Congrats to our Volunteer and Educator Award Recipients

While we wish we could celebrate and announce these awards at our end of year ice cream social, we know that isn’t possible right now. Our new plan is to celebrate with everyone in the fall, once we are back to at least a slightly more normal version of life. Congratulations to our outstanding volunteer and educator award recipients! Here are some of the reasons why Sacajawea is such a wonderful community.

Golden Acorn Awards

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

Seth Bridges (Parker & Will’s dad)

Seth was one of our fearless leaders this year and will continue in the role of co-chair for next year. He’s been an incredibly active member of our PTA since his first son started Kindergarten. Seth updated our PTA website in order to make it a useful, reliable, and relevant resource for our school and community! He also undertook the weekly PTA newsletters, helping to disseminate important information in the easiest way possible. Seth is a great leader who knows how to listen, take action, and solve problems. His thoughtful, measured opinions are highly valued…plus, he’s fun to work with too! Thank you, Seth, for all that you have done and will continue to do!

Karla Sclater (Zack’s Mom)

Karla leads our Arts Fest, is one of the parent reps on the BLT committee, is a member of the Equity and Grants team, and led our Environmental Principles and Safe Routes to School initiatives this year! Karla is a tireless advocate for our kids and our school. She is someone you can always count on to help when there is an ask, and when she sees a need or something that should be done, she takes the initiative to make it happen. All this PLUS she is also the room parent for her son’s classroom. Karla, thank you for being such an important part of our PTA, school, and community!

Outstanding Teacher Award

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

Jahira Teague

Ms. Teague is one of our 2nd-grade teachers. She is a member of the BLT and Equity committees, a school tech support guru, co-founded the NEST program at Sacajawea, and has served as our testing coordinator in previous years. Ms. Teague is constantly going above and beyond what is required of her. She is super organized, thoughtful, and caring. She is also a fantastic teacher who always prioritizes the needs of her students and communicates well with families. She has been a shining star during the online transition and adapted her teaching style to make it feel seamless. When teacher requirements were still in flux, she always made herself available and helped the kids feel as normal as possible. She was one of the first teachers to start doing weekly Zoom calls and has been doing weekly home visits as well. Jahira is always willing to jump in and help where she is needed. She is smart, and her genuine, honest teaching style is appreciated. We will miss her in 2nd grade next year, but can’t wait to see what she does in 4th grade. Thank you so much, Ms. Teague, you are a superstar!

The Roy Norman SHINE Award

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. He fully embodied the SHINE motto at Sacajawea of being Safe, Helpful, Inclusive, Neighborly, and Engaged!

Kara Golgert

Kara has been an integral part of the Sacajawea and Seattle Schools Community since her children attended many years ago. Kara is one of our developmental preschool teachers and she constantly goes above and beyond to take care of and advocate for her kids, our community, and all students in Seattle Public Schools. She is an active member of our PTA, providing her guidance and experience on important issues. She is kind, caring, and inclusive. She is generous with her time and can be found fixing the playground area on weekends. She also serves as Sacajawea’s Union building rep and a BLT member. When Sacajawea was advocating for funding to rebuild and fix our school and playgrounds, Kara was there at the school board meetings providing testimony. She is an invaluable resource to our families, helping so many parents navigate the IEP process as well as providing support for families struggling to cope with children with disabilities and limited services during quarantine. Thank you, Ms. Golgert for your continued passion, advocacy, and ability to SHINE among us!

Matthew Walker

It’s hard to think about Sacajawea without thinking about our amazing PE teacher, Mr. Walker. Matt has been a force to be reckoned with since joining the Sacajawea community in 2009. He more recently served as our co-chair for three years in a row during a few tough transition years. He cares so deeply for all of the kids and families at Sacajawea and truly embodies the heart, soul and spirit of Sacajawea SHINE-ing. He works hard to bring together all the vibrant threads of our community and is a familiar face at nearly every event. He constantly cheers our kids on as well as giving them a gentle nudge when they need to steer themselves out of tricky situations or navigate poor choices and restoration. Matt has a positive attitude that is inspiring. He makes doing the work fun for kids and their parents. During the school closure, Mr. Walker has taken a lead role in ensuring our families in need are taken care of. He has gone above and beyond to collect, organize, and distribute food and supplies to our families. Thank you, Mr. Walker, for showing us what it means to SHINE!

Charlene Shanahan (Calle & Declan’s mom)

Charlene has been an amazing addition to our school as a parent volunteer for the past five years and for the last two she doubled-down on her Sac commitment while also serving as our volunteer coordinator. Her involvement as a parent volunteer has been unmatched and her role as the volunteer coordinator just connects her more closely to all that is Sacajawea. If you have a question about anything, she is your go-to person.

She has led our Equity committee from its beginning and is a reliable leader who is involved in nearly everything that happens at our school. Charlene has run several successful auctions and coordinated/assisted with so many different events there are truly too many to list. During the school closure, Charlene took a lead role in the Packs for Kids/Food Bank organization and coordination.

She is a humble leader who tries to avoid the spotlight and rarely wants to take credit for all that she has done. She always makes everything look so effortless and her dedication and caring is contagious. She inspires people to get involved because she is so involved. She is someone that you can ALWAYS count on to show up and help. She embodies every part of SHINE in her life inside and outside of the school, which is why she is so deserving of this award.

Thank you, Charlene, for helping to make us all SHINE a little brighter. Our school is a better place because of all your efforts!

Thank You Seth, Karla, Jahira, Kara, Matt and Charlene!

Letter-Writing Campaign to School Board and City Council

Dear Sacajawea Community --

The killing of George Floyd has generated worldwide protests on an unprecedented scale, and the choices our city, state, and country make today will deeply impact our children’s lives and safety in the future, especially the lives of our Black children.

We believe our students should have a voice in saying how they want to effect lasting, systemic change. To this end, the Parent Racial Equity Team is organizing student letter-writing campaigns to speak to both the School Board and the Seattle City Council. We encourage you to join us by helping your child write a letter to express their thoughts, concerns, suggestions, and/or demands to our elected officials. These letters will provide an opportunity for students to engage in civil action at a critical time for our society and democracy—an experience we hope will help spark a lifetime of civil action to fight injustice.

Emails to schoolboard@seattleschools.org must be sent by Tuesday, June 9th in order to be read before the last Board meeting of the academic year.

Letters to City Council (whether hand-written or typed, short or long), should be sent to Equity Team member John at jdelfeld@gmail.com by Wednesday, June 17 for presentation at the Council meeting the following Monday. If you need to arrange a pick-up of your child’s letter, please contact John. Letters sent to us may be posted publicly on our website, so if you do not want your child’s letter posted, please specify so in your email.

For emails to the School Board, we suggest a focus on:
SPS immediately severing ties with SPD, as Minneapolis and Portland have already done; SPS implementing restorative justice programs in every school, including training, funding for alternative suspension placements, more counselors and support staff, and connections to outside support services; and SPS transparently holding police and schools accountable for abusive behavior towards students, especially Black students.

For letters to City Council, we suggest a focus on:
Police accountability and transparency; demilitarization of the Seattle Police Department; a ban on the use of tear gas and "less than lethal" projectiles for crowd control; improved de-escalation training; a ban on chokeholds; and the reduction of police funding in order to provide more safety net services.

We hope this campaign provides a hands-on learning experience in civic engagement and civil rights and allows our students a chance to express their concerns and take control of their shared future.

In solidarity,
The Sacajawea PTA and Parent Racial Equity Team

Personal Item Pickup & Return Procedures for June 2020

Dear Sacajawea Families,

The district has designated June 10th – 12th as days for families to pick up student personal items and return school items students may have at home.  Here are the procedures and schedules for those days.

Staff Workdays: June 8th & 9th. Prior to the family/student personal items pick up days, teachers and staff will clear out lockers and desks and put together a bag for each student. Teachers may change their teaching schedules on these days and during family pick up and return times.

Class meetings and Schoolwork: June 15th – 19th. Teachers will have at-school workdays to close out our building for the summer this week.  For this reason, their weekly teaching and learning schedule will be lighter, and we’ll focus on celebration and reflection for this last week of school.  Each teacher will let families know what the schedule looks like for the week.

Family Pick-Ups and Returns: June 10th - 12th

• If you have more than one child at Sacajawea, please come on the oldest child’s day.

• If you are unable to pick up during your designated time, please let your child’s teacher know which pick up time you will be able to come to.

• If you are unable to come to any of the pick-up times, please let your child’s teacher know.

Family Pick-Ups and Return Schedule

• Preschool – P4 & P5: There is no pick-up time for preschool as preschool staff has already distributed their belongings.

• Rooms 1, 4, & 5: Wednesday, June 10th 8:00 – 11:00

• Rooms 2 & 3: Wednesday, June 10th 12:00 – 3:00

• Rooms 6 & 7: Thursday, June 11th 8:00 – 11:00

• Rooms 101, 102 & 105: Thursday, June 11th 12:00 – 3:00

• Rooms 103 & 104: Friday, June 12th 12:00 – 3:00 

Health and Safety Procedures

• Everyone, staff, and family members alike, please wear masks and keep social distancing in place as much as possible throughout this process.

• We will have a limited number of masks on hand in case someone forgets to bring one and will have hand sanitizer.

• Families will drive or walk up to the designated pick up area on the upper playground in front of the covered play court.

• Please do not socialize with other families or staff while you are here, as we are endeavoring to keep social distancing.  A hello-wave or smile is always appreciated!

• If you have more than one child at Sacajawea, please come on the oldest child’s day.

Drivers

• If you are in a car, please do not leave your vehicle.

• Pull up to the designated area and let us know who you are here for.

• A staff member will approach the car and put your student’s personal items in the back or trunk of the car to maintain social distancing.

• If you have items to return, please place them in the same location where staff will put student personal items and let us know what they are.

Walkers/Bikers

• There will be marked areas on the pavement for waiting in line with social distancing.

• Walkers/Bikers will come up to the designated waiting area.

• A staff member will bring your student’s belongings to the table placed out for walk-ups.

• You can place any items you have to return on the same table for staff to collect.

• After the items have been placed, please stand back to maintain the 6-foot social distancing and only pick up your items after the staff member has stepped away.

Musical Instruments

• 4th Graders may keep their instrument for the summer if they are planning to return to Sacajawea and continue in instrumental music next year.

• 5th Graders must return their instruments.

Return Procedures

1. Place a tag or masking tape on your instrument case with your name on it.  Please do not use duct tape or write directly on the case.

2. Bring the instrument to Sacajawea during your assigned family materials pick up and drop off time on Wednesday, June 10th.  (8:00 – 11:00 4th Graders, 11:30 – 2:30 5th Graders) 

3. Staff will check off that your instrument has been returned.

Library Books

Bring your library books during your designated time.  Staff will take them, and they will be checked back in.   

Other Items to return

If you have any other items to return (classroom library books or supplies, for example), please use a sticky note or baggie to label who they should be returned to.  Small items should be in a baggie. We will have a collection area for these items and will try to get them to the right person.

Need something specific?

If you have a specific item that you are concerned about getting back, such as a child’s favorite hat in their locker, please email your teacher. 

Lost and Found

Items will be displayed so that you can identify them to be brought to you.

Sacajawea Virtual Arts Festival, Submissions Due June 8th

Mr. Ryan is organizing Sacajawea's Virtual Arts Festival! You can submit a photo of one art piece per student to rjschmidt@seattleschools.org by Monday, June 8th! Include the student's name and grade level.

Your message should be about Hope, Peace, Love, Support, Kindness, Protest, or Resistance.  

Black Lives Matter

Dear Sacajawea Community --

The violence and social turmoil of the past week are heavy on our minds, and it is clear that racial equity is as important as ever in our school, community, and country. As a PTA, we are unwavering in our resolve for racial equity and in our support for all our families.

 There is much more that can and will be said, but as a PTA we will double-down on our commitment to equity, and importantly, toward undoing racism. We must all work collectively to foster an anti-racism environment and to raise anti-racist children.

We also know that our community members are not all experiencing this moment in the same way. If you need extra support of any kind, please reach out to a member of our racial equity team (equity@sacpta.org) for whatever you might need.

 To our families of color, particularly our black families we say: You are seen, you are heard, and you are loved.

To our white families we say: Understanding privilege, discussing whiteness and racial bias may be uncomfortable, but it is necessary work. We welcome these conversations as we strive together against racial injustice and racism. 

There is more we can do as a PTA and a community, and we will continue our commitment to anti-racism at Sacajawea. For now, the Parent Racial Equity Team has gathered together some resources to help parents talk to their kids about the protests and racism. These articles will provide a place to start:

• How to talk to your children about protests and racism:

  • https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/protests-racism-talk-to-children-wellness/index.html

• Talking to children after racial incidents::

  • https://www.gse.upenn.edu/news/talking-children-after-racial-incidents

• Talking to kids about racism in the media:

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHMrJUZ7t6Y&app=desktop

• A great list of additional resources:

  • https://centerracialjustice.org/resources/resources-for-talking-about-race-racism-and-racialized-violence-with-kids 

 In solidarity,

The Sacajawea PTA and Parent Racial Equity Team