Looking Ahead

End of 1st Semester
Winter Break Begins

Friday, Dec. 19

Winter Break

Dec. 22 - Jan. 4

Classes Resume

Monday, Jan. 5

One Hour Late Start

Wednesday, Jan. 7

Go to the Calendar or Upcoming Events sections of the district website for a detailed listing of all events 

by school, month, 

day or type.

Camille Goodwin,

President

Paul J. Meyer,

Vice President

Russ Goerlitz,

Secretary

Bob Birchfield

 Carl W. Gilmore

Bill Nattress 

David Shinherr

Dr. Mike  Moan 

After a meeting with Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager, WHS political science students wanted to find a way to be involved in local government. Many of them knew of science teacher Bill Donato's dedication and commitment to working with his students at the Albert/Gerry Street Nature Center. Bill and his students have cared for this property since the inception of the Nature Center, and have made countless improvements to the area.  The political science students approached the City of Woodstock about renaming the nature area in Mr. Donato's honor.  At its regular meeting on December 16, the Woodstock City Council voted to rename the property the William C. Donato Conservation Area. Congratulations, Mr. Donato, on this well-deserved honor!

WHS science teacher Bill Donato (center) is surrounded by proud students and colleagues at City Hall following the Woodstock City Council's December 16 meeting.

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A group of Woodstock High School students who are part of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) are working on a three month campaign to educate their fellow students, and the Woodstock community, about the dangers of distracted driving.  The students, whose tag line is, "Streaks Observe Safety" (SOS), developed public service announcements reminding people to not text or talk on their cell phones while driving. They produced short videos that advocate for seat belt use and provide statistics about the number of people involved in car accidents due to distracted driving.  

SADD students are taking time out from their lunch period and

A student uses her "texting thumb" to sign a pledge that she will not text while driving.

coming in early on late start days to plan activities.  Some of the things they have done include:  getting students to sign a card pledging to not text and drive, counting the number of people coming to school by car who are wearing seat belts, and placing flyers in area businesses encouraging community members to be safe while driving. 

The campaign is made possible through a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Allstate Insurance and the Governor's Office called Operation Teen Safe Driving.  The SADD students are creating a PowerPoint presentation they will use to present their campaign and their results to representatives from IDOT for a chance to win an after-prom party.

Several teachers and administrators from District 200 traveled to New Mexico in November to a Dual Language conference with other educators from around the country involved in Dual Language Programs. The District 200 team made a presentation about the development of an inclusive Dual Language program, and the issues surrounding providing Dual Language for all.  The presentation featured the District's process for developing  bi-literacy through the grade levels in the 50/50 and 90/10 programs, special education services for Dual Language, and considerations for students who need enrichment and gifted instruction in middle and high school.  

Twenty-two talented singers and musicians from District 200's high school band and choral programs have been selected to this year's District 7 honor music groups from auditions sponsored by the Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA) in October. District 7 is comprised of schools in most of McHenry County, all of Lake County, and also some parts of Cook and DuPage Counties.  It is generally considered to be the most competitive of the nine districts in Illinois.  These impressive results point to another banner year for the music programs at both District 200 high schools. The members of each group are: 

District 7 Honor Choir             

District 7 Honor Band

In addition to their selection to the District 7 Honor Choir,  Evan Berg and Erica Finke (WHS) were also selected for the All-State Choir. These students will rehearse and perform with a special guest conductor during the All-State Music Festival, held in Peoria in January.

Staff Spotlight Shines on Connee Meschini 

In 2009, District 200 received a grant from the US Department of Education to help combat under-age alcohol consumption.  Funding from the grant enabled the district to hire Connee Meschini, who was responsible for implementing programs aimed at reducing alcohol consumption by students.
 

By 2013 when the grant was completed, it was apparent that Connee was an asset to District 200, and she was hired full time as a Student Assistance Counselor.  Connee supports students in all areas of their lives that are not academic.  She hosts a wide variety of support groups at both Woodstock High School and Woodstock North High School on a weekly basis.

Students who have transferred to one of the District 200 high

schools can join the newcomers group. During the 6-week orientation, Connee takes students on tours of the building, provides information about extra-curricular activities and athletics, and works with the students on team building and ice breaking activities.  Many of the students who begin in this group remain friends throughout their high school lives.  

Because Connee is a certified drug and alcohol counselor, she is able to assist students who may be dealing with drug or alcohol abuse in their families.  She hosts group meetings with students who exhibit at-risk behaviors and helps them learn to make healthy decisions that will serve them well now and in the future.  Connee says that students look forward to the safety of her groups, "Their voices can be heard in my groups. They know that I will listen to them and make them understand that they're important."

Connee spends two days a week at each high school and rotates between them on Fridays.  In addition to her group work, Connee meets privately with students who may be facing challenging situations at school or at home.  Recently, a student sadly told Connee that she didn't have any friends.  Connee went right to work with her network of high school students and found

Connee Meschini and a student helper work  on a project for the SADD group at WHS.

someone willing to befriend the new arrival.  Connee had tears in her eyes as she recalled how excited the new student was that she now had a friend at school.

Saying that she would do anything to help her students, Connee relates how she finds clothing, coats, hats and hygiene items for students who are not as fortunate as some.  Her goal is to create a "closet" at each high school where students can choose items they need.

Over the last several months, Connee has volunteered her time to work with the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) group at Woodstock High School on a campaign to combat distracted driving.  

Woodstock High School principal Justin Smith sees the difference Connee has made in the lives of students every day, "Ms. Meschini works tirelessly to ensure that all students are making choices that keep them safe. She is truly an asset to the students and staff at Woodstock High School." 

Keeping Kids Healthy

Recently there has been an increase in the number of children absent from school due to flu-like symptoms. Like all the school districts in McHenry County, we have been monitoring absences on a daily basis since the beginning of the school year and sending that information to the McHenry County Department of Health.  The Health Department reviews the information and then decides if any action is needed.

As of now, the Health Department has not recommended that we do anything more beyond the normal procedures that we have in place.  That includes reminding everyone to follow these basic health guidelines in order to reduce the spread of flu in our schools: 

• Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.
• Teach your children to cover their coughs and sneezes with a tissue, arm or elbow.
• Know the signs and symptoms of the flu - fever of 100� or more, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache and feeling very tired.
• Do not send children to school if they are sick.
• Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they have been fever-free without the use of fever-reducing drugs.

Kindergartners Learn Value of Giving

Kindergarten students in Amy Mock's class at Verda Dierzen

Dierzen Kindergarten students serve cookies to visitors.

Early Learning Center sold  cookies and hot chocolate to raise funds for Christmas Clearing House.  Over the course of two days, students raised more than $380.

Start-up costs for the project came from a District 200 Education Foundation grant so all profits were able to be donated to Christmas Clearing House.  This project is a culmination of a "giving back" project where the students learn about the importance of giving back to the community. 

Local Storyteller Visits Westwood Elementary School

Local storyteller and former District 200 teacher Jim May brought

his storytelling expertise to Westwood Elementary School on

Jim May weaves tales for a captivated Westwood audience.

December 4. Mr. May helped students at all grade levels learn the best formula to use when writing stories.  In addition, he recited some of his favorite stories to students, including The Boo Baby Girl Meets the Ghost of Mable's Gable. Jim's visit was made possible, in part, through a grant from the District 200 Education Foundation.

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Global "Hour of Code" Includes D200
High School Students 

The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. It is a one-hour introduction

Students gain insight into the value of learning computer coding during the "Hour of Code" event.

designed to demystify computer science and show that anybody can learn the basics of coding.  Each year millions of computer programming jobs go unfilled because there are not enough skilled programmers.  Students at both District 200 high schools participated in the Hour of Code on December 12.  Jason Huber, who teaches at Woodstock High School, and Kris Carter, who teaches at Woodstock North High School, began their Hour of Code by showing video clips of noted programmers such as Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook, Bill Gates from Microsoft and Gabe Newell from Valve talk about the importance of coding. 

Working with tutorials that aligned with their programming skill level - from novice to advanced - students learned how to write C++, Javascript, Python and Blocky.  Students had the opportunity to take their new skill and make their own webpage (smartphone capable) in three easy steps, or make their own video games, which could be up loaded to Facebook or played on Xbox.  

Clay Academy Students Share Their Talents

December 12 was a big day for students at Clay Academy.  They hosted parents, grandparents and siblings at their annual Talent Show and Science Fair.  Students entertained their guests by

Clay students perform  for their guests.

singing a rendition of Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles, dancing to Thriller by Michael Jackson and singing Karaoke to Let it Go from the movie Frozen.  Family members were then invited to view the science projects on display including volcanoes, discovering whether a potato or a lemon conducts more electricity and  exploring the eruption of carbon dioxide when Mentos candy dissolves in Diet Coke.

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Orchestra Spreads Holiday Cheer  

Students in the District 200 orchestra program performed at Centegra Hospital, Valley High Nursing Home and Hearthstone Village on December 10 and 11.  The 5th through 7th grade musicians played a variety of holiday music for patients and residents at the Woodstock facilities.   

Woodstock Moose Lodge Honors
"Teacher of the Year"

Julia Patterson

Nine years ago the Woodstock Moose Lodge created its Community Hero Awards program to recognize people for their outstanding leadership and community service.  Award categories include Citizen of the Year, Outstanding Youth of the Year, Policeman of the Year, Teacher of the Year, and Adult Leadership Person of the Year. This year Dean Street Elementary School teacher Julia Patterson was named Teacher of the Year at a special recognition event on Saturday, November 22.  Julia's nominator highlighted Julia's work both inside and outside the classroom such as creation of the Best Buddies program, starting the "...be filled" program to help students get healthy food for the weekends, teaching confirmation class and being a Girl Scout leader.

Radio Hosts Share Love of Reading with Kindergarten Students

Star 105.5 morning show hosts Tina and Joe visited Verda Dierzen and read, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Little Red Riding Hood to kindergarten students. The pair used Goldilocks and Bear puppets to make the story of the wayward girl who stumbles into the house in the forest in search of porridge and a nap come to life.  Joe, using his best wolf voice when reading Little Red Riding Hood, made the students squeal with delight.  

District Hosts Robotics Tournament 

On December 6, District 200 hosted the FIRST LEGO League Robotics State Qualifier Tournament at Northwood Middle School.  Sixteen teams from all over McHenry County competed in the day-long event. 

At the end of the day, four Northwood Middle School teams qualified for the State Tournament that will be held in January.  Congratulations to the Northwood Teams:

• The Northwood Nemos (studied destruction of coral reefs)
• The Global Gurus (studied bioluminescent fish)
• Wait, What? (studied Native American weapons)
• Fibonacci Fanatics (studied dog breeds for the disabled)

In FIRST LEGO League children are immersed in real-world science and technology challenges. Teams design their own solutions to a current scientific question or problem and build autonomous LEGO robots that perform a series of missions based on student computer programming.