TOPS K8 Weekly Update
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TOPS K8 Weekly Update
March 26th, 2023
TOPS Vision
Vision: We are creating a school that empowers students to be active participants, leaders, learners, and contributors to social justice.
March
Falcon Families,
On Saturday morning our TOPS Staff played the middle school basketball teams at the TOPS gym. It was standing room only as the students attempted to dominate the court. Staff played a strong game and secured a victory and bragging rights until next year’s rematch. The halftime show consisted of students participating in the “Cha Cha Slide,” a dribbling contest and a half court attempt at making a basket. Huge shout out to Sy, the winner of the half court shot! A special thanks to our parent ref, Shawn Madden, our student coach, Kent, and staff coach, Eric.
Women in Sports Trivia: (Answers are at the end of the newsletter!)
- The “Final Five” was a U.S. Olympic team consisting of Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian. They captured the attention of Americans partly for their celebrity and skill, but also because they took home the gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in what sport?
- In 1967, Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to complete what famous U.S. distance race, despite women not being eligible to enter at that time and after receiving physical harassment from officials during the race?
- It was not until 2007 that the women’s champion at Wimbledon received the same amount of payment as the men’s champion. What female tennis player was a serious advocate for equal pay at Wimbledon, and successfully went on to become the first women’s champion to get equal prize money?
This week I would like to highlight a few individuals, Sue Bird and Venus & Serena Williams.
Sue Bird:
“Bird’s storied career has redefined basketball in Seattle and nationwide. The WNBA designated her one of the 25 greatest players in league history last year (after naming her one of its 20 greatest-ever players at its 20th-anniversary celebration in 2016, and one of its 15 greatest players five years before that).
Among many highlights: The 2002 No. 1 overall draft pick went on to become WNBA’s all-time leader in both assists (over 3,000) and career starts (549), and the only player in the league to have appeared in 500 career games. She’s won four WNBA championships and participated in a record 12 All-Star games, and also won five consecutive Olympic gold medals for the U.S. women’s basketball team.”
Bird is also known for her contributions and activism off the court.
She’s an advocate for LGTBQ youth, and launched the “Love Is” campaign and fashion brand with soccer star (and her fiance) Megan Rapinoe. And as vice president of the WNBA players union, she worked with her colleagues to navigate playing during a pandemic and taking a stand against racial injustice.
- https://www.wsjhs.org/museum/people/sue-bird.html
- Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe’s Olympic love story | NBC Sports
- WNBA Revealed: Sue Bird
Venus & Serena Williams
”Althea Gibson’s worthy legacy got new life in the 21st century with the extraordinary careers of Venus and Serena Williams. Though her younger sister Serena was the first Williams to win a Grand Slam singles title (the 1999 U.S. Open) Venus emerged at the top of her game in 2000, winning her first Slam–Wimbledon–and going on to win the U.S. Open as well as an Olympic gold medal. Over the next decade, the extraordinary power and athleticism of the Williams sisters was credited with bringing the women’s tennis game to a new level, and final-round matches between the two sisters became common at Grand Slam events.”
“Venus and Serena have reshaped the tennis landscape to such an extent that it’s easy to forget what it looked like before they arrived. Women’s tennis matches were rarely played in US primetime before Venus and Serena. Billie Jean King fought hard for equal prize money at the majors. But that didn’t happen at all four grand slam events, until Venus and Serena started drawing mega television ratings.”
- https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/27/sports/tennis/serena-williams-us-open-venus-williams.html
- Serena And Venus Williams Open Up On New Chapters In Their Lives
- Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb1a15JsQ0o
- Serena Williams in tears as her tennis career ends | 2022 US Open | Eurosport tennis
Upcoming Events
Middle School Spring Sports Practices Begin this WEEK!
- See schedule below.
Auction Team Meeting
- Tuesday, March 28th @ 7:30pm
- https://grouphealthfoundation-org.zoom.us/j/89506944275?pwd=bmtTNHFiQVJqenpmMzlCTWl1bDZlUT09
- Meeting ID: 895 0694 4275Passcode: 024743
Early Dismissal
- Wednesday, March 29th
- School is out at 2:10 pm.
6th Orchestra Grade FT to Whitman
- Thursday, March 30th
- 9 am to 1:30 pm
Orchestra/Band Assembly
- Friday, March 31st
- 9:50-10:30 am
- TOPS Gym for grades 1-8, kindergarten is going to get a special event
Friends of TOPS Auction
- Saturday, April 1st.
- Details below.
- When: Saturday, April 1st 2023 Doors open at 6 pmWhere: UW Center for Urban HorticultureRSVP NOW: https://topsk8.ejoinme.org/rsvp
Orchestra Concert Grades 4-8
- Tuesday, April 4th
- 7 pm
- TOPS Performance Center (AKA gym)
Band Concert
- Thursday, April 6th
- 7 pm
- TOPS Performance Center (AKA gym)
More upcoming events:
- May 15-17- Field Trip: 3rd grade to Camp Colman with Williams
- June 5-7- Field Trip: 8th grade to Deception Pass with Bloedel
- June 14-16- Field Trip: 7th grade to Mt. St. Helens with Bloedel
Something to THINK about and PLAN:
- Zinn Project: Teach Truth Day of Action, June 10th
Upcoming Field Trip for ALL 4th and 5th Graders and 6-8th grade Band and Orchestra Students
- When: Thursday, April 6th 10:30AM-12:30PM
- What: Students have been invited to Garfield High School Quincy Jones Performing Arts Auditorium to hear the GHS Bands and Orchestra perform a POPS Concert (Music from Movies, TV, and Musicals).
- Cost: FREE! The GHS Music Boosters are covering our bussing costs
- LUNCH: Students will need to request a school sack lunch (by Monday 3/27) or bring a lunch from home that day. We will not be back in time for school hot lunch.
- Please look for permission slips coming home and send back with your student.
DHH News
ASL Resources:
- American Society for Deaf Children ASL Resources: https://deafchildren.org/knowledge-center/asl-resources/online-asl-classes/
- Language Starts with Me, Family conference: https://deafchildren.org/events/2023-annual-conference/
Save the DATE: ASL Hike on April 22nd. More info to come.
Resources for Families
The Therapy Fund Foundation is the leading organization in Washington state offering free mental health services to Black community members with with equitable pay for clinicians. The Therapy Fund is developing a pilot program in San Diego and plans to expand across the nation!
Gender Book Study Information
At our elementary school, and at most schools within our district, we have students who are born one gender, but identify as another gender. We also have students who identify as having a fluid gender— they may feel like they are both male and female or neither. This can sometimes feel confusing to others and may raise questions.
Classes will be talking about gender and how we treat each other. We will read a book and talk briefly about gender roles, gender expression, and gender identity. The focus will be on treating each other with kindness and respect.
You can help support your student at home by answering questions they may have and by encouraging open dialogue about your family values and beliefs as well as reinforcing messages they will receive at school which focus on respect, being inclusive and resisting and reporting bullying. As always, please let your teacher or principal know if you have questions.
For more information, see the SPS website at https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/health-education/lgbtq-programs-curriculum-and-support/list-of-books-by-grade/
Family Feedback on TOPS K8 Budget
TOPS Families,
Thank you for your feedback. 107 families responded to the survey below. The feedback is summarized in the PDF link below (new link with the new data added from last week). As a building we have move forward with continuing to fund K-3 Art, K-3 Music, AND Math & Reading Intervention K-8. We also have funds available to continue offering American Sign Language.
If you have not yet competed the survey and would like to add to the feedback it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all for your continual support of TOPS K8
FamilySurvey23.24Budget.pdf Download 248.9 KB
TOPS Spring Auction: The Roaring 20’s
When: Saturday, April 1st 2023 Doors open at 6 pm
Where: UW Center for Urban Horticulture
RSVP NOW: https://topsk8.ejoinme.org/rsvp
Hello TOPS Families!
The Spring Auction – the Roaring Twenties – is two weeks away on April 1st, 2023 at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture. While it is an important annual fundraiser for TOPS, it is also FREE to attend, fun, and a TOPS community event intended for socializing with other TOPS parents, caregivers and staff. The middle-school band and orchestra will perform 20s-inspired music, and dinner from two delicious food trucks (Kathmandu MoMoCha and Chick’n Fix) is included with your admission ticket! And plenty of opportunities to bid on gift certificates for restaurants, museums, sporting events, unique experiences and more.
Our Spring Auction is one of the key fundraisers for the school year that helps fund so many important programs that directly impact your child. Friends of TOPS Programs include: Music for all grades, assistants in the K-1 classrooms, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Family Nights, Drama, Emergency Assistance, Planting the Seeds, Spring Ultimate, and Writers in the Schools! All the programs are more are made possible by fundraising efforts like the Spring Auction. Visit the school’s fundraising webpage for more info on what your donations fund.
Just reply back to this email f you have questions or still want to donate (adult-led experiences for adults or kids are on our wishlist).
RSVP NOW: https://topsk8.ejoinme.org/rsvp
Thank you so much for your support!
The TOPS Auction Team (auction@topsk8.org)
Middle School Athletics
Weekly Sports Results
- TOPS staff versus Middle School Basketball Teams, 71-33 in favor of the staff. Rematch scheduled for next year!
- The ultimate frisbee team defeated the Eastside Red Tigers (9-8).
Spring practices:
- Track: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30-5:00 pm
- Volleyball: Monday and Friday, 3:30-5:00 pm
- Soccer: Monday and Thursday, 3:30-5:00 pm
- Ultimate Frisbee: Wednesdays, 2:15-5:15 pm
Upcoming Games:
- Track: More info to come
- Volleyball: April 1st, 11:00 am at Boren STEM against Blaine
- Soccer: April 1st, 2:30 pm at Ingraham against Blaine
- Ultimate Frisbee: Next game is April 1st at 12 pm vs the Golden Eagles @ Lower Woodland playfield
Reporting COVID Cases
TOPS Families if your student tests positive for COVID-19, please email our attendance office at topsattendance@seattleschools.org AND report the COVID case at the link here:
- External CIC Health Self Reporting Link (Families may self-report using this portal) https://covid.cic-health.com/s/Self-Report?RRAccount=0014R00003F4mur
- Isolation is about the same as last year. Day of positive test/symptom start is day 0. If symptoms mostly gone, returns day 6 wearing well-fitting mask days 6-10.
- Protocol here: https://doh.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-03/820-229-SymptomExposureFlowchartK12SchoolsChildCare.pdf
What I am Reading:
Fiction:
- Finished Witchshadow by Susan Dennard, the 4th book in the Witchland series.
- Currently reading Time’s Undoing by Cheryl Head. This book was recommended by a TOPS parent. “A searing and tender novel about a young Black journalist’s search for answers in the unsolved murder of her great-grandfather in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, decades ago—inspired by the author’s own family history
Birmingham, 1929: Robert Lee Harrington, a master carpenter, has just moved to Alabama to pursue a job opportunity, bringing along his pregnant wife and young daughter. Birmingham is in its heyday, known as the “Magic City” for its booming steel industry, and while Robert and his family find much to enjoy in the city’s busy markets and vibrant nightlife, it’s also a stronghold for the Klan. And with his beautiful, light-skinned wife and snazzy car, Robert begins to worry that he might be drawing the wrong kind of attention.
2019: Meghan McKenzie, the youngest reporter at the Detroit Free Press, has grown up hearing family lore about her great-grandfather’s murder—but no one knows the full story of what really happened back then, and his body was never found. Determined to find answers to her family’s long-buried tragedy and spurred by the urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement, Meghan travels to Birmingham. But as her investigation begins to uncover dark secrets that spider across both the city and time, her life may be in danger.”
Non-Fiction:
- Cultivating Genius by Gholdy Mohammed
- Start Here, Start Now by Liz Kleinrock
- Street Data, by Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan
- Leadership for Increasingly Diverse Schools, Edited by George Theoharis & Martin Scanlan
Math Brain Teaser
Answer is below…give it a try b4 you look.
Quote and Video of the Week:
This is what Eric said to our Staff team prior to our game on Saturday!!
“All right, fellas, you gotta remember, your body is like day-old rice. If it ain’t warmed up properly, something real bad could happen.” Ted Lasso
Elmo Plays Hide and Seek with Brett Goldstein and Grover | Sesame Street Season 53
Reaction to Staff Win on Saturday!!
Joke of the Week:
Q: Where is a basketball player’s favorite place to eat?
A: Dunkin’ Doughnuts
Answers to Women’s History Month Trivia & Math Brain Teaser
- Gymnastics
- Boston Marathon
- Venus Williams
Math Brain Teaser
TOPS K8
Seattle Public Schools provides Equal Educational Opportunities. If you or your child have experienced an incident of racism, bias or discrimination at TOPS K8, please inform me, complete our TOPS K8 Racial Incident Reporting Form or contact the Office of Student Civil Rights at 206-252-0306, or oscr@seattleschools.org
2500 Franklin Avenue East, Seattle, WA, USA alschwentor@seattleschools.org 206-252-3510 topsk8.seattleschools.org/
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