From the Principal’s Desk
Mr. Kevin Dick
The Sioux Falls Public Schools Education Foundation raises money in the community from many different dedicated sponsors. The foundation then accepts applications from any public school educators in the Sioux Falls School District. This foundation has been very generous to Pettigrew School teachers, and our teachers have been very successful in securing these grants in the past. One of Pettigrew’s teachers wrote a series of 3 consecutive grants in recent years that resulted in one of the largest grant awards that the foundation has ever awarded, and this grant has secured funding for the Social-Emotional Curriculum that we use at Pettigrew for the past 3 years, 7 MINDSETS. We will be looking for a new funding source for this curriculum in the coming years if we are going to continue our experience with it. It seems to have been very successful, students have talked about and utilized the components of this curriculum for the 3 years, and teachers have had a consistent direction and materials to use for our Morning Meeting sessions each day, with developmental lessons presented weekly on the learning objectives that fit into the Mindset we are studying for that month. The data that our student surveys have produced has shown terrific growth in each of the areas that the 7 MINDSETS address. Check out our 7 MINDSETS video we produced, recently, at this link. The 7 MINDSETS curriculum and programming fits very nicely into our commitment to our 4 Core Values we are learning about and using as our guiding principles this year of PAWS, Positive, Accountable, Wise and Safe. Stay tuned for more development and ways to continue to support Pettigrew School in our development and continuation of the 7 MINDSETS.
The Sioux Falls Public Schools Education Foundation has been busy, and will continue to stay busy, as they are delivering the good news of Public School Proud Grants to teachers throughout the District! Since 2008, the Education Foundation has been encouraging and funding innovative solutions to enrich education in all SFSD schools. This year they will see their total distribution of funds through Public School Proud Grants surpass the $1,000,000 mark! Congratulations to everybody involved!
Pettigrew has had 5 educators receive grants recently from this program. The most recent awardees from Pettigrew are outlined and pictured below.
We are proud of our educators who have gone above and beyond to write these grants, we are thankful to sponsors such as Dakotah Bank, and we are especially grateful to the Sioux Falls Public Schools Education Foundation for providing us all of these and previous opportunities to secure funding for our innovative ideas and programs at Pettigrew.
Parents – Survey Opportunity – Have your voices be heard. In the next few weeks, students in grades 3 through 5 will be taking a Student Survey that will generate data about Pettigrew School that we will use to improve our programming and educational efforts at school. Parents will also have a chance to let their voices be heard in this survey. Watch in the coming weeks for a message from the district about how you can access this survey and give Pettigrew School and its educators, leaders and students some constructive feedback that will be used to plan our programming and continued improvement efforts in the months and years to come.
Happy Spring!!! We only have a few short weeks of school to go this year, some big assessments students will be taking to show us all they have learned and gained this year, and before long, the summer months will be upon us. Let’s all enjoy the ride!!!!
Jacey Hanssen (205) and Matt Smith of Dakotah Bank
Jacey Hanssen (Teacher in 205) at Pettigrew Elementary will use $174.19 for her project, “STEM Morning Bins.” With the funds, she plans to purchase digit blocks, colorful wooden stacking rocks, rainbow stones, creative straw STEM builders, and Legos. In her proposal, she wrote, “STEM bins are boxes filled with manipulatives that allow students to complete a variety of activities that promote fine motor skills, creativity, and problem solving. It gives students a chance to become familiar with manipulatives used in the classroom before they are introduced in the curriculum lessons. Students can experiment with a variety of
materials to create and improve designs throughout the school year. Through the STEM bins, students will do more than just play; they will explore, engage in open-ended play, and create with their peers.” Thank you, Dacotah Bank, for supporting projects that increase student engagement and for providing educators with the tools they need to be successful!
Myra Koerner (K04) and Matt Smith of Dakotah Bank
Myra Koerner (Kindergarten teacher in K04) from Pettigrew Elementary received $409.89 for her project, “Independent Hands-On Learning.” Myra plans to create reading and math stations using alphabet and number rockets, magnetic counting mazes, linking letter monkeys, peg number boards, and more. In the application, she wrote, “As we add more curriculum and rigor to our instruction, we must decrease the amount of time spent on child-directed hands-on learning. As children are allowed more tablet time at home, we are seeing a gap in their fine motor skills and ability to work independently. Giving children the opportunity to engage in educational, hands-on activities that are designed to strengthen their fine motor skills, pre-writing skills, phonics skills, and early number recognition is the perfect way to use this independent learning time in the classroom. These experiences will
enhance their participation and keep them engaged in a day full of rigorous instruction.” Thank you, Dacotah Bank, for supporting projects that increase student engagement and for providing educators with the tools they need to be successful!
Amber Kramer and Katie Netz (Speech Therapists) and Matt Smith of Dakotah Bank
Katie Netz and Amber Kramer (Speech and Language Therapists) at Pettigrew Elementary received $1,341.98 for their proposal, “Themed Sensory Bins.” With the funds, they will purchase sensory bins to support speech and language development for 150 students. They plan to buy two sensory tables and fillers for eighteen themes. Twelve themes will correspond to the seasons (for example, leaves, snow, and flowers) and six themes will correspond to letters, colors, and vehicles. In the application, they wrote, “Sensory bins are designed to engage a child physically with materials and therefore activate both motor and language portions of their brains. Using an approach to engage and motivate the entire child helps elevate their ability to learn in a functional way. Through sensory activities, a child is exposed to common words, supporting their development of core language skills. The more a child is exposed to different types of language, from commands to questions, the more they will improve their ability to imitate and initiate oral language.” Thank you, Dacotah Bank, for supporting projects that increase student engagement and for providing educators with the tools they need to be successful!
R.F. Pettigrew PTO
Email: rfp.president@yahoo.com
Website: rfpettigrew.org/pto
Location: 7900 West 53rd Street, Sioux Falls, SD, USA
Phone: 6053623564
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RFPettigrewPTO/?ref=share
