April 9
District 97 Vision
Brooks News to Know
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 will be an 8th grade packet with additional information and permission slips sent home with our 8th grade students on Friday, April 13th.
Honor Roll SY 2017 - 2018 Trimester 2
Congratulations to your student's academic achievement for the second trimester of the 2017 - 2018 school year. Your Student's GPA has earned placement on the Honor Roll at Gwendolyn Brooks.
PTO Community Meeting
7:00pm
School Topic: Technology. Michael Arensdorff will be joining us. Child care is available.
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!
Brooks Recycling Challenge
Team 7-1 is happy to report that we not only met our goal of 5,000 plastic items to be recycled in 10 weeks, but we exceeded it greatly: 6,346 items!
Throughout these 10 weeks we have had students really step up into the leadership roles. Students created a tally sheet for other's to take home to a petition for the district's consideration, updated social media and even a constructed a letter to our Representative Camille Lilly.
The Brooks EcoEagles and Julian Green Team have connected and will be submitting an application to cohost a booth at Oak Park's Earth Fest on April 21st.
District 97 Ethnic Festival
May 5, 2018
10:00am
Parade begins at Julian Middle School
Big Bang Event Speaker at Triton
Big Bang Event Speaker
Nagin Cox: NASA/JPL Spacecraft Operations Engineer
Dare to Do Mighty Things
Reaching Out Into the Solar System
Exploring the Solar System is an international effort that involves many nations. The robotic missions that pave the way push the frontiers of our abilities as a species and return data that illuminate the way all humans look at themselves. While there are examples of solitary human exploration, most endeavors that expand our boundaries involve teams of people working together for a common goal. This is one of those stories.
Ms. Cox will give three presentations.
April 28, 2018
10:30 a.m. for middle and high school students
1:30 p.m. for high school/college students and professionals
7:30 p.m. for all ages
Reservations are requested.
To RSVP, call (708) 456-0300, Ext. 3372 between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday or send an email to cernan@triton.edu. When making a reservation, please provide a contact person, phone number and email address, which talk you plan to attend, the number of people in your party, and if you are a member of the Cernan Earth and Space Center.
These programs are open to the public.
Please help spread the word as we inspire the next generation of explorers.
For details, visit www.Triton.edu/Cernan/NaginCox
Who is Nagin Cox?
Nagin Cox has been exploring since she decided as a teenager that she wanted to work at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She was born in Bangalore, India, and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her experiences as a child in a Muslim household showed her how easily we separate ourselves based on gender, race or nationality, and it inspired her to do something that brings people together instead of dividing them. The Space Program helps the world "look up" and remember that we are one world. Thus, she has known from the time she was 14 years old that she wanted to work on missions of robotic space exploration.
Cox realized her childhood dream and has been a spacecraft operations engineer at NASA/JPL for over 20 years. She has held leadership and system engineering positions on interplanetary robotic missions including the Galileo mission to Jupiter, the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Kepler exoplanet hunter, Mars InSight and the Mars Curiosity Rover.
In 2015, Cox was honored as the namesake for Asteroid 14061 by its discoverers. She has also received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals. She is a U.S. Department of State STEM Speaker and has spoken to audiences around the world on the stories of the people behind the missions. She has also served on Cornell University’s President's Council for Cornell Women.
Before her time at JPL, Cox served for 6 years in the US Air Force including duty as a Space Operations Officer at NORAD/US Space Command. She holds engineering degrees from Cornell University and the Air Force Institute of Technology as well as a psychology degree from Cornell. (Sometimes she is not sure which one she uses more: the engineering degree or the psychology degree.)
Cox is currently a Tactical Mission Lead on the Curiosity Rover, and every day at NASA/JPL exploring space is as rewarding as the first.
Learn More About Nagin Cox.
https://www.ted.com/talks/nagin_cox_what_time_is_it_on_mars
Community Engagement Fellow at Cradles to Crayons
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6gnevA1fHdWRy1sWk5OSWxUTi1PdjFaQTc5U3kxckxNVDRF/view?usp=sharing
District 97 Summer Math Program
8th Grade Family High School Transition Information
Here is link to OPRFHS Transition PowerPoint shared at their January meeting with 8th grade families.
Yearbook Orders
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
Breakfast and Lunch Menus for April
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
RAD Self Defense Program available for Brooks 8th Grade Girls
Jr Police Explorers Program - Register Today!
SPORTING EVENTS
VB Games:
Tuesday 4/10 vs Heritage, Berwyn
Wednesday 4/11 Home game vs. Stevenson
Thursday 4/12 vs Irving
JV & V Practice Schedule:
Monday 4/9 and Friday 4/13 morning at 7:30am.
Other Info.
The games this week will have the JV playing at 4:00pm and Varsity right after.
Please check powerschool about grades.
Players cannot have a U or 2 D's.
CLUB OPPORTUNITIES (can join anytime)
Each club meets weekly, unless otherwise notated below.
- ORFF 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 Postponed to further notice. 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: April: 10,24 and 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. Here is calendar of dates for all Best Buddies meetings.
Thursdays
- Spanish Club from 3:30 to 4:30pm in room B308. Here are all the Spanish club meeting dates for the year: 4/12, 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 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, April 9th, 2018 at 7pm in the media center.
Next Coffee with Capuder is Friday, April 13th, 2018 at 8:30am to 9:30am in the Commons. Topic for conversation - Technology
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