Kudos @ Cass School District #63

March 2006

WWII
As part of the 8th grade WW2 day, the students participated in a re-enactment activity. The students heard from 4 different presenters. There was a Russian soldier who gave the students insight into how the war was fought on the eastern front. Along with this, the students learned how the preparation and equipment in the Russian army was very different from the Americans. The second presentation covered women’s roles on the home front along with the issue of discrimination on the home front against African Americans. Next, the students heard from an American medic who not only gave the students insight into the American soldier, but also let the students interact with the gear and materials that a medic would have used during WWII. The finale of the presentations was done by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The president gave his address which was delivered to Congress on December 8, 1941; also, he discussed the build-up to the war and took questions from the students.
One of the best things that happens every year we do this is that our students come to school dressed in WWII era clothing and uniforms. The special thing about this is that many of the students find uniforms and important pieces of their own families’ history as it relates to WWII.

February 2006

Milkshake Sale!!
The third and fourth grade MAP students raised a total of $536.00 for their MAP Milkshake Sale.  The profits were all donated to DuPage PADS which is an organization that helps the homeless men, women, and children of DuPage County.  Congratulations goes out to Alec C., Jake C., Joe E., Bella L., Matthew M., Shivali P., and Nivedita S. for all of their hard work!

January 2006

CASS SOLO RECITAL NIGHT
All fifth through eighth grade Cass Band members displayed their individual talents at the 15th annual Cass Junior High School Band Solo Recital Night on Thursday, February 2.  Perfect scores were attained by the following 27  band members: Swansea M., Stacy M., Nicole S., Jeswin T., Mike B., Zachary D., Justin N., Jorie G., Eric L., Hong J., Nick D., Hana F., Becci P., Jackie B., Rhianna G., Urte P., Allison J., Dan V., Andrew L., Matt M., Taylor D., Dusan K., Stephen B., Surtai H., Nick D., Joe V., and Zach G..

Sixty-six band students received a First Place rating:  Rachel S., Henry J., Alanna K., Ryan P., Ayuski K., Reggie N., Natalie T., Sarah G., Lane T., Linda S., Sarah H., Alexa A., Mike G., Julie G., Ambily A., Pooja N., Isabelle S., Cassie W., Christy M., Anthony M., Samantha M., Judy H., Lindsey R., Bryan B, Julie V., Anuj M., Laura B., Cameron M., Brandon W., Paras P., Kamron S., Colin M., Matt W., Mike P., Taylor H., Jake R., Dan G., George C., Dan D., Jeremy L., Eric B., Jonathan P., Taylor W., Kelly R., Marissa O., George K., Rebecca A., Arthur K., Eric Z., Ariel K., Justine L., Colleen L., Kelly M., Arjun C., Brett K., Jose L., Emily F., Andy N., Lauren C., Rachel C., Jim V., Dan O., Ab Z., Robin E., Jordan B., and Peter C..

Eighteen Second Place ratings went to:  Indre K., Anatziry C., Alyssa C., Danny D., Paige K., Ashley B., Matt D., Rozaliya M., David P., Tim B., Colin M., Joshua W., Qyle I., Elie S., Lauren J., Matt S., Kyle W., and David K.. 

The 93 students achieving first place represent the highest number of first place ratings Cass students have ever received.  Congratulations to all of our band students!

SOUTHEAST DUPAGE BAND FESTIVAL
The Cass Junior High School 7th & 8th Grade Band will perform at the 24th annual Southeast DuPage Band Festival on Saturday, March 11 at 8:45 AM at Lakeview Junior High School in Downers Grove.  All 7th & 8th Grade Band parents are encouraged to attend this performance. 

Golden Apple Award Nominee
Barb Schally, Concord's wonderful art teacher, was nominated for the Golden Apple Award for excellence in Teaching.  Being nominated for such a prestigious award is a great honor. Teachers considered for this honor have a proven record of demonstrated excellence in teaching and learning in the classroom. Congratulations to Mrs. Schally for this recognition!

Choral Recital
Congratulations to the following students who participated in the annual Cass Vocal Recital on February 23:  Ambily A., Stephanie C., Ryann R., Samantha Z., Michael G., Magi V., Nicole B., Elizabeth G., Cori H., Michelle C., Michelle F., Morgan H., Cali K., Kim M., Cassie W., Jordan B., Cassie S., Erin H., Lauren L., Racquel R., Kaitlyn C., Angel S., Eric Z,, Rachel F., Christina P., Lindsey R., Maria S., Hana U., Nicole S., Julia M., Joey K., Therese K., Nicholas G., Brad G., Jonathan S., Ariel K., Sarah H., Amy B,, Alexa A., and Aleese Z..

Students prepared solos, duets, and ensemble pieces to share with family and friends.  Students were also treated to a guest solo performance by Mr. Marco Santos—a former Cass Student who holds a degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan.

Teacher from the Black Lagoon visits Concord School!
The second graders were mesmerized by a surprise visit from Mrs. Zurawski and Mrs. Green, the Teacher from the Black Lagoon.  They listened to The Music Teacher from the Black Lagoon, read and performed by Mrs. Zurawski and then heard The Teacher from the Black Lagoon, read by Mrs. Kenney.  When Mrs. Green slithered into the room during the reading, the children all screamed in surprise and delight!  It is a mystery as to the true identity of Mrs. Green.  The Black Lagoon books by Mike Thaler are now flying off shelves! 

First Graders Visit Healthland
The first graders attended a very informative and interesting program at the Robert Crown Center called Healthland!  They learned many different ways to keep their bodies healthy, such as exercising and eating healthy.  Ask them who Valita was and how many bones are in their body!  A website listed at the Center was MyPyramid.gov, which gives a new model of the food pyramid and is full of age appropriate materials and games.  Check it out with your child!

A Visit from Becky Ruby
One of Concord’s former students, Becky Ruby, daughter of Sandy Ruby, works for the Indianapolis Zoo. She and her family adopted an Indy Zoo Gentoo Penguin for Mrs. Scott and the children of Concord School.  I shared with the students this generous gift.

Ms. Becky Ruby visited Concord School on Friday, January 20. She visited the various classes sharing her enthusiasm for her job as fund raiser for the zoo.  She also talked about the zoo and its responsibility to the animals in their care. She was enthusiastically welcomed.  She also was delighted to visit her alma mater and had much fun with the children.

Classrooms Care!
The students in Mrs. Zuffante’s literacy support groups recently met a challenge put forth by Scholastic Book Clubs.  They read 100 books as part of the “Classrooms Care – Reading Is Giving!” program.  Since they met this goal before February 17, Scholastic will donate 100 books to children in need.  Kudos to the second, third and fourth graders in Mrs. Zuffante’s literacy support groups!  

Safety Village Donation
The second graders continued a tradition dating back to 1994 by donating money to Safety Village of Darien. This gift goes toward the purchase of items used for the Safety Village classes. The founder of Safety Village, Cindie Hagen, came to Concord on December 15th to receive our check and to thank the children.  In the spring the students will take a field trip to see what was purchased.  Teaching the children awareness of their community and ways to be a good citizen is part of our Social Science curriculum.  This donation allows the students to be contributing members of their community.

December 2005

Holiday Fun!
Cass Junior High had the 2nd grade students from Concord over on Wednesday, December 14, to receive their holiday books and treats, along with a special visit from Santa Claus.  The books that the second graders received included many facts that only elves would know about them.

Cass Junior High Talent Show
The Annual Cass Junior High Student Talent Show took place on Friday, December 16 in the afternoon at an all-school assembly.  Twenty-one students in sixteen different acts showed off a variety of talents including singing, dancing and solo instrumental performances.  You can see pictures of the talent show on our large bulletin board in the main hallway by the Cass office. 

Motown comes to Cass Junior High!
Visiting performers from the Urban Gateways organization in Chicago brought Motown music and history to our gymnasium.  The group is called Motown Alive.  They were a huge hit! Students and teachers were rockin' out on stage!  The performance was sponsored by the Fine Arts Boosters. 

NOVEMBER 2005

Teddy Bear Night
Our First Step families had a "beary" nice time as they cozied up to a wonderful teddy bear story told by our in-house storyteller, Pam Laasch! This was followed by learning stations in which children and parents made teddy bear photo mats, read and colored stories about bears and interacted with one another. Songs were sung, smiles were abound and literacy developed! The children brought in their favorite bear and some had on cozy p.j.'s! Individual photos were taken and will be put in teddy bear frames made by their children. Special thanks to ALL of the wonderful families that attended, participated and made this such a wonderful evening!

Third Grade Music Program
Our wonderful third graders performed their grade level program, "A Child of the World" under the direction of Mrs. Zurawski and Mrs. Schally on Thursday, November 17, 2005.  The sincere spirits of their hearts, talents and message warmed the entire audience. The program focused on our District wide school improvement goal of fostering character development using the "Don't Laugh at Me" framework. A job well done to these talented children and the future they represent as well as the staff for their support of the program!

Math Contest
On Saturday, November 12 at Mount Assisi, the Cass Math Team placed 2nd overall in the large school division. The individual teams of three students competed in six different math topic contests. Cass' team took first place in both Computations and Order of Operations. Eighth graders on the team were AMBILY A., BRIAN B., GRACE C., GREG G., ANDREW L., SHYAM S., MATT S., LINDA S., & ANDREY Z.   What a great way to start off this year's math contests!

Bookworm Angels
Bookwork Angels is a Non-for-Profit organization that collects gently used books appropriate for K-8th grades to donate to inner-city school classroom lending libraries in Chicago. As of the end of 2004-2005 school year, they had collected and donated over 300,000 books.  Cass collected over 6,000 books to donate. Great job to everyone who helped or donated to the cause!

Mix-it-Up!
We had several visiting authors in on Monday, November 14th, 2005 and a number of activities for the 7th grade "Character Awareness Day." The day's activities also included a "Mix-it-Up" lunch for 7th graders. Students sat at a different table and ate lunch with different peers to get to know each other better. Students seemed to enjoy the mandatory mix up and mingling!

Year Book Happenings
Each year the 8th grade art classes are asked to design the cover, front page, inside cover and back cover of the Cass Junior High Yearbook.  This year’s theme, “The OC, Our Cass” was a challenge.  Our 8th graders met this challenge by working very hard. The yearbook committee was very pleased because our 8th graders came up with some great designs.

The yearbook staff selected several layouts and they have already gone to print for the 05-06 yearbook.  Inside front page will be Dan K.’s artwork.  Inside back page will be the artwork of Carli H.  The title page was created by Juliana T. 

The most honored place of all the outside front and back space.  The cover design selected for this year was drawn by our very talented Linda S.  It is outstanding and we all look forward to seeing it in actual print this Spring. Congratulations, Linda!  This was a job well done!

Surreal Pumpkins!
The 8th grade art classes participated in a “Surreal Pumpkin Contest” designed to encourage our students to be creative while having some fun.  We had several categories and we had many winners.  Justin N. deserves a special round of applause because he won “Best Overall Artwork” for his pumpkins being carried off by medieval dragons into the night. 

Walk Like an Egyptian!
On Egypt day, we began the day by decorating life size mummies in groups and then stuffing them.  They now adorn the school hallways. We then visited the IMAX theatre in Woodridge to watch “The Mysteries of Egypt”  The movie takes you on a journey through Egypt and tells the story of King Tut’s tomb.
In the afternoon we rotated between stations.  We played Egypt bingo, jeopardy, and made a cartouches to hang on the lockers. The previous weeks were spent studying Egyptian life in social studies, doing math using Egyptian numerals, made and Egyptian newsletter in reading, and wrote and Egypt report in writing. 

October 2005

Soldier Success
Former student, Private First Class Sean Chipman of the United States Marine corps visited the fourth grades and shared his experiences and goals. He has just graduated from boot camp in San Diego, CA. and was one of 12 young men out of 500 who were recognized for their superior contribution. June Scott felt pleased to recognize that the Concord values of respect, discipline, trust and hard work are as important to the young people who train to serve our country as they are for our young students. How proud we can be of our present and former students!

Choral Achievements
The Fall Choral Concert was presented on Thursday, October 20th. Participating groups were 5th & 6th Grade Chorus, 7th & 8th Grade Chorus and Advanced Vocal Ensemble.

The following students were selected to perform in the Illinois Music Education Association's Junior High Festival Choir:

Ambily A., Jordan B., Michelle C., Sarah H., Therese K., Nicole S., Hana U. and Joe V.

Congratulations to all who auditioned! Cass School District #63 is proud of all of you!

Orchestra Field Trip
The Concord fourth grade students attended the West Suburban Symphony Orchestra Concert on October 24th and had a wonderful time. Musical selections were Beethoven's Egmont Overture, selections from The Phantom of the Opera, the main theme from the movie Jaws and The Pirates of the Caribbean. The students heard and saw each instrument individually prior to the performance. They were asked to be "concentrated listeners" to insure the quiet and enjoyment of all students in the audience. The fourth graders were dressed up and very well behaved using their Listen, Respect and Appreciate, as expected; to attend the concert. A good time was had by all!

Immigration Experience
As part of the 8th grade Interdisciplinary Unit (IDU) on immigration, the students were involved in a day focused on immigration at the beginning of the century as well as its current status.

For half of the day, the students went to the Swedish American Heritage Museum to view their immigration exhibit focusing on the Swedish immigrant experience at the beginning of the 20th century. After this, the students returned to school to hear a representative from the Office of Homeland Security Office of Immigration. The representative discussed modern day issues and criteria that immigrants have to cope with. The final activity of the day was a web quest, designed by Mr. Bleuher, which took the students through the immigrant experience at Ellis Island.

Concord Fall Festival
The students put on an incredible show at the Concord Fall Festival Assembly on Monday, October 3, 2005 under the direction of Mrs. Zurawski. The students sang with all their little hearts about Respect, Honesty, Courage, Compassion and Responsibility as a CHILD OF THE WORLD. Also, the skills for growing theme (the theme that Concord School is following this year)  "Don't Laugh at Me" was sung exceptionally well by the students and had some audience members in tears. To end the assembly, students sang the traditional student favorite Halloween song of "Spooks". A casual observer would agree that this assembly represented an "Academy Award" performance! All of our students are complimented for their performances as well as their excellent behavior on a very exciting day!

Walk like an Egyptian
October 28, 2005 was Egypt Day at Cass Junior High. Students began the day by decorating life size mummies in groups and then stuffing them. The mummies were placed in the school hallways for all to see. The students also visited the IMAX theatre in Woodridge to watch "The Mysteries of Egypt". The movie takes you on a journey through Egypt and tells the story of King Tut's tomb. In the afternoon, students and staff alike, rotated between stations where they played Egyptian bingo, jeopardy and made cartouches to hang on the lockers. During the weeks previous to this event, students studied Egyptian life in social studies, used Egyptian numerals in math, made Egyptian newsletters in reading class and wrote Egyptian reports in writing class.

Surreal Pumpkin Contest
The 8th grade art classes participated in a "Surreal Pumpkin Contest" designed to encourage our students to be creative while having some fun. We had several categories and we had many winners. Justin N. deserves a special round of applause because he won "Best Overall Artwork" for his pumpkins being carried off by medieval dragons into the night.

Yearbook Design Contest
Each year the 8th grade classes are asked to design the cover, front page, inside cover and back cover of the yearbook. This year's theme, "The OC, Our Cass" was a challenge. Our 8th graders met this challenge by working very hard. The yearbook committee was very pleased because our 8th graders came up with some great designs. The yearbook staff selected several layouts and they have already gone to print for the 05-06 yearbook. Congratulations all!

*DAN K.'s artwork will be on the inside front page
*The artwork of CARLI H. will be on the inside back page
*JULIANA T. created the title page
*The most honored place of all is the cover design. This year the selected cover was drawn by our very talented LINDA S.

Archive

2004-2005 Kudos