
Happy Fall! The Intermediate Garden Club has been enjoying the lovely fall weather and wanted to share these photos with you. Have you ever seen a more perfect fall photo set? #LifeintheW



A little Halloween fun for the adults too! Take a look at these District Office group costumes 🤩





Today we visited the students in Ms. Kauck & Mr. Leguizamo's 1st Grade Dual Language classes. In one classroom they read a story with Ms. Kauck and identified the Character, Setting, Problem, and Solution before making their own creepy crayons. In the other classroom they learned about Dia de los Muertos with Mr. Leguizamo and made traditional paper flower decorations. Great job Wildcats! #LifeintheW









Wiley can't decide what to be for Halloween. "Witch" one do you like best? 🤣




Today Elementary students had two very special guests visit for the first ELEM Assembly of the year - Alex and NED! Alex and his friend NED took our Elementary Wildcats on an adventure to find a positive mindset for learning.
NED taught the students “Never give up, Encourage others, & Do their best” in everything they do.
He also encouraged students to use the power of a positive mindset and to incorporate NED’s message into things they do every day.
Ask your students about their adventures climbing a mountain, meeting and yeti, zip lining, meeting a pirate, and fixing a spaceship at school today!
There were also some majorly cool yo-yo moves!








During Ms. Ancona’s Language Arts class, our 7th grade Wildcats worked on writing and grammar. They worked together to find and correct the grammatical errors of a sentence. They found errors in the punctuations, word choice, and spelling (Ms. Ancona is very passionate about the correct spelling of FebRuary, and so are her students!). Then they were given time to freewrite a response to a prompt. Here at Woodland we use technology in our classrooms everyday; however, students still work on paper with pens and pencils - the Old Fashioned way!











Fall Festivities in Kindergarten! It was a great pumpkin investigation for these little Wildcats and a few parent helpers.
Answer these questions:
How tall is your pumpkin?
How big around?
How much does your pumpkin weigh?
Does your pumpkin float or sink?
Should we carve a silly face or a scary face?
Bonus Content: You will see students in their pajamas for a Red Ribbon Week spirit day. "Follow You Dreams, Be Healthy!"
#LifeintheW











Pumpkin Tower STEM Challenge at Elementary! Ms. McGinn's Challenge Math Students worked together in small groups to plan and build structures out of toothpicks and candy pumpkins. Students learned the importance of teamwork, planning, talking through a process, and making their ideas come alive. Once completed, students analyzed their structures and shared ideas about what they could have done differently. #LifeintheW










Kicking off the Annual Holiday Food Drive!
We invite our entire Woodland learning community to get involved. There are several ways to participate, LEARN MORE: https://secure.smore.com/n/xe35mq
Take a look at the flyer to see the list of items we are requesting. You can drop donations off at your child's school, or the district office. THANK YOU! #LifeintheW
(Photos in this post are of Food Drive Volunteers setting up the Woodland Food Pantry in December 2023.)











Thrills and chills in the gym! The students were super excited to visit haunted stations in P.E. #LifeintheW











Scenes from a Dual Language 3rd Grade Classroom! Mrs. Kampf's students were ready to practice their math skills at different stations around the room. Depending on the station, a student might be practicing a skill on their own on a device, with a partner on paper, or with a small group playing a game. #LifeintheW










New Opportunities to join the #LifeintheW Team! Please help spread the word.
Facilities Manager: https://www.applitrack.com/dist50/OnlineApp/default.aspx?Category=Non-Certified+Supervisory
Primary Principal: https://www.applitrack.com/dist50/OnlineApp/default.aspx?Category=Administration
All Positions: https://www.applitrack.com/dist50/OnlineApp/default.aspx



Today, Ms. Bautista’s 7th grade math students worked in teams of two to solve an “Escape Room” puzzle! Each of the four math problems, once solved, revealed a part of the code that, when put together, would allow them to “escape.” While the math problems were challenging, Ms. Bautista encouraged her students and helped them succeed!









We dropped in on a few Elementary Halloween Parties today! Fun games, creative crafts, parent volunteers... and some amazing costumes! These pictures are from just a few classrooms, but the entire school was full of superheroes, famous athletes, princesses, wizards, and a variety of other creatures and characters. #LifeintheW











Happy Principal Appreciation Day to Mrs. Anderson, Mr. Reardon, Mr. Sheldon, and Mrs. Drake! National Principals Month is celebrated throughout October, but Oct. 25 has been designated as Principal Appreciation Day in Illinois. This dynamic team of school leaders was recognized at the Board of Education Meeting last night. #LifeintheW #ThankAPrincipal


When it was time for Science in Mrs. Werner's class, the students looked to the screen for the agenda for the lesson:
Moon Phases Activity.
Be in your seat and ready to have fun!
🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔
Little did they know, there would be one more challenge to overcome. Resist the urge to eat the Oreos!
The students were tasked with using Oreos to create a model of the phases of the moon. At the end of the lesson, Mrs. Werner pulled out a secret backup package of Oreos for the students to eat.
Bonus Content! Mrs. Werner's class has a Parent Mentor. Thank you Mrs. Bakanec for supporting this awesome group of students. #LifeintheW











Middle school continued celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by creating Mexican Folk Art Mirrors! Before they began creating, students were taught the history of these mirrors. This project took several days, and while the students worked they listened to Duncan Tonatiuh’s book, The Princess and the Warrior, as well as tradition and modern music from Latin artists.


Introducing WISE – the Woodland Inclusion and Special Education Empowerment Parent Group! This initiative started last year as a Special Education Resource Group for parents, and we are ready to bring you a whole new series of programs for year two. WISE will be a great place to connect with other district families, get to know Woodland staff members who can help with resources, and get answers to your questions.
Join us for the first WISE meeting of the 2024-2025 School Year:
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 23
Time: 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Location: Woodland Educational Support Center (District Office)
RSVP:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_Eqssnpeuq5o6QMkHxsRyky79Ejafla_L72VQv9PSynvRpA/viewform
Topic: Managing Behaviors and Meltdowns: Strategies for Parents
Families will learn proactive strategies to de-escalate behavior and manage meltdowns. The session will also provide tips on how to help children with self-regulation.
#LifeintheW


Thank you to the Advocate Ronald McDonald Care Van for visiting Woodland to provide vaccines and physicals to help keep students from being excluded from school. This is an amazing community resource for students with no insurance or state insurance. For more information about health resources in the community, please contact the Health Office. https://www.dist50.net/page/health-services


Mrs. Zieglers 5th grade class were astronomers for the day! They worked on identifying the celestial bodies of our solar system. Using cards they placed these planets, asteroids, and comets in order, then working as a team they identified their compositions. Wildcats working together can do anything! #LifeintheW









