Lincoln Families,

I hope you enjoyed the extra day with your kids this weekend. Congratulations to all the members of the Lincoln School community who participated in the Chicago Marathon over the weekend. 

Many thanks to the Lincoln School Green 4 Good Committee and Green 4 Good Kids Club for an incredible Walk to School Week! Over 82% of Lincoln School kids participated last week. Despite a few rainy days, Walk to School Week 2021 was our most engaging ever thanks to such incredible leadership!

As a reminder, due to D90’s current Covid-19 mitigations, unfortunately there will be no costumes, fall parties or costume parade at Lincoln on Friday, October 29. However, kids are welcome to send me photos of themselves in their costumes no later than October 27 and I will compile all the photos into a video to share with all Lincoln families. Teachers will incorporate many fun activities into the day and make it a fun time for our kids.

With Fall Conferences approaching in less than a month, please be sure to see the information below regarding how to secure your time slot. As referenced last week, to align with D90’s current safety mitigations, all conferences will be held virtually. 

As always, thank you for your continued support of Lincoln School. Please never hesitate to reach out if there is anything more I can do to support your family.

Have a great week. Go SOX!  CG

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Calendar

Tuesday, October 12:

• Boys on the Run – 3:15 – 4:15pm, Franklin playground

Wednesday, October 13:

• Waste Free Wednesday

Thursday, October 14:

• October Birthdays – Gaga with Godfrey! (rescheduled)

Friday, October 15:

• FUN LUNCH
• Lincoln Spirit Day

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Fall Sports Camp – registration opens Sunday, 10/17 at 5pm!

Looking for a way for the kids to run off some energy as the weather gets colder? Back by popular demand: Fall Sports Camp by Legacy Sports. Kids will play games like Battleship, Dodge Ball, and Keep Up the Yard, while learning sportsmanship, respect, and teamwork.

Fall Sports Camp is for Grades 1 – 4, space will be limited, more details available on Sunday, 10/17 at 5pm!

The program is run by Legacy Sports and will take place in the gym or on the Franklin playground, weather permitting. Registration opens on the PTO Webstore at 5pm on Sunday, 10/17.

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Jimmy’s Place Dine and Share Fundraiser – Wednesday, 10/20!

Please join us on Wednesday, October 20th from 4 – 8pm for a Dine and Share Fundraiser with Jimmy’s Place in Forest Park! Take care of dinner with their famous cavatelli with vodka sauce, delicious pizza, or any of their many other menu options and a portion of all sales will go back to our Lincoln PTO. 

There are two ways to participate! Simply mention the Lincoln PTO fundraiser when you order: 1) Call (708) 771-7476 and pick up your order, or;  2) dine-in at Jimmy’s Place – 7411 W. Madison in Forest Park.   Please note – food delivery services (i.e. Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc.) are not included in the fundraiser. Thank you for your continued Lincoln PTO support!

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Picture Day – thank you!

Thank you to our PTO volunteers for a successful Picture Day!

Many thanks to Kelly Abood, Megan Keskitalo, and Elli Cosky for volunteering their time to organize and run Picture Day. We’d also like to thank Mr. Godfrey, Mrs. Dubois, and all the faculty and staff for their logistical help throughout the morning. We couldn’t have done it without them.

For anyone who was not in attendance picture retake day will be on 11/17!

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Walk and Bike to School Week was a smashing success! 

We had record numbers of students walking or biking to school each day last week with up to 82% walking or biking! Connect4Kids and Green4Good want to thank all of the parents, teachers, and students who volunteered to pass out backpack ribbons. We love to see the rainbow of ribbons on so many of our Eagles’ backpacks!

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Great Apple Crunch Thursday, 10/14!

This Thursday, pack an apple in your snack or lunch! October is National Farm to School Month and students from across the Midwest celebrate by crunching into locally grown apples. For more information, visit here.

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Library Lowdown

Creating lifelong readers is one of the greatest gifts you can give your children.  The importance of getting kids hooked on books early and keeping them hooked cannot be overstated.  There are innumerable benefits to reading:

• makes you more empathetic (helps you understand others’ perspectives)
• builds social-emotional skills
• strengthens their imagination
• assists with learning new concepts
• increases brain power while preparing kids for academic tasks (e.g., improves vocabulary)

Because reading is so critical, I’d like to introduce something new that will show up periodically in the Lincoln Log and it’s called: “Rev Up Your Reading”.  I will be sharing suggestions you can use to help “Rev up your Reading” in your own home.

Rev Tip #1: Don’t leave home without it (a book that is). Keep books handy.  Going to a restaurant?  Bring a book to read while you’re waiting for your food.  Doctor’s appointment?  Read in the waiting room. Trip to Grandma’s?  Throw a bag of books in the car.  Little one has to go to big sister’s soccer game?  Pack some books. Accessibility is key and it’s an easy way to get reading in even on those really busy days.  Ms. Brauweiler fun fact:  I brought books to the ER when my 5 year old needed stitches (it was mainly to distract him as they sewed him up but we also got some reading time in 🙂

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SEL – Can Meditation Reduce Bias?

A multitude of studies have suggested that meditation can reduce psychological bias.

For example, one study found that a brief loving-kindness (Open Heart) meditation decreased feelings of prejudice toward homeless people, while another found that a short mindfulness meditation could reduce unconscious bias against African American and elderly people. In a study by Adam Lueke and colleagues, white participants who received a brief mindfulness training demonstrated less biased behavior (not just attitudes) toward black participants in a trust game.

Open Heart Meditations can be one way to increase our empathy, which will ultimately help us work toward solutions that address systemic unrest.

In addition to a formal daily meditation practice, of which the Open Heart Style can be a part, there are exercises we can do to actively engage the feeling states of compassion and lovingkindness throughout the day.

Try one of the following:

Peace be with you and with me. Today, as you pass by people in your daily routines, think to yourself, “Peace be with you and with me.” Or “May you be blessed.” If these phrases don’t sound authentic to you, you may try others. Attempt to send feelings of peace and acceptance. Opportunities to practice this are everywhere: watching a political debate, waiting in line at the grocery store, or walking to get the mail.

Witnessing the heart of others. Today, when you encounter someone, visualize a strong purple flame in their heart, burning bright. This practice is similar to greeting people with the Sanskrit phrase “namaste,” which roughly translates to “the divine in me recognizes the divine in you.” This is also a great practice to use when watching a video on the local news, meeting someone for the first time, or just before addressing a group of people.

Remembering the Child. Today, as you pass by people in your daily routines, notice any judgments you may have about them. What judgment comes to mind when you see a homeless person on a street corner? Someone talking loudly on the phone on the sidewalk or on the bus? A political candidate giving a speech? Then, try to “see” them as a parent might see a child. Can you recognize their sweet quality? Can you recognize that this is still part of who they are now?

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Parent/Teacher Conferences

With the arrival of fall comes the time to sign up for Parent/Teacher Conferences! Registration for Parent/Teacher Conferences opens on Thursday, October 21 at 7 a.m. and closes on Friday, November 5 at 10:00 p.m. Families can sign up online for a conference time with teachers by visiting the District’s website.

Conferences will be held via the Zoom conference platform. You will receive the Zoom login information before your scheduled conference time.

Conference Dates	Conference Times by Grade Level
Wednesday, November 10, 2021	PreK and Kindergarten: 8: 40 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.Grades 1 – 4: 3:40 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.Grades 5-8: 3:40 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 11, 2021	PreK and Kindergarten: 12:40 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.Grades 1-4: 12:40 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.Grades 5-8: 10 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

To register, please click on the appropriate link below starting on Thursday, October 21 at 7:00 a.m. until Friday, November 5 at 10:00 p.m.:

For grades PreK-4, click this link: https://www.virtualparagon.com/d90k4/conference/

For grades 5-8, click this link: https://www.virtualparagon.com/d90roos/conference/

Or

• Go to the District 90 webpage at www.district90.org
• Click on Grades Pre-K-4 Conference Sign-up or Grades 5-8 Conference Sign-up (Look on the lower middle column under Quick Links)
• Type School’s Master PASSWORD: d90schools (it is case sensitive)
• Create a NEW User Name
• Answer all contact information and all account information
• Click– Create my account
• WAIT – This may take a few minutes
• Make reservations
• Select all of the teachers you wish to see
• Select your desired time slots
• Click DONE
• You will be given a chance to edit your reservations

Please remember to print a copy of your reservations (the system will not allow access to printing after 10:00 p.m. on Friday, November 5). Please recall that there are computers at the River Forest Public Library that can be used to register for Parent/Teacher Conferences, if desired.

District 90 teachers will be looking forward to meeting with our families during conferences and continuing to work together in support of our students!

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Follow the PTO on Instagram!

Follow the Lincoln PTO on Instagram – @Lincoln_Eagles_PTO

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Technology Support

Thank you for emailing powerschool@district90.org or helpdesk@district90.org with your technology questions/issues.  Please remember to include as much information as possible, e.g., Student Name, Teacher Name, School, iPad asset tag number, etc. Screenshots, links, websites and any other information regarding the issue is helpful. For example, my iPad/computer can’t connect to the XXXXX website when I click on this link. 

Additionally, if you have difficulty logging into your child’s special area classes, please be sure to reach out to that particular teacher to assist with any login issues. 

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