WOH For Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Preparing Students for High School and Beyond By Sara Kunkel, Middle School Teacher
As the 8th grade homeroom teacher at Hope, I have always felt that an important part of my job is to prepare our students for high school. Together, we visualize walking confidently through the doors of their high school. Together, we come up with a plan of how they are going to handle different situations. Hope Lutheran provides a place for students to prepare so that when they step into their high school of choice, they are ready to face the challenges that will come their way.
Before I taught at Hope, I was a high school teacher. As a result, I am constantly planning for what our students will need when they enter high school (and college). I often tell our students that when they get to high school, their teachers won’t always check on them to make sure that they turned in their homework. I tell them that in high school, they may get several projects at once and will be expected to complete them without exception. I tell them that in high school, they will need to manage their own time and their own learning. Hope Lutheran provides students with an environment to practice taking ownership, learning to “fight for understanding” and growing to be an advocate for their own learning through curiosity and asking questions.
It has almost become a joke in my math classes, as I ask at the end of every lesson, “And what should you do if you don’t understand?” The class answers with eyes rolling and monotonous voices, “Ask you!” Over the years, I have witnessed students who were too scared to ask questions become some of the best advocates for their own learning. We want our students to learn how to ask when they don’t understand so that when they move onto high school, they know how to get the resources they need to be successful.
About once a week, I get up on my “soap box” and give my students a speech about how each of them gets to decide if they want to learn. They get to decide if they are willing to put in the hard work required to learn each day, each lesson; they get to decide if they want to “fight for understanding”. Learning to “fight for understanding” starts with wanting to be successful and then leads to the choice to put in the work and effort. When our students decide that they want to “fight for understanding”, they carry that into high school, into their careers and into their lives. We have heard from several Hope alumni that they learned how to be a hard-working student while they were at Hope and these skills have helped them into college and beyond. When we let our students know that we believe they can learn, they begin to believe it, too.
As our current 8th graders finish up the school year and head to adventures in high school, I know they have the skills that they need to take ownership for their choices and their learning. I know they understand how to get their needs met through advocating for themselves. But most importantly, I know that this kind, bright and courageous class will impact the world because they know how important it is to keep fighting forward until they have accomplished their dreams. I can’t wait to hear about all of the adventures. Keep being amazing you, Graduating Class of 2020!
June 5: Kindergarten Zoom Graduation 10:00 AM / Sea Turtles Zoom Graduation 11:00 AM / Last Day of School Instructions
June 8: Orcas Zoom Graduation 2:00 PM
June 11: 8th Grade Video Invite Graduation 7:00 PM
June 9-12: Hope Handover – Sign Ups for Student Drop Off/Pick Up Now Available
Summer Camp: June 22 to July 24, 2020
Hope Handover Reminder June 9-12, 2020
If you have not signed up for a time for the Hope Handover, please take a moment to sign up by following the link below. This is the opportunity for your student to return Hope items and pick up their bagged items from their desks and lockers. Most of the earlier times are taken but there are still many open times on Thursday and Friday of that week. Each student should sign up for a separate 15 minute time slot, with 3 spots available per 15 minute increment. For families with more than one child at Hope, each student should select a spot.
Times for the Hope Handover are:
- Tuesday June 9 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
- Wednesday June 10 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM
- Thursday June 11 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM
- Friday June 12 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Sign up for a time here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0A4EA8AC22A64-hope
Hope School Summer Camp – New Update
We have good news to share with you about Hope’s summer camp! Last week, the Department of Health gave the approval for summer camps to happen beginning June 22, as long as camps follow safety guidelines, which we have already planned to do. If something changes and we have to cancel after all, we will offer a full refund minus a $20 per week processing fee, but we are optimistic about hosting summer camp at this point.
This year’s summer camp will have a variety of fun themes and will begin the week of June 22. We will be open Monday through Friday for students who have completed one year of preschool through age 12. Preschool/extended care director Christina Figgins will run our summer camp program with our regular wonderful extended care staff. Summer camp registration is open. You may access registration by clicking on the following link: https://campsself.active.com/hopelutheranschool
If you have questions about the details of signing up, you may contact Sally Heit at sheit@hopeseattle.org. If you have questions about camp or safety protocols, you can reach out the summer camp director Christina Figgins at cfiggins@hopeseattle.org or Principal Kristen Okabayashi at kokabayashi@hopeseattle.org.
Hope Yearbooks
Due to processing delays from COVID-19 safety protocols, and anticipated shipping delays for the same reasons, at this time we do not believe yearbooks will arrive prior to the Hope Handover days next week. We are sorry for this inconvenience and will share more instructions for passing yearbooks out at a later date, once we know when they will be delivered.
Hope Church VBS Registration Open
We will be offering a virtual program for five Wednesdays in a row beginning on July 1. A prerecorded two hour virtual experience will be released each Wednesday at 9:00 am. The program is free. Click Here to for more details and to register.
If you are planning to participate in VBS this year, please register ASAP so supplies can be ordered. Thanks so much!