Woodland School District 50

During their visit to the library today, Ms. Bohren's 3rd Grade class talked about different kinds of communities (Urban, Suburban, Rural), and discussed the types of buildings you might find in each one. Each class is creating one building that a suburban community needs to be successful on the 3D printer. This class decided to make the town library and sent their job to the 3D printer. The project will take 1 hour and 50 minutes to create, so they will see the finished product on their next visit! In the meantime, they were able to watch the progress on the building that is currently printing. #LifeintheW

Have you heard of the Gurnee Police Department's Valentine's project for seniors? Woodland students and staff are participating again this year, and we will be making Valentine's cards over the next few weeks to give to seniors living in our community. Here are some photos of students at Woodland Middle School making cards during their lunch period. Thank you to State Representative Joyce Mason and Gurnee Mayor Thomas Hood for joining us! Representative Mason and Mayor Hood talked to the students about developing leadership skills through getting involved in clubs, volunteering in the community, and helping others. #LifeintheW

It’s the 4th Grade Spelling Bee semifinals, and the Wildcats are feeling the heat! But despite the pressure, they stayed cool, calm, and collected. Keep scrolling to find your Wildcat and see which students are advancing to the final round next week! Congratulations to all our students who made it to the semifinals, and good luck to the students heading to the finals!🐯💚

Mrs. Bez-Kelley and her 2nd Grade Students love to cozy up with a good book on a cold day! These pictures are from a recent visit to her classroom for reading centers. #LifeintheW 💚📚

The Woodland D50 Board of Education will meet on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. Please see the Meeting Information & Agenda HERE: https://secure.smore.com/n/75znf Thank you!

There was a great turnout at the January BPAC Meeting last week! Thank you to the families who joined us on a chilly January evening to learn more about Food and Nutrition. We also want to express our appreciation to the Woodland teachers and the Warren Township High School student volunteers from AVANZA for the fun activities you planned for the kids in attendance. Local businesses donated food and raffle prizes, community organizations shared resources, and Tobias the Comfort Dog was there for all the fun too. The next meeting will be March 12, and the topic will be Mental Health. https://www.dist50.net/o/dist50/page/bpac

Due to updated information from the National Weather Service, Woodland D50 will be switching to an eLearning Day for Tuesday, Jan. 21. https://secure.smore.com/n/wf1br Thank you for your flexibility as we respond to this round of winter weather. Please note, this message went out as an email, text message and robocall. If you are a district staff member or a parent/guardian of a Woodland student and you did not receive this notification, please email BHagstrom@dist50.net.

Good evening, Here is a message from Woodland D50 about the status of schools for Jan. 21, 2025. Woodland will be open for normal operations. https://secure.smore.com/n/fyw4ph Thank you.

Mr. Golwitzer’s English class worked on creating descriptive sentences. They began by researching a prominent person in history, sports, pop culture, or media. After gathering key information about their chosen person, students worked on crafting detailed and descriptive sentences to bring that person’s story to life. This exercise combined research with descriptive writing and encouraged students to use vivid and creative language to tell an awesome story.

These Wildcats are on the move! This week, our littlest Wildcats took part in the Bike Unit at Primary. With the support of their awesome teachers, the students began by balancing on bikes without pedals and using their feet to push themselves forward. Once they got the hang of that, they graduated to bikes with pedals. It's amazing how quickly they learned and were able to speed around the gym!

Student Voice: Food Service Edition! District Administration, along with Quest Foods, held menu planning focus groups with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at WMS. The taste testers were invited to come in for a special lunch service during their normal lunch period to taste possible new menu items and to provide feedback on how things are going with the new food service vendor overall. The students asked great questions, and provided honest feedback about what they like, and what they think can be improved. Of the menu items they tried during the focus groups, the crowd favorite seemed to be the egg and cheese sandwich! While they were sampling food and providing feedback, the Quest team was able to explain what goes in to the menu planning and food preparation process, and talk about the strict guidelines they have to follow to provide nutritious options and keep food safe for our Wildcats. #LifeintheW

Mrs. Villalba’s class had a fun-filled morning! They worked as a group to go over day of the week, the current season, the weather, and the number of students in class today. Then, it was time for craft activities! One group created sparkling snowflakes using glitter, cotton balls, and pipe cleaners, while the other group got messy making slime. Afterward, they settled in for some independent and group reading time. These little Wildcats certainly made the most of their busy, productive morning! #LifeintheW

REMINDER BPAC Meeting Tonight! https://www.dist50.net/o/dist50/page/bpac Atención familias bilingües: Hoy, miércoles 15 de enero de 7 a 8 pm en Woodland Intermediate los esperamos en nuestro Evento BPAC-Comité Asesor de Padres Bilingües, presentación especial de YWCA sobre Nutrición y Alimentos. Maestras del Dual Language realizarán actividades divertidas de Nutrición con los chicos, "Tobias" nuestro perro nos acompañará, popcorn y popcakes de Starbucks para los niños. Comida saludable para adultos y muchos sorteos. LOS ESPERAMOS A TODOS EN FAMILIA, HOY A LAS 7 PM EN WOODLAND INTERMEDIATE. NO SE LO PIERDA! Attention bilingual families: Today, Wednesday, January 15 from 7 to 8 pm at Woodland Intermediate we are looking forward to our BPAC-Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee Event, special YWCA presentation on Nutrition and Food. Dual Language teachers and students from WTHS Avanza club will be doing fun Nutrition activities with the kids, “Tobias” our dog will be joining us, popcorn and popcakes from Starbucks for the kids. Healthy food for adults and lots of raffles and surprises. WE WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU TODAY AT 7 PM AT WOODLAND INTERMEDIATE. DON'T MISS IT.

Woodland’s School Resource Officer, Det. Hansen joined Mrs. Wilinski's 3rd-grade art class as a special drawing model! The students have been practicing figure drawing and sketching from real-life objects and models, so they were excited to draw a real-life superhero—Det. Hansen! Det. Hansen talked about her "superpowers," explaining that her most powerful tools are her ears and her voice. She uses them every day to listen to people and communicate with them, helping to solve problems and make a positive impact in the community.

Today in Mrs. Friello’s 8th grade math class, students had the exciting opportunity to explore the fascinating world of fractals. With paper, pencils, yardsticks, and scissors, they started creating these intricate, self-repeating shapes. Students had the choice to create either a 2D or 3D representation of a fractal, bringing mathematical concepts to life in a hands-on and creative way.

There’s a mystery at Woodland Middle School, and our Wildcats are on the case! Don’t miss WMS's production of “Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion!” When: Saturday, Jan. 24 & 25, 2025, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Where: Woodland Middle School, 7000 W. Washington St., Gurnee, IL Tickets are $5 for Adults and $3 for Children/Students.

In case you missed it before the Winter Break, the Woodland D50 Board of Education approved the 2025-2026 School Year Calendar at the December meeting. View the 2025-2026 Calendar HERE: https://5il.co/33x56

Woodland Middle School brought the Game of LIFE to life! Welcome to Junior Achievement Town where 8th grade students selected a career and were given a corresponding salary. The students walked around “town” and made decisions about housing, transportation, education, clothing, food, savings, and retirement. They also budgeted for personal needs such as self-care and entertainment. Through this activity, students learned the value of budgeting within their means and other valuable life skills. Thank you to the WMS Parent School Partnership Committee, the many parent and community volunteers, and Woodland staff members for all their hard work in making this event possible! #LifeintheW

Today is Law Enforcement Appreciation Day! Woodland would like to send a big thank you to our outstanding School Resource Officers, Det. Hansen and Det. Otachel. Your hard work, dedication, and commitment to our school community does not go unnoticed. You make Woodland a safer, more welcoming place for both our students and staff. We are incredibly grateful for all that you do to ensure the well-being of everyone in our school! Please join us in showing heartfelt appreciation to Woodland's School Resource Officers, and all of the law enforcement officers at the Village of Gurnee and the Lake County Sheriff's Office for keeping our community safe.

Help Us Celebrate Amazing Woodland Teachers and Staff! We are excited to launch the annual Village of Gurnee Teacher of the Year contest, with a new category for Staff Member of the Year! In the announcement linked below it explains the criteria for the awards, and links directly to both nomination forms. We look forward to recognizing additional staff members in partnership with the village. Nominate someone today! Announcement: https://secure.smore.com/n/xg4wj Website: https://www.dist50.net/page/gurnee-teacher-of-the-year Nominations are due by Monday, Jan. 27.