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@D114Stanton
@D114Lotus
@FLGSD114
#District114proud
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A special Thank You to Jessica Lanners for National School Nurse Day today (May 6)!
Thank you Kim Husko for organizing Project ACES at Stanton!
and
Thank you Kendra Wedl for helping to sort and organize the ribbons from the Conference track meet for the athletes!
and
Thank you Rachelle Peters for your above and beyond support of our track team this season... taking on a Sectional track meet for the second year in a row is a huge undertaking, I appreciate all the time and effort you have given to ensure this is a great event for all the athletes that will be competing!
-From Melissa Williams
To Don Ukleja for supplying popcorn all year for the All-Star cart and staff. It is much appreciated.
-From Colleen Robinson
Thank you so much to Melissa Williams, Matt Shannon, Chris Carvell, and Oner Medrano for helping organize and run our track sectional meet at Grant High School. This could not have been so successful if it wasn't for your help! Thank you to Jill Becmer, Michele Burgess, Betty Cwiak, Michelle Serini, Greer Lally, and Maddie Kerr for coming out and helping all day. You guys are troopers!
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Thank you to Keli Swierczek for putting together and presenting the Illinois Youth Survey data for our staff.
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Thank you to Betty Cwiak who organized Tim Shoemaker coming in to speak with the ELA classes.
-From Rachelle Peters
I wanted to send a kudos out to some of the other staff members that helped me with the 2018 Stanton Variety Show. A HUGE thank you goes out to Mr. Roat for arranging the music and audio equipment for the variety show, Mr. Fischer and Mr. O'Toole for setting up the tables and chairs, and to Miss. Miller for working with the Stanton Dance Team. The show was a GREAT success!
-From Walter Nickles
When you have a kudo to share for someone, please just email me and I'll include it here! The goal is to create system celebrations--so your input is truly welcome!
News from the Business Office
Bus Update
At Wednesday night's special Board of Education, a majority vote determined that we will move forward with a 3 year lease of buses starting the 2018-19 school year. This allows us:
1. To have our students in 2-3 year old buses rather than those in our current fleet--some of which are up to 10 years old.
2. Sell the current fleet to increase our cash flow for next year.
3. Create a fiscally sound means for transporting our kids, as this is a cost efficient way (warranty included) to do so!
4. Create a predictable budget line for transportation, which has been impossible to do when we had no idea what repairs would be needed.
I'm incredibly proud of our Board for having difficult discussions to come to consensus on a major financial decision. I'm also thrilled at the outcome, because I believe this creates a win for students, a win for our bus drivers, and a financial win for all D114 stakeholders!
INFINITEC MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR MAY & SUMMER 2018--Repeat Info!
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE NEW ELC ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY WEBSITE!!! This newsletter will be posted there, as well as, cheat sheets for a variety of common assistive technology tools.
Infinitec is an Special Education and Assistive Technology Initiative that provides webinars, workshops, resources and other services to member districts. Their website not only includes a calendar of events of one day webinars and workshops, but also free archived webinars of a variety of topics for staff with any level of knowledge. Please contact Brandt Rosen (brosen@elced.org) for more information of what Infinitec has to offer.
VIEW FREE WEBINARS WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR A FREE ACCOUNT:
Click here to register for a free account. For ELC member district staff and parents ONLY. When signing up, under "District/coop," be sure to type in the "Exceptional Learners' Collaborative." Please remember that if you sign up, one day webinars are archived for a certain amount of time following the time of the webinar, so it's good to sign up even though if you may not be able to attend the exact date and/or time of the webinar. You will be able to watch the webinar later. Please visit the MyInfinitec Online Classroom for archived webinars and earn CEUs.
WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES:
FUN APPS, SOFTWARE OR RESOURCES:
- Group Buys Have Arrived for 2018!- Purchase technology at a discount through Infinitec Group Buy Program from Attainment Company, Cadan Assistive Tech, News2You, Mayer Johnson Boardmaker Online
Speech and Language Tips from Abbey
Check out this week's tips from Abbey! She came up with the fabulous idea of putting each week's ideas on a slide, then adding the slides so all the info is in one place...you can go back and look at any time!
Click here to see her amazing ideas! Updated today!
FACILITIES UPDATES
Don't forget...if you have a maintenance request, please use the work request link to share it. Our team will take care of it ASAP!
As we head toward the end of the year, please be sure that you let David/Mike know of technology issues you may be having. We're currently building next year's budget so if there are issues--we need to know. THANKS!
Education Association of Fox Lake News and Updates
Thank you to the insurance committee members who met last Monday to work with the district to investigate the best options for our school district. The executive board members met with Heather last week on Wednesday; we appreciate the opportunity to work collaboratively to address both district and association concerns. Finally, the RIF and Evaluation Committees will both be meeting before the end of the school year. Thank you to all our members who give their time and energy to represent our staff on committees throughout the school year!
Link to the IEA Legislative Update: https://ieanea.org/
Don't forget about the end of the year party on Thursday, May 24th at The Wave in Johnsburg!
Melissa Williams, President
Maureen DeVoss, Vice President for Certified Staff
Chris Brown, Vice President for Non-Certified Staff
Katy Gardner, Treasurer
Betty Cwiak, Secretary
Barb Brown, Region Representative
Matt Shannon, Stanton School Representative
Tiffany Tardio, Lotus School Representative
Link to D114 Friday Facts Blog--ADDED 3/11/18
LINK to Strategic Planning Presentations/Documents--ADDED 2/25/18
LINK to Strategic Planning Presentations/Documents--ADDED 2/25/18
17-18 Payroll Schedule--UPDATED 10/22/17
Blue Cross Blue Shield:
Guardian:
Questions for thought as you read...
Do you take time to say "yes" to yourself?
What's one thing you can do to be kind to yourself this week?
Saying “Yes” To Yourself
I have been paying a lot of attention to mental health lately, and the connection it has to social media, learning, and teacher wellness. Part of this focus is because this seems to be more of a challenge in education than it has ever been (or maybe people are just more open about it), but also because I have had my struggles with mental health. Since education is such a servant career, a toll on an individual can impact students and colleagues directly, or indirectly.
This article, “5 Tips Teachers Can Use to Practice Self-Care & Set Boundaries” (you should read the whole thing), piqued my interest, especially this paragraph:
It can seem cold to tell a student or co-worker that you don’t have the time for them, even when they seem desperate or nobody else looks willing to help. But if this sacrifice ultimately hinders you, making you more tired during your classroom lectures, or delaying your grading, then you could end up hurting your entire class over a few extra minutes with students. Worse still, if too many co-workers see you as the lone reliable and helpful asset, then you’ll end up spending more of your time on their projects than yours.
Principals having the “my door is always open” policy, is a norm at so many levels in education. We can pay an emotional tax that comes back later to haunt us. When you say “yes” to others, you often say “no” to yourself.
Is it possible to say “no” to everyone? Absolutely not, nor should you. Too often though, educators end up saying yes to so many others, and we also sometimes pile more onto the educators that tend to say yes more often. It is almost a punishment for being reliable. But we have to be able to filter to take care of ourselves.
In the article, “The 6 Questions I Ask Before I Say ‘Yes’ to Anything“, tips are provided on how to filter out what to say yes to, as there is only so much energy any one person can expend:
I began to think of myself every morning as a full cup of water (or cup of coffee, usually). Each effort I made that day was a drip out of that glass. When the glass was empty, I had nothing left to give for that day. With each action I took, I could mentally see the glass getting lower.
I became more selective about where I put my time and energy. Just as I might work with an accountant on allocating my funds for different projects I want to pursue, I wanted to direct my energy where it was needed. I wanted my glass each day to go toward things that meant something to me, not just because I felt like I had to say yes.
I have taken this advice seriously. I have noticed that I have said “no” a lot more lately, and although there comes a sense of guilt with it, I have also seen increases in my time, as well as my health and fitness. I am not where I want to be, but I know that my output was coming at a cost that was leaving me with nothing when I most needed energy.
The demands for and of educators have gone up over the years, while the allocation of time in the school day has stayed the same. If we try to do everything for everyone, eventually, we lose out on ourselves and are helpful to no one.
Week of May 7---STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK!
May 15--Regular Board of Education Meeting
D114 Baby Watch continues!
Congrats to Erica Bender and family, as they welcomed Sofia Irene 7 lbs 13 oz,19.5 in long at 11:09 AM on Friday. She's BEAUTIFUL!
Have a truly wonderful week!
Heather
