Monday Morning Memo: Monday Morning Memo--ONE MORE TO GO!!!

Tip of the Week

Look for JOY!

Congratulations coaches on an amazing State Track & Field accomplishment, let alone the entire year!

Mark Perlman--Long Term Sub at Stanton

Mary M P you will be missed. Sorry I wasn't there for your last day. Thank you for making me laugh daily with your "Amish" ways. Also thank you for covering my bus Thursday

Kaitlyn May for subbing for me the last couple of days

Sonia and Kelly for hosting an amazing GOTR event. Such a great turnout.

Everyone who helped with the RUN/EVENT on Saturday. It takes a village and ours showed up.

Dina thanks for checking in on me while you were out sick. I hope you are feeling better

Sherry for always making sure I know what's going on with our kiddos even when I'm not there. Thanks for making sure I was good the last couple days.

Tasha, Brooke, and Kendra for brainstorming after the run and deciding we need to do some fun staff outing!! Can't wait to see what we come up with!

-Colleen Robinson --Paraprofessional at Lotus

Thank you Michelle for all of the work you’ve done to keep our program successful.

Thank you Kelly for cheering me on and always having my back.

Thank you Kaitlyn for taking my classroom so I could have a PD day.

Thank you Erica for being a great listener, giving wise counsel, and having a helping and kind heart.

Thank you Corinne for the spunk and endless energy you bring everyday.

Thank you Laura for being a help to me and always having my back.

Michelle, thank you for making the continuums for our assessments, it’s a huge help.

Tasha, thank you for the work you do everyday and your kindness and help working/leading our paras.

Candace, Lumi, and Fran, thank you for all you do in our classrooms, for the teachers and the students.

Thank you Fiona for coming to my classroom with a smile, just as you are.

Sammi, thank you going out of your way to check in and for your lightening speed when you thought I fell.

Stephanie, thank you for coming to my classroom and sharing your thoughts and ideas with me.

Mr. Sam and Ashley, thank you for working with me and the super hero’s that you are.

Sonia, thank you for all you do, food, special days, and your overall love for everything Lotus.

Erica and Amanda, thank you for your support all through the year.

Thank you Caitlyn and Mary for the calm, peace, and humor you bring to my classroom.

Brittany, thank you for your kindness and your hard work in keeping pre-k prepared.

Thank you Matt, Chad, and Erica for the constant and consistent support you give to teachers, students, and everyone who comes through the Lotus doors. Your leadership makes this school a wonderful place to be.

-Carmen Dean--PreK Teacher

Kudos to Averie Schultz on her flag-folding skills.

-Michele Burgess--Administrative Assistant at Stanton

Kudos to Ashley Brown and Sam Gatyas for helping some of my students when they are emotionally escalated. I know it is not easy, and I really appreciate the consistency, patience, and care that you provide!

Kudos to Mr. Don for always quickly fixing any maintenance issues in my classroom!!! We appreciate you!

Kudos to Caitlyn Fenton for wearing ALL the hats!!! You help us out so much!!

-Serene Madison--4th Grade Teacher

Thank you to Colleen for all the help this week.

Thank you Mary M.P. for changing your schedule again & good luck with your retirement!

Thank you to anyone that helped with boxes.

Thank you Tasha for the flower.

Thank you CJ for picking up my classes in the lunchroom.

-Sherry Tietjen--Special Education Teacher at Lotus

Kudos to all of our amazing Stanton team members who covered classes all around the building on Friday as our Track coaches of Oner Medrano, Jessica Lieber, and Bryan Bailey brought our 11 athletes to the State Track Meet on Friday morning? You know who you are!!!

-Tom Cardamone--Principal at Stanton

Shoutout to Kelly and Sonia for coordinating such a cool event on Thursday!!!

Thank you to Ashley Brown for always being there and helping me out with a student when he has some tough times!!!!!!

Thank you to Colleen for helping out with 2nd grade lunch and jumping in when things get hectic!!

Shoutout to Dina, Gina, Kaitlyn, Mary Honea and SO many more for making me laugh every single day

-Brooke Mangler--Paraprofessional at Lotus

A huge shout-out to Oner Medrano, Bryan Bailey, Jessica Lieber, and Niall Schoenfelder, Stanton's track coaches, for an incredible track season! The time, energy, and heart you pour into our athletes each and every day are priceless. Your commitment goes far beyond practices and meets—you are building confidence, resilience, and lifelong memories for our students.

A special thank you to Natalie Udstuen for working her magic to secure a bus for the state trip—what a game-changer for our team, coaches, and families!

Thank you to our amazing bus drivers for getting our athletes safely to and from every meet. Your reliability and care never go unnoticed.

Thank you to my amazing Office Team, Tom Cardamone, Matt Shannon, Michele Burgess, and Cynthia Cook, for all the behind-the-scenes things that help make opportunities like this possible for our students. You all rock!

To everyone who stepped up to help host our home meet—thank you! Events like that take a team effort, and I appreciate every hand that made it a success.

And finally, shoutout to AJ Tripoli for bringing the energy and spirit by playing his trombone at the parade send-off—what a perfect way to celebrate our athletes!

It truly takes a village, and I am so lucky to have such a supportive and dedicated one. Thank you all for making this season so special!

-Jill Becmer--Stanton's Athletic Director

Big thanks to Chad for coming to so many classes to see the museums! The kids were so pleased you were there!

Many thanks to the staff that popped in on short notice to take a peek too! You know who you are!! And thanks, Sue and Jenny, for sending those available down to Art!

Thanks to Colleen and Sherry for bringing extra supplies down to Art for next year!

-Gayle McManamon--Art Teacher at Lotus

Thank you to Melissa McCart for helping me out with all of the things, but especially working to get everyone caught up and covering a bit of my recess duty so that I could take care of an important errand.

Thank you to Kelly Roland for helping to get some of our MAP testing completed this week. You always go above and beyond with a smile!

Thank you to Sonia for always helping with prepping food for special events. It is beyond helpful and truly appreciated.

-Maureen DeVoss--2nd Grade Teacher

I would like to give a huge KUDOS to Cyndi Cook! It feels like you have been here FOREVER! Your steady, reliable, calm, caring and loving nature is just what Stanton needed!! YOU have been such an amazing addition to our family and the students are SO lucky to have you! (So are the rest of us!)

KUDOS to Brian Dungan for jumping right into our 7th grade Health class a couple days a week, it has truly helped many of our students!

KUDOS to Mark Perlman for just being Mark Perlman!!!

KUDOS to our kitchen ladies for helping SO MUCH with PROJECT ACES, the 6th grade Cultural Food Project and Mrs. Gardner's pancake party last week! I could NOT have done that day WITHOUT YOU!!!!!

and KUDOS to Kendra Smeigh....your daily grit and resilience has not gone unnoticed! May is a tough month for EVERY ONE and your little 6-2-6 is making it a bit tougher for you but you push through and show up for Stanton everyday!! Thank you for caring about everyone in this building!

-Kim Husko--Health Teacher at Stanton

LONGGGG OVER DUE KUDOS to the Cutting Crew… you know who you are!! You guys have knocked out countless project for the first grade team and we cannot say thank you enough! From cutting to laminating to sorting - you guys have done it all!! You guys take every job in stride and never bat an eye to all our particular requests! We are so blessed to have such dedicated paras! Thank you thank you THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!

-First Grade Team

And...THANK YOU TO...

Jillian Kilty and Sarah Gallivan for winning Lotus an IAHPERD BLUE RIBBON AWARD!!!!

Don Ukleja for the fabulous landscaping! The lawns look amazing, and I still hold out hope that someday you'll let me drive the mower!

Our fabulous Stanton Track Coaches (Jessica, Brian, Oner, and Niall) for your hard work all season and then getting 11 GIRLS TO STATE!!!! WOWOWOWOW!!!!

Jill Becmer and Natalie Udstuen for figuring out how to get our coaches and 11 kids to state!!!!

EVERYONE who gave time, talent, and TLC to make Thursday's cereal-ously amazing domino drop (click to watch over 900 boxes fall!!!) and Saturday's fun run such HUGE successes!

To Kelly and Sonia for always giving 1 million percent to everything you do. It is a gift and a privilege to work with you!

Heather 💙

2026-27 Insurance

Our annual open enrollment period will begin on May 4, 2026 and end on May 31, 2026. Benefits will be effective September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2027. All benefit eligible employees returning for the 2026-27 school year must complete the open enrollment process, even if you are not changing any elections or waiving coverage.

During open enrollment you can enroll, waive coverage, add family members or make necessary changes. It's also a great time to review beneficiary, address and other personal information for accuracy. Note: You must re-enroll into your Flexible Spending Plan every plan year.

Dental/Vision Coverage:

Employees are no longer required to take Dental/Vision Insurance through the district. If you do not use our Dental and/or Vision insurance plan, feel free to waive coverage.

Please reach out to Madeline Mercado with any questions and please check your email for specific information from her about rates.

Lotus Spirit Countdown!

Celebrating Gayle and Pam!

Last Day Party!!!!

Supply Money 26-27

Returning Certified Staff--please use this link to indicate how you would like next year's supply money allocated for your use. We need your input by Friday, 5/22/26, please.

Budget Requests for 26-27

FYI, Spending for this school year is now CLOSED. Please reach out to me directly ASAP if you have items of need for this school year.

With that said, we are working on next year's budget!!! We are going to build a very, very LEAN budget for all discretionary items. As always, we'll do our best to meet the students' needs in the most fiscally responsible ways.

Here's how:

1. MAKE A COPY of this spreadsheet to make your requests.

2. Save it as "(Your Name) Request for Funds 26-27"

3. Put all requests on ONE TAB, with each request and its information on one line. If you have multiple requests/vendors, put each on its own line on the same tab.

4. Share the document with Natalie Udstuen.

If you have already submitted a request, you DO NOT NEED TO RESUBMIT.

This DOES NOT include supply money--that's a whole different thing, and I just sent an email on that.

Please direct any questions about fund requests to Natalie. Any questions about supply money should come to me.

Coursework Hours!!!

Please remember that any and all coursework reimbursement requests or lane changes for 26-27 MUST be submitted by June 30!

Summer Curriculum Work

Hello!!! Just reminding you that it's that time of year...when I ask for your ideas and proposals for summer curriculum work! THANK YOU to the teams who have already sent in ideas! WOW....amazing!!!!!

Here's WHAT:

Summer Curriculum Writing:

What do YOU want to work on this summer?

Example Projects:

*15 Day Challenge Planning

*Getting ready for Bridges launch

*SST Planning

*Fencepost work, including 3-2-1 unit designs and 15 day challenge plans

*Stuff YOU want to work on!

Here's How:

Email Heather:

Name(s)
Purpose of the work/intended outcomes
Proposed number of hours
Proposed schedule and plan for work

Notes:

Work must be completed onsite.

Artifacts of the work must be shared with Heather.

Timesheets must be completed, and pay rate is the curriculum rate/hour ($35).

Looking forward to seeing your great ideas! Please send any questions my way!

Employee Assistance Program Updates

Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) partner, AllOne Health, has launched a new Member Portal.

The updated portal is easier to use and aligned with the AllOne Health App, making it simple to access counseling, mental health resources, and well-being support.

What’s new:

A refreshed, user-friendly portal
Easier access to EAP and well-being services
One login for both the app and the portal

You can access services at AllOneHealth.com/portal.

You may notice that new materials reference updated landing pages. If employees use an existing or bookmarked link, it will automatically redirect to AllOneHealth.com/portal—no action needed.

If you already use the AllOne Health App, log in with the same credentials. If not, create an account—your login will work for both the app and the portal.

Please review the attached flyer for sign-up instructions and watch the short orientation video here:
Orientation Video

Confidential support remains available 24/7 for employees and their household members.

If you have questions, please contact me.

Thanks,

Maddie

Absence Info

Please refer to this document for all things absence reporting (updated 4/24/26). Please send any questions to Maddie Mercado or me.

THANKS!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be sure to enter absences as far in advance as possible! WE HAVE A POOL OF SUBS who can fill spots that are entered!!!! We're working on adding even more, so PLEASE enter your absences as soon as you know you'll be out.

REMINDERS

1. If you know you're sick, please put in your absence ASAP. This helps us plan for coverage more effectively. The more we have to react to in the morning, the more crazy the start to the day for everyone.

2. If scheduling personal tasks, it would be amazing if you could try to avoid THURSDAYS AND FRIDAYS whenever possible.

3. If you are asked to cover for someone, please know that you're being asked as part of a bigger plan to meet the needs of kids. Unless there's a truly extraordinary situation, you are expected to say YES when asked. We only ask when it's the best answer for kids.

Please direct any questions to me about this. Principals and Associate Principals are charged with creating the plans that best meet the needs of our students. If you have questions or issues with this, they should come to me for discussion.

Thanks!

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 Referral GPS.

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, Referral GPS provides Care Navigation to assist families in

triage, appointment setting, and follow up care.

School families may access Referral GPS 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.

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.

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!

Stay informed by reading the Region 49 Newsletter

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.

Thank you to all who voted in the EAFL election!

Total of 20 votes at Lotus:

20 votes for Logar

20 votes for Kolk

20 votes for Evans

7 Write-in votes for Groot (Certified VP)

Total of 24 votes from Stanton:

23 votes for Logar

23 votes for Kolk

24 votes for Evans

Congratulations to the new and returning members of our EAFL Union Board....

Certified VP: Jen Groot

Treasurer: Renee Evans

Region Rep: Kendra Logar

Early Career Rep: Stephanie Kolk

Good morning, District 114!

Good morning, District 114!

Thank you to everyone who joined us at Dog n Suds for our last Eat Out to Help Out event of the school year! Thanks to everyone coming out, we raised $187.21!

At our last meeting, we voted in a new President and a new Treasurer for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years!
Katelyn Scroggins will be the new PTA President
Jessica Montaigne will be the new PTA Treasurer
Congratulations ladies!

We hope you'll join us for our last family event of the year, the Family Rocket Launch, on Wednesday!!
Family Rocket Launch
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 (Rain date: Thursday, May 21, 2026)
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Lotus Cafeteria and Outside
Pizza and lemonade provided!
Kona Ice Truck present for purchases (the PTA will get 20% of all sales)

Make sure to join our Facebook Group Page!
YOUR PTA Board