This year the Foundation continued its commitment of partnering with D101 to provide educational excellence to our students. The WSFEE Board approved eleven grants totaling over $162,625 during the 2023-2024 school year. These grants all positively impact D101’s more than 1,400 students.

Grant Highlights:

LTHS Scholarships (Service and Leadership): $5000

Two $2500 Scholarships were awarded to Lyons Township High School Seniors who were former D101 students. This scholarship provides a student access to a scholarship for post High School use for demonstrating active community outreach/service to encourage them to continue to grow and give back to their community. A second Scholarship of $2500 also renamed in Dr. Barnhart’s name provides the opportunity for D101 to remain connected to students and the community post-graduation from our district. It encourages leadership and academic excellence. These two scholarships will be an annual contribution awarded by WSFEE.

McClure FAC Appliances: $25,000

WSFEE had partnered with D101 to reduce the time required to reach their BIG IDEA goal with a multi-year commitment of $100,000. WSFEE’s commitment to the district for innovative classroom design, informed by research, that aligns with a long-term plan to cultivate student ownership by supporting instructional shifts that improve learning & environment for all students.

McClure Sound System: $90,000

By investing in a new sound system McClure can maintain opportunities for students to express their talents in both art and athletics. A working sound system ensures that when we gather as a district audio will work properly. With these funds the school can properly operate 3 microphones and6 wireless microphones for theatrical productions. This grant alone will impact over 1500 students.

All Abilities Fair: $6,000

Based on the success of the 2023 All Abilities Fair, the district has approved support for the fair to return in 2024. Like last year, each elementary school will run their own fair in February hosting on a different day. The committee created 3 separate “kits” during the initial planning process, so this year each elementary school experienced a different set of lessons. The activities varied in each kit so that the students will not repeat an activity as the kits rotate through the different schools. There were modifications for 4th and 5th grade that make the task more age appropriate for those students. The individual kits focused on several disabilities including ADHD, sensory processing, learning differences, speech disabilities, physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, hearing, and visual impairments.

Laidlaw Sensory Updates: $5,525

The Laidlaw Elementary School PTO respectfully requested a one-time WSFEE grant to create new Sensory hallways & toolkits, providing Laidlaw Elementary School students with tools to respond to their individual processing systems. Laidlaw teachers believe the creation of Sensory Hallways & Toolkits will improve their students’ classroom engagement and overall self-regulation. These movement paths and sensory items will provide a welcome break during the school day, offering the additional movement opportunities to burn off energy, increase availability for learning and increase alertness. A 2013 report from the Institute of Medicine concluded that children who are more active, “show greater attention, have faster cognitive processing speed and perform better on standardized academic tests than children who are less active.” Utilizing the empty walls and floors of large hallways on the first and second levels will provide easy access to these tools for all teachers and their students while bringing life to these common areas. A Laidlaw Sensory Committee, made up of administration, teachers, occupational therapists and Student Services representatives, will plan, assemble and maintain the hallways and kits. Additionally, the Committee will create suggested usage guidance for all Laidlaw staff. These new spaces will complement the existing sensory hallway near the Kindergarten classrooms, currently the only sensory hallway for the largest District 101 elementary school and designed for the youngest learners at Laidlaw.

VariQuest Printer Forest Hills: $8,600

WSFEE supported Forest Hills with a purchase of a a VariQuest poster maker for the school. With the poster-maker, they can create anchor charts that serve as visual aids that reinforce learning concepts, making complex ideas more accessible and memorable. By involving students in creating these charts, they engage in active learning, reinforcing their understanding of the subject matter. Their staff also creates annual common space expectation posters to help establish a conducive learning environment by clearly outlining behavioral expectations. When students actively participate in creating these posters, they take ownership of classroom norms, leading to better adherence and a more respectful, collaborative atmosphere.

The students will be able to create visually appealing materials such as infographics, charts, and diagrams. They can summarize complex information, making it easier to understand and remember. This aids visual learners and can supplement traditional teaching methods, helping students grasp concepts more effectively. Encouraging students to design posters collaboratively can promote teamwork and communication skills. This fosters collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities.

Virtual White Boards: $3,500

In order to increase engagement, collaboration, and feedback WSFEE supported Forest Hills, Laidlaw and Field Park with class sets of large whiteboards that can be used within instructional routines. These large whiteboards allow for students to work on expansive vertical non-permanent surfaces which encourage collaboration, learning from mistakes, productive struggle and visibility for teacher feedback. The whiteboards will be used in a variety of content areas, but staff can see them used in math most often. Fourth grade has been utilizing an instructional strategy titled “level up” weekly that incorporates collaboration, feedback, and differentiation by borrowing boards from other grade levels, however at times there are not enough boards for each class to utilize the structure. As can be seen in the pictures in the link below, we plan to use the boards and “level up” strategy instructional routine where students choose tasks, work together, coach each other, and learn from each other.

A Parent Evening with Devorah Heitner: $2,500

WSFEE partnered with the district for a parent evening that focused on discussing the reality that kids are growing up in a hyper- connected world. From Roblox to Instagram, from YouTube and TikTok to Discord. Devorah, shared the following Insite on topics:

• How parents can mentor children as they grow up on Roblox, Instagram, TikTok, Discord, and other social media apps

• How can we help them navigate a world where they can be exposed to problematic content

• How parents can help kids be thoughtful about their digital footprint and reputation. Strategies for teaching tweens and teens to recognize how social media affects their mood and mental health and when to take a break

• How does mentoring over monitoring with screens actually work

• How can we help our kids (and ourselves) find the balance between plugged and unplugged activities

• How to work on sleep habits to balance screen time and get enough rest

• How to support kids in staying true to themselves as they grow up

Physical Computing & electronics for MJH: $3000

This grant funded the purchase of enough Microbit kits to go 1:1 for an entire class, along with a variety of sensors, servos, breakout boards, wires, resistors and associated tools. This would provide a ‘library’ of materials for students to draw from in order to bring their ideas to life. It will also provide an avenue for integrating the skills they learn in other classes like Fuse and Makerspace in new and innovative ways. Many of the supplies are multi-use and available to MJH students for projects in any class. This will be the start of a parts library that can be used by any MJH student for their design projects.

Orton Gillingham Training: $13,500

WSFEE supported D101 administration to complete the IMSE Orton Gillingham virtual training thru a multi-year grant. This program is 30 hours done virtually that provides a complete understanding of IMSE’s enhanced Orton-Gillingham method, the essentials five components to literacy and the tools necessary to apply it in the classroom.

Music Risers for Field Park and Forest Hills: $6,340

WSFEE honored the one-time purchase for Music Risers. This idea will address the need of having additional performance risers for students at Field Park& Forest Hills. These risers can be available for music performance, but also for classroom teachers to use for their classroom shares (wax museums, 50 Nifty, state fair, etc.). This avoids risers being shared and moving from building to building.

Travel and Learn: $3980

Instructional Coaches Tori Fankhauser, Emily Haight, and Shannon McGrath, and Ashley Burger, Assistant Superintendent for the upcoming school year, were granted funds to attend a two day workshop that is designed for instructional coaches and leaders to deepen understanding of transformational coaching and continue to grow conversation skills that support and grow the practice of educators. The conference will allow us to create sustainable coaching tools as we rehearse, learn and apply analytical frameworks, and refine listening and questioning strategies. As the Coaching Department transitions to new leadership, attending this conference will provide a great opportunity to Ashley Burger to acclimate to her role as it pertains to all things coaching.

Spring Fundraiser

We were happy to conclude the year with our Casino Night! Thanks to our generous sponsors and participants, the event raised over $90,000.

The much-appreciated financial support from our Western Springs community is instrumental in helping us achieve our mission to raise funds for educational programs and activities that extend and enhance the quality of education, and provide students in D101 with expanded learning opportunities.

Thank you once again to our administrators, teachers, staff, parents and students for making the 2023-2024 school year possible and such a success.

Maggie Philips on behalf of 2023-2024 WSFEE Board