A big Happy Birthday shout out to Mr. Cole!! Thanks for always keeping everyone laughing! We hope you have a great day!
We are excited to announce another great new addition to our ACTIONS Restore middle school staff!! Ms. Teneka Richardson will be joining us next fall as our new math teacher for middle school Restore. Teneka started her career in 2007 as a teaching assistant and has been teaching since 2012. Teneka is an Illini/Chicago sports fanatic who likes to spend time in nature, making memories with family and friends, going on adventures, and doing anything with arts and crafts! Teneka has an undying passion for workings with students that others might label as "hard to reach" because she also was labeled as one of those students growing up. She is deeply invested in our students and families that we serve and is grateful for the opportunity to continue to impact change in a new setting!! Welcome to the team Teneka!!
Beginning Monday, June 10, through Friday, July 19, the hours of operation for the Center for Family & Community Engagement at Mellon and the Administrative Center on Windsor will be 7:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The hours of operation for each school campus will be 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Thursday during the summer. Campuses will be open to the public by appointment only on Fridays from Monday, June 10 through Friday, July 19.
We are excited to announce another great new addition to our ACTIONS Restore middle school staff!! Mrs. Tiffany Blackmon will be joining us next fall as our new social science teacher for middle school Restore. Tiffany has been an educator for 17 years and excels at engaging students and giving them life long memories. Her hobbies are doing activities with her family, baking and going to the movies. She is excited to join the Restore staff because she believes in helping kids turn things around and she's seen the success at the elementary level! Welcome to the team Tiffany!!
We are excited to announce a great new addition to our ACTIONS staff. Mrs. Ashley Retz will be joining us in the fall as our new elementary ACTIONS teacher. Ashley has been in education for 18 years and brings a true passion and dedication to helping the students of Unit 4. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her active family and travelling all over the country! She is joining ACTIONS to help students be successful in all aspects of their education. We are excited to add you to our team and look forward to the impact you will make!!
There are moments in education that come and you know they will not soon be forgotten. This week we have watched two young men that have battled adversity, ups and downs of high school, and the pressures of life, come to realize they have achieved their goal of graduating high school. Huge Congrats to Jayden and Dontarious for believing in the process and working hard to achieve their goals! It was an absolute surreal moment to call each of their families in front of their child and let them know they had fulfilled all graduation requirements. The excitement and jubilation, mixed with happy tears on the other end of the phone from their loved ones was truly goosebump worthy. Moments like these are why WE choose to do this work. Proud of not only these students, but the many teachers, admin, role models, and ACTIONS staff that have made this all possible! Go be great Jayden and Dontarious!!!
We enjoyed hosting staff members from Glenwood Community School District in Iowa today. It was great to watch our staff explain what we do and why we do it. Good collaboration and learning experience for all of us!
Big week in Restore this week as we celebrated Eli's birthday, watched the solar eclipse at the library and hung out with U of I football player Luke Zardin for Recess!!
Big birthday shout out to Yahshua who turned 8 last Sunday!! We hope you had the very best day and we are so glad you are with us now in Restore!
Happy Paraprofessional's Day to our amazing paraprofessionals!! We are lucky to have every one of you in the program!!
Shout out to our very own Cynthia Johnson for doing a terrific presentation to bachelor of social work students at the University of Illinois. Cynthia shared about the terrific alternative education programs in Unit 4 and also addressed many of the challenges that our students face.
Our staff has fully embraced march madness and the love for our Illini!! I-L-L
Families, don't forget this Friday, March 29, is Spring Holiday! School and administrative buildings will be closed.
Big thanks to all who donated clothes to our clothing drive!! We will be able to restock the CARES closet which supports Unit 4 students and families! Extra shout out to Central Interact, Centennial Archery, and First Federal Savings Bank! A reminder that we do take donations year round, so keep them coming!
Happy Social Worker's Month to our very own Mrs. Cynthia Johnson!! You have been an amazing addition to the staff of ACTIONS and Novak. Your care, work ethic, and relationship building skills are truly unmatched. Thanks for all you do!!
What an amazing experience being a part of Novak Academy's Black History Month Celebration! The gallery walk that the Novak students created was awe inspiring. Our Restore students loved being back around our Novak friends!! Great work Novak!!
It is that time of the year again!! ACTIONS is hosting our annual clothing drive for our CARES Closet. We are in dire need of a restocking. We will accept all sizes of clothing that are new or in good condition. While we are grateful for all sizes, our greatest need is for Middle School and High School clothing. Please reach out if you have any questions or you need donations picked up!
Due to the weather forecast, Kindergarten Night at Booker T. Washington Academy has been rescheduled for Thursday, Feb. 29th. (6-7:30 pm).
Also Note: Registration has moved to Feb. 29th for Kindergarten, New and Returning Families.
Additional information will be shared soon.
Today one of our biggest personalities started his journey back at his home school of Barkstall. He also celebrated a birthday over the weekend!! To say this has been a big week for Zyaire would be an understatement. We wish you all the best Zyaire and we look forward to watching you flourish as a Barkstall Bear!
Happy birthday to our very own Miss. Jordy!! Thank you for all you do. Have the very best day!!
