From the Superintendent

November 13, 2009

Greetings and Happy Friday,

Last night I was so grateful to be amongst friends, staff and colleagues who provided me and my wife Rana with such a warm community reception. Thank you to the Board and others who coordinated the event and for the kind words shared by many of you. As Rana and I have said repeatedly, we are so grateful to be living in Lacey. The quality of life here is so wonderful and every day we meet new people who make us feel very welcome in our new home.

I realize that November is traditionally a time for giving thanks. It makes my heart feel good to know that our staff and community are doing so much to help fill the buckets of others and help families and students in need: Lacey K-Club is having a food drive; Charlie's Safari is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for some of our families; the District Office is collecting "feather" donations to buy gift cards to help with Thanksgiving dinners for 10 district families, South Bay's special education families are doing a holiday dinner, Lydia Hawk and Mountain View schools collected over 7,000 cans of food for the Thurston County Food Bank - and the list goes on.

In the spirit of giving, I am very excited to announce that we are helping lead a new membership drive to support the very local North Thurston Education Foundation . This volunteer-run organization directly supports our students, schools and teachers through a series of learning grants, emergency funds for needs and scholarships. Since 1989 this volunteer organization has given more than $360,000 to help enhance educational opportunities for our students and teachers. I encourage you to consider helping us make an easy 100 percent participation goal to help directly support our students in need. If everyone gave just $1 a month, that would be almost $20,000 to help students . If you are considering donating to NTEF, we recommend you do so directly, through a cash donation or p ayroll deduction. Donations envelopes were sent to all the schools along with some informational brochures for staff rooms. This drive will last through December 4. To learn more about NTEF visit their website at www.ntef.org . Building principals, school counselors and the Student and Staff Support Department (360-412-4466) work with families in need to connect them with needed resources.

We also use November to promote the United Way of Thurston County's annual fund campaign. Last year our district gave more than $17,000 to help support local organizations and other programs such as Success by Six and the South Sound Reading Foundation. Forms are available at each school or district office. Payroll deductions are an option but must be renewed each year. This campaign will wrap up Nov. 25.

Thank you all again for your generosity, for your time and all the donations given from the heart.

Raj Manhas, Superintendent