Monday Morning Memo: Monday Morning Memo 11/14/22

For all those who do Medicaid billing, this is your reminder to do it! We need you to please stay on top of this!!! THANK YOU!!!! 😁

If you have no idea what this means...you don't have to do it! YAY!!!!

Thank you Jenn Groot for going above and beyond to include some staff in PBIS updates that may have been overlooked. We appreciate the communication.

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Thank you Ellie for always keeping an open mind and staying positive and finding ways to better help and accommodate the students! You really do have their best interest at heart. Thanks for all you do.

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Thank you 3rd-grade team for letting me to my reading groups extra or longer even in this crazy week. I know schedules are already hectic but you ladies always do it with a smile! Thank you. :)

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Thank you to my PE/ specials team! I love how well we work together, help and support each other to do what's in the best interest of the kiddos, and remind this of each other! You Rock!

-From Victoria Miller (STEM teacher at Lotus)

To Erica Barraza and Amanda Lorenz for consistently helping to plan constructive SST's and PST's.

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Michelle Magness, Erin Donovan, Ben Landmesser and Mary Foersterling for actively participating in our early choices inclusion session.

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Cathy Jawnyj for positivity and flexibility,

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Ellie Seyfert and Nicole Brinkman for creatively providing ideas and possibilities to ensure student success,

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Alana Carlson for rearranging her schedule to help keep things as consistent as possible for our students, it doesn't go unnoticed.

-From Natalie Udstuen (Assistant Principal at Lotus)

Thank you Rachelle for allowing me to video chat with some of my old kiddos! Made Monday so much better

-From Sherry Tietjen (ILP-B teacher at Lotus)

Thank you to Erin Donovan for letting me borrow your food for my bulletin board! And pre school team for being gracious enough to donate everything you had! Sonia for cleaning out a yogurt cup and milk cup too!

And for everyone who has helped me get my food to stick to my board and for re-sticking them if they fall! You all rock!

-Amber Mysliwiec (PE teacher at Lotus)

A kudos for Rachelle!!!

Kudos to Rachelle Peters for juggling 8th hour to make it work to help out 5th grade students that earned extra recess for completing their iReady lessons for the week. It helped out a lot - not only for us to work with students that needed extra help or to complete minutes - but keeping the momentum going with kids that earned the reward!!!

-From Veronica Kretz (5th grade Teacher)

Sue and Al Giandonato. To Sue for her willingness to attend and participate in all D114 community events and to Al for being a great and reliable sub in both buildings!!

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Georgette for all of her help communicating with our Spanish speaking familias!

-From Jeff Sefcik (Principal at Stanton)

Thank you to Joan Kantenwein, who is always willing to help a student. She is a wealth of knowledge.

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Thanks to Vicky Alper, who sat with her students on the rug to problem-solve an issue. Students were active participants in the process.

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Kudos to Nicole Brinkman, who did an amazing job leading her first mentor session! Nicole had everything organized, provided a variety of activities (and snacks!) and, most importantly, gave mentors and mentees plenty of time to bond.

From Mary Santi (2nd and 3rd grade case manager)

To each of you for being our kids' best hope. See below for the "why" on this one...

-From Heather (your very grateful Superintendent)

Please send me your kudos for colleagues each week! I'll happily post them in this section!

Here's a link to all the ideas gathered for the HOW and WHY of the Friz 5...I'll keep adding as great ideas come forward.

I had the chance to bounce the Friz 5 off Ken Williams, one of my colleagues and the author of Ruthless Equity, which helped us dig in on the Personal Greeting at the Door. He was BLOWN away by what we are doing and says, "Keep on keeping on with this. These 5 things are life changers for kids." I just thought you should know...and, for fun, here's a picture of us being truly goofy together...

SANTA'S BREAKFAST (INFO FROM PTA)

It's that time of year again!
We are bringing back Santa's Breakfast and Holiday Market at Stanton!
Sat Dec 3rd, 8 am-12 pm!
For those who are new or haven't experienced Santa's Breakfast the way it was typically done, here is what to expect.
PTA puts on this event for families and sells tickets for breakfast. Families can purchase photos to take with Santa. There is a craft table available, the choir/band performs, & 8th grade puts on a bake sale. The book fair takes place in the hallway and the gym has crafters and vendors to browse and purchase.

This is a HUGE event for families and the public, so we ask our staff to help volunteer for this event. This event is an all-hands-on-deck type of event and needs as much help as we can! Friday setting up, during the event, and clean up!

Linked here, you can find the volunteer sign-up sheet! It is broken down into areas you would like to partake in along with time shifts. Feel free to sign up for one, multiple, or whole-day shifts! *Please note, on the day of if we need you in a different location we may need to move you.

Thank you for all your help and flexibility during this crazy time of year. The PTA appreciates your partnership.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Melissa Swan or Victoria Miller!

YOUR INPUT NEEDED!

This school year has had an AMAZING start where we, as a D114 family, have collaborated at higher levels than ever! It's also asked a lot of everyone, especially as it comes to sub coverage, new teams, and curricular resource launches. So...we want to hear from you!!!

If you have any suggestions for how we as a system can care for our amazing staff--fill buckets, show appreciation, and absolutely share gratitude for all that everyone does--we'd love to hear them! While we may not be able to do everything shared, every idea is a good one. To share your thoughts:
1. Send an email to Heather and/or Maureen.
2. Talk to Heather and/or any of the EAFL Executive Board members.

We truly care about everyone and would appreciate hearing the good ideas you have for continuing to make D114 ONE TEAM...ALL IN!
-From Heather and Maureen DeVoss

November Wellness Calendar!

The Stanton Wellness Committee would like to invite you to join us in a commitment to move during the month of November. We have selected 9 dates to meet at Stanton to walk/run in order to battle the holiday stress. Dress warm, we'll be going outside. Hope to see you there!

Calendar Linked Here!

Thanks to Laura Livesay and Matt Shannon for making and sharing this!

Paraprofessional Hours during Parent Teacher Conferences

Here's a schedule to clarify working hours for paras. All paras are expected to work a total of 15 hours between the two conference days.

Please review the schedule below and follow your start time:

6:15 am - 6:45 pm Meal break: 5-6 pm
7:15 am - 7:45 pm Meal break: 5-6 pm
7:30 am - 8:00 pm Meal break: 5-6 pm
8:00 am - 8:30 pm Meal break: 5-6 pm

Total paid hours - 11

All paras will work 8 am - noon on the second conference day for a total of 4 paid hours. Please let Maddie know if you have any questions.

THANKSGIVING LUNCH

Mark your calendars! Our AMAZING Kitchen teams will be providing a yummy lunch for everyone on November 18 at both sites to make sure you know how THANKFUL we are for our D114 staff!!! And just WAIT til you see what's planned for before the winter break and for the Super Bowl!!!!

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (EAP)

Attached to this week's Monday Memo email, you'll find an updated access flyer for the EAP program. Remember that this is FREE to all employees to provide a whole bunch of different supports (examples: mental health, finances, quitting smoking, etc.). ANY access of EAP is completely confidential. If you need any assistance or have questions, please reach out to Maddie Mercado.

BILINGUAL FAMILY LIAISON

We have offered this position to an amazing candidate and are finalizing details now!! More info to come ASAP, but I'm hopeful she will start right after Thanksgiving!

I was blessed to be at the Solution Tree Associate's Retreat this weekend and got to be with some of the most amazing minds in the education. Of all the brilliance I soaked up...this is the one that hit me most and moved my soul from my mentor, colleague, and friend Bob Eaker:

Remember...on our very worst days (or our students' worst days)...we may be their very best hope!

Thanks to everyone for your feedback! Erica and Stephanie are sending out Lotus- and Stanton-specific supports, but I'll also post the link to a folder containing them all here so they are easy to find, everyone can see everything, and you're reminded to check them out!

We hope everyone enjoyed their nice long weekend, and found a way to celebrate the special veterans in your life.

If you are looking for more information, please check out the Region 49 Newsletter. There is great information about the happenings of our region as well as attachments for opportunities, grants and other information.

Reminder: SCORE Grants for Locals: SCORE Grant deadline approaching! Jan. 15 is the application deadline for IEA SCORE Grants. All IEA members are encouraged to apply! Funds are available for IEA members and their local associations to collaborate and create opportunities for community service or school projects. To learn more and apply online, visit ieanea.org/score.

EAFL Spirit Day will be Tuesday, November 15th. Join us in wearing your EAFL shirt, and then, join us that evening at the Board of Education meeting!