School Board Members Day
November 15 will mark the eighth annual “School Board Members Day” in Illinois. This is your opportunity to thank local board of education members for their commitment in providing a local governance voice for your public schools.
School board members must be tuned in to the voices of their community. This allows them to craft a vision, mission, and goals to accurately reflect the desires expressed by parents and residents. This is also how they work with the community to build a pathway for student success.
School Board members are also your coworkers, neighbors, parents, and everything in between. They are the front-line advocates fighting for quality education opportunities for every child. They serve without the expectation of a paycheck in a position where they act as guardians of the community’s most precious resources—our children and our tax dollars.
Everyone understands that school board members attend meetings, but those hours represent just a fraction of the actual time that they devote to the district. They attend extracurricular events to support schools. They participate in professional development opportunities to learn how to be better board members. And often they are involved in other local events, representing themselves, their community, and their district. Many of these activities take them away from time that could be spent with their own family. Their sacrifice may be overlooked, but their work is of utmost importance.
Quality education opportunities are one of the largest drivers of successful communities. The work of school board members directly impacts the school district, students, and parents, but it touches the lives of nearly every resident in one way or another.
November 15, 2016 has been designated as “School Board Members Day” in Illinois. Leadership for our community, for our schools, and for our future begins here. Help us join with others throughout Illinois recognizing their efforts.
Curriculum Corner
Hello Oak Grove Community,
Last Friday, Oak Grove’s eighth graders filled classrooms to work with students in grades kindergarten through fourth grade. ‘Teaching Day’ is a significant experience for students, as eighth graders prepared unique lessons to share with students. Eighth grade teaching teams created centers, small group activities, and class discussions that engaged and educated students on topics related to Veterans Day.
The younger students loved their new teachers and built connections with Oak Grove’s eighth graders. Your child may have arrived home with a story about something new they learned from the eighth graders. Some students may have come home with a new project that they created alongside their classmates to learn about the importance of Veterans Day.
Congratulations to our eighth grade students for their hard work and effort to create a memorable 2016 ‘Teaching Day’.
5Essentials Survey
Oak Grove School will join the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) in the statewide survey of school climate and learning conditions. The survey provides a unique opportunity for students, teachers and parents to have a voice in improving their schools. From November 16 through January 16, students, teachers and parents will be asked to take a 25 -minute research-based survey to help identify strengths and weaknesses in our school’s learning environment. This survey will serve as an opportunity for schools to reflect on progress since the last statewide implementation. Click here for more information.
PTO News
Elementary Book Fair:
The Scholastic book fair is just around the corner. The book fair will be located in the elementary library on Nov. 16, 17, 18 & 21st. Hours are as follows:
16th: 8:30 - 3:30pm & Family event 6pm-8pm*
17th: 8:30-3:30pm
18th: 8:30-3:30pm
21st: 1pm-7pm (during conferences)
*Family event: Join us for shopping, reading with family, and a few snacks. We will be raffling off a gift basket full of new books and goodies.
If you can't make it to the fair and still want to purchase books, please visit this link: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=oakgroveelementaryschool12
Please see the flyer in the virtual backpack for more detail.
Mall in the Hall/Eagle Extravaganza/Pancake Breakfast:
Save the date for this wonderful family event. It will be held on Saturday, December 3rd from 9-12. The Mall in the Hall is for any child to go and shop in the junior high gym for holiday gifts for their families, without their parents. Gifts range from $1-$5. While the kids are shopping, parents can go visit the vendors in the hallway to find unique gift options in jewelry, home goods, candles & more. Finish the morning off by enjoying the pancake breakfast in the Junior High cafeteria. Food includes pancake bar with personalized toppings, bacon, sausage, hash browns & donuts. Please see the virtual backpack for more details.
School Parties:
Please note food will no longer be permitted at any Oak Grove holiday parties during the year in the classrooms or cafeterias. This includes: pizza parties during lunches, candy/food prizes to be taken home and candy “guessing jars” or “memory games” etc. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Andrew Fenton at fenton@ogschool.org.
Hot Lunch:
Please remember if your child is absent and you want to pick up a Kiddo's meal that was ordered, you need to go during the child's lunch period or later. This is due to the fact that once the warmer is opened its heat drops causing all lunches to cool off. Thanks for your cooperation.
Author Visit:
Helen Frost was amazing last Wednesday! Its wonderful when you bring the powers of PTO & OGSEF together. Dare I say a Grand Slam in terms of assemblies?
It may not have had the same impact as the Cubs win that evening, but teachers & students agreed, Helen was impactful. Helen is an author geared towards Junior High students & beyond who combines prose & poetry as no one else. It's what made her famous. Believe it or not, Helen makes poetry fun & that’s exactly what she did for our children. She not only discussed her books, she shared her process. She prepared handouts for our teachers to help inspire their students. She is a teacher, a writer & clearly a “real person”. All of which came across in her presentation.
Ask your children about Alphabet & Hidden message poems. Ask their teachers about Tritina or Tercelle. Its pretty cool & seriously amazing when you see how Helen uses these concepts in her writing.
Helen is off to Germany next month as her Crossing Stones is being made into an onstage performance.
Many a student & teacher came up right after to meet Helen Frost & say thank you to us for bringing her to OGS. A special thank you to Jina Rappaport who strives to inspire our children through reading. Thank you to our PTO and Foundation for their joint efforts in bringing Helen to our children. Many thanks to Shellie Fahy for putting together such great programs and speakers this year for the students!
Due to popular demand, Helen Frosts books will continue to be available on Revtrack.
Eagle Extravaganza Vendors
Art by Keri Rudsell Whimsical wall decor for kids and decorative stone coasters.
Allison Honaker Designs Allison Honaker specializes in personalized wood signs, hand made home decor, and more. I build and paint all my own products so that each one is unique.
Cartwheel Events Michele Kozar Cartwheel Events specializes in personalized themed parties and corporate events. We offer charming vintage carts with selections of sweets, baked goods, popcorn...the sky is the limit!
Charmed Gifts Tracey Schulze Children and baby handmade gifts and accessories. Burp cloths, hair clips, blankets, aprons and more!
Floppets Karen Levin Floppets are a clever, cute and customizable collection of characters you can attach to anything! Wear them on your finger, back pack, flip flops, shoe laces, wrists, ankles or add them to your most personal accessories. Floppets allow you to demonstrate how clever you are by “wear” you attach them! You can collect, share, wear, and trade them with everyone.
Frosted Cookie Company Joni Stevenson Delicious homemade sugar cookies creatively decorated to fit every theme. Colorful detailed cutout cookies will add a special touch to your event. Once you taste it, you'll want this fun treat for your next party!
Grace & Heart Jewelry Cheryl Soderstrom Sterling Silver Jewelry
Handmade by Gina Alcantara Burlap Wreaths
Jenny Shay Jewelry
The Oak Grove Education Association (OGEA) will be selling Oak Grove Stadium throw blankets to support our Eagle Scholarship Fund. The OGEA represents the certified staff at Oak Grove School. The Oak Grove Eagle Scholarship recognizes an OGS alumni who exhibits Oak Grove's mission. This scholarship is awarded to an individual who demonstrates positive character through service and volunteerism in the community and who is also involved in extra and/or co-curricular activities at Libertyville High School.
Pat’s Pieces Pat Meehan Knitwear includes scarves, hats, mitts, shawls, head wraps, bags, cowls and gift items. Pottery that is functional and includes bowls, vases, tumblers, cups, teabowls, pitchers and bottles.
Tastefully Simple Patti Swan We have meal plans for everyday meals as well as entertaining recipes & ideas.
Wine and Whimsy Candles Siri Spillman Bringing new life to "old" bottles...candles made from recycled wine bottles.
Young Living Jennifer Liu Young Living is the World Leader in Essential Oils. We offer therapeutic-grade oils for your natural lifestyle. Authentic essential oils for every household. This table will also include a variety of diffusers. We will have diffuser bracelets, car diffusers, bookmark diffusers, etc. Very ideal for small gifts. Each diffuser includes a sample bottle of essential oil.
Younique Leslie Cherwenka Younique begins by looking to Mother Nature for the inspiration behind our cosmetics. Our in-house scientific team then formulates a product that honors that inspiration while delivering cutting-edge cosmetics. Our goal is to provide healthy, clean, and pure cosmetics.
National Junior Honor Society Food Drive
The National Junior Honor Society is putting together a food drive to benefit Lake County shelters and pantries! Last year this food drive helped feed 500 families who were hungry. Please send your child (5th through 8th grade only) with food from the following list to their homeroom:
Canned Corn
Canned Beans
Rice
Canned Fruit
Stuffing Mix
Canned Veggies
Corn Muffin Mix
Canned Chicken or Turkey Broth
$10 Jewel, Target or Walmart gift card for frozen turkey
Thank you!
Attention All 3rd-8th Grade Parents:
Fitness reports were sent home last week to the parents of 3rd-8th grade students. Unfortunately, we experienced some some technical difficulties during the process. If you did not receive a report for your child, please check your spam folder and look for an email from "info" with the subject line "Fitness Test Results from Oak Grove School". If you still do not have it, please contact your child's PE teacher and he/she can resend it. Thank you!
Feed My Starving Children (FMSC)
Oak Grove School, the PTO, and our local Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts come together to volunteer their time to this worthy cause. We have reserved 150 spaces on Friday, December 9, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Feed My Starving Children is located at 742 East Park Avenue (Highway 176) in Libertyville.
Please register online at www.fmsc.org. Click on “Get Involved" in the upper right corner of the website, then select “Volunteer now,” click "View permanent site events.” Enter “Join Code” 864246 and click the “Search” button. Check the box to accept FMSC’s guidelines and click “Confirm.” If you have previously volunteered at FMSC login using your Email address and Password. If this is your first time, click on “Create an Account."
Important note - when signing up, you need to register yourself first, then select “Add Members Names” from your confirmation page to register everyone else from your family that will be attending.
Thank you for considering helping FMSC in their efforts to ward off world hunger. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Oak Grove Group Leader, Ken LaCrosse at klacrosse@comcast.net.
Oak Grove School Board of Education
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
