Illinois School Report Card - 2011
District 62 students consistently perform at or above the state average in science and writing. Reading scores are consistently above the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) target of 77.5% meeting or exceeding standards, and above the state average. Students in grades 3, 5, 6, and 8 made gains from 2010 to 2011. Scores in grades 4 and 7 remained consistent. Hard copies are available in each school office.
Warrior Way Celebrated - A conversation between an Iroquois Community School Spanish teacher, Kimberly Cruz, and her father and former Des Plaines mayor, Michael Albrecht, about the parent drop-off lanes that were installed as a part of the District 62 Master Plan and located behind the school resulted in Warrior Way signs being installed by the Public Works Department of Des Plaines. Recently, District 62 Board President Brenda Murphy, Dr. Jane Westerhold, Superintendent of Schools, Iroquois Principal Michael Amadei, Cruz, and several ICS students met with Mayor Martin Moylan to show their appreciation for this collaboration.
Bhagirath Mehta wins the state You Be the Chemist Challenge and moves on to national competition!
Des Plaines City Hall was recently visited by Tiger Scout Pack 997 Den 1 from Iroquois Community School and South Elementary School. The Tiger Scouts, ages 6 and 7, visited with Mayor Martin J. Moylan and Police Officer Colin Johnson in the Mayor's Office where they talked about local government and the community. (pictured above back row left to right) Tiger Scout Jared Luksik, Tiger Scout Dorian Schrader, Mayor Martin J. Moylan, Police Officer Colin Johnson, front row from left to right - Tiger Scout Sergey Thomasino, Tiger Scout Max Thomasino, Tiger Scout Mohnish Soni, Tiger Scout Dhruvil Kotak and Brownie Juhi Soni pose for photograph while reciting the Tiger Scout promise in the Mayor's Office at City Hall.
Partnership Warms Those in Need – The Iroquois Community School Junior Warriors, sponsored by Manual Bustos, and "Students Succeed" partner, Two Men and a Truck, recently collected and delivered 3/4 of a truck of winter wear to the Des Plaines Self-Help Closet and Pantry of Des Plaines.
Helping Others!
Last week, Iroquois Community School collected over $1,000 during its "60 Seconds for Stephanie" campaign. The funds will be donated to the family of Stephanie Valesescu, former District 62 student, who died of brain cancer last week. ICS is very proud of its families and staff. "That's why, "Community" is our middle name!" stated Manual Bustos, ICS teacher and Warrior Leader Club sponsor.
A Scholastic Book Fair is a great opportunity for students to find books that really interest them. We know kids read more books when they get to choose their own. The more kids read, the more their reading skills improve.
If for some reason you can¹t make it or you want to continue shopping from an expanded selection, you can now visit the Fair online!
is available for an extended time and all orders ship FREE to school
provides a chance for you and your child to create and send wish lists to invite friends and family to participate in the Book Fair
offers an expanded book selection for all ages‹from preschool to adult.
All in-school and online Book Fair purchases benefit our school. Thanks for helping get more kids reading, kids reading more. Book Fair Onlime!
Iroquois Community School is in Full Swing - in and out of the Classroom!
Parents, children, family and friends filled the parking lot on Thursday evening, July 28 on the corner of Rand and River Road to kick off the school year with fundraisers at Taco Village and Baskin Robbins.
These generous community partners donated 15% and 20% of the sales back to Iroquois Community School's Parent Teacher Council helping us raise over $400.00. These funds support a variety of programs and activities which enhance our children's education. Thank you to everyone who volunteered, the teachers who did an amazing job scooping ice cream and everyone who came out for dinner and dessert. You made the event successful.
Des Plaines Mayor Martin J. Moylan recently spent the day with Iroquois Community School District 62 student Zavier Rodriquez, who was the proud recipient of silent auction prize- a tour of City Hall and lunch with the Mayor! The Silent Auction was sponsored by the Iroquois Community School and its Parent Teacher Council (PTC). Zavier’s family stopped by Mayor Moylan’s Office on his special day at City Hall. The Mayor had received “Flat Stanley,” the popular traveling cutout figure associated with educational projects, from another District 62 student, with the request that “Flat Stanley” shadow the Mayor for a week. As a result, Flat Stanley posed for several photographs with the Mayor, including the picture taken with Zavier’s family. Since that visit, Flat Stanley has toured the City’s sewer systems and Springfield! (pictured above left to right) Zavier Rodriquez, Zophia Perez, Mayor Martin J. Moylan, Zaul Perez and Alma Perez photographed with Flat Stanley in the Mayor’s Office at City Hall.
– Karen Kozenczak, City of Des Plaines
ICS Symphonic Orchestra performs for Holiday Sing-A-Long Crowd. This is the first time ever that both the ICS Band and Orchestra have combined to be our ICS Symphonic Orchestra. Way to Go Warriors!
Intersession presentation of kids performing at the Board meeting.
1st grade and 4/5's Sing a song together about the Continents!
(Time 00:00:20)
Our American Voice
On May 14, 2010 students of the Our American Voice (OAV) Civics Club attended the 2nd Annual OAV Summit. This year’s summit was held at the home of the Chicago White Sox, U.S. Cellular field. The Summit is where students get a chance to meet other students from around the State of Illinois who are also a part of this unique program. Each school shared a video presentation describing how they made a difference in their community through civic action and awareness. The Summit included guest speakers U.S. Senator Richard (Dick) Durban, and Garrard McClendon from CLTV.
Our American Voice is supported by the Barat Education Foundation and connects middle school students to the democratic process through active community problem-solving in an after-school program that is engaging, interactive and grounded in real life. The 22-week program emphasizes critical thinking skills as students learn the fundamentals of American democracy and work to create positive change in their communities. Students engage in team activities, discussions and research, and partner with community agencies and elected officials to find solutions to issues in their own backyards.
The students are members of the ICS OAV Club: Maria Amigon, Jessica Bartalone, Zenna Daker, Tom Didier, Monica Herrera, Ian Hilliard, Emma Moore, Ese Mora, Melissa Okrzesik, Neel Patel, Kaity Piskorowski, Josh Redd, Amanda Salazar, Dylan Schimka, Elizabeth Stenholt, and Jordan Styczen.
American Voice Civics Club attendance at the OAV Student Summit sponsored by the Barat Education Foundation.
Mr. Amadei, Principal of Iroquois Community School, gets a surprise when he is asked to see the beautiful eveningwear the 6th grade girls from Girl Scout Troop 5077 made during their “Project Runway meets ICS Girl Scouts” fashion event. The girls, through a creative process, designed a dress, picked out a pattern, and then hand sewed each garment. Way to go Warriors!
The girls from left to right are: Amanda Grzebien, Emily Romza, Nicole Byerly, Bianca Garcia, Desi Stricker, Allison Grzebien, and Megan Centella.
Iroquois students and staff wish to announce and congratulate Dr. Andrea Winkelmann for earning her Doctor of Philosophy degree, from Loyola University. Her area of emphasis is in the field of Educational Psychology. For her dissertation, Dr. Winkelmann did an achievement study of traditional and year round schools in the Chicago Public School system. We are very proud of her efforts and her continued modeling of life-long learning.
FACT: Did you know that 80% of Iroquois staff are currently pursuing higher education!
Our first Intersession Musical Disney's Cinderella Kids was a huge success! Thank you to all of the parents and teachers who helped us make this performance a hit. We hope to put together another musical in the future. The cast included the following students: Summer Neary, Adrianna Rahana, Amanda Grzebien, Destiny Onyeise, Jackie Jasinski, Jalen Moore, Max Malec, and Julian Hernandez.
Student Spotlight, by Mr. Amadei
Iroquois School is Super Proud of Jackie Chiakas, fourth grade student extraordinaire! Jackie recently competed in Des Plaines Optimist Club's Oratorical Contest. At the girl's preliminary contest, Jackie got an award for Most Improved Girl!
Being Jackie's first time involvement in this contest, she was so excited to be chosen for this honorary award! We are so proud of Jackie's hard work, dedication, courage and enthusiasm throughout the contest. Jackie’s family would especially like to thank Ms. Llano for taking time out to mentor Jackie along the way.
There were 26 boys and girls who were in the competition ages 6 thru16 yrs old. They were required to give a speech 4 to 5 min. long on the subject: "Cyber-Communication: Progress or Problem"?
There was a preliminary competition for the boys and the girls. On Friday, March 19 the girls competed. 6 were chosen to go on to the Club level competition, and next there is an upcoming regional and a state level where they compete for scholarship prizes! Jackie really enjoyed this opportunity and is already looking forward to next year's topic!
VIDEO CLIP
On Tuesday, March 2nd, our first grade class, led by their teachers Ms. Hockensmith and Mrs. Zahorak, marched through the entire school presenting the Olympic torch and banners. The also sang a song as they marched. This march was the culminating activity of a unit on the Olympics.
Way to go First Grade, you all win GOLD!
DOWNLAOD QUICKTIME
Student Spotlight, by Mr. Amadei
Today I had the pleasure of having several 2/3 students come in and share some of the Book review projects with me. Although I would like to share more, these five are featured here today. -- Enjoy
Sierra’s book project was based on the Title, Zorro and Quwi, written by Rebecca Hickox, and illustrated by Kim Howard. Sierra built a story tower, which sequenced the story from beginning to end, building from the bottom to the top. Sierra really enjoyed the fable and her favorite part of the story was the moral, which she described as, “Treat your friends how you want to be treated.” Nice work Sierra!
Trollerella, by Karen M. Stegman. Her story was a version of the Cinderella fairy tale. Except in this version Cinderella was a Troll. Jessica’s illustrations are outstanding and her favorite part of the book was at the end where the Prince decided that he wanted Trollerella to be his Princess! Great job Jessica!
Nickolas read the book, Possum’s Bare Tail, written by Jiang Qingling. Nicholas shared his story and said his favorite was when the Possum, who bragged about his awesome tail too much, got shampoo on his tail. That made his tail his tail look ugly. He decided not to be a braggart any more. In fact he pretended to be dead, which may be the story of how one plays possum. Thanks Nicholas!
Zain read The Three Little Pigs, written by James Marshall. Zain also built a Story Tower. He really liked that the third little pig got to keep his and did not die at the hands of the wolf.
Leo’s Story Tower was based off of the story, The Really Ugly Duckling, written by Jon Scieszka. The Duckling was born uglier than all his brothers and then grew up to be even uglier than ever. Leo thought the story was funny and had a twist on the original. Thanks Leo!
Urban Planners Dwell at ICS
ICS teachers, Jodi Hockensmith and Lynn Zahorak, knew their students would love "The Gingerbread Village", a social studies-related unit. What they didn’t realize, until the project began, was the amount of enthusiasm and learning that was generated by a unit involving juice and milk cartons.
Students planned and built a community out of brightly painted beverage cartons purchased from the grocery store, which they carefully set on plats of construction and butcher paper. Mathematically, the unit featured geometry, measuring, estimation, and spacial problem solving, as well as sorting, story problems, money, and computation. It also offered children experiences in community planning, mapping, decision making, and working together.
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