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Wolf Pack Press - November 5, 2025

  • Nov 5
  • 4 min read

Updated: 2 hours ago

Conferences are this week—and also Spirit Night at Zero Gravity and the Literati Book Fair!


Upcoming Events



  • Wednesday, November 5th, 5-8pm - Spirit Night at Zero Gravity!

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  • Wednesday - Friday, November 5-7 - Conferences & Literati Book Fair

​​

  • Friday, November 7 - NO SCHOOL (conferences)

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  • Tuesday, November 11, 5:30-6:30 - Wolf Ridge Informational Meeting for 5th Grade Parents. Meet in the school library


  • Tuesday, November 11, 6:30-7:30 - SAPSA Meeting in school library

​​

  • Friday, November 14 - Family Friday (coffee in caffeteria after drop off - bring a snack to share)


  • Friday, November 21 - Give to the Max Day




Literati Book Fair


The book fair is here! Stop by the school library November 5-7 during conferences to shop for books!


The hours are:

  • 7:15-8:15am and 3-7pm Wednesday

  • 7:15-8:15am and 3-7pm Thursday

  • 9am-12pm Friday


We still need a few more volunteers to run the book fair on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Sign up HERE to volunteer!


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Spirit Night at Zero Gravity!

 

Spirit Night at Zero Gravity trampoline park is on Wednesday, November 5, 5-8pm. Ticket sales will raise money for the school, so go ahead and jump into the action! Buy tickets HERE.


There is also a Facebook page.


Note that if you have Zero Gravity socks from last time, you can bring them and not have to buy new socks.


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Donate Your Candy!


Hope you had a spooky Halloween, and that rainy drizzle didn't dampen your spirits! Now it's November and ... what is one to do with excess Halloween candy? 


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Don't throw it away after your kids have eaten their fill!  Why not donate it to SAPSA?  We'll freeze any candy you would like to make disappear and reappear it during the Spring Carnival in May to be used as prizes!  A great way to spread out the sweets!


Candy donations can be dropped off at the SAP Elementary office.




Science & Technology Update

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Here is a quick update of science & technology coursework this fall from Ms. Wilson:


Kindergarten — Nature, things that are alive and what plants and animals need to survive

1st grade — Plants, structure and function, seed dispersal

2nd grade — Landforms and maps

3rd grade — force and motion with movement of playground equipment

4th grade — force and motion with movement of cars

5th grade — Properties of matter, solids - liquids - gases

​



Wolf Ridge Calendars for Sale



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Each year, SAP Elementary 5th graders take an unforgettable trip to Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland, MN.  This 5 day, 4 overnight camp experience builds core memories through outdoor adventures and experiential learning about MN History and the Lake Superior Area.  The cost to attend is $300/student but NO child is turned away for lack of payment. 


One way scholarships are provided is through the sale of calendars featuring Minnesota Wildlife. This year's photographer is Dominique Braud. 


Calendars cost $20  and ALL proceeds go towards funding Wolf Ridge scholarships for 5th grade students. 


Order your Wolf Ridge 2026 calendar by filling out this form:



Great Gatherings

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There are still some Great Gatherings available, including movies, bowling, skating, yoga, a scavengert hunt, and even a pool party! Purachase a gathering HERE.


The gatherings have raised over $1500 for the school so far this fall! If you are interested in hosting a Great Gathering, there is still time — fill out the form HERE.



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Library Helper


Mr. Watson, our Library and Materials Management EA, would greatly appreciate help with reshelving books for an hour during the school week.


To sign up as a library helper, click HERE .




Call for Submissions - Art and Writing


One goal I have for the Wolf Pack Press this year is to add a monthly "Gallery" featuring art and writing by SAP students. Children have wildly creative minds, and the things they come up with often amaze me. For example the painting below is not from a museum of modern art—it was painted by a four-year-old (my son Alex).


So parents, please scan and send in your kids' best art, photography, sculpture, poetry or stories. All student art & writing (PreK to grade 5) is welcome, and teachers can also submit their students' work. Email the work to me (Joel Van Valin) at communications@sapsamn.org. Many thanks!


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Spirit Wear


Rep your favorite elementary school! T-shirts ($15/kid, and $20/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.


For existing orders, shirt pickup is moved back to 10/10, not curriculum night as I initially planned.

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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 

 
 
 

Wolf Pack Press - October 22, 2025

  • Oct 23
  • 3 min read

Updated: Oct 27

That Fall Festival was a blast! Next up: Halloween, conferences, and the Literati Book Fair.

Upcoming Events



  • Thursday, October 23 - Dine out at Parkway Pizza day (more info below)


  • Friday, October 24 - School Spirit Day! Wear your favorite team colors or jersey


  • Friday, October 31 - NO SCHOOL (Conference Prep)  


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Dine Out at Parkway Pizza Day!


Dine at Parkway Pizza on Thursday, October 23 (dine in or order out) and 5% will go to SAP Elementary!


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Fall Festival Recap


The Fall Festival was a great success! It made over $8000 for the school, and the kids had a great time running the Pumpkin Run, playing games and doing crafts, visiting the Little Scare, Big Scare, and Science Scare, and eating pizza.


Thanks to all the parents, family, and community members who volunteered and made the festival possible!


Here are some wonderful festival pics by Kathernine Warde.(Facepaint picture in lower right corner by Lisa Van Valin.)





Pumpkin Contest Winner


The winner of the Science Scare pumpkin seed counting contest is 5th grader Ben Backman!


Ben had the closest guess to the number of seeds in the pumpkin—he guessed 506. According to Science Scare co-organizer Lisa Reiter, there were 513 seeds in that pumpkin. That's pretty close, Ben!


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Wolf Ridge Calendars for Sale



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Each year, SAP Elementary 5th graders take an unforgettable trip to Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland, MN.  This 5 day, 4 overnight camp experience builds core memories through outdoor adventures and experiential learning about MN History and the Lake Superior Area.  The cost to attend is $300/student but NO child is turned away for lack of payment. 


One way scholarships are provided is through the sale of calendars featuring Minnesota Wildlife. This year's photographer is Dominique Braud. 


Calendars cost $20  and ALL proceeds go towards funding Wolf Ridge scholarships for 5th grade students. 


Order your Wolf Ridge 2026 calendar by filling out this form:




Great Gatherings

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There are still some Great Gatherings available, including movies, bowling, skating, yoga, a scavengert hunt, and even a pool party! Purachase a gathering HERE.


The gatherings have raised over $1500 for the school so far this fall! If you are interested in hosting a Great Gathering, there is still time — fill out the form HERE.




Literati Book Fair


The Literati Book Fair is now open for online ordering! Click HERE to start shopping for books. Orders purchased online will ship at the end of book fair week.


The book fair itself will be held in the school library November 5-7, during conferences. We need volunteers to run the book sale on all days of the week of November 3-7, including class previews on 11/3 and 11/4. Sign up HERE to volunteer!


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Donate Your Candy!


Halloween will be here soon! And afterwards—what is one to do with excess Halloween candy? 


ree

Don't throw it away after your kids have eaten their fill!  Why not donate it to SAPSA?  We'll freeze any candy you would like to make disappear and reappear it during the Spring Carnival in May to be used as prizes!  A great way to spread out the sweets!


Candy donations can be dropped off at the SAP Elementary office.





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Library Helper


Mr. Watson, our Library and Materials Management EA, would greatly appreciate help with reshelving books for an hour during the school week.


To sign up as a library helper, click HERE .





Spirit Night at Zero Gravity!

 

Spirit Night at Zero Gravity trampoline park is on Wednesday, November 5, 5-8pm. Ticket sales will raise money for the school, so go ahead and jump into the action! Buy tickets HERE.


There is also a Facebook page.


Note that if you have Zero Gravity socks from last time, you can bring them and not have to buy new socks.


ree



Spirit Wear


Rep your favorite elementary school! T-shirts ($15/kid, and $20/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.


For existing orders, shirt pickup is moved back to 10/10, not curriculum night as I initially planned.

ree



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

 
 
 

Wolf Pack Press - October 8, 2025

  • Oct 8
  • 6 min read

It's Fall Festival week! Hope to see you all there!

Upcoming Events



  • Friday, October 10 - Family Friday. Coffee after dropoff. Please bring treats/pastries/fruit to share. Outside if weather is nice, in cafeteria if not. 


  • Friday, October 10 - Fall Festival! 5 pm -7 pm at the school. See section below.


  • Tuesday, October 14 - Advisory Council (5:30 pm - 6:30 pm) & SAPSA Meeting (6:30 pm - 7:30 pm)    


  • Thursday & Friday, October 16 & 17 - NO SCHOOL (MEA)    


  • Friday, October 31 - NO SCHOOL (Conference Prep)  



Fall Festival


The Fall Festival is almost here!! It is this Friday, October 10, 5-7pm at the school. Thanks to all who have stepped forward to volunteer!


We still need:

  • A few more volunteers for setup, cleanup, games and crafts. Sign up HERE.

  • Baked goodies! You can sign up to bring something to the Bake Sale HERE.

  • Candy and prizes to give away at the festival. Purchase HERE. You can also drop off candy & prizes at the front office the day of the festival.


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Wolf Ridge Calendars for Sale


Wolf Ridge Calendars will be for sale at Fall Festival!


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Each year, SAP Elementary 5th graders take an unforgettable trip to Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland, MN.  This 5 day, 4 overnight camp experience builds core memories through outdoor adventures and experiential learning about MN History and the Lake Superior Area.  The cost to attend is $300/student but NO child is turned away for lack of payment. 


One way scholarships are provided is through the sale of calendars featuring Minnesota Wildlife. This year's photographer is Dominique Braud. 


Calendars cost $20  and ALL proceeds go towards funding Wolf Ridge scholarships for 5th grade students. 



School Directory


The St. Anthony Park Elementary School Directory is the main resource for student and teacher contact information. It includes class and staff lists, as well as SAPSA, Advisory Council and district contact information.


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We are currently compiling the School Directory for the 2025-26 school year.


Every family will receive a copy. You are not required to submit your contact information for the directory, but we encourage you to do so! You can submit contact information online HERE.



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Remembering Dexter Jr.


We have sad news to share—Dexter Jr., the beloved science room guinea pig, passed away last week at the ripe old age of 5.


Dexter Jr. was just about the friendliest guinea pig you could ever meet, and he loved being visited by his students, eating his fresh veg, and all the adventures he had at SAP Elementary. His friends Pumpkin and Pancake will carry on the school guinea pig tradition.


Ms. Wilson had these words to say about her departed friend:


Dexter Jr was my little work buddy who brought so much joy and smiles to so many. 

His little squeaks of communication were always the first thing I heard in the morning :-)

I will miss taking him to the cafeteria for lunch and to visit the office staff as well.

Thanks to Minnepau Vet Clinic for their help in his final days.



Book Fair


The Literati Book Fair is now open for online ordering! Click HERE to start shopping for books. Orders purchased online will ship at the end of book fair week.


The book fair itself will be held in the school library November 5-7, during conferences.


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Inside & Outside with the Nature PreK


Ann Griffen, a teacher at SAP Elementary's Nature PreK, sent us this fall update:


Hello! My name is Ann Griffin and I am the lead teacher in Nature PreK.  This is our 3rd year at SAP.  We are a program through ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education).  We are play based and nature centered.  We have both a full day option with child care and a half day option for families. We spend most of the day outside and go outside in all kinds of weather.

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We have had a wonderful fall! We learned about nature through our 5 senses. 


We have: painted with nature, cracked acorns for the squirrels, ate and cooked with food from our garden, created delicious mud pies in the mud kitchen, climbed trees and used a rope to climb a hill, gone on daily hikes, created fairy houses in the park, observed turkeys, worms, dragon flies, and bumblebees, and recorded our observations in our nature journals.  We have learned about our new friends and used our imagination to build houses and castles. We are excited to watch as the seasons change throughout the year.  



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Fall Bulb Fundraiser


Get your tulips, daffodils and wildflowers here! Buy bulbs to plant this fall and enjoy next spring, while supporting our school! Shop online. Orders will ship directly to your home. The bulb sale is sponsored by Flower Power Fundraising. SAP Elementary receives 50% of all sales!


Orders accepted until October 15.


Order bulbs HERE.






History Lesson—St. Paul's First Teacher


(This is one of a series of short articles by the Wolf Pack Press on the history of SAP Elementary and the St. Paul Public Schools.)


Harriet Bishop was the first public school teacher in St Paul, and also the first teacher in what was to become the state of Minnesota.


In 1846 Dr. Thomas S. Williamson, a teacher and missionary living with the Dakota at Kaposia (located in modern day South St. Paul) noticed that the small but growing settlement across the river, previously known as Pig's Eye but now re-christened St. Paul, had no school. He wrote a letter to the Board of National Popular Education, asking for a teacher to be sent to the frontier hamlet:


I suppose she might have twelve or fifteen scholars to begin with, and, if she should have a good talent of winning the affections of children, (and one who has not should not come,) after a few motnths, she would have as many as she could attend to.


He added that:


A teacher coming should bring books with her sufficient to begin a school, as there is no bookstore within three hundred miles.


J. C. Buttre - Minnesota Historical Society
J. C. Buttre - Minnesota Historical Society

The letter was received by Catharine Beecher, a sister of author Harriet Beecher Stowe, who at the time was running a seminary to train young women as teachers in Albany. Bishop, one of her students, accepted the offer. She arrived in 1847, the same year as St. Paul's first doctor.


Her first schoolhouse was a located at the corner of St. Peter Street and Kellog Boulevard, a "mud-walled log hovel, a primitive blacksmith's shop," as she describes it in her memoir Floral Home:


Some wooden pins had been driven into the logs, across which rough boards were placed for seats. The luxury of a chair was accorded to the teacher, and a cross-legged table occupied the center of the loose floor.


A friendly hen, unwilling to relinquish her claim, on the ground of preoccupancy, daily placed a token of her industry in the corner, and made all merry with her loud cackle and abrupt departure. Snakes sometimes obtruded their heads through the floor, rats looked in at the open door...


St. Paul schools were racially diverse from the very beginning: Bishop's class had students with French, Swiss, English, Dakota and Ojibwe ancestry. Only a few of her students were fluent in English; one of them translated her lessons into French and Dakota.


A dynamic and resourceful figure, Bishop soon raised funds to build a better school. She was active in the temperence and women's suffrage movements, and married John McConkey, a widower with four children, in 1858 (they divorced in 1867). Harriet Island was named after her, and The Harriet Bishop, a paddlewheeler, currently docks there.


Sources:

  • A History of the City of Saint Paul to 1875 by J Fletcher Williams

  • Floral Home; or, First Years of Minnesota by Harriet Bishop

  • "Harriet Bishop: A Doer and a Mover" by Norma Sumerdorf, published in MNHistory Magazine



Spirit Wear


Rep your favorite elementary school! T-shirts ($15/kid, and $20/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.


For existing orders, shirt pickup is moved back to 10/10, not curriculum night as I initially planned.

ree



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

 
 
 
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