Thank you to Our Community from Ara and Seth

Dear Sacajaweans,

As we end this school year, Seth and I wanted to express our gratitude to every member of this community. You all have supported each other, our teachers, our children, and our school in meaningful ways.

You sprang into action when schools closed in March, collecting money, food, and supplies to make sure no family at Sacajawea fell through the cracks. Charlene Shanahan, Mr. Walker, and the entire Packs for Kids and Equity Teams continue to do fantastic work here, and we couldn’t be more thankful for you.

As parents, you became aspiring educators and learned to handle Zoom calls, reading sessions, math workbooks, and more. You’ve been pulled in more directions than ever before, and we applaud your commitment to your children and families.

And of course, we’re incredibly grateful to our teaching staff at Sacajawea, who continued to educate our children while guiding us as co-educators from home. Further, our teachers were continually experimenting and improving their processes along the way.

Though the pandemic has been hard, we’ve endured together, and we’ve learned about our collective resilience. What the next school year holds for us all is unclear. However, we’re confident that we can face it together.

In addition to the global health crisis, we’ve watched our nation start to acknowledge that racism is a real, pervasive, and constant threat to the lives and liberties of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and non-white Americans. We’ll continue our work on racial equity and anti-racism at Sacajawea, and we’ll need your help along the way. You can get started by educating yourself, talking to your kids, and speaking up against injustice.

Finally, please remember that this summer, our Packs for Kids team will work to provide extra support to any family at Sac in need. If you’d like to help, please be in touch with Charlene Shanahan (cyshanahan@seattleschools.org). We’ll send out reminders throughout the summer to call for additional help and donations as we need them.

Thanks again for being a part of this community, and we look forward to being together one day soon.

Sincerely,

Ara Swanson Merkens and Seth Bridges
2019-2020 Sac PTA Co-chairs