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April 13, 2022
Dear PTS families,
It is a great day for a family message because we have a few exciting events on the horizon as well as a couple of victories that are worth sharing.
First, I’d like to thank everybody – and there were a lot of you – who showed up last Saturday for the tree-planting event that was held on the grounds of both Talent Middle School and Talent Elementary. Yes, on Pear Blossom Saturday we had at least 100 volunteers, including several TMS and TES staff members, on hand to help plant 84 trees. According to the City of Talent’s Urban Forestry Committee chair Mike Oxendine and Talent city councilor Jason Clark, it may have been the state’s largest Arbor Month tree-planting so far this year.
The Arbor Month event was funded entirely by donations ($25,000!) and, besides beautifying those areas for decades to come, turned out to be a great excuse for the PTS community to come together. In her weekly newsletter to parents, TES principal Heather Lowe Rogers said, “I was so happy to see our first graders planting trees alongside seniors who had been in our school a decade ago. The work and organization that went into preparing for the planting were also simply amazing.” Agreed.
Only a few hours after the tree-planting began, Phoenix High’s own Maddy Mayer represented her school and our entire district on the Pear Blossom Parade route as the 2022 Pear Blossom queen. In case you haven’t heard, Maddy was crowned queen of the 69th annual Pear Blossom Festival at the pageant’s competition on Saturday, March 26, and is believed to be the first PHS student to be named queen since 2009. Congratulations, Maddy! You’ve made us all proud.
Looking ahead, we have two very important dates right around the corner that you should know about if you don’t already. On Saturday, Phoenix High students and staff volunteers will be doing odd jobs for local families during the first-ever Pirate Care Day, an event that will become an annual tradition. And then, the following Wednesday, each of our elementary schools will be hosting Kinder Launch events.
I’m so excited for Pirate Care Day for the same reason I was excited about the tree-planting: it’s another fantastic opportunity for members of the PTS family to get to know each other while also giving back to this amazingly big-hearted community that has supported us in so many ways. After an early-morning huddle at PHS, volunteers will be dispatched to their assigned worksites and get busy on projects that may range from mowing lawns to helping load up a trailer for a trip to the dump. As of Tuesday, we had 40 people sign up to volunteer and seven local households that had requested the free service.
Meanwhile, the Kinder Launch is set for Wednesday, April 20, from 3-6 p.m. There, parents and guardians of incoming kindergartners – that is, children who turn 5 before Sept. 1, 2022 – can meet their teachers, ask questions and register. To register your kinder, you must bring their birth certificate and most up-to-date immunization records. You can also register online now, by going here, but I recommend connecting with your teacher, if possible.
Lastly, I just want to express how proud I am of this district and all the amazing things that are happening here. In the past week alone, we received two $10,000 grants from the Portland Trail Blazers Foundation, installed a new scoreboard at the PHS softball field (Phoenix Mayor Terry Baker and Talent Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood will both speak at the dedication) and at Phoenix Elementary, raised over $3,000 through a book fair. None of these things would be possible without you, your students, this staff and the personal connections that I believe make PTS a uniquely collaborative district.
In less than two months, on June 11, we’ll be celebrating the Class of 2022 as the Phoenix High seniors walk across the stage at PT Rising Field. Keep up the great work everybody. We are almost there!
Brent Barry, Superintendent