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On Thursday of this week, Blackhawk celebrated students through our spring Student Recognition Breakfast. Nominated students and their families were welcomed to the school for a complimentary continental breakfast to celebrate a select group of students who help make our school a great place to come to each day. Each recognized student had a short blurb written by an appreciative staff member which often included elements of our STAR expectations (Safely, Together, Acting Respectfully & Responsibly).

Selected students for this breakfast display one or more of the following criteria:

• Academic mastery (demonstrating high academic mastery)
• Academic growth (demonstrating progress in learning)
• Academic perseverance (demonstrating a strong work ethic)
• STAR student behavior (demonstrating strong character)

We are very proud of our students who were recognized at the breakfast and want to give a thank you shout out to their parents who have supported them through this year of middle school.

This week on Wednesday, some of our 8th grade Latina female students, who are part of the Dare to Dream Club, took a field trip to Elmhurst University to learn about options to empower them in the future. The goal for the Dare to Dream Club is to promote college and career readiness to our Latina students here at Blackhawk. The Center of the Blue Promise that hosted the event was created by Elmhurst University as a direct result of being designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution in 2022. This determination was made due to the school's undergraduate student population of Hispanic/Latinx being at least 25%.

The Center of The Blue Promise provides cultural/educational events, community resources, and wellness programming for students. The Blackhawk students attending this trip received a presentation from the staff at The Center of the Blue Promise where they learned about the importance of cultural spaces on college campuses. Students went on a campus tour where they explored key classroom buildings and student housing dorms. These students also attended a student panel where first-generation Latina students shared their experience preparing for college, attending Elmhurst University, and extracurricular activities they are involved on campus. Blackhawk students had the opportunity to ask these university students any questions they had about college life.

When our students returned from this field trip, students reflected on this experience and they shared takeaways from the trip. One Blackhawk student, Yeimi Ramos Garcia, shared:

"Today taught me that no matter your background or the language you speak, colleges like Elmhurst have safe spaces where you can feel comfortable being yourself and go to if you need support."

This college visit to Elmhurst University exposed students to a college campus, as for most of our students, this was their first college visit. We wish to empower our students by providing experiences that demonstrate how higher education is possible and beneficial as they begin their high school careers. We wish to thank Ms. Campos, Ms. Navar, and Ms. Seiglie who sponsor this club for our students.

On Tuesday evening of this week, District 2 administrators made a presentation entitled "Strengthening School Safety" to interested families.This presentation provided an overview of the rich offerings available in District 2 to support families in need. A review of the numerous resources available at the Family Resource Center located at Tioga school was one important part of this presentation. Other avenues for help that were shared included services provided by the DuPage County Health Department, Northeast DuPage Family & Youth Services, and Call 211 of Dupage. More information can be found in the link Below.

School safety procedures and protocols were also reviewed and discussed for attendees of this presentation. The newly adopted Standard Response Protocol (SRP) was reviewed to inform families of District 2's plans for maintaining security in the face of a variety of different safety circumstances. The Standard Response Protocol includes the components:

• Hold
• Secure
• Lockdown
• Evacuate
• Shelter

Information about a safety audit that all District 2 buildings underwent in 2022 was reviewed. District 2 is partnering with the DuPage Regional Office of Education safety facilitator to ensure proper and up-to-date safety procedures are taking place within our schools.

On Wednesday, May 1st of this week, the Blackhawk Choir had its spring concert. The students have been working very hard to prepare for this event and had a wonderful performance. We want to salute all of our choir members for their dedication and also recognize Ms. Ramel for all she has done with the students this year to develop the Blackhawk voices.

This month the Blackhawk Alumni Spotlight shines on Daniel Chaidez. Daniel was promoted from Blackhawk in 2002 where he then attended Fenton High School and graduated in 2006.

Daniel shared some of his fond memories of his time at Blackhawk included school assemblies, attending school basketball games, and playing pick-up basketball games at the Leisure Center or baseball at DiOrio Park with friends he made at school. Daniel also remembers learning how to read music and play instruments in middle school. In high school, Daniel enjoyed being in band, jazz band, and pep band, and playing volleyball. Daniel had several academic honors while at Fenton including Social Studies Student of the Year, membership in the National Honor Society, High Honor Roll, a member of the Academic Team, and received credit for several AP courses, allowing him to get a headstart on college credit while at Fenton.

After high school, Daniel received a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and graduated in 2010. He then went to law school at John Marshall Law School, now known as UIC Law. He graduated as a member of the class of 2013. He took the bar exam to become a lawyer and passed on his first try in the summer of 2013, an accomplishment not all lawyers can claim. Daniel has been a licensed and practicing attorney since 2013. Daniel shares, "Attending Blackhawk created the foundation for good study habits, test taking strategies, while also allowing me to balance education with entertainment. I made friends while at Blackhawk that I still keep in touch with today."

Daniel works as a personal injury attorney at the Law Offices of Mathys & Schneid in Naperville, IL. He lives with his wife, 10-month old daughter, dog, and cat in Carol Stream. He is fluent in English and Spanish, and is thrilled to be living his dream of providing a benefit to the Hispanic community regarding personal injury claims, lawsuits, insurance coverage, and overall legal help. While he only works on injury claims, he has a wide network of attorneys and other resources that he can refer potential clients to for assistance. He has been at the same law firm his entire career, because according to Daniel, he is lucky enough to work with attorneys and staff who care about helping people through difficult times.

When asked what teachers stand out in his memory from his time at Blackhawk, Daniel said, "Mrs. Unnasch (homeroom, language arts) was a very caring and effective teacher; Mrs. Larson (band, jazz band) taught me the value of discipline and hard work; and Mrs. Zabel somehow managed to treat us 8th graders as both students and maturing teenagers."

When asked if he had any advice for our current Blackhawk students, Daniel shared: "Do not be afraid to try new things and go outside of your comfort zone. When you take risks, you learn what you really enjoy and you can then shape your life around that. Learn another language, and do so fluently. I cannot tell you how much of a help it has been to be bilingual in both English and Spanish both in school and in my career. Having friends is important, but do not focus on being popular with everyone in school. Everything you do at Blackhawk and Fenton will lay a foundation for the rest of your life, so sacrifice a little bit of your social life to study an extra hour for a test or to participate in an extracurricular activity. When you're in your 30s, you won't remember a party you attended in middle school. Those things may seem important now, but trust me, there is so much more to life when you get older, start working and earning money, and providing for others. That said though, make sure you go outside and play. We live in an era where everything is online and extremely connected, so it can be easy to only play with friends online or interact through social media. However, if this is the limit of your social life, you lose out on chances to learn important interpersonal skills, how to communicate effectively, and how to 'read a room.' These are things you'll need as an adult that aren't taught in the classroom, but are instead lessons you pick up naturally just by 'doing.' So, instead of playing one more game on MLB: The Show on the PS5, gather your friends and go play actual baseball at DiOrio. You'll remember that more."

The Blackhawk Middle School Scholastic Bowl Team visited Fenton High School on Tuesday, April 30th to meet the Academic Bowl Team coaches. Fenton treated the team to pizza and an exhibition match. It was a great visit and wonderful to see former Blackhawk students who are now a part of the Fenton team. Scholastic Bowl's season begins every January here at Blackhawk and ends with a final tournament in March at the Rosemont Convention Center.

May 1st

Dare to Dream Field Trip 8:45 AM - 1:45 PM

Gardening Club 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Talent show tryouts 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

BMS Chorus Concert 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Track practice 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

May 2nd

Spring Student Recognition Breakfast 7:00 AM - 7:30 AM

Dare to Dream Club 3:00 PM - 4:00 pm Every Thursday

Craft Club 3:00 pm - 4:25 pm Every Thursday

Track practice 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

May 3rd

Robotics Club 7:00 AM - 7:40 AM

7th grade Field Trip-Museum of Science and Industry 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Track practice 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

May 6th

Art Club 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Jewelry Club 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Track & Field Conference Meet @Elmhurst 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

May 7th

Choir 7:00 AM - 7:40 AM Tuesday & Thursday

Muscle Fitness Club 7:00 AM - 7:40 AM

Fenton visits 8th Grade 8:15 AM - 9:45 AM

Soccer Club-7 3:20 PM - 4:30 PM

Jazz Band 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Track & Field Conference Meet @Elmhurst 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

May 8th

MAP Reading Test

We Belong Club 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Rain date-Conference Meet 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

May 9th

MAP Math Test

BMS District Band Festival 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

May 10th

Young Entrepreneurial Pitch Contest 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM

5th Gr. Orientation /Johnson School@ BMS 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

May 12th

Mother's Day

May 14th

STARburst Breakfast in Café 7:50 AM - 8:35 AM

Soccer Club-8 3:20 PM - 4:30 PM

May 16th

Sewing Club 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Spanish Club 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

May 17th

5th Gr. Orientation / Tioga School@ BMS 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

May 21st

8th Grade Chromebook Collection

Soccer Club-6 3:20 PM - 4:30 PM

May 23rd

8th Grade Field Trip-Camp Duncan 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM

PALS Club 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

May 24th

Talent Show and STAR spring Raffle

8th Grade Promotion Gowns distributed 8th/9th periods

May 25th

Fine Arts Field Trip-6 Flags Great America 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM

May 27th

NO SCHOOL-Memorial Day

May 28th

8th Grade Promotion Practice 8:45 AM - 11:30 AM

Promotion Ceremony 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Last Day of School for 8th grade

May 30th

End of 3rd Trimester

Last Day of School for 6th and 7th grade