1-31-2025

 What a week packed with fun and inspirational activities to get students to think more about kindness and respect.  Thanks once again to April for spearheading this week and to the many other staff who helped implement and facilitate the activities.  Special shout out to Carrie Liszka who stayed late on Thursday to use her art background to put together the Art Installation with April.  When you put everyone's individual artwork together to make a bigger piece of art, it is pretty spectacular.  When you think about it.... it's similar to our staff coming together to make our school a spectacular place to be.  

Thanks to Joel for working with me to get the new locker placement set for the summer.  This will be a big improvement for our students.  

Glad to see Matt and Dan get some wins this week with the girls basketball team. We have some home games coming up.  

Thanks to the staff who went to the Special Board meeting on Monday and the Community Forum tonight.  Staying informed is what helps us make educated decisions.  I always feel very grateful that the staff takes so much pride in our school and what we have accomplished and continue to come to board meetings, special board meetings. community forums, PTA meetings etc....You are the most important part to the success of our students.     Also a big shout out to Danielle and Angela for setting up the sound system and to Vanessa for coming back to help the presenter with technology on both nights!  Thanks for "being there"

We are all leaders in this building and the admin team has recently done a lot of work with servant leadership.  This image is a good summary to keep in mind. 

If you have time please take a few minutes to fill out Betty's survey.  It will close at the end of next week.  

Speaking of surveys...The 5Essentials Survey official window is February 18th-March 28th.  More info will be coming soon.  

Thanks to everyone for getting your newsletter articles in to Margaret and to Margaret for getting it organized and out to parents. This is a very important avenue for letting parents know the great things that are going on in your classrooms. 

  

Health Trainings are due Friday.  If you did not finish them, please finish this weekend.  Please reach out to me if you have questions.  

I would like to welcome Dawn K to the Ben 25 district.  She has been busy assisting Julie with all things special education.  All of you will eventually be receiving emails from her at some point inviting you to IEP meetings.  Take a moment to go upstairs and say hello if you have time.  

I don't know how many other middle schools have roller skating at their school but what a great experience for our students.  Thanks to Jen and Joe for putting this together each year.  

6 Ways that technology can help you teach reading more effectively.

Tech and Reading

There have been a few behavior situations this week.  I appreciate the fact that staff handle this with me in the forms of clear communication to me and in many cases following up with parents  to help me out.  I could not do such a good job of working to help these students without your help.

Thanks to the lunch supervisors who always have a tough job but this week we made it even more difficult with the addition of lunchtime activities such as "fishing for prizes" and "gross smoothie making"  Thanks to Bill, Joe, Jen V, Jim, Jessica, Lynette, Jen H, Chris and Lori for keeping the kids in order.  

Tried, True and Quick formative assessments. 

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/64706/tried-and-true-and-quick-methods-for-formative-assessment

 I would like to send another special shout out to Ali K who has been helping out in every way possible.  I appreciate the job she is doing assisting teachers, covering check in/check out, always listening to feedback to get better and choosing to eat her lunch everyday with Jen M's kids in the lunchroom.  Thanks for giving your best!

Thanks to Chris and Dan for being great sports for their students!

Pray not for lighter burdens, but for stronger backs.  

                                          Theodore Roosevelt

Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.

                                                    C.W. Ceram

                                                 

                                            

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

Herm Albright 

1-24-2025

I appreciate all of the time Coach Wolski is spending with our chess team on Thursday Nights and on the weekend.  This past weekend the team took first place in the North Chicago Cup!  Way to go!

I appreciate all of the work Kim is doing to assist Solly with the Civil Rights Data Collection report.  This involves securing a lot of data and is long tedious work.  Thank you.

Jen and her health students invited our local firemen in for some of their healthy cooking.  The firemen included a couple Benjamin Alumni as well.  Helping the people that help us is a great message of community for our students!

Health training Reminder!  The health trainings are due soon!  Please get them done.

Looking for dinner on Tuesday?  PTA is doing a fundraiser  at Texas Roadhouse.  Stop by on your way home for an easy dinner night.  

The arts allow students to express themselves, their ideas, and their feelings creatively. For English learners, the arts can help build confidence while allowing adults and their classmates to get to know them better.

The Arts as a Bridge for EL

I will be meeting with Dr. Bhavna Sharma-Lewis on January 29th to talk about district goals, priorities and initiatives.  Part of that conversation will be setting up times to meet with staff representatives on February 6th.  All staff are welcome to attend the community forum on Thursday, January 30th at 7pm in Benjamin's small gym.  

With all of the nasty weather continuing I know we all appreciate the work that Tim, Frank and Esidrio have been doing to keep our sidewalks and parking lot clear and safe.  

I so appreciate all of the hard work that April has put into Character Education Week next week.  Please make sure that you read the flyer. (connected below)  The assembly will be action packed and we will need to call students down a little early from 8th period so we can start the assembly by 1:45pm.  

Here is the schedule

I appreciate the hard work that the Science Committee is doing to pick our next resource.  Our meeting on Wednesday was very productive in seeing where we were at in our pilot and what questions or obstacles committee members needed help with.  As always I appreciate Danielle and Angela's help with this as well as our weekly Wednesday Instructional Coaches Meetings.  

Exploration and innovation in the classroom.

Exploration and Innovation in the classroom

Thanks to Jessica for organizing and executing our Fast Bridge data.  It is a lot of work and I know we were short handed.  Thank you.  

Michele Davis is looking for LOVE songs for the Tiger Times.  I attached the link below.  Please contribute.  The student matching game sounds like fun.  

Michele D Song Link

Today is the deadline for sending me your agenda for the County Wide Institute day.  Please send it to me if you have not done so already.  

Pretty Hilarious commercial:  Hooked on phonics.

Please set up your second formal Observation with me next week if you have not done so already.  

Please take a moment to fill out this short survey from Betty on classroom discussions.  

Staff Survey

"Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

"Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or having everything happen all at once." -- Paulo Coelho

Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.

Will Rogers 

1-17-2025

Jessica and Jen did a great job organizing and facilitating the National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony on Wednesday night.  I appreciate their hard work and effort to make this a special night for the students and their family members.  

Kim Gertser and Jim Allard are the latest recipients of the staff spotlight recognition.  Both have been highlighted from their peers for their hard work and preparation to the many aspects of their job. Their personal interactions with staff and students were also highlighted.  I believe staff recognizing each other is appreciated even more than other types of recognition.   Let's hear it for Kim and Jim!!!

I appreciate the team leaders meeting with me and dispersing important information back to you.  I not only count on them to help lead initiatives but I also continue to learn from them as much as (hopefully) they learn from me.  

IAR testing will be on March 18th, 20th, and 25th.  Because of the earlier testing we are also overlapping with Tech Week for the musical.  Due to these two events (IAR and Tech Week) I am asking that you not give homework for the week or at minimum not give homework on Monday the 17th and Wednesday March 20th.  I will work with staff who have longer range assignments to help them reduce workload expectations for that specific week.  I appreciate everyone's flexibility in making these adjustments.  I would not ask if I did not feel like it was important.  

Helping students manage their emotions can help your classroom thrive.

4 ways to Leverage Emotions for learning

Please read the email regarding the character spirit week from April that will take place from January 27th-31st. .  Reinforcing the "What is a Benjamin Student" and the Fish Philosophy with fun activities and incentives while also promoting good citizenship will keep our school environment strong.  Thanks to April for putting this together.  I look forward to the BMX bike motivational speaker, drinking my disgusting smoothies and being made into a human sundae, all of which are in my job description...I think.

The PTA is meeting Tuesday, January 21st at 7pm in the boardroom.  Having a couple staff members attend the meeting is always a positive.  The PTA does a lot for our school community and the more participation we have from staff, parents and community members, the more they can accomplish towards supporting our schools.  Let me know if you can make it.

Make room in your life for Habits!

Congrats to the Boys JV BB team as they finished third in the end of the year tournament in a very competitive league.  Dan and Matt have already moved into Girls BB mode. Please sign up to supervise a game on the link that Mr. Baker has sent out.  

Alumni Alert!  Speaking of girls basketball, former Bengal, Jasmine Trigueros scored her 2,000th point this week at WCCHS.  This level of scoring is very unusual for HS girls basketball.  (A lot of former Bengals in this pic!)

Nicole J will be conducting ACCESS testing next week.  This is a long process and I appreciate her detailed scheduling to keep everyone aware of when students will be pulled for testing.

I love walking down the hallway and seeing all of the student artwork/projects that personalize and beautify our school space.  

I met with the Mentee first year teachers on Cultivating Compassion in yourself and others. Here is a pretty cool video resource (9 minutes long) that was included. Use it for a good pick me up when you are feeling down.    

"Skill and confidence are an unconquered army." -- George Herbert

You must not think me necessarily foolish because I am facetious, nor will I consider you necessarily wise because you are grave.

Sydney Smith (1771 - 1845) 

I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long.

Mitch Hedberg

 

1-10-2025

I want to thank Superintendent Langton for his encouraging words at our staff learning meeting and for being so visible in his first week in our district.    

Vanessa, Angela and Danielle have been hard at work setting up and creating feedback forms for the new touch panels in select teachers rooms.  This process will enable the district to obtain more information on different models to give us more data on future purchases.  

How to Engage students to turn in quality work.  

https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-encourage-quality-student-work

Please finish your online health trainings by the end of this month.  

I went to teams this week to talk about our current sub shortage.  Solly is reaching out to everyone on our list to try to fill positions.  April created a well designed informative flyer to be posted on social media that will hopefully attract new subs.  Solly also was able to sign up a new sub (who is also a current parent) that will start subbing on Friday.  I appreciate everyone's flexibility and want to give shout outs to Holly and Nicolett who are really helping to cover a lot of absences.  Thanks also to Stephen, Mark and Bill for helping me cover the boys locker room on Friday.  

Good luck to Matt, Dan and our boys basketball team as they begin their playoff journey this week.  

I appreciate the 8th grade team's preparation for their students transition to WCCHS.  This week that involved a presentation from the high school and working on their recommendation forms.  

Quick Check-ins in the classroom.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/make-most-quick-check-ins-school

A great time was had at the staff vs. varsity boys basketball game.  The staff was humble in their victory and showed great sportsmanship.  

Please check out the Instructional Coaches Newsletter this week, specifically the article and resources on TAG feedback.  Thanks to Danielle, Angela and Allison for putting this newsletter together. 

Josh just opened up slots for additional students in the Maker Space Club.  Students were hard at work  after school on Tuesday using creative exploration of technology with their peers.  

 Kelly has done a great job covering for Colleen this week in 6th grade.  I appreciate her effort and hard work to stay prepared for our kiddos.  I am also thankful for the help that Lauren and Dan have shown her since joining the 6th grade team.  

Each grade level has set up their STAR testing dates for the next window.  Please check your email for details.  

I am ready for the next round of formal classroom observations.  Please reach out to schedule if you are on cycle this year.  

I want to thank everyone for coming together quickly after break to help support a new medical 504 plan in 6th grade.  Special thanks to Marcia and Megan S for making the mom feel at ease with their attention to detail and frequent communications.  

I appreciate everyone's attention during the staff learning meeting as we reviewed the 5 Essentials Survey to prepare for not only the new survey, but to make genuine strides for improvement in our school.  Next week I will send out a summary of our weaknesses identified in the survey along with some possible resources and strategies for improvement.  I am excited to announce that February 18th will be our day of shadowing, where all teachers will use their team time to observe another teacher.  Special Ed will do this on the 20th during first period.  What a great way to learn from each other!  Joe will send out a spreadsheet showing who is teaching what during each of the grade level team times to make it easier for people to choose where they are going on this day.  

I want to thank Janice Youngwith for her many years of service working with the district social media, highlighting the events and achievements of our students, staff and schools.  

"Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present." -- Albert Camus

"New ideas are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common." -- John Locke

"Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say." -- Barbara Kingsolver

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