Through a grant made available from the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority (IVPA), the Riverside Police Department along with staff from the Illinois Center for Violence Prevention (ICVP) recently completed the first of three training sessions for Riverside District 96 teachers and administrators. Through services from ICVP, the training is aimed at bullying prevention in the schools as well as raising issues such as cyber-bullying.

During the training session, teachers and administrators were asked to gauge bullying in their schools. This was done by ICVP to get a sense of what is occurring in Riverside schools so that they can gear the training specifically for Riverside . The remaining sessions will concentrate on giving teachers and administrators the tools to understand bullying and how to monitor kids.

Police Chief Tom Weitzel said, “As a police department, we are dedicated to working with Riverside schools and ICVP to make certain our schools remain among the safest.”

For more information about this program please contact Sergeant Frank Lara at flara@riverside.il.us.

Hauser’s Smart Club Food drive is in full swing and Central students can support this effort by bringing in non perishable food items on Wednesday, December 10th School Spirit Day — Hats Off to Giving!

Central’s Holiday Concert will take place on Monday, December 15th at 7pm in Hauser’s auditorium. Our children’s beautiful voices are sure to fill us with the holiday spirit!

D96 Board of Education Meeting will take place in Hauser’s LRC on Tuesday, December 16th at 7:30pm. Come and be informed.

Please note: There is no Central PTO meeting in December with the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 9am in the Central Library. Dr. Jon Lamberson will be our special guest sharing important information from District 96. At this meeting, the nominating committee will be looking for volunteers to assist in the preparation of an 09/10 Executive Committee officer slate. If you are interested in assisting in this process or finding out more about getting involved, please see any of the current officers for more information.

Don’t forget that Friday, December 19th is an early release day, with AM Kindergarten in attendance only. Winter break will take place from December 22 through January 2, 2009 with classes starting up again on January 5, 2009.

In case you missed it in your child’s folder, a copy of the Official Registration Form for the Flying Carpet Club (Central School PTO’s Junior Great Books program) is available here.

Please read both pages of the Form, as it indicates which students reserved slots in response to last month’s survey and the number of remaining available slots by grade. For those with reserved slots, completed Registration Forms and payment where applicable (see Form) are due back to the PTO mailbox by Monday, December 8. Open registrations are accepted on an ongoing basis thereafter until all slots are filled or Friday, December 12 at the latest.

Please contact Aberdeen Ozga at flyingcarpet@centralptonews.org (or see student directory for phone number) with any questions.

5^th graders at Central School have organized a Holiday Toy Drive. All students are encouraged to donate gently used toys to help others in need. All toys will be donated to the Salvation Army. The toy donations should be placed in the bin outside the school office. Please make all donations by December 17^th. Thank you!

As you know, the theme this year for Central students is C.A.K.E., which stands for Courteous And Kind to Everyone. The C.A.K.E. goal for December is to help someone in need. This holiday season, all students are encouraged to do something helpful to earn $3.00. For example, students may choose to help by shoveling a driveway, cleaning around the house, etc. Students who earn $3.00 and bring it to school will receive a red/white C.A.K.E. bracelet to commemorate the fact that they helped someone during this holiday season. Money collected will then be donated to the KidsCare Project. All money is due by December 19^th. Look for a letter regarding this project to be coming home soon. This letter will be in the form of a “bracelet memo” — students will actually be wearing the letter as a bracelet!

Central School is now on the lookout for students who are demonstrating courteous and kind behavior. Students and teachers may nominate individuals who demonstrate these positive behaviors. Each day, Dr. Limperis will randomly draw one of the C.A.K.E. nominations and read it aloud on the morning announcements. The student who was recognized will then be rewarded with a commemorative C.A.K.E. pin. When you see your child wearing on of these pins, you’ll know that he/she was caught demonstrating exceptional behaviors!

Anything that can be sent to the soldiers overseas during the holiday season, to bring them a little joy while being away from their families, is so greatly appreciated. Donations are down this year and Meredith Kelly, coordinator of Operation Stars and Stripes, received an urgent request for Christmas items for 3 more units (90 soldiers in total) who need support and a little comfort while on duty.

I was humbled and overwhelmed as I walked into the hallway and saw the outpouring of generosity our school community had collected. We are so blessed to live in a community and send our children to a school where everyone is so loving and caring. Central School collected nine boxes of items that will be going to the hospitals and individual soldiers and units overseas. Mrs. Kelly will be separating the items into individual boxes and big unit boxes with Christmas trees and all the decorations to send to the troops.

Thank you again to Dr. Limperis and the teachers for creating classroom projects to share with the soldiers. And thanks also to Cheryl Dowling who coordinated and created through KidsCare a collection of all of the wonderful items so desperately needed by our American soldiers overseas.

Mrs. Kelly and I would like to thank all of the Central families for their amazing and generous outpouring of donations for our soldiers overseas. The cards and students classroom work were amazing.

Sincerely,
Kathy Dudek

Please note: you can donate year round through Operation Stars and Stripes; check out their website www.OperationStars.com.

Come shop at Hollywood School PTA’s Holiday Gift Shoppe This Friday, December 5th, from 3:00 - 4:30pm Hollywood School Gym

What is Hollywood School PTA’s Gift Shoppe?

It’s a jolly event where the Hollywood School gym is transformed into our very own Santa’s workshop. Hollywood students shop for gifts for family and friends during the school day. Friends and neighbors are welcome to come after school to shop too! Nothing costs more than $9.00 because our elves shop year round for bargains. If you’re looking for stocking stuffers or a great place for your kids to shop, please join us. Cash or checks made payable to the Hollywood School PTA accepted.

Please contact Jennifer Perry at perryj@centralptonews.org with any questions.

From the Village of Riverside Police department:

“The Riverside Police Department was notified at 0653 hours that a sexual battery had just taken place.

A female juvenile, 15 years old, reported that while walking down Forest towards Riverside-Brookfield High School she was grabbed from behind and a male offender placed his one hand over her mouth telling her not to scream. This male offender then grabbed the female juvenile victim outside her clothing.

The female victim at first thought perhaps a friend was playing a joke on her but when she was grabbed, she turned partially around, noticed the male offender was no one she knew and she struck him.

The male offender became angry when hit, letting loose of the victim and then tried to kick her, losing his balance. The female juvenile victim started shouting “Help, help” and the male offender ran through an alley making his escape. The female juvenile victim called on her cell phone to this department.

Offender: Male white, 28-30 year old, 6′0″. Medium build, wearing a black hat and dark winter coat and had a brown ponytail.

If you have any information on this incident please contact Det. Sgt. Dave Krull at (708) 447-2127 or dkrull@riverside.il.us.”

Thank you.

Please support our KidsCare Project, “Operation Stars and Stripes”, by supporting our troops this holiday season! Any donations are appreciated and collection boxes are located right outside the school office until Tuesday, December 2nd.

Items needed are: Halloween candy, toothbrushes, batteries, Chapstick, Shower Shoes, Instant hot chocolate, travel games or cards, paper and pens, gum, Ziploc bags, Pepto tablets, powdered creamer, disposable razors, fruit snacks, cereal bars, trail mix, nuts, crossword puzzles, Mr. Coffee filters, travel scope, cough drops, foot powder, sugar substitute and twin blankets for the hospital.

If you have any questions, please contact our KidsCare Chair, Cheryl Dowling (phone number in the student directory.)

Don’t have any items to donate? Just make a homemade Christmas card, a great opportunity to use your C.A.K.E. skills, and put it in the box.

Thank you for your generosity!

A special thank you to the below listed parents that stepped up to bring food and/or assist during the teacher dinner during parent/teacher conferences on Monday, November 24, 2008. The teachers were able to focus on our children and their progress and dine on fabulous sandwiches and sides, making them feel appreciated!

Melinda Brom, Kathy Dudek, Samantha Durst, Nancy Hutchings, Michelle Marconi, Sue Miller, Kate Nessinger, Mary Jo Robling, Jennifer Sedivy, Tracy Sloan and Lisa Veon.

Mrs. Gail Tuene was the winner of the Fall Flower Centerpiece. Congratulations.