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Ms. Lane, Advocacy, Kindergarten

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Advocacy - Week of 4/6/26

This week in advocacy, we will be revisiting A Little Spot of Learning as we support our older students who will be taking the CMAS test.

📘 Read Aloud Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcpIB1qSODw 

We will be talking about how we can help others be successful test takers by showing kindness and respect around the building. Students will practice:
 • Walking quietly through the hallways
 • Using kind and encouraging words
 • Taking care of business quickly in the bathroom and returning right away
 • Being mindful of noise levels during transitions

We will also create encouragement posters to support the older grades and remind them to do their best. This is a great opportunity for our class to practice empathy and be leaders in our school community 💛

 

📅 Upcoming Events

🦁 April 9th – Field Trip to the Denver Zoo
 Please complete the permission form here

For the trip, please:
 • Send your student with a sack lunch
 • Bring a water bottle
 • Have your student wear a purple or white Westgate shirt

 

⏰ April 17th – Half Day

🌎 April 27th – May 1st – Westgate Earth Week
 We will be celebrating ways to care for our planet all week long!

🍔 April 29th – In-N-Out Stay & Play Event
 Join us for a fun-filled evening of great food, community, and play!

📅 Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2026
 🕟 Time: 4:30–6:00 PM
 📍 Location: Westgate Community School

Children must be accompanied by a parent.

🎟️ Tickets: $8 per person
 Includes a hamburger or cheeseburger, chips, and a drink (Coke®, Diet Coke®, 7UP®, Dr. Pepper®, Pink or Lite Pink Lemonade). Meals include spread, lettuce, and tomato. (Burgers are non-customizable except for food allergies.)

👉 Purchase tickets here: IN-N-OUT Cookout | Westgate Community School

Or send cash/check ($8 per ticket) in an envelope labeled with your name and “In-N-Out.”

⚠️ Tickets must be purchased by April 20th
 (We need to sell 200+ tickets for the event to happen!)

Tickets will be picked up the day of the event before heading to the truck for meals.

📝 May 6th – MAPS Testing (Literacy & Math)
 Students will complete their MAP assessments. Please ensure your child gets a good night’s sleep and eats breakfast that morning.

Advocacy - Week of 3/30/26

This week in Advocacy, we will be talking about the Little Spot of Teamwork! With the end of the year closing in on us quickly, we are working on being a team, and how we can work the best with our classroom family! 

Here is a link to the story if you would like to watch it:

Link to Little Spot of Teamwork Story

Upcoming Events: 

Field Trip Reminder – Denver Zoo, April 9th

 Kindergarten will be going on a field trip to the Denver Zoo on Thursday, April 9th! 

Please complete the permission form here by Tuesday April 7th.

For the trip, please:
 • Send your student with a sack lunch
 • Bring a water bottle
 • Have your student wear a purple or white Westgate shirt

👩‍👧‍👦 Chaperones Needed
 We are still looking for parent chaperones for this field trip! If you are interested, please complete the background check through the Westgate website and email me by Friday, March 6th.

Parents who have not had the opportunity to chaperone yet will be given first priority.

Advocacy - Week of 3/2/26

This week in our social-emotional learning, we will be reading A Little Spot Makes Friends. Through this story, students will explore why friendships are important, steps to making friends, the feelings we experience when we are with friends, and how we can build lasting relationships. We encourage you to continue these conversations at home by talking about what it means to be a kind and supportive friend 💛

🦋 Field Trip Reminder – Butterfly Pavilion
 Kindergarten will be going on a field trip to the Butterfly Pavilion on Tuesday, March 10th!

Please complete the permission form here by Friday, March 6th.

For the trip, please:
 • Send your student with a sack lunch
 • Bring a water bottle
 • Have your student wear a purple or white Westgate shirt

👩‍👧‍👦 Chaperones Needed
 We are still looking for parent chaperones for this field trip! If you are interested, please complete the background check through the Westgate website and email me by Friday, March 6th.

Parents who have not had the opportunity to chaperone yet will be given first priority.

📅 Upcoming Events

  • Tuesday, March 10th – Field Trip to the Butterfly Pavilion 🦋
    • Please complete the permission form here by Friday, March 6th.
  • Thursday, March 12th - In-person parent teacher Conferences 
  • Friday, March 13th - Virtual Conferences 
  • March 16th - March 27th - Spring Break 🌸
    • Students return on March 30th

Advocacy - Week of 12/15/25

 

In Advocacy, we are continuing our A Little Spot of Feelings series. This week’s focus is A Little Spot of Honesty, where students learn what honesty looks like, sounds like, and feels like—along with how being honest helps build trust and positive relationships.

📚 Read-Aloud Link Here

Students will practice identifying honest vs. dishonest choices and role-play real-life scenarios.

📆 Upcoming Events

❄️ Winter Break

Winter Break begins after dismissal on Friday, December 19th.
Students will return to school on January 12th, 2026.

🎉 Class Holiday Party – Friday, December 19th

We will celebrate from 2:30–3:30 PM with a Polar Express–themed party!
We’ll enjoy the movie, drink hot chocolate, and celebrate the end of 2025 together.
Thank you to everyone who donated items — we appreciate your support so much!

Advocacy - Week of 12/8/25

This week in Advocacy, we will be talking about the Little Spot of Respect! This spot is a great one to use here at school and at home, as it helps the students be respectful to their peers, and the things around them! 

If you would like to read the story with your child, there is a Youtube read aloud, linked right HERE.

📅 Upcoming Events

❄️ Winter Break -
Our last day of school before Winter Break will be Thursday, December 19th.
 School will resume on Monday, January 12th.

🚂 Polar Express Party – December 19th

We are excited to celebrate the season with a Polar Express Party on Thursday, December 19th! We will be watching The Polar Express in class that afternoon.

  • We will have two parent volunteer opportunities for this event.

  • A donation sign-up with requested items will be sent out midweek this week.

Thank you in advance for helping make this a magical and memorable day for our class!

Advocacy - Week of 11/3/25

💛 Hello Advocacy Families!

Last week, our class explored how to show kindness, take turns, and help others when things feel tricky. We practiced using our words and calm-down tools to solve problems and make sure everyone feels safe and heard. Our classroom community is really growing! 🌱

This week, we’re learning about empathy with the book:
 📘 A Little Spot of Empathy by Diane Alber
 [ Story Link 🎧📖]

Through this story, we’ll discover how to:
 ✨ Recognize how someone else is feeling
 ✨ Understand how our words and actions affect others
 ✨ “Step into someone else’s shoes” to show care and compassion

Students will act out empathy scenarios, draw faces with feelings, and create “Empathy Spots” to remind us to lead with kindness. 💕

🧠 At-Home Connection

Keep the empathy growing at home with these simple, heartwarming ideas:

  • Feelings Detective: Look at faces in books or movies and ask, “How do you think they feel? How can you tell?”

  • Switch Shoes Challenge: Pretend to be each other for five minutes—what did you learn about how others feel?

  • Kindness Chain: Add a new link every time someone shows empathy or kindness at home!

📅 Upcoming November Events

🕓 Thursday, Nov. 7 – Half Day
 

🎖️ Monday, Nov. 10 – No School (Veterans Day)
 

🍂 Thursday, Nov. 20 – Gratitude Grub
 We’ll celebrate friendship and thankfulness with a cozy classroom meal! Look out for a sign-up sheet for snacks and sides. If you would like to donate items for this event, please sign up here. 

🚌 Friday, Nov. 21 – Field Trip to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS)
 Please send a packed lunch and wear comfy shoes—it’s going to be an exciting day of discovery! We need chaperone’s for this field trip! Ms. Lane’s class has room for two more chaperone and Mr. Bakers class needs four chaperones. Please complete the permission slip here. 

🍁 Monday, Nov. 24–Friday, Nov. 28 – Thanksgiving Break
 No school! Enjoy time with loved ones and share what you’re grateful for this season.

💬 Talk About It

Here are some great dinner-table questions to spark empathy conversations:
 • “How can we show empathy to someone having a hard day?”
 • “When was the last time someone showed empathy to you?”
 • “What does it mean to ‘walk in someone else’s shoes’?”

Our class is learning that empathy makes our community stronger and our hearts a little bigger. 💛
 Thank you for continuing to help your child practice kindness and understanding each day.

Advocacy - Week of 10/27/25

We will be talking about the Little Spot of Sadness this week, and how we can regulate our bodies when we are in this spot! Students will be able to recognize when they are feeling sad, as well as what to do when we need to make our sadness spot smaller! 

The story is linked here. 

Upcoming Events: 

On October 31st, we will have our Halloween Party!! Students will have their Halloween party in the afternoon and will be able to change into their costumes BEFORE the party. 


If you would like to donate an item or your time to our Halloween party (we are looking for 2 volunteers for each classroom), please check out our sign-up genius here. 


Lastly, it is that time of year where it gets pretty cold. Please send our kindergarteners with jackets, gloves, and/or hats when needed. 


Halloween Costume Expectations

Costume expectations for all Adults and students:

  • No Masks or face coverings
  • No Full Face Paint (partial face paint is allowed if a student can apply it themselves in the time they have to get ready before class parties). Face paint may not be worn to school.
  • No Weapons or anything that can be used as a weapon
  • No inappropriate or offensive costumes – all body parts must be covered
  • Students K-8 may NOT WEAR THEIR COSTUMES TO SCHOOL. Students can bring their costumes and they should stay in their backpacks until they are allowed to change into them at 1:30, prior to the parties. Students will be in regular classes during the morning, and the costumes and their pieces and parts should not be a distraction.

Advocacy - Week of 10/20/25

We will also be continuing our work with the Little Spot Curriculum. This week, we will be taking a look at the Worry Spot and Anxiety Spot. Students will learn skills on how to shrink their spots of worry and anxiety. If you would like to read the books that we are reading to the students, you can find them on youtube right here! Anxiety Spot Book Read Aloud and Worry Spot Book Read Aloud


Upcoming Events: 

On October 31st, we will have our Halloween Party!! Students will have their Halloween party in the afternoon and will be able to change into their costumes BEFORE the party. 


If you would like to donate an item or your time to our Halloween party (we are looking for 2 volunteers for each classroom), please check out our sign-up genius here. 


Lastly, it is that time of year where it gets pretty cold. Please send our kindergarteners with jackets, gloves, and/or hats when needed. 



Halloween Costume Expectations

Costume expectations for all Adults and students:

  • No Masks or face coverings
  • No Full Face Paint (partial face paint is allowed if a student can apply it themselves in the time they have to get ready before class parties). Face paint may not be worn to school.
  • No Weapons or anything that can be used as a weapon
  • No inappropriate or offensive costumes – all body parts must be covered
  • Students K-8 may NOT WEAR THEIR COSTUMES TO SCHOOL. Students can bring their costumes and they should stay in their backpacks until they are allowed to change into them at 1:30, prior to the parties. Students will be in regular classes during the morning, and the costumes and their pieces and parts should not be a distraction.

This week in Advocacy, we read A Little Spot of Anger by Diane Alber. We talked about how everyone feels angry sometimes, and that anger itself isn’t “bad”—it’s a signal that needs a peaceful spot. Students learned strategies for calming down when their “anger spot” starts to grow, such as taking deep breaths, counting to 10, or using calm-down tools.

📖 You can listen to the story with your child here: A Little Spot of Anger Read Aloud



🌟 Upcoming Events

  • Week of September 22nd – Please be on the look out for an email with sign-up links for parent teacher conferences. Conferences will be on Thursday, October 2nd and Friday, October 3rd. 
  • Thursday, September 25 – 🚜 Field Trip to Miller Farms
    1. [Westgate Permission Form – click here]

    2. [Miller Farms Permission Form – click here]

    • Pack a disposable sack lunch.

    • Dress for outdoor activities (closed-toe shoes recommended).

    • Permission Forms: Students must return two forms to attend:

    • All Chaperone spots are filled for this field trip. 

    • Chaperones must complete the district background check: [click here].

  • Friday, September 26 – 🍎 Johnny Appleseed Day

    • Please send one apple green or red with your student to contribute to our classroom activities.

  • Friday, September 26 – 🏃 Westgate Fun Run

    • The Fun Run raises funds for the Specials classes we all know and love: Art, iLab, Music, and PE.
  • Thursday, October 2nd – ‼️ Half-Day and Parent Teacher Conferences from 1:00PM to 5:00 PM. The sign-up link will be sent out to secure your slot.
  • Friday, October 3rd – ‼️Parent Teacher Conferences from 8:00PM to 8:00 PM. The sign-up link will be sent out to secure your slot.

Advocacy - Week of 9/15/25

 

This week, we will continue to talk about our little spots of feelings, this week focusing on The Little Peaceful Spot. This is a great book to talk about keeping our body safe and calm, and how we can come from different spots, like anger spot or sad spot, and come back to our peaceful spots. A great way to support this at home, is asking them to show you a way that they can get into their peaceful spot, and have them show you what it looks like for them to be in a peaceful spot! 


If you are interested, I have linked the story right here so you can watch at home! 


Little Peaceful Spot Link to Youtube Read aloud. 


🌟 Upcoming Events

  • Friday, September 19 – Half Day of School (early dismissal).

  • Thursday, September 25 – 🚜 Field Trip to Miller Farms

    • Pack a disposable sack lunch.

    • Dress for outdoor activities (closed-toe shoes recommended).

    • Permission Forms: Students must return two forms to attend:

      1. [Westgate Permission Form – click here]

      2. [Miller Farms Permission Form – click here]

    • We need four parent chaperones.

    • Chaperones must complete the district background check: [click here].

  • Friday, September 26 – 🍎 Johnny Appleseed Day

    • Please send one apple green or red with your student to contribute to our classroom activities.

  • Friday, September 26 – 🏃 Westgate Fun Run

    • The Fun Run raises funds for the Specials classes we all know and love: Art, iLab, Music, and PE.

Advocacy - Week of 9/8/25

Upcoming Events

🌟 Spirit Week: September 8–12 🌟

We are excited to celebrate Spirit Week! Here’s the schedule for each day:

  • Monday, 9/8 – Rainbow Day
     Wear bright rainbow colors to school! 🌈

  • Tuesday, 9/9 – Crazy Hat or Hair Day
     Show off your wildest hat or wackiest hairstyle. 🎩💇

  • Wednesday, 9/10 – Westgate Wednesday
     Wear your Westgate gear or school colors to show your pride! 💙

  • Thursday, 9/11 – Throwback Thursday
     Dress up from your favorite past decade. 🕺🎶

  • Friday, 9/12 – Pajama Day
     Roll out of bed and head to school in your comfiest PJs. 💤

🚜 Field Trip: Thursday, September 25

We will be heading to Miller Farms for our first field trip of the year!

  • Please pack your child a disposable sack lunch.

  • Dress for outdoor activities (closed-toe shoes recommended).

  • We are looking for four parent chaperones to join us—please let me know if you’re interested. Chaperones are required to fill out the background check as soon as possible. You can find that line here.
Please sign the field trip permission forms so your student can attend. There are two permission forms for this field trip. One for Westgate found here and one for Miller Farms found here.

Advocacy - Week of 8/25/25

 

Hi Families! This week in advocacy, we will be focusing on reading books based around the Little Spot of Feelings. These books take time to help the students identify their feelings and emotions, and helps them spot feelings in others as well! We will also be continuing our show and share in the classroom. The schedule remains the same as previously shared. 

Advocacy - 8/18/25

Hi everyone! This week we will look at how our emotions impact our body, and how we act when we are feeling different emotions. For example, we will be looking at when we are angry, our body tends to be really tight, and our eyebrows may furrow. 


We will continue talking about our RISE values, and giving out RISE tickets to students who are showing us! If your student has not received one of these yet, encourage them to show us Respect, Integrity, Safety, and Empathy and they will earn one in no time! 


We will be continuing our show and share schedule this week, as a reminder: your student may bring one item that can fit in their backpack to share with the class. This item must remain in their backpack until it is their turn to show and share.  Please help students keep their toys at home unless it is their day for show and share.
 

Show and Share Schedule

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday
 
Essa
Willow
Corrie
Ubaldo
Finn
 
Edie
Lou
Vaughn
Sebastian
Givoni
Branson
Harlow
Ritu
Azalea
Grayson
Leon
Darya
Mateo
Dean
Chloe
 
 

Advocacy - 8/11/25

Hi Families! 


Welcome to our second week of kindergarten! We will continue to discuss what it means to show RISE behavior in and outside of the classroom. In addition to this, we will begin show and share! Please look at the following schedule and have your student bring one item that can fit in their backpack to share with the class. This item must remain in their backpack until it is their turn to show and share.  Please help students keep their toys at home unless it is their day for show and share. 


Show and Share Schedule

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday
 
Essa
Willow
Corrie
Ubaldo
Finn
 
Edie
Lou
Vaughn
Sebastian
Givoni
Branson
Harlow
Ritu
Azalea
Grayson
Leon
Darya
Mateo
Dean
Chloe
 


Mrs. Khan is our Environmental Education Coordinator at Westgate and she will be teaching our kinders about recycling! Speaking of recycling… For those of you who are new to Westgate, Wednesday is a day we celebrate Zero Waste in the classroom. Students can earn a stamp for bringing in lunches with no trash. This is celebrated every Wednesday, so if your student does not earn a stamp one week, they can earn it the next! Students who eat school lunches can also earn a stamp by explaining which items go in the trash or recycling! 


We need some help with snacks in our classroom. In case a student forgets a snack, we like to provide a few extras for our hungry kindergarteners. If you would like to donate a snack, please email me at ______. Snacks need to be individually wrapped and nut-free. Thank you!! 


Please be sure to check out your student’s Friday Folders and our other Edlio posts found here. Friday folders are for you to check out students' work they’ve completed in class or receive information from the school. Friday folders will not be used for homework or for incomplete work, unless there are specific circumstances, in which case I will reach out to those families. We will send Friday Folders home at the end of this week. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Advocacy Week of August 4th

Welcome to Kindergarten at Westgate! We are so excited to have you! This year we are going to hit the ground running and begin with kindergarten norms, which include sharing (but not germs), hands to ourselves, respect for classmates/material, and all of the engaging routines we have to make a safe classroom. You might have noticed this is an Advocacy page. I am your students' advocacy teacher, which means I am one of your students' advocates. It is my job to have your students back, always look for positive intent, and overall find ways to support their needs. On our advocacy page, I will share updates, important information, and what we will be doing during our social emotional block. For the month of August, we will be taking a closer look at our school wide RISE values (Respect, Integrity, Safety, Empathy). Your students have the opportunity to earn a RISE ticket by showing these values in our classroom. These tickets are intentionally given and when your student receives one please celebrate with them.  


Here are some important reminders for next week: 

  • Snack: Bring two healthy nut-free snacks (no candy please). We have a morning snack and an afternoon snack time. 
  • Lunch: If you have not ordered a school lunch, please provide a student with a lunch from home. If you would like to start signing up for lunches for the next month, here is the link. 
  • Water bottles: while we have a drinking fountain in our pod, it’s helpful for students to have water in the classroom. 
  • Show and Share: starting next week, we will begin Show and Share! Students will bring in one item from home that can fit in their backpack to share with our class. Show and Share items must remain in their backpacks throughout the day until it’s time to present. Students will have a specific designated day to bring in their show and share. The schedule will be shared with families on Friday. 
  • Extra Clothes: Please provide an extra set of clothes in their backpack in case of accidents. If your student has an accident, their clothes will be returned in their backpack in a plastic bag.