Monday, April 25-39 is Earth Week.  Please see flier below for more information about what Skinner North is doing each day.  

Just a reminder, there is no school Mon., April 18-Fri., April 22 due to Spring Break.  We hope everyone has a relaxing week.  See you on Monday, April 25!

On Saturday, April  9 , school-wide winners of the history fair participated in the Chicago Metro History Fair.  The following students represented Skinner North at the fair:  Nina F (paper), Chelsea (paper), Delia (paper), Roshni (paper), Madison (paper), Osita (display), Carolyn (display), Gabriella (display), and Anagha (display), Jack (website), Mia  (website), Zoe (website), Fannie (website), Ella (documentary), and Isabel (documentary).  Congratulations on your hard work!

This year's topic was Encounter, Exploration and Exchange.  Students selected topics that interested them and were related to these themes and Chicago.  Based on this, they could present their arguments on the topic in various formats including exhibit boards, documentaries, performances, websites and papers.  

The following students qualified to move on the to the Expo at the Prairie Convention Center in Springfield on May 5, 2016.  Congratulations!  You have worked very hard thinking like historians and making strong claims and arguments in relation  to your theme!

Exhibits
Anagha (8th) - The Chicago Women's Liberation Union: Encountering, Exploring, and Exchanging Feminism

Website
Zoe (8th) - Exchanging Worlds, Exploring and Encountering Empire: World's Fair Columbian Exposition

Papers 
Madison - The 1918 Influenza Epidemic: Redefining Chicago's Public Health System
Nina - The Cabrini-Green Homes: What Went Wrong?

The community newsletter was sent out on April 1.  Please see below for a copy.

LSC Elections were held on Wednesday, April 13.  Votes have been tallied and are posted near the main office.

While the results are not  certified by the LSC until May, you can check out the voting results on the publicly available CPS site: 

http://cps.edu/ScriptLibrary/Map-LSCElections2016/index.html Search Skinner North

​Thank you to everyone who ran and voted!

On Friday, April 15, students at Skinner North participated in our annual day of service.  In the past, students had learned about the impacts of homelessness for individuals in our city.  This year, we took a more global perspective to further understand homelessness and we sought to understand struggles refugees face.  

Students created welcome kits, which included making blankets,  for refugees in the Chicagoland area.  As a part of the day, they heard from speakers who work at Heartland Alliance, a refugee resettlement agency, and learned more about what is a refugees, how refugees get to the United States, and what life is like for them.  Students were able to use empathy to understand the world around them and do something to help.  Thank you to the FoSN Service Committee, all the volunteers and to everyone who donated supplies!

April is Autism Awareness Month! Please join the Skinner North family as we help bring awareness to Autism.

There are several ways to get involved:

•  Wear blue on April 4th! We're kicking off the month and encouraging all students to wear blue in unity for autism.
  
• Join or sponsor the Skinner North team for the Autism Speaks Walk on May 14, 2016. Skinner North staff will be completing this walk to raise money in support of autism research and supports. We would love for you and your family to join us on our team! If you cannot join us consider donating towards the cause by accessing our team homepage for the walk. Help us meet our goal of $472 to represent the 472 unique students who attend Skinner North. Visit our team homepage at: http://www.autismspeakswalk.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1150524&team=6656708 
  
• Talk with your family about autism. Classroom lessons will be given to students, throughout April, to discuss and to explore a deeper understanding for this ever growing population. Continue the discussion at home to raise awareness, questions and support.
  
•  Consider donating sensory aide items for the "sensory cart", which students will have the opportunity to explore.

If you have any questions or are interested in helping with classroom lessons please e-mail Mrs. Ritchey (dsritchey@cps.edu) or Mrs. Jacobson (jtjacobson@cps.edu).