WOH for Tuesday – May 17, 2022
WOH For Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Exploring the East Coast By Kristen Okabayashi, Principal
Thirty-five 8th grade students, teachers, and chaperones traveled earlier this month to Washington DC, Gettysburg, and New York City. This year, we traveled with 10 students and chaperones from Concordia Seattle in addition to our Hope crew.
Laden with history, this trip is an amazing opportunity for both students and adults to explore our nation’s most important historical sites and experience incomparable learning moments. Sites we visited on this trip in DC included the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Arlington National Cemetery, multiple memorials for Lincoln, MLK, FDR, Jefferson, World War II, and the Korean War, the White House, and the Washington Monument, among other places. We then traveled to Gettysburg for the Cyclorama and a very engaging Battlefield Tour with Charles, our very witty tour guide in his 70’s.
Our bus then dropped us off in Little Italy/Chinatown in NYC, where we traveled via subway to Central Park, the One World Observatory and 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Times Square and the Broadway show “Aladdin”, and other amazing sites and events such as “The Ride”.
Besides the historical learning we experienced, one of my favorite parts of leading the trip is watching the students become independent and able to manage themselves throughout their explorations. Coming off a pandemic year, our students at the beginning were a little tentative and looking to adults for help. By the end of the trip, they were easily navigating the subway and keeping track of their belongings and where we needed to be and when. This particular group of travelers was a joy to travel with, as everyone was on time, ready to change plans as needed depending on weather or something else, and tolerant of each other even when we were together for 18 hours straight. We quickly learned to “stay to the right” when traveling in a big group, to try to avoid using the charter bus restroom, the value of a “starburst question”, and that we all should have walked a lot more to prepare for the trip ahead of time!
A huge thank you to my fearless co-leader Tim Allen for his energy and ability to keep track of details on the trip, and another big thank you to the awesome parent chaperones who helped us all tremendously. I dare to say this East Coast trip was probably the highlight of my entire year!
Calendar of Events – Click Here
Tuesday, 5/17 – Middle School Spring Concert 7:00 PM
Tuesday, 5/24 – 5-8 Grade Track Meet 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – No School for 5-8 Grades
Tuesday, 6/7 – Sea Star Closing Ceremony – 10:30 AM
Tuesday, 6/7 – Kindergarten Graduation – 2:00 PM
Wednesday, 6/8 – Orca PreK Graduation – 10:30 AM
Wednesday, 6/8 – 8th Grade Graduation – 7:00 PM
Athletic Events – Click Here
Sounds of Spring Concert – Tues, May 17 – 7PM
Please join Hope Middle School students for our annual Sounds of Spring Concert. We will hear from Hope’s 6th Grade, Glee Club, Handbell Choir and Band. The concert will take place in Hope’s Sanctuary tonight, May 17, at 7:00 PM.
Friends and family are welcome to join us; all audience members must remain masked to keep our students as safe as possible. If you are not able to remain masked for any reason, please refrain from joining us. If you are unable to attend in person, we will be livestreaming the event.
COVID-19 Rapid Tests and Protocols
Individuals with COVID-19 symptoms are encouraged to take a PCR test, as the PCR test will detect the virus before rapid tests will. PCR tests are readily available in our community. In addition, you may order 10 rapid tests per month per household by clicking here. Tests are shipped via Amazon and arrive within days typically. You may also pick up rapid tests at the school office during school hours. With COVID on the rise again, to help us remain open and in-person, please be sure to remain home if you have symptoms; we encourage masking while at school.
2022-2023 School Year Tuition Contracts Due ASAP
Most tuition contracts, along with financial aid contracts have been sent home and are now past due. Please fill them out completely, sign, and return them to the office as soon as possible. You can do this in-person, through the mail, or via email. Please call the office with any questions or concerns.
2022-2023 Hope Lutheran Calendar
Click for the 2022-2023 school year calendar. A more detailed calendar for the year, as well as the Preschool/ESC calendar, will come out over the summer.
No School / Invitational Track Meet for 5th – 8th Graders; Tuesday, May 24 – 9:00AM- 3:00PM
Parents, please note that Hope School will be hosting an Invitational track meet on Tuesday, May 24th and there will be NO school for our 5th – 8th grade students on this day. Parents will need to make alternative care arrangements for their 5th – 8th grade students who are not participating in track. Students not participating in track are welcome to attend and cheer their classmates on with parental supervision only. Students participating in track will plan on meeting at the West Seattle Stadium prior to the event. Mr. Goodspeed will provide more details soon.
PTH & Auction Year-End Summary
A very special thank you to all of our donors, sponsors and everyone who attended The Incredible Virtual Super Auction on May 7th! A fun time was had by all, and we raised an amazing $36,117!! Of the amount raised $4,860 goes to the school for new Chromebooks!
- For those of you who could not attend, we are offering some additional sales of: Free Dress Passes (3 individual passes for $30.00), a few super gift cards and a handful of other amazing items. Items will be posted later this week with a link to follow.
- You may recall that we had a ticket purchasing contest? The class with the most tickets purchased by parents as of May 6th would win an ice-cream party. Congratulations Kindergarten and 5th Grade! Your parents tied so there will be two ice cream parties! The PTH will work with teachers to set a date, so be on the lookout for an announcement coming soon!
- In PTH board news- please congratulate (and copiously thank for volunteering) your newly elected and returning board members:
- New PTH president is Melanie Fukumoto!
- New Vice President Chandra Hoover!
- New Members at Large are Megan Kaul, Lisa Averiett and outgoing President Heather Leaman
- Returning Member at Large is Amy Loftis
- Returning Secretary Lebryna Ishii
- Returning Treasurer Drew DeVry
- Leaving this year is PTH Vice President Ashli Brown. A gigantic, enormous thank you to Ashli for all her work these past four years! You will be truly missed.
- Thank you, parents, teachers, and staff, for being superheroes for Hope! We couldn’t do it without you!
PIP Hour Opportunity!
*Classroom Help: Reach out to your children’s teachers – many may need help chaperoning field trips, preparing classroom activities/projects and/or planning for end-of -school year parties.
*Pick up graduation lawn signs (23) plus sticks at Fast Signs in Burien, Thursday, May 19th. Email Sally Heit for more information.
*Lunch and Recess: Supervise recess from 12:00-12:45 on Tuesday, May 24th. Supervise afternoon recess from 1:30-2:15 on Monday, June 6th. Email Jennifer Neafcy for more information.
Hope Lutheran Summer Camp
Summer Camp Registration is open! All Hope students in grades preschool through fifth grade are welcome to sign up! Fun themes include art, sports, animals, science, and drama. Space is limited and usually fills up quickly, so please sign up here.
Vacation Bible Camp
VBS is coming June 20-24, 9:00AM-12:00PM for students entering 1st-5th grade in the fall. The theme is “Treasured: Discovering You are Priceless to God.” Adult Volunteers are needed! Click Here to register participants and to sign up to volunteer.