UPCOMING EVENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDAR WITH THESE IMPORTANT DATES

• Friday, December 23, 2022 – No school (Winter Break begins)
• Monday, January 9, 2023 – Institute Day (No classes)
• Tuesday, January 10, 2023 – Classes resume
• Monday, January 16, 2023 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday (No classes)

  For all other school calendar dates, click here.

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SEASON’S GREETING CARD DESIGN CHALLENGE

Congratulations to the following students whose designs were chosen for the 2022 District’s greeting card. With almost 100 entries, the decision was not an easy one to make. We appreciate the efforts that all our students took to create unique and artful designs. Thank you for your participation.

PK – 2nd Grade           First Place          Sophia G.           2nd Grade, Riley Elementary School

PK – 2nd Grade Second Place Zoe E. 2nd Grade, Twain Elementary School

3rd – 5th Grade First Place Taonga T. 5th Grade, Frost Elementary School

3rd – 5th Grade Second Place Giuliana A. 5th Grade, Frost Elementary School

6th – 8th Grade First Place Julianne S. 6th Grade, London Middle School

6th – 8th Grade           Second Place            Saie W.           7th Grade, London Middle School

MEET OUR RISING STARS!

She’s got lots of hobbies and loves nature. Meet Eden M.

He’s great at sports and encouraging others. Meet Dominik D.

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WHAT’S GOING ON AT TARKINGTON?

The Tarkington Tigers student body has been busy with a variety of service projects throughout the year. Teachers Rebecca Zach, Amanda Collette and Ryann Rivers have spent their lunch hours facilitating charitable projects for the students, who call their club “Helping Paws.” Helping Paws started in 2008 and currently has 60 3rd, 4th and 5th graders volunteering their time to improve their surroundings. The group recently collected 69,685 pop tabs to support Ronald McDonald House! Wow! That’s a lot of soda! Read entire story here.

WHAT’S GOING ON AT KILMER?

“Inclusion is not bringing people into what already exists; it is making a new space, a better space for everyone.” – George Dei For Kilmer principal Annette McBride, George Dei’s quote is not just a tagline. It’s a philosophy that she and the rest of her staff embody every day. “Diversity is our greatest asset,” said McBride. “We have a variety of languages spoken at the school with a diverse student body and staff. We are teaching our students to be global citizens, and what better way to practice that then in school?” Read entire story here.

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As a district we are proud to celebrate the diversity of our learning community! These are some traditions celebrated and acknowledged in our community this month. If you’d like to learn more, click on the links:

• Hanukkah
• Kwanzaa
• Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
• St. Nicholas Day
• Christmas

Don’t hesitate to reach out and share it with our Language Services Department to add to our resources!

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MY WHY

My Why – Mallory Rossi, Physical Therapist District 21’s physical therapist Mallory Rossi talks fast, walks fast and moves fast. She also has a “no excuses” attitude. So when she tore her ACL as a junior basketball player at St. Viator H.S. and spent nine months in physical therapy, it slowed… her… down…which she didn’t like. But what she discovered was that she loved doing PT; she loved the people and was inspired to help others in the same way. Read entire bio here.

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My Why – Meagan Novara, Restorative Practice Coach As an Italian woman who loves to cook, one of Meagan Novara’s favorite things to do is have a big, crowded house with lots of people eating good food. Large gatherings are not a problem for Meagan as she is a Restorative Practice Coach for District 21 and trained on strengthening relationships and building positive cultures. She truly enjoys the work, but it wasn’t always on her career path. In fact, after graduating from Michigan State University, she started her career working at a prominent ad agency in Chicago doing media buys – a job in which she didn’t have a strong passion. Read entire bio here.

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BECOMING A SUSBTITUTE IN DISTRICT 21

We had some wonderful new sub candidates that applied to work with us this past fall. Many of these subs are right from our community! We’re excited for these additions to our sub group but we’re not done yet. We are continuing to hire subs each month. Please let your neighbors and friends know that we are still hiring throughout the school year.

Whether you want to help us out one day a week or every single day, the choice is yours.

Below is the link for people to apply:

• Sub Application

We still have openings in our sub pool for the following positions:

• Secretary – $100/day
• Health Assistant – $100/day
• Teaching Assistant – $125/day
• Teacher – $131/day
• Long term teacher (more than 10 days in the same classroom) – $210/day

In addition, any subs who work 100 days this year will receive a $1,000 bonus at the end of the year.

Here is information from the Illinois State Board of Education about becoming a teaching assistant or teacher sub:

• Become a Substitute Teacher

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Recent studies show that children who study computer science perform better in other subjects, excel at problem-solving, and are 17% more likely to enroll in college. To celebrate CSEdWeek, consider encouraging your child to join Hour of Code, which offers many coding activities for children in preschool through high school. Children can participate with a computer, tablet, smartphone, or even without technology!

Click HERE to learn how to do Hour of Code with your child. Click HERE to find coding activities filtered by grade level, topic, available technology, and time.

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VACCINE APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE

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MEDICAID INFORMATION

This is informational for any students or families that are Medicaid Recipients

Have you moved in the past three years? Has your address or contact info changed? Medicaid customers will have to renew their coverage for the first time since the pandemic started. HFS will send renewal paperwork to the address on file.

Make sure your health coverage moves with you. Don’t risk losing your health insurance. Updating your address is easy, fast, and free. Medicaid customers can update their addresses either by calling the HFS hotline at 877-805-5312 or, completing the address change web form, online at Report Medicaid Change of Address.

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