$14 MILLION BUCKS!

South Berwyn School District 100 will be holding a public hearing on Wednesday, July 27 at 7 PM on a proposed bond of $14 million dollars. The hearing will be at Heritage Middle School, 6850 W. 31st street. District officials have said the bond will be used to provide universal preschool for 3 and 4 year olds in the district. It is assumed that within a few years, taxpayers will be asked for a tax increase to make such a program sustainable. Research supports Early Childhood Education as an effective way to boost achievement and close the stubborn achievement gap which exists between low income, minority children and their middle class peers. However, the price tag of $14 million dollars will increase the D100 debt by 50%.

What's Better than Baseball and Ice Cream??

Summer learning, that's what!

Baseball players from the Berwyn Recreation Department gathered at Over the Rainbow Ice Cream Parlor (6836 Windsor, Berwyn) on Saturday, July 23 to celebrate the CARES Summer Writing program. Berwyn CARES distributed hundreds of blank books at the beginning of baseball season and asked players to write about baseball! With the help of some amazing parents and coaches, the kids came up with such creative ideas! (Aliens playing baseball? What??) Young authors showed CARES members their completed summer baseball writing program books and got a *free* single ice cream cone!

Books were entered in the “Best of Baseball” writing contest. CARES members will judge entries and award a savings bond to one winner from each division.
Thanks to all players who participated this year, and thanks to all the parents and coaches who encouraged our ball players to be authors and illustrators this summer. We know that kids are at risk of losing skills over the summer if they don’t read and write every day. The CARES Summer writing program allowed Berwyn families to prevent summer learning loss while having fun. You hit it out of the park!

And the 2011 Winner is...

Guided by our interest in promoting stronger involvement in our schools and investment in our children, each year BerwynC.A.R.E.S. awards scholarships to Morton West High School students headed to college. Due to generous contributions from our community and membership, we were able to award one special student a scholarship this year. We are honored to announce 2011 recipient Sandra Bilo and her achievements below. She demonstrated true passion for personal and academic development.

Congratulations Sandra Bilo!
Sandra Bilo is ranked 84th in her class. She scored a 32 on the ACT and has a GPA of 3.561. Her school activities include Math Team, and Advanced Vocal Ensemble and has volunteered her time at the library as well as the local church food pantry. She plans on attending the University of Illinois at Chicago and will work towards a major in either Accounting or Social Work. Sandra attended most district 201 school board meetings and stood up for student rights. She helped receive additional seating for students that were forced to eat their lunches on the floor, and fought for not suspending students over the number of buttons on their shirts (“To take someone’s education away for a day for such an insignificant thing is unthinkable”).

The following is a quote from her essay: “It is my hope to one day change the school environment, as education should be the primary focus, no matter what the financial problems are. By speaking out in my community, I know that I can make a big difference, big or small, because even small changes can help the quality of education.”

Congratulations to Sandra, her mother, Dorothy and her Father, Michael!