BSD2's Community Newsletter | February 28, 2018
YOU BELONG @BSD2!
New song - written and performed by District 2 students - proclaims that “everyone is welcome here!”
In October, Nashville singer/songwriter Steve Seskin and fourth and fifth graders from W.A. Johnson School teamed up to write and perform a new song titled "I Belong." The song is inspired by Blackhawk Middle School’s 2017-18 theme, “I Belong @blackhawk_ms.”

Now, that song has been recorded by Pete Sallis -- another Nashville singer/songwriter -- with backing vocals provided by the Blackhawk Middle School Chorus.

Check it out in the lyric video above.
NOTHING BUT NET!
District 2’s third SIT Conference was another big hit!
More than 200 students from schools all around the Bensenville area participated Saturday, February 10, in the DuPage County Students Involved in Technology (SIT) Conference, held for the third year in a row at Blackhawk Middle School.

The theme of this year’s SIT conference was “Nothing But Net,” and the goal of the conference was for students to finish the day with a greater understanding of how they fit into and contribute to the technical world around them.

East Leyden High School seniors Rakan AlZagha and Leslie Arciniega delivered the keynote presentation on 3D printing prosthetic hands. Check out their closing statements in the video above.

Then, throughout the daylong conference, students in Grades 3-12 learned from other students in hands-on workshops and tutorials on the latest technology, ranging from robotics to apps programming. ( Click here to view the conference program, which includes a complete, detailed list of student presentations. ) Attendees participated in sessions of their choosing to expand their technology skills and discover new ones.

Closing ceremonies capped off the day’s events with drawings and prizes provided by the Bensenville conference’s generous donors:

  • Chicago Spence Tool & Rubber Company
  • Chicago Wolves Hockey
  • Dell
  • DuPage Regional Office of Education
  • The Field Museum of Natural History
  • Flipgrid
  • Jewel/Osco of Bensenville
  • Jewel/Osco of Wood Dale
  • McDonald’s on Irving Park Road
  • Micro Center of Westmont
  • The Museum of Science and Industry
  • Pitsco
  • Schaumburg Park District
  • SciTech Hands-On Museum in Aurora
  • State Farm Agent Greg Shilakis
  • Ultimate Tournaments
  • Windy City Bulls

Hosted by Bensenville School District 2, this event was one of six SIT conferences sponsored across the state on February 10 by the Bloomington-Normal Education Alliance, the Illinois State Board of Education, and State Farm. Next year’s SIT conferences will be held Saturday, February 9, with the theme of “Ready! SIT! Go!” District 2 will once again host one of the conferences at Blackhawk Middle School.

HEAD START
Metropolitan’s program moves into its new classrooms at Tioga.
On January 9, classes began in the four new Head Start classrooms in the new Bensenville Early Childhood Center at Tioga School.

Metropolitan Family Services, which contributed about $1 million toward construction of the Early Childhood Center, operates the federally funded Head Start program, and the program’s participants must meet income eligibility requirements.

Qualifying students ages 3-5 will be served by the regular Head Start program, while the Early Head Start program will serve qualifying students ages birth-3.

The program’s opening had been held up several months, first due to minor construction setbacks that occured this summer, then because of lengthy delays in the approval of background checks that were newly required by the FBI for all individuals working in early childhood classrooms.

During this delay, the Head Start program continued to conduct regular home visits with the families who enrolled in their classes, and even held a number of family-oriented open house activities in the new space.

Now Metropolitan’s staff can meet with their students on a daily basis, as Head Start is now the first year-round instructional program offered in District 2.

Head Start currently has openings for 2-year-olds and 3- to 5-year-olds! 

For enrollment information, contact Maria Staley at 630-392-9371.
WORLD READ
ALOUD DAY
Special guests visited classrooms all across the District to share their love of reading with students.
District 2 joined schools across the globe in celebrating World Read Aloud day on February 1.

At Blackhawk Middle School, administrators and teachers who normally teach subjects like math, science, and social studies paid special visits to their colleagues’ English and language arts classes throughout the day. Together, they emphasized both the importance and the joy of reading by sharing some of their favorite stories with students.

At Tioga and W.A. Johnson Schools, numerous guest readers visited classrooms throughout the day and read to students from their own selections of cherished picture books.

At the end of the day, the schools were treated to a special treat -- a virtual read-aloud session with Josh Funk. Mr. Funk is the author of such popular children’s titles as Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast , The Case of the Stinky Stench , Dear Dragon , ​ It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk , and Pirasaurs!

For this occasion, though, Mr. Funk read his upcoming, yet-to-be-released title, Lost in The Library, and then answered questions from the students.

If you are interested in ordering some of his books, look out for the order form coming soon.
SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK
Elementary students cover a variety of pop hits during their Little Kids Rock performance.
Look out, Bruno Mars! Fourth and fifth graders from Tioga and W.A. Johnson Schools will rock you!

Students in the schools’ Little Kids Rock programs combined to close their February 22 show in Tioga’s gymnasium with a lively performance of Mars’ smash hit, Uptown Funk , and the Queen classic, We Will Rock You .

Before that, ensembles of students from each school entertained friends and family members in the audience with their own renditions of a number of well known tunes: Radioactive by the Imagine Dragons, Land of 1000 Dances by Wilson Pickett, Dynamite by Taio Cruz, and Best Day of My Life by American Authors.

Directed by Maria Pulido, a District 2 music teacher, these rock band programs are in their second year in District 2. Fourth- and fifth-grade students who participate in the programs meet once a week after school, and have been learning to play their instruments for a little over five months now.

The programs are made possible by the Little Kids Rock charitable organization, which provides modern band instruments and curriculum to more than 500,000 students all over the country, and free training and curriculum to their teachers.
228 POUNDS!
That’s how many pop can pull tabs Blackhawk Middle School delivered to Central DuPage Hospital’s Ronald McDonald House.
It took two years, but Blackhawk Middle School’s students and staff succeeded! They filled “Big Red” -- the giant, red metal container in the school’s front lobby -- with pop can pull tabs.

To be exact, they filled it with 228 pounds of them!

That equates to nearly 289,000 pull tabs, which BMS Student Council students delivered in January to the Ronald McDonald House near Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield.

During this trip, students toured the three-year-old facility and learned how their pop tabs help Ronald McDonald House provide families with sick children comfort and support by keeping them together and near the care they need.

Ronald McDonald House’s partner, United Scrap Metal, buys the donated tabs at a market rate that averages between 55 to 60 cents per pound of pull tabs.

That means Blackhawk’s collection effort amounted to a $125 to $135 donation.

But this pull tab collection effort really adds up. Annually, it brings in over $40,000 -- or nearly 500 nights of care -- for Ronald McDonald Houses of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana.
A CHANCE TO DANCE
Elementary students learn folkloric dance during Frida Kahlo after-school program.
Students from Tioga and W.A. Johnson Schools recently showcased their skills on the dance floor for their friends and family.

Their show was the culminating event of the most recent partnership between District 2 and the Frida Kahlo Community Organization, which provided third, fourth, and fifth graders from each school with weekly after-school folkloric dance and culture classes throughout the fall and winter months.

Dressed in colorful costumes traditionally worn by Mexican folkloric dancers, groups from each school introduced and performed their numbers before posing for photos with their proud parents.

Check out their performances by clicking the videos to the left.
Tioga students' folkloric dance performance.
Johnson students' folkloric dance performance.
SWEET!
Valentine’s Day brought a variety of celebrations to District 2.
Treats and cards, games and contests, and arts and crafts -- Valentine's Day parties at Tioga and W.A. Johnson Schools are always great fun!

And at Blackhawk Middle School, the Valentine’s Day Dance was SO ROMANTIC! (Check out the video to the right.)

Perhaps the highlight of the holiday, though, was a special performance by the Upside Downers Quartet, which dropped by to serenade W.A. Johnson School's students and front office staff for Valentine's Day. (Check out the video to the right.) The group has two special connections to the school: music teacher Emily Morrison's father and ESL teacher Lori Rhoades' uncle are both members of the group.
Bensenville School District 2
210 S. Church Street
Bensenville, IL 60106
 630-766-5940