Monday Morning Memo: Monday Morning Memo 2/13/23

We've had some AMAZING people join the D114 family!

Welcome to the family...

Dayja Wydzierzecki--Paraprofessional at Stanton

Sinthya Dayment--Bus Driver

Jennifer Leazer--5th Grade Case Manager

Dina Moczalla--Paraprofessional at Lotus

Jeff Fewell--Bus Driver

We're SO GLAD you're here!

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 Lora Viers for always making yourself available to check on our overwhelmed kiddos! I really appreciate you always jumping in willing and able to share your insights or being that safe person for our kiddos to go to!

and

Thank you Molly Monk and Kim Rauchfuss for taking the time to collaborate with me about a few students this week.

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Thank you Stephanie Kaye for managing all our SST info and keeping everything organized. And for coming up with all the fun engagement activities during Community Building. And especially for the enthusiasm and positive energy you bring to our office space each and everyday!!

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Thank You Meghan Reimers for "holding down the fort" while I was out these past few days! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!

And a long overdue thank you to our amazing ladies in the kitchen for always providing a late lunch for kiddos who don't quite make it to the lunch line in time and for providing one of my kiddos with some much needed snacks on a November afternoon :).

~Kim Mack (Social Worker at Stanton)

Thank you Cortnee Snell and Caitlyn Fenton for your support and guidance with a student! I love that I have colleagues that are willing to communicate and think of the best strategies to help our students. You both are awesome and I appreciate you!

- Amber Mysliwiec (PE Teacher at Lotus)

Lynn Smolen, Mark Perlman, Scott Donovan, Leah Falster and Lisa Shannon for supporting our wrestlers on Tuesday night

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Our dance and open gym chaperones Katie and Nate JaLove Filippelli, Maddie Friestedt, Stephanie Kaye, Karen Lobodzinski, Leah Falster, Niccole Culbertson, Liz Andersen, Jamie and Kamikaze Smeigh, Mark Perlman and Laura Livesay. Thanks for spending your Friday night with our kids

-From Jeff Sefcik (Principal at Stanton)

Huge Thank You!! to Georgette Franco for the potato sacks she gave us to use with the kids!!

-From Lisa Huck (PE Teacher at Lotus)

A huge shout out to my teammates Lisa, Amber and Erin for all their help this past week! You did an amazing job of punching out hundreds of holes for our kiddos to sew! THANK YOU so much!

-From Gayle McManamon (Art Teacher at Lotus)

Thank you so much Russ for helping me with my pallet of spork kits, and thank you Don for moving them to the Shed, I appreciate the help.

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Thank you Penny Brown for stepping up to take the Kitchen Lead while our amazing Sonia is home sick, you did an amazing job, you are unstoppable!

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Thank you to Penny, Yesenia, Hilda, Yvette and Sue for going the extra mile while shorthanded in the kitchens, you prove we are ONE TEAM!

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Special Thank you to my amazing Al Giandonato for all his help with our potato bar luncheon for the teachers, you Rock!! We are very lucky to count with you.

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Thank you to both kitchens for one more amazing lunch for our loved staff. Thank you Norm for helping us move tables in and out of the Teachers lounge.

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Thank you Kelly Roland for doing a Sprinkle Shower for Meghan Howard, you are always so thoughtful, loving and caring.

Georgette Franco (Food Services Coordinator)

KUDOS to Paula for ordering our pizza for our ACCESS pizza party! We appreciate you!-Kim and Abbey

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KUDOS to Russ for setting up for our pizza party! The kids loved hearing you speak Spanish to them!-Kim and Abbey Kadera (Bilingual Teacher at Lotus)

Thank you Kim Leable and Abbey Kadera for all you do for students. I appreciate you both so much. I am so grateful for how both of you have gone above and beyond for one of my first grade friends. Kim, you make this student's day every time he sees you, and Abbey, thank you for the continued communication with this student's mom during a difficult time.

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Thank you to Lotus admin and office staff for ordering shoes for a student that needed it. It is so humbling to know that if a student needs something, you will provide.

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Thank you to district 114 in general! I have a student on my caseload in first grade, who is going through a hard time ,and the love and compassion everyone has given is so heartwarming. Even though this student is going through a hard time, he always has a smile on his face and loves being at school because of all of your dedication to his well being. Thank you!

-From Cathy Jawnyj (K/1 Case Manager)

I would like to send a huge thank you to Jack Resnick for taking time out of his lunch to work with me and talk about the students on my caseload.

-Maddie Friestedt (7th and 8th Grade Case Manager)

Kudos to Christine Spittler for consistently being patient, kind and understanding with your students in their moments of need. It is a pleasure to work with you and see you in action. Thank you for being a part of the team.

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Thank you to Emily Reczek, who has great timing with a special word or Starbucks in the morning when they are most needed.

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Thank you Chris Franke for being in my classroom on Friday! I know the kids had a blast.

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Thank you Sherry and Brittany for covering my kids during an extended meeting and indoor recess session. I appreciate your willingness to step in and help out in a moments notice.

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Thank you Amanda for covering my UFLI group on Friday and Monday...it is so wonderful to have some consistency for them in their lessons.

-From Maureen DeVoss (2nd Grade Teacher)

Thank you, as always, to the Kitchen Team for the delicious lunch last Friday! You are appreciated.

And

Thanks to Nicole Brinkman, Alana Carlson, Vivian Hernandez, Kim Leable, Kim Rauchfuss and Kelly Roland for your understanding and flexibility for the two back-to-back meetings last week. One Team, All In!

And

Thank you to Erin Donovan for always finding time to connect with a student. You know just what is needed.

Mary Santi (2nd and 3rd grade Case Manager at Lotus)

Thank you so much to Andrea Sekulich for all of her work with Access testing and to Matt Peters for all of the behind the scenes with testing.

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Thank you to Jill Becmer and David Roat for getting our map testing data file ready to go and to Betty Cwiak for setting up all of the map sessions.

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Thank you to Michele Burgess for helping with getting students to school who have frequent tardiness.

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Thank you to Chris, Georgette, and Yvette for an amazing baked potato bar on Friday!

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Thank you to our amazing ILP A & B staff for always looking for strategies to best support the students they work with.

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Thank you to Meghan Reimers and Kim Mack for always being there to support all students!

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Thank you to Kim VanHoorelbeke for the awesome PBIS donations!

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Thank you to Kathleen Winkiel for creating attentive incentives for some of her students to get to school.

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Thank you to Cathy Jawnyj for helping with Scholastic Bowl! Your support is so appreciated.

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Thank you to Stephanie Kaye for supporting our students and staff with goal setting and helping them to prepare for iReady and Map testing.

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Thank you to Jeff Sefcik for supporting students and their extracurricular activities outside of school.

-From Rachelle Peters (Assistant Principal at Stanton)

Andrea, thank you for being flexible to talk about safety protocols and procedures for our van-riding students. Your heart is truly in all you do, and it shows!

and

Don, thank you for making our classroom a priority with lighting by adjusting all the light covers as well as changing some of the brightness of the lights for our little learners. Also, thank you so much for keeping tabs on our classroom refrigerator, and running to Menards just to make sure we had an accurate temp reading. We appreciate your help, no matter how large or small of a task, you make sure it gets done in a timely manner.

and

Lisa W, Stephanie S, Ellie, and Fiona: Thank you all for being such a rockstar team. I love sharing ideas and the positive, encouraging system we have with one another. I appreciate your excitement for learning while building positive connections with students and staff. I am so happy that you are able to find the sunshine in the many learning opportunities that present themselves in our classroom environment.

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The Pre-K team, Michelle, Mary, and Ben: Thank you for truly welcoming me as part of the team. I am so happy to have your knowledge and experience with our combined years in education. I enjoy being able to laugh, learn and grow with you all this year!

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To the cafeteria staff: Thank you for the delicious baked potato bar on Friday! As always, the presentation was on point, and the food was made with love! Thank you for putting so much detail into your work, it was so yummy!

-From Erin Donovan (PreK Teacher)

Huge Shout Out to everyone who has helped keep the kitchen running so smoothly while I was out sick this week. Penny, Yesenia, Hilda, Georgette, Russ and Al. You are all amazing and appreciate everyone one you!!! It truly does take a TEAM and I am so lucky to work with the BEST!!!!

Sonia Miller (Kitchen Lead at Lotus)

To Andrea DeMatteo for making the different calendar models for consideration.

Thank you to the Calendar Committee--you are AWESOME!

Thank you to everyone at Stanton for making the Valentine Dance/Open Gym event happen.

Thanks to our Kitchen Teams for the TLC and special lunch on Friday.

-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.

I would seriously LOVE to visit classrooms to see the 5 in action. If you're willing to invite me into your room to help and to see the 5 in action, let me know. I'd love to be there.

Calendar Committee

This week during Wednesday Early Release (at the end for Lotus, at the beginning for Stanton), the 3 different calendar options for 23-24 will be shared with you. There will be a survey for your input, and the survey will close at 11:00 AM on Friday. The committee will meet after school on Friday to review the input to determine the final recommendation we'll make to the Board at its 2/21/23 meeting.

THANK YOU to this team for your hard work and collaboration!!!

Institute Day 2/17/23

I'm so excited about our upcoming Institute Day!!!! I had the chance to learn with Devin Hughes at a recent conference and was just blown away at his message. I left recharged and ready to BELIEVE...INSPIRE...ACHIEVE...in myself, in my family, in my colleagues, and in our students. Click here for the plan for the day!

For more info on Devin, check out his website here. I just love him, and I hope you will, too.

February Wellness Calendar

Wishing you all a happy February!

Wellness Calendar

Reimbursement

I know LOTS of you are doing special little (and sometimes big!) things to keep students motivated and to celebrate successes, especially related to attendance and iReady work. I'm happy to reimburse for these purchases as long as:

*They are preapproved (just send me an email to tell me what, why, and approximate cost).

*You do your best to use our Tax Exempt status when purchasing, as we cannot reimburse sales tax. If you need a tax exempt form, please see either school office or Andrea DeMatteo.

*You keep your receipt and send it to me with a check request (forms to attach to receipts are available in both school offices).

Let me know if you have any questions, and THANK YOU for all you do for our students!

Lake County Educator of the Year Event!!!

Please see information on this year's event! I'd love to see some great D114 representation to share our awesomeness!!!!

PLEASE CONSIDER COMPLETING A NOMINATION, AND LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN HELP!

The Lake County Regional Office of Education will be hosting the second annual Educator of the Year Ceremony. The Ceremony will be held at the Lake County Fairgrounds on May 10th, at 5:30 pm. There will be a social hour with dinner. The awards ceremony will take place after the dinner. Ticket information will be provided at a later date.

The Educator of the Year Ceremony will resemble a mini Oscars like celebration. I have included all of the information in this email. The information can also be found on the ROE shared drive under the Educator of the Year folder and on the ROE website under the tab Educator of the Year. We will be honoring paraprofessionals this year as our special guest. The ROE will pay for 1 paraprofessional's dinner from each school district. The district can bring other paraprofessionals if they would like to be honored.

There will be 9 categories for nominations. Districts can submit as many nominations for the categories, but all the paperwork must be included for each nomination to be considered. Paper or electronic nomination packets are due to the ROE by Friday, March 17, 2023.

Here is a link if you would like to submit the nomination packet electronically. 2023 Lake County Educator of the Year

This folder contains all the information needed for the 2023 Lake County Educator of the Year.

2022-2023 Information

If you have any questions please let me know. This will be a great event to recognize our amazing educators.

Have a great day,

Mike

Michael Karner, Ed.D.

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 the Super Bowl this weekend.

Join us for EAFL spirit day on Tuesday, February 21. Wear your EAFL shirt to school and then join us at 7:00 (either virtually or in person) at the school board meeting.

Keep up with the news from our Region here in the Region 49 Newsletter

Become Empowered with IEA Professional Development: Check out our free 2023 PD opportunities with updated registration links. Clock hours available.

Here are our February offerings: