Maercker SD 60 -

Second graders read the story Alma and How She Got Her Name and learned how to create word clouds to share positive character traits about themselves. #d60learns @D60HolmesTech

First graders used their detective skills to find out what was done to the library books and then had a great discussion about how to take care of checked out books at home! #d60learns @D60HolmesTech

Dr. Allister Scott is the principal at Westview Hills Middle School and has been a principal for four years. We caught up with him for a few questions about his work. -Why did you want to become a principal? I truly believe in the power of education and its role in supporting families and students in society. At this moment, I feel that being the principal at Westview Hills is where I can make the most impact. My goal is to support families, students, and teachers in becoming the best versions of themselves! -What is the best part about your job? Having the opportunity each year to be on the stage with students as they are promoted for Maercker District 60. It always fills me with pride for the district, students and families. -What do you like to do for fun? I really enjoy watching live sports. My son recently started school at Marquette, so I am looking forward to basketball season! -Describe your leadership style in 5 words or less. Collaborative, Supportive, inclusive, Compassionate, Resilient Thank you Dr. Scott for everything you do for our district!

Next time you look up at the sky, know that Maercker students are represented up there! Former D60 teacher Lynn Gorey shared that those who were in her class last year have their names engraved on the microchip that is on the NASA Europa spacecraft that launched last week. So cool! #d60learns

The other part of the interim co-principal team at Maercker school this year is Laura Gilmartin. She has been an administrator for 9 years and this is her fourth year as a principal. Before returning to D60 to serve as co-principal, she has been an assistant principal and Director of Teaching and Learning previously. -Why did you want to become a principal? My first principal fostered my leadership skills and encouraged me to pursue my master’s degree in administration. I love discussing instructional strategies and wanted to serve in a role that allowed me to work on building strong instructional practices on a broader level to help every student succeed while still staying connected to students. -What is the best part about your job? The best part of my job is connecting with students and staff, so they know I am there to support them and help them reach their highest potential. -What do you like to do for fun? For fun, I enjoy spending time with my family, riding my horse and reading books! -Describe your leadership style in 5 words or less. Thoughtful, student-centered, supportive and compassionate Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

We love celebrating our talented students in the classroom, in athletics, and in the rest of their lives! The Board took time to celebrate the accomplishments of the three talented golfers from Westview Hills Middle School who qualified for state. A huge congratulations goes to Clare M., Anya L., and Reagan K. for their incredible achievement! #d60learns

The Gold Standard is the new way to recognize D60 staff for their work and embodying the core values of the district and the attributes outlined in our staff portrait. District leaders reviewed all of the submissions and chose five staff members that went above and beyond to support their colleagues, students, and families. Jen Swoboda teaches 8th grade math at Westview Hills. Over the summer break, she read the book Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, a thinking-based approach that encourages deep, conceptual understanding by focusing on reasoning and problem-solving among students. She embodied our value of continuous improvement by seeking out a new instructional approach and then going to see it in action in another school district. She recognizes that we can always learn and grow professionally, and has a sense of mission to know that our students deserve the best. Congratulations for being the Gold Standard!

Tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 23) is an early release day!

This year at Maercker School, we are fortunate to have two incredible interim co-principals keeping things going and supporting students. Mark Pagel has been a principal for 22 years and says he came out of retirement to help lead Maercker school simply because it’s such a special place. Check out more below: -Why did you want to become a principal? As a classroom teacher from 1990-2002, I felt like a colleague and I were doing some wonderful things on behalf of our students (advisory, weekly reflections, student-led conferences, integrated curriculum units, restorative justice) and I wanted to see if, working with a school staff, we could make the same impact for an entire school community. Keeping our decisions student-focused at all times is a part of my job I love! -What is the best part about your job? The students, staff, and entire school community that I serve....collectively, the difference we make together for kids is the reason I look forward to coming to school each day! - What do you like to do for fun? I love to spend time with my family, travel, and try new restaurant recommendations (feel free to share your favorites!) I also like to attend concerts and listen to local live music! -Describe your leadership style in 5 words or less. Passionate, solution-seeker, composed, encouraging, coach Thank you for everything you do for our students!

The Wildcat Cross Country teams have had an absolutely incredible season! Check out this awesome highlight video from the Wildcat Invitational that took place on Sept. 28 done by former student and runner, Atticus Fair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXziY80zwK0

This Saturday, the Westview Hills Cross Country teams competed in the IESA State cross country meet in Normal. Westview went into this meet with high expectations with an undefeated season. Last week our boys narrowly defeated the defending state champs, Mt. Prospect River Trails at the sectional meet. In a race of 222 runners and 24 teams, our boys finished in first narrowly winning by 1 POINT! You read that right, the Wildcats are state champions! This is the first time our cross country team has won state. Runners who finish in the top 25 at the state meet earn all state honors. For the first time, Westview had THREE all state finishers. Santiago L. finished in 6th, Mesfin D. finished in 19th, and Braden D. finished in 25th while running his best time ever by 13 seconds! They were closely followed by Yebby in 41st, Emmett in 57th, Kasper in 81st, and Jesus in 82nd. Coach Engberg and Coach Vance were amazed by our boys focus and ability to stay calm despite the pressure they were facing this weekend. A special thanks to Dr. Nugent, Dr. Scott, and all the families that came and cheered us onto victory! You might have heard our bus on Saturday night on Cass avenue getting a police & fire truck escort back to Westview Hills! Congratulations also to the Girls Cross Country team for an outstanding season. Their effort, teamwork, and sportsmanship were nothing short of inspiring during this weekend's state meet. They went into the meet ranked as the 21st best team, and each girl raced their hardest leading to a 12th place finish in the state with Elena earning an all-state medal, achieving new personal bests, and setting school records. Coach Constantine and Coach Larson are so proud of you girls. It was amazing to see your hard work and toughness pay off at the state meet. Great job Wildcats!

It’s Principal Appreciation Week! Our youngest learners in Maercker D60 are led by Principal Mary Kassir. She is in her sixth year as a principal and her eighth year as a school administrator. She was a Spanish teacher for 14 years and has a passion for language. -Why did you want to become a principal? My work in leadership has focused almost exclusively on dual and multilingual schools with a focus on bridging the opportunity gap, particularly for historically marginalized student groups. I absolutely loved being a teacher for all those years, but ultimately decided to move into leadership with the intent of impacting more students beyond my classroom walls. I like looking at a big picture, setting a goal, and working collectively. We work in a space with some of the most highly educated and passionate people. -What is the best part about your job? Honestly, 8am in the car drop off lane is my favorite way to start the day. Being able to greet our students and families makes for the healthiest start to my day and it also provides me an opportunity to practice good morning in any of our 40+ languages spoken here. On top of that, I take very seriously my responsibility in being a role model to our students even if I’m the first person in the building to break our hallway expectations. I can’t turn their hugs away! -What do you like to do for fun? I plan for fun. I learned this from Shawn Achor’s “The Happiness Advantage” because being an educator is a tough job, albeit rewarding. We dedicate a great deal of our time and energy here and it’s hard not to be on top of our game almost at all times. So, I make sure to plan ahead for dinners with my adult children, a weekly hike, a weekly bike ride, and a weekly training session. All of these things provide me clarity so that I can put my best self forward while I’m here. I am also an avid traveler and rarely finish a trip without knowing where I’m heading next. -Describe your leadership style in 5 words or less. I borrow Brene Brown’s: Clear is Kind Thank you for everything that you do!

Students in Early Childhood read the classic book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? Then they got to create a hand puppet to help retell the story! #d60learns @D60HolmesTech

The Maercker PTA is hosting a Trunk or Treat event on Sunday, Oct. 27 from 3-5 p.m. at Westview Hills Middle School. Check out their website for how you can help, participate, and attend! https://www.maerckerpta.org/trunk-or-treat

Check out an awesome presentation coming up hosted by District 86 and District 181 coming up focused on parenting. There will be two presentations with the first held on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. and the second on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 9 a.m. at the Community House. Dr. Aliza Pressman will present her book The 5 Principles of Parenting with valuable information for all! Register at www.d181foundation.org

We have started getting out into schools and recognizing staff members for going above and beyond to meet the Gold Standard! Five staff members were selected and surprised in their classroom by Dr. Nugent and his team. Teachers were celebrated in front of their students and there was a lot of excitement! You can nominate a staff member and they might get selected to receive a certificate and an awesome sign for their door too! #d60learns https://www.maercker.org/article/1723786

Here’s an awesome program that we do with our partners at Hinsdale School District 86. They offer a yearly course called Invitation to Teach, which is a wonderful opportunity for high school seniors to explore the world of education before they begin their formal college training. Students in the class explore education theory and practice, and then have the opportunity to intern at a local school for approximately 13 weeks. During the internship, the student interns help classroom teachers with a variety of different teaching tasks including grading, copying, bulletin boards, working with small groups, teaching the whole class, organizing the classroom, lesson planning, and much more! This year at Westview we have two students from Hinsdale South, Tommy M. who is teaching with Mrs. LaPointe in 7th grade social studies and Haidee Y. who is teaching with Mrs. Lathrop in 7th grade science. Haidee is also a former Maercker D60 student and it is so awesome to be able to welcome our students back like this! We are always happy to pair with our feeder high schools to provide this opportunity to our future educators.

Congratulations to the Westview Hills boys cross country team who raced this past Friday at Melas Park in Mt. Prospect at their sectional cross country meet. Our Wildcats raced against 15 other schools and Westview Hills finished in 1st place! In a race of 106 runners, our top 5 boys all finished in the top 10 finishers. Our boys showed incredible teamwork and handled the pressure extremely well. Leading the way was Santi in 2nd place. He was followed by Mesfin in 4th, Yebby in 8th, Braden in 9th, and Emmett in 10th. Kasper finished in 16th and Jesus finished in 20th. Our boys qualified for the State meet this Saturday. Out of the 16 schools that participated at our sectional meet, Westview Hills was the only school to qualify both the boys and girls teams to the state meet. Congratulations also to the girls cross country team who competed at their sectional meet on Friday. It was a close race amongst the top 3 teams, and the girls finished in 3rd place which was just 7 points from 1st place but ahead of the 4th place team by 49 points. This means the girls qualified as a team for the state meet this coming Saturday! In a race of 92 runners, Elena finished in 4th place, Isabella in 8th, Maggie in 12th, Maddie in 15th, Eleanor in 30th, Jacey in 34th, and Romia in 43rd. Great job to all the girls for their perseverance in the race and giving their best effort! Congratulations on qualifying for state!

Picture retakes will take place Tomorrow (Thursday, Oct. 17). Students getting their photo taken should avoid wearing green!

This is a reminder that Monday, Oct. 14 is a non-attendance day. Enjoy the long weekend!