The Patton Post

I hope you all had a wonderful Spring Break! It was so good to see all our panthers back at school and see everyone's smiles as they reunited with their friends and shared about their fun times over spring break. The first week back has certainly proven to be an interesting one with the weather challenges we've faced, but, as always, I have been so impressed with and grateful for everyone's flexibility and patience! Thank you all very much!

This is a slightly earlier than normal Patton Post this week in light of the long weekend we have coming up!

Please remember there will be NO SCHOOL tomorrow (Friday, April 7th) or Monday, April 10th). Please also note, our Spring Bus Evacuation Drills will be taking place on Patton Avenue next week.

I hope you all have a lovely long weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone back again on Tuesday!

Happy Spring!

Ellie Chin

MAP Testing for grades K-5 is in progress at Patton. Students will be assessed with this tool in the areas of math and reading. Classroom teachers will share specific testing schedules with you. We appreciate your support in limiting absences during this timeframe and ensuring your students are well-rested and nourished so that they can be at their personal best. Thank you!

This Wednesday we were delighted to celebrate all our wonderful Teaching Assistants! They do so much for us here at Patton and we are so grateful to them! They were able to enjoy a lovely lunch together and some of our amazing teaching staff covered their recess shifts so they could have this time together.

Our Panthers had a wonderful time voting on their favorite books and seeing which ones came out on top this past month! I think we have 2 VERY worthy winners!

Join us for the ABC/25 Get Burbed Challenge 5k and 1 Mile race that brings together students, district residents, and staff for a day of fun and fitness! Not only will you be participating in a fantastic community event, but you'll also be supporting a great cause. All proceeds benefit the ABC25 Foundation, which provides grants to enhance education in our schools.

Race day is on April 15, 2023 beginning at 8am at South Middle School! Head over to https://abc25challenge.org/registration to register today. Choose to run or walk in the 5K and/or 1 Mile events. Make sure you stick around for the Mascot Race at 8:45 and to visit our generous sponsors at the Wellness Fest. Not a runner? We would also appreciate your help as a volunteer. Various positions are available for all ages. https://abc25challenge.org/volunteers.

If you are unable to attend on that date you can still support our district by making a donation as a virtual runner. Visit the registration page https://abc25challenge.org/registration for that option.

Let's show our district spirit and race to the finish line!

5 STEPS TO HELP CHILDREN REGULATE EMOTIONS

Emotional stability is a vital component to children's academic, social, and emotional growth. Research shows that the mere presence of a caring adult can help children lead more successful lives. As adults caring for children, we can use what we know about emotion skills to not only guide children through intense emotional situations, but to show up as our best selves when they need us. This resource defines five steps we can use to open conversations, get to the heart of an issue, and support children's healthy emotion regulation skills based on the webinar, Helping Children Manage Emotions During Uncertain Times, delivered by Drs. Marc Brackett and Robin Stern.

STEP 1- REGULATE YOUR OWN EMOTIONS

Start by checking in with our own emotions.

When we are aware of our emotions, they’re less likely to take over. Being aware of how we are feeling can help us pay attention to how our emotions influence the words we use, the choices we make, and how we respond to others.

Know what emotion regulation strategies work for us.

Creating a compassionate space for children to experience their feelings, move to a calmer emotional state, and participate in problem solving or decision making is reliant on our ability to manage our own emotions. This is known as co-regulation. Co-regulation is how we affect one another’s feelings through what we say, how we say it, and what we do.

Consider the best time and place to have the conversation.

We can ask ourselves:

Is there enough privacy? Is a certain time of day better? Am I in the best emotional space to support the child? What is the best way to have a conversation with this child? Will the conversation happen in person, via phone call, or via videoconferencing?

Take a proactive Meta-Moment.

By taking a Meta-Moment beforehand, we can imagine ourselves in the conversation with the child. What will we think? How might our body feel? We can visualize pausing and breathing before responding. Then, we can activate our best self. A useful exercise for defining our best self is to fast forward 20 years and think about how we want this child to think of us. It is helpful to prepare strategies that we can call on in the moment so that we can align our actions with our best self.

2- HELP THE CHILD WITH THEIR EMOTIONS

Be an emotion scientist.

We can approach conversations with children with curiosity, ask openended questions, and listen deeply without judgment. Emotion scientists think flexibly, realize that emotions are complex, and attempt to learn more - whether or not they would feel the same way in a given situation. This is an expression of caring that helps us forge quality relationships.

Open the conversation.

We might say, “I want to understand how you are feeling,” or “What I am noticing is …”, or “Can you tell me about what is going on?” Then, we can give our undivided attention. Children learn to express their emotions in more constructive and respectful ways when they are confident that their feelings will be heard.

Respond with empathy.

We all want to be heard, understood, and have our feelings validated. Some phrases we can use to respond with empathy include:

“I feel closer to you, just knowing what you are going through.” “I am honored that you trust me enough to share that." “Wow, that’s a lot.”

Remember that behavior is an outcome, not an emotion.

Our internal experience of emotions, what happens in our body, and the thoughts we have are not the same as how we express the emotion through our actions, facial expressions, body language or words. We might assume that we know how someone is feeling by how they are behaving, but emotion expression is complex. Behaviors provide important clues, but they are only clues. Asking just one more question before moving on to offering a regulation strategy or problem solving can be helpful in exploring how a child truly feels.

3-PROBLEM SOLVE TOGETHER

Support helpful short-term strategies.

Once we know how a child is feeling, why, and how they want to feel, we can encourage helpful short-term strategies for regulation like mindful breathing, taking a walk, or using thought strategies like positive self-talk or reframing. It is important for us to give children permission to experience their feelings if they need to, or move away from those feelings if they want to.

Model positive self-talk.

This thought strategy involves telling ourselves something helpful or encouraging - like what we might say to our closest friend or family member, or what they would say to us. Once we hear those supportive words, we can internalize them and repeat them in our heads to help us through challenging situations. Some examples are, “I’ve done difficult things before and I know I can succeed at this.” or “Everyone makes mistakes and I can learn and grow from this.”

Encourage positive reframing.

Positive reframing is a thought strategy that involves reminding ourselves that there may be other more positive ways of looking at the situation. By changing the way we think about a situation, we can change what it means to us and how we feel about it. After acknowledging and validating, we can ask ourselves, “Is there another way I could think about this?”, “Is there another, more positive explanation that may also be true?” or “What can I learn or take away from this experience that could be helpful?”

Help children become more independent in their regulation skills.

In conversations with children, we can explore what thoughts or actions help to soothe or energize them. It’s important to offer help and ideas without forcing them. We can say, “I have an idea about that. Do you mind if I share it?” It’s good to be mindful of the fact that emotion regulation strategies that work for us might not work for others. Sometimes it is helpful to use a problem-solving framework that includes helping a child generate multiple solutions to a problem, evaluating the options, and choosing the best one.

4- CLOSE THE CONVERSATION

Ask for agreement to close the conversation.

Once we have helped a child have explore their feelings and brainstorm strategies, we can ask if they feel ready to close the conversation. They may have a few more thoughts and feelings that they need to articulate. If the child has a lot more to say and time is constrained, it might be best to schedule a time to continue the conversation.

Plan to check in later.

If the child feels it would be helpful, we can set up a specific time to talk with them again.

This can either be a time to continue the conversation, or to check in about how the strategies that the child is trying out are working. Just like with

the initial conversation, we can consider the best place and time for this second talk and check in with ourselves beforehand.

Reiterate next steps.

It can be helpful to reiterate the next step that we decided on. We can review the emotion regulation strategies that we discussed and make sure the child feels ready to enact them. It is important to clarify the time and place for the next scheduled conversation, and let the child know that it's okay to talk

earlier if they need more immediate support.

End on a positive note.

We can show our optimism that a child will be able to enact their chosen emotion regulation strategies and express gratitude for having this time together. We can say something like, "I was glad I got to have this conversation with you and that you felt you could share this with me." Finally, we can remind the child that this feeling is temporary and will pass or will get better.

5- FOLLOW UP

Check in regularly and offer ongoing support.

This is an important step and one that sometimes gets forgotten. Once a child is calm, we tend to move on and may not follow up. Dropping the event when there may still be lingering feelings can leave a child feeling misunderstood or dismissed. We can ask, “How are you feeling about... ?” or “How is it going since …?” and then take the time to listen without trying to provide answers or suggestions right away.

Consider what conditions support helpful emotion regulation.

We can ask ourselves how can we create an environment where children and adults feel safe to express a full range of emotions, where discussions about emotion regulation are commonplace, and where a variety of strategies are permitted. Investigating childrens' successes and challenges with the strategies they used will help us understand them better as individuals. With children, we can praise their successes, accept their challenges, and work together to try other strategies if needed.

Respond to setbacks with compassion.

We all do the best we can in all aspects of our lives. Sometimes things go well, and sometimes they don’t. When adults or children experience setbacks, we can respond with compassion, support, and an understanding that mistakes happen. If we notice that a child is being particularly hard on themselves, we might ask: “What would you say to your best friend if they were in the same situation?”

Reach out for more support when needed.

If a child has experienced a traumatic experience and is continuing to struggle, refer them to a mental health professional for additional support.

4th grade families, mark your calendars because, on Thursday, April 13th, at 7pm sharp the Patton stage will be "Alive with the Sound of Music(als)"

Our 4th Graders are "Not Throwing Away Their Shot" to get on stage and show you what they've been working incredibly hard on these past few months. They have had "A Million Dreams" about this night and they can't wait to share it with their families and show that, despite being dark for a couple of years, the Patton stage is "Still Standing"!

Doors will open at 6:40pm and seats will be available on a first come, first served basis. I can hardly wait to see what they have in store for us, but I know it will be a treat!

If you or your neighbors happen to know of any previous Patton kiddos that will be graduating High School this year, we'd love for you to spread the word about this event! It's always so lovely to have the seniors walk the halls and for our Panthers to celebrate them! We hope as many of them as possible can attend!

Treat yourself to a lunch or dinner and help the Patton PTA "raise some dough" on Wednesday April, 19th.

Dismissal is a very busy time of the day for us and we are grateful that it generally runs smoothly for the most part. Although we have had snow recently, we did notice on the few days when the weather was improving, we had more students hanging around after school on the playground or blacktop.

We wanted to remind everyone that all students do need to leave Patton at the end of the school day unless they are at CAP or participating in an after school activity where they are supervised. Students cannot stay and play on the playground after school unless they are being supervised by an adult.

Please reinforce to your children that if they are being picked up, they should wait for you on the blacktop near the pick up line and not at the playground, the basketball courts, or the Gagaball pit. Staff work with our traffic team to make sure all students waiting by the fence get picked up. At 3:45, we bring any students who haven't been picked up into the office so we can call home and make sure someone is on their way. We want to make sure all students get home safely.

CAP utilizes the playground and blacktop until 6:00 pm and the CAP employees are only responsible for supervising children in the CAP program.

Thank you very much. Your partnership in ensuring a smooth transition at the end of the day and the ongoing safety and well-being of our students is greatly appreciated!

Did you know you can pre-register any new student, K-5th, on our district website? Click here to access the pre-registration page. Please feel free to share this information with any new neighbors you may have. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the front office at 847-398-4288.

We still need volunteers!! In order to bring this amazing event to Patton we need your help! This event requires adult supervision and teen support at the many different stations as well as help with set up and clean up. Join us for this super fun event!

Volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0548aeaa2ca0fb6-patton1#/

Even though the weather may not feel like it, summer is just around the corner and we know some of you will be making plans! Please consider signing up for Summer U!

It will run June 12 - June 30, 2023 at Thomas Middle School *Dates subject to change pending review of winter weather emergency days.

Registration will begin on March 6, 2023 at 9 am and end on April 28, 2023, at 3 pm. Please visit www.sd25.org/summeru for a full list of courses and times. If you have any questions about Summer U, please email summeru@sd25.org for assistance.

The District recently launched its new Parent Academy newsletter and page on the website.

The goal of Parent Academy is to provide learning opportunities for parents to better understand ways to support their students’ academic success and personal well-being. We welcome parents and families to engage in various activities and events to explore topics related to mental health, well-being, equity and inclusion, and academics. Please visit the website (www.sd25.org/ParentAcademy) for archived newsletters, further resources and information, or to submit an idea/topic for the next Parent Academy newsletter.

We have a truly AMAZING PTA traffic team that ensure our Panthers arrive to and depart from school safely and on time! If you would like to help out, please consider signing up as a substitute by filling in this form. It helps our traffic team enormously to know that there are subs available should someone fall sick or be unavailable. You can indicate if you only have availability for AM or PM and will receive a group text when there is a need. You can volunteer if you are available, but no pressure if you are not available. Any help is appreciated and benefits so many of our students. Believe it or not, even if you can only help twice during the year, your contribution is welcome and needed. Thanks so much in advance!

Patton teachers and staff work so hard to support our students on a daily basis. We invite you to fill out this google form if you would like to recognize a staff member or a team for their hard work. We will pass on the good news to them. Thank you in advance for sending an encouraging word as we know it will mean so much to our staff.

Friday 7th April - NO SCHOOL

Monday 10th April - NO SCHOOL (Institute Day - Staff Only)

Thursday 13th April - 4th Grade Musical Performance - 7pm

Wednesday April 19th - Panera - PTA Dine and Share

Thursday 20th April - First Grade Musical Performance - 7pm

Friday 21st April - PTA SPONSORED - Fun Fair

Thursday, 27th April - Kindergar

Please be sure to click on the Patton PTA website button above for information about other upcoming events

Main Line: (847) 398-4288
Fax #: (847) 394-6681
Absence Procedure
Twitter: @AHSD25Patton