If you are interested in giving your child a chance to perform by video (on an instrument, singing or dancing) for their class, please read the letter for the details.

The deadline for video submission is Friday, March 26. A signed media consent form is also required.

Ms. Maatouk is looking forward to showcasing the talents of our K, 1st and 2nd grade Superstars!

Have a Great Spring Break

Don't forget that spring break is Monday, March 29 through Friday, April 2! We hope all students, families, teachers, and staff have a safe break. Classes resume Monday, April 5 for all students (remote and hybrid).

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Debate Team Results

The Skinner West Debate Team participated in the Chicago Middle School Debate League's Tournament Four for the 2020-2021 season on Saturday, February 13.

The overall topic for the year is: Criminal Justice Reform, and the cases being debated at this tournament were Money Bail, Predictive Policing, and Body Cameras.

About 116 debaters across 59 teams from seven schools competed at the tournament. Skinner West swept the tournament--winning first place in 6 out of 6 award categories.

Winston P. won the Shout Out award (debaters praising one of their peer debaters). Congratulations to all of our Superstars that participated.

	Novice Individual		JV Individual
20th	Tvisha H.	15th	Darwin B.
18th	Malachi E.	12th	Rebecca B.
15th	Xibao Q.	11th	Sabrina Q.
14th	Kinzie W.	9th	Aurelie G.
12th	Natalie Z.	7th	Daanya M.
10th	Celeste D.	3rd	Aarav M.
4th	Emika M.	2nd	Miles K.
3rd	Mel L.	1st	Anushri V.
2nd	Allison C.
1st	Grier B.

Varsity Individual

10th	Sophie M.
5th	Maura S.
3rd	JunHui G.
2nd	Aleksia L.
1st	Matthew Z.

	Novice Team		JV Team
15th	Max F. and Xibao Q.	6th	Rebecca B. and Renz L.
14th	Charlotte S and Nimay P.	3rd	Aurelie G. and Sabrina Q.
8th	Malachi E. and Tori P.	1st	Darwin B. and Samar M.
5th	Tvisha H. and Natalie Z.		Varsity Team
4th	Allison C. and Celeste D.	5th	Sophie M. and Katelyn T.
3rd	Grier B. and Kinzie W.	2nd	Aleksia L. and Maura S.
1st	Emika M. and Mel L.	1st	JunHui G. and Matthew Z.

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Congratulations to Mrs. Jackie Garner on Her Retirement!

After 29 years with our school, Mrs. Jacqueline Garner, special education classroom assistant and transportation coordinator for both Classical and special ed is retiring this week. Congratulations on a career well done! The Skinner West family will miss her dedication and service..

What three traits define you?

I am family oriented; I love spending time with everyone which includes both sides of my family.
I love working with children; my experiences at Skinner have been amazing.
I'm responsible and kind. It's important to be respectful of the people with whom you work. Treat your colleagues as you would like them to treat you. Being kind to one another makes the workplace a happy place to be, which is why I've loved working for Mrs. Clark for 29 years.

What are your hobbies or interests?

Shopping, traveling, and hanging out with my friends. I love traveling the world, especially with my husband. I had the most fun in Aruba. It was easy there to wander freely and safely, to embrace the warm sun and warmer people made my time there unforgettable.

Why do you enjoy working at Skinner West?

To know that I've been here for 29 years says a lot about this school. The leadership, the bright minds, and the friends that I've made over the years have been priceless. To see the growth of Skinner has also been amazing. From 300 to over 1200 students, from two floors to four floors and know that I have been apart of it will stay with me forever.

What is a fun fact that you would like to share?

I was dance contest judge every year. I'm pretty sure I was asked every year because of my own dance moves!

What is your fondest memories of working at Skinner?
My fondest memory was working for our then assistant principal, Mr. Wawrzyniak. He was just so kind and a good person to work for. Secondly, traveling with the children's choir during the holidays was always a blast. To see the look on kids faces every year when they were given Christmas presents was a sight to see. And, lastly working with the children with special needs.

What is the biggest challenge of being the bus coordinator?
My biggest challenge of becoming transportation coordinator at Skinner West for 28 years was learning how to create bus routes for all of my Skinner Superstars. For 10 years, there wasn't a computerized system to do this for me so I grew to appreciate the four cardinal directions "North, south, east, and west." I give good directions to this day because of it...

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Repeat Articles

Principal's Report

Skinner West's Local School Council (LSC) held its monthly meeting virtually on March 16, 2021. Principal Clark presented her report during the meeting.

Highlights include:

CPS will be allocating an additional three teacher assistants and one teacher for 5th or 6th grade this school year!
New technology for the school include the addition of:

10 document cameras for teachers
200 iPads
50 sets of headphones
200 Chromebooks
50 surge protectors and extension cords
20 classroom microphones
Approximately 50 webcams

Past meeting minutes and reports

The next LSC meeting is scheduled for April 13, 2021.

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Progress Reports and Address Verification

Progress reports will be mailed to students' home addresses this week. In an effort to make sure you receive your child's progress report, report card, and other future mailings, Skinner staff will be contacting families for updated or correct address information. You may be asked to provide proof of address so that our mailings get to you in a timely manner.

Proof of address examples include:

Copy of mortgage or lease
Utility bill
Bank statement
Driver's license or state ID
Voter registration card
Library card

If it is determined that a family no longer lives within the Skinner West school boundaries, a transfer will be issued in June for the 2021-2022 school year.

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Classroom Connections: Get to Know Your PE Teacher

Mr. Johnson

What three traits define you?

I am student-centered.
I have a good sense of humor, which is needed when working with children.
I'm a doer. I pride myself on all of the things I've done for this school community over my time here.

What is your favorite book and why?

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie has really helped me with human relations over the years. In education, much of what you are able to accomplish is dependent on relationships and this book has really helped me maintain good relationships with students, colleagues, and parents.

What are your hobbies or interests?

I have too many to list! Basically, anything physically active plus I love to cook. Playing golf is a new one I've taken up over the last year because it's been one of the safer activities to do during the pandemic.

Why do you enjoy teaching at Skinner?

Working at Skinner is responsible for one of the most meaningful experiences in my life--meeting Mrs. Johnson! One additional thing I love is the diversity we have at Skinner. I value learning about other cultures and Skinner is a great place to do that. I also love working with our students both in and out of the gym. Spending summers with our Superstars and coaching Special Olympics have been two of my favorites over the years.

What is a fun fact that you would like to share?

My brother, sister, and I are all PE teachers! We often refer to it as the family business. My sister's husband is a PE teacher and they met by working together. That means that of my siblings and all of our significant others four of us are PE teachers and five out of six are teachers. At one point a few years back, all five of us worked for CPS at the same time.

Mrs. Westendorf (Ms. Westy)

What three traits define you?

Drive: I set goals and work towards achieving them. One example of this is striving to be the best in my field so I pursued my National Board Certification!
Connection/relating to others: I value relationships and make it a point to connect with others regardless if it is someone I have known my entire life or a person I just met. My family and friends have expressed how they value my ability to have empathy for others.
Self confidence: I am confident in who I am. I reflect on what I need to work on. I embrace turning a weakness into a strength. For example, I am afraid of heights but love challenging myself with adventure activities such as climbing Via Ferratas', which allows me to conquer my fear!

I try to live my life with a youthful approach, seeing the joy in each day and truly living every moment of life!

What is your favorite book and why?

I love to read, especially non-fiction and travel books. Two of my favorites are Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflection On and Off the Court by Coach John Wooden and The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. My grandfather is almost 97 years old and a few years ago wrote a book about his life as a teacher and a coach, so his book is one I treasure; Manual Labor by Dick Van Scyoc. When I am traveling I find myself getting caught up on my favorite travel magazines such as Travel and Leisure, Conde Nast, and AFAR!

What are your hobbies or interests?

Traveling, adventure activities, visiting National Parks, exercising daily, hiking, backpacking, biking, golf, tennis, watching sports, and Netflix. I love traveling the world. A few of my adventure activities I have tried include skydiving, climbing Via Ferratas, white water rafting through the Grand Canyon, and paragliding. I love learning about new cultures, meeting new people, and experiencing the wonders of life!

Why do you enjoy teaching at Skinner?

I absolutely love learning about my students interests, talents, and ambitions! I enjoy inspiring my students to live healthy and active lives! I feel so fortunate to work at a school with students from so many different backgrounds and cultures. Every year I look forward to the wonderful events our students, families, and teachers organize centered around the celebrations of holidays such as Diwali, Chinese New Year, and Black History, which provide our school and community the opportunity to learn about different backgrounds and experiences.

What is a fun fact that you would like to share?

I played Division 1 college basketball and coached at the college and high school level. I attended high school with my sister at the same school where our mom, dad, and grandfather all taught, that was awesome! As a huge Michael Jordan fan, I had the opportunity to coach his son. I think I did less coaching and more observing him just sitting in the stands watching our games!

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Nominate a Teacher of the Year

Do you have a favorite Skinner West teacher? Nominations for the 2022 Illinois Teacher of the Year will be open until Friday, April 23, 2021. Learn how to nominate your teacher for this Illinois State Board of Education sponsored award.

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Stay Connected

Visit our website at http://www.skinnerwest.cps.edu/ for more information about what's happening in school.

Front Office Hours: 8:30am - 4:30pm

In-person by appointment ONLY. Phone: 773 534-7790

All comments, suggestions or requests to submit information to this newsletter should be emailed to skinnerwest@gmail.com.

Communications Volunteers are welcome. Donate your time to help increase communications and contact us!

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Text SKINNERNEWS to 22828 or click here

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Deborah M. Clark

Principal

Mark T. Skinner West School, 1260 West Adams Street, Chicago, IL 60607