Genesee Hill PTA News

Feb. 13, 2023

Join us at “I Love the 80s to Death”

Proceeds from this March 25 event at the Brockey Center will help fund a digital school sign, a playground mural, and the PTA general fund, including IslandWood Camp for 5th graders. Buy your tickets here.

This is a night out for parents. Plan to work with others to solve a murder mystery, enjoy cocktails and heavy apps, and dancing. Tickets are on sale until March 3rd. There will be childcare offered at a cost per child at West Seattle High School. Browse an event FAQ.

Would you like to volunteer? Spread the word if you know of anyone who might be interested in helping out. We are still looking for day-of-event help for the front office, clean-up crew, and photo booth. Another way to help is by donating a sweet treat! Sign up to provide a dessert for dessert dash.

Want to help in other ways? You can donate to Direct Give anytime of the year. Thank you for your support.

We need your photos!

If you have any photos from any events in the last year please send them to fundraising@geneseehillpta.org. We are looking for photos to show in a slideshow at the 80s event. Photos will only be looked at by two adults and deleted as soon as we have all that we need. We will do our best to only show students who are approved by their guardians and we cannot guarantee that all photos will be used.

Letter from PTA Co-Presidents

Dear Genesee Hill families,

We hope you've been able to participate and enjoy the activities over the past month. With two inaugural events that we plan to become Genesee Hill traditions, our kids celebrated Lunar New Year and showed off their artwork at the GH Art Walk. The joy we saw in our community coming together to celebrate one another is exactly why we commit to doing this work. And the incredible volunteer hours from our families, teachers, and kids is what makes this all possible. We are grateful for your time, energy and support.

In addition to these new events, we kicked off Black History Month, learning about Black leaders, artists, historians, and activists, such as Michel Basquiat, Faith Ringgold, B.B. King, Misty Copeland, James Earl Jones, and Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, just to name a few. We also had our Black Lives Matter (BLM) week with over 40 kids designing and decorating posters for our school and cultivating with a wear BLM gear and gathering for Black Families.

In addition to highlighting these events, we did want to take the opportunity to stress the importance of advocacy from each of us as we are in the legislative season. As many of you have heard, the Seattle School District is facing a significant projected budget deficit for the next school year. Every school, including Genesee Hill, will be affected. In addition to raising resources from our community to support students and staff at GH, the PTA plays an important role in supporting and speaking up for children, families, and our school! We did send an advocacy email outlining specific steps you can take. We hope you had an opportunity to review these simple and easy steps. As your PTA, we will continue to keep you apprised of updates from the School District, as well as how we plan to engage you as we begin building next year's PTA budget.

One upcoming advocacy opportunity is Focus Day in Olympia on February 20th. Understanding it's the start of mid-winter break, we encourage Genesee Hill PTA families to attend and have your voices heard. Your voice does matter! Meetings have been scheduled with 34th District legislators, Rep. Alvarado and Sen. Nguyen (parents of GH students), and there are also opportunities to take a tour of the Capitol, network, and listen to speakers from the Washington State PTA, State Board of Education, OSPI, and Governor Inslee's office. A few spots remain to meet with our local legislators. If you're interested in joining, please email victoria@victoriabhegani.com.

Thank you in advance for your engagement, your time and your passion so that together we can raise strong, educated, compassionate, and resilient children. We are looking forward to seeing many of you on March 2nd at Unity Night, March 15th for our general membership meeting, and at our next parent education workshop Disability is Diversity (virtual) hosted by The Arc of King County on February 28th.

This is your PTA; please reach out with any questions.

In partnership,

Lia and Michael

Equity & Inclusion at Genesee Hill

Equity book club Feb. 15

Everyone is welcome to join our Equity Book Club on Feb. 15 at 6:30 in the school library or online via zoom to discuss the book Subtle Acts of Exclusion: How to Understand, Identify, and Stop Microaggressions by Tiffany Jana and Michael Baran. We have plenty of copies in the front office for pickup. You can ring in on the intercom to request. If you cannot pick up from school, email Lindsy at lindsycd@gmail.com for pickup or drop off outside of school hours. Childcare will be available during the meeting. Please sign up to join in the Sign Up Genius.

Suggested podcasts and videos to familiarize yourself with the book:

Podcast: Subtle Acts of Exclusion With Dr. Tiffany Jana (As Told by Nomads with Tayo Rockson Episode 548)
Podcast: How To Interrupt Subtle Acts Of Exclusion With Doc Jana (Leading With Empathy & Allyship Podcast with Melinda Briana Epler Episode 82)
Video: Excluding subtle acts of exclusion: An interview with Dr. Jana about interrupting Subtle Acts of Exclusion (Only 6:51 Long)
Video: From Inactive Bystander to Ally: Identifying, Acknowledging, and Speaking Up with Tiffany Jana (1 hour Masterclass)

Disability is Diversity Virtual Workshop

Please join us online Feb. 28 at 7pm for the workshop “Disability is Diversity” presented by The Arc of King County. Disability is a form of diversity so often left out of equity and social justice conversations. Join us as we explore how biases impact our words and the way we treat people with disabilities. This workshop helps each person identify their role in creating a culture of inclusion, particularly around talking to children about disability. Co-hosted by South Seattle Co-operative Preschools. Pre-register by emailing schill.jen@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.

Volunteer

Join the PTA budget committee

Interested in helping develop the PTA budget for next year? Join the PTA budget committee! We will meet several times in March to draft a detailed budget that will go to the PTA Board and General Membership for review and approval. Please email treasurer@geneseehillpta.org if you're interested in joining.

Volunteers needed for spring enrichment

Enrichment coordinators are busy planning the return of Enrichment this Spring. In order to keep the program going we need at least 15 volunteers. Volunteering is easy and comes with BIG perks! By volunteering one afternoon a week you secure a spot for your child in their class of choice - TUITION-FREE! By volunteering you lock in your child’s spot before registration opens and tuition is waived. Enrichment coordinators provide training, guidance and support to all volunteers. Time commitment varies with the average being a few hours a week. If interested please contact enrichment@geneseehillpta.org.

Volunteer of the month

Genesee Hill Elementary is excited to highlight and give recognition to Liyun Cecil as our 2023 January Volunteer of the Month!

Liyun brought our very first Lunar New Year event to life last month, and all who attended hope to see this event make a yearly comeback. We would like to thank Liyun for organizing and planning this fun and successful event. Everyone who attended was excited to share their positive feedback and experiences.

Lunar New Year is celebrated by billions of people and is one of the most important social and economic holidays. It is a public holiday that is observed across multiple days in China, North and South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Many travel to spend time with family as it is a time to observe and honor a household, heavenly deities and ancestors to bring in the celebration and arrival of spring.

The Red Dragon Dancers were one of the favorite highlights of our celebration at Genesee, along with a very talented Diabolo handler. Everyone was encouraged by Liyun to give the Diabolo a try for themselves. There was also prayer writing, paper puzzles, snacks, and books to learn more about why Lunar New Year is celebrated by so many.

Liyun and her Husband, Matt, have a second grader, Lucian, and a fourth grader, Sebby, at Genesee Hill Elementary. They have a hamster named Cookie. They love going skiing in the winter during the weekends. You might also bump into them at the Y or Meeples Games.

Liyun grew up in Taiwan and moved to the US in 2007. Before Liyun and her family settled in Seattle, they lived in Colorado and California for several years. She's been loving Seattle's cultural and food diversity since they moved here in 2014.

Liyun has a background in Social Work and Music Therapy. She practiced music therapy for a few years when Sebby and Lucian were little. Currently, she is an active board member of the Taiwanese Association of Greater Seattle, which promotes Taiwanese culture and serves Taiwanese residents of the Seattle area.

She was excited to work with the PTA for the school's first Lunar New Year Celebration event and is looking forward to working with the PTA to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion at school. Thank you Liyun for a fantastic first Lunar New Year, the year of the Black Rabbit at Genesee Hill Elementary!

Events

Genesee Hill Foxes Meetup March 5

The Genesee Hill Foxes is an informal group of parents and caregivers of Genesee Hill students with disabilities. Our first gathering of 2023 will be from 10-11:30 am on Sunday, March 5 at Lincoln Park. Bring your kids and meet us at the playground near the zip line on the north end of the park for coffee, donuts and casual family connections. Contact Colleen Bromen colleenbromen@hotmail.com for more info or to be added to the Foxes email list for future communications.

Hot Beverage Day is Feb. 17

Hotwire Coffeehouse will donate 20% of hot beverage sales to the Genesee Hill Elementary PTA on Friday, Feb 17 from 6:30 am to 6 pm. Come out and support your community. Try the Foxy Latte, designed for Genesee supporters. Order your drink in person at 4410 California Ave SW or through textwire at (206) 321-0387.

Genesee Hill Elementary| 5013 SW Dakota St | Seattle, WA 98116| 206.252.9700