SUMMER NEWS

This summer has been very busy and filled with unexpected (but) happy surprises.

The Ide renovation is coming along nicely and the school looks terrific. I cannot wait for our Open House so everyone can see the changes - for a sneak peek check out Dr. Tiede's blog for pictures :)

The Hansen household has increased by one! Marc a beautiful and wonderful 3 year old boy has moved in and filled our home with love and happiness. I have been able to introduce him to many Ide families as we've been out and about in the neighborhood.

I hope all of you are having a terrific summer and enjoying time with family and friends.

THE YEAR IS ALMOST OVER

I can't believe we are at the end of another school year. I have enjoyed working with all of you and your children this year. For those of you going on to Prairieview I wish you the best of luck and hope you'll come back and visit us here at Ide; especially since we'll be renovating the building this summer.

The renovations will begin immediately after school ends on Wednesday, June 2nd and should be completed by mid-August (keep your fingers crossed)!!! If you need any assistance during the month of June the office will be relocated to Prairieview (630) 783-5100. Once we are back at Ide we'll send out an email informing all of you.

When everything is complete I will be posting some before and after pictures so that everyone can view and enjoy the changes. I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing summer!!!!!

THANK YOU PTO

UNIQUE ASSEMBLY

We are so lucky to have such wonderful, supportive and generous members of the Elizabeth Ide PTO. They spend so many hours helping the staff and students enrich our educational and social programs. Last Friday, the PTO treated the students to a "Unique Assembly". At this assembly students were put into teams and asked questions from our very own curriculum, that's what makes it unique :), questions about current events and pop culture, as well as having to perform some physical challenges. It was very exciting and the students absolutely enjoyed themselves.

TEACHER APPRECIATION

This week the PTO has supplied wonderful lunches for the staff of our school for teacher appreciation. A BIG Thank You goes out to everyone who sent in the delectable goodies. We have truly enjoyed each and every lunch and have gained at least 5 pounds apiece!

APRIL POSITIVE PAWS

Friday, May 7th the PTO has scheduled an Author Assembly for the students. This author writes books in a series called USA Dogs. He has written about racing greyhounds, therapy dogs and search and rescue dogs. He will be bringing his Greyhound, Honey, with for the assembly. As a special treat he has offered to eat lunch with the students to discuss his books. To choose the students, we picked 16 PAWS instead of 6 for the month of April and those students will get to eat lunch with the author.

The lucky winners are: Abbie S., James R., Jacob S., AJ F., Sadie M., Jake D., Tony T., Kathan A., Jacob P., Claire V., Kate S., Lucas G., Lily V., Dana K., Sydney R. and Brett K.

Congratulations :) I'll post a picture on Friday!

DISTRICT 66 GENEROSITY

Two events have taken place this past month that really show the generosity of our district.

The district PTO held their annual On-Line auction which brought in a whopping $8,300.oo! This money supplements the technology we are able to bring our students. A big thank you goes out to Jill Hegarty and Cheryl Ferreri for gathering all of the fantastic auction items and running the auction with the help of our technology director Kathy Kucera.

The response to the Adopt-A-Rainforest coin donation was tremendous! While collecting the coins over a week period, WE RAISED $293.58!! The students, parents, and teachers at Elizabeth Ide really contributed to raising the awareness about the importance of rainforests. Our donation will be used for a conservation project in either Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, or Nicaragua. I have asked the Rainforest Alliance to allocate our donation to the neediest project. Thank you for supporting our Character Counts program and Earth Day 2010!

Events at Elizabeth Ide

Spring is a busy time of the year for everyone and our school is no different. There are many exciting things going on or coming up in the near future. Take a peek and see how you can be involved!

District 66 On-Line Fundraiser http://www.ccsd66.org/AUCTION/Items2010.html

Center Cass District 66 PTO Silent Auction 2010
Auction Ends at 3:00 PM on 4/25/2010

Adopt-a-Rainforest - Send in coins to help save the Rainforest

Sponsored by the Elizabeth Ide Character Counts Committee

Event ends 04/23/2010

Spring Book Fair and Open House

Thursday, April 29th

6:30 - 8:00

Family Fun Fishing

Sunday, May 2nd

11:00 - 1:00

HAPPY BREAK

I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing spring break. The weather is supposed to be great so spend some time outdoors enjoying yourself.

April will be another busy month filled with exciting activities:

Monday, April 5th - Classes Resume

Saturday, April 10th - Market Day @ LV - 9:30 - 10:30

Tuesday, April 13th - School Board Meeting @ LV 7:00

Thursday, April 15th - Ide PTO Meeting @ 3:45

Monday - Tuesday, April 19 -20th - 2nd Grade OLSAT testing

Thursday, April 22nd - Early Dismissal at Noon

PM Kindergartners attend in the morning; AM stays home

Thursday, April 29th - Spring Open House

WEARING OF THE GREEN

WHY DO WE WEAR GREEN ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Originally the color associated with Saint Patrick was blue, not,in fact, green. However over the years the color green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day. Then in 1798 in hopes of making a political statement Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion gimmick. The phrase "the wearing of the green", meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from the song of the same name. It began as a purely Christian holiday and became an official feast day in the early 1600s. However, it has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Ireland's culture.

In honor of this Irish holiday, let's all try to wear green on March 17th!!!!