Woodlawn Principal Blog 5/2/19

 

The rain stopped today in order to give us some nicer weather for the weekend.  If you can believe it, we are in the month of May! Yikes. I cannot believe that graduation will be in just over 26 days.  During this time of year, I try to have more of a hallway presence. In my mind, it helps keep things under control and remind the students that we still have a lot of school to finish off.  I will say that seeing this group of 8th graders make me feel badly that they are leaving. This group is a really nice group of students.


Staff Appreciation

Next week is teacher appreciation week!  I hope that you get an opportunity to write a positive note to one of your teachers this weekend.  



Patriot Middle School Track Meet

The conference track meet is tomorrow.  Woodlawn hosts the meet as we welcome in students and family members from Twin Groves, West Oak, Aptakisic, Fremont and Daniel Wright.  The entrance fee is $5 per car (please carpool) and there will be a concession stand. Good luck to our Wolves on the track team.


Click here for the PTO Blog


National Spanish Exam

The results for the National Spanish Exam are in and we are pleased to announce that our Woodlawn students did an amazing job!


 The National Spanish Exam is a motivational contest to recognize student achievement in the study of Spanish and to stimulate further interest in the teaching and learning of Spanish.  The National Spanish Exam is taken voluntarily by the students of about 4,000 teachers throughout the United States and is the largest Spanish language contest in the country.

The students at Woodlawn who voluntarily took the test also spent weeks preparing for the test through after school study sessions and individual practice.  Our students did an amazing job, many receiving national gold, silver, bronze or honorary mention designations. Three of them, Elizabeth Nelson, Lance Locker and Maria Lukz, will also be honored at a special ceremony on May 11 at Niles North High School by the Chicago Chapter of the AATSP.  These students will be presented with an additional certificate and a cash prize ranging from $30 to $80.

 Jenna Balaban, Melissa Demir, Nitika Goswami, Jade Han, Vibra Joshi, Macey Krull, Casey Kupferschmid, Lance Locker,  Maria Lukz, Julia Martin, Natalie Martin, Kaitlyn Mathews, Elizabeth Nelson, Lia Novak, Valerie Panich, Christina Santello, Sara Shujath, and Aminah Syed all participated in the exam and will be honored at the Woodlawn 8th grade awards assembly. Congratulations to all our wonderful Spanish students!


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Summer Reading

As summer approaches, we thought we’d take a few moments to discuss the importance of maintaining solid reading habits over the summer. Much of the research around summer reading suggests that students can lose more than two months of academic progress if they do not continue to read during summer months. Taking trips with your student to the library, listening to audiobooks in the car, and discussing the books you are reading together are some of the ways you can continue to help your student develop lifelong reading habits.

This year, the summer reading theme is Read Harder 2019.  We encourage all incoming 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to set reading goals beyond what they typically read and increase their reading volume this summer.  We’ve included a list of books for students to choose from and it is expected that each student will read at least one book from the required list. After that, students may elect to read from the required list or any book of their choosing. In addition to keeping track of the books they’ve read, students will be asked to write a letter to their new Language Arts teacher about their own reading experiences over the summer.  Summer reading lists, parent permission slips for the book selected, reading log, and assignment requirements can be found here:

We encourage all families to read along with their students and make reading an enjoyable experience.  Click here for the link to the district webpage.


Leadership Training Opportunity for Current 8th Graders

Eighth-grade students have an opportunity to participate in "Future Leaders of Stevenson" leadership training at Stevenson High School on May 13, 6– 9 p.m. Students are requested to complete THIS SURVEY and submit it by Apr. 30. Participation is limited to 75 students, so those interested should submit their survey responses promptly. The admission fee is $15. Dinner will be served.


6th Grade Dental Exams - May 15th Deadline

Proof of dental exam for all 6th grade students are due by May 15th.  If you have any questions, please contact Nurse Kaufmann in our main office.  847-353-8500.


8th Grade Parents-End of the School Year Information

End of the year events and graduation information is available on the website.  You will need to go to the 8th Grade Info site, print out the information and turn back to the Woodlawn main office.  Information about graduation gowns and tickets, the bowling party, our Great America trip and the last ½ day of school are all in this letter.


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Finally, I was caught off guard.  It is the month of May and I am playing, for the 6th straight year, a game of tag with six of my friends.  I know that there was a movie about this last year (terrible movie, do not waste your time), and we play this game throughout the month.  We show up at many different places and tag each other. I found out where one of my buddies gets his hair cut and let my name and number with the promise of a $20 reward if I am able to get him while he is there.  We have shown up at each others houses of worship, on the train, at sporting events, etc… Later in the month, my house goes in to absolute lockdown! Yesterday I made the mistake of being too comfortable. As I walked to my car, I was distracted and didn’t realize that one of my buddies was waiting for me.  Tagged. What makes this situation worse is that we are doing a golf trip in the fall and we put an additional price tag on each tag. It cost me $5. Ouch. Insult to injury. I will get someone this weekend!