Benjamin Broadcast

Dear Benjamin Families,

We hope your family enjoyed the

Spring Break time. We have had

a busy schedule since returning

from break. Students in 3rd, 4th,

and 5th grades continue to

PARCC test. We also prepared

for the Benjamin Carnival which

was Friday, April 1st. Student

Council sponsored a fun Spirit

Week in honor of testing and the

Carnival. They also held a coin

battle to see which grade level

would get the chance to slime our

superintendent, Dr. Daniel, who

was an excellent sport about the

sliming. You can check out some

of the Carnival photos on the last

page of this newsletter.

The last day of school will be May

24th. We have many exciting

events that will take place prior to

that day, so be watching the cal-

endar.

Please

contact

our of-

fice at

(309)557

-4410 if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Marlys Bennington

benninmm@unit5.org

Students who will be in fifth

grade for the 2016-2017

school year can sign up to

participate in the Unit 5

instrumental exploration

event. Please go

to www.unit5.org/

explorationnight to visit the

Instrument Exploration

page and register, or turn

in your form to your class-

room teacher. The dead-

line is April 8. This is a

great opportunity for stu-

dents to consider an instru-

ment.

Fourth graders and their

parents may attend either

April 20th or 21st, from

5:15-8:00 P.M. at NCHS.

4th Grade Instrument Exploration

McLean County Unit District 5

April 2016

Volume 6, Issue 7

News from the Nurse 2

PE Shorts 2

Talent Show 3

GROWL Winners 3

Calendar 4

Evans Jr. High Infor-mation

5

Carnival Photos 6

Inside this issue:

Birthday Treats

The Unit 5 Board of Education has ap-

proved a No Birthday Treat Policy, beginning

with the upcoming 2016-17 school year. Please keep this in

mind for the coming school year.

We know that birth-days are very special,

and we will still be an-nouncing and celebrat-ing these special days

with our students.

Wednesdays are

designated as Spirit

Wear Days. Students &

staff may wear

Benjamin Bear clothing

or orange & black.

Energy Fair ~ April 5th ~ 6:00-7:30 P.M.

Please join us for the Energy Fair on Tuesday, April 5th, from 6:00-7:30 P.M. 5th grade

energy research projects will be featured, as well as additional energy and science

demonstrations.

ISU is also bringing their Smart Grid for students and families to see! These are large

tables, set up as houses, that are connected to an electric grid, so students can see how

electricity gets to their home. There are also different appliances within them that use

electricity. They are connected to tablets that show how much energy is being used by

each appliance in the house. They can trade out appliances for more energy efficient

ones to see how much electricity can be saved.

Learn how to conduct an Energy Audit at your home to learn more about conserving

energy and how to save money on your energy bill.

All families are welcome and encouraged to attend!

The State of Illinois re-quires students entering Kindergarten, 6th and 9th grades to have a com-plete physical exam. Unit 5 has a first day exclusion policy which means the exam and all required im-munizations must be done and on file BEFORE the first day of school for the 2016-2017 school year. Current 5th graders may complete this requirement NOW, and it will meet the requirement for next fall. If you choose to avoid the summer rush and have the exam done this year, please feel free to return the com-pleted form to Benjamin, and I will enter the infor-mation in the computer and put the hard copy in the health folder. That will give you one less thing to worry about in the fall. 6ht graders are required to have Tdap and MCV

(meningococcal) vaccines. The form for the physical exam is available at the website below:

http://www.isbe.net/pdf/school_health/child-health-exam-form-11-15.pdf Most physicians have the forms available in their offices as well.

The State of Illinois re-quires students entering Kindergarten, 2nd and 6th grades to have a dental ex-am. The completed dental form for the 2016-2017 school year is due to the nurse’s office BEFORE May 15, 2017. Most den-tists have the forms in their offices and will complete the form when the exam is finished.

**Please refer to the Unit 5 handbook for the policy on school absences. It is very

important to follow the recommendations, so ill-nesses can be better con-tained.

**All medications, (including cough drops containing men-thol), that you would like to have adminis-tered at school MUST be accompanied by a Unit 5 medication form that is completed by a physician and parent.

Thank you for doing all you do to help keep our students healthy!

Our PE classes are keeping busy with Pro-ject Fit testing and fun fitness challenges.

Our students also are enjoying the benefits of the warmer weather!

Respectfully,

Todd Delveaux

Jo Myers

Hello Benjamin Families:

It is not too early to start thinking about

summer activities for your child(ren). Just

outside our main office, you can find bro-

chures for summer camps and other activ-

ities to keep your child engaged over the

summer. You can also check out the fol-

lowing websites to help keep your kids ac-

tive and healthy….

www.kidshealth.org

www.kids.gov

www.kidnetic.com

www.superkidsnutrition.com

News from the Nurse ~ Jan Murray

PE Shorts

Thank you to all who

attended the Carnival

and to those who

volunteered and

organized this special

event. You helped to

make it a huge success!

Page 2 Be n ja m in Bro a dca s t V o lu me 6, I s s u e 7

Talent Show & Student Council Information

Upcoming Music Concerts for 2015-16

Information about audi-

tions for the Talent Show

will be coming out Mon-

day, April 11th. Audition

packets will be due Mon-

day, April 18th. Students

should listen to the an-

nouncements and watch

for the audition packet in

the Lobby. You can also

check the Benjamin web

site for more information

in April. The Talent Show

will be held at 9:00 A.M.

and 1:30 P.M. on Friday,

May 20th. We look for-

ward to seeing all that Ben-

jamin Talent!

Student Council held a Car-

nival Coin Battle to raise

money for the PTO. The

winning grade level, Kin-

dergarten, had representa-

tives who got to slime our

Superintendent, Dr. Daniel,

at the carnival! Thanks to

everyone who contributed to

the Carnival Coin Battle!

April 28, 2016

5:30 P.M. Kindergarten

6:30 P.M. 4th Grade

7:30 P.M. Chorus.

Here are the dates for our final music concerts this year. All Benjamin music concerts are held at Normal Community High School at 3900 East Raab Rd. in Nor-mal.

3rd-5th grade Chorus meets on Wednesdays after school this year.

Thank you for your sup-port of our Benjamin music program!

Reminders

Be sure to

check the Unit

5 website for

the new start

and end times

for next year.

Page 3 Be n ja m in Bro a dca s t V o lu me 6, I s s u e 7

February GROWL Winners

Congratulations to the follow-

ing students who were our

February GROWL winners:

Luke Leverton (PE Delveaux),

Ruth Oliveros-Gallardo (PE

Delveaux), Aditi Gunasekar

(PE Myers), Caleb Leverton

(PE Myers), Sourya Karuturi

(KD), Jackson Masters (KD),

A.J. McKee (KF), Nirdesh

Satya (KF), Jaece Deterding

(KH), Luke Oyler (KH), Jia

Mathew (KL), Evan Plank

(KL), Gabriel Folck (1A), Chloe

Hall (1A), Gia DiGiacomo (1G),

Hamsini Gorantla (1G), Keer-

thana Karthikeyan (1H),

Anirudh Shome (1H), Josie

Barie (1S), Sri Puvvala (1S),

Kella Kindred (2F), Ava Mod-

ine (2F), Maggie Michaels

(2G), Hayley Michels (2G),

Ryan Robinson (2K), William

Snyder (2K), Khadirah Mu-

hammad (2V), Audra Wolf

(2V), Kamila Gregorian (3C),

Tanuj Ravichandran (3C), Na-

vya Dashora (3G), Alex Herren

(3G), Nikitha Philip (3P),

Brady Wilson (3P), Sarang

Hong (4C), Lilly Keith (4C),

Tessa Bittner (4G), Isabella

White (4G), Tanner Dowd

(4R), Maya Corwin-Shah (4R),

Kate Oyler (4S), Phoebe

Sweeney (4S), Ohm Patel (5G),

Nick Scott (5G), Lara Drzemala

(5J), Vervin Fernandes (5J),

Karine Gregorian (5L), and

Ellen Wang (5L).

These students celebrated with

a pizza party with Mrs. Ben-

nington on March 16, 2016.

How does a Benjamin Bear

receive a GROWL? GROWLS

are earned by going above and

beyond our expectations in the

areas of respect, responsibility,

or safety. These are important

behaviors that will allow them

to become successful adults.

Each month, two students

from each class will be drawn

from all of the GROWL win-

ners from that month. These

students will be rewarded with

a pizza luncheon with the prin-

cipal. They also receive a

GROWL medal this year, as a

special gift, in honor of our 5th

anniversary, which was in Au-

gust. We hope to recognize

quality character in many of

our students throughout the

year.

Unit 5 will implement 14 Late Start Wednesdays this year, which will have

all students arriving one hour later than regular school start times. Elemen-

tary schools will start at 9:45 A.M. on these days. Transportation pick up

times will run one hour later on these days than on regular days.

The purpose of Late Starts is to allow Unit 5 staff members to meet for 90

minutes of job embedded professional development and collaboration,

which will improve classroom instruction, enhancing the learning opportuni-

ty for students, despite the state’s financial crisis. Research supports ongo-

ing, sustained, results oriented collaboration.

This common meeting time will allow teachers to: continue training in litera-

cy practices and assessments, develop student achievement goals driven

by data, collaborate in the development of instructional strategies, develop

common course assessments, analyze assessment data to guide instruc-

tion, collaborate on differentiating instruction for students, and enhance

classroom technology integration through training.

March Late Starts: April 13th & 27th

Benjamin Elementary School 6006 Ireland Grove Rd. Bloomington, IL 61705

http://www.unit5.org/

Domain/9

Benjamin Calendar

Phone: 309-557-4410 Fax: 309-557-4511

Benjamin Mission Statement The Benjamin Bear community will educate and empower all students to be proactive leaders.

McLean County Unit District 5

Late starts during the 2015-2016 school year

April 1 5:00-8:00 P.M. Benjamin Carnival

April 5 3:30-4:15 P.M. Student Council Meeting—IMC

6:00-7:30 P.M. Energy Fair

April 6 3:30-4:15 P.M. Chorus

April 7 3:30-4:30 P.M. Robotics

April 11 6:30 P.M. PTO Meeting in the IMC

April 13 9:45 A.M. Late Start/3:30-4:15 P.M. Chorus

April 14 Casual Pictures/3:30-4:30 P.M. Robotic

April 15 Progress Reports Available or Sent Home to Parents

April 18 No School—School Improvement Day

April 19 6:00 P.M. 5th Grade Orientation at Evans

April 20 3:30-4:15 P.M. Chorus

5:15-8:00 P.M. 4th Grade Instrument Exploration at NCHS

April 21 3:30-4:30 P.M. Robotics

5:15-8:00 P.M. 4th Grade Instrument Exploration at NCHS

April 25-May 13 MAP Testing Window

April 27 9:45 A.M. Late Start/3:30-4:15 P.M. Chorus

April 28 3:30-4:30 P.M. Robotics/5:30 P.M. Kindergarten Concert at NCHS

6:30 P.M. 4th Grade Music Concert/7:30 P.M. Chorus Concert at NCHS

Mark Your

Calendar

Now!

May 19, 2016 2:00

P.M. 5th Grade

Recognition

May 20, 2016 9:00

A.M. & 1:30 P.M.

Benjamin Talent

Show

May 24, 2016 Last

Day of School

August 15, 2016

Back to School/

Open House Night

Attention 5th Grade Parents & Students:

Evans Junior High will be having their 6th grade Orientation Night on Tuesday, April 19th at 6:00

P.M. Information will be presented about the sixth grade curriculum, as well as sports/club opportuni-

ties and general information regarding Evans. The Evans PTO will also be there to disseminate infor-

mation and to sell Evans’ spirit wear. All of our 5th grade students and parents are invited to attend.

On the morning of May 13th, our 5th grade students will visit Evans. They will meet with the Evans

guidance counselors that morning to hear a little bit more about next year. These experiences help pre-

pare our 5th graders for starting junior high in August.

Go Eagles!!

Pratt Music Foundation Scholarships: Do you know a student who would benefit from private music lessons but who is restricted by finances? The Pratt Music Foundation’s mission is to provide talented youth an opportunity to enhance their musi-cal ability through private lessons. Music lessons are expensive and simply not an option for some children and families: this is where the Pratt Music Foundation comes in. The Foundation grants full music lesson scholarships to the Illinois Wesleyan University Music Preparatory Program. Instruction is available in piano or strings (violin, viola, cello). Music scholarships are awarded to area children in grades 2 through 12 each spring, and are based on financial need, mo-tivation, and talent. Applications are due by June 1. Each scholarship covers one school year of instruction, starting in the fall (2016-2017) and includes summer lessons (2017). Free music books are supplied from The Music Shoppe.

Downloadable applications are available: Go to www.PrattMusicFoundation.com For questions or to request an application, call 309-827-5534, or

email prattmusicfoundation@gmail.com

Young Authors

Congratulations to our Benjamin Young Authors representatives: Caroline Prus (1G) - My Naughty Dogs; Ruby Henson-

Stroud (2G) - If Gravity Didn’t Exist; Sam Wehmeyer (2G) - Peter’s New Friend; Avani Rai (5G) - Princess Ganga. We

are so proud of them! Their books will be on display at the Normal Public Library through April 30th. Avani with her

book, Princess Ganga, was also chosen as a district Young Author Representative, advancing to the state level on May

14th at Illinois State University!

2016 Benjamin Carnival

Thank you for supporting our Carnival!