Originally delivered on 5/6/2024 8:00 am

SUBJECT: May 2024 PTA Newsletter

May 6, 2024

Trailwood Family,

What a joy it has been to me to be your PTA President this school year. It takes so many people of all personality types, with varying availability, from different backgrounds and circumstances, with different strengths and weaknesses to run a PTA. Our school is uniquely blessed with an incredible community and so many willing volunteers. It literally takes a village! If you have not had the opportunity to volunteer at Trailwood through the PTA, you are missing out!

I can't express how thankful I am to our PTA Exec Board and our PTA Committee Chairs for all that they have invested into our school to make all of our events and behind the scenes happenings successful. It's a special bunch of people!

Let's encourage each other every chance we get to finish out this school year with strength and heart!

Jamie Reasons

May Events

Teacher Appreciation Week: May 6-10

4th Grade Field Trip to Ernie Miller Nature Center: May 6, 2024

Nurse’s Day: May 8, 2024

Spring Book Fair: May 10-May 12, 2024

Last Skate Party: May 9, 2024 4:00 pm

PTA Flower Sale Pick-up: May 10, 2024

6th Grade Olympic Festival at Indian Woods: May 10, 2024 from 9:00-2:00

Kindergarten KC Zoo Field Trip On-Site (at TW): May 10, 2024

3rd Grade Field Trip to Plaza : May 10, 2024

Deadline for Talent Show Submissions: May 10, 2024

PTA Meeting and Brunch: May 14, 2024 8:15 am

2nd Grade Field Trip to KC Zoo: May 15, 2024

Bike To School Day: May 16, 2024

3rd Grade Bike Safety Day: May 16, 2024 2:00-3:00

6^th Grade / Senior Kickball Game: May 17, 2024 11:30-12:15

Field Day and Andy’s Ice Cream: May 20, 2024

6th Grade Vs. Staff Volleyball Game in Gym: May 22 3:30-4:30

Shaved Ice Day: May 24, 2024

Talent Show: May 28, 2024

Last Day for Pre-K: May 28, 2024

Last Day for K-11: May 29, 2024

Thank You, Committee Chairs

Our many Trailwood events could not happen without the support of our wonderful committee chairs and their teams of volunteers! Please thank these amazing committee chairs for sharing their time and talents with us during the months of April and May!

PTA Movie Night: Cara Peterson

Pre-K and Kindergarten Round-Up: Leigh McCabe

PTA Flower Sale: Emily Sebelius and Christina Geiger

Bike Safety Day: Katie Culbertson

Carnival: Catie Ebert

Spring Book Fair: Jessica Horner

Teacher Appreciation Week: Lori Tritsch and Paula Wheeler

Field Day: Deanna Ferrante

Bike To School Day: Andrea Johnson

Talent Show: Holly Davidson and Karen Badgett

Yearbook: Brittany Nguyen

PTA Exec Board

We'd like to thank our outgoing PTA Exec Board for their service and dedication to Trailwood Elementary during the 2023-2024 school year. Please give these individuals a big "thank you" the next time you see them.

President: Jamie Reasons

President Elect: Lori Tritsch

Treasurer: Brian Bowen

Treasurer Elect: Tobe Reed

Membership: Jennifer McDonald

Ways and Means: Lindsay Weiss

Corresponding Secretary: Cher Brownback

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Sonal Bhakta

Recording Secretary: Brittany Nguyen

Parliamentarian: Cara Peterson

And, let's welcome our newest Exec Board Members! Our PTA Exec Board slate for the 2024-2025 school year was voted on by the general membership and will be installed at our May PTA meeting!

President: Lori Tritsch

President Elect: Cher Brownback

Treasurer: Tobe Reed

Treasurer Elect: Brian Bowen

Membership: Jennifer McDonald

Ways and Means: Katie Culbertson

Corresponding Secretary: Sarah McGinnity

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Sonal Bhakta

Recording Secretary: Brittany Nguyen

Parliamentarian: Jamie Reasons

Book Fair!

Our spring Scholastic Book Fair is coming next week, and everything is Buy One Get One Free! The fair will be held in the Trailwood Library Wednesday, May 8th through Friday, May 10th. All students will have the opportunity to shop the fair during their library specials time as well as after school until 4:00 each day. There will be no sales before school. Cash, credit cards, and e-Wallets will be accepted.
Volunteers needed! Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F4DAFA82DAAF49-49039390-trailwood#/
Load your eWallet here:https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/trailwoodelementaryschool1

Flower Sale

Thank you to everyone who supported the 2024 Spring Flower Sale! If you placed an order, please click here to select a time to pick up your plants/flowers on May 10th at Trailwood (at the north/95th Street entrance).

We are still looking for volunteers to assist with unloading, sorting and distributing flowers on May 10th. We'd love your help! Please sign up here to volunteer.

If you have any questions, contact Emily Meissen-Sebelius (emsebelius@gmail.com) or Christina Geiger (christinasgeiger@gmail.com).

PTA Updates

Purchase Student Activity Fees and Yearbooks

Student activity fees and yearbooks are available to purchase through the rest of the school year!

Yearbooks are $15 and are a fantastic way for kids to reminisce on all the fun they had at Trailwood. They'll be delivered in May.

The student activity fee is $5/student and goes toward providing enriching educational experiences, such as field trips and assemblies.

Purchase yearbooks and activity fees here.

Unsure of your previous PTA purchases?
Log in to your Trailwoodpta.com account, and click on “previous orders.” Or contact Jen McDonald at jenschmidt3@gmail.com

2024-2025 School Year PTA Committee Chairs

Please consider grabbing a friend (or two or three) and volunteering to chair a committee. Some committees are lower commitment/one day obligations, some are more involved. Please reach out to Lori Tritsch (nurseholcomb@hotmail.com) with any questions. If committees are not filled, that event may not happen.

Trivia Night Chair and Co-Chair
Trivia Night Decorations and Entertainment Chair
Trivia Night Food and Beverage Chair
Trivia Night Parties Chair
Carnival Chair
Bike Safety Day Chair
Field Day Chair
Spirit Wear Chair
Special Persons Lunch Chair
Talent Show Chair
Reflections Contest Chair
School Picture Day Chair

Room Parent Update

Hello parents,

Thank you for all you do all year! We are in the home stretch! The Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up and the committee has fun things planned.

End of year Shaved Ice party is Friday, May 24th from 10:45am-1:30pm or so. Each teacher is signing up to bring their class down to keep the line at a controlled pace. We also have a couple parent volunteers to make sure it’s all running smoothly. This will take place of any in room end of year parties. The kids love it and it is completely monetarily covered by the PTA room parent budget! Thank you for all you do! We couldn’t do all the fun stuff all year without your support.

May Legislative Update

Legislative Wrap up: Great job parent advocates! For several years, we've been asking the state legislature to increase funding for special education, as the state's failure to fully fund it has left our district with covering these extra costs out of our general budget.
At the end of April, a bipartisan bill was passed in the House and Senate to include $75 million in new special education fundingstatewide for one year! SMSD should see an increase of about $4 million dollars! The bill that passed (CCR SB 387) also fully funds schools, as constitutionally required.
In addition, the voucher bills, which were close to passing last session, did not get much traction this year. Another great advocacy win!
While we would have loved to see the special education funding be a permanent increase instead of one year allocation; overall, it was a positive legislative session for public education!
The legislature is almost certain to return for a special session to discuss tax cuts, as the governor vetoed the tax bill passed at the end of the session, and the Senate failed to override her veto. A new tax bill was passed early Wednesday that closely mirrors the package vetoed by governor, so another veto is expected. Taxes, the main source of state revenue, are an important issue to public education funding, as K-12 education accounts for nearly half of the state general fund budget. This special session will likely be in the next month or so.

If you have questions, or would like to get more involved in our PTA legislative issues next school year we would love to hear from you! Contact Emily Meissen-Sebelius.

Order Your School Supplies!

Purchase Next Year's School Supplies Now!
You can now purchase next year's school supplies through our partner, 1st Day School Supplies. Bonus: Trailwood’s PTA receives a portion of each kit sold!

Get the exact supplies the teacher requested, with each student's supplies packaged in one box, and no running around town!

1st Day School Supplies only sells name-brand, quality products. They negotiated contracts for these products to give you the best possible price. Buy your school supplies early and save compared to back-to-school shopping at Walmart, Target and Amazon.

Order your 1st Day School Supplies kit here.

Kits will be delivered to Trailwood, and distributed to parents at the Popsicle Pop-In, the day before the first day of school.

Orders are due July 1.

Thank you, Wingmen!

Thunderbird dads and father figures! There is still time to volunteer as a Wingman this year! As a Wingman, you can plan to spend time with your child(ren) at recess, in the classroom and at specials. Feel free to sign-up for a morning or afternoon time slot (or both!) here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090944A8A82EA7FF2-trailwood3#/

Let's thank the following individuals who volunteered during the month of April:

Seth Davidson

Andrew Maddux

Bradley Osborn

Eric Foreman

Brett Hembree

Benjamin McCabe

Danny Boresow

3rd Grade Bike Safety Day

Sign up to volunteer for 3rd Grade Bike Safety Day here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805084AA5AE29A4FD0-49170430-3rdgrade#/

Save The Date

Sixth Grade Says Goodbye!
The year is coming to a close and the 6^th Grade Committee has several fun events planned. Please make sure the dates below are on your calendars.

The committee is also in need of some additional cash donations for these final events, and are asking for $20 per 6^th grader by Wednesday, May 8^th. Cash or checks made out to Trailwood PTA are great, as is Venmo.

We appreciate your contributions and thank you all for your support this year!

Venmo: @Erin-Svarvari, 9816 to verify

Save These Dates!

May 17^that 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
High School Senior & Trailwood 6^th Grade Reunion and Kickball Game
Lunch provided; 6th graders reunite with their kindergarten buddies, who are now high school seniors. This long-standing community tradition ends with a kickball game.
Tuesday, May 21, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
6^th Grade v. Staff Volleyball Game
Tuesday, May 28^th
Trailwood Talent Show
6^th Graders present their class gift & Boys Present the Blues Brothers Skit
Wednesday, May 29^th7:30 am – 9 am **PARENTS! DON’T MISS THIS ONE!**
Last Day Breakfast
Please join us for breakfast, where we’ll watch the 6^th grade slide show and say goodbye to Trailwood Elementary.
Due to limited space, parents/guardians only, please.
A special thank you to the 5th grade parents for hosting breakfast!
Also Wednesday, May 29^th, right after school
Gather at Meadowbrook Park after school (big park shelter by clubhouse and large playground)
Casual party in the park; popsicles and yard games

South Summer Camps

Looking for some fun summer camps for your students? Shawnee Mission South Raiders 2024 Summer Camp schedules can be found here.

Summer Basketball Tournament at South

Mark your calendars and round up your players! The King of the Court 3v3 Tournament is open for registration! The event will take place June 13th, starting at 10:00 am, and is open to boys and girls in 3rd - 8th grades. Register here: SUMMER 3v3 BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

Raider Football Youth Camp

Trailwood PTA

5101 W 95th St.

Overland Park, KS 66207