News from the Nest
Jay Shideler Elementary - November 2025
Welcome to November!
November is a perfect time to reflect and express gratitude. A time to truly reflect on what brings us joy and happiness. Do you have a moment to send a quick thank you note or email to a staff member at Jay Shideler? A simple note of appreciation can change a staff member's day. Positive connections between home and school foster mutual respect and a stronger learning environment for all. A quick thank you or a bright message always has a positive impact! If you would like to thank a staff member, you can do so using the following link.
📚 Scholastic Book Fair
We are excited to have the Book Fair open during the week of November 17-20. Students will preview the fair during their class time and it will be open for shopping each day from 7:30-3:30 p.m.
More info will be sent home soon for directions on how to set up your eWallet. This allows you to add money so your student can shop at the fair. They will have access to the amount you choose to spend and will not be able to go over that amount.
Cooler Temperatures
The weather changes quickly! Be sure to send a hoodie or jacket to school with your child. We take students outside for recess as long as the temperature is above 20 degrees and it is not raining.
We also have a growing pile of lost and found items in the cafeteria. If you are missing jackets or hoodies at your home, remind your child to check the lost and found the next time they go to lunch.
EARLY RELEASE
Students will be dismissed at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, November 5th for district early release.
NO SCHOOL
There is no school November 24-28 due to Thanksgiving break.
Dear Blue Jay Families,
It was great to see so many parents at conferences. Often, I feel like our second nine weeks flies by so quickly with all the holidays and extra things to do, I try to savor as many days as I can. This month we are focusing on gratitude. I feel incredibly grateful to be part of the JS family. It is a pleasure to be able to see all our kids and watch them grow. Several former students have stopped by to say hello to staff and it’s so awesome to hear about how they are doing and what they are excited about. I’ve had conversations about kindness and empathy as we focused on bully awareness in October. Our students have some profound things to say and I’m trying to soak it all up.
This month, Ms. Lynch, Mrs. Bradshaw and I are collaborating on some gratitude activities, and the week of November 9th , we would like to do a small food drive for our Auburn Washburn families. We know that this could be a tight November for many with the government shutdown. Often holidays are difficult for families. We would love it if families could send in things like: oatmeal, mac and cheese/box meals, pasta, pasta sauce, etc. We will collect these items and donate them to our district food pantry. Andrea Okruhlik is our family resource person and she will help us get these items to families in need.
Thank you again for all your generosity with all our fundraisers this year! I look forward to seeing lots of families during our thanksgiving lunch.
Mrs. Kickhaefer
785-339-4615
Thank you to all who helped with set up, decorating, provided the classroom requested items and made this another smooth and successful Sock Hop. It was a fun filled night!
We will kick off Gift of Giving on November 17th. This is an opportunity for us to give back to organizations that are helping our local community. We rotate from year to year and collect items requested by the groups. More information to come soon! We will send home the wish lists, so please send in items if you can. We present our donations to the organizations at an assembly on December 18th.
During the month of December we will be opening our Penguin Holiday shop. Watch for a sign up to come out soon to volunteer!
Thanks as always for your support.
Katie Elwell,
Gift of Giving Chair