Harper Happenings
February 18th - February 22nd
What's Happening
Monday, February 18th
- No School, President's Day
- Staff engage in professional development
Wednesday, February 20th
- Harper Open House, 6:30pm, meet Mr. Dubnow
Monday, February 25th - Friday, March 1st
- Teacher Appreciation Week
- Board of Education Meeting, MEC-7:00pm
Thursday, February 28th
- 2nd Grade Choral Concert 9:30am
Dr. Kick's Corner
-Placement emails are due by March 22nd. Please read the attached document with guiding information about placement.
-There is still time to register for Summer Enrichment! Please register early. Classes will be cancelled if we don’t meet the minimum enrollment by March 18th. Late registration opens March 19 until May 3rd. During this time there will be a $9.00 late registration fee per class.
Board of Education Meeting
The monthly Board of Education meeting is Monday, Febuary 25th at 7:00 PM at the MEC. Below are a couple of topics that may be of interest. If you can’t make the meeting, you can view it live or later, either on the District website or on Channel 6. Highlights of the meeting will be emailed and posted online within a day or two.
- Strategic Plan Updates
- Special Education Child Count
- 2019-2020 School Calendar
- 2019-2020 Student Fees
Coming Up/Reminders
Friday, March 1st -- Save the Date!
- D39 Educational Foundation Family Bingo Night at Highcrest Middle School. More details below!
Sunday, March 10th
- Going Green Matters Fair-Michigan Shores 12-4pm
Monday, March 18th
- General PTO Meeting -- Special Presentation: Cyber Safety and Technology by Tony DeMonte and Officer Pavely, 9am Harper Auditorium
Monday, March 25th - Friday, March 29th
- No School, Spring Break!
Teacher Appreciation Week Info!
- Monday, February 25th
- Teacher Appreciation Week begins! Donate k-cup pods for teacher’s lounge all week. And, each child brings 3 flowers for teacher/staff bouquets.
- Friday, March 1st
- Please return the Teacher Thank You's (see link below) directly to your teachers.
- Teacher Appreciation Week is February 25-March 1! Please volunteer to help through your room parent to provide food and beverages for the staff. Print the following thank you for your child's teacher and parapro HERE.
- Have your child write what they love the most about their teacher and return it directly to your teacher anytime during the week. Monday, February 25th is Flower Day-each child bring three flowers for teacher/staff bouquets. All week long you can donate pods for the k-cup in the teacher's lounge.
Harper PTO
Harper PTO 2019-2020 OPEN Positions
Below you will find the title of the role, number of people we need and a contact person should you have questions. NEW to the list: Movie Night.
Things are filling up so please consider contributing your time to one of the jobs below!
• MOVIE NIGHT (2)
• Community Service (4)- contact Laura Geiger or Ari Holt
• Community Review Committee (2)- contact Sheetal Shah
• Kindergarten Enrichment- contact Heather Smith
• 2nd Grade Enrichment- contact Lisa Ginsberg
• Environmental Affairs (1 or 2)- Aimee Stoltz
• Planters/Large pots at the front door of Harper
• Harper Hoedown (2 co-chairs and a general committee of 4/5)
• Hospitality (2)- contact Theresa Bittenbender
• Jr. Great Books (2)- contact Christine Blum or Kara Gillespie
• Nominating- contact Sissy Polacek
• SchoolKitz- contact Erica Lockwood
• Yearbook Assistants (we still need 1)- contact Amadee Scheele or Jesse SchirmangFor any other general questions regarding the Harper PTO, please contact Sissy Polacek
Destination Imagination Competition -- Regional Results
- Harper took home two First Place awards at last weekend's Destination Imagination Regional Tournament!!!
- On the left are the D.I. Doctors who won first place in the Scientific category: Medical Mystery.
- On the right are the Flying Cookies (with 2 McKenzie girls) who not only won first place in the Fine Arts category: Game On, they also won the tournament’s DaVinci Award. This award is given for having a unique approach to a solution, for risk taking, and/or for outstanding creativity (not skill or talent).
- Both teams will be moving on to compete in the State Tournament on April 13th in DeKalb, Illinois.
- A HUGE congratulations to all of our Harper Dolphin participants! This was the first year of Harper's participation in DI and we had over 65 students take part in the fun. Thank you students and team managers for your months of hard work and preparation.
iGNITE! Enrichment Information
Thank you to iGNITE! for the following Enrichment Experiences!
- Mark you calendars with the below upcoming iGNITE! sponsored events:
- February 22nd - High Touch High Tech visits Kindergarten with their “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” program
- March 8th - High Touch High Tech visits 1st Grade with their “What’s the Matter” program
- February 4th through April 1st -- 1st Grade Yoga! Classes will participate in a yoga program led by Lisa Weber E-RYT with Heaven Meets Earth Yoga in Evanston. Lisa will hold 30 minute sessions for each class every Monday for a total of seven sessions. The program will help teach students how to calm their minds and it will build upon the growing research showing the health benefits of a mindfulness practice. This program is brought to you by iGNITE!
Harper's Green Corner
- Do you know what “energy vampires” are? They are all the appliances and electronics that we leave plugged in - even when the item isn’t in use. According to Energy.gov, unplugging can save up to 10% on your electricity bill and it helps the earth too.
- Stop the energy drain with these easy changes (or maybe make some of them a chore for the kids!):
- Unplug your phone charger after your device has been charged. Many of us just leave it plugged into the outlets, so energy is still being used when it doesn’t need to be.
- Unplug appliances you don’t use often; like that toaster oven or blender.
- Turn off your computer instead of putting it in ‘sleep’ mode.
- Turn off your gaming console and don’t rely on ‘idle’ - that is a drain too.
- Use power strips for a cluster of devices and conveniently turn it off when you leave home.
D39 Educational Foundation Bingo Night
- B-I-N-G-O! Enjoy a night of family fun at D39 Education Foundation's Annual Family Bingo Night on Friday, March 1st at the Highcrest Middle School cafeteria! Multiple rounds, multiple winners, multiple prizes! Doors open at 6PM and the event runs from 6:30-8PM. This is not a drop-off event. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Proceeds fund school district Gripp Grants.Space is limited so buy your tickets today. Event tickets, food and beverages for sale at d39foundation.org
Community Service Corner & News
- Thanks to everyone who contributed PJs for the pajama drive benefitting Housing Opportunities for Women (HOW). Please see attached photo/tweet of Joe McGann delivering the PJs on behalf of Harper. And we hope to have photos to share in the coming weeks of HOW clients receiving their new PJs!
- Our next drive will be making Welcome Kits for Connection for the Homeless from March 4th-8th. Look for more information in next week’s Harper Happenings!
- Here are a few links to check out if you’re looking for ways to further talk about community service at home:
- Random acts of kindness ideas - https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas
- Giving box - https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/bhf/create-a-giving-box
- 10 WAYS TO HELP YOUR KIDS MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD… WITHOUT LEAVING HOME - https://www.babble.com/kid/10-ways-to-help-your-kids-make-a-difference-in-the-world-without-leaving-home/
Please see the attached calendar of activities.
LINK: http://www.wilmette39.org/news/community_events
2019 Municipal Election Candidate Forums will be held at the Village Hall Saturday, March 16th. Check the website for specific groups and times.
Family Action Network (FAN) hosts two speakers, W. Thomas Boyce, MD on February 19 & 20 and Dr. Zhao on February 21st at New Trier Cornog Auditorium. Free CEUs for educators and open to the public.
Wilmette Public Library hosts Maker Fest on February 23rd, 10:30-2:30.
Wilmette Baseball Association has opened registration for spring leagues. 4th grade registration is closing soon with evaluations on February 23rd.
Wilmette Historical Museum hosts “Meet the Lincolns” February 17th and "Design Your Dream Home" on March 17th.
Wilmette Park District hosts Kindergarten Enrichment Open House February 20th, 6:00-8:00 pm
Northwestern’s Center for Talent Development offers Weekend Enrichment Programs for students age 3 through 8th grade.
Kids Against Hunger service project on Saturday, March 16th.
Love to sing? Youth Choral Theatre of Chicago offers a free vocal training class with flyer. Vocal classes available for children ages 4-18.
The Center Fitness Club schedule and various park district classes for children ages 3-14 are posted.
Wilmette Food Pantry is open every Tuesday 10:30-11:30 am at Trinity United Methodist Church.
4th & 5th grade girls
Trevian Girls Softball Association hosts fastpitch softball clinics/evaluations for girls ages 9-10.
All announcements to be included in the Harper Happenings should be sent to Liz Hayes via the Communication Request Form by Mondays at 9 am. If you do not receive an email response within 24hrs, please send an email to elizabeth.hayes78@gmail.com to confirm your Communication Request Form was received.
For more school information, visit the Harper PTO website.
For additional D39 community events, visit wilmette39.org