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April 2024
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Baby Chicks Arrive at Blackhawk
Prior to spring break, the Blackhawk 8th grade students were involved in a very engaging project that included the hatching of baby chicks from eggs. The process began with 14 eggs being incubated for three weeks. The incubation of chicken eggs is a 21-day process and requires an egg incubator to help control temperature, humidity, and egg turning. During this time, students made predictions on color, size, and which order the chicks would arrive. As the eggs were incubated, teachers "candled" the eggs and monitored the temperature in the incubator. Candling is the process of using light to help determine the quality of an egg and its viability for the unhatched chicks' survival. A candling lamp consists of a strong electric bulb covered by a plastic or aluminum container that has a handle and small light opening called an aperture. The egg is placed against this aperture and illuminated by the light to view what is inside the egg while it is intact.
On 3/21/24, seven chicks were hatched at Blackhawk! Of these seven hatched chicks, six survived. The one named Baby Huey who had to have assistance in getting out of his egg, remained alive for four days before passing. The students will be weighing the chicks and tracking their growth. Students will also be exploring the chicks' genetic makeup to determine which breed of chicken each chick belongs.
Cracks in the eggs...
More cracks in the eggs and a chick...
Multiple baby chicks are born at Blackhawk!
Blackhawk School Building Renovations Coming Soon!
District 2 hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its renovation and expansion project at Blackhawk Middle School at 3 PM on Thursday, March 21st.
The brief ceremony marked the beginning of this project that will transform much of Blackhawk’s look, feel, and function, and will be completed in time to welcome Blackhawk students and staff when the 2024-2025 school year begins in August.
In the fall, the entire BSD2 community will be invited to celebrate the project’s completion and to see these key improvements that will provide BMS students with a state-of-the-art school that aligns with the evolving needs of education:
- All new student-tested and staff-approved classroom furniture that can be easily moved and flexibly arranged to readily allow for collaborative learning.
- Installation of new flooring, lighting, and whiteboards in classrooms, and wall-to-wall painting that will bring a brighter, more modern, consistent, and cohesive look and feel throughout the building.
- Upgrades to classroom technology to create a wireless environment for both students and teachers.
- Enlargement of 12 classrooms by removing six workrooms currently connected to neighboring spaces.
- Additions of four new classrooms and conversions of three existing classrooms into as many as nine flexibly divided small-group spaces. These flex spaces can be used for collaborative learning, interventions, and meetings, or as staff workspaces.
- Addition of a new fitness center adjacent to the gym and conversion of the current fitness center space into a dedicated special education classroom with a sensory room and restroom.
- Remodeling of outdated science rooms, expansion of the health office, and renovation of the school’s two outdoor learning courtyards.
The Wheel of Wisdom Comes to Blackhawk
This week on Thursday, the Blackhawk students and staff were treated to a Wheel of Wisdom game that was both fun and informative. With three separate presentations, the Blackhawks students were presented with numerous trivia topics that included STAR behavior expectations. As we enter our final two months of school, we used the Wheel of Wisdom as a fun way to revisit our behavior expectations as well as other fun facts for our students. Our students enjoyed such topics as history, sports, TV and movies, and of course Blackhawk STAR expectations. Thank you to the Blackhawk PTO, who sponsored and organized this fun and informative event!
IL 5Essentials Survey Wrap-up
The window for the 2024 Illinois 5Essentials Survey has come to a close. Blackhawk is very proud of our response rates for the three different stakeholder groups who took this survey: students, teachers, and families. We wish to send a very special "thank you" to all of our families who took the time to give us their insights by completing the survey, giving us a 33% completion rate. This is very important to our school improvement process and the data used in our school improvement plan.
As part of our incentive to encourage our families to participate in this survey, we have an annual contest by grade-level to see which advisory can get the most participation in the survey. The grade-level advisory winner of this contest will be awarded an outdoor pizza party during their designated lunch period in May, when the weather is nice. This year's grade-level advisory winners for most parent participation in the IL 5Essentials Survey are:
- 6th Grade: Ms. Barca's advisory
- 7th Grade: Ms. Rook's advisory
- 8th Grade: Ms. Berardi's advisory
Because this competition was taken so seriously by many of our advisories, we've awarded a school-wide runner up winner of an outdoor pizza party as well. This winner is the second place finisher with the highest number of survey participants across all three grades. The winner of this runner up lunch is:
- School-wide Runner up: Ms. LaPrall's advisory
The Bensenville Park District has also generously donated a family of four pool pass for the entire summer. This single winner does not have to be part of a winning advisory class. This winner is randomly pulled from all the families who have reported completing the survey. The winner of the family summer pool pass was awarded randomly to the student pictured below.
Parent Information Session to Address Cyberbullying and Unwise Social Media Use
All BSD2 parents are encouraged to attend a special parent information session on cyberbullying and unwise social media use at 6:30 PM. Tuesday, April 23rd, at Blackhawk Middle School. (Simultaneous Spanish translation will be provided.)
The evening will feature a special presentation by Sameer Hinduja, PhD, who is recognized internationally for his groundbreaking work on cyberbullying and safe social media use. In this presentation, he will offer practical strategies for identifying, preventing, and responding to cyberbullying, sexting, and unwise social media use.
Dr. Hinduja’s strategies focus on improving communication, cultivating empathy and resilience, developing a moral compass, identifying non-negotiable values and beliefs, finding stable sources of identity, growing in self-control, prioritizing maturity and responsibility, and solving problems in ways that satisfy all parties.
Attendees will leave encouraged, empowered, and equipped with an increased ability to promote safe and responsible participation in cyberspace among the youth they care for and with numerous resources to assist them toward those ends.
Prior to this parent presentation, Blackhawk students will hear a presentation from Dr. Hinduja in grade-level assemblies on Monday April 22nd. In addition, Dr. Hinduja will be meeting with student leaders to gather pertinent information about how cyberbullying and its impact on Blackhawk Middle School specifically.
Learn How District 2 Is Strengthening School Safety and Its Emergency Response Protocols
Student safety is the District 2's top priority! That’s why we’re encouraging all BSD2 parents to attend a special parent information session on the important school safety initiatives implemented by District 2 over the past two years.
This important presentation will be held at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, April 30th, at Blackhawk Middle School. (Simultaneous Spanish translation will be provided.)
During the evening’s presentation, parents will learn about:
The completion of a district-wide safety audit.
The implementation of standard response protocols for emergency situations throughout BSD2 schools.
The training of staff and students in ALICE principles that provide them the option to “run, hide or fight” when reacting to a threat.
Blackhawk Alumni Spotlight
This month's Blackhawk Alumni Spotlight shines on Yael Monzalvo, who was promoted from 8th grade at Blackhawk in 2018. He then progressed to Fenton High School, where he graduated in 2022.
Yael reports that one of his fondest memories from his middle school experience was joining the school band. It's where his love for music started. Yael joined the jazz band under the direction of Mr. George Andrikokus, whom Yael shares, gave students such fun and difficult music to play. "Mr. Andrikokus also took us to a lot of places to play as well. We were on the WGN news channel. We went to different restaurants to play, and we also got to go on a trip to JEN, which is the Jazz Education Network." The friends Yael made through Blackhawk bands are still friends he remains connected with now, and they are his best friends who he believes will be his friends for life. Yael remembers student musicians making their own little group to play during the transition period at band concerts, and this concept then ended up becoming a tradition for some time. He greatly enjoyed the freedom of creativity offered to him, as it was a lot of fun.
While at Blackhawk, some of the extracurricular activities Yael participated in included joining the soccer team in both his 7th and 8th grade years. As stated, he was in the Blackhawk band for all three years, and he was also a regular member of the jazz band. Yael was also a member of the 8th grade leadership group called the Hawks. While in high school at Fenton, Yael was a part of the school's swim team, the marching band, and the jazz band for all four years.
Yael's plans for the future are to graduate college with an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering and then to pursue a masters degree in electrical engineering. His hope is to work on developing new prosthetics or different tools and instruments to help people with physical therapy so they can rehabilitate their bodies more efficiently. He is currently in his second year of college. His major is biomedical engineering. He is also a CA, which stands for community advisor, but the more well-known acronym is RA, or resident advisor. He is also an ambassador at NIU and helps with undergraduate admissions, giving tours, working the office, and working at admission events. He is the treasurer of the Huskie Motorsports team, which designs, constructs, and races a Formula 1 car. It's a student-led team in which Yael was in charge of steering placement and designing the steering wheel. He has been a part of the NIU marching band and has auditioned and been appointed to the position of section leader for the saxophones for his third year.
When asked what Blackhawk staff member stands out in his memory as influential, Yael shared: Mr. George Andrikokus, 6th grade band and jazz band director. Yael reported that Mr. Andrikokus was his first band director and was the reason why he got into music. Mr. Andikokus inspired Yael and gave him the motivation and passion that he still has today. Music has been such a big part of Yael's life, and he can date that back to when he was in 5th grade. According to Yael, "Mr. Andirkokus himself is so passionate about music that it spreads, and he pushed you to be better and made playing so much fun. He took us to places to play; he gave us such unique and amazing pieces to perform." Yael still believes Mr. Andrikokus is one of, if not the best, band directors he's ever had, and he owes him a lot. Yael believes that he is now in his tenth year of band and ninth year of playing saxophone, and he doesn't intend to ever stop playing because of Mr. Adrikokus. It's become one of his hobbies. Yael states that he is still kind of mad at him for leaving Blackhawk after his 6th grade year, but he'd never trade his 6th grade band experience for anything.
When asked what advice he might have for current Blackhawk students, Yael shared: "Look, I know I'm probably just another older person who's giving you advice you already know and you're just going to brush it off, but this time do me a favor and actually think about it. Make your time at Blackhawk worth it. Make friends. Join clubs. Do sports. Hang out with people. Start a club if they don't have something you want to do. I say this because I used to think middle school and high school were the only things about life—but you grow up. And when you do, you only have memories and experiences. You don't get a 'do over.' This is it. You only get one chance. So make it worthwhile. Have fond memories, not blank and lonely ones. If you're going through a tough time, it'll get better. So make this a good time so that when you look back on it, you can smile about the things you've done. You can laugh about the memories you made. It's better than regretting and hoping that you did. So have fun. You grow old quick."
Illinois Science Assessment
The illinois Science Assessment, or ISA, is a state mandated assessment that measures students understandings of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This assessment consists of three separate tests that cover such topics as Earth/space science, engineering, life science and physical science. Only grades 5th, 8th, and 11th take this battery of tests. Blackhawk 8th graders will be taking these tests on Tuesday, April 9th. Blackhawk 8th graders will run a special schedule on this day but classesses and schedules for 6th and 7th graders will be a normal Tuesday schedule.
Solar Eclipse Is Coming
We encourage our staff to engage in indoor activities regarding the eclipse so that students can learn about the event. The NASA page linked below is where live viewing can take place if anyone is interested.
The Month of April
4/1/2024
Easter Monday-No School
4/2/2024
7:00 - 7:40 AM Choir
7:00 - 7:40 AM Muscle Lab Fitness Club
3:20 - 4:30 PM Soccer Club-8th grade
3:20 - 4:30 PM Jazz Band in Rm 163
4/3/2024
3-4:00 PM Gardening Club
4/4/2024
8:15-11:15 AM Wheel of Wisdom-PTO event
3- 4:00 PM Dare to Dream Club
3- 4:25 PM Craft Club Every Thursday
3- 4:25 PM Sewing Club
4/5/2024
7-7:40 AM Robotics Club
4/8/2024
3-4:00 PM Art Club
3-4:00 PM Podcast Club
3-4:00 PM Jewelry Club
4/9/2024
3 -4:30 PM Soccer Club-6th grade
4/10/2024
3- 4:00 PM We Belong Club
4/11/2024
9- 2:00 PM 6th Grade Field Trip
3 - 4:00 PM PALS Club
3- 4:30 PM Spanish Club
4/12/2024
8-3:00 PM Career Exploration Fair (8th Gr)
9-2:00 PM 6th Grade Field Trip
4/16/2024
3:20 -4:30 PM Soccer Club-7th grade
4/18/2024
3rd Trimester Mid-Term
4/23/2024
3:20 - 4:30 PM Soccer Club-8th grade
4/30/2024
3:20 - 4:30 PM Soccer Club-6th grade
6 - 8:00 PM Safety & Security Parent Meeting @BMS auditorium