The Mac S Minutes

Anna McDonald Elementary School 200 Second Street, Manhattan IL 60442 Ryan McWilliams, Principal Debbie Jones, Secretary [email protected]

October 2014 Newsletter

No School There will be NO SCHOOL on Monday, October 13th for Columbus Day. Please review the school calendar for all the dates for school holidays, Institute days and early dismissals.

Early Dismissal There will be an early dismissal on Thursday, October 30th at 12:45 p.m. Since the early dismissal falls on the same day as the Halloween Parade and room parties, there will be no lunch periods this day. Friday, October 24th marks the end of the first quarter. Report cards will be available online on Friday, October 31st.

4 th Grade Music Program Our 4th grade students will be having a music program on Thursday, October 16th at 7pm.

October 6 , 2014 Monday, October 6, 2014 is World Day of Bullying Prevention. We would like everyone to wear BLUE this day to bring attention to the prevention of bullying. Please take time to read article at the end of the October newsletter.

School Zone Safety Please remember that state law prohibits cell phone usage in school zones during school hours. When picking up your child in front of school, please avoid blocking the cross walk. Also, students are not allowed to load your car from the street side as cars are allowed to pass the cars parked in front. Thank you for your help in keeping our students safe.

Being Excused From P.E. If a student must sit out of P.E. for an illness or injury, you must send a note with your child. We can only excuse your child for ONE DAY with a parent note. If your child must be excused from P.E. for more than one day, you will need a note from your child’s physician in order to be excused.

Halloween Happenings The Annual Halloween Costume Parade will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 30th. The parade will proceed from the school on Second Street to Lee Street, then to First Street, then to Park Street and back to school. Room parties will follow the parade. This is an early dismissal day. Students will be dismissed at 12:42/12:45. Due to the parade, room parties and early dismissal, there will be NO LUNCH PERIODS THIS DAY. Please remember all treats must be store bought with an ingredient label on the package.

Box Top Contest Jack Olejniczak won a $10 gift card to the Creamery for the Back to School Box Top Contest. Congrats Jack!

Responsibility Students are not allowed in the classroom or building from 3:15 p.m. after school until 8:45 a.m. the next morning for forgotten books and/or homework. The students are strongly encouraged to use their assignment notebooks when packing to go home. Communication With Staff If you would like to get in touch with one of our staff please feel free to call school at 815-478-3310. If they are unavailable, we will gladly put you through to their voicemail. You can also email any of our staff. Email addresses are: first initial followed by last name @manhattan114.org. These e-mail addresses can also be found on our website: www.manhattan114.org. Please keep in mind that once the school day starts our teachers are very busy and may not have the opportunity to check their email or voicemail. They are very good about getting back to parents within 24 hours. If your concern is immediate, and you need them to know something about your child for that school day, please call the office and talk to the secretary. If you have a concern about your child, we ask you to first address that concern with the classroom teacher. They have greater first-hand knowledge about your child and can very often alleviate any concerns you might have with a simple phone call. If for some reason you continue to have concerns Mr. McWilliams would be glad to offer his help and support.

Talking with Teachers Your child’s education is the reason we are here. We welcome all questions, comments, and concerns regarding your child’s education. Teachers may not be available for a conference on an unscheduled basis. By scheduling a conference, parents can be assured that the teacher will be able to give them their time and undivided attention. Parent / Teacher conferences are scheduled for November 24h and 25th. If you have not already scheduled your conference, please contact your child’s teacher to do so.

Dressing for the Weather For grades one (1) thru five (5) the noon duty supervisors will decide whether or not the students will go outdoors depending upon weather conditions. Dress attire should be appropriate for the weather conditions. These decisions will be at the discretion and judgment of the recess supervisors. Verbal notification from recess supervisors, as well as written notification in newsletters, will be provided to the students and parents, of expectations for the good of the whole student body.

District Web Site The virtual backpack is on the front page and contains flyers and announcements you can print. The web site is www.manhattan114.org. Also, a STUDENT ACHEIVEMENT TAB has been added to the Anna McDonald page. This will be updated often throughout the year. Be sure to check it out!

Visitors/Parents Entering the Building To ensure a safe school for our students and staff, we ask that all parents and visitors, whether you have an appointment or not, check in with the main office upon entering the building. Parents and/or guardians who personally drop off or pick up their child (ren) at school are asked to greet or say their good-byes at the main entrance. Your help in this matter is always greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Student Absences All parents are required to call the school at 478-3310 if their child will be absent from school. The call should be made between 6:00 - 8:30 a.m. Absences must be reported by a parent or legal guardian. Student reports will not be accepted. When calling, please state: parent name, student name, and the reason for absence. In the event you do not contact us, we will make a reasonable attempt to contact you at home or work. Failure to report a child's absence constitutes absence without a valid cause.

Prime Time Reading Night In October, we will be kicking off our Prime Time Reading Night book and theme! This year we are focusing on multiple books written by the author Kate DiCamillo. Kate DiCamillo has written many great novels and children's books. She is currently the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and her motto is "Stories Connect Us." which we have chosen as our theme. The actual Prime Time Reading Night will be Friday, April 17, 2015. We are reading her books and connecting through stories all year! Child’s Customary Changes While we encourage most appointments to be made after school hours, we understand the occasional need to take your child out of school. With that being said, it is school policy that a parent come in to sign their child out of school. At that time we will call your child down to the office (please allow time for this). We may also ask to see identification when picking up a child during school hours to ensure the safety of each of our students. We also understand the need to make changes to your child’s transportation arrangements. It is also school policy that a note from a parent or guardian be sent to school detailing the changes to the normal routine (as children may easily confuse one day’s activities for the next). If we do not receive a note about changes, we will send the child (ren) home via their normal routine.

School Correspondence When sending information to school with your child, please include your child’s first name AND last name, their homeroom teacher as well as the nature of the information. This will ensure that the appropriate staff receives the right information

Red Ribbon Week The Red Ribbon Campaign's mission is to present a unified and visible commitment toward the creation of a DRUG-FREE AMERICA. Each year schools and communities celebrate their commitment to a drug-free lifestyle by displaying Red Ribbons and participating in Red Ribbon Week. The theme for this year is "Love Yourself Be Drug Free." We will celebrate Red Ribbon Week Monday October 27th through Thursday, October 30th

Monday-Oct 27th- Wear "Red"- We are "red-y" to live drug free.

Tuesday-Oct 28th- "Mustache" Day-I "mustache" you not to do drugs. Wednesday- Oct. 29th- Donate a canned good. Sports Day- We "Can" stay drug free, get involved in healthy activities.

Thursday- Oct 30th- Our Future is "Bright"- Wear bright colors to school, and bring costumes for the parade.

Student Council Congratulations to the new Student Council for the 2014-2015 school year: President- Meaghan Fitzpatrick, Vice President- Olivia Hollendoner, Secretary- Jack Prindeville, Treasurer- Aiden Healy. Council Members: Luke Hatje, Will Brandau, Emmett Thompson, Grace Newton, Connor Dargan, Cate Cosgrove, Karsyn Essenburg, and Emalee-Ann Potocki.

Incentive Programs for 2014-2015 Incentive programs for kids to acknowledge the greatness in our students, in addition to individual classroom incentive earnings, quarterly STAR Reward Day’s and weekly ABC Awards, will include 100% perfect attendance for each quarter. Students in attendance everyday each quarter will be recognized and rewarded after each quarter. The incentive could be a pizza party, ice cream treat, dodge ball, extra recess, etc.

Art News The new year has begun with many new faces as well as those familiar to Art class. It is my goal to strengthen students’ understanding of art elements and principles of design, as well as provide students with fun lessons and activities to explore the world of art. The students in 3rd grade began the year with their interpretation of abstract art by artist Wassily Kandinsky. Students created an arrangement of circles of many sizes and colors, which hung on the giant tree displayed in the hallway. The final project looked amazing! Next, students dove into another abstract project concentrating on landscapes by artist Ted Harrison. Each landscape displayed minimal lines, bright colors, and a focal point. Currently, all 3rd graders are drawing a self- portrait. Students are learning about correct proportions, shapes, and placement of facial features. The students in 4th grade started the year working on an abstract project inspired by Wassily Kandinsky. Each student created a single quadrant of a Kandinsky-inspired set of concentric circles. When put together with classmates, the completed circles looked amazing! Next, the students began working on a scratchboard drawing of an insect or reptile. Students took their drawing and transferred them to scratchboard paper. Project results were colorful and creative. Currently 4th graders in Mrs. Kirk’s class are working on the STR Christmas card design contest. Students are designing a cover for the card based on this year’s theme. In previous years many Manhattan students have won. In Mrs. Dolezal’s 5th grade class, students began with a contour shoe drawing. Students made a drawing of their shoe as though the drawing tool is moving along all the edges and ridges of the form. Drawings turned out beautifully. Many excellent artists! Currently, the 5th graders are drawing cakes inspired by artist Wayne Thiebaud. Students are drawing interesting cake compositions and adding color/value with oil pastels. I am very excited to see the final products!

Computers To begin the school year 3rd-5th grade students have been working on research skills using the Internet. Students are learning effective ways to use search engines as well as how to evaluation information on websites. Students are learning to ask the 5 W’s (who, what, when, why, and where) when evaluating a website to determine the credibility of the site.

In October each grade level will be using their research skills to complete a PowerPoint research project on a topic covered in their classrooms. Students will use PowerPoint to input the information while including animation, slide transitions, and various slide layouts. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Mrs. Kaluzny at [email protected]

Lincoln-Way Music Programs The Lincoln Way Central Music Boosters invite everyone to their music programs! The Choir Concert is: Tuesday, October 7, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. in the Auditorium-door 7. Admission: Please bring a non- perishable food item.

Open House Thank you to all our parents, friends, and family members who attended our parent information night/open house on August 30th. It is always a nice way to start the school year and gives us all the opportunity to get to know one another. If you have any feedback for us please email Mr. McWilliams.

October 2014

3rd Run for Palesh School Event 2pm 4th IMEA Auditions 5th Run for Palesh 6th Wear BLUE for World Day of Bullying Prevention 7th Tornado drill @ 10am 8th Board of Ed meeting 7pm 9th GBB 4pm 10th 4th grade MFPD Fire Prevention assembly 2:40pm in cafeteria 13th No School 15th PTO meeting 6:15pm @ WC 16th 4th grade music program 10:30am & 7pm 17th Prime Time assembly 2:45pm 24th End first quarter Fire drill 10:30am PTO dance 6:30pm 27th Red Ribbon Week - 27th thru 30th Band Sounds of the Stadium 28th GBB 4pm 29th School assembly in gym 2:15pm 30th Early release 12:45pm Parade 11am/Parties 11:30am 31st Teacher Institute Day Report cards live

2014-15 Percentage of Students At or Above Grade Level on STAR Reading 100 90 80 70 70 60 66 63 Fall 50 Winter 40 Spring 30 20 10 0 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade

2014-15 Percentage of Students At or Above Grade Level on STAR Math

100 90 80 86 82 84 70 60 Fall 50 Winter 40 Spring 30 20 10 0 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade

2014-15 3rd thru 5th Grade RCBM Benchmark Percentage of Students Meeting Target 100

62 60 57

3rd Met Target 4th Met Target 5th Met Target

0 0 0 Fall Winter Spring

READING MATH Top 10 Performers on STAR (Fall) Top 10 Performers on STAR (Fall) *No particular order *No particular order

3 rd Grade 3 rd Grade Ashley Davisson Dylan Bethman Isella Estes Katelyn Brown Amber Graves Kyle Chapman Daniel Hodel Devon Crouch Tyler Mrozek Daniel Hodel Ava Murphy Mason LaMarche Taylor Nievera Tyler Mrozek Madlyn OConnell Addison Naselli Haidyn Parisi Gavin Porter Lilian Thomas Anthony Tortorella Alexander Vernon Sean Urbanciz

4 th Grade 4 th Grade Nolan Adam Jack Baran Jack Baran Jack Howe Brooke Bergeron Anthony Igel Deveney Darlinger Jaiden Lawless Sam Fromer Aubrey Lenard Kenny Jones Lillian Mison Colin Kinsella Collin Moore Garrett Konopack Kylie Murphy Kylie Murphy Kaya Rayson Kaya Rayson Mallory Ritter

5 th Grade 5 th Grade Cate Cosgrove Zander Bird Preston Paulus Cate Cosgrove Adam Pearse Connor Dargan Jack Prindeville Chuck Gentile Andrew Sinclair Mike Korpitz Lilly Spetz Carter LaMarche Emmett Thompson Adam Pearse Brian Vanderhei Jack Prindeville Ally Witt Ozaiis Pryor Ozaiis Pryor Ally Witt

Rude vs. Mean vs. Bullying: Defining the Differences Posted: 11/26/2012 8:29 pm EST Updated: 08/27/2014 10:59 am EDT

BY Signe Watson, Author & Child and Adolescent Therapist

A few weeks ago, I had the terrific fortune of getting to present some of the bullying prevention work that I do to a group of children at a local bookstore. As if interacting with smiling, exuberant young people was not gift enough, a reporter also attended the event a wrote a lovely article about my book and the work I do with kids, parents, educators and youth care professionals. All in all, it was dream publicity and since then, has sparked many conversations with people in my town who saw my photo in the newspaper and immediately related to the examples of bullying that were discussed.

I have been brought to tears more than once since the article ran, while listening to parents share their feelings of outrage and helplessness over their kids' experiences with bullying in school. One gifted but socially awkward middle school student blew me away with his articulate, poised, yet searingly painful accounts of relentless physical and verbal bullying on his school bus. An elementary school-aged girl described how she had to learn to shed her Australian accent within a month of entering U.S. schools because of how she was shunned by her classmates. The commonness of it all routinely astounds me with every new account; the pervasive cruelty makes my jaw drop every time.

It is important for me to begin this article by establishing that without doubt, many of the stories of bullying that are shared with me are horrifying and some are unspeakably cruel. But now, I also want to be honest and share that some of the stories are... well... really not so bad.

Take this story recently shared with me by an acquaintance who read about my professional work:

"Signe, I saw your picture in the paper last week. Congratulations! I didn't know you worked with bullied students. It's so important that you do -- things have gotten so bad! Last week, my daughter was bullied really badly after school! She was getting off of her bus when this kid from our neighborhood threw a fistful of leaves right in her face! When she got home, she still had leaves in the hood of her coat. It's just awful! I don't know what to do about these bullies."

"Was she very upset when she got home?" I empathized.

"No. She just brushed the leaves off and told me they were having fun together," she said.

"Oh," I answered knowingly, aware that oftentimes kids try to downplay victimization by bullies from their parents, due to the embarrassment and shame they feel. "Did you get the sense she was covering for the boy?"

"No, no. She really seemed to think it was fun. She said that she threw leaves back at him, which I told her NEVER to do again! The nerve of those kids." "Those 'kids,' I clarified. "Was it just the one boy throwing leaves or were there a bunch of kids all ganging up on her?"

"No, it was just this one boy that lives about a block from us," she assured me.

"Is he usually mean to her? Has he bothered her after school before?" I asked, eager at this point to figure out what the bullying issue was.

"No. I don't think so at least. That was the first time she ever said anything about him. It was definitely the first time that I noticed the leaves all over her coat. But it better be the last time! I won't stand for her being bullied by that kid. Next time, I am going to make sure the Principal knows what is going on after school lets out!"

While I always want to be careful not to minimize anyone's experience (it's the social worker in me!) and a part of me suspects that the sharing of this particular story may have been simply this parent's spontaneous way of making conversation with me in a store aisle, I hear these "alarming" (read: benign) stories often enough to conclude that there is a real need to draw a distinction between behavior that is rude, behavior that is mean and behavior that is characteristic of bullying. I first heard bestselling children's author, Trudy Ludwig, talk about these distinguishing terms and, finding them so helpful, have gone on to use them as follows:

Rude = Inadvertently saying or doing something that hurts someone else.

A particular relative of mine (whose name it would be rude of me to mention) often looks my curly red hair up and down before inquiring in a sweet tone, "Have you ever thought about coloring your hair?" or "I think you look so much more sophisticated when you straighten your hair, Signe." This doting family member thinks she is helping me. he rest of the people in the room cringe at her boldness and I am left to wonder if being a brunette would suit me. Her comments can sting, but remembering that they come from a place of love -- in her mind -- helps me to remember what to do with the advice...

From kids, rudeness might look more like burping in someone's face, jumping ahead in line, bragging about achieving the highest grade or even throwing a crushed up pile of leaves in someone's face. On their own, any of these behaviors could appear as elements of bullying, but when looked at in context, incidents of rudeness are usually spontaneous, unplanned inconsideration, based on thoughtlessness, poor manners or narcissism, but not meant to actually hurt someone.Mean = Purposefully saying or doing something to hurt someone once (or maybe twice).

The main distinction between "rude" and "mean" behavior has to do with intention; while rudeness is often unintentional, mean behavior very much aims to hurt or depreciate someone. Kids are mean to each other when they criticize clothing, appearance, intelligence, coolness or just about anything else they can find to denigrate. Meanness also sounds like words spoken in anger -- impulsive cruelty that is often regretted in short order. Very often, mean behavior in kids is motivated by angry feelings and/or the misguided goal of propping themselves up in comparison to the person they are putting down. Commonly, meanness in kids sounds an awful lot like: • "Are you seriously wearing that sweater again? Didn't you just wear it, like, last week? Get a life."• "You are so fat/ugly/stupid/gay."• "I hate you!"

Make no mistake; mean behaviors can wound deeply and adults can make a huge difference in the lives of young people when they hold kids accountable for being mean. Yet, meanness is different from bullying in important ways that should be understood and differentiated when it comes to intervention.

Bullying = Intentionally aggressive behavior, repeated over time, that involves an imbalance of power. Experts agree that bullying entails three key elements: an intent to harm, a power imbalance and repeated acts or threats of aggressive behavior. Kids who bully say or do something intentionally hurtful to others and they keep doing it, with no sense of regret or remorse -- even when targets of bullying show or express their hurt or tell the aggressors to stop.

Bullying may be physical, verbal, relational or carried out via technology:

• Physical aggression was once the gold standard of bullying-- the "sticks and stones" that made adults in charge stand up and take notice. This kind of bullying includes hitting, punching, kicking, spitting, tripping, hair pulling, slamming a child into a locker and a range of other behaviors that involve physical aggression.

• Verbal aggression is what our parents used to advise us to "just ignore." We now know that despite the old adage, words and threats can, indeed, hurt and can even cause profound, lasting harm.

• Relational aggression is a form of bullying in which kids use their friendship--or the threat of taking their friendship away--to hurt someone. Social exclusion, shunning, hazing, and rumor spreading are all forms of this pervasive type of bullying that can be especially beguiling and crushing to kids.

• Cyberbullying is a specific form of bullying that involves technology. According to Hinduja and Patchin of the Cyberbullying Research Center, it is the "willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices." Notably, the likelihood of repeated harm is especially high with cyberbullying because electronic messages can be accessed by multiple parties, resulting in repeated exposure and repeated harm.

So, why is it so important to make the distinction between rude, mean and bullying? Can't I just let parents share with me stories about their kids?

Here's the thing; in our culture of 24/7 news cycles and social media sound bytes, we have a better opportunity than ever before to bring attention to important issues. In the last few years, Americans have collectively paid attention to the issue of bullying like never before; millions of school children have been given a voice, 49 states in the U.S. have passed anti-bullying legislation, and thousands of adults have been trained in important strategies to keep kids safe and dignified in schools and communities. These are significant achievements. At the same time, however, I have already begun to see that gratuitous references to bullying are creating a bit of a "little boy who cried wolf" phenomena. In other words, if kids and parents improperly classify rudeness and mean behavior as bullying -- whether to simply make conversation or to bring attention to their short-term discomfort -- we all run the risk of becoming so sick and tired of hearing the word that this actual life-and-death issue among young people loses its urgency as quickly as it rose to prominence.

It is important to distinguish between rude, mean and bullying so that teachers, school administrators, police, youth workers, parents and kids all know what to pay attention to and when to intervene. As we have heard too often in the news, a child's future may depend on a non-jaded adult's ability to discern between rudeness at the bus stop and life-altering bullying.

Signe Whitson is a licensed therapist, national educator on bullying, and author of three books including Friendship & Other Weapons: Group Activities to Help Young Girls Cope with Bullying. For more information or workshop inquiries, please visit www.signewhitson.com