Save the date for Tuesday, May 1 for Link’s annual Multicultural Night!  The evening will begin with a PTA meeting at 5:45PM in the gym, and then the main event will start at 6:00PM.  Come explore the hallways of Link and learn about a wide-variety of countries, experience traditional activities and see your child’s work on display.  You will also be able to shop at the book fair.  We hope you can join us!

School District 54’s Department of Language and Culture, in collaboration with the Schaumburg Park Disrict, will host its annual Multicultural Event from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, at the Community Recreation Center (CRC), 505 N. Springinsguth Road in Schaumburg. The purpose of the Multicultural Event is to celebrate the diverse cultures in District 54 and the surrounding communities. Students and their families have the opportunity to experience and showcase their cultures through performances, crafts, games and food.

During this free event, students and families can participate in games, crafts and activities that represent countries around the world. This year’s event will feature more than 20 student group performances and more than 30 individual student performances representing countries around the world. There will also be food available to purchase. Food vendors will accept cash. Parking will be available at the CRC and Church of the Holy Spirit, 1451 Bode Road, Schaumburg.

Click here to view the event flyer. 

Registration is now open for District 54’s Summer STEM Academy and Camp Creative. Registration closes April 20th so register soon!

STEM Academy

The District 54 Summer STEM Academy is a week-long program for District 54 students who are looking to have fun and expand on their knowledge of STEM-related topics. Summer STEM Academy will run from June 18-22.

Class offerings:

• Bubble Wands – first and second grade
  • In Bubble Bonanza: Engineering Bubble Wands, you will design different types of bubble wands to help a fictional California amusement park develop a Bubble Bonanza show to entertain park visitors.
• Recycled Racers – first and second grade
  • In Go Green: Engineering Recycled Racers, you will use different types of recycled items to design and create your own car for the Recycled Racer Rally!
• Coding – third through fifth grade
  • Build your own games and share with friends! Solve fun coding puzzles and learn programming concepts in each level. Personalize games with animated characters, multiple levels and rich props. Make your games realistic using physics. See the code as visual blocks or JavaScript.
• LEGO EV3 Robotics – third through fifth grade
  • This is a dynamic excursion into engineering and an in-depth initiation into mobile robotics. Use real-life applications and a state-of-the-art intelligent brick to engineer robots that read ambient light, recognize patterns, tones and more!
• Shake It Up, Earthquakes – third through fifth grade
  • Design and construct model buildings that are earthquake resistant. By constructing a shake table to mimic the earth shaking you will test the ability of your structure to survive an earthquake. You will also develop building codes that help others build earthquake resistant buildings.
• Bio-Inspired – sixth through eighth grade
  • Can you design a wind and waterproof shelter?  A spy switch that will activate an alarm in a darkened room?  A protective shield for a roller derby skater?  Get inspiration from bio-luminescent jellyfish, poisonous foxgloves, spinning maple leaves, and other creatures from the natural world to solve fun design challenges.  See how technology and nature can combine to create bio-inspired gear!
• Coding – sixth through eighth grade
  • Build your own games and share with friends!  Solve fun coding puzzles and learn programming concepts in each level.  Personalize games with animated characters, multiple levels and rich props.  Make your games realistic using physics.  See the code as visual blocks or JavaScript.
• Fluid Power – sixth through eighth grade
  • Learn about the basics of hydraulics – what it is, how it works, and how it is used in everyday life. Use your creativity to build basic pneumatic kits and develop machines that rotate and lift objects.
• VEX Robotics – sixth through eighth grade
  • Use the VEX® Robotics Design System to build a frame and base, interchange wheels, create geared armatures and engineer wiring. Your team’s bot will have to adapt to compete in user-piloted challenges such as robo-soccer and obstacle courses, as well as autonomous robot challenges that will require programming using ROBOTC.

The cost is $45 per student (limit one class), which includes a camp T-shirt. Registration closes on Friday, April 20, 2018. You can complete the 2018-19 registration online through the parent portal or click here to download a printable copy of the Registration Form.

Camp Creative

Do you want to learn new ways to show your creativity? Join School District 54’s Camp Creative this summer to participate in creating different forms of art using digital and non-digital mediums. The one week program is for students entering 3rd grade through 8th grade in the Fall of 2018. Choose a course that interests you the most! Camp Creative will run from June 25-29.

Course offerings:

• Scratch Art – third through eighth grade
  • Do you love animals? Learn to use various tools and inked paper to bring an animal of your choice to life in an artistic and creative way!
• 3D Perspective Drawing – third through eighth grade
  • Have you ever wanted to design your own building? You now can by learning techniques that designers and architects use.  Learn to draw in a way that looks 3D!
• Foil Embossing – third through eighth grade
  • Have you wanted to create a relic that represents who you are? Join this class to add some luxury to parts of your name. You’ll create a piece that will look priceless!
• Digital Photography – sixth through eighth grade
  • Learn how to use professional grade camera equipment and software to take and develop high quality pictures. This is skill you’ll want to use for the rest of your life!
• Graphic Design – sixth through eighth grade
  • Have you ever thought about how art can be done digitally? Join this class to learn how you can digitally create a movie poster using traditional art techniques. The skills you learn can be used to create any digital art!
• Film Production – sixth through eighth grade
  • Do you love movies and TV? Join this class to learn how to film your own short movie using professional grade equipment and software.

The cost is $50 per student (limit one class), which includes a camp T-shirt. Registration closes on Friday, April 20, 2018. You can complete the 2018-19 registration online through the parent portal or click here to download a printable copy of the form.

All of the 3rd-6th grade students will be taking the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, also known as the PARCC test starting next week.  There are several English language arts and math assessments for each grade, as well as a science test for 5th grade students.  Thank you for supporting your child by making sure they get a good night sleep, eat a healthy breakfast and arrive to school on time.  Below is the schedule of testing:

• 3^rd Grade – ELA: 4/9, 4/10, 4/11;  Math: 4/12, 4/16, 4/17, 4,18
• 4^th Grade – ELA: 4/9, 4/10, 4/11;  Math: 4/12, 4/16, 4/17, 4,18
• 5^th Grade – ELA: 4/9, 4/10, 4/11;  Math: 4/12, 4/16, 4/17, 4,18;  Science: 4/13
• 6^th Grade – ELA: 4/9, 4/10, 4/11;  Math: 4/12, 4/16, 4/17

Today the Mead 7th grade band came to Link to perform for the 4th – 6th graders. The Link 5th and 6th graders who participate in band joined in for some of the songs. It was a wonderful performance.

Second trimester report cards were posted to the Parent Portal on Infinite Campus yesterday, Tuesday, March 13.  As a reminder, we will not be sending home print copies of the report cards to all families.  If you have not yet signed up for the Parent Portal or need assitance in doing so, feel free to contact the main office at 847-357-5300.

This year’s science fair will be held Tuesday, March 6th. We have over 100 students participating. Come and see the 78 projects in the gym on Tuesday from 6:00-7:00. The students will be eager to share what they learned with all who attend!

Save the date for Link’s annual Fun Fair, scheduled for Friday, February 2, 2018 from 6:00-8:30PM. Pre-sale ticket forms and more information on this year’s Fun Fair coming soon! After this year, the Fun Fair Committee will need several new volunteers.  The committee chair is looking for at least three new members to start this year to receive guidance from the existing members.  The more members there are, the less each person has to do.   Areas to help with include organizing and purchasing items for concessions, organizing volunteers, contacting Conant High School for NHS volunteers, contacting and picking up donated items from local vendors for the cake walk, updating forms, making copies and distributing them, and organizing the games and classroom activities.  If you are interested, please contact Crissy Hoffman at choffman225@nullgmail.com or Darci Franklin at darcifranklin@nullhotmail.com.

Our Measures of Academic Progress or MAP test will continue next week with Kindergarten, 5th and 6th grade students.  As a reminder, each student takes one math test and one reading test during the MAP testing window.  Thank you for helping your child come to school ready to take these tests; well rested, well nourished, and feeling confident about reaching the goals set this fall.  Below is a detailed schedule of when testing will occur.

Kindergarten: Tuesday, December 5 (Math) / Wednesday, December 6 (Reading)

Fifth Grade: Thursday, December 7 (Math) / Friday, December 8 (Reading)

Sixth Grade: Tuesday, December 5 (Math) / Wednesday, December 6 (Reading)

All parents of sixth grade students are invited to join us next Wednesday, December 6 from 10:00-11:00AM for our DARE Graduation. DARE stands for Drug Abuses Resistance Education.  This ceremony is the culmination of the DARE program, which is taught to all sixth graders by Officer Johnson of the Elk Grove Village Police Department.  Students participated in eight sessions this fall that discussed ways they could make responsible choices.  We hope to see you there!