Teacher, Coach, Parent, AND Athletic Director(AD) Ryan Knudsen was recently recognized for reaching 15 years of service as the Leland Public School AD. Mr. Knudsen is a natural leader and a great role model, exhibiting a calm confidence, commitment to what is right and drive to get the job done well each day. Leland Public School is and continues to be a better place because of hard working leaders like Mr. Knudsen.

Tuesday, April 11th - Community Blood Drive hosted by LPS

Thursday, April 20th - PTO Kickoff Meeting, 6pm

Thursday, April 27th - Saturday April 29th - Leland Drama presents The Drowsy Chaperone

Tuesday, May 2nd - MS, HS & College Transitional Parent Meetings

• 5th entering 6th grade at 6 pm
• 8th entering 9th grade at 7pm
• 11th grade College Prep at 8pm

Thursday, May 4th - Saturday May 6th - Leland Drama presents The Drowsy Chaperone

Wednesday, May 10th - Senior Academic Awards Night

Friday, May 12th - 6th Grade Field Trip to Grand Rapids

Friday, May 19th - Senior's Last Day

Friday, May 26th - Graduation

Monday, May 29th - No School, Memorial Day

Friday, June 2nd - LEF Booster-thon for elementary kids K-5 from 12pm -3pm at Hancock.

Thursday, June 8th - 5th grade Mackinaw Island Field Trip

Monday, June 12th - Half Day 11:30 dismissal

Tuesday, June 13th - 5th grade Graduation Old Art Building

Tuesday, June 13th - Half Day LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

Below is a link to the Leland Public School Spirit Wear Store where you have the opportunity to purchase spirit wear items to show your Leland Comets spirit! There are t-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, hats, and many other items for sale. This spirit wear offer is available only as a flash store sale which means that orders will only be accepted until Sunday, April 16th. Orders can be paid for online, and can either be picked up at Threads in Traverse City or delivered to you. If you are interested in ordering, or want to find out more information please follow the link below, thanks!

Tickets will be $25 for sponsoring school students (GL, Northport, SB and LPS) and $30 for any guests outside of these schools. Forms will also be required for these guests.

Tickets will be on sale during lunch April 13-19th. On Friday and Tuesday, find Fiona in the lunchroom selling tickets. Any other day, you may make your way to my room to purchase your prom ticket!

Upper elementary students are to explore different hands-on topics in STEM after school. This free club will tackle topics like endangered species, breakout games, and other kid-friendly educational topics. We will meet four consecutive days after school in the elementary media center until 4:30 pm on Monday-Thursday, April 17-20). A snack will be provided, or please send one with your child.

Register today: STEM Club registration form. Space is limited.

Please contact Mrs. Anne Clark with any questions: aclark@lelandschool.com

Middle and High School students are invited to attend an Evening with Chasten Buttigieg at City Opera House in Traverse City on Friday, May 12th. Meet Chasten Buttigieg, author of I Have Something to Tell You (For Young Adults), an adaptation of his candid memoir about growing up gay in Traverse City, where he didn’t always fit in. The husband of former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, Chasten writes of his journey to find acceptance and self-love. Students interested in attending should register online for a free ticket (one per student on a first come, first serve basis) and plan to meet Mrs. Clark and Mr. Peschel at the Opera House for the event by 6:30pm.

Please contact Mrs. Anne Clark with any questions: aclark@lelandschool.com

Thank you, Comet Community, for making a moment to take the PTO Development Questionnaire that was distributed last month. The PTO Steering Committee was thrilled with the number of teachers and parents who took the time to share their thoughts and ideas. These four parent volunteers are excited to work with so many of you to build an organization that reflects this input. Please join them on Thursday April 20th at 6pm for a Kickoff Meeting. They will be sharing results from this survey, among other agenda items. In the meantime, this group is looking to identify dual-language parents who might be interested in working with them to make sure this organization is inclusive, diverse, and equitable from the outset. Please email ptoleland@gmail.com if you are a parent who is willing to connect about this important work. Este grupo busca identificar a los padres bilingües que podrían estar interesados en trabajar con ellos para asegurarse de que esta organización sea inclusiva, diversa y equitativa desde el principio. Envíe un correo electrónico a ptoleland@gmail.com si es un padre que está dispuesto a conectarse sobre este importante trabajo.

Students who will be in first through fifth grades next school year are invited to participate in our elementary school summer enrichment program! We will meet at the school Monday through Thursday from 9am-2pm. LPS staff will explore the week’s theme through hands-on activities, games, and even some field trips. Families will need to pack a lunch to send with their students. Only a snack will be provided.

Registration requests will be open through April 1st. To accommodate as many families as possible, we may limit the number of weeks an individual student can attend. You will receive registration confirmation by April 30. Please indicate on the registration form which weeks you wish to attend. We are asking for a full-week commitment and we are unable to accommodate requests for partial weeks.

Registration link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVpyTGZ0P9DdKbgIYQnj59y2T3GKSdMmPCmNGme28_R2328A/viewform?usp=sf_link.

July 10-13: Game Inventor
July 17-20: Fun with Food (this program will use kitchen equipment, potentially including knives and burners)
July 24-27: Art Attack
July 31-August 3: Super STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)

Please contact Anne Clark with questions: aclark@lelandschool.com

Incoming 6th-8th graders are invited to participate in our middle school summer enrichment program!

Write On (Monday, August 7- Thursday, August 10 from 9 am-2pm)

Students will have the opportunity to explore several different writing genres to further their creative writing skills. We will take walking field trips around Leland for inspiration! Students will have free time to read and write independently as well as group time to share and refine their work.

This class is free to families and registration is required. Families can submit a registration request online until before April 1st and we will confirm by the end of April. We will try to accommodate as many students as space allows. The school will provide a snack but students should bring a cold lunch with them.

If you have any questions, please contact Anne Clark: aclark@lelandschool.com.

LPS - Please share with your friends to help us find great drivers for our kids!

5th - 6th grade at 6 pm

8th - 9th grade at 7pm

11th - College Prep at 8pm

Dear Families,

To support our students’ social emotional needs and mental health, we are using a video-based social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum from Move This World. I’m excited to share that you’ll be able to access this helpful curriculum at home, too!

Social emotional learning is how students learn to process and manage emotions as well as important social skills. It includes everything from goal setting to stress management, and it provides both children and adults with tools they can use to express themselves authentically and safely. SEL helps students build healthy relationships, communicate effectively, and live a meaningful life.

Below, you’ll find log in instructions:

Visit: sel.movethisworld.com

Username: leland.family

Password: movethisworld

Practicing social emotional learning at home can help your students:

• Identity and recognize their emotions.

• Build critical social skills.

• Connect with themselves and others.

• Navigate challenges they may be experiencing.

• Adjust to the new school year.

Move This World is a social emotional learning program delivered through an extensive online library of PreK-12 videos and resources rooted in creative expression that help students, teachers and staff develop a common language to improve communication and build trust. We’re so glad that you’ll be able to access Move This World videos and resources at home, and hope they are helpful for your students and family.

Learn more about how it works here.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions!

The Local Wellness Policy committee consists of food service staff, physical education teachers, school counselor, school nurse, behavior team, administration staff and parents. We believe that we cannot achieve our primary goal of educating students if students are not physically, mentally and socially healthy. We focus on the health of the "whole child"

Parents are welcome to attend the meeting next Tuesday April 11th at 12:00pm. Please RSVP to FS Director Shawna Seitter @ sseitter@lelandschool.com

The Cafeteria staff had pre packaged the majority of the items on the salad bar for the last year and a half due to COVID. Your lunch ladies are excited to offer you this much more visually appealing spread of fresh veggies, and to cut down on food waste and plastic in our trash cans!

Next Tuesday April 11th, the LPS NHS members are hosting a Community Blood Drive with Versiti, in the PAC from 9-2. Did you know one donation can save up to three lives?! Another fun fact- you can burn up to 650 calories while donating blood! Please consider signing up today during High School lunch in the cafe, by using the QR code, or by calling to schedule. See attached flyer for more Information.

Take-home Covid tests are available at the front office. We are happy to distribute these to families upon request.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We are happy to announce our first-ever opportunity for first-grade families from Leelanau County to be ambassadors for their school, our community, and the Polka Festival, through our Junior Royalty program. We hope that the information below provides you with an overview of our program and the opportunities it holds for your child so you can consider with confidence submitting your child's name for their school drawing to hold this special role for the 2023 Cedar Polka Fest. Schools across Leelanau County will be selecting one boy and one girl from their first-grade class to serve as representatives for the 1st year of the Junior Royalty Program.

If you choose to submit your child's name into their school drawing for this role, you can expect the following for your child from the Cedar Polka Fest Junior Royalty Program:

• A Polka-tastic outfit! Both Princes & Princesses will receive an official Polka-Fest royalty outfit consisting of a polo & khakis. Princesses will also receive a dress for parades and formal events. And of course, all royals will receive a crown and a personalized sash.

• A fun-filled Royal Experience! Specific events and schedules are to be determined based on community partnerships. Since this is our first event, we can’t wait to partner with local businesses and hold special events just for our royalty to hang out and receive that royal treatment! Such as Polish Heritage Night at Turtle Creek Stadium!

• A Pizza Party to celebrate the children and their hard work!

• An official portrait of your Junior Royal.

• Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities exclusively for our Junior Royalty Program participants!

Prior to choosing to submit your child's name, please consider the following information and responsibilities of the royal families to determine if you are able to make this commitment for your child and school community:

• One informational meeting, held in May to discuss float, parades, Junior Royalty scheduled events, and other items, such as photos and attire. We will try to keep this meeting to an hour! • Photo Session - this is a 30-minute time commitment to get the royalty photos taken at the Polka Fest Office in May on a Saturday morning.

• Coordination of the float building process. All float-making materials will be provided by the festival (just bring your creativity!)

• The ability for an adult to join your child throughout scheduled royalty events, encouraging them to have fun and make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

• Kindness toward partner royal family and festival staff and prioritization of the children.

If your child is to be selected to represent their school, it will be the responsibility of the parent/guardians to partner with the Polka Fest, and Junior Royalty Directors to help build the Polka Fest Junior Royalty float.

41st Annual Cedar Polka Fest August 24th-27th 2023

We recognize that that is a lot of information and encourage you to reach out with any questions. The deadline for schools to submit a boy and girl representative for their school is April 14, 2023, so please be in touch with your school leadership team if you are interested in submitting your child's name for

the program. We are so excited to put our excellent Leelanau County schools and students in the spotlight and celebrate the unique things that each student body brings to our community! Thank you for considering entering your child's name into your school's drawing for our Junior Royalty Program in celebration of our 41st year.

With gratitude,

Lisa Rossi-Brett

Cedar Polka Fest Director

9104 S Kasson St.

Cedar, MI 49621

231-499-9198

rossiintc@gmail.com

Website: https://www.lelandschool.com/
Location: 200 North Grand Avenue, Leland, MI, USA
Phone: 231-256-9857