Dear Parents and Students of Maurice Hawk for the 2020-2021 school year,
I have to begin by saying it has been my privilege to serve as President of the Maurice Hawk PTA for the last two years. I can’t stress enough how much we have enjoyed being part of the Hawk family.
I have repeatedly witnessed what a devoted community can do to expand their children’ environment for success. Dozens of volunteers devoted hundreds of hours to make our PTA events, programs, and activities a huge success.
This year has represented a lot of change and adjustment for our community and I am honored to say that our children, parents and staff alike have risen to the challenge and continued to forge ahead.
On behalf of the PTA Executive Board, I want to thank our entire school community for their support of our many programs and events for the students at Maurice Hawk Elementary School.
From basic membership to chairing an event or program, from volunteering to simply attending an event, your contributions of time, effort, and/or money validates and broadens your child’s educational experience. Further, your support of the PTA expands every child’s opportunity for growth.
Here are some highlights from 2020-2021:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our school opened to offer hybrid and full virtual learning models in the fall and continued to include all-in learning following spring break. The dedication and hard work of the administrators and teachers during this unprecedented time will never be forgotten.
The PTA funded two student virtual assemblies by the StoryShip “Pirate Goodie & the Magic Chest” and “Aliens Alive” in the fall and spring. In addition our winter event, “Origami, a step by step video” was conducted by our very own Hawk alumni, Aahana Ardey.
Maurice Hawk PTA was involved with our National PTA art program, Reflections, and we had a winner in the category of Film Production (Primary Division), Sreenidhi Nandeesh. We are very excited to continue this tradition going forward!
In spite of the challenging year, our parent Volunteers put on very successful virtual events including Candy Bar Bingo, Fall/Spring Book fairs, our first event Hawk Paint Family Night and also our first Hawk Trivia Night. Our committee chairs conducted our Plainsboro Food Pantry
Drive, online Box Tops and Amazon Smile Programs. We got to celebrate a wonderful Staff Appreciation week which included a staff breakfast, gift cards for all and fun socks to remember the event. Our team also produced an awesome yearbook for our graduating 3rd graders.
None of this would have been possible without your membership and support from the staff, teachers, parents, and many volunteers, not to mention the significant contribution and exceptional talents of my fellow board members: Padma Katapalli, Vasanti Anand, Mamta Kashyup, Gaurav Saxena, Veena Pathak, Gina Zhang and Nasira Safdar.
I want to thank our outgoing board members, Mamta and Vasanti, for all of their hard work and dedication.
Although I am leaving Hawk and stepping down from the board, We welcome Sarah Yumin Liu, Preeti Singh and Padmavathy Krishnamoorthy to the Executive Board and are grateful to them for volunteering their time to continue to make Maurice Hawk a school of which we are all proud.
To the families who are moving on to new locations and new schools, we wish you happy and healthy new beginnings. You will be missed and thought of with great fondness for the memories you have left at Hawk.
Have a great summer and remember “Stay Safe! Have fun! Read! Do math every day! Above all else, do the right thing!” And speaking of doing the right thing, I encourage you to sign up for something new next year, and you can see for yourself what an amazing school we have the privilege of calling our own.
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/409054ea5a622a20-hawk26
To join the PTA (starting August 1 for next year), sign up to volunteer, or for more information on events, please visit hawkpta.org or contact a board member.
Sejal Pandya, President MH PTA
2020-2021 PTA Executive Board
● Sejal Pandya, President
● Padma Katapalli, Vice President
● Gina Zhang, Secretary
● Nasira Safdar, Treasurer
● Gaurav Saxena, VP Communications
● Veena Pathak, VP Events
● Mamta Kashyap, Membership
● Vasanti Anand, By-Laws
–Contact Us—This is your PTA and we want to hear from you. Comments or questions? Let us know at president@hawkpta.org or find us online at: http://www.hawkpta.org/ or
https://www.facebook.com/mhawkpta