Lil Steamer Families --

On Monday, January 27 your child(ren) will be coming home with a TREASURE MAP as we launch our Books Are Fun program! We joined this program for the first time last year and our students LOVED IT! Every student received at least five books with many students receiving all 10 books!

On Tuesday, January 28, we will hold our first drawing for our EPIC TREASURE CHEST! This includes:

• Amazon Fire 7 Tablet (and protective case)
• Squishmellow
• LED booklight bookmark
• Electronic safe
• Reading pal stuffy
• Inflatable glow chair
• Airfort
• Chillax disco speaker
• Wireless light up stereo headphones

However, in order for students to be eligible for that drawing, they have to complete their treasure map on Monday night!

Have a wonderful weekend!

JAGH

This weekend is the Eric Ottens Memorial Shootout, honoring a great former Steamer basketball player and even greater person. I had the privilege of playing with Eric, who wore #31, my senior year ('99) when he was a sophomore. I'm grateful that after high school we continued to keep in contact even when he went to college. I hope you have the opportunity see attend the EO Shootout this Saturday, as there is a full slate of great games starting at 9 AM. In the meantime, I'll share this throwback picture of our '99 Regional Championship team. I'm sure there are some very familiar faces that you recognize!

River Bend Families,

Dr. Hogue recently announced that he will retire at the end of the 2025-26 school year. The River Bend Board of Education is grateful for his 12 years of service to the River Bend Communities and we wish him the very best as he joins his family in full time service to support them.

It is the job of the River Bend Board of Education to hire and support a superintendent. Given the current educator shortage and shrinking pool of qualified candidates, it has become common practice for Boards of Education to work with internal candidates when filling open positions. Over the last year, Mrs. Kelli Parsons has earned her Superintendent endorsement, completing her internship in the district. During her internship, Mrs. Kelli Parsons successfully took on several District level duties including writing the Preschool For All grant and overseeing the resulting growth in preschool operations, attending budget and levy workshops, and participating in district committees. During the time of her internship, Mrs. Parsons expressed interest in becoming the superintendent of a small, rural school district. Given her interest, the Board of Education has had the opportunity to observe and work with Mrs. Parsons to evaluate her candidacy for the superintendency. After observing, meeting with and interviewing Mrs. Parsons, The River Bend School Board feels they have a highly qualified candidate who has demonstrated a high level of success throughout her internship and with the many activities and initiatives she has led.

While the historical approach to hiring a superintendent has been to engage a professional search firm, this process is not required. The Board of Education is excited to announce that Mrs. Parsons has been selected to replace Dr. Hogue, beginning her tenure as the next superintendent in July, 2026. She will be able to work closely with Dr. Hogue during the 2025-2026 school year. This will give Dr. Hogue and Mrs. Parsons a full school year to transition and plan for the future of River Bend.

Mrs. Parsons is currently working on completing her doctorate in educational leadership through Illinois State University. She holds a professional educators license with endorsements to serve as a superintendent, chief school business official, and director of special education. Mrs. Parsons has successfully worked as the Fulton Elementary School Assistant Principal for the last two years. Prior to joining the River Bend District she worked for Regional Office of Education 4 as a Social Emotional Learning Specialist. Before moving to the community, Mrs. Parsons worked for five years as a Special Education Coordinator for BMP Tri-County Special Education Cooperative and for fourteen years as a Special Education Paraprofessional then Teacher for the Henry-Stark Special Education Cooperative. Mrs. Parsons began her career in education as an Agriculture Teacher and FFA Advisor in Brown County and Roseville.

We look forward to Mrs. Kelli Parsons tenure as the next Superintendent of River Bend Schools,

Dan Portz, River Bend Board of Education President

Compared to the recent weather, next week's forecast looks AmAzInG!!!! While it may be a bit muddy, at least it'll be warm enough for our Lil Steamers to be playing outside in the fresh air. It'll also be nice to get back to a normal five day week.

If you're up for watching good, high school basketball, head to FHS Saturday for games in both the east and west gym.

Have a great weekend!

Regular attendance at school is crucial to your child’s success. It’s important that children arrive on time. Preparing needed materials for school the night before can be helpful so that everyone is not scrambling in the morning. This could mean packing backpacks, preparing cold lunches, filling water bottles, and laying out clothes the night before. Preparing these things the night before should lead to a much less stressful morning and set your children up for success for the rest of the day.

Apparel Store: We’re thrilled to announce that apparel store items are anticipated to be ready within the next week! Once the orders are complete, we’ll send out information regarding pick-up times. Thank you for your patience—we can’t wait for you to see your new gear!

Teacher Requests: PTO has approved a request for classroom supplies for our new kindergarten teacher, Ms. Tiffany Smith. We’re so excited to welcome Ms. Smith to the FES family and extend our heartfelt congratulations on her graduation!

Polar Bear Patch Holiday Shop: The Polar Bear Patch will take place December 16–20. This special holiday shop allows students to purchase gifts for their loved ones. Keep an eye out for a flyer coming home with your student soon!

• Volunteer Opportunity: The flyer includes a section that can be cut off and returned to school for parents who wish to volunteer at the Polar Bear Patch.
• Budgeting Help: To make shopping easier, the flyer also includes a budgeting section where parents can help plan how much their student should spend on each loved one. This section can be sent to school with the student’s spending money to ensure a smooth and enjoyable shopping experience.

The PTO has been hard at work preparing for this event since the end of last year’s holiday shop. Every item was hand-picked by the board, and we’re so proud of this year’s offerings. We can’t wait for the kids to enjoy this magical shopping experience!

Next PTO Meeting: Mark your calendars! Our next PTO meeting will be on February 4th, 2025, at 7 PM.

As always, feel free to reach out to us on Facebook at Fulton PTO, by email at fultonelempto@gmail.com, or contact a board member:

• Lynne Coffey – President
• Abra Richards – Vice President & Media Manager
• Danielle Wilkins – Secretary
• Tarah Manon – Treasurer

Thank you for your continued support of FES and our PTO initiatives!

Starting pay is $18/hour. AM/PM Route. Up to 4 hours per day.

Paid holidays, sick, personal and bereavement time, and insurance available as well as participation in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.

Come join River Bend's excellent team of transportation professionals! All of our vehicles are well maintained, newer models and are all parked indoors.

No CDL? No problem! Paid training is provided (terms apply.)

Email Transportation Director Taylor Whitney at twhitney@riverbendschools.net to apply.

Be sure to read through the conversation starters at the bottom of the newsletter for great ways to discuss how to be a respectful student. Respect is our January monthly character trait!

Art - Mrs. Long

Counselor - Mrs. Meumann

Speech - Ms. Bri

Intervention - Mrs. Fish

PK - Mrs. Kurtz

PK Resource - Mrs. Marten

KB - Mrs. VanZuiden

KC - Mrs. Gardner

K/1 Resource - Mrs. Whitney

1A - Mrs. Robertson

1C - Mrs. Schipper

2A - Ms. Maloney

2B - Mrs. Roos

2C - Mrs. Stern

2/3 Resource - Mr. Hartman

3A - Ms. Guerrero

3B - Ms. Norman

3D - Mrs. Kuehl

4A - Mrs. Alexander

4B - Mrs. Iben

4C - Mrs. Miner

5A - Mrs. Snyder

Home of the Lil Steamers!

Email: jhoese@riverbendschools.net
Website: riverbendschools.org/fes
Location: 1301 7th Avenue, Fulton, IL, USA
Phone: (815)589-2911
Twitter: @FultonSteamers