The Magnet Connector

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Meet your Magnet Programs Staff Meet your Magnet Programs Staff Meet your Magnet Programs Staff

Unit 4 Magnet Programs Off to a Dynamic Start

Two weeks into the school year, fabulous experiences are already occurring in our magnet schools! Garden Hills students are busy learning Mandarin Chinese, and engaging in study of the IB Learner Profiles. BTW students have engaged in daily community circles, and are becoming acclimated to the inquiry process in the STEM lab. Stratton students have begun Management 101 classes facilitated by principal Stephanie Eckels and are gearing up for election season at Strattonville.

The Center for Inquiry at Garden Hills, ready for student inquiry

Ms. Heras teaching music to a group of students at Garden Hills

Magnet Cal- 5 endar of Events Sept. Community Partnerships

Ms. Zhang busy teaching Mandarin to Garden Hills students

Ms. Hickey-Snyder talking through a book before reading

Principal Stephanie Eckels busy teaching Management 101 to aspiring leaders at Stratton

Ms. Lee capturing the attention of her kindergarteners with her energy and animation at BTW

The STEM lab at BTW ready for students to deeply engage in the inquiry process

A Stratton student enjoying Jicama. Stratton assistant principal, Ian Tatum, obtained the Fresh Fruit & Veggie grant for his school

MicroSociety teaching specialist, Mary Ciaccio and literacy coach Sue Funk bringing theater MicroSociety ventures to life

Ms. Baras note to her students at BTW STEM Academy; inspiring, engaging, and uplifiting!

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Cheryl Camacho, Director of Magnet Programs

I have worked in various large and small urban systems in Illinois and Georgia. I have a strong interest in transformative leadership and urban education. In addition to my work as Director of Magnet Programs, I also work as the National Lower Elementary Content Community Leader with Teach for America. My other professional experiences include being a National Board Certified master teacher at the elementary level; an elementary assistant principal; Extended School Year principal; Chicago Public Schools summer school director supervising three campuses, and an instructional coach to pre-service teachers. I was in the classroom for seven years before moving into administration. I received my B.S. in Sociology and Ed.M. in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. I received my teaching certificate in Urban Elementary Education from Georgia State University. I also received leadership training at Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management. I was awarded membership into Kappa Delta Pi international honor society in education at Georgia State University. I am a mother of three young children,: Ari (7) who is a student at BTW STEM Academy, Azaria (2), and Abrielle (10 months). I went into education because many of my own educational experiences were not positive. I am passionate about our potential to positively impact children and I am excited to impact such a large number of students in my current role. What is best for students is central to my decision-making process.

I think the Magnet school programs are something that Champaign should be proud of -Stacey Norton, Magnet Programs Secretary

Stacey Norton, Magnet Programs Secretary

I am from the ChampaignUrbana area. I attended Urbana High School and Parkland College. My family is Jason, Zach & McKayla. My passion is photography. I hope someday to be well known for my photography. I also enjoy spending time with my family. I think the Magnet school programs are something that Champaign should be proud of and I wanted to become a part of it. My goals for the program are to see the program exceed the requirements of the grant and to be able to see the kids flourish as a result of being in a magnet themed school.

Kristen Morris, Curriculum Integration Specialist

I received my undergraduate degree in education from the University of Illinois and my masters degree in educational administration from Illinois State University. I taught for 21 years in the Kankakee area and Urbana. I then accepted a position with the Regional Office of Education. There I worked with schools and districts in Champaign, Ford and Vermilion counties in the areas of school improvement and professional development. While there, I had the opportunity to work with Unit #4 at both the school and district level. The dedication and passion I witnessed in Unit #4 staff made the decision to work with the Unit #4 Magnet Schools an easy one. My husband, daughter and I live in Champaign where my daughter currently attends Jefferson Middle School. I sincerely believe that the magnet programs at each school will ignite a passion and love of learning within our students.

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Martha Henss, STEM Magnet Coordinator

I graduated from the University of Illinois in 1981 with a degree in Elementary Education. I began my teaching career in a 6th grade classroom in Peoria Heights, Illinois. After teaching for four years, I took a break from my career to stay home until my children reached school age. I reentered education in 1998 and now have eighteen years of teaching experience. I am married and have three children, Maggie, 27, Emma, 22 and Jake, 18. Not only did all three of my children attend Unit 4 schools (Jake is still currently at Central) but I did as well, as did my parents before me. I am thoroughly invested in our community and our schools! I choose to be a leader in the STEM Magnet Program because I believe so strongly in the value of the work we are doing here at Booker T. Washington. In addition, as I reflect upon my strengths and skill set, I believe that I can make the biggest impact in a leadership role. Having been a classroom teacher, an instructional math coach, an enrichment teacher and a literacy specialist, I have seen first-hand the needs of school staff. I believe that as a Magnet Coordinator, I can further the work of our school while at the same time supporting each of our staff in their important roles as educators. My goals for our magnet program this year are to continue to increase the rigor in our curriculum, to encourage our children to excel in academics and the arts and to offer our parents outstanding programming during and after school.

One reason I got into education is that education is a forum where real

Charles West, MicroSociety Magnet Coordinator

I graduated from the University of Illinois. I taught 5th grade for 4 years. I am passionate, family oriented, and an outdoor enthusiast. One reason I got into education is that education is a forum where real change can take place. I wanted to be a leader in my magnet school program because I wanted to play a part in the decision making process. I also think that I have a vision about what Stratton can be and want to try and make that vision a reality. One of my goals for this year is to have a community partner for each venture and agency within the Strattonville.

change can take place. -Charles West, MicroSociety Magnet Coordinator

Kim Murphy, IB PYP Magnet Coordinator

I am a Champaign Native. I attended Carrie Busey Elementary School, Jefferson Junior High School and am a graduate of Centennial High School. I attended Indiana University where I received my B.S. in Elementary Education. I taught third grade and then had the opportunity to stay home and raise my family. I have been a district substitute teacher and a long time school and community volunteer. My reasons for going into education go back to when I was in third grade at Carrie Busey Elementary School. My favorite teacher was Miss Young in third grade. I just remember thinking she was so wonderful and I wanted to be just like her. She was very calm and patient, kind and understanding. Miss Young was a Carrie Busey treasure. I hope to someday be to my students what Miss Young was to me an inspiration. Miss Young passed away a few years ago. I sent her niece a message telling her how special her Aunt was to me. Her niece replied that she had received many similar messages from Miss Youngs former students.

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Mary Ciaccio, MicroSociety Teaching Specialist

I am beginning my 27th year in education. Most of my experience is in the elementary classroom. I achieved my Bachelor's degree from Eastern Illinois University in both elementary education and art education. My Master's work was also in education from St. Xavier University in Chicago. I've also taught Art to all levels. I continue to paint in oils and show my work. I entered education because my Mother was an educator. She became a teacher in 1940 and was the teacher, administrator, and janitor for a one-room schoolhouse of 8 grades. She often shared her stories about being the janitor and shoveling the Minnesota snow. I was greatly influenced by her love of learning and her gracefulness of teaching. She later (in the 60's) was one of the first head start teachers in the state of Illinois. She was definitely the single person that influenced me to enter this huge path of education. I hope I have continued to influence others as she did me. Through my 26 years of teaching, I often taught 'outside-the-box' to reach all students. I knew there were many ways to deliver the curriculum and to excite and engage my students. When the magnet concept was presented to us, I knew it was an opportunity to make a difference, to reach all students, to make learning meaningful and engaging. There are no words to explain how it feels when a student says, "Yes!" as they look forward to MicroSociety. My goals for the upcoming school are to continue to implement our MicroSociety theme with integrity. We have new programs to implement. One program being Covey Leadership for all students. Our students will learn how to bring the 7 habits of happy kids into our classrooms, community of Strattonville and their lives outside of school. It will become an exciting part of our MicroSociety.

Tara Bell, STEM Teaching Specialist

I have a Bachelors and Masters from Loyola University in Chicago. My second Masters is in Educational Leadership and is from Aurora University. I am a Doctoral student in science education at UIUC. This is my 6th year as an educator as I taught middle school science previously. I was very fortunate to have been selected as a fellow in the New Science Teachers Academy offered by the National Science Teachers Association in my first few years as an educator. As a result of the Academy, I became very interested in mentoring others and have become a leader in the Illinois Science Teachers Association, where I have designed a mentoring program for new teachers and plan annual science professional development conferences for 500+ teachers. I am a life-long learner, becoming an educator was a natural fit. I have always been passionate about STEM. I have found a good home amongst likeminded professionals. Most importantly, I want to provide educational opportunities for students that can enhance and enrich their daily lives with STEM. My goals are to improve student achievement and cultivate community partnerships to enhance STEM instruction at BTW.

Mary Waugh, IB PYP Teaching Specialist

I am originally from El Paso, Texas but have spent most of my life in Houston. I just moved to Champaign in August to work with Garden Hills Elementary. I attended university at The University of Houston University Park and have been teaching for just over twenty-one years. I drove the whole way from Houston to Champaign with my two cats to begin this new path in my life. My first memory of life is of my mothers English literature classroom in El Paso, Texas. One Saturday, she took me with her to the school while she worked with students on the school literary magazine publication. I remember the smells of chalk and rubber cement. I was fascinated by the students in how they worked together and talked to each other. I think thats when I knew I would become an educator. I never even considered a job in another field. Ive worked in an IB PYP school for eight years in addition to acting as a consultant, workshop leader, and site-visitor for IB Americas for five of those years. I began to grow and change as a teacher and found that offering teachers opportunities for engaging in best practices in the classroom would be an avenue to effect change in the way learners learn. When the opportunity came to work with the staff at Garden Hills, I wanted to be a part of the learning here because of the great teaching, love of learning and care for the students.

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Magnet Events
9/5 Parent Pow Wow, BTW STEM Academy, 9:15am 9/6 Garden Hills Open House, 6-7:30pm 9/6 PTA Meeting, BTW STEM Academy, 5pm 9/10 Stratton Leadership & MicroSociety campaign week begins 9/10 KPMG/SIFE book giveaway for Strattonville students 9/11 Family Reading Night, Booker T. Washington STEM Academy, 6-7:30pm 9/12 Family Reading Night, Booker T. Washington STEM Academy, 6-7:30pm 9/13 BTW STEM Academy Open House, 6-8pm 9/18 Teaching with Poverty in Mind (session 1) magnet educator book study begins 9/19 U of I Science Stars visit 3rd grade at Booker T. Washington STEM Academy 9/21 Teaching with Poverty in Mind (session 2) magnet educator book study begins 9/25 Stratton Leadership & MicroSociety school open house, 6-7:45pm 9/27 Stratton Leadership & MicroSociety general election 9/27-28 Stratton Leadership & MicroSociety job fairs

9/10 Deadline for magnet educators to sign up for Inspired Action 2.0 professional development 9/20 Stratton Leadership & MicroSociety primary elections

BTW magnet students working in the STEM lab

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Parent Pow Wow, BTW STEM Academy 9:15am

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Ac on 2.0 professional development Stra on Campaigns begin

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BTW Family Reading Night, 6-7:30

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BTW Family Reading Night, 6-7:30

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BTW STEM Academy Open House, 6-8pm

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Teaching with Poverty in Mind (session 1) magnet educator book study begins

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U of I Science Stars visit 3rd grade at Booker T. Washing- ton STEM Academy

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Stra on primary elec ons

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Teaching with Poverty in Mind (session 2) magnet educator book study begins

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Stra on Leadership & MicroSociety school open

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Stra on general elec on

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Stra on Job Fair

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Champaign Unit 4 Magnet Programs are funded by the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) grant. Each cycle of the grant runs for three years and is managed by a Project Director. The purpose of the grant is to increase student

Champaign Unit 4 Magnet Programs

Mellon Administrative Center 703 S. New Street Champaign, IL 61820 Phone: 217-373-7359 Fax: 217-351-3871 www.facebook.com/unit4magnets Web: www.unit4magnets.org

achievement, diversity, and to ensure magnet program sustainability. If you would like more information about our magnet programs, please contact Cheryl Camacho, Director of Magnet Programs/ MSAP Project Director, at camachch@champaignschools.org or at 217.373.7359
Like us on Facebook for regular updates about our magnet programs! www.facebook.com/unit4magnets

Magnet Community Partnerships Key to Program Success

Community partnerships are key to the success of our magnet programs. Read to learn about the wonderful partnerships our magnet schools have forged! Charles West, Leadership & MicroSociety Magnet Coordinator at Stra on states, I am also incredibly excited about our developing partnership with the I.D.E.A. Store. They have agreed to help us transform Stra on- villes warehouse (where the societys ventures and agencies get their supplies) into something of a similar opera on. Stra on- ville is a society that values the concepts of reuse, reduce, and recycle. One of our socie- tys missions is to form a community and culture that values crea ve ways of using and reusing goods, materials, and products so as to create as li le waste as possible. The I.D.E.A. Store is a perfect example of this in ac on. We plan to implement a similar sys- tem with their exper se, enthusiasm, and guidance. I am also incredibly excited about the WILL Media Literacy curriculum that all of our students will be exposed to. I think it is incredibly important for our students to understand the various forms of media, how to analyze them, who produces them, and what messages they are trying to convey. With the help from the experts at WILL, our students, sta, and community will be able to tell the stories that are most important. Mary Waugh, IB Primary Years Programme Coordinator at Garden Hills shares, they are all important to Garden Hills for equal and diverse reasons. Garden Hills is fortunate to have the support of these wonderful organi- za ons, each oering special resources and support for the Interna onal Baccalaureate, Primary Years Programme. Garden Hills has partnerships with the following organiza- ons: CAPE - Chicago Arts Partnership Program, University of Illinois - Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Illinois School of Music, Junior League of Champaign Urbana, New Horizons Church, Garden Hills Neighborhood Associa on, Parkland Tutoring Program, University of Illinois Student Volun- teer Tutors, Pikes Fraternity, and Hometown HEROES Program with U of I athletes. At BTW STEM Academy, a partnership with the University of Illinois brings world class experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathema cs to the school. Martha Henss, STEM Magnet Coordinator states,

One facet of our partnership involves the professional development provided by the EnLiST program. Our teachers receive in- struc on in areas far beyond the tradi onal science and technology coursework of ele- mentary school teachers. In addi on, they learn to become true entrepreneurial leaders in the eld of educa on. Equally exci ng are the opportuni es provided directly to our students by the University. One example is Dr. Pat Shapley, Professor of Chemistry, who brings students from University High School to our building twice a week to conduct Chemistry experiments with our stu- dents. Dr. Shapley collaborates with our STEM Teaching Specialist to ensure that the lessons she creates correspond with our curriculum. Addi onally, our students have opportuni es to visit the University of Illinois campus where they can learn and be inspired by world class STEM facili es.