Banta Unified School District
January Update 2023
Superintendent's Corner
There is something very cathartic about January. A time of blank slates and new calendars hung on the wall. A time when everything is possible and opportunities are boundless. I have always loved January. A time to take stock of the past, a time to clean the house for the New Year, and a time to reflect on the last year and look forward to new memories.
This past December, my family was scheduled to take a trip of a lifetime. My father-in-law had arranged a trip to Antarctica for the entire family. Much preparation and planning went into this trip. Work schedules had to be coordinated, special permissions had to be arranged for time off, physical exams were conducted, and passports were renewed! It was quite the ordeal to get my family organized for this trip while we lived in five cities, three states, and two time zones! We hoped to see penguins and step foot on a new continent. We had so much excitement for our first-ever cruise and looked forward to spending two weeks surrounded by family.
Like many this holiday season, we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to board our flight, and unfortunately- things went downhill from there! Let’s just say that flights were canceled, connections were missed, baggage was lost, and time was spent sleeping on airport shuttles. Then the weather took center stage, a tornado hit the Dallas Airport, and flights to Argentina were canceled. Unfortunately, this meant that we missed the cruise, and penguins would not be in our future. We felt fortunate to get a flight out of Dallas when we did and arrived back in California in time for Christmas.
Fortunately, family members not coming from California were able to make connections and were able to sail to see the penguins. We lived vicariously through their photos and enjoyed catching up with them when they returned. For my family, though, it was a quiet holiday spent in the mountains, enjoying the rain and playing scrabble.
My family has always been a lover of Scrabble, and I never saw my father lose a game of Scrabble! I tried for years to beat him, to no avail. After my father died, I became the new Scrabble champion and have not lost a game for years. Well, that changed this holiday when my husband and daughter beat me at Scrabble! They were elated, pictures were taken of scorecards, texts were sent to siblings, and all rejoiced! Although their wins were short-lived, I won the next rounds; it was so funny to see how we treasure family memories and traditions!
I look forward to this January and this New Year! I look forward to the many new traditions we will start, the new memories we will make, and the trips we will hopefully take! I can guarantee that I will practice my Scrabble game and gear up for the next family tournament!
Happy New Year from the District Office to you!
Mrs. Pearlman
Me Losing my first Scrabble game to my husband!
How we spent our Holiday with Hank!
My father in law's penguin photo!
Important Dates for January 2023
Jan 16th – MLK Holiday – NO School
Jan 18th - PFA/DLAC/LCAP Meeting 6:00 PM
Jan. 20th – Second Trimester progress reports grades 4-8.
Jan 27th – 100th Day of School
Feb.6th - Read a thon
Feb.8th - Family Science night
Feb 13th – Board Holiday– No School
Feb 14th – Valentine’s Day
Feb 17th - Daddy /Daughter Dance
Feb 20th – President’s Day– No School
Principal's Message
Welcome back, Mustang Families! I hope you all had a restful winter break with time to enjoy precious moments with family and friends.
It's a brand new year and a great time to reflect on how far we've come this school year - we're already mid-way through the second trimester! The 100th day of school is quickly approaching on January 27th!
During these next few months, we will begin to see the most growth from our students. This is largely due to instructional routines both at school and at home. Parents can encourage students to stay academically strong by ensuring their child gets enough sleep, by promoting use of their planner to assist with organization, and by engaging in discussions about school life, sports and other exciting topics.
If you are interested in volunteering and helping at Banta, I encourage you to participate in our Parent Faculty Association and School Site Council. Please contact the school office and let us know you're interested. We'd love to have you!
I hope that this new year will bring many moments of happiness and blessings to your family!
¡Espero que este nuevo año traiga muchos momentos de felicidad y bendiciones para su familia!
¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Maxie
PFA/ DLAC / LCAP Meeting
Next Meeting: January 18, 2023
6:00 p.m. in the school cafeteria.
Please join us at our monthly parent and staff meeting!
Character Counts -Pillar of the Month- Citizenship
Do your share to make your school and community better • Cooperate • Get involved in community affairs • Stay informed; vote • Be a good neighbor • Obey laws and rules • Respect authority • Protect the environment • Volunteer in your community
Mustang Soccer has a winning season!
Banta Elementary School's soccer team had a winning regular season with a record of 4-3, and they finished off their year with a third place victory in the local tournament on Dec. 9.
Nurse's Corner
Let's Talk about Lice
Myths:
1. It is easy to get lice and cutting a person’s hair will prevent head lice
2. Lice are dirty and spread disease
3. Lice can survive many days off of people or lice can fall off a person’s head, hatch, and cause another person to get lice
4. Lice are commonly spread throughout schools and you can get it from sitting next to someone with lice
5. Schools and child-care facilities should screen all children for head lice
6. “no-nit” policies reduce the risk of head lice in schools and child-care facilities.
Facts:
1. Lice are much harder to get than a cold, the flu, ear infections, pink eye, and strep throat. The length of a person’s hair does not impact the risk of getting lice
2. Lice do not spread any known disease, nor are they impacted by dirty or clean hygiene
3. Head lice need a blood meal every few hours and the warmth of the human scalp to survive. Nits are glued to the hair shaft by a cement-like substance and are very hard to remove.
4. Head lice are spread through direct head-to-head contact. The lice do not jump, hop, or fly. Sitting next to someone will not increase the risk of getting the lice, therefore, making transmission through schools rare. It is more common to get lice from family and overnight guests.
5. Having regularly scheduled mass screenings does not reduce the incidence of head lice
6. Research shows that “no-nit” policies do not decrease the number of cases of head lice. They do increase the risk of incorrect diagnosis of head lice, the number of days children are out of school, and the negative social stigma associated with head lice
Cold and Flu Season is Here!
Myths about colds and the flu:
Colds and the flu are caused by going outside in cold weather
Colds and the flu can be caught by going outside with wet hair
Antibiotics are needed to treat a cold or the flu
The flu shot will give me the flu
The flu is just a bad cold
Facts about colds and the flu:
Viruses in the flu shot are not active or alive and cannot cause you to get the flu
Antibiotics do not treat or cure colds or the flu
Colds and the flu are caused by viruses.
The best way to prevent catching a cold or the flu is to get the flu vaccine, practice good hand hygiene, and get plenty of sleep.
Does Your Student Have Health Concerns?
Our priority here at Banta Elementary is to keep your kids safe at school. The best way for us to be able to do that is to be aware of any medical or health needs that your child may have. This could include medications that need to be brought to school or health conditions that we would need to know about in an emergency.
Did you know: California state law allows for students to keep medications at school? The law requires that the physician of the child complete a form that gives us all of the information that we would need to know to safely give that medication to your child. Please contact the school office if you would like a copy of the medication form!
Importance of Dental Care for Children
• One out of 10 two-year-olds already have one or more cavities
• By age three, 28% of children have one or more cavities.
• By age five, nearly 50% of children have one or more cavities.
• American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommend that all children see a pediatric dentist and establish a “dental home” by age one.
• Early checkups prevent cavities and tooth decay, which can lead to pain, trouble concentrating, and other medical issues.
Get Help Accessing Denti-Cal Services for Children up to Age 20!
Get Help Accessing Denti-Cal Services for Children up to Age 20!
San Joaquin Treatment & Education for Everyone on Teeth & Health (SJ TEETH) Care Coordinators can help families:
• Identify and select a dental home
• Secure dental appointments
• Support attendance to appointments by addressing barriers
For more information, dial 2-1-1 or contact:
San Joaquin County Office of Education
PO Box 213030
Stockton, Ca 95213
Adriana Cortés Solorio
209-401-4606
First 5 San Joaquin: 209-953-5437 | sjckids@sjgov.org | www.sjkids.org
Food Service
Another successful month is behind us. If there is a favorite item, you would like to see on the menu, please send me an email with your student’s favorite items to Jaanderson@bantasd.org.
Holiday Card Contest Winner
Second grader Ruby Sanchez was named the runner-up in the San Joaquin County Office of Education Holiday Card Art Contest. Her drawing was among dozens of entrees made by students from TK through high school across the county. Honoring her in Mrs. Jackson's classroom was County Superintendent of Schools Troy Brown.
Winter Program!
The Librarian's Corner
Happy New Year! Buon anno! It’s a whole new year and in the Banta library we have a whole new slate of activities and ideas for fun and literacy. We have received a Donor’s Choose Makey Makey stem project so we will be planning a story time around that in January. We also will have our furry friends back with us in January and they will be reading with our Special Day friends in Mrs. DeRoos’ class on the 10th of January. We will have a few games and New Year’s theme that day. Great fun will be had by all that choose to participate.
Our Glow in the Dark storytime was such a hit with our 3rd and 4th graders that we will be bringing it to our younger friends and adapting it a bit. We will have egg shakers that glow with a song and a story and a Draw and Tell. We will talk about constellations as we have a few of them up in the library at the moment with our Glow-in-the-Dark stars.
Additionally, we are strengthening our relationship with our older students as we will be planning an Anime Day for our 6th and 8th graders in February. This will be a day that will celebrate all things Anime, including making buttons from popular books, sprites from Totoro, sushi candy and Pokemon activities. This activity is still in its planning stages but will be a lot of fun for our older students.
We are still adding books to our collections as we have added new shelves and need to fill them with books that students want to read. If you have a book recommendation make sure to submit it to my honeycomb journal as I will include when we do the next order. Other than that we are cleaning, sorting, shelf reading and shuffling our Dewey shelves to try to keep them in better order. The library needs volunteers from the actual school to help keep it going so if anyone is interested please send me an email at emcdaniel@bantasd.org or call me at 209-647-0774.
Happy 2023 to all of our Banta Readers!
Cheers,
Dr. McDaniel
Parent, Faculty Association/ DLAC / LCAP
In our monthly meetings, we actively share ongoing academic successes and needs for all students, especially those learning English as a second language.
Meeting Days and Time Wednesdays from 6:00-7:00 p.m. in the school cafeteria.
● January 18, 2023
● February 15, 2023
● April 19, 2023
Look Who's At Banta
This month's Look Who's At Banta profile features Director of Student Services NelLaine Kilgore. Each month "Banta Bios" will highlight a Banta Elementary School staff member's educational background, training and what they like to do outside the classroom
Director of Student Services NelLaine Kilgore, originally from Walla Walla Washington
Family:
Husband, son and three dogs
Educational Background:
Bachelors of Science degree and Masters in Communication Disorders from the University of Pacific in Stockton, and a Masters in Administration from the Teachers College in San Joaquin. She has been at Banta for 5 years starting in speech therapy and then she became the coordinator of Special Education. Her son, who is a special needs child, spearheaded her desire to get into her current occupation. She said it has enabled her to see both sides of the table: parent of a special needs child and a school staff member working with likeminded parents.
Hobbies:
An avid traveler as a child from a military family living in various countries, she said she now prefers being a homebody and spending time in her flower garden. Her flower of choice are pansies and she transformed her backyard into a tropical oasis getaway with hanging plants and palm trees. During her downtime she enjoys reading historical autobiographies and her most recent was the life of Mary Todd Lincoln after the assignation of her presidential husband. She also enjoys relaxing at the family cabin where she and her family reconnect and disconnect from the outside world. The cabin is also their starting point to explore nearby Santa Cruz and the local beaches. She said she is now starting to get back into traveling with her family due to the love of travel by her son. Next Summer they plan to visit family in Texas and make a visit to Four Corners Monument where the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah meet.