Parent-teacher conferences will be held Nov. 25, 26 and 27 for parents of students at Whitehall-Coplay Middle School and Gockley, Steckel and Zephyr Elementary schools.

WCMS students will be dismissed 11 a.m., and Gockley, Steckel and Zephyr students will be dismissed noon. Breakfast will be offered, but no lunches will be served.

Your child’s elementary 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.

WCMS parents have received a SWYFT K-12 email with directions to schedule conferences online. In grades 7 and 8, team conferences will be held; in grade 6, individual or team conferences will be scheduled.

***

Thanksgiving break will be Nov. 28-Dec 2. Whitehall-Coplay School District reopens Dec. 3.

Have a happy and safe holiday with family and friends!

***

WCMS’ Snack Pack Pals food drive is continuing until Nov. 27. The group is collecting kid-friendly, easy-to-prepare items needed for the packs, which include fruit and applesauce cups, granola bars, fruit snacks, macaroni and cheese boxes or bowls, Chef Boyardee (or similar) cans or bowls, soup packets or cans, small boxes of raisins, small boxes of cereal, 8-ounce boxes of shelf-stable milk and oatmeal packets.

Snack Pack Pals distributed more than 40,000 items of food to 200-plus students in the WCSD last year. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Give hunger a holiday this Thanksgiving and donate to the Snack Pack Pals program.

***

Picture retake day for Gockley students will be Dec. 4. If your child has not had his or her pictures taken or if you would like to have your child’s photo retaken, bring payment or your first original photo package. New students who enrolled after Oct. 4 will receive a picture order form.

Delivery will be within the next few weeks.

***

Boosterthon Fun Run kickoffs are coming to elementary schools. Boosterthon’s newest character theme, MindSpark Mystery Lab - Wild West, combines STEAM skills with character building, which was developed in collaboration with Character Counts, the nation’s most reputable character education organization.

The Boosterthon Fun Run program is a combination of fitness and character. Character lessons will be taught daily by the Boosterthon team to our students.

Family and friends anywhere in the world can support the school by making a flat donation or giving pledges toward the number of laps students will run on the day of the Fun Run, which is Dec. 9.

Regardless of financial participation, every student is invited to participate in the entire Fun Run program.

Students will also receive a free prize just for registering on FunRun.com (or having a parent-signed pledge book sent to school).

***

Safety reminders for the parking lot at Steckel Elementary: The drop-off/horseshoe parking lot can be a busy place around 8:35 a.m. Support the safety of students by allowing them to get out of your idle car on the sidewalk side only. Use the horseshoe area to drop off students and then proceed cautiously.

This keeps the traffic moving and all parents happy. Thank you!

***

Do you have any school news? This column is a compilation of upcoming school events in the WCSD. 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.