MCAS Communicator

(Please post for/share with those employees who do not check email!)

Welcome back, Team M.C.A.S.! You are reading the “MCAS Communicator,” the monthly e-newsletter for all staff. If you know a colleague who does not regularly access email, please share! If you have news or other info you would like to include, please email Betsy Kohn at bkohn@educateMC.net before the last school day of the month. The Communicator goes out the first school day of each month. Back issues are located under the “Staff” channel on our district home page.

In case you missed it... here's the first-day message from MCAS Superintendent Dr. Barbara Eason-Watkins to teachers & instructional support staff. This year's theme is.... Flexibility! (Also: Get your dancin' shoes on...)

WELCOME to all new members of Team M.C.A.S.! (You'll meet many of them in this brief video, featuring photos taken at new teacher orientation last month.)

MCAS Child Nutrition Services has been busy serving meals to students since our last day of school on March 13th. From March 13th till May 27th we served 93,630 breakfasts and lunches. On June 1st we started our summer feeding program, serving all children 18 years and under. Our total meals served from March until July 24th was 286,252! The office staff, managers, and employees made this all possible for the community. Our goal now is to keep our employees working by asking them to be flexible and working where they are needed. Starting August 24th through the end of the first nine weeks of school we will be distributing a week’s worth of breakfast and lunch meals every Monday (except on September 7th, due to Labor Day, we will serve on Tuesday September 8th). Distribution info and a form to order meals is HERE. Please note that meals must be ordered by WEDNESDAY for the following Monday pickup.

Welcome back to the 2020-2021 school year! EAT WELL!

Our Wolves Fall teams are off to a great start!

• Due to strict COVID-related attendance guidelines, we will not be able to honor MCAS staff IDs as complimentary admission to MCHS athletic contests. Hopefully this year only, we need to keep a strict count of exactly who, and how many people attend our games. Spectator seating is very limited and is best procured by contacting a team member directly.
• The MCHS Booster Club postponed its spring raffle -- and it will now be held on 9/11! Contact the Athletics Dept. at (219) 873-2044 or cshaman@mcas.k12.in.us for your $20 ticket to win cash prizes. The top prize is $1,000!
• Visit https://michigancityathletics.com/ for the latest updates, schedule and scores!

Many of our teachers have used the Feed the Children Teacher Store in Elkhart. Please note that the calendar issued last spring (and currently on their website!) is no longer valid. They will be sending a revised shopping calendar as soon as it is finalized and we will share with you. (They may be changing the dates that the store is open this year.)

Due to COVID restrictions, A.K. Smith is not able to host their blood drives at this time. However, here is a link to the Red Cross and all their eligible drives. When anyone schedules a donation through THIS LINK, AK Smith will receive credit for the signup. This link is good through November!

Safe Harbor is offering a virtual enrichment program for K-8 students that includes daily physical fitness, STEM, art, and SEL activities. to K-8 students. (They are also offering a free SAT Prep course, English 110 Tutoring, and a virtual Robotics team to grades 9-12.)

Families can register at the SAFE HARBOR WEBSITE.

Here are two options for CPR for certified staff in need of license renewal:

1. A. K. Smith EMT instructor Dave Sanders works with Crash Course CPR.com. Right now, they are doing an online class, in which you watch the videos and do the testing online. They provide you with the equipment (adult and infant manikins and AED), then they contact you via a ZOOM meeting to check off your skills. This is one-on-one instruction. You can book a class through www.IneedaCPRcard.com or call Crash Course Cpr.com at 812-822-0433. Questions? Email David Sanders at dsanders05@mcas.k12.in.us.

2. CPR Trainer Val Skwiat (American Heart Association) offers an online option. (1) Go online to elearning.heart.org to complete the $15 CPR course and then print out or email your completion certificate to Valorie Skwiat. (2) Call, text, or email Val to schedule a date and time of your choosing to complete the hands-on skills portion. The cost for this is an additional $15 to receive your course completion card. Contact Val at (219) 873-2127 x 8606, Cell: (219) 874-1716, vskwiat@mcas.k12.in.us
   

Sacha Gee Burns, Laporte County Recycling/Solid Waste District Public Outreach Coordinator, is interested in presenting programs about recycling and composting to classes via Zoom (she would drop off supplies in advance for distribution to students) or in other creative ways. Here is her contact information:

Sacha Gee-Burns

Environmental Educator/ Public Outreach Coordinator

2857 W. State Road 2, La Porte, IN 46350

219-326-0014

sgeeburns@solidwastedistrict.com

www.solidwastedistrict.com

www.facebook.com/LPCoRecycling

All dates for the 2020-21 School Year have been entered on the Master website calendar (and shared to all school calendars). A one-page PDF version of the calendar will be available later this week on the MCAS website under "Our District".