If you want to be a part of one of Atlas’ Relay for Life teams this year, you must email Brandon Leibowitz by Friday, March 12, at 5 p.m. Please specify whether you’re interested in being the team captain or simply want to participate and have a good time! Once we have a full list of team members, we’ll get things rolling and get ready for a successful Relay!
The banquet survey is finally up and running! If you plan on coming to the banquet (which everyone should), fill out the survey by this Sunday, March 14, at 11 p.m. Remember, we really are encouraging you to ask your parents to come so that they can see the amazing organization you’re a part of. The banquet will be held on Saturday, March 20, from noon to 4 p.m. and will cost $20 per person (trust me though, it will be worth it).
We also are asking for anyone interested in speaking at the banquet for a few minutes to email me back and let me know. We speak enough! We want people from each year (freshman through senior) to speak about their thoughts on the year, how they were impacted by Atlas this year, their greatest accomplishment or favorite moment with Atlas, etc. There! is a lo t of freedom to speak about what you’d like to, so if you’re interested in giving a speech email me back and let me know what you’d like to speak about. If there are too many people who want to speak, the exec board will have to decide who gets to speak. I hope that you understand… We can’t have too many people speak, but we don’t want to choose who will speak right now. Rather, we want to give you the opportunity to let us know that you want to speak and what you want to speak about.
If you have any questions about the banquet feel free to ask!
The pre-election meeting will be held on March 16 at 8:30 p.m. in the Grandfather Clock Lounge in Atherton Hall. Whether you’re seriously considering running or you just want to learn about what we do, feel free to come to the meeting. If you are running for a position, though, this meeting is required. Directions: If you’re coming from the College Ave side, go up the stairs when you walk in, make a right and the room will be on your left. If you’re coming from the White Building side, make a left when you walk in and the room will be on your left.
I need more pictures from the year for this slideshow! Please, if you have any pictures from any events this year, send them to me so I can put them in the slideshow. I’m not going through people’s Facebooks to get pictures, so please send me files with pictures! If you can, send them by this Friday, March 12.
On March 20th, from noon to 4 p.m. Atlas will be having its first ever banquet! We’ll be having a nice lunch, giving out some awards, listening to some speeches, and dancing! It’s the first time we’ve ever done this, and we really expect it to be an amazing event. The cost will be about $15 per person, and we will have HUB hours the week we get back from break to collect money. Both of our families are coming to this, and we also encourage you to ask your parents if they’d like to come as well. We want them to see the amazing group that you’ve become a part of and to see what you’ve been putting in so much effort for. I’m going to put up an ANGEL survey for everyone to fill out once we know the exact price (probably this Friday). If you want to come to the banquet, you must fill out the survey by next Friday (3/12). I’ll send out an email letting you know that I’ve put the survey up. Get excited for the banquet—it is going to be amazing!
If you are considering running for one of the exec board positions, we will be having a meeting during the week we get back from break that you are required to attend. At the meeting, each current exec board member will go over what they do for the team, specifically what happens behind the scenes and what makes the job both difficult and rewarding. We also want you to talk to the current chair of whatever position(s) you’re thinking about running for so that you have a better idea of what they do. I’ll send an email with the exact day of the meeting, but it will probably be around 8 p.m. in Atherton Hall so keep your schedule as flexible as possible please.
You will also be required to fill out an application if you plan to run for any positions. Those will go out after the meeting we have the week we get back…
Also, please do not be intimidated or think that you are not up to the challenge of being an exec board member, regardless of your year or how long you’ve been in Atlas. I truly believe in all of you and think that no matter who wins the elections, Atlas is in good hands next year. I ran for an exec board position when I was a freshman and being on the exec board my sophomore year really prepared me for this year (it also was a lot of fun!). If you’re interested in talking about it just contact us and we’ll be happy to talk to you!
We are putting together a slideshow with pictures and videos from the entire year! If you have any pictures or videos you want in the slideshow, please send them to me, Dan Levy, as soon as possible. Pictures from canning, social events, family events, etc. are perfect! But please do not use any pictures showing red cups, milk & cookies, or anything like that. If you want to use pictures from the formal or another “wet” social, make sure they’re appropriate. Basically, just use your common sense. I trust you all… except Staloff.
This year Atlas is sponsoring a Relay for Life team! Just because THON is over, that doesn’t mean we’re not a team. We really could make this event amazing and memorable if we put good effort into it. Our team will be 100% supported by Atlas and the exec board, but we want someone who is interested in making Atlas a part of Relay to become the team captain. This would be an awesome job and with so many great leaders on the team, I’m sure our Relay team will be great! Relay for Life is on April 10, so things need to get moving quickly. If you want to be the team captain or want to be a part of the Atlas Relay for Life team, just email Brandon Leibowitz!
Sadly Jacob Budin, Atlas’s Web developer, is graduating this semester. That means that we’ll need someone to take over as our Web guru after he graduates. If you know HTML/CSS, PHP, and SQL and would like to be the next Web guru, email me, Dan Levy, back to let me know. We could also split up the job, with one person running the website, one running our Twitter, etc. The possibilities are endless, so feel free to email me back with your ideas!
As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or thoughts!
We are having a meeting this Sunday night at 8 p.m. in 10 Sparks. Oh you thought we were done for the year? Not a chance! Be prepared for some awesome events in the next few months with Atlas! At this Sunday’s meeting we’ll reminisce about THON weekend and celebrate our accomplishments from the year, so please make it out to Sparks on Sunday night. We may have some leftovers from THON weekend, even if I’m not sure they’re still good at this point.
UPUA is holding a fund-raiser tomorrow (Friday, 2/26) night to raise money for Jon Quigley’s memorial bench. They will be selling late night snacks from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. Saturday morning! They’ll have pretzels ($1), nachos ($3), water bottles ($1), and hot dogs ($2), so please stop by and enjoy some late night food with them!
And I have to put it in here… Please be safe this weekend. Everyone wants to have fun but just remember to be safe in whatever you do.
I’m extremely tired right now but I wanted to take a minute to express how proud I am of all of us right now.
For those of you who haven’t heard yet, Atlas raised $266,128.33 this year for THON! Not only is that about a $50,000 increase, but the way we did it makes me even more proud. We raised more in THONvelopes, corporate contacts, alternative fundraising, and canning than ever before! Even when our backs were against the wall and mother nature decided we couldn’t can on street corners, our enthusiasm and pure desire to raise as much as we could for the kids helped us come up with some creative ways of fundraising and raise a ton of money for the kids.
Also, THONvelopes and corporate contacts were much more successful this year than in any years past. That is a direct result of the effort that all of you are willing to give. This group is so awesome, isn’t it?
I also don’t think enough can be said about the quality of the stands this weekend. This year I honestly was in the stands far less than in other years, but I honestly did not have to worry one bit about the stands being boring and people not knowing what to do. You were there all night and all day, waving the letters and signs, dancing that weird dance you guys made, eating the food that Dave and Troy got, and most of all, supporting our dancers. Although we did have some setbacks with the pass list when dancers’ families couldn’t get on, people willingly gave up their time slot so that the dancers’ parents could go on. That is not something I take lightly. That is just a microcosm of the team-first attitude that our organization has developed over this year. We are a team, not just a group of different people sharing similar goals. We have become more than that and it has been such a pleasure and honor to be a part of that.
Whether we had raised $500,000 or $50,000 I would have been just as proud, and I mean that. This team has shown so much pride and enthusiasm that it didn’t matter to me how much we raised. I feel lucky just to be allowed the opportunity to be on this team. I hope you think the same thing too.
Again, great job everyone, not only in fundraising but in the stands this weekend as well!
P.S. I’m extremely sad this THON year is over. I do not want it to end… I’ve made so many friends and had so many memories from Atlas, and I honestly do not want them to stop. I love every second of the hard work we put into Atlas, and I’m sad to see another year finish.
Ashlie Huss and Kirsten Quisenberry worked tirelessly to make this THON Weekend Newsletter (.pdf, 1.1MB) perfect so make sure you take the time to fully read it (it will only take about 10 minutes). It has info about our dancers, our families, and a schedule of events for THON weekend. It doesn’t have all the answers to everything, but it should serve as a brief guide to being in the stands and on the floor this weekend….so read it please!
So Steve Patrick had the awesome idea of having me send out the absolute basic info about our two families so that you are ready to talk to and hang out with them this weekend. I know we throw a lot of info at you guys at times, so hopefully having this info will help you out. I’ll just bullet the basics for each family:
Smiths:
Brobsons:
If you want to help reserve our seats for THON Weekend, please call Troy Stram (717-586-0197) or Mike Russo (551-404-5170)! and let them know. They plan to get to the BJC at 12:30pm to wait in line, so the more people that come, the more breaks each person can take to warm up or nap or relax. Also, with more people we have a better shot at getting the seats we want!
See you at movie night! We’ll be watching the Four Diamonds movie!
Upcoming pre-THON events:
You can pick up THON weekend merchandise tonight or tomorrow night at the social events (above). If you can’t make either of them, email Chad Ebersole to find a time to pick up your goods. Please, if you can make it at all tonight or tomorrow, come then.
You can pick up merchandise from the previous orders tonight or tomorrow night at the social events as well. If you can’t pick them up, email me, Dan Levy, back and we can arrange a time for you to come over and pick up your goods. If they are not picked up by THON weekend or you have not emailed me, they will be available for other people to buy THON weekend.
Tonight (Monday, 2/15) at 8 p.m. in 106 Sackett we will be having a pre-THON workshop! Whether you’re new to THON and want to learn the ropes or you’re a seasoned veteran who wants a refresher or to help rookies out, we’d love to have you there tonight. This is your chance to learn the do’s and don’ts of THON weekend, find out what to expect, and get yourself ready for this weekend!
More pre-THON Atlas events:
You can hand in dancer mail at any of the Atlas events this week (tonight, Wednesday, or Thursday), and we’ll make sure that the dancers get it all. As for kids mail, you must go to the HUB today and hand in the kids mail to Kevin Swanson. He’ll be in room 332 HUB from 4:30 p.m. until about 9 p.m. so if you want to hand in kids mail you must go there today. Make sure when you go there you say you have stuff for Kevin, and make sure that he gets it.
If you have not picked up merchandise (excluding THON weekend merchandise), you must pick it up before THON weekend. You can pick it up on Wednesday or Thursday at one of our social events. If you do not pick up your goods at one of these events before THON weekend, your goods will be available for other people to buy. If you can’t make either of the events, email me back and I’ll give you my address so you can come pick up your merchandise! Thanks
Sri Yelamarty wrote up an email that we can all use to send to our friends and family. It focuses on this being the final week of fundraising and should be able to help us raise some more money leading into THON weekend! Feel free to send it as an email, Facebook message, and so on! Download the message here (.doc, 29KB). Please take a few minutes to send it to some of your friends and family.
This Friday (2/12) we’re having our 2nd annual Valentine’s Day Flower Sale! Roses are $3 apiece or $36 for a dozen with a bag of Hershey Kisses included. Spread the word and if you have a special someone in your life you want to buy flowers for, buy from our flower sale!
You can pay for your THON weekend merchandise at this Sunday’s meeting (8 p.m. in 10 Sparks). The merchandise will be distributed at one of our pre-THON events next week. Just look for when in one of my emails or listen for it at the meeting on Sunday.
If you didn’t get an email telling you which group you’re in, that means you are in Group 5, which will be choosing their time slot on Sunday after the meeting.
Some people have been asking about what to put in dancer mail or kids mail, so I thought I’d give some tips so you can make some mail!
For dancer mail: You have a few options. You can write a personal message (serious or not), an inside joke, or anything else personal between you two, or you can write general things like: “Keep it up! You’re almost there! FTK! Love, Atlas” or just a funny joke. It’s not weird or anything to make a bunch of generic dancer mail. Remember, they’ll be completely delirious and tired when they read this. Anything that makes them smile or perks them up is perfect!
For kids mail: The options are a little different. You do not want to put anything about their treatment, cancer, or that you hope they get better. Don’t even mention those types of things. What you want to put in kids mail is funny jokes, cool pictures, etc. Tell them you hope they’re having a great weekend or write a kid joke. Be silly—they’re kids… the sillier you are, the better. You can write mail to one of our THON kids: Victoria, Claire, Will (Claire’s older brother), or Gabe (Claire’s younger brother), or you can write general kids mail that goes to other kids. Honestly, there are some kids that won’t get much mail at all, so by taking a few minutes to make some general kids mail, you’ll be giving more kids more smiles.
Once you’re done making some kids mail this week, you can take it to the Ryan Howard raffle table from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Someone will be there this Wednesday (2/10) to Friday (2/12) so you can drop it off with them. Make sure you put the dancer’s number on the back of the piece of mail, or that you put “Atlas” on the back of the kids mail you make for our THON kids.
Here are our dancers and their numbers:
I will be sending out an email about Facebook fundraising tomorrow afternoon. Take time to read that because it could make a huge difference this year if we all put effort into it and do it well.
We are in an extreme need of drivers for this coming canning weekend. We currently have 62 people signed up for weekend trips, with driving spots for only 41. Please, if you are able to drive, sign up on ANGEL as soon as possible. This is the last fundraising weekend of THON 2010, so let’s make it another big one!
Also, we need more canners for this canning weekend! We’ve broken records every canning weekend this year and have worked so hard to get to where we are, but if we don’t can hard and finish strong we are devaluing our previous efforts. Great teams don’t lessen their efforts near the end of the season—they keep pushing and working hard until they’ve accomplished their goals. I know everyone has exams coming up and things they need to do, but remember what we do this for. So many people regret not doing more once they experience THON weekend… don’t let that happen to you. If there is any way you can go canning, please go.
Points from this canning weekend will carry over to Atlas points for next year, which is important for anyone trying to dance in THON 2011. The sign-ups are being extended until Tuesday, February 9 at 5:00 p.m.
Tonight (Monday, 2/8) we are having a "Meet the Dancers” get-together in Atherton Hall’s basement at 8 p.m.! Last year this meeting was a lot of fun—we get to know the dancers, make some dancer mail, make the posters for all the dancers, etc. Make sure to be here because this meeting is going to be awesome! If you have trouble getting into Atherton Hall (on the corner of Shortlidge Rd. and College Ave.), just give me a call (215-518-1637). See you there!
We are having a meeting this Sunday at 2 p.m. in 10 Sparks (that’s right, it’s at 2 p.m.). We only have two more meetings left before THON weekend, so please make sure to come to this meeting. We’ll be telling the Smiths’ story, so if you want to learn more about them this will be a great meeting for you to come to! I’ll see you there!
We’re going bowling with the Smiths tomorrow night! It’s just $10 per person for 2 hours of bowling, shoes, pizza, and soda! We have a list of people who signed up on Angel, but everyone is welcome to come! The people on the list will get in cars first and we’ll take as many other people as we can! We really want this to be a big, fun event so if you can come (and if you have a car especially) please come! We’re meeting at Atherton Hall at 5:15 p.m. Call me (215-518-1637) if you can’t find us.
Come out to THON Hoops this Saturday at the BJC as the Penn State men’s basketball team plays Minnesota! The Smith family is coming to the event, so this is another awesome opportunity to hang out with them! The game starts at 2 p.m. and tickets are $5. Meg will be standing inside the BJC at Gate A by 1:30 p.m. for everyone who wants to meet up and go into the game together! Call her (267-229-9834) if you get lost or need her for anything.
Canning Sign-ups are on ANGEL for the fourth and final canning weekend, February 12-14. Please help us make this last push for the final canning weekend. We have had a great year canning, so let’s keep it up! If you are going with a committee or on a day-trip, there are options on the form so please sign-up on there.