I hope you have had a beautiful weekend and are excited about our second week of February.

Things are about to get exciting as we are getting closer and closer to being ready to show you all of the exciting Patriot Pathway classes we are offering next year. if you are my age, we are like a kid in a candy store excited! if you are closer to Junior High age, it is like having a very large gift card and being in a video game store excited. If by chance you are my parent's age, because we don't want to leave anyone out, it is like when a new album of the Beetles hit the stores for the first time.

This week, I wanted to take a second to share with you a little story. with some others about the person that got me through math 1050 and is literally the ONLY reason I was able to transfer from SLCC to the University of Utah and enter into the Special Education teaching program.

There are people that come into your life that will forever make a mark and always hold a piece of prime real estate in your heart. Shaunda Trimmer was one of these people for me. When I first entered education as a Special Ed para at Skyline High, I, by some miracle, got placed in her class to assist some of our kiddos.

Two things were apparent from day one.

First, I had no business being the person being sent in to help the kids with math.

Second, I knew we were going to be friends whether Shaunda was on board or not. I stayed in her class for that period the whole year, and while I was not much help to the students, I was without question one of her best students.

Shaunda had the most contagious raspy laugh and skill for what some might call, umm, colorful language. Her mouth probably should have gotten her in trouble, but to my surprise never did. The kids loved her, and she was an absolutely enchanting mathematical wizard.

On the last day of class, I gave her my number and asked for hers because I told her we would be lifelong friends. To her surprise, once I decide you are my friend, there is no getting out of it.

When I decided to go back to school to be a teacher, I can tell you that, without question, Shaunda is the ONLY reason I passed math 1050.

She spent no less than three hours every Saturday tutoring me at the Mcdonald's by her house. The people working at McDonald's knew our orders, our drinks, and that on most days, we were going to be there through the transition from the breakfast to the lunch/dinner menu.

She was my personal cheerleader, and when I didn’t pass the final the first time and called her sobbing through embarrassed tears, ready to give up, she not so gently told me to knock it off and then stepped in and tutored me for a second time for another entire semester. She never asked for a dime and never acted annoyed by my extremely lacking math skills.

When I passed on the second try she cheered for me like I was a rockstar. She is the ONLY reason I was able to transfer from SLCC to the U of U and be where I am today. I owe that loud, hilarious, and brilliant woman my entire career.

Unfortunately, I very suddenly lost my friend last week, and the world lost an amazing human. (Ooooo, and she is going to be so mad she died...She teaches AP Calculus, and it was almost time for testing.)

While I will never be able to repay her for the lifelong gift that she gave me, I can, without question, smile knowing that she never wondered if I loved her, and while she was the math master, I am the master well masterish at flowers and was allowed the honor of designing her casket piece. We filled it with all of her favorite Skyline High and bright pink colors, an old-school calculator, rulers. a protractor, and some of her beloved cheer gear from her many years as a coach.

I don't share this to be a sad story, as my heart is at peace, but rather a reminder that life is super short and more unpredictable than a toddler's mood and Utah weather.

Don't ever wait to thank someone for ANY act of kindness.

Always take the extra second to tell someone you love them.

Help someone if you are able.

Be generous until it hurts.

You will never, ever, EVER regret being too kind.

As a side plug to honor Shaunda if you are one of those lucky people who can help someone like me by explaining how to do a Quadratic equation or graph a function, do it!!!! You never know if your willingness to share your gift just might change someone's entire life and create another educator like me.

As Always Patriots...

You are LOVED!

Mrs. Summers

Mrs. Turley

Mr. Joyce

Just keeping you in the know as to what to expect during Parent Teacher Conferences.

• Teachers will be in their classrooms and will be holding conferences on an individual basis. Please respect the family's privacy by waiting outside the class until it is your turn to see the teacher.
• During the conference, you can expect to hear where your student is being successful, where your student has opportunities for growth, and recommendations for class placements for next year.
• Conferences are to be no longer than 5-7 minutes.

Some Expectations and Gentle Reminders

• If you are upset about something going on in a class or with a teacher, PTC is NOT the place to have that discussion. Here at PHJH, we want to make sure everyone is both listened to and heard, so for these types of meetings, we do not want to be rushed and not have time to problem-solve. I have asked teachers to follow this direction and guidance if a conference starts to go South. You may not believe this, but some teachers have real PTSD from PTC, where they were screamed at. We don't roll like that anymore.
• Please do not come five minutes before the end of conferences and expect to see all of the teachers. We will be wrapping up, and I will be sending our very tired teachers home. If you are unable to attend during those times, we are more than happy to make an appointment for a time that works for you. We can even do Zoom. (We are cool like that)
• Teachers, just like all of you, work really hard!!! A little love goes a long way. ❤️❤️❤️

Our Patriots ROCKED their Mid-Year SMI (Scholastic Math Inventory) and we are SOOO proud of their progress! They've also made some good progress with reading comprehension. Printed scores will be coming home with students the week of Parent Teacher Conferences. While these scores definitely don't define a student's ability level, they are good indicators of where students might need support and where they are succeeding.

What do I do if my student is below grade level in math? Math is a harder skill to fill in holes, but our Patriots have shown it's possible! If your student's SMI score shows that they are struggling in math, it might be time to ask them some questions and see where they can make some adjustments.

• Are they doing their math homework? While students can finish their homework in class, most students will have a couple of problems they should finish up every day.
• Are they asking questions in class when something doesn't make sense?
• Have they come in after school to get help from their teacher?

If they answer yes to all of these questions, and they're still struggling, that's okay! It's a good time to talk with their teacher and see what other supports might help. We have a couple of programs (MobyMax is one) that can help fill in math concepts your student might be missing.

What do I do if my student is below grade level in reading comprehension? This is one is probably my favorite to help with! There are some SUPER easy tweaks that can be made at home to help boost reading comprehension. The first thing to know is that students should be reading a variety of material on a wide range of levels. It's okay if your student wants to read books that are below their reading level! The key is to throw in a couple books that are on or slightly above their reading level every now and again. I used to tell kids that reading is a lot like eating. If all you ate was Puffy Cheetos, you're not going to have the nutrients to run a body (and your fingers would be permanently orange). Likewise, if all you ate was chicken and broccoli, you'd get so bored and tired of eating that it wouldn't be any fun, even if it is healthy. The key is to throw in some fun reads along with the ones that will help you grow. Here are some additional ways to help boost reading comprehension:

• Turn on the Subtitles or Closed Captions when your student is watching a movie or TV. Believe it or not, they'll start reading the words while they watch it helps with fluency and comprehension. Plus, when the captions are wrong or they are describing sounds, it can be super funny!
• Read Together! You don't have to read a big or long book. Even reading a short article from the news or social media on a topic that is interesting to both of you can make a difference. You can even listen to an audiobook together in the car! Then, spend a couple of minutes talking about what you read or listened to. What did they think about the events? What might happen next? What do they think the author is trying to say (main idea or meaning)? If you've got little kids at home, have your student take a couple of minutes each day and read to or with their siblings. Sometimes kids who are behind need a soft reminder that they still have skills they can share with others.
• Set Goals with Rewards: Work with your student to set a goal for reading, whether it's a set amount of reading minutes a week or a number of books to read, and then a reward that they would like for reaching that goal.

Even though it doesn't seem like it when you have a teenager, they pick up on what you think is important. If you start to place an emphasis on why reading is an important skill, they'll start to believe it too!

Keep up the hard work Patriots! We've got three months left to work hard, learn a lot, and prove that we are the BEST!

Mrs. Summers asked me to introduce myself and share a little bit of information about myself, so here we go.

I taught ESL for five years before becoming a history teacher. This is my second year teaching history, and I absolutely love it! I love studying history, and I could not be more excited to be teaching it. I am excited to help the students understand how to logically think through the multivariable nature of history and how they can apply that thinking to the world around them.

My wife is my favorite person in the world. We love to travel and adventure together. We recently moved back to the United States from South Korea. I am originally from Texas.

My hobbies include reading, writing, soccer, skateboarding, and chess. I got into hiking while living in South Korea (the whole country is mountains.) I am excited to be able to continue doing so in the beautiful mountains of this state. I would love to learn about mountaineering and rock climbing since this is supposed to be the best place in the world for both.

I love music and have fairly eclectic tastes.

Local establishment The Pie makes my favorite (and I believe the best) pizza in the world. I am VERY excited about this year, and I think we’ll all have a great time learning some amazing history!

Thanks!

Mr. Sosa

Patriots, we need your help, and we want to give you an opportunity to earn some life brownie points, which is very similar to gathering Mario Brother’s gold coins by coming to the school and lending an extra hand during the last school book fair of the year.

Like a choose-your-own-adventure book, all you need to do is click on the included link and find a day and time that works best for you. You are gonna wanna sign up fast before, just like a Taylor Swift concert, all of the best spots are snagged up.

Click here for your VIP volunteer bookfair all-access pass: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0e44abad2ba4fa7-phjh/60297283#/

Many of you are lucky enough to have Mrs. Wade as your dance teacher, and if you have her, you know she is passionate about making sure that everyone, with every body type and dance ability, feels welcome and confident in her class. She holds her students to a high standard and does not allow students to give anything but their very best.

An interesting thing to know is that Mrs. Wade holds herself to the exact same standards, and recently, in addition to all of her teaching responsibilities, she put herself back on the stage, which is something she has not done in a very time. She has even agreed to share the video of the performance with us, and if you look at the credits at the start, you will see a shout-out to Providence Hall. Click on the Surori button below and then watch the video carefully to see if you can find Mrs. Wade. ❤️

(She did AMAZING, so when you see her, make sure to tell her what a great job she did.)