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Our school district is raising funds to support the upcoming EIU Care Game on Feb. 12th. All funds will go to support cancer patients at Sarah Bush Lincoln's Regional Cancer Center. Cash donation challenges will be taking place in all classrooms. Students are encouraged to bring in cash donations for the next few weeks.
Here is our lunch menu for the month of January at Williams. Please feel free to check the dining section of our app/site daily as well for daily menu listings.
Our Williams Elementary Feature Teacher of the Week is 1st grade teacher Haleigh Wetzel. Haleigh attended Mattoon schools growing up and she was inspired to become a teacher by her 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Tera Stuart. She graduated from EIU and is also nearing the completion of a Master's Degree in Curriculum & Instruction from there as well. For the past 2 summers she has enjoyed working for the Fit-2-Serve organization in their Inspire to Grow program. Ms. Wetzel loves to teach guided reading groups and in her free time she enjoys going to Harry Styles concerts whenever possible.
As part of Leadership Week held at Williams Elementary recently, Mattoon Police Officer Brett Hall and his K-9 partner Axel visited 3rd graders from the classrooms of Kelsey Hoenes and Lindsey Ames. Hall talked to the students about Axel's role as one of the leaders of the local K-9 Unit and also about the role that all police officers play as "leaders" of safety and support in their communities.
Williams Elementary recently held a Thankfulness and Giving Day in an effort to raise funds for the Sarah Bush Regional Cancer Center. The event was inspired by Mr. Todd Morton, who is a supervisor at Williams that has been battling cancer. Students and staff members were encouraged to donate a dollar each for the event. The total amount raised was then matched by Aaron Ifft from Edward Jones. Pictured from left are Ifft, Kim Lockhart from Sarah Bush, Principal McLain Schaefer, and Todd Morton.
As part of Leadership Week at Williams, Mrs. Lynch's 4th Graders adopted Mrs. Storm's Kindergartners to be their book buddies for the week. The students read together and filled out surveys to learn more about one another, with the 4th graders taking the role of leaders for these activities.
Here is the Williams Elementary lunch menu for December.
Williams Elementary recently received a Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation Grant. Pictured are Kris Maleske, Community Services Director and Andrea Orr, SEL Coach at Williams. This is a $1,000 grant to directly support family and community engagement efforts. Orr shared that the money will be utlized to help parents get more involved and engaged in the 7 habits by reading and participating in activities surrounding the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families" by Stephen R. Covey.
The library entrance at Williams has planted two giant paper trees to help create a reminder of how important it is for us to be thankful during the month of November. K-2 made leaves to go on the Thankful Mindset tree and students in grades 3-5 made leaves to go on the Leaves of Leadership tree. The leaves offer 100's of messages of either kindness, thankfulness, or examples of ways students are using the 7 Habits to improve their lives and the lives of others.
The 3rd grade classes at Williams have been learning about extreme weather. The students put their new knowledge to the test by building structures to withstand the different types of weather. The students loved working in teams to brainstorm, create, and test their structures. Our principals were very willing to come and bring the extreme weather!
Our Williams Elementary Feature Teacher of the Week is 2nd grade teacher Kyla Baker. She began the year as Ms. Potter, but got married in the fall and is now officially Mrs. Baker. Kyla grew up in Neoga and attended EIU. She loves her class of 2nd graders and her favorite subject to teach so far is Math. We are very lucky to have Mrs. Baker as a new addition to our staff.
Williams Elementary will be holding a Thankfulness and Giving Day on Nov. 23rd in honor of Mr. Todd Morton, who is a supervisor at Williams. He is battling Cancer and the school is asking for students and staff to bring a dollar to be collected and donated to the Sarah Bush Regional Cancer Center. Please see the letter from our principals for details.
A Veterans Day assembly and parade were held @ Williams Elementary on 11/10/21. Please click on the following link to watch the event if you weren't able to see the livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daQBr28p0eA
Please join us on our Williams Elementary Broadcast Youtube Channel for a special live streamed ceremony featuring a guest speaker, patriotic songs, and a parade of local Veterans on Wed. Nov. 10th @ 9am. Here is the link to our youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtKj_ecA8hxjaINaBEPfNaw
Williams Elementary Absentee/Retake Picture Day is: Monday, November 15. Wagner Portrait Group will be at school to photograph any students who were absent on the initial picture day or any student that needs his/her picture retaken. If you are having a picture taken as a RETAKE, please make sure your student returns their package in its entirety, including the package insert sheet, to the photographer on retake day. (Feel free to attach a note to describe what you’d like us to do differently.)Absentee students may pre-order using the following link and code: https://bit.ly/3D0Ipzw code: 5G3V5V9
November Breakfast and Lunch Menu - You can also find the breakfast and lunch menu for each day under Dining in the app/website Menu.
Students, Teachers, and Staff dressed up for Fall Party Day at Williams. Parties, games, laughter, and music filled the rooms and hallways with a lot of extra FUN !
Williams Elementary students,families,teachers,and staff recently enjoyed a Fall Flannel Family Night. Students were able to participate in games,hayrides,train rides, a fun photo booth, book fair,and more. Custodian Jack Greene was the train engineer for the event and fellow custodian Zach Huddleston was the driver for the hayride.
Our Williams Elementary Feature Teacher of the Week is 4th grade teacher Taylor Zaccarelli. She is in her first year of teaching at Williams. She has wanted to be a teacher since she was a child thanks to the influence of some great teachers in her family. She lives in Charleston with her fiancé Dylan, their son Bentley, and their dogs Blue and Max. Mrs. Z.’s favorite subject is Reading and she hopes to be a principal someday. She was born in Pennsylvania and is a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan. She is a former powerlifter that has benched over 200lbs. We are very fortunate to have this fun, energetic teacher on our staff.
We would like to invite ALL Williams Students and their families to join us for our Flannel Family Fun Night from 5:30-7:00pm on Thursday, Oct. 21st on our Back Lot. We will have free hot dogs,chips, and drinks. All activities will be free as well, including: Hay rides, tattoos, barrel rides (K-2 ages only), games, and a fun family photo booth. We can't wait to see you there!