Monday Morning Memo: Monday Morning Memo 12/19/22

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!!!!

WOW! To the Giandonato family for the amazing lunch made with so much love for all of us. We were really treated to an amazing meal---THANK YOU for sharing your talent and TLC with us

-From your D114 family

Major kudos to Russ!! He came in immediately to remove a bookshelf that had become quite unsafe rather quickly. Thank you so much for making sure our classroom is safe. The students and I are so very thankful & appreciate you!

-From Kelly Roland

To my third grade team,

I want to give a tremendous kudos to each of you. Checking in on me, and reminding me that we are one team all in and to take it one day at a time. They truly showed me the support I need during this hard time. To Christine Spittler, thank you for taking such amazing care of my class while I was gone these past few days your care and support doesn’t go unnoticed

To the rest of my Lotus family: thank you all for checking in and sending your love and support. I am just so lucky to be apart of such a special community.

-Vicki Alper (3rd grade teacher)

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Georgette Franco, Niccole Culbertson, Cassie Curtis, Liz Andersen, Katy Gardner, Lisa Shannon, and Norm Fisher for your help with the December Fox's Closet, and to Bryan Bailey for watching my Flex kids during your lunch so that I could be at 5/6 lunch. I couldn't do this without all of your help!!

Thank you Matt Shannon for your generous donation to the NJHS Mitten Tree. All mittens will be given out to our Stanton students.

From Karen Brnot (7th grade Science)

A huge shout out to Miss Brittany for using your amazing artistic talent to create the front display for 2nd grade. You are definitely someone worth "melting for," and we are so happy to have you on the team!

- Natalie, Mo, Emily, Sherry, Mike and Misty (2nd grade/ILP-A team)

Christine Spittler...kudos to you for stepping up and stepping in while Natalie takes care of the newest member of our team! We feel lucky, blessed and excited to have you join us!

- Emily, Mo, Misty, Natalie and Sherry (2nd grade/ILP-A team)

A huge thank you to Sue and Al Giandonato, who graciously volunteered to provide a holiday meal to all the staff in the district. How kind and generous of both of you! It was much appreciated!

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

Kudos to Abbey Kadera! Late on the blistery Friday afternoon, I accidentally opened my tailgate from my classroom while trying to remote start my car 🤦🏻‍♀️ Not only did Abbey wait near my car to make sure it stayed safe, she also cleaned the snow off my car while she waited. WOW! Talk about an amazing human being with an extremely kind & caring heart! Thank you, Abbey!

and

Kudos to Gayle McManamon (this one is way overdue) for instilling a love of art in our students! During conferences, a parent (new to our district) told me that before they came to Lotus her son was not interested in art. But now he is an avid art fanatic and it’s all thanks to Gayle. He told his mom that the reason he loves her class so much is because she gives very specific and personalized feedback that makes him feel truly special. Way to go, Gayle! Thank you for all you do for our kiddos

-From Kelly Roland (3rd grade)

Kudos to the Giandonato Family for an amazing Christmas Lunch!

Al you are an incredible chef!

Thank you to the Food Service Staff for helping and setting up for a beautiful, delicious lunch.

Thank you Norm for helping us setting up the tables.

Very Blessed to have an amazing TEAM.

Happy Holidays to you all, my loved Fox Lake District 114 Family.

-From Georgette Franco (Food Services Coordinator)

THANK YOU!! to Gayle McManamon for her invaluable help in getting the Choir assembly set up. Thank you for decorating and videotaping, and for encouraging the Choir kids in the way that only you can. I'm so very grateful for you!

AND

Thank you to Lisa Huck and Amber Mysliwiec for clearing the stage for the evening Choir concert. I appreciate it more than you know.

AND

to Russ Xhemaili for setting up for Tuesday's concerts as well as today's, and for supporting the Choir kids. Thanks to Kent Jorgensen and Tim Douglas for striking Tuesday's concert.

AND

to our incredible Kitchen staff, always, for all that you do for the whole building, and especially for accommodating my Choir kids at a different time so that we could eat together before our Choir Field Trip. You ladies rule!!

AND

to Don Ukleja for schlepping the Flipform risers here from Stanton so that my kids could perform on them this week. Thank you!!

-From Erin Connolly-Jordt (Music teacher at Lotus)

To Chris Brown for being such a light for us all.

and

To Matt Shannon for sharing your students' writing data with me. WOW!!! Lots to celebrate!

and

To Cheryl Schuck for being my critical friend about a situation to help me solve a couple problems.

-From Heather

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.

Mid-year Reflection:

1. Which of the Friz 5 is going best for me? Why?

2. Which of the Friz 5 is the hardest for me? What can I do to work on this?

TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS...NO ACCESS AT SCHOOL

It has come to our attention from other IL districts that Teachers Pay Teachers has had numerous reports of infected files on their site. When they were confronted about the issue, they stated that their contributors' content is not their responsibility. This presents a clear network security risk. Please know that, when we return from winter break, you will NOT be able to access TPT at school due to these risks. I'm very, very sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

WINTER WEATHER

Please click here to view our current winter weather practices/processes. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please let me know. I'll be sharing these with the Board at the December 20th meeting.

Input Needed

I plan to work on a community newsletter over winter break. This will go via US Mail to all D114 boxholders.

Let me know what you think we should highlight! Would love to know your thoughts--please send me a quick email!

12/21/22 Details

I wanted to make sure everyone knows that our last day before Winter Break is Wednesday 12/21. It's typically an early release day, but this time it's also on a Wednesday.

We will NOT be doing Collaborative Team Time on 12/21...instead, everyone can head out and start their break as soon as you're ready once the students leave.

Instructional paraprofessionals, you can head out when the students leave. Anyone who rides a bus...no worries. We'll cover for you on this day and do our best to NOT mess stuff up for our amazing drivers.

Bus/van drivers, we'll need you to do your full shifts to make sure the kids get home safely. THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS!

Custodians...we'll need you for sure for clean up after this exciting day, so please plan to work your normal hours. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Lotus Spirit Week

Lotus will be getting ready to kick off Winter Break with spirit days...see below!

Great Opportunity!

Please see below for a great learning opportunity, provided by an amazing, former D114 teacher!

Another Great Opportunity!
Check out the December Wellness Calendar! Thanks to Laura Livesay and Matt Shannon for doing this!

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.

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!