Trail Talk

Happy March Madness Month, St. Patrick's Day and Spring Break Week, Trailblazers! And most importantly, happy countdown to SFT's funnest party of the year: The 2023 SFT Auction and Party: Luau at the Legion!

Stay connected with your Trailblazer Community on Facebook and Instagram.

The Spring Book Fair is on! Stop by March 6-9 to shop in-person and help support our school library. Proceeds from the book fair help Mrs. Wiley-Carter stock the library with much-needed books and resources. All students will be allowed to come in and browse during their library class and other class time with teacher permission.

Book Fair Hours:

Before School

Monday (3/6) through Thursday (3/9)

7:30 - 8:00 am; to shop, students must bring money OR be accompanied by a parent/guardian

After/During School

Mon., March 6: 7:30 am to 4:00 pm

Tues., March 7: 7:30 am to 11:30 am & 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Wed., March 8: 7:30 am to 8:15 pm **Late hours: open during the Variety Show!**

Thur., March 9: 7:30 am to 11:00 am

The SFT Variety Show will take place this Wednesday, March 8. There are two performances: 1:30 pm and 6:30 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend to check out the talented students of SFT. Bonus: The Book Fair will be open all day Wednesday and late that evening, so stop by the library before or after either show.

Break a leg, Variety Show participants!

Attention Future Bison: The Shawnee Mission North High School International Club invites SFT students and families to attend the International Night at SMN this Wednesday. This student-led event, held in the SMN Field House Gym, 6-7:30pm this Wednesday, will feature food, games, language, music, and dance of many different cultures. It is a chance for SMN students and their parents to share their home culture with the rest of our community. The event is open to all ages.

We are very pleased to announce that Laney Sofia McGill is an award winner for the state of Kansas in the National Reflections program!

Her award winning composition for cello, “Autumn Leaves,” will be honored by the Kansas PTA and her Award of Excellence winning entry will be submitted to the National PTA for judging. We expect to hear those results in early May.

Congratulations to Laney on a job well done!

On March 22, Why Cook Wednesday will be hosted by the new Chick-fil-A near 95th and Metcalf.

Ten percent of all sales from 5-7 pm will go directly to SFT. (Have you seen their drive-thru...this is HUGE!)

Happy dining!

SFT Families,

Believe it or not, it’s already that time of year when we begin thinking about class placements

for for 2023-24. The staff at SFT will spend a great deal of time and thoughtful effort in creating class lists for next school year. Right now, it looks like we will have two classes for each grade level. Classes are constructed in such a way to meet the following criteria:

• Even mix of males/females in all classes at a given grade level
• Combining and placement of students academically to best meet their needs
• Combination of social/behavioral levels in all classes
• As near equal class sizes as possible in all classes at a given grade level

Beyond that, we look at students with clearly exceptional learning or behavioral needs and see if there is one particular teacher’s style or strengths that would benefit that student more than another. We also look at the social dynamics between certain students, and if our experiences tell us that two or more students have a negative influence on each other when they are together in the classroom, then we may ensure they are placed in different classrooms. When placement decisions are made, it is a combination of the classroom teachers, special teachers, parent input, and building principal.

If you, as parents, have specific information to share about your child’s needs, please share

them in writing with me by March 31. An email would be fine. You may include information

such as: strengths or special needs; learning style; other students who may present distractions; qualities you seek in a teacher. I will not take teacher requests. However, I will take into consideration any previous experience you may have had with a staff member and reasons why you would prefer not to have that person as your child’s teacher.

Our hope is to let students be notified of their classroom placements in Skyward or at Back-to-School Night where they can meet their teacher and bring their supplies.

Educationally yours,

Ms. Leiker

Have an Incoming Kindergartener or Pre-K Student?

Kindergarten Round-Up is scheduled for Thursday, April 20 at 6:00. (Pre-K Meet & Greet will be on May 4 at 4:00.) Pre-K and Kindergarten registration began online February 10. For families that are not new to SMSD, you should log into your Skyward Family Access account and select New Student Enrollment to enroll your incoming Pre-K or kindergarten student. Please be sure to indicate whether you are enrolling for pre-kindergarten or kindergarten and that the enrollment is for the 2023-2024 school year when prompted on the application form.

Proper Footwear

For safety reasons, please assist us to be sure students have the proper footwear each day. Flip flops and slides are not safe and should not be worn to school. Students have opened doors and scrape the skin off the tops of their feet, tripped and fallen over their floppy flip-flops, slipped right out of them on hot, sweaty days or stubbed their toes kicking a ball. Students go out to recess each day and many classes also do movement breaks in the

room throughout the day. Tennis shoes are needed on PE days so students can safely participate in all the activities. We appreciate your support in keeping everyone safe.

Circle Drive Reminder

Please be sure you do not enter the circle drive from the exit (off Lamar). If you need to get to the lower level to drop off students in the morning, please enter from 72nd Street into the upper south level.

The 2023 SFT Auction and Party: Luau at the Legion will be April 15, 2023 at the American Legion, 7500 W. 75th Street. Get ready for Bingo, Live Music by "Band in a Box", Catering by Hawaiian Bros, and so much more! The Luau at the Legion will be the biggest party of the year. Come out, have some fun and support Santa Fe Trail. Tickets will go on sale after Spring Break. This is an adults-only event, so book your childcare now!

But wait, are you attending the Pre-Luau-Party?!

Last year, we asked the SFT community to help donate towards class baskets and WOW, did you all deliver! This year we are repeating class/grade-level baskets but are doing it a little differently. For each grade level, there will be an auction pre-party a few weeks before the big night. Your "ticket" to enter your student's grade-level party will be your donation item for that grade's basket--but even if you aren't able to donate, please join the pre-party anyway so you can meet and have fun with parents and guardians from your child's class.

Information for each grade is being sent via teacher e-mails and newsletters. We hope you take this great opportunity to get to know people in your child's grade level before the funnest party of the year.

If you know of an SFT teacher or staff member who deserves a high-five for a job well done, the SMSD All Star Award form is available for nominating exemplary personnel throughout the school year and nominations are reviewed monthly. The nomination form is short and sweet: fill out this form.

The PTAs from around the Shawnee Mission School District collaborate to offer the SMAC PTA Clothing Exchange, and our PTA is on the calendar to help out at the store at the end of April. We'd love to have a strong showing of volunteers from our school community.

We are signed up to help on Friday, April 28, from 10:00am to 12:00pm. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Kelly Menking at kcmenking@gmail.com or text 913-485-5355.

The Clothing Exchange offers gently used clothing and shoes from infant to adult sizes and is a free service available to anyone who lives within the SMSD boundaries. Click here to learn more: https://www.smac-pta.org/clothing-exchange

Hello SFT Team and Parents,

Self-Care Cart

You may have noticed the self-care cart outside the RN office. Our SFT health room was a grant recipient, which allowed us to have the funds to share this health option with our SFT kids. I am very excited to get to share the opportunity for students to do self-care for simple needs to avoid entering the nurse’s office where they could be exposed to sick students.

Allergies

Spring is finally getting ready to peep its head out! If your student has historically taken a seasonal allergy medication, this may be the perfect time to discuss this medication with your pediatrician. The doctor may recommend your student take something either in the morning before school or at night before bed to cut symptoms dramatically.

Allergies vs. Infection/Virus

Many people are coming to school this time of year with red, irritated eyes and sneezing. The hard part can be deciding if it’s just seasonal allergies, a cold, a sty, or pink eye. I consolidated some resources here for families and staff to have in one place, to help us through this

season. The attached sign is very helpful and should be utilized for students coming in at recess, especially noting those presenting with congestion, runny noses, and red, watery, itchy eyes. Allergies and Self Care at School.jpg

Pink eye: The main sign to watch for with pink eye is eye inflammation and crusting/matting along the lash line. Is the eye(s) so bad that the student is needing the RN to call a parent for immediate pick-up because the student has stated it is impeding learning/painful? Is there is another family member known to be affected? If so, the student should come to the RN for assessment.

Sty: A sty Is a red bump that appears on the inner or outer eye area, most often this happens with a blocked oil/eyelash duct. It is not contagious and the person can come to school when they have a sty. It will usually go away by itself in a few days but can take up to two weeks. To feel better faster and reduce pain and swelling, you can normally use a self-care plan to treat your sty at home.

• DO apply a warm washcloth to the eyelid for 10-15 minutes at a time, 3-5 times per day.
• DO rewarm the washcloth by soaking it in warm water, wring and repeat.
• Many people believe that using green tea bags moistened in warm water as eye compresses will help the sty not only feel better but also speed healing, due in part to the antibacterial properties in green tea. Some scientists have shown that a natural antioxidant in green tea breaks down the cell wall of the bacteria, killing it. While there is some debate about this among eye experts, it won’t hurt you and should be at least as effective as using a warm washcloth as a compress.

• DO clean eyelids/lashes. Gently wipe away eye discharge with a mild soapy solution made from half baby shampoo and half water. You can also use the eyelid wipes available in most drugstores.
• DO wash your face, including eyelashes, each time after you come in from outside to help reduce sty/eye infection re-occurrence.

• DO NOT squeeze or pop a stye.
• DO NOT rub or touch your eyelid.
• DO NOT wear makeup or contact lenses until the area has healed.
• If the problem persists or is not getting better after a 2-3 days of home care, call your doctor or ophthalmologist for care.

Let me know if you have any questions and I hope this helps us all enjoy spring a little bit more.

Have a great day!

Nurse Leta

Save the Date: The last SFT Skating Party of the school year is Wednesday, April 19, 6-8 pm.

As always, the fun is at Skate City, 9800 W. 62nd Terrace, Merriam.

• Admission is $6 (and bonus: $2 from every admission goes back to SFT!)
• Skate rental, food and drinks are available for purchase

Mar. 6-9 --> Book Fair

Mar. 8 --> Variety Show

Mar. 10 --> No School, Teacher Workday

Mar. 13-17 --> No School, Spring Break

Mar. 20 --> Beginning of 4th Quarter

Mar. 22 --> WCW Chick-Fil-A (95th & Metcalf)

Apr. 15 --> Spring Auction

Apr. 19 --> Skate Party

Apr. 20 --> Kindergarten Roundup

Apr. 28 --> Clothing Exchange volunteer opportunity

May 5 --> SFT Carnival

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/