April 30
District 97 Vision
Brooks News to Know
Last Day of School
6th and 7th graders last day of school will be a half day on Friday, June 1st from 9am to 12pm.
Trimester 3 Report Cards
Order your Yearbook. Deadline for orders is Friday May 11
District 97 Summer Math Program
Both the Google for registration and payment must be received by next Monday, April 30.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6gnevA1fHdWU1hQa18wSzdqRHN5ZVpYRnpweEpTbXR0cE8w/view?usp=sharing
End of Year - Student Celebrations
Brooks will be closing the school year with a school wide emphasis on kindness.The Brooks community has set a goal that students and staff will engage in 5,000 acts of Kindness over the next four weeks. We will use of behavioral tracking system, HERO, to track these positive acts in our community.
Additionally, throughout the month students will have opportunities to participate in kindness events to contribute to our goal school wide. The following events will take place during the month of May.
May 3rd- Lunchroom Mix Up
Students will build empathy by getting to know new peers during the lunch hour. Students can sign up to be matched with an unfamiliar peer to eat lunch together.
May 10th -Appreciation Station
Students write thank you notes to staff members in the building.
May 17th- Captioning Kindness
Students will take digital photos at lunch and post them to a Padlet. The photos will be captioned with a kind message to a member of the Brooks community.
If Brooks achieves our goal, we will take time to have a special school wide celebration to close our school year on May 30th!
Safe Walking Routes for Brooks Students
8th Grade Event Payments
8th Grade Lunch Balances
8th Grade Families,
We need your help with how you would us like to transfer your lunch balance at the end of the school year. Please use the survey below. If you have questions, please call the main office.
8th Grade Graduation
Last Day:
All eighth graders are expected to attend school on their last day, Thursday, May 31st. Report cards will be mailed home.
Graduation:
Graduation will take place on May 31, 2018 at Oak Park and River Forest High School. 201 N. Scoville Avenue, Oak Park. Doors open at 7:00pm ceremony will begin at 7:30pm prompt.
Tickets:
Each student will receive three tickets for the auditorium seating and two tickets for the OPRF annex seating . The OPRF Annex is located in the HS cafeteria. There, you will watch a live feed of the ceremony. Admission to the auditorium and annex for parents, guardians, and guests is by ticket only. Each person in your party must have a ticket.
Live Feed of the Ceremony:
The graduation ceremony can also be viewed online through YouTube. Share this link with anyone who is not able to attend the ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt1Q4KTwCKg
There was an 8th grade packet with additional information and permission slips sent home with your 8th grade student on Friday, April 13th.
Springfield 2018
Best Buddies Color Run 2018
District 97 Ethnic Festival
May 5, 2018
10:00am
Parade begins at Julian Middle School
Planning underway for the PTO initiatives and events
Brooks Spring Concert Sries
Brooks Art Department 4th Annual Upcycling Extravaganza and fundraiser
SAVE THE DATE!!! and SAVE your trash for us to make into treasures.
Brooks Art Department 4th Annual Upcycling Extravaganza and fundraiser
May 19th (Evening hours TBD)
Bottle Rocket Art Gallery
Brooks art students are saving the environment one piece of art at a time! Students will discuss sustainability, our growing landfills, and up-cycling (giving new life to old items). In true art teacher style, we gather free and discarded items that our students will turn into art. All items will be for sale including: faux stained glass windows, tables, chairs, shelves, frames, wall hooks, chairs, decorative boxes, leather arts, jewelry, mosaics, wall art, decorations, & more! Fundraising efforts will benefit The Brooks Art Department for special materials, tools and guest teaching artists.
Cleaning out? We'd love donations... things that work well are wooden chairs, small tables, frames, shelves, and interesting, quirky things we can repurpose. Also, we are collecting straws. If you get one at a restaurant, save for us! Not sure if what you have is a good fit? Shoot a pic and send to Mrs. Murray or Ms. Pabellon.
Last thing... Ms. Pabellon will begin maternity leave the first week of May and Ms. Williams (retired art teacher) will take her leave to help finish out this project and the year. We are excited to collaborate together!
8th Grade Family High School Transition Information
Here is link to OPRFHS Transition PowerPoint shared at their January meeting with 8th grade families.
Recognizing Staff who Make a Difference
Thank you to those who have completed this form to recognize a GBMS staff member. All individuals receive a printed certificate highlighting your appreciation for their contributions!
Please be sure your background check has been completed if you'd like to volunteer to chaperone Field Trips
Sports and Club Information
Service Club CAN DO CHALLENGE
The CAN DO CHALLENGE has started!!!
Student can ring money or non-perishable food items to your advisory to donate to the OPRF Food Pantry. The points they earn will be added to their advisory’s total for the year. The advisory with the most points after this project gets to take a field trip to deliver the food to the food pantry and lunch at Lou Malnati’s!
Each dollar = 10 points
Each specialty food item = 5 points (Nut butters, canned chicken/tuna, low-sodium soups, whole grains, low-sodium beans)
All other food and toiletry items = 1 point
Advisories will be collecting items through April 30th.
You can also donate through the link listed below.
https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E100115&id=41&cfifid=6
SPORTING EVENTS
There are two home games this week.
Monday 4/30 4:00pm
Thursday. 5/3 4:00pm
Varsity will play first at 4:00pm
JV practice schedule practice Tuesday 5/1 at 7:30am am and Friday 5/4 at 7:30am.
Varsity will practice Tuesday 5/1 morning at and Friday 5/4 morning at 7:30am.
CLUB OPPORTUNITIES (can join anytime)
Each club meets weekly, unless otherwise notated below.
- ORRF Ensemble from 8:00am to 8:50am in D104 (first meeting was on 9/18). Participation is open to all students - no audition required, but enrollment is limited to 40 students. Interested students can sign-up and pick up permission slips outside of the music room (D104). For additional information contact Mr. Carrillo - fcarrillo@op97.org. Still opportunity to join.
- Ultimate Frisbee If you have any questions, please email Ms. Dajani at rdajani@op97.org or Mr. Gillespie at mgillespie@op97.org. (Weather Permitting)
- Spoken Word from 3:30pm to 5:30 pm in room B205. If you have any questions, please email Mr. Lee at mlee@op97.org
Tuesdays
- EcoEagles from 3:30pm to 4:30pm in room C302. If you have any questions, please email Ms. Stamp at lstamp@op97.org.
- Rainbow Tribe after school until 4:30 in 2nd floor conference room next to PE classroom. Permission slip found here. Here are the dates club will meet: May: 8, 22, 29 If you have any questions, please email Ms. Olsen at jolsen@op97.org
Wednesdays
Best Buddies If you have any questions, please email Ms. Beauprez or Ms. Touchette.
Tue. May 1st - Officers Meeting 3;30-4:30
Wed. May 2nd - LAST Buddies Activity Meeting (End time changed to 5:00pm)
Fri. May 11th - Best Buddies Banquet 5:00-7:00pm
Thursdays
- Spanish Club from 3:30 to 4:30pm in room B308. Here are all the Spanish club meeting dates for the year: 4/26, 5/10, 5/24. If you have any questions please contact Mr. Lagioia at vlagioia@op97.org or Ms. Villalobos at cvillalobos@op97.org.
- Yearbook Club meeting from 3:30 to 4:30pm in room B202. We will meet every Thursday afternoon until the yearbook has been “put to bed." The yearbook goes to the publisher on April 25. We welcome all shutterbugs! If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Marsha Turner-Reid at mturnerreid@op97.org or Ms. Meaghan Pabellon at mpabellon@op97.org
Fridays
- Service Club from 8am to 8:45am in room B209. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Walsh at swalsh@op97.org or Ms. Martinez at bmartiez@op97.org .
BRAVO News
BRAVO presents SISTER ACT, JR.
- May 4 & 5 at 7PM
- May 5 & 6 at 2:30PM
BRAVO Opportunities
- Guitar Club & Dance Studio are ongoing - registration forms are due to the BRAVO Office (D103). Open to ALL Brooks Students and is FREE to join! For more info visit: bravoperformingarts.org
- NEEDED: Pizza lunch volunteers on Friday. Keep an eye out for sign-ups on the BRAVO website!days from 10:55am-1:15pm. E-mail bravo@op97.org if you are available and interested!
Get connected to PTO
PTO Information
Earn money for the Brooks PTO: When you shop at Amazon, begin your shopping through the link here and our PTO will earn 0.5% of your total sale, at no expense to you. First time Amazon Smile shoppers will find our organization by typing Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School Parent-Teacher Organization. Thank you for your continued support.
Subscribe to PTO Bulletin:
- The link to subscribe for families is http://eepurl.com/cgOObT
Next Community meeting is Monday, May, 7th 2018 at 7pm in the media center.
Next Coffee with Capuder is Friday, May 11th, 2018 at 8:30am to 9:30am in the Commons. We are inviting incoming 6th grade families to join us on this morning as well.
Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School
Email: acapuder@op97.org
Website: op97.org/brooks
Location: 325 S Kenilworth Ave, Oak Park, IL, United States
Phone: (708) 524-3050
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/108994473138309/
Twitter: @brooksop97