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WELCOME TO DISTRICT 2!
New principal set to lead Blackhawk next year
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The BSD2 Board of Education has named Diana Vergara the new principal at Blackhawk Middle School.
Ms. Vergara comes to District 2 from Shields Middle School on Chicago’s southwest side, where she has served for the past seven years as assistant principal.
“Ms. Vergara embodies the principles of hope and change with over two decades of experience in Chicago Public Schools as a teacher, coach, and assistant principal,” said Dr. Katie McCluskey, Superintendent of Schools.
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CLASS OF 2024
Blackhawk's eighth-grade promotion is May 28
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Blackhawk Middle School will hold its eighth-grade promotion ceremony on Tuesday, May 28, in the field house at Fenton High School, 1000 W. Green Street, Bensenville.
Families of students participating in the promotion ceremony receive a total of six tickets.
Students should arrive at 6:30 p.m. The ceremony starts at 7 p.m.
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WE NEED YOUR FEEDBACK
Please take the School Climate Transformation Grant Survey by May 29
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In District 2, we partner with families to provide student-centered instruction.
To do this, we need your feedback.
Please take a moment to share your experiences in the District in our School Climate Transformation Grant Family Survey linked below.
The survey closes May 29.
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ARE YOU HUNGRY?
Bensenville Education Association sponsoring May 23 mobile pantry
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If you don’t have enough to eat, Northern Illinois Food Bank’s Mobile Market Pantry can help. It distributes nutritious food in high-need areas. The food is free so neighbors can thrive!
The Bensenville Education Association is sponsoring the Mobile Market Pantry when it comes to Bensenville from 4-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, at Veterans Park, 149 N. Church Road, Bensenville.
Food is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last.
Please bring bags or boxes in which to package your food.
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SUMMER NUTRITION
Free summer breakfast program offered at Tioga
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Bensenville School District 2 will serve FREE breakfast to anyone 18 years and younger throughout the month of June.
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Location: Tioga School, 212 W. Memorial Road
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Dates: Monday-Thursday, June 5-27 (Breakfast will not be served on Wednesday, June 19.)
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Time: 8:05-8:30 a.m.
Meals must be consumed on site.
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BUDDY BENCHES
New additions to playgrounds provide students a place to go when they need a friend
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Parents, community members, and local leaders from across Bensenville gathered last week to celebrate the installation of "Buddy Benches" on the playgrounds at Tioga and W.A. Johnson Schools.
A "Buddy Bench" is a place a student can go when they are feeling sad or lonely and need someone to talk to or play with. When a student sits on the "Buddy Bench," other students and staff will know the child could use a friend, and will join the child and offer their help, support, and comfort.
Earlier this year, third-grade ACE students researched and developed a proposal to purchase "Buddy Benches" to install on their playgrounds. In January, they presented their idea to the Bensenville Community Foundation. The Foundation loved the idea and voted unanimously to fund the project.
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Photos courtesy Village of Bensenville | |
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WHEELS4WISDOM
Bensenville comes together to provide bicycles for students in need
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Fourteen BSD2 students will be riding "new-to-them" bikes thanks to the generosity of the Bensenville community.
Bensenville Police Department stores lost, stolen and abandoned bicycles. When they sit unclaimed, the Department donates them to a good cause. This spring, that good cause was the Bensenville Youth Coalition and its new Wheels4Wisdom program.
For Wheels4Wisdom, the Coalition worked with the Bensenville Police Department and Mark Drelicharz’s small engine classes at Fenton High School to refurbish the bicycles. Fenton and District 2 then worked together to identify students who would benefit from having one to ride primarily to and from school.
However, the bikes are for their enjoyment, as well, and to keep both the bicycles and the students safe and secure, the Coalition also provided the students with helmets and locks at no cost.
Many of the bikes were given to their recipients at the Village of Bensenville's National Bike Month Safety Workshop, which was hosted by the Bensenville Park District on May 13 at the Deer Grove Leisure Center.
"Everyone has been involved," said Lara Schwarz, District 2's Community Liaison and Member of the Coalition's Board of Directors. "But I think the most rewarding part has been seeing the faces of the kids when they receive their new bikes!"
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HERE’S THE DEAL!
Blackhawk students present business plans at District 2’s Third-Annual Young Entrepreneurial Student Pitch Contest
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Edible plates, adjustable-size video game controllers, and lock boxes to keep you from checking your cell phone while you’re driving. These kids and their ideas, right?
Well, three of those ideas earned big checks during the District's Third-Annual Young Entrepreneurial Student (YES!) Pitch Contest, which was held May 10 at Blackhawk Middle School.
For the contest, seventh-grade students from Deanna Berardi’s STEM Lab classes were tasked with coming up with a product or service that would solve a problem, and developing a business plan to “sell” to potential “investors.” Think Shark Tank!
In all, 20 students stepped up to the challenge, pitching a total of 12 business plans to a panel of local officials and business leaders.
In the end, the winners were …
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FIRST PLACE – $1,000 | Amalie Adamczyk for “The EarBudy,” a handy device to keep earbud cords from tangling.
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SECOND PLACE - $500 | Elodie LePage, Abby Schmidt and Dylan DiPaolo for “ClearCut,” an antibacterial cutting board with sides to contain the mess.
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THIRD PLACE - $250 | Dorian Popiela and Liam Williams for “Zippy,” a combination of a hooded sweatshirt and backpack
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This year’s YES! Pitch Contest was sponsored by Grand Subaru, Bensenville Chamber of Commerce, DuCAP, the Bensenville UPS Store, the Village of Bensenville, and Green Street Grille.
Special thanks to all those who volunteered to judge the pitch contest: Dr. Katie McCluskey, District 2 Superintendent of Schools; Jim Stoltman, District 2 Board of Education member; Frank DeSimone, Village of Bensenville President; Ryan Drouin, general manager at Grand Subaru; Jose Carrera, brand manager at Grand Subaru; Mike Munroe, owner of Green Street Grille; Jim Ochoa, owner of the Bensenville UPS Store and a member of the Bensenville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; and Michelle Smith, DuCAP Community Engagement Director.
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JAGUAR JAMBOREE
It was an amazing spring evening at Johnson!
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Carnival games, a dunk Tank, raffle prizes, and delicious food, all on a perfect spring evening!
Thank you to all of our families who came out for Jaguar Jamboree on May 10, and to everyone - the Johnson PTA, staff, volunteers, and vendors - who came together to create another memorable experience for this wonderful school community!
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POP!
Pre-K students treated to Ben's Bubble Show
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What pre-school-aged kid doesn't LOVE bubbles, right?
That's why the Bensenville Early Learning Center echoed with "oohs" and "aahs" recently as the District's pre-kindergarten classes were treated to Ben's Bubble Show.
With a big bowl of bubble fluid and a wide variety of wands, master bubble blower Ben Jiminez treated the students to an assortment of tricks and artistic creations, and - of course - let them burst more than a few bubbles of different shapes, sizes and colors!
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CONSERVATION CONVERSATION
Flying Fox teaches second graders about the diverse and unique world of animals
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Second graders at Tioga and W.A. Johnson Schools met an assortment of interesting animals last week. Flying Fox Conservation Fund visited the schools, and provided them up-close, hands-on encounters with a sloth, an armadillo, an echidna, a boa constrictor, a parrot, a kinkajou, and - of course - a fruit bat, which is the focus of Flying Fox’s conservation work.
Based in Chicago, the Flying Fox Conservation Fund is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the protection of Old World fruit bats and their habitat through conservation, education and research. Its goal is to save Old World fruit bat populations and their habitat with a non-confrontational approach to reach solutions that benefit bats, people, and ecosystems.
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CHECK IT OUT
If you're active on social media, please like and follow the BSD2 Facebook and X pages
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If social media is your thing, we’d love it if you’d visit our Facebook and X pages, click the “like” button, and follow our postings to keep up with the latest BSD2 News.
Just login and search for “Bensenville School District 2.”
You’ll know you’re where you belong when you're on a page with the District's new "Learning & Growing Together" logo shown to the right.
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BSD2 E-FLYERS
Here are the current community flyers posted on the District's website
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District 2 has gone "green" in its approach to distributing community flyers.
Rather than sending flyers home with each student via backpack mail, District and community flyers are posted on the BSD2 E-Flyers page for parents to view or print 24/7.
It is estimated that this saves our schools hundreds of hours per year spent sorting and handling the materials, not to mention the number of trees and other resources saved in producing them.
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Bensenville School District 2
210 S. Church Street
Bensenville, IL 60106
630-766-5940
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