District 54’s Community Closet has been extremely busy this year and is always looking for additional donations of winter coats, hats and gloves for the families in need in our school community.

The Community Closet is a place where our families in need can visit to select free clothes for all members of their immediate family. Students cannot be expected to reach their full potential if their basic needs are not met.

The Closet is located in the basement of Addams Junior High School and is open to families two nights and one Saturday morning each month. Before visiting the Closet, families must obtain a voucher from their school social worker.

People may support the Community Closet in several ways:

1. If you know of a District 54 family who could use some assistance, encourage them to talk to their school social worker.
2. Donate gently used clothes, including spiritwear, shoes, coats and other outerwear. Clothing can be dropped off at any District 54 building during school hours or at the District Office, 524 E. Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
3. Donate gift cards, cash or checks (payable to District 54) so that we may purchase new underwear and socks for the families.
4. Organize a clothing drive with your own school, club or group and donate items to the Community Closet already washed and sorted by size and gender.
5. Volunteers who wish to fold clothes or work shifts in the Community Closet should contact Kathy Canary (KathyCanary@sd54.org).

Student work day – Dec. 20

School-age children in the District 54 community can volunteer at the Closet on specific days during the year. We do not want the students who are shopping in the Closet to encounter their classmates. Therefore, we have set up specific days for children and teens to volunteer by sorting and folding clothing. Our next student work day is Dec. 20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parents or youth group leaders who are interested in working on that day, should contact Terri McHugh at TerriMcHugh@sd54.org.

Thank you for your support.

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households.  They no longer rise when elders enter the room.  They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.” (Socrates, 469-399 B.C.)

More than 2,400 years later, similar comments are still being made regarding today’s youth. Different words may be used; however, many feel Socrates’ statements are applicable today. Often we hear comments that children lack manners, can be disrespectful, are unappreciative and only think about themselves.

We see examples of how District 54 students contradict this view on a daily basis. Their parents, along with our entire community, can be proud of the passion and dedication that our students have for helping those who are in need.

During the year, students in all 27 District 54 schools are actively involved in and contribute to a variety of charitable endeavors. If this generation stays committed to helping others, our world will be a better place.

A small representation of the hundreds of charitable activities and community service projects in which our students participate is highlighted below 

• Addams students volunteer in preschool classrooms and shop for the district’s Community Closet.
• Aldrin students collected items for the Buddy Foundation, a shelter for homeless animals.
• Armstrong students are making holiday cards for nursing home residents and children hospitalized with serious medical conditions.
• Blackwell students collected $1,650 for UNICEF to provide emergency food, healthcare and shelter.
• Campanelli students are collecting clothes for the Community Closet.
• Collins students have become pen pals with Misericordia residents and participate in a variety of activities to support them.
• Churchill students organized a shoe drive to help fund schools for orphans living in Africa.
• Dirksen students are participating in a food drive for the Schaumburg Food Pantry.
• Dooley students are raising money for the Make a Wish Foundation.
• Einstein students partnered in the Lions Club hat and mitten drive.
• Eisenhower students are sponsoring a clothing and food drive for families in need.
• Enders-Salk students are collecting nonperishable food items for WINGS and WACO.
• Fairview students are writing letters to soldiers serving overseas.
• Fox students collected more than $500 for Hearts for Haiti and Feed My Starving Children.
• Frost students participated in the Walk for Mental Health and raised more than $1,000 for a family who lost its home to a fire.
• Hale students collected supplies for victims in Pakistan and sent Halloween candy to troops stationed around the world.
• Hanover Highlands students raised $400 to help build schools for children in Afghanistan through the Pennies for Peace campaign.
• Hoover students grew a variety of fresh produce and donated their harvest to a local food pantry.
• Keller students raised $1,157 by collecting loose change for the American Cancer Society.
• Lakeview students honored the Schaumburg Barn seniors with a thank you Bingo luncheon for their yearly generous school supply donations.
• Lincoln Prairie students baked and donated pies to a homeless shelter for Thanksgiving dinner.
• Link students wrote letters and sent care packages to our military letting them know how much their service is appreciated.
• MacArthur students promote intergenerational relationships by participating in activities with a local nursing home.
• Mead students held their seventh annual Cancer Walk and raised $11,866.
• Muir students raised more than $500 by collecting quarters to support WINGS 25^th anniversary campaign.
• Nerge students collected spare change and purchased gift cards for the Community Closet and a Women’s Shelter.
• Stevenson students raised more than $3,000 to provide meals and gifts for families experiencing financial hardship.

Thanks to our incredible students for their generosity and commitment to helping others. We are very proud off all that you do to positively impact the lives of so many people!

District 54 staff, students and community members have been celebrating American Education Week this week with a variety of activities.

The NEA has chosen the theme of Great Public Schools: A Basic Right and Our Responsibility as it celebrates the 89^th annual American Education Week. The theme highlights the importance of providing every American child with a quality education and the message that this goal is everyone’s responsibility.

District 54 schools have been inviting parents into the classroom for an up-close look at what a typical day is like for their children.

District 54 also invited its partners from all 27 schools to a celebration of these relationships on Nov. 17. Four partners were honored as Super Partners:

• Friendship Village for its support of Hoover Elementary School and its greenhouse and garden
• The Hoffman Estates High School football team for the mentoring program offered at Blackwell Elementary School
• LensCrafter for providing free glasses to students at Addams Junior High School
• Roosevelt University for its role in the Lakeview Elementary School No Excuses University program.

District 54 thanks all the partners, parents, students, staff, School Board members and everyone else who contributes to our mission of Ensuring Student Success.

Lakeview students sang patriotic songs and read thank you cards as part of a formal ceremony to honor the veterans who attended a ceremony at the school on Nov. 11.

However the expressions of thanks didn’t end when the ceremony concluded. Students swarmed the veterans in attendance to shake their hands, offer words of thanks and even dole out a few hugs.

All 27 District 54 schools participated in Veterans Day activities on Nov. 11 to honor the men and women who have served our country. Some of the activities included:

• Observing a moment of silence;
• Hosting a flag ceremony;
• Singing patriotic songs;
• Writing to a soldier or veteran;
• Interviewing veterans;
• Wearing red, white and blue;
• Reading literature and poetry about war and veterans;
• Learning military songs;
• Watching a DVD or online clip about Veterans Day; and
• Discussing how people who served in the military have impacted our lives.

In addition to Lakeview, MacArthur and Stevenson also held all-school assemblies and invited veterans from the school communities as well as relatives of staff and students who are veterans.

At Hoover School sixth-grade students created a short movie based on interviews with three veterans.

At Addams Junior High School seventh-graders discussed the history of Veterans Day, the significance of the poppy; and In Flanders Field. Eighth-graders discussed the history of Veterans Day as it relates to World War I, and Veterans Day political cartoons.

Community members are invited to provide feedback on social science textbooks under consideration for adoption in School District 54. The two elementary school programs being considered are

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• TCI – Social Studies Alive!

To preview the materials, visit the Rauch Center at 520 E. Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg. You will be given an evaluation form to complete as you preview the materials.

Friday, December 10 will be the final day for material evaluation. Materials are on display from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Rauch Center.

Materials are also being reviewed by District 54 teachers, support staff and administrators.

In response to the recent occurrence of several cases of vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps and low grade fever in suburban Cook County schools, the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) has asked District 54 to make the following recommendations to parents. 

1. If your child becomes ill with any gastrointestinal type illness (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain) please see your primary medical provider.
2. Make sure that your child practices proper and frequent hand hygiene at home to reduce the risk of disease transmission. Soap and water should be used for cleansing hands after using the restroom and when hands are visibly soiled. Alternatively, when hands are not soiled, waterless, alcohol-based hand sanitizers may be used.
3. Clean environmental surfaces (e.g., table tops, door knobs) and surfaces contaminated by vomit with bleach solution (¼ cup bleach to one gallon of water).
4. Keep ill children away from school for 1 day (24 hours) after symptoms resolve.

Some of the gastrointestinal illnesses at Cook County schools were confirmed to be caused by noroviruses. Although the symptoms for noroviruses generally last only 1 or 2 days, the viruses are highly contagious. The county has issued this alert so that parents and schools can work together to keep our children healthy and in school. More information on noroviruses can be found on the Centers for Disease Control website at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-qa.htm.

Regardless of the cause of the illness, the CDC always recommends the following two actions to stop the spread of germs:

1. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your shirt sleeve.
2. Wash your hands with soap and warm water or clean with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (such as the ones we have in District 54 schools).

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your primary care physician, your school nurse or the Cook County Department of Public Health at 708-492-2150.

The Chicago Sun Times and Daily Herald recently reported on the 2010 state assessment results, which were released last week, and District 54 is proud to have been mentioned in both newspapers.

The Daily Herald reported that District 54 was the only school district in the northwest suburbs to make AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress – as defined by No Child Left Behind) this year, after not making it in 2009. See the Daily Herald article at http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101029/news/710299677/

The Chicago Sun Times ranked the top 100 elementary, middle and high schools in the state.

Addams, Frost, Keller, Lincoln Prairie and Mead junior high schools were ranked in the top 100 middle schools in the state: http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/1855047,top-100-middle-schools-1009.article.

Stevenson, Fairview and Campanelli elementary schools were listed among the top 100 elementary schools in Illinois http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/1854925,top-100-elementary-1009.article.

The Sun Times rankings are based on our students’ ISAT math and reading scale scores, comparing them to the state average, not just the percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards.  For more information about the ranking, visit the Sun Times website at http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/1853681,how-schools-were-ranked.article.

These accomplishments were achieved due to the joint efforts of our staff, students, parents, district and school community.

Attached you will find the Visions Newsletter for November 2010, which contains a information about our state assessment results, an article about individuals who have been recognized at recent School Board meetings and more.