SUN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS NEWSLETTER |
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IN THIS ISSUE
- Adult Learning Center Programs & Holiday Toy Support Sign Ups
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Lexi Vanden Heuvel
Supporting Community Schools
608.318.8109
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Holiday Programs to Support Families in Our Community - Together, we can help!
For families who are struggling to afford the basics, the cost of seasonal extras can be a substantial financial burden. Each year, our caring community of supporters comes together to help families with seasonal needs. Community Schools collaborated on the following programs with other community partners to ensure all families are supported during the holiday season! Our community school site coordinators, working alongside their school social workers and the City of SP Neighborhood Navigators helped to register families for the following programs:
Thanksgiving Meal Distribution - We collaborated with the Boys and Girls Club to help families enjoy a festive holiday meal without the financial burden. Families in need will receive a complete Thanksgiving dinner to prepare in their own homes. Thanksgiving food was distributed this year on November 17 at the McKenzie site and our community schools staff was there helping to greet and serve over 100 families.
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Toys for Tots - This year we collaborated with the Boys and Girls Club and United Way to help with our local Toys for Tots program. Families were able to register their students (0 - 14 years of age) to receive up to three gifts. Distribution of the gifts will be held at the McKenzie site on December 13th from 5 - 7 pm and our community school staff will be there helping to greet and serve over 150 families.
YMCA Giving Tree - We once again collaborated with the YMCA of Dane County to help register families for their annual Giving Tree. Families were able to register their students (0 - 18 years of age) as well as gifts for the entire family. The families' wishlist items are then placed on Giving Trees at each YMCA location in Dane County and YMCA members are able to select tag(s) to purchase requested items for families. In previous years, this was a collaboration between the YMCA of Sun Prairie and Westside Elementary, but this year, the program was opened up and available to all the community schools. Site Coordinators and/or school social workers will pick up the donated gifts at the YMCA and will work with the families to deliver them on or after December 19. This program will serve over 100 families.
Project Toasty Toes - We are once again collaborating with Project Toasty Toes, which is a volunteer-led organization by Amanda Alexander, a SPASD staff member, and Kazzie Saron, a Sun Prairie East High School student, to have new or gently used winter clothing donated to help keep children in our community warm this winter. In previous years, this was a collaboration between Project Toasty Toes and Westside Elementary, but this year the program was opened up and available to all schools in our community with drop-off sites at Perfect Title Real Estate Broker, Sun Prairie East High School, Westside Elementary, Northside Elementary, and Patrick Marsh Middle School. Items will be collected through November and then distributed to schools in our community and Cards Closet.
Thanksgiving Basket and Spirit of Giving Programs with Sunshine Place - We are once again collaborating with Sunshine Place to assist in any way possible so that families from our community schools are signed up for both of these amazing programs. This might look like emailing or calling families to remind them to sign up, helping with transportation for families when they pick up at Sunshine Place, answering questions, and even taking out a laptop or two to our Wacky Wednesday program in the three neighborhoods to help get families registered.
Empty Stocking Club - This program is open to all qualified families with children (0 - 16 years of age) in Dane County. Registration is open in early December and we will be helping families register for this program by sharing the information, answering questions, and helping with the actual registration process and/or transportation to the Alliant Energy Center on the distribution dates of December 14 and 15 as needed.
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BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES |
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Welcome Jenny Divney!
This month, CH Bird welcomed its new site coordinator, Jenny Divney! We are thrilled to have a smart, thoughtful, and passionate professional to help lead the work at Bird. Please read a little about Jenny below.
Jenny Divney earned a B.A. in Psychology from Marquette University in 1991. Most of her adult life has centered around education; as an adult learning site coordinator, high school librarian, preschool teacher, daycare provider, reading and math interventionist, and substitute teacher. She and her family moved to Sun Prairie in 2017. Jenny joined the Northside Elementary staff as a math interventionist in 2018. In addition to her school duties, she served as the School and Community Organization vice president and president. This past summer, Jenny joined 100 Black Men of Madison's 100 Scholar Program as a teacher, in partnership with the Sun Prairie School District. This program serves to support the whole child and family, offering supplemental literacy and math support on Saturday mornings. Finally, Jenny has served as an active member of Northside's Community School Site Leadership Council. These experiences fueled her passion for community work and the idea that by working together, we can meet the needs of every person while growing and thriving at our best. She believes we each bring our own strengths and gifts to our community and when we pool those resources and collaborate, the result is a stronger community where everyone feels valued, seen, and celebrated. Jenny is thrilled to be joining the CH Bird community as the Community Schools Site Coordinator.
Jenny will be reaching out in the near future to set up a time for each of you to meet with her, to get to know her and to share about the work that you and your organization have done with the Bird school community.
Please help us to welcome Jenny to our team!
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On your next visit to Creekside, stop in and visit Mrs. Collins, who is loving her new role as our Community Schools Site Coordinator. While Mrs. Collins was a Creekside staff person in years past, she is really enjoying her new role where she can continue to build relationships with her Coyotes and Creekside staff while helping them with support and resources that they may have. One of her focus areas this month has been planning after-school events for those Coyotes and their families.
Since school has started, we have had the following events and programs:
- Back to School Picnic in September
- Trunk or Treat in October
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Hmong New Year in November
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After-School Clubs
We also offer the following after-school clubs for our Coyotes. These include:
- Math 24
- F2B Fit
- Art Club
- Game Club
- Hmong Club
- Mindfulness/Yoga Club
- Choir Club
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There are several community-wide holiday assistance programs you will read about in this newsletter. As site coordinators, we work closely with our school social worker to ensure that families get signed up for these programs and have their holiday needs to be met. |
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ROOM 109
In room 109 at Northside Elementary, you will find our Community School room. It is a space in our school that is welcoming to all and offers programs, resources and support for students, family, staff, neighbors and community partners. When you visit you will find:
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- A robust resource library for staff, students, and families to find community resources to best support their individual needs as well as a knowledgeable site coordinator that can assist in the referral process.
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There is a Keurig coffee maker for all visitors and staff to enjoy a warm cup of coffee and connection with one another as well as their site coordinator. The goal with this is to truly connect in a meaningful way with all that walk into our school; it is not about the coffee! Enjoy this video that illustrates the impact of this strategy.
- A food pantry with dry goods, cold and frozen food, a pantry filled with household items, clothing, and winter apparel for anyone in need. There are also snacks for teachers to grab as needed and hand out to students.
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- The Thursday Afterschool Program (TAP) in partnership with the Park and Rec Department enjoys using the community schools' room for the variety of programs they offer: like ukulele lessons!
- Students will gather in this space before, after, and during programs like reading buddies, kindness council projects, or anything they need a space to gather in.
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Our adult learning space offers several computers and printers for families to use to apply for jobs, take online classes, work on resumes, or do anything else that is a fit for them. As site coordinators, we are here to offer support in that process and assist in finding programs that can support each individual's personal goals. We are also offering an adult learning opportunity by offering a FREE parenting class to all parents in partnership with EXPLORE Children’s Museum. This will kick off in the new year!
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There are several community-wide holiday assistance programs you will read about in this newsletter. As site coordinators, we work closely with our school social worker to ensure that families get signed up for these programs and have their holiday needs to be met. |
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Events
- Panther Day was a success with over 600 participants and 14 different fun stations for students! (you can find lots of pictures on the community school's Facebook page)
- Students from Patrick Marsh also attended the award ceremony for our food waste project. They also took home 250 Dollars to donate to Sunshine Place.
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Programming
- Black Student Union Will meet on November 22nd and November 29th. We have Terrence Thompson that runs the youth community center on Northport in Madison as our speaker.
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Adult GED classes are open and ready for students, we have had a few interests, but no one has taken the leap yet.
Future Programming
There are several community-wide holiday assistance programs you will read about in this newsletter. As site coordinators, we work closely with our school social worker to ensure that families get signed up for these programs and have their holiday needs to be met.
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Site Leadership Team Meeting |
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The FoodWise Program
Prairie Phoenix is proud to announce the collaboration with UW- Extension and FoodWise. FoodWise is a major educational program within UW-Extension. The Dane County UW-Extension FoodWIse program responds to community needs with research-based education and partnerships that support Wisconsin families and communities.
The FoodWise Program is primarily made up of two federally-funded nutrition education programs for low-income families and individuals—the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
FoodWise will also provide Eating Smart ~ Being Active. (ESBA) taught as a series of fun interactive sessions. Participants will taste nutritious budget-friendly recipes, learn how to save time and money when shopping for food, and receive helpful items to use at home. Participants must enroll in all 8 weeks to receive a completion certificate & a cookbook.
There are several community-wide holiday assistance programs you will read about in this newsletter. As site coordinators, we work closely with our school social worker to ensure that families get signed up for these programs and have their holiday needs to be met.
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Room 114
On your next visit to Westside, stop in and visit room 114, which is our Community School room. This room is multi-functional with many programs and resources available to our staff, Wildcats and their families, and community members. Should you stop by, you may see:
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- Small groups of Wildcats meet here during the school day with our therapy dog, Cody, or our WIldcats in our Advanced Learners Program working together.
- Teaching staff stop in trying to find that unique item such as toilet paper rolls for a STEAM project, paper plates for a classroom treat, or ribbon for a special craft project - you name it, we usually have it and for that reason are affectionately known as the General Store here at Westside!
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Our room also has our school food pantry, toiletry items, and hair items available for anyone to take. You might have a hungry Wildcat stopping in (with a hall pass, of course) to get a snack for the day or someone needing another scrunchie for their hair.
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- Our Adult Transition Program teachers and students work on projects for Westside in our community school room every Monday and Wednesday from noon - 2 pm. Projects include helping to inventory our school food pantry, organizing our school supply cabinets and clothing closets, and even helping in our school garden!
Below they are putting together craft kits which we will give out
on Wacky Wednesdays!
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Before and After school, we have lots of Wildcats hanging out and engaged in our before and after-school academic enrichment programming. |
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Above our Wildcats working hard in our community schools room
And last but not least, our room is also our community school’s Adult Learning Center, so you might find a caregiver or community member stopping in to register for one of the holiday programs mentioned above, register for summer school, apply for a job, finding information on community resources and so much more. We have laptops and a dedicated printer available for folks to use for this very reason!
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Adult Learning Center
Our Adult Learning Center's future plans include bringing back in-person adult classes such as our Adult ESL classes which are a collaboration with The Literacy Network which will be held in this space as well. Before the pandemic, these community-wide classes were held twice a week at Westside, however, since then, they have been held virtually. Our hope this late Winter/early Spring is that we can again hold these classes in person or a hybrid model in our Adult Learning Center space. We will also again be hosting the Griefshare Support group in collaboration with Door Creek Church every Wednesday night from February - May in this space. We also always have coffee, tea, and hot cocoa brewing, so stop in and enjoy a cup and conversation with Mrs. Darga and each other. We are excited to share this space with our school and our community!
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One of our Fall Adult ESL Classes meets virtually but we hope to be in person in our Adult Learning Center this late Winter/early Spring!
There are several community-wide holiday assistance programs you will read about in this newsletter. As site coordinators, we work closely with our school social worker to ensure that families get signed up for these programs and have their holiday needs to be met.
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Math Mania Family Fun Night in collaboration with WS OPTS group |
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Thursday, Dec. 8 from 5-6:30 pm |
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December Community Schools Programs & Events |
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Adult ESL classes end for the Fall |
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Toasty Toes Distribution of Clothing |
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Wacky Wednesdays in the Neighborhoods, highlighting Community Conversations |
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Wednesday, December 7, 143, and 21 with Mrs. Collins and Mrs. Darga |
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Spirit of Giving Distribution of Gifts |
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Toys for Tots Distribution of Gifts |
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Tuesday, Dec. 13 from 5-7 pm |
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Empty Stocking Club Distribution |
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Wednesday, Dec. 14 and
Thursday, Dec. 15
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YMCA Giving Tree Distribution of Gifts |
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YMCA Giving Tree Distribution |
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CONTACT US
Jamie Racine
Community Schools Director
608.318.8109
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Jenny Divney
C.H. Bird Elementary Site Coordinator
608.834.7320
Katrina Collins
Creekside Elementary Site Coordinator
608.834.7714
Stacey Christenson
Northside Elementary Site Coordinator
608.834.7160
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Brian McKenzie
Patrick Marsh Middle School Site Coordinator
608.834.7629
Tenisha Winn
Prairie Phoenix Academy Site Coordinator
608.834.6934
Stacy Darga
Westside Elementary Site Coordinator
608.834.7546
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