We are in the final stretch of the 2025–26 school year with some of our brightest days still ahead. The end of each school year is a time of celebration filled with awards assemblies, final performances, staff appreciation events, and of course, our grand finale of graduation on May 19.

Each spring, one of my favorite traditions in D38 is the districtwide art show. A community favorite, this event brings together artwork from students across all grade levels. We hosted it at Big Red this past week, and I was genuinely excited to see the incredible talents on display. A heartfelt thank you goes to our art teachers who inspire these students and grow their creativity. Congratulations go to students who won awards.

I continue to connect with our community to ensure everyone knows about the great things happening across D38. Two events next month will help showcase our district. On May 4, we will host a CTE (Career & Technical Education) Showcase at the D38 Career & Innovation Center. This will give us the opportunity to show regional businesses and industry professionals the innovative learning taking place in D38 and ways they can support it. In addition, on May 14 we will welcome faith-based leaders for the Educator & Faith Leader Forum, where we’ll share a presentation about our schools and programs, and discuss how we can collaborate for the benefit of students and staff.

In addition to connecting with our community, district leaders have been dedicated to connecting with staff during what we are calling listening tours. We have visited every school to meet with a representative group of employees for open, informal conversation. We learned about what’s going well, where we can improve, and what colleagues in their buildings deserve recognition. It was time well spent that will help guide our work for the 2026–27 school year.

In closing, I invite everyone in our community to come experience D38. There is still time to catch an athletic event or arts performance before school is out for the summer. For a complete list of opportunities, check out the calendar of events at lewispalmer.org.