What season is it???

Thank you to all who came to the Kindergarten Ramp Museum! They were beyond excited and felt
very supported!

From the Kindergarten Team

Thank you to Cathy Jawnyj who was so helpful with a student that was really struggling during IAR
testing. Mrs. Jawnyj sat with him, encouraged him, and came back during her lunch to help him.
Thank you!

and

Thank you to Betty Cwiak for organizing a fun and competitive AR contest with staff and students for
3rd quarter. It even pushed me to read more!

and

Thank you to Jeff Sefcik, Keli Swierczek, and Andrea DeMatteo who helped to quickly set up support
for a student. Thank you to Oner Medrano and Beth Rendon that arranged time on a short notice to
work with that student. A special shout out to Jeff Sefcik for supporting the student and his family
during several transitions.

and

Thank you to David Roat for being amazing and helping with everything IAR testing. Thank you to
Katie Jalove who helped with makeup testing.

and

Thank you to Kendra and Jamie Smeigh, Betty Cwiak, and Renee Kanari for supervising the
track students so they could get in their first meet at Johnsburg. I appreciate your help!

-All from Rachelle Peters

Thank you to Becky Vedder for helping me this past week with students and just being a
constant support! You work hard and always try to help! You're awesome!

-From Amber Mysliwiec

Thank you to Sue and Paula in the office for taking time out of the day to help with skating and
encourage ALL students to turn in their money. You ladies are amazing.

-From Amber Mysliwiec and Lisa Huck

I’d like to send Kudos to Natalie Miller for helping calm down a student of mine and letting her
sit with her for a while on a day I was out.

-From Emily Welsh

Thank you to everyone who was involved with IAR in some way or another. Whether you took
part in testing, proctoring, floater, administered makeups, schedule change, or had your office
taken over for our small group testing. YOU ALL ROCK!! Cannot thank you enough.

-From Victoria Miller

Thank YOU, Victoria, for all you did to make sure it all got done!!! -Heather

I would like to give a kudos to Keli Swierczek for always being so helpful and supportive with
my IEPs and giving me great advice about work and life.

and

Thank you Renee Kanari and Kathleen Winkiel for always going above and beyond for the
students on my caseload. You guys are rock stars and I truly appreciate how you help kids
everyday.

and

Thank you to Melissa Jakstas for always listening and giving me solutions when I am stressed
or just venting.

and

Thank you to Beth Rendon and Abbey Vraney for always collaborating with me on IEPs and
helping me figure out the best goals for students. Also, I really enjoy our lunches and how you
guys support me and give me great advice.  You guys are amazing!

and

Thank you to Ashley Palmer. You have done such an amazing job this year and kids love you!
 You are awesome!

-All from Cathy Jawnyj

Thank you to Michele Burgess for working with me to get a new and improved PE Fitness
Testing goal setting sheet into the planner for next school year!

and

Thank you to all the Stanton paraprofessionals who helped assemble the tracking posters for
our upcoming Warrior Training unit and who helped with the fitness award signs for lockers!

and

Thank you Sarah Grobe for helping to translate our PE Fitness Log into Spanish so that all of
our students can complete the assignment successfully!

and

Thank you Cathy Jawnyj for truly caring about the success of every student and for going above
and beyond to make sure they get what they need to be successful!

and

Thank you to Rachelle Peters for working so hard to get the track team meets this spring... it is
no easy task!

-All from Melissa Jakstas

I would like to give a fox to Jessica Lanners who worked with the Ronald McDonald Clinic to get all of
our students in. Thank you for your flexibility-even with the field trip happening the same day!

-From Rachelle Peters

When you have a kudo to share for someone, please just email me and I'll include it here!
The goal is to create system celebrations--so your input is truly welcome!

 

Business Office Updates

Clocking in

Please see below/attached for guidance on how to clock in if you forget your badge. :)

Also, please remember that any over time MUST be pre-approved.

Licensure Renewals

From Pam Cooper at the ROE:

As you are aware, we are in renewal season!  Just a few reminders:

Believe it or not, each year we have a handful of educators who contact us asking if they do not have
the required amount of PD, can they intentionally let the license lapse, and then pay to reinstate.

The answer to this question:

1)      The educator must complete the required professional development before they would be
allowed to reinstate the license.

2)      The educator is not eligible to work in an Illinois public school with a lapsed license. The district
must remove them from the classroom until the license is reinstated.

Those renewing in 2020 and beyond will no longer receive a reduction for an advanced degree. All
teachers will be required to complete 120 professional development hours in their five year cycle.  
Please see attached chart https://www.isbe.net/Documents/license-renewal-chart.pdf

Professional development must be completed through an Illinois approved provider as of
January 1, 2015  and the educator must receive the evidence of completion form 77-21B for all
activities. The old value chart has been replaced by the approved provider list, and is no longer
in effect.  Please use the attached link to view this list for providers prior to earning PD.
https://www.isbe.net/Documents/prof-dev-provider-list.pdf

Curriculum Updates

iReady diagnostic--week of April 22

AIMSWeb progress monitoring--remains in place for all students who have this as part of
their plan/data collection.

Math

This week in Ready Math! :)

74% is awesome!!!! Keep up the great iReady work!!! THANK YOU!

When we meet the 80% pass rate goal, we’ll do a yummy dessert bar!!!

SEL

This week in Second Step! :)

Voting for the TRS 2019 Teacher Trustee Election is open now through May 1, 2019 at 10 a.m.

Click HERE for more information and a link to your TRS account to vote.

If you are interested in voting in the 2019 IEA Spring Elections, you may vote HERE. You should have,
or should be, receiving an Election Code and Voting Pin via USPS mail. Please call IEA Connect at
1-844-IEA-1800 if you need additional support. The election closes at 4:00 pm Central time on
Wednesday, April 24, 2019.

Legislative Update - April 12, 2019

Statement from IEA President Kathi Griffin on $40,000 minimum salary bill passing Senate

Melissa Jakstas, President

Maureen DeVoss, Vice President for Certified Staff

Chris Brown, Vice President for Non-Certified Staff

Katy Gardner, Treasurer

Betty Cwiak, Secretary

Cathy Jawnyj, Region Representative

Kendra Smeigh, Stanton School Representative

Tiffany Tardio, Lotus School Representative

The D114 April Hydration Challenge is underway! You may join the challenge anytime
this month and will earn one raffle ticket for a chance to win a $20 gift card for everyday
you meet your personal hydration goal. So far we have 3 employees who have met their
hydration goal everyday this month... so awesome!!!

The Wellness Committee will next meet on Wednesday, April 17th to plan future
challenges and events. If you have any feedback or ideas to share, please feel free to
pass them along!

Link to D114 Business Office Share Folder

*check here for documents most frequently used/requested

Please let Heather know of suggestions for any documents to add to this folder!

Work Order Request

Technology Support Request

Blue Cross Blue Shield:

www.bcbsil.com

SEL Pacing Guides

Lotus:

Stanton:

5th

6th-8th

Questions:

What from this list do you already do?

What would you add for ways you “fill your bucket”?

April 16, 2019--Board of Education meeting at Lotus

April 17, 2019--New IEP platform (EMBRACE) training

April 19, 2019--No school, District holiday

May 14, 2019--Board of Education meeting--NEW DATE

Please be safe on the Monday commute, and here’s hoping for actual Spring weather.

Heather

Monday Memo--April 8, 2019

I really wanted to give a KUDOS to Kelly Roland! This is a little late but the Friday before

spring break she helped uplift staff members by bringing us some before break cheer!

I hope this can be added in next weeks Monday memo thanks!

-From Paige Shaffer

I would like to thank Erin Conn0lly-Jordt for allowing the very amateur photography team :-D

to again use her music room for Saturday’s Mother/Daughter event. Much appreciated.

-From Porfiro Franco

To all D114 Admin.... Thank you for being the type of leaders that drive us to be our best!

-From Tiffany Tardio

Thank you Heather Pear, Lynn Smolen, Don Ukleja, and Mike Szotek for working on the

sensory room this week and making it look amazing!

-From Matt Peters

Kudos to Bob H. for always answering my 5:00 a.m. emails when we have a bus/van

schedule change!

and

Kudos to all the drivers for making last minute changes and always being so flexible. Thank

you for being such a great team and always willing to help out in anyway possible.

-From Becky Laverdure

Kudos to Natalie U for taking two of my friends during my plan times and for eating lunch

with them! It is nice to have your support for these students that struggle to transition and

complete tasks in the classroom. I really appreciate you for going above and beyond!!

-From Tiffany Mihovilovich

When you have a kudo to share for someone, please just email me and I'll include it here!
The goal is to create system celebrations--so your input is truly welcome!

 

Business Office Updates

System Expectations

If/when students display behaviors that are escalating or make you uncomfortable:

• Call for help! We will find staff to assist you.

If/when students display aggressive behaviors:

• Call for help so that you are not alone.
• Use all proactive and preventative approaches before considering using a restraint.
• Remember that ONLY staff who are CPI certified may restrain a child.
• Restraints should be done alone ONLY as a last resort; you should call for help as soon

as the behavior is escalating to aggressive.

• Restraints should only be used when a child is unsafe to him/herself or others;

deflect/distract/give space as the first resort whenever possible.

• As soon as possible, let your building principals know of the event. If the student is

IEP-entitled, inform the case manager and Lynn/Keli ASAP.

• If a restraint is used, complete a D114 Restraint Report. Ask for administrative support

in completing the report.

If a staff member is injured in any way:

• Call Company Nurse to report the injury ASAP. Colleen at Lotus or Jessica at Stanton

can assist you in making this call, but YOU must make the call yourself.

I’m always happy to debrief or be a part of any situation, but there are very defined steps
that MUST be followed in order to keep students and safe safe and the District in a place
where we are not potentially legally vulnerable. If you have questions about any of this
information, please see/email/call me as soon as possible.

Curriculum Updates

Upcoming Assessment Windows:

iReady diagnostic--week of April 22

AIMSWeb progress monitoring--remains in place for all students who have this as part of
their plan/data collection.

Math

This week in Ready Math! :)

When we meet the 80% pass rate goal, we’ll do a yummy dessert bar!!!

SEL

This week in Second Step! :)

Voting for the TRS 2019 Teacher Trustee Election is open now through May 1, 2019 at
10 a.m.

Click HERE for more information and a link to your TRS account to vote.

If you are interested in voting in the 2019 IEA Spring Elections, you may vote HERE.
You should have, or should be, receiving an Election Code and Voting Pin via USPS mail.
Please call IEA Connect at 1-844-IEA-1800 if you need additional support. The election
closes at 4:00 pm Central time on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.

Awesome IEA Podcast: Episode 15

The 2019 Representative Assembly

Legislative Update - April 5, 2019

Melissa Jakstas, President

Maureen DeVoss, Vice President for Certified Staff

Chris Brown, Vice President for Non-Certified Staff

Katy Gardner, Treasurer

Betty Cwiak, Secretary

Cathy Jawnyj, Region Representative

Kendra Smeigh, Stanton School Representative

Tiffany Tardio, Lotus School Representative

Thank you to everyone who participated in the D114 March Step Challenge! As a
district we logged 9,312,793 steps! Congratulations to Kelly Roland for leading the
group in steps and being the only participant to pass the 500,000 step threshold! The
winner of the $20 gift card for her 300,000 step raffle ticket is... Betty Cwiak! Thank
you Jessica Lanners for pulling our winner and Jill Becmer and Michele Burgess for
supervising.

The D114 April Hydration Challenge is underway! You may join the challenge anytime
this month and will earn one raffle ticket for a chance to win a $20 gift card for
everyday you meet your personal hydration goal.

The Wellness Committee will next meet on Wednesday, April 17th to plan future
challenges and events. If you have any feedback or ideas to share, please feel free to
pass them along!

Link to D114 Business Office Share Folder

*check here for documents most frequently used/requested

Please let Heather know of suggestions for any documents to add to this folder!

Work Order Request

Technology Support Request

Blue Cross Blue Shield:

www.bcbsil.com

SEL Pacing Guides

Lotus:

Stanton:

5th

6th-8th

Questions:

What do you hope your students say about YOU?

What impact do your students have on you?

The Patience and Persistence Needed for Our Students

By George Couros on Apr 07, 2019 07:17 am

A friend, and former colleague, Les Worthington, wrote the following Facebook post
(shared with permission):

While standing in line at a store today a young man approached me and said, “Hello Mr.
Worthington.” He has grown a lot since I saw him last (+/-5 years), and I didn’t recognize
him (I guess I’ve aged well because he recognized me!) Once he said his name I said hello
and gave him a hug. We chatted briefly before he had to go. I thanked him for coming up
to me and saying hello.

I know (as do most people in education) that what I do has an impact on kids, and that I
have an important role in guiding and educating the next generation. Moments like today
remind me that students also have an impact on us. As I drove home the positive
emotional impact hit me, brought tears to my eyes, and really filled my bucket.

This young man, for reasons beyond his control, has had to overcome more obstacles
than a child should. My time with him had its ups and its challenges. I’m a better educator
and person for having known him. I hope my impact on him was equally as positive, and
I hope this post finds its way to him. Him choosing to come say hello, although small in
action, was large in impact, and reminds those of us in education why we do what we do.

Les is the real deal, and from knowing him and seeing him work directly with students, I
could feel the emotion in his post.

A few things:
My hope as an educator was not to solely “prepare kids for the future” but to help them
build a better world than we have currently. Although, we all can have frustrating days as
teachers when students challenge us, how we interact in those moments, as Les reminds
us, will model a way for our students in the future.

I remember getting frustrated with students early on in my career when they were “acting
up” but, again as Les reminds us, many students are going through things that I would
struggle handling as an adult.  When you feel them struggling, the trick is not to “love less”
but to “love more.” Students need to know you have their back especially when they are
struggling.

I remember one mom being upset with the progress of her child and I kept reminding her
that kids develop in different ways at different times, and we just needed to be patient. Her
son grew up to be a fantastic person because our focus as a team (educator and parent)
was to not focus on the “right now” but to focus on the child’s future and be patient with
the pathway they were taking.  This is not about being “soft” on kids at the moment but
just to remind me to be patient and persistent. On days when we struggle, it is essential to
look back on how far a child has come, as to become frustrated where they are in that
moment.

I loved the post from Les. It gave me several reminders on the incredible work of educators
being done everywhere.

April 9, 2019--PTA meeting at Stanton

April 16, 2019--Board of Education meeting at Lotus

April 17, 2019--New IEP platform (EMBRACE) training...DETAILS COMING!!!

May 14, 2019--Board of Education meeting--NEW DATE

Had an amazing time with my girls in Dayton. Katie’s team finished 61st of 144 at Winter
Guard World Championships--couldn’t be prouder.

Have a great week and remember...ONE TEAM, ALL IN! How will YOU be all in this week?

Heather