In the morning, only drop off your students along the curb. Please do not drop off in the middle of the lot, or in the 2nd lane. Please remember to drive slow in the lanes at all times. After school, please pick up your children along the curb whether you are in the north or south drive. You may park in the lots and walk to get your chil-dren. Children are not to walk without an adult to and from the parking lots. Thank you for helping us keep everyone safe!

Small hands, BIG hearts! The

past few months, our students

have helped area agencies in

BIG ways! In October, stu-

dents brought in coins and raised

$1,138.23 for United Way. In

November, students brought in

non perishable food items that

were donated to the Salvation

Army. I am so proud of the

students and their families and

their selfless giving!

Mrs. Combs

Principal’s Corner Parking Lot

Warm Clothes LATE STARTS

Lost & Found Our lost and found at Sugar Creek is

starting to pile up!! In case your child is missing anything, you can check the

coat racks located in the lunchroom.

At Winter Break we load all of the items up and take them to

Good Will.

As the weather changes we want to remind every-one to make sure your chil-dren are dressed appropri-ately for outside recess. The students will go out each day as long as the temperature (with wind chill) is 20 degrees or above. In order to play in the snow, students are re-quired to wear snow boots and snow pants.

Doors do not get unlocked until 9:25 on late start days. Please do not send students to school prior to 9:25. Remaining late start days for this year: December 9 January 13 & 27 February 10 & 24 March 9 April 13 & 27 May 11

The Cheetah Chronicle

Special points of

interest:

School begins at

8: 45 each day

and dismisses at

3:30. Please get

your students

here on time.

This teaches them

responsibility for

life!!!

School lunches

cost $2.00.

Milk: $.50

Lunch Schedule

K&4-11:25; 3&5-

11:50; 1&2-

12:15

Sugar Creek Elementary December 2015 Volume 12, Issue 4

Inside this issue:

PTO Info/Lost and

Found/Save the

Date /Weather Clos-

ings

2

Let’s Get Talking 3

PBIS/Calendar 4

Young Authors

5

Beyond the Books 6

Red Out 7

The meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of every month unless there is a conflict. Our next meeting will be Tues-day, December 8 at 6:00. Hope to see you there!

$1 Day Late Start “1.00” Wednesdays are

back again this year. This is a great

way for a no hassle fundraiser for

PTO. Last year we were able to

offset the cost of several classroom

baskets for our annual Family Fun

Night. This year we are hoping to

do the same, along with purchasing

some supplies for the classroom

teachers. Have your child bring

“1.00” on our Late Start Wednes-

day. Please note that your child can

still participate in our “fun” days if

the dollar is forgotten or causes a

hardship on your family!

December 9:

Holiday Shirt/Sweater Day

Sugar Creek also collects pop top tabs for the Ronald McDonald House Foundation. Those can be sent in at any time.

SUGAR CREEK PTO

For the Jason's Deli night we

have to have a certain amount

of people RSVP to "activate"

the event. Please go to the

following link to do so.

http://

www.groupraise.c

om/events/7075

Save the Date

January 21, 2016

Barnes & Noble

Family Reading

Night

Watch for more in-

formation to come

soon!

Restaurant Nights January 19—

Monical’s Pizza (all B/N Locations)

February 18 –Jason’s Deli

Page 2 The Cheetah Chronicle

Please try to utilize

the Sugar Creek web-

site as much as possi-

ble throughout the

year. We will do our

best to provide you

with continous up-

dates. Visit the web-

site at

www.unit5.org/sugar

WEATHER RELATED SCHOOL

CLOSINGS There are several options for parents to find out when the weather requires the school to be closed or dismissed early. The district will use the School Reach automated call-ing system to call all households. Other means of notification include: WJBC 1230AM, WBNQ 101.5FM, WIHN 96.7FM, WBWN104.1FM, WGLT 98.1FM, or WWCT 106FM. You may also access the following websites: Unit 5, WJBC or WBNQ. The decision to dismiss early due to inclement weather is made before 11:00 a.m. and the media will be notified at that time. Please do not call the school office or the Unit Office for this information. If nothing has been announced by 11:00 a.m., it will be a full day of school as usual. Please arrange with your child now what they are to do in case of early dismissal.

200 North Towanda Ave.

Normal, Il 61761

Phone: 309-452-0935

Sugar Creek Elementary

It's a Great Day to be a Cheetah!

Let’s Get Talking I’ve had some people ask me for this list again. As the holiday season approaches and you’re out and about buying gifts, please consider the following recommendations for games that help improve auditory skills. They also make great

activities to occupy time during winter break. J I owe thanks to Dr. Gail Richards at Eastern Illinois University for the list.

Game Auditory Processing or Related Skill

A Rhyme in Time speech sound discrimination, auditory closure

Battleship active listening, visual patterning, integration Blind Man’s Bluff* localization, binaural interaction

Boggle pattern recognition, integration Bopit, Bopit Extreme integration, vigilance

Brain Warp vigilance, integration, problem-solving

Card games (e.g. Rummy) pattern recognition, sequencing Catch Phrase integration, vocabulary development, output

Clever Endeavor metalinguistic strategies, critical listening Feely Bag* interhemispheric communication

Mad Gab temporal patterning, metalinguistic skills Marco Polo* localization, binaural interaction

Musical Chairs (also Cake Walks)* vigilance

Name that Tune* interhemispheric transfer of function Password vocabulary building, metalinguistic skills

Plexers metalinguistic strategies Rags to Riches metalinguistic skills (idioms)

Read My Lips lipreading/speechreading

Red Light/Green Light* vigilance, active listening Rummikub patterning, problem solving, integration

Scattergories vocabulary building, metalinguistic strategies Scrabble integration, linguistic skills, visual patterning

Simon Says* vigilance, active listening

Taboo vocabulary building, metalinguistic strategies Telephone game* attention, active listening, discrimination

Twister integration, critical listening Upwords integration, visual patterning

Wheel of Fortune auditory closure

*=items are not available for purchase but can be played at home with little to no materials

Have fun and know that you’re helping them too!

Mrs. Showalter Speech-Language Pathologist

.

Sugar Creek staff and students collect-ed $1,138.23 for United Way!

It’s a Great Day to be a Cheetah!

Cheetahs Give Back!

November 30, we had an “Out of the Blue Day.” Students

were given the opportunity to spend ten Cheetah Spots to

watch a movie during recess time. Students earn Cheetah

Spots by being Respectful, Responsible, Ready, and Safe.

November “Spotlight Faculty Winners” were: Mrs. Kelley,

Mr. Childers, Mr. Mann, Mrs. Caslow, Mrs. Hobsin, Mrs.

Nicklas, Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Vaughn

November “Cheetah Spotlight Student Winners” were:

Katelyn Hendrickson, Cayden Hamilton, Ember Taylor,

Sterling Mayol, Ashton Auth, Hailey Christianer, Ethan

Mays, Nate Moran, Holden Baldwin, Mataya Patterson,

Layla Winn, Karisma Davis, Olivia McCraw, Bella Rodri-

guez, Levi Cox, Addyson Lacock, Emma Harcharik, Ben-

ton Weller, Aaron McCann, Sabrina Weber, Robert Quinn,

Riley Hammond, Paige Arbuckle, Amyra Harris, Kamaya

Leshoure Walls, Indy Bridgman, Malachi Sotka, Isaac

Rasmus, AJ Ponder, Da’Kairie Harrison, Elijiah Richard-

son, Alexis Sheridan, Kellen Burke, Kamare Denard, Lay-

la Winn, Dalhia Nzalo, Jacoby Burns, Chase Day, Nathan

Amaya, Sofia Soto Catalan, Emily Stephenson, Keaghan

Ormsbee, Autumn Vogel, John O’Connell, Zari Dorris,

Ashmita Ghosh, Cara Williams, Katie Stephenson, Finley

Walsh, Devon Elder, Karley Noland, Jayde Hall, Philip

Merrill.

Be Respectful Be Responsible

Be Ready Be Safe

December 8 PTO-6:00 PM

9 Late Start

18 Winter Parties 2:45 pm

21 Winter Break Begins

January 5 School Resumes for Students

Calendar of Events:

2015-2016 Calling all “Red Hot” Young Authors! It’s time to “cook up” a

“spicy” tale! Young Authors is a program that supports classroom teachers in their efforts to improve students’ writ-

ing and reading abilities. As all books are returned, it’s also a great keepsake from your child’s ele-

mentary school years. Someday they can look back at the book that they wrote and illustrated them-

selves.

ALL participants will receive recognition for their efforts. Every year two books are chosen to repre-

sent our school: one from Kdg., 1st and 2nd grade combined and one from 3rd grade, 4th and 5th grade

combined. Thanks to funding from our wonderful PTO, the 2 books chosen as representatives will

again be turned into plays by a puppeteer for the elem. school to see at an assembly! What fun it is for

the kids to see the stories come to life!

In addition, our 2 Sugar Creek representatives continue on to district competition. Thirteen books from

the district will be chosen to represent Unit 5 at the State Young Author Conference sponsored by the

Illinois Reading Council. Last year, one of our representatives was selected to go to the State Confer-

ence! You can find more information on the Unit 5 Young Author Website. This program is open to

all Sugar Creek students. Each classroom at Sugar Creek handles the writing process for Young Au-

thor program differently. Please check with your classroom teacher if you have questions.

In December, teachers will be sending home packets of information to help with making a Young Au-

thor book. Please don’t write or illustrate the books for your child. This is to be their work. In the

packet, you will also find suggestions from past judges and judging criteria.

The process of creating a story is a worthwhile learning experience for every child. We hope that you

will help encourage your child in this endeavor. BOOKS ARE DUE Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. Although,

some teachers may have an earlier due date for classroom grading. Typing makes the books appear

nicer and easier to read. If you would like help with the typing, please contact me by Friday, Jan. 15,

2016.

Thank you for all you do to support your children!

Kind regards,

Karen Showalter

Speech-Language Pathologist

Sugar Creek Young Author Sponsor

The holidays are coming.

Is there a special teacher in your child’s life? Looking for something other than the standard cute mug or pretty soaps to give? We’ve got the answer for you. Consider a gift that honors their dedication and commitment to teaching.

Make a donation to Beyond the Books Educational Foundation (BTBEF)!

The objective of BEYOND THE BOOKS EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION is to fund innovative programs (which are not currently offered) that enhance educational experiences. The Foundation is committed to educational excellence in the core academic areas, the arts and humanities, sciences, and technology. All age levels and areas of study are considered.

Each year, educators in District 87 and Unit 5 submit grants and BTBEF makes it possible for them to bring these projects alive. Last year, BTBEF gave over $40,000 to local educators.

A donation to BTBEF makes a great gift to commemorate birthdays, retirements or just to say thank you too!

Go to Beyondthebooksbn.com and click on “support us”. You can easily donate through PayPal or a credit card. Once your donation is received, a certificate will be sent to you that you can present to the recipient.

Thank you!

Red Out/Wear Red Day 2016 T-Shirt Order Form

Name_________________________________________________________________________

Our district is proud to support the American Heart Association! We are doing good in our community and leading by example. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of others by participating in this initiative.

Show your HEART to our community with two

opportunities to show support for the

American Heart Association.

Jan. 15th, Unit 5 Red Out Game West @ NCHS 7:00 PM

Feb. 5th, Unit 5 Wear Red Day in conjunction with

National Wear Red Day

ONLY

$10

Donation

Unit 5 is

GOING

RED!

Youth Sizes Available Adult Sizes Available ___ Youth Small (6-8) ___ Small (32-34) ___ X-Large (44-46)

___ Youth Medium (10-12) ___ Medium (36-38) ___ 2XL (48-50)

___ Youth Large ( 14-16) ___ Large (40-42) ___ 3XL (52-54)

$10 each = $_____________________________ Total Orders Due December 17 and will be deliv-

ered to your school after break.

Please make checks payable to the American Heart Association