The Hiawatha Buzz!
May 1, 2020
Growing hearts and minds for a better today and tomorrow: every day, every way, every one.
Principal's Messages
Dear Families,
I hope you and your kiddos have enjoyed the first week of our new template! We have received a lot of positive feedback. All of our teachers and staff are working hard to make connections with your children and to create meaningful learning opportunities.
This week our entire faculty and staff had a training with Joelle van Lent, a psychologist who provides our district with trainings around creating resilient school communities. This week she emphasized the importance of taking care of ourselves, our families, and then our work. This is what our community, families, and educators must do to remain resilient through this pandemic. She highlighted the importance of doing this in this order. I want to echo her message to all of us. We must take care of ourselves in order to take care of our families. Our work must come after. Some of us are experiencing cognitive overload and fatigue. I have asked our faculty and staff to really think about their schedules and make sure they are creating boundaries to put themselves and their families first. I ask that you support our teachers when they make changes to their schedules. We have such a supportive community, and I thank you in advance for supporting our teachers.
Here are some resources that Joelle shared with us that could be helpful to our families:
Comic strip description of coronavirus
New York Times article on how parents can influence a child’s experience and memory
That Discomfort You are Feeling is Grief
Take care,
Katherine
Crazy Hair and Hat days in Mrs. Hultgren's class!
Teacher Appreciation Week May 4-May 8
Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Usually we would be partnering with our fabulous PTO to provide multiple events to show our appreciation. Given the circumstance, we know this year will be different. If you can, have your child write or send a message or picture to their teachers showing their appreciation.
2nd Graders working hard at home
community happenings
One of our own wonderful Hiawatha families, the Paradee family, wanted to help their community so they built their own food pantry at 13 Loubier Drive. If any families need items in the pantry, please feel free to visit it. Come and take food whenever you would like. It's right by the side walk, so anyone can pull up and take whatever is needed. A local business heard about this pantry and donated $500 to help, so it will be stocked for a while. If you are unable to leave your home, let them know and they can have it delivered to you.
There is also another food pantry at the corner of Pleasant Street and East Street.
Hiawatha Elementary School
Email: mmurphyertle@ewsd.org
Website: www.EWSD.org/HIA
Location: 30 Hiawatha Avenue, Essex Junction, VT, USA
Phone: 802-878-1384