Trail Talk

We are incredibly thankful for our wonderful school community and especially for an epic October full of fun SFT family events. Thank you to all of the volunteers who made these events possible. There is nothing better than being able to gather again. We hope you have a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Please stay connected with the Trailblazer Community on Facebook and now Instagram!

The fall Book Fair is now open! Come see us in the SFT library from Nov. 7-11 at the hours listed below. In addition to bringing back fond memories from childhood and creating new memories for your own children, this is also an important fundraiser for the SFT library. All proceeds go directly to the library budget to help Librarian Extraordinaire Mrs. Sue Wiley-Carter purchase books for the library, which benefits all SFT students. If you are someone who gives books as gifts for children's birthday parties or during the holidays, or even just likes to have a few books on hand as a sweet, random surprise for your book-loving kid, there are plenty of fun, engaging books and non-book items available, at lots of different price points. Bring joy to your kid, foster the crucial life skill of literacy and--bonus!--support the SFT library in the process.

• During School: All students will be allowed to come in and browse during their library class and other class time with teacher permission.
• Before School: Students visiting daily between 7:30am-8am must come with a PARENT/GUARDIAN OR have money to visit!
• After School: Students may visit if they are with a PARENT/GUARDIAN or have a SIGNED NOTE from a parent and money.
• On Wednesday, we'll be open late. Come see us in the library until 7:45pm!
  

Book Fair Hours

• Monday, Nov. 7: 7:30am - 4:pm
• Tuesday, Nov. 8: 7:30am - 11:30am & 3-4pm
• Wednesday, Nov. 9: 7:30am - 7:45pm
• Thursday, Nov. 10: 7:30am - 11:30am & 3-4pm
• Friday, Nov. 11: 7:30am - 11:30am

Today (Tues., Nov. 8) is Election Day! The outcome of this election will have a big impact on public education and it's important to our schools that everyone shows up to the polls with our public schools as a top priority. To see the 2022 voting records for our SMSD area legislators, click here. Santa Fe Trail falls into House Districts 21 (Jerry Stogsdill), 24 (Jarrod Ousley), and 25 (Rui Xu).

If you live outside of SFT's boundaries, please view your sample ballot at voter.jocoelection.org to see who will be on your ballot. Middle & high schools have all the reps covering the elementary schools in their feeder pattern.

If you have not already voted, please make time today to make your voice heard!

Nov. 9: Papa John's Night

• Use code: KSS037 when you order.
• Up to 25% of your purchase will go to SFT!
• Valid at 5665 W. 95th Street location

Nov. 16: Buffalo State Pizza

Thanks to our incredibly supportive SFT community, the 2022 Fun Run netted more than $11,500! And thanks to having a principal who's a really good sport, Ms. Leiker was the star of the October PBIS student assembly when she kissed a chicken (actually two chickens!) as the students' reward for surpassing the goal!

These funds will go so far in paying for supply and resource grants for every one of our certified staff members, special assemblies, family fun events, field trip admissions and travel, teacher appreciation (catered dinners during conference nights and gift cards), and other opportunities to enhance our wonderful school that is not covered by the state budget. Fun fact: did you know the gaga ball pit in the back play yard was funded and assembled by PTA a few years ago?

Click here to watch the slideshow from the Fun Run!

We'll talk about events happening the second half of this semester, looking ahead to next semester and a few other orders of business. All SFT parents, guardians and community members are welcome, regardless of whether you're a PTA member! If you're looking for a way to support your own child by helping out with events and initiatives that make our school super-great, or if you're simply looking for a way to meet other SFT parents/guardians, please come to the meeting!

If you're unable to attend in person, you can join on Webex using this link.

(Note: An earlier newsletter communicated Nov. 8 as the meeting date, but we moved the meeting back a week to avoid conflicting with the SFT Book Fair.)

For the competition, Laney wrote an original song to be performed on the cello. Laney has been playing cello at Santa Fe Trail since 5th grade. Her winning music score and recording of her own cello performance of the work will go on to the district competition.

Congratulations, Laney!

SFT Families,

I cannot believe we are over a quarter of the way through the school year. If you have issues accessing your student’s grade card in Skyward, please talk to Ms. Jones in the office. Thank you to everyone who made the time to come to school, talk on the phone, or join a WebEx meeting online to conference with your child’s teacher(s). We appreciate you joining us to work as a team to support your child on their learning journey.

Thank you to the PTA for providing a great dinner for staff who worked with students all day and then conferenced all evening on the 20th . Please remember that staff members are available to talk or meet with you at any time, not just during these scheduled conferences. Additionally, thanks to PTA for celebrating me during Principal Appreciation Month. Thank you for making me feel so special.

Educationally yours,

Ms. Leiker

If you would like to donate a package of healthy pre-packaged snacks such as cereal bars, goldfish, or granola bars, it would be greatly appreciated for students that may not have a snack for the day. Providing a snack can help a student focus on learning, so having items on hand allows us to help everyone stay full and focused.

We are so excited to welcome back the Chat’n’Chew Program to SFT! Students can sign up to participate in this fun program that takes place in the second semester. Each grade will have a different book that they will read each month. The students will gather over the lunch break to chat about the book and chew their lunch!

We are looking for parents and guardians to lead groups in each classroom. Sign-up Here!

Happy Reading!

Recess is an integral part of the school day and proper outdoor clothing is essential. Please make sure that your child is prepared for abrupt weather changes at times of the year when the weather may take a sudden turn for the worse. Please send students with coats/jackets when the wind chill is below 40 degrees and put student names on outdoor wear. Labeling hats, gloves, scarves, hoodies/jackets, and coats makes it easier to get them to students if they are found somewhere. Unlabeled lost items are placed on the Lost & Found table in the front entry.

All students are expected to participate in recess. Generally, if a child is too sick to go outside

for recess, the child is too sick to be in school. There may be occasional exceptions to this rule, but it is a reasonable guideline. A written doctor's request for indoor recess will always be honored.

There will not be outdoor recess when:

• The temperature is 15 degrees F. (-13 C.) or below.
• The wind chill index is 0 (-18 C.) or below.
• There is significant falling moisture.

The Federal Child Nutrition Program regulations require school food service sponsors to provide reasonable modifications to school meals or the meal service to accommodate participants with disabilities that restrict a child’s diet on a case-by-case basis and only when supported by a written statement from a State licensed healthcare professional who is authorized to write medical prescriptions under State law.

In the SMSD, School Nurses and Food Service work together to assist families with the completion of the meal modification form which is the accepted written statement. Families of students who have a disability or allergy affecting their diet are not required to complete the meal modification form. If a family feels their student is able to make appropriate choices without assistance, they do not need to fill out the meal modification form. Completing the meal modification form helps School Nurses and Food Service better assist the student and provides a way for changes to be made to the menu.

If families have questions about meal modifications, they can contact their Nurse Leta or Food Service at 913-993-9710.

Are you looking for a fun way to get connected in the Santa Fe Trail community? Would you like to help raise money to support our awesome students, teachers and staff at SFT?

It’s never too early to start gathering items for this year’s spring fundraiser. Are you a small business owner or do you have connections to community members who love to donate to local schools? We would love to partner with you! Please contact Emily Beecher at polkadotte@gmail.com or (913)475-1978 with any ideas or questions.

Your friendly SFT PTA is made up of dedicated, active volunteers, and we are always eager for more folks to join in the fun. Parents, guardians, teachers and community members donate their time and talent to organize all of the various activities PTA sponsors in support of our students and teachers throughout the year.

Volunteering comes in many forms: one-off event-day volunteers, committee chairs, committee members, auction donors or solicitors, officers on the PTA board (president, VPs, treasurer, secretary), and more. You don't have to have a ton of free time to be helpful on PTA -- you just have to want SFT to continue to be great.

If you're interested in volunteering at any level, please join us for the Nov. 15 PTA meeting, or contact PTA president Mary Birkel at marydeantaylor@gmail.com

Special note about upcoming board openings: As we creep toward the end of first semester, we are already starting to look ahead to next year, when several of our volunteer board members will reach the end of their terms and roll off the board. That means there will be several open positions on the board that need to be filled with new volunteers. Likewise, there may be some committee chair openings. If you are interested in exploring the possibility of serving our school in this way, please contact Mary Birkel at marydeantaylor@gmail.com.

The Shawnee Mission Area Council PTA Clothing Exchange offers gently used clothing and shoes from infant to adult sizes. The Exchange is a free service open to those who live within the SMSD boundaries.

The SFT PTA has signed up to help out in the Clothing Exchange store from 4:30pm to 6:30pm on Thursday, December 1st. If anyone is interested in volunteering, please email Kelly Menking at kcmenking@gmail.com or text at 913-485-5355. Kids are welcome to help!

Learn more about the SMAC PTA Clothing Exchange here.

Amazon Smile

An easy way to support our school is to connect your Amazon Smile account to SFT so the school can earn a little extra money--at no cost to you!

Our charity is listed as Santa Fe Trail Elementary PTA Overland Park KS. Sign up at smile.amazon.com.

Nov. 7-11 --> Fall Book Fair

Nov. 9 --> WCW Papa Johns

Nov. 15 --> PTA Meeting SFT Library 6pm

Nov. 16 --> WCW Buffalo State Pizza

Nov. 18 --> Chat N Chew sign-up deadline

Nov. 21 --> No School Teacher Facilitated Professional Learning

Nov. 22 --> No School

Nov. 23-25 --> No School Thanksgiving Break

Dec. 1 --> SMAC Volunteer Opportunity

Dec. 14 --> WCW Panera Bread

Email: sftptapresident@gmail.com
Website: www.sftpta.com
Location: 7100 Lamar Avenue, Overland Park, KS, USA
Phone: 913-993-5000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/371636722923691/