Wilson District Newsletter
November 2022
A message from Mr. Rose
Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude and fellowship. It is a time for each of us to reflect on the many things we should be thankful for, while also contemplating future opportunities to extend kindness, generosity, and compassion to others.
October was full of all kinds of activity at Wilson School District, not only did Wilson Primary students get to enjoy their annual Halloween parade, but they were also supported by the students and staff of Wilson Elementary, we enjoyed Movie night and our first quarter awards ceremony at the Elementary campus.
I would like to thank Ms. Gaby Duran, Mrs. Luz Munoz, and Mrs. Mariana Melendrez for their continued hard work in facilitating our Family engagement events.
On behalf of our School Board and the entire Wilson School District, I wish all our students, employees, and families a happy, safe, and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday.
To all our veterans, thank you for your sacrifices, valor, things you carry, protecting us, and for defending our rights.
Wilson Primary School
With a slight chill in the air, we are entering the holiday season. This time of the year is always so exciting for everyone, especially our youngest learners. November is the month when we pay special attention to what we are thankful for this year. For me, I am beyond thankful for our school, staff, students and families. Each brings amazing talents, uniqueness, and willingness to make Wilson Primary School a special place where we can call home.
Fall is filled with family engagement activities. One of our longest traditions has been the costume parade and dance party. This year we had so many people join the fun by dressing up, clapping, waving, and smiling around the block. Students and staff at the Elementary School made it especially special by coming out to wave to our parading students. This sweet gesture made all of the students feel so loved! Please visit the website to see upcoming events this fall. Enjoy the start of the holiday season! Mrs. Wojcicki
Wilson Elementary School
November is one of my favorite months of the year as it reminds us to take a moment and give thanks for the many blessings in our lives. With all that we have experienced over the past two years, it is important to be thankful for all that we have and to appreciate what we once took for granted.
In this season of gratitude, we want to specifically express how much we appreciate our teachers and all the Wilson Elementary Staff who work each day to support scholars in their learning.
I was especially excited to see all the scholars that received academic achievement awards at our 1st Quarter Awards Assembly. I was even more excited to see all the family members that were able to attend and see the fruits of their labor. We are challenging our scholars and our staff to work hard and ensure that even more scholars will be recognized for academic achievement at our 2nd Quarter Awards Assembly.
With the Thanksgiving break coming soon, we hope that you have the opportunity to give thanks and bring renewed optimism and positive energy to your lives. We also wish to extend our thanks to you for entrusting your children to us and offering us your ongoing support.
Blessings to All,
Demetra Baxter-Oliver, PhD
Community Center
Thank you to everyone who attended our Fall Festival and our Neighborhood Cleanup. We loved seeing everyone having fun and making our schools clean. Thank you to Café Valley for their generous donations of cakes for the fall festival cakewalk! We truly appreciate all our stakeholders. Without all your support these events cannot be possible. Thank you to everyone for always supporting our students and schools
Gaby Duran
Human Resources
6 Things to Be Thankful For at Work (And 3 May Surprise You)
1. Be thankful for the problems that create your job.
The only reason a job—any job—exists is to solve a set of problems.
The cashier at your local grocery chain exists to solve the problem of how customers pay for their essential items so that the company can pay its farmers, butchers, bakers, and other vendors.
The IT expert exists to solve the problem of what happens when non-techy people need to work more smoothly with technology and internal systems.
The senior executive exists to make the hard decisions around larger, more complex sets of problems, and then to take responsibility to make sure the right people are solving them.
If we have no problems, we have no jobs.
We’ve seen in real-time how once a problem is reduced, the jobs around it reduce, too. For example:
- The problem of getting information to your colleagues and friends around the world goes away when you have Facebook, email, and Zoom—and so go thousands of postal service jobs, too.
- Helping customers withdraw money from their account is no longer a problem when you introduce the ATM—and so can reduce teller roles.
So be grateful for the problems that create your job.
You can still wish them away, but their presence is your present.
2. Be thankful for your colleagues.
It’s great to have friends at work, even if you don’t get to see them in person as often as you might like. Studies have shown that having someone you care about at work is a key contributor to your satisfaction and engagement in the organization.
Human beings are social animals at heart. All of us need some kind of connection with others. All of us need to know, at some level, that we’re seen and heard—that we matter.
Be thankful for the colleagues you can talk to that really make your days bright.
For extra added grateful gravy, take a minute and tell them thanks:
- “Thanks for supporting me.”
- “I really appreciate your great attitude.”
- “Thanks for messaging me in the chat to tell me there was spinach in my teeth.”
- “You’re amazing—I appreciate how you listen and don’t judge when I rant.”
Don’t assume they know. If you feel it, share it.
3. Be thankful for the superpowers you bring to work.
Even if you haven’t discovered them fully yet, know there is something special and unique about you that you bring to your work, no matter what you do.
You know it. I know it.
Your superpowers are definitely things to be thankful for at work. I’m thankful you have them, too.
4. Be thankful for your emotions (yes, even at work).
Be thankful for your emotions at work, because emotion puts us in motion.
Positive emotion pulls us forward and motivates us to take the next step. Negative emotions push us back, causing us to hide or play small.
Either way, though, our emotions are big, flashing, body-shaped signs sending out signals that tell us what’s really going on for us.
So, rather than hating your emotions, pushing them aside, being embarrassed by them, or apologizing for them, let’s recognize and appreciate them for what they are. They’re trying to tell you something, so stop, listen, and say thanks.
In fact, our hearts, guts, and bodies are often trying to tell us what we’re feeling long before our brains register anything that our mouths can put into words.
5. Be thankful for your competitors.
Yes, even though there may be days when you just wish they’d go away, your competitors can push you, challenge you, and scare you to try new things—things you may not have done otherwise.
Competitors are a great source of data about other ways to do things and different choices to make.
Plus, they continue to create a new set of problems that reinforce the need for your job (see #1).
Be thankful for them, often and always.
(Plus, you never know when a competitor will someday become a coworker or friend.)
6. Be thankful for yourself.
Don’t sit down at the holiday table without first saying thanks to the person who can do the most for you at work.
That’s you.
Business Services
The Wilson Elementary School District’s Business Operations Department is filled with incredibly talented people!
Think about it… while many people face the end of summer and the beginning of fall with a sense of excitement for the new school year… the Business Operations Department has to kick it into high gear!
Finance has to straddle reporting requirements for the past year and the new year, vet vendors, support purchasing requests and prepare for onsite auditors’ visits.
Facilities must complete complex repairs and maintenance in the teeny tiny window between the end of the summer school session, and the beginning of the new school year, then again during the fall break… all while maneuvering around supply chain concerns!
Transportation was trying to plan the routes for the new school year – but, due to supply chain concerns – was still down a bus. Talk about needing to be creative!
IT also worked within those teeny tiny windows to complete a cabling job, and work to meet the demands of training staff on the enterprise system and the laptop inventory system, all while maintaining triage support (when school started) for people struggling with their assigned computers.
Well, let me share with you – Your Wilson Elementary School District Business Department is AMAZING!
Roy and Mark have worked many evenings, weekends and early mornings to get portable chillers up and running, while continuing to encourage and motivate the HVAC vendors of the District to get the necessary supplies to us as fast as possible so we can keep the rooms temperate for the students & staff.
Jose and the Transportation team let us all share in welcoming the new bus that was received at the beginning of October!!
Randy and Chelsea continue to put in long hours to meet the growing demands in IT.
Ken, Brett and Alicia, along with our new federal grants’ coordinator, Anthony, have worked tirelessly to ensure documents are in order for the audits and the financial reporting!
We are truly a very blessed District to have these incredibly talented, independent thinkers with stellar skills and experience working together to meet the needs of the District in the Business Operations Department.
Thank you!! Thank you! To paraphrase a familiar song, you are wind beneath the wings of this District! Most importantly, the District is able to continue to provide a safe learning environment to the students because of all the work you accomplish behind the scenes each and every day. Thank you!
Child Find
McKinney-Vento
Wilson School District No. 7
Website: https://www.wsd.k12.az.us/
Location: 3025 East Fillmore Street, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone: (602) 681-2200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WilsonSchoolDistrictNo7