Stevenson School video earns 1st place in statewide competition!
Counting on Kindergarteners, a video produced by Stevenson School's Chris Bohne and Sue Hardy, recently took 1st place honors at the Illinois Computing Educators' (ICE) Illinois' Technology Conference.

The purpose of the First Annual ICE Classroom Video Contest was to recognize Illinois' teachers and their students for outstanding use of video media to effectively support curricular goals and Illinois Learning Standards in grades K-8. Stevenson's video showcases Kindergarten students forming the numbers 1-10 with their bodies and actively counting to tens in different ways.

All video entries were judged by high school students across the state. The award will be presented on Friday, March 4 as part of the Illinois Technology Conference's keynote address. In addition to the award, Stevenson School will receive Director in the Classroom software, a free subscription to unitedstreaming.com and a digital camera.

A link to Counting on Kindergarteners will soon be available on the district's website.

BJHS to host regional hearing on state finances and the budget
House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, organized a series of meetings throughout Illinois to discuss the State's finances and budget.

The regional budget hearings are expected to enable more people to hear the type of budget discussions usually limited to Springfield.

The hearing will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Monday, March 7 in the Bloomington Junior High School cafetorium. More information is available HERE

Contact your Legislators regarding school funding
Now is the time to contact local and federal legislators to encourage them to:
• Increase federal funding
• Separately fund required professional development and not make it supplemental services
•Fully fund Special Education so local resources can fund basic education and supplemental services.
• Continue to fund grants targeted to special at-risk populations such as Bilingual, Reading Improvement and Summer Bridges
• Maintain local control of expenditures of grant funds to meet the educational needs of students.

Click HERE for the street addresses and email addresses of our State and Federal representatives. Click HERE to read Dr. Nielsen's February 25 staff letter regarding school funding.

Flex spending information now available online
Information regarding the District's Flexible Spending plan is now available on our website. To access it, go to www.district87.org. It's under EMPLOYEES --> FOR STAFF --> FLEX SPENDING on the menu.

Four incumbents, one newcomer seek four open seats
Running for four open seat on the District 87 Board of Education are John Dirks, Cheryl Jackson, Millicent Roth, Janet Smith (all incumbents) and Willie Halbert. Election Day is Tuesday, April 5.

Congratulations to...
• BHS Wrestling team and coaches for their 2004-5 season. This year's team was the most successful in school history - advancing 7 individual wrestlers to State and qualifying as a team for State.

• Kinnatha Tolson, John Twork and Harry Watermeier for their strong performances at State. Tolson placed 10th in Verse Reading, Twork placed 13th in Radio Speaking and Watermeier placed 15th in Dramatic Interpretation.

• BHS Poms on their win at Super-Sectionals this weekend!  They will now go to state competition March 12 at the U of I!

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