Council School District

On Monday, our Council School District 13 PTO celebrated Dr. Seuss’s Birthday and Read Across America Day across our Junior High and High School — and the smiles say it all!

Students stopped by to color their own Dr. Seuss bookmarks, grab a reading pencil, and celebrate the joy of books in a fun, relaxed way. Tomorrow the celebration continues in the elementary library, where classes will color bookmarks during library time — and big kids will pair up with little kids for shared reading. 💛

This is exactly what PTO is about.

We partner with families, teachers, and our community to:
• Support student enrichment
• Bring positive, creative experiences into our schools
• Show up and be present
• Make school feel connected and fun

From funding our new art program to running concessions, hosting Valentine-Grams, supporting teachers, and now celebrating literacy across ALL District 13 schools — PTO is proud to serve our students.

We want our students to know:
📚 Reading is powerful.
🎨 Creativity matters.
🤝 Community supports them.

If you’d like to be part of something positive and student-focused, we would love to have you join our PTO. When families and schools work together, great things happen.

Oh, the places our students will go… when they read! 💙

#CouncilPTO #ReadAcrossAmerica #DrSeussDay #CommunityStrong #District13

All students K-12 had the opportunity this week to receive a fun Dr. Seuss themed pencil and to color a Dr. Seuss themed bookmark, thanks to the PTO. It was all in honor of Read Across America Week, in honor of beloved children author and illustrator Dr. Seuss.

Eighth grade Family & Consumer Science students at Council Schools have earned their Idaho Safe Food Handling certifications, demonstrating real-world skills that help keep our community healthy. This semester the 8th grade girls, and last semester the 8th grade boys, successfully completed the course and passed the state exam to earn their food handler cards, which are valid for five years.

Through this program, students practiced hands-on skills such as proper handwashing, correct glove use, mixing sanitizer, cleaning food-contact surfaces, calibrating and using thermometers, and keeping food out of the temperature “Danger Zone” and within safe time limits. These lessons are directly tied to Idaho’s food safety regulations (Section 2-102.11 of the Idaho Food Code), so students learn both the science and the law behind safe food handling in school labs, kitchens, and future workplaces.

To earn certification, students completed nine structured lessons and passed a comprehensive exam with a score of at least 80%. Their State of Idaho–approved food safety and sanitation certificate (food handler card) is recognized across the state and remains valid for five years, giving them a meaningful credential before they even enter high school.

This certification strengthens employability for our students in restaurants, school cafeterias, concessions, and other food-related jobs, offering a concrete, resume-ready credential that is especially valuable in rural and small-town communities. When FCS and CTE programs embed food safety into everyday cooking and lab work, students build safe habits they use automatically, which research shows helps them retain skills and reduce risky behaviors over time.