All posts by Genesee Hill PTA

2021 Direct Give Scavenger Hunt

January 29, 2021Events, Fund RaisingDirect GiveGenesee Hill PTA

Who doesn’t need a little motivation to get outside this time of year? We have created a fun activity to get you moving around our community and maybe even giving a socially distant “Hello” to a fellow Genesee Hill family!

Starting Tuesday, February 23rd there will be yard signs popping up in GHE families yards. Signs will be numbered and there will be a fun little item added to the sign – we are calling it the “treasure.” Your job is to find the signs and then record the treasure.

Here is how to participate:

Get your Scavenger Hunt Tracking Form – forms will be available outside of school in a labeled box starting February 23rd or at this link right now!
Walk/bike/skip/drive around our community looking for the yard signs – they look like this:

Once you find a sign, record the treasure you found on the form – for this sign you would record #23 and ‘Lego Chicken Guy’
Repeat a bunch – how many signs can you find by Thursday, March 18th?

For fun, we are hosting a random drawing for prizes. To enter the drawing, fill out the Scavenger Hunt Entry Form by 6:00pm on Thursday, March 18th.

Pro Scavenger Hunt Tips:

This is the current Genesee Hill attendance area map.
Don’t forget that the attendance area recently changed, and we still have many Genesee Hill families that live in the area North of ‘SW Charlestown St’ and South of ‘SW Hanford St’ to the east of ‘California Ave SW’.
Make a note of your favorite treasure you found- we have a question about it on the Scavenger Hunt Entry Form.

Share in the fun at #ghedirectgive

Note: Prizes will be randomly selected and delivered to the address provided on the Scavenger Hunt Entry Form. All Genesee Hill students are welcome to participate- there is no correlation between donating to the Direct Give campaign and participating in the scavenger hunt.

Black Lives Matter at School

January 29, 2021EquityGenesee Hill PTA

You are Invited to Celebrate and Learn!

The Family Committee for Equity and Inclusion at Genesee Hill has planned a variety of opportunities for students and families to celebrate and learn about Black Lives Matter at School Week Feb 1-5.

Black Lives Matter at School Virtual Living Room

Explore the BLM at School Virtual Living Room! The room includes a BLM reading shelf centering Black voices, virtual backgrounds for staff and students to use during class meetings, a Black Lives Matter Support Board for families, students and teachers to share the support for BLM in our community, a BLM at School Primer for Adults, and links to the weekly community challenges, BLM events, and fun videos and activities for the whole family. Make it a fixture in your own living room during this important week and beyond!

BLM Weekly Challenges in February

This year, as we celebrate BLM @ School Week and Black History month, we invite GH families to take weekly anti-racism challenges during the month of February. For the first week’s challenge, we invite GH families to fully engage and participate in Black Lives Matter at School week (February 1-5). View full details of the challenges here.

The goal of these BLM weekly challenges is to help families start and sustain conversations about race Learning about race starts at home. In fact, the research shows that children actually start to notice race at a very early age, and parents can play a powerful role in helping children of all ages develop positive attitudes about race and equipping them with the skills to promote a more just future—but only if we talk about it! We hope that participating in these challenges helps to normalize conversations about race, and that eventually they become a part of your family’s regular discussions at home.

Each challenge offers a range of activities designed to educate and engage students and parents in ways both small and big, so each challenge is accessible to everyone regardless of where you are on your learning journey. So make a commitment to take these challenges and let’s show up together for racial equity at Genesee Hill!

PTA BLM and Anti-Racism Conversation

Then, join us at the next PTA Meeting on February 4th at 6:30 for Family Connections: a BLM and anti-racism conversation. This Family Connection segment is a time for parents and caregivers of Genesee Hill students to engage more deeply with each other on educational topics impacting our school and district. We’ll be hearing from teachers about Black Lives Matter instruction and engagement at Genesee Hill, as well as breaking into small groups to discuss how our conversations about BLM and anti-racism are going at home. We hope you’ll join us! Look in the Thursday bulletin for the link to join.

Event to Celebrate Local Black Student Brilliance
Finally, on Friday, Feb. 5, we encourage everyone to attend the virtual event Young, Gifted and Black. This powerful keynote event of the 2021 Black Lives Matter at School week is centered on the creative and intellectual brilliance of African-American students throughout Seattle Public Schools and nearby districts and will feature dancers, poets, filmmakers, singers, speakers and more. Event details here.

Letter Regarding School Re-Opening

January 11, 2021Legislative & AdvocacyGenesee Hill PTA

At last Thursday’s GH community meeting, kinder and grade one families spoke about SPS’s plan to re-open school buildings for Pre-K, K, 1st grade, and some Special Ed students. Our Legislative Chair, Victoria Bhegani, wrote the following letter to Superintendent Juneau and Director Harris about key concerns raised at that meeting.

Dear Superintendent Juneau,

Thank you for the work you have done in our District during this tumultuous time. I am sure neither you nor the School Board took the decision to re-open school buildings to some SPS students on March 1 lightly. I imagine you are hearing feedback about this decision from families in our District. This is such a letter.

I am writing as the Genesee Hill Elementary PTA’s Legislative Chair on the behalf of our school’s kinder and grade 1 families. Last night our administration and PTA organized a community meeting where these families came together to share thoughts on the subject of school building re-openings. In my role I took notes and am sharing the most commonly expressed concerns with you in the hope that this can inform your decision making in the coming weeks.

Our parents listed three main concerns in school building re-openings. The first is that students’ classes will be broken up and some teacher assignments will change. A number of parents said they would like to make their choice on whether or not to return their children to school buildings based on whether or not their child can stay with the same teacher. However, because this information is not available to them, they are finding that making this choice by Sunday is challenging. Second, they are worried about safety, safety protocols and the expected disruption that COVID-19 cases will bring. Third, they are worried about the binding nature of Sunday’s survey, whereby they will be locked in to the decision that they make as opposed to having the flexibility to change it in a month’s time. If COVID-19 cases in our region rise, for example, parents who have committed to sending their children back to school for in-person learning will not be able to switch to remote under the current guidelines.

I hope this letter has given you some insight into our school community’s perspectives. I’ve also included a word cloud made up of the questions of more than seventy families that participated in our discussion. I would like to add that despite the many grey areas right now, the community meeting we had was a positive one. Our principal Gerrit Kischner and vice-principal Elizabeth Dunn have shown excellent leadership at our school during the pandemic, as have our co-PTA presidents. This was very much in evidence last night. Our best thoughts are with you in the months of planning that lie ahead.

Sincerely,

Victoria Bhegani

Legislative Chair, Genesee Hill Elementary PTA

Dine-Out at Mission Cantina Jan. 24 & 25

January 6, 2021Events, Restaurant of the MonthGenesee Hill PTA

We are thrilled about our January Restaurant of the Month- Mission Cantina! Please note that after the MOD Pizza “Where is my Pizza?” party, we emphasized with Mission Cantina the size and enthusiasm of the Genesee Hill Community. They have assured us that they will be able to handle our volume and offered creative ways to ensure that everyone is taken care of in a timely and efficient manner.

This extended event will take place on Sunday January 24^th and Monday January 25^th! Mission Cantina will generously donate 20% of ALL sales that the restaurant makes on those days, for their full hours of 11:00 am to 8:00 pm. No need for a special code or link! This includes all food, alcohol, gift cards, and Mission Cantina’s “Whole Enchilada” take and bake kit.

In order to not overwhelm the facility, we broke up the days by grade level. 3^rd-5^th grade families will participate on Sunday, January 24^th and Kindergarten thru 2^nd grade families will participate on Monday, January 25^th. This does include the pickup of the take and bake kits! To order regular menu items please call Mission directly at 206-937-8220. The restaurant will begin to take phone orders starting at 11am both days. Please note, we are encouraging families to work with the restaurant directly rather than use 3^rd party apps such as Grubhub and Ubereats to help the staff get more of the funds from tips and orders.

“The Whole Enchilada” Take and Bake Kit

This delicious kit gives you all of the items below for ONLY $60 plus tax (Gratuity not included). We are taking orders in advance for this awesome deal until January 21. Please use this sign up genius to reserve your dinners for pick-up on one of the two days, with payment at pick up.

Chips and salsa
Four child sized black bean and cheese enchiladas
Six enchiladas – two potato, two carnitas and two chicken and green chili
Red rice and Black beans
Cheese and three different enchilada sauces – roja, verde, and creamy chipotle

So enjoy an enchilada dinner, evening margaritas, lunch burritos, or all three! Avoid the rush by buying a gift card to use on another day! One thing’s for sure, it is definitely going to be spicy! Thank you Jodi Lansky for finding these amazing places!

Virtual Magic Show Jan. 22 at 5:30 pm

January 5, 2021EventsLouie Foxx, magic showGenesee Hill PTA

Join us for an evening of astounding magic tricks, comedy and much more! Louie Foxx’s One-Man Side Show is coming to Genesee Hill (virtually) on Friday Jan. 22 at 5:30 pm. Enjoy the 40 minute show and stick around to socialize with friends and neighbors afterwards in breakout rooms. Keep your eyes open for the link to join in the Thursday bulletin.

About Louie:
Louie Foxx is the consummate kid that never grew up and it’s evident as you watch him interact with audiences of all age. He is living his childhood dream of being a magician.

Learn more about Louie and his show on his website, https://louiefoxx.com/.

The Society of American Magicians voted Louie The Best Stage Magician and Best Close-Up Magician in Minnesota in 1996. Louie has also written several books about magic tricks for professional magicians, one of which has sold over 2,300 copies!

Louie is also a Two Time Guinness World Record Holder and has been on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, the nationally syndicated television show How ‘Bout That, Evening Magazine, New Day Northwest, Otra Movida TV in Spain, and in London’s Guardian Newspaper!

Louie is enjoying life as the rockstar dad. He now has a valid excuse to go to the zoo once a week and build forts out of the sofa cushions.

Unity Night 2020

December 2, 2020Equity, EventsGenesee Hill PTA

ALL are invited and welcome to celebrate Unity Night together next Wednesday, Dec. 9, 6-7:30pm. Ms. Sealey and Ms. Bronson will co-host this special evening featuring live student performances, art, and music, plus multiple opportunities to connect with other Genesee Hill families. We’ll even have a virtual room for showcasing the amazing student projects focused on celebrating family culture that have become a Unity Night tradition. More details below:

RSVP: If you haven’t already RSVP’d to attend this popular event, please do so here so that we can send you the Zoom link. Or find the login information in the weekly school bulletin.
Pre-Order Takeout: Pre-order a take-out meal from a local POC-owned business to participate in our Virtual Potluck! Your family can pick up a delicious meal the afternoon of the event while supporting a small business. Choose from a home-cooked family meal of marinated pork loin with mac & cheese and grilled veggies, a mouth-watering fried chicken meal, or authentic Thai street food. View the menu options and pre-order your meal by 5 pm 12/7 using this Meal Pre-Order Form. (There is also an option to order Thai take-out the day of the event. Details are in the pre-order form.)
Pay It Forward: Since our first Unity Night in 2017, every family has been welcome to share our community table and enjoy a meal, whether or not they were able to contribute a dish to the potluck. This year, families have the option to buy an extra Family Meal in their pre-order for a GH family who requests one, or for a GH staff member. If you would like to request one of these meals, please contact our Equity Chair, Kristen, at equity@geneseehillpta.org. Donors will be matched anonymously with families/staff who request a meal, and all meal requests will be kept confidential.
Community Cookbook: You can even recreate the potluck at home by preparing a recipe shared by other GH families in our very first Genesee Hill Community Cookbook which is available to view now! There is still time to submit your favorite family recipe. You can upload your recipe as text or a photo to the GH Community Cookbook shared folder. Questions? Please contact Michele Guiao at micheleguiao@hotmail.com.

Even though we can’t gather in person this year, we hope you will join us to build CommUNITY and support our connectedness while we are apart. Please invite your friends! We look forward to seeing you at Unity Night!

"UNITY" in text and ASL letters with a rainbow behind

Dream Dinners Dine-in December 1-10

November 20, 2020Fund RaisingDine-outGenesee Hill PTA

Our Dine-out for December is a Dine-in with Dream Dinners! Enjoy your meals at home whenever you want! Dream Dinners is a local meal prep business that takes care of menu planning, grocery shopping, and prep so you can enjoy stress free dinners with your family! Stock your freezer from a menu of 20 chef crafted meals in December (and potentially beyond) so that you will spend less time worrying about what to make for dinner and more time doing what you love!

The dates for meal pick up are listed below along with the hyperlink to order food. The cost is $50 per medium dinner package (3 meals, each serving 2-3 people). You will be able to pick out three meals from the link below, pick them up on that date and store for using at their own convenience! There are 30 slots available (10 per date.) We receive $10 for every family that participates in this fundraiser. Additionally, if you place a full size order within one week of your pick-up, Dream Dinners will donate an extra $20 to Genesee Hill Elementary!!

You can start reserving their meals now and up to 36 hours prior to the order pick up time. Please see below. The links provide the order form and the menu of dinners available on those dates! Enjoy!

Thursday, December 3rd Pick-Up – Place order by December 1^st!

https://dreamdinners.com/session/865699

Saturday, December 5th Pick-Up- Place order by December 3^rd!

https://dreamdinners.com/session/865700

Saturday, December 12th Pick-up- Place order by December 10^th!

https://dreamdinners.com/session/865701