- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Just two-and-a-half weeks till summer vacation!!
Upcoming Events
Friday, May 23 - School spirit day: Rainbow Day!
Friday, May 23 - School Picnic
Monday, May 26 - NO SCHOOL (Memorial Day)
Thursday, May 29 - Field Day (grades K-2)
Friday, May 30 - Field Day (grades 3-5)
School Picnic
A much-loved tradition at St. Anthony Park School is our school and family PICNIC. Friday, May 23, from 10:00-12:30 PM. All families are invited to join your student for lunch outside in the park. Guests can purchase lunch for $5.00, and the menu will include hamburgers, chips, vegetables, and a sweet dessert treat. All students may choose to have a free school lunch that day, just like regular days. Here is the schedule for each grade level's picnic time:
Nature Pre-K
Kindergarten 10:15-10:45
1st Grade 12:00-12:30
2nd Grade 11:40-12:10
3rd Grade 10:00-10:30
4th Grade 11:05-11:35
5th Grade 10:45-11:15
Field Day
Field Days are coming! K-2 will have their field day on Thursday, May 29th and 3rd-5th grades will have their field day on Friday, May 30th. Both field days will be from 11:00am to 1:50pm.
All students will be participating in 10 game stations and relay races with their classroom. Please email Ms. Paulsen at karen.paulsen@spps.org if you would like the volunteer!
Recaps
Spring Carnival
Spring Carnival was a smashing success and a grand old time!
Thanks to all the amazing volunteers who showed up on carnival day to transform the lawn into a wonderland and to run games, activities, serve food, sit in the dunk tank, and help at the raffle! The carnival raised $9,400!
A really big shout out to all the carnival leads this year for making the event a reality:
Sathiya and Breanna: Carnival Co-organizers
JoAnna: Volunteer Coordinator
Jared and Ashley: Games Leads
Jason: Raffle
Laura and Andrew: Food Team Leads
Sarah: Activity Coordinator
Marty and David: Karaoke DJs
Anita and Lauren: Bake Sale
Here are some pictures from the carnival (all photos by Katherine Warde, who , by the way, also took the group photo above).
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Plant Sale
Thank you to Anita, Lauren, Sarah, Michael, and Anne for their tireless work at the plant sale this year! The many plants sold in the pre-sale and at the tent sale raised $11,982 for SAPSA! Thanks to those of you who came out to buy plants and volunteer at the sale!
And special thanks to Sweet Fruci's ice cream truck, who donated 30% if their proceeds during the Plant Sale to SAPSA.
Silent Auction
A HUGE thank you to Renee for doing all the organization and leg work this year, again, on the Silent Auction! There were MANY great goodies and experiences for auction. Thanks to all of you who found a treasure for your financial support of SAPSA. We raised $4,114.
Dine Out at Nico's
We are SO grateful for our neighborhood partnerships, including Nico's Tacos. They generously donated $777 to SAPSA at our last dine out! It was fabulous to see so many SAP Elementary families picking up food or eating in while supporting a local business.
Running Club Race Day
Race Day this year was in the 80s, but nonetheless our runners finished the mile race with style & panache! Thanks to Ms. Paulsen for running the Running Club!
Top Finishers - Girls | Top Finishers - Boys |
Zeynep Mai-Yah Mikaela Selah Norah Carolina Margot Ruby Ada Dafna Eleanor Olive Ingrid Bridget Adeline | Alex Jack Eloy Mark Julian August Ben Drew Charley Keagan Cody Aris Wyatt Felix Caleb |
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Talent Show
Thanks to everyone who entertained us at the Talent Show!!
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Happy Trails, Ms. Maas!
Guess what? Ms. Maas is retiring! SAP Elementary will miss this beloved First grade teacher, who is always there to greet students in the halls—and sometimes dance with them! Ms. Maas's last homework assignment was this interview with the Wolf Pack Press.
How many years have you taught at St. Anthony Park elementary, and what grades?
I have been teaching at SAP for 12 years and I have taught in Sixth grade for one-year, Social Studies for three years in the portable classroom that no longer exists, and the rest of the time I have spent in First grade.
Did you like school when you were a girl?
I have always loved school. I have had some amazing teachers throughout my life time and I do a lot of things in my classroom that emulates what they have done for me. I was always at an after-school function, participating in extra curricular activities. I was on the student council, in band, on the yearbook committee, I was a cheerleader, played softball. Anything that I could do at school I did and honestly if I could have slept at school, I would have done that too. I hope that you have seen the passion and joy that I have for teaching with some of the silly characters that I have dressed up as or the silly national holidays that I have celebrated In my classroom. I will miss challenging the students on spirit days!
Did you always want to be a teacher?
I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher. When I was very small, I would come home from Sunday School and line up all my stuffed animals on the couch and teach them the lesson I heard that morning. My uncle/godfather is a teacher, my cousins are teachers; it is a family business. My uncle is also a golf coach and I am also a coach.
What is your favorite book and movie?
My favorite book(s) is the Twilight Series and my favorite movie series is most definitely Harry Potter hands down!
Any special plans for retirement?
I am first and foremost going to spend as much time with my mother as I can. If I can give any advice, it would be to hold onto and love your family as much as you can while they are still with you.
I am also going to spend a lot of time at Disney and Universal Studios. I would like to travel to London and see the beginnings of Winnie the Pooh and take the Harry Potter tour. There is a cruise that I would like to take to the Greek Isles as well for my 60th birthday next year.
Most of my time will be spent at the John Rose Oval in Roseville, MN as a skating coach. Some of you may or may not know that I am also a professional figure skater and this will be my full-time job in retirement. So, if you want to come and see me, stop by the oval and we can go skating together.
What is the furthest away you've ever traveled?
Switzerland is the farthest away that I have been from home and was blessed to stay in the Alps when I was there. What a beautiful country and the chocolate was pretty good too.
What will you miss most about SAP Elementary?
I will miss my kids! Just thinking about saying goodbye to them tugs on my heart strings. I will also miss the families of SAP. You have all been so good to me and when I applied to this school, I said this is where I want to retire and here we are today. Thank you is just not enough to say to a community that I have seen rally around the staff here and build us up under some extremely tough situations over the years.
Any parting advice you'd like to share with us?
As a teacher I will speak frankly, my courageous conversations that I often have with people, it is not always our fault when things go awry. Remember that we have lives outside of this building and sometimes it gets really hard to manage home life and school life. Always go to the teacher first when you have any issues. Establish that parent/teacher relationship that is so important for your child. Work together with your child’s teacher. Be present, volunteer in the classroom, be vigilant about your child’s education. I am sorry but we cannot do this alone we need your help and guidance. Teach your kids to be compassionate toward one another so that they can have life-long friendships. Life is hard, we make mistakes, and that is how we grow and learn from each other. I will miss you SAP and the families that have made this community fun for me to come back to every year. I hope to see you out and about within the community and I would be more than happy to volunteer for events and or tutor for anyone that has a need.
Your truly forever, Ms. Maas
Lost & Found
Please check the Lost & Found and claim any sweatshirts, coats, snow pants, hats, mittens, and other clothes before Friday, June 6.
Anything that isn't claimed by the 6th will be donated.
Spirit Wear
Rep your favorite elementary school! T-shirts ($20/kid, and $22/adult) and school signs ($10) are available for pre-order now. Email president@sapsamn.org for preorders. Or, look for in-person sales at school events.
Have a great week, Wolf Pack!
If you have suggestions for content or questions about anything in the Wolf Pack Press, please reach out to Joel Van Valin at communications@sapsamn.org
