Mrs. Manley is hosting her Cultural Day Feast on Monday, May 12th, from 10:30-2:00. Families are invited to bring in dishes from their backgrounds. This is the second year of this event.

The students and staff are busy preparing for a Science Fair on Tuesday, May 13th. At 10:00, the projects will be judged. At 11:30, the students will view the projects. Parents will be invited to attend the Science Fair at 6:00 that evening. All projects must follow the scientific method. The students must also have a display board to go along with their projects. After the winners are announced for Balmoral, there will be a district wide contest between the elementary winners. Third grade teacher, Mrs. Ghantel Gueno-Perkins, is the coordinator for this event.

Students celebrated Earth Day by helping to clean up their school. Ms Giddings’s, Mrs. Gardner’s and Ms Righter’s classes took time to pick up litter that has been left by the winter’s gusty winds. The grounds look great! Thank you for helping to keep our school clean.

Sixth Grade Center had three booths at the district’s fun fair last Saturday. We had soccer kick, softball throw and pitch a dime. Thanks too many of the student and parent volunteers from the Sixth Grade Center and Crete Monee High School. A special thank you goes to the Johnson family, Tamez family, and the Frenzel family. Without you, we would not have had such a great success!!

Working in teams, Odyssey participants select and spend several months solving one of five new problems designed and distributed each year by Creative Competitions, Inc., the group that sponsors Odyssey of the Mind nationally and internationally. These problems are designed to appeal to students with many different interests. In a given year, team members may choose from such challenges as building vehicles, designing structures that support hundreds of times their own weight, or writing plays based on classical art and literature or characters of their own creation. But whichever problem a team chooses, team members must solve it completely on their own. Every single facet of the team's solution must be designed and executed by the team members themselves. Because of this, the sense of accomplishment that Odyssey teams have when they solve a problem, whether they win at a tournament or not, is tremendously empowering. Additionally, Odyssey of the Mind's emphasis on divergent thinking pushes students to express their ideas and bring them to fruition in an environment which is free of criticism. Odyssey teaches that no answer is wrong, that everyone has something to offer, and that only when team members work together can they solve problems.

The Sixth Grade Center Team consisted of Kelsey Meyer, Lauren Johnson, Marisa Tamez, Jasmine Frenzel, Alyssa Frezel, and Jenna Crawford.

There were three competitions that the girls competed in, long term, creativity, and spontaneous. They competed against three other schools based on the muse problem. They came in 1st in creativity, 2nd for long term, and 4th for spontaneous. Their overall score was not high enough to qualify for the World Finals. One of the judges mentioned, “It is really sad that World will not be able to see this performance.”

Student Council will be having its Spring Fling on Friday,May 9th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Tickets are on sale now! They will be on sale until Friday, May 2nd at 10:00am. Tickets will be $5.00 each and include, pizza, pop, and a treat. Games will be $0.50 each.

The Sixth Grade Center has been chosen to participate in a grant program through The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to make cycling safer, more convenient, and more fun.

This club is offered to help sixth grade bicyclists understand how to ride safely and legally on the residential streets, main roads and trails of Crete. Students will acquire basic knowledge of bicycles and learn how to repair common bicycle problems.

Requirements: A bicycle that fits the student, a helmet, and a willingness to ride.

The club is held on Mondays after school.

The students at the Sixth Grade center got a dose of “reality” when participating in Reality Store. Several parent and community volunteers came to assist students in making wise choices with the necessities that they would need in the real world. The activity’s sponsor, Mrs. Ahern, stated” The overall goals if the exercise are to encourage students to stay in school, realize the importance of establishing a budget and making wise choices, know the difference between wants and needs, and to recognize the importance of math skills.”
Each student was given a checkbook with checks and a check registry. They visited 12 stations where they made purchases based on their needs. A survey was completed beforehand and determinations were made to their marital status, children, and profession. If after this activity the students had at least $1.00 in their checking account, they received a ribbon that said “I survived reality store”. The sixth graders at CSK came to the Sixth Grade Center to participate in this activity also. The students and volunteers had a great time with this activity. Many students shared with the volunteers that they never realized everything that would need to have when they became an adult.
Thank you to everyone who came to help with this activity. Reality store was a great success!

Aaron Elster will be speaking to 7th & 8th graders on May 9th at 9:30am. He was a child survivor of the Holocaust. He was born in 1933 in the small northeastern village of Sokolow-Podlaski in Poland. Aaron lived in the Sokolow Ghetto with his two sisters, mother and father until the liquidation of the ghetto in September, 1942. He escaped the liquidation and hid in various surrounding farms. Eventually, Aaron found refuge in the attic of a Polish family, where he hid for two years until the war's end. After the war Aaron lived in several orphanages throughout Poland, and eventually was smuggled out of Poland to various DP camps in West Germany.

Aaron Elster and his sister came to the United States in June of 1947. He was educated in Chicago and served in the armed forces in Korea. Aaron is married and has 2 sons and 2 grandchildren. He is an active member of the community, serving as Co-Chairman of the Speakers' Bureau and Vice President at the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois. Additionally, he serves as Chairman of the Speaker's Bureau for the Hidden Children Association. He is the co-author of “I Still See Her Haunting Eyes,” which chronicles his Holocaust experiences. Aaron continues to speak extensively on the local and state level about his experiences and lessons of the Holocaust. [Additional info...]

The Spring Band Concert will be held at CMMS on Thursday, May 15th at 7:30 PM.

PTO Cookie Day will be held Friday, May 9th. Cookies are $.35 each or 3 for $1.00.

The Kindergarten Mother's Day Spa will be held Friday, May 9th. AM Kindergarten will begin at 10:00 AM and All-Day Kindergarten will begin at 2:00 PM.

Every Friday is Blue and Gold Day! Show your school spirit by wearing your Crete Cougar gear or our school colors (blue and gold).

The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile will be visiting our district on the following dates: May 12, June 2, June 16, August 11 and August 25.

The 40-foot long vehicle was built to provide primary preventive medical care for children. This visit offers a great opportunity for children entering Kindergarten, 6th or 9th grade in Fall 2008 to receive a FREE physical and updated immunizations.

To register for an appointment:

1. Complete the Patient Demographic Sheet. (Insurance information is not required.)

2. Complete the Consent by Proxy form if you are not able to accompany your child to the appointment. (The "proxy" must be 21 years old or older).

3. Complete and sign the parent portion of the Health History portion of the physical examination form.

Your child’s appointment CANNOT BE SCHEDULED until all the enclosed forms are completed, signed and returned to their school including the highlighted health history and a copy of your child’s immunizations.

For more information, please contact your child's school health secretary.

After months of meetings by the District Leadership Team, comprised of staff, parents, students and community, we are pleased to share a draft of the 2008-2013 Strategic Plan. Please take a moment to review the plan and share with us your comments, questions and feedback. The final plan, complete with a detailed action plan, will be presented and adopted by the Board of Education at the regularly scheduled meeting on May, 19, 2008. You may respond in one of the following 3 ways:

1. Take our Opinion Poll (the lower left side of your screen);

2. Respond in writing by signing on to our online community forum at http://www.cm201u-forum.org/, or

3. Deliver your comments in person during the public comment portion of our Board Meeting on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the Milton Payton Performing Arts Center at Crete-Monee High School.

Thanks for your support!

View PDF of the Strategic Plan Presentation (File Size: 1350 KB)

View PowerPoint of the Strategic Plan Presentation (File Size: 20879 KB)

NOTE: Please be patient, the PowerPoint presentation may take several minutes to download

Ronald McDonald will be there to put on a Magic show for the kids. During the show, a snack of granola bars and juice will be provided. We will have matching shirts so remember to send in that form with a $1.00 so we can get the right sizes for your child/children.

More information will be provided as we get closer to the date. If you would like to help volunteer please call Jennifer Gasbarro at 708-534-9757 or email her at jennifer.gasbarro@sbcglobal.net

Every time you use their search engine, Good Search will donate a penny to MEC. Just choose your organization as MEC and Good Search will do the rest.
Thanks for your support!
[Additional info...]

Student Government used the “Timeline of Key Events in American Women’s Rights Movement,” to ask a question of the day, as it pertains to Women’s History. Students who were able to answer the question correctly will win $50 in bonus bucks.

Kurt Johnson, physical education teacher at Monee Elementary announced recently that our Jump Rope for Heart Program raised $2171!! Top fundraiser was Sydney Porpora in Ms. Musial's 4th grade class. She raised $215!Congratulations to Sydney and all the other jumpers!

Friday, May 23rd. 9:45-11:30AM
AM Kindergarten will be held May 22nd.

May 13th from 4:00 to 5:00PM. Permission slip required to participate. No bus transportation provided.

Friday, May 9th. Orders are due Thursday, May 8. Cost is 40 cents each or 3/$1.00

If you would like to purchase cookies, please send your money by Thursday, May 8th. Cookies are 3 for $1.00 or $0.35. Chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, and oatmeal cookies will be available.

Voting will be held for next year's officers. Child care and a light snack are provided during the meeting.

The Fifth Grade Art Exhibition will be Tuesday, May 13th from 5:00-7:00 PM in the Art Room. Light refreshments will be served. Come see all the hard work the fifth graders have put in during art class this year.

A limited number of yearbooks are still available. Order forms will go home May 7th. Please return the order form and money by May 16th. Don't miss out on great memories!