Oak Grove News

Oak Grove PTO Pack 194 – proudly serving Oak Grove and Rondout Schools – is inviting boys and girls, K through 5th grade, to join Cub Scouts. Over two million families around the world are actively involved in scouting. Come out and discover the fun, adventure and learning that Cub Scouting brings in our year-round program.

While the pandemic has delayed or canceled various extracurricular activities in the area, Pack 194 remains active and continues to plan exciting and engaging activities for scouts and their families. The safety of our pack families is, and always will be, a top priority for us. As such, a good portion of our program has shifted into more of a virtual format. Under this set-up, we still intend to put on signature activities and events such as: backyard campouts, the Pinewood Derby, service projects, fishing outings, family hikes, at-home STEM activities and MORE!

If you would like to learn more about Cub Scouts, come to our virtual fall registration night on Wednesday, September 2, 2020. For a Zoom meeting invite, please send an email to the Pack 194 Committee Chair, Ben Jeckel (ben.jeckel@gmail.com).

You can also learn more about Cub Scouts from our website pack194.mypack.us or by visiting beascout.org.

Cubmasters

Gabriel Garcia, 651-324-6011, gabrielgvela@gmail.com

Jason Ehrick, 859-312-6699, jdehrick@hotmail.com

Committee Chair

Ben Jeckel, 847-778-4784, ben.jeckel@gmail.com

This week’s Band News is the letter we sent home to all band families last week with our most current parent email list. If we’ve missed you somehow, or you are a new family and wish to be added to the Band email list, please contact Mr. Jones Jones@ogschool.org.

We’d like to welcome everyone back for the fall semester and introduce our newest addition to the music team, Mr. Rick Frankowski. We are excited to have him join us and make Oak Grove’s music program expand in new directions. Along with helping us in general music and band, Mr. Frankowski will eventually be responsible for recruiting and starting an orchestra here at Oak Grove! We can’t wait to get started!

All morning band rehearsals will be taking place remotely this year. This is not our favorite way to do things. We can still have a great time, and build strong musicians ready to join the large ensembles when that day returns.

Morning Band times for the fall: 7:30-8:00 a.m. daily.

Both Concert and Symphonic Band rehearsals will begin Monday, August 31st. Students will also get a weekly lesson in the afternoon. The lesson schedule will be created based on class size and instrumentation. As soon as the schedule is finalized, it will be sent out.

BEGINNING BAND (Grade 4) • We regret to inform you that Beginning Band Recruitment & Parent Night has been postponed this fall, and possibly for the year. While the Administration is incredibly supportive of the Fine Arts here at Oak Grove, one thing all of us agree on is that starting beginners safely is our top priority. If we cannot do so, it would be better to wait for a less restrictive environment. Many area schools are struggling with the very same question. Can we help start and nurture a beginner while learning remotely? Most years, it is imperative to touch a student’s instrument. For example, we need to help students put the reed on an instrument correctly, correct hand placement or assembling an instrument.

CONCERT BAND (Grade 5, or second-year student) • Concert Band rehearsals take place Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings from home beginning at 7:30 a.m. Students are expected to get ready ahead of time and join ready to play at the down beat. Please use this link to order the updated supplies for the start of the year. It was created by grade level to offer the correct book, and reed strength. You may uncheck the music stand if you already have one.

If you need to rent an instrument again for the year, please use this link: https://www.musicarts.com/rentals.

SYMPHONIC BAND (Grades 6, 7 and 8) • Symphonic Band rehearsals take place Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings from home beginning at 7:30 a.m. Students are expected to get ready ahead of time and join ready to play at the down beat. Please use this link to order the updated supplies for the start of the year. It was created by grade level to offer the correct book, and reed strength. You may uncheck the music stand if you already have one.

JAZZ BAND (Grade 6, 7, 8) • Jazz Band will rehearse on Thursday and Friday mornings from home beginning at 7:30 a.m. Students are expected to get ready ahead of time and join ready to play at the down beat. JAZZ BAND REHEARSAL START DATE TBD!

Student expectations:

This year we will be using Google Classroom to send out information and assignments to students. 5th grade Band students will continue to use Essential Elements Interactive. Below are the codes for each classroom:

• Concert Band: xxwnlqm

• Symphonic Band: uqhuec2

• Jazz Band: vjimx4m

Assignments:

Music is a performing art, so we want every child performing at regular intervals. Students will be learning to play together in smaller ensembles (trios & quartets). We will most likely ask you to record your part and turn it in so we can do some creative stitching together to make real performances possible for the students.

MORNING REHEARSAL SCHEDULE: 7:30-8:00 a.m.

Concert Band

Mon - All Students, Tues- Brass & Percussion, Wed- Woodwinds, Thurs- Recording/Practice day Friday- Office Hours

Symphonic & Jazz Band

Mon- All Students, Tues- Woodwinds, Wed- Brass & Percussion, Thurs- Jazz Band/Recording day, Fri- Jazz, Jazz Combo, Recording day

Band Calendar:

This is where we normally ask you to please take a moment to review several performing dates and mark your calendars. At this time, we are not able to plan any large performances. We are optimistic we can still participate in Solo & Ensemble. If this were to happen, we are aiming for the winter- even if it is done remotely. Some of the area schools are moving forward with that and we will see how that unfolds for our inclusion this year.

Meet the new teacher:

My name is Richard “Rick” Frankowski and I’ve very excited to be joining the band family here at Oak Grove! Here’s a little about myself: I grew up in Mundelein, going to school in Diamond Lake District 76 where I really developed my passion for music and for band. I started off on the trumpet in fifth grade and switched to tuba in sixth- that’s also when I started playing the bass guitar and then guitar not long after. I moved on to Stevenson High School where I really developed my love for teaching as a marching band student leader and had my first opportunity to play the string bass. Fast forward a couple years to 2013, when I transferred from College of Lake County to Northern Michigan University and had the fortune to play and sing in every ensemble on campus! After graduating from Northern Michigan University in 2017, I got my first and most recent job primarily teaching choir and guitar but also directing the theater club and assisting with teaching the band. I’m very excited to be here at Oak Grove working with Mr. Jones, Mr. Farris and all the wonderful music students and I look forward to seeing how the year unfolds for all of us.

OGS SPIRITWEAR
Welcome back Eagles! Whether you are Eagles@School or Eagles@Home be sure to show off your school spirit! This year we are teaming up with our hometown sports store, Sports11. We are excited to work with a local business and offer OGS face masks and new spirit wear items. To place an order, click HERE.

The deadline to order is September 14th. All items can be picked up at Sports11 or delivered directly to your home. Please contact Courtney Johnston at johnstoncourtneyr@gmail.com with any questions.

MARLA’S LUNCH UPDATE

We have extended the weekly ordering lockout day to Wednesday. Please consider ordering lunches only 1-2 weeks in advance. If a student is quarantined due to COVID-19, lunches ordered beyond the current week within the quarantine period will be credited back to the family’s Marla account. Any lunches ordered during the first week of quarantine will be donated to the school.

WELCOME BACK TEACHER LUNCH

As we navigate this school year, the PTO will make every effort to continue with as many events as we can, in the safest way possible. One of the first of those events is the Welcome Back lunch that was held for all of the teachers and staff on Thursday, August 20th. Traditionally held as a large group event, this year, Marla’s provided grab-n-go lunches that were enjoyed in smaller groups. Thank you to Krista Sorensen, Christine Merrild and Jen Sahagian for hosting this event!

Hello Oak Grove Community,

In case you did not watch the Committee Of the Whole (CoW) before last week’s Board of Education meeting on 8.18.20, there were four curriculum updates for this school year.

1. Student printing. Student devices are able to connect to your home printer this year. Students will not be able to print at school to maintain social distancing in the hallways where printers are located, as well as the reduced need for printing assignments.

2. iReady testing will take place at home for the 2020-2021 school year. iReady is our new diagnostic testing system that has built-in brain breaks and allows for students to assess at home, deducing the loss of instructional minutes during the school year with their teachers. Students will complete the first round of testing at home on Wednesday, September 2nd in both reading and math. Specific testing directions will be sent home prior to the testing date.

3. TAG Programming. Formal TAG math classes for grades 4-8 are being supported through the student cohort groups. Formal TAG ELA classes for grades 4-8 are supported through the ELA teacher and individual differentiation. Informal TAG for ELA and math in grades K-3 will be supported by the classroom teacher and individual differentiation.

4. Grading and Reporting. All students will receive grades and feedback in their classes this year, even if remote, unlike the spring. For the 2020-21 school year, in addition to K-5 receiving standards based feedback, teachers in grade 6 will also be piloting standards based grading with the students. More information will be shared at the grade 6 curriculum night. Grades 7 and 8 will continue to give traditional letter grades.

Please click HERE to view the flyers in our virtual backpack. Flyers are updated weekly, so please check back often so you won't miss any of the events going on in our community.

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