The Power of Community  

- By Adrianne Finley Odell

On Saturday evening Roycemore School welcomed 180 guests to “April in Paris,” a fundraising auction and dinner, to support scholarships and financial aid at Roycemore.  The energy in the building was electric as we welcomed many alumni, parents of alumni, grandparents, current parents, trustees, faculty, former faculty and many friends to join together on a mission-focused evening to support Roycemore’s long-standing commitment to economic diversity at the school.

“Community,” one of the core values of Roycemore, was on full-display as guests were welcomed by Roycemore students who helped in a variety of ways, from assisting with parking as guests navigated a surprise late April snow event, to taking coats, to playing music, delivering desserts to tables (speaking French!) and assisting with the paddle raise to support scholarship.  One of our senior scholarship recipients, Daria, shared with attendees how the Eisner Scholarship made her high school journey possible and allowed her to have the time to continue her commitment to the violin, while taking higher level math and Russian literature classes at Northwestern University through Roycemore’s collaboration with the university. She then performed a beautiful piece, Meditation, that left everyone in the room mesmerized with her talent.  An alumna from the class of 2011, Cornelia Leach, shared how she gained confidence as a Roycemore student which she ultimately parlayed into higher education, obtaining her BA and MBAs before landing a position as a Talent Coordinator for a Chicago tech company.  She spent much of last year sharing her inspiring story with young people around Illinois as Miss Black US Ambassador.

Dozens of individuals joined in as volunteers to make the event a success, from sponsors to the event, to attendees, to silent and live auction donors, and individuals who painted the incredible canvases that lined the walls of the room, transporting attendees into the streets of Paris-- including the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower lit up with twinkle lights. Fifty-seven individuals were either involved in the painting of the canvases, participated on the planning committee, or volunteered the night of the event.  That’s community!

We were pleased to have Roycemore grandparent, Jerry Springer, serve as our guest auctioneer to auction off a number of Live Auction items to raise funds for scholarship.  Prior to starting the bidding, however, Jerry shared a few personal thoughts about the importance of community and giving to the scholarship fund. “There is such a sense of community and commitment here.  It’s the perfect environment to put a child in. This needs to be looked at not just as charitable giving. It has to be looked at as an investment. This is the single most important investment you can make in your life.  You are investing in your own children and in your own grandchildren. This is not just getting a report every month from your broker, no, you’re investing in your child who’s going to grow up into a wonderful adult. If you could dream up what a school should be and everything a child should get out of a school, you’d want the whole country to go to a ‘Roycemore’ in their own areas where they live.”

We are thankful to Jerry and every single person who helped make the scholarship fundraiser the most successful one in the school’s history, allowing us to continue our commitment to economic diversity at Roycemore, where nearly 50% of our students receive some support to attend.  Now that’s community!!

- Wednesday, May 1st - Lower School Musical, 6:30pm 
- Thursday, May 2nd - Upper School Boys Volleyball Four Way Tournament Hosted By Roycemore (Roycemore Boys Blue vs Acero Cruz at 4:30pm, Roycemore Boys Gold vs Christ The King at 6:00pm, Friday Games TBD)
- Thursday, May 2nd - Free Yoga at Roycemore, 5:00pm (All Ages Welcome)
- Friday, May 3rd - Middle and Upper School Sports and Activities Assembly, 8:30am, MPR
- Friday, May 3rd - Middle School Potluck, 5:30pm
- Monday, May 6th - Teacher Appreciation Week
- Monday, May 6th - JST 2020 China Trip Information Session, 5:30pm, MPR
- Tuesday, May 7th - Michael Delman Presentation on Executive Functioning Skills, 7:00-9:00pm at Roycemore School
- Wednesday, May 8th - FAN Talk: Lisa Damour "Confronting Stress and Anxiety in Youth", 7:00pm at New Trier High School, Winnetka Campus
- Thursday, May 9th - Free Yoga at Roycemore, 5:00pm (All Ages Welcome)
- Friday, May 10th - Upper School Boys Volleyball at Home vs. Acero Cruz, 4:30pm
 

Thank you to everyone who made April in Paris a night to remember!

And what a night it was! The snow may have been falling outside but inside the atmosphere was warm and festive. The decor was dazzling, the drinks were flowing, the food was superb, the bidding was frenzied and the jokes were spot on. Thank you to everyone who attended our sold-out event in support of the financial aid and scholarship initiatives at Roycemore. The final numbers have been tallied and we raised about $190,000, making this is one of the best fundraising events in school history! 

A special thank you goes to everyone on the Auction Committee, the 50+ volunteers who worked behind the scenes and our gracious auctioneer for the evening, Jerry Springer.  We couldn't have done it without you all.

Merci Beaucoup! 

Get in touch with your inner calm. Join us for free yoga every Thursday at Roycemore. This class will run through the end of May (the last class for the school year will be May 30th).

5:00-6:00 pm
Roycemore Library
All ages and Abilities Welcome
Bring Your Own Mat

Free and Open To The Public

Sponsored by Phoenix Yoga Project (www.phoenixyogaproject.org)

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 6th-10th. The Roycemore Family Association (RFA) has been hard at work planning special activites and treats for the Roycemore faculty. See the details below and find out how students can also show their appreciation to our amazing faculty.     

• Monday, May 6th
  RFA Sponsored - Smoothie Day 
  Students - Hug Day: Give a teacher a hug.

• Tuesday, May 7th
  RFA Sponsored - Crepes Day
  Students - Note Day: Write a note to a teacher.

• Wednesday, May 8th
  RFA Sponsored - Massage Day
  Students - Flower Day: Bring your teacher a flower. 

• Thursday, May 9th
  RFA Sponsored - Cupitol Day
  Students -  Joke Day: Tell your teacher a joke.

• Friday, May 10th
  RFA Sponsored - Roll Day
  Students - Best Behavior Day 

Attention All 8th - 11th Grade Families! 

Please join us for an informational meeting next Monday, May 6 at 5:30pm in the MPR about a China adventure for JST 2020. This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip that is led by Roycemore faculty and will have students visiting 6 cities in China.  

JST 2020 China Trip
Information Session
Monday, May 6th
5:30pm
Roycemore School: MPR Room

Questions?  Contact John Trowbridge directly.

Roycemore Family Association (RFA) is proud to host Massachusetts Distinguished Educator, Michael Delman, for a free parent presentation about Executive Functioning.  

Your Kid's Gonna Be Okay
How to Build Executive Function Skills: Your Guide to Raising Confident and Competent Kids
Tuesday, May 7
7:00 p.m.
At Roycemore School (1200 Davis Street)

As parents, we're sometimes filled with dread that our kids might not make it in the world. We are now in the Age of Attention, where the key skills are the ability to choose priorities, stay focused and get things done amidst an infinity of distractions. These skills are known as Executive Function skills-- the self management abilities that children must learn in order to be motivated, productive and confident. Lifelong educator and expert in Executive Function intervention, Michael Delman, teaches parents how to equip their children with the skills they need today and for the future. Click the flyer below to read more about this event.

Middle School Families are invited to join us for an evening of food, friends and fun.  Come be part of the upcoming Middle School Potluck and Game Night. Roycemore 4th Grade Families are also invited to attend and be part of the fun.  

Friday, May 3rd
5:30pm-8:00pm
Parents, Students and Siblings are all welcome!

Soolidat with her Sustainability Mentor, Joshua Miller 
(Study Coordinator for HWISE at Northwestern University)

We want to take this opportunity to acknowledge a team of Upper School students from our Sustainability class that are turning words into action. Spearheaded by Roycemore Junior, Sooliat, these students implemented a school-wide composting initiative last week - just in time for Earth Day! They drafted a proposal, pitched it to the Senior Administrative Team and once approval was given, got right to work building the compost bins and developing a training piece that helped engage the rest of the school community. Lower School students who learned about the benefits of composting were eager to be part of the solution and follow the steps outlined by the Upper School students. They even recruited Middle School faculty, Howard Stanley, to star in an instructional video about Composting at Roycemore (click below to watch the video). It was wonderful to see this cross-divisional effort come to life and all the students working towards a more eco-friendly Roycemore. Congratulations to Sooliat and all the Sustainability students for their hard work and leadership in implementing this valuable program! 

Roycemore is proud to be a sponsor of this free upcoming Family Action Network event.

Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Youth
Wednesday, May 8, 2019, 7:00 PM
New Trier High School, Winnetka Campus, Gaffney Auditorium
385 Winnetka Ave., Winnetka, IL 60093

Lisa Damour is a Psychologist, teacher, speaker, and consultant. She is the writer of the monthly "Adolescence" column for the "Well Family" section of the New York Times, and regular contributor at CBS News.  She is also the bestselling author of Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions to Adulthood and the brand-new Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls.

Upper School French students were tasked with using Adobe to produce a French newspaper. Below is an example created by Roycemore Junior, Ismael.  The tongue-in-cheek articles describe how the French have colonized Roycemore and all the students are quite happy living under the culture and laws of French rule - much to the chagrin of the English department faculty.

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