PRE Newsletter
January 14, 2022
Important Dates
January 14 Kansas Teacher of the Year Deadline--Extended to January 17! (see below!)
January 17 No School--MLK Jr. Day
January 20 Extreme Science PTO Family Event (see details below)
January 25 Skate Party (details below)
February 2 Community Service (info coming soon!)
February 7 Career Awareness Day Forms Due!
February 10-17 Book Fair
Staff Recognition
It’s time for the annual Kindest Kansas Citian Contest
Every January, we encourage our students to nominate a person in Kansas City that has shown kindness to them and deserves to be recognized. Ms. Montgomery will briefly explain the contest during her counseling lessons on 1/13-1/27. Like last year, all entries will be uploaded onto the Synergy Services site, so there will be no paper copies to turn into school. The link is below and the final day that entries can be uploaded is Friday, February 18. (You will need to know your nominee’s name and email address.)
ENTRY UPLOAD LINK: https://kindestkansascitian.org/public-essay-submission?teacher_id=604
We are excited to see how many wonderful acts of kindness the kids will share about their Kindest Kansas Citian. I have attached the guidelines page from Synergy Services that explains who can and can not be nominated by your child. If you have any questions, please email me at amontgomery@usd232.org
Kindergarten Round-up
Making a Difference Award
The USD 232 “Making a Difference” Award celebrates exceptional teachers and staff in our district. The USD 232 Education Foundation, in partnership with Great American Bank, wants to honor and recognize those who are truly “making a difference in the lives of young people” and continually exceed job expectations for the students, families, and other employees in our district. Nominations are due by the last day of each month with the recipient to be recognized the following month.
Weather Guidelines
· 11 – 20 degrees--Outdoor recess and physical education should be limited (as practical)
· 10 degrees –Recess and physical education to be held indoors
***Please note that these are wind chill/feels like temperatures.
Please make sure your child has all needed items to go out for recess, and kindly label your child's outdoor clothes so that we can return them to the appropriate owner if they are misplaced.
PRE Career Awareness Day
We are excited to have our second annual Career Awareness Day! This will be the morning of February 16, 2022. Last year we made some adjustments in how this day looks with positive feedback, so we are going to follow the same format this year. I am asking any parents or community members to submit a video telling about their career. Please aim for a 5-8 minute video. The easiest way to submit the video is through a YouTube link. Please know that we will appreciate any video footage where the career is highlighted…it does not need to be a professional video!
During your video presentation, there are some points that I hope you can address. They are:
- Your relationship to PRE—parent, former parent, community member, etc.
- Training or schooling needed to do your job
- Subjects that you should have an interest in and are good at in order to do your job
- Any tools that you use on a daily basis, and please highlight these in your video if you can!
- What a day on the job might look like
- Showing the environment in which you work
Teachers will be able to work with their class to decide which videos to watch during the morning of February 16. We would also like to have a Zoom session for students to ask specific questions on this day. If you are interested in participating in this portion, please note it on the form below.
I am asking that all videos submitted by February 7. You can email your video to: kfulcher@usd232.org
Thank you for considering being part of the PRE Career Awareness Day!
Kansas Teacher of the Year
The De Soto School District has been an important and strong participant in the Kansas Teacher of the Year Program for many years. De Soto has had fifteen state finalists and twelve semi-finalists represented in the program since 2000. Two of our very own teachers were chosen as The Kansas Teacher of the Year; Keil Hileman in 2004 and Jeri Powers in 2008. This is truly unprecedented!
We would like for you to nominate any teacher whom you consider to be an outstanding and effective educator and whom you or your child has had as a teacher. This person must be a tenured employee of USD 232. If there is a De Soto educator whom you believe to be outstanding and deserving of special recognition, please fill out the nomination form at www.usd232.org/ktoy . This form needs to be completed by 4:00 on January 17, 2021.
Extreme Science Show
Join us on Thursday, January 20th for David Hagerman's EXTREME SCIENCE brought to you by Prairie Ridge PTO. This event will take place at Mill Valley High School Auditorium. There will be 2 show times (5:45pm-6:30pm and 7:00pm-7:45pm). This is a family event - parents or caretakers must attend with their students.
Extreme Science is exactly what the title implies: EXTREME! In this highly acclaimed show, Hagerman leads students on a wild journey through different fields of science. This show will tickle your funny bone and educate at the same time.
Because of limited seating we ask that only IMMEDIATE family members attend the show, and masking is required for all in attendance. Please RSVP for a time for your family and make sure to include the number of family members attending. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4dafa828aa8-extreme