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March 2024
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The Musical FROZEN Jr. Comes to Blackhawk
Even though we are pulling out of the winter season and looking forward to the thaw, it's time to embrace one last deep freeze Blackhawk! Frozen Jr. is coming to the Blackhawk auditorium stage next weekend for three performances. Mark your calendars, families, to see one of the three shows being staged on March 8th, 9th, and 10th. The Friday and Saturday night shows begin at 7:00 PM, and the Sunday matinee starts at 2:00 PM.
Come out to see an incredible collection of 80 kids involved in this production. These dedicated artists have been working hard to make sure their talents shine through in this fun and lively production of the Disney classic Frozen story! We are fortunate to be able to provide this experience for our students and community. Please contact the school office to pre-purchase tickets or buy them at the door.
- $5 for students and senior citizens
- $6 for adults
- Kids under 5 free
IL 5Essential Survey Contest
It is that time of year when the state of Illinois offers an opportunity for families to provide feedback to schools and school districts through the completion of the IL 5Essentials Survey. To encourage our students to encourage our families, we have resurrected the time-honored tradition of the 5essentials Survey advisory contest.
The advisory, by grade level, with the most family participation in the IL 5Essentials Survey will win a pizza party outside in the sunshine during their lunch period in May. Families may be experiencing students asking them to take this survey to help their advisory win the pizza party prize. This is a good thing! An additional incentive for families to complete the survey is the chance to win a Bensenville Park District Family Pool Pass for free pool access for a family of four this summer. Please consider giving us your feedback by filling out the survey using the link below. Once you complete the survey, either call the school to notify us, or directly contact your child's advisory teacher. Thank you so much for taking the time to improve our school.
Jewelry Club Shines!
One of Blackhawk's newest extracurricular offering is the Jewelry Club! This club meets every Monday in the Blackhawk Makerspace from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM. So far, these students have learned how to create Pura Vida inspired bracelets, wire wrapped rings, leather bracelets, charm bracelets, and charm necklaces. Students' experience with jewelry creation varies from beginners to accomplished, so all students are welcome to join this club to learn about jewelry creation and make friends.
Each Jewelry Club meeting begins with the viewing of a tutorial video that supports the type of skill to be practiced for that specific meeting. Students are then encouraged to work in collaborative groups and then seek additional support from adults if necessary. Some skills that have been the focus of past meetings include adding clasps and chains to bracelets, adding charms to bracelets and necklaces, and using wire cutters to make wire wrapped rings. Next week, the focus will be beginning the process of adding charms to their leather bracelets! Thank you Ms. Campos for supporting our students in this club.
Blackhawk Alumni Spotlight
This month's Blackhawk Alumni Spotlight shines on Madison Spencer. Madison was promoted from Blackhawk Middle School in 2017 where she then graduated from Fenton High School in 2021.
Something that comes to mind when Madison reflects on her time at Blackhawk is when she and all of her friends would lay in the shady parts of the grass after cross country meets because it felt like they had just run a marathon. She also remembers taking turns with her friends buying cookies from the snack bar everyday during lunch. She shared it became a daily routine. She also reminisced about being in Mr. Rago's class, the bathroom pass would change daily. It was always a good laugh when it was something extremely random. At one point it was a plastic bucket meant for building sandcastles!
While at Blackhawk, Madison participated in cross country, basketball, volleyball, and band. While at Fenton, Madison participated in volleyball, basketball, and softball. Her biggest accomplishment that she reports was staying a three-sport athlete through all four years of high school. She filled a captain role in softball and basketball for two years at Fenton, while earning softball all-conference her senior year.
She is currently in her third year at Elmhurst University. She has learned that it is okay to not always know your next move. She has switched her major three times, yet she is still going to graduate on time, and she couldn't be happier with her decision. She is now a physical education major and looks forward to teaching and impacting students daily. She spent her first two years in college playing softball, but has decided to step back from this to focus on her courses and fieldwork. Her favorite part about being an education major has been meeting so many teachers who are all successful with different styles, which helps her learn more about herself each and every day. The teacher/student relationships are something so special to witness, and she cannot wait to build these connections throughout her upcoming journey.
Since graduating high school, Madison has taken great pride in giving back to my community. She has spent the last three years coaching volleyball and basketball at Fenton. She also works at Tioga (where she attended elementary school) as an after-school educator. Additionally, she is now in her second semester of being a CARE volunteer at Blackhawk. She has really found joy in giving back to all of the schools that she once attended, because she wants the students to have as great an experience as she had.
Ms. Spencer would love to thank Mr. Rago for being who he is and helping her grow into who she has become today. Attending his class, she shared, made her have an increased appreciation for learning in a way that still allowed her to be herself. "Thanks to him, I have learned what I want my teaching environment to look and feel like. He is someone that I wish everybody could meet and be taught by."
When asked what advice she has for current Blackhawk students, Madison shared: "Be kind! Being a good student is extremely important but so is being a good human. Hold the door open, smile, wave, and check in on people. It is the little things that you do that will make the biggest difference. Listen to people when they talk to you, just like you would want in return. Respect EVERYONE, teachers, family, peers, friends, and everyone in between! Take care of yourself, and don't forget to take a deep breath every once in a while. Everything will be okay!"
...and in sports
I Belong @blackhawk_ms
PTO Trivia Night 2024
The Blackhawk PTO Trivia was a fun night for everyone and a successful fundraiser to support special events for our students. Thank you to everyone who attended last Friday night in spite of the snowstorm that popped up that evening. We would also like to thank our parent volunteers who helped organize and supervise the event and all of the generous donations we received in the form of food and prizes. And of course we want to give a shout-out to our own Mr. Georgopoulos, who did not disappoint as the master of ceremonies for the night.
We appreciate everyone who has placed a Blackhawk spirit wear order already as these purchases also go towards supporting student activities. The window for purchasing spirit wear has been extended to Friday March 8th. Please see the link below to explore the different Blackhawk Spirit Wear offerings for you to consider.
The next PTO meeting is Thursday, March 7th at 6:30 in the cafeteria (enter through door 10). If you will need language support for this meeting, please notify the school office by Tuesday, March 5th to allow us time to secure this service.
The Month of March at a Glance
March 1st
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM Teacher Institute Day
March 2nd
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Future Chefs (Elementary event at BMS)
March 4th
8:15 AM - 3:00 PM SOS Makeups
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Art Club Every Monday
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Podcast Club Every Monday
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Jewelry Club Every Monday
4:00 PM Volleyball vs. Churchville GA/BH
March 5th
7:00 AM - 7:40 AM Choir Tues/Thurs
7:00 AM - 7:40 AM Muscle Laboratory Tues/Thurs
8:30 AM- 12:45 PM Fenton Tri-District Band Festival
3:20 PM-4:30 PM Soccer Club-6
3:20 PM-4:30 PM Jazz Band Every Tuesday
March 6th
8:00 AM- 1:00 PM 8th Grade Promotion retakes (Must sign up in Student Center prior)
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM BMS Musical preview
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Scholastic Bowl
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Volleyball practice
March 7th
8:15 AM - 8:58 AM 5Essential survey 6th/7th
9:48 AM-10:42 AM 5Essential survey 8th
3:00 PM-4:00 PM Dare to Dream Club
3:00 PM-4:00 PM PALS Club
3:00 PM-4:00 PM Spanish Club
3:00 PM - 4:25 PM Craft Club/Makerspace Replacing Fashion Club-Every Thursday
4:00 PM Volleyball vs. Sandburg GH/BA
March 8th
7:00 AM - 7:40 Robotics Club Every Friday
8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Young Women's Empowerment Conf @Fenton (8th/Girls)
4:00 PM Volleyball vs. Bryan GA/BH
7:00 PM Blackhawk Musical: Frozen Jr.
PTO Spirit Wear orders due
March 9th
7:00 PM Blackhawk Musical: Frozen Jr.
March 10th
2:00 PM Blackhawk Musical: Frozen Jr.
March 11th
3:15 PM - 8:00 PM Scholastic Bowl @Rosemont Conv. Ctr.
March 12th
3:20 PM- 4:30 PM Soccer Club 7th Grade
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Volleyball Conference Tourney begins TBD
March 13th
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM We Belong Club Every
March 14th
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Sewing Club Every ot
March 16th
1:30 PM - 5:00 PM IGSMA District Band Contest @Clarendon Hills
March 18th
IAR Testing (ELA 1)
DLM Alternative Assessments
March 19th
IAR Testing (Math 1)
DLM Alternative Assessments
3:20 PM - 4:30 PM Soccer Club 8th Grade
March 20th
IAR Testing (ELA 2)
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Gardening Club
March 21st
IAR Testing (Math 2)
March 22nd
IAR Testing (Math 3)
March 25th-March 29th
Spring Break