1. education
2. school

April 2015
BEAVER TALES
LOYAL HEIGHTS HAPPENINGS
MARK YOUR
CALENDAR
The annual Science Fair was
a great night of learning and
fun.
April
PTA Board Meeting
Art Walk at LHE
13-17 Spring Break– no school
9
9
24-26 Bugsy Malone Jr. performances
Space to Create visited LH and
helped our kids create their own
plush animals.
May
1
2
3
4-8
14
17
25
29
A great time was had by all at
the LH Auction: High School
Flashback!
31
Author Day
Bike Rodeo at LHE
Spring Garden Clean-Up Day
Staff Appreciation Week
PTA Board Meeting
Syttende Mai Parade
Memorial Day– no school
LHE Talent Show
LHE at the Mariners
June
The auction was a huge success,
and grossed over $198,469 for
our kids!
3
3-5
10
11
12
15
Two-hour early dismissal
5th graders at Camp Orkila
Patrol Wild Waves Day
Field Day
5th grade promotion
Last day of school
Beaver Tales is published by Loyal Heights PTA,
Unit 6.15.215, a 502c3 non-profit organization.
See page 4 for raffle wrap-up,
and page 6 for auction details.
PTA President: Katie Briggs
Beaver Tales Editor: Jessica Steiner Hamilton
([email protected])
Principal: Wayne Floyd ([email protected])
Loyal Heights Elementary School
2511 NW 80th St Seattle WA 98117
206-252-1500
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PTA NEWS & NOTES
FROM PRINCIPAL FLOYD
My niece recently introduced me to an app called Vine. I knew little about it so I did a little
research. It is owned by Twitter. Vine is a free and unlimited video sharing service. Children can
instantly post and share an up to 6 second video that automatically loops when viewed. People can be
found, have their videos viewed, and gain followers. Although Vine is a website, you need an app on
your mobile device to post videos. Videos posted on Vine can also be linked or “Revined” as well as
connect with Twitter and Facebook. Like Instagram, a #hashtag is used to make videos discoverable.
This is what the logo of the app looks like on a mobile device:
. An estimated 7 million teens in the United States use
Vine. They post things from goofy routines to showcasing talents. Some kids produce skits that promote a point of view
or thrash out a problem or popular issue.
Why should parents be concerned? Because public accounts and videos can be viewed by everyone even without registration. Vines can end up in Google results which can then be seen by all, including potential colleges and employers.
Vine was originally rated 12+ but has changed to 17+ but many tweens still use it.
Parents should keep up with children’s posts by knowing and using their username and checking their timelines every
so often. Suggest to your young people that they set their page at private so that only selected followers can view it. Remind them that before posting use the “grandma” test (or mom, dad test). Meaning if you wouldn’t want your grandmother (or parents) to see it, then you probably shouldn’t post it. Report any offensive or inappropriate content and
teach your children to block users who perpetuate such content.
- Wayne Floyd
Principal, Loyal Heights Elementary
Help your kids to shine online, not die on the Vine.
FROM KATIE BRIGGS
As my time as PTA president winds down, I find myself reminiscent about what, if anything, I would
have changed. With the experience of over a year under my belt now, would I have handled anything
differently? I think my answer is no, as I wouldn’t have learned and grown and found courage from
some of the hurdles I have overcome, as challenging as they have been. I find I turn to my favorite
movie, “The Wizard of Oz” oftentimes when faced with making difficult decisions. As most of you
probably remember, the Cowardly Lion went with Dorothy to see if the great Wizard could give him
the main thing he desired: courage. The first visit resulted in the scene where the giant Lion runs
scared and screaming down the hall - right through the stained-glass window!
Sometimes running away is the easy route to take, even though it probably isn’t the right thing to do. Having the courage to do what is best however, oftentimes is not the popular choice. Tough evaluations regarding our PTA have to be
made all the time and there is no pleasing 100% of the people, 100% of the time. Fortunately for all of you, there are
many hard-working PTA board members that are managing this very successful non-profit with great care and responsibility. They have had the courage to always stay focused on what is paramount for our children. Our staff as well has always used their greatest guiding principles for our students, the school and the community in making demanding assessments, especially when others may have different opinions.
By the time this newsletter is published, a new group of PTA board members, including next year’s president, will
have been elected. I hope the theme of courage to persevere will remain steadfast throughout their tenure as well. Just
like the Cowardly Lion when he returns to the Emerald City and finally leaves with his symbol of courage, he realizes he
had it all along. He stood up for what was right and dug deep to find something that was already there. I have gained so
much from my time serving on the LHPTA board, including important life lessons, incredible relationship bonds and a
tougher outer shell. Here’s to you channeling your inner courageous Lion and becoming a stronger and better person!
- Katie Briggs
President, Loyal Heights PTA
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PTA NEWS & NOTES
STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS
BUGSY JR. NOTES
The Loyal
Heights
Spelling Bee
was a huge hit!
Students from
4th and 5th
grade competed. Here are
the top three
finishers (left
to right). Runners up: Evan
R., 5th grade room 7, Ezra B., 4th grade room 8
and TOP FINISHER, Blake B., 4th grade room
8! Great job to all everyone who participated.
Tickets to Bugsy Malone Jr. are going fast! Get yours today at http://www.lhetag.org/ticketsales/. Core cast performs in all four shows, Cast A performs in both 6pm
shows, and Cast B performs in both 1pm shows. Check the
Company Posting (in the hall next to the Staff Lounge or
online at http://www.lhetag.org/#/companyposting/) to
ensure you're getting tickets to see the cast of your
choice. Email [email protected] with questions or if you
are interested in subsidized tickets available to our LHE community through the LHPTA.
Bella F.
NOTES FROM NURSE JULIE
Attention all Fifth Grade Families:
Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis)
booster is required for all students entering
sixth grade who are age 11years or older and
have not already received this vaccine.
Please have this very important middle
school enrollment update taken care of as
soon as possible and send in the dates the
Tdap was administered to Nurse Julie.
DTap, DTP, DT, orTd vaccines DO NOT
meet the state's requirement for Tdap.
If your student's 11th birthday is after the start
of the school year, and your child is one who
will need Tdap to meet the state's requirements, please get it as soon as possible after
your child's 11th birthday and report the date
to your school nurse at that time. If you are
requesting an exemption, email Nurse Julie for
the proper form. This vaccination helps to protect your child and others against possible disease by boosting their immunity.
Call or email Nurse Julie with any questions.
[email protected] 206-252-1507
Healthy Spring to All!
~Nurse Julie
Check out Loyal Heights Elementary
Theatre Arts Group on facebook for
the latest photos, ticket sales and
theatre arts events available to our
entire school and local community!
Our TAG Times company correspondence is being
emailed each Friday to all registered Bugsy cast and crew
member families. As it is sent to a large e-list, sometimes
computers register these emails as spam. Bugsy families,
please check your junk folders to see if yours are hiding so
that you don't miss out on important company info.! For
questions, email [email protected].
--TAG WAGS to Ballard High School drama students Camaira, Colin, Jasper and Julia for coming and sharing your
talents with our company and for Jill Metz for making it
happen, to Kathy Katzen for accommodating our lastminute requests, Ellen Saltsman & Brandon Vaagsland for
being our staff contacts, Lizz Mazza, Lisa Rider, Julie
Giebel, Christine Shonwald, Lydia VanSchepen, Steve
Nesich, Kara Hannigan, David Hyre, Summer Moshy, Mary
Sroufe, Michele Curtis, and TAG alumni Yize Smith-Rockne
& Mia Watson for volunteering at our first Super Saturday, Maggie Burns for designing and making the charming
Bugsy display in the main hall, Volunteer Coordinators Lisa
Rider, Lizz Mazza, Kendall Cammermeyer and Christine
Stoffels-Sack for all of their behind-the-scenes coordination, Michelle Bryant for our Bugsy hair & makeup design,
Steve Watson for designing our company logo & t-shirts,
Steve Nesich, Maggie Burns, Jenny Thacker, Sarah Stewart,
Della Chen, Amanda Abler, Patti Watanabe, Michelle
Mayo, Kendall Cammermeyer, Lisa Rider, Mary Sroufe,
David Hyre, Summer Moshy, and alumni Yize RockneSmith for volunteering at our second Super Saturday, and
finally, to Binh Quach for unlocking and sweeping the Gym
for us every morning!
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PTA NEWS & NOTES
5TH GRADE SELF-DEFENSE
SEATTLE STORM SCHOOL DAY
Begin middle school with safety skills and confidence.
Learn empowering safety skills in a single free, age appropriate class for kids who are heading to middle school.
Join the Seattle Storm in celebrating their 1st Annual
School Day! May 26, 2015 VS Phoenix Mercury
$10.00 includes the game and bus leaving school at
9:30am. Game time is 11:00am at Key Arena.
This 2 hour Loyal Heights class teaches kids and their parents through role-play, group discussion and step-by-step
physical skills. Adults will also learn how to continue discussing and practicing people safety skills at home.
We will sell only 100 tickets to the first 100 Beavers.
So get your tickets before they are all gone! Chaperones are also needed. See Mr. Floyd or Ms. Katzen.
Students and their parents will learn how to:
- Be aware and confident
- Use voice as a safety tool
- Listen to intuition
- Set clear and appropriate boundaries with others
- Check in with adults
- Problems should not be a secret
- Release from common holds
- Use physical self-defense skills in an emergency
- Each student receives an educational workbook
(health & wellness, math, geography and more.
- Special Guest Speaker at halftime
- Kid friendly activities and entertainment
- Bring a sack lunch
- 20 lucky students will be drawn to be part of the Fan
Tunnel.
ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK
This is a single 2 hour class for child/adult pairs.
Offered from 4:00-6:00 at Loyal Heights
April 3 * May 1 * May 8
Sign-up is on the table in front of the main office.
RAFFLE WRAP-UP
The final raffle results are in...the students helped raise
$11,808 for their school by selling raffle tickets!
The Top selling Class - Mrs. Saltsman's 5th grade class,
Room 7, jumped into the lead during the last week to win the
pizza party selling 1266 tickets. But Room 6 sold 777 and
Bungalow 3 sold 672 tickets - they did a great job as well.
The top 3 selling students are Kate S, Bella F, and Asher
T. Each of them sold record-breaking number of tickets.
Kate (Rm 6) sold 453, Bella (Rm 7) sold 385, and Asher (Rm
7) sold 379 tickets to win a spot at the school sleepover.
Two 5th graders have consistently been top sellers since
they were in Kindergarten. During their career at Loyal
Heights, Cody Flagg has sold 1,198 tickets and Evan Reese
has sold 1,047 tickets. Thanks guys!
Ella B. from Room 8 sold the $1,000 winning ticket while selling tickets door-to-door in her neighborhood.
Great work raffle ticket sellers, and congratulations to the
winners!
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The 2015 Loyal Heights Elementary Yearbook is
almost here!
New this year: online ordering through our new
photo company, LifeTouch. Basic yearbook cost is
$13 with optional extras and packages available. Go
to:ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter yearbook ID:
12200315 to order.
Deadline for online ordering is Friday April 10.
Upon book delivery at the school in early June we
will receive a limited number of extra yearbooks
that will sell for $15 (first come - first served, while
supplies last) for those who do not order online.
Guarantee delivery of a fun book of school year
memories for your student by ordering online today!
Questions? contact Jen
Clark [email protected]
AUTHOR DAY– MAY 1ST
Loyal Heights Author's Day is Friday May 1st! Our
guest author will be Derek Munson, the author of
Enemy Pie. He will be doing a book signing and
kids can purchase books between now and April 10th for him
to bring with him and sign (order
forms went home in kid mail).
Students are also invited to dress
up as their favorite book character on that day.
PTA NEWS & NOTES
RAVES
SPRING GARDEN CLEAN-UP
Kudos to Jennifer Stilwell and Sarah Christopherson for being so
timely, thoughtful, and spot-on with the messages on the reader
board -- thank you for being so on top of things so that we can
be, too!
Spring Garden Clean-up Day
Sunday, May 3rd
10am - 2pm
Liz, Lisa and Jen, all I can say is what a lucky school we are to
have such talented volunteers to step up and create a huge success, I bet your bosses cried when you left the workforce. Thanks
for a great event, you all rock!
Huge RAVES to Lisa Garms and Liz Fortunato and their team for
raising a RECORD amount of moolah at our auction!
Thank you to all our staff who worked and played at the auction!
Kudos to Binh and Donna for making our school sparkle!
Hurray to Jenny Youngman and Andrea Colwell for a successful
and busy Science Fair!
Big snaps to Mr. Floyd, who always stays late to close up with
afterschool activities!
Yay to Kathy Katzen, who always takes care of our activity permits and everything else so we never have to worry!
Please join Loyal Heights Garden Coordinator,
Sara Stevens, for a day of work in the gardens.
There will be fun, easy projects to do - like
planting, sweeping, weeding, and pruning. But
your assistance is really needed with 3 big
projects:
 removing the compost bins and replace
with pavers (the compost is unusable)
 spreading mulch, especially in beds surrounding the bridge
 removing a dead tree in the SE corner of
the playground.
It would be great to see your smiling faces in
the garden. Call or email Sara if you can volunteer or have questions - 206-650-6137 or [email protected].
JOKE OF THE MONTH
Why was everyone so
tired on April 1st?
SUMMER CAMP AT LHE
Have an unforgettable summer with NKS summer camp
onsite at Loyal Heights Elementary
Nurturing Knowledge School Summer Camp is an adventure
of exploration, discovery, and imagination. Our Summer Camp
experience offers a nice balance of learning activities, field
trips, swimming/water play, special guests, and a healthy
amount of play time allowing students time to explore nature
and enjoy the outdoors. As we all remember from childhood,
camp is an important time to build meaningful friendships and
create wonderful memories that last a lifetime.
Week #1 June 22 - June 26: Campers Assemble!
Week #2 June 29 - July 3: Red, White and YOU!
Week #3 July 6 - July 10: Engineers & Architects
Week #4 July 13 - July 17: Bonus Round!
Week #5 July 20 - July 24: Before & After: Computer Sci. Fiction
Week #6 July 27 - July 31: Top Secret: A Week of Whodunits
Week #7 August 3 - August 7: Farm to Feast!
Week #8 August 10 - August 14: "Bon Voyage!"
Week #9 August 17 - August 21: Under the Big Top Week
Contact Maggie Campbell for details:
[email protected] or 206-789-8988
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Because they had just
finished a 31‐day March!
TRIVIA CORNER
 The longest bout of hiccups lasted 69
years!
 The blue whale is the largest animal that
ever lived (it could reach 100 feet long and
weight up to 150 tons!)
 Angel Falls in Venezuela is 20 times taller
than Niagara Falls.
 The longest conga to this date included
119,986 people.
 Did you know that there is a world record
for seeing how many times you can attempt
a world record?!
 The longest recorded flight of a chicken is
thirteen seconds.
Source: http://www.funology.com/facts-about-world-records/
What an amazing community we have at Loyal Heights!
The 2015 auction was a success for two reasons – for the enormous generosity shown by those who attended and
contributed at the event, and by those who volunteered their time and talents leading up to and producing a great
auction.
A look at the numbers generated on March 14, 2015:
Silent Auction:
Live Auction:
Kid Art:
Bar:
$36,210
$41,040
$28,200
$8,469
Best of Live Raffle:
Dessert Dash:
Fund A Dream:
Sponsorship:
$4,000
$7,483
$32,250
$7,100
Factoring in the amazing $11,808 raised by our kids who sold more than 5,900 of the $2 raffle tickets, and the
more than $2,000 donated by generous friends and families who did not attend but have supported LH through
the Fund A Dream campaign, this year’s auction raised more than $198,000 that will benefit ALL the children,
teachers, staff, and PTA-supported programs at Loyal Heights!
FUND A DREAM
If you appreciate all that our special Loyal Heights Elementary community has to offer our school and you were
unable to attend the auction, please consider making a donation to the Fund A Dream campaign. Dollars raised
will be used to purchase more iPad technology and new books for our school library. Visit the PTA website at
www.loyalheightspta.org to connect to the video link AND to make a donation to our school. Thanks again
to LH dad Scott Levy for producing such an outstanding video!
THANK YOU SPONSORS
Visit our sponsors and visit them often! This year’s sponsors include: UW Medicine Neighborhood Clinics, Ballard Clinic; Fischer Plumbing; Gentle Dental; Seattle Divorce Services; Ballard Natural Gas; Ballard Pediatric Clinic; Dr. Michael R. Harris; RBC Wealth Management and the Krause & Thorpe Wealth Management Team; Ballard Loft; Grow Salon; Kumon; Loken Construction; Saleh’s; The Wax Bar: skincare
lounge; and Le Merde. Auction in-kind sponsors include: AlphaGraphics; CasCioppo Brothers; Georgetown
Brewing Co.; Fremont Brewing; Hilliards Beer; Levy Films; Ryan Obermeier; & Soprano’s Pizza & Pasta.
THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS
There are so many of you to thank, here’s a huge list of dedicated LH parents and friends who made it all possible. If we have omitted a name, please accept our sincerest apologies!
Adams Elementary parents, Alicia Jancola, Alisa Yamamoto, Amanda Glenovich, Andrew Kreiter, Ballard High
School Students, Beth Gardner, Bonnie Lochner, Brandon McGinnis, Brandon Vaagsland, Brent Bridenback, Cara
Glickman Clarke, Carrie Batuello-McGinnis, Catherine Sweeney, Cathy McBeth, Cedar Crook, Chris
Swarthout, Chuck Fuller, Claire Jenkins, Colin English, Darci Cascioppo, Debbie Schuppisser, Debi Boyette, Dot
Arab, Ellen Halkbakken, Ellen Saltsman, Ellsa Kunz, Fay Shimada, Gala Bent, Geoff Zapata, Greg Stevens, Gwen
Angel, Heather Allen, Heather Mills, Ian Allen, Ilka Lauermann, Jay Cammermeyer, Jen Creamer, Jen Dailey, Jennifer Clark, Jennifer Waldron, Jenny Foster, Jenny Thacker, Jenny Young, Jessica Fuller, Jessica Munns, Jessica
Steiner Hamilton, Jim Mazza, Joanna Hayes, Jody Fewel, John Hamel, Julianna Lorenzo, Julie Giebel, Julie Herbst,
Kali Sakai, Karen Ashley, Karen Stockton, Kate Goldyn, Katelin Smith-Rockne, Kathy Katzen, Katie Briggs, Katrina
Hupp, Kelley Hofmann, Kendall Cammermeyer, Kevin Goldyn, Keri Pinney, Kirsten Vontver, Kristal Maurstad,
Kristen Smith, Laura Bridenback, Lawton Elementary parents, Lesley Broadgate, Lesley Sheppard. Lesli Billings,
Lizz Mazza, Loy Dahl, Lucy James, Lydia Van Scheppen, Lynne Crowley, Margaret Philbin, Margo Young, Megan
Ware, Melissa Wagenbrenner, Michele McMyler, Michelle Arab, Michelle Bryant, Michelle Mayo, Mike Geyer,
Mike Weyers, Mimi Walker, Missie Smith, Molly Sousley, Mykcal Gilge, Neil Young, Nellie Waddell, North Beach
Elementary parents, Patty Pauls, Pietro Potesta, Rachael Lirhus, Rachel Hurd, Ryan Obermeier, Sam Heikell, Sam
McKnight, Sara Stevens, Sarah Bradley, Scott Levy, Shelby Reynolds, Shelley Bolser, Sherri G, St. Alphonsus parents, Stacy Whiting, Stefin Kohn, Stephanie Holman, Stephany Toche, Summer Moshy, Susan Ahrens, Susan Ward,
Tara Broyhill, Victor Karney, Warren Rice, Wendy Gaylord
QUESTIONS: Email Auction Co-Chairs Lisa Garms and Liz Fortunato at [email protected].
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