THE COREAPRIL 2020 VOL. 13, ISSUE 3

IN THIS ISSUE

ALL-STATE GIRLS HOCKEY PLAYER

PAGE 2

SPC JOURNALISM

COMPETITION PAGE 3

DISTRICT CALENDARS

PAGE 3

SPELLING BEE CHAMP

PAGE 4

ILLINOIS ARCHERY

STATE CHAMPPAGE 5

FOUNDATION FOR

EXCELLENCEPAGE 6

NEW DISTRICT

ADMINISTRATORSPAGE 7

CENSUS 2020

BACK PAGE

COVID-19/CORONAVIRUS PANDEMICAt the time of publication, school is expected to resume on April 8, 2020 at the earliest.

However, District 202 is preparing for the very real possibility of school remaining closed longer as we work to address the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic.

Our biggest priority is doing everything we can to help students continue to learn during this uncertain time.

To that end, we are working on plans to effectively and efficiently provide ongoing opportunities for academic engagement (both digital and non-digital) for all students.

Our “Remote Learning” opportunities, posted on all our websites are a good first step in that direction. ***Remember, not all Remote Learning requires access to technology.

We will communicate with families and staff as quickly as possible.

Please continue to check the District 202 website (www.psd202.org) and all school websites for updates.

But most of all, stay well, and stay healthy.

The Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 Newsletter

TENTATIVE GROUNDBREAKING FOR 18TH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: APRIL 22ND

District 202 plans to break ground on April 22, 2020 for its 18th elementary school, which will be built on land adjacent to Ira Jones Middle School off Wallin Drive, near downtown Plainfield.

May 6, 2020 is the alternate date if ground cannot be broken in April.

Continued on page 2

THE CORE | APRIL 2020 2

District 202 residents 62 years old and older can get District 202 “Gold Cards,” which provide free admission to all student athletic events, and discounted admission to all student performances.

Please contact Director of Community Relations Tom Hernandez for more information at (815) 577-4008 or tahernan@psd202.org

District 202 Gold Card available to senior citizens

ASHELY OMMEN selected for all-state girls’ hockey team

Plainfield East High School junior Ashely Ommen has started making a name for herself as a female hockey goalie.

Ommen was invited to play in the All-Star game for the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois (AHAI) Girls All State hockey team in February 2020 at The Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, Illinois.

Each year, two teams compete, comprising female hockey players from across the state. Coaches from around Illinois vote on the best players from different teams to select members for the two All-Star teams.

Ommen was one of six goalies to be selected to play in the All-Star game.

“It was a great feeling to be recognized to play as a junior, and to be recognized as one of the top goalies in the state,” Ommen said.

Ommen was the only goalie to not give up a goal.

“It was a good experience to play with some of the best competition in Illinois, and not giving up any goals helped set me apart from the others,” Ommen said.

Ommen, who plays on both the Naper Valley Warriors hockey team and Team Illinois 16U hockey team, said she knows women’s hockey is not very common.

“Women’s hockey is growing, and I like being a part of that growth and being able to inspire the younger players and the next generation to keep the women’s hockey going.”

continued from page 1

The new school will be a full-service, Pre-K-5 school, the same as District 202’s other 17 elementary schools.

It is expected to cost about $29 million based on final bids approved in February 2020. The final bid figure includes about $1.2 million in contingency funds, so the final price will likely be lower.

The new school is being built as part of a comprehensive plan to help provide adequate space for the district to offer full-day kindergarten for all eligible students. The new school will free up space in the other elementary buildings. It will also provide more space and stability for special needs programs now scattered around the district.

It is expected to open in August 2021.

The new school will be about 10,000 square feet larger than Elizabeth Eichelberger, the last elementary school to open before District 202’s growth stopped in 2008.

District officials surveyed a wide range of teachers, administration and staff to ensure that the new building will meet all teaching, space and logistical needs. The new school will also include a storm shelter as now required by state law.

The district will not have to raise the tax rate to pay for the building, officials said.

3 THE CORE | APRIL 2020

April8 Tentative - Classes Resume10 Spring Holiday - NO SCHOOL27 SIP Day - Early Release * May22 SIP Day - Early Release *22 Tentative Last Day of School

2019-20 CALENDARStudent journalists from District 202’s four high schools earned awards at the inaugural Southwest Prairie Conference (SPC) Journalism Competition held in February.

Plainfield High School - Central Campus took second place overall.

Plainfield East High School earned fourth place; Plainfield South High School earned seventh place; and Plainfield North High School took eighth place.

These students earned individual honors:

Plainfield High School - Central Campus

First Place:• Dylan Mau, sophomore - Headline Writing• Hannah Kopek, senior - Advertising

Second Place:• Stephanie Wallace, senior - Yearbook Copy

Writing• Abigail Blazevic, senior - Newspaper Design

Third Place:• Paige Gieseke, senior and Jayden Johnson

- Video News• Kaley Murray, junior - Photo Story Telling

Fourth Place:• Ian Wesselhoff, senior - Sports Writing• Ian Wesselhoff, senior - Copy Editing• Dayanara Miranda, senior - Editorial

Writing• Alize Gonzalez and Sahrish Bakhtiari,

sophomores - Yearbook Theme Development

• Raven Easterly, junior - Advertising• Stephanie Wallace, senior - Review Writing

Fifth Place:• Nicole Jones, sophomore and Johanna

Ebert, junior - Yearbook Theme Development

• Hannah Kopek, senior - Feature Writing

Sixth Place:• Abigail Blazevic, senior - Sports Writing

Plainfield East High School

First Place:• Alexandra Rudolph, senior and Julia Nawa,

senior - Yearbook Theme Development• Joaquin Braganza, senior - Broadcast News

Second Place:• David Enriquez, sophomore - Photo Story

Telling• Mikaela Ramirez, junior - Advertising

Third Place: • Ivy He, sophomore - Yearbook Copy

Writing• Amber Speer, senior - Editorial Writing

Fourth Place: • Natalie Hua, junior - Yearbook Captions

Fifth Place:• Leonardo Alonso, senior - Photo Story

Telling• Mikaela Ramirez, junior - Editorial

Cartooning

Plainfield South High School

Second Place:• Aidan Evans, senior - Review Writing

Third Place: • Noah Maldonado, junior - Infographics

Fourth Place• Emily Manning, senior - Feature Writing• Noah Maldonado, junior - Yearbook Copy

Writing• Delaney O’Sullivan, sophomore - Video

News

Fifth Place:• Emily Manning, senior - News Writing

Sixth Place: • Ema Georgeff, junior - Review Writing• Juvenal Angulo Jr., junior - Advertising and

Editorial Cartooning

Plainfield North High School

First Place:• Madalyn Mirallegro, sophomore - Editorial

Writing

Second Place:• Sarah Schmalz, sophomore - Editorial

Cartooning

Fifth Place:• Gianna Feminis, sophomore - Sports

Writing• Cody Marshall, senior - Newspaper Design

Sixth Place:• Liliann Kallas, senior - Newspaper Design

August17-18 Teacher Institutes - No Student Attendance19 First day of School - Early Release *20 First day of School for Pre-K, BMLC 2-day and Kindergarten21 First day of School for BMLC 3-day programs September7 Labor Day - NO SCHOOL October12 Columbus Day - NO SCHOOL16 End of First Quarter19 SIP Day - Early Release * November2 Teacher Institute - No Student Attendance2 P/T Conferences (Evening) - NO SCHOOL3 P/T Conferences - NO SCHOOL25-27 Thanksgiving Recess - NO SCHOOL December18 End Semester One18 SIP Day - Early Release *21 Winter Break Begins January4 Classes Resume18 MLK Jr’s Birthday - NO SCHOOL February1 SIP Day - Early Release *15 Presidents’ Day - NO SCHOOL26 Teacher Institute - No Student Attendance * No BMLC or Kindergarten attendance

2020-21 CALENDAR

District 202 high school journalists do well at SPC conference competition

All remaining 2019-20 Calendar Dates are

Tentative

THE CORE | APRIL 2020 4

Drauden Point Middle School sixth-grader Natalie Hopper is a national champion synchronized figure skater.

Hopper skates with Northbrook’s Teams Elite organization which capped off an undefeated 2019-2020 season by winning the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in the juvenile category on February 29, 2020 in Providence, Rhode Island.

In synchronized skating, a team performs in-sync on the ice.

The team competed against 12 other teams comprising 9- to 12-year-olds to take home the gold medal.

Winning the championship was scary and exciting, Hopper said.

Hopper has been skating for five years. She got into the sport during a spring break when her mom suggested she try it.

Teams Elite includes 21 skaters, of which 16 are on the ice for each performance, she said.

Learning to skate in sync with others is hard. Hopper practices up to two hours for six days a week, she said.

Hopper wants to skate through college and has dreams of being a coach one day.

Drauden Point is proud of Hopper, said Principal Kai Freeman.

“All her achievements in and out of school are a true representation of what we take pride in,” he said. “Congratulations to her and all the hard work she has put forth.”

Ira Jones Middle School student wins Will County regional Spelling Bee

Ira Jones Middle School seventh grader Omer Mescioglu won the 2020 Will County Regional Spelling Bee on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 at Lockport East High School.

Omer bested 45 other students from

middle schools throughout Will County, seven from District 202, to win the spelling bee. Omer won after 18 rounds by spelling the word schooner correctly.

Omer won a Kindle e-reader, a tablet, one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannia online, a subscription to Webster’s Dictionary online, a certificate for a 2020 Mint Proof, and an interview with WJOL radio (1340 AM) morning host Scott Slocum.

Ira Jones Middle School will also receive $300 for books from Scholastic for Mescioglu’s win.

Commonwealth Edison will fly Omer to Washington, D.C. to compete in written spelling bees. If he does well in the written rounds, he will be on ESPN in May at the Scripps Spelling Bee.

District 202 Spring awards, recognition ceremonies postponed

Three annual ceremonies normally held each spring to recognize and honor District 202 staff, community members and graduates have been postponed because of the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic.

District officials hope to reschedule:

The 44th annual CAPE reception and awards ceremony scheduled for March 24, 2020. The CAPE awards recognize teaches, support staff and parent volunteers.

The 28th annual District 202 Board of Education Awards of Excellence ceremony scheduled for April 8, 2020. The Awards of Excellence honors teachers and non-administrative staff.

The Board of Education also recognizes two community members for their volunteerism, and a school-level certified student service worker who exhibits extraordinary dedication to students.

The 37th annual District 202 Foundation for Excellence dinner and auction fundraiser which includes the annual District 202 Alumni Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The program was planned for April 16, 2020.

Drauden Point MS sixth grader is national champion ice skater

5 THE CORE | APRIL 2020

Plainfield East High School junior named Illinois archery state champion

The competition was held February 1, 2020 at the DuPage County Fair Grounds. McDonough also earned the highest Olympic Recurve score of the tournament.

McDonough, who competed against women 14-17 years old, said calming her nerves was a big factor to winning the championship.

McDonough first tried archery when she was eight years old with her Girl Scout troop, she said. From that point on, she knew it would become a major part of her life.

McDonough signed up for archery with the Bolingbrook Park District and then moved onto Chicago Bow Hunters. She has competed with the Bow Hunters ever since.

Looking over her archery career, McDonough knows how far she has come.

Earning first place at the tournament was no easy feat and the competition went down to the wire. She and the second-place winner were tied until the very end. She literally had to achieve the highest-possible score to win, and she did.

McDonough, who is ranked 10th in the nation in the cadet division, was recently invited by USA Archery to travel to Medellin, Colombia for a world ranking competition in June.

“When I first found out about the invitation to go to Colombia, I was in shock,” McDonough said. “I am so excited to be given the chance to represent my country along with my state and to be able to perform on an international stage.”

McDonough’s next goal is to compete at the 2024 Olympics.

D. 202 students earn top prizes in Plainfield library short story contest District 202 students earned eight of the nine top prizes in the Plainfield Public Library’s annual Short Story Contest.

The Short Story Contest is open to fourth through sixth grade students. Students wrote an original story in 500 to 650 words.

There were 62 entries from District 202 and other area schools.

Author Celia C. Perez judged this year’s contest on creativity on writing skills.

The winning District 202 students, and their stories, are:

Plainfield East High School junior Megan McDonough beat eight women to win the Illinois Target Archery Association’s 2020 Junior Olympic Archery Development program (JOAD) Indoor State Championship in the Olympic Recurve Cadet Female category.

Fourth Grade• First Place: A Rather Odd Day by Chloe Madden - Liberty ES• Second Place: Alicia the Great by Skylyn Worden - Walker’s

Grove ES• Third Place: Locked In by Elena McClowry - Creekside ES

Fifth Grade• First Place: The Void by Olivia Edens - Freedom ES• Second Place: Detective Files by Riley Bliss - Eagle Pointe ES

Sixth Grade• First Place: When in Rome by Aleena Yousuf - John F.

Kennedy MS• Second Place: The Akhenaten Descendant by Christopher

Henry - Ira Jones MS• Third Place: Beyond My Home by Alexandra Tsikouris -

Heritage Grove MS

Foundation for ExcellencePlainfield Community Consolidated School District 202

The Plainfield Foundation for Excellencehas raised and contributed nearly

$400,000since its inception in 1983 to support

District 202 students, staff and community:

$160,000College Scholarships

$32,000ProfessionalDevelopment

Grants$32,000Horizon Grants(for HS juniors)

High SchoolMentor Programs

$19,000

Third GradeHistoricalField Trip

$60,000

Great ReadCommunity

Literary Project

$17,000

Middle SchoolOutdoor Education

$50,000

First Name Last Name

Email Address Address City State Zip

Donation Amount: $

Please return this form with your donation to your school’s main office.

The Foundation relies on the generosity of District 202 families, residents and staff. Please consider donating to the Foundation for Excellence. You can donate electronically with PayPal or a credit card through the Foundation for

Excellence website: www.d202foundation.org/202/

Or complete the form below and return it to your home school with your cash or check donation(please make checks to the Plainfield Foundation for Excellence)

7 THE CORE | APRIL 2020

District 202 approves four new school, district administrators

The District 202 Board of Education approved hiring two new principals, an assistant principal and a new special education administrator at its March 16, 2020 regular meeting.

Ira Jones Middle School Assistant Principal Danielle Cournaya will serve as principal at Heritage Grove Middle School next year. She will replace Shannon Miller, who is slated to become the new director for middle school administration and personnel next year.

Cournaya started her education career in 2004 teaching middle school math in St. Charles District 303. She came to District 202 in 2006 to teach math at Aux Sable Middle School, then served as Aux Sable assistant principal from 2012-2015, when she moved her current role at Ira Jones.

The Board also approved naming

current Thomas Jefferson Elementary School Interim Principal Vicky Foster as the school’s permanent principal.

Foster has worked her entire educational career in District 202, starting in 2001 as a student teacher.

She taught fourth and fifth grades from 2002-2014 at Lakewood Falls Elementary School, then served as the school’s assistant principal for four years. In 2018 she was named assistant principal at Thomas Jefferson.

As well, the Board approved naming interim Thomas Jefferson Elementary School Assistant Principal David Campbell as the school’s permanent assistant principal.

Campbell also started his teacher career in District 202, as a teaching assistant in 2008. He has taught fifth grade at Eichelberger Elementary

School the last 12 years.

Finally, the Board approved hiring District 202 Speech Language Pathologist Supervisor Julie Anderson as a new district-level special education administrator.

She will continue to fulfill her current responsibilities while also gaining experience as a building-level special education administrator at a school to be decided later.

Anderson has worked as the district speech language pathologist supervisor since 2018. She served as the speech language pathologist for Lakewood Falls and Liberty elementary schools and Plainfield Academy from 2009-2018.

Anderson also worked in the private sector for several years.

DANIELLE COURNAYAIra Jones Middle School Assistant Principal Danielle Cournaya will serve as principal at Heritage Grove Middle School

VICKY FOSTERThomas Jefferson Elementary School Interim Principal Vicky Foster will server as the school’s permanent principal.

DAVID CAMPBELLThomas Jefferson Elementary School Interim Assistant Principal David Campbell will serve as the school’s permanent assistant principal.

JULIE ANDERSONDistrict 202 Speech Language Pathologist Supervisor Julie Anderson will server as a new district-level special education administrator.

POSTAL CARRIER ROUTE

Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 20215732 Howard StreetPlainfield, IL 60544(815) 577-4000www.psd202.org

To get the best postage rates, District 202 must send to all residents on a mail route. As a result, some non-district 202 residents receive District 202 publications. We apologize for any inconvenience.

THE CORE NEWSLETTER Non-Profit Org.US POSTAGE

PAIDPermit No. 41Plainfield, IL

Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202

Board of EducationKevin Kirberg - President Rod Westfall - Vice President David Koch - SecretaryJoette DoyleHeather Drake Dr. Michael Robey Robert Smith SuperintendentDr. Lane Abrell Assistant SuperintendentsDr. Glenn Wood Anthony ManvilleMina Griffith Richard Engstrom

The Core is published throughout the school year to update the community about news and events in District 202 schools.

Please direct feedback about this publication to Director of Community Relations Tom Hernandez at tahernan@psd202.org PCCSD202 Website: http://www.psd202.org

@d202schools psd202psd202

Even as we work to stay safe and address the COVID-19/Coronavirus situation, we strongly encourage everyone to take a few minutes to complete the 2020 Census.

Community members are getting personalized letters last week from the United States Census Bureau, encouraging them to complete the Census online or through their smart phone.

Each letter has a personalized, 12-digit Census ID code.

Go to http://my2020census.gov, use that code to sign in, and you’re all set!

No one will come knocking on your door!

***Remember to report who will be living in your house as of April 1st***

But, if for some reason you can’t complete the Census now, or online, traditional Census workers will still visit later this spring to help you through this vital process.

Census data help determine our legislative representation in Congress and our share of $675 billion in federal funding.

Remember, COUNT EVERYONE, BECAUSE EVERYONE COUNTS.

Visit www.psd202.org/census-2020 for more information about the 2020 Census.