Hickory Creek Monthly Newsletter
November 2021
Administration Updates
Notes from the Administration Team
- October 29th was the final day of the quarter.
- November 1st - Sixth and seventh grade students will report to their new, Quarter 2, Encore classes. Teachers will help them look at their schedules on Power School to find out what Encore they will have next.
- November 3rd - 8th Graders will take the PSAT at school. It is important that all students are present this day.
- November 5th - Student's grades will be finalized in Power School. Parents will be able to log in and see your child's final Quarter 1 grades and comments from the teachers. We will not be sending home paper report cards this year. Instead, we will email families on November 5th to remind you to look on Power School. Students who earn Honor Roll status will receive paper copies of their Honor Roll Certificates the week of November 8th.
- November 11th - Each grade level will be participating in a school-wide celebration of Veterans Day. Students will continue to raise money for Honor Flight Chicago through their Social Studies Class Change Wars.
- Parent/Teacher Conferences - Conferences will be held both in-person and virtually this year on November 22nd and November 23rd. An email with a link to sign up will be sent to families on November 12th.
- Pick ups and Drop offs of Forgotten Items - Just a reminder that our front office staff is happy to accept student drop offs of forgotten supplies during the day. However, we are not able to call into classroom and disrupt instruction to deliver them. Instead, please ask your child to come and check in the office if they are expecting a delivery. We will make every effort to find students during their lunch hours if items are delivered before then and students have not stopped in the office to pick their expected item up. Items dropped off after lunch will be available for students to stop down and pick up in the afternoon or their names will be called to pick them up at the end of the day.
- Week of November 15th -19th - This is National Education Week. We want to give a HUGE SHOUTOUT to all of our staff who work hard each day to educate our Hickory Creek students.
Morning Drop Off Reminder
Our Parent Organizations Need You
- FSP
- Chorus Boosters
- Band Boosters
- Education Foundation
Please email Mrs. Dotson @ tdotson@fsd157c.org if you are interested and she will put you in touch with the right people.
6th Grade
6th Grade ELA
6th Grade Math
6th Grade Science
6th Grade Social Studies
7th Grade
7th Grade ELA
7th Grade Math
Seventh grade Honors Math students are finishing up proportionality and moving on to percents.
7th Grade Science
7th Grade Social Studies
8th Grade
8th Grade ELA
8th Grade Math
In Math, eighth graders are working with linear equations. We are interpreting graphs, deriving equations, graphing equations etc. Later this month we will be moving to Chapter 4 where we will be solving systems of equations. Equation work is here to stay!
In Honors Math, students are in the middle of Systems of Equations and then on to Systems of Inequalities. We will finish out the month of November with our Real Number Unit which also includes simplifying radicals.
8th Grade Science
8th Grade Social Studies
PE and Encore
Spanish
Seventh graders are ending the quarter strong with Subject Pronouns and the verb “ser” to describe people.
Sixth graders will take their final summative assessment, a Listening Assessment, for our unit Tu dia en la escuela. We will learn about and celebrate Dia de los Muertos with all 3 classes during the week of October 25th!
Art
Sixth grade artists are glazing their clay pots and designing and making stamps to help them create interesting patterns on a paper quilt.
Seventh grade artists are painting their clay mood masks and creating a radial design using a variety of shapes and color schemes.
Eighth grade artists are designing and building ceramic houses out of clay slabs.
Music
Sixth and seventh graders learned how to read, write, and perform rhythms and melodies using world percussion instruments, Orff instruments, ukulele’s, guitars and online software.
The eighth graders in music and video production are exploring music through a digital workstation called Soundtrap.com and will soon be creating movies using wevideo.com.
The eighth graders in instrumental music will be finishing up a semester of guitar and will soon be moving to ukulele and more!
STEM
Second quarter Seventh grade students are creating their first MakerSpace SMART goals and working towards creating their physical and/or digital artifacts using the equipment in the STEM room that most interests them.
Sixth grade students are beginning 2nd Quarter learning about the Engineering Design Process, home row keyboarding, and coding with Tynker.com.
PE
Pink Out Night at HCMS
FSP Book Fair
Operation "Letter from Santa" Charitable Opportunity
- (Nov 8th-12th) Permission slips and letter will go out through first hour classes the week of November 8th -November 12th. Limit of 2 letters per student for first round of adoption
- (Nov. 15th) Monday, November 15th All School Adoption Day! Students will remain in 1st hour classes (6th & 7th and 3rd for 8th grade) Students with signed permission forms will be able to adopt a Chavez child’s letter to fulfil. Any letters not adopted by Tuesday, November 16th will be available to families requesting more than 2 letters. An ENCORE or other staff member will assist homeroom teachers on Nov. 15th with the checking out process. (all hands on deck!) First come, first serve.\
- Packages need to be brought back to HICKORY Creek by December 2nd and brought to their first hour homeroom teacher to be checked in. (3rd hour for 8th) .
6th Grade SEL
7th Grade SEL
8th Grade SEL
Library News
Hickory Creek is looking for volunteers to record a video book talk of one or more of the 2022 Caudill books to be shared with ELA classes across all grade levels! This opportunity is perfect for Tik Tok lovers, selfie lovers and readers who want to share a great book with their peers. See me for more details. Sign up here:
Our students also have another awesome opportunity from Little, Brown and Company publishers. They send us free copies of not-yet-published books for our students to read and review. Our first review deadline is the week of Thanksgiving so if any of your students want to join our “Galley Group” please ask them to see me in the library.
At our September Library LitWits book discussion the group decided to add a 2nd discussion each month! We discussed Clean Getaway by Nic Stone on 10/15 and City of Ghosts on 10/29. Our November selections are to be determined! All are welcome—7:15AM in the library. Caudill sign-off is always available for anyone who joins us!
Happy Reading!
- Please remember to self-certify your students every morning and ensure they have their wrist bands and mask. Please keep your student home if they are not feeling well.
Cross Country
Girls Basketball
The Lady Tigers have had a great first half of their season, and claimed victories over both conference rivals and local competitors.
The 6th grade A team has a 7-1 record and the B team is undefeated at 8-0. They look forward to the DPVC tournament on November 19.
The 7th grade team look to take on Summit Hill, Coal City, Manhattan, and Matteson during regionals at the end of the month.
Cheerleading
Boys Basketball
Chorus
All of the HCMS choruses will also be performing at the Frankfort Tree-Lighting on Breidert’s Green on Thursday, December 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Band and Orchestra
Upcoming Concerts:
VETERANS DAY
Thursday, November 11
6:00 p.m. @ HCMS (students arrive at 5:30 p.m. to warm up)
Symphonic Band (7th, 8th, and select 6th graders)
HCMS Orchestra (7th, 8th, and select 6th graders)
Come join us as the Band and Orchestra add patriotic musical accompaniment to Mayor Ogle’s Veterans Day remarks!
Concert attire: students should wear dress clothes in ONLY shades of white, black, and grey. No athletic wear please!
In accordance with IDPH guidelines, each student can invite up to four family members to come watch the performance. Audience members must wear masks while they are inside the building.
FALL CONCERT
Tuesday, December 7
6:00 p.m. @ HCMS (students arrive at 5:30 p.m. to warm up)
Sixth Grade Band (plus select 7th and 8th assistants)
Sixth Grade Orchestra (plus select 7th and 8th assistants)
HCMS Orchestra (7th, 8th, and select 6th graders)
Jazz Band
Enjoy a sampling of the music that HCMS students have been working on this fall!
Concert attire: students should wear dress clothes in ONLY shades of white, black, and grey. No athletic wear please!
In accordance with IDPH guidelines, each student can invite up to four family members to come watch the performance. Audience members must wear masks while they are inside the building.
Drama Club
Best Buddies
Best Buddies just had their first in-person meeting in over a year and it was so fun to be together! We had to chance to play some games and get to know our Buddies even more. The month of October is recognized as National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Americans pay tribute to the accomplishments of the men and women with disabilities whose work helps keep the nation's economy strong and by reaffirming their commitment to ensure equal opportunity for all citizens.
Our next meeting will be on Monday, November 1st, see you then!
Tiger TV
The purpose of Tiger TV is to teach students how to properly produce a news broadcast. Skills taught include how to write a script, read a teleprompter, use credible sources to fact check, operate cameras, operate sound and lighting equipment, and edit video and audio in WeVideo.
Additionally, students will live stream district events including sporting events, theatrical performances, concerts, presentations, award ceremonies, and other miscellaneous school events.
Club students will be organized into multiple “production crews”. The number of crews have not yet been decided. Crews will rotate weekly between three duties: Newscasts, Live-streaming, and Additional Projects. The application for Tiger TV was due on October 28. The production teams will be announced by Nov. 4
NJHS
Mathletes
m4+H<∑+∑5 (MATHLETES):
If that title got your attention, then Mathletes just might be the club for you! Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students on our team not only have the opportunity to join forces and show off their mathematical skills in multiple competitions in the area, but they also have fun conquering the challenges that brainteasers, math puzzles, and learning above grade-level concepts have to offer. Please join us for our informational meetings in November. Sixth graders will meet on Monday, November 15th from 2:20-3:15 in Mrs. Jeglinski’s room (1806). Seventh and eighth graders will meet on Tuesday, November 16th from 2:20-3:15 in Mrs. Rutovic’s room. If you are interested but unable to attend, please email
Mrs. Jeglinski (djeglinski@fsd157c.org) or Mrs. Rutovic (srutovic@fsd157c.org). We look forward to meeting and working with Hickory Creek’s finest mathematicians!
POZ Squad
PozSquad has been spreading our “ripple of kindness!” We have about 55 students with us this year! Students are welcome to join PozSquad at any time. Over the past few weeks, we have worked on letting go of stress, managing our time and anxiety, turning complaints into something positive. We have also been working concessions during the basketball games and put together our first Photo Booth during the Pink Out game! Please email Ms. Vallejo (cvallejo@fsd157c.org) or Mrs. Matz (mmatz@fsd157c.org) with any questions! We will NOT meet on Wednesday, October 27th or Wednesday, November 3rd. Meetings will resume on Wednesday, November 10th and Wednesday, November 11th!
POZ Squad High Five Friday
POZ Squad High Five Friday
POZ Squad High Five Friday
Student Council
HCMS Student Council also now has Instagram @hcms_student_council and Twitter @HCMS_StuCo. Follow us for updated photos and information.
Students of the Month for October
We would like to recognize our Students of the Month for October 2021. Each grade level and team selected two students, who encompassed this month’s character trait: Trustworthiness!
Congratulations to the following students:
6A: Carson Kavanaugh & Ashlynn Carey
6B: Bella Buchanan & Paxton Sasso
7A: Colton Latham & Sydney Davis
7B: Henry Yacobozzi & Mia McGregor
8A: Emma Klaas & Lucy Cosgrove
8B: Gabby Tsoukatos & Emily Skopek
Encore: Paige Neiswonger & Jaxson Plutz
PE: Shayne Hannigan & Dean Burns