The Raider Times

Emmons School District 33

Volume 2, Number 25 March 5, 2010

Emmons is students, staff, parents, and community working together to prepare our students for a
successful future through excellent experiences and growth opportunities.

Starla Williams All You Can Eat Fundraiser!!...On Sunday, March 14th, noon-4pm, a
fundraiser will be held at RJ’s Eatery, 1913 Grand Avenue, Lindenhurst. All proceeds will go to
pay for funeral expenses and leftover money will be donated to the Starla Williams Memorial
Scholarships being established at her alma mater, IPFW, and here at Emmons School. Come out
and enjoy all you can eat pizza and soda for only $17.99. There will also be raffles and bracelets
for sale. Spread the word to all your friends and family. Even if you didn’t know Starla or her
family, we would greatly appreciate you choosing RJ’s for lunch on March 14th and helping a
good cause!

Communication Committee Needs Volunteers…The District 33 Communications

Committee is looking for parent volunteers who would be willing to submit information about
Emmons School (like calendar dates, sporting events, and District activities) to our local Pioneer
Press, Daily Herald, and Chicago Tribune correspondents. If you have about an hour a week that
you would be willing to devote to helping us in this way, please contact Dr. Machak at (847)
395-1105 x213. Thank you - we need your help!

Are You Ready to Rock?…The Emmons PTO proudly presents its Rock N Roll Auction &
Golf Outing. Join us Friday, April 30th, at the Antioch Golf Club, for our annual outing to
benefit the students and programs at Emmons School. Enjoy a day of fun with friends while
enjoying a round of golf, then wrap up the evening with conversation over dinner & the auction.
Don’t golf? Just come for dinner & the auction. Three of our goals for money raised at this
year’s auction are new tables for our lunchroom, a ventilation system and a kiln for our art room,
and provide new technology to many of our classes. We will have our raffle where you could
win up to $250. These raffle tickets will be available before and during the golf outing or until
50 are sold. Don’t miss this exciting event! Watch for reservation forms in Thursday Folders.

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April Lunch Menu…A lunch menu and order form for the month of April are attached to
this week’s edition of The Raider Times. Orders are due by March 11th.

K-2 Team’s Program Touches South Dakota School in Need…McIntosh School

District 15-1 sent the letter you will find attached to thank Emmons students for the donation that
we sent to them as a result of the Pencil Project. All Emmons students, staff, and families should
be proud! A special thank you to the K-2 Team for organizing this feel good project!

Middle School Dance Date Changed…Please mark your calendars: this Trimester’s
Middle School Dance will take place on Friday, March 19th, 7-9pm.

Emmons Spirit Club!..We had a great turnout for our first Spirit Club meeting on
Wednesday. The kids were busy making posters for the 7th and 8th grade conference basketball
tournaments. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, March 10th, 3:30-5:00pm in the downstairs
conference room – just follow the Spirit Club signs! We will be narrowing down our club name
and preparing to spread the St. Patrick’s Day spirit on the 17th. Hope to see everyone there!!

Book Fair News…The Scholastic Book Fair was a huge success! The PTO would like to
thank the Emmons' students, parents, and community for supporting the fair. The amount of
books sold certainly shows how much the students at Emmons love to read! Profits from the
Book Fair were used to purchase 50 Scholastic books for Emmons' Library, and over 150
new titles for individual classroom libraries. The Book Fair is run by parent volunteers, and
PTO would like to extend a huge "THANK YOU" to ALL VOLUNTEERS!! Mostly, a special
thank you to Mrs. Kim Kelsh, who has been responsible for co-chairing the fair and setting up
the Guessing Game (with great prizes) for many years. This was Mrs. Kelsh's last year working
the fair and we will all miss her. Again, thank you to everyone!

Have You Heard About Saturday School?... The dates for the next Saturday School
sessions will be this Saturday, March 6th, and Saturday, March 20th, from 8am to 11am. If you
need to make up work, access technology, get tutoring in Math, Science, Language, or Literature,
need feedback on a project or essay, or just need a quiet place to read, this is for you. Please let a
Middle School teacher know by the Friday before the scheduled date.

March Parent-Teacher Conferences…Spring Conferences will be held from 12:30-

6:30pm on March 24th and March 25th. A letter will be in next week’s Thursday Folders
detailing step-by-step instructions for using our online Parent-Teacher Conference scheduling
program. Registration will run from Monday, March 15th, 8:00am through Friday, March 19th at
noon. Parents who do not have Internet access in their home may come in to school to register
for conferences. Parents needing to make other conference registration arrangements should
contact Mrs. Pratt at (847) 395-1105 x210.

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Speaker Returns to Emmons…Jim Williams is coming back and you will not want to miss
his powerful story and message about parenting and getting along with your kids. Save the date
for March 17th and 18th. You can spend one or both evenings with Jim and walk away feeling
glad you did. Bring a friend!

Emmons Earns SIPC Stewardship Award…Emmons School District 33 has recently

been named a certified Bronze Status district by the Schools of Illinois Public Cooperative
(SIPC) for our efforts in implementing “green” cleaning initiatives. SIPC is a school-based
organization that offers districts an opportunity to achieve green cleaning certification by
engaging in SCORE, a cost-managed curriculum designed to address the considerable challenges
surrounding cleaning school buildings today. The program encompasses the use of eco-sensitive
products and procedures along with a full and comprehensive training program; our goal is to
promote the health and safety of everyone involved in our school. In May 2008, the Green
Cleaning Schools Act was developed to facilitate a healthy environment for the students, staff,
and visitors at all elementary and secondary schools in Illinois. Utilization of ecologically-
friendly products combined with an effective green cleaning program is required by this
legislation. This recognition represents the first step in Emmons’ long-range vision to provide a
safe, healthy, environment for everyone at Emmons School. In November 2009, Emmons
School District 33 chose not to renew our outside cleaning service contract and instead hired a
custodial staff that consists of dedicated, conscientious Emmons employees. Besides realizing a
substantial cost savings by doing so, this change has allowed administration to work more
closely with our custodial staff to promote the kind of clean and healthy school environment of
which we can all be proud. We take pride in our efforts to this point and are excited to reach the
next level of Silver status soon.

Mosaic Fundraiser Will Benefit ACHS Programming…On March 5th, Antioch

Community High School and Sequoit Pride will be hosting “Mosaic,” an evening of excellent
showcasing the many talents of ACHS students. Running from 6-9 PM in the ACHS commons,
the night will include events such as a spaghetti dinner, an auction, student demonstrations and
performances, and sales of student-produced products. Proceeds will benefit the Open Arms
Mission and ACHS programs, and tickets will be $10. The evening is being put together by a
collection of Antioch students. The management class is helping to organize, the foods classes
are preparing the dinner, art classes are making projects to sell, students are giving musical
performances, as well as other contributors. The night’s auction will include items such as
student artwork, a T-shirt quilt, parking passes, autographed copies of Thirteen Reasons Why,
and special seating for graduation. A dean for a day, a ride in the homecoming parade,
homecoming tickets, lunch with a faculty member, and many other items will be available as
well. In addition, there will be for-sale items, art demonstrations, students demonstrating
exercises, poetry readings, and so much more. Students will be selling tickets, and they are also
available for purchase by credit card online. For more information, send an email to
mosaic@sequoits.com or call (847)- 395-1421 #9370.

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PTO Board Vacancies…The PTO will have several vacancies for next year. If you are
interested in being on the PTO Board, please contact Dawn Latakas. The nominations for the
Board will be at our April meeting (April 13th) and the elections are at our May meeting (May
11th). The next PTO meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 9th at 7:30pm.

Relay for Life…The tradition continues with Stephanie Masse’s team, Emmons Raiders. You
are welcome to participate by joining Stephanie’s team or by supporting her team’s efforts to
raise funds for this event. For details, contact Stephanie, Mrs. Wu, or visit:
www.relayforlife.org/relay.

Bright Start College Savings Program…Attached you will find information regarding the
Bright Start College Savings Program. The program provides a smart, tax-advantaged way for
families to invest money to help pay for a child’s college education. It’s never too early to plan!

The Week Ahead…

Monday, March 8th
Tuesday, March 9th
Wednesday, March 10th
Thursday, March 11th
Friday, March 12th
Study Hall – 3:30-4:15pm
7th Grade Girls BBall Conference Tournament @ N. Prairie
Intro to Literature Class – 7:45-8:25am Room 211
Study Hall – 3:30-4:15pm
7th Grade Girls basketball practice 3:30-4:30
8th Grade Girls BBall Conference Tournament @ Emmons
Study Hall – 3:30-4:15pm
Chess Club – 3:30-4:15pm Room 211
Emmons Spirit Club – 3:30-5:00 Downstairs Conference Room
7th Grade Girls BBall Conference Tournament @ N. Prairie
8th Grade Girls basketball practice 3:30-5:00
Intro to Literature Class – 7:45-8:25am Room 211
Study Hall – 3:30-4:15pm
8th Grade Girls BBall Conference Tournament @ Emmons
Drama Club – 3:30-4:30pm Music Room

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