Warm greetings to new families joining LWHS, and welcome back to those who are returning!

We are super excited for the school year to start. The PTSA board has been meeting through the summer to discuss how to support our school and students while balancing resources. We have a very small board right now and look forward to having more parents join us!

High school is an important time for parents to be involved in our student's education. LWHS PTSA offers several ways for families to do just that:

• Stay informed. Our Kang Crier newsletter is a timely and reliable source of information for what’s happening at LWHS and in the community. We are also on Facebook and Instagram, and our website is another great resource.

• Volunteer. We are looking for help for various activities. Check out our website to learn more about how you can lend a hand! We have several open board and chair positions available as well.

• Become a PTSA member. Your annual membership and donations of time, money, and skills enable LWHS PTSA to continue to offer support to teachers and administrators, to the school, and to supplement your child’s education. Click here to see what your donations, time, and talent make possible.

• Connect with your community. Meet fellow LWHS families and our Principal and administrators through events such as “Coffee with Christine” and our general membership meetings. Our first general membership meeting will be Wednesday, September 14 at 7:00 pm at LWHS. Earlier that evening, we also plan to present our Welcome to LWHS Primer for new parents as part of the LWHS Open House/Curriculum night. Please stay tuned by email and our social media channels.

There’s a lot to look forward to this year. We welcome your support and hope to see you soon!

2022-2023 LWHS PTSA Board

LWHS PTSA Board positions available

There are still open board positions for the 2022-2023 school year. Job descriptions can be found here. Available board positions include:

• President
• EVP
• Secretary
• VP, School Support
• Senior Party

LWHS PTSA committees and chairs make things happen! We are looking for chairs and committee members, specifically at this time:

• Volunteer Coordinator
• Social Media chair
• Hospitality

Visit our website to learn more about these positions. If you are interested in any of these positions, please contact us. 

Session for New Students and Families of LWHS

LWHS Open House/Curriculum Night Wednesday, September 14

LWHS PTSA is pleased to participate in the LWHS Open House/Curriculum night with an in-person presentation for families of Freshmen and others who are new to our school community, although all Kangs are welcome to attend. We will cover lots of information about the high school experience, both district-wide and specific to LWHS, and answer common questions, including:

• What is different between middle and high school?
• Parent to school communication
• What to expect: keeping track of student work, assignments, grades and fees
• Academics and tests during the school year
• Counseling Office Services
• After school clubs and competitions
• Sports and social activities
• Parent volunteering
• And much more!

Principal Christine Bell and several members of her admin team, as well as some experienced parents, will be joining us. We look forward to seeing you there!

Our first General Membership Meeting of the year will be in person at LWHS Wednesday, September 14 beginning at 7:00 pm, immediately following the LWHS Open House/Curriculum event. We will introduce the new PTSA board members, approve our budget and our standing rules, and introduce tools/resources that you can use. We would appreciate questions in advance. Please email questions to info@lwhsptsa.org by September 11.

Thursday, September 15, 8:30-9:30 am

LWHS Career Center

The first PTSA-sponsored “Coffee with Christine” of the 2022-23 school year will be Thursday, September 15 in the LWHS Career Center. Come join other LWHS parents and community members for an open Q&A discussion with LWHS Principal Christine Bell. This in-person meeting lasts about an hour and we are looking forward to seeing you!

Please be sure to read Principal Bell's letter in the "School" section below.

LWHS PTSA is an active part of the Kang community. We spend nearly $20,000 each year to support our students, teachers/staff, and community in various ways:

• Students: over $14,000 in grants for classroom and club activities, enrichment programs (such as College Prep workshops, College Application support, practice SAT and ACT tests), scholarships and classroom grants requested by teachers
• Teachers/staff: Nearly $3,000 in teaching staff appreciation events
• And so much more!!

But we can’t do it without you! Annual memberships and donations are our main source of funding and our “Pass the Pouch” request for donations is our only fundraiser of the year. Anyone – parents, grandparents, students, teachers – can join and donate. Just go to lwhsptsa.org and select “Join PTSA/Donate”. To contribute donations, go to Step 3: “Pass the Pouch”.

Thank you for your support!

The Kang Crier Newsletter is the primary communication method used by LWHS PTSA to communicate with LWHS families. The district distribution lists are not updated and available until late October, meaning families new to LWHS are missing out on the information we distribute. If you know of a family who is new to LWHS, please have them subscribe to this newsletter by visiting lwhsptsa.org. You also can forward this newsletter to them and they can click here to subscribe.

Danelle Mathews

LWHS PTSA Kang Crier Editor

Dear Kang Families, 

I would like to extend the warmest of welcomes to you as we enter the 2022-23 school year. Every chance I get I sing the praises of our community, and the weeks leading up to the start of the year are no exception. In the past two weeks I have seen our student leaders prepare for LINK/Freshmen Orientation Day (8/31), our fall athletes turn out in incredible numbers, and our staff working extra hours to prepare for our students to return on September 6. The excitement is palpable. 

One of the themes that keeps rising to the surface as we prepare for this new year is support. At the end of the day what our families, students and staff want is all the same. We all want to see each other succeed. We know, as educators, that students need to feel safe and to know that they belong. They need their basic needs met in order to reach the highest levels of learning. To that end, we are continuing to focus this year on increasing feelings of belonging at school for all of our students. We will seek out feedback, implement new strategies, and provide genuine care and support for all members of the Lake Washington Community.

We are also focused this year on support for our students who are multilingual learners, and we wish to engage families in these endeavors. If there is any way we can provide support to you this year please reach out to us. That is what we are here for, and it truly takes a community to continue to find the success that we have enjoyed at LW. 

On another note, you may have heard this summer that all over the country schools are experiencing teacher/staff shortages. At LW, we have been able to hire more than 20 new teachers this year. We are excited to welcome our staff and we know how difficult it is to be an educator, and how critical it is to support our staff so that we can keep them at LW. If you are wondering how you can help, please consider joining the PTSA and getting involved. 

You can also help by donating to our staff lounges. We have eight staff lounges throughout our building and we can always use donations of coffee pods, snacks, and supplies. If you would like to make a donation to help feed our hard-working staff, please drop items off in the main office and designate that they are for staff. 

Finally, I encourage you to attend our Open House on September 14, meet your child's teachers, and thank them for their service to our community. Teaching is truly the work of the heart.  

Thank you in advance for your support of our staff.

Finally, I invite you to visit our website as it is an excellent resource for information. You can also attend the Coffee with Christine meetings, come to one of our many performances and events, and follow us on social media to get more involved. We love to get to know families and want to hear your ideas on how we can do the best possible job of supporting our students. 

I look forward to welcoming our students soon. Until then, GO KANGS!

Christine Bell  

LWHS Principal

Have you student sign up for an audition slot for LWHS winter musical, Legally Blonde! Auditions take place the first two weeks of school, and the performance dates are February 3-11, 2023. We have regular auditions in person as usual, and this year we are adding “Newbie Auditions” for students who have never auditioned before or are new to LW auditions-- students just sign up, show up, and we will teach a song and some tips before the audition. More info and sign up for auditions here: https://forms.office.com/r/0YAiHcvdcj

Questions? Email Morgan Heetbrink, LWHS Drama 

Please join us in honoring the heroes of September 11, 2001, and remembering those lost on that day, in the deeply moving play, With Their Eyes. This play was written by students at Stuyvesant High School who witnessed the tragedy from their classrooms just a few blocks away from the World Trade Center. LWHS staff will join theatre students in remembering those who were lost and those who were forced to witness this tragedy with firsthand stories of a day we will never forget.

Performance Dates:

Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10, both shows at 7:00 pm in the LWHS Theatre.

Tickets:

By donation to benefit LWHS Theatre Boosters

Questions? Contact Morgan Heetbrink, LWHS Drama 

Welcome back Kangs and welcome to all our new families! The LWHS Booster Club and our 16 participating clubs are looking forward to an exciting and active school year. What is a “booster club”? Boosters is a great way for parents to work together to enhance the experience of our athletic teams and interscholastic activities. Check out our website here to learn more and find where you might want to get involved. Volunteers are always welcome. And definitely follow us on Facebook, Insta and Twitter to stay up on what’s happening. A huge thank you to our outgoing President, Janis Rabuchin, for raising the bar on how we support our teams and clubs over the last few years!   

Nadia Singh 

LWHS Booster Club President 

The annual Senior Sunrise is back! Have your Senior join their fellow classmates before school Friday, September 9 at 6:30 am to celebrate the start of their Senior year. More information available on Insta @LW.2023.

In the LINKS Lunch Buddy Program (Looking Into the Needs of Kids in Schools), we bring students together with caring adults. Mentors come during school hours once a week and spend the lunch hour in a pre-assigned area to eat, play games, make crafts, talk, and do other agreed-upon activities. Mentors provide social-emotional support to students who need a little extra one-on-one attention.

LINKS Lunch Buddy mentors help students feel engaged, supported and challenged, which can improve students' confidence and help students acquire the skills needed for lifelong success, in school and beyond. Studies have shown that children with mentors are more likely to succeed.

The Lunch Buddy program is currently in 15 elementary schools: Clara Barton, Einstein, Ella Baker, Franklin, Juanita, Keller, Lakeview, Mead, Muir, Redmond, Rush, Sandburg, Smith, Thoreau and Twain.

For more information, please contact the LINKS program coordinator, Victoria Goetze-Nelson at lunchbuddy@lwsd.org.