Staff Spotlight: Ms. Williams

Ivette: What is your favorite book?

Mrs. Williams: Well, I have two favorite books. One is an adult book, for me. I love a Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken. I’ve loved it since college. And, I read you my second favorite book, that’s a children’s book. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes because he is my favorite children’s author.

Zeynep: What is your favorite thing about first graders?

Mrs. Williams: That one is easy! How excited they are to learn everything!

Ivette: What are we most likely to find you doing on a Saturday morning?

Mrs. Williams: On a Saturday morning, I like to get up before my whole family and when it is quiet in my house, I like to drink coffee and read.

Zeynep: What is your favorite thing about the first day of school?

Mrs. Williams: Meeting all of the first graders!

Ivette: What is your favorite season?

Mrs. Williams: Summer! I love summer because in Minnesota it’s cold for so long and summer is so short. I think that’s why it’s one of my favorites.

Zeynep: Do you have a favorite school subject to teach? What is it?

Mrs. Williams: My favorite subject to teach is reading. I love reading, especially in first grade, because some kids come in and they know how to read, then they can learn how to read better. But some kids don’t know how to read and when they first learn how to read…do you remember how it was like magic when you first learned how to read? And everything started to make sense? I love that!

Ivette: What do you love to eat?

Mrs. Williams: Oh boy…well, mainly I just love to eat. But I do love Ethiopian food. I love eating injera. It’s a bread you rip with your hands, and you get to eat with your hands. And then you can dip it in food and I love potatoes with lots of spices. So, that’s my favorite food. It’s Ethiopian food.

Zeynep: Do you have any pets?

Mrs. Williams: We have two rescue cats! One is Vivi. She is an orange tabby. And one is Oscar. He’s a white and grey cat, and he acts like a dog!

Ivette: What is your favorite memory from this summer?

Mrs. Williams: Mr. Williams and I went to Seattle. And we took a ferryboat across the water and I loved looking back at the city of Seattle from the ferryboat. So, I think that’s my favorite memory: seeing the city of Seattle from the water.

Zeynep: Where is one place you have never been but would love to go?

Mrs. Williams: Can I choose two? I really want to take Mac and Selah, my son and daughter, to Hawaii and to Washington D.C. And if you made me choose, I would have to sit here for a long time! I want to go to Washington D.C. because of all the history there and show them that. But I also want to go to Hawaii and see all of the beautiful nature in Hawaii.

Ivette and Zeynep: Thank you!

Mrs. Williams: You’re welcome! Can I ask you one question? Do you have a favorite book, or even a favorite author or series?

Ivette: I think The Book With No Pictures.

Zeynep: I like Mercy Watson.

Ivette: Oh, I also like that one!

Mrs. Williams: She’s a porcine wonder!

Ivette: She really is…

Wolf Pack Press, 20 September 2021

Volunteers Needed

Annual School Clean-Up, Saturday, September 25, 9-11AM

Please join us as we clean-up the school yard. We currently have three volunteers and need 22 more.

Our school yard needs some attention! After a few seasons left to nature due to the school remodel and Covid, it is time to roll up our sleeves, grab our garden gloves and get out there to tend the space. The Spider, the Peace Garden and our front sign on Como will be our main focus.

Please bring your own weeding tools and gloves. We will be outside and socially distanced, but please have a mask handy if you need to work closely with others. We expect there will be a decent amount of yard waste and will need some help getting that to the Yard Waste Center around 11-12PM. Kids are welcome to come help out. We will have plenty of donuts on hand to keep you super-charged! Please sign up here.

Also Saturday from 9-11AM at SAP Elementary:

Yearbook Distribution

2020-2021 yearbooks are in! There is a yearbook for every student. We will have yearbooks available to pick up from 9-11AM on Saturday the 25th at the school during the Annual School Clean-up. If you miss this chance, we will have several more opportunities for you in the weeks to come.

Lost & Found Pop-Up

Missing something? We will have our Lost & Found items available to peruse during the Annual School Clean-Up from 9-11AM on September 25th. Which is a great reminder: please label coats, sweatshirts, mittens, hats, water bottles, backpacks with your child's name in a permanent marker. We end up with a huge pile of lost items every year and want to be able to reunite them with their owners.

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Keeping Each Other Healthy

One of central mitigation strategies for managing Covid in our school community is regular testing. We checked in with a few families to ask how they are incorporating testing into their weekly schedule.

"We order free Vault at home kits. You have to create an email profile for each of your kids, but once you do it's pretty simple. When you order the test (here is a link), it is express shipped directly to your home. Then you hop on a Zoom call with a practitioner who observes you spit into a tube and seal up your test. Drop it off at UPS and get your results in about 24 hours."

"We just make appointments at Walgreens. We also have BinaxNOW kits at home that I plan to use if my son shows any symptoms. We figure if he is sick, we'd want to know asap then make plans for a confirmation test later. The BinaxNOW kits can be a little hard to get your hands on, but try CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc."

"Last week, I scooped the kids up from school and hit the airport for our 3PM appointments. Free tests. They were troopers! So we picked up some McDonalds on the way home. Hey! At least I didn't need to cook dinner!"

Please see below (below the blog post) the free Twin Cities test sites. You can also go directly here to make an appointment: mncovidtestingappt.as.me

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SAPSA Meeting Re-Cap

Last Tuesday night, SAPSA met to approve our Q1 fiscal spending budget. As explained at the meeting, our annual budget was approved last June, but with the unique challenges Covid has presented, we are in the practice of addressing our expenses on a quarterly basis to address emergent needs created by Covid. A summary of some of our annual expenses can be found here.

In addition to routine expenses, SAPSA approved two major expenses.

The first is $8,000 to supply HEPA air filters to classrooms without them at St. Anthony Park Elementary.

The second is a $1,000 stipend for a volunteer coordinator dedicated to possible lunch time volunteers. SAPSA has advocated for rotating classrooms to eat outside on days when the weather permits, but due to staffing limitations at lunch, this would require 15-30 routine and dedicated volunteers to cover 1 1/2 -3 hour volunteer shifts per week through the end of October.

Are you interested in this position? Please email vicepresident@sapsamn.org

Outside Lunch Survey: Please Respond ASAP

Advisory Council Meeting Re-cap

Advisory Council met on September 14th to kick off the 21-22 school year. At the meeting, Dr. Duke presented information on enrollment numbers and COVID protocol. Attendees made suggestions to Dr. Duke for how student pickup might be improved and the group developed some ideas that keep the process as safe and efficient as possible.

We then discussed the important Saint Paul School Board elections coming up in November and brainstormed ways that the Advisory Council can help the SAP school community learn more about the candidates. We hope to provide voters with more information about the candidates’ positions on a number of issues relevant to district families in the coming weeks.

Finally, the attendees discussed the importance of transparency and family engagement with district administration especially around decisions related to the American Rescue Plan and Envision SPPS. Complete minutes of the September meeting will be available soon on the Advisory Council webpage. If you would like to be added to the Advisory Council email list or just learn more, please email advisory@sapsamn.org.

SAP Staff Spotlight

Do you think you know which of our classroom teachers has a cat named Oscar who acts like a dog? Some more hints include a fondness for Ethiopian food and books by Kevin Henkes, quiet mornings with coffee and a good book, a summer trip to Seattle, and a love of teaching reading. Do you give up? It’s Mrs. Williams, one of the first grade teachers new to SAP! She was recently interviewed by two of her students and you can learn more about Mrs. Williams by reading their interview here.

Would your student like to interview a SAP staff member? Please email advisory@sapsamn.org to make arrangements for your own budding journalist.

What's For Lunch?

What's For Breakfast?

What's Coming Up?

Reminders

• Our Fall Bulb sale raised over $500 last week! We have raised a total of $1,046 out of our $5,000 goal.

• Please fill out this form to be included in this year's school directory. Submissions are due by October 1st.

• Please create an account for your family and fill out the benefits application for each student in your family. This is crucial, even if you will be refusing benefits! It helps the school district determine the true needs of our school and we need every family to respond. This application can be translated into Spanish, Somali or Hmong using the drop down on the application page.

Free Covid Testing Sites

St. Paul

Roy Wilkins Auditorium, 175 West Kellogg Fourth Ave South Saliva Monday - Thursday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

To schedule an appointment: mncovidtestingappt.as.me

Minneapolis

Minneapolis Convention Center 1301 Second Avenue South Saliva Monday - Friday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

To schedule an appointment: mncovidtestingappt.as.me

MSP Airport

Terminal 1, 4300 Glumack Dr. (follow signs to the testing site on Level 2 of the Blue Ramp) Saint Paul Saliva 7 days a week 7 am - 7 pm every day

To schedule an appointment: mncovidtestingappt.as.me

Parking will be available for all seeking a COVID-19 test:

• Drive to Terminal 1 and into the entry plaza for the parking ramps. Signs will guide you from the inbound roadway to the clinic location itself.

• Follow signage to Level 2 in the Blue Ramp.

• Walk to the centrally located elevator lobby and follow signs to the clinic.

Wolf Pack Press, 13 September 2021

Welcome Kindergartners!

The day has finally arrived, and we are so happy to welcome Kindergartners to the St. Anthony Park Wolf Pack.

We hope ALL our students will have a safe and fun year filled with quality learning and enrichment opportunities!

If you are new to St. Anthony Park Elementary, here are some easy ways to get your footing:

• Read Dr. Duke's Principal Updates to keep up with what is going on inside the building each week. Dr. Duke often addresses what teachers and staff are focusing on educationally, as well as important health-related updates and district-level information we all need to know.

• Read the Wolf Pack Press! SAPSA sends this newsletter out regularly. The newsletter serves as a round-up for information. Sometimes we will also have some human interest stories to share, too!

• Sign-up to be listed in the School Directory. This is a printed publication all families will receive in mid-October with phone numbers and emails to help making friends easier. Please submit by October 1st to be included in the directory.

• Follow us on Social Media. We are https://www.facebook.com/SAPSAnews and https://www.instagram.com/saintanthonyparkelementary/

• Bookmark this page for quick access to information that is useful to have handy in one spot: www.sapsamn.org/faq

• Attend a meeting! Our Advisory Council meets every month on the second Tuesday at 5PM and SAPSA meets every month on the second Tuesday at 7PM.

• Join our Slack Channel. Slack is an app that allows people to chat and collaborate. Our SAP Families channel is only for our school and is a safe, respectful environment where we can ask each other questions about school life and get quick answers from other families. The invite link changes every 30 days, so just reach out to president@sapsamn.org if you are having trouble with it.

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Fall Bulb Sale: Order Through October 15th

Support St. Anthony Park Elementary by buying your fall planting bulbs from us through October 15th. We receive 50% of all sales! Our target is $5,000 and we are currently at $624.

Orders will ship directly to customers, so please share with friends, neighbors and family far and wide! CLICK HERE TO ORDER

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Volunteers Needed!

Morning Drop-off / 13-17 September 2021 from 7-7:30AM

We are seeking volunteers to help direct families as they drop their kids off for the school day until we all get the hang of it. Volunteers will be supplied with reflective vests and signs as we welcome students back to the building. Volunteers will be posted at six locations near the school. See sign-up for more information.

A gentle reminder to please drive slowly near the school. The safety of our children is our biggest shared priority as a school community.

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Volunteers Needed!

School Clean-up on 25 September 2021 from 9-11AM

We need your help cleaning up the school yard! We are looking for volunteers to help with weeding, placing weed cloth, seeding, mulching, washing stones, replacing and staining some boards and benches. Or, if you have a large vehicle, please consider signing up to run bags to the yard waste site.

SAPSA will have all the materials for the jobs on site, but ask that you bring your own weeding tools and gloves. We will keep you posted if we need additional tools.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

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School Directory

Please submit by October 1st to be included in the directory.

The St. Anthony Park Elementary School Directory (aka "the Buzzbook") 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.

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 may include as much or as little information as you choose. It’s a great way for the kids to connect with classmates and friends and for families to reach out to each other.

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Monthly Meetings

SAPSA Monthly Meeting, 14 September 2021 at 7PM via Zoom (click to join)

Please join us for the monthly meeting of the St. Anthony Park School Association. We will be discussing:

• Officially vote Amy Raddatz in a Co-President! Thank you, Amy!

• Volunteer needs

• Tulip Sale, Give to the Max Day and Spirit Wear

• Plans to staff lunch with volunteers so up to two classes can eat outside per lunch period which will lessen the overall volume of children in the cafeteria.

• Plans to provide HEPA filters to all rooms and common spaces that are not currently equipped with portable machines.

• Q1 budget (SAPSA Q1 = AUG-OCT) vote amended to include above expenses

Advisory Council Monthly Meeting, 14 September 2021 at 5PM via Zoom (click to join)

Please join us at 5PM as we discuss:

• Principal Update

• SPPS School Board Elections, 2 November 2021 (Tuesday)

• District representation

• Staff Spotlights!

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Thank You

Thank you to everyone who came out to chalk the walkways this past week! The art was amazing. Our first round of drawings and messages were rained on and disappeared which was really sad. But folks came back and re-created the messages and drawings without missing a beat!

Thank you to everyone who showed up to help direct traffic during these first few days of school. You are early birds, indeed, and we are so grateful for your help as we all (re)learn our morning routines.

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What's For Lunch?

Meals for Students Learning in Person For the 2021-2022 school year, breakfast and lunch will be free for all students. Students who bring lunch from home can also get a meal from the cafeteria. Students must pick at least 3 items (such as a fruit, vegetable and milk) to receive free lunch. Students can still purchase milk separately for $0.50. Menus are available at schoolcafe.com/spps.

Lunch

Breakfast

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From Our Friends At Langford Park:

Langford Park 2021 Fall Flyer.pdf

Download PDF • 205KB

Youth Sports Registration Dates.pdf

Download PDF • 2.99MB

Happy first week of school. May the sun shine warm upon your face,

SAPSA

St. Anthony Park School Association