Upcoming Community Events, 9/18/2019

Here’s a collection of upcoming community events curated by our Equity Team.

1. Bellwether 2019. Sep 18–22 in Downtown Bellevue. Free. https://bellwetherartsweek.org/

2. Seattle Arabian Nights Festival 2019: LGBTQ Shorts. Sep 19 at 7:30pm at Northwest Film Forum. $12. https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4333317

3. Seattle Climate Strike. Sep 20 from 9:00am–3:00pm at Cal Anderson Park. Free. https://www.facebook.com/events/724142398026618/

4. St. Demetrios Greek Festival. Sep 20–22 at Saint Demetrios Church. Free. http://seattlegreekfestival.com/

5. Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival. Sep 21 from 5:30pm–8:30pm at UW Quad. Free, lanterns and mooncakes for sale. https://www.facebook.com/events/425624094718301/

6. Petina Gappah: Out of Darkness, Shining Light. Sep 21 at 7:00pm at Elliott Bay Book Company. Free. https://www.elliottbaybook.com/event/petina-gappah

7. Seattle Children's Festival (NW Folklife). Sep 21–22. Free, donations. https://www.nwfolklife.org/seattlechildrensfestival/

8. Comadre Panaderia. Sep 22 from 10:00am–1:00pm at Dorothea Coffee. Free. https://www.instagram.com/p/B2aPjGYAjPv/

9. Chinese Cultural Celebration. Sep 22 from 1:00pm–3:00pm at Bellevue Botanical Garden. Free. https://bellevuebotanical.org/event/chinese-cultural-celebration/

10. Tasveer South Asian Film Festival. Sep 26–Oct 6, various. $15. https://tsaff.tasveer.org/

11. Homecoming Festival: Town Hall's Month-long Housewarming. Through Sep 29 at Town Hall. $5. https://townhallseattle.org/homecoming/

Our 2019-2020 Fundraising Overview

At Sacajawea, we also enjoy a long-standing tradition of a strong reliance on parents and others contributing their time, talent, and resources. These contributions are what allows our school community to help fill the gaps in a woefully underfunded public education system.

Over 250 parents, teachers, staff, and students came together during the 2018-2019 school year to volunteer on numerous school improvement projects. We met our fundraising goal (with a high parent participation rate), ensuring continued support of key programs.

This year, we hope you’ll help us to continue last year’s success and expand the list of programs and services the PTA already supports, including but not limited to visiting musicians for K-3rd grade & 4th-grade instrumental music program, updating classroom libraries, field trip travel, and much, much more.

Our fundraising GOAL for the 2019-2020 school year is $100,000.  At three points during the school year, we’ll invite parents, friends, and our extended community to support Sacajawea Elementary with a financial contribution.

• Move-a-Thon Goal: $30,000 (October): The more your kids move the more programs our PTA can offer our school.  This is a great way to reach out to friends and family to involve them in your child’s education.

• Direct Ask Goal: $25,000 (November/December): Your support enables the PTA to provide funds for programs like the ones listed above. Look for a letter in your child’s take-home packet.

• Community Celebration Goal: $45,000 (March): Keep an eye out for the date, and look forward to a fun-filled evening celebrating and supporting our fantastic school.  Don’t miss this raise-the-paddle event, kid’s art auction, and more!

How can you help right now?  When you donate to the Sacajawea PTA, you’re helping us fund essential programs throughout the school year for your child and others at Sacajawea Elementary.

First, if you can, give today:

• Use any major credit card or PayPal to donate to our PTA via our Fundraising page.

• Write a check or make a cash donation (returned to the office PTA lockbox).

Second, employer matching gifts of time or dollars will make your donation go further:

• There are a number of employers that match gifts of time (volunteer hours) and money.

• Check with your institution and see if your employer is one who will double your contribution.

Third, Amazon Smilie makes it easy for your online shopping to benefit Sacajawea. As of August we have received nearly $800 thanks to your donations!

To get started, choose the Sacajawea PTA as your Smile partner, and each purchase sends a donation our way. Click here to find us on Amazon Smile.

Sacajawea’s students benefit from the generosity of the school community to provide both volunteer hours and financial support to help ensure basic programs and student services are provided to our children.  

On behalf of the Sacajawea PTA, we are grateful to count you as a member of our community. It’s an honor to partner with Sacajawea students, parents and families for the betterment of our school.

Welcoming Kindergarten Families to Sacajawea with Jump Start 2019

This week, we welcome our incoming Kindergarten class and their families to Sacajawea with a week of Jump Start. Each day, students will spend three hours with our kindergarten teachers, Ms. Jackson and Ms. Rings, and get to meet other members of our faculty along the way.

From the district, “What’s Jump Start?”

“Jump Start is a FREE week-long experience for Kindergartners to learn about school. Children will become familiar with their new school building, staff, typical school day activities and practices. Their parents/guardians will be able to meet with the school principal and ask questions about school. Teachers start to build relationships with students and observe their skills and strengths. Read about signs of a successful transition to Kindergarten.”

There is also a Kindergarten Play Date scheduled for Thursday Aug. 22nd at noon, just after Jump Start ends. Meet on the upper playground, and bring your lunch and a picnic. It’ll be a great chance to meet incoming Kindergarteners. For more information on the play date, contact Karen Murphy (Leonie’s Mom): kmpfarr@gmail.com.

Community Events For Summer 2019

From our Equity Team, here’s a list of community events that are going all summer long.

1. Lake City Farmers' Market performances and activities. Thursdays from 3:00pm–7:00pm by Lake City Community Center. Free.

2. World Dance Party. June 28 from 6:00pm–9:00pm at Lake City Community Center. Free.

3. Dragonfest. June 29 in the ID. Free. https://cidbia.org/events/dragonfest/

4. Seattle Center Festál. Spirit of Africa, June 29; Polish Festival, July 13; Seattle Arab Festival, Aug 10; BrasilFest, Aug 18; Tibet Fest, Aug 24; Live Aloha Hawaiian Cultural Festival, Sep 8. Free. http://www.seattlecenter.com/events/event-calendar

5. Seattle Pride Parade. June 30, downtown. Free. https://www.seattlepride.org/parade/

6. Folk & Traditional Arts Program at Washington State Parks. July and August. Free. https://parks.state.wa.us/982/Folk-and-Traditional-Arts

7. Seattle Japanese Garden free and reduced admission events. Tanabata Star Festival, July 6; Butoh Performance, Aug 1; Kendama Workshop, Aug 10; Respect For Elders Day, Sep 7. https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/events-calendar

8. World Dancing in the Park. July 8–August 26 at 6:30pm at Albert Davis Park. Free.

9. Islandwood Tours, Nature Hike. July 14. Free/$5. https://islandwood.org/events/2019-07/

10. Bon Odori in Seattle. July 20–21 at Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple. Free. https://seattlebetsuin.com/bon-odori-festival/

11. Umoja Fest. Aug 2–4 at Judkins Park. Free. http://umojafestnw.com/

12. Yəhaw Exhibition. Through August 3 at King Street Station. Free. https://yehawshow.com/

13. Eighth Generation: How a Seattle Company is Defining the Native American Dream. August 13 from 7:00pm–9:00pm at MOHAI. $5/$10. https://mohai.org/event/eighth-generation-how-a-seattle-company-is-defining-the-native-american-dream/

14. Cauleen Smith: Give It or Leave It. Through Sep 1 at Frye Art Museum. Free. https://fryemuseum.org/exhibition/7071/

15. Plus free events at Seattle and King County libraries! https://www.spl.org/ and https://kcls.org/

Congrats to our Volunteer and Educator Award Recipients for 2018-2019

Congratulations to our outstanding volunteer and educator award recipients! Here are some of the reasons why Sacajawea is such a wonderful community.

Our Golden Acorn Awards recognize volunteers who go above and beyond.

Rowell Llanillo (Jordan’s Dad)
Rowell has been the mastermind behind the design of the Sac t-shirts for the last several years. (As well as the Ultimate Team and Safety Patrol shirts!) His creative skills are constantly called upon to design posters and other special effects for so many events at our school. Rowell also dedicates his Friday mornings to helping with Packs for Kids prep and distribution.

Jennifer Sunami (Cora’s Mom)
Jennifer is co-chair of the parent equity team. She is a dedicated volunteer that steps in where needed. Jennifer is also a member of the grants committee, helps with Packs for Kids on Friday mornings, and created and led the Makers Market at Arts Fest. We wouldn’t have a school handbook without Jennifer! All this PLUS she volunteers in her daughter’s classroom weekly to help with Book Bridges.

Melissa Walsh & Mike Bindschadler (Elizabeth’s Mom & Dad)
A dynamic duo at Sacajawea for almost a decade – it felt right to recognize them together! They contribute to our school in every way possible. Whether it’s running the drama program, driving kids to school when the bus strike was happening, donating to a bake sale, chaperoning field trips, working events, they are always there. Mike helped to run our Ultimate Frisbee team and is a member of Sac Dads, while Melissa is on the Parent Equity Team and was a Global Reading Challenge coach (sometimes for multiple groups).

Our Outstanding Teacher Award recognizes a member of the staff whose dedication and impact is evident throughout the year.

Anne Singh
Ms. Singh is our amazing reading specialist and has played a significant role in helping so many students at Sacajawea become confident, growing readers. Her professionalism, caring, expertise and innovation make all the difference! Ms. Singh spear-headed last year’s summer reading program and book swap, that stopped most of our early readers from experiencing the “summer slide”. She facilitated the smooth implementation of the new reading curriculum over the past few years and continues to bring literacy resources to our teachers and parents. She is an active member of the staff Equity Team and has worked to acquire diverse books, lessons, and curriculum.

The Roy Norman SHINE Award* is given in honor of Ms. Norman’s late husband. Roy was an amazing man and the type of person who would jump in to help anyone, anywhere.

Sara Taylor
Sara’s care and concern for her students are apparent with the dedication she shows daily. She knows how to respond and react to each child in a way that suits them best. Sara is also highly involved and engaged in several staff committees at Sacajawea. She cares deeply about our school and it shows! In addition, she has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the face some highly challenging situations. Ms. Sara supported two distinct classrooms while Ms. Kelly was on maternity leave and even had 3 new students added during this time. She has handled this in stride and has been doing an amazing job supporting the students and staff in both classrooms!

*This is the second annual presentation of the SHINE award, with last year's given to our Field Day Diva, Ann Schlossman!

Our school is a better place because of all your efforts, Thank You Rowell, Jennifer, Melissa, Mike, Anne and Sara!