Pilgrim Lutheran School News
November 20, 2015
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...
We will see what this weekend brings us! It is a special time of year here at Pilgrim. The holidays are here and the spirit of giving is all around. There are many field trips and services projects happening so be sure to read on. Coat angels and the toy drive are in full swing. The Pilgrim Dads' Pancake breakfast and Santa's Workshop are all coming up following the Thanksgiving break. Next week is a short week with Wednesday, November 25, 2015 being a half day. Dismissal will be at 11:45 AM. Next week's newsletter will be sent on Wednesday. Enjoy the weekend!
Pilgrim Lutheran's 11th Annual Toy Drive
On Tuesday, December 15th Miss H’s 1/2 grade class is scheduled to hop on a bus to deliver the toys collected at this year’s Toy Drive. The planning for the afternoon is underway, the bus is reserved, the supplies have been ordered… now we need the toys!
Every year for the past 10 years the Pilgrim community has helped bring Christmas joy to children at Pablo Casals Elementary School in Humboldt Park. This year we are aiming high and hope to collect enough toys for not only the 63 first graders with whom our 1st and 2nd graders will spend the afternoon but also gifts for all the Pablo Casals preschoolers, kindergartners and 2nd graders-a total of at least 186! We can reach that goal but obviously we need as much help as we can get.
Click http://pilgrimchicago.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/11/Toy_Drive_letter-2015.doc here for the full letter and see how you can help-
Santa's Workshop
A message from Santa's Elf Valerie Carlson. Santa's Workshop will be held at school on Friday December 4th. This is a day when students are able to buy holiday gifts during the school day for their family and friends. The gifts will range in price from $1.00 to $3.00. We will have parent volunteers to help wrap the gifts for the younger children. Also, if you are able to help out that day, we always need extra elves to help wrap presents for the children. The times for wrapping this year are from 8:45-10:30 and 10:30-12:15. Look for sign-up sheets at the top of the stairwell doors or let me know if you would like to help. Any questions please email Valerie Carlson at vrco4@att.net or call 773- 895-5668.
Coat Angels
Help keep Chicago's kids warm this winter!
Pilgrim is once again teaming up with Coat Angels, a local Chicago non-profit founded by former Pilgrim parent Micki LeSueur for our winter Seasons of Service Project. With a $50 donation, Coat Angels provides new coats, fleece jackets, hats, and gloves to kids in Chicago's most poverty stricken neighborhoods. For more information on this all-volunteer organization, check out the website at http://coatangels.org/
Here is how you can help. Pilgrim is collecting donations and selling "gift cards" if you would like to let someone know that you made a donation in their honor. A team from Pilgrim will then shop sales and discount stores, and bag and label the coats so they are ready for delivery. Will will also be coordinating some time with Coat Angels for delivery to schools. This is a great way to see the joy of this organization! We will also collect donations of NEW coats in sizes appropriate for school age children.
Contact Samantha Doerfler at samanthadoerfler@hotmail.com or Shellie Riedle at shellieriedle@yahoo.com for more information or to get involved and watch for more details and dates for shopping, bagging, and delivery of coats. Gift cards will be sold after the 10:30 service Sundays in November and will be available in the school office (dates to come).
5th Annual Pilgrim Dads' Pancake Breakfast
Pilgrim Dads' 5th Annual Pancake Breakfast is December 6th
The Pilgrim Dads are looking forward to hosting the best pancake breakfast that has ever been served out of Maring Hall on December 6. We need your help to make this happen. We've made it easy, click on this link and sign up.
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0E4DAEA92FA4FE3-5thannual
We need volunteers from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. that day. We also need electric griddles, if you have one that you can bring or let us borrow.
All proceeds from the event will help support the school's technology fund.
Please contact Glenn Williams at gtwilliams67@gmail.com or Pete Gillespie at Peter.J.Gillespie@comcast.net for details.
The Pilgrim Season of Giving is upon us
Ms. Huelskoetter’s homeroom took 33 completed holiday bags to the Friendship Center on Tuesday. Mrs. Andreen’s class took another load of bags last night. Ms. Huelskoetter is planning at least one more run after Thanksgiving and any odd food items not on the official food bag list will be stocked on the Friendship Center shelves.
In addition to the Food Drive, Mrs. Andreen’s homeroom is working on service holiday service projects. This week the 7th and 8th graders put together woolen mittens and filled them with goodies for those in need. Mrs. Andreen’s students are also busy writing Santa letters for our partners at Pablo Casals School, and they will soon be working on their health care kits for the Night Ministry. Funding for these projects are coming out of Pilgrim Kids Care.
Students in Mrs. Tighe’s homeroom have been busy making placemats and other decorations for Pilgrim’s Hot Meals Program. Mrs. Cardo’s homeroom has been making cookies for Hot Meals. Both homerooms have made a commitment to do each of these projects once every month until the end of the school year.
Thanksgiving Tea
Pilgrim Kindergartners have been preparing for the Thanksgiving Tea. Thanks to all the parents who have brought donations and who came on Thursday this week to bake cookies. Mrs. Halter, Mrs. Kato and the students have been working hard to prepare a fun program of Thanksgiving songs, dances and treats. Eighth grade chapel partners also be participated in the tea. Tricia Koning-Llewellyn is making a DVD of the tea. Proceeds from the DVD go to support the playground project.
Pilgrim Kids are once again on the move!
Pilgrim Grades 1-8 visited our partners at St. Paul’s on Dorchester on Wednesday, November 18. Our chapel featured the St. Paul’s Praise Dancers, and students engaged in some Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activities together. We are very grateful to St. Paul’s for inviting us and for providing a great hot dog lunch. Spending the day in another school is always an eye-opening activity for children. It is a great way for them to discover who they are in relation to others. Please take some time to talk to your child about this experience. It would be great to get some parent feedback about what students learned from our visit.
Ms. Huelskoetter’s homeroom is visiting the Chicago Symphony today. In preparation, the students have been learning about instruments and the different parts of the orchestra. On Monday, the Kindergarteners and Pre-K kids are going to the Swedish-American Museum in Andersonville. Meanwhile,
Ms. Daczyszyn’s and Mrs. Tighe’s homerooms are going to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. The highlight of the trip is checking out the annual display of holiday trees. This should give them some ideas about how to decorate the Pilgrim tree at the North Center Chamber of Commerce’s Holiday Tree Walk on December 11.
Holiday Concert
Pilgrim School’s Holiday Concert is scheduled for December 7 at 6:30 p.m. Please put this date on your December calendar, and come to enjoy the Upper Grade Chorus Classes under the direction of Rebecca Sorensen and the Pilgrim Band under the direction of Ouida Zaporta perform holiday selections right here at Pilgrim. Also, please put Sunday, December 13 on your calendar for kids caroling at the Irish Christmas Market. More details to come soon.
Pilgrim Sports
Pilgrim Sports are a great extra-curricular activity for our upper grade students, and we are very happy to partner with Bethany UCC Church for the use of their gym for our practices. We ask all our students to be respectful of the rules at Bethany so that we can continue to be good partners. Students may not arrive more than 15 minutes before any scheduled practice. We would ask that parents look for the adult in charge of the practice, before leaving Bethany to ensure that there is adult supervision. Students should not bounce balls in the covered walkway along the gym windows; this prevents windows from being broken. Also, students should admire the trees from a distance rather than climb in them. Thank you so much for your help in keeping these guidelines enforced. (Construction of the Pilgrim rooftop gym is still a few years in the offing.)
Basketball season for 5th/6th Graders is in full swing! The Pilgrim teams played Monday, November 16, at St. James and play this weekend in a tournament at St. John’s. Monday the teams play again at St. John’s. Lots of hard play is going into these games! Thanks to coaches Andy Weiss, Charlie Negron, Eric Jones, Pete Gillespie and Mike Suhajda. Feel free to come out and support the teams!!
The Pilgrim Playground Task Force met on Tuesday
We discussed results from a survey that has been circulating about the playground. Discussion focused on the purchase of another piece of equipment for the large playground and ways to redo the play-deck for the early childhood students. Any renovation would include replacing the current rubber tiles and padding the brick walls for more safety; removal of the chain link fence; and a new way for the students to transition from the deck to the sandbox area. If you would like to comment via the survey, the link is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Q9C7G5M.
A big Thank You is owed to the Chicagoland Lutheran Education Foundation (CLEF)!
Clef has donated 15 gently used laptops to Pilgrim. We are planning to use these laptops as part of teacher workstations in classrooms. Workstations will make it easier for teachers to use the document cameras and Smart Boards in their classrooms. CLEF also donated two gently used Smart Boards to Pilgrim earlier this year, one of which has been installed in Ms. Daczyszyn’s homeroom and the other is going to be installed in the Tower Classroom. Teachers are receiving in-service on how to use Smart Boards effectively on Monday, November 23. CLEF has also worked out an arrangement for Pilgrim to get tech support from Aqueity. These improvements to Pilgrim’s technology infra-structure are very helpful in getting our staff the tools which they need to meet students’ needs.Clef has donated 15 gently used laptops to Pilgrim. We are planning to use these laptops as part of teacher workstations in classrooms. Workstations will make it easier for teachers to use the document cameras and Smart Boards in their classrooms. CLEF also donated two gently used Smart Boards to Pilgrim earlier this year, one of which has been installed in Ms. Daczyszyn’s homeroom and the other is going to be installed in the Tower Classroom. Teachers are receiving in-service on how to use Smart Boards effectively on Monday, November 23. CLEF has also worked out an arrangement for Pilgrim to get tech support from Aqueity. These improvements to Pilgrim’s technology infra-structure are very helpful in getting our staff the tools which they need to meet students’ needs.
Christmas Caroling, Hot Chocolate & Chili
Sunday, December 13, 2015 @ 4 PM
Meet at the Pilgrim Lutheran Church, (4300 N. Winchester) for caroling in the neighborhood. Then join us for a Chili dinner following at 5:30 p.m. at Pastor Kristian and Anna-Kari’s house (4332 N. Winchester Ave.) All are invited!
Christmas Caroling at the Irish American Festival, Sunday, December 13th at 1 p.m. Pilgrim Children are invited to sing at the North Center Town Square (across from CVS between Lincoln and Damen) Please meet at Pilgrim after the 10:30 a.m. service, or at 12 noon, to participate!
SAVE THE DATE
Pilgrim's annual Trivia Night Fundraiser will be Saturday, January 30 in Maring Hall. This is an adult only event with food, beverages and lots of fun! Start brushing up on your trivia and thinking about who you want on your team of up to 8 people. There is a cash grand prize and more importantly, bragging rights! Look for sign-up information soon.
Yearbook
Pilgrim needs someone to moderate the Yearbook! If you would be willing to work with a group of upper grade students to gather ideas and photos to put together the 2015-2016 yearbooks, please let me know. The last two years, yearbook has used the Shutterfly website to put articles together and print the books. The moderator meets with the students on a regular basis until spring and then coordinates the printing of the yearbook. This is a wonderful way to work with a great group of students.
Pilgrim Pride
Looking for the perfect Christmas gift?
Pilgrim Church and School hoodies and t-shirts are just right for everyone on your list!
Show your Pilgrim Pride and order today!
Mission Gifts
Visit from Luther North Principal Sheri Meyer
You are invited to join us in worship at the 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday, December 6th: Mission Gifts Presentation from Sheri Meyer, Luther North High School, as we celebrate the grant they are receiving from the Pilgrim Capital Campaign.
Pilgrim Church Council
Pilgrim Church Council meets on Tuesday, November 24. One of the topics for discussion is a resolution to allow a non-church member to be chair of the Board of Education. You are welcome to attend at 7:30 p.m. in the 7th/8th classroom.
Amazon Smile - Are you buying gifts online?
Gift Cards and Magazine Drive
In anticipation of the holidays we have added some new gift cards to our list: Baker's Square $25, American Express $50, $100 and $250 (already activated), Hotels.com $25, Nordstrom $25 and $100 and Spa Week $25. Unfortunately we no longer carry KFC, Red Box or Eddie Bauer. If you can't decide which gift card to give someone, why not purchase a Paper Certificate for Gift Cards in any amount and let the recipient choose from our list. We will be selling Sunday after the 2nd service and Monday and Friday until 10 am in the school office. You may also drop off or send in an order with your child to the school office , which will be held for pickup or sent home with your child if a waiver has been submitted. You will receive an email when it is ready or has been sent. Don't forget to continue using smileamazon.com as we earn an additional 1/2 percent on your order. Please contact Anne Barsano cbarsano@aol.com or 312-972-9040 with any questions.
Tallies are in for the Magazine Drive and so far we have earned $964.80 for Pilgrim. This amount will grow as people continue to place orders throughout the year! Online you may order gifts, books and other items such as wrapping paper and cards. Pilgrim's account is 2633014. Thanks again everyone!
You are always welcome in classrooms, and I welcome your feedback and questions. Feel free to contact me (ccomella@pilgrimchicago.org) whenever something arises. If you would like to become involved in events and activities hosted by the Parent Teacher League (PTL), please contact either Anna Lambros or Carrie Goerne. Parents are also welcome to attend weekly chapel services. The students are always happy to see you there!
Chris Comella, Pilgrim School Principal
Pilgrim Lutheran School
Email: office@pilgrimchicago.org
Website: pilgrimchicago.org
Location: 4300 N Winchester Ave, Chicago, IL, United States
Phone: 773-477-4824
Facebook: facebook.com/pilgrimlutheranchurchandschool