For those who know me, I've become a huge Ted Lasso fan. I enjoy the show not only because of the soccer connection and the comedy that comes with it but there are a lot of underlying messages within the show that are powerful and reflective. In a recent episode, Kansas City native Jason Sudeikis who plays Ted Lasso gave the following speech, "Believing that things can get better. That I can get better. That we will get better. To believe in yourself. To believe in one another. That’s fundamental to being alive. If you can do that if each of you can truly do that, can’t nobody rip that apart."

That scene stood out to me as we approach the end of the year and we reflect on all our accomplishments for 22-23. It was a foundational belief that we as a school could improve every single day, the belief in our staff to make necessary academic and social connections with our students, and the belief that each day we came to work to improve our students at Cottonwood. The belief from our students to achieve our vision and grow every single day. I'm very proud of everything that we have accomplished this year. I truly "believe in believe" ( also from Ted Lasso).

As the year comes to an end, I have started looking forward to the next opportunities our students will experience during the summer and when they return in the fall. The month of May will fly by! Please take the time to review this newsletter regarding important upcoming events such as field trips, field day, and the end-of-the-year picnic. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to me

• Cottonwood Field Day runs from 8:45-11:45 with a picnic lunch to follow. Parents are welcome to attend the picnic lunch, but students return to class around 12:30.
• Parents are welcome to attend, but we need your help with as many parent volunteers as possible.
• The majority of activities will be taking place outside. There may be a few events inside. We ask that families do not come into the building. The baseball/softball complex bathrooms will open for families.
• Cottonwood will be hosting our field day event at the Baseball/Softball Complex. This is a different location from Sunflower. We ask that parents park in our North Parking Lot.
• Watch the Weather. It may be hot that day, but we encourage students to come to school with sunscreen and water bottles.
• Think about what your child clothes. We encourage athletic clothes with tennis shoes. There will be lots of running and playing. Flip Flops do not work well for all the activities we are doing. A few of our stations involve water, so we recommend darker clothing as well.
• Students will resume normal activities after lunch. No parents or younger siblings will be allowed in the building. Restrooms at the baseball/softball complex will be open for family use.

We will send out more detailed information regarding Field Day as we get closer to May 18th

Families,

We are excited our end-of-year picnic is back this year. On the last day of school, we have an all-school picnic lunch where parents are invited to come to Cottonwood to have lunch with their children. COTTONWOOD DOES NOT SERVE LUNCH ON THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL. IF YOUR CHILD IS EATING AT COTTONWOOD THAT DAY THEY NEED TO BRING THEIR OWN SACK LUNCH. After lunch, parents can sign out their children for the remainder of the day. Our picnic will be on May 24th from 11:00-11:30 am at the baseball/softball complex. This will be staggered with Sunflower, so if you have children in both buildings you can attend both events. Each grade level will have a field assigned to them. Parents you will sign out directly with your child's teacher. At that time, you can either eat with your child's class or go to our family zone field where you can eat with other families and other grades.

This is a weather-dependent event. Families would need to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets if they are choosing to eat at Cottonwood. More detailed information will be coming out closer to the last day of school.