We’ve almost doubled it!” she said.

As for the sale itself, items varied from used toys and clothes, to housewares, baked goods (the in-house bake sale raised $755 alone) and even some last-minute surprise donations, including a car! According to Gan, the principal of Coe Elementary, Mr. Elliott, drove his car to the rummage sale and began taking bids, eventually selling it for $350.

“I don’t know how old it was,” Gan said. “He was very honest about it – there were some things wrong with it. But it sold!”

(This is Mr. Elliott’s fifth and last year at Coe. He will be moving to the new Old Hay, Queen Anne Elementary for the 2010-2011 school year).

Volunteers said the rummage sale stayed relatively busy from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., when the crowds were taken over by football frenzy.

“We had a steady flow of people most of the day. At the end, we did a Craig’s list blast to get rid of as much as we could. We advertised $5 for what you could take out,” said fellow parent and volunteer Stacy Lawson. As for the results, “We were ecstatic,” she said.

“It was great fun,” Gan said. “It was a great community builder and people were so generous.”

According to Gan the money will be dispersed evenly between three aid organizations, the American Red Cross, Partners in Health and Project Hope.

(Thanks to Eileen Nishi for the pictures!)

Seattle Public Schools announced a handful of principal changes for the 2010-2011 school year yesterday evening, and Queen Anne is the neighborhood getting the most swaps. In a detailed letter announcing the assignments, Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson explained the reasoning behind each move. One of the primary factors: finding good leadership for the three new schools opening up in the district next fall, including Old Hay, a new Montessori option school in the neighborhood, where Coe Elementary head David Elliott – after ten years as principal – will be taking up his new post. Reader Meg Ferris gave her thoughts on the change. She wrote,

While it is an incredible loss at Coe, it will be a wonderful thing for the new school community.

In addition to Elliott’s reassignment, the principal at John Hay (not to be confused with Old Hay), Dan Warren, will be moving to the new Sand Point Elementary after five years on the hill. Read principal Warren’s letter to John Hay families here (.pdf).

And on the high school level, The Center School principal Lisa Escobar will be moving to Rainier Beach, where she will become co-principal alongside current head Dr. Robert Gary. Meanwhile, Judy Peterson will serve as the interim principal at The Center School.

To read Goodloe-Johnson’s letter, check out the West Seattle Blog, who have posted it in its entirety.

Do you have connections? From gift certificates to getaways, outdoor equipment to cameras, experiences to evenings-out–no donation is too big or too small for the John Hay Elementary School auction being held on May 2nd at Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center.  The deadline for donations is March 13th,  but we love to get items in early as it makes planning the event easier!

Donation forms are available in our volunteer office, or you can contact our procurement liaison Lauren Clisham.