Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 10/27/23

                                                Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

I really can't believe we're coming to the end of October soon.  I'm always trying to figure out how to slow the good times down and speed up the rough spots but I haven't figured that one out quite yet.  Either way, I hope you're all getting into a groove and finding those positive moments with our students to focus in on and smile.  I see so many great things going on as I walk the building each day, and how much our students appreciate everything we do.  We're starting to see our youngest students falling into more comfortable routines and understanding expectations, and I appreciate all of the hard work teachers are doing to help support this journey for them.  Lately I've been listening to a lot of Chris Stapleton and trying to learn more of his music on my guitar.  The lyrics I've gotten into recently have definitely helped me to keep perspective and think about what really matters.  I love the fact that music can do that for me still, and hope you all have something like that in your life to give you that sense of balance and clarity.  Here's to looking ahead to a positive November for our students, families, community, and ourselves!

*HERE is our SIP day agenda for next Tuesday, October 31st.  I'm so incredibly excited to be collaborating with Union Ridge and continue our focus on Student Engagement with them.  If you're not familiar, Union Ridge is in Harwood Heights at 4600 N Oak Park Ave.  It's less than 10 minutes away, and you can carpool over there or there should be plenty of parking in their lot or the surrounding streets.  We'll meet in their gym by 1:00pm.  Let me know if you have any questions.  You'll want to bring your laptops, and we'll provide everything else you'll need for the afternoon.  

Also, remember our half day schedule on Tuesday, October 31st

6th period: 11:40-12:20 8:20-9:00

7th period: 12:20-1:00 9:00-9:40

8th period: 1:00-1:40 9:40-10:20

9th period: 1:40-2:20 10:20-11:00

10th period: 2:20-3:00 11:00-11:30

Hawk Action Items 

• Just a friendly reminder about Creating/Updating Teacher Websites (Using Google Sites) by the end of this month if you still need to finish this. You can always take a look at what other staff members have created already for ideas if needed, and reach out for support from other teachers, myself, or our Tech Department. When you're finished, please make sure to share it with Patrick so he can review it post it on our website...thanks!

• On November 6th, we'll be having a staff meeting with our paraprofessionals and office staff included.  We're planning a presentation on crisis and threat assessments that will benefit everyone to hear and be a part of.

• Wanna make somebody's day at Pennoyer...don't forget about our staff shout outs we'd like to get started up again this year!  It's real easy; if one staff member wants to give another staff member at Pennoyer a positive shout out for something that week, just send a quick email blurb to Adam, and he'll feature it in our weekly Hawk Happenings!

• Maine South Future Educators are coming to Pennoyer!  It's not too late to sign up if you're interested in having some high schoolers from Maine South come observe and support in your classrooms.  This has been such a collaborative and successful program at Pennoyer for many years.  Click on this form if you're interested in signing up. The start date has actually changed again for when they'll begin. It's now own November 10th.

• Don't forget about our social media roll out that officially started this month! We're asking teachers to post one thing by the end of the month of October, and then we'll continue in that fashion each month. We created a real easy Google Form for teachers to complete.  Just a little blurb/picture about anything going on in your classes and then our leadership team will approve it and set it up to go out sometime during the month...it's just that easy! Thanks for all of your support with this. We know this will be a great way to showcase all of the wonderful things you all do at Pennoyer and connect with our families and community.

• Creating new Clubs at Pennoyer and Submitting Club Information for Website (Existing or New Clubs)

• If you’re interested in starting up a new club, it's certainly not too late. Please submit your ideas HERE!  You can check out the CBA if needed for more information.  For new clubs, we’ve created a helpful link on our website to showcase the wonderful opportunities for our students at Pennoyer.  Please make sure once your club is approved that you create a one page Google Doc or Slide to share with Adam and Pat.  Also, if you’re continuing a club from last year, please make sure the information is updated if needed...thanks! Here’s an EXAMPLE for your reference.

• Friday Car Line Opportunity During Arrival Time - Want to be a "Guest DJ" and greeter during morning car line?  You can have your own playlist if you'd like and be a part of a fun part of the day connecting with our families and students on Fridays during arrival time.  This is from 7:50am- to around 8:10am if you're interested.  HERE is a sign up sheet to make things easier, and reach out to Adam with any questions.

• Stipend Openings for both Varsity and JV Boys Volleyball in the spring...Connect w/ Adam if interested.

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

"And I get so tired when I have to explain, when you're so far away from me.  See you've been in the sun and I've been in the rain, when you're so far away from me."

                                                                      -So Far Away by Dire Straits

Hawk Celebrations

Last Friday was definitely something to celebrate around here at Pennoyer.  The PTC, along with many of our staff members, put on another fabulous Trunk or Treat event!  We had good weather again and plenty of candy to go around.  I loved seeing all of the creative costumes and cars that our students and families put together.  I know everyone had a good time hanging out, having treats, playing games, and most importantly, trunk or treating!!!  I can't thank all of the PTC members and our staff enough that helped to make that night so special for all of our students and families.  I truly appreciate all of your hard work and dedication you put into everything.  For me, one of the highlights of the night was singing "Sweet Home Alabama" with a dancing Barney right in front of me.  That was definitely a first for me, but something I know I'll never forget.  I had so much fun celebrating with our school community.  #Pennoyerpride

October Birthdays! 🎂

Ramia Elddine - 10/2

Halyna Sukhatska - 10/6

Rachel Slawson - 10/7

Kiley Sheedy - 10/8

Jim Nelsen - 10/15

Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 10/20/23

                                           Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

Ok, I know I always disclose probably way too much, but these past couple of weeks I had some dad moments that really got to me.  My 7th grade daughter Sadie, who is 12 going on 21, got her first official boyfriend over the last couple of months, and she says she's "in love with him."  So two weeks ago, they went on their first "date" and I was with them the whole time...kind of creepy and weird.  She loves horror movies as I do, so I took her and her 7th grade boyfriend to the mall to see The Exorcist.  That was probably my first of many dad mistakes to come.  They sat in row "D" I think and I was by myself trying to spy on them back in around row "K".  I guess they held hands during the movie from what she told me.  At least she's still being honest with me and trusting me with information I guess.  Then last weekend, they went to Sky Zone together for their 2nd "official date", and this time we just dropped them off and picked them up after about 2 hours.  Well, when it's all said and done, the hard part is he's moving next week all the way to Crystal Lake and she's having a rough time to say the least.  I asked her the age old question the other day, "Sadie, would you rather have loved and lost, or never to have loved at all?"  She said, "It hurts dad, but I'm glad I found him and love him."  I guess we both have a long road ahead of us with all of this, and it's an emotional dad time I'm trying to handle the best I can.  In my mind, she's always gonna be my little girl, and we're just really so similar and very close.  

On another note, I seriously can't thank all of you and our students enough for the kind and thoughtful words decorating my office door for Principal Appreciation Day.  I loved walking in to see everything you all put together with our students!  It means so much to me, but just know that you are all the reasons that Pennoyer is such a special place, and I appreciate each and every one of you more than you'll ever know.  I can't do half of what I do without all of you and everything you put into our school for our students and families.  Thanks so much!!!

Hawk Action Items 

• Just a friendly reminder for all teachers, that no matter the pathway you’ve selected, each of us will set a SMARTE goal for the first semester that relates to Pennoyer’s collaborative vision for student engagement. Angela, Justin, and myself are asking that you complete your SMARTE goal no later than 10/24.  

  
  

  This workbook is where you’ll draft your Semester 1 SMARTE goal, following these directions:  

  1. Open the Workbook 

  2. Scroll on the bottom of the workbook to find the tab with your name. 

  3. Before writing your goal, read the directions (Column B) and the example for support (Column C). 

  4. Begin writing your goal using the boxes in Column D. 

  5. The goal will auto populate into a complete sentence in Row 2. 

  
  

  If you prefer directions in video format you can see, feel free to click here for a one minute description of the process.  Reach out to me if you need anymore guidance as well.  Thanks for being so open to all of this.

• THIS is the updated Halloween letter I'm sending out to all families today for our plans on October 31st.  Please take a moment to read it over, and reach out with any questions.  I'd also like if teachers can go over expectations with our students sometime before October 31st that are laid out in this letter.  Thanks so much!

• Maine South Future Educators are coming to Pennoyer!  It's not too late to sign up if you're interested in having some high schoolers from Maine South come observe and support in your classrooms.  This has been such a collaborative and successful program at Pennoyer for many years.  Click on this form if you're interested in signing up. The start date has actually changed again for when they'll begin. It's now own November 10th.

• Don't forget about our social media roll out that officially started this month! We're asking teachers to post one thing by the end of the month of October, and then we'll continue in that fashion each month. We created a real easy Google Form for teachers to complete.  Just a little blurb/picture about anything going on in your classes and then our leadership team will approve it and set it up to go out sometime during the month...it's just that easy! Thanks for all of your support with this. We know this will be a great way to showcase all of the wonderful things you all do at Pennoyer and connect with our families and community.

• Looking ahead...the CCC meeting on October 25th will focus on revisiting and reviewing Standards Based Grading at Pennoyer and our practices surrounding SBG to effectively support our students.

• Creating new Clubs at Pennoyer and Submitting Club Information for Website (Existing or New Clubs)

• If you’re interested in starting up a new club, it's certainly not too late. Please submit your ideas HERE!  You can check out the CBA if needed for more information.  For new clubs, we’ve created a helpful link on our website to showcase the wonderful opportunities for our students at Pennoyer.  Please make sure once your club is approved that you create a one page Google Doc or Slide to share with Adam and Pat.  Also, if you’re continuing a club from last year, please make sure the information is updated if needed...thanks! Here’s an EXAMPLE for your reference.

• Friday Car Line Opportunity During Arrival Time - Want to be a "Guest DJ" and greeter during morning car line?  You can have your own playlist if you'd like and be a part of a fun part of the day connecting with our families and students on Fridays during arrival time.  This is from 7:50am- to around 8:10am if you're interested.  HERE is a sign up sheet to make things easier, and reach out to Adam with any questions.

• Stipend Openings for both Varsity and JV Boys Volleyball in the spring...Connect w/ Adam if interested.

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

A Simple Song by Chris Stapleton

Hawk Celebrations

This week we're celebrating another successful Walk - A - Thon!  It was cloudy, cold, and rainy last Friday, but that didn't slow Pennoyer down a bit.  We made the best of this special event and our students, staff, and PTC really "stepped" it up!  Thanks so much to everyone that volunteered to help support the Walk - A - Thon and make it a special opportunity.  A shout out to Mrs. Koukari, Mrs. McManus, Mr. Nelsen, and Miss Weyhrich for gearing up and taking pies in the face from our students that won each raffle.  Mrs. Kula and Mrs. Tronco helped to MC the assembly at the end of the event as well, and I truly appreciated their support.  This year, we raised an amazing $5,558 that will go towards purchasing new 3D printers for our students to utilize at Pennoyer in various ways.  A special congratulations to Ms. Torossi's class for raising the most money out of the entire school, and Mrs. Michaels' and Mr. Widd's classes for walking the most laps last Friday.  What an amazing accomplishment that awarded these classes to have a special party sometime this year!  #PennoyerPride all the way!!!

October Birthdays! 🎂

Ramia Elddine - 10/2

Halyna Sukhatska - 10/6

Rachel Slawson - 10/7

Kiley Sheedy - 10/8

Jim Nelsen - 10/15

Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 10/13/23

                                               Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

I wanted to start out by saying how incredibly moved I was to see so many current staff, former staff, community members, family, and friends out for the memorial dedication of Freddie Toms' bench in front of our school this week.  Though I didn't have the opportunity to know Freddie personally, the level of support and the thoughtful words that were spoken were truly special, and I got a glimpse of just how remarkable he was.  I know the family is so grateful to Pennoyer, as the bench will be a constant celebration of Freddie's life and a reminder to everyone who passes by or sits down for awhile to help support others in need.  It opens up a dialogue that is so incredibly important to make sure we do all we can as a community and society as a whole to help those struggling socially and emotionally and always stay connected. 

HERE is the agenda for our Staff Meeting next Monday, October 16th at 3:15pm in the MPR.

Hawk Action Items 

• Safety Week is starting on Monday, Oct. 16th!  We should be all set to go.  HERE is the presentation again if you need to review anything as staff members or with our students.  Please reach out to Adam with any questions or concerns.

• Just a friendly reminder to all staff...please make sure to notify Nurse Alana at least 1 week in advance before any field trips so she can gather up any medicine and be a support for any students involved in these trips.  Thanks!

• Maine South Future Educators are coming to Pennoyer!  It's not too late to sign up if you're interested in having some high schoolers from Maine South come observe and support in your classrooms.  This has been such a collaborative and successful program at Pennoyer for many years.  Click on this form if you're interested in signing up. The start date has actually changed for when they'll begin. It's not own October 31st.

• Don't forget about our social media roll out that officially started this month! We're asking teachers to post one thing by the end of the month of October, and then we'll continue in that fashion each month. We created a real easy Google Form for teachers to complete.  Just a little blurb/picture about anything going on in your classes and then our leadership team will approve it and set it up to go out sometime during the month...it's just that easy! Thanks for all of your support with this. We know this will be a great way to showcase all of the wonderful things you all do at Pennoyer and connect with our families and community.

• Looking ahead...the CCC meeting on October 25th will focus on revisiting and reviewing Standards Based Grading at Pennoyer and our practices surrounding SBG to effectively support our students.

• Creating new Clubs at Pennoyer and Submitting Club Information for Website (Existing or New Clubs)

• If you’re interested in starting up a new club, it's certainly not too late. Please submit your ideas HERE!  You can check out the CBA if needed for more information.  For new clubs, we’ve created a helpful link on our website to showcase the wonderful opportunities for our students at Pennoyer.  Please make sure once your club is approved that you create a one page Google Doc or Slide to share with Adam and Pat.  Also, if you’re continuing a club from last year, please make sure the information is updated if needed...thanks! Here’s an EXAMPLE for your reference.

• Friday Car Line Opportunity During Arrival Time - Want to be a "Guest DJ" and greeter during morning car line?  You can have your own playlist if you'd like and be a part of a fun part of the day connecting with our families and students on Fridays during arrival time.  This is from 7:50am- to around 8:10am if you're interested.  HERE is a sign up sheet to make things easier, and reach out to Adam with any questions.

• Stipend Openings for both Varsity and JV Boys Volleyball in the spring...Connect w/ Adam if interested.

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

"Throw it down (the caution blocks you from the wind).  Hold it up (to the rays).  You wait and see when the smoke clears.  You live, you learn.  You love, you learn.  You cry, you learn.  You lose, you learn."

                                                                            You Learn by Alanis Morissette

Hawk Celebrations

What a special celebration we have this week as we honor our very own Mrs. Kula, who has been awarded the Excellence in Education grant award by the Illinois Retired Teachers Association!  This amazing accomplishment is certainly well earned by Mrs. Kula.  Out of 219 applications that came through, Mrs. Kula was one of only a few to be rewarded this grant money to help benefit, enrich, and support our students at Pennoyer.  Mrs. Kula applied for this grant and special honor with our newcomers and EL students in mind.  Her passion centered around finding creative and more efficient ways for our students to communicate with their peers and staff when a variety of supports like others that may speak their native language are not always available.  With this in mind, Mrs. Kula is looking to spend this awarded grant money on new pocket translators that will help our students communicate with more ease, particularly our younger students that don't have the reading and writing skills just yet and want to express some basic needs.  We're so proud of Mrs. Kula and everything she brings to our school, students, and families...#pennoyerpride.

October Birthdays! 🎂

Ramia Elddine - 10/2

Halyna Sukhatska - 10/6

Rachel Slawson - 10/7

Kiley Sheedy - 10/8

Jim Nelsen - 10/15

Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 10/6/23

                                              Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

Even with the short week, we had plenty to celebrate around Pennoyer!  Our pre-schoolers took a field trip to the apple orchard, our boy's soccer team got off to a successful start of their season with a 2-0 record, and marriage is in the air!  Congratulations to Nataliia who was recently married, and Katherine who is about to walk down the aisle this weekend.  We're so excited for you both as you journey through this next phase of your life.

Also, I wanted to give a shout out to our very own Ms. Bowden this week! Her class is currently reading The Hunger Games in 8th grade, and she has them host their own Hunger Games, minus the killing of course, every Friday! Last week's competition entailed a plank contest; Caydee Torres was the winner! What a creative and fun way to get our students engaged.

Hawk Action Items 

2024 Golden Apple Teacher Nominations for Pre-K-3rd Grade Teachers if you're interested... Nominations for the 2024 Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching & Leadership are now open throughout Illinois!

Honor an outstanding Pre-K-3rd grade teacher by nominating them for the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching today: https://www.goldenapple.org/nominate-a-teacher

• Our social media roll out officially starts this month! We're asking teachers to post one thing by the end of the month of October, and then we'll continue in that fashion each month. We created a real easy Google Form for teachers to complete.  Just a little blurb/picture about anything going on in your classes and then our leadership team will approve it and set it up to go out sometime during the month...it's just that easy! Thanks for all of your support with this. We know this will be a great way to showcase all of the wonderful things you all do at Pennoyer and connect with our families and community.

• Student Engagement PD w/ West 40 - All teachers; please don't forget to complete the "check out" form by this Friday, October 6th if you haven't done so already to indicate which lane you would like to drive down this first run.  Here's the presentation again from our staff meeting, which is also linked in the agenda.  Feel free to reach out with any questions.  I'm truly so excited for this professional development opportunity for all of us this year!

• Reminder our our Health Life Safety audit that will be taking place at Pennoyer next week on Thursday, October 12th first thing in the morning.  We'll be walking around checking through our building and all of the classrooms.  Please make sure you have your evacuation drill folders up and visible by your doorways in the classrooms.

• Just a friendly reminder to work on completing your trainings that were assigned to you based and dependent on your position at the school or if you have taken the training in the past. 

  
  

  The trainings will be through 2 online platforms:

  Infinitec & KnowB4

  
  

  You should have received an email from both platforms with your required trainings. Again, everyone will have a different menu of trainings based on various factors.  These trainings must be completed by Friday, November 17, 2023.  If you have any questions or difficulties logging on to your trainings, please feel free to contact Kristin or Pat. Thank you for being on top of these trainings!  I'm going to try and work in a little time (maybe 30 mins. if possible) on both Oct. 16th at our staff meeting and Oct. 31st at the start of our SIP day to give staff to work on these if needed.  

• Picture Day is coming up on Tuesday, October 10th next week!

• Looking ahead...the CCC meeting on October 25th will focus on revisiting and reviewing Standard Based Grading at Pennoyer and our practices surrounding SBG to effectively support our students.

• Creating new Clubs at Pennoyer and Submitting Club Information for Website (Existing or New Clubs)

• If you’re interested in starting up a new club, it's certainly not too late. Please submit your ideas HERE!  You can check out the CBA if needed for more information.  For new clubs, we’ve created a helpful link on our website to showcase the wonderful opportunities for our students at Pennoyer.  Please make sure once your club is approved that you create a one page Google Doc or Slide to share with Adam and Pat.  Also, if you’re continuing a club from last year, please make sure the information is updated if needed...thanks! Here’s an EXAMPLE for your reference.

• Friday Car Line Opportunity During Arrival Time - Want to be a "Guest DJ" and greeter during morning car line?  Reach out to Adam if you're interested!  You can have your own playlist if you'd like and be a part of a fun part of the day connecting with our families and students on Fridays during arrival time.  This is from 7:50am- to around 8:10am if you're interested.  HERE is a sign up sheet to make things easier, but reach out to Adam with any questions.

• Stipend Opening for Varsity Boys Volleyball in the spring...Connect w/ Adam if interested.

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

Work Song by Hozier

Hawk Celebrations

The spotlight this week is our amazing Structured Learning program here at Pennoyer!  I can't say enough about the incredible work that Ms. Wyrzykowski, Ms. Ellstrom, and Mrs. McManus have done this year as a team to support our students and families.  Their dedication is unmatched.  Our students have been thriving with thoughtful structures put into place to fully support their academic, functional, and social/emotional growth.  At Pennoyer, we strive to always meet students where they're at and give them the best opportunities to learn and grow to their full potential.  Our Structured Learning program is a model for that philosophy, and I'm so proud of the work our students and staff have put into making this a successful school year!

October Birthdays! 🎂

Ramia Elddine - 10/2

Halyna Sukhatska - 10/6

Rachel Slawson - 10/7

Kiley Sheedy - 10/8

Jim Nelsen - 10/15