Iroquois County CUSD 9

Watseka School District is pleased to announce that we have been awarded the National School Lunch Program grant for the 2nd year! Last year we were awarded funds to purchase a Refrigerator, Freezer and new serving line for Watseka Junior and Senior High school, a Convection Oven and Warming Unit for Wanda Kendall and this year GRS will be getting a new Reach-in Freezer, Chest Freezer and a new door for the Walk-in Freezer. These funds through ISBE will help provide our students healthier meals as well as a better variety of food choices.

Tomorrow is Kindergarten screening and registration! If you don't have an appointment or need to know what time your appointment is scheduled, please call (815) 432-2112. You need to bring proof of residency, student's birth certificate, and parent ID to registration. Visit: https://www.watsekaschools.org/page/2024-kindergarten-information for more information!

Mark your calendar for April 10th!! The Watseka PTO and Monical's Pizza are working together to support a great cause. You're invited to gather at Monical's Pizza for their “Community Night" fundraiser. It’s simple! Just go online to www.monicalspizza.com/events and find this event. Then you can show the flier on your smart phone, tablet, or print it out and bring it in! Monical’s will donate 20% of your meal check to Watseka PTO!

Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/wcaFrjNYZfY A big CONGRATS goes out to some of my art students for winning awards last week/weekend at the KCC High School Art Show and the Vermilion Conference Art Show. Alexys Young and Philine Borinksi both won awards for their 2-D and 3-D artwork. 200 works of art from 14 area schools were showcased in the Miner Library at KCC. We had 10 students participate in this show. We had 16 ribbon winners at the Vermilion Conference Art Show which took place on Saturday, April 1st at Georgetown-Ridgefarm High School. Eleven Vermilion schools participated in this event - 1800 works of art were on display!! Our 1st Place ribbon winners in their category were: Philine Borinski (Pencil - Figure), Ella Combes (Watercolor - Misc.), and Faith Yarneau (Sculpture). 2nd Place ribbon winners were: Ben Paro (Colored Ink - Animals), Mason Galyen (Colored Ink - Misc.), Alexys Edwards (Sculpture), Philine Borinski (Misc. - 2D), and Tiffany Zhao (Colored Pencil - Animals). 3rd Place ribbon winners were: Tiffany Zhao (Misc. - 3D), Emma Roberts (Acrylic Scenery), Juliann Newman (Acrylic - People), and Anthony Shervino (Colored Ink - People). Honorable Mentions were: Kim Ruiz (Colored Pencil Animals & Acrylic Scenery), Anthony Shervino (Colored Ink - Misc.), and Tiffany Zhao (Paper Art).

The WCHS Art Department has been hard at work creating and winning awards! Check out all their accomplishments in this video- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uayG1AzewpGJ6QJkB40sjcMotOm3tnJ7/view?usp=drivesdk

Congrats to the WINNERS!! 1st prize: 1/4 beef- Ron Schmidt 2nd prize: $300 chicken- Amy Keller 3rd prize: $50 Berkots gift card- Mikko Snow

Please consider giving blood at the NHS Red Cross Blood Drive on April 28th at WCHS. To schedule an appointment, please visit: https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=Watseka Or, email casie.hanson@watsekaschools.org for an appointment.

On Thursday, March 30th WCHS hosted a Career Fair for their 9th - 12th grade students. Students were able to attend two 30 minute sessions on a career of their choice. Through this experience, community businesses were able to provide WCHS students with real-world knowledge and experiences on their area of career expertise, helping to better prepare our students for a successful future and potential career choices. Unit 9 is thankful for our community and local businesses that were able to attend to give our students the opportunity to start networking early and gain more knowledge. After the Career Fair, a CTE Advisory meeting was held to discuss ways we can work to build a stronger partnership between Unit 9 and our stakeholders. Several of our local community members shared their insight on ways we can better support our students career pathways. Some of the ideas discussed were job shadowing and internship opportunities, adult mentoring, bringing in more local guest speakers and taking students to visit/tour local businesses. We are very excited to offer our students more opportunities to help prepare them for a successful future after high school and work to develop stronger workplace skills. If you are interested in partnering with Unit 9, please fill out our form: tinyurl.com/iroquoisbusinessinfo

Unit 9 Partnership Opportunities

Thank You to These Businesses for Helping to Making Our WCHS Career Day a HUGE Success.

April 5th 4-7pm at WCHS Join Key Club for a Pork Burger Drive-Thru

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Prairie Central school and community.

Mr. Jeff Perzee, WJHS Principal, presents Kiwanis members with the Recognition of Excellence from Unit 9 Schools. The Kiwanis members provide support to our Unit 9 students in many ways through their involvement and financial support of the 8th grade field trip, Key Club, Builders Club and by reading to our Kindergarten students last quarter. Thank you for your support!

Mark your calendar for April 10th!! The Watseka PTO and Monical's Pizza are working together to support a great cause. You're invited to gather at Monical's Pizza for their “Community Night" fundraiser. It’s simple! Just go online to www.monicalspizza.com/events and find this event. Then you can show the flier on your smart phone, tablet, or print it out and bring it in! Monical’s will donate 20% of your meal check to Watseka PTO!

WCHS Spring Play North Woods Nonsense Friday, March 31 Saturday, April 1 7:00 pm Watseka Theater $10 in advance at the WCHS Main Office $13 at the door

NHS is hosting an American Red Cross Blood Drive on April 28th. Please use the link below to schedule your appointment or email casie.hanson@watsekaschools.org. Watseka High School 138 S. Belmont, Watseka IL 60970 Friday, April 28, 2023 08:00 AM - 01:00 PM https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=Watseka

Don't Miss This Event! We are looking for Employers from ALL Career Fields! We would love to have you educate our students about your career field with first-hand knowledge and experiences. Register here: tinyurl.com/unit9careerfair

The Birth to 5 Council is hoping to hear from families of kids ages 0-8 in our communities about resources needs (daycare, transportation, etc). RSVP for Focus Groups https://forms.gle/Va3cbMafbHV9uUgj7

Tomorrow is the last day to order Little Warrior Gear! Click the link to order: https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/jhrtmfela2 The online store is only open for 14 days. All orders ship for free to GRS for distribution. All funds raised help support the PTO and our Little Warriors!

Asbestos abatement will begin at Watseka High School starting on March 20th. Please see the attached notification.