Superintendent Update May 14, 2021

To view past superintendent updates, please click here. To view weekly updates online, please visit our District Updates archive on our website.

By Congressional resolution and Presidential proclamation in 2006, Jewish American Heritage Month is commemorated in May. It is a national month of recognition acknowledging the diverse achievement and contributions of the Jewish community in the U.S. The following websites offer resources for the classroom or families, including ready-to-use lesson plans, activities, guides, and info for further research, JewishHeritageMonth2021, Anti-Defamation League-Fighting Hate for Good. Join us in paying tribute to the extraordinary lives and generations of Jewish Americans who helped form the fabric of American history, culture, and society.

There are many upcoming end-of-the-year celebrations. We are thrilled to offer some of these events in person now that we are in the Bridge to Phase 5 level of the Restore Illinois Plan.

• UHS, Honors Night, Wednesday, May 19 at 7:00 p.m. - Not open to the general public

• Elementary 5th-grade Promotions - Please check with your school for specific details

• UMS, 8th-grade Promotion, May 26 (see the school or link for times) - tickets required for admittance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1HKOfoU_iQ

• Urbana Adult Education Graduation, May 28, 6:00, UHS Cobb Auditorium

• Urbana High School Graduation, May 29, 11:00, UHS Athletic Field - tickets required for admittance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqNH4u6C-68

May is also the time of year to celebrate with our C-U One to One Mentoring participants. We always look forward to the end of the year banquet for our seniors and their mentors. This year the mentor pairs joined together and celebrated in a new and different way. The end of the year event took place on May 11th at the Crystal Lake Park Pavilion. Mentor-mentee pairs enjoyed boxed dinners and shared uplifting thoughts and words of encouragement for our seniors. Congratulations to all and to Tom Howley, Director of Mentoring and Community Involvement, for organizing this event and keeping the excitement about mentoring alive in USD116. Click HERE to enjoy a few photos from the event!

I am looking forward to seeing you in person soon!

Be safe and stay well,

Dr. Ivory-Tatum,

Superintendent

The last day of student instruction is Thursday, May 27, and reflected on the calendar as a half-day of instruction. Due to this fact, we are scheduling Thursday, May 27 as a Remote ONLY Learning Day. We are required by school code to count the last day of school as a student attendance day, so ALL students should log on for their synchronous learning activities at their regular times. There will be NO In-Person Learning on this day! Please contact the main office of your child’s school for more information.

We will be vaccinating interested students over 12 years old on Wednesday, May 19th. Any Urbana youth who will be 12 years old on or before May 19th are eligible to participate in the clinic. Please follow this LINK to register. USD116 parents, guardians, and staff members are also able to participate in this vaccination event. If you are interested, please sign up following the same Sign-up Link!

For the very first time, a coalition of seven Champaign-Urbana organizations plus the City of Urbana came together on May 8 to join over 150 other cities nationwide in running “Votercades” in support of the national John Lewis Voting Rights Action Day. The event drew approximately 150 people and 32 vehicles from various backgrounds to participate in the event as well as reaching 2,341 people on Facebook. The purpose of the Votercades and Day of Action was to bring our community together, share information and take action to promote voting rights reforms nationwide and defeat the voter suppression efforts sweeping the country.

A diverse group of students from Urbana High School and the University of Illinois carried the official John Lewis Banner and led the Votercade during the last mile to the Lincoln Square Mall where Mayor Marlin of Urbana, Mayor Feinen of Champaign, and the president of the NAACP Champaign Branch, Minnie Pearson awaited to welcome all the participants. Mayors made a proclamation that May 8, 2021 was John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Day in both cities. Participants enjoyed listening to speakers including Champaign County Clerk, Aaron Ammons, CU Immigration Forum’s Ricardo Diaz, and music by Dr. P. HIP HOP XPRESS. During the speech, Minnie Pearson asked everyone to bring out their cell phone and dial the number to call their senators. Volunteers handed out cards with a QR code to reach the When We All Vote website, so participants could call or tweet their senators afterward. The local League of Women Voters also had a table for voter registration.

This non-partisan event has laid out the foundation for future actions, encouraged youth involvement, and prompted us to reconcile our differences after our recent local elections. Sponsoring this event were Bend the Arc: CU Jewish Action, NAACP Champaign County Branch, League of Women Voters of Champaign County, When We All Vote Champaign County, CU Moms Demand Action, First Followers CU, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Champaign-Urbana Alumnae Chapter, and the City of Urbana.

On Wednesday, May 12th, our UHS Executive Interns were recognized for their hard work. The reception took place in Meadowbrook Park. Interns were able to celebrate with a family member and their sponsors. We are very proud of our UHS student interns. Thanks to our sponsors, partners, and Amanda Rosser, Executive Internship Coordinator for planning this event to recognize our youth. Click HERE to see a list of the students and Click HERE to see photos of the event.

Congratulations to our 2021 UEA Retirees! We are sad to see you go but excited for your future adventures yet to come! As a group, these amazing educators have contributed over 179 years of service to USD students and their families.

Name, School, USD Years

Elizabeth Mears, CO, 32

Jodi Short, DPW, 32

Karen Schreiber, UMS, 30

Tracy Welch, UMS, 28

Kimberly Loos, DPW, 25

Melinda Lundberg, YR, 13

Robin Bedwell, UHS, 12

Katherine Killion, UHS, 7

On Wednesday, May 26, we will recognize all USD116 Staff retiring in 2021 AND those who retired in 2020. This time last year, we were unable to send our 2020 retirees off with a bang, so we plan to show them our appreciation as well. I will recognize our 2021 support staff retirees in my update next week.

Email: contactus@usd116.org
Website: usd116.org
Location: 205 North Race Street, Urbana, IL, USA
Phone: 2173843600
Facebook: facebook.com/usd116
Twitter: @urbana116