SCHOOL
ZONE
Siuslaw News’ monthly school newsletter for the
Siuslaw & Mapleton School Districts and community
groups serving youth in the Siuslaw Region
TheSiuslawNews.com | October 2019 School Zone
Fire Prevention Month in Mapleton
O
n Tuesday, Oct. 8, Mapleton Elementary students got a visit from the Mapleton
Community Fire Department in celebration of Fire Prevention Month. Students and
teachers learned about the different parts of a fire truck, met local firefighters and got
to try on the firefighters’ helmets and gear. This was a great way for our kiddos to learn
how to be safe in a fire, and more importantly, how to prevent a fire from occurring. A big
thanks to the Mapleton Community Fire Department for spending the afternoon with
our elementary students. — Submitted by Superintendent Jodi O’Mara
Coast Radio’s annual Great Pumpkin Giveaway All are encouraged
O
n Thursday, Oct. 24, from 3 to 5 p.m., KCST/
KCFM Coast Radio is holding the 31st annu-
al Great Pumpkin Giveaway. All local families
are invited to attend to get a free pumpkin,
enjoy free hot dogs and root beer, and play
prizes. The giveaway takes place each year in
the Old School Furniture parking lot on Highway
101 in Florence. It is presented by Florence True
Value Hardware with help from Siuslaw Valley
Fire and Rescue, Florence-Siuslaw Lions Club
and more. For more info, visit kcfmradio.com.
PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
Wear red all week for Red Ribbon Week
The Red Ribbon Campaign is the
oldest and largest drug prevention pro-
gram in the nation, reaching millions of
young people during Red Ribbon Week,
Oct. 23 to 31 each year.
Siuslaw School District will be cele-
brating the school week of Oct. 28 to 31.
Red Ribbon Week is an ideal way for
people and communities to unite and
take a visible stand against drugs. People
can show their personal commitment to
a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol
of the Red Ribbon.
The Red Ribbon Campaign was start-
ed when drug traffickers in Mexico City
murdered DEA agent Kiki Camarena
in 1985. This began the continuing tra-
dition of displaying Red Ribbons as a
symbol of intolerance towards the use
of drugs.
The mission of the Red Ribbon Cam-
paign is to present a unified and visible
commitment towards the creation of a
drug-free America.
National Family Partnership is the
Look
for
KID
SCOOP
sponsor of the National Red Ribbon
Week Celebration. It is helping citi-
zens across the country come togeth-
er to keep children, families and com-
munities safe, healthy and drug-free,
through parent training, networking
and sponsoring the National Red Rib-
bon Campaign.
Siuslaw Elementary School is plan-
ning a Red Ribbon Week celebration
and encourage staff and students to
wear the red ribbon symbol.
Here are ways people can wear red
all week at Siuslaw:
Monday, Oct. 28 — “Put a Cap on
Drugs” and wear your favorite hat
Tuesday, Oct. 29 — “Put a Sock on
Drugs” and wear crazy socks or red
socks
Wednesday, Oct. 30 — “Hairs to a
Drug Free Life” with crazy hair
Thursday, Oct. 31 — “Be on a
Drug-Free Team” and wear your fa-
vorite team gear.
— Submitted by Lesa Carnahan
Kid Scoop runs every Wednesday in the Siuslaw News and fea-
tures educational stories and fun activities for families. The page
is part of the Siuslaw News’ Newspapers In Education program, in
which teachers from Siuslaw and Mapleton school districts may re-
quest copies of the local paper to use as curriculum in their class-
room. Call 541-997-3441 for more information.
to join Florence
Community PTA
Florence Community PTA serves all of
the public schools in the Siuslaw School
District. The PTA Mission is to make ev-
ery child’s potential a reality by engaging
and empowering families and communi-
ties to advocate for all children.
Locally, Florence Community PTA
has another great year planned for area
students, Florence families and staff and
teachers.
Starting off in August with a big
“welcome back” to staff, PTA gave a brief
presentation about the importance of
supporting PTA and provided apples to
all.
Later in September, Florence PTA
hosted a workshop on “Parenting in a
Digital World”, with guest speaker Collin
Robinson, a member of both the Oregon
and National PTA boards. Those who
attended learned about managing screen
time and safe online practices, and much
more.
In the upcoming months, PTA will
provide evening meals for teachers on
Parent/Teacher Conferences, participate
in the district-wide Color-A-Thon, and
host Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 7.
PTA meetings are held on the second
Tuesday of each month at 4:30 p.m., in
the Siuslaw Elementary School Library.
Refreshments, childcare and a door prize
are provided at each meeting.
Anyone can join PTA; you don’t have
to have a kid in school to support us.
If you have an interest in supporting
education in Florence and the surround-
ing community, then PTA membership
is for you. We won’t expect you to put
in great amounts of volunteer time, but
you can help where you’d like, if you’d
like.
For more information about Florence
Community PTA or to become a mem-
ber, contact Crystal Osburn, this year’s
PTA president, at florencecomumuni-
typta@yahoo.com. Like us on Facebook
at Florence Community PTA and visit
www.florencepta.org.
Submit to School Zone
Be a part of the Siuslaw News’ monthly newsletter for students in the Siuslaw and
Mapleton school districts. It runs September to May each school year.
Email Siuslaw News Features Editor Chantelle Meyer at cmeyer@thesiuslawnews.com