Oak Grove News

Hello Oak Grove Community,

Get ready, cold season is coming soon. We had our first round of “back to school” colds in our house last week. It didn’t take long for the germs to get around but thankfully, it didn’t last too long. As with all things related to parenting, modeling is the key! Washing hands, keeping door handles clean, and making good food choices. Healthy eating is one great way to help fight all those nasty germs related to the change of season. Here are some tips for healthy eating that will support your child’s immune system and healthy brain function.

• Fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables

• Drink water instead of sugary drinks. Tired of plain water? Try adding a splash of lemon, lime or orange juice.

• Choose lean sources of protein such as turkey, chicken, fish or beef that is labeled 90% lean or higher

• Try having a non-meat entree once a week like vegetable lasagna or vegetable stir fry

• When purchasing soup or frozen foods, check food labels and look for the choice with less sodium

Ideas taken from Nutrition and Physical Fitness Parent Guide, 2013

To accommodate the annual Book Fair, we will be closed for early hours next week Monday, Oct 5th through Thurs., Oct. 8th.

What is it?

The AMC 8 is a 25-question, 40-minute, multiple choice examination in middle school mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem-solving skills. The contest is held in November every year. All USA, USA embassy, Canadian, and foreign school students in grade 8 and below are eligible to participate as long as they are under 14.5 years of age on the day of the contest.

The examination provides an opportunity to apply the concepts taught. Many problems are designed to challenge students and to offer problem solving experiences beyond those provided in math class.

The AMC 8 has potential to increase the perceptions of the importance of problem solving activities in mathematics.

Additional purposes of the AMC 8 are to promote excitement, enthusiasm and positive attitudes toward mathematics and to stimulate interest in continuing the study of mathematics beyond the minimum required for high school graduation.

Awards:

• A Certificate of Distinction is given to all students who receive a perfect score.
  
• An AMC 8 Winner Pin is given to the student(s) in each school with the highest score.
  
• The top three students for each school section will receive respectively a gold, silver, or bronze Certificate for Outstanding Achievement.
  
• An AMC 8 Honor Roll Certificate is given to all high scoring students.
  

Who can participate?

Any 6th-8th grade student registered at Oak Grove

When is the contest?

Tuesday, November 17th, 2015 at 3:30 pm

How do I register?

Sign up with your math teacher by Friday, October 16th, 2015

September 29, 2015

A Message from PTO Co-Presidents Lisa Perrone and Mia Hughes:

Hot Lunches this Week:

Monday - Jersey Mikes

Tuesday - Panera

Wednesday - Pasta

Thursday - Culver's

Eagle Extravaganza:

Mark your calendars for the 4th Annual PTO Eagle Extravaganza!

Saturday, December 5th 9am-12pm

Bring the whole family for shopping, food and fellowship!

There will be local vendors (LHS items, jewelry and more!) for your holiday shopping, a gym filled with gifts priced at $1-$5 for your kids to do their holiday shopping, and a fun breakfast to purchase for all! Presented by the Oak Grove School PTO! Vendors sign up at: https://oakgroveschooleagleextravaganza.shutterfly.com/.

Heinen's Teaming up for Education
Heinen's Grocery will donate up to 1% of qualifying purchases from Oak Grove participants. It's easy to participate. Just sign up for their preferred card and enroll in their Tasteful Rewards program. This can be done in store or online at heinens.com. You then select Oak Grove School PTO as a school. Then make sure you use your rewards card every time you shop. Please note, you need to re-select the school every year.

Schwan's Home Delivery
Introducing Schwan’s Home Delivery benefitting the Oak Grove PTO. Schwan's™ Home Service offers mealtime solutions delivered right to your door. Choose from more than 350 family favorites, all flash-frozen for freshness and flavor.

The PTO will receive 20% of the sales placed from October 1-November 15. So please consider placing an order today. It’s all online and they deliver to your door. Starting on October 1st, please visit the website below to be linked to our fundraiser campaign:

https://www.schwans-cares.com/campaigns/23066-oak-grove-pto-district-68

Jr. High Book Fair:

The Jr. High Book Fair for 5th-8th grade is almost here!. Please see the Virtual Backpack for your student's day and time during the week of October 5-8. There will be plenty of books and some new titles.

Thank you

Thank you to the Klainos family for generously donating the lanyards for the student IDs!!

Every year, our 8th grade students head out to Lambs Farm for a day of community service. This year the students worked on much needed landscaping and painting for the residents. We are so proud of our students and their willingness to help!

Morning rehearsals are under way; If you are carpooling, please try to drop off students at school by 7:15 a.m. The bands are sounding great. Lessons are in full swing. We need everyone to get in the habit of practicing for 15 minutes each day, so instruments should be going home after each practice. They also should not be left at school on weekends; thanks!

Please email one of the directors if your son or daughter needs to miss a before school rehearsal for any reason.

Beginning Band:

Lessons start this week! Students will receive their instrument on the day of their first lesson. The big ones may need a ride home. A little daily practice will keep the new notes fresh. Parents, there is a nice music “flashcard” program available at http://www.musicracer.com/

Concert Band:

Concert Band gets better every time we meet. We are starting to make sweet music together. Please remember that the downbeat is at 7:30, so if you walk in at 7:30, you’re late. The students need time to set-up their instruments and warm up before rehearsal begins, so 7:20 would be a great time to arrive. These are some of the songs we’ve been working on so the students should continue to practice these at home:

97- Trombone Rag

103- Minuet Duet

106- March Militaire

112- All Through the Night

114- Scarborough Fair

117- Auld Lang Syne

Symphonic Band:

Once again, we will be getting T-shirts for the LHS Festival. The deadline for T-shirt sizes is This Friday. Please email me jones@ogschool.org with your child’s shirt size. Here are the choices available: x-small, small, medium, large, and X-Large. (All shirt sizes are based on Adult sizes only)

8th grade LHS Football night is fast approaching. We will cover the music for the game in this week’s lesson.

All Symphonic Band Students should have their green Essential Elements book by now. Each week we are covering a full unit in lessons. Also a Tuner/metronome is a must. I recommend the Korg TM50. http://www.korg.com/us/products/tuners/tm_50/ These are available online through several popular sources.

Jazz Band students all need to join the edmodo page that was set up for them. The code is kjbjux. It has all of the song links that we are currently working on.

K- 2 OGSEF Science Grant Awarded

Oak Grove second grade teacher, Cathie Saia, was awarded an inspiration grant from an anonymously financed Oak Grove School Education Foundation Science Fund. Mrs. Saia was asked to creatively use the grant to make Oak Grove a better school. “I was blown away that someone cared enough about a teacher’s opinion to go directly to her,” said Mrs. Saia. “To be honest, I was both honored and nervous.”

Mrs. Saia along with Anne Zahn, owner of High Touch High Tech, worked many hours this summer to develop a kindergarten, first and second grade “hands on” science curriculum that was aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). “I knew that my own science professional development was lacking so that got me thinking…what if some of our Junior High science experts actually taught these lessons in our classrooms? This would provide all of the K-2 elementary teachers with some “in the trenches” professional development.” Luckily, sixth grade science teacher Matt Oesch and eighth grade science teacher Anna Edelson eagerly jumped on board. The two of them, along with Anne Zahn, are now going into the K-2 classrooms once a week and teaching these lessons. Activities are taught by the expert science teacher and supported by the elementary classroom teacher. “I’m so thrilled that our K-2 teachers were as excited about this collaboration opportunity as I was! It really has been a team effort. First grade teacher, Wendy Miller, designed our science journal pages and kindergarten teacher, Kelly Sweeney, set up some organizational calendars on Google.” Each grade level will have 21 different lessons throughout the 2015-16 trimesters. All K-2 students will have lessons in the three science strands: physical science, earth science and life science. Second grade teacher, Colette Poore, stated “This is the best delivery of science we’ve had in years. It’s age-appropriate, engaging and aligned to the NGSS. The fact that scientists are coming in creates a “delightful chatter” from all the students. Thank you to everyone who made this possible.”

Please click HERE to view the flyers in our Virtual Backpack.

Click HERE to view Board Agenda and Minutes

Email: boe@ogschool.org
Website: www.ogschool.org
Location: 1700 S. O'Plaine Rd. Green Oaks, IL 60048
Phone: 847.367.4120