Dear Friends,
I hope you all were able to enjoy “Spring Break” and a little down time.  I also hope for those celebrating, that Passover and Easter were joyous occasions.  In talking with friends and colleagues, it sounds as though some virtual get-togethers may not have happened if not for these special circumstances.  I hope these silver linings made for a special time for your family.  I know my daughters enjoyed the traditional Easter Egg hunt at our house and they are now both in their 20’s... 

To celebrate the first week back from Spring Break, the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes are invited to join a fun "Kahoot" game this week.  Teachers have submitted some interesting facts about themselves – can you guess correctly who did what?  The winner in each class will receive a $10 gift card.  The junior's game is at 3pm on Tuesday, April 14; the sophomore's will play at 3pm on Thursday, April 16; and the freshman's game at 3pm on Wednesday, April 15.  Each student should have received an email from Meghan Kilgore with the invitation for your game on Zoom. Hope to see you there! 

Twenty-eight members of the senior class already gathered on Kahoot on April 3rd to play the online guessing game.  See a Photo Gallery of the seniors and some of the challenging questions.

Coach Rickard is hosting Zoom Bingo Nights for each of the Upper School classes from 7:00 to 7:30pm this week.  See his invitation for the 9th graders on Tuesday, April 14; to the 10th graders for Wednesday, April 15; to the 11th graders for Thursday, April 16; and to the 12th graders for Friday, April 17.  Contact him at mark.rickard@sgs.org for details.

SGS Upper School students who have returned home to China during the pandemic are now sending N95 and surgical masks back to Spokane to help our health care workers!  The school received two boxes with 120 N95 masks and over 100 surgical masks on March 31 from students Thomas Fei (10th grade) and Winnie Wu (11th grade) who both live in Beijing.  Dr. Gerhard Muelheims, a cardiologist and father of three SGS graduates, delivered the boxes of masks the next morning to local hospital administrators at the Heart Institute where he works.  

The gesture wasn’t that surprising given the school’s focus on community service, says Elizabeth Tender, International Student Coordinator.  “It’s pretty cool, our foreign students have really bonded to our community.”  Read the full story in the Spokesman-Review and on KREM.com.  More boxes with hundreds of additional masks, suits, and gloves are on their way to Spokane from other SGS Chinese students living in Liaoning, Jiangsu, and Changchun.  This is their way of helping out their friends and host families in their adopted city of Spokane.  Thank you, Dragons!

The SGS Spring Gala, scheduled for Saturday, May 9, has been cancelled.  But the SGS community can still support the school during this crisis by giving to the Annual Fund at sgs.org/Give through June 30, 2020.  We know members of our community have the potential to be impacted financially, that they may have health issues, and they may face other challenges.  We want to support our community members going forward.  The Annual Fund also allows the school to respond with additional resources for the faculty and staff in their extra efforts to meet the needs of their students.  It is a way to "Power the Dragon" and the SGS school community.  Thank you!

Upper School junior and senior mentors and their younger "mentees" shared time together on Feb. 25.  Here is a Slide Show of the mentor-mentee groups enjoying a scavenger hunt around campus!

Since we can’t really visit our favorite Spring Break destinations, MS Division Assistant Michelle Bledsoe created a game for Middle School students (and everyone else too!) to play that explores the flavor and feel of some popular vacation locales, as well as some ‘once in a lifetime’ ones.  This is completely voluntary, but might bring some excitement to your 'staycation'.  

The theme for this year’s game is “Around the World”.  Each square has a challenge that touches on a particular aspect from various regions.  You can do as many as you’d like, however, only five in a row is needed to win and some may take more time than others.  Here's the Spring Break Bingo Card.  Read the directions carefully, and most importantly, HAVE FUN!  

Dear SGS Community,

Today we heard the news that Washington state would be joining fourteen other states in closing in-person school for the remainder of the academic year.  That was anticipated, but still not the news anyone wanted to hear.  For SGS, that means we will extend the learning horizon to June and spend more time refining our approaches to Distance Learning (DL).  The first three weeks have been a steep learning curve for everyone taking part in DL and we will learn from that experience.  Fortunately, we have a strong network of professional development resources internally and externally that we have relied on and will continue to do so for the next eight weeks.

The administrative team will be communicating updates and cancellations to the existing school calendar.  With today’s announcement, we can plan in earnest for the remainder of the year, rather than preparing for what-if scenarios.  Division Heads will also continue to post weekly letters and email updates in a timely manner.

A survey was sent to parents earlier today, so please take 5-10 minutes to complete the survey to help us learn more about the experience your student(s) have had in the first three weeks of DL at SGS.  This too will help us as we plan going forward.
  
Spring Break came at a good time for everyone in terms of re-energizing.  Enjoy the week with rest, exercise, and family while remaining healthy at home.

We are all in this together! We are SG!

Go Dragons!

Jamie Tender
Head of School

Several recent videos highlight Saint George's scenic campus. Take a look at the school's latest TV spots for Lower School and Middle/Upper School, and check out this student-produced Flyover Video using a drone-mounted camera!

As part of his Eagle Scout Project, Saint George’s student Jonah Hurst is organizing a drive to gather items for long-term patients at Holy Family Hospital, including patients that will be treated for COVID-19.  A list of items can be found on this Flyer as well as this Amazon link.  Monetary donations can be given directly to Providence Health Care Foundation with the designation as “other” and list “Holy Family Soul Cart”.  For more information, please read a Full Description of Jonah's project.  The drive will take place through April 3.  With the closure of school, all items can be shipped directly to the hospital via the Amazon link.  Thank you for your help!