LISD School Newsletter

Dear LISD Families,

Today marks the middle of term 2 for secondary students. This means that, before we know it, the school year will be halfway over for both elementary and secondary students. Wow! Mid-terms are a good time for mid-course correction, and sometimes students need some support and a nudge from parents and guardians to help them secure a strong finish to the semester. Support can look like a clean and quiet-ish place to work or read at home, boundaries around technology, a solid sleep routine. We love it when parents check Canvas, come to conferences, check in with teachers, and engage your children and teens in conversations about school.

You all know that we are transitioning to mastery based learning practices K-12. There are structural shifts like developing a report card based on mastery and there are cultural shifts like helping kids increase their stamina for problem solving. One of the big cultural shifts we are making is guiding students in the transition from caring about grades to caring about learning. A question like, "What did you learn today?" can be so important.

Here are some other great questions to ask your child about school, and to focus the conversation on both academic and social-emotional learning:

1. Tell me about the best part of your day.

2. What was the hardest thing you had to do today?

3. Did any of your classmates do anything funny?

4. Tell me about what you read in class.

5. Who did you play with today? What did you play?

6. Do you think math [or any subject] is too easy or too hard?

7. What's the biggest difference between this year and last year?

8. What rules are different at school than our rules at home? Do you think they're fair?

9. Who did you sit with at lunch?

10. Can you show me something you learned (or did) today?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Today our Lobo Boys Varsity Soccer Team is off to the first round of state. Go Lobos!!

All my best,

Martha Martin

• November 15: HS Boys Soccer State Semi Finals, 6:30 pm, Sedro Woolley HS

• November 18: HS Basketball season starts

• November 19: LIPTSA Membership Meeting, 5 - 6 pm, MPR

• November 20: Board Meeting, 6 pm

• November 20: School Picture retake day

• November 27: Early Release - 2 pm for all students

• November 28 - 29: Thanksgiving Holiday - NO SCHOOL

• November 29: Tree Lighting Celebration in the Village; MMPACT plays at 5 pm

• November 30: Holiday Bazaar in MPR, 10 am - 3 pm

This has been an outstanding season for the Lopez Boys Soccer Team. They brought home the district champion trophy for the first time since 1990 and the school celebrated with a fun assembly. They are playing in their first state semi-final game tonight at 6:30 pm. If they win, they'll head to state finals next weekend and play on Friday and Saturday. Send lots of good vibes their way!

There are multiple options for after school activities for our K-8 students. The Lopez Island Family Resource Center has programming for K - 4th grade and separate programming for grades 5 - 8. Check them out! They have a great calendar of activities.

Additionally, on Tuesdays, the Lopez Island library is running a fantastic interactive program for grades 5 - 8th where they get to explore all events that occurred in our country during the time the USA was engaged in the Space Race and the Cold War. Library staff have put a lot of research and planning in developing this program. Last year they learned about WW2 and the program was a huge hit with the participants. Students take the bus to the library and parents pick them up from there. Contact Claudia Rempel at the library for more info.

And of course, all after school programs come with snacks!

Can you give the school 35 minutes once or twice a week?

Our school has an urgent need for a handful of volunteers to monitor recess from 9:40 - 10:15 every morning. Currently this recess is being monitored by our school superintendent, principal, counselor, and special services director. If you can commit to coming in once a week that would be so very helpful! Please reach out to Brady Smith if you can volunteer.

Please join LIPTSA (Lopez Island Parent Teacher Student Association) for our Fall Membership Meeting. November 19th from 5pm - 6pm, in the Elementary MPR. Snacks and social time, plus a bit of business.

Not a member yet? That's ok! Come learn more about what fun activities we have in store for the rest of the year. Join Here.

Lopez sports are getting popular! We love to see it! We have a large group of girls who are coming out for basketball and Karrie Warner could really use an assistant coach this season. Also, we are starting our search now for a golf coach. Both positions come with stipends.

Assistant Coach - HS Girls Basketball
Golf Coach

This was a really fun project for our students. Students in 3/4th, 5th, 6th and middle school were fully engaged in Art class when Special Guest Artist Debbie Collins worked with the art students to make luminaries to light up the village for the tree lighting ceremony! There will be hundreds of luminaries in the village in a few weeks! Special thanks Debbi for working with our students (among many other villagers of all ages) to make this project happen. It's going to be spectacular!

The Lopez Children's Center Annual Holiday Bazaar will be held on Saturday, November 30th from 10 am to 3 pm at the LISD Gym. There is still space available for vendors!

We are also looking for community volunteers for the following: Bakers, Cashiers, Set-up, Decorations, and Clean-up. High school students can volunteer for decorations, set-up and clean-up and earn community service hours. Please contact lopezbazaar@gmail.com to sign up as a vendor or community volunteer. Students: Contact Sara Wysocki if you want to earn Community Service Hours as a high school volunteer.

Semester 1 Fees are due. Paying your fees on time is very important in helping us stay on track with our budget. You can check to see if you have unpaid fees in our student database, Qmlativ in a few simple steps. It is easy to reset your username or password if you need that as well. Once you are logged in, click on you student(s) name, and then navigate to the fees & payments section. It will show an "amount due" at the top of the list. That is the amount the school needs to collect at this time.

Contact Sara Jones to make a payment. 360-468-2202 x2300, sjones@lopezislandschool.org

Kindergartners stomped bean pods and collected the beans, and the first/second grade nibbled on Calendula while prepping a garlic bed.

What clubs/athletics/extracurriculars have you been involved in?

I’ve done volleyball, basketball and track for 4 years; ASB for 3 years; and now the new journalism club which I co-founded as my senior project.

What is one positive memory from your time here that you’ll carry with you forever?

I don’t have just one positive memory…just a lot of snippets of lunch conversations, laughing in the hallways with friends, and the whole Japan trip experience.

What is the best piece of advice you have received from a teacher?

When I first moved here, one of my classes was drama with Mr. Carter on-line. Before one of our first projects, I remember him always repeating, “remember to breathe.” I have heard this a lot…from Mr. Carter, my track coach, Marina, and my volleyball coaches, both Karrie and Marina. So now, whenever I get nervous, I just always remember to breathe.

Finish this sentence: “I cannot live without…….”

I cannot live without my friends, family, and feelings of joy.

What is one piece of advice you have for incoming high school students?

Remember that you have people around you to support you. Your friends, parents, teachers all want you to succeed, so don’t be afraid to ask for help when you are struggling.

What is the most meaningful assignment ever given to you by a teacher?

In 9th grade, Mr. Tetu had us do an assignment called Portrait of an Elder. We had to interview an older community member to get to know them. I was new to the island so getting to talk to someone who has been here longer was very meaningful to me. I talked to Chuck Schietinger and he sparked my interest in physics.

What’s the most important quality in a friendship? Why?

The ability to genuinely be yourself. If you can’t be yourself around someone, without the fear of being judged, then I don’t think you can have a real connection. All the other qualities of friendship, like trust and honestly, stem from that place.

In 10 years, I will be…

I will be living in a cool city with a job I like, and spending time with people I enjoy being around.

Who/what do you find inspiring?

Both of my parents found what they like to do in life and they are both happy with where they are, and then also my friends (Valentina, Amelia, and Melissa) who have graduated and created amazing lives for themselves.

What are your plans after high school?

Go to college and get a degree in bioengineering or biophysics, and then do research. It’s still early, so I’m not sure where I’ll be going to college. Also, hopefully travel. I’ve traveled a lot but haven’t been to many places in Europe or Asia.

Brady Smith, Superintendent

Martha Martin, K-12 Principal

The Lopez Island School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employee(s) has been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator, and Title IX Coordinator Brady Smith, HR Specialist ; Section 504, Steven Dahl. OR contact by phone, 360-468-2202, OR mail to 86 School Rd, Lopez Island, WA 98261.