Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 2/24/23

                                           Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

Well, we made it through another 4 day week that always seem to drag in the world of education.  I know I can't complain about being in sunny Arizona with my son at a soccer tournament, but I've felt like I've needed to catch up all week long after being out of town.  Here's a little taste though of my experience with Lennon.  When we go to these, it's obviously about soccer, but we love seeking out good food and places to hang out too.  From one extreme to the other, In and Out Burger and Pizzeria Bianco hit the spot.  This pizza place was actually featured on the Netflix show Chef's Table, and hands down is the BEST Neapolitan style pizza we ever had.  

Even though we enjoyed the sunshine and tasty food, I know Pennoyer was in good hands with Betty visiting some of our middle schoolers.  Thanks to Monica and her husband for making this happen and bringing their dog Betty to school to put some smiles on our students' faces.  Definitely something special to finish up last week!

*Just a heads up that I will be out next Friday, March 3rd in Indiana with my son again.  Rachel and Alicia will be here to support any immediate student needs.

Hawk Action Items 

• 5 Essentials Survey - Paraprofessionals should take this on Wednesday, March 1st after 2:30pm anywhere in the building.  Teachers and related services certified staff will all take this together in the MPR at our Staff Meeting on Monday, March 6th.  Reach out to Adam with any questions.  Please make sure you have your login information.  https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/

• Internal Subbing Opportunities During Learning Walks Next Week - Please consider putting your name in a time slot for Monday or Thursday next week to support teachers doing their Learning Walks.  Thanks so much for any help you can provide!  HERE is the doc.

• A reminder to staff to please put in work orders (SchoolDude) whenever you have something in your classroom or the building that needs attention from our maintenance crew (i.e. HVAC, leaks, etc.).  This is the best way for us to keep track of work needing to be done and collect data on our systems and general maintenance of the building.  Here is the link you can find on our OneLogin page -  https://assetessentials.dudesolutions.com/PennoyerSchoolDistrict/Requester/Home/Management

• Just a reminder to staff to continue to check emails each morning by 7:30am if you signed up to help out with internal subbing when we need coverage.  Thanks so much for the support with all of this.  Anyone else is able to check their email as well and pick up any coverage they might be interested in moving forward.  HERE is the doc we'll use every day.  You can just fill in your name in the spaces you're available to cover...thanks again!

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

Something Like Olivia by John Mayer

                                                                         

Hawk Celebrations

This week it's all about the power of reading and our very own Battle of the Books club!  We couldn't be more proud of this group of students led by Mrs. Khafka.  Congratulations to Christian Barszczewski, Zoey Chambers, Andrea Cruz, Mona Culafic, Penn Duvall, Ethan Kim, Eloise Klinger, Molly Mackiewicz, Charlene Miranda, Omar Syed, and Lucas Wilhite for battling this year with so much teamwork and spirit!  After Battle #3 this week, Pennoyer is in 3rd place, with only 1 point separating 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.  We tied for the highest number of points scored in Battle #3!  What an amazing group of students.  Keep crushing it!!!

February Birthdays! 🎂

Nina Torossi - 2/11

Connect - Collaborate - Celebrate

Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 2/17/23

                                              Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

Sorry I wasn't at Pennoyer to finish out the week with everyone, but I appreciate being able to get away a little and feeling secure in your abilities as a staff to continue to step up as you always do and keeping our school community running.  I hope you all felt the true love and appreciation that myself and our entire Administrative Leadership Team has for each and every one of you this past Tuesday on Valentine's Day.  I loved walking in and out of your classrooms and seeing all the positive energy and sweet treats being passed around from one student to another and from students to staff.  I also loved seeing all the cute heart outfits our students wore to celebrate the positive spirit of the day.  I certainly have enough chocolate now to last until next Valentine's Day...Lol!  

I also want to take another moment to acknowledge the incredible level of support that you as a staff have shown through this journey towards our referendums on the April 4th ballot.  I know Kristin and I have been saying it over this past week, but I just can't thank you all enough for the united spirit you continue to bring to this fight for our school, students, families, and staff.  The energy in the MPR this past Wednesday night was palpable.  It was packed from wall to wall with staff, families, students, and community political figures.  This is obviously my first go around with all of this, but I truly feel like the voices of our staff, students, and community ARE BEING HEARD, and we will prevail this time.  Next stop...Taste of Pennoyer!!!

Hawk Action Items 

• PTC Meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21st at 7pm in the MPR
• HERE is the agenda if you're interested in attending 

• For the third year, Norwood Park Township will be funding a summer enrichment program for the area elementary students and we are looking for teachers to staff the program.      The program dates and times are:
  
  
  Monday-Friday | July 17-21  and July 24-28 from 8:30am-12:10pm
  Pay is $1500 for the two weeks
  
  Location will be at Union Ridge School
  
  
  This is an opportunity for you to create fun and enriching sessions for students in the community.  Last year, there was everything from theater, sports, to literacy programs.  We will be able to support your sessions with materials, and you will have a high school teaching assistant as well from Main South. If you need help conceptualizing a session, please let me know and we can find time to meet.
  
  
  For those of you who are interested, please fill out this form by the end of the day today, February 17th.  
  https://forms.gle/F7pfdk7fXUeQo4R39

• Just a reminder to staff to continue to check emails each morning by 7:30am if you signed up to help out with internal subbing when we need coverage.  Thanks so much for the support with all of this.  Anyone else is able to check their email as well and pick up any coverage they might be interested in moving forward.  HERE is the doc we'll use every day.  You can just fill in your name in the spaces you're available to cover...thanks again!

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

"I see the world, Feel the Chill.  Which way to go, Windowsill.  I see the words, On a rocking horse of time.  I see the verse in the rain."

                                                                                  -Release by Pearl Jam

                                                                         

Hawk Celebrations

This week I'm so proud to celebrate the incredible thoughtfulness and community spirit of our students and staff.  When the Salvation Army reached out a couple weeks ago and asked if our school could help support their Birthday Cake Box Project, we certainly stepped up and answered the call!  This community service project was all about putting together birthday cake packages to utilize in our surrounding area for families that might not be able to afford creating birthday cakes for those special occasions with their children and loved ones.  These collections consisted of cake mix, frosting, Sprite, and candles to help make yummy soda pop cakes with no flour or eggs at all!  I was so impressed with the amazing level of giving our students and staff came forward with.  This entire endeavor was supported by our very own Student Council led by Mrs. Khafka and Ms. Kopoulos, and Peer Leaders led by Mrs. Stecker.  In the end, last Friday, we were able to deliver an enormous amount of cake box packages over to the Salvation Army with so much Pennoyer pride.  In celebration of our successful community project, Ms. Warchol's Kindergarten class will be receiving a party with some sweet treats after Kindergartner Lucille Klein had her name pulled in our school raffle.  Way to go!!!

February Birthdays! 🎂

Nina Torossi - 2/11

Connect - Collaborate - Celebrate

Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 2/10/23

                                              Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

When the week starts out with a Monday of making cookies and sweets or getting a HIIT workout in with music all around, you know you're off to a good start!  I had so much fun seeing our staff connect and celebrate a little with each other this past week.  I can't thank Katherine and Alicia enough for leading the way and helping to make these types of staff meetings happen.  I hope these times where we can just hang out, unwind, and support each other are meaningful for all of you and a helpful way to stay positive and charged up to take on the day to day ups and downs of being an educator.  It's not easy doing what we do and at the level we do it at, so I think these moments and opportunities are important.  We'll definitely try and work more of these types of staff meetings into the future.

Well, as we move into this weekend, I hope everyone that cares about it, enjoys the Super Bowl on Sunday!  It's not the teams I wanted to see there (I was hoping for the 49ers and the Bengals), but whether you have Squares you've purchased with money riding on the results of each quarter, you have some good food planned out to nibble on, you can't wait for Rihanna's half time show, or you just want to see the commercials that cost millions of dollars to make for a 30 second slot, I wish you all the best, and hope you find time to enjoy yourself and relax.

Finally, I want to welcome Ivana Jonic, mom of our 7th grader Milan, to our Pennoyer family.  Ivana has been hired to take on the open Media Center Specialist position in our LRC.  We're so excited to have her with us.  Please make her feel welcome if you see her next week.  Her first day is on Monday, February 13th and her hours will be from 9am-2:30pm Monday-Friday.  We will be opening the LRC back up to classes officially the following week most likely.  We just want to give Ivana time to learn the system and her job responsibilities.  You can certainly bring students down on your own if you'd like to use the space next week as long as it's not being used during Reading intervention times or when Mr. Smith is here to teach Math 1.  Thanks for your understanding and patience as we get this special space up and running again at Pennoyer.  We're excited!  

*Just a heads up that I will be out of town on Thursday, February 16th and Friday, February 17th next week.  Rachel and Alicia will be around to support our students and staff.

Hawk Action Items 

• West 40 is coming to do a Compliance Check and Health Life/Safety Walk on February 15th at our school.  Just a reminder to take care of anything in your spaces that fall under the compliance list before February 15th next week.  These are common things that often need to be cleaned up and altered for these types of check ins, but you can certainly change back your rooms and spaces after February 15th if you wish.  If you have any questions or need help with anything, please reach out to Alain.  Below is part of the Top 10 list that is most commonly found in classrooms and spaces.  Please do what you can to address these if they pertain to your space before February 15th.  Perhaps some staff will have time if you're not booked on Feb. 10th during Conferences.  HERE is a slideshow you can reference that was shared with us from West 40 and there are the Top 10 things shown that schools often fail on.

• Clearance above storage and clearance from sprinkler heads (18 inches or 24 inches)

• Storage in corridors and lobbies (should not have anything obstructing hallways, etc.)

• Furnishing and decorations - You can’t have any more than 20% of things in the classroom on the walls or hanging that are fire hazards.

• No Hold open devices (door wedges, etc.) *These can be brought to the custodial offices and then picked up afterwards.

• Extension cords/multiple plug adapters.  Any appliance devices need to be plugged into the wall directly (coffee makers, refrigerators, etc.)

• Love and Appreciation to our wonderful staff on Tuesday, February 14th - Valentine's Day.  Julia Peters helped secure a Pennoyer Spa Day experience for our staff.  If you're still intersted in a 10 minute slot for a relaxing massage, sign up HERE.  If you need coverage in your class that day for 10 minutes and you can't fit this in during a plan period or lunch, feel free to reach out to me and I'll either try and cover your class if I can or find someone who can help.  We'll also have some special surprises and treats in the Staff Lounge and messages of Love and Appreciation for the best staff ever!!!

• For the third year, Norwood Park Township will be funding a summer enrichment program for the area elementary students and we are looking for teachers to staff the program.      The program dates and times are:
  
  
  Monday-Friday | July 17-21  and July 24-28 from 8:30am-12:10pm
  Pay is $1500 for the two weeks
  
  Location will be at Union Ridge School
  
  
  This is an opportunity for you to create fun and enriching sessions for students in the community.  Last year, there was everything from theater, sports, to literacy programs.  We will be able to support your sessions with materials, and you will have a high school teaching assistant as well from Main South. If you need help conceptualizing a session, please let me know and we can find time to meet.
  
  
  For those of you who are interested, please fill out this form by February 17th.  
  https://forms.gle/F7pfdk7fXUeQo4R39

• Just a reminder to staff to continue to check emails each morning by 7:30am if you signed up to help out with internal subbing when we need coverage.  Thanks so much for the support with all of this.  Anyone else is able to check their email as well and pick up any coverage they might be interested in moving forward.  HERE is the doc we'll use every day.  You can just fill in your name in the spaces you're available to cover...thanks again!

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters by Elton John

                                                                         

Hawk Celebrations

Well, I'm not much of a world traveler, but I couldn't stop smiling as I got a chance to experience our brand new Travel Club this year at Pennoyer!  It's been incredible to see how much this club has taken off this year.  It's popularity is infectious, and if you don't believe me, all of you have to do is show up!  Mrs. Tronco and Mrs. Kula are the masterminds and leaders behind this creative and thoughtful club that gives our students opportunities to travel the world through simulations in the classroom setting.  They have a K-4th group and a 5th-8th group so all students can participate and explore places all around the world together.  They have opportunities to learn about the sights, sounds, food, and so much more as students journey to destinations and share their experiences and inquires with one another.  They even have passports!!!

February Birthdays! 🎂

Nina Torossi - 2/11

Connect - Collaborate - Celebrate

Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 2/3/23

                               Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

We somehow survived the Polar Vortex of late January-Early February 2023 this week!  These are the weeks I ask myself why I've lived here all my life.  I guess it builds character and we do have good food around Chicago.  Not sure what everyone has planned for the weekend, but on Saturday night I'm playing a gig that has been a little work to get ready for.  I got hired to play somebody's 50th birthday party out in Deerfield and the birthday boy loves Dave Matthews more than anything else.  Now I don't want to offend anyone here, but I'm not a fan in the least.  In fact, I"m gonna go so far as to say I can't stand the way he sings and the phrasing of his songs make no sense to me at all.  This guy's wife wanted me to learn some song called "41" by Dave Matthews Band, and I honestly listened to that song 100 times over the last week, and it's barely sinked in.  This could be an epic fail, but at a private party like this, I gotta try and make it work.  I hope this isn't the end of my side job with these types of gigs in the area...we'll see though.

I want to end with another huge thanks to our entire staff, students, and Patrick and Haleema especially, who put in time, and had flexibility and patience as we took over the school early this week with all of our video taping.  In the end, we got so much great footage, and I was so proud to be a part of this production.  I know this video is going to be a powerful message when it's complete with voices of our staff and students leading the way.  Stay positive everyone and make the best of each day ahead!

Staff Meeting Agenda for Monday, February 6th - It's Fun February!!!

*If you want to workout on Monday after school at our Staff Meeting, don't forget to come prepared.  Our workout session will start around 3:30pm in the gym so everyone has time to change their clothes if needed.

LRC will continued to be closed for another week or two for ACCESS testing except for Math 1 students from 12:20-1:40pm.  Thanks to everyone for your understanding and flexibility with all of this.

Hawk Action Items 

• West 40 is coming to do a Compliance Check and Health Life/Safety Walk on February 15th at our school.  Alain and I walked around this week and things look pretty good, but I wanted to give the entire staff a heads up about some things that need to be addressed before February 15th.  These are common things that often need to be cleaned up and altered for these types of check ins, but you can certainly change back your rooms and spaces after February 15th if you wish.  If you have any questions or need help with anything, please reach out to Alain.  Below is part of the Top 10 list that is most commonly found in classrooms and spaces.  Please do what you can to address these if they pertain to your space before February 15th.  Perhaps some staff will have time if you're not booked on Feb. 10th during Conferences.  HERE is a slideshow you can reference that was shared with us from West 40 and there are the Top 10 things shown that schools often fail on.

• Clearance above storage and clearance from sprinkler heads (18 inches or 24 inches)

• Storage in corridors and lobbies (should not have anything obstructing hallways, etc.)

• Furnishing and decorations - You can’t have any more than 20% of things in the classroom on the walls or hanging that are fire hazards.

• No Hold open devices (door wedges, etc.) *These can be brought to the custodial offices and then picked up afterwards.

• Extension cords/multiple plug adapters.  Any appliance devices need to be plugged into the wall directly (coffee makers, refrigerators, etc.)

• Love and Appreciation to our wonderful staff on Tuesday, February 14th - Valentine's Day.  Julia Peters helped secure a Pennoyer Spa Day experience for our staff.  If you're intersted in a 10 minute slot for a relaxing massage, sign up HERE.  If you need coverage in your class that day for 10 minutes and you can't fit this in during a plan period or lunch, feel free to reach out to me and I'll either try and cover your class if I can or find someone who can help.  We'll also have some special surprises and treats in the Staff Lounge and messages of Love and Appreciation for the best staff ever!!!
• Just a reminder to staff to continue to check emails each morning by 7:30am if you signed up to help out with internal subbing when we need coverage.  Thanks so much for the support with all of this.  Anyone else is able to check their email as well and pick up any coverage they might be interested in moving forward.  HERE is the doc we'll use every day.  You can just fill in your name in the spaces you're available to cover...thanks again!

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

"You were riding your bike to the sound of It's No Big Deal..."

Matilda by Harry Styles

                                                                         

Hawk Celebrations

I’m so proud to share our celebration this week and honor some very special students.  The VFW sponsors a youth essay competition each year to give students in grades 6th - 8th an opportunity to write essays expressing their views on an annual patriotic theme.  This year's theme was “My Pledge to Our Veterans".  With the leadership of our very own Ms. Julia Peters, we had Pennoyer students enter the VFW’s Patriot’s Pen contest and the following students all placed as Post champions!  Congratulations to 8th graders Bartosz Dabkowski, Maya Gibes, and Lauren Whitlock.  Congratulations also goes out to 7th graders Nathan Flores and Julia Hnativ.  A very special honor needs to be highlighted for Lauren Whitlock, whose essay advanced to District 3 VFW and AUX earning her an amazing 2nd Place award!!!  We couldn’t be more proud of this group of middle schoolers using their voices and literacy skills at the highest level.

February Birthdays! 🎂

Nina Torossi - 2/11

Connect - Collaborate - Celebrate