SUN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
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Our Westside Mobile Food Pantry occurs each Tuesday at 4 pm and will continue through the end of November and discussions are currently happening to see if we can extend it into December. Please feel free to come pick up food for you and your family. You are also welcome to pick up food for neighbors or family members who may not be able to get here.
Our partner The Literacy Network has kicked off its virtual Adult ESL classes for the Fall but there is still time to register!. Families can register with the Literacy Network at www.litnetwork.org.
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Sun Prairie Community Schools held its Annual Meeting on Thursday, October 22nd. The slide deck and a recording of the presentation will be uploaded to our website by the end of the month. Be sure to check out our website to see the impact of our work during the 2019-20 fiscal year!
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We want to say thank you to Andrew McKinney and all the work that he has done to get Community Schools started at C.H. Bird. Andrew resigned from his position, and the team is currently interviewing to find the Community School Site Coordinator that will be able to build upon and grow the work in the C.H. Bird Community.
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The CHB SCO - C.H. Best - is hosting an online pumpkin carving contest for their families. We love seeing our family leaders working as partners to bring our community closer together during this time of social distancing!
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Northside had a need for additional thermometers to send home with some students and families. Our community partners at Sun Prairie United Methodist Church donated (50) thermometers to Northside. We were overjoyed to receive their donation. It’s work like this, that helps make our community schools. It allows for us to reach families and provide services to them in a way that expresses love, humility and true heartfelt compassion.
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Northside is working to complete our Community Feedback Assessment. This assessment will allow us as a new community school, to ensure we are getting the feedback we need. We want to ensure we properly service the needs of our community and families. Ms. Tenisha Winn will oversee the community outreach plan. She will then conduct a zoom meeting in order to meet families “face-to-face”.
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Northside was very proud to host our first family engagement event of the year. We held a drive-in movie night for families on Friday 10/23. Families were so overjoyed to be able to come out and enjoy such a wonderful evening. Northside is excited to partner with the Parks and Rec department for our trunk or treat event taking place on 10/31. It’s events like these that show connectedness between community schools and our families.
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At Patrick Marsh we refer to 2020 as the year of the pivot. At any given moment we must be prepared to alter directions, adjust, and pivot due to best serve our community. This has proven to be true with our cultural celebration Mingle at the Marsh. Due to weather concerns, we had to change our event from a parade to a Flipgrid party that will last the entire school year. Because we are committed to honoring the rich histories and cultures that make up our community, we are offering families and community members a chance to share their culture with us by creating a 3-5 minute flip grid video of themselves performing a cultural song/dance, preparing a cultural dish/appetizer/dessert, creating a cultural craft, or sharing anything from their culture they would like. To make it easy for you we have created a template and tutorial for you to follow. Just click the link below to get started. Thanks, and we look forward to watching your video.
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At Patrick Marsh we have moved into phase two of the school reopening plan. What this means for Community Schools is that we can begin to offer some programming and afterschool clubs. On Monday Oct. 26, 2020, our Art club held its first meeting. This club is offered in partnership with Prairie Music and Arts, and funded by a grant from Sun Prairie Education Foundation. During the first six weeks of this club the following topics will be covered:
Sketch Artist - Line Work and Perspective
Comic Book Creators - Manga and Super Heroes
Mosaics - Painting and Charcoal
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As I mentioned before, 2020 has become known as the year of the pivot. Patrick Marsh Community Schools has had to alter plans, change directions, and adjust programming, services, and the way we meet the needs and interact with our community. Pivoting hasn’t been easy, but with the help of our team it has been successful. So I would like to use this opportunity to shout out some team members who have taken this journey with us and made pivoting possible.
The first shout out is to Prairie Music and Arts, who in addition to becoming a valuable voice on our SLT, worked hard to restructure the in-person Art program they offered students at Patrick Marsh last year into a synchronous virtual program this year.
The second shout out is to the Mingle at the Marsh team, Tiffany Kvalheim, Rebecca Balus, and Kari Engleson. Thank you guys for all the hard work you put into honoring our families and their culture.
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It was a joy working with Patrick Marsh social worker, Mrs. Woodman, and former Patrick Marsh student, Tatihana P. at the Pop-Up food Pantry. Thanks for volunteering. |
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We made masks during Wacky Wednesday's. When one of our students realized we made very similar masks, she insisted we take a picture. #Twining
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PRAIRIE PHOENIX ACADEMY UPDATE |
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We have a great program that will be starting up in November. Our partners at CEO’s of Tomorrow will be partnering with our teachers at PPA. CEO’s of Tomorrow is a wonderful company that teaches teens how to be entrepreneurs! Throughout the workshops, students will learn the skills necessary to run a successful business! By the end of the program, each student will set up their business idea in the community. This collaboration between PPA, Community Schools and CEO’s of Tomorrow will continue to provide wonderful opportunities for the PPA students, in the school day, out of school and in their own community. I am very excited to bring this program back!!
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Two years ago, I met a man named Richard Jones. He is the owner of
Oddly Arranged Media in Madison, a music studio and production company. Richard and I formed a partnership and have worked together to accomplish many things for PPA students. Throughout our partnership, we have built a running music studio inside PPA, taught students the necessary literacy and communication skills they need to be in the music industry, and they have also learned the business side of the industry. We have had many students develop into great artists! When we had to close the school early this year, Oddly Arranged Media stepped up to continue to serve our scholars. Richard and his colleague Marcus worked with students virtually on their music portion as well as how to make real change in their community, using their music to get a positive message across. Richard is also a big part of the Community Schools Leadership Team at PPA. Community Schools and Oddly Arranged Media have formed a wonderful partnership, and I am happy to say they will be working with us again this year. I look forward to doing more great work with them and continuing our story!!
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We have been busy planning programming and events while also helping to meet the needs of our community.
Check out our fun Community schools room door as we welcome our KAT students back! Each KAT teacher created their own Bitmoji! Can you guess which one Mrs. Darga is?
Mrs. Darga continues to be at The Element lunch site each day from noon - 12:30 pm. It’s a chance for her to see our Wildcats and connect with our families. Families also appreciate the food, toiletries and cleaning supplies she brings along each day. Feel free to join us any time and stop by and say HI!
Our Kids Achieve Together after school program kicked off the beginning of October. We started with limited in person programming and some virtual programming options will be offered later in October or early November. We hope to add more in person students to our programming as the guidelines allow.
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Our We Are One Family project continues to help meet the needs of Westside families in our community. We have performed over 265 acts of kindness and I was blessed to be able to share information on the program at both a recent SPASD board meeting and City of SP Committee of the Whole this month. Example of our acts of kindness include:
- Help to meet basic needs (assistance with food, clothing, furniture, cleaning supplies masks, baby supplies, and transportation)
- Help families navigate community resources (assistance with rent, utilities)
- Help with stress management in the form of gift cards for shopping or restaurants and games/crafts
- Help families become familiar with the new world of distance learning
- Leverage our community partnerships with the YMCA, Second Harvest FoodBank, Neighborhood Navigators, Sunshine Place and many others to help meet these needs. From this grew two new programs which continue to this day: Fill The Van event with Door Creek Church, which stocks our school pantry, and our Westside Pop Up Mobile Food Pantry, mentioned above.
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Pumpkins and Moon phases oh my!
We grew 14 pumpkins for the first time this year at our community school! Here are some of our after school Wildcats painting them in our garden!
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In our Thursday afterschool STEAM time, we learned about the many phases of the Moon and how they impact our lives on earth. We may have some future astronauts on our hands!
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- Donations of non-perishable food items, paper goods and toiletries at any one of our Sun Prairie Community Schools for their school food pantry.
- Donations of school supplies, like markers and pencil cases at Westside Elementary
- Volunteers are always needed for the mobile food pantry every Tuesday at Westside.
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Along with our partners at the NE YMCA and City of Sun Prairie Neighborhood Navigators we will be bringing Halloween fun to the neighborhoods (The Element, Rolling Prairie and Vandenburg Park) on the afternoon of Friday, October 30. The schedule is: Rolling Prairie from 2:30 - 3 pm, The Element from 3:15 - 3:45 pm and Vandenburg Park from 4 - 4:30 pm. Stop out and see us!
Then, get ready for socially distant Drive Thru Boo Halloween fun at the Sun Prairie Y! On Friday, October 30, 5-7:30 pm, drive through the YMCA parking lot for contact-free treats and crafts (while they last) without leaving your car. Costumes, spooky window signs and even car decorations are encouraged. Thanks to our partners: Sun Prairie Neighborhood Navigators, TuTu School, Explore Children’s Museum, Woodman's and The Good Guys. Special SHOUT OUT to the staff and students in the Adult Transition Program who helped get our treat bags ready for these events!
Westside Site Leadership meeting will be held Tuesday, November 10 at 5:15 pm. This team helps shape our community schools programming for the school year.
Patrick Marsh Site Leadership meeting will be held Tuesday November 17 at 3 pm
We hope to partner with the Bank of Sun Prairie to offer some virtual financial classes in November. Topics may include: How to budget for the holidays without overspending, Debt reduction and Buying a car. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
Our Site Coordinators continue to be at the three lunch sites in our community as their schedules allow. In addition to bringing along food and toiletries for families, they are also giving out warm hats, mittens and gloves and coats to families and community members who may need them.
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CONTACT US
Jamie Racine
Program Coordinator
608.834.6534
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Site Coordinator: Vacant Position
C.H. Bird Elementary
608.834.7320
Tenisha Winn
Site Coordinator
Northside Elementary
Lisa Goldsberry
Site Coordinator
Patrick Marsh Middle School
608.834.7661
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Bobby Finn
Site Coordinator
Prairie Phoenix Academy
608.834.6920
Stacy Darga
Site Coordinator
Westside Elementary
608.834.7546
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