Prayers for Marysville by Kristen Okabayashi
Today’s newsletter article was intended to be about something else completely. Instead, the incident in Marysville feels heavy on my heart so I thought I would share some thoughts and hopefully help all of us work through it, including me. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the students, families, staff, and community in Marysville during this challenging time.
When something like this happens, I know it’s hard for me and probably many of you to understand how such a senseless act could occur. I have found that watching or reading too much about it makes me feel worse, but talking about the incident can help families process their feelings in a healthy way. Some suggestions to help our students work through this include:
- Be a good listener and observer; pay attention to changes in your child’s behavior.
- Notice when children have questions and want to talk.
- Stick to facts and answer questions factually.
- Take care of yourself, as you are better able to help your student if you are coping well. If you appear upset and/or anxious, children are more likely to respond that way as well.
- A good resource is Talking to Children about Violence: Tips for parents and teachers (you can do an online search for this article from the National Association of School Psychologists).
I feel sure that God is grieving this situation with us. On Monday morning at our staff devotions, we were praying for the Marysville community and I had a mental picture of God with His protective arms around all of us. If you are having trouble with this incident or anything else, feel free to come talk with me, Patra Mueller (our children’s pastor) or Peter Mueller (our senior pastor). God loves us!
Calendar of Events
Wed. 10/29: 8:40 AM Chapel – Led by Pastor Peter – Parents Welcome to Attend
Mon. 11/3: 10:25 AM Earthquake Drill
Tues. 11/4: 6:30 PM Kindergarten Information Night
Fri. 11/7: Free Dress Day / Quarter 1 Ends
Sports Events Calendar
Tues. 10/28: 3:45 FB Game vs Concordia Tacoma
Emergency Drills
At Hope, we practice monthly safety drills so that in the event of an actual emergency, our staff and students will know what to do. This morning was our regularly scheduled full lockdown drill, so know that if this is mentioned at home, it was just a drill and not an actual emergency.
LEST Update – Grades 5-8
LEST (Lutheran Elementary Schools Tournament) is coming up! Families of students in grades 5-8 have information coming home today in the Tuesday envelopes. Please have your student fill out the registration/interest form and return it to Hope by next Monday, November 3. We do not currently have staff available to lead Knowledge Bowl and could also use help with our Science group, so if you are interested in this please let us know in the office.
Hope Food Drive to Fill the Closet
Hope School student council is sponsoring a food drive to benefit our community and our Hope Church food closet. Food will be collected through November 3-21, 2014. Please consider how you can be a blessing to those in need, and donate to our food drive. We are looking for donations of all canned food, and especially ready-to-eat foods such as granola bars, canned meat, flop-top canned fruit, etc. The winning classroom is decided by the average donation per student and will earn a free dress pass for a day. Thank you!
Kindergarten Open House – Tues. Nov. 4th
Come and visit us at our Kindergarten Open House on Tuesday, November 4th, 6:30-8:00 p.m. We will provide information regarding kindergarten readiness and what to look for in kindergarten from our long-time Preschool Director Mrs. Tornow, as well as hear more about our kindergarten program from our teacher, Mrs. Schubbe.
Use your postcard to invite family, friends and neighbors and take advantage of our referral program.
Onsite childcare and refreshments will be provided. Please call the school office at 935-8500 or email admissions@hopeseattle.org for more information.
Afterschool Activities – Click Here
Parent Involvement Program Opportunities – Click Here
Lunch Recess Help Still Needed!
Childcare Volunteers needed for Tues. 11/4 at our Kindergarten Open House.
Church Family Faith Events
Do you want to teach your children the importance of serving others? Join us for two special opportunities where your whole family (preschoolers too) can work together on two different service projects:
Sunday November 23, 9:30 am to 10:20 am families will be sorting the food collected from our school drive to fill the Hope community food closet.
Contact patramueller@hopeseattle.org if you are interested in joining the fun!
Mini Cheer Camp Hosted by WS High School
The WSHS Cheerleaders will be holding a Mini Cheer Camp Tuesday, November 11th in the West Seattle High School Gym from 10:00am to 1:00pm. K-5th grade students will have a great time learning fun cheers and making crafts with the Westside cheerleaders. The cost of this camp is $55. More information about the cheer camp and a printable registration form attached (due by Nov. 3rd) can be found at:
www.westside-weekly.westseattlehs.seattleschools.org
