Feb_ 10 - Komarek School District 94

PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER 

February 2010 

KOMAREK SCHOOL 

DISTRICT 94 

8940 W. 24 th Street 

North Riverside, IL 60546 

SCHOOL HOURS: 8:20-3:10 

Mr. Tom Criscione – Principal 

KOMAREK ON THE WEB 

The Principal Newsletter is available on the 

Komarek website. www.komarek94.k12.il.us/ 

My e-mail is: 

tcriscione@komarek94.org 

My phone number is (708) 447-8030 

X 1-104 

Contact me at any time. I will 

reply ASAP. 

Thank you, 

Tom Criscione 

FEBRUARY IS BLACK 

HISTORY MONTH 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"We must 

learn to live 

together as 

brothers or 

perish 

together as 

fools." 

Dr. Martin Luther 

King Jr. 

A snipet from Dr. Martin 

Luther King's famous 

"I have a Dream" speech: 

I have a dream that one day 

this nation will rise up and 

live out the true meaning of 

its creed: "We hold these 

truths to be self-evident, that 

all men are created equal." 


on the red hills of Georgia, 

the sons of former slaves and 

the sons of former slave 

owners will be able to sit 

down together at the table of 

brotherhood. 


even the state of Mississippi, 

a state sweltering with the 

heat of injustice, sweltering 

with the heat of oppression, 

will be transformed into an 

oasis of freedom and justice. 

I have a dream that my four 

little children will one day 

live in a nation where they 

will not be judged by the 

color of their skin but by the 

content of their character. 

I have a dream today! 

I have a dream that one day, 

down in Alabama, with its 

vicious racists, with its 

governor having his lips 

dripping with the words of 

"interposition" and 

"nullification" -- one day 

right there in Alabama little



black boys and black girls 

will be able to join hands 

with little white boys and 

white girls as sisters and 

brothers. 

I have a dream today! 

BOARD NOTES 

Our next Board of Education 

meetings will be held at 7:30 PM on: 

• Tuesday, February 15, 2010 

• Tuesday, March 9, 2010 

• Tuesday, April 13, 2010 

• Tuesday, May 11, 2010 

• Tuesday, June 8, 2010 

• Tuesday, July 13, 2010 

• Tuesday, August 10, 2010 

EARLY DISMISSAL DAYS 

Students in grades K-8 will be 

dismissed from school at 2:30 PM on 

the following Thursday dates: 

• February 18, 2010 

• March 18, 2010 

• April 15, 2010 

"The question is not whether 

we can afford to invest in every 

child; it is whether we can 

afford not to." 

Marian Wright Edelman 

DATES OF INTEREST 

• Book Fair – Week of February 1 st 

• DARE Graduation – Wednesday, 

February 3 rd 1:30 PM 

• Parent Academy – Wednesday, 

February 3 rd 7:00 PM 

• Valentines Dance and Parties 

• Monday, February 15 th – NO 

SCHOOL – Presidents Day 

• Parent/Teacher Conferences – 

Tuesday, February 16 th 

12:00 PM – 7:30 PM 

NO SCHOOL 

• WIP/WIK Pancake Breakfast 

Friday, February 19 th 

• Progress Notices Distributed 

Friday, February 19 th 

• PTA Bulls Game – Saturday, 

February 20 th 

• Staley Bears ISAT Assembly 1:30 

PM – Sponsored by the PTA 

Monday, February 22 nd 

• Winter Band Concert 

Wednesday, February 24 th 7:00 

PM 

• Student/Faculty Basketball Game 

Friday, February 26 th 3:30 PM 

• PTA Sponsored Candlelight 

Bowling – Saturday, February 

27 th 

• Casimir Pulaski Day – NO 

SCHOOL – Monday, March 1 st 

• ISAT Testing for grades 3-8 and 

Stanford 10 Testing for grade 1 

and 2 – Tuesday, March 2 nd – 

Friday, March 12 th



2 nd QUARTER HONOR ROLL 

3RD GRADE HIGH HONORS 

Elizabeth Amaya 

Anina Black 

Alexa Cannon 

Emily David 

Ian Hardin 

Noah Hoadley 

Marta Janas 

Marie Labellarte 

Michael Labellarte 

Tiondra Little 

Itzel Mancilla 

Dominic Melone 

Kailyn Ngo 

Isabella Novakovich 

Justin Padilla 

Sebastian Patino 

Carina Sandoval 

Audrey Santora 

Erica Such 

Mustafa Syed 

Shiloh Washington 

4th GRADE HIGH HONORS 

Richard Alcantar 

Emanuel Barcenas- Cervantes 

Trevor Bork 

Rachel Caldwell 

Michelle Cejka 

Joey Diethelm 

Alexis Garcia 

Noah Hamer 

Jaye Hartwig 

Allison Kucera 

Sam Locascio 

William Lukwinski 

Abigail Martinez 

Migle Medelis 

Elise Mitchell 

Mikayla Orrico 

Jamie Pena 

Katie Polanski 

Joshua Ricchio 

Stephanie Stolzman 

Isabella Suarez 

Carlos Tapia 

Alanna Waas 

Isabel Zavala 

5TH GRADE HIGH HONORS 

Brandon Bahamundi 

Samantha Bloom 

Alexander David 

Michelle Dinh 

Zachary Georgopoulos 

DiAngelo Gonzalez 

Alexander Hamer 

Erik Hartwig 

Natalie Jensen 

Taylor Jensen 

Gaquise Jones 

Jose Juarez 

Anna Makovetskaya 

Angelica Melone 

Stephannie Molina 

Alivia Ranieri 

Liddy Rowley 

Manny Sida 

Zachary Smith 

Camille Such 

Alondra Villalobos 

Michael Wilson 


Selene Anaya 

Sebastian Barcenas-Cervantes 

Fernando Barraza 

Sydney Barrueta 

Michael Berscheid 

Joseph Cannizzo 

Daniel DeLeonardis 

Isabelle Echevarria 

Sophia Giurini 

Max Hoadley 

Antonio Jimenez 

Joseline Jimenez

Jessica JnoBaptiste 

James Kaczmarczyk 

Gabriel Kirkines 

Jazmin Manjarrez 

Alex Martinson 

Shannon McDonald 

Davonte Mikell 

Christopher Molina 

Michael Murguia 

Kenneth Ngo 

Callista Orrico 

Daniel Rafael 

Aaliyah Redmond 

Angelica Redovan 

Danita Robinson 

Mariel Sandoval 

Marly Santora 

Dominic Sarro 

Sarah Schoenheider 

Victor Suarez 

Vito Toscano 

Brenda Ulloa 

Daniel Waas 

Elexis Walker 

Zachary Witken 




Sotero Barraza 

Luke Bates 

William Bloom 

Nicole Cisar 

Daniel Dinh 

Natalie Gheewala 

Nick Giurini 

Monika Janas 

Andrew LeMesurier 

Tiana Little 

Eugene Makovetskaya 

Monica Mascitti 

Michelle Morris 

Christopher Olszewski 

Jillian Podborny 

Larry Pottle 

Jonathon Ricchio 

Lucy Roudebush 

Jack Ruf 

Alicja Sacha 

Katelyn Smith 

Lacey Smith 

Jake Surprenant 

Emylee Zdarsky 


Natalie Beresheim 

Christine Caldwell 

Madiha Chaudhry 

Amy Frey 

Kyle Georgopoulos 

Nicholas Green 

Damika Henry 

Ricardo Herrera 

Marisa Jensen 

Catherine Kartje 

Juan Mancilla 

Adam Martinson 

Samantha Mitchell 

Chynna Palmer-Nichols 

Eric Perez 

Matthew Pisani 

Jennifer Schoenheider 

Carey Torres 

Ariana Virgil 

Caroline Waas 

Ivan Zrantchev 

Amy Zyck 

3RD GRADE HONORS 

Adam Bojovic 

Lizbeth Casillas 

Rolando Gonzalez 

Alexandra Juarez 

Billy Kmic 

Michelle Luciano 

Peter Rafael 

Erin Redovan 

Rocco Reyes 

Christopher Robertson 

Keeley Scalise 

Demetri Shmidt

Ryne Sierra 

Jordan Thormeyer 

Natasha Turner 

Aaron Vazquez 

Josh Villalobos 

4TH GRADE HONORS 

Matthew Bielobradek 

Rebecca Borow 

Ariyan Breaux 

Emily Brundage 

Valerie Carrillo 

Melissa Donnelly 

Angela Fasano 

Joseph Giurini 

Lorena Gonzalez 

Keara Gray 

Nicholas Helf 

Tyler Hinz 

Ashley Hernandez 

Killian Klotz 

Morgan Litavecz 

Katie Mahoney 

Ernesto Manlutac 

Mary Padilla 

Amanda Steinke 

Fox Taubery 

Saul Vargas 

Jeremy Warren 

Alina Willhoite 


Bianca Bahamundi 

Robert Banahan 

Rebekah Barry 

Jalen Brooks 

Adrian Castro 

Alexia Flores 

Marlyn Flores 

Mikayla Garbauski 

Gracie Garza 

Michael Gutierrez 

Arta Latifi 

Charles Lemon 



Nick Mascitti 

Ronaldo Mondragon 

Dimarea Okparaji 

Gianna Panzani 

Grace Pottle 

Josh Rodriguez 

Andrew Roudebush 

Chloe Theus 

Kaela Vloedman 

Jhalen Williams 


Jacob Angio 

Matthew Banahan 

Nathan Bolda 

Victoria Bojovic 

Ian Brown 

Melanie Caldwell 

Erik Casillas 

Andres Garcia 

Odalis Gomez 

Maurice Guthrie 

Ayleen Huerta 

Bobby Kmic 

Andrejana Misic 

Dayon Okparaji 

Cindy Palacio 

Cristina Palacio 

Jimmiria Porter 

Daniella Robinson 

Areli Vargas 


Dominga Coronado 

Dominique Coronado 

Antone Dixon 

Zach Erdman 

Jael Gamboa 

Michael Helf 

Clarisa Mayweather 

Nico Ranieri 

Rubi Salgado 

Patricia Scalise 

Luke Surprenant

Christopher Watson 

Ja'Nae Willis 


Charli Breaux 

Asiel Langdon 

Bobby Lutz 

Spencer Purcell 

Casey Scalise 

Devin Starks 

Kaitlyn Woodward 



THANK YOU! THANK YOU! 

THANK YOU! 

Mrs. Busking and I feel blessed to serve 

the Komarek School family. We would 

like to thank all the Komarek families 

that gave us Christmas presents this 

year. Your generosity is greatly 

appreciated. We have the greatest 

community in the western suburbs! 

Sincerely, 

Mary Busking and 

Tom Criscione 

ISAT NEWS 

The 2010 ISAT assessment for 

students in grades 3-8 are scheduled 

for the weeks of March 2, 2010 – 

March 12, 2010. 

Students received an ISAT Goals Sheet 

with their report card to complete at 

home with their parents. Please, 

reinforce the importance of the test for 

the student and school. 

The PTA will be sponsoring a Bears 

ISAT Assembly in February 2010. 

Thank you, PTA! 

If you have any questions concerning 

the ISAT’s, please contact Mr. 

Criscione. 

STANFORD 10 ASSESSMENT 

The Stanford 10 assessment for grades 3- 

8 is finished for the year. Student results 

were sent home with the report cards. 

Grades 1 and 2 will test during the 

ISAT’s in the first week of March 

2010. 

If you have any questions, please 

contact Mr. Criscione. 

8 TH GRADE PARENT MEETINGS 

The 3 rd 8 th Grade Parent Meeting took 

place on Tuesday, January 26 th . 

Please attend the last meeting listed 

below. 

• Tuesday, March 16, 2010 

8 th Grade Dinner Dance 

Bellavia Restaurant 

9022 W. 31 st Street 

Brookfield, IL 60513 

(708) 485-4500 

Saturday, May 15, 2010 

6:30 PM – 10:00 PM 

If you have any questions, please 

contact Mr. Criscione at any 

time. 

"Nothing in all the world is 

more dangerous than 

sincere ignorance and 

conscientious stupidity." 

Martin Luther King Jr.

OUTDOOR EDUCATION 



The 7 th Grade Outdoor Education trip to 

Camp Algonquin is scheduled for 

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 and 

Wednesday, April 14, 2010. The 

Parent Meeting on Wednesday, January 

6 th was well-attended. We hope most of 

the 7 th graders attend the trip. 

The $47.00 fee is due by no later than 

Friday, February 12 th . The fee can be 

paid by check, e-pay (on-line or come 

in to see Mrs. Gibson), or cash. 

If you have any questions, 

please contact Mr. Criscione. 

KOMAREK STUDENT COUNCIL 

NEWS 

The student council spent the beginning 

of January planning a fundraiser that 

will take place all of February. The 

fundraiser is called Young Masters. It is 

an art program that will allow every 

child in the school to create an art 

piece. Their art will be taken by this 

program and scanned into individual 

brochures for parents to choose a 

variety of products with their child’s art 

on them. Part of the profits are donated 

to the student council but a portion of it 

goes to the Make a Wish Foundation. 

We are very fortunate at Komarek to 

have students that want to help others. 

This fundraiser will help many children 

that are terminally ill. 

During the week of January 25-29, 2010, 

the student council raised donations to be 

given to the Red Cross to help aid the 

Haitian earthquake victims. Look for 

updates in the next newsletter for the 

students who won the Guess the Candy 

and Help Haiti contests during lunch as 

well as the total donation we were able to 

send. 

Please contact Mrs. Jankowski or Mrs. 

Symowicz with any questions or 

concerns. 

kjankowski@komarek94.org or 

msymowicz@komarek94.org 

708-447-8030 ext. 139 or 121 

SOCIAL WORKER NOTES 

Peer Mediation Update 

Greetings! Our peer mediation program 

has slowed a bit this past month. We 

have not had any mediations this past 

month. Of course we are pleased that 

there has not been the need, however we 

are always looking to cultivate our 

mediator’s skills. The few mediations we 

have had this year have been very 

successful and we are continuing to look 

for ways to improve the program. We 

have reached out to all the teachers 

reminding them of our program and are 

going to begin an ad campaign in the 

school so that students remember this 

program is available to them.



Issues you might have regarding your 

child. These can be, but are not limited 

to: 

• Peer pressure and changes in 

friendship circles 

• Feeling stressed or anxious 

• Bullying & Harassment 

• Family Changes (i.e. Divorce, 

Separation, Illness or Death 

• Family stresses 

• Self-esteem issues 

• Academic difficulties 

• Depression 

• Substance Abuse 

If I am not in the office you can leave 

me a message and I will return your call 

right away. 

If you know of a situation where 

mediation is appropriate or if you 

have any concerns regarding your 

child please contact me at 447-8030 x 

1-144 or at talbores@komarek94.org. 

Mr. Albores 

Komarek School Social Worker 

NEWS FROM THE READING 

SPECIALIST 

Picture This! Using Mental 

Imagery While Reading 

One way to help a child comprehend 

what he/she is reading is to encourage 

them to visualize parts of the story in 

his/her mind. These “mind movies” 

help clarify information and increase 

understanding, and can be done with 

fiction or nonfiction text. The images can 

include any of the five senses. 

Many of the books you read with your 

child may already contain beautiful 

illustrations, so try this visualization 

practice with the longer books you use as 

your read aloud. Or, sit facing your child 

and read a few pages without having your 

child look at the pictures. Then follow 

these few simple steps to provide your 

child with practice developing their 

mental images: 

• Begin reading. Pause after a few 

sentences or paragraphs that 

contain good descriptive 

information. 

• Share the image you’ve created in 

your mind, and talk about which 

words from the book helped you 

“draw” your picture. Your picture 

can relate to the setting, the 

characters, or the actions. By 

doing this, you are modeling the 

kind of picture making you want 

your child to do. 

• Talk about how these pictures 

help you understand what’s 

happening in the story. 

• Continue reading. Pause again and 

share the new image you created. 

Then ask your child to share what 

he/she sees, hears, tastes, smells 

and feels. Ask what words helped 

him/her create the mental image 

and emotions. By doing this, you 

are providing your child with 

practice with this new skill. 

• Are your images identical? 

Probably not! This is a great time 

to talk about why your images 

might be different. Perhaps your



child went on a school field trip 

or had a school assembly that 

changed the way they created 

the picture in their mind. 

Perhaps experiences you’ve had 

as an adult influenced what you 

“drew.” These differences are 

important to understand and 

respect. 

• Read a longer portion of text 

and continue the sharing 

process. 

• Once this is a familiar skill, 

encourage your child to use 

mental imagery when he/she is 

reading by themselves. You can 

feel confident that these mental 

pictures will help your child 

understand the story in an 

important way. 

For more ideas on using mental 

imagery, read “Pictures in the 

Minds: Magicians and Elephants” 

www.ReadingRockets.org/articles/34040 

Good luck and happy reading! 

Ms. Roberta Breiding 

"When I read great literature, 

great drama, speeches, or 

sermons, I feel that the 

human mind has not 

achieved anything greater 

than the ability to share 

feelings and thoughts 

through language." 

- James Earl Jones 

JH SOCIAL STUDIES NEWS 

Before Winter Break, our 4 th -8 th graders 

participated in the annual National 

Geographic Geography Bee. 

Congratulations to the 2010 Champion, 

7 th grader Christopher Olszewski. This 

is the 2 nd year in a row and the third time 

in the last four years that Christopher has 

been the Komarek winner. He has 

completed the written test in an attempt to 

qualify for the Illinois State Geography 

Bee in April… results will be publicized 

in early March. Congratulations to 5 th 

grader Nick Mascitti who was this year’s 

runner-up in the very exciting, 

competitive Bee, and to the other 27 

contestants on their hard work and 

enthusiasm for geography!!! 

Our 6 th graders are working hard 

on their Country Box projects which are 

due in April, in addition to studying the 

unit on Ancient Rome. Our 7 th graders 

are engrossed in their study of the U.S. 

Constitution in preparation for the final 

test, a State of Illinois graduation 

requirement. The final test is broken up 

into two parts, 50-questions each. The 

Part One Final is currently scheduled for 

Thursday, Feb. 11 th . Our 8 th graders are 

studying about the Progressive 

Movement and American Expansion at 

the beginning of the 20 th century. 

Mr. Bedalow 

"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at 

something. But I can't accept not trying." 

Michael Jordan

JUNIOR HIGH MATH 



Geometry is an integral part of the 

junior high math curriculum. It is 

taught at every grade level. In 6 th 

grade, basic geometry concepts are 

covered. In 7 th and 8 th grades, the 

curriculum expands beyond the basics. 

In all grades, geometry is taught as a 

separate unit but geometry is also 

integrated into other parts of the 

curriculum. Geometry is important as a 

basic standard in math and has many 

practical applications. Geometry also 

trains the students to see beyond what is 

on a page and to think abstractly. 

Ms. Mizia and Ms. Vesecky 

JUNIOR HIGH READING 

It’s the month of love, so what better 

time to fall in love with reading? Make 

sure that you check out the wonderful 

selections each month in the book 

orders from Scholastic. Every student 

should have a book to read, since we go 

to the library every two weeks. Students 

should be reading every night at home, 

and filling out their Wildcat Calendars 

with the minutes they read. 

In class, the students have been reading 

a variety of genres. There have been 

stories, poems, and nonfiction 

selections focusing on African 

American History at each grade level. 

We are focusing on literary terms such 

as: metaphor, foreshadowing, irony, 

and personification. 

Mrs. Jankowski and Ms. Schmit 

JUNIOR HIGH LANGUAGE ARTS 

The sixth and eighth graders will be 

assessed this year in WRITING. The 

ISAT tests will include one persuasive 

essay and one narrative. Everyday 

activities will enhance your children’s 

writing successes, not only for the 

assessment, but also for their 

accomplishments as lifelong writers. For 

the narrative portion, encourage your 

child to reflect on the day’s events, jot 

them down, and add them to their list of 

“territories”. These personal experiences 

provide the richest and most passionate 

writing ever! For the persuasive segment, 

read daily newspaper editorials, and 

discuss them with your children. Ask 

them where they stand on issues they feel 

strongly about. Perhaps when you don’t 

agree on certain parent/child matters, ask 

your child to provide solid reasons to 

support their views. It might lead to 

some interesting conversation! 

Karen Miller 

Junior High Language Arts 

JUNIOR HIGH SCIENCE 

Why are reading and writing 

important in science? 

As students progress through the 

Komarek science program, there will be 

an increased focus on reading and writing 

scientific information. 

Science teachers need to help 

students learn how to read and write in 

science for a number of reasons: 

• Students need to know how to 

learn about science on their own if 

we expect them to be lifelong 

learners. This requires students to 

be able to read, understand and



critique academic nonfiction 

and persuasive genres of 

writing. 

• Reading and writing are 

important aspects of doing 

science. Scientists must be able 

to read and understand the 

writing of others, evaluate its 

worth and share the results of 

their own research through 

writing. 

• All students, regardless of their 

interest in a scientific career, 

need to be able to read and write 

about scientific issues so they 

can make educated decisions 

and participate in a democratic 

society. 

• Students who are skilled at 

reading and writing in science 

are often able to learn concepts, 

theories, models and laws of 

science more deeply and retain 

more than students who are not 

(Shanahan 2004). 

It is important to remember, however, 

that students will not learn how to read 

or write in science by reading novels or 

by writing short stories in language arts. 

Students need to be introduced to the 

various genres of science writing and 

how to combine words and symbols to 

create meaning in a manner that is 

consistent with the stylistic rules of 

science. They also need to practice this 

type of writing and receive good 

feedback about the quality of their 

writing so they have an opportunity to 

improve. It is therefore important for 

science teachers to engage students in 

real science writing during their science 

education. 

As students progress through the 

Komarek science program, there will be 

an increased focus on reading and writing 

scientific information. 

Mrs. Wade and Ms. Vesecky 

SPANISH NEWS 

Spanish – 6 th grade 

After creating dialogues with partners, 

the students did a wonderful job of 

performing them in class. They used a 

variety of questions and answers, and 

their pronunciation was very good. I 

hope to do more activities to get the 

students to feel more comfortable 

speaking in Spanish. This will be 

possible when they have learned more 

vocabulary. 

We have been learning Spanish pronouns 

and converting subjects to pronouns. 

Basic verbs have also been introduced. 

The students have done a variety of 

activities, where they had to complete 

conversations using the correct subject 

pronoun. They are now learning number 

vocabulary and how to tell time. 

Everyone is catching on wonderfully, and 

I am proud of their progress! 

Spanish – 7 th & 8 th grade 

We continue to review different verbs. 

The students have also been introduced to 

a variety of irregular verbs – some called 

“go” verbs and others “boot” verbs. This 

means that various conjugations or parts 

of the main verb end in different letters. 

Learning these verbs requires the students 

to study at least 15-20 minutes every day, 

if possible. This will help learn the 

Spanish language better. We will also be 

studying various aspects of Mexico in the 

next chapter, and the focus will be on 

food vocabulary. I’m looking forward to 

teaching this interesting and helpful 

information to the students. They are all 

working hard and doing a great job!



Spanish/Culture – 6 th , 7 th , 8 th grade 

The students have been using their 

knowledge of Spanish descriptive 

adjectives to unscramble sample 

messages and then answer questions by 

writing their own message. They are 

learning a variety of vocabulary words, 

which will make speaking Spanish a lot 

more interesting. They are presently 

working on pen pal letters with a 

partner. They will be including 

information on descriptions of 

themselves and what they like to do, 

etc. 

It should be very interesting to read 

their letters. Everybody is making an 

effort to do well in Spanish! 

Primary – Spanish 

We continue to review Spanish 

numbers and are learning the larger 

numbers up to 100. 

I used a book to teach the children all 

the colors in Spanish, which also 

showed pictures of things that specific 

color. As I walk around the room and 

point to various objects, the children 

say the color in Spanish. They are all 

learning the vocabulary very quickly 

and are enthusiastic learners! 

Mrs. LaPietra 

ELL UPDATE 

ACCESS Testing started this month. 

The students are working very hard. 

Score reports should be sent home by 

early Spring. Testing will be done by 

the end of January, and normal ELL 

classes will resume right after. I am 

looking forward to working with my 

students again! 

Thanks, 

Lindsay Rosenzweig 

708-447-8030 x150 

NEWS FROM THE 

INTERMEDIATE/JH CROSS-CAT 

CLASSROOM 

This month has been very busy! We have 

worked on a service project with Ms. 

Wach’s room in order to raise money for 

Shriners Hospitals for Children. To do 

this, the students worked on creating 

ornament kits for the Holidays that they 

could sell to their peers. This worked on 

money skills, social skills, and fine motor 

skills. The students took great pride in 

their work and were able to raise over 

$117.00 dollars for charity! Way to go! 

In Ms. Baumann’s room we have been 

working on finishing our Number the 

Stars novel study and our journal 

responses accordingly. Our class is also 

finishing our letter writing unit which 

included writing cards to the soldiers 

overseas. We will finish this unit by 

completing a formal letter to someone in 

their family that they appreciate very 

much. What a busy month ahead! 

Annie Baumann MA SpEd 

Jr. High/Intermediate Cross Cat 

Komarek School District 94 

8940 W. 24th St. 

North Riverside, Il 

60546 

708 447- 8030 ex. 117 

Ms. Annie Baumann 

Books were my pass to personal 

freedom. I learned to read at 

age three, and soon discovered 

there was a whole world to 

conquer that went beyond our 

farm in Mississippi. 

Oprah Winfrey



NEWS FROM THE PRIMARY 

CROSS-CAT CLASSROOM 

In January we were pleased to receive a 

letter from the Shriners Hospital for 

Children, thanking us for the $117.00 

donation from the proceeds of our 

Reindeer Candy Cane ornament kit 

sale. Thanks to everyone for making 

our sale a success! 

In February we will be busy working on 

our writing skills. We will review the 

parts of speech and synonyms to help 

us develop Cinquain poems. Our 

weekly group on Fridays will focus on 

how to address a postcard or envelope. 

We will be looking forward to sending 

postcards and letters that include fun 

facts about winter animals. 

Social studies units will include stories 

relating to President's Day and Black 

History month. Look for our "Tree of 

Honor" to display our work honoring 

these events. Valentine's Day math and 

multiplication facts will be part of the 

math activities in February. We will 

also be counting and sorting to 

celebrate Hundreds Day. 

Mrs. Wach 

NEWS FROM THE SPEECH TEAM 

All of the students are working very 

hard to achieve their individual speech 

and language goals. In February, many 

students will be practicing words, 

phrases and sentences with the 

Valentine theme. Others will be 

practicing Martin Luther King’s “I 

Have a Dream Speech.” Please 

remember to check your child’s speech 

folder for any homework they need to 

complete. That help really does make a 

difference! 

Mrs. Lenahan and Ms. Whitters 

BEFORE AND AFTER CARE NEWS 

The Child Care program has been very 

busy! We had our annual Christmas 

party in December that was a lot of fun. 

The children put on a mini concert for 

their families; while we all came together 

for a pot luck dinner. We even had a 

surprise visit from Santa. He passed out 

gifts and read The Night Before 

Christmas to the party. 

Now that the winter holidays are over, the 

Child Care is focusing on spring. We 

will be heading to the British Home in 

March for a Service Project. The 

children will be busy making a flower 

bouquet in a homemade vase to pass out 

to the residents before we go. We will be 

meeting on a Sat. morning in March 

(children and parents) and arriving at the 

British Home to sing songs, recite poems, 

and just raise the spirits of the residents. 

This was a huge success last year and I 

am confident this year will be the same. 

Ms. Liz Gron 

PRE-SCHOOL NEWS 

In preschool, during the month of 

February, our focus will be on a book 

called The Day It Rained Hearts. We will 

learn all about writing and mailing letters, 

the post office, stamps and more. We will 

also read other Valentine’s books about 

love and friendship. These books will 

lead to discussions of colors, shapes and 

size, prepositional words, opposites, 

repetition and rhyming. 

We have many fun holiday art activities 

and songs planned for the month. We



look forward to coming to school in our 

PJ’s for pajama day on the17th. Also, 

our Valentine’s Day party and parent 

participation will be on Friday the 12 th . 

As far as field trips, we hope to visit the 

Vesuvio Bakery this month to conclude 

our recent theme of gingerbread and the 

bakery. 

At the end of the month, we will 

celebrate Children’s Dental Health 

month and discuss the importance of 

brushing teeth and what foods are good 

or not so good for our teeth. We may 

even venture up to Dr. John Lenz’s 

office for a closer look. 

At this point we have covered 

about half of the letters of the alphabet 

and their sounds. During February, we 

will discuss letter H, D, X, and O. 

Mrs. Mandy Olson 

KINDERGARTEN NEWS 

February is a very busy month in 

kindergarten. It may be a tiny month 

but we specialize in small. Here are 

some of the highlights from this 

exciting month: 

• We will learn about Groundhog 

Day on February 2 and pay a 

virtual visit to Puxsatawney 

Phil. 

• The 100th day of school is on 

Thursday, February 4. The 

kindergarteners will visit each 

primary classroom to enjoy a 

special 100th day activity. 

• We will learn about Abraham 

Lincoln and George Washington 

and their contributions to our 

great nation. 

• We will be learning about 

African-American history 

throughout the month. We will 

talk about Rosa Parks, Barack 

Obama, and other great African- 

Americans. 

• Of course we will celebrate 

Valentine's Day on Friday, 

February 12 by exchanging 

valentines, playing games, and 

sharing a treat. More information 

will follow. 

• We will be traveling to the Cernan 

Space Center to learn about the 

solar system on Friday, February 

26. Don't forget to send in your 

permission slip! 

• We will also be covering dental 

health. It will stress the 

importance of developing good 

dental habits. 

Besides all of this, we will have the usual 

suspects: reading, math, science, and 

social studies. We wish you lots of love 

this month. Go ahead...hug a 

kindergartener. Stay tuned for more! 

Mrs. Albores, Mrs. Scriba, and 

Ms. Gron 

"Let no man pull 

you low enough to 

hate him." 

Martin Luther King Jr.



1ST GRADE NEWS 

First Grade in February! 

The first graders will be celebrating 

100's day! They will count, read, write 

and listen to stories about the value of 

ONE HUNDRED. We will celebrate 

Presidents Day with stories about many 

of our presidents. February is Black 

History Month. We will learn about the 

contributions of many high achieving 

African Americans. Wow! What a 

Month! 

Mrs. Lid, Ms. Koenig, Mrs. 

Santoro, and Ms. Diehl 

2 ND GRADE NEWS 

The 2 nd graders are very excited about 

February! The 100 th Day of School is 

February 4 th and we will be celebrating 

with the other primary classes, doing 

different 100 day activities in each 

classroom. We will also be starting our 

penguin unit. We will learn all about 

the different names and sizes of each 

penguin, how they survive, and where 

they live. They will write penguin 

poems using all the information they 

learned in this unit. At the end of the 

unit the class will watch the movie 

Happy Feet. February is Black History 

Month and they will be learning about 

the famous African Americans who 

made a difference. The 2 nd grade will 

celebrate Valentine’s Day with ice 

cream sundaes, and will make special 

boxes to collect their Valentines in. At 

the end of the month we will be going 

on our first field trip to the Shedd 

Aquarium. The children will explore 

the Polar Play Zone, Oceanarium, and 

Wild Reef exhibit. February is going to 

be a fun-filled month for 2 nd grade! 

Ms. Manno, Mrs. Ruesch, and 

Mrs. Greenenwald 

3 RD GRADE NEWS 

Third grade students are moving in so 

many directions, it's hard to keep up with 

them. In Reading and LTR, students are 

working on reports about famous African 

Americans, the Presidents of the United 

States, and Animal Reports. Third 

graders have also been caught quizzing 

each other on multiplication facts, and 

soaring ahead with ISAT preparation. 

The months seem to be flying by, and the 

students continue to put their best "foot" 

forward. We are so proud 

of each and everyone of our students. 

Mrs. Parolin, Mrs. Gouty, and 

Ms. Diehl 

4 TH GRADE NEWS 

The Fourth Grade has been busy 

preparing for ISAT's. We have been 

focusing on the areas of Reading, Math, 

and Science. To build fluency and 

comprehension skills we suggest reading 

aloud to someone at home. Asking 

questions to your child will get their mind 

to think critically. To build math skills 

practice multiplication and division facts. 

The Science ISAT will focus on 

vocabulary and skills taught in class.



Any extra review that you can do at 

home is greatly appreciated. One other 

reminder is that starting on February 

1, the students are to write in 

cursive. We have been reviewing 

cursive writing but again extra practice 

at home will only make the transition 

easier. 

Mrs. Berger, Mrs. West, Mrs. 

Daly, and Mrs. Sandoval 

5 TH GRADE NEWS 

Reading class has allowed us to apply 

all the skills we have been learning 

about to the novels we are reading. 

Mrs. Brandt’s class is reading Because 

of Winn Dixie, Mrs. Lovera’s class is 

reading Julie of the Wolves, and Miss 

Rossi’s class has been reading Maniac 

Magee. It is fun to follow the plot of a 

story as we make/confirm predictions, 

make inferences, and practice our oral 

fluency. Geometry and fractions have 

been keeping us busy in math! In 

Social Studies, our main focus has been 

the development of the 13 Colonies and 

the French and Indian War. The 

American Revolution is next! In 

Science, we have been learning a lot 

about ecosystems. We will be blasting 

off into space for our next unit! 

Language Arts continues to take us 

through the journey of the writing 

process. Officer Pelayo has been 

meeting with the children during 

D.A.R.E. to teach them effective ways 

to avoid drugs, alcohol and tobacco by 

avoiding peer pressure. The students’ 

graduation from the program confirms 

their desire to be drug-free! 

Mrs. Brandt, Mrs. Lovera, and 

Ms. Rossi 

NEWS FROM THE COMPUTER 

LAB 

Hello from Komarek’s computer lab! All 

the Junior High students are working 

hard, mastering technology, and 

completing their assignments here in the 

lab. 

The sixth grade is in the process of 

presenting their states reports. These are 

in depth studies of US states researched 

and created by the students. After 

presentations are complete the sixth grade 

will begin their “Excel” unit. 

The seventh graders have completed the 

presentation of their “famous 

Revolutionary War figure” projects and 

have moved on to something new. They 

are learning “html”, or machine language, 

as it’s better known. The students will be 

creating / learning how to create a web 

site for this section of the class. We’ll let 

you know how the students’ web sites are 

progressing next time. 

Eighth grade has begun working on a 

project using video as the medium for 

presentation rather than Power Point. 

They’ll be taking an episode from the TV 

series “The Twilight Zone”, and writing 

and filming their own ending to the show. 

The students are excited and are currently 

putting their scripts together, but should 

begin filming soon. We’ll let you know 

how it all works out in the next 

newsletter. 

Kindergarten is playing Bailey’s Book 

House to practice their letter recognition, 

rhyming words, and more. The first 

grade is collecting bugs with The 

Letterbugs Get Ready to Read. Second 

grade is playing Read, Write, and Type.



Third grade is finishing up their 

computerized book report and making 

(fake) money selling ice cream in Ice 

Cream Truck. Fourth grade is learning 

to type using the home row. Fifth grade 

is reviewing their typing skills. 

Well, that’s it for now from the 

computer lab! 

Mr. Kartje and Ms. Zoeteman 

NOTES FROM THE SHOP 

Greetings from Komarek’s woodshop! 

Things are moving along and we’re 

already into the third quarter. Hard to 

believe, isn’t it? The students are 

working hard on their plates and many 

have moved on to woodworking 

projects. Here’s a rundown of what’s 

going on in the shop right now … 

The eighth graders will begin to glue up 

the material for their C/D racks soon. 

Once that’s done, they’ll begin to cut, 

plane, file, and sand their C/D racks 

into shape. Many of them have had 

previous wood working experience, so 

we’re expecting this quarter’s finished 

product to be done with exceptional 

skill. Also, by the looks of things, 

many eighth graders will be doing a 

project in plastics later in the quarter. 

Always something to look forward to! 

The seventh graders are working on 

their series of mechanical drawings, and 

some have moved on to begin creating 

their own projects on the lathe. These 

lathe projects are designed by the 

students and are a real challenge. The 

projects this quarter look great! As the 

quarter progresses the students will 

begin to plan and create their own 

plastics projects, as well. Most of the 

students are excited because the plastics 

section of the course is always their 

favorite. 

The sixth grade students have been 

working diligently at their introduction to 

mechanical drawing. They can now read, 

understand, and even create their own 

plans! With that part of the course 

complete, they’ll be starting their 

woodworking projects soon. For many of 

these students, it will be their first 

experience creating a project of this kind. 

All this considered, we’re sure the sixth 

graders will create some beautiful 

birdfeeders that will last for many years 

to come. 

Well, that’s it for now! 

Mr. Kartje 

WE LOVE ART! 

Happy New Year everyone! Second 

quarter was great! It was a very 

productive quarter and all students 

continued using their drawing and 

painting skills. Some grades have created 

a ceramic project! All students will create 

a ceramic project this year. 

Kindergarten classes have been 

continuing to work on basic skills such as 

cutting and gluing properly. They have 

created more pages for their art book. We 

now have five of the ten pages complete! 

Students have also learned to use their 

imagination to create objects instead of 

copying my examples. 

In first grade we have continued 

to experiment with and refine the basic 

art skills learned in Kindergarten. We



created a fantastic jungle scene full of 

tropical birds and plants despite the 

chilly weather here! We will begin 

working on our ceramic project in the 

next few weeks. 

Second grade has created a 

drawing of a chain they designed. They 

created a shadow to make their shapes 

look 3-D! We also studied an American 

artist named Jim Dine. He used 

symbols and vibrant colors to express 

his views. As a class we discussed 

symbols, especially of love. The 

students learned a new clay technique 

to create a symbol of love-a heart! This 

grade will be continuing their ceramic 

project in the next few weeks. 

The third graders have looked at 

artwork by Edvard Munch to see how 

he paints emotion. The students then 

created their own art work of 

themselves. Currently third grade is 

working on a coil pot. 

Fourth grade students created a 

stamp to use in printmaking. They 

created a self-portrait on the stamp. 

Once the ink was dry they used colored 

pencil to embellish their prints. 

Students will be working on a new skill 

called contour line. 

In fifth grade students studied 

traditional masks of Korea, Japan and 

China. They are currently creating their 

own mask from paper mache. We will 

be using paint, yarn, feathers, beads and 

sequins to decorate the masks. Students 

will be creating cities next! 

The sixth grade quarter class is 

hard at work. The students will create 

artwork in all genres of art-drawing, 

painting and sculpture! They are 

currently working on a color design 

unit! This unit teaches color mixing and 

a bit of color theory! 

In seventh grade students will 

experience using paint and drawing 

materials as well as sculpture materials. 

They will have explored the principles of 

Op Art by creating one of their own! 

Currently students are creating a radial 

design using their name as the start of 

their design. We will also be “traveling” 

to Australia to learn about Aborigine art. 

In eighth grade, students will be 

studying an artist of their choice to create 

self-portraits based on the style of their 

chosen artist. In addition to these 

wonderful pieces, the students will create 

a drawing showing metamorphosis and 

will create a rose based on the 

Capodimonte roses of Italy. 

Please encourage students to 

practice their drawing skills at home 

whenever they have a chance. Also, 

please allow students in kindergarten and 

first grade to practice their cutting skills. 

This is a very challenging skill for many 

to fully grasp. 

Emailmsymowicz@komarek94.org 

or 

Phone-708-447-8030 ext. 121 

Mrs. Symowicz 

WILDCAT INCENTIVE PROGRAM 

The next WIP Incentive Party is our 

annual Pancake Breakfast. It will be held 

on Friday, February 19 th beginning at 

7:30 AM in the auditorium. Due to the 

number of students and staff, parents will 

not be invited this year. The WIP and 

WIK Student Committee will help 

prepare, serve, and clean. The kitchen 

will include Chef Corlett, Chef Norris, 

Chef Pellicci, Chef Galindo, Chef Stalla,



and Chef Criscione. All the chefs come 

highly recommended by the staff of 

Iron Chef America! 

Mr. Criscione 

WILDKIT INCENTIVE 

PROGRAM 

The newly created WIK for grades 4-5 

has been a huge hit. The WIK students 

that are nominated for the 2 nd quarter 

will join the WIP students at the 

Pancake Breakfast on Friday, February 

19 th beginning at 7:30 AM in the 

auditorium. Due to the number of 

students and staff, parents will not be 

invited this year. The WIP and WIK 

Student Committee will help prepare, 

serve, and clean. The kitchen will 

include Chef Corlett, Chef Norris, Chef 

Pellicci, Chef Galindo, Chef Stalla, and 

Chef Criscione. All the chefs come 

highly recommended by the staff of 

Iron Chef America! 

The following students made the 

WIK and WIP list for the 2 nd 

quarter and earned the Pancake 

Breakfast on Friday, February 19 th : 

WIK & WIP LIST 2ND QU. 09 - 10 

4TH GRADE 

1. Richard Alcantar 

2. Liliana Andablo 

3. Rebecca Borow 

4. Ariyan Breaux 

5. Nicole DeAcros 

6. Joseph Diethelm 

7. Joseph Giurini 

8. Giovanni Guerrero 

9. Tyler Hinz 

10. Allison Kucera 

11. Morgan Litavecz 

12. Katie Mahoney 

13. Migle Medelis 

14. Elise Mitchell 

15. Jamie Pena 

16. Katie Polanski 

17. Jesus Quiroga 

18. Juan Quiroz 

19. Joshua Ricchio 

20. Amanda Steinke 

21. Stephanie Stolzman 

22. Isabella Suarez 

23. Jaimie Torres 

24. Saul Vargas 

25. Alanna Waas 

5TH GRADE 

1. Bianca Bahamundi 

2. Brandon Bahamundi 

3. Samantha Bloom 

4. Adrian Castro 

5. Alex David 

6. Michelle Dinh 

7. Alexia Flores 

8. Marlyn Flores 

9. Mikayla Garbauski 

10. Gracie Garza 

11. Zachary Georgopoulos 

12. Meschack Glover 

13. DiAngelo Gonzalez 

14. Alex Hamer 

15. Erik Hartwig 

16. Natalie Jensen 

17. Taylor Jensen 

18. Gaquise Jones 

19. Jose Juarez 

20. Charles Lemon 

21. Anna Makovetskaya 

22. Nick Mascitti 

23. Angelica Melone 

24. Stephannie Molina 

25. Rolando Mondragon 

26. Dimarea Okparaji 

27. Gianna Panzani 

28. Natalya Petrenko 

29. Grace Pottle 

30. Alivia Ranieri



31. Ayanna Robinson 

32. Joshua Rodriguez 

33. Andrew Roudebush 

34. Elizabeth Rowley 

35. Christian Roy 

36. Manuel Sida 

37. Zachary Smith 

38. Camille Such 

39. Chloe Theus 

40. Alondra Villalobos 

41. Kaela Vloedman 

42. Michael Wilson 

6TH GRADE 

1. Selene Anaya 

2. Jacob Angio 

3. Matthew Banahan 

4. Fernando Barraza 

5. Sydney Barrueta 

6. Michael Berscheid 

7. Victoria Bojovic 

8. Nathan Bolda 

9. Melanie Caldwell 

10. Joseph Cannizzo 

11. Erik Casillas 

12. Daniel DeLeonardis 

13. Jacob Dorado 

14. Isabelle Echevarria 

15. Andres Garcia 

16. Sophia Giurini 

17. Odalis Gomez 

18. Taylor Groth 

19. Ashley Gurschke 

20. Maurice Gutherie 

21. Shyheim Henley 

22. Max Hoadley 

23. Ayleen Huerta 

24. Joseline Jimenez 

25. Jessica JnoBaptiste 

26. James Kaczmarczyk 

27. Gabriel Kirkines 

28. Robert Kmic 

29. Jazmin Manjarrez 

30. Alex Martinson 

31. Shannon McDonald 

32. Davonte Mikell 

33. Andrejana Misic 

34. Christopher Molina 

35. Donavan Monroe 

36. Michael Murguia 

37. Kenny Ngo 

38. Callista Orrico 

39. Cristina Palacio 

40. Cynthia Palacio 

41. Jimmiria Porter 

42. Aaliyah Redmond 

43. Angelica Redovan 

44. Daniella Robinson 

45. Danita Robinson 

46. Mariel Sandoval 

47. Marlene Santora 

48. Dominic Sarro 

49. Sarah Schoenheider 

50. Victor Suarez 

51. Vito Toscano 

52. Brenda Ulloa 

53. Sonia Villalobos 

54. Daniel Waas 

55. Elexis Walker 

56. Zachary Witken 

7TH GRADE 

1. Jazmin Andablo 

2. Jermaine Averhart 

3. Sotero Barraza 

4. Luke Bates 

5. William Bloom 

6. Nicole Cisar 

7. Dominga Coronado 

8. Dominique Coronado 

9. Daniel Dinh 

10. Heaven Dotson 

11. Zachary Erdman 

12. Jael Gamboa 

13. Natalia Gheewala 

14. Nicholas Giurini 

15. David Gutierrez 

16. Michael Helf 

17. Aryana Huerta 

18. Monika Janas



19. Brenda Juarez 

20. Patrick Landa 

21. Andrew Lemesurier 

22. Tiana Little 

23. Eugene Makovetskaya 

24. Jesus Martinez 

25. Monica Mascitti 

26. Mia Moore 

27. Michelle Morris 

28. Nina Novakovich 

29. Christopher Olszewski 

30. Jillian Podborny 

31. Larry Pottle 

32. Nico Ranieri 

33. Jonathan Ricchio 

34. Lucy Roudebush 

35. Rubi Salgado 

36. Patricia Scalise 

37. Katelyn Smith 

38. Lacey Smith 

39. Sierra Starks 

40. Jake Surprenant 

41. Joshua Sylvie 

42. Brenda Tapia 

43. Christopher Watson 

44. Ja'nae Willis 

45. Emylee Zdarsky 

8TH GRADE 

1. Natalie Beresheim 

2. Charli Breaux 

3. Christine Caldwell 

4. Madiha Chaudhry 

5. Carly Dalessandro 

6. Amy Frey 

7. Kyle Georgopoulos 

8. Marissa Gonzalez 

9. Nicky Green 

10. Ken Gurschke 

11. Damika Henry 

12. Ricardo Herrera 

13. Marisa Jensen 

14. Catie Kartje 

15. Asiel Langdon 

16. Bobby Lutz 

17. Juan Mancilla 

18. Adam Martinson 

19. Samantha Mitchell 

20. Gabriel Montoya 

21. Chynna Palmer-Nichols 

22. Anthony Patitucci 

23. Eric Perez 

24. Matthew Pisani 

25. Spencer Purcell 

26. Abel Salgado 

27. Rebecca Saucedo 

28. Casey Scalise 

29. Jennifer Schoenheider 

30. Devin Starks 

31. Curtis Stewart 

32. Richard Theus 

33. Carey Torres 

34. Ariana Virgil 

35. Caroline Waas 

36. Katilyn Woodward 

37. Ivan Zrantchev 

38. Amy Zyck 

JH PE 

With the cold outside, the Jr. High 

students are playing a “cold” game in a 

warm way. The students have learned the 

rules and skills of floor hockey and are 

now playing the game, putting their skills 

to the test. We continue to work hard on 

our fitness days with running, fitness 

stations, and yoga among the activities. 

Coming up will be volleyball, badminton, 

track and field and Australian football. 

Mrs. Frey 

JH HEALTH 

A new quarter has started, and a new 

group of students has started Health. The 

8 th grade has finished the unit on conflict 

resolution and is beginning their projects 

on the affects of tobacco. Upcoming 

units will include drugs, alcohol and body 

image. In 6 th grade we are finishing up 

Health and Wellness. Coming up will be



units on personal health, healthy 

relationships, and preventing diseases. 

Mrs. Frey 

PRIMARY PE 

Happy New Year! To start the New 

Year, all of my classes have begun a 

giant Q-Tip ball unit. It may sound 

funny, so be sure to ask your student 

what we are doing! Q-Tip ball uses 

variations of hockey skills and is also 

similar to an old game called broom 

ball. We will be starting games and 

tournaments next week. We are having 

a blast! 

Another boots reminder – if your 

student wears boots to school, please 

send gym shoes with them. If they are 

wearing boots, he or she sits out for the 

entire P.E. period and loses the 

participation points for that day. 

Go Blackhawks! 

Ms. Banas 

FCCLA NEWS 

The FCCLA 7th and 8th grade groups 

have been busy preparing and sampling 

international cuisine. The students have 

prepared cheese and chocolate fondue 

and tacos. The students have also been 

collecting medical supplies and food to 

be sent to the victims of the earthquake 

in Haiti. 

Mrs. Corlett 

SAFETY PATROL 

Safety Patrol Schedule for February 

February 1 – February 5 

Adam Martinson 

Alex Martinson 

Christopher Molina 

Michelle Morris 


Joseline Jimenez 

Jillian Podborny 

Brenda Ulloa 

Daniel Waas 


Selena Anaya 

Sophia Giurini 

Jonathan Ricchio 

Rubi Salgado 


Jazmin Andablo 

Victoria Bojovic 

Jesus Martinez 

Shannon McDonald 

Mrs. Ricchio and Mrs. Anderson 

CHEERLEADING NEWS 

Congratulations to Amy Frey, Amy Zyck, 

Mariel Sandoval, Tiana Little, Asiel 

Langdon, Elexis Walker, Rebecca 

Saucedo, Lucy Roudebush, Selene 

Anaya, Jennifer Schoenheider, Sarah 

Schoenheider, and Tricia Scalise for 

making the 2010 Wildcat Cheerleading 

Squad! We would also like to thank two 

of our former cheerleaders, Nicole 

DeLeonardis and Danielle Witken for 

helping us with tryouts. The season is off 

to a great start. The girls are doing a great 

job learning new cheers and practicing 

stunts! Come check out our next home 

game and help us cheer on those 

Wildcats! 

Ms. Rosenzweig and Mrs. 

Jankowski 

"What happens to a dream deferred? 

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" 

- Langston Hughes

BOYS BASKETBALL 



The motto for the Komarek Boys 

Basketball this year is "Bring It" and 

that’s exactly what they're doing each 

and every time they step on the court. 

After an impressive season last year, 

this years Wildcats are hoping to 

improve on last years 7-3 record and 

are already on the fast track with the 8th 

grade taking down Gross in their season 

opener here at Komarek. While the 7th 

grade team has struggled a bit in the 

start with two losses, being only two 

games into the season, the team’s not 

worried one bit. We look forward to 

seeing all of our fans at each one of our 

games, and look forward to "Packing 

the Place" the next time we’re at home, 

"Bring It Wildcats!" 

Coach Czajka 

GIRLS BASKETBALL WRAP-UP 

The girls’ basketball season has come 

to a successful end. Both the 7 th and 8 th 

grade teams worked exceptionally hard 

at practices and at games to improve 

their skills. 

The 8 th grade girls worked extremely 

well together and played naturally as a 

team. Their final Salt Creek Valley 

Conference record was astounding at 8- 

2 while their overall record was a 

Komarek record breaking 16-5. They 

won 1st place at the Morton College 

Tournament and 2 nd place at the Salt 

Creek Valley Conference Tournament. 

Congratulations to Natalie Beresheim, 

Charli Breaux, Amy Frey, Damika 

Henry, Marisa Jensen, Tiana Little, 

Sami Mitchell, Caroline Waas, and 

Amy Zyck! 

The 7 th grade girl’s team was made up 

of five 6 th graders and six 7 th graders. 

This year’s team played with much 

perseverance and although their 

conference record was 2-8, each girl 

played with enthusiasm and tried her 

hardest. Great season to Selene Anaya, 

Nicole Cisar, Natalia Gheewala, Monika 

Janas, Jessica JnoBaptiste, Lucy 

Roudebush, Alicja Sacha, Tricia Scalise, 

Brenda Ulloa, Areli Vargas, and Elexis 

Walker! 

Coach Bedalow and Coach Shesek would 

like to give a special thanks to their 3 

great managers, Rebecca Saucedo, Sierra 

Starks and Kyle Georgopoulos. They 

would also like to thank everyone who 

came out to the games to support the 

teams. ☺ 

Mr. Bedalow and Ms. Shesek 

BAND NOTES 

Our Winter band concert on December 

16 th was a success, but the Komarek 

bands have even more in store for you 

when they take to the stage for our next 

performance on Wednesday, February 

24 th . All four bands have been working 

extremely hard to prepare for this 

performance. The theme for this concert 

is music from Broadway and it should be 

a great night of music for everyone. 

The Komarek Solo and Ensemble Contest 

is fast approaching, the date for this 

year’s contest will be Saturday, April 

24 th . Please make a note of this schedule 

change as the contest was pushed back 

one week from its original date. All band 

students in the Cadet and Concert Bands 

will be preparing a solo and or ensemble 

piece to perform in front of a judge, and 

ratings will be given out throughout the 

day. Each student will sign up for an 8 

minute time slot between 9AM and 12 

noon on April 18 th to perform their solo



or ensemble. After each performance 

the judge will give comments to the 

students, as well as fill out a judges 

sheet and rate each student’s 

performance as a I, II, or III. Parents, 

family members, and friends are 

welcome to watch performances, but 

students should not be at the school 

without parent supervision during the 

contest day. If you wish to help out 

during the morning of the contest please 

contact Mr. Moffett by email or phone 

(dmoffett@komarek94.org or 447-8030 

extension 107). 

Musically, 

Mr. Moffett 

Komarek Band Director 

Please make a note of these band 

dates for the 2009-2010 school year: 

• Wednesday, February 24 th - 

Band Concert - 7PM - 

Komarek Gym (all bands) 

• Saturday, April 17 th - Solo & 

Ensemble Contest – Komarek, 

9AM to Noon 

• Wednesday, May 26 th - Band 

Concert - 7PM - Komarek 

Gym (all bands) 

CHORUS NEWS 

Chorus just presented their winter 

music program January 27 th , 2010. 

Now, we’ll be on hiatus for a while. 

Regular Thursday morning rehearsals 

resume February 25 th at 7:30am in the 

Music room. 

Everyone from 5 th through 8 th grade is 

welcome to join as a new member or 

“re-up” for the spring season.. We’ll 

start preparing for our annual 

Talent/Variety Show scheduled for 

April 22 nd . Students who would like to 

be a featured performer in the show 

should approach Ms. Bykowski for 

approval of performance material. The 

Talent/Variety Show runs about an hour, 

so we cannot feature everyone that would 

like to perform, but all are encouraged to 

try out. 

Ms. Bykowski, Director 

Komarek School Chorus 

PAW PRINTS 

Paw Prints has had a very successful year 

so far. I encourage you all to read our 

latest issues online. The students involved 

in Paw Prints should read newspapers and 

watch the news on TV. This will help 

them see how articles are best written. 

We want to represent the whole Komarek 

School, so let us know if you have an 

idea for an article! 

Ms. Schmit 

RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION 

RTI 

Changes in federal and state laws have 

directed schools to focus more on helping 

all children learn by addressing problems 

earlier within the general education 

setting. 

This new process of providing 

interventions to students who are at 

risk for academic or behavioral 

problems is called RTI (Response to 

Intervention). 

RTI is a process designed to help schools 

focus on high-quality interventions that 

are matched to student needs and 

monitored on a frequent basis. The 

information gained from an RTI process



is used by school personnel and parents 

to adapt instruction and to make 

decisions regarding the student’s 

education program. 

The Komarek RTI Leadership Team is 

comprised of administrators, teachers, 

Komarek support staff, parent/board 

member, and a LADSE support team. 

The team meets monthly to develop and 

assist the teachers with implementing 

the plan. Our teaching staff is already 

utilizing RTI interventions in the 

classrooms. A data team is also 

meeting regularly to monitor student 

progress. 

Students that are being serviced have 

already received letters of 

notification. 

If anyone has any questions, please 

contact Mr. Criscione or Ms. 

Breiding. 

Mr. Criscione 

“THUMBS UP” PROGRAM 

Komarek School has introduced a new 

program for all students called the 

“Thumbs Up” Program. The program 

monitors student behavior and 

academics on a bi-weekly cycle. Mr. 

Criscione meets with teachers at weekly 

team meetings to discuss student issues 

and curriculum. 

“Thumbs Up” is a form of cooperative 

discipline. It is proactive, and will be 

one component of the discipline piece 

for “Response to Intervention” (RTI). 

“Thumbs Up” will review the 

academics and behavior for all students. 

Most students will be “Thumbs Up”. 

If a student receives a “Thumbs Down” 

an administrator/social worker will have a 

brief visit with that student to voice their 

concerns. The meeting must take place 

within 24-48 hours, but most likely 

sooner. Conferring with the student as 

soon as possible will be more effective. 

Most meetings will take place at lunch, 

recess, and physical education. The 

meeting will take a minute or two. 

Hopefully, the meeting with the 

administrator will improve the behavior 

or work effort. If the negative behavior 

continues, discipline action will be taken. 

The teacher will monitor the academics 

and behavior of the student and return a 

follow-up “Thumbs Up” form to the 

office. The teacher will give a follow-up 

report at a future meeting. 

The goal of “Thumbs Up” is to prevent 

situations from escalating toward a bigger 

problem, and to decrease referrals. 

Students that are continually “Thumbs 

Up” will earn WIP and the end-of-thequarter 

parties. 

HOMEWORK DETENTION 

PROGRAM 

If you have any questions concerning 

the Homework Detention Program, 

please contact Mr. Criscione. 

HOMEWORK CLASS 

Homework Class began on Monday, 

September 14 th , with 72 students enrolled 

in six sections. There are still students on 

a waiting list to get into the class. The 

program is for students in grades 3 to 8.



Homework Class is designed to help 

students complete their daily 

homework. There is a 1:12 teacher to 

student ratio. The teacher in the class 

provides assistance and direction to the 

students to help them finish any 

assignments given daily. It is not 

tutoring. 

Students enrolled in the program must 

attend each session, Monday through 

Thursday, from 3:15 – 4:30 pm. The 

student is responsible for bringing all 

work and books needed to complete the 

homework assignments. If there is no 

homework, then the child must bring a 

book to read during the session. There 

are strict rules for classroom procedures 

and rules that the students must follow. 

Parents of Homework Class children 

also have responsibilities. They are 

expected to check the student’s 

Assignment Book and completed 

homework each day. We ask that they 

initial or sign the Assignment Book 

after each inspection. Parents must also 

be sure to pick their child up on time, at 

4:30 pm, after each session. This is to 

insure the safety of the children as they 

are dismissed in the early evening. 

Finally, attendance is mandatory. 

Students with too many excused or 

unexcused absences will be removed 

from the program to make room for 

children on the waiting list. Children 

pulled out of the program or removed 

for disciplinary reasons will be put on 

the “waiting list” if they apply for 

admission to next year’s Homework 

Class. 

For more information, 

contact Mrs. Anderson, 

District Secretary, at (708) 

447-8030, ext. 1-101. 

YOUR COOPERATION IS 

GREATLY APPRECIATED 

If you have a concern with a teacher, 

please contact him/her first to discuss the 

issue. If the issue is not resolved, then 

contact the Principal. I will do whatever 

it takes to take care of the problem. If 

you are not satisfied with the Principal’s 

decision, you can discuss the matter with 

the Superintendent. 

Remember, our goal is always to provide 

a safe, academic environment for all 

Komarek children. We want all of them 

to achieve academic success, but they 

need to follow the school guidelines and 

complete classroom work. 

If you ever have any questions or 

concerns, please give me a call. 

Mr. Criscione 

PARKING AND DROP-OFF 

CONCERNS 

We are now a school with over 500 

students and close to 80 staff members. 

Traffic and parking during drop-off and 

pick-up is not showing improvement. 

Several parents, residents, and staff 

members have witnessed students almost 

getting hit by a car due to motorists not 

following traffic and parking rules. 

Please, follow all traffic and parking rules 

to avoid accidents around the school. Our 

main concern is the safety of our 

children as they come to school and go

home at the end of the day. 



For this reason, we are again requesting 

that our parents follow a certain 

procedure for drop off and pick up. 

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. 

For drop off and pick up, please 

follow these simple guidelines: 

A. Students in grades 4 - 8 should be 

dropped off and picked up at the 

designated area on 12th Avenue 

between the alley and 24th Street. The 

students in grades 6 - 8 will then walk 

along 24th Street to the playground area 

where they will line up to enter the 

building. 

B. Students in kindergarten to grade 3 

should be dropped off at the designated 

drop off area on 24th Street, west of 

13th Avenue. Cars should pull into this 

area as far west as possible and then 

depart once the children have left the 

car. It is illegal to sit or park in this 

drop off area. 

C. Parents can pick up primary students 

by using the area on 23rd Place which 

is designated for pick up and drop off. 

This is not an area to sit or park the 

car. 

Please avoid the following: 

A. DO NOT drop students off on 24th 

Street between 12th and 13th Avenues. 

It is dangerous and causes traffic to 

back up. 

B. DO NOT drop the students off in 

front of the 13th Avenue barricades. 

This can also be a dangerous situation. 

C. DO NOT park on the south side of 

24th Street and let students out on the 

street side of the car. This is an obvious 

dangerous situation. All students who 

disembark on the south side of 24th 

Street should walk to the nearest corner 

to cross over to the school. 

Drivers who are violating these stated 

guidelines run the risk of receiving a 

traffic citation from the North 

Riverside Police Department. 

We are very concerned about the smooth 

flow of traffic around the buildings and 

especially the safety of our school 

children and staff. Please contact Mr. 

Criscione or Mrs. Stalla if you have any 

questions. 

BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL 

SECURITY 

We will continue to provide increased 

staff supervision around the building 

before and after school. This has 

decreased the amount of before and after 

school student behavior problems. We 

will not hesitate to get the North 

Riverside Police involved, if necessary. 

We encourage parents to inform their 

children to go home immediately after 

school and stay off the property of others 

in the community. 

Please report any issues to Mrs. Stalla. 

Mr. Criscione 

PLEASE BE PATIENT! 

We are asking parents to be 

understanding with the office staff and 

teachers. Shouting at Komarek staff 

members will not be tolerated at any 

time, and could result in police 

involvement. Also, parents should never 

approach any students on the playground 

to reprimand them. If parents have 

conflicts with other parents or approach



any students, police will be notified by 

the administration immediately. Your 

cooperation is greatly appreciated. 

If you have any disputes with others 

on campus, please contact Mr. 

Criscione or the North Riverside 

Police Department immediately. 

PLEASE COOPERATE! 

If your child is sent home from school 

due to a fever or vomiting, please keep 

your child home the following day to 

fully recover. It may require a doctor 

visit. These guidelines follow the 

state requirements for H1N1 

prevention. 

Also, if your child is home for five days 

in a row, a doctor’s note will be 

required to return to school. 

Your cooperation is greatly 

appreciated! 

Mr. Criscione 

LEAVING OFF-CAMPUS FOR 

LUNCH? 

Any student leaving the school grounds 

during lunchtime must have a lunch 

permission slip on file with the 

principal’s office. All phone calls or 

notes requesting permission to leave 

for lunch must be received in the 

principal’s office before 9:00 AM. 

Please clearly print your child’s 

name on the note. Students in 

violation of permission to attend offcampus 

lunch will be considered 

truant from school. 

DOGS ON CAMPUS 

We need a favor from parents. Some 

parents pick up their children and bring 

the dog along. That's OK, but please 

keep any dog away from the children. 

Some dogs may not appreciate children 

approaching them. We would not want 

any children to get bitten. Your 

cooperation is greatly appreciated. 

If you have any questions or concerns, 

please give me a call! Thank you! 

Mr. Criscione 

PLEASE, FOLLOW THE RULES! 

Students are not allowed to bring ipods, 

skateboards, roller blades, or large sums 

of money to Komarek School. They 

should not bring anything valuable to 

school. The school is not responsible for 

lost or stolen items. 

Mr. Criscione and Mrs. Stalla 

CELL PHONES 

Students need to follow the school cell 

phone rules. Cell phones are to be turned 

off and placed in book bags or lockers 

during the school day. They are only 

allowed to be used in the event of an 

emergency. If a student needs to call 

home, please ask the teacher to call from 

the school phone when it does not disrupt 

class. Any student caught using the 

phone, texting, or taking pictures at 

school will be suspended and lose the 

right to have a cell phone at school. 

Please follow the rules stated in the 

Parent/Teacher Handbook and the Cell 

Phone Agreement signed at registration. 

If you have any questions or concerns, 

please contact Mrs. Stalla.

PTA NEWS 



It's hard to believe we are in the third 

quarter already. The PTA has 

many things going on in the next few 

months and we need your help! 

We have our Book Fair the first week in 

February. We always need volunteers. 

Please remember this is not a 

fundraiser. February 20th is the Bulls 

game and we still have a few tickets 

left. Since Culvers was such a success, 

PTA is having another benefit night 

there. The date is February 22nd from 

5-8pm. Last on our list is our 

Candlelight Bowl. It was a huge 

success a few years ago and lots of fun! 

This year it will be at Forest Lanes. 

Tickets are $25 a couple and you can 

have up to 6 people on a lane. For more 

info please call Kathy Ranieri@ 442- 

3112. 

Thank you as always for supporting 

the PTA! 

Kathy Ranieri 

PTA Board 

Kathy Ranieri, President 

Laurie Berscheid, Vice 

President 

Jamie Kucera, Treasurer 

Jill Cannizzo, Secretary 

Teresa Jimenez, 

Membership 

Jovi Evans & Dina Witken, 

Fundraising 

Janet DeLeonardis, Parent 

Liaison

Feb_ 10 - Komarek School District 94

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