School Newsletter
Jun 21, 2019 Edition (Download Newsletter in pfd form)
From Audee Gregor:
It’s hard to believe this is our last full week of school and this is the last official newsletter of the 2018-19 school year. Remember that Monday, June 24th is our last day and it is a full day. We’ll begin the day with our Talent Show and wrap up the day with Lion’s Day. Even though we are nearing the end, there are many amazing things that continue to happen at Leota. I’d like to share some of them here, along with an upcoming opportunity:
• Today was yearbook day. Students who purchased a yearbook were able to pick them up. Our yearbook club did a really nice job putting it all together again this year. I hope you get a chance to see them.
• We have several retirements and staff who are leaving at the end of this school year. If you have a chance, I know they’d love to hear nice thoughts of goodbye from you. Our retirees are Myke Benjamin (Special Ed), Roger Haaland (Science), and Jim Mangialardi (Health/Fitness). Those who are moving on to other endeavors are Kim Bevier (English-maternity leave replacement), Sue Bowden (Special Ed Para), Jordan Featherman (Math), Cheryl Lindgren (Social Studies-paternity leave replacement), Binu Mary Philip (Special Ed Para), Shelley Ramcke (Special Ed Para), Kimberly Rodriguez (Drama), Morgan Schumacher (Special Ed), Olivia Talbot (Lunchroom Supervisor), Karen Tarr (Math). They each will be dearly missed!
• We are excited to welcome some amazing new teachers and support staff to Leota for next school year and only have a few more spots yet to hire for. Our new staff include Stacey Buhler (English/Spanish), Hannah Fast (Math), Kevin Finney (CTE), Joshua Herrera (Special Ed Para), JJ Keller (Special Ed), Doug Poage (Drama), Alex Virga (Science), and Angela Waggoner (Counseling).
• Community Serve Day is coming Sunday, August 25th from 9:00-1:00. Our own fabulous Annie Owen is our site coordinator. Please mark your calendars. We hope to have 100+ volunteers to support the efforts to beautify Leota. Students must attend with an adult and can earn community service hours for their time. Thank you for considering joining in on the fun together! Be watching for more details to come over the summer.
Lastly, I want to share my gratitude for a great year of growth and learning for both students and staff. Thank you for entrusting us to serve your child. It’s been a GREAT year and I’m already excited and planning for next school year!
Have a nice weekend and thank you, again, for a great year!
Looking Ahead
Mon., June 24 Last Day of School – Full Day
8:15-9:45AM Talent Show
1:00-2:30PM Lion’s Day
3:00PM Dismissal
The office will be closed the month of July and will reopen August 1st. August office hours will be 9:00AM - 2:00 PM
Have a great summer and see you next school year!
High School Sports
Interested in turning out for boys golf next year at North Creek High School. Please checkout the NCHS Boys Golf page for all the details. Plenty of summer opportunities to improve your game and prepare for tryouts on August 26, 2019.
https://northcreek.nsd.org/athletics/teams/boys-golf
Northshore School District 2019 free summer meals.
Free meals for all children 18 years and younger. Adult meal are available to purchase. Meal must be consume on site.
When: June 28 to August 16 Monday - Friday (No meal on July 4,5)
Where: Northshore Middle School
12101 NE 160th St.
Bothell, WA 98011
When: Lunch will be served
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Calling Artists and Crafters!
Community Serve Day: August 25th
As summer draws nearer, remember that the next school year isn’t all that far away!
Community Serve Day for the 2019-2020 school year is scheduled for August 25th. On Community Serve Day, parents, students and other members of our district community come together to help clean up and update our schools to make them a better place for our students and staff.
On this upcoming Community Serve Day, our PTSA would like to update a room in the school with new paint, pictures and other small items. We are looking for parents who love to design, decorate and create to help us out with this project! Please contact Jasmine at jaslee@hotmail.com if you have ideas or would like to participate.
PTSA Lions Day: Volunteers Needed!
The last day of school is quickly approaching, and at Leota that means LIONS DAY!
On Monday, June 24th from 1-2:30pm, we will need volunteers to help us make up to 850 Italian sodas and approximately 400 bags of popcorn for our students. We will also need volunteers who can lend us coolers and pop-up canopies for the day.
If you want to volunteer to help, please sign up at https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/2845243/false#/invitation
Make your volunteers hours count!
Have You Been Volunteering Your Time This Year?
Many companies will also donate for hours volunteered in addition to matching financial donations. Please check with your company and take a few minutes to register your hours towards a Leota Middle School PTSA donation.
Amazon Smile is Also A Great Way to Donate
Visit https://smile.amazon.com/ all year long, every time you are making purchases with Amazon. Whenever a purchase is made with Leota PTSA as the beneficiary, Amazon will send us a donation. Be sure to select Leota PTSA as your beneficiary.
Join the Leota PTSA Volunteer And Info Facebook Group
Join our Leota PTSA Volunteers and Info closed Facebook group if you would like to hear more about volunteer opportunities: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LeotaPTSAVolunteers/.
There is no requirement to volunteer. By joining, we hope you feel part of the Leota parent community and are better informed about what is happening at our school.
Leota PTSA’s Outstanding Award Winners:
Golden Acorn: Todd Cowgill Todd Cowgill received the Outstanding Volunteer Award for his work as a parent volunteer for our Leota Middle School community. Todd has been a ever-present volunteer at Leota this school year, always willing and happy to do all those things that pop up on a regular basis and need someone to take responsibility for them.
Outstanding Advocate: Angie Hancock received the Outstanding Advocate Award for her work as our AAP Liaison. For the past several years, she has worked tirelessly for our Highly Capable student community at Leota, a constant and present advocate for our students.
Northshore Council Outstanding Student Advocate: Ayden Harris received the Outstanding Student Advocate Award for testifying at the State Senate in Olympia to outlaw dwarf tossing and other efforts to bring awareness. This is the first year that the Northshore Council has offered a district wide award for student advocates.
Outstanding Educator: Anne Davidson, received the Outstanding Educator Award because she inspires her students daily in the classroom to love math, learn applications for math, and encourages them to keep learning even when they find the material challenging.
National PTA Reflections Finalist: Vibhuti Garg is a student a Leota and submitted her film called, “Heroes Around Me”. At the Northshore Council (district level) she was awarded Outstanding Interpretation. Her submission won at the Washington State PTA level and she moved on to the National PTA competition level where she was a finalist. Below is a link to her film and some word on
Link to video: https://app.box.com/s/xqg8u17bjv2570ou1ucu4cd9tfi42zi4
Vibhuti Garg’s Inspiring Words:
The reason I chose to participate in Reflections is because I have done it every year since 4th grade. I love participating in Reflections because it is one of those things in which you can truly express yourself, and you can never go wrong. Art is a form of self-expression in which anything is accepted.
The process I went through to make this film required a lot of creative thinking. First, my idea was to have a little boy asking his mother what heroes are. She would show him, and that would be the film. But then, that didn’t work out, so I went back to the drawing board. The next idea I had was to draw a bunch of heroes that I was planning to incorporate in the movie, then add some text explaining what they do. But then again, that didn’t work out either. So, then I decided to just go with something simple, because sometimes, more isn’t always better. I then tried again, and after many attempts and a lot of frustration, I had my finished film.
What going to Nationals means to me is that with a lot of hard work and a bit of encouragement, you can do anything, go anywhere, be anyone. The very first time I participated in Reflections, I didn’t even make it past the school level. I got an honorable mention award. The second time, I made it to the district level and finished of with a Judges Choice award. Pretty good, I told myself, but next time I’m going further. This year, I made it to State. I didn’t expect to go to Nationals, but I surprised myself. Going to Nationals means that goals aren’t that far away. Everybody has potential, but it takes hard work to find it.