MMM: Monday-ish Morning Memo--9/7/26

Our Look Up Essential Standards!

Kudos to the entire Fox Lake 114 community for their support during a very difficult time.

-Tom Cardamone-Principal at Stanton

Thank you to Don for following up with the bees on the big playground. Turns out there was a nest!

Gina C., thank you! Our IRLA binders turned out great!

Huge kudos to Mandi Otte! You have jumped right into doing all the things in first grade and it is so appreciated.

Thank you Ashely Arff for always sharing your findings.

-Jen Groot--1st Grade Teacher

A big thank you to all of our fall coaches, Renee Evans, Dan Miller, Dan Olson, Kaitlyn Goorsky, Dayja Wydzierzecki, and Averie Schultz for hitting the ground running—literally and figuratively! Between tryouts, practices, Family Night, and already getting through your first contests, it has been a busy start to the season. I appreciate all the time and energy you put into making these opportunities great for our students-athletes.

Shout out to Kendra Smeigh for training our two new recruits, Danielle Becker and Regina Azbaid, on how to keep the official scorebook and scoreboard for volleyball. Thanks for taking the time to teach them the ropes and helping them feel prepared!

And a big thank you to Lynn Smolen for getting up early on Saturday morning and heading to the Cross-Country meet to support one of our students. Your willingness to be there and help a student have a successful experience was amazing!

-Jill Becmer--Administrative Assistant and Athletic Director at Stanton

Livia- Welcoming two new students on the same day to your classroom. You had everything ready to go and set for them to feel welcome and part of the class right away.

Melissa- Working collaboratively and getting everything set for your newest student.

Jenny S- For scheduling all the 504s and catching that one of the dates provided would have been a little difficult.

Haley- Joining the team and jumping right into anywhere support has been needed!

-Chad Ziarko--Associate Principal at Lotus

Shoutout to my WIN team - Ashley, Misty, and Colleen for an AWESOME first 3 weeks of school!!!!!! Everyone’s dedication and collaboration for students makes me so proud

Lotus Fantasy Football - may the best team win

-Brooke Mangler--Paraprofessional at Lotus

Thank you to Amy O who subbed in the Structured classroom. It is so nice to have you join us to support our learners! We appreciate your help and expertise!

Thank you to my Structured Team, Mary F, Monica M, Sam G Russell and Amanda. We went through it this week with back to school germs- but we made it! Thank you for all your support, guidance and positivity! I love finding the happy moments in each day to celebrate with all of you!

Thank you for Stephanie S for creating quick, efficient data sheets that are so helpful for our Structured students. We appreciate your help, support and encouragement!

Thank you to Fiona for co-laboring with me this week for a co taught literacy lesson! I love your excitement for new skills and how to differentiate for student learning!

Thank you to Sammie G for always knowing when to pop in to support and guide the Structured students. You are amazing at your craft!

Thank you to Kaitlyn B who has been incredibly supportive and helpful this week! We appreciate you joining our crew when you can to build relationships and learn more about our program and students. Thank you for all you do, we appreciate you!

-Erin Donovan--Special Education Teacher at Lotus

Kudos to Russ for cleaning up an accident in my classroom.

Kudos to the fantasy football draft squad for a fun Thursday. Can't wait for the competition to begin!

Kudos to all the paras who help Kindergarten out in their free time.

Kudos to Lorenz for helping Kinder figure out their SMART goal.

Kudos to Don for putting up some bee traps and spraying the beehive in the back park!

-Adisyn Illg--Kindergarten Teacher

Kelly Roland - thank you for helping me understand the new Reading Program to help locate reading levels for students. You are always so willing and happy to share your knowledge.

Sue - thanks for getting in club students for the beg. of school in the middle of everything else you are working on, I know it's not easy.

Jen- thanks for reaching out to a parent to let them know they can attend my club the day before:)

Tasha- so much appreciate your help in rounding up the students Tuesday morning for me.

Dynamic Duo (Kelly and Abbey) - thanks for helping out with 2 Spanish Families so they understand how our after school activity clubs work and there is clarity.

Erin (CJ)- thanks for stepping up for Specials and helping in so many ways since before school started. We are so lucky to have you and it's such a pleasure to work with you:)

-Kim VanHoorelbeke--Library Paraprofessional at Lotus

Huge thank you to Matt Shannon, Matt Peters and Don Ukleja for all the prep work for the ROE inspection!

Also to all the staff for ensuring our buildings are safe and in compliance. I appreciate everyone helping and accommodating!

-Natalie Udstuen-Director of Business Services

Thank you Colleen for making all the copies needed for our student binders for leveled work. Huge thank you for finding the curriculum we need for days that I am out too :)

Thank you 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, and 3rd Grade Teams for making copies of shared materials for students working on general education material.

Thanks Mr. Russ for bringing us a new clean garbage can when all the milk spilled!

Thank you Kim R for being so on top of it and always making sure we are prepared. I don't know what we do without you. You truly are a blessing!

Thanks to the WIN paras! Thank you for all the patience, support, and love you bring to our classroom every day! Your flexibility, hard work, and willingness to jump in wherever needed make such a difference for our students. I appreciate you more than you know!

Stephanie Kolk, Thank you for working so closely with our shared IEP students and helping make their time in general education as successful as possible! Your consistency, high expectations, and follow-through make such a positive difference. We truly appreciate you!

-Ashley Arff--Special Education Teacher at Lotus

Kudos to:

Everyone who presented evaluation information, and especially to Matt Peters and Caitlyn Fenton for heading over to Stanton to step in for their presentation.

Don for getting the Lotus AC on as quickly as possible! WHEW!

Al, Sue, Russ, and Matt for zipping to Stanton when we had a freezer crisis!

Natalie for signing something for me that keeps us in the loop for a possibly big opportunity!

-Heather

Please send me your "Look Up" kudos by Friday at 4PM to add them to the next Monday Memo! THANK YOU!

Try some of these to keep LOOKING UP as we turn the calendar page to September!

ROE Site Inspections

Mark your calendars! Our site inspections will be done TUESDAY at both sites!

Here's an updated document to clarify expectations. This includes that Stanton DOES NOT need outlet covers.

Any questions? Reach out to Heather or to Natalie Udstuen.

Evaluation Updates

Please see the IMPORTANT LINKS section to access the evaluation documents for ALL staff.

I got some great questions from CERTIFIED staff about evaluation...thought everyone should get the same info...

Question: I just needed clarification on the tenured slide. I was hired the school year back in 2023-2024 with 3 years in a row Proficient. The slide says that I should be tenured in 2026-2027. Does that mean I should not be evaluated this year? I looked up the law and it said that it went into effect immediately in 2023.

Answer:

As was shared in the presentation:

If you were notified that you will be evaluated this year under the current contract language, then that's what's expected to happen.

Thanks-

Heather

Spirit Wear!!!

Spirit wear is here! You have two stores you can purchase from. The first site is for District employees only and the second one is for our district parents. Please feel free to order for either or both sites. Here are the links:

https://district114staff.itemorder.com/shop - District Only
https://d114parents.itemorder.com/shop/home/ - For Parents and Staff

Orders are due by September 20th and Items will be delivered the week of October 5. If anyone has any questions, please contact Sue Pinkawa. Thank you, Sue, for coordinating this!

Stipends--Clubs, Coaching, and More...OH MY!

Interested in sponsoring a club, coaching a sport, seeing what opportunities are out there?

Check out this stipend folder and read this letter for information!

ATHLETIC COACHES PLEASE READ: There is a new timeline for applying for coaching positions. Coaches should apply prior to their season, and coaches will be notified as follows. Please contact Jill Becmer, Athletic Director, with any questions, please.

Late Fall: Boys Basketball, Cheer

Applications accepted through September 1, 2026
Announcement of Coaches by September 15, 2026

Winter: Wrestling, Girls Basketball, Scholastic Bowl

Applications accepted through October 1, 2026
Announcement of Coaches by October 15, 2026

Spring: Track

Applications accepted through November 1, 2026
Announcement of Coaches by November 15, 2026

Staff Device Upgrades

In an effort to streamline device replacement and get all students and staff into a predictable replacement cycle with devices that remain under warranty, we have a plan for making sure all devices are up to date, under warranty, ready to roll...all within our budget!

25-26--All support staff devices we replaced.

26-27--Lotus certified staff, Lotus office staff, and District office staff devices will be replaced. 💥

27-28--Stanton, it will be your turn! 😀

What does this mean?

*Given the fact that we are on Google platform, staff will be provided with Chromebooks. Staff who cannot do their jobs without a PC will be provided a PC (meaning they require specific programs/software that will only run on a PC).

Here's what you need to know...

By the time you trade in your current device, you'll need to follow the steps below:

Moving from Windows Laptop to Chromebook

In preparation for the move from Windows Laptops to Chromebooks, users will need to transfer any school related documents (from Desktop, Documents, etc.) that you would like to keep for next year to your Fox Lake School Google Drive.

Before uploading files to your Google drive, please take some time to do some maintenance/cleaning up by deleting any old/unused documents, pictures, and videos. All copies of files or anything that is over 2-3 years old should be deleted, if it is not going to be used in the near future.

Any personal files, pictures, or videos can be saved to a personal external drive if you want.

If you need help with the steps above, Mike Szotek (Lotus) or Tyler Fish (Stanton) will be happy to help and can partner with you by appointment over the summer or upon our return to school in the Fall.

All LOTUS certified staff will be expected to complete the device exchange by TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15.

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!

Absence Reporting

Please carefully review this updated document with all you need to know about reporting absences during this school year!

Welcome back to all of our D114 staff! This year is off to a great start and we can't wait to see all the amazing things that will happen this year.

Your 2026-2027 EAFL Board is as follows:

Co-Presidents: Maureen DeVoss (Lotus) & Kendra Smeigh (Stanton)

Vice President (Certified): Jen Groot (Lotus)

Vice President (Non-Certified): Gina Crosthwaite (Lotus)

Secretary: Tasha Pfau (Lotus)

Treasurer: Renee Evans (Stanton)

Regional Rep: Kendra Logar (Lotus)

Lotus Rep: Misty Madula (Lotus)

Stanton Rep: *open*

Early Career Rep: Stephanie Kolk (Lotus)

If you need any assistance, or have any questions, please reach out to anyone on the board and they will be able to help or lead you in the right direction.

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.

Stay informed by reading the Region 49 Newsletter

A Fun Fall Event for all Members: Fall Fest Flyer

What: The Palatine and Libertyville IEA Offices are excited to invite you to our 5th Annual Fall Fest. An event and opportunity to grow your union knowledge, build skills, and connect with fellow educators

Where: Schaumburg Professional Learning Center 522 E. Schaumburg Rd. Schaumburg, IL. 60194

When: Saturday September 26, 2026, 9:00am – 1:00PM

One Click. Endless Possibilities. A Union Here for YOU!

This school year, turn your commitment into action. Visit the IEA Leadership & Justice Department website to explore equity-focused opportunities, request professional learning, and stay up to date on trainings, events, and ways to get involved. Together, we can lead with purpose and create schools where every student thrives!

Mark your calendar!

EAT OUT TO HELP OUT event!!!! Wednesday, September 9th from 4-7 at McDonald's Spring Grove! We hope you'll join us, grab some dinner, and support our PTA at the same time!

We will need YOU to help make the evening a success, so please take a moment to sign up for a time slot if you're available. 9/9/26 sign-up

Also, if you are new or haven't in the past and would like to volunteer please let me know what t-shirt size you are! I might be able to get those ordered prior!

Thank you all so much for your continued support! I can't wait to see everyone there!

Sylvia Queen

Vice President