Everything you need to know about what’s happening around Pioneer this month, without making you search for it.

October Events

ALL MONTH: FUND DRIVE

Which grades will earn extra recess?

Oct 6:Grants Due

Oct 9: 🚲 Bike Bus

Oct 14: Walk N Roll

Oct. 15: Board & Community Meeting 💙

Oct 16: 🚲 Bike Bus

Oct 23: 🚲 Bike Bus

Oct 23: Trunk or Treat 🎃

Oct 25: Garden Work Party

Oct 30: 🚲 Bike Bus

Oct 30: Spirit Gear Orders Due (Link coming soon)

October To Dos

Donate to the Annual Fund Drive
Sign up for our Trunk or Treat!
Have an idea for Pioneer? Submit your Grant by Oct 6!
Check out our School Closure & Consolidation Info page
Check the "Help This Month" page

❤️ Volunteer of the Month ❤️
Kate Petrulius

🌟 Community Spotlight 🌟
LindseyTrimble's SUP Witches Festival

ANNUAL FUND DRIVE IS ON NOW

Our Bear Cub families are coming together to support our school.

This year, it’s all about PARTICIPATION!

The grade with the highest level of participating families wins EXTRA RECESS the following week!

GIVE NOW!

💛 Any donation amount counts toward your grade’s participation.
🏆 Grades are competing for the highest percentage of families participating.
🎉 Each Friday’s leading grade level earns EXTRA RECESS the next week!
🍦 And the grade with the highest participation at the end of the drive gets to choose the ultimate prize:

SILLY STRING THE PRINCIPAL
or
TURN THE PRINCIPAL INTO A HUMAN SUNDAE!

Every family can help their student's grade climb the leaderboard.
No gift is too small!

CLICK HERE TO GIVE NOW!

Click HERE for more information and FAQ

VOLUNTEER with Pioneer PTA in 2026-27

Volunteering with the PTA is a great way families can support the students and staff at our school. We have opportunities to fit any interest or schedule:

One-hour shifts at events
Committee chair positions
Opportunities for administrative work on your own time

Specific roles/areas we are looking for:

Arts Enrichment (click HERE)
Olympia Junior Programs (click HERE)
Events & Fundraising Committee (click HERE)

If you have another idea or program you'd like to see from the PTA, we'd love to talk about how you can help make it happen! Check out the PTA website’s Volunteer webpage or email volunteer@pioneerpta.com.

Contact Flavia at volunteer@pioneerpta.com

Oct. 15, 6:00 pm
Pioneer Library

We’re still finalizing the agenda, but we’re planning a format similar to last month’s, with a conversation about a possible after-school arts enrichment program.

A few things to look forward to:

Snacks and drinks (you already know we’re passionate about good snacks)
A little board business
Time to share ideas and ask questions
A chance to learn more about volunteering at Pioneer
Social time @ Pints Barn (114 E St SW, Tumwater) after the meeting

Please know that one of our main goals moving forward is to provide childcare in the Pioneer Gym from 6:00-8:00 pm for any meeting attendees. We are partnering with Olympia High School Leadership to make this happen and hope to have everything set up for November 2026.

Please reach out with any questions about attending meetings! I hope to see you there!

What’s Happening at Pioneer

Calling All Ghouls & Goblins: It’s Trunk or Treat Time!

We’re brewing up something spooktacular this year:
Pioneer's Trunk or Treat on Friday, Oct. 23 from 5:30–7:30pm!

We're looking for trick-or-treaters in costume, trunk decorators, helpers, and candy donations! Sign up HERE

There will be pizza and drinks available for purchase.
Cash is preferred.
Please keep trunks and costumes school-appropriate.

Learn more HERE

Bike Bus Is Back! Every Friday in Oct!

What’s a bike bus?
Take your two wheels on the fastest-growing bike bus in town!
Check out our routes to find the best time and place for you to join us!
Parents, teen siblings, and volunteers welcome to join.
Help us keep this program fun and safe!

PTA Grants!

First Opportunity to Request PTA Grants

Three times a year, the PTA offers grants to members of the Pioneer community, kid ideas encouraged!, for goods, services, or activities that benefit Pioneer students. The first round of submissions are due Tuesday, Oct. 6. Grant Committee review meetings are held on the Thursday after the due date and are open to all; approvals are made at the PTA board meeting the next week. Forms can be found HERE.

Bear Cub Garden

Follow the garden on Instagram HERE for updates, needs, work parties, and what's ready to harvest.

Join us on Oct. 25 at 10:00 for a Garden Work Party!

Tasks include:

adding soil to beds
cutting raspberries down
installing fencing
seed harvesting
organizing the shed

We need helping hands!

Email Kate Petrulis at gardens@pioneerpta.com to get involved!

Stop by the Pioneer Library during conferences October 26th-29th and support the library with your purchases at our Scholastic Book Fair! Students will be checking out the book fair with their class in the morning, October 26th-30th (teachers will notify you of the date). You can explore a preview and set up an ewallet (preferred for morning shopping) here.

We need volunteers to staff the checkout station from 11:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Monday-Thursday, and to help break down the fair on Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Feel free to bring your children while you volunteer!

If you can't volunteer, consider donating via “Share the Fair.” This fund allows parents, community members, and businesses to help ensure every student who wants a book gets one!

Click here: Share the Fair

Track Stars

Each recess your student has the opportunity to run laps to complete their track card (one lap = 1 punch on their track card). With every track card completed, your student will earn an opportunity to win a token from Humble Cow which is drawn once a month. At the end of the year, the classroom with the most mileage will receive an ice cream cake to celebrate! When students reach a certain mileage (25 miles, 50 miles, 75 miles, etc) they will be recognized!
Happy running, everyone!

Passport Club

Passport Club is back! The program begins in October, and 2nd-5th graders who sign up will be tested on the countries they have studied at the end of each month. Each child who decides to participate will receive a passport, choose a level of study and collect “stamps” for the passport as they learn some or all of the world’s countries over the course of the school year. They will earn fun prizes as well for their efforts! The goal of this program is to plant the seeds of global literacy to increase knowledge and understanding of the world.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!
We have 137 students participating and only 3 volunteers signed up to help with testing, so please join us for any testing dates that work for you. It’s really fun and you will have a map to help you! October testing will be the busiest -- we are hoping to have at least 15 volunteers. Click HERE to sign up

Thank you! If you have questions, please email Emilia at emiliasnow14@gmail.com.

Coming Soon...

Author Visit! Corinna Luyken

Author and illustrator, Corinna Luyken,
is coming to Pioneer on November 5th!

All students will learn about her books in library and have the opportunity to participate in a collaborative project welcoming her to our building.
Ms. Beattie is very excited to listen and learn about Corinna’s art process, how she loves changing people’s perspectives, and her new middle grade chapter book coming soon! Look out for an online order form from Browser’s Bookshop to order books before the event!

HUGE thanks to one of our Pioneer families for submitting a grant for this author visit!!

❤️ Volunteer of the Month: Kate Petrulius ❤️

Kate gives so much of her time and care to our school. She leads the school garden, talent show, and school play, and brings warmth and positive energy to everything she takes on. We are SO lucky to have her!

Want to spend some time in the garden with Kate?
Join us for a garden clean-up on Oct. 25 at 10:00 am.

"Kate is someone who makes everything better just by being part of it. Co-Chairing the Talent Show has been such a gift. She pays attention to all the small details, stays calm when things get crazy, and is always willing to help. What I appreciate most about Kate is how much she care she puts into making sure every child feels welcomes, included, and important. And that care has extended to our Pioneer Garden. She hasn't just planted crops, shes' created a space that feels warm, welcome, and full of community. "

- Kristi Rutledge
Pioneer Behavior Specialist

Kate, the time and care you give Pioneer make a difference for our whole school community. THANK YOU!

🌟 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 🌟

Highlighting the people and organizations doing good things in and around our Pioneer community.

This month’s spotlight: Lindsey Trimble
Pioneer Parent + Co-Founder of SUP Witches

Lindsey is a Pioneer parent and one of the founders of SUP Witches and their annual Paddleboarding Festival is coming up on Oct. 10.

What is SUP Witches?
SUP Witches Olympia is a community event established in 2023 by 3 moms who enjoy Halloween and stand-up paddleboarding. This charity event for the Thurston County Food Bank and PRIDE has over 180 witches on paddle boards, kayaks, and canoes registered, and they are SOLD OUT. The coven launches the parade of witches starting at Swantown Marina, paddling to Percival Landing and back.

This year SUP Witches partnered with PNW Events and will have a festival of vendors, live music, and performances AND a costume contest.

The paddle parade is 11:00 - 1:00 pm and is SOLD OUT.

Festival is 10:00 -3:00 pm held next to Hearthfire Restaurant.

September has been such a great start to the school year. There’s been so much work happening behind the scenes, and I'm so grateful to be surrounded by such an amazing team. One highlight from September was our first Board & Community meeting. More than 30 people showed up and contributed to the discussion! I loved hearing about why they were in the room. I left feeling like our goal of having fun and bringing the joy is off to a great start.

Our fundraising team has carried that fun into our Annual Fund Drive. It’s been pretty great to see donations come in and watch to see which grade will earn extra recess this week. Stay tuned for that update later today! The Bike Bus (on Fridays in Oct.) has been a real joy lately, too. Come ride with us on Fridays, and say hi if you see me out there.

The school closure and consolidation discussions have also been on my mind; if it has been on yours as well, there’s still time to share feedback at upcoming events, specifically the hearing for the proposed closure of our neighbor school, McKenny Elementary, on Oct. 12. Our website has event information and a form for your questions, and we’ll keep updating it as we learn more.

Lastly, I can’t wait to see everyone at Trunk or Treat on October 23. I’m so excited to see what everyone comes up with this year!

From, Kelsey
Mom of Brady (1st grade) and Owen (5th grade)
Email me at president@pioneerpta.com

Our Pioneer Calendar

Monday, October 5

Annual Fund Drive is LIVE! GIVE NOW!

Friday, October 9

8:00a Bike Bus

Monday, October 12

Annual Fund Drive is LIVE! GIVE NOW!

Wednesday, October 14

8:00a Walk N Roll

Thursday, October 15