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Phone-a-Thon Raises $41,000!
 Park City parents have done it again! With your help, PCEF raised over $41,000 during the recent Phone-a-Thon. Thank you to our 130 volunteers for making phone calls, all of the parents who made donations and pledges, and sponsors Winder Farms, The UPS Store Park City, and Papa John's! Huge thank you to all of the parents who BEAT THE CALL and donated their $180 per student earlier in the year! BEAT THE CALL raised $28,000 in early January and gave many parents an opportunity to skip their designated Phone-a-Thon call. Between the Phone-a-Thon and BEAT THE CALL, PCEF will be able to invest almost $70,000 more into our schools for our students! This year, PCEF will invest over $500,000 back into PCSD Schools with the mission to advance student achievement. Check out the Phone-a-Thon article in the Park Record here. |
RWE and February Facebook Giveaways!
Join the celebration of our schools and teachers. Register now for the race that's a party - RWE 2013! It's the Park City Relay that everyone can do, from the novice jogger to the expert runner. You've heard how much fun it was last year, so don't wait! Gather your friends, your neighbors, your family, and be a part of this awesome community event. To sweeten the deal, we are offering February Facebook Giveaways! Register and be eligible to win terrific team prizes. Last week JRES teacher Susan Boone won 5 boxes of Probars for her team. This week we are giving away 5 insulated drink bottles from Backcountry.com. Register early so you have more chances of winning, and check out the RWE Facebook page for all the fun and info. Back again in all it's glory is the Ragnar Challenge Grant! $5,000 to the school with the highest participation, $3,000 for 2nd, and $2,000 for 3rd. New this year, every school that gets to 50% participation will receive $1,000. Runners count for 4 points towards the grants, so register, and win money for your school! Go to www.runningwithed.com. |
Funding Focus - Special Education
In keeping with its commitment to advance achievement for all students in our district, PCEF has given several special ed teacher grants over the last few years.
Last year JRES teachers Susan Boone & Julie Lonczak were awarded a grant for an adaptive tricycle. The adaptive tricycle increases fitness, promotes motor planning, influences behavior, and provides a peer-appropriate activity that may be used during class time, PE, or recess.
Park City Learning Center teacher Tessie Palczynski is responsible for making sure special needs kids are ready to live on their own. She was awarded a grant that funded Jupiter Bowling trips once a month for 8 months. The trips were age appropriate, social and community activities that help students as they move from on-campus, school based activities, to off-campus independent living, vocational, family and community based activities. Students with more severe disabilities need to have multiple and frequent opportunities to transfer their instruction out in the real world. Students had to budget their money, figure out the bus schedule, order shoes in the appropriate size, and have fun as a group!
This year, TMJH teacher Angie Erickson was awarded a grant to teach the valuable life skills of nutrition, shopping, cooking, and cleaning. The students plan menus, go out and purchase foods using strategies taught in math class, and come back to cook and clean up. The students will learn to budget the $100 per month grant money for their purchases, which is a valuable life-applicable skill. Peer tutors help make the experience less stressful. Ms Erickson notes, "Because of the mini-grant, students get to practice their learning in real-life conditions, which sets them up for success later on."
PCHS teachers Laura Huggins and Sue Pannebaker requested a Cuisinart 16 cup Food Processor, which will be used to train students to complete the cooking process. Learning to cook is a critical life skill for these students, and using knives to chop is an almost impossible task. The Cuisinart only requires the push of a button, so chopping becomes a skill that is much more accessible.
We applaud these fantastic teachers who think outside the box to advance their students' achievement! For more info on PCEF grants, go to www.pcef4kids.org.
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PCCAPS Parent Nights
 - Feb. 27th - Park City School District PCCAPS parent information night. 6-7pm Park City High School lecture hall.
- March 11th - Park City School District PCCAPS parent information night. 6-7pm Park City High School
- PCCAPS Registration is March 12-13.
- Learn more at caps.pcschools.us.
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Teacher Spotlight - NEW
We are happy to introduce a new section of our newsletter - Teacher Spotlight! Each month we will highlight an elementary and secondary teacher in our district. This month we are proud to spotlight PPES teacher Angie Dufner, and PCHS English teacher Sharon Ellsworth-Nielson.
Angie Dufner 
Angie is in her 5th year teaching at PPES, and in her second year as the English language side of the first grade Dual Immersion class. She started her teaching career in 1995 in Chicago, with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Her husband's job took him to Park City so often, they moved here permanently in 2008. Parley's happened to need another first grade teacher after the school year started. Angie got the job and started that October.
"It's my dream job," she says. "I was working on my Master's in ELL instruction in Chicago. We clustered classes, so half my class were English Language Learners. Then, in my third year at Parley's, I was assigned the at-risk Kindergarten class. I loved working with those kids. At the end of the year, the Dual Immersion position opened up for first grade. I got the position, and so was able to loop up with my kinder class. I had them for two years, and I LOVED it!"
"This is the hardest job I've ever had, and it's absolutely the most rewarding! It is so challenging, but so meaningful. I love language arts, and the best part of my job is seeing the progress my students make. It's also unique in that you share your class with another teacher, and you have to be willing to compromise. It's like a marriage, in that you have to be united in front of the kids. I have an awesome partner in Michele Interian."
Angie has three kids in the school district, including a daughter in her own class! She loves spending time with her family, reading, and being healthy.
Sharon Ellsworth-Nielson 
Sharon is in her second year as an English teacher at PCHS, but she taught for 16 years previously in the Tooele School District. "After raising my family, my husband and I wanted to move to Salt Lake. We did, and I started looking for jobs that might be closer. I met PCHS English teacher Kelly Yeates 12 years ago at Teacher Academy, and had heard from her ever since how great PCHS was. Then, she called me and encouraged me to apply when a job opening became available. I was thrilled when I got the job, and I LOVE teaching here. Park City seems to have the recipe for creating excellent public schools - the best in the state."
Sharon was inspired to be an English teacher by her own 10th grade English teacher. "He made us feel like we could do anything, that he was thrilled to hear what we had to say, and that what we wrote was worth reading. I try to do that in my classroom."
Sharon and her husband have 9 kids, and are empty nesters now, with a growing cadre of grandchildren. Her passions are family, travel, yoga (she teaches a class!) church work, and hiking. "I'm looking forward to finishing all my 'new teacher training,' so I can hike all the beautiful trails up here!"
Sharon's best day as a teacher? "My best days are when a discussion veers off to the unexpected, when I just sit back and listen to my students say these amazingly profound things, when they speak passionately, yet politely, and perhaps change another student's opinion."
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