Brookdale PTA News / January, 2011
With PTA’s help, you can fulfill your resolutions
Happy new year, Brookdale! We hope you’ve had
a wonderful winter break and are feeling invigorat-
ed as we return to the rhythm of school days.
As a new year starts, many of us reflect on the
past and consider the future. How have we spent
our time? What have we accomplished? Where do
we hope to be – as a person and as a family – by
this time next year?
Maybe you’ve resolved to live healthier, to spend
more time with your children or even to dedicate
yourself to a hobby. As it turns out, the PTA can
help with these goals and more. Take a look:
Live healthier, part I
Say you’re hoping to get up off the couch and into
the gym. Basketball Nights not only give you the
chance to get moving, they help you teach your son
or daughter that exercise can be fun family time.
Basketball Nights are coming up. Girls’ night is Fri-
day, Jan. 7; boys’ night is Friday, Jan. 21.
Live healthier, part II
If you aim to take fewer trips past drive-thru win-
dows, try ordering from Market Day. Each month,
the flier is full of good food including a bunch of
time-savers that can help you put a balanced meal
on the table even on a busy weeknight. Market Day
offers new deals and incentives each month.
Check Page 6 for January deals.
Mark your calendar
Get involved 5 Classes resume
If you’re not already a member, start by joining
the PTA. You’ll be part of a volunteer organization 7 Girls Basketball
that works to improve the school experience for all Night 7
our children. Find a membership form on the blog. to 8:30
All year, the PTA offers opportunities to volunteer.
Sometimes, you’ll be in your child’s classroom. Oth-
pm
er times, you help at activities or family nights or 11 Market
work behind the scenes to help plan the fun. Day
Make the most of family time
The PTA calendar is full of events that encourage
Pickup
you to take a break and spend time with your chil- 9:45 to 10:15 am
dren. Look for the Winter Family Fun Night coming 13 End of First Semes-
in March, followed by the Spring Fling in April.
ter
Pursue a hobby
Whether you’re a Lego artist, an aspiring movie 14 No school
maker or a chess master, you have a store of 17 No school
knowledge about your hobby that would inspire a
19 Talent show tryouts
Brookdale student. You could hone your skills and
pass on your interest to the next generation by 20 PTA Meeting
leading a class in the PTA’s Enrichment Program. 2 pm
Classes run four afternoons in April, and organizers 21 Buzy Bobcat Store
will be looking for volunteers in March. open 8:30 to 9 am
Whatever you’ve decided will be important for
for Grades 3 to 5
you and for your family this year, we hope
Brookdale PTA activities will be part of your plans.
• Boys Basketball
Here’s to a healthy, happy 2011! Night 7 to 8:30 pm
January, 2011 Page 2

The Principal’s Corner A few words from Principal Brian LeCrone

Title I brings Extended Day, Parents Night to school Personnel update

We are fortunate to once again offer extended day supervision of the program and to the other staff We recently had to say good-
opportunities for our students through funding from members who have offered their expertise to teach bye to Dawn Yamashita.
the Title I grant. the sessions. Dawn has served as a teach-
The Extended Day Program is offered Additionally, we are also pleased to ing assistant at Brookdale for
to students who demonstrate a need Message from announce that we will offer a Title I Par- the past 11 years. She has
for additional assistance in the area of the Principal ent Night on Feb. 2 from 6:15 to 8 p.m. touched the lives of many stu-
mathematics. ~Brian LeCrone Invitations to the Parent Night will be dents, parents and staff mem-
This narrow focus is different from sent to parents of students currently bers through her compassion-
years past, but it is consistent with our school im- enrolled in one of our various reading interventions. ate and effective work.
provement plan and our commitment to provide spe- The night will be hosted by our Reading Improve- While we wish Dawn and her
cific support to students who have been identified ment teachers, who will provide parents with a clear family luck in their move to
through both standardized testing data and class- understanding of the scope and purpose of the inter- Seattle, we also would like to
room performance. ventions as well as ideas on how best to support welcome Kelly Skowronski,
The program began in December and will continue their children at home. who was hired to fill the va-
on Tuesdays and Thursdays into the month of April. Please mark your calendars for what will assuredly cancy left by Dawn.
Thanks to Sue Lambert for her organization and be a most informative and meaningful event. Kelly is a resident of Naper-
ville Unit District 203 and has
In brief served in several volunteer
Dismissal procedures: There has been some confu- Grade-level presentations: The presentations by our capacities at Kingsley Elemen-
sion about dismissal procedures during the winter kindergarten and second-grade teams during the tary School. We are very excit-
months. Our procedures remain constant throughout October PTA meeting were very well received. Both ed to have Kelly as a member
the school year. Specifically, families with kindergar- grade-level teams discussed how they have restruc- of our team and we extend our
ten students as well as older siblings are asked to tured the Intervention Block to meet the needs of all welcome to her as she begins
continue the practices we have followed since Au- students in addition to the delivery of the core curric- her work when we return from
gust. Kindergarten students are dismissed at 3:30 ulum. The first- and fourth-grade teams will present Winter Break.
p.m. along with students who ride the bus. Older stu- during the meeting at 2 p.m. Jan. 20 in the multipur- On a separate note, congrat-
dents are released at 3:35 p.m. and are asked to pose room. Please plan to attend if you are the par- ulations to Mary Brigman, who
meet their kindergarten siblings outside Door 10. ent of a first- or fourth-grade student as this oppor- recently earned her National
Please contact the main office with questions, and tunity will give you some valuable insight into the Board Certification. Way to go,
thank you in advance for you support in this matter. day-to-day operations at school. Mary!
January, 2011 Page 3

Your PTA at Work News and notes from our committees

Share your thoughts on how Art Awareness works What’s next

The PTA already is planning for Nagel-Conley at jln0522@aol.com.
the 2011-12 school year and evalu- Please also let Judy know if you The next meeting
ating some of the recent changes might be interested in serving as a When: 2 pm Thursday,
to the Art Awareness program. grade-level coordinator, co- Jan. 20
The program enhances students’ chairperson or committee volunteer Where: Brookdale’s
appreciation for art by introducing with Art Awareness. Multipurpose Room
them to well-known masterpieces. On the agenda:
Volunteers talk with classes about
For Art Awareness
presenters First-grade teachers
the artwork and artist, describe the
The website link is present at 2:15 pm;
style and technique used and give
sites.google.com/site/ fourth-grade teachers
children a chance to experience the
art through a craft project. brookdaleartawareness/. at 2:45 pm
Although the program was run by However, thanks to all who have
shared their presentations, we have
PTA meeting
committee for most of its existence,
in the last few years it has been co- reached full capacity on our Google schedule
ordinated by a single chairperson site. Feb. 17: 7 pm
due to lack of volunteers. Over the next several months, we gradually will link March 17: Third grade
This year, as a temporary measure, we asked class- each grade to its own Google site, each accessible at 2 pm; fifth grade at 3
room coordinators to step in and help with recruiting through the current site. During the change, please pm
and reminders. (Thank you to all of our wonderful class- contact Art Awareness Coordinator Theresa Hus April 21: 7 pm
room coordinators!) We’d love to hear from parents and (theresahus@gmail.com) if you have any difficulty find-
May 17: 1:30 pm
classroom coordinators about how they feel this has ing the necessary information.
worked. Not all presentations have material available online,
We also are considering returning to a committee so please check in advance. Prints and packets still Project Arrow PTA
next year or seeking a group of grade-level coordina- may be found in the Art Awareness room, across from When: 7:30 pm Tues-
tors, if volunteers can be found. Please let us know the multipurpose room. day, Feb. 15
what you think. If there is not information available on the website, Where: District 204’s
You can send feedback to PTA Vice President Judy and you can contribute some, please e-mail Theresa. Crouse Education Cen-
ter, 780 Shoreline
Like us on Facebook Get the latest on our blog Drive, Aurora
Brookdale Elementary PTA brookdaleschoolpta.blogspot.com
January, 2011 Page 4

Your PTA at Work News and notes from our committees

4 students advance to regional Reflections judging Welcome aboard

Assemblies
We’re very excited to announce judged in the Illinois PTA District advanced to Indian Prairie Unit Karen Lankisch and Carey Peter-
that four Brookdale students are 36 competition, which encom- District 204 level will be honored son will take over planning and
advancing in the Reflections con- passes the western half of Du- at a ceremony on Thursday, Jan. coordinating assemblies next
test to have their artwork evaluat- Page County. Winning works will 27 at McCarty Elementary School, year, as Beth Reiman steps
ed at the regional level. move on to judging at the state 3000 Village Green Drive, Aurora. down from that role. Thank you
Congratulations go to Zenia level. The school will open at 6 p.m. so to Beth for all of her work on this
in the past!
Walker and Karena Garrett, who The students advancing to the parents and students can see the
each submitted pieces in the regional competition were among entries on display. Yearbook
dance choreography category, to 23 Brookdale students whose Certificates will be handed out Harkirat Sethi will take over the
Yearbook committee next year.
Elly Curtis in the film/video pro- original art pieces were sent on to in half-hour time blocks based on
She will work with Janet
duction category and to Katie school district-level judging in the last name. LaRocque on this year's year-
Reed in the music composition annual Reflections contest. The A formal invitation will be for- book to ease the transition.
category. pieces were chosen for how well warded to families of these stu-
The students’ work, along with they represented the theme dents as soon as it is available so Get involved
other submissions from Indian “Together We Can.” you know what time your child's To volunteer in the following ca-
Prairie Unit District 204, will be Those students whose projects name will be announced. pacities, e-mail Vice President
Judy Nagel-Conley at
jln0522@aol.com.
In brief
Winter Family Night
Student directories: You should have received a Taking pictures? If you’ve
Beth Reiman steps down as
Brookdale Student Directory before break. If one chaperoned a field trip or chairwoman after this year. A
didn’t come home via backpack, please e-mail Ja- helped out at class parties parent could learn the ropes this
net LaRocque or a member of the PTA Executive and other school activities year by helping on the planning
Board. Thanks go to Janet for guiding publication of this school year, please be committee.
the directory this year and in the past. She is step- sure to submit your photos Special Needs PTA
ping down, and the PTA is looking for someone to for publication in the Brookdale yearbook. E-mail A parent is needed to serve as
take over the publication. E-mail Vice President Ju- photos to yearbook editor Janet LaRocque at Brookdale PTA’s liaison to the
dy Nagel-Conley if interested. brookdaleyearbook@yahoo.com. district’s Special Needs PTA.
January, 2011 Page 5

Fundraisers Providing learning opportunities and fun for our children

Think it’s cold outside? Just wait …

Fermilab’s Mr. Freeze to visit with his super-cool assembly
It’s January, so it’s not surprising when the tem-
peratures outside dip down to zero … or below.
But what on earth happens when the freezing
moves indoors?
Brookdale students will see for themselves
next month.
“Mr. Freeze” is coming.
In his everyday life, Mr. Freeze is Jerry Zimmer-
man, an engineer in the Particle Physics Division
at Fermilab in Batavia.
But for the last 13 years, Zimmerman has met
with student groups, Scout troops and audiences
at special events under the name Mr. Freeze.
When he visits Brookdale on Monday, Feb. 7,
he will perform demonstrations with liquid nitro-
gen as part of his cryogenics show and will dis-
cuss the results with our students.
Cryogenics, according to Mr. Freeze, is the sci-
ence of making things really cold and what hap-
pens when you do.
It should be a super-cool show!
Courtesy of Fermilab
As Mr. Freeze, Fermilab’s Jerry Zimmerman
will perform cryogenics demonstrations in
an upcoming assembly at Brookdale

Boost your brain power with Brainetics session

The Indian Prairie Project Arrow PTA is host-
ing a program on Brainetics, strategies to im-
prove math and memory skills.
Mike Byster presents his learning program at
6:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12 in the multipur-
pose room at Kendall Elementary School, 2408
Courtesy of Indian Prairie Unit District 204
Meadow Lake Drive, Naperville. The session is
Brainetics creator Mike Byster help stu- for both parents and students and is open to
dents improve math and memory skills. members and nonmembers, but attendance is
capped at 100. RSVP with number attending to
ippa.pta@gmail.com. Admission is free for
members, $5 per family for others.
The IPPA PTA Enrichment Activities Fair fol-
lows in the gym with information about aca-
demic, music, language, leadership and sum-
mer camps.
For information about Brainetics, visit
www.brainetics.com.
January, 2011
Fundraisers
Resolve to eat in, and let Market Day give you a little help
If one of your new year’s resolutions is
to eat more meals at home, let Market
Day be your sous chef.
Like every month, the January flier is
full of meal ideas as well as main cours-
es and ready-made side dishes that can
help you put a meal on the table more
quickly than waiting in the fast-food
line.
Those who place a Market Day order
in January will be entered into a draw-
ing for Italian-Style Meatballs, and eve-
ryone can check out the recipe for Slow
Cooker Meatballs on Page 4 of the flier.
Also, every purchase will include a
Silent Auction Committee seeks help, donations
The Silent Auction Committee meets
for the first time at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan.
16 at Caribou Coffee by Dominick's.
If you are interested in helping, just
show up or e-mail Laura Schlicher
(Heger) at rgheger@aol.com.
The Silent Auction is April 29 as part
of the Spring Fling. It is a huge money-
maker for the PTA. Join the fun!
Many places require six to eight weeks’
lead time for donations, so we need to hit the
Page 6
Providing learning opportunities and fun for our children
free Book Bag who took home the Cheese Piz- Pick-up dates
Buddy. See zas.
the flier for Get ready to bake some cook- Pick-up dates
this cute little ies in February, when purchas- for Brookdale :
guy your kids can attach to their back- es of ready-to-bake cookie dough earn
packs. extra money for Brookdale.  Jan. 11
 Feb. 8
January order forms are due back to Market Day items are guaranteed; if
 March 8
school by Thursday, Jan. 6, and you can you’re not satisfied, return the unused
 April 12
order online at marketday.com until portion to coordinator Tricia Smith, who
 May 10
11p.m. Friday, Jan. 7. Pick up will be will get you a refund. Market Day ac-
 June 7
from 9:45 to 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. cepts the LINK card as payment.
11, in the multipurpose room. Contact Tricia with questions at tricia- For ordering
Market Day sales in December gener- greg98@wowwawy.com or (630) 416- online, our
ated $123.40 for our school. The win- 3255. She is happy to deliver pre-paid school code
ner of the raffle was the Weidner family, orders to your home. is 2092.
Basketball nights
streets early.
The second set of Basketball Nights is
The committee needs people to ad-
in January.
dress envelopes, visit businesses, help
Girls and parents hit the court 7 to
build baskets and work the night of the
8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan.
event.
7. Boys and parents
Also, if you have any baskets or un-
shoot hoops 7 to 8:30
wanted Christmas gifts you’re willing to
p.m. Friday, Jan. 21.
donate, the Silent Auction Committee
Questions? E-mail
will take them. Call Laura at (630) 983-7189 or
Amy Elston at amyel-
drop donations on the porch at 1338 Winches-
ston@hotmail.com.
ter Court
December, 2010 Page 7

Free Money for the PTA

It’s easy to help the PTA earn money for assemblies, contributions to the classroom and more just
by doing what you’re already doing. Here’s how:
Tyson labels:
Find the Project A+ logo on the Tyson package, clip it
out and send it to school with your child to drop in
the bin just inside the library. Each label earns us 24
cents. For a list of qualifying products, visit projecta-
plus.tyson.com. Contact Barb Marshall with comments or ques-
tions, rmarshall8804@wowway.com or (630) 357-7761.
Box tops:
Box Tops for Education labels are on
many, many products. Just clip the logo
and send it to school with your child to
drop in the bin just inside the library. The
extensive list of qualifying products is at
www.ipsd.org/Uploads/brookdale_box%20Tops.pdf. If you have
questions, contact Stacey Ramsey at
srams66@wideopenwest.com or (630) 778-1849.
GoodSearch and GoodShop:
Brookdale PTA earns a penny every
time you search the Internet with
GoodSearch.com, a Yahoo-powered
engine that donates half its advertising revenue to user-
designated charities. Enter “Brookdale School” in the “Who do
you GoodSearch for?” box and select our school, then search
like usual. The site’s GoodShop.com offers discounts from partic-
ipating merchants, who donate a portion of sales to the charity.
Dominick’s eScrip:
Using your Fresh Values Card at
Dominick’s can save you money and
generate a donation to the Brookdale
PTA. If you register your card, the store
will contribute up to 4 percent of your bill
from each shopping trip when you use
your card. Registration takes just a few
minutes at escrip.com. After that, all you
need to do is shop. Contact Stacey Ramsey
with questions at srams66@wideopenwest.com or (630) 778-
1849.
Best Buy Reward Zone:
The Reward Zone program lets
Best Buy customers build up
points to use toward future
purchases at the store. Through
the Reward Zone Program for
Schools, you can put your points
to work for Brookdale. Enroll as a Reward Zone member and
each time you check out, tell the cashier you’d like to donate
your points to Brookdale Elementary. The store will give us
reward certificates for 2 percent of your total that will buy
more technology for our school.
December, 2010 Page 8

Brookdale PTA Executive Board

President Vice President Secretary Treasurer
Barb Peterson Judy Nagel-Conley Jan Mallak Ron Heger
(630) 416-4565 (630) 428-9717 (630) 717-0953 (630) 983-7189
afamily@petersonlink.name jln0522@aol.com janmallak@comcast.net rgheger@aol.com
Committee Chairperson Telephone E-mail Committee Chairperson Telephone E-mail
Danielle Baker (630) 357-6137 danilbaker@aol.com Market Day Tricia Smith (630) 416-3255 triciagreg98@wowway.com
After-School
Laura Falk (630) 718-1088 glmnfalk@wowway.com Newsletter/Publicity Christie Willhite (630) 579-9423 christiewillhite@gmail.com
Enrichment
Sarah Williams (630) 717-9979 sarahdave@wowway.com
Parent Diversity Saily Joshi-Moorthy (630) 527-9536 saily@aol.com
Art Awareness Theresa Hus (630) 961-5348 theresahus@gmail.com Advisory Council Bernadette Young (708) 870-5175 bernadetteannyoung@gmail.com
Positive Behavior
Assemblies Beth Reiman (630) 416-7976 bethoreiman@gmail.com Interventions & Supports Melissa Winchester (630) 717-0375 melnme1997@yahoo.com
Basketball Nights Amy Elston (630) 637-9709 amyelston@hotmail.com Project Arrow PTA Bernadette Young (708) 870-5175 bernadetteannyoung@gmail.com
Book Fair Dawn Yorke (630) 330-7703 dyorke8708@wowway.com Red Ribbon Week Krista McCann (630) 364-2630 kmccannrn@yahoo.com
Reflections Kelly Urbon (630) 718-0384 tkurbon@sbcglobal.net
Box Tops Stacey Ramsey (630) 778-1849 srams66@wideopenwest.com
School Directory Janet LaRocque (630) 527-8473 janetlarocque@yahoo.com
Brookdale Brainiacs Ann Luttrell (630) 416-2581 anneluttrell@gmail.com
Jennifer Sanchez (630) 753-9423 jlsanchez@wideopenwest.com
Jeanette Curtis (630) 579-6207 jeanettecurtis@mac.com School Supplies
Buzy Bobcat Store Sarah Williams (630) 717-9979 sarahdave@wowway.com
Barb Nicodemus (630) 848-0148 nicknbarb@wideopenwest.com Rose Baranyk (630) 355-8786 rosalie_baranyk@yahoo.com
Service Projects
Classroom Sheila Fleming (630) 548-1494 sjsjfleming@wowway.com Beth Reiman (630) 416-7976 bethoreiman@gmail.com
Coordinators Melissa Winchester (630) 717-0375 melnme1997@yahoo.com Silent Auction Laura Heger (630) 983-7189 rgheger@aol.com
Cultural Arts Francesca Giacobbe (630) 946-6285 Special Needs PTA
eScrip Stacey Ramsey (630) 778-1849 srams66@wideopenwest.com Spirit Wear Sale Lisa Howard (630) 548-4804 thehowards@wowway.com
Fall Family Social Linda Watkins (630) 357-5724 ljrwatkins@wideopenwest.com Spring Fling Cherie Quarles (630) 579-0679 cheriequarles@yahoo.com
Family Dinners Out Heather Lang (630) 717-1204 heather.lang@eicoff.com Staff Appreciation Susan Corrigan (630) 399-4690 svcorrigan@hotmail.com
Rueben Lerma (630) 768-6394 diet8926880@aol.com Robyn Rathe (815) 514-0529 robynrathe@yahoo.com
Fifth-Grade Social Title One Parent Rep Bernadette Young (708) 870-5175 bernadetteannyoung@gmail.com
Barb Marshall (630) 357-7761 rmarshall8804@wowway.com
LaShandra Moore (630) 857-9110 lmlmblue@yahoo.com Tyson Food Labels Barb Marshall (630) 357-7761 rmarshall8804@wowway.com
Fifth-Grade DVD Anne Staskon (630) 357-3445 estaskon@sbcglobal.net Cathy Collins (630) 961-1080 ckc1021@sbcglobal.net
Variety Show
Health and Safety Beth Siwicki (630) 942-0516 siwickifamily@wowway.com Mary Hensley (630) 428-9963 jhensley0378@wowway.com
Helping Hand Lisa Burke (630) 416-9430 lisaburke8@yahoo.com Walk to School Day Beth Siwicki (630) 717-0375 siwickifamily@wowway.com
Dina Bradshaw (630) 717-6916 dinabradshaw@att.net Welcome Committee Linda Watkins (630) 357-5724 ljrwatkins@wideopenwest.com
Hospitality
Beth Martinson (630) 717-7902 abmartinson@yahoo.com Winter Family Night Beth Reiman (630) 416-7976 bethoreiman@gmail.com
IPPC Representative Saily Joshi-Moorthy (630) 527-9536 saily@aol.com Amy Hausman (630) 961-1210 khausman@wideopenwest.com
Wrapping Paper Sale
Kids Art Note Cards Tricia Smith (630) 416-3255 triciagreg98@wowway.com Deb Snyder (630) 428-3089 dsnydermjt@wideopenwest.com
LMC Coordinator Cathy Collins (630) 961-1080 ckc1021@sbcglobal.net Yearbook Janet LaRocque (630) 527-8473 janetlarocque@yahoo.com

Brookdale Elementary School

1200 Redfield Road Principal This publication is produced and funded
Naperville, IL 60563 Brian LeCrone by the Brookdale Elementary School PTA.
(630) 428-6800 brian_lecrone@ipsd.org