Join us at the VEX Battle of the Bots and OPEF Open House January 26!
Hi friends:
All are welcome at the Oak Park Education Foundation’s annual VEX Robotics competition, the Battle of the Bots, 9:00 am on Saturday, January 26 in the Julian gym, 416 S. Ridgelandin Oak Park. Come see OPEF teams from Brooks and Julian, plus (new this year!) guest teams from Oak Park, Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, competing with robots they have been designing, building and programming since October.
Also on January 26 in the Julian Atrium, OPEF will hold an Open House from 10 am til noon featuring educational and fun activities from our art, science, architecture and engineering programs. It’s free and will feature hands-on projects for kids ages 5-12. Kids can design and build with LEGOs, experience physics with an astronomer, make a bonsai tree, create a landmark building for our skyline, and operate a VEX Robot.
The event will draw more than a hundred Robotics competitors as well as their cheering coaches and families. There will be a jumbo projection screen featuring live video and scoring information, an emcee and DJ as well as refreshments for sale. Many thanks to our sponsors: Marion Street Cheese Market, Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation, Aria Group Architects, The Rotary Club of Oak Park-River Forest, Automated Lifestyles, Forest Park National Bank & Trust Co., Hoy Landscaping, Fitness Formula Club Oak Park and Starship Restaurant & Catering.
Learn more at www.opef.org!
Best,
Deb

—
Deb Abrahamson
Executive Director
Oak Park Education Foundation
dabrahamson@op97.org
www.opef.org
(708) 524-3023 phone

(708) 524-3019 fax
970 Madison Street
Oak Park, IL 60302

Free Garden Class Available

The Park District has generously offered free classes to PTO members involved with their school gardens. If you have an interest in working with the Irving garden, either this year or in the future, but you’d feel more comfortable by taking  one of these classes to better prepare, please email Laura Crawford, lauracrawford47@gmail.com, to sign up.

Note that you don’t have to be an expert gardener to help out in the Irving garden; anyone is welcome!

The free Park District classes are:

1.      Vegetable Gardening on Saturday, March 2, 9 and 16 from 9 am to 11 am. This will cover all the basics from soil preparation and vegetable selection to vegetable harvesting.

2.      Start Your Own Seeds on Saturday, March 23 from 9 am to 11 am.  How to purchase seed, when and how to germinate it and how to grow seedlings on to garden-ready plants.

Weather and Lunch Recess at Irving

To Irving Parents and Guardians

Old Man Winter has returned to Oak Park and this week promises to be cold and sunny. Lunchtime recess will continue to be outside this week, so please be sure to dress your children appropriately for the weather with gloves, hats and warm coats. Snow pants and boots are optional since snow is not in the forecast. We will continue to assess weather conditions daily to determine if weather is suitable for safe outdoor play.

John Hodge
Irving School Principal

Emilie Creehan
Irving School Student Support Specialist

—
Jamie Peterson-Strokosch,RN, BSN
School Nurse for Washington Irving Elementary School
Oak Park School District 97

Message from the Principal: Lock Down Practice Scheduled for Irving School Staff and Students

Dear Irving Community,

I hope the New Year is off to a good start for all of you, and the transition back to the school routine has been smooth for you and your children.

I am writing to provide you with an update about the plans and activities we are undertaking here at Irving to ensure that we are as prepared as possible for any situation that would necessitate a lock down of our building. On Wednesday, December 19, our staff reviewed our lock down procedures and conducted a practice drill after school without the children present; and tomorrow all of our students and staff will participate in a drill that will be attended by our Resident Beat Officer John Rumoro.

We included information about the drill in this morning’s announcements, and plan to do so again tomorrow. I will also spend time tomorrow reviewing the step-by-step instructions for the drill. Please be assured that we will not discuss the events from Newtown, CT with our students; and have made sure everyone understands that the sole focus of our efforts is to keep Irving safe.

I wanted to let you know about the drill in the event that you want to talk about it with your children, or hear about it from them either today or tomorrow.

Please contact me if have any questions or concerns.  Thank you for your time, attention and continued support of our school.

Regards,

John Hodge
Principal

Note from Nurse Jamie about Influenza:

I am sure many of you are aware of the rise in the number of cases of confirmed influenza and “flu-like illness” in the Chicagoland area. Fortunately, the rates of abseentism at Irving have remained low at this point in the year. However, flu season is predicted to be longer and more severe this year, reaching its peak in January and February. In the interest of keeping our children, families and staff healthy, I wanted to post some friendly reminders from the CDC in preventing and containing influenza.
Symptoms of the flu are: 

  • Fever or feeling feverish/chills ( some cases of flu can be present without fever)
  • Cough
  • Sore throat
  • Runny or stuffy nose
  • Muscle or body aches
  • Headaches
  • Fatigue (tiredness)
  • Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults.

Prevention:

  • CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses.
  • Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.
  • Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
  • If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Flu is highly contagious! Symptoms start 1 to 4 days after the virus enters the body. That means that you can pass the flu on to someone else before you know you are sick, as well as while you are sick.
  • While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them.
  • Maintain healthy sleep habits and include highly nutritious foods in your diet to boost your body’s own immunity.

If you are calling your child in sick, please inform Mrs.Johnson or myself of the reason for the absence so that rates of infection can be monitored. This information will be kept confidential. Wishing you the best in health during this season of contagion! Feel free to call me with any questions or concerns at 708-524-3089.

Nurse Jamie
—
Jamie Peterson-Strokosch,RN, BSN
School Nurse for Washington Irving Elementary School
Oak Park School District 97