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The Viking Voice

September 2025 Edition

For past editions, see Newsletters.

The viking village volunteers are back!

With the school year already off to a great start, allow us to reintroduce ourselves. Around here, we’re known as the Viking Village Volunteers. You might have known us in a past life as the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), but our mission remains the same: to support the education and engagement of our students at Whittier Elementary. How do we do that? By creating and fostering relationships with school staff, parents, and caregivers, along with other people and businesses in our amazing community. And by providing snacks at every PTO meeting.

Learn more about us and our mission at Viking Village.

But we still need help

While we have a good foundation in place, we still need your support to make this year the best one yet. Whether you have time to volunteer, prefer to contribute donations, or just want to be part of the fun, there’s a way for everyone to get involved.

Unique volunteer needs

Can you help with one (or several!) of the following?

September 17: Picture Day
- 9am-11am: one volunteer needed
- 11am-1pm: one volunteer needed
October 2: STEAM Night
- Support with event logistics (set-up/tear-down)
October 4: Fútbol Jamboree
- Help with set-up and tear-down before and after the jamboree
- Work at the PTO booth to sell spirit wear
Mid-October (date TBD): Book Fair
- Volunteers needed for fair operations and clean-up
October 30 (after school, time TBD): Trunk or Treat
- Set-up and tear-down support
- Donations for candy

Every helping hand makes a difference. If you can help in a big or small way, please email us at ptowhittierelementary@gmail.com or fill out the Viking Village Volunteer Form.

Routine volunteer needs

We have several board positions available and would love to welcome new voices and fresh perspectives to the team! Currently, we're looking for a Volunteer Coordinator and a Vice President (no previous experience required!).

Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds, and we’d love for our PTO leadership to reflect that same diversity. Whether you’ve been involved before or are brand-new to volunteering, your perspective matters, and there’s a place for you here.

If you're curious about joining, let us know, or join us at our September 17 PTO meeting at 4 pm in the library (or online with Google Meet)!

Say hello to our new librarian

Ms. Elva might be our new librarian, but she is definitely not new to Whittier. In fact, this is her tenth year at here, and while we'll miss seeing her face every day in the front office, we're so excited that she moved into the librarian role!

Originally from Mazatlán, Mexico, Ms. Elva moved to Idaho over 27 years ago, fell in love with the Treasure Valley, and later met her husband here. Together, they have two college-aged children, Alex and Ashley, who are both finishing their degrees at the University of Idaho in Moscow. At home, Elva is also mom to two schnauzers, Abbie and Jonesy.

When she’s not at work, you can often find Ms. Elva camping, knitting, sewing, working with pottery, or tending her garden. Most of all, she loves spending time with children, and she’s deeply honored to step into this new role at Whittier.

Thank you, Ms. Elva, for your continued support of our amazing Whittier students!

LOCAL RESTAURANTS DOUBLED DONATIONS

We want to take a moment and thank all the local restaurants that participated in our restaurant FUNdraisers last year! For the 2024/2025 school year, we received $2,377 in donations which is double what we received the year before.

For those who are new to the school, allow us to explain. When you order from a participating restaurant on the specific day and time of the fundraiser, the restaurant donates a portion of their sales to Whittier. We have one FUNdraiser every month, so be sure to check out the upcoming events (and when you order during the event, let the cashier know you’re there for the Whittier FUNdraiser!).

Our next restaurant FUNdraiser is 3 pm at Chuck E. Cheese on September 26.

volunteers keep community garden in full bloom

A big round of applause for the families who volunteered to keep the garden running through the summer! Your work really paid off. When school is in session, both students and staff are able to enjoy the bounty the community garden produces.

Do you have a green thumb? Even if you don’t, we would love to have more volunteers help in our community garden. Currently, we need:

Weekend weeding and watering
Lunchtime volunteers to lead small student groups during lunch recess to help in the garden
Spring volunteers to help with greenhouse watering

To learn more, check out Garden Club, fill out the Whittier Community Garden Survey, or email whittiercommunitygarden@gmail.com.

Upcoming Events

September

Picture day
- Date: September 17
Viking Village PTO meeting
- Location: Whittier Library
- Date: September 17
- Time: 4 pm
Restaurant FUNdraiser Night
- Location: Chuck E. Cheese: 6255 Fairview Ave
- Date: September 26
- Time: 3 pm
Whittier Fútbol Club practices
- Location: Whittier field
- Date: September 8-October 2
- Time: After school

October

Fútbol Jamboree
- Location: Whittier field
- Date: October 4
- Time: 9 am - 3 pm
Viking Village PTO meeting
- Location: Whittier Library
- Date: October 15
- Time: 4 pm
Restaurant FUNdraiser Night
- Location: Boise Fry Company: 204 N Capitol Blvd
- Date: October 21
- Time: 5:30 pm - 8 pm (Any orders placed prior to or after this timeline will not go toward the fundraiser)

Parenting resources

Take a look at this list of resources we've carefully curated for parents and families of Whittier. Click the pictures to learn more about safe smartphone usage, mental health, and Whittier's gifting page!

A "getting involved" cheat sheet

We always need more volunteers! Here's a quick glance at how you can get involved.

Get started by filling out the Viking Village Volunteer Form.
Attend a Viking Village meeting! Our meetings are the third Wednesday of every month at 4 pm in the school library.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Donate! If you have the means, please consider making a monetary donation to help support our initiatives for 2024-2025 and beyond.
Bookmark these resources:

Last but not least, thanks to our amazing volunteers!

We’d like to send out a huge thank you to all the volunteers who have dedicated time and energy to making Whittier an even more magical place.

Trula Timpane for coordinating restaurant nights
Layne Watkins for updating the reader board
Evelyn Bonilla for translating our meeting minutes

We absolutely could not do this without each and every one of you!

Connect with us on social media!

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