Perspectives

This newsletter provides updates, information and event details for Horace Mann School, the Horace Mann School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), and Saint Paul Public Schools. It is published weekly and distributed through email. Past issues can be found at mann.spps.org.

We love to meet all the families in person for conferences. We also believe there are reasons a family might need a virtual Google Meet conference. We want to accommodate everyone’s needs. We are able to offer one conference per family per child (due to our student numbers and the short time dedicated for conferences).

If you need a virtual conference, please reach out to your child's teacher. They may want to keep virtual conferences grouped together at a particular time.

• Here is the link to sign up: https://ptcfast.com/schools/Horace_Mann_School.

*Principal Litwin will not be present on on Friday, March 28. Otherwise, if you need to speak to him, he will be available in the office both evenings.

Many students from your child's classroom and our school community have been absent with a variety of symptoms (fevers, coughing, vomiting, nausea etc.). Please monitor your student for these symptoms and keep them home to prevent the spread of illness.

A reminder, if your student has a fever, they need to be free of fever 24 hours WITHOUT fever reducing medication before returning to school. In addition, if your student is vomiting or having diarrhea, they should stay home. Students can return to school after they have been free of vomiting /diarrhea for 24 hours.

If your student is confirmed to have a case of any infectious disease (Influenza A/B, Strep Throat, Norovirus, COVID-19, Pertussis, RSV), please notify the Horace Mann School Health Office at 651-888-7636.

Here are some steps you can take to stay healthy:

• It is still acceptable to get your FLU and your COVID-19 vaccinations if you haven't done that yet this school year.
• Staff and students~Please stay home if you have a fever, respiratory symptoms like a cough, runny nose and/or sore throat, vomiting, or diarrhea, OR if you simply do not feel well enough to go to work or school.
• Consider wearing a face mask which are also available at school in the Main Office and the Health Office.
• Wash your hands frequently (hum Happy Birthday twice to do it long enough).
• Get plenty of sleep and manage your stress levels.
• Stay hydrated and eat a balanced diet.
• Include physical activity in your daily lifestyle.

This year representatives from our families joined the school leadership team. This team helps with school improvement planning efforts. The team meets once or twice a month. One of Elizabeth, Daniel, and Mariyam's jobs will be to reach out to families. They might call to get your perspective on key questions for the school. This is just one more way that we are involving all families in making our school community the best it can be!

2nd graders enjoyed a visit by Mayor Carter this week.

Bookmark our school calendar. It can be found at the top of our website. Here are some highlights for the next two weeks.

Monday, February 17

• No School - President's Day

Tuesday, February 18

• 7:15-7:35am School Store in 1st Floor Hall
• 11:45am-1:45pm Kortuem/Kacky Class Field Trip to Como Planetarium
• 2:00-3:00pm Language Sprouts Spanish

Wednesday, February 19

• 10:30am-12:00pm Jacobsen Class Field Trip to Como Planetarium
• 2:00-3:45pm Extended Day for Learning (EDL)
• 5:00-8:00pm Somali Parent Advisory Council at 360 Colborne St

Thursday, February 20

• 8:15-8:45am Guest Reader in Ms. Ryan's Class
• 2:00-3:00pm Language Sprouts Spanish
• 2:00-3:15pm Winter Community Education Classes
• 6:00-7:00pm HMS PTA Family Volunteer Service Night in Holleran Hall

Monday, February 24

• 2:00-3:45pm Extended Day for Learning (EDL)
• 5:30-8:00pm virtual Karen Parent Advisory Council
• 6:30-8:00pm virtual American Indian Parent Advisory Council

Tuesday, February 25

• 7:15-7:35am School Store in 1st Floor Hall
• 2:00-3:00pm Language Sprouts Spanish
• 5:30-7:30pm virtual Parents of African American Students Advisory Council
• 6:00-7:30pm HMS PTA Meeting in Library

Wednesday, February 26

• 2:00-3:45pm Extended Day for Learning (EDL)
• 5:30-8:00pm virtual Hmong Parent Advisory Council

Thursday, February 27

• 2:00-3:00pm Language Sprouts Spanish
• 2:00-3:15pm Winter Community Education Classes
• 2:30-3:30pm Leadership Team in Room 2104

Friday, February 28

• 7:30am-12:00pm Phillips EYE Institute Screening in DC Base Room

Perspectives Submission Deadline: Thursdays by 8:00am

Email: jim.litwin@spps.org
Website: https://mann.spps.org/
Location: 2001 Eleanor Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55116

Phone: 651-293-8965
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SPPSHoraceMannSchool/

Our school counselors, Marissa and Kristina, have awarded the PTA with a certificate of appreciation in honor of National School Counseling Week! Our HMS counselors are appreciative of all the events and activities that the PTA supports. These events provide a sense of connectedness for students to our school community and that is one of the driving factors in creating positive mental health around school. Way to go HMS PTA!

Class Gifts: a cherished tradition! Support our school and take home a special keepsake to treasure for years to come. The silent auction countdown is on (preview weekend opens on Friday, March 14) with an incredible selection of items up for grabs. From signing up for a fun Great Gathering event to snagging this year’s limited-edition Horace Mann mugs, or placing the highest bid on gift cards and products from local shops, there’s something for everyone.

But one of the most beloved auction highlights? CLASS GIFTS! Each classroom collaborates to create a unique keepsake, from thumbprint pottery and class photo puzzles to student-made books. These one-of-a-kind creations will be available for bidding during the silent auction and displayed in-person at the live auction. Don’t miss your chance to take home a meaningful piece of your child’s school memories!

Tickets to the live auction are on sale now!

Stay tuned for next week’s topic: the raffle. In the meantime, contact us at auction@hms-pta.org with any questions.

Auction Committee Co-Chairs: Allison Deep, Sarah Haley, Virginia Ryan

Have you noticed the recent addition to the main office? Thanks to the generous donation from Frameworks at 2022 Ford Parkway, our very own Minnesota Wild Jersey is now beautifully framed and on display! What is the story behind the Horace Mann Wild Jersey?

Horace Mann has a longstanding partnership with the Minnesota Wild! In addition to teaching, Amy Kortuem has been working part-time with the Wild for many years. Over a dozen years ago, she initiated the "Wild Buddies" program, which pairs her Horace Mann students with volunteers through the Minnesota Wild organization to read and provide academic support on a weekly basis. Each year we have approximately 50 Wild Buddies volunteers working with HMS students.

Along with the Wild Buddies program, the Minnesota Wild have been extremely supportive of the HMS annual auction by providing donations, offering fundraising opportunities like putting out towels at the games, donating ice time for Great Gatherings, and by bringing the Stanley Cup to Horace Mann School! We have also been honored to have the golden voice of Wild hockey and the Minnesota Twins, Rusty Kath, serve as our auctioneer and host at Horace Mann's silent auctions for twelve years.

How did the Horace Mann School Wild jersey come to be?

In 2018, Mark Lindskoog’s daughter, Amanda, was in Ms. Kortuem’s 4th grade class. Amanda’s Wild Buddy happened to be Wayne Peterson, the executive director of community relations at the Minnesota Wild. At the time, one of Wayne's responsibilities was to recruit a local celebrity to rally the crowd before each game. He invited Mr. Lindskoog and Amanda to be the "celebrities" for an upcoming game. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Principal Litwin tagged along 😀

At the game, they were treated to amazing seats and customized monogrammed jerseys. On the ice, they all yelled out over the Jumbotron, "This is our ice! Now everyone, say it with us, let's play hockey!"

Thanks to PTA volunteer Gina Corradi, Principal Litwin’s jersey is now on display in the office, commemorating a special partnership with our beloved Minnesota Wild. (Pictured: Principal Litwin, Mr. Lindskoog and his daughter Amanda in 2018)

Please save the date for a Horace Mann community family service night. Volunteer with other HMS families to help pack items for local nonprofits.

When: Feb 20th 6:00-7:00 pm in Holleran Hall. Activities will include:

• Packing snack bags for SPPS students served by Project Reach

• Making sandwiches for Simpson Housing Services

• Creating welcome bags for Women of Nations to provide to children leaving domestic violence

• Packing grab-and-go bags with notes of encouragement for Hope Lodge patients and families attending cancer treatment

Want to get involved?

We need volunteers to help run this event. Shifts are scheduled to run for half of the event, plus time for set up or clean up, so that you can also participate in the event. To volunteer, please sign up here. Thank you!

Questions? Contact Chandra Kilgriff at chandra.kilgriff@gmail.com or Abigail Mosher at abigailemosher@gmail.com.

Horace Mann Service Night will host a hygiene drive for Bridge to Basics– providing requested hygiene items to local nonprofits who distribute to our neighbors.

February 12 - 21, we will be collecting new, full size, non-expired hygiene items. Donations can be brought to the school office February 12 - 21, and to HMS Community Service night on February 20th.

See the Bridge to Basics flyer for more details

The PTA is looking for volunteers to serve on the Board next school year. The Board provides overall leadership and decision making for the PTA budget and activities we host each school year.

Volunteering on the board is a great way to work with other parents to support the school community. All HMS caregivers are welcome and no PTA experience is necessary! We strive to rotate board members every year to bring in new voices and perspectives with a goal of reflecting and representing the entire school community.

Below are the specific roles needed for next year:

President

The president is responsible for the overall administration and organization of the PTA. The president leads the Board and helps to ensure that general operations of the group are running smoothly. Option to have a co-president role to ensure smooth transition.

Vice president or Co-president

This role works in collaboration with the president and helps support the overall work and organization of the PTA and can fill in gaps where needed.

Volunteer Coordinator

The volunteer coordinator works closely with the Board and Committees to assess the need for volunteers and performs outreach activities to inform about volunteer opportunities and recruit volunteers.

Communications Lead

The communications lead assists with creating PTA communications for the school newsletter, emails, the PTA website and the parent facebook group.

Want to get involved but not sure what role? We’re happy to have a conversation to share more details about the work and time commitment.

Please reach out to Grace at president@hms-pta.org and Christine at volunteer.coordinator@hms-pta.org for more information.

President: Grace Hanson, president@hms-pta.org

Vice-President: Gina Corradi, president@hms.-pta.org

Treasurer: Alex Stuart & Sam Smith, treasurer@hms-pta.org

Teacher Reps: Amy Kortuem & Mark Lindskoog, teacher-rep@hms-pta.org

Communications: Lisa Ortmann, communications@hms-pta.org

Volunteer Coordinator: Christine Holloway, volunteer.coordinator@hms-pta.org

Recorders: Andrea Gleckner & Sarah Liuzzi, recorder@hms-pta.org

Check the HMS PTA website for the most up to date information about meetings, latest forms, announcements, contact information, volunteer opportunities and more. Click on the “Treasurer’s report and Budget” to see this year’s budget. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions please email web-admin@hms-pta.org.

Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is not sponsoring, endorsing, or recommending the activities/events announced in the PTA Section and no SPPS student will be turned away due to inability to pay.