Principals Newsletter Spring 2017

Special Education: Students Dive into
Special Olympics, Basketball, BreakOut
Special Olympics provides students
with disabilities the opportunity
to develop their physical
fitness, demonstrate courage,
and participate in social relationships
through the comradery
of a team and community.
Maine West has 13 student athletes
who participate and compete
in Special Olympics. Our students
have the opportunity at Maine
West to participate in snowshoeing,
bowling, and for the first time
in recent history, track and field.
This past February, five student
athletes (Azuolas Antanaitis-
Rudawski, Nicholas Carrion,
David McDonough, Marisela
Moreno, and John Saluta) competed
in snowshoeing and four
(Azuolas Antanaitis-Rudawski,
Nicholas Carrion, Marisela Moreno,
and John Saluta) qualified
for the winter games at state.
A huge congratulations to all
of the Maine West student athletes
who participated and especially
to John Saluta for his
silver medal in the 100 meter,
Marisela Moreno for her bronze
medal in the 50 meter, and
Nicholas Carrion for his participation
ribbon in the 100 meter
at State. Way to go Warriors!
Christian Volkman
Basketball Tournament
The Christian Volkman basketball
tournament has been hosted by
Maine West for over the past 20
years. Through the organizational
skills of Laura Pettyjohn, Maine
West welcomed seven area school
districts to the February 18 tournament.
Sixteen teams consist-
ing of students with disabilities
from Maine Township District207,
Niles Township District 219, New
Trier, Warren, North Shore Special
Olympics, Hope Wall, and
Highland Park participated.
This year, Maine West had two
teams and 14 total students participate
in the tournament. A
special thank you to the 15 staff
members and 50 student volunteers
who assisted with coaching,
acting as team buddies, assisting
with concessions, keeping score
and welcoming other teams.
Aside from celebrating an undefeated
record, Maine West
enjoyed the competition, social
interactions, and support
of the school community.
It was through the participation
of our student athletes, ongoing
support of their families, and
dedication of our school community
that continues to make
this event such a huge success.
Engaging Students
through BreakOut EDU
Gioia Lauro-Geruso, special education
teacher, attended her first
BreakOut EDU session during the
Illinois Council of Instructional
Coaches conference in October.
BreakOut EDU can best be described
as an escape room type
activity, but instead of solving
puzzles to breakout of a room,
possibilities of using this platform
in her classroom, and knew it was
just what was needed to promote
collaboration and teamwork.
BreakOut EDU can best be described
as an escape room type
activity, but instead of solving
puzzles to breakout of a room,
students solve a series of critical
thinking puzzles in order to
open a locked box. The puzzles
can be created around any content
area, and can be used to reinforce
or assess skills that students
are working on within the
classroom. The solution to each
puzzle provides students with the
combination to one of many locks
on a box. Once all the puzzles
are solved and the combinations
discovered, students BreakOut!
Ms. Lauro-Geruso has run two
BreakOuts so far this year. One
was in her instructional level
English/Reading class, where
she wanted students to practice
a variety of reading and word
attack skills. Each puzzle centered
around one of these skills.
For example, students had to read
a poem and answer questions using
evidence from the text for
support. Each answer contributed
one letter to the clue, which
eventually led to a numerical
combination. There was so much
excitement in the classroom, and
with each puzzle solved and each
lock opened, students became
more engaged and more involved
in solving the problems together.
The positive impact on student
learning is inevitable with
BreakOut EDU games. They
are student centered, problem
based, collaborative sessions
that encourage communication
and develop problem solving
skill. Teachers can create their
own games, or choose from several
teacher designed games
available at Breakoutedu.com.
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