From the Voyager Academy Managing Director, March 17, 2023

 

Viking Weekly News


March 17, 2023

Dear Voyager Community,

Thank you to all the families that attended conferences during the teacher workdays on Monday and Tuesday to review student progress. Family and school partnership is so very important to support the needs of our students. It’s hard to believe the third marking period has concluded and report cards will be sent home shortly. Thank you to all the parents that have provided such delicious luncheons each month for our staff. What a great way to make them feel special throughout the year!

PBL in Action

Our second graders shared their incredible Change Maker project celebration with parents and staff on Friday. The second grade PBL project integrated cross curricular content including art, music, literacy, social studies, and math. This project was an excellent representation of our PBL work and how everyone can make a difference to make our world a better place. Students in each class identified actions they could take to improve our community and included “Dream, Be Kind, Change The World, Be A Light, and Stand Up”. Students also created artwork representing each way they could make a difference which will be hung in the front office of the Elementary School.  Students also performed a reading of Amanda Gorman’s book, Change Sings. Ms. Sawyer partnered with the second-grade teachers to plan a musical performance with each class that represented their class project. The student performance was fabulous and brought smiles and tears to many in the audience. Thank you to Ms. Flowe-Dawson who created a video highlighting the performance.  The 2nd Grade “We Are The Change” performance link is below. 

2nd Grade “We Are The Change”

Following the performances in the gym students shared the PBL process with their parents in their class room explaining the stages of the PBL process and activities completed. The in-class process demonstrated student learning across all the content areas and showcased student voice and agency. I had the pleasure of having Ellie Thompson from Ms. Bickers class provide me with an overview of all their class activities related to their Be The Change project. We’re so lucky to have such amazing children and educators making a difference in our community and spreading kindness and light.

Culture and Climate Survey

Thank you to all the families that have responded to our culture and climate survey. Our culture and climate survey launched on Monday, February 27th. To date, we’ve had 605 responses from our families, representing 30.1% of parent/guardian emails. Our goal is to have 100 % participation. The email was sent from Panorama Education so please check your email so you can share your feedback.  Measuring and implementing community feedback is part of our Cognia accreditation process and will help guide our future strategic planning process so that we can focus on continuous improvement. Today is the last day to complete the survey and share your feedback.

DPAC Country Songwriter’s Night was a Sell Out

Thank you to all the families and staff that came out on Friday night for the Country Songwriter’s night. It was a sold-out event ! The eight songwriters that performed had over 120 combined hits recorded. We are grateful to Jeff Outlaw and the Loud Lemon Foundation for organizing the event to support Voyager Arts programs.

Please remember that students will have remote learning days on March 27th and March 28th.  We are all here to support your child grow, learn, and find their passion.  Feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher, building administrator, or student support if we can assist your family in any way. Check out the upcoming events and all the updates below from our School Nurse, Student Support Team, Operations Manager, and Athletic Director below. Have a great weekend!

All the best,

Upcoming Dates:

3/18 - Voyage into Service (final event): NC Diaper Bank, 9:30-11:30am

3/20-3/24  STEM week at Voyager Elementary

3/20- Vaping 101 Session with 9th graders (Poe Center)

3/21- Vaping 101 Session with 6th, 7th, 8th (Poe Center)

3/21 - 3rd Grade Math NCCI 3

3/21 - ACT Make-ups 

3/24 - Teacher Recruiting Fair - 1 pm at MS

3/25 - HS Choir & Band: Powhatan Classic (Powhatan, VA)

3/27-3/28 – Remote Learning Days





WEEKLY NURSES UPDATE:

Anxiety and Depression in Children

Many children have fears and worries or may feel sad and hopeless from time to time. Strong fears may appear at different times during development. For example, toddlers are often very distressed about being away from their parents, even if they are safe and cared for. Although fears and worries are typical in children, persistent or extreme forms of fear and sadness could be due to anxiety or depression. 

What is anxiety?

When a child does not outgrow the fears and worries that are typical in young children, or when there are so many fears and worries that they interfere with school, home, or play activities, the child may be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Examples of different types of anxiety disorders include:

  • Being very afraid when away from parents 

  • Having extreme fear about a specific thing or situation, such as dogs, insects, or going to the doctor 

  • Being very afraid of school and other places where there are people 

  • Being very worried about the future and about bad things happening

  • Having repeated episodes of sudden, unexpected, intense fear that come with symptoms like heart pounding, having trouble breathing, or feeling dizzy, shaky, or sweaty

What is depression?

Occasionally being sad or feeling hopeless is a part of every child’s life. However, some children feel sad or uninterested in things that they used to enjoy, or feel helpless or hopeless in situations they are able to change. When children feel persistent sadness and hopelessness, they may be diagnosed with depression.  Examples of behaviors often seen in children with depression include:

  • Feeling sad, hopeless, or irritable a lot of the time

  • Not wanting to do or enjoy doing fun things

  • Showing changes in eating patterns – eating a lot more or a lot less than usual

  • Showing changes in sleep patterns – sleeping a lot more or a lot less than normal

  • Showing changes in energy – being tired and sluggish or tense and restless a lot of the time

  • Having a hard time paying attention

  • Feeling worthless, useless, or guilty

  • Showing self-injury and self-destructive behavior

Extreme depression can lead a child to think about suicide or plan for suicide. For youth ages 10-24 years, suicide is among the leading causes of death. Read about youth suicide prevention.

What should parents know about anxiety and depression in children?

Some of the signs and symptoms of anxiety or depression in children could be caused by other conditions. Anxiety may present as fear or worry, but can also make children irritable and angry.  Anxiety symptoms can also include trouble sleeping, as well as physical symptoms like fatigue, headaches, or stomachaches. Some anxious children keep their worries to themselves and their symptoms can be missed.  Some children may not talk about their helpless and hopeless thoughts, and may not appear sad. Depression might also cause a child to act out or act unmotivated, causing others not to notice that the child is depressed or to incorrectly label the child as a trouble-maker or lazy.

The first step to treatment is to talk with a healthcare provider such as your child’s pediatrician or a mental health specialist.  The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) recommends that healthcare providers routinely screen children for behavioral and mental health concerns. It is important to get a careful evaluation to get the best diagnosis and treatment. Consultation with a healthcare provider can help determine treatment plans such as counseling or if medication should be part of the treatment. A mental health professional can develop a therapy plan that works best for the child and family.

Emergency help is available.

Contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline if you are experiencing mental health-related distress or are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. Call or text 988 or you can chat directly with a trained crisis professional at 988lifeline.org.  988 is confidential, free, and available 24/7/365.

In case of an emergency, always call 911.

COVID-19 COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION WEEKLY UPDATE:

The health and safety of our students, teachers, staff, and volunteers are our top priorities. Voyager Academy is following the CDC COVID-19 Community Level guidance.  We sincerely appreciate your consideration.

  • Our CDC COVID-19 Community Level is: LOW 

  • Masks are welcome but are not currently required

  • Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, including recommended booster doses

  • Follow recommendations for isolation if you have suspected or confirmed COVID-19

  • Follow recommendations for what to do if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19

A Message of “Thanks!”: The Student Support Services Team would like to extend a HUGE “Thank You” to the Voyager Academy Elementary and Middle School communities for their support, time, kindness, and selflessness in their giving (donations) toward their recent food drives conducted! The amount of food collected is absolutely amazing and the range of food donated is even more outstanding! “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” This will go a long way to continue to support our students who experience food insecurities!

Student Support Services Newsletter: If you haven’t already, please check out our first edition of “Connections” (link below) - your new, quarterly Student Support Services Newsletter! Connections will provide parents and caregivers with relevant content focused around our school-aged children (K-12). Afterwards, we welcome you to complete a short survey to let the Student Support Services Team know how we can improve Connections or if we met your needs in a satisfactorily manner. Your feedback is important to us!


March is Women’s History Month: This month is dedicated to observing, honoring, and learning about the great women in our nation’s history! Check out these websites for more information and exciting opportunities to join in the celebrations and learn more:

Laws of Life Essay Contest: This contest encourages middle school and high school students to reflect and write about a core value that means the most to them – and why.

• The program is available to all students in grades 4 through 12 across the world.

• All essay writers will be recognized by Character.org. We will also recognize the most compelling essays and feature them on our website and social media channels.

 Submissions are due MARCH 23rd, and can be submitted through this online form. For more information, please click on the following link: https://character.org/laws-of-life-contest/

Great News. Summer enrichment is here. Registration is open now open until April 14th. The process will look a little different from Fall and Spring enrichment sign up. Enrichments will be offered Monday through Thursday for 3 weeks during  the month of June.  Beginning June 5th and ending June 22nd.  There will be 3 different session times offered depending on the individual enrichment. There will be a google form used to register for each individual enrichment. Each enrichment must meet the minimum number of participants before payment will be assigned in Titan. You will receive an email letting you know that your student is being placed on the roster, based on a first come first served basis. You will have until April 14th to make the payment. If your payment is not made your spot will be forfeited and will be given to the next student. Please go to our website to see a full description of each enrichment.

Voyager Academy is dedicated to making sure your child has a healthy and enjoyable School lunch. Please take a minute to take this brief Lunch Survey so that we can work together with you, your children, and our caterer to better meet their lunch needs. Thank you for your time and we appreciate all feedback. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to our nutrition department at: https://www.voyageracademy.net/resources/extended-day-programs/
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