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Thank You and Welcome New Board Members

6/17/2020

 
As the outgoing president of WatersToday, I want to say a very special thanks to the Waters community for your enthusiastic participation with our kiddos' school during my term. Serving on the WatersToday board was both rewarding and collaborative, and I hope everyone that wants to get involved will enjoy working with the amazing parents here as much as I have! I want to welcome the incoming WatersToday board members and wish them continued success.

President, Kortney Moore
Vice President, Hope Nichols
Events Co-Chairs, Jaime Murphy & Sherry Mayberry
Communications and Marketing Co-Chairs, Mary Gallery & Cara Sullivan
Secretary, Jacqueline Gaines
Treasurer Co-Chairs, Sam Kaune & Jesse Brannan

Volunteer Co-Chairs, Maripa Abella & Poppy Brandes
Staff Liason, Mrs. Vecchioni

Thank you to the board members rolling off: Leah Rieger, Jen Davidson, Paul Reschke,and Carolyn Dean, for your hard work and giving so generously of your time and energy during your terms. Finally, thank you to all the parents and loved ones that have volunteered and given of their time this year. I hope you all have a safe and healthy summer doing good work!

Jessie Novak
Outgoing President, WatersToday

WatersToday 2019-2020 Fundraising Recap

6/17/2020

 
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​Thanks to the outstanding efforts and generous contributions of Waters families, friends, community members, local businesses and volunteers, WatersToday raised more than $215,000 this school year to support programs in the 2020-2021 school year! 

Fundraising Highlights
  • The Waters Pledge Drive was its most successful to date, raising $121,000 from more than 200 donors! We are grateful for the support from our parents, friends and community sponsors who continue to make our Pledge Drive a success.  To celebrate, a few teachers came together to get SLIMED by our Junior High Students.  A special thank you to Ms. Novak, Ms. Aguilar, Ms. Booczko and Ms. Heilbrunn for volunteering to participate in the activities! 
  • The newly rebranded Waters Maker Fair  raised more than $4,000 and showcased a number of talented local artists and makers. The famous Cake Walk and Giving Tree returned ensuring fun for the entire family. 
  • Waters' Big Night brought together 250 community members and raised $80,000! We lept back to the 80's and celebrated our wonderful school community. For the first time, we dedicated a portion of the proceeds of Big Night directly to one initiative; Classroom Libraries. Thanks to you, we raised nearly $15,000 for books, seating and shelving for our students!  
  • Unfortunately, the Wildcat Walk a Thon was cancelled this year. However, we hope to make next year better than ever! 
  • Local businesses contributed nearly $20,000 through WatersToday business sponsorships, Waters Dines Out and Pledge Drive giveback events. Thank you!

Where Your Donations Go
The Waters Local School Council (LSC), which is an elected body, determines the allocation of funds raised by WatersToday. Here are just a few of the items your donation helps fund:
  • Waters' unique ecology program
  • Circle of Help, which helps support our most vulnerable students 
  • Essential Teacher Supplies
  • Teacher Support  
  • Half of a fine arts teacher position 
  • Classroom Libraries 
  • Lunch and recess supervision

Learn more about WatersToday's fundraising activities.

Questions? Want to get involved? Contact us.

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Virtual Art Show!

6/16/2020

 
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Thank you to all of our parent volunteers, students and especially Ms. Vecchioni for her creativity and direction on our first Virtual Art Show!  If you were unable to attend, you can view the presentation here.  She will be sharing more 4Q final projects in the coming days so check back!  

WatersToday End-of-Year Survey

6/15/2020

 
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Through June 26

Help WatersToday reflect on this school year and plan fundraising and volunteer efforts for the upcoming one by filling out this survey. We appreciate your feedback.

Resources from Mrs. Bricker

6/10/2020

 
Mrs. Bricker has shared some resources to help students and families talk about racism and current events.

A Starting Place
https://www.prettygooddesign.org/blog/Blog%20Post%20Title%20One-5new4

Preparing yourself (Parents/Staff):
Talking Race with Young Children - An excellent podcast from Sesame Studio and NPR’s Life Kit, featuring Beverly Daniel Tatum, an expert on child psychology, education, and race. 
What to Say to Kids When the News is Scary - Also from NPR's Life Kit, child development experts weigh in on how to approach the scary news kids might be absorbing right now. 
What is White Privilege, Really? - An important foundational learning resource for understanding that “white privilege is both a legacy and a cause of racism.” 
Beyond the Golden Rule - A longer read, but full of valuable information for parents on preventing and responding to prejudice.


With the kids (to read and discuss together):
Let's Talk about Race by Julius Lester
The Colors of Us by Karen Katz
​A Kids Book about Racism by Jelani Memory(Read-Aloud Video)

"Separate is Never Equal" by Duncan Tonatiuh available in Epic! 

Pizza for the Pantry

6/10/2020

 
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Join local Boy Scout 894 in their fundraising efforts by purchasing and donating Lou Malnati's vouchers for frozen deep dish pizza.  These vouchers can be redeemed at any location and are good until the end of 2020.  You can buy vouchers for yourself or gift the vouchers to the Friendship Center which works closely with Waters' Circle of Help to support families in need. Purchase or donate here and give people a delicious treat!

Community Book Group

6/10/2020

 
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July 12, Time TBD

A group of Waters parents is planning to read Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey and would like to gather to discuss, listen, learn and continue to do the work with fellow parents, teachers and community members.

​We'd like to invite ALL parents (&teachers!) to join us, knowing full well that every one of us is at a different place in their work and their journey regarding this topic.We don't claim to know a lot other than we need to learn and do better for our kids, our community, and our society. This is one teeny, tiny effort to do better. 

If you'd like to join us, awesome! We recommend ordering a hard copy from the only black-owned bookstore in Chicago, Semicolon. Of course, we also like to support out local shop, the Book Cellar. 
The book is also available on Kindle, Google Play books, Audible, etc.

This event is in no way affiliated with Waters Elementary, WatersToday, or any other organization. 

If you plan to attend or have any questions, please contact Laura Earle so we can plan accordingly, add you to the Facebook event, and update you in case there are changes.

Innovation & Sanctuary Gallery & Stage!

6/8/2020

 
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Tuesday, June 16, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Check back for location details


Ms. Vecchioni is  planning a new form of collaboration to showcase our drama and visual art remote learning. Innovation & Sanctuary  is Waters' first-everK-8 Remote Learning VR Gallery & Stage! 

Ms. Vecchioni has recruited a group of students be part of the Innovation & Sanctuary Design Team and is looking for a few parent volunteers.  The team needs parent volunteers that have some time to help upload student work into Google Slide templates. It is fun, easy and rewarding work! 

The more hands the merrier! Please email Mrs. Vecchioni if you have a few hours (day or night!) to dedicate to this new form of art show.  Additionally, if you know any special ways to help out---please join the team! The team needs graphic designers, videographers, tech specialists, web designers, computer engineers---and all forms of design thinkers and enthusiastic team players---and anyone willing to help out! Thank you for your support.

Please stay tuned for more details and reach out to Ms. Vecchioni with any questions!





    WatersToday News 
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