Tip of the Week

Trigger Warning! Part 2

Let's dig in even deeper on triggers...this time through a quick read of an article by one of my favorite edu-authors, Elena Aguilar!!!

Professional Learning

Boost Your Resilience By Managing Emotional Triggers

Teachers, what or who triggers you? By exploring how we respond, we can increase our emotional resilience.

Reflection Questions

What are you taking from the article?

How will you put it to use immediately?

Check it out...

When all the planning, triggers, bells, and whistles get you down, remember what our kids are REALLY looking for. This 5-ish minutes is worth your time.

Ashley Arff--this video is a GEM. Thank you for sharing.

I missed this one last week--sorry, Laura!!!! 💕

I want to just thank my incredible pre-k team for all they do each day! It is not an easy task, and I appreciate all of the celebrations shared about our students because they are very much worth celebrating even in the hard times.

--Laura Faro--Blended PreK Teacher

This week's KUDOS...

To Kelly for supporting and helping me on my journey.

-Stephanie Kolk--4th Grade Teacher

Huge shout-out to Cathy Jawnyj!
Thank you for sharing your much-needed insight and advice. You are a true pillar of strength—supporting not only our students but our staff as well. Your unwavering support means so much!

Big thanks to Kim Rauchfuss!
I appreciate you stepping in to assist a student. Thank you for keeping a kiddo safe and comforted while reaching out to parents. Your quick action truly made a difference!

Let’s hear it for Oner Medrano!
Thank you for jumping in to help me support a student. Your willingness to go above and beyond—with such a positive attitude—never goes unnoticed. We’re grateful for the way you lift up our students and our whole team!

Shout-out to Kim Husko and the 5th Grade Team!
Thank you for welcoming Meghan and me into your classrooms these past two weeks, to teach the Erin’s Law lessons. We truly appreciate your flexibility and all your support in helping us deliver such an important safety lesson. Your teamwork made it smooth and meaningful!

--Kim Mack--Social Worker at Stanton

Kudos to the 5th grade team for everything that you do for our students…seen and unseen.

Kudos to Hailey Decker, Jack Resnick, and Jamie Smeigh. Changes sometimes are unexpected, and the way these three incredible humans are handling them is nothing short of incredible. We got you!

Kudos to the awesomeness of the PBIS team lead by Kim, Kendra, and Averie. Fun times all around at our Tri 1 assembly!

--Tom Cardamone--Principal at Stanton

Sammy G Ms. Courtney and I appreciate you so much for the kindness you've shown to our students. You stepped in and helped out through some challenges with a smile and such grace. Our kiddos are so fortunate to have you.

--Misty Madula--Paraprofessional at Lotus

Kudos to Mr. Tripoli, Mr. Bailey, Mrs Hoepner, Mr. Altick for welcoming me into the "clubhouse"

Kudos to Kendra and Kim for their unwavering positive attitudes!!

Kudos to Stanton Admin team for continued support!

Kudos to Mr. Perlman for running the Pokemon club, those kids had such big smiles every Thursday, it was always fun to see!

--Dan Miller--PE Teacher at Stanton

Kudos to Russell for doing the heavy lifting for me when it came to carrying the blocks in my classroom.

Kudos to Michelle for helping me find lots of toys for purposeful play!

Kudos to the Kinder team for coming up with a whole plan to welcome our new kids in our classrooms and build relationships!

Kudos to Russ and Don for helping me with desks and getting pieces from Stanton brought over!

--Adisyn Illg--Kindergarten Teacher 💙

Great Job by Erik, Brian, Mark, Amir and Shannon for picking up extra kids on Friday when we were down a driver. --Jeff Fewell--Head Bus Driver

Big shout-out to Sue and Jenny for picking out and passing out the ever-fashionable school spirit wear! Thanks for keeping our school looking stylish and full of spirit!

A huge shoutout to Abbey Kadera who (calmly) took immediate action when a student got sick to their stomach in class during an activity. I think we have been through it all together now!

Thank you to Erica Barraza for helping with curriculum issues and always giving our first grade team the chance to give open feedback. I appreciate you!

A huge shout out to the Veterans Day committee, especially Joan Kantenwein, it was a beautiful and meaningful morning for those who served.

Thank you to GIna C.for all you continue to do for the first grade team. We love and appreciate you so much!

Jen Groot --First Grade Teacher

Sending positive vibes and gratitude for the 6th grade team: Katy G, Cynthia T, Kaitlyn G, and Dayja W. They have welcomed me with open arms and I could not be more grateful for them. Things aren't always rainbows and sunshine for us but I appreciate the collaboration and open mindedness we share.

To Oner Medrano, LOOK AT US! I really am just in awe of you. After our conversation on Wednesday my heart was so full. Seeing all that we have done throughout the years together and being able to reflect on that was truly a gift. You do amazing work for ALL students and I am blessed to have seen you grow and excel in everything you take on.

Karen Skorup, you have been my rock and deserve all of the applause. Everyday you face new and existing challenges and it really takes a special person to navigate them. You have changed the ILPB program into something truly amazing. It really is gratifying and emotional to see the kids move up and out through the program. I am so proud of the work you have done and am grateful to have been a part of it and experience YOUR greatness.

-Leah Falster--Special Education Teacher at Stanton

A huge shout-out to Sammie Geenan for creating such an incredible Autism presentation! Christian and Addy did such a great job!

Sammie, you have a remarkable way of making every student feel seen and important.

-Alana Carlson--Speech/Language Pathologist at Lotus

Ashley Brown for helping with a friend

Courtney, Misty and Mary MP for working together to get our discipline sheets done

Mandi and Mary F for picking up extra buses

Sherry for working so hard to get our new schedules ready for after break

Chad, Matt and Erica for your support with our kids

Sue and Jenny for watching out for me

-Colleen Robinson--Paraprofessional at Lotus

I want to give a huge shout-out to Nicole Brinkman for everything she does behind the scenes to support our students. So much of her work happens quietly, but its impact is felt loudly. Her dedication, reliability, and heart for our scholars do not go unnoticed. I am truly proud of all she does for our kids and our team. Thank you, Nicole, for being such a vital part of our school community!

A huge shout-out to our incredible school psych, Kim Rauchfuss for the compassion, insight, and steady support you bring to our students and staff every single day. So much of the emotional lift you carry goes unseen, but the difference you make is felt in every hallway, classroom, and conversation. Thank you for showing up with heart, patience, and professionalism just because you deserve to be celebrated. We appreciate you more than you know!

Shouting out Sam Gatyas for always bringing the laughs, the good energy, and the conversations we didn’t know we needed! Your humor and positivity make even the busiest days feel lighter. Thanks for being the bright spot in the chaos and keeping our team laughing! We appreciate you, Sam!

Sending a huge shout-out to Alana and Fiona for being such positive, empowering women to be around. Your encouragement, support, and steady energy make our space better every single day. Thank you for showing up with kindness, for lifting others up, and for being the type of colleagues who remind us what teamwork is supposed to feel like. I appreciate you both so much!

--Ashley Brown--Social Worker at Lotus

Kudos to Jill Becmer for her work as the Athletic Director. She does all the heavy lifting so coaches are free to just coach. Thank you for all you do!

-Sam Gatyas--Boys Basketball Coach at Stanton (and Counselor at Lotus)

To all the gals who have committed to LETRS training and are in the final stretch — thank you for digging in and making this work collaborative, encouraging, and honestly way more fun than it could have been.

To Lynn Smolen, thank you for delivering a very hard recommendation to a family with compassion, clarity, and steadiness. The way you held space for both the student’s needs and the family’s feelings made a difficult moment feel supportive.

To the Lotus SPED team, thank you for your tireless work — the detailed documentation, timely follow-through, and thoughtful collaboration with families do not go unnoticed. Your integrity and care shine through everything you do.

To Matt Shannon, thanks for being my partner in crime during our LEA summit these last couple of days — the humor, problem-solving, and ability to find joy in the dense parts kept us going.

To Matt Peters, thank you for holding the fort down while I learn and grow in my craft so I can better support our staff, students, and families. Your steadiness and flexibility always make room for others to grow.

-Erica Barraza--Associate Principal at Lotus

Thank you to Jeff Fewell for being absolutely amazing and always having an idea or answer for anything that comes our way.

-Natalie Udstuen--Director of Business Services

Kudos to Kaitlyn for staying with my Flex class while I was in a meeting. Thank you so much!

-Renee Evans--7th Grade Math Teacher

Thank you Amanda & Erica for helping me with scheduling.

Thank you Kaitlynn for covering my class so I could finalize this BIG schedule change.

Thank you Colleen and Mary for being flexible while our whole world is about to change.

Thank you Ashley Arff for helping me with resources and always brainstorming and planning events together. Thank you for also being an expert on DI and sharing some kiddos to get more academic resources.

Thank you Sammie and Alana for helping cover general education minutes so a student didn't need to miss out when multiple staff were out.

Thank you Mike for helping me with my tech problems and operator error.

Thank you Mr.Russell for always checking in on me. I miss you so much.

Thank you Sammie for presenting with a student so peers can better understand her!!

Thanks Kim & Alana for changing your schedule to fit my changes.

-Sherry Tietjen--Special Education Teacher at Lotus

Kudos to Jackie Mathews, who patiently works with a student who needs creative suggestions to reset. Her calm manner and kind words help to de-escalate anxiety in this student and help the student to continue the day with a fresh start.

-Michele Burgess--Administrative Assistant at Stanton

To...

Our Transportation Team for getting the job done day in, day out. A special thanks to Jeff Fewell who solves problems before we even know they are problems.

To Tom, Lynn, and Matt P for holding down the forts while you were down administrators.

Sammie, Lobo, and Alana for the Snack Cart at Lotus. What an amazing opportunity!

-Heather 💙

For Fun...

Sharing this info Gina Crosthwaite sent to Lotus and Karen Lobo passed along to Stanton...

Thought it would be funny if we had a bunch of us order and wear this shirt for the 67th day of school. I believe that day is the half day Monday before Thanksgiving break.

https://a.co/d/hSAUKkw

Upcoming Conference Schedule

Hi! As we head closer to Conferences and Thanksgiving Break, here is some key information on hours and expectations:

Certified Staff--work Monday, Monday PM and Tuesday AM for Conferences

Paraprofessionals--work Monday regular day, no PM conferences, off Tuesday (makes up for working Veterans Day)

Permanent subs--paid as certified staff, so they DO work conferences

Long term subs (Mark Perlman)--work Monday regular day, no PM conferences, off Tuesday (makes up for working Veterans Day)

Kitchen staff--work Monday regular day, no PM conferences, off Tuesday (makes up for working Veterans Day)

Transportation--individual schedules--see Jeff/Natalie for details

10 month Admin Assistants--work Monday regular day, no PM conferences, off Tuesday (makes up for working Veterans Day)

12 month Admin Assistants--work regular hours plus conference schedule

12 month staff--work regular hours

Admin--work allllllll the hours

12 month staff--a memo with all holiday hour information is coming soon!

I know it's a lot of moving parts, so please reach out to me with any questions. Thanks!

Girls Basketball Coach NEEDED!!!!

We are still seeking a coach for Stanton's 7th Grade Girls Basketball team! Please reach out to Jill Becmer, Athletic Director, if you are interested or if you know someone from outside D114 who would be interested and a great fit.

Thanksgiving D114 Family Feast

We're soooo excited to start a new tradition!

Let’s Celebrate Together — Thanksgiving Potluck!

Hi D114,

As we head into the season of gratitude, we’d love to take a moment to celebrate you — our incredible staff — with a Thanksgiving Potluck! This is a chance to relax, share some delicious food, and enjoy each other’s company.

Date: Wednesday, November 19th
Time: Lotus @ 1:30 & Stanton @ 2:00
Location: Your School's Cafeteria

We’ve set up a sign-up sheet to help organize the dishes. Please take a moment to add your team to a food item. No need to worry about serving utensils — we’ve got that covered!

*This food item can be homemade by team members, store bought, catered (team split cost), etc.

Lotus Sign Up

Stanton and Transportation Sign Up

Let’s make this a fun and festive meal full of great food, laughter, and gratitude. Thank you all for everything you do — we couldn’t ask for a better team!

THANK YOU to our Kitchen and Spirit teams for putting this plan together!

Stanton Student Council Food Drive

The Stanton School Food Drive will run until November 21. We will be collecting non-perishable items that will then be donated to the Grant Township Food Pantry.

There will be four boxes in the cafeteria each morning. Students will put their donation in their GRADE LEVEL box. Student Council members or Renee will be out there to give them raffle tickets, one per item. It would be very helpful if they know how many items they have, but we can count with them. If it happens that no one is out there, they can just come see me Renee at another time that works!

They should put their first and last name on their ticket and put them in the container that will be on the stage. This does not have to be done right when they get them. If they don’t fill them out and put them in there, though, they will not be eligible for the raffles.

The Community Building class with the most items brought in will receive popcorn and candy brought to their class during flex the week before winter break.

PIE in the EYE raffle: ALL tickets for ALL grades will then be dumped into one box for the PIE in the EYE event the day before Winter Break! We will need staff volunteers for this event! 500 donations gets Mr. Cardamone on stage to be pied, and then we add one staff member for each additional 100 items. Sign up sheet will be in the lounge for any volunteers willing to participate.

Student Council members will count and box up the items as the baskets fill up. We will make announcements along the way to let everyone know who’s in the lead!

The baskets will not often be unsupervised, but we will let them know that plenty of cameras face that area in the cafeteria, so there should be no moving of items from one cart to another!

Referral GPS--Reminder!
We are committed to creating a culture of well-being of students, staff,
parents, and community. In an effort to continuously support this
commitment, the district has entered an agreement with ReferralGPS.
ReferralGPS is a web-based service focused on assisting our students,
staff, and community in finding local mental-health and substance use
related treatment. The service compliments the districts existing
systems of support as a tool for student service teams and families to
connect with treatment. Along with a searchable database of treatment
options, ReferralGPS provides Care Navigation to assist families in
triage, appointment setting, and follow up care.
School families may access ReferralGPS in two ways:
1) Contact Student Services (social workers, psychologists,
counselors) to seek out treatment options.
2) Visit this link at https://referralgps.com/find-help/D114 to
search for treatment resources or connect with a Care
Navigator anonymously.

ReferralGPS takes into account all types of private and public insurance
including PPO, HMO, Medicaid, Medicare, and families who are
uninsured or underinsured. The platform also filters by age, gender, zip
code, and special requests.
ReferralGPS is available for use by district students, staff, and families at
no cost. All information entered on the ReferralGPS tool is completely
confidential and securely stored.
If you are interested in seeking counseling-related services at this time,
please consider visiting https://referralgps.com/find-help/D114 or
reaching out to the Student Services team.

Field Trips

If you are planning for a field trip, please remember:

All field trip requests must be submitted to the principal no later than the 15th of the previous month of your trip.

Example: Trip is in March, Form must be in by February 15th. This allows time for approval and our drivers to select trips.

1. Complete the Field Trip Request Form.

2. Submit the form to your Principal for approval.

2. Principals, if approved, submit to NATALIE UDSTUEN to arrange transportation.

Work Orders

When you have something you need the Facilities Team to handle for you, please complete a Work Request. Be sure to include the LOCATION in the "summary" field.

Absence Reporting

Please refer to this document for all things absence reporting. Please send any questions to Maddie Mercado or me.

THANKS!

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!

Remember the Employee Assistance Program!

The EAP is typically a great place to start when you need care and aren’t sure what support you or a family member might be needing. They can guide you to specific care and even set up the appointment for you. Take advantage of this confidential and supportive service to address any

personal or work-related challenges you may be facing by calling Perspectives at 800.456.6327.

Stay informed by reading the Region 49 Newsletter

It is ESP (Education Support Professionals Week)! Thank you to all of our ESPs, you are truly a critical part of all that we do! If you are interested:

Celebrate Education Support Professionals Day

November 17-21 marks NEA's 103^rd annual celebration of American Education Week, which includes Education Support Professionals Day (Nov. 19)! Join us to celebrate the incredible members of our school family who continue to keep students safe, healthy, and ready to learn every day.

Burroughs Education Association

$2,500 College Scholarship funded by Woodruff Johnson Evans & Haugen. Applications are accepted from October 1 through January 31. The winner will be announced in March. Scholarship Information

AND...don't forget

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.

Good morning, District 114!

We had a fantastic meeting last week! Thank you to all who were able to attend. Check out the meeting highlights here!

Here's what else is coming up this month:
Parent-Teacher Conference Dinners
Monday, November 24th
El Puerto's will be catering for us again this year!
We're looking for dessert and drink donations and a couple of volunteers to help set up and clean up. Sign up here!
Donations should be dropped off at either school office by 4:30 pm on November 24th.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Stanton Book Fair
Monday, December 1st - Saturday, December 6th
Sign-up info forthcoming
Santa's Breakfast & Holiday Market
Saturday, December 6th, 8:00 am to 12:00 pm
More info forthcoming!
Interested in being a vendor at the Holiday Market? Email us at PTA@foxlake114.org
Help us reach our goal of 90+ members this school year! We currently have 79 members, including 39 teachers and staff, and 40 parents/guardians.

Here's what you need to know:
Dues are $10 for the whole year! That's less than a dollar a month!
You'll receive a District 114 PTA Calendar featuring student artwork (calendars were sent home last week check those backpacks!)
Join here today!
Join the PTA and help enrich your child's educational experience this year!
Make sure to join our Facebook Group Page!

Have a great week!

YOUR PTA Board