Last year, Eduardo Juarez was having a great wrestling season and he and his coaches were very much looking forward to competing at the State tournament. Unfortunately, he was unable to even attend the event because of COVID restrictions. Dejected and upset, he understood the rules and followed them.

A year of patience and persistence followed and Eduardo finally took his spot on the medal stand! Eduardo Juarez placed 2nd in the IESA State Wrestling tournament (185 weight class) last weekend!!

Eddie's story reflects how so many of us felt over the past few years: disappointment, lost opportunities, frustration, and exhausted. But we have also responded with patience and persistence and now are in a position to move forward having learned valuable lessons, enhanced skills, and a new appreciation for "normal".

This week, there were a number of recollections to March 16, 2020. Remember when we first heard that schools were closing? Remember our all virtual Institute Day? Remember wondering if we would be back in person after Spring Break? Remember wondering if we would have to wear masks?

As I've been reflecting on this, I want to remember the growth, the resilience, the collaboration, the successes that all resulted from that time. Like Eduardo, we should be proud to have stayed in the fight and now look out from the medal stand.

Congrats to Eddie and congrats to all of us! If I had to experience a world-wide pandemic, I'm glad that it was here in D23 with all of you!

You make me #Proud2BD23!

Best wishes,

Don

Strategic Plan Survey and Focus Group

We invite you to complete a brief survey regarding our current and next Strategic Plans. This survey will also close at the end of March and asks for you input into the next components of our Strategic Plan.

This is a different survey than the 5Essentials and asks different (and way fewer) questions. Please take a few minutes to complete and submit the survey linked below.

DID YOU KNOW...

Horace Mann, mainly known for being one of our approved 403(b) vendors, also sponsors Student Loan Solutions (SLS) at no cost for all K-12 educators to help save on federal student loan payments. 

Click HERE to learn more.

Reliance Standard is now Reliance Matrix

For EBC, life and disability policies and services continue as usual, and there is no impact with the branding transformation. The rebrand is intended to better capture the Reliance clients who work with both Reliance and Matrix, their self-insured/TPA side of the organization.

Scholarship for Paraprofessionals

To help address this issue, WGU is offering the new Education Support Professionals Scholarship program worth up to $5,000 for Paraprofessionals who are currently working in your schools and are dedicated to becoming a teacher and making a positive impact in students’ lives.

This scholarship is needs-based and is not restricted to academic achievement, making it a valuable opportunity for Paraprofessionals to pursue their teaching degrees and become licensed teachers in any of the 50 states (a feature unique to only WGU). The Education Support Professional Scholarship is available for a limited time only, so now is the perfect time for Paraprofessionals to take advantage of this opportunity.

As the largest teacher education institution in the nation, WGU is committed to supporting the education and professional development of Paraprofessionals. Please don't hesitate to reach out to them if you have any questions or if you need any additional information. Visit here for further information: https://www.wgu.edu/parascholarship

CONTACT: Dr. Jim Chandler 

Senior Strategic Partnership Manager, K-12 Schools

WGU Missouri

Live Well Monthly-March

Empower Health Newsletter-March

Considering a Walking Field Trip?  A Message from Ms. Alice with the Prospect Heights Public Library District.

The library would like to invite the entire school district to come visit. Students will hear about the Summer Reading program, Find Your Voice and be able to check out books. They will leave happy with their chosen books, a Summer Reading flyer and a library giveaway. Starting in May the community can sign up to receive an email reminder for the first day of registration via http://phplreads.readsquared.com/. 

The first day of Summer Reading is Monday, June 5.

Teachers may sign up to visit via 2023 LIBRARY VISIT, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ut7qbNnDnqhB-FyCAoM5PYYsxwxKAoVjOAfOpUoSM1Q/edit?usp=sharing

We are excited to have everyone come visit! Please share this invite.

Appreciatively, Alice

It’s Time to Select Your Passport to Learning Session!

During our April  10th Teacher Institute Day, we will have a Passport to Learning Session which is a differentiated professional development opportunity for D23 staff by D23 staff.  Check out the latest Passport to Learning Catalog here: Passport to Learning Catalog April 10 2023

Please use this Google Form to select your choice no later than Friday, March  31st.  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5OQzUbnMBSki6JvUdfjdyhhPZMImFA4288-hMKg2tcqer-g/viewform?usp=sf_link

Reel Big Phish[ing]

We have another phishing campaign starting soon. Full disclosure: I have only seen one person here pump his fist in excitement when these are announced . . . and that person happens to be the guy in the mirror. There is rarely a good, convenient time for these, I know, but that is also the point. When it comes to cybersecurity, hackers do strategically look at busy times when we may be more quick to click before thinking, not exercise our usual restraint to “think before clicking.” (Did you know cybercrime happens every 39 seconds?!) These campaigns continue to be so important for our cyber insurance policy and–more importantly–teaching and reinforcing important skills to keep us safe here and at home. Just this month, the Minneapolis Public School system was hacked–not good! 

I do appreciate the growth I have seen in us as a staff, thanks to what we have learned together. Many of you check in with me when you get phishy emails, and you are using the orange hook in your Gmail (on the laptop) or reporting to Google Admin (on the iPad). For this round, we are going to look at testing some common email types we get, like requests for updating work information and virtual meeting platforms. If you do click on a link and are subsequently assigned trainings, I highly suggest you do them. (See below for how the training email would come if you do click on a link.) I will say, I do all the trainings, and this round’s are truly good and very informative.

And, like Reel Big Fish, I know you would say to such phishing campaign challenges, “Take on Me”! 

Incident IQ Update

You can now submit tickets specifically for district and standardized testing! Here’s the route: “App Request” now under  “Software Not Listed” (blue button) in “Software/Apps/Online Systems”; there is a new “Testing” ticketing spot under “Testing/Events/Streaming.” 

Spamalot! 

No, not the musical! Just an FYI that there MAY be more emails going to your Spam. Why? Jonathan and I recently conducted an audit of our Google domain, and we received good, actionable feedback to continue making this important space safe for use by you and our students. With the changes we made, more emails may get flagged as Spam, which is a good thing! If you are expecting an email you don’t see, do check Spam. Otherwise, it is still safest to presume that what is in Spam is, well, Spam! 

Also, you may see more emails with the scary, yellow banner. This one is different, though, as it specifies that the email may say it is coming from an “@d23.org” address, but really isn’t. If you ever see such a banner, don’t reply! Use the orange hook or Google reporting, and let Jonathan and me know! 

Spring Break Spa Treatment . . . for Your Devices!

Yes, your devices need some R & R too! First, make sure you power off (like, actually shut down) your devices for an afternoon, at least. Then, clean up your desktop and email. Your computer will thank you, metaphorically. 

Moment of Zen from Mama Alms

As you all know, Mama Alms is a purveyor of cultural happenings, and of course, she couldn’t let the Oscars go by without checking in with my sisters, our spouses, and very, very unfortunately, me. Why “unfortunately”?! See below. She is “MC,” for “Mom Cell.” You will see that at the tippy top of the thread she shared an Oscar ballot with us, moments before the actual Oscars started. Helpful. Then, Monday, around 1:30 in the afternoon, she decided that THAT would be the best time for an unsolicited check-in/recap. First, she congratulated herself for getting eight correct, which any math teacher would tell you is a failing percentage given that there were about 20 categories. Then, she has an unintended backhanded compliment for older actors who “thought their actor careers were over.” Finally, in case one of us didn’t get whiplash from all of that, there was a sturdy metaphorical brick wall waiting for us with her final comment. I hope that movie does not get made. Sigh.

Important FY23 Fiscal Year End Information

Please make note of the following dates for orders and payments as we wrap up the current fiscal year!

• March 31, 2023 - Last day for teachers to place orders against their building budgets. Please contact your principal should you require an exception.
• April 15, 2023 - FY24 is open for requisition entry. Orders WILL NOT be shipped until AFTER July 1st!
• May 1, 2023 - Last day for FY23 purchase orders 
• May 31, 2023 - Last day for p-card use for purchases to be charged against FY23 budget.  Purchases made after this date may be charged against your FY24 budget.
• Thursday, June 15, 2023 - Last day for submission of stipend or extra duty timesheets. (Forms received after June 15th may be paid out of next fiscal year’s budget.)
• Noon on Friday, June 16, 2023 - Last day for FY23 invoices to be submitted to the Accounts Payable Dept. (Invoices received after that time will automatically be paid from FY24’s budget.)

Purchase Orders that are open at the end of the fiscal year (06/30/23), will be closed. We will not be rolling open encumbrances. Invoices received on backordered items after July 1st will be paid against the FY24 budget. 

Please continue to regularly review your open purchase orders. If an item is on backorder or the school wants to cancel the request, please notify the Accounts Payable Department promptly. Accounts Payable will assist with closing the purchase orders and freeing up any remaining account encumbrance.

Please distribute this email to appropriate staff and certainly feel free to contact Amy McPartlin with any questions.  Thank you for your assistance.

Saying “Goodbye” to ML Work Orders

The maintenance work order system is being changed to a different work order system. Don’t worry, you already know how to use it! We’re moving to Incident IQ, (iiQ Facilities) the same system you are already familiar with that the Tech department uses. We are looking forward to having a “one stop shop” for the staff to put in work orders on one platform and for work orders to flow more smoothly between departments. We are just getting up and running with the data input on the maintenance side of the system and are planning on making the change over to Incident IQ in the upcoming months. Updates to follow. 

Congrats to Karen, Jenny, Kelly, Jamie, and Garth for another outstanding performance! The Sullivan students did an amazing job!

8th Grade girls' Volleyball won Conference this season! Congrats to our athletes and Coach Mailloux.