We are looking for photos from as many Jaguars as possible! Contributing your photos will help us remember all the fun we had this year. All you need to do is click the link and upload them here (Please send your pictures to the appropriate link):
If you’ve been wanting a chance to see how happy your Jaguar is during the school day, volunteering at the Book Fair is the perfect opportunity! Volunteers will assist children with shopping, fulfill book orders, and stock and straighten shelves. Click the sign up below to help from March 14th through March 20th.
The PTA is excited to offer discounted tickets to Hershey Park again this year! Now through April 12, you can purchase tickets to Hershey Park for just $45 each (a $5 savings per ticket)! Order forms were sent home with students,you can download the form here, or you can order online at the online PTA store.
Great News! Our “BOLDER, PROUDER, STRONGER READERS!” Scholastic Book Fair is on its way to SJLES Media Center and will be open for students during their media classes from March 14-21.
Special Evening Hours for Family Shopping will take place on Wednesday, March 20, from 3:55-7:30 PM. Families may also choose to shop online from March 13 – March 26. Proceeds from this fundraiser help support the SJLES PTA’s mission and programs.
To make this possible, we need volunteers to help students find and purchase their books. Please check out our sign up! Thank you for helping make sure this is a success! Contact the book fair team with any questions at sjlesbookfair@gmail.com.
Book Fair Volunteers MUST Complete These Requirements:
Make a Poster for our “BOLDER, PROUDER, STRONGER READERS!” Scholastic Book Fair and earn a Charm! Students can get posters and directions from outside Mrs. Peddicord’s art room. Posters are due back to Mrs. Peddicord by Friday, March 1st. All posters will be displayed around the school the week before the Book Fair.
Multicultural Night is an opportunity for SJLES families to celebrate and share their unique heritage with the community and for everyone to celebrate the rich diversity at our school. This special night promotes empathy, acceptance and unity for us in our SJLES community.
Date: Thursday, February 22nd (snow date: Thursday, February 29th)
Time: 6:00-8:00 PM
Please consider signing up to share about your culture, ethnicity, heritage and/or country of origin. Feel free to join together with other families and let us know how we can support you. See sign up for more details.
A: Read-a-thon is a reading fundraiser that makes it easy, fun and rewarding to practice reading at home and at school! There is no required number of books to read, and no specific time requirement. The goal is simply to have fun reading! Family and friends are invited to support students with a one-time donation.
Q: How long is the event?
A: The Read-a-thon officially begins on Monday, January 8, and runs through Friday, January 26, 2024. All Jaguars will have the opportunity to celebrate the start of Read-a-thon at the in-school Cozy Reading Day event assemblies, with an exciting and inclusive in-school event on Monday, January 8.
Q: How do I sign up?
A: Create your account right here by entering your student’s homeroom teacher code, listed below. Then invite family and friends to support your child’s Read-a-thon with a donation. It only takes a few minutes! During the registration process, you’ll have the option to send emails and texts to family and friends directly from the site, or you can have an email sent to your inbox that you’ll be able to forward as you wish. There is no requirement to read a certain number of books or minutes-per-day. However, reading minutes can be logged easily through your account if you wish to track and encourage your child’s reading.
Q: How does my child earn prizes?
Your child will earn 15% of all donations that they receive to spend in the prize store. Choose from more than 200 fun prizes! Stay tuned for more details about redeeming prizes.
Q: Are there sponsorship opportunities for businesses?
A: Do you own or manage a business that you’d like the SJLES community to know about? Read-a-thon offers ad sponsorships so your company’s information can be displayed on all the fundraising pages throughout the program. Go to Click HERE or go to https://www.read-a-thon.com/donate and enter SJLES’ code: 58529 to learn more.
Cozy Reading Day is during the school day on Monday, January 8th!
The Cozy Reading Team needs 2 volunteers per grade level to help. Please consider signing up from 2:00pm to 3:45pm to help organize and distribute materials and to help the Jaguars make bookmarks with their buddies. The volunteers will organize materials in the Staff Lounge (near the cafeteria).
*If you are a new volunteer, please take a few minutes prior to your shift to complete the following requirements. it is really just a few minutes, I promise! Please print out the forms and bring them with you to give to the front office staff.
We are delighted to share that our PTA earned grant funding from the National PTA to establish a ‘Healthy Minds’ program at SJLES to support the mental wellness of our school community.
Action Requested
Please help shape the program by providing input here by December 31st. No identifying information is required, you are welcome to keep your responses confidential.
The Healthy Minds PTA planning committee is working in close partnership with our school counselors, Ms. Poirier and Ms. Diaz, and will announce details of the program in January. We are proactively focusing on mental wellness because when our minds are healthy and strong, we are more resilient to life’s challenges, able to use healthy coping methods, have better relationships, maintain our overall health and well-being, and prevent chronic illnesses.
In this season, be kind to yourself. “No one can show up 100% of the time… Remember that you occasionally need to slow down and preserve your energy to fully restore your well-being” – Yung Pueblo
Need Help
If you have an immediate need for help with depression, suicidal thoughts, or other serious mental health issues, please contact:
Grassroots Crisis Intervention at 410-531-6677
The Maryland Crisis Hotline: Dial 211 and then choose option 1
The Crisis Text Line: Text 741741 and a trained counselor will respond.
The National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255
SJLES will be collecting student drawn Turkey Trot posters and canned food donations for the Howard County Food Bank October 23rd through November 13th.
Our 17th annual Turkey Trot is coming up on Sunday, November 19th from 10am to 12pm at Mt Hebron High School Track. The rain date will be December 3rd.
Students are invited to:
1) Make a poster for the Turkey Trot that will be displayed in the SJLES hallways to earn an art charm. Blank posters can be picked up from Mrs. Peddicord starting October 23rd, and each poster must include the words “SJLES Turkey Trot”, a picture of a turkey, and the student’s name, grade, and teacher on the back. Posters must be received no later than November 13th to qualify for the charm.
2) Donate non-perishable/canned food items for the Howard County Food Bank between October 23rd and November 13th. Please bring all items to the students’ homeroom class where they will be counted. The homeroom for each grade with the most donations will receive the coveted Golden Turkey Award!
3) Participate in the Turkey Trot Fun Run/Walk on November 19th. This event is for the whole family. Please RSVP for the Turkey Trot and sign your participation waiver! Waivers will be available on-site the morning of the event but we ask participants to please fill out the form in advance online so we can estimate the number of participants.
We welcome all volunteers to please sign up here to make our Turkey Trot a success. Set up will start promptly at 9am and end by 12:30pm.
Turkey Trot Agenda:
9:00-10:00 – Set up (Volunteers needed)
10:00-10:15 – Registration
10:15-10:30 – Warm-up
10:30-10:45 – Opening Ceremony
Travel to bleachers
Welcome Announcements
Flag Ceremony
National Anthem
10:45-11:15 – Trot Time
11:15-11:30 – Cool Down Dance Party and Prize Collection