Our PTA met last week to plan some family events for December and January! (A huge thank you to all of the families who came to the PTA meeting last week to help with the planning!) I have heard from many of you how much you appreciated the Whitman family events in previous years, so we are excited to get them started again!

We hope to see you all at Family Game Night on Tuesday, December 13!

Wishing you a restful and safe fall break,

Ms. Thompson

We hope that you have a safe and restful break and that you are able to use the time to recover from any illnesses that may have found their way into your home or with your student(s). As has been talked about in the news, and with many PPS family communications, there are many illnesses that have been hitting our communities recently. Some illnesses are causing greater illness than we would like and are definitely challenging. Please know that childhood illnesses are a normal part of "exercising" children's immune systems (and adults, too) and in general, children should normally be sick 3-5 times a year. Because some children have not been "exercising" their immune systems as much in these past couple of years, we are seeing an expected amount of "catching up", especially recently. Please know that at school, we are maintaining as many respiratory and illness preventative measures as before, but the following can be helpful tips that can be helpful to keep you, your family, and community, as healthy as possible.

• Stay home if you are feeling unwell, follow the PPS Self-Screening Checklist (link to resource - https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/265/PPS_self-screening_checklist_22-23.pdf) to know when to stay home and when to come to school
• Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands
• Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your upper shirt sleeve, not your hands
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
• Avoid close contact, such as kissing, shaking hands, and sharing cups and eating utensils, with others, when they are sick
• Stay up to date on preventable disease vaccinations, and vaccinations for Covid-19 and the Flu, if you are able
• Wear a mask when indoors in public places throughout the respiratory virus season
• Frequently clean touched surfaces such as doorknobs and mobile devices

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to Ms. Tay or Reggie in the Office, School Health Assistant, Ms. Erin, or myself and we will be happy to help support you and your family.

Take Care,

Nurse Shannon and School Health Assistant Ms. Erin

Whitman Elementary wants to hear from you! We’d like to hear how things are going for our families this school year and how we can get more family engagement in the school. We would also like to hear from you about any family needs you may have. This survey will cover both topics.

Thank you so much for taking the time to fill this out for us.

Please fill out the following form. Here is the link: https://forms.gle/48mXqv1oSv2g4LDW8

With gratitude,

Nicole Costello, LSSW

971.501.8960

We are working to keep the calendar on our website up to date, so please check https://www.pps.net/whitman for a full list of upcoming events!

Here are some dates to keep in mind:

• Middle & High School Lottery Dates: November 15 - December 16

• Family Conferences: November 21 + 22

Families, if you would like any assistance from our SUN Family Resource Navigator, please follow this link!

Do you love gardening and working with kids? Growing Gardens is seeking to hire School Garden Coordinators to cultivate the beautiful and productive school gardens, donate produce to the cafeteria and school-based pantry and teach a weekly Garden Club to students.

We have positions open for School Garden Coordinators at Powell Butte, Whitman and Kelly schools. In the past, we have combined with smaller Whitman and Kelly positions to create a .5FTE position (18.75hrs/week). The Powell Butte garden is larger, and thus the position is 12 hours a week. If someone is interested in a full-time position, the positions at the 3 schools can be combined. You can find all of the details on the job descriptions linked to the Growing Gardens Employment Page (link). Application deadline is November 27th.

Cat Ayala she/her

Home Gardens SE Portland Community Organizer | Youth Grow Kelly (Tue/Thu) and Whitman (Mon/Wed) Elementary Garden Educator

Email: catherine@growing-gardens.org | Cell: (360) 334-7396 *text-friendly*

Growing Gardens

Next PTA meeting is Thursday, December 8 from 6:00 - 7:00!

You can find this information and more about the

organization at http://facebook.com/ftwpta or email

us at: president@ptawhitman.org

1. Families Benefit — We use our funds for

events for students and families to take part

in shared experiences together.

2. The School Benefits — We also provide

Teacher Grants and donate to SUN.

3. Make Connections — Let your voice be

heard as we decide how to best provide

resources for the Whitman Community!

You can find this information and more about the

organization at http://facebook.com/ftwpta or email

us at: president@ptawhitman.org

See the links for an interactive support guide for parents and caregivers of LGBTQ+ young people, available in English and Spanish.

Lyss Linares, SAY Wellness LGBTQIA2S+ Program Coordinator, alinares@pps.net

The open enrollment period for individual and family health coverage runs from November 1 to January 15 in Oregon. Health insurance covers essential health benefits critical to maintaining individual health and treating illness and accidents. Health insurance helps to reduce medical and prescription drug costs, making health care more affordable and thus more accessible. Without insurance, people face considerable barriers in receiving health services. The Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace offers information, including types of coverage and links to free application assistance.