Oak Grove News

Last week, Josh Bellamy, #15 of the Chicago Bears, and family came to first grade to talk about African American inventors who have made all of our lives better. He brought several books celebrating African American achievements and books about civil rights and segregation for us to read to all of our classrooms. In addition to the big message of treating all others equally and fair, no matter what you look like, he and his wife talked about what hard work really is and each of our children can be the very best if they work hard. Thank you Mr. Bellamy and Ms. Shane!

REGISTER NOW FOR OAK GROVE’S CHESS ENRICHMENT PROGRAM -- SESSION 3 of the 2018-2019 School Year!

Registration for Session 3 of the chess program is underway! The 10-week program takes place on Wednesdays from 3:30-4:30 pm and runs from 3/13 thru 5/22/19. The chess program is taught by Chess-Ed instructors and is open to ALL Oak Grove students, and students of all chess abilities, novice through continuing, advanced and competitive players. Professional instruction will include the basics for novice players and build with opening theory, middle game planning, and end game combinations for all other student levels. Playing chess improves memory, uses analytical and critical thinking skills, teaches problem solving, responsibility, sportsmanship, social skills and more. The benefits of chess last a lifetime!

To register, please go to www.oakgrovechess.eventbee.com.

DISCOUNTED Registration fee applies through 2/27/2019. Final fee begins 2/28/19 and late fee begins 3/11/19. For more information about the program, please refer to the program flyer. Chess-Ed is looking forward to seeing your CHESS ENTHUSIAST this year!

We are seeking concession donations to sell during “The Little Mermaid” performances. We need cases of water bottles and boxes of candy (any kind such as Twix, Hershey's, M&Ms, Kit Kat, Airheads, Starburst, Sweet Tarts, fruit snacks, Skittles, etc.) or pretzels that we can sell at the concession stand. If you are willing to donate something, please email or text Reyanne (rdolphin8@hotmail.com; 847-942-8959) so we can keep track of what we have to sell. Please drop off your donation by Wednesday, February 27th. Items can be left in the bin on Reyanne's front porch (1075 Sunrise Road).

All proceeds go back to the production costs.

Thanks for your help!

Reyanne Berner and Barb Davoux

Concession Co-Chairs

Multicultural Program Volunteer Opportunities!

This year we will be running two in-school programs in the days leading up to the Multicultural Night festivities on April 11, 2019. We need parent volunteers to help make both programs a success. If you are interested in helping, please sign up through the links below!

Multicultural Classroom Lessons

Beginning on April 1, volunteers will run lessons in grades K-5 focusing on some of the cultures and traditions important in countries across the globe. This year our kids will learn about Brazil (Kindergarten), Poland (1st), China (2nd), India (3rd), Nigeria (4th) and Peru (5th).

The Multicultural Committee will provide all the materials, as well as instructions walking volunteers through exactly what they need to do. This is a great way to support the program if you do not want to take on hosting your own booth at Multicultural Night. You are not limited to your child or children's classroom(s) or grade(s)!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e45aba92da1ff2-kindergarten

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e45aba92da1ff2-first

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e45aba92da1ff2-second

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e45aba92da1ff2-third

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E45ABA92DA1FF2-fourth1

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E45ABA92DA1FF2-fifth1

​International Foods Week

Marla's Lunch has organized a festive week of international fare for our elementary and junior high students during the first week of April. Mediterranean, Italian, Indian, Chinese and Greek cuisine will be served family style. Students will be able to sign up for these lunches through Marla's website. We are hoping to have three volunteers in each of the elementary and junior high lunchrooms every day of that week.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b4daea72ea4fe3-international

And remember ... if you are interested in hosting a booth during Multicultural Night on April 11, please fill out this form by the end of the week! Thanks again to the amazing Oak Grove community for your continued support!

The totals are in, and from our recent book drive, all of Oak Grove was able to collect 4,200 books for Bernie’s Book Bank! What an amazing amount of books to collect for such a wonderful organization. Our 4th graders were able to take a field trip to Bernie’s in Lake Bluff to view their facility and learn about Bernie’s mission to distribute books to children in the Chicagoland area. The 4th grade Oak Grovers then unpacked, stickered, and packed up books to be given to children. We all had a wonderful at Bernie’s Book Bank!

Mother/Son Dance

The dance is this Saturday, February 23rd, from 6:30-8:30 in the Junior High gym and cafeteria. Thanks to everyone who has so generously volunteered either to help with decorations or during the dance itself. You can still volunteer by clicking HERE.

We have also extended the deadline to purchase tickets to tomorrow, Tuesday, February 19th. Don't miss out on this special night with your son. You can purchase tickets for the dance and pre-buy raffle tickets HERE.

Please email Lynsey Wolfe (lynsey.wolfe@gmail.com) or Sarah Roe (saroe726@gmail.com) with any questions.

Meet the Candidate Night - Thursday, March 14th at 7pm

The PTO will be hosting a "Meet the Board of Education Candidate Night" on Thursday, March 14th at 7pm in the Elementary gym. Please email any questions for the candidates to pto@ogschool.org with the subject line "Meet the Candidate Night Question". We look forward to your questions.

Variety Show - Friday, May 3 at 4 & 7pm

It’s that time of year again! We are looking for all 5th-8th graders interested in trying out for the Variety Show. Sign ups will be in the Junior High cafeteria during your lunch hour on Monday, March 11th and Tuesday, March 12th.

Important upcoming dates for the show are:

• Tryouts - April 8th & 9th
• The show - May 3rd

We are looking forward to seeing all of the talent that Oak Grove has to offer!

6th/7th Grade Social

This free event sponsored by the PTO will be Thursday March 7th 10:30am-noon @ Skyzone. More details to follow.

Mother/Daughter Tea

The 5th grade Mother/Daughter Tea was a success with 43 of 47 girls attending with their mothers! Thank you to all who attended; everyone seemed very pleased with the presentation and very comfortable, which is the goal! Thank you to the committee, Becky Rynes, Raabia Mohammed, Adrienne Castro, and Jill Giovannetti, for making it all happen! We also had some helpful volunteers provide us with donated items and help cleaning up afterwards...Nikki Krakowski, Cynthia Lund, June O'Donnell, to name a few, thank you!

Father/Son Night

Thank you to all the 5th grade fathers and sons who joined us on Wednesday night! A special thank you to Christina Swanson and Dr. Lisa Konz, DDS for their donations to the gift bags. Thank you to Katrina Treutelaar and Dana Huennekens for putting on this event and making the evening a success!

Hello Oak Grove Community,

Today our students in kindergarten through fifth grade will begin receiving instruction focused on the requirements of Erin’s Law. For those of you that may not be familiar with Erin’s Law, it requires that public schools in Illinois implement a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program that teaches:

• Students in grades preK – 5th grade, age-appropriate techniques to recognize child sexual abuse and tell a trusted adult

• School personnel all about child sexual abuse

• Parents & guardians the warning signs of child sexual abuse, plus needed assistance, referral or resource information to support sexually abused children and their families

The youngest child in your family will be bringing home a book called, "Think First & Stay Safe Parent Guide" by Rosemary Webb, Jennifer Mitchell and Kenneth Wooden. You should receive the guide Tuesday or their first day back this week.

For more information about the resources Mrs. Kiefer uses to cover these topics, please follow the links to Child Lures and Safe At Last. If you have any questions about these programs or how they are being implemented, please contact Mrs. Kiefer at skiefer@ogschool.org. In addition, Mrs. Kiefer will continue to share her weekly updates through ClassDojo. If you are not receiving the ClassDojo updates, please let Mrs. Kiefer know right away. If you have any specific questions related to the Erin’s law unit, please contact Mrs. Kiefer or Mr. Fenton. Thank you for helping us at home to address this sensitive, yet important, topic with your child.

Important links:

Mrs. Kiefer email skiefer@ogschool.org

Erins Law http://www.erinslaw.org/

Second Step http://www.cfchildren.org/second-step/social-emotional-learning

Child Lures https://childluresprevention.com/

Safe at Last http://besafeatlast.com/

Author Tom Watson visited with 2nd grade today. He taught them how to draw all of his characters. He shared the story how his children inspired him to begin writing his books. He asked our students to show him their drawings and asked them what food the characters should go after in his 10th Stick Dog book.

The students were engaged and enjoyed his visit.

Please click HERE to view the flyers in our virtual backpack. Flyers are updated weekly, so please check back often so you won't miss any of the events going on in our community.

Click HERE to view Board Agenda and Minutes

Email: boe@ogschool.org
Website: www.ogschool.org
Location: 1700 S. O'Plaine Rd. Green Oaks, IL 60048
Phone: 847.367.4120