PTA News and Announcements

Dear SHS Families,

Join us TOMORROW for the final General PTA meeting of the school year! You’ll hear an update from Principal Thomas and learn about the district’s AI initiatives directly from Natalie Carrignan, WPS Director of Technology. Very importantly, you’ll get to vote on next year’s slate. Looking forward to seeing you in the staff dining room @ 9:30am.

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES:

STAPLES PTA NEWS:
General PTA Meeting:
It’s tomorrow @ 9:30am in the Staff Dining Room. Be sure to stick around to vote on next year’s slate. (And don’t forget to leave time to sign in at the front desk!)

June Staff Appreciation Luncheon:
Thanks for all your help in getting this fab event sorted for our double-fab Staples staff. We could still use more in the way of donations (to cover the main dishes and sides) and also dessert & drink donations via this Sign Up Genius. Please and thank you! 

Instagram:
Find us @shs_pta! The page is only open to current Staples families; “follow” us and DM the email you have on file with WPS (to be verified against the school directory). 

ATTENTION, PARENTS OF SENIORS:
Find all important Staples Senior-related info here.

Senior Prom--Gift Cards:
Hello, Class of 2025 Parents--Senior Prom is almost here! We are bringing back the fun with a “luck of the draw” at this year’s Senior Prom, and you have been super generous so far. If you haven’t already, please consider donating one of the remaining gift cards for this memorable evening. Sign up here by Saturday, 5/31; a parent rep will be in touch to coordinate pick up. Questions? Please reach out to Lisa Hill at lmoneill@yahoo.com.

Senior Prom--Photos Needed:
The senior prom committee needs your help making prom extra special (& extra cute)! They are collecting baby/toddler/young child photos to use as decorations (extra credit if your kiddo is dressed up in the pic!). Drop them off to SHS attention Carol Kaye or email to dionebazile@icloud.com. Photos will not be returned & are due by 6/2.

Senior Signs:
If you didn’t pick up your Senior Sign please reach out to Senior Class Rep Lisa Hill ASAP: lmoneill@yahoo.com. We have a small but eager waitlist of people who didn’t order a sign but wish they did. Any sign not retrieved by next week will be reimbursed and sold to someone on the waitlist.

Carnival:
EVERY Staples senior is invited to this amazing event on 6/4 (immediately following the 3pm graduation rehearsal … the rain date is 6/5 and would take place immediately following the 1pm grad rehearsal). Your donation pays for food, music, game tents, prizes and MORE … We need your support to make this spectacular Senior send off happen. Donate here ($75/ student recommended). 

STAPLES SCHOOL NEWS:
School Climate Committee:

The School Climate Committee has a new podcast! The School Climate Committee is a group of students, staff and parents who work together to voice concerns and share ideas in hope of improving the experience at Staples. Their first two episodes are available. Episode one features an interview with our two staff advisors and episode two highlights the work of our Teen Talk Counselor! Give a listen here.

Staples “Food Allergy Awareness” Walk:
Do you, or does someone you love have a food allergy? Join this Staples Club as they walk to raise money for FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) to help other kids navigate life with life-threatening food allergies. You’ll find the flyer here, can sign up here, donate here, and read more here. 

Staples Players: The Diary of Anne Frank
This riveting production from Staples Players will be held in the Black Box on 5/21, 22, 23, 24 @ 7pm and 5/24 @ 3pm. The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most famous and haunting stories to emerge from the 20th Century. The memoirs of this young Jewish girl, forced to hide for nearly two years to escape Nazi persecution, are an essential part of how we remember one of the darkest periods of our human history. This adaptation of the original, Pulitzer Prize award-winning script draws from previously unpublished parts of Anne Frank’s real-life diary, allowing the audience to experience Anne in a way that breathes life into this passionate, complex young woman, allowing us to share her relatable experience of adolescence as a familiarly modern teenager. Her dynamism, luminous spirit, and story of resilience make her story as vital today as when her diary first was published.

The School Counseling Department News:
Click the link above for detailed info on:

—Insights on completing the Counselor Recommendation Questionnaire 

—Upcoming SHS Counseling Events (College Admission Panel Night)

—Summer Programs

—Recent Program Recordings

Special Education News:
Check out their Instagram page for updates and events: @westport_sped_pta

The following is information developed in concert with the WPS Administration to highlight the district’s DEI core values:
DEIB Committee News:
AAPI Heritage Month:
This year’s theme is “A Legacy of Leadership and Resilience.” There are so many people in the AAPI community who exemplify leadership and resilience, and Patsy Takemoto Mink is one of them. Patsy was the first woman of color and the first AAPI woman to be elected to Congress, serving as representative for her home state of Hawaii. Patsy was instrumental in the passage of Title IX, which was a civil rights law that protected women from discrimination in education. It became known as Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002. Read more about Patsy Mink here

Jewish American Heritage Month:
Who are the Jews? Jews live in many places around the world and represent incredible racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and political diversity. Jews are not only white, European Ashkenazi Jews. There are Black Jews from Ethiopia, brown Jews from India, and Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews from North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, and Iran. There are also Jews by choice of every race and ethnicity who have converted to Judaism. Today, over 80% of world Jewry lives in either Israel or the United States. Over the past 370 years, Jewish Americans have given to their communities and this nation as loyal and patriotic citizens, always grateful for the safe harbor that America provided for them. Jewish Americans have served in government and the military, have won Nobel prizes, headed universities and corporations, advanced medicine, created and performed in enduring works of performing and visual art, written great American novels, and become emblems of justice as members of the Supreme Court, and so much more. Perhaps most importantly, American Jews have always pushed America to live up to its promise as a nation that upholds freedom and justice for all. Check out some Jewish icons here.

COMMUNITY NEWS:
Westport Permanent Arts Collection (WestPAC):

WestPAC Committee and Friends of WestPAC are looking for dedicated volunteers to support and care for the public art collections displayed in Westport municipal buildings & public schools. The WestPAC Committee ensures access to collections through collections management, display and education. Friends of WestPAC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, raises funds for the care, conservation and display of the collections. Email westpac@westportps.org to learn more. 

Toquet Hall: 
Check out what’s happening here and find the calendar here.

WRECKER’S SPORTS:
Show your WRECKER PRIDE and support our teams at STAPLES SPORTING EVENTS!

★For up-to-the-minute updates and info, follow @stapleswreckers_ad on Instagram.

★★Weather in New England is unpredictable. For gametime updates, visit the CIAC site.

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★ Are you a booster club manager wishing to advertise your team’s upcoming events? Be sure to review our policies and procedures here and submit your write up to shs_pta@westportps.org by Friday @ 9pm. Announcements will be included in the following Wednesday’s PTA Planner. ★

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Jodi Harris & Stefanie Shackelford
SHS PTA Co-Presidents
shs_pta@westportps.org