Principal's Update 02-21-2014

Another week blew by us and I can't believe we are into the last week in February already! We did not have school on Monday, but Willow Creek sixth grade students Clark Kelly and Kyle Leonard attended a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) event that was put on by the DuPage ROE on Monday! Some examples of the activities they were able to explore include lighting up a lightbulb through bicycle energy at the SCARCE & Eco-Friendly experiment and they were able to test out the Lego Robotics at the Lego Education Station!

The elementary bands performed their second evening concert on Wednesday to a full house in Jefferson’s gym.  The evening began with food catered by Doggie Diner and live music from the John Kattke (Willow Creek parent) Quintet.  The audience was also treated to pre-concert piano music by Maria D’Ambrose (a former Willow Creek student, now attending Downers Grove North High School).  The elementary bands, led by District 68 elementary band director Brad Payne, played music to highlight their developing skills and talents.  Each band performed a variety of short selections as well as a rousing encore. 

Kindergarten and first grade students celebrated 100 Day on Thursday! Each class participated in activities that were related to 100! Some examples included many first graders who dressed up as if they were 100 years old and a fun math activity where students grouped various snacks into 10 groups of 10 in order to make 100! In kindergarten, one activity students did was to count 100 fruit loops to create a fun necklace!!



Friday finished off our week with an assembly that was sponsored by the PTO! The assembly was titled "The Tricks to Eating Smart" and it was put on by The Great Scott's Magic in the Classroom. Through the use of magic in this assembly, students learned about the USDA's new MyPlate guidelines, why half of their plates should be fruits and vegetables, information about reading nutrition labels, and more!



This coming Tuesday, February 25th, Woodridge District #68 is partnering with the Woodridge Police Department to host an informational meeting for parents titled The Digital Age: Is My Child Ready? I will be in attendance at the meeting on Tuesday and highly recommend parents attend this session. The following topics will be covered:

• - Discuss the benefits and dangers of social networking sites
  
• - Show parents what our kids are really doing online and with mobile phone apps
  
• - Review state laws on cyber-bullying, as well as District 68 policy
  
• - Discuss survey results taken from students here in District 68 about the topics of cyber-bullying     and social networking
  
• - Offer suggestions and solutions for parents on how we can work together to keep our kids safe in this ever-changing digital age 
    

The Box Top Collection Contest is now complete, but we are still about 300 Box Tops away from our school goal of collecting 1500 Box Tops by the end of February! As a result, Box Tops can of course still be turned in at anytime, but we are encouraging students to bring in as many as they can by this Friday in order to try and reach our goal before the Box Tops are sent in for our next redemption of funds.

The Willow Creek Lost and Found is overflowing with items from the winter. As a result, we will be laying out items on a table in the back hallway and encourage students to come and collect any lost items this week before we donate the items that are not claimed. Please encourage your child to check the lost and found this week to collect lost or left behind items prior to the donation, especially if you know there are specific items that your child currently can not find!

Woodridge School District 68 is seeking the input of our parents and guardians on an important question. In developing the calendar for the 2014-15 school year, there has been much discussion regarding the continuation of the spring Parent/Teacher Conferences.The District is considering replacing the spring Parent/Teacher Conferences with regular school days. Whether or not the District has spring conferences, parents can always contact teachers and request a conference when desired during the course of the school year. Fall conferences will not be impacted regardless of the decision on spring conferences. A one question survey was sent out to all parents via a Skylert Message last Friday, but the survey can also be found in the "News" section on the home page of the district and school websites. The PROPOSED 2014-15 district calendar.can also be found on the home page of the district website on the lower right of the screen.

Upcoming Dates to Remember:
Tuesday, February 25th: The Digital Age- Parent Information Mtg., 6:30 p.m. @ Meadowview School
Thursday, February 27th: Roller Skating Party, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Friday, February 28th: NO SCHOOL for Students, Teacher Institute Day
Monday, March 3rd - Friday, March 14th: ISAT Testing 
Tuesday, March 4th: Math Curriculum Presentation for  Willow Creek parents by Assistant Superintendent Greg Wolcott @ 6:30 p.m. in the WC Library, PTO Meeting @ 7 p.m. in the WC Library

Check out the pictures below of the students whose names were drawn in the "Positive Paws" raffle over the last two weeks!