Woodland School District 50

Shining a spotlight on the Parent Mentor Program at Woodland! Our amazing Parent Mentors recently had the opportunity to share their experience with Community Leaders to highlight how impactful this program is for Woodland Teachers and Students. Thank you to State Senator Mary Edly-Allen, State Representative Joyce Mason, Village of Gurnee Mayor Hood, and Dr. Karner from the Lake County Regional Office of Education for supporting our Parent Mentors. Did you know that Woodland is the first school district in Lake County to implement a Parent Mentor Program? We are now in our 3rd year of the program. The Parent Mentor Program is more than just parent volunteers visiting their child's classroom. These are Woodland parents who apply to be part of the program and complete a formal training program before being assigned to a classroom. Parent mentors work four days a week for two hours a day. While in the classroom they work one-on-one with students, lead small group activities, support the classroom teacher, and participate in weekly training and workshops to increase their skills and proficiency. After completing 100 parent mentoring hours, our program participants receive a stipend of $1500. The Parent Mentor program is also a great launching pad for those interested in entering the field of education. There are opportunities through the program to become certified to be a paraprofessional or substitute teacher. In fact, some of our former Parent Mentors are now current Woodland Employees! Learn More: https://lnkd.in/gTbn8bbx

October is National Principals Month, and Woodland has some of the best around! Please help us wish Stacey Anderson (Primary), Jared Reardon (Elementary), Tim Sheldon (Intermediate), and Tiffany Drake (Middle), a very happy National Principals Month! Woodland is lucky to have such knowledgeable and caring school leaders, who show up each day ready to support the students and staff in their schools. Not a single district initiative, directive, or goal happens without their hard work. #ThankaPrincipal #LifeintheW

New Teacher Alert! We want to welcome Pilar Colmenero, a visiting International Teacher from Spain, who is teaching Spanish Language Arts at Woodland Middle School. Also new to the WMS team is Christopher Palasz, an 8th Grade Language Arts Teacher. Welcome to #LifeintheW! Here are a few photos from a recent visit to their classrooms. We hope you and your students have an amazing school year. (We will continue to visit new staff members over the next few weeks so keep the welcome wishes coming)

Woodland is excited to introduce you to two more new team members! Please help us give a big Wildcat Welcome to Miss Allison Junge and Miss Salena Jason. We can't wait to see what amazing things you will do this year! Thank you for joining the #LifeintheW team and supporting the students at Woodland Intermediate. Have a wonderful school year. (We will be continuing to visit new staff members over the next few weeks so keep the welcome wishes coming)

September is Attendance Awareness Month Thank you to these Wildcats for showing us that being Present makes them Powerful! School districts across the country are working to reduce chronic absenteeism. Being absent can negatively impact a child’s academic performance; it also limits their opportunities to practice essential problem solving skills, self-regulation, self-discipline, and social development. A well-rounded Woodland education includes so much more than academics - #LifeintheW is better with all of our Wildcats in the house!

Today we celebrate the Woodland Technology Team for everything they do behind the scenes to keep Woodland running smoothly. Whether they are trouble shooting issues with laptops and Chromebooks, implementing innovative technologies and deploying new applications, or maintaining our servers and networks, this team makes sure we are always on, always connected, and always secure! #LifeintheW

Team Woodland preparing for the school year! Training together at the district office, and serving the community together at Gurnee Days. August is such an exciting time in the W. #LifeintheW

We have two very important reasons for sharing this photo. 1. Help us give a warm #LifeintheW welcome to Roberto Ochoa Barajas and David Gonzalez! They have joined the Operations and Facilities team as Facility Managers and they have been doing ALL of the things to get our buildings and grounds ready for the school year. They are capable, resourceful, experienced, and all around great people who are ready to jump in and help whenever/wherever needed. 2. Speaking of jumping in wherever they are needed, Roberto and Dave will be representing Woodland this Saturday in the Gurnee Days Rib Eating Contest! They are fierce competitors with the appetites of a Wildcat. Nothing can stop their hunger to win. 😂 🐯

The Woodland Wildcast enters Season 2 with big Back to School energy! Listen in as Woodland’s four school principals discuss important plans and information for the 2024-2025 school year with Dr. Machak. https://lnkd.in/gGyz9YKi Who is your favorite TV teacher? 🤗 Additional Back to School Resources: Welcome Newsletter - https://lnkd.in/gZHNn9FH Back to School Headquarters - https://lnkd.in/gFCkSvqM School Year Calendar - https://5il.co/2h2li District Events Calendar - https://lnkd.in/gKMguw4q Pictured Left to Right: Tim Sheldon, Stacey Anderson, Tiffany Drake, Jared Reardon, Robert Machak

Woodland Primary is looking for an Assistant Principal/Early Childhood Supervisor to take care of our little Wildcats. This is a great opportunity to join the #LifeintheW team!