Trail Talk Newsletter
May 2026
Congratulations Students!
Congratulations to all the kids for a fantastic school year! They've tackled new subjects, grown so much, and reached the finish line with hard work and determination. Finishing another grade is a huge milestone, and they should be incredibly proud of everything they've learned and the friendships built along the way.
A glimpse at what your PTA support meant this year...
Student Fun:
Fun Run, Homecoming Parade, Monster Mash, Carnival, Movie Night, field trips, assemblies, 6th grade celebration, Field Day, yearbooks, variety show and more.
Learning & Enrichment:
Teacher grants (which means lots of new supplies), field trips and assemblies, book fairs, the 3rd grade Bike Rodeo, Chess Club and more.
Community & Connection:
Why Cook Wednesdays, skate parties, spirit wear, Community Cares, staff appreciation, bulletin boards, Trailblazer of the Month and more.
Funding through your support:
Thanks to your incredible generosity during the Fall Fun Run, our Spring Auction, WCWs, and Skate Parties, our PTA continues to thrive. We can’t wait to keep this momentum going with you next year!
Kristal Leiker — Trailblazer of the Month: April 2026
The Santa Fe Trail Elementary PTA is delighted to announce the winner of the April 2026 Trailblazer of the Month Award: Kristal Leiker.
After 15 years as the principal of SFT, and a total of 35 years as an educator, Ms. Leiker will be retiring at the end of this school year. As PTA’s final expression of gratitude, we are pleased to recognize her many years of dedication to our school and her genuine care for our students and families.
“Ms. Leiker cares about kids and their success not only as a student, but also as a person,” said one nominator. “She knows everyone's name. She is a great example of what a principal should be and she will be missed."
Read the full article about Ms. Leiker here: Kristal Leiker April 2026.docx
Leiker Ln coming soon!
National Teacher Day Tuesday May 5th
Our PTA is lucky to be able to celebrate our teachers all year long BUT as we near Teacher Appreciation Week and National Teacher Day on Tuesday May 5th, we would like to share with you some of our teachers and staff members' favorite things.
If you feel moved to give a gift to a teacher and/or staff member, please use the link to guide you to a Google Sheet with everyone's favorites!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QYI48oNthJKQ-9gL3LSOUtH8KH9zxOjXFINoArTp0Ks/edit?usp=sharing
Nominate an SFT Volunteer for the Annual Susan Dixon Award!
The Susan Dixon Volunteer Award is given annually to honor the life of Susan Dixon, a Santa Fe Trail parent and PTA member who died of cancer in 2003. The award is given to a PTA volunteer who exemplifies Susan’s giving nature and uplifting spirit. Candidates for the award are:
- Typically, but not exclusively, a volunteer whose youngest child is graduating from sixth grade.
- Typically, but not exclusively, a volunteer whose child(ren) attended K-6 at Santa Fe Trail.
- A volunteer who has been an active member of PTA for all/most of the period their child(ren) attended Santa Fe Trail.
Any individual in the Santa Fe Trail community can submit a nomination for the Susan Dixon Volunteer Award by completing this nomination form. If you know an SFT PTA volunteer who you think should be considered for the Susan Dixon Volunteer Award, please complete the brief nomination form by next week.
- Nominate here: https://forms.gle/in4HZQdVPLL6U7f59
- NOMINATIONS ARE DUE FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2026.
Order School Supplies for Next Year Now
We’re excited to announce that the PTA has partnered again with EPI to offer convenient, pre-packaged school supply packs for the 2026-27 school year!
No more hunting down every item on the list—school supply packs are tailored to your child’s grade. (Packs do NOT include headphones, water bottles or backpacks and those items will need to be provided separately)
Supply packs will be delivered to your child’s classroom in time for Meet the Teacher Night—right before the first day of school.
Order now with our School ID of SAN316 at EPI School Supply Packs - Educational Products, Inc.
Price per pack increases $5 May 19th. Last day to order is June 14th.
Please direct any questions to Tammy McMahon sfttreasurer@gmail.com
Printable Breakfast and Lunch Menu!
District Breakfast and Lunch menu (printable version): Coming soon
SFT May Lunch Visitor Sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094AABAE22AB9-62412497-maylunch
Details on SFT lunchroom visits can be found on the SFT website linked here:
https://santafetrail.smsd.org/families/lunchroom-information
Free/reduced lunch application, apply any time of year: SchoolCafé - SHAWNEE MISSION SCHOOLS
Order Now!
Missed the yearbook deadline on InterState? No worries! We’ve set up a late-order option in Givebacks so you can still purchase your yearbook directly through the PTA.
Order here: Givebacks
May 2026 PTA Newsletter
Greetings SFT Families!
We are moving into our final month of school. Our instruction continues so that students can achieve mastery of the priority standards and show needed growth. We will be doing our Spring Benchmark testing which includes Math and Reading MAP tests, and the Acadience tests through May 15th. All grades will be testing so please check your teacher newsletters for dates for your students. Be sure they get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast, so they have the best chance at showing us what they have learned on the tests.
Please remember that school attendance remains very important for students to succeed even this late in the year. Our school percentage of students who were chronically absent was about 7% for the month of March. This is the percentage of students missing ten percent or more of the school days due to absence for any reason.
Thank you to all the families that planned, worked on, or donated items to make the Carnival a great success. Thanks to the PTA for giving bands to all SFT students to make it accessible for everyone. Jennifer Harmes and her PTA team created a great experience from start to end. It was wonderful seeing the community together enjoying the evening!
We want to thank our families who team together with us to be sure our students are set up for success each day. We are going to have a great month of May!
It has been an honor leading this school for the past 15 years. I will take many memories and friendships with me when I move on to my next adventure.
Thank you to this wonderful SFT Family,
Ms. Leiker
Circle Drive – We can work together to keep everyone safe.
Drivers – Please remember that you may not turn left into the circle drive during arrival and dismissal times. Approach heading east and turn left only to avoid holding up traffic at the intersection or walkers that may be nearby.
Pre-K & YMCA Parents – Please do not park in in the circle driver during school drop-off (7:50-8:10) and pick-up (3:00-3:20) so our car line can keep moving forward.
Note from the Social Worker - Rebecca Grant
May always seems to bring a little extra energy; excitement for summer, pride in how far students have come, and sometimes a few big feelings mixed in, too!
As we head toward the finish line, this is a great time to celebrate growth and remind kids that effort matters more than perfection. A little extra patience (for kids and grown-ups!) can go a long way right now. Looking ahead to summer, keeping a simple routine—like a regular bedtime or a bit of daily reading—can help make those long, sunny days feel a little smoother. I hope you all have the best summer ever!
Proper Footwear
For safety reasons, please assist us to be sure students have the proper footwear each day. Flip flops and slides are not safe and should not be worn to school. Students have opened doors and scrape the skin off the tops of their feet, tripped and fallen over their floppy flip-flops, slipped right out of them or stubbed their toes kicking a ball. Students go out to recess each day and many classes also do movement breaks in the room throughout the day. Crocs need to have the back strap down to help secure them. Ms. Fescoe would like you to remember that tennis shoes are needed on PE days so students can safely participate in all the activities. We appreciate your support in keeping everyone safe.
Attendance
Please remember to call the Attendance Line at 913-993-5088 before 8:30 a.m. any day your child will be. absent or tardy. We appreciate you remembering to do this so office staff and complete attendance and move on to work with students. If you child has an appointment, please get a note from the provider for your child to turn in at the office.
Pre-K Meet and Greet
Our Pre-K Kick-Off is scheduled for Thursday, May 7th at 4:00. Please contact our office for questions about our grant funded half-day Pre-K program.
SFT Staff Leaving at the End of the Year:
Principal: Kristal Leiker
Special Education SER: Laura Bertholf 3rd: Erin Nolan
5th Eric Raduzycki
Halftime Special Education Resource: Becky Brenner
Parttime ELL Teacher: Lauren Mihelic
Para: Laurie Finkelstein
Para: Lisa Baniewicz
Para: Melissa Baum
SER Para: Sheila Broecker
Joining SFT for 2026-2027
Principal: Kayla Grodzicki (Ratzloff)
3rd: Lucy Friesen (recent graduate)
5th: Randi Eaton (currently teaching 5th at Nieman)
Special Education SER: Grace Bevitt
Halftime Special Education Resource: Marivic Peterson
Upcoming Dates
May 1 - Kindergarten to Deanna Rose 8:30-12:45
May 1 - 3rd Bike Rodeo
May 6 – Nurses Day
May 7 - 6th to Kauffman Stadium 8:45-2:00
May 7 - Pre-K Meet & Greet 4:00-5:00
May 8 - Field Day
May 13 - 6th to Brkthrough 10:30-2:00 PM
May 15 – Rain Day for Field Day
May 18 – Last Day for Pre-K
May 18 - Yearbook Signing 9:30-10:00
May 18 – 6th Grade Celebration 1:00-3:00
May 19 – Early Dismissal 12:30 Grades 1-6
Final Events of the School Year!
Note: This list is PTA sponsored events and not a full list of everything happening at the school.
May 1 - Kindergarten to Deanna Rose 8:30-12:45
May 1 - 3rd Bike Rodeo
May 5- National Teachers Day
May 7 - 6th to Kauffman Stadium 8:45-2:00
May 7 - Pre-K Meet & Greet 4:00-5:00
May 8 - Field Day
May 13 - 6th to Brkthrough 10:30-2:00 PM
May 18 - Last Day for Pre-K
May 18 - Yearbook Signing 9:30-10:00
May 18 - 6th Grade Celebration 1:00-3:00
May 19 - Early Dismissal 12:30 Grades 1-6 (meet at Mohawk Park after school!)
SFT All School Calendar: https://santafetrail.smsd.org/calendar/calendar_388.ics
SMSD District Calendar: https://santafetrail.smsd.org/calendar/calendar_348.ics
PTA Website: Home - Santa Fe Trail PTA Website
Listen to the SMSD Podcast
Shawnee Mission Mic’d Up
The podcast is a conversational storytelling platform that allows our community to hear directly from our superintendent while highlighting the people, programs, and plans that make us ONE Shawnee Mission. New episodes drop every other Thursday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and other podcasting platforms. Here’s how you can help!
💌 Follow us on your preferred podcast platform!
Listen to the SMSD Podcast - New Episodes of Shawnee Mission Mic’d Up | News Archive Details
A New Addition to the SFT Newsletter
SMAC PTA's The Councilor newsletter provides information about important dates and signature programs:
Staff Appreciation for Non-PTA Buildings, Cultural Arts, Clothing Exchange, Legislative, DEI.
Read SMAC PTA'S Newsletter Here: THE COUNCILOR | Smore Newsletters for Education
Clothing Exchange Info - New TEEN shopping dates!
The Shawnee Mission Area Council PTA Clothing Exchange offers gently used clothing and shoes from infant to adult sizes. The Exchange is a free service open to those who live within the SMSD boundaries is open on select days. All are welcome to shop on designated days. Donations are accepted 24/7 just place items in the bin outside!
Click on the above for Shopping Dates, Underwear & Socks Program Information, Donation and for info to volunteer.
Located at the Shawnee Mission School District Early Childhood Education Center
6701 W. 83rd St | Overland Park, KS 66204
Entrance in the back - Door #7
Bring your Photo I.D.
Help SFT PTA earn cashback donations by shopping brands and restaurants you love. It's simple!
With Givebacks, when you shop and dine at participating stores and restaurants, those merchants automatically donate a percentage to the cause of your choice.
HOW IT WORKS? READ ABOUT IT HERE Givebacks - How Shop to Give works
To make sure you're all set up to give, register for a Givebacks account and securely link your credit card. Then, select Santa Fe Trail as the cause of your choice. https://www.givebacks.com/join/sft
Questions, Comments, Ideas? Connect with SFT PTA!
Email: sftptapresident@gmail.com
Location: 7100 Lamar Avenue, Overland Park, KS, USA
Facebook: SFT Trailblazer Connection | Facebook
Website: www.sftpta.org