This week classes discussed earth day , we had Bus Driver Appreciation Day, Administrative Assistants Day, the Homewood Children's Choir, Willow marching band, and our 2nd graders had their Step Up day at Churchill. Whew! We are busy!

Be sure to read the Bulletin and the newsletter from your child's teacher each week. There is so much happening as we get near the end of the year about which you need to know! Next week we have:

Tues: El Dia de los Ninos- The day of the Child

Thurs: Family Reading Night ( advanced sign up required) and kickball day 1

Fri: School Lunch Hero Day, kickball day 2, and our Unified Champion parade at 1:30

Sat: Special Olympics

The following week is Staff Appreciation week. Please see below how to help PTA make this special for our staff. We know they are the best!

Thank you for the tissue donations! We appreciate your generosity!

We have a limited number of yearbooks available for $20/cash in the Willow Office if you missed purchasing one earlier.

The Chicago Bears are excited to share our Classroom Legends program with you, where we celebrate and honor outstanding educators who go above and beyond for their students. We invite you to nominate Classroom Legends in your school or community who deserve recognition for their dedication and impact.

If your Classroom Legend is selected, they will receive a personalized Bears jersey, custom hand-painted football, and Chicago Bears gift bag! Thanks to our partners at CDW, each Classroom Legends recipient will be presented a $1,000 check for their classroom and will be invited as a special guest to a Bears game or off-season event!

How to nominate: Simply fill out our nomination form https://www.chicagobears.com/community/classroom-legends

Staff Appreciation Week is May 6th - 10th and we want to make our teachers and staff feel appreciated! Please bring donations of school supplies, gift cards or other tokens of appreciation for District 153 Staff to the school offices by Friday, May 3rd, and let the staff know it is for the PTA staff donation drive. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out.

Sincerely,
Your HSD153 PTA

Summer EBT is designed to reduce childhood hunger. Beginning in summer 2024, Illinois will participate in this new nationwide permanent Summer EBT program. Eligible children will receive a one-time benefit of $120 per summer on an EBT card to purchase food.

Planning for next year is well under way. If you would like to share your perspective about how your child learns, please use the link below. We will also gather information from your child's current teacher. The link will close on May 31st. Here are some things to consider:

• We do not accept requests for specific teachers.
• Sometimes a best friend doesn't translate into a good classmate.
• Your Wildcat will be placed with a classmate or two from this year.
• The classroom teacher will provide us with academic levels and other pertinent information.

We had a check in from Germany and then 14 states. Thanks to our 448 readers!

If you've noticed anyone at Willow going above and beyond, please use the link to recognize him/her/them! 💖 I share your kind words with them in my staff bulletin.

https://forms.office.com/r/L4vYqd7NpN

Park Pride May 4: https://hfparks.com/event/park-pride/

Mother's Day Tea Party May 11: https://hfparks.com/event/mothers-day-tea-party/

Learn to Skate Classes: https://app.amilia.com/store/en/homewood---flossmoor-park-district/shop/programs/89858?subCategoryIds=4609164&subCategoryIds=4591354

Summer Camps: https://hfparks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2024-Summer-Camp-Brochure-ver-2-FINAL.pdf

Cookies and Comics

April 30 | 6 PM | All Ages

Let’s talk comics with cookies!

Register Here

April 26: Arbor Day

May: Asian & Pacific Island Heritage Month

Mental Health Awareness month

Apr. 30: Dia de los Ninos

May 2: Family Reading Night 6-7:30 PM/ kickball day 1

May 3: School Lunch Hero Day and Unified Champions parade at 1:30/kickball day 2

May 4: Special Olympics

May 6-10: Teacher Appreciation Week

May 8: School Nurses’ Day

May 10: Willow Art Show

May 12: Mother’s Day

May 17: PreK Fun Friday

May 18: Speech Pathologist Appreciation Day

May 24: Early Dismissal – 11:40 AM

May 27: Memorial day- no school