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| May 4, 2006 |
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 A NIGHT OF ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND THEIR FAMILIES
Approximately 150 students and their family members who are part of District 41's preschool or parent education programs attended an activity night at Benjamin Franklin School last week. The University of Illinois Extension Service had a nutrition booth, the DuPage Health Department hosted a wellness booth where participants could have their blood pressure checked and get health information, and the D41 Early Childhood staff manned activity centers where the parents and kids worked together on fun, crafty projects. A light dinner was served.
The programs--Pre-Kindergarten At Risk, Baby & Me or Partners in Learning--are designed to help eligible pre-school students and families prepare for future success in school through early education intervention, language development activities, parenting training and more. Among the participants were families recently arrived from refugee camps in Somalia and the district provided them with bus service to the activity night as well as to an open house at Abraham Lincoln, where their school-age children are enrolled. District 41 conducts regular preschool screenings to identify youngsters who are eligible for its preschool programs.
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 FOREST GLEN STACKS UP "SCARCE" SHOES
Forest Glen fifth graders recently contributed a mountain of gym shoes to Nike's Reuse a Shoe program in collaboration with School and Community Assistance for Recycling & Composting Education (SCARCE). On a sunny April afternoon, the shoes were deposited in a big stack out on the school grounds, where students first admired the sheer quantity of their haul before boxing and bagging the shoes for transport. Some of the 500 pairs of shoes will be donated to needy families, while Nike will "pulverize 'the Stinkies, the Smellies, and the Holey Oldies' into NIKE-Grind, to be used to make new basketball courts, running tracks, playground surfaces, even soccer fields" according to SCARCE.
Forest Glen children participated in many activities to get the word out, says teacher Laurie Berenschot, noting that the kids put great energy into the project, using technology to make flyers and posters, giving presentations, making weekly announcements, submitting articles to the PTA newsletters and conducting other persuasive activities to educate others about recycling and encourage shoe donations. "As a team, we thank Adam Andres, 5th grade teacher for coordinating the project through SCARCE," she said.
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Our Vision: Exceptional Learning in a Respectful and Supportive Environment. |
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