Volume 12| November 12, 2019
Roycemore School Weekly Newsletter
From The Head of School
Lessons From a Courageous Veteran

By: Adrianne Finley Odell- Head of School
In times when I question my own ability to be courageous, I take inspiration from others who have accomplished extraordinary things through their acts of courage and bravery. Over the weekend, I joined a packed movie theater to see the movie Harriet, a film biography about American abolitionist and activist,  Harriet Tubman . The life she endured as a slave required courage just to survive, but she went far beyond that, escaping slavery in Maryland, finding freedom in Philadelphia, and then putting herself back into harm’s way some thirty times to rescue at least 70 slaves and bring them to freedom through the Underground Railroad.  

Harriet’s accomplishments are truly remarkable. She was relentless in the pursuit of doing all that she could do to free as many slaves as she could. During the Civil War, she lead an armed expedition that freed 750 slaves from plantations along the Combahee River in South Carolina. As a veteran of the Civil War, she did not receive the same benefits as men and never earned a salary. As we commemorate Veterans Day, it provides an opportunity to honor and admire the courage, not only of Harriet, but the millions of individuals who have selflessly given of themselves in support of freedom. 

In his research for his book, Valor, author Mark Lee Greenblatt learned  three things about courage :

  1. Courage Comes from Dedication to Something Bigger
  2. Courage is Found in Perseverance
  3. Courage Doesn’t Need Recognition
Coming Up on the Calendar
  • Thursday, November 14th - FREE Yoga at Roycemore, 5:00pm (All Ages and Abilities)
  • Friday, November 15th - Adobe Creative Jam: In Partnership with Adobe and Northwestern University, US Students Only
  • Friday, November 15th - Parents Night Out: PJ's and Polar Express, 6:00-9:00pm
  • Friday, November 15th - Shop for Roycemore at Notice (2112 Central Ave.) 6:00-9:00pm
  • Monday, November 18th - Robert Eisner Distinguished Scholar Application Deadline
  • Thursday, November 21st - FREE Yoga at Roycemore, 5:00pm (All Ages and Abilities)
  • Friday, November 22nd - Upper School Musical (Chicago) 7:00-9:00pm
  • Saturday, November 23rd - Upper School Musical (Chicago) 7:00-9:00pm
  • Tuesday, November 26th - Grandparents and Special Friends Day, 8:30-11:00am
  • Wednesday, November 27th - 29th - Thanksgiving Break
Last Call
Eisner Scholar Applications Due Nov. 18th
Any rising 9th or 10th graders interested in applying for the Robert Eisner Scholar Program needs to submit their applications no later than Nov. 18th! Recipients receive a full merit scholarship and are chosen based on academic achievement and leadership abilities. Current Roycemore students are encouraged to apply as well as students enrolled at other schools.

Robert Eisner Distinguished Scholar Program
Application Deadline
Monday, November 18th
Adobe Creative Jam This Friday!
Roycemore Upper School students are to be part of history!

Roycemore School will be hosting the first ever Adobe Creative Jam for high school students this Friday. What is a Creative Jam you ask? It is a live tournament-style event that challenges students to use Adobe products to solve a pre-determined, real world scenario. This Creative Jam will be co-sponsored with Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, and NU students will be onsite during the competition to serve as mentors to the Roycemore students.

Adobe Creative Jam
Friday, November 15th
9:30 am - 3:00 pm
Winter Weather Is Here
snow-shovel.jpg
With the snowing hitting Chicago early this year (Halloween!!!) we would like to remind all parents to make sure their contact information is up to date in Family Portal (formerly known as ParentsWeb). If we need to close school for any reason, including weather, Roycemore will utilize the following communication channels:

Follow these steps to update your contact information in Family Portal ( formerly ParentsWeb):
  1. Log on to Family Portal (Remember: District Code = RS-IL)
  2. Click on School
  3. Click on Web Forms
  4. On the Main screen click on Family Demographic Form
  5. The following options will display. Click on the desired button to view/update:
Student Demographics
Student Medical
Custodial Parent
Emergency Contact
Transportation
Grandparents
Once completed, be sure to hit "Save" at the bottom of the form.
Don't Forget!
Parents' Night Out and Shop For Roycemore
Roycemore 7th and 8th Grades are offering their babysitting services during Roycemore's November Parents Night Out! Children ages 3-11 can enjoy crafts, games, pizza and hot chocolate all while wearing their PJ's and watching the Polar Express.

Friday, November 15, 2019
6:00 to 9:00p.m.
$25.00 for one child ($40 per family)
Email Mr. Stanley to Sign Up
Notice, a gift and accessory shop owned by a Roycemore family, is generously donating 25% of their sales back to Roycemore one night only! Get a jump on your holiday shopping will you enjoy treats and drinks, all while supporting Roycemore at the same time!

Friday, November 15th
Notice
2112 Central Street
6:00-9:00pm
Please note:
These events have been scheduled to coincide in order to help any parents who
would like to join together to support Roycemore.
Volunteer Opportunities
What to lend a helping hand but aren't sure where to start? The Roycemore Family Association has created a sign up list for upcoming volunteer opportunities. This is a great way to be part fo the vibrancy that makes Roycemore unique. All parents, guardians, and grandparents are welcome to volunteer.
Chicago: High School Edition
Come support our Upper School students as they perform the hit musical,  Chicago ! Taking place in the roaring twenties, Chicago is a story about fame, fortune, and acquittal. The show runs approximately two hours, includes an intermission, and is free for everyone! 

Chicago
Upper School Musical
November 22 nd  & 23 rd
7:00 pm
Roycemore’s MPR


Please note that some themes may be a bit mature for younger students.
Grandparents and Special Friends Day
Grandparents and Special Friends Day is almost here!

This Roycemore tradition is a wonderful time for our students to showcase their talents and their classrooms with some of their very favorite people. Projects and performances will be part of the fun. Plus, new this year is an inter-generational panel for Middle and Upper school Grandparents.

We understand that grandparents are often unavailable for events like this one. However, we would like to encourage all families, especially in Early Childhood and Lower School, to feel free to invite a family friend or neighbor in place of a close relative. If a special guest cannot be arranged for your child that day, please share that information with your student's classroom teacher to help us best plan accordingly.
Please Note: Parents are welcome to attend the performances (starting around 9:00am). However classroom activities are reserved for the Grandparents and Special Friends who are visiting that day. 
Thanksgiving Orders
Local Foods is the partner company of Roycemore's food service company, Hand Cut Foods. They offer a number of traditional Thanksgiving items for order and have extended a discount to the Roycemore community for pre-orders. Order online by Nov. 21st and use the code Roycemore10 to get a 10% discount. Pick up is at their store location ( 1427 W Willow St #1, Chicago, IL 60642) between Nov. 23rd and Nov. 27th.
Design Thinking
Can design thinking be utilized in World Literature? Definitely! Upper School students have been doing a unit on the novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Nobel-prize winning Russian author, Alexander Solzhenitsyn. To introduce the historical and cultural context of the novel, that arguably led to the dismantling of the gulag, students used design thinking to prototype lesson plans for introducing the novel to an audience of fellow students. Finding interesting and unexpected primary and secondary sources, such as videos and photographs, demonstrate an understanding of how they themselves would like to learn this type of material.

Next step was to prototype their lesson plans to share with an audience of learners. Prototypes included timeline activities, first person narratives, sketches, and even map making! It has been amazing to see the amount of effort these Upper School students are putting into their work. The fact that they don't often hear the bell when it rings at the end of class is a testament to just how absorbed they are in writing quality lesson plans.
Bilingualism Matters Event
Northwestern University's Department of Linguistics has invited the Roycemore community to attend a lecture addressing language development in bilingual households. Erika Hoff, distinguished lecturer in multilingualism and language learning, will discuss the data collected from two longitudinal studies looking at language development in children born in the United States and raised in Spanish-speaking households. She will help answer important questions such as:

  • What is the typical course of bilingual development in children with early dual language exposure?
  • What kinds of individual differences exist, and what factors in children’s experience and abilities create those individual differences?
  • The implications of these findings for parenting, clinical practice with bilingual children, and scientific theories of language acquisition will be discussed.
 
Presenter: Erika Hoff
Dec. 2nd at 3:00 pm
Lessons from the Study of Early Bilingual Development
for Parents, Practitioners, and Language Scientists 
Northwestern University Evanston Campus, Norris University Center


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