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4 | December 5, 2019 | 22nd century media education guide
22ndCenturyMedia.com
St. Michael School preparing students early in education
With over 500 students from
Pre-K 3 through eighth grade,
St. Michael School in Orland
Park is a leading Catholic school
in the greater Chicagoland area.
St. Michael School is proud to
offer a faith-based, competitive
and rigorous academic education
to all students.
St. Michael School remains
competitive with the surrounding
public schools while offering a
tight-knit community. Recently,
SMS integrated Chromebooks
and Google Classroom for all
students in fourth through eighth
grade. IPads are a large part of
the technology program in primary
grade classrooms. This
year, St. Michael implemented
the iReady online instruction
program in grades K-8 to further
enhance reading and math curriculums.
In addition, the school’s technology
center is home to 30 HP
Business Desktop Elite 8300
all-in-one computers. Beginning
in kindergarten, students attend
weekly sessions on keyboarding,
word-processing, blogging
and Internet safety. Students also
learn how to research and develop
multimedia presentations and
programming.
Curriculum and instruction are
the primary focus of St. Michael
School. The math program utilizes
blended learning aligned
with other core subjects and
real-world scenarios to provide
a balance resulting in a deeper
understanding of math concepts
and skills. St. Michael School is
expanding its reading and writing
initiatives through the Daily
5, an Archdiocese of Chicago
National Certification, and the
Harvard Data Wise program.
St. Michael is the only school
in Orland Park to host a foreign
language program that begins
in second grade and continues
through eighth grade. The teachers
of St. Michael School continue
to create innovative and
engaging ways to learn, so all
students feel comfortable and are
more likely to advance.
Due to St. Michael’s focus
on faith, students learn important
social-emotional skills on a
daily basis. St. Michael’s daily
curriculum provides invaluable
education in self-awareness,
self-management, social awareness,
relationship skills and
responsible decision-making
skills. The students of St. Michael
have access to a school
counselor for additional socialemotional
support. Exposure to
a faith-based education along
with social-emotional learning
encourages students to build
successful family and community
bonds. St. Michael students
participate regularly in community
service. Aside from the
Thanksgiving food drive and the
Children’s Hospital toy drive,
students participate in three service
days each year, one dedicated
to veterans and the other two
dedicated to schools in need. St.
Michael school’s commitment to
knowledge, hope, faith and guidance
provides a solid foundation
for safe and positive learning
while enhancing students’ ability
to succeed in school and life.
The community surrounding
St. Michael School prepares students
for high school as well as
real-life experiences. St. Michael
School prides itself on producing
students who are successful and
continue to uphold the morals
and values of the Catholic community.
In addition to an excellent
education, St. Michael School
offers a convenient extended day
program and a full-time School
nurse to meet the needs of each
student and their family. Full and
half-day options are available
for Pre-K 3 and 4. Other school
features include art and science
clubs, FLL Robotics, yearbook,
mock trial, video club, cooking
classes and many more. Students
interested in sports can participate
in basketball, cheerleading,
football, golf, soccer, cross
country and volleyball.
Submitted by St. Michael School,
14355 Highland Ave. in Orland
Park. For more information about
St. Michael School call (708)
349.0068 or visit www.saintmike.
org.
Gym-Kinetics offers programs for children of all ages
Gym-Kinetics Gymnastics
School in Mokena has
recently celebrated its 34th
year in business. The No.
1 gymnastic school in the
south suburbs got its start
in 1985 over in Glenwood
before moving to Mokena
in 1993. Since moving to
Mokena, Gym-Kinetics
has grown by leaps and
bounds. Owners Jim and
Wendy Fredrickson had
fewer than 100 students
in that first session back
in October 1985. Fast forward
to 2019. The most
popular south side gymnastic
school now sees
more than 1,000 children
per week. Teaching classes
for children as young as 1,
Gym-Kinetics offers Baby
Gym for 1-year-olds, Mom
& Mini for 2-year-olds,
Little Minis for 3-yearolds
and Minis for 4- to
5-year-olds, as well as beginner
and advanced level
gymnastics for girls and
boys from age 5 through
high school. Another really
popular program is
Ninja Zone, an obstacle
course type of activity for
boys and girls ages 4 and
up. This is probably the
fastest growing program
currently at the gym.
Competitively, Gym-
Kinetics has been a powerhouse
in the State of Illinois
for the last 30 years.
With hundreds of State,
regional and national
champions, Gym-Kinetics
girls and boys teams are
getting ready to begin the
competitive season this
December.
“Each year we do so
well that it’s hard to match
the successes of the previous
season, but each year
we seem to do so,” Gym-
Kinetics owner Jim Fredrickson
said.
Competitions are scheduled
to begin in early December.
The coaching staff
at Gym-Kinetics say that
the children seem ahead
of schedule for this time in
the training process, which
is a really good place to be
this early in the competitive
season.
Other activities offered
at Gym-Kinetics are open
gyms at 1 p.m. Tuesdays
and 9 a.m. Wednesdays
for preschool-age children
and noon-2 p.m. Sundays
for children ages 6 and up.
Birthday parties, held on
Saturdays and Sundays,
are also very popular and
can be booked by calling
far in advance.
Submitted by Gym-Kinetics
Gymnastics School, 19220
Ridge Drive in Mokena. For
more information on all of
the Gym-Kinetics programs,
call (708) 479-6969 or visit
gymkinetics.com.