Wednesday Word
September 14th, 2022
From the Principal:
Dear Sunflower Families,
We had an incredible turnout last night at our PTO meeting. We discussed the upcoming Book Fair that PTO will host the week of October 31-November 4th and Marathon Club will start Wednesday, September 28th. We discussed many opportunities for parents to get involved and volunteer. Please check out the weekly PTO message below for how you can get involved.
I want to shout out several Sunflower parents who have gone above and beyond for Sunflower. Thank you Nida Salim for bringing teachers and myself home cooked lunches, Merve Akin-Tas for bringing staff flowers and words of affirmation, Melinda Tyler for being a dependable substitute, Lisa Dalrymple for supporting our health clinic with supplies, Laura Eland for keeping our grounds looking beautiful by watering and weeding and more, Kaleena Montellano for keeping our lunchroom running efficiently, our PTO Board for their dedication to our staff and scholars, planning fundraisers and fun events for our school community.
Lastly, we are asking for some support. We are experiencing higher than normal issues with adverse school behaviors. These behaviors are interfering with our instructional day. Below is our Ci3T (Comprehensive 3-Tiered System of Prevention) plan and BEST Expectations. Our plan details what is expected of students, families, staff and administrator in order to ensure student success in academics, behavior and social-emotional learning. Please review this information and take some time to speak with your children about our BEST expectations at school and why they are important to our school community. We review them daily at school during our morning community and throughout the day whenever we transition to a new location. Thank you for your support with this!
As always it is an honor to serve as the Principal of Sunflower Elementary.
Melissa Blevins
From the Nurse
The Health Office is in need of boys shorts/sweats - all sizes, but preferably smaller sizes and girls t-shirts - all sizes. If you would like to donate items (new or gently used) please drop them off at the front office.
Dental Clinic
Healthy Futures Dental Clinic will be coming to Sunflower Elementary on October 17th, 2022 & April 20th, 2023!
Sunflower is excited to announce that we will be having the Healthy Futures Dental Team come out to schools again this school year 2022-2023. Healthy Futures provides the highest quality of care when it comes to comprehensive and preventative dental services. Enroll your scholar/s for FREE school-based dental program, Dental Exams, X-rays, Dental cleanings, Dental sealants, fluoride and fillings are all included. This program is optional for anyone without a primary dentist or anyone who has not been seen by a dentist in the last six months for regular routine dental care. We accept enrollment forms all year, but to ensure they receive services at the upcoming clinic, please submit consents as soon as possible to ensure your kiddo is seen at the next date.
Forms are available in the counselor's office or through the online secure forms at the following links:
(English) https://app.formdr.com/practice/Nzk1MQ==/form/b0eJ6CwAFz01N33LKxYJX6ZPa0JSgghO
(Spanish) https://app.formdr.com/practice/Nzk1MQ==/form/v-I_SD5bKN-MCAvSsXj8yBefF-qoYT2
You may also print the attached form and return to the school counselor (Julie Heatwole) or directly to the Healthy Futures Coordinator, Amanda, at the following email: healthyfutures@heartlandhealth.org.
Healthy Futures accepts Medicaid, Commercial Insurance, and the uninsured.
There is NO COST to you even if your child is uninsured or not fully covered through commercial insurance. This program is open to all students, no restrictions.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Julie Heatwole at jheatwol@usd497.org or #785-330-4860. Thank you!!!
HARVESTERS BACKSNACK & BRAINFOOD PROGRAMS!
Sunflower will be starting up our two awesome FREE programs for our scholars in K-5th at the end of September! Harvesters BackSnack program provides a FREE bag of non-perishable food and snacks like cereals, fruit snacks, water, vegetables, soup, granola bars, and more! The BrainFood program provides FREE books that our scholars may pick out and keep forever! These programs will occur in tandem throughout the school year and be distributed to our scholars on the last day of each school week. There is no paperwork to complete and no eligibility requirements. All you need to do is contact Julie Heatwole (school counselor) at #785-330-4860 or jheatwol@usd497.org to let her know you would like your scholars to participate in these programs.
Sunflower Marathon Club 2022-2023
We are excited to kick off Sunflower Marathon Club and our first day will be Wednesday, September 28th.
The goal of Marathon Club is to provide a sustainable fitness opportunity for Sunflower students and their families. The kids will be challenged to achieve a full marathon distance of 26.2 miles by walking or running twice a week throughout the school year. All mileage is tracked when students attend. As soon as a student has completed a full marathon, they earn a t-shirt, have their name read in the morning community, and get their picture posted on the gym wall. We will celebrate finishers on Wednesday’s only with a 3:00pm finish line. We strongly encourage all club members to stay and help celebrate the week's finishers.
In addition to these tangible awards Marathon Club hopes to:
Promote lifelong wellness
Provide students a sense of accomplishment
Create a fun, non competitive atmosphere for all participants
Improve concentration in the classroom
We will be running on Monday mornings and Wednesdays after school. Start time on Monday morning is at 8:00 am, and on Wednesday immediately after school with a pick up time of 3:10 pm. Volunteers will not be in place earlier than 8:00 am. For safety reasons, please do not drop off kids earlier than 7:50 am. All students need to be checked in and running by 8:10 am. We will not allow kids to start later than 8:10 am as they need to be finished by 8:30 am. If your child will be eating breakfast at school, please remind them to leave the track by 8:20 am. Likewise, volunteers will not be present at the school later than 3:15 pm on Wednesdays. Please pick up promptly at 3:10 pm.
All Sunflower students K-5 are encouraged to participate. If you are a parent of a Kindergarten student, for safety reasons, we would ask that you participate with your child. All other parents are invited and encouraged to participate as well.
Our weather policy is in line with that of the District's guidelines for outside recess. We will cancel if there is rain, lightning, snow, ice, temperature or wind chill of 15 degrees or less. Cancellations will come via Remind by 7:00 am Mondays and 1:30 pm Wednesdays. We will also put out an in school announcement on Wednesday so they will know in advance of dismissal.
We will be using Remind for communication. Remind is a secure way to communicate between club and parents without exchanging actual phone numbers or emails. This is how you will receive cancellation messages for the club! The Remind link for Sunflower Marathon Club 2022-2023:
https://www.remind.com/join/kkfgk39
You can earn extra miles for Marathon Club - we are challenging the students and their families to participate in any race. Bring in your race number, we will credit you for that mileage. We especially encourage runners to participate in runLAWRENCE events as they have been a generous supporter of Sunflower Marathon Club.
Safety is the biggest concern. This year the club will meet on the west playground behind Sunflower near the swings & Sunflower garden. Runners will be running on the Southwest Middle School track or the field adjacent to the playground. The route will be staffed by parent volunteers who will be spaced so that walkers/runners can be seen the entire length of the run. Parents, we really need you! If you would like to be a Marathon Club volunteer we would love to have you join us. Use the attached consent/sign up form to let us know you are available.
Remember, you can reach us for questions at our email address: sunflowermarathonclub@gmail.com
To participate - please fill out the google form prior to your child’s first day of marathon club. Please understand if they do not have this filled out they will NOT be allowed to run until we receive the form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aX_AehmreyG6Bl7ovUwr6KDdleq89H1xea0N2snFmjE/edit
Future Firebirds Clinic
“Future Firebirds” Cheer & Dance Clinic 2022
The Lawrence Free State Cheerleaders & Dancers would like to invite you to attend the “Future Firebirds” Cheer & Dance Clinic. You will receive a combination of chant, cheer, basic stunting, dance instruction and perform at a Free State High School football game.
The clinic is open to all children grades preschool through 6th grades.
Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2022
Time: Registration: 5:00 p.m.
Clinic: 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Location: Free State High School Gym
Enter through the gym doors (North side of building)
Fee: $40.00 (includes Free State spirit t-shirt & poms)
Checks payable to: Free State High School
Pre-registration preferred, however, walk-ins welcome!
Pre-registration Link: https://forms.gle/58UBrddgrEEiiqnP8
Performance: Friday, October 7, during the first half of the
Free State vs. Shawnee Mission North Football game. (PINK OUT NIGHT!)
Firebird Soccer Clinic
On September 21st, Freestate Soccer will be hosting the Bi-Annual Kindergarten through Fifth Grade FREE Soccer Clinic, Auction and Community Event. The participants, in grades K-5, are given a free first-rate soccer experience, the chance to play on the FSHS soccer field under the lights, AND receive a free T-shirt! The goal is to bring awareness to our soccer program and to encourage young athletes & their families to support our soccer community, program, and FSHS as a whole.
Important Dates:
September 15- Hispanic Heritage Month Begins
September 22- ESL Potluck on the Playground - 6pm
September 26- Picture Day!
September 28- Marathon Club Begins
October 4- PTO Mtg. - 6pm
October 14- No School
October 17- Free Dental Clinic @ Sunflower
October 19- Parent/Teacher Conferences (evening)
October 20- No School - Parent/Teacher Conferences
October 21st- No School
October 24th- No School