MMM: October 2026

Our Look Up Essential Standards!

Thank you Colleen Robinson and Mandy Otte for stepping up and adding to your already full schedules and being my personal readers when I forgot my glasses. I never would have gotten through the day without the two of you. You're the best!

-Cary Scarpino-1st Grade Teacher

I want to give kudos to Jenny Sundell and Nicole Mild. They both jumped in when I needed help getting our littlest learners onto the Nippersink Academy bus safely. I couldn’t have done it without you!

Thank you to Caitlyn Fenton for creating an intervention letter that the teachers used to inform families their students will be receiving math and/or reading intervention. It was so nice of you to do that for us!

It is so nice to work with such kind and helpful people!

-Joan Kantenwein-Literacy Interventionist at Lotus

Thank you to the many amazing people who subbed in my room this week, Kaitlyn, Mary H, and Fiona, we appreciate your extra time, support and assistance in the Structured classroom!

Thank you to all my Structured Classroom paras- you amaze me every day. Thank you for jumping in and rolling with all the unexpected changes- especially when we're short on staff and when students and staff are sick. Your flexibility, teamwork, and ability to be emotional support magicians when our students need you most is EVERYTHING .

Thank you to Laura F for helping me with technology questions, I appreciate you so much for your support!

Thank you to Don for your quick action for fixing an item on the big playground and moving a table to our classroom.

Thank you to the cafeteria crew for always helping with set-up for the Structured students.

Thank you Tyler for assisting with technology questions for our structured classroom. We appreciate your insight and feedback.

-Erin Donovan--Special Education Teacher at Lotus

Thank you to Sam Mock for the pick-me-up coffee on Friday. It was very much appreciated.

An overdue thank you to Averie Schultz for making a poster for my classroom.

-Katy Gardner--Math Teacher at Stanton

Mollie and Gina - For covering my class while I dealt with a delicate situation during ELA.

To Sami Spakowski, Monica, Mary Fisher, and Russell - I see you. I see how great you are with the amazing kids you work with, I see how hard you work and I see all the love you pour into the job - you're doing amazing.

-Kaitlyn May--4th Grade Teacher

Thank you to our social worker, Sam, for helping out a student of mine going through a tough time at home. Your concern and responsiveness are greatly appreciated!

-Janene Leicht--2nd Grade Teacher

Erica and Chad: Thank you for all of the help with friends in prek this week.

Corinne: You're the best co-teacher one could ask for! You are always so patient with the kids and thinking outside the box.

-Laura Faro--Blended PreK Teacher

Kudos to Amanda, Erica, Amy, Kristine, Sammi, Sammi (Mimi) G, Kaitlyn who are all pulling together to get our littlest loving school and learning lots! It really takes a village and I'm grateful to be able to have you all in my village!

Kudos to Michelle for all she does for the preschool program and each kiddo in her class. I appreciate that you collaborate with me to help our kids make great progress in their speech and language skills inside the classroom!

Kudos to Tasha who is really an amazing asset to our preschool program ! The relationship and communication you and Michelle have developed makes a well oiled machine!

Kudos to Erin and her village (Russell, Monica, Mary ) in getting all our students to have their AAC devices with them at all times and encouraging the students to use them to express themselves. I appreciate you Erin and I love getting to collaborate with you - even for only a short time :)

Kudos to my speech girls! You are the best people and I love that we are always learning from one another !

-Fiona Wisniewski--Speech/Language Pathologist at Lotus

Kudos to all Lotus staff for your support and flowers during my difficult time. Love all of you.

-Amy Olson--Permanent Sub at Lotus

Kudos to Gina for helping get my kids to the bus.

Kudos to Erica and Chad for a busy fun filled Friday:)

Kudos to all who helped fill in the gaps on Friday with covering schedules.

Kudos to all who have helped with kinder projects and copies!

-Adisyn Illig--Kindergarten Teacher

Thank you, Tyler Fish, for coming over to Lotus while Mike was out and helping us with our technology needs. We really appreciate you stepping in and making sure we had the support we needed!

A big thank you to Norm Fischer for helping us out in a pinch and stepping in to cover our custodial needs. We truly appreciate your willingness to jump in and help!

Shoutout to Eddie Villarreal for going above and beyond while we worked through our custodial coverage. Thank you for your flexibility, extra effort, and for doing whatever was needed to help keep Lotus running smoothly!

Thank you, Elizabeth Garcia, for stepping in and helping with custodial coverage. We appreciate your willingness to help out and be there when we needed the extra support!

Thank you to Al Giandonato for coming in during the day and lending a hand to make sure our building stayed clean and taken care of throughout the day.

-Matt Peters--Principal at Lotus

Kudos to Jillian Rejczyk for the yummy baked goods.

Kudos to Liam Fitzpatrick & Adriana Ree-Jurek for their patience and last minute scramble to complete Skyward quirkiness updates on Progress Reports.

-Michele Burgess--Administrative Assistant at Stanton

A huge shout-out to Kendra Smeigh, Jamie Smeigh, Dan Miller, and Regina Abizaid for stepping up at the last minute when plans took an unexpected turn! Dan jumped in to officiate the soccer game, Kendra and Jamie each refereed a volleyball game, and Regina handled the clock and scorebook for two volleyball games.

Thank you all for your willingness to jump in, be flexible, and help wherever you were needed. A big thank-you to our coaches, Dan Olson, Kaitlyn Goorsky, Averie Schultz, and Dayja Wydzierzecki, for their flexibility and teamwork! Because everyone was willing to adjust on the fly, our kids were able to compete without delays.

Thank you for being awesome!

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

Kudos to:

EVERYONE who assisted in a difficult student situation last Monday. That was a TOUGH one, and you were amazing.

Jack Resnick who CRUSHED his first ever IEP meeting as case manager!

-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!

🍁🍂Let's try something new for October...🍁🍂

It's a photo a day challenge! If you make a folder of the pictures you take, share it with me!

Institute Day

Agenda coming ASAP!!!! Still working out details!!!!

Red for ED!!!!

Thanks to Kendra Logar for putting this together! 💓

Upcoming Wellness Event

It's time for our annual Wellness Screening Event through NIHIP!

Empower Health Services will be at Stanton on Friday, October 9, 2026 from 6:30am - 10:00am. The event is available to ALL staff.

The wellness screenings will consist of three components:

The Screening package
Seasonal Flu Shot
Additional Test Options

Screening package and Flu Shots are available at NO COST to employees and spouses on any district medical plan.

Additional test options are available for BCBS PPO members and BCBS HMO members. Please see Additional Tests Menu for tests & fees.

Employees not enrolled in district's insurance plan can also participate on a self-pay basis.

For those only interested in the Seasonal Flu Shot, you must register online and select the "Flu Only" option when creating an appointment . Flu Shots will only be provided to those with an appointment.

Registration is now open! Please follow these steps to sign up:

Visit the Empower Health website by clicking here
Returning Participants: If you previously created an account, sign in under "Welcome Back!'
New Participants: Complete "New User" fields and enter
client code: foxlakedist114EHS

Please reach out to Maddie Mercado if you have any questions or concerns.

SOCK-tober!!!!

FIRST WEEK SOCK COUNT...151! WOWOWOWOW!!!! 😍

When students bring in a pair of socks, they can drop them in a collection box by the front desk.

This will be a building wide collection so you do not need to keep count of your individual classrooms (unless you want to - I see you, Michelle!)

We will be collecting from October 1-October 30. Please remind students that the socks should be new and unused. Staff are welcome to donate as well!

*If you get used socks, we will still take them (and wash them) to have extra socks on hand in the nurse's office, Pre-K etc.

We will be hanging all of the collected socks on a string with clothespins to see how far our donation string can go throughout the building before we donate them to Grant Township.

Please let us know if you have any questions or if something is unclear.

Thank you all for your support in this endeavor!

Let's get ready to rock the socks off October

-Girls on the Run Coaches (Kelly, Mollie, Sonia, Christine)

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

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!

Looking for financial planning advice or loan forgiveness? Discover the different possibilities!

We have a NEA Retirement Specialist assigned to our Fox Lake 114 certified and non-certified membership. His name is Steve Podgorski. His role is to help our members understand the many benefits of NEA union membership that are available to us - especially the ones mentioned below.

Free life insurance
Education about your TRS Tier 1 or 2 pension and what you need to know about it now.
The Federal Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness program for public school teachers.
Teacher Loan forgiveness for Title One certified staff.
Basic knowledge about your 403(b) choices including the one NEA Member Benefits recommends.

Steve Podgorski has times set aside this week just for our membership. Follow the link to sign up for a virtual or in person meeting.

Ongoing Trauma Informed/ACEs training throughout the year through IEA. Typically training lasts anywhere from 1-3 days. Stay tuned for more information. For more information about ACEs and Trauma Informed Systems, click the link above.

SCORE Grants –The purpose of SCORE grants (from IEA) is to encourage early career members (1-10 years as an educator) and their local associations to collaborate and create opportunities for community service projects for school projects. A list of previous winners and the application can be found on the website.

Check out the IEA Teaching and Learning Portal on the IEA website for FREE clock hours on your own time!

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

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 training, events, and ways to get involved. Together, we can lead with purpose and create schools where every student thrives!