5-30-25

 I appreciate all of the hard work that Kim puts into the award ceremonies we are having today.  Coming up with many different types of certificates and printing, spell checking, alerting parents ...It's a lot!  Thank you.

Thanks to Solly for organizing todays retirement lunch.  Putting together all the small details of an event like this takes a lot of planning and organization.  Thank you.  I am looking forward to the retirement celebrations and laughing with friends old and new.  

Speaking of celebrations, thanks to Michelle Davis for hosting the "after party" at her house on Friday after school.  Opening your home to this crew is a brave deed for sure!

Thanks to Jessica, Nicole, Todd, Margaret, April, Danielle and  Angela who all helped me get data for our School Improvement Plan school board update.  

It was great having Dr. McGill attend both our staff learning meeting and the BEA meeting this week so that we can start getting to know his vision and he can start building relationships with staff.  

I want to take a moment to thank John for his leadership and guidance this year as he has helped lead and organize the district for the future.  I know we all appreciate his hard work.  

The 8th grade team knocked it out of the park at Graduation this year.  Having such pros makes the night go smoothly and makes a beautiful ceremony seem effortless.  

I appreciate everyone keeping the kids engaged in different fun learning activities as the year closes out for our students.  I know at times it can be like bottling the sun and requires a little extra creativity and patience but.....

I know the end of the year can bring a lot of stress and anxiety(and packing) but also a lot of appreciation and celebration.  I am very proud of our accomplishments this year and in the work you have done individually and as a team of people working together to a common end.  I look forward to celebrating Lynette and Bill at the Luncheon this afternoon.  Have a great summer and reach out to me if you need anything.   

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Robert Frost

1874 –

1963

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

5-23-25

 Stephen, April and Morgan put on a great concert last week before a packed house.  It is always great to hear the growth students make between the beginning of the year and the end and everyone was raving about how awesome everyone sounded.  

Margaret did a great job leading our All-School Picnic last week.  I appreciate her initiative and ability to learn from others and this big event was a great combination of both.

Jessica and Jen H did a spectacular job with the NJHS Recess Relay last week.  Combining fun team building activities with the message of helping others is a great combination for our students.  NJHS raising over $2000 for the year with 600 volunteer hours show that our students are both raising money for charity and giving back to the community.  BRAVO!

I appreciate the leadership Lauren and Colleen have showed with taking over the new Outdoor Education Trip to Camp Timberlee including running the parent meeting last week to give parents a head start on learning about the new facility.

Focusing on Follow-Up questions can lead to meaningful class discussions.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/follow-up-questions-classroom

8th grade is winding down and activities are winding up.  End of year assessments, labs and projects combined with the 8th grade picnic, Great America yearbook signing, graduation practice and ceremony means the 8th grade teachers are busy and providing our students with lots of memories to end their year.  

Colleen Morgan had her 6th grade students cooking marshmallows in their solar ovens.  Hands on projects build skills, knowledge and memories. 

Nicolett worked extremely hard the past couple weeks with our Success Track students and single handedly pushed them to the finish line.  All three students will now graduate on stage.  Thanks to Nicolett and the 8th grade team in their flexibility in allowing students to complete missing and late assignments.  

Matt , Dan, Joe, Bill, Marcia, and Carrie all did a great job of honoring our Spring Athletes at our Spring Sports Awards Wednesday night.  Their speeches included athletic accomplishments, sportsmanship examples and stories of a fun season.  

I look forward to seeing the 5th grade egg drop challenge.  Seeing the groups come up with different plans on how to best protect their egg is always filled with creativity and critical thinking.  

I appreciate everyone's hard work and patience as we wrap up the school year.  Your extra effort to keep students on task and engaged in learning activities is appreciated.  

"Don't forget to give up the good to go for the great." -- John D. Rockefeller

"You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending." -- James R. Sherman

“Keep your face towards the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.” —Walt Whitman

5-9-2025

 Multi-Cultural Night was a huge success.  Thanks to the hard work of Dr. Salamone, a group of teachers including Mrs. Johnson from Benjamin and several parents and community members there were many cultures that were highlighted for people to learn from. We also had student volunteers.  It was a great night with lots of families in attendance.   

The PTA has really made staff appreciation week a great experience of food and decorations with their country themes.  Friday we have our lunch sponsored by our board of education.  April and I also left small tokens of appreciation in your mailboxes on Thursday.  

Coach Tylk, Hauser, Wadman, Liszka and Reavely have been working extremely hard with our spring athletes.  I appreciate the work that they do with our students to build skills and sportsmanship in wins and losses.  

Please remember to fill out the extra duty google spreadsheet for 2025-2026 school year.  We will have more openings than usually so I appreciate people's willingness to step up.  

5 A.I. tools that staff can start using right away. (worth a quick look)

https://www.edutopia.org/article/ai-tools-teachers-try

I appreciate Todd and Nicole and the work they are doing with our temporarily outplaced students,  Being the go-between between these facilities and the grade level teams is extremely important for a smooth transition back to our school. 

I appreciate the flexibility of my seventh grade hallway teachers and their temporary room sponsor teachers as we dealt with the flooded hallway right before students entered the building on Tuesday.  Your flexibility and ability to adapt to less than ideal circumstances highlights how special and tight knit our staff is as a whole.  Frank and Isidrio with the help of some Evergreen staff did an excellent job of quickly cleaning up the hall so we could get people back in their correct place by third period.  

Stephen took the time to nominate one of our 7th grade students for the Honors Performance Series  for music.  Stephen and Morgan then worked with the student on a vocal and instrumental  piece to perform for a tryout.   All that work paid off as she was selected!  Now she and her family will get to travel to New York City for a week over the summer where the student will work with great musical conductors/teachers to sharpen her skills, ending with a performance at Carnegie Hall!  What a great honor for our student and all due to teachers taking the time to go above and beyond to help a student. 

 

I will be out Wednesday through Friday next week to attend my daughters graduation in New Orleans.  I appreciate the work that April will do to keep everything running smooth as well as Mr. Langton's availability to pitch in when needed.  As always, the work you do to be proactive with students and parents in the areas of communication and problem prevention will always have greater benefits than dealing with things after the fact.  

Giving students the skills to spot fake news.

Next week is a busy week with the choir and band concert and assembly, the all school picnic and the NJHS Charity Fest  just to name a few of the events.  I look forward to hearing how great these events turn out and appreciate the tireless efforts of our staff to provide opportunities to showcase our students. 

I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence.

Amos Bronson Alcott (1799 - 1888)

The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.

Anatole France (1844 - 1924), 

 For every person who wants to teach there are approximately thirty people who don't want to learn--much.

W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman

5-2-2025

 I am looking forward to the PTA Staff Appreciation Lunch on Friday that will unofficially kick off our week of appreciation of you for next week.  As always I express my gratitude for the hard work you do everyday for our students.  Please make sure that you are following the articulation schedule for our meetings before and after lunch.

I also appreciate Margaret's coordination of our chair massages this week.  Hopefully that provided a little stress relief.  

How to get kids thinking in math class.  

Get kids to think in math class

Congrats to Stephen and Meg on their marriage this weekend.  Your Benjamin family wishes you a lifetime of happiness! 

Hats off to Michele Davis on her awesome student of the month bulletin board.  A long time ago in a galaxy far......

I appreciate Jessica and Sherry attending the extra duty stipend committee and for all of the work they did pre and post meeting to follow up on club details.

Please make sure you read Leslie's Open Enrollment email and Greg's end of year tech email as each have important information for you to follow up on.  

I really enjoyed the Illinois Principal Recognition Breakfast this week.  Honoring two of our 8th grade students with their parents at this event was a great experience for our students.  Thanks for filling out the other recognition forms at each team so that Kim can get certificates completed for our end of the year awards.

Thanks to Jessica for coordinating and completing our fast bridge testing with our 5th grade students. Working together with Evergreen staff makes testing much more efficient.  

April did a masterful job of running our Cardiac ERT meeting this week.  I appreciate her taking on this responsibility.  

Interesting article on tech integration in the classroom.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/model-implementing-technology-classroom

Thanks to Lynette and Chris for putting together Friday's Talent Show.  I'm sure their hard work will pay off with a great performance from our students.  

Thanks to Bill and Michele D for getting students ready for our 8th grade debates.  I was able to judge a few and was impressed with the student preparation.  I also appreciate Danielle and Angela's tech support to record the debates for parents to view.  

I was able to see students build and test out their catapults in the Medieval Stem class.  History, engineering, stem ...learning with hands on projects can be fun and engaging!

Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both.

John Andrew Holmes

In heaven all the interesting people are missing.

Friedrich Nietzsche 

My Grandmother is over eighty and still doesn't need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle.

Henny Youngman