Pilgrim Lutheran School News
April 8, 2016
April snow brings...
...I can't think of one thing! Let's hope for rain. Welcome back Pilgrim. We hope you had a restful Spring Break. While the "showers" are drenching us outside, Pilgrim kids stay busy with a variety of activities. Student Council, Yearbook, preparations for the Operetta, 3rd/4th Grade Basketball, Track, and a trip to Peggy Notebaert are all creating buzz among Pilgrim students. Thanks for your support to make all of these activities possible!
Tonight, Friday, April 8th is Movie Night. See below for further details!
This week's recap...
Thank you to Pilgrim PTL for hosting a presentation about Cyber-Safety. Melissa Hemzacek from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office shared information about what is currently happening on our kids’ electronic devices. She also shared some strategies for how protect your child from predators and bullying on the web. The potential danger of chat features, picture-sharing sites, and games that are inappropriate for children all need to be on our radar, both for you as parents and for us as teaching professionals. If you would like to access some of the information shared last night, you can go to the Attorney General’s website: http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/children/child_hitech.html. If you would like a copy of the power point presented last night, you may contact our speaker directly: MHemzacek@atg.state.il.us
Report cards for Grades 4-8 are posted this afternoon In SIS. If you have a problem accessing your child’s grade report, please contact the office. Report Cards for the Lower Grades are posted again at the end of the school year.
Please note that Wednesday, April 20, is a half-day!
Movie Night!
Pilgrim Student Council presents a Movie Night on Friday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m. in Maring Hall. The main feature is Inside Out. Admission is $5/student or $10/family. Snacks will be available. Students may wear pajamas and bring pillows. The best movie-going outfit wins a gift certificate to Margie’s. Friends of Pilgrim students are welcome, too, but must have a signed permission slip. Parents are welcome to attend with their child, but do not need to stay. (The more parent chaperons we have, the easier child management will be!) Student Council has designated our partner school, Colegio Luterano Salvadoreno, as the recipient of our admissions proceeds. If we raise at least $200, we can sponsor tuition for a Salvadoran student for a whole year. We hope you will join us for the fun!
Auction Donations
Pre-Registration for 2016-2017
Pre-registration for grades 1-8 has passed! If you plan to enroll your child(ren) for the 2016-17 school year, please hand in the forms and deposit to the school office ASAP!
1. If you have not received a Pre-registration packet, please contact Halley Williams in the School Office.
2. If you know of a family looking for an Early Childhood Program for a 3-,4-, or 5-year-old, please have them come for a Tuesday morning tour.
3. If you know that your family will not be returning to Pilgrim for 2016-2017, please let me know.
Transitions are natural in school communities and we all understand that. An accurate count of returning students helps Pilgrim leaders plan budget and staffing needs for the coming school year. Thanks for your help by letting us know your plans.
Please note if you are the parent of a 3-year-old or know someone interested in the 3-year-old class for the 2016-2017 school year: after much discussion, we are making spots available to 3-year-olds in the morning class, but unfortunately, we will not be able to offer an all-day option for these 3-year-olds, due to space and room limitations. We are also inviting parents of children who are eligible for the 4-year-old class in 2016-2017 to consider the option of sending your child to the afternoon class for 2016-2017. Our Early Childhood staff truly believe that a mixed 3- and 4-year-old class both in the morning and in the afternoon is going to be a stronger learning environment for all the children.
PTL News
As you can see, the PTL is important group to the school and we need MORE HELP FROM PARENTS! Please join us for our next meeting, April 21st at 7:00 p.m. at Miss H's house to get more involved. Many of our members are working parents that can help remotely. There are many events throughout the year and you don't have to help with every single one or come to every single meeting - we appreciate anything you can do to help. Emailannalambros@yahoo.com if you have any questions.
Wildcat Sports
The Pilgrim 3rd/4th Basketball Teams played great games this season! Pilgrim put three teams on the court, two boys teams and a girls team. We are looking forward to their final tournament for the 2015-2016 school year at St. John’s on April 9. Coaches are Tim Wilkin and Stephanie Weber for the girls and Eric Jones and Jim Volkens for the boys. If you have a question, contact one of the coaches or Mike Suhajda, Pilgrim Athletic Director.
Auction News
We can't wait to Rock With You! Just 22 days and counting until our biggest fundraiser of the year. We truly need everyone's help to get our fundraising Up Where We Belong.
Deadlines are fast approaching! We are looking for at least one more sponsor for this year's event- please talk to Alison (alisonmhays@gmail.com) if you are able to help us with this! There are some great benefits (including a pre-event VIP cocktail, a corsage and special treatment all night).
Our deadline for auction item donations is THIS FRIDAY. Each family is asked to contribute in helping the event be as successful as possible- if you own a business please consider a sponsorship or a donation from your business. If you are looking for ideas on what to donate- any gift certificates to local restaurants, bottles of wine or gift cards purchased from Anne in the office help us out immensely. The auction is truly a labor of love and we need everyone's help!
Don't forget to buy your tickets to the event before prices go up on April 19th. You can also purchase Tuition Raffle tickets, Vitamix raffle tickets, Teacher's Day Off raffle tickets or make a donation to Fund-a-Project at this link- https://pilgrimschool.schoolauction.net/80sprom. We can't wait to party All Night Long with you!
We are looking for a new co-chair to work on next year's auction- I'd love to bring you in the loop for this year so you can get some hands-on experience if you are interested. Please contact Sam at samanthadoerfler@hotmail.com to discuss. It's truly a fun, bonding experience that benefits the whole school. We are also looking for one or two more families to join in with hosting parties and we are in need of a few volunteers to assist Susan Ryan while she does photos on the morning of April 13th. Please contact Sam if you can help with either of these needs!
Jessie's Girl has lost her jewels! A generous donor dropped off three boxes of jewelry in the Auction Donations box in the office, but there was no accompanying information. We're wondering Who Can It Be Now? If it's you, please email Karen - karen@nevotti.com to say Hello.
Pilgrim is Launching a Hydroponics Garden!
Pilgrim is embarking on an experiment to establish a hydroponics garden to allow guests of the hot meals, community youth, and volunteers to grow fresh food for our hot meals program. We are calling the project, “Farming Hope Chicago”, inspired by a similar ministry in El Salvador- www.farminghope.org Want to find out more? Join us on Saturday, April 16th at 12:45 for a team meeting and work session. Special thanks to Thrivent for sponsoring this project.
A Transition
We are so grateful for the work that Kathy Danner has done over the past year as our office administrator. She has stepped in wonderfully to help us grow our ministry. She has decided to "fully retire" to be free to do a variety of things. Please express your thankfulness to her and for her ongoing ministry as a member of Pilgrim!
Job Opening:
Office Administrator
This position supports the ministry of Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School by providing administrative support. Strong organizational, computer, and people skills required. This person will work in the school office and will be responsible for worship bulletins, keeping records, and communicating with the wider Pilgrim community. Preferred start date is mid May to ensure a smooth transition. If you are interested, please send your resume to pastorkristian@pilgrimchicago.org Thank you!
Opera for the Young
Opera for the Young is presenting The Magic Flute for Pilgrim kids on the morning of Friday, April 22. Students are part of the opera’s chorus so your child may be practicing for this at home, as well as at school. Book Swap, which had been scheduled for this day, is moving to another day.
Pilgrim Yearbook...
Pilgrim Yearbook is underway! If your child is in grades 4-8, he/she is welcome to work on Yearbook; permission forms are available in the School Office. If you have any question, please contact Mr. Comella or parent moderators, Parul Desai or Laura Pryst.
Pilgrim BOE
The Pilgrim Board of Education meeting was Tuesday, April 5. The main discussion points were Special Education at Pilgrim and a first reading of the 2017 fiscal year budget. The Board approved a line item in the budget to allow for contracting with a school psychologist or school social worker to help teachers and parents identify learning issues and to pursue solutions for those issues. A task force is in place to develop a protocol as to how that would work for Pilgrim families. If you have concerns about Special Education at Pilgrim, please contact Mr. Comella or one of the BOE members. If you would like to review the BOE agendas and minutes, you can find them on the school website by clicking the School Board link under the Parental Involvement tab: http://pilgrimchicago.org/about/parental-involvement/#.VrTKh_krKUk.
First Communion Sunday- April 10th
Join us in celebrating the joy of communion with God and people on Sunday, April 10th at the 10:30 a.m. service. We will enjoy a special presentation from the Doerfler, Ruger, Abu-Absi, Santana, Egan, Stewart-Couch,Hays, Harnish, Johnson, Campbell-Stanek, and Volkens Families who have been participating in this year’s class, and enjoy a special reception to follow!
Pilgrim Summer Enrichment Program
Click on this link for further information including times and costs!
Summer Camps
DePaul Prep has built a NEW WEBSITE for all summer camps held at the school.
Basketball as well as others can be found at the following link:
http://www.depaulprepcamps.org/
If any of your student-athletes may be interested in attending one or more this summer, check it out!
Blanket Day for Project Linus Saturday, May 7, 2016
Project Linus supplies hand-made quilts, fleece blankets, and knitted or crocheted afghans to children who are critically ill or traumatized. The North Cook County-Chicago Chapter of Thrivent is sponsoring a Blanket Day for Project Linus. We will supply everything needed to make hand-colored fabric squares and fleece blankets. The Chapter will also provide lunch. No sewing skills are required If you can tie a knot, you can help out! This event is for school-aged kids and adults. The event will be May 7, 2016 from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. at Pilgrim! RSVP to Janet Fisher at 847-266-9244 or jfisher@uwalumni.com is appreciated.
Gift Cards
Now that Spring is trying to appear, your gardens and lawns are looking for help! Pick up some Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards, Target or Walmart gift cards before you head out to shop! April also starts the bustle of weddings and wedding showers! We carry cards for most of the usual bridal registries, such as Bed, Bath and Beyond, Amazon, Macy's, Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma (Pottery Barn) and many others. You can buy them to give as gifts or to buy the gifts- you can also use them on line! Check the green sheet for denominations and contact Anne Barsano (312-972-9040 or cbarsano@aol.com) for other dollar amounts. Cards will be sold on Sunday, Monday and Fridays. See you soon!
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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