Good afternoon Meadowbrook,

I want to first recognize that this week included a couple of important dates for our students, families, and staff. Holi, which is a holiday observed by many Indian and Indian-American communities was on Wednesday, March 8th. Holi is a festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, and the end of winter. It’s also a time to forgive, forget past grievances, and embrace love and unity. I hope everyone celebrating Holi had a wonderful celebration!

March 8th was also recognized as International Women's Day, which is a global holiday celebrated as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. A group of 5th grade students came to talk to me about the importance of this day and even thanked me for being a good role model (insert tears).

Next week on Wednesday, March 15 at 6:00pm Mr. Lawson and I will again meet with our book study group to discuss Raising Antiracist Children. We welcome anyone interested to join us - even if you haven't been reading the book! Childcare is available.

I bought my Meadowbrook Mingle (see below for more details) ticket today and am hoping that you will do the same. I look forward to 'mingling' with you!

In partnership,

Natalie

P.S. A reminder that caregivers should not be using the bus lot for pick up.

Each week this month we will be sharing interesting facts about Women’s history month and highlighting some amazing women and their contributions.

Did you know…

• The first female state governor was Nellie Tayloe Ross and was elected in 1924 by the state of Wyoming.

• Unfortunately, the 19th Amendment did not give Native American, Black, Asian American, and Latinx women the right to vote. The law only allowed white women this right.

• The first female astronaut, Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb was not allowed to actually travel to space because she was a woman.

In this week's morning announcements, we learned about Malala Yousafzai and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Malala Yousafazai is a Pakistani activist. In 2008, Girl’s Schools in her area were being shut down and Malala bravely protested. Her bravery did not come without a cost, in 2012 she was shot. She survived the attack and continues to speak up about the importance of education for girls.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg served on the Supreme Court for 27 years. She worked passionately to fight for gender equality under the law. Along with the knowledge of all women’s hardships, own experiences as a woman in politics helped guide the actions she took towards reform. She is lovingly referred to as RBG and will continue to inspire a movement of change for years to come.

On March 28th and 29th, author and illustrator Rick Chrustowski will visit Meadowbrook and speak with our students. Students have the opportunity to purchase one of Mr. Chrustowski's books by completing the order form that was sent home today, and is attached below.

Rick Chrustowski grew up in a large, loud family in northwestern Indiana. He had a blast playing outside in the fields and forests near his home.

Later, he lived on a hobby farm for 20 years raising chickens and horses. But the wild animals that came through his backyard fascinated him the most. They inspired his art and writing. Many of them have made their way into the books he's written and illustrated, including My Little Fox, Big Brown Bat, Hop Frog, and Turtle Crossing.

Rick now lives in an old house in Minneapolis; one of the bedrooms is his studio. He grows as much of his own food as he can in his backyard along with flowers to attract bees, butterflies, and birds.

HEF debuted a newly refreshed Royal Bash on Feb. 25th and made a strong comeback after two years of virtual and hybrid events with tickets selling out and upwards of 350 guests attending HEF’s largest fundraiser of the year! Raising nearly $256,000, even the 15” of snow that landed 48 hours before couldn’t keep HEF supporters from this year’s epic adventure!

Auction paddles were raised high and frequently as Royal Bash guests bid to win adventures of all kinds, from a Mexican vacation to a MN hat trick of tickets, ending the evening with their support of HEF”s Step into a Brilliant Future Special Appeal 2023. This spectacular night keeps HEF’s mission going strong, and we couldn’t do it without this ongoing support. Thank you!

Stop by HopkinsEducationFoundation.org to donate as well as view pics from Royal Bash 23!

We are excited to share that Hopkins Public Schools is now able to offer caregivers and students access to live school bus GPS information through My Stop. My Stop is a web-based application that families can use to track their child’s bus in real-time. This service will be especially useful during days when winter weather has slowed transportation. You can access My Stop at this link or on our transportation webpage. Parents can sign in to MyStop with their child's district username (which is their school email address before the @sign) and district password (which is their initials in capital letters and the last four digits of their school id).

Student’s Username is first4of LN followed by first4of FN followed by last 4 of their school id e.g.: WhitAile1234
Student's PW is their FN&LN initials followed by their 6-digit lunch PIN e.g.: AW987654 PW is case sensitive

If you need support, contact the Hopkins technology help desk at 952-988-4111. You can also download the My Stop App on Apple or Android platforms.

Tech Support: For all questions regarding My Stop, please contact IT at mystop@hopkinsschools.org. Do not contact the transportation department, as they cannot answer questions regarding My Stop. Please send any feedback to mystop@hopkinsschools.org regarding your experience with the application. We will forward that information to the technicians.

Thanks to everyone who has already expressed an interest and/or offered to help with the planning for the 6th grade celebration! We have been able to fill some committee spots and have heard a lot of great suggestions. If you are interested in helping or learning more, please visit our website, https://mbgrads2029.weebly.com, for more information. We cannot do it all without your help. Please consider joining a committee, volunteering on the day of or providing a donation for the students.

Additionally, we are looking to put together a slide show featuring all the kids of this class for their graduation party. In order to make that happen, we need your help. All you have to do is find two pictures of your child from their time at Meadowbrook that you want in the slide show, you can go to the link below to find out more information and where to upload them. Thanks so much. https://mbgrads2029.weebly.com/slideshow.html

March 13: Restaurant Night @ Golden Valley Noodles & Co.

March 15: Caregiver Book Study 6:00pm, Media Center

March 20-25: Meadowbrook Mingle Week

March 31: No School - Professional Learning Day for Staff

April 3-7: No School - Spring Break