KFCS Friday News Flash

December 15, 2023

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In this Issue

A note from the Superintendent
Upcoming School, Community Events
Student Success Corner
Sky Lakes Wellness Center Lifestyle Medicine Facts
KUHS Alumni
Phone App Download for District Website
Join Our Team
KFCS Board of Education

Winter break begins at the end of the school day on Friday, December 15, 2023. We will

return to school on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. The winter break is a time for hope and joy. We

also celebrate the New Year starting January 1, 2024. Over the winter break, I hope all of you

are able to rest, relax and rewind.

We enjoy sharing news each week in our KFCS Newsletter. We appreciate the feedback

we get from our subscribers. We currently have around 3,600 subscribers to the newsletter. In

an effort to reach even more readers, we ask you encourage your family and friends to opt

in to the weekly KFCS Newsletter so they can stay up to date on all of our celebrations, stories

and important information. The link to opt in to the news letter can be found on our KFCS

website @ https://www.kfalls.k12.or.us/page/kfcs-newsletter.

In this edition, you will see some of the work that our KU Digital Media students and

their teacher Dan Stearns created. They created the KFCS THANKU program to celebrate our

employees who are nominated for going above and beyond the call of duty in their daily work.

The employees who are nominated receive a THANKU t-shirt and recognition in the KFCS

weekly newsletter, Facebook page and website. We are very grateful for our employees and

enjoy celebrating their work.

I wish each and every one of you a happy holiday season. If you and your family will be

traveling over the holiday break, I wish you traveling grace.

May Peace be with you!

Keith A. Brown

Every student, every day, whatever it takes!

Upcoming School, Community Events

KFCS Music: Holiday concerts

During the last two weeks of school before winter break, Klamath Falls City Schools was well represented during various concerts held at each of our schools.

Each KFCS elementary school (Roosevelt, Conger, Mills and Pelican) held a concert which displayed students aged in kindergarten all the way through fifth grade in a choir, as well as third through fifth grade students who have decided to learn and play in band or orchestra.

Roosevelt, Conger and Mills all held its holiday concerts at Mills Auditorium, while Pelican Elementary School held concerts in its school gymnasium.

Ponderosa Middle School held two concerts this past week, Tuesday, displaying its orchestra and choir students. Thursday, Ponderosa had its four bands take the stage.

This past Monday, Klamath Union High School had its annual winter festival concert held at Pel Court. Klamath Union had performances from its Chamber Choir, Bel Canto Choir, A Capella Choir and its top band and orchestra.

The Klamath Union High School Jazz Band performed during lunch time this afternoon for Klamath County Rotary Club. KFCS Superintendent Keith Brown, a member of the rotary club, introduced the students along with the jazz band's director, Allen Haugh as they played five songs for the group. KU's Jazz Band meets twice a week at 7 a.m.

KFCS wants to thank all its staff who helped make this year's concerts a great success. The district wants to gratefully thank and acknowledge all our music instructors for their hours of dedication to helping our students grow in their talents as musicians.

Gretchen Harwood - music instructor at Conger and Roosevelt elementary schools

Brent Nichols - music instructor at Mills and Pelican elementary schools

Brent Hakanson - orchestra instructor throughout KFCS

Drew Langley - band instructor throughout KFCS

Allen Haugh - band instructor throughout KFCS

Follow the KFCS Facebook page for galleries from all holiday concerts: https://www.facebook.com/Klama...

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Cozy hats brought to Conger Cougars

Bernidine Wood, Stephanie Pickern and Sharon Miller took time to make an annual trip they have made to Conger Elementary School for countless years now.

Wood and Miller are both retired instructors from KFCS and have found a joy in giving to the community during the cold, winter weather.

For years, Wood has knitted and designed hats to give throughout schools, organizations and shelters in the community, including the Klamath Falls Gospel Mission. Wood notified Conger instructor Kristine Woodwick she wanted to bring enough hats to fit four classes at the elementary school.

The warm, comfortable hats were also given to Klamath Early Childhood Development Center last week during the school's holiday celebration.

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KFCS THANKU

Dan Stearns and Klamath Union Digital Media have come up with a clever way to thank our many employees at Klamath Falls City Schools.

The graphic design class at KU came up with a design on a t-shirt to say "thank you" to our KFCS staff and all the hard work done at the district.

Recognized:

(photo above) Tanya Thorton, Payroll Lead.

(photo below) Cathy Tomlinson, KHLA, K-3 instructor.

(bottom photo) Michael Parras (left) PASS Teacher; Will Thompson (middle) PASS paraprofressional.

"I just wanted to send a "shout out" to Tanya. Not even 30 minutes ago I sent a request for some numbers so I can complete a Quarterly Report for Preschool Promise - I already have the numbers. I appreciate the quick response she always provides (this is not the first time!). It allows me to move forward with my work. Thank you Tanya!" ~ Dena Haudenshild, Director of Klamath Early Childhood Development Center.

"Cathy has a great relationship with all of her homeschool students. She recognizes the importance of socialization and has designed opportunities for her students and parents to get together and interact each quarter. She puts in extra effort to make sure the students have a fun experience, including providing arts/crafts, games, and food each time. One student told me today that he is just going to stay in the 3rd grade so he can have Ms. Tomlinson again next year." ~ Toby Flackus, Director at KLC and KHLA.

KFCS happenings: KHLA holiday celebration, Roosevelt Caroling on Pacific Terrace

Sunrise Rotary Club Continues Strong Tradition at KECDC

Rex the horse, along with his owner and carriage operator, Michael Lewis of Frontier Wagons, share a time to greet Klamath Early Childhood Development Center students at its holiday celebration Thursday, Dec. 7.

By Joaquin Aguilar-Flores, KFCS

A tradition has stayed strong for the Klamath Basin Sunrise Rotary Club and its generosity for Klamath Falls City Schools students. Since the year 2006, the rotary club has been putting smiles on the faces of children in the Klamath Basin through its largest fundraiser of the year, Brats, Brews and Blues festival.

The festival raises money for various events throughout the year but the rotary club makes sure to circle a specific event for young children in the community.

The rotary club were in anticipation of Klamath Early Childhood Development Center's annual holiday celebration where Santa Claus makes an appearance, and to bring each child a gift for them to take home.

Through its annual Brats, Brews and Blues festival, which is held every year during the second Saturday of August, funds go toward paying for gifts for KECDC students.

This year, the rotary club was able to put together 75 gifts, which all included a stuffed animal and other necessity's as well.

At the event, which took place this past Thursday at KECDC, was Norm Holliday and Jack Baumann, who have been a part of the event for the rotary club since day one.

"There is usually a team of four of us who determine what goes in the bags. They go out into the stores or buy online. It is some toys, toothbrushes, colorful ones hopefully the kids will like and use. It is the stuffed animal, which seems to be the highlight," Holliday said. "We are coming up on 20 years having done this and it is something we always enjoy doing for all the children. The first time we had this was at Lucille O'Neal Education Center, in the gym, because it had moved to different places."

Norm Holliday, member of the Klamath Basin Sunrise Rotary Club, left, presents a gift to a family at Klamath Early Childhood Development Center's holiday celebration Thursday, Dec. 7.

Santa Claus visits Klamath Early Childhood Development Center's annual holiday celebration Thursday, Dec. 7. The Klamath Basin Sunrise Rotary Club helped donate 75 gifts for KECDC students to take home.

The rotary club also shares funds it earns from its festival in giving to Klamath Hospice's Camp Evergreen. Camp Evergreen is a five-day camp for children who have experienced horrific tragedies, such as a death in their family.

"The camp is aimed for families who have dealt with parents who have separated or simply broken families. Sadly, it is a lot of kids who have a great deal of stress through the loss of a parent and do counseling at the camp. Being here today brings a lot of joy to us because it reminds us why we do what we do to help others," Holliday said.

Additionally, Klamath Basin Sunrise Rotary Club has helped KFCS students in the past through Oregon Tech's dental program.

Several years ago, Klamath Basin Sunrise Rotary Club sponsored the dental program and furnished money for the program to visit grade schools to provide those who have not had dental care to have the opportunity to do so.

Holliday and Baumann were hopeful the gesture could come back through the rotary club.

Horse and carriage operator, Michael Lewis of Frontier Wagons, also provided a chance for children to enjoy themselves at the event as he brought his horse, Rex. One by one, students waited their turn to feed the horse with carrots and apples.

Baumann has two grandchildren who attend KFCS, one a freshman at Klamath Union High School, and another who is a seventh grader at Ponderosa Middle School.

Other than Baumann's family, the two have no connection other than the desire to make sure students have a gift for Christmas this year. As of now, there are 15 members who are a part of the rotary club, four who are charter members.

"Days like these are the primary focus of our club's generosity," Baumann said.

"We do not have a personal connection to this other than it came up 20 years that we could participate and do something with this group of kids who appreciate it the most," Holliday said. "We started doing it and have been doing it for 18 years now, wow."

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Sky Lakes Wellness Center Lifestyle Medicine Facts

HTN

What is Blood Pressure? To start, it's important to know that blood carries oxygen and nutrients to every corner of your body, and then carries waste products from those end muscles to where they can be breathed away. Thus, getting blood to every part of your body is super important. The heart is the organ that squishes the blood all the way around. If your blood vessels are all smooth and open then you do not need that much pressure to get the blood all the way to your feet and back. If your blood vessels are clogged and rough, then you will probably need a higher pressure to overcome all that resistance. That is what blood pressure is – how hard the heart has to pump in order to get blood all the way to your feet and back to your lungs. Normal blood pressure is 120/80. The 120 number (systolic) is how high the blood pressure gets while the heart is squeezing, and the 80 number (diastolic) is how low the blood pressure gets between the squeezes. Blood pressure that is higher than 120/80 is technically high, raising your risk of strokes and heart attacks, while blood pressure that is greater than 140/90 is probably worth taking medication for.

High blood pressure can happen for several reasons. It is worth knowing that blood pressure does change minute to minute depending on your situation – if you are sleeping it should be quite a bit lower than if you are awake, and if exercising it should be quite a bit higher than if you are resting. Blood pressure is also increased if you are stressed, anxious, or in pain. These are considered short term changes, but if you are in chronic pain then your blood pressure may be chronically elevated. You can also have chronically elevated blood pressure due to genes, chronic anxiety, your diet, your weight, nicotine use, insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, or a mix of any of these! We care about blood pressure not because of symptoms (most people cannot tell that their blood pressure is high because there are usually no symptoms) but because increased blood pressure increases your risk of stroke and heart attack dramatically.

Even if you have a good reason for high blood pressure, like chronic arthritis, your blood pressure is still worth lowering just to decrease your risk of those big bad outcomes (heart attack and stroke). You can lower it by eating less salt, increasing your exercise long term, decreasing your weight, improving your sleep, diagnosing and treating obstructive sleep apnea, decreasing your stress, stopping smoking, decreasing your alcohol consumption, decreasing your caffeine intake, and of course with medication. If I could convince you to do one thing to improve your blood pressure it would be to start moving your body (walking, running, biking, hiking, anything) for at least 30 minutes every day.

Thanks for reading! If interested in hearing more about our programs and resources, please call us at 541.274.2770 or visit our website at www.SkyLakes.org/Wellness

Have a question? Submit yours by emailing us at SkyLakesellnessCenter@skylakes.org

Information provided by

Stewart Decker, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FWMS

Jeanette Rutherford, MA, LPC

Jennifer Newton, RD, LD, CDCES, MPH

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KUHS Alumni

The new district website has an Alumni page for graduates of KU. This past week, six KU alumni sent us updates on their lives since they graduated. Take a look on the KU Alumni page on the district website. And, if you are an alumni, be sure and send us YOUR update!

Read about our alumni

Send us your information