Woodlawn Principal's Blog 4/7/23

4/7/23

Welcome back to the blog Woodlawn!  It was an interesting week with Tuesday and Friday being non-attendance days.  It was great seeing the students again and we are gearing up for the home stretch.  Baseball has started and spring is in the air.  Just a few items in the blog this week.  

Congratulations to our Woodlawn Wolves of the Month!  

Rianna Carabat, Annette Kishinevsky, Sophia Dimitrov, Prakruti Pradeep, Ryan Brezek, Somya Nayar, Alisa Kagan, Yun Dou and Ishann Mondal.  

Proof of Dental Exam

Dear Parents/Guardians of District 96 Kindergarteners, 2nd, and 6th Grade Students:

Please note that your child’s completed dental examination is now due, per Illinois school law. The deadline for the dental examination is due no later than May 15 of the current school year.  Proof of this required dental examination must have been completed within eighteen months prior to the May 15 deadline.

If you haven’t already done so, please make an appointment with your child’s dentist for a dental examination, have him and/or her complete the required form, and return it to your child’s school nurse. This examination can be as old as November 15, 2021.

State of Illinois Proof of Dental Examination Form

In the event that you are unable to fulfill this requirement, the state of Illinois does permit a waiver of the examination.

State of Illinois Dental Waiver Form

Dental examination forms, as well as dental waiver forms, can be downloaded from the District’s website.  

Thank you for your prompt cooperation. 

Making a Healthy Transition to Stevenson

Please click this  LINK to register.

SHS Cheerleading

Tryouts for cheerleading at Stevenson are approaching this April. Tryouts are open to all students and incoming students for the 2023-2024 school year. We are currently looking to build and expand our program and would love for anyone interested to attend our upcoming clinic and tryouts. 

Parent/Athlete Meeting: April 17th, 5:30 p.m. in room 5132. Come learn more about the Stevenson Cheerleading Program. 

Stevenson Cheerleading Clinic (Open to students currently in grades 8-11): April 19th from 4:00pm - 6:00 pm in the wood commons. All interested must register at the link provided here: SHS Cheerleading Tryout Clinic

Our tryouts will then be on April 24th, 25th and 26th beginning at 4:00 pm. Anyone interested in trying out must be registered with the athletics office. 

A Message from SHS Student Council

Hello incoming Stevenson Patriots,

Student Council is an organization that works to improve the school's culture and the climate of the school where we all live, work, and learn. We are looking for individuals who are passionate about being a part of improving the overall experience of each student as well as the faculty here at Stevenson. Student Council is open to all students regardless of previous involvement in Student Council.

Are you interested in joining the Student Council next year?  If so, please fill out the application here:  https://forms.gle/X6eGgY8psXV8USTR8

The deadline for the application is May 1st.

If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected]. 

Go, Patriots!

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Representative Visit

We had a nice visit from the newly elected, Illinois House of Representative, Nabeela Syed. She and I had a nice talk about the state of education and what we need as a school.  A small group of 8th-grade students also had the opportunity to ask questions and talk about how they are feeling about being middle school students.  Every so often I get this type of request.  Early in my tenure as a principal, Robert Dold and I had a similar visit.  He had the best handshake ever. 

Please visit the PTO monthly blog.

Click here for the Woodlawn Daily Announcements

Finally, my wife and I took a trip down to the southland with our best friends for Spring Break.  We went to the hopping town of Hot Springs, Arkansas.  We decided to drive to our destination and just enjoy the ride.  It was great to unwind by golfing, hiking and simply hanging out.  I (re)learned a number of things about native Southerners that I found fascinating.

• Please and thank you are commonplace.  I really like when you are out in public and everyone you run into is sharing social graces.  
• Eating at restaurants quite often, the servers address who they are talking with as either ma’am or sir.  This happened in a number of places and was often combined with the please and thank you. 
• Complete strangers will not only talk to you, but they will also give you a large chunk of their life story.  On the golf course alone, I learned that the ranger was engaged to a woman from Niles in the early 70s but that she up and disappeared one day.  I wasn’t sure what the best thing to say to that was, so I just ended that conversation with, “Well, look at you now.  You are a golf ranger!”  
• Many restaurants close early in the evening.  8 p.m. seemed to be a common time to close up shop.  Fascinating.  
• This may have been my favorite.  I held a door open for a family and not only did I receive a “thank you, sir.”  I also received a “bless your heart”.  I need to add that one to my repertoire. It just feels good.  
• Sweet tea is real.  Not only sweet tea but extra sweet, sweet tea.  
• Lastly, driving through a small town, they had a gas station with a drive-thru sporting goods, liquor, souvenirs, and gun store.  Just a different lifestyle.  

I know what you are wondering…yes, I struggled with my golf game.  Luckily, it was 72 degrees and perfect.  Have a great weekend.