Happy March! Spring Break is right around the corner, which means that we only have one quarter left in this school year! The days are flying by, and our last few months will be jam-packed with activities and events here at Trailwood! Remember to check out the PTA website and Facebook page for updates on all the upcoming events.

We’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone who contributed to our Happy Hour and Trivia Night last month! Whether you bid on and/or purchased an item, attended our event in person, volunteered in some capacity, made a donation, or spread the word about our event, you helped to make the night a huge success! While final numbers are still coming in, we raised around $40,000 (gross income)! WOW! These funds will help us continue to provide our students and staff with amazing opportunities at Trailwood. Thank you for your incredible generosity! 

Have a wonderful and safe Spring Break! I look forward to a spring filled with fun here at Trailwood! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Cara Peterson

caraelizabeth1@yahoo.com

Last Winter Flight Time: March 2, 2023 at 3:15 pm

6^th Grade Strings Concert at IWMS: March 2, 2023 at 7:00 pm

Preschoolers at Trailwood: March 3, 2023 at 2:00 pm

Social Worker’s Week: March 6 – 10, 2023

6^th Grade Band Concert at IWMS: March 8, 2023 at 7:00 pm

End of 3^rd Quarter: March 9, 2023

PTA Movie Night: March 9, 2023 at 6:30 pm

No School – Teacher Workday: March 10, 2023

No School – Spring Break: March 13 – 17, 2023

Beginning of 4^th Quarter: March 20, 2023

PTA General Meeting: March 21, 2023 at 8:15 am

6^th Grade Musical: March 22, 2023 at 2:15 pm and 6:00 pm

Skate Party at Skate City: March 24, 2023 at 4:00 pm

Chick-Fil-A Dining Partner Night: March 29, 2023 from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

First Spring Flight Time: March 30, 2023 at 3:15 pm

Open House: March 30, 2023 from 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

As mentioned above, our annual fundraiser was once again a huge success, and we are so grateful for the support of our amazing Trailwood community! Not only did we raise some very important funds for our students, families and staff, we had so much fun doing it! Hats off to our amazing Trivia Night teams who rocked our movie-themed trivia! And, a big congrats to our winning Trivia Team: Deanna Ferrante, Don Dittmar, Erika Haas, Ty Haas, Katie Buckley, Joel Buckley, Ashlee Jack and David Jack!

We have SO MANY people to thank, so let’s get to it!

First of all, a big thank you goes out to our Trivia Night Planning Committee! They began planning this event last summer and devoted a great deal of time and energy into making this event a big success! This year’s committee consisted of Jen Pontier, Karen Badgett, Holly Davidson, Lindsay Weiss and Cara Peterson. Thank you for making this event possible!

We also received lots of help along the way from volunteers who gave of their time and talents in a variety of ways, especially Cheyenna Starkovich (classroom artwork), Heidi Saunders (classroom artwork), Matt Weiss (photography), Sarah Filipovits (marketing) and Brett Emert (event donations). And, we’d like to thank our many volunteers who helped us with set-up before the event and helped to make things run smoothly throughout the evening; it takes a village!

Next, we’d like to recognize our amazing auction sponsors! Please familiarize yourself with these awesome Trailwood families and their businesses! And, give them a “thank you” next time you see them!

Kansas City Mom Collective

(Trailwood Parent – Sarah McGinnity)

Kansas City Property Experts

(Trailwood Parents – Adam and Jen Pontier)

NEXA Mortgage

(Trailwood Parent – Lisa LeGrande)

Schields Farm

(Trailwood Parents – Tennille and Nick Roppo)

Browne Amplification

(Trailwood Parent – Dave Brown)

Travel Magic by Leigh

(Trailwood Parent – Leigh McCabe)

Zack Group

(Trailwood Grandparent – Tony Pontier)

And, of course, thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s event through generous financial contributions. Funds raised at this event support over 50 programs at Trailwood! We couldn’t do what we do without you! Thank you!

Commemorate your child’s final year as a Thunderbird with a personalized photo, a collage featuring every member of the 6^th grade class, or both! Prints are available in the following sizes:

16” x 20” Compilation Print for $35.00

4” x 6” Individual Print for $15.00

8” x 10” Individual Print for $25.00

Digital File of Individual Print for $35.00

To view individual photos and to place your order, please visit the PTA website at www.trailwoodpta.com or click here. Please place your order by March 22nd.

A big THANK YOU goes out to Matt Weiss for taking such amazing photos of our 6th grade students!

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 month of February!

6^th Grade Photos: Matt Weiss

Winter Wonderland Decorating: Jennifer McDonald

Valentine’s Day Parties: Cher Brownback and Room Parents

Family Fun Science Night: Sonal Bhakta

Staff Appreciation: Holly Davidson and Jen Pontier

You are invited to tonight's PTA Movie Night! We will be showing "Lyle, Lyle Crocodile” in the Commons!

The doors will open at 6:00 pm, and the movie will begin at 6:30 pm. Kids are encouraged to bring blankets and pillows, and adults may bring folding chairs on which to sit in the back. Please remember that children must be accompanied by an adult.

The movie is free, but we will have concessions for sale, so feel free to bring some cash with you (small bills, if possible). Concession sales help us to cover the cost of our annual movie license, so please consider donating some store-bought, nut-free treats to the event! You may sign up here. Donated items may be dropped off in the office or brought to the event tonight. 

Tell us about your family!

Hello Trailwood! We are the Ross family. We have two very active and big hearted kids in Trailwood. Jace is 12 years old and is in his last year as a 6th grader. He loves to play tennis and is a great swimmer. Amya is 10 years old and is in fifth grade. She loves to draw, play soccer and is also a great swimmer. They both study in Judo, Jui-Jitsu and are beginner fencers. 

Jay is a proud dad who owns a small e-commerce business. Jay is also a Judo enthusiast and a power lifter. Patty is a proud mom that works as a designer at Hallmark. She loves to thrift, cook and craft. We share a home with our lovable mini golden doodle (Mochi) and 2 guinea pigs (Oreo and Brownie). We love being a part of Trailwood and all the friends we have made along the way. 

What makes your family unique?

What makes our family unique is that we are all creative in our own ways. Both Jay and Patty have degrees in art and have expressed that passion over the majority of their lifetime. Both Amya and Jace have also shown their creativity within their current interests. Jay’s background is in fine arts and also a comic book illustrator. Patty’s background is a textile/ surface designer. 

Where is your family originally from? What is your heritage?

Our family is multi racial. Jay identifies as African American but according to ancestry DNA, he is also Scottish. Patty is a 1st generation Asian American. She is Chinese and can speak Shanghainese and Cantonese. We have a very diverse family and hope to raise our kids to identify with both of our heritages. 

How did you end up in the KC area? What brought you to Trailwood?

Jay was born in Fitchburg, MA and grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. Patty was born in Queens, NY and grew up in Manhattan, NY. Jay and Patty met in NYC and relocated to KC over 20 years ago. We have lived in many different parts of the metro KC area and eventually moved to Overland Park for their great schools. We are so happy to have ended up in Trailwood and now have lived in KC more years than any other place.

What are your favorite places to visit?

We love to travel and our favorite places have been the beaches of Hawaii and Florida. Some of our favorite trips have also been road trips to Bentonville, AK, Chicago and Austin, TX. We also love traveling back to NYC to visit our family and friends. 

What do you like to do as a family?

We love to play boardgames and video games together. We try to have a board game night every week. Our favorites are Ticket to Ride, Monopoly Deal, Pictionary, Carcasonne and Chess. We love watching movies and anime shows together. We also like finding the best boba tea, ice cream and ramen places. 

Do you have any restaurant recommendations?

We love trying new places to eat and some of our favorites that we frequent often are Taj Mahal, Hong Kong Star, ABC Cafe, Joes KC, Magic Noodle, Pho Saigon and Red Door on Monday burger night specials. Our kids love butter chicken, ramen and pho. For fast food places - their favorite is Freddy’s. For boba tea - we love Kung Fu Tea. Amya and Jace both love the Oreo Cream Slush Boba. For Ice Cream - we love I am Frozen.

What are your favorite local events?

We make an effort to attend the Nelson Atkins Lunar New Year Celebration every year. They have a wonderful line up of activities and performances to celebrate the New Year. We also love the kite festival in Longview, MO, the Big Picnic Event on the Nelson lawn and the Ethnic Enrichment Festival at Swope Park.

We’d like to thank these awesome volunteers who gave their time during the month of February as Wingmen!

Brian Bowen

Jeff Hamilton

Leif Peterson

Danny Boresow

Brad Osborn

We'd love to see more dads and father-figures in the hallways this month! Please sign up to volunteer here.

Our March meeting will take place after Spring Break on Tuesday, March 21, at 8:15 am in the Commons! Can’t make it in person? Join us virtually at the following link:

Join Zoom Meeting
 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85005621089?pwd=azdhR3d0dkx2RzRPdUtFOWc5SGo2dz09
 
Meeting ID: 850 0562 1089
Passcode: 493566

March is the last month to purchase a PTA Membership! Any memberships purchased after March will go towards next year per the Kansas PTA. If you aren't sure if you have already purchased, you can log in to your account and go to the orders tab in the upper right. Or, feel free to contact Lori Tritsch.  Thank you to those families that have already done so!

Activity fees and yearbooks will still be available to purchase for the rest of the year.  You can also check if you have ordered those by logging into your account and going to the orders tab (or by contacting Lori Tritsch).  

The PTA is committed to supporting the students, families, teachers and staff of Trailwood Elementary.  You can help us in this effort by becoming a PTA member.  Becoming a member doesn't obligate you to attend meetings or volunteer; you can be as involved as you would like!  Click here to purchase your membership as well as activity fee and yearbook.

If you choose not to become a member, please remember that you still need to update your information in the directory.  Doing so allows us to communicate with you throughout the school year and gives you access to the online directory.  Families frequently use the directory for birthday party invitations, play dates, sports teams and more.  For them to be able to see your information-please select that you want your information to be published in the directory.

The PTA website is a great resource, and you can access the directory from there.  

https://www.trailwoodpta.com

Please do not hesitate to contact Lori Tritsch if you have any questions.  Thank you for keeping your directory information up to date and for considering a PTA membership purchase this year!

Thank you for all of your hard work this year, room parents! We are happy to report that for the End-Of-Year party, we have the Kona Ice truck coming from 11:00 am - 2:30 pm on Friday, May 12th! This will be covered by the room parent budget that was mostly unspent this year. 

Please direct any questions to Cher Brownback. She will reach out with more details as we get closer!  

Public education has been a major topic of discussion in Topeka this month, and now is a CRITICAL time to contact your legislator if you have opinions on the issues below. Find your state senator (upper chamber) and state representative (lower chamber) by entering your address here. A short email with your opinion can make a difference - on most bills they get only between 20-25 emails from constituents! Follow Trailwood PTA Facebook and SMAC PTA Facebook for timely action alerts! There will be many in March! 

Special Education Funding

The Governor’s budget increases funding for special education, but we haven’t seen any good faith efforts from legislators to do so. Learn more from Sunday’s front page KC star article. 

Email your legislator now. Find your state senator and rep here, and ask them to fully fund special education. Ask them to support a clean funding bill; one that does not bundle education policies like vouchers with special education funding. 

Vouchers

There were four different voucher bills under different names (educational savings accounts, tax credits, etc.). On Monday, the House K-12 Education Committee used a procedural move known as “gut and go” to replace contents of SB 83 (formerly a tax credit scholarship), with a large and expensive voucher program.

An amendment also added one year of funding for special education to the bill. The bill is still opposed by education advocacy groups because it has a large voucher component that diverts funds from public schools, lacks oversight and is not accessible to all children. Read more here and stay tuned! 

This bill will likely go to the House floor soon. Email your representative NOW to ask them to vote NO on House Sub for SB 83 or any bill that includes voucher-type programs. Here’s a sample email and you can find your House Rep. here. 

Flat Tax, SB169

This bill creates essentially one tax bracket for any income-earners with the benefit falling most significantly to the highest earners. Education advocates have major concerns that a flat tax bill, which reduces state revenues by $1.3 billion over three years, puts funding for public schools at risk, as happened with similar tax cuts in past years. 

Passed Senate - now in House Taxation Committee.  Hearing not yet scheduled. Contact your House Rep. Find them here (look for state, lower chamber). 

Sports Participation for Transgender Students, HB 2238
This bill bans transgender female students from participating in sports from Kindergarten on up. 

This passed the House, has a hearing this week, and will likely be heading to the Senate floor soon. 

Postcards for Public Education

We’ll deliver postcards for public education in person to legislators in Topeka. 

Contact Emily Meissen-Sebelius (913-787-0354) with questions!

Join us on Thursday, March 30^th, for our annual Open House! See your children’s classrooms, learn more about their days at Trailwood, and check out the awesome black light art show happening in the gym! And, don’t forget to stop by the PTA table to get information on upcoming events, ask questions of your PTA officers, and pick up classroom art prints/6^th grade portraits!

Our last session of Flight Time will be April 6th - May 11th on Thursdays from 3:15 pm - 4:15 pm. Registration will run from March 12th - 24th. 

Look for registration info at the end of this week.  

Want to own a print featuring your child's classroom artwork from the 2022-2023 school year? Be on the look out for ordering information coming soon! 

A big thank you goes out to Cheyenna Starkovich, Heidi Saunders and Jim Dore for their help with this project!

Have you been dreaming of spring? If so, you'll want to check out the annual PTA Flower Sale! The ordering page will be available on the PTA website before spring break. You'll receive your plants on May 5th. 

Please direct any questions to Kellie Harvey.

Join us for a March Madness Skating Party at Skate City! Wear your favorite jersey and have some fun!

Looking for some fun summer camps for your students? Click here for information regarding summer camps happening at Shawnee Mission South!

5101 W 95th St. 

Overland Park, KS 66207