Zephyr Elementary School’s Key Club is currently holding a Thanksgiving meal food drive. Items can be donated this week and next to help fill Thanksgiving baskets for families in need at the school.

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Families of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students are invited to a special program 6-7 p.m. Nov. 8 at Whitehall-Coplay Middle School. Parents will have the opportunity to meet teachers, learn about the ESOL program, meet other participating families and win prizes.

Refreshments will be served.

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There will be no school Nov. 9 due to a professional development day for teachers.

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Picture retake day for Gockley Elementary School students is Nov. 16. The school expects delivery within the next few weeks. If you wish to have your child’s picture retaken, please return the packet to your child’s teacher.

New students who enrolled after Oct. 4 will receive a picture order form.

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Parent-teacher conferences will be held Nov. 19-21 at Gockley Elementary. Your child’s teacher will schedule an appointment time with you for your conference. Please bring your photo ID and enter at the front door. Parking is available in the stadium parking lot.

Kindergarten children will not have school on the days of the conferences. The final regularly scheduled school day for kindergarten is Nov. 16.

First-grade children will be dismissed 11:45 a.m. during conference days. Lunch will not be served by the cafeteria Nov. 19-21.

The children will report back to school Nov. 27.

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Gockley, Steckel and Zephyr Elementary schools will be giving out report cards at teacher conferences Nov. 19-21.

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A Crayola recycling program is underway at Gockley. Students will learn about simple ways they can help protect our environment by participating in Crayola’s Color Cycle program.

It involves reusing old, dried-up and used markers for clean energy. You can learn more about the process by visiting crayola.com/colorcycle.

Instead of throwing used markers into the trash and adding to growing landfills, the school collects them to send back to Crayola. They will accept all plastic-bodied marker types of any brand, including permanent markers, dry erase markers and highlighters.

There is no cost on the school’s part, and the program benefits a greener Earth for us all.

If you’d like to participate in this program and have any old, dried-up markers at home, put them in a bag and send them in with your child. There is a collection box in the art room for them, and once filled, it will be shipped to Crayola for recycling.

This program will be coordinated by art teacher Chad Brader. Every single marker helps!

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Do you have any Whitehall-Coplay School District news? Teachers, administrators, parents, students, coaches, PTAs, club advisers and any other community members are invited to share their upcoming activities. Email me at jamb87@hotmail.com with “Whitehall-Coplay School News” in the subject line at least a week before an event.