Principal Corner

In the first years in being principal at Trinity, I remember Pastor Griffin talking about how he loved trash day. You throw all your junk into the container, and someone comes and hauls it away. He had great joy in seeing that someone else hauled his trash away. I do not know if I saw the joy of trash day like he did until, I was reading my devotion recently. The devotion talked about how Jesus came all the way to this world for us, so can’t we give him our fears. The devotion the teachers led with their students in the classroom talked about a girl cleaning her room and she stuffed everything in the closet. The devotion made the comparison of the girls closet to many of our hearts where we push burdens, fears, sins and hold them there. We just need to hand those things over to God. Then I made the connection with why Pastor Griffin enjoyed trash day. Just like the garbage truck takes away the things we want to get rid of, Jesus is ready to take our fears, our sins, and all the things burdening us down and take them away for good.

SCHEDULE HERE

Parent Teacher Conferences are November 4th & 6th.

PRINCIPAL CORNER: TECH TIDBITS

**From Dr. Delany Ruston**
**-creator of the documentary “Screenagers”**

This week is Red Ribbon Week, the nation’s longest-running youth drug-prevention program and I can’t think of a more important time to talk about a new, dangerous substance spreading fast among teens: kratom, also called 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH).
Have you heard about it?
Kratom products act on the brain’s opioid receptors, leading to addiction and, tragically, deaths — especially among young people. They’re sold online and even at gas stations, often labeled “herbal,” “plant-based,” or “natural energy.” Yet many contain dangerously concentrated 7-OH, the same compound that can shut down breathing.
A recent SF Gate story broke my heart. An 18-year-old from the Bay Area, heading to college, tried a pill labeled “gas station heroin.” Within three months, he’d spent over $5,000 on 7-OH.
As a doctor, I remember warning about over-prescribed opioids back in the early 2000s. I never imagined we’d lose over 100,000 lives a year to overdoses and now we’re seeing a new version of the same crisis.
Despite being illegal in several states, kratom remains easy to buy because it’s not federally regulated. The FDA is warning the public as overdoses rise.
Parents, teachers, and teens please help spread the word: Kratom is not a harmless herb. It’s addictive, risky, and too easily available.

Read today’s blog to learn more, including how to talk with youth about kratom and three questions to start the conversation.

MAJOR REMINDERS & Key Points

Please try to use Procare to send a message regarding students being absent. Remember when sending a message, to make sure it is clear when the student will be absent by using dates and times. Right now, we are waiting on some repairs of some of our technology so you cannot be let in unless someone is in the office. So in order to let you in properly, we need to know the date and time. This also helps reduce confusion as well. Your time is precious so we are trying to be as efficient as possible.
Our doors open at 8:10 am - 8:20 am. All K-8 students here before 8:10 am must enter via the gym door. Only if you need to speak to the office should you be ringing the doorbell and coming in the front before 8:10 am. The gym door is open, from 7:00 am - 8:20 am. You may have to tug a little harder but it should be open.
At the end of the day, doors open at 3:05 pm. We encourage you to wait outside for your child to ease congestion in our hallways.
If you come in the building during school hours, you must stop in at the office. This is a requirement, not a suggestion.
If children are being picked up during the day they MUST be signed out in the office. Please do not go searching the school for your child(ren).
Even if family members are “approved” for pick up, we still need to be notified when someone other than their parent/guardian is picking them up. Having them approved just means we have all the information we need from them ahead of time.
SAC and PK families: DO NOT share your door codes and please DO NOT use someone else’s door code. I will deactivate your code if I see they are being abused.
Even if you have a door code, it is only usable during those program hours i.e. SAC is from 3:15 pm - 5:30 pm.

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR SUNDAY, NOV 2nd at FEED THE FARMER

VOLUNTEER HERE

FRIENDLY REMINDER: all families at TLS are required to complete 10 service hours per school year (Preschool ONLY families are required 5 hours) by helping out with events and other options. We have over one thousand hours worth of opportunities and usually only a fraction of those get volunteers. We need your help to make these events works! PTL provides a lot of great things for our students and staff, so please help when you can.

Pre-Orders for meals can be done at the church welcome center or the school office. Online requests can also be made. Click on the flier to reserve meals online.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3rd

Start of the 2nd Quarter so we have teacher work day to finish up grades from 1st Quarter. NO SCHOOL.

PARENT DRIVE DAY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4th - ONLY JWP HIGH SCHOOL IS IN SESSION.

There were some changes to the district calendar right before school started that Palmer Bus was not aware of. We have a few Parent Drive Days on the calendar later in the year that WILL HAVE BUSSING now. But, the bus company is only picking up High School students and TLS students as JWP Elementary is NOT in session. Just a warning and heads up that those parent drive days are being taken off the calendar, but we were told that the students riding will have to be ready and waiting for the bus to be picked up (or you can just drive them to school). This Tuesday though, November 4th, is still a PARENT DRIVE DAY. We understand this may be confusing. The dates that are no long Parent Drive Days for you to be aware of are: Jan 20th, March 26th & May 1st for those bus riders if you want to make note and make sure your child will be ready for the bus on those days. For an updated school year calendar you can view the Google version on the website or print a physical calendar at that same location on the website.

Calendars

COLDER WEATHER

Like it or not, we have had some cooler weather and lots of students coming to school not dressed appropriately. Please review our guidelines for your children’s dress as the weather starts getting colder.

Here are the guidelines we use to determine what the students should wear outside. Be advised that these are guidelines, many things come into play with weather. But being prepared for the cooler weather with layers is always a good idea. These are up to teacher discretion as it may feel different than the temperature says.

Below 55 feels like temp, they need long sleeves

Below 45 feels like, they need a sweatshirt or jacket

Below 35 feels like, Must have a winter jacket and hats & mittens/gloves

IF THERE IS SNOW, they must snow pants, boots, winter coat, mittens/gloves & hat.

Please send your child prepared for the appropriate weather conditions.

PTL President Position to be Open

After many years, Tina Schoenfeld has decided this will be her last school year as the president of the TLS PTL. They are actively looking for her replacement and wanted to give plenty of time for those interested to come to many meetings, experience first hand what happens “behind the scenes” of the events that get put on by the PTL, and shadow to help them decide. Contact Tina if you are interested: 507-573-3894 or trinityjanesvillePTL@gmail.com

TEACHER FEATURE

Fall is in the Air

Every year, our 4th Grade class gives the residents at Water’s Edge some fun characters to look at by putting up their own custom scarecrows! Check out their creations this year.

We encourage you to share photos so others can enjoy them as well, during events and field trips! Plus, we can always use more for our yearbook. Add your photos to either place by clicking the corresponding button below.

GO CARDINALS!

The schedules for games and squads practice are on the calendar. If you had indicated interest, an email was sent out. All 4th - 8th Graders were given permission slips and these must be turned in before they attend practice.

WE ARE IN NEED OF A B SQUAD BOYS COACH! If anyone is interested, please contact Jacqie at the school.

Athletic Calendar

LOOKING FORWARD

**Caring & Sharing Holiday Giving**

'Tis the Season to begin thinking about the holidays. As the year continues to rapidly progress we want to take a moment to slow down and give thought to our students, families, and community members who may find benefit in enrolling in the Caring and Sharing Holiday Giving Program. JWP and TLS are enthusiastic to offer the Caring and Sharing Christmas Gift Giving Program in collaboration with JWP's National Honor Society, and community donors. We would like to extend a special thanks to our community for their support and partnership in making the holidays a magical and joyful experience for those in need.
TLS, JWP, and our community would like to provide gifts for currently enrolled students in the Trinity Lutheran School system whose families may experience increased financial stress this holiday season.
Student and Family information is kept confidential and your enrollment in this program will remain discrete and only provided to individuals directly overseeing the program.
Click on the photo to be taken to a form to fill out to request to be added to the Caring & Sharing Program.

Shadow Days are coming up - where potential students can shadow at MCA. Click on the image to see more.

email “Boo” to tlsinfo@trinityjanesville.com to be entered into a drawing - way to go!

Bulldog Association Tournament

November 22nd - November 23rd our gym is used during the annual tournament hosted by the Bulldog Association. It is a great fundraiser for our athletic department. It’s also an opportunity for our students to earn money for their 8th Grade trip OR this year, the DC Trip. For each time slot, there must be an adult working with the students. Each student will earn money toward either trip (on a per hour basis) and it is banked until that time comes. Click the popcorn to be taken to the sign up.

UPCOMING EVENTS!!! See Calendar below! You can also check out the Google Calendar under Parents > School Calendar to subscribe.

Social time starts at 7:15pm and Crossfire begins at 7:30pm in the Trinity Discipling Center.

What to expect at Crossfire…

-Opportunities to sing contemporary Christian music with fellow youth believers in Jesus

-A short devotional led by one of the youth leaders followed up by break out discussion groups

-And a time for silent reflection and prayer

Come and see what it’s all about!

Parent Corner

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Parent Corner +++

NEED PARENT SERVICE HOURS?

Trinity Lutheran School would not run or function without our families and all your hard work! We strive on showing our students a great work ethic and a drive to help and volunteer! Because of this, we ask that each family completes 10 hours of volunteer hours throughout the school year (if you only have a child in the Preschool, we only ask you complete 5 hours). Many events put on by PTL, Athletics and just helping around at the school provide plenty of opportunity to help out! Please don’t hesitate to check out the volunteer page on the website: https://seal-leopard-8yt2.squarespace.com/volunteer