
Buy your hat today at www.waterstoday.org/donate
Please contact Jennifer Davidson if you have any questions.
![]() Want to show your Waters school spirit this winter with a stocking cap of your own? Now you can! Hats are available for $15 while supplies last! Hats will be available for pick up at Jennifer Davidson's porch. You will be contacted with exact address and available pick up dates. Buy your hat today at www.waterstoday.org/donate Please contact Jennifer Davidson if you have any questions. ![]() Virtual Meeting Monday, December 13, 7 p.m. WatersToday relies on volunteers to support our school community. Please attend our next meeting and fill out this survey if you are interested in getting more involved and helping plan the various fundraising and community events. Register for the virtual meeting on Monday, December 13th at 7:00pm https://uchicago.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rcO6vrDwrGtRfcGnrIk3C3XN02tmYDTsM Complete this Committee Interest Survey https://forms.gle/kRybVyvumpCjeDqq6 Please note: There will always be opportunities to sign up for day-of volunteering shift for events (like the Book Fair 11/29-12/3!), but we also need people to help with planning and coordinating events. Thank you in advance for lending your time and energy! ![]() November 29- December 3 The Book Fair is back - happening November 29 to December 3 in the Media Room (316)! It will be open to all classes during the school day. We need volunteers! Can you spare some time to help great kids find great books? Many hands make light work for setup and clean up. As a Book Fair Helper, you'll help students shop for their favorite books while staying in their budget (especially factoring in sales tax). Sign up for a shift here. Disclaimers: CPS requires all volunteers to be approved through their system. For questions, visit cpsvolunteers.org or call 773-553-1544. Class visit schedule is subject to change without notice. Email waterstodayvolunteers@gmail.com with questions. ![]() Through November 19 The Scholastic Book Fair is back! It will be held November 29 - December 3. Prior to the book fair, our school will raise funds through a coin collection program called All For Books. The funds collected will be used to: ·Purchase books for Waters students in need during the book fair ·Donate to community organizations that are in need of books such as Circle of Help Because of your generosity we have been able to provide many books to students in our community through this program over the years. Teachers will be sending materials home so please look for them and consider donating any loose change and return with the attached slip in a baggie by NOVEMBER 19! Please return the change to your home room teacher. Thank you! Because of a separate Potbelly promotion, the Waters Dines Out event originally planned for tonight and tomorrow will have to be rescheduled. We apologize for the inconvenience. Stay tuned for a new date!
![]() With the pledge drive and walkathon behind us, we're super excited to kick off this year's Teacher Feature—and who better to start with than our brand-new principal, Mr. Rutkowski (pictured here with his family on a trip to Wyoming last summer). Waters Today: You've been at Waters for 2 months and change—congrats! What do you love most about being a principal? Mr. Rutkowski: I love getting to go around the school to forge new relationships. There are so many names to learn and people to get to know and that is very exciting. If you had a robot assigned to help you accomplish one task every day at school, what would you program it to do? A COVID eradication robot would be very helpful. We’ll get CPS right on that! Are you from Chicago? I am not. I was born in New Mexico and have lived in 8 states along the way. Usually when people ask where I'm from my answer is Northern California because that’s where I spent the largest chunk of time as a kid. Interesting! So how was your elementary school experience different from that of our Waters' kiddos? My elementary school didn’t have any stairs at all. Every classroom was on the ground floor. Besides super toned quads, what is the one thing you hope all students take away with them when they leave Waters? A passion to discover themselves and the resilience to stay on that path of discovery. In other words, when they encounter adversity, or actively seek out a challenge, my hope is they carry the belief that they can figure out the way forward no matter what. Let's switch gears: When you're not busy principaling, how do you like to spend your time? My Kindle gets a lot of use. I read a variety of things, during this time of year I seem to be more into thrillers and mysteries. Do you have any pets? Not currently, but when I was little we had a golden retriever named Denali (after the tallest mountain in North America) That's a great name. What's one thing that made you laugh recently? One of the best parts about working in an elementary school is that you get a chance to laugh multiple times, every day. One specific instance last week was seeing Frida, Ms V’s turtle, dressed up. What about something that made you really, really mad? Road closures due to the water main work on Western Ave. I had to take a deep breath and remember that the improvements are necessary. Ha! You have a few hundred people nodding in agreement with you right now. Ok, if you won a month-long, all-expenses-paid trip to any destination in the world, where would you go? Costa Rica, because you can visit two different oceans in the same day and there are so many different adventures you can go on with beaches, forests, even volcanos. Plus, no traffic! Ok, we can’t wrap this interview up without asking: Has our friendly Waters ghost paid you a visit yet? Indeed the ghost has paid me a visit. We had a wonderful conversation. It’s important that every member of the Waters community feels connected, the supernatural are no exception. Thank you Mr. Rutkowski—we’re so glad you’re here! November and December 2021
We are excited to have lots of holiday shopping and dining partnerships with our favorite local businesses! Shop on the Waters giveback dates and be sure to mention Waters when you checkout. Each businesses will donate 15%-25% of your total back to WatersToday. Check out the calendar below to plan your shopping and dining! Are you a Euchre master (or someone who likes to play cards)? We're looking for a few more players for the Euchre Parent Party on November 13th to round out our tournament. Come meet fellow Waters parents and enjoy a few games of cards along with snacks and beverages! Tickets available here.
![]() Wednesday, October 27, 3:15 p.m. Waters Field It's slime time! Join us as we slime Mr. Rutkowski to celebrate an awesome Walkathon! ![]() Thank you so much to all of the wonderful donors, volunteers, teachers and staff members, and students that made our Wildcat Walkathon possible! Our community raised over $117,000 on over 500 donations for Waters, blowing past our goal of $75,000 and helping ensure our Ecology, Right-at-School, fine arts enrichments, and student athletics programs will be well-supported! ![]() Friday, October 15 We've got an exciting day planned with lots of fitness fun at Waters. Every student will receive a Waters beanie for coming out to celebrate their Waters spirit. Check out the schedule and come out to cheer on our Wildcats! Parents, siblings, and friends are welcome. Thank you to our Walk-a-thon Silver Sponsor, Galter Life Center at Swedish Hospital and our Bronze Sponsor, Aldi. If you'd like to learn more about sponsoring WatersToday events or how your business can help support Waters Elementary, click here.
![]() Friday, October 15 We need a few more volunteers to help with the Walk-a-thon on Friday, especially in the afternoon with the preschoolers, third-graders, and middle-schoolers. Click here to see the opportunities and sign up. We've already raised almost $50,000, but we need one more push to reach our goal! Donate or pledge here now and help sustain the Ecology program, recess and lunch supervision, and student athletics. We are asking each family to donate or pledge $500, but every dollar counts! You can collect pledges in any amount from family members and friends and turn them in to your classroom teacher or make a recurring donation online.
We have lots of fun incentives for participating and donating! Every kid who comes out for the walk get a Waters beanie to show their school spirit and if we reach our school goal, we get to slime Mr. Rutkowski this Harvest Day! Families that donate $500 or more have a chance to win a $500 gift card to On the Route bike shop. Thanks to On the Route for their support! ![]() October 12-15 Students have been very busy creating art and some help is needed in the art room. If you have some free time during school or after, Ms. Vecchioni would like some help hanging the students' art in the hallways. Parents must have approved volunteer status from CPS to help. Want to be involved even more in the visual arts program? Volunteer to be Ms. Vecchionis's Visual Art Room Parent and assist with lots of creative activities! Email alvecchioni@cps.edu for more information. ![]() October 1-15 We are so excited to be back in person for the Walk-a-Thon! This year, WatersToday has combined the walk with our annual Pledge Drive, a move that will help streamline our fundraising efforts throughout the year. Yep, you heard that right—we're cramming all of our fall fundraising into one awesome day. We've already raised $8,000, but we need your help to reach our goal of $75,000! The money we raise helps fund lunch and recess supervision, the Ecology program, coach stipends and uniforms for student athletes, and so much more! Click here to donate or pledge now! Friday, October 15
The Waters Wildcat Walk-a-thon is on Friday, October 15th and you can help every student have a special day by signing up to volunteer. Click here to see the opportunities. Sign up today to get the slot that fits your schedule best! Please join us at our virtual open meeting tomorrow (Monday 9/13) at 7 p.m! We will have updates about plans for the new school year and lots of ways for people to get involved in volunteering and fundraising efforts.
![]() Are you interested in coordinating the Scholastic Book Fair? WatersToday is looking for parents to help plan the fair and coordinate other volunteers during the event. Contact Poppy at volunteer@waterstoday.org if you are interested or have questions about how to get involved. |
WatersToday News
provides information about fundraising activities, news and events, and other Waters community updates. School News is posted on the Waters Elementary website. Submissions Items will be posted online as soon as possible during the week – usually within 24 to 48 hours. To be included in the Green Notes weekly email published on alternating Thursdays during the school year, please complete the submission form by midnight the prior Sunday. See our guidelines for more information about this process. Sign Up for the
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