Newsletter Archive
School Bulletin for the Week of January 24, 2007
board update and thank you
New Treasurer: The Board of Trustees is pleased to report that Simon Thompson has recently taken over the position of Treasurer for the Chicago Waldorf School. Simon is a business consultant with Cap Gemini and has been serving on the Finance Committee since he was elected to the Board at the end of last school year. Simon and his wife Jan are parents of one of our first graders and have been a strong supporters of Waldorf education, here in Chicago and across the globe. Simon replaces the interim Treasurer, Michael Shapiro.
Thank You, Michael Shapiro: While Michael Shapiro will continue on the Board of Trustees through June, the Board members and the CWS community would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to he who has served our school in so many different capacities over a long period of years as member of the Board of Trustees, Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair and member, Tuition Adjustment Committee chair and member, and Board Development Committee and Board Executive Committee member. We appreciate the generous care, dedication, expertise and good judgment that Michael has given to all of us in supporting the well being of our school during his family's time at CWS. Many thanks for all that you have done and continue to do for CWS.
-Susan Snyder, Corporate Secretary and Chair
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Front Line Report…Life After Graduation
Coffee & Conversation…with CWS Alum Cody Rubin
Monday, January 29 • 8:15am • Canteen
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knock! knock! who's there? chicago waldorf school…
The other day we were pondering (sometimes we do that), what we were missing in the way of Auction participation. As all of you know our Auction goal is to not only fun(d) raising but total school
participation. Out of an Auction flash, it came to us…
From the East Texas Town of El Paso, to the Windy City of Chicago and on both sides of the ocean, students have knocked on friendly doors and asked family and friends to participate in their school fund raisers. In the old days you would find few parents that willingly hawked wrapping paper and band candy at the office. Usually the parents groused, the family dog enjoyed a few candy bars, and the same neighborhood dollar got passed from door to door.
Many of us remember with pride and ownership our efforts at helping our school raise money, even if our parents winced at
our first efforts at record and bookkeeping.
As we hunt and gather for Red Carpet Gala and sell $10 raffle tickets, let us not forget to include the students. Strong participation now leads to strong alumni later. Here are a few suggestions as to how to include students:
Baskets: Students young and old can put together a basket. Discuss a theme around their interests. Have them decide who they will ask for donations. Some basket ideas might be themed around ballet, books, bird watching, wood work, art and sports.
Ads: We are selling business ads for the catalog. Students can sell business ads to local businesses and friends. They can ask adult friends in any number of professions and/or their doctor, dentist, or local breakfast restaurant to buy ads.
Raffle Tickets: This is a natural for students in all the grades.
Invite your children to participate in this year's Auction. Their attempts and results will be thanked and appreciated. Their efforts will make a difference.
This week we are hunting for the following items; be the class that brings in the most items and your teacher will get a $10 Starbucks Card (make sure your class is listed on the donation form for credit):
•Case of Cubs beer, case of White Sox beer, Cubs and White Sox hats
•beach towel, 2 margarita glasses, box of drink umbrellas (the paper kind)
•golf hat, tees, balls, clubs, shirt
•anything video,
•anything Irish
•Hawaiian Shirt
•and as always…restaurants, gadgets, airline miles, sports tickets, trips, hotels, unique items money cannot buy! Things with glitz, sparkle and wow power.
We are Wowed By You! Thank you!!!
-Daina, Chad, Shannon, Jamie & Katybeth
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(en)rolling along
To all of you who told your friends and neighbors about last Sunday’s Open House — Thank You!
Remember — you can help us with enrollment. A new year is upon us and with it comes new opportunities to support CWS. Our data confirms that the most effective recruitment for our school comes through parent referrals. Help spread the word — stop by the Main Office to pick up brochures and postcards to distribute around town.
Be sure also to remind your friends and neighbors about the upcoming School Tour on Thursday, February 8th from 8:30
-10:30am. Encourage them to rsvp to the Admissions Office at 773.828.8468.
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manna
Yes…you, too, can hop on this wagon and help CWS by ordering your monthly groceries, gasoline and more through the
Manna program. Remember — it doesn't cost you anything (other than a little arranging) and the food stores/gas companies pay us. Put your money to work for CWS! Manna monthly orders are ready for pick-up during the 1st week of every month. You can have it debited from your account on two different days, pay as you pick-up or even have it charged (for those that collect miles). Give Manna coordinator, Judy Collins, a call at 773.828.8457 and she will gladly give you additional information.
New to Manna: Charmers Café/The Dagel and Beli Shop. This new café and sandwich shop opened in 2006 only 12 blocks north of CWS by a parent of four CWS students! Located half block east of the Jarvis Red Line ‘L’ stop at the corner of Jarvis and Greenview (7400 North). All purchases by CWS families will earn a 5% donation to the Annual Fund at the end of each school year; purchase a $15 card through Manna and use your loyalty card to record your purchases! Charmers Café was chosen by Time Out Chicago as its favorite coffee shop in Rogers Park. They gave a score of 39 out of 50 — pretty good for a café that just opened!
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end of the line…
…the deadline, that is. If you are planning to advertise your business or service in this year’s yearbook, there is still time — sort of. The absolute deadline for submitting your ad with camera-ready artwork is this Friday, January 26th! Please send your camera-ready or electronic personal or business ads to Tiffany Ying at tying@chicagowaldorf.org. A yearbook ad is a great way to promote your business and get your message out to our community. Ad prices are as follows:
•Full page — 7.5” wide x 10” high: $160
•Half page — 7.5” wide x 5” high: $80
•Quarter page — 3.75” wide x 5” high: $65
•Business card — 3.5” wide x 2” high: $55
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hearty applause
The Middle School Band & Orchestra (Grades 6, 7, and 8) perform today at the Daley Center as part of the Under the Picasso series. This is an excellent opportunity for our students to gain experience perform in public performance, as well giving the public to hear and see the students from the Chicago Waldorf School at their very best.
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cash reward
The resident CWS statistician is looking for a copy of the CWS directory from 1997-1998, which was printed as stapled, mimeographed sheets. If anyone has a copy to donate, lend or copy, please contact Ilene Warfield in the Grade School office (iwarfield@chicagowaldorf.org or 773.465.2372).
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the book of thanks
Dear Parents, Thank you so much for the holiday gift. It was unexpected and very generous of you. I was able to spend an entire afternoon at my favorite bookstore without feeling a single guilty pang! Thank you!
-Becky Haase, CWS Librarian
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kicked off
Don’t be ticked off because you don’t want to miss kick off! The Instrumental Music Festival, originally set for Sunday, February 4th at 2pm, will be rescheduled to better accomodate the Super Bowl. Details will be forthcoming. Go Bears!
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media watch: from daily to occasional
One day some 3-4 years ago, something happened that really clinched it for us. Our daughter, now in 1st grade, was about three years old.
My husband and I had begun to realize that there was a real consequence to letting our daughter watch TV. She wanted more. Our otherwise fairly calm and reasonable daughter cried and screamed when a program was over, or when we said no to watching something else. Sometimes this would lead to tantrums. Threatened with no more TV or videos at all, she made courageous attempts to improve, but still cried and remained uninterested in any other activity for at least an hour. We were torn by her behavior. We had enjoyed Mr. Rogers as children and wanted to give her that same experience. And we had purchased videos in French to complement the French I spoke to her. And, I wanted that 30-60 minutes of uninterrupted time. Yet clearly, the resulting behavior was a red flag.
At first we decided on a maximum of 30 minutes a day. Then we began skipping days. At first she would ask every day and cry when I said no. Then she stopped asking every day and, miracle of miracles, even started to follow my “No, not today” with a very mature, “Okay. That's what I thought you would say” and skip off to play. She became very busy with her imaginary play or engrossed in an art activity and would forget to ask. We got it down to just once a week. For the past two years, a handful of times a year is our max. We try to make it a special family occasion to watch something appropriate. Whatever difficulty we went through to wean her, it was absolutely worth it.
So, what had happened on that particular day some four years ago? Stay tuned …
-Sylvie Desouches, 3rd Grade Class Teacher
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coach's desk
All of our teams are really fighting to find themselves right now. As players begin to improve and become more confident, they are trying to find ways to use their new-found abilities.
The high school girls have really struggled as they are becoming stronger individual players and are starting to depend less on one player, but haven’t quite put it all together yet. The girls’ season is only a couple of weeks longer, so if you haven’t come out to see our girls in action, there aren’t too many more opportunities left this year. Support our girls as they will go into the tournaments as underdogs.
The high school boys are realizing that all of the little things that happen in a game really do matter to the outcome. They are working hard to stop making these little things negatives for the team.
The middle school boys are beginning to see that to play well and be competitive they need to play every minute with pride in what they are doing and pride for their team. Each player is looking to step up their level of game.
Upcoming Games:
High School Boys
•Friday, January 26, Home vs College Prep, 5:30pm
•Sunday, January 28, Away vs Yeshiva, 5:00pm
High School Girls
•Wednesday, January 31, League Tournament
•Monday, February 5, Regionals
Middle School Boys
•Tuesday, January 30, Home vs UIC, 4:30pm
Go Thunder!
-Christian Schnell, Athletic Director
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digestion corner
As we continue to build our own recycling program, sympathetic gestures are arising within city hall. Here at CWS, we contract with the Resource Center, which is a non-profit that guarantees that 99% of the recycling they pick up will be recycled. Because they make this guarantee, they must be somewhat restrictive about what they can accept (for instance, no corrugated cardboard and only plastics which are shaped like bottles). However you now have another
option for items that can’t be recycled through school. Read below about new drop off centers where you can take many of
these items:
Blue Drop-Off Centers: As a first step in transforming residential recycling in Chicago, the Dept. of Streets
and Sanitation has already opened 15 new drop-off centers citywide for the deposit of clean recyclables. At these sites, your recycled paper, cardboard, and plastic/glass/aluminum cans and bottles can all be mixed together. This is called
‘single-stream’ recycling and is the same system used by most other cities from San Francisco and Seattle, to Evanston and Oak Park. It is NOT the same as mixing recycling with garbage! The material you deposit will be taken to the same recycling company that currently processes the clean recycling from the Beverly pilot.
What: Glass jars and bottles ; aluminum cans, foil and pie tins, tin or steel cans, cereal boxes, paper towel rolls etc.; corrugated cardboard, plastic bottles and containers (#1-5 & 7) ; junk mail ; magazines and catalogs ; telephone books ; paper bags ; office paper and file folders ; newspaper and inserts.
Where: Far North Side Site: 6441 Ravenswood (just across Clarke, one block South of Arthur!)
Taken from chicagorecycling.org and cityofchicago.org. For the full flyer, go to The Chicago Recycling Website.
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community announcements
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condolences
Our thoughts and prayers are with John McGillicuddy (12) and family on the passing of John’s paternal grandfather on January 14th.
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seeing is believing
Dr. Jeffrey Getzell is giving a free lecture on behavioral optometry at 7:00pm Monday, January 29th at his office at 1740 Ridge, Ste 100B, Evanston. Seating is limited; please rsvp to 847.866.9850 to reserve a spot.
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mystical fact
Beginning Friday, February 2, 2007, the public study group of the Rudolf Steiner Branch will take up the study of Christianity as Mystical Fact by Rudolf Steiner. Meetings will begin at 7:30pm and end at 9:00pm and will be held at the Rudolf Steiner Branch at 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Everyone is welcome.
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poetry pause
Waldorf parent alum, Maureen Flannery, will be the featured poet at an open-mike poetry night from 7:30-10pm on Monday, February 5th at Jak’s Tap (restaurant/pub), 701 W Jackson, Chicago. Maureen will also be one of several readers of human rights poetry in an exhibit/opening of women’s art at WomanMade Gallery, 685 N Milwaukee from 2-4pm on Sunday, February 11. They will read poetry inside an art installation/simulation of Abu Ghraib.
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look who’s knitting now
Knitting is the core of a first-time exhibition that explores the renaissance of handmade crafts, folk art, decorative art and fine arts. View the display of works by Chicago-based artists and artisans employing various techniques including: quilting, a crocheted sculptural installation, handmade hardwood eyeglass frames, hand-dyed/hand-printed T-shirts, innovative jewelry crafted from recycled eyeglass lenses and an oversize knitting installation. Watch the creation of artworks during on-site artists’ demonstrations. Participate in hands-on workshops and knitting circles to learn the basics, help create an artwork or make a piece of your own to take home. The exhibit runs through February 28. Open Mondays-Fridays from 10am-6pm; Saturdays from 9am-5 pm and Sundays, 10am – 6pm at the Chicago Tourism Center, 72 E. Randolph St., Chicago. Admission is free. For more information visit the Handmade: Winter Delights Stitching Salon website.
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classified ads
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The Folk Dance teachers, Terran Doehrer and Jutta Distler need to upgrade their wheels. After a bunch of research, we are hoping for a Toyota Sienna (year 2000 or earlier) or a Ford Taurus (preferably a 2003 or 2004 station wagon but a sedan would be okay). A Ford Crown Victoria (1998-2000) would work, too. But if you have something else, call — maybe it will be the right thing for us! So — any angels out there who will help out? If you know of anyone, please have them call Terran 847.864.1022 or Terran Doehrer.
Guitar and Percussion Lessons Available in your home. I have plenty of experience working with newcomers to music and have taught children and adults alike. Students learn technique and the art of reading music while exploring styles like jazz, classical, pop or rock. Lessons are available in your home. Please contact Matt at 773.697.7591 or Matt the Music Teacher with any questions or for scheduling. References are available.
Workshop on Conscious Parenting begins February 13th. Parent Effectiveness Training introduces a compassionate, democratic parenting style that is effective with children because it is based on helping children and parents get their needs met in a mutually respectful way. The workshop will run on Tuesdays from 9-11am until April 3rd. Skills are effective for parents of children of all ages. Please call Adam Levin, Psy.D. at 847.267.0001 ext 3 for more info or go to Gordon Training.
Need a babysitter? I am a 12th grade student here at the Chicago Waldorf High School and have many years of babysitting experience. I’m very available! Please give me a call 773.784.7914. -Kiah Shapiro.
Mathematics Tutor: CWS parent state-credentialed in math and currently offering tutoring. I encourage students to take ownership of math concepts through the use of physical math models and by allowing them to pursue their natural curiosity. The initial consultation is free. $35/hour. Please call Verne Petersen at 773.478.7695.
New Yoga Class: Tuesday 8:15-9:15am in Roberta’s new space (1228 W. Loyola) just one block east of school. This Hatha Yoga class taught by CWS parent Cheryl Henley, a long-time Iyengar yoga teacher and founder of Wild Onion Yoga. Space is limited. For more info, call 847.869.0250.
Remediation Services: Waldorf graduate (CWS and WWS K-12) offering remediation tutoring to 3rd-12th graders in reading, writing and early math. M.A. in Learning Disabilities (Northwestern University) and training in neurodevelopmental exercises Sessions individualized to meet the learning style of your child. A holistic approach including movement exercises and nutrition tips to support learning Call Jennie Cain 847.987.5943.
Massage Therapist with 15 years experience! CWS mom, Roberta Schmatz, is now offering massage in her space just down the block. Ome in for an hour or just 15 minutes. Call 773.972.3549 for an appointment.
Four Free Friendly Felines born December 4, 2006; ready to go January 29th. Socialized and eager to meet their new families. Fone Fast for Friendly Service. All must go!! Call Elaine 773.456.7658.
Caricature & Portrait Artist:Professional illustrator and cartoonist, Andy Willis has over 35 years of experience in all areas of visual art. Learn to draw whatever you want! Classes on Tuesdays, beginning February 27th for 6 weeks, $100. Time is 3-5pm at Roberta’s (1228 W Loyola); will pick up from school. Call 773.972.3549 to reserve your spot!