Friday Final

We hope you all had a wonderful and restful holiday! As we reflect on the school year so far, we are filled with gratitude for the many memorable moments that have brought joy, learning, and growth to our community.

From engaging classroom projects to exciting extracurricular achievements, this year has already been full of accomplishments and inspiration.

As we move into the final stretch of the calendar year, we look forward to continuing this momentum and making the most of the weeks ahead before winter break.

From classrooms to stages, athletic fields to culinary labs, and everywhere in between, we know you’ve been making waves in “tomorrow’s world,” and we can’t wait to hear all about it! As we celebrate 123 years, let’s showcase the amazing achievements of our alumni and keep the D123 spirit thriving. Don't miss your chance to shine in the second edition of our alumni spotlight E-Newsletter, D123 4-WARD!

Check out our first edition HERE! Click the button below to submit your story for possible inclusion in the second edition coming this December!

This school year has already been filled with many moments to be grateful for, and it's only November! At our new Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123 Early Learning Center, our youngest students are discovering new things each and every day! From the first day of school to the first snow fall of the season, these classrooms have been filled with joy and learning.

It's also important to take the time to celebrate! At the Early Learning Center, we wore yellow and shared our biggest smiles for World Smile Day, and we invited families for a wonderful time during our Fall Celebrations.

We are incredibly thankful for all these moments and many more to come!

From celebrating the third day of 3rd grade to recognizing the Cougar Code Winners at the end of the first trimester, Covington Elementary knows the importance of acknowledging these milestone moments. These recognitions help students set goals, be proud of what they have achieved, and motivate them to continue doing their best. We are also grateful for our Covington PTO for organizing amazing family events including the Bingo and Ice Cream Night, bringing the community together for an evening of fun.

Before celebrating the holidays at home, we also mark these special days in school, and sometimes we use math to do it! Students cooked up some fraction magic before Thanksgiving by doubling and halving recipes for their class-giving celebrations, using this fun moment to work on multiplying fractions.

We are grateful to come together and celebrate these incredible moments in learning!

At Hannum Elementary, this year has been full of highlights to be thankful for! Our recently renovated media center has been full of joy with everything from STEAM activities to special guest readers. Chicago Bears Chairperson George McCaskey visited Hannum to present the Chicago Bears Classroom Legend Award, and stayed to read three stories to excited second graders.

Students also collaborated in Math WIN (What I Need) sessions, an important time of the day when students work on what they need to the most, ensuring continual growth in all areas of learning. A culminating activity made each 1st grader a surgeon for the day after finishing their human body unit.

D123 is thankful to the educators who carefully plan these experiences to celebrate the students' achievements.

From math and McDonald's to nursery rhymes and parades, Hometown Elementary knows how to have fun while learning! In Math WIN sessions, students mixed addition and probability to find out which number would be rolled the most when using two dice. To celebrate the end of the Nursery Rhymes unit, students participated in a culminating event - the Nursery Rhymes Olympics, where they completed different stations and repeated the rhymes they learned.

After learning about the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, students created balloon floats for their very own Hometown parade, led by a Thanksgiving turkey. We are also thankful for our Hometown PTA, who held a special fundraiser at McDonald's to help organize fun events for the school community.

Thank you to all the educators and community members for sharing in the celebration of these learning moments.

At Kolmar Elementary, learning happens everywhere! From a field trip to the Morton Arboretum to learn more about the nature all around us to playing "tic-tac-numbers" to work on number sense and strategic thinking, our students never stop discovering new things. In a culminating activity for their Nursery Rhymes unit, kindergarten students built better structures for Humpty Dumpty to avoid his great fall and helped Little Bo Peep find all her sheep.

We are also grateful for our Kolmar PTA for putting together fun events for our school community, including the Winter Craft Night. It was such a great time seeing families explore their creativity together.

It is important to recognize these moments and be thankful for all of these fun learning opportunities for our students.

Students learn in all sorts of different ways, and at Sward Elementary, they are soaring to new heights! Fall themed phonics activities is a fun way to have students match the word to its picture, while tiles can be used for students to collaboratively determine the area of a variety of shapes and build their understanding of multiplication.

Outside of the classroom, students also discover new skills in their extracurricular activities, and in Girls who Code Club, they are learning how to code conversations between their characters and more creative ways to use computer science. During the Sward Glow Run, students acknowledged the importance of staying active and also engaged in philanthropy by raising funds for the school.

Sward is thankful for all of the unique ways students are learning new things and for the Sward PTA's organization of fun events for the whole school community!

Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School is filled with students doing amazing things! Whether they are packaging candy to ship out to soldiers overseas or walking 6 kilometers to raise funds for the construction of a library in Africa, there are many opportunities for students to volunteer and be a part of a cause at OLHMS. During a grab a donut, grant a wish event, OLHMS partnered with the Oak Lawn Police Department to collect donations for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

In addition to achieving great things in the classroom, many students also excel in athletics. The Lady Mustang Basketball teams have had an incredible season, and we wish them luck in the playoffs.

Thank you to all the OLHMS students and community members for their continued involvement in philanthropic and learning opportunities!

• Wednesday, December 11

Watch the Community update at: facebook.com/district123

During the 1992-93 School Year, District 123 made significant changes to the building that was once Brandt School and transformed it into a Science and Environmental Center. The center contained labs for physical science, life science, and earth/environmental science experiments and investigations. A "Discovery" room allowed students to observe a wide array of live animals and experiment with a number of self-directed science oriented displays. the photos above were featured in the 1992 Fall Issue of "Focus on District 123," a mailed newsletter from the District.