Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Sherwood on You Tube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP3MvmIxekg

Computer Lab Closed

The computer lab will not be available for the next couple of days, beginning Thursday, February 26 and Friday, February 27. We will be looking at computers that need maintenance and on Friday, the Area 13 Principals will be in the building receiving training.

WE MADE IT TO THE TOP!

Our theme this year for the African American History Assembly is: We Made it to the Top! Our assembly will take place Friday, February 27, 2009 -9:30 a.m. Primary and 11:30 a.m. Intermediate/Upper. Please join us in celebration for the great achievements.

Progress Reports Due Friday!

Teachers and Parents...Friday the Progress Reports will be generated for students and parents. Please expect your child to bring home their progress reports Tuesday, March 3, 2009. Progress Reports will be generated on Friday, and distributed to the students on Tuesday.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

HOMEWORK CENTER

Chesterfield Community Council
&
St. Marks’ Lutheran Church

Reading, Writing & Math
for
Grades 3rd-8th

START DATE: MARCH 18, 2009
END DATE: MAY 23, 2009

Class Sessions: Wednesday, 2:30-5:30 p.m.
Saturday,10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Located at St. Marks Lutheran Church, 655 East 88th St. (88th & Langley)

ALL SESSIONS ARE TAUGHT BY EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS

Price: FREE

Registration Dates: Feb. 28 & March 7, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 (noon),
St. Marks Lutheran Church, 655 East 88th Street (88th & Langley)

For more information: 773-651-3958 or e-mail us at: chesterfield@ameritech.net

SPACE IS LIMITED

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

INTERACTIVE ISAT Tests

Please have your children take the INTERACTIVE ISAT tests...follow the link below...

http://metacat2.com/iltestlinks.html

Writing Program for 7th and 8th graders

Program Mission:
The Do the Write Thing Stop Youth Violence Program has been a part of the Chicago Public Schools as well as the Catholic Archdiocese schools for the past 10 years. The program focus is to encourage students to take personal responsibility in the reduction of youth violence and currently engages over 150,000 students and teachers across the United States.

Succinctly, Do the Write Thing is a writing program for 7th and 8th graders which engages students in a teacher led writing lesson in which students take a personal stand to stop youth violence. Students are motivated to write about how violence has affected my life, the causes of youth violence and lastly, what can I do to stop youth violence.

How the Program Works
Students can write an essay, poem or play which their teachers submit to us, the local Do the Write Thing Program chairs (Latham & Watkins). Please note, that the deadline for the submission of student writings is due 5:00 P.M. on Friday, March 6, 2009. Please, designate one person in your office to be the contact person for your school.

Summit essays to:

Joyce Simon
Latham & Watkins
233 South Wacker Drive
Sears Tower, Suite 5800
Chicago, IL 60606

The program is structured whereby the teacher determines how best to approach the writing initiative. As a local resource, we would be willing to work with teachers that request our support to provide them with articles or news about violence or help them find a speaker to come to their classroom. The submitted entries are then read by a group of 'readers' that we've organized from our office staff, the business community and our pro bono partners. Essays are selected based on content, originality and how well the students express their views (not grammar and spelling). The attached file contains ISAT focused lessons that teachers can use with the students. We understand it is 'crunch' time and felt the lesson plans on the topic of violence would fit into the teachers' priorities at this time.

From the large group of writers, readers will select a student ambassador from each school to attend a Chicago recognition ceremony in May.

Program Honors:
Local: A Chicago awards ceremony dinner will be held in early May to recognize all the student ambassadors, teachers, principals and parents. The writings of all the participants will also be published in a book and distributed to policy makers in Illinois. Finally, at the Chicago celebration two students will be named as national ambassadors and they will represent Chicago at the National Do the Write Thing Challenge Ceremony in Washington D.C..

National: In July 2009, the national student ambassadors, their teacher's and parents/guardian will be flown to Washington D.C. to take part in a week of activities and attend the National Do the Write Thing Recognition Ceremony. In the past, activities have included a reception at the Kuwait embassy, meetings with the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Education and various members of Congress. In addition, a book of their writings will be placed in the Library of Congress. Importantly, the trip is funded through the National Do the Write Thing Challenge funds that are provided by the Kuwait government and there is no expense to the families or teachers.

I invite you to learn more about National Recognition Week at http://www.dtwt.org/multimedia or http://www.dtwt.org/multimedia/multimedia/videos/michael-nelson


If you find this program of interest, we will messenger information packets to you. It is not too late to participate. www.dtwt.org

Feel free to call Marielee Macapagal with questions, 312/520-1816.

Gilda’s Club Chicago’s

Friday, March 27th, 2009
8:30a.m. – 12:00p.m.

This seminar is a FREE, unique program providing school and healthcare professionals with the necessary information to support children, families, and friends who have been touched by cancer

A light breakfast will be served beginning at 8:30am

*2.5 CPDUs will be provided free of charge*

This year’s presentations are provided in collaboration with the Midwest Palliative and Hospice Care Center:
.
The Grieving Child
Presented By: Nicole Araujo, LCPC
Nicole is a counselor with the Families with Children program at the Midwest Palliative and Hospice Care Center.

Palliative Care; support and comfort for the family from diagnosis through treatment
Presented by: Judy Barry, LCSW
Judy is the palliative care services social worker for the Midwest Palliative and Hospice Care Center.

Please RSVP to:
Christine Hazelett, LCPC, ATR-BC, Noogieland Coordinator,
at christinehazelett@gildasclubchicago.org
or 312-464-9900 x34
by Wednesday, March 25th

The Seminar will take place at Gilda’s Club Chicago:
537 N. Wells St.
Chicago, IL 60610

Parking is available at:
224 West Ohio or 212 West Illinois
$6.00 with Gilda’s Club validation

Gilda’s Club Chicago is a free, non-profit support community for anyone touched by cancer

16th Annual "Heroes in the Hood" Awards Program – NOMINATIONS DUE BY FEBRUARY 20th, 2009

Do you know a teenager who is making a profound difference in his or her community? Or, do you know a principal or teacher who has taken steps to deter the violence that is devastating Chicago neighborhoods and schools? If so, we want to know about them.Please join us in recognizing and rewarding outstanding Chicago teens and educators at the 16th annual “Heroes in the ‘Hood” awards program.Heroes, developed 16 years ago by GO Airport Express, has honored more than 400 Chicago youths who have donated their time and talents to make a positive difference in their communities. This year, Heroes is adding a “Stop the Violence” award. It will be awarded to a principal, teacher, counselor or administrator who has demonstrated extraordinary effort in making the community a safer place.To accomplish our goals, we need your support. The program sponsors would greatly appreciate it if you and your staff would help identify potential “Heroes in the ‘Hood” and “Stop the Violence” nominees.We ask that you help by distributing the enclosed materials to individuals or groups at your school. “Heroes in the ‘Hood” nominees must be between the ages of 12 and 18 and live in the city of Chicago to qualify. Winners will receive, a trip to Springfield, Ill. to visit our state capitol; a plaque or certificate honoring their achievement; Media coverage in the Chicago Crusader and other media outlets; and a T-shirt and “goodie bags.”The “Stop the Violence” award will be awarded to a principal, teacher, counselor or administrator who is reaching out to today’s youth with violence prevention, education or outreach projects. The winner will receive a prize of $1,000. Applications for the awards can be downloaded at www.airportexpress.com/community.html .If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Robyn Velasquez at (312) 666-6662 or via e-mail at rvelasquez@hodgeschindler.com.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Bookshare

Bookshare (www.bookshare.org) is the worldʼs largest accessible digital library for persons with print and learning disabilities (such as dyslexia). Students with qualifying disabilities get FREE access to over 43,000 digital books, textbooks and teacher recommended reading, as well as assistive reading technology to help them read and study independently. Membership for students and schools is free thanks to an award from the U.S. Department of Educationʼs Office of Special Education (OSEP). Parents and teachers can sign up their children by going to registration (http://www.bookshare.org/signUpType).
Contact info:
480 California AvenueSuite 201Palo Alto , CA 94306Local Telephone: (650) 644-3400www.bookshare.orgEmail for Parent questions: parents@bookshare.org
General E-mail: info@bookshare.org

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

*Poetry Contest*

Commander Keith Calloway is hosting an Antiviolence poetry contest between schools that are located within the 7th District. The participants must be in the 7th or 8th Grade and the poems will last for duration of 1 minute. Each School will conduct an internal competition to determine the school’s champion. The school’s champion must be submitted to the 7th District C.A.P.S. Office by 5:00PM April 17, 2009. A panel of Judges will then select the best 10 Poems by April 24, 2009. The 10 students who are selected will be invited to compete in a live poetry slam on May 1, 2009.

v FIRST PLACE PRIZE******** $400
v SECOND PLACE PRIZE *****$200
v THIRD PLACE PRIZE *******$100

NO VULGARITY!
NO PROFANITY!
ORIGINAL POETRY ONLY!

For additional information contact Sgt. Hawkins 7th District C.A.P.S at (312) 747-6722 Monday – Friday between the hours of 12PM and 6PM

*Remember the theme is Antiviolence!*

Academic Olympics Speech Competition

Academic Olympics Speech competition is March 18, 2009. Also, representatives of the Coordinators meeting to be held Thurs. Feb. 19th, 12:00 pm at Dewey.

Thank you to our REAL MEN READ Volunteers

We wish to thank the REAL MEN READ group of wonderful men who have been visiting our children this year...you are the BEST!


Theodore Collins

John Sterling

Jeff Dortch

Andrew Jones

Richard Miles

Kevin Moore

Our children and staff appreciate your commitment to Sherwood School!

CPS Real Men Read Calendar (Arrival Time: 8:50 a.m.)

· Thursday, February 19, 2009 – Reading Day at Your School
· Thursday, March 19, 2009 – Reading Day at Your School
· Thursday, May 21, 2009 – Reading Day at Your School

Friday, February 6, 2009

Announcing A Day in Our Neighborhood Project!

The Northwestern University Collaboratory Project invites all K-12 students to participate in the A Day in Our Neighborhood to learn more about the communities around us. In the project, students and teachers from around the world will share information about their communities will discuss this information through the iCollaboratory web site.A Day in Our Neighborhood -- Cybrary!After registering for the Project, students and teachers will place information about their school and community in an online template at the iCollaboratory called the Neighborhood Cybrary. All students and teachers participating in the project will be able to see information about each others' schools and communities.A Day in Our Neighborhood -- Survey!On March 3 and/or 4, 2009, students take an online Survey and then review the results to learn more about each other and their schools and communities.The Day in Our Neighborhood -- Gallery!During the first week of March, students take photographs and record video and audio (optional) of the locations in their school and community.During weeks two and three of March, students share these digital materials with other participants, along with descriptions of what their photographs and/or recorded clips feature. Participants come back and comment on each others work.The Day in Our Neighborhood -- Interactive Map!The student work in this project will be accessible through an online interactive map that will mark the different areas where the data, photographs, audio clips and captions were collected for this project.Notes: Please check with your school's Internet privacy policy before posting any material.Please visit http://www.icollaboratory.org to complete the registraiton form and view the project.For more information or help please email icollaboratory@gmail.com