Eating together with my family is one of the most important events in my family. Since our kids were little, we managed to eat dinner together as a family almost every night. As they grew up, this got more and more complicated due to busy schedules, but we always managed to sit to eat dinner most nights. Sitting together as a family to have a meal allow us to help our children feel comfortable sharing important events in their lives. We started with highlight and lowlights and eventually transitioned to just going around and sharing. As you know, having teenagers speak freely is a very challenging thing to do. Getting them used to talking to you on a regular basis helps tremendously.

The American Heart Association states that "these days, we eat more food away from home compared to generations before us. Eating together with your family for about 20 minutes only three to five times a week is all it takes to enjoy many benefits of family mealtime." They also provide the following tips to increase your time together as a family:

Quick Fixes: Click here for a few options to try for last-minute family meals when there's no time to shop.

Have the Kids Help: Click here for some tips to get kids interested in cooking. When kids help cook, healthy family meals are easier!

Meal Planning: Click here for Benefits and How-To's of Family Dinners

We would love to feature Vikan families eating together. If you'd like to be featured in our newsletter, please email us a picture of your family spending time together. Let's promote family time!!

Stay strong Vikan!!

Principal Velez

Attention Vikan Parents/Guardians! We are in need of a Girls Soccer Coach and Boys Soccer Coach for the upcoming 2023 Spring Sports season starting in March! This is a paid position with practices and games Tuesday through Friday only and will run through the beginning of May. If you are interested, please contact Mr. Mogensen (Athletic Director) with more information at jmogensen@sd27j.net

Next week we will begin ACCESS testing at Vikan. This test is ONLY for students that are non-english proficient or have a limited english proficiency. The test is not administered to all students. ACCESS is a computer-based, adaptive test that responds to student performance. This assessment is given annually to students in Grades 1-12 and tests students' language in four domains: Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing. Students will start with Listening and Reading tests next week.