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Our Look Up Essential Standards!

Huge shout-out to Mollie and Melissa for stepping in and covering multiple para schedules for two days straight! Because of their flexibility and willingness to jump in wherever needed, our students continued to receive their supports and lunch duties stayed covered.

Such a selfless example of teamwork and putting kids first. Thank you both!

-Erica Barraza-Associate Principal at Lotus

Kudos to Jillian R and Karen S for phenomenal teamwork in the supports and adjustments needed for a couple of our awesome kids this week. A couple of rockstars down there in the ILP classrooms!

Kudos to Joey Rubino for jumping into the role of paraprofessional after the school year had already started and doing just a KICKA** job!

An over due Kudos and thanks to Don for resolving the AC challenges at Stanton recently, as well as being so diligent in getting all the little things fixed and squared away following our recent ROE inspection.

Kudos to Regina Abizaid for the passion and care that you have brought to Stanton by presenting our students and staff to different cultures each morning during Hispanic Heritage month. Our song playlist is growing daily!

A big kudos and thank you to Sue, Emily, and Yvette for giving me an apple each day to keep the doctor away! They are SOOOO good!

Kudos to Oner Medrano for assisting me with language translations for a parent phone call this week, as well as for running the super exciting Basketball Clinic for our Stanton hoopers!

Kudos to Katy Gardner for advocating for a change in a student's schedule to help that individual to feel more confident in her math skills!

Kudos to Jill Becmer, Renee Evans, Dan Miller, and EVERYONE involved in making the Cross Country Meet at Stanton a HUGE success while running so smoothly on Tuesday!

-Tom Cardamone-Principal at Stanton

Thank you, Mary Honea, for holding the fort down for me while I was out sick on Monday! The kids loved having you!

-Janene Leicht--2nd Grade Teacher

Erica Barraza was so supportive to me last week.

-Amy Olson--Permanent Sub at Lotus

Thank you to Sue Pinkawa for organizing sub coverage for me when I have to leave early for appointments! Thank you also to anyone who has subbed or will sub, I know it's not ideal for you!

Thank you to Mollie Crow and Dina for being quick and flexible with our Word Study plan and making modifications for our shared students quickly.

-Emily Reczek--3rd Grade Teacher

Dina, Gina, Colleen, and every other amazing Lotus para,

We are writing this mentally drained, with sore feet, and completely and utterly exhausted after the last two days of attempting to be paras.

While we already knew that our paras are a huge part of what keeps this building running, we somehow have even MORE appreciation for all of you now. You are absolute rockstars who truly do not stop moving all day, every day. You have a hand in every grade level, every classroom, and with every kid—and we honestly have no idea how you do it.

So THANK YOU to all of our paras for everything you do for our students, staff, and school. You truly are the real heroes of Lotus, and we appreciate you more than you know!

With very sore feet and a whole new level of respect,
-Melissa & Mollie--Lotus Resource Teachers

Danielle Becker- Thank you so much for all your help this week! I’m so grateful to have you as a teammate, and I’m really glad you’re here at Stanton!!!

Matt Shannon- Thanks again for Friday's lunch for me and Dan Olson! You're the best!

- Kaitlyn Goorsky--5th Grade Teacher

Karen Brnot - it went from a smile to laughter.

-Mark Perlman--Long Term Sub at Stanton

Shoutout to our amazing administration! Matt, Chad and Erica for all of your hard work and dedication to our students/staff, and setting the tone for the building.

-Sam Gatyas--Counselor at Lotus

Caitlyn Fenton- Thank you for all of your help with completing MAP testing. It was truly helpful!

-Maureen DeVoss-2nd Grade Teacher

Kudos to Cynthia Cook (Stanton Nurse) for treating the office staff to extra healthy (wink, wink)

and OH-SO-SCRUMPTIOUS Sausage McMuffins on Friday!

-Michele Burgess-Administrative Assistant at Stanton

I would like to say THANK YOU to Matt for taking care of the wasp nest on the playground!

And to Mandi .O. for proving me with a list of students who were parent pick ups! It made my life SO much easier!

Also, HUGE thank you to Don for getting me those disinfectant wipes and a spray for my office!

-Anna Rivera--Nurse at Lotus

Thanks to Michele Burgess for always having all the answers, and volunteering to help me with anything, anytime! And to Sue and Jenny for helping me figure out all the things all the time. I truly appreciate you all!

-Kristie Paul--District Administrative Assistant and Registrar

Kudos to Ms. Brooke for helping me organize math materials for my class!

Kudos to Ms. Gina for laminating and cutting materials for my math word wall!

Kudos to Caitlyn Fenton for helping me with testing and getting my kids up and running!

Kudos to Mary Honea for being awesome!

Kudos to Ms. Mandi for making copies for 4th grade!

Kudos to Stephanie Kolk and Ashley Reese for being amazing team members!

-Kaitlyn May-4th Grade Teacher

Shout-Out to two amazing coworkers Melissa McCart and Mollie Crow! Thank you for taking the initiative to put together a schedule to help fill open support slots when we were short-staffed. Your teamwork, flexibility, and commitment to making sure our students have the support they need does not go unnoticed. WIN truly appreciates you both!

Shout-Out to the WIN Team! Thank you for showing up every day and being absolute rock stars with our students! Your patience, dedication, flexibility, and positive energy make such a difference. We appreciate all that you do to support our students and help them succeed!

Shout-Out to Sammie Geenen and Kim R! Thank you for catching mistakes in an IEP and taking the time to make sure everything was corrected and accurate. Your attention to detail and dedication to making sure our students’ needs are properly documented is so appreciated! We’re lucky to have you on our team!

Huge thank you to Erica B! Thank you for always being available whenever I need help, support, or guidance. You are always so calm, collected, and positive, and you have a way of making everything feel a little more manageable. I truly appreciate your support and everything you do!

-Ashley Arff--Special Education Teacher at Lotus

I want to give a huge shout‑out to Kelly Roland and Abbey Kadera. They are so thoughtful and intentional about protecting me from all the germs that tend to make their way around our school this time of year. Whether it’s sanitizing a desk or taking on extra duties, they always go the extra mile to help keep me healthy. Their care, kindness, and consideration of me mean more than I can express, and I am truly grateful for both of them.

-Joan Kantenwein--Literacy Interventionist at Lotus

A long overdue Kuddos to Russ and Don and all the custodial staff who helped with the room 214 the speech room transformation!

The Speech Team

A huge Kuddos to Abby Kadera for performing a miracle and tracking down an IEP from another district!

-Alana Carlson--Speech/Language Pathologist at Lotus

Kudos to:

4th Grade for kicking off student recognition at this week's Board meeting!

LOTUS for a whole new event to start the year...I heard nothing but WONDERFUL about Open House. Thank you for trying something new!!!!

-Heather

Please send me your "Look Up" kudos by Friday at 4PM to add them to the next Monday Memo! THANK YOU!

Try some of these to keep LOOKING UP as we turn the calendar page to September!

Upcoming Wellness Event

It's time for our annual Wellness Screening Event through NIHIP!

Empower Health Services will be at Stanton on Friday, October 9, 2026 from 6:30am - 10:00am. The event is available to ALL staff.

The wellness screenings will consist of three components:

The Screening package
Seasonal Flu Shot
Additional Test Options

Screening package and Flu Shots are available at NO COST to employees and spouses on any district medical plan.

Additional test options are available for BCBS PPO members and BCBS HMO members. Please see Additional Tests Menu for tests & fees.

Employees not enrolled in district's insurance plan can also participate on a self-pay basis.

For those only interested in the Seasonal Flu Shot, you must register online and select the "Flu Only" option when creating an appointment . Flu Shots will only be provided to those with an appointment.

Registration is now open! Please follow these steps to sign up:

Visit the Empower Health website by clicking here
Returning Participants: If you previously created an account, sign in under "Welcome Back!'
New Participants: Complete "New User" fields and enter
client code: foxlakedist114EHS

Please reach out to Maddie Mercado if you have any questions or concerns.

SOCK-tober!!!!

Girls on the Run will be preparing a short promo video for our Fall Community Impact Project - Sock-tober!

We will share the link with you when it's ready so homeroom teachers can show their classes on Friday, September 25.

Please also send home the flyers on Friday the 25. We will have them ready in your mailboxes.

Flyers will start going out tonight during Open House just in case you get any questions from families.

When students bring in a pair of socks, they can drop them in a collection box by the front desk.

This will be a building wide collection so you do not need to keep count of your individual classrooms (unless you want to - I see you, Michelle!)

We will be collecting from October 1-October 30. Please remind students that the socks should be new and unused. Staff are welcome to donate as well!

*If you get used socks, we will still take them (and wash them) to have extra socks on hand in the nurse's office, Pre-K etc.

We will be hanging all of the collected socks on a string with clothespins to see how far our donation string can go throughout the building before we donate them to Grant Township.

Please let us know if you have any questions or if something is unclear.

Thank you all for your support in this endeavor!

Let's get ready to rock the socks off October

-Girls on the Run Coaches (Kelly, Mollie, Sonia, Christine)

Spirit Wear!!!

Spirit wear is here! You have two stores you can purchase from. The first site is for District employees only and the second one is for our district parents. Please feel free to order for either or both sites. Here are the links:

https://district114staff.itemorder.com/shop - District Only
https://d114parents.itemorder.com/shop/home/ - For Parents and Staff

Orders are due by September 20th and Items will be delivered the week of October 5. If anyone has any questions, please contact Sue Pinkawa. Thank you, Sue, for coordinating this!

Stipends--Clubs, Coaching, and More...OH MY!

Interested in sponsoring a club, coaching a sport, seeing what opportunities are out there?

Check out this stipend folder and read this letter for information!

ATHLETIC COACHES PLEASE READ: There is a new timeline for applying for coaching positions. Coaches should apply prior to their season, and coaches will be notified as follows. Please contact Jill Becmer, Athletic Director, with any questions, please.

Late Fall: Boys Basketball, Cheer

Applications accepted through September 1, 2026
Announcement of Coaches by September 15, 2026

Winter: Wrestling, Girls Basketball, Scholastic Bowl

Applications accepted through October 1, 2026
Announcement of Coaches by October 15, 2026

Spring: Track

Applications accepted through November 1, 2026
Announcement of Coaches by November 15, 2026

Injury Reporting

If you are injured on the job, you MUST IMMEDIATELY do the following:

1. Report this injury to an administrator.

2. Report the injury to Company Nurse.

Thanks in advance!

Absence Reporting

Please carefully review this updated document with all you need to know about reporting absences during this school year!

Our first articulation meeting is right around the corner! All Union members will meet on Wednesday, September 23rd @ 2:00 PM at Stanton. If you are arriving from Lotus, please do not arrive before 1:45 PM to allow for the safe dismissal of the Stanton students. We will be meeting in the cafeteria and we will have snacks! We are excited to meet with everyone and to share information as well as hear how your year is going!

See what your membership has to offer! Go to ieanea.org to see all of the happenings and most up to date information on union matters. Go to ieanea.org/benefits/ to explore discounts and deals that are offered to you with your membership.

Stay informed by reading the Region 49 Newsletter

A Fun Fall Event for all Members: Fall Fest Flyer

What: The Palatine and Libertyville IEA Offices are excited to invite you to our 5th Annual Fall Fest. An event and opportunity to grow your union knowledge, build skills, and connect with fellow educators

Where: Schaumburg Professional Learning Center 522 E. Schaumburg Rd. Schaumburg, IL. 60194

When: Saturday September 26, 2026, 9:00am – 1:00PM

One Click. Endless Possibilities. A Union Here for YOU!

This school year, turn your commitment into action. Visit the IEA Leadership & Justice Department website to explore equity-focused opportunities, request professional learning, and stay up to date on trainings, events, and ways to get involved. Together, we can lead with purpose and create schools where every student thrives!