December 2007

Greetings

Seasons Greetings to all our friends here in Palos 118. I hope the vacation is a pleasant time for students, staff, and families to relax and rejuvenate for the year ahead. December has been a terrific month for our students. As always, thank you to parents, students, teachers, and administrators for giving our kids the gift of a superb educational experience.

Board of Education

At its December 18 meeting, the Board of Education took action on several items. A motion was approved to “Provide for the Tax Levy for the Year 2007” and “Certificate of Tax Levy” totaling $17,908,000. Additional information and tax rates can be found on our website. Another motion was approved adopting the 2009-10 school calendar with an opening date of August 26, 2009 and a tentative closing date of June 8, 2010 (if no snow days are used.) Calendars for school years 2007-2010 are available to view online at www.palos118.org.

Under the direction of Amanda Schuler, Palos South Showstoppers Maura Melfi, Clare Gleeson, Kayla Collins, Rachel Jozwick, Megan Bogner, and Megan Connery performed holiday selections for the Board of Education to start off this month’s meeting. Thank you Showstoppers!

In other news, the Board thanked all of our support organizations; the PFA, Music Parents Association, and the Palos 118 Education Foundation for their fund raising efforts this school year.

Colleen Grant Schumann, Supervisor of Palos Township, sent a letter to Dr. Dubec expressing gratitude to Palos 118 for its overwhelming efforts in stocking the Township food pantry. Ms. Schumann cited all three of our schools for their generous work with the township and specifically noted that Palos West School’s “Souper Bowl Sunday” program has been the mainstay of the food pantry for over six years. Schumann says, “We are truly blessed with the generosity of your school district and the schools under your direction are truly overwhelming. The teachers, children, families, staff and friends who consistently support our pantry are exceptional people.” It goes without saying how proud we are of our teachers, students, families, and staff to receive correspondence of this nature.

Correction

In last month’s E-Connect, I recognized the Palos South Boys Softball team for their SWIC Championship season. The team won both Conference and Best in Tournament. Unfortunately, as a result of a clerical error, key player Kyle Belluomini’s name did not appear with the team’s names. We apologize for the error. Congratulations to Kyle and his teammates.

Exciting News for District 118

Palos West and Palos South art teacher, Mrs. Linda Frigo, was asked to help form a committee at Hope Children’s Hospital to start an art gallery at the hospital featuring the art work of patients and other children. Over the last several years, many 118 students have contributed works of art to the hospital Foundation. A book was recently published (ISBN #978-1-60402-655-9) called Hope in Color. 15 pieces of art work were accepted and published in the new book. Hope in Color is a beautiful art book and is available for purchase for $125. Proceeds from the sale benefit the Hope Pediatric Education Fund. A copy is available for preview now at Palos South and will be available for view in the media centers of all three schools after the New Year. Congratulations to the following students whose work was published: Morgan Cutrone, Michelle Giuffre, Tyler Hamer, JP Harmon, Alex Heller, Curtis Kent, Dominika Kolpak, Margot Restiano, Will Revethis, Melissa Schaver, Kelsey Vlamis, Denise Gbabiri, Evana Halikias, Kristina Georgis.

The National Middle School Association recently released their 2007-2008 Expressions from the Middle, featuring podcasts by young adolescents. A call for student podcasts was issued early in the school year for the October celebration, and they received submissions from students around the world. Seventh grade Palos South Middle School ALPS students worked with teacher Lori Swan and media specialist Gina Mannino to create original podcasts which were then submitted to NMSA. Two of our podcasts are featured winners, and an additional two received honorable mention in the competition. Each winning podcast earned a $25 cash prize for Palos South Middle School. Congratulations to the following students: Kaitlin DeAngelis, Emily Bronson, and Cody Kredens, Ian Weivoda, Shannon Regan, and John Schmiedl, Scott Collado, Shannon Kuruc, and Navika Shukla, Pat Letz, Sara Hill, and Ray Guo. Podcasts are available on iTunes.

Six 8th grade students participated in the National Geographic Geography Bee this month. The National Geographic Geography Bee is open to all schools. Six 8th graders are chosen to participate and a bee is conducted using questions from the National Geographic Society. Our six participants were Emily Morlock, Catherine Michels, Kevin Moylan, Chad Gavron, Ian Chronis, and Rei Rredhi. The building winner from Palos South was Rei Rredhi. Thank you Mr. Bentley for coordinating the bee!

Bear Down Chicago Bears!!

Palos East 3rd grader Kenny Melody entered a contest at Super Cuts to bring Charles “Peanut” Tillman to Palos East for the afternoon. Tillman held an assembly at Palos East this past Tuesday for the entire student body. Students asked Tillman questions such as his favorite college football team (Illini), his favorite video game, (“Halo”) his favorite foods, (macaroni and cheese and collard greens), and his best NFL moment (getting to last year’s Super Bowl). Tillman stayed for a special lunch with students who earned character coupons for December. Other lunch invitees included student council officers, Palos East “Principal For the Day” Connor Mish, and Assistant Principals For the Day Ryan and Audrey Doubek. Palos East student council members donated 500 dollars to Mr. Tillman’s Cornerstone Foundation after learning of his work with children and schools. A great afternoon was had by all!