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There are so many AMAZING things happening in our schools and classrooms every day. This blog shines a light on these stories of positivity, creativity and success throughout Harvard CUSD 50.

Jefferson Announces New Principal

At the March 15, 2023 board meeting, the board approved Rebecca Adams as the new principal of Jefferson Elementary School starting with the 2023-24 school year.

Adams has over 20 years of experience in public education, most recently serving her third year as principal of Oakland Elementary School in Antioch School District 34. Prior to that, she has also been assistant principal of Glacier Ridge Elementary School in Crystal Lake District 47, and a teacher of various grade levels for over 11 years in Woodstock District 200.

“Adams brings decades of experience in education to Harvard District 50,” said Superintendent Dr. Corey Tafoya. “We are excited to welcome her to our leadership team and believe that her dedication to serving all students and collaborative, forward-thinking philosophy is the perfect fit for our #HarvardRising culture.

Harvard High School Hosts First College & Military Fair

At our first ever College & Military Fair, Harvard High School sophomores, juniors, and undecided seniors had the opportunity to speak to over 40 colleges, all military branches, and trade schools. This was an amazing opportunity for students to examine what they want for their future! Over 160 students attended throughout the afternoon!

HJH Student Wins First Place in National Bilingual Essay Contest

Harvard Junior High 8th grade student Isabella Lazaro was recognized as the middle school first-place award winner in the National Association for Bilingual Education’s (NABE) 2023 Bilingual Student Essay Competition. Chosen out of over 400 other applicants, Lazaro will receive a $500 reward, a NABE certificate, and the NABE Shining Star Trophy.

In her essay, Lazaro explains how being bilingual strengthens the connection between all generations in her family.

“My inspiration for writing the essay was mainly my family and how being bilingual helps me maintain my Mexican roots,” said Lazaro.

Lazaro presented her award-winning essay to attendees during the NABE 2023 Awards Luncheon on February 24, 2023 at the Oregon Convention Center.

WATCH ISABELLA'S FEATURE ON WREX

HJH Student Wins Wrestling State Championship

Harvard Junior High 8th grade student Blake Livdahl competed in the 2023 IESA State Wrestling Tournament, taking home the 167lb State Championship.

"I've always wanted to be a state champ, ever since I started wrestling," said Livdahl. "Hard work pays off."

Blake gives credit to his HJH coaches, Michael Altendorf, Steve Nulle, and Uriel Herrera for their guidance and support.

I not only feel proud, but privileged to have had Blake on my team, and I'm honored to have been able to experience his first State Championship close to his side," said HJH head wrestling coach Michael Altendorf. "I am hopeful for his future, and I can't wait to see what other great accomplishments he achieves in the near future."

CLICK HERE TO WATCH BLAKE'S INTERVIEW WITH DR. TAFOYA ON 'HANGING WITH HARMILDA'.

HHS Awarded 7 Medals at IDEA Drafting Competition

Congratulations to the 21 Harvard High School students who attended the 2023 IDEA Regional Drafting Competition at McHenry County College. This year we had seven medalists and three students advancing to the IDEA State Drafting Competition. Architectural Board Drafting: 1st Place- Myles Brincks* - 2nd Place- Lorenzo Eichholz* - 3rd Place- Elijah Binz | Introductory Board Drafting: 1st Place- Dominick Santiago* - 3rd Place- Aaron Murray | 3D Modeling: 3rd Place- Daniel Howe | 3D Architectural CAD: 3rd Place- Yahir Olivares *Designates State Qualification

Jefferson Staff RISEs to the Occasion

In October 2022 the team at Jefferson Elementary had several students demonstrating the need for a more structured and therapeutic classroom setting. At the time there was a lack of outplacements available at other schools, lack of staff available, and a lack of space within the school building. The team got creative and within a few weeks they rearranged classrooms and caseloads, staff moved offices to make room for a Refocus/Calm room, and a request was made and approved to add a program social work position and BCBA. Reaching Independence through Structured Learning (RISE) was born! Today this structured social communication classroom and team have successfully built a trusting, therapeutic environment in which students who in the past would have been sent away from their hometown are now included in their homeschool with their peers and siblings.

HHS BPA Students Qualify for State Competition

Forty HHS Students competed in the Illinois Business Professionals of America (BPA) State Leadership Conference, competing in a variety of leadership skills such as problem-solving, public speaking, team work, and time management. Four students were recognized on stage as part of the top ten finishers in their events- Payton Halfpenny - 2nd place in Human Resource Management | Brian Cordova Flores - 5th place in Spreadsheet Applications | Mya Crone - 4th place in Interview Skills and 8th place in Extemporaneous Speech and Aedan Hobbs - 7th Place Computer Security. Payton Halfpenny, Aedan Hobbs, and Brian Cordova Flores qualified for the national competition taking place in Anaheim, California in April!

Birth-3 Parents as Teachers Prepares our Littlest Learners

At a Birth to 3 home visit, Janet Santos shares important resources and learning activities with the mother of a 9-month old. Among other things, curiosity and cause-and-effect developments were discussed, leading to a parent/child interaction game called Down the Chute that will support the baby's motor skills, stimulate curiosity for learning and problem solving.

"The Birth to 3 program has three Parent Educators; Carolina Jimenez, Janet Santos and Alma Pelayo," said Birth to 3 Supervisor Veronica Figueroa. "Our Parent Educators are all trained using the Parents as Teachers model and work alongside parents to improve their parenting knowledge and skills and also help them understand the importance of supporting and engaging with their children, especially during the early years of a child's life."

Crosby's Royal Family

Each day in Rebecca Robistow's K-2 small group special needs class is different. Named 'The Royal Family', those in the Castle Classroom work on literacy and mathematics goals while supplementing social studies and science with the News 2 You special education curriculum materials. Students work 1 on 1 or 2 on 1 with the help of Mrs. Laura and Mr. Trey to learn about various current events and topics with a shared reading of the news followed by Q&A. On this particular day, they put on their chef hat to make musical mac n cheese and pushed the gift cart to surprise staff members that earned a bee on the buzzworthy board. "We love our students and enjoy integrating music, videos and active learning when we can," said Princess Robistow.

HHS Fairytale Performance

The Harvard High School production of the famous fairytale "Into the Woods" opens Friday, March 17! Performances are scheduled March 17 and 18 at 7:00 PM and March 19 at 3:00 PM. Whose wish will come true? You'll have to see to find out! Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, HHS students and staff are free. Tickets will be sold in the front lobby of the High School the week prior and at the door. The high school multi-media journalism class put together a promotional video with cast interviews, check it out here!

Band Students Strike the Right Note with Judges

On Saturday, March 4 and March 11, select Harvard High School and Junior High band students participated in a solo and ensemble festival. Students performed their piece for a judge, receiving helpful feedback afterwards. After all scores were tallied, high school students earned 30 division 1 ratings and 14 division 2 ratings and junior high students earned 84 division 1 ratings and 5 division 2 ratings.

I am so proud of the hard work that each student put in to prepare for this festival," said Lindsey Boyette, band & music teacher. "They spent time in class and at home preparing to play in front of a judge. They did a wonderful job representing themselves and Harvard Junior High."

Harvard Family Fun Night Lives up to its Name

The inaugural Harvard Family Fun Night welcomed over 500 people in January! This was a collective effort and we would like to thank every single staff member that volunteered their time to make the event a success. #HarvardRising at its finest! You can see all the photos from this event here.

Developing Dual Language Learners at Washington

A student in Ms. Sonia's Washington Pre-K dual language classroom is developing reading and writing skills by writing a special message to her dad in both English and Spanish.

In Harvard, we do not have a lottery for our dual language program because we believe in the power of bilingualism and biliteracy," said Amber Bowgren, Director of Language & Cultural Education. "We work hard to eliminate any exclusionary barriers making certain that ALL families have an equitable opportunity for their child to enroll in dual language."

Harvard CUSD 50 Dual Language Kindergarten Applications are now available! Fill out this application to register your child for the 2023-24 school year!

Congratulations, Q2 BHAG Winners!

Congratulations to our Q2 BHAG Winners for excellence in (clockwise from left) : Striving to be a Model PLC District (Kelsey Kurth), 21st Century Learning Spaces (Jared Bauman), Improving Graduation Rates (Colleen Warren), Being Deliriously Happy Working in CUSD 50 (Jason Henning), AVID Involvement (Amy Beetstra), Seal of Biliteracy (Cathy Cartland), Being Deliriously Happy Working in CUSD 50 (Dale Carlson). Thank you for all you do for CUSD 50!

HHS Athletic & Activity Achievements #GoHornets!

Congratulations to the Harvard High School chess team for making it all the way to IHSA State Finals! The following individuals were honored at the March Board Meeting: Analyse Figueroa Gomez Honorable Mention - Girls Basketball, Marques Merida All Conference - Wrestling, Reymundo Romo All Conference - Wrestling, Gabriel Sanchez All Conference - Wrestling, Riley Vest All Conference - Wrestling, Owen Vail All Conference - Wrestling, Myles Brincks All Conference - Boys Basketball, Hayden Binz All Conference - Cheerleader, Mya Hernandez All Conference - Cheerleader, Job Miller All Conference - Cheerleader, Alexis Teresi All Conference - Cheerleader

HHS Students Perform in McHenry County Honor Band

Watch Harvard High School students Jack Ellis, Angel Gonzalez, Daisy Landa, Allison Kratz, and Melody Coffer take the stage with an elite group of musicians from McHenry County.

Crosby P.E. Classes use the Weather as a Workout

The weather conditions have to be just right, but when they are, Crosby P.E. teachers take their classes outside for sledding or snow shoeing. This has been a long standing tradition that got help along the way. Twelve years ago Jason Chupich wrote a grant for snow shoes that have been used with regular and adapted P.E. students. New sleds were donated by Crosby PTO 8 years ago with the help of past PTO President and current School Board President Mindy Shafer. All students need snow gear, and thanks to a donation from MBNI in Woodstock, more students are now properly equipped! MBNI donated $450 worth of snowpants, winter boots, and warm gloves.

CUSD 50 Welcomes Local Realtors to Harvard High School

This district hosted a successful first REALTOR® Event at Harvard High School on Tuesday, February 28. Local real estate agents learned about the district’s goals, future projects, the nationally-recognized dual language program, dual-credit partnership with McHenry County College, the innovative FLEX schedule at the high school, and heard a first-hand account from students in AVID and business INCubator. “It was a great experience seeing all the improvements and hearing about all the great programs that the school has implemented,” said Carlos Gonzalez, Compass. “I’m completely impressed and look forward to the future of our community.” Attendees also received a tour of the newly renovated facilities at the high school including a state-of-the-art weight room, athletic training room, dedicated classrooms and common area, followed by a full lunch prepared and served by high school culinary students.

CUSD 50 Voted McHenry County Top Workplace

We want to recognize and thank all CUSD 50 staff because this recognition is really credited to the amazing climate and culture YOU have developed in each D50 school building, creating an environment where our students thrive and one our community can be proud of. It's exciting that your hard work is recognized by McHenry County residents.

Join Us at the Bilingual Parent Summit

The Summit for Bilingual Parents: A Conference for members of Bilingual Parent Advisory Councils (BPACs) and parents of English Learners (ELs) will be May 6, 2023. Various important topics will be addressed to help BPAC members in their roles and responsibilities. Click here for more information and contact Monica, mramirez1@cusd50.org or Alisha aduran@cusd50.org to register. Registration includes dinner and the district will provide transportation.

Join #HarvardRising!

"I chose to join Harvard Community Unit School District 50 because I wanted to surround myself with individuals that share my same passion, compassion, empathy, acceptance, & dedication to service in a joy-filled way " - Kate Bieschke, Instructional Coach.

We are hiring! CLICK HERE to see all current open positions.

The 2022-23 calendar has changed to make up for our snow days. CLICK HERE to see all updated calendars.

What's the Buzz?

Did you know that every school in D50 is now on INSTAGRAM? All of our social accounts are listed below, please follow along as we share celebrations and important district news! Also, we now have PHOTO GALLERIES on our website! We work hard to document classroom projects, sports and activities, achievements and events throughout D50 and this is a way to share those with students, parents, and the community.

Follow us! CUSD 50: Education Buzz Podcast | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter, Harvard High School: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter, Harvard Junior High: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter, Jefferson Elementary: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter, Crosby Elementary: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter, Washington School: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter, Washington Birth-3: Facebook