Hello all and happy sunny Thursday! It feels sooooo nice to have the sun out!

Just a few quick notes this week-

* Multi-Cultural Night is tomorrow and it is going to be fantastic! It runs from 6-8 and yes there will be food!

* On time, ready to go every morning! Please help show your child/ren the importance of being to school on time every day! Remember class begins at 8:00! I have ben in every Vestal classroom at the beginning of the day and i can assure you that transitioning into the classroom community along with your classmates is very important to getting a great start!

* Tomorrow is Vestal Spirit Day! We are also including Blazer gear or colors! Support the home team in the Play-Offs, go Blazers!

Social Justice News-

We are putting together a short video to try and share an idea of what we are about at Vestal. When it is complete, I will share it with everyone. This week, we did some filming of students sharing about what Social Justice means to them...Here are some of the comments kids shared-

"Social justice means we take care of each other." Grade 2

"Social justice, well, it means we try to solve problems." Grade 1

" Social justice, to me, it means we look for opportunities to take action and make things better." Grade 5

"Social justice means we say what we feel, even when we are upset." Kinder

"I've been learning about social justice by learning about immigration." Grade 3

"I think social justice means to take care of the earth for the animals. Stop littering and be nice." Grade 1

At the beginning of the school year we said we wanted...

"Students to be able to define social justice, articulate a local injustice, research, and advocate for a local change."

We know we will never be done with this goal..it will be an on-going journey! However, we do believe we are starting to see students incorporate the concepts of social justice into their lives!

Tomorrow's Multi-Cultural Night is yet another way to participate in our on-going learning as we celebrate our diverse community! I hope to see many folks there!

Peace, Sabrina Flamoe

sflamoe@pps.net

Hello Vestal Community-

This week has truly zipped by with Monday being a Teacher Work day, the rest of the week has flown!

I had to be out at a district training Wednesday and Thursday and I can tell you the best part about such trainings is the reminder of how much I love being at Vestal! The energy and passion for life that your children bring to school every day inspires and enlivens me! I am excited to be back at the door tomorrow morning!

Tomorrow is Vestal Spirit day! On the note of Vestal Spirit, Coach C is working with our 5th graders on a super cool Vestal song...we will share the song at our Social Justice Showcase on May 30th, but your kiddo may start sharing as they learn!

In regards to the Social Justice Showcase...I know I had said I'd share a little part of our social justice work each week and I have forgotten some weeks...my apologies! This week, I want to remind everyone that all of our social justice work at Vestal revolves around 5 domains:Individual Identity, Community Diversity, Social Justice, Local Action, and Academic Engagement. These 5 domains are represented by the 5 circles on our t-shirts and banner! As we start wrap up year 1 and start planning for year 2 of being a school for social justice, we will use these domains to reflect and plan.

Below, you will see the planning process classrooms are using to guide their Local Actionproject that will be shared at the showcase.

Local Action has been a significant domain throughout the school year because it can range from very small local actions between two people (like using our "I feel, because, I wish..." card) to larger actions that impact the community (like planning a whole school march).

For classroom projects, the below graphic organizer is helping guide teachers through this new process. Take a look!

At our Showcase on May 30th, each class will present their learning process around a local action project!

If your child is in 1st grade, you may know that our 1st graders are working on creating an outdoor learning space for the whole Vestal community as their local action.

Social Justice Books-

A great book that supports our domain of Individual Identity-

All the Colors We are by Katie Kissinger 
Illustrator: Chris Bohnhoff 

This book, " Explains, in simple terms, the reasons for skin color, how it is determined by heredity, and how various environmental factors affect it."

This Spring term of SUN has a Social Justice class; the students in this class will publish our next Social Justice Newsletter!

Upcoming Events-

Tuesday- The HeART of Portland- our 3rd grader's Local Action Project has been the creating and publishing of a book called Bridges Not Walls. This project is  a very clear example of taking the concepts of Individual Identity and Community Diversity and putting it into taking a Local Action. This project will be on display at the Portland Art Museum!

Friday- A wonderful tradition at Vestal is the Multi-Cultural Night...truly an event to celebrate our Community Diversity! We hope to see everyone there!

I hope you have had a chance to experience some aspect of our social justice efforts this school year...our first year has been full of learning and doing and then learning some more and we will continue learning and growing as a community!

Thanks for reading this rather long newsletter:)

Sabrina Flamoe

sflamoe@pps.net

PTA Notes

PTA Elections will take place at the next PTA meeting on Tuesday, May 7 and new volunteers are needed! Terms are ending for three of our four PTA members.  As you know, PTA is responsible for hosting community building activities and raising money to support students and teachers at Vestal.  Open positions include President, Secretary, and Volunteer Coordinator.  Please consider volunteering to help continue this important work!

Please join the Vestal community on for Multicultural Night on Friday, April 19 from 6-8 p.m.! This is a great opportunity to learn about and celebrate our diversity and strength.

The last pancake breakfast was such a huge success, we're doing it again! Vestal PTA is hosting a Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, April 27 from 9 to 11 a.m. in the school cafeteria.  If you would like to volunteer, please contact Kaori Bowser.  

Suggested donations of $3 for individuals and $10 for families for pancakes (regular and gluten-free), fruit, juice, and coffee. The money raised goes to support educational opportunities and experiences for Vestal students such as field trips and school events. We will accept cash, card and checks made out to Vestal PTA.  

Hello all! Happy Rainy Friday!

Please know that we try to get kids outside as much as possible, even when it is raining  abit (like today) Fresh air is worth a ton! Please try to send your student/s with rain gear. Know there is always the option of spending recess in the library, so if your child really doesn't like the rain there is another option most days:)

This week has flown by! Ask your child about the "Incredible Journey of Jazz" assembly we had on Wednesday. Huge thanks to Montavilla Jazz for sponsoring this event!

Remember that every Friday we have the Food Pantry in the studio...it is open to all!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Sabrina Flamoe

sflamoe@pps.net

PTA Notes

PTA Elections will take place at the next PTA meeting on Tuesday, May 7 and new volunteers are needed! Terms are ending for three of our four PTA members.  As you know, PTA is responsible for hosting community building activities and raising money to support students and teachers at Vestal.  Open positions include President, Secretary, and Volunteer Coordinator.  Please consider volunteering to help continue this important work!

Please join the Vestal community on for Multicultural Night on Friday, April 19 from 6-8 p.m.! This is a great opportunity to learn about and celebrate our diversity and strength.

The last pancake breakfast was such a huge success, we're doing it again! Vestal PTA is hosting a Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, April 27 from 9 to 11 a.m. in the school cafeteria.  If you would like to volunteer, please contact Kaori Bowser.  

Suggested donations of $3 for individuals and $10 for families for pancakes (regular and gluten-free), fruit, juice, and coffee. The money raised goes to support educational opportunities and experiences for Vestal students such as field trips and school events. We will accept cash, card and checks made out to Vestal PTA.