There’s a mystery at Woodland Middle School, and our Wildcats are on the case! Don’t miss WMS's production of “Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion!”
When: Saturday, Jan. 24 & 25, 2025, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Where: Woodland Middle School, 7000 W. Washington St., Gurnee, IL
Tickets are $5 for Adults and $3 for Children/Students.
In case you missed it before the Winter Break, the Woodland D50 Board of Education approved the 2025-2026 School Year Calendar at the December meeting. View the 2025-2026 Calendar HERE: https://5il.co/33x56
Woodland Middle School brought the Game of LIFE to life!
Welcome to Junior Achievement Town where 8th grade students selected a career and were given a corresponding salary. The students walked around “town” and made decisions about housing, transportation, education, clothing, food, savings, and retirement. They also budgeted for personal needs such as self-care and entertainment. Through this activity, students learned the value of budgeting within their means and other valuable life skills.
Thank you to the WMS Parent School Partnership Committee, the many parent and community volunteers, and Woodland staff members for all their hard work in making this event possible! #LifeintheW
Today is Law Enforcement Appreciation Day!
Woodland would like to send a big thank you to our outstanding School Resource Officers, Det. Hansen and Det. Otachel. Your hard work, dedication, and commitment to our school community does not go unnoticed. You make Woodland a safer, more welcoming place for both our students and staff. We are incredibly grateful for all that you do to ensure the well-being of everyone in our school!
Please join us in showing heartfelt appreciation to Woodland's School Resource Officers, and all of the law enforcement officers at the Village of Gurnee and the Lake County Sheriff's Office for keeping our community safe.
Help Us Celebrate Amazing Woodland Teachers and Staff!
We are excited to launch the annual Village of Gurnee Teacher of the Year contest, with a new category for Staff Member of the Year! In the announcement linked below it explains the criteria for the awards, and links directly to both nomination forms. We look forward to recognizing additional staff members in partnership with the village. Nominate someone today!
Announcement: https://secure.smore.com/n/xg4wj
Website: https://www.dist50.net/page/gurnee-teacher-of-the-year
Nominations are due by Monday, Jan. 27.
Counting down the minutes until we are all back together in the W 💚
Get a good night sleep tonight Wildcats. Let's start 2025 with a ROAR!
Wishing you a Warm & Wonderful Winter Break!
Dec. 23 - Jan. 3: Winter Break
Jan. 6: Teacher Institute Day, No Student Attendance
Jan. 7: School Resumes - Welcome Back!
Holiday Parties at Elementary were packed with music, games, crafts, and lots of laughter! The Wildcats had a blast celebrating the start of winter break and wrapping up the first half of the school year. A big thank you to our wonderful parent volunteers for helping make this celebration extra special. Wishing all our Wildcats a fun and restful Winter Break! (1 of 2)
Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Wilinski, and Mrs. Hunt show their holiday spirit on "Ugly Sweater" day at Elementary!
The first-grade students in Mrs. Wilinski’s art class had a great time bringing some snowy creations to life using mixed media. Take a look at their new, wonderful wintery friends! ⛄
The Wildcats got a jump start on their Winter Break travels. Ms. Sellers’ class participated in a Holidays Around the World activity where students received passports and were assigned a country to explore. They discovered facts about the country’s history, culture, and holiday traditions. After gathering their information, they visited immigration and customs (Ms. Sellers), where they shared what they had learned. Once approved, they received a passport stamp and moved on to the next country, ready to learn more. This exciting, globe-trotting adventure was a fun way to head into Winter Break!
Today, students at Elementary participated in the Hour of Code program. The goal of this initiative is to introduce students to computer science in an engaging and fun way, with the aim of sparking their interest in coding and the tech field for the future.
Students learned how coding impacts their daily lives, and had the chance to practice coding by customizing several different video game levels and programming Botby the Robot to navigate a path using a remote control.
Thank you to our dedicated Tech Integration Specialists and librarians for organizing and bringing this exciting learning opportunity to our students!
Last month, students at Elementary participated in Helping our Heroes as part of Spirit Week. Each day, they would bring in a different coin in an effort to donate to the Lake County Honor Flight - a program where donations enable Veterans to travel to Washington D.C. and visit the memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifice.
Today, with all the coins totaled up, a check of over $2,000 was presented to a member of the Lake County Honor Flight program by our Elementary Wildcats, Principal Reardon, and Wiley.
We are so proud of all the outstanding students at Elementary and what they accomplished to help serve our community!
On behalf of Woodland, our students, and staff, thank you to the Veterans and active military members in our district and community for your service. #LifeintheW
A group of teachers at Woodland Primary brought the story of El mitón to life on the library stage. The story is about a child losing a mitten in the snow and woodland creatures finding the mitten and crawling inside. The teachers acted it out while the narrator read the story and the kids had so much fun! 💚🐇🐁
Do You Have Questions about Standards-Based Grading, Curriculum, Dual Language or Technology?
In the latest episode of the Woodland Wildcast, Dr. Machak and the Teaching & Learning Team discuss Curriculum, Standards-Based Grading, Woodland’s Dual Language program, and Technology in the classroom and beyond! Learn how this team comes together to support students and educators. #LifeintheW
https://woodlandwildcast.podbean.com/e/s2-e4-teaching-learning-in-the-w/
This past week, students at Middle School participated in the Hour of Code program, in honor of Computer Science Education Week. The goal of this initiative is to introduce students to the world of computer science through engaging and fun coding activities, with the hope of sparking future interest in coding and the tech field.
Students had the chance to explore a variety of coding experiences, including producing music (yes, that's coding!), creating their own dance party, or designing a custom Angry Birds level!
Thank you to our dedicated Tech Integration Specialists for organizing and bringing this exciting learning opportunity to our students.
Take a look as Intermediate Students participate in the Hour of Code program in honor of Computer Science in Education Week. The goal of this initiative is to introduce students to the world of computer science through engaging and fun coding activities, with the hope of sparking future interest in coding and the tech field.
The first activity had students listening to verbal instructions to see if they could create a picture following the algorithm. Then students selected an activity from a choice board based on how much previous coding experience they had.
Thank you to our dedicated Tech Integration Specialists for organizing and bringing this exciting learning opportunity to our students. #LifeintheW
And that's a wrap on a fantastic basketball season...
💚🏀 Congratulations to the 8th Grade WMS Girls Basketball Team for winning the title of Conference Champions!!!
💚🏀 Great job to the 8th Grade WMS Boys Green Team for taking 3rd Place in the Conference Tournament!!!
Intermediate Student Leaders were busy crafting and creating today. They worked together to make bracelets and cards for patients at Lurie Children's Hospital. They wrote words of encouragement, told jokes, drew pictures, and made colorful beaded and loom bracelets to bring smiles and happiness to children in the hospital this holiday season. A big thank you to Det. Hansen for connecting Woodland to Lurie Children’s and encouraging our students to be involved and give to others in the community. #LifeintheW
There is a lucky group of 3rd Graders at Elementary who have had the pleasure of working with Miss Carani for the past few months. Miss Carani is a student teacher who has been teaching with Ms. LeFevre. According to Ms. LeFevre, this has been a great experience for everyone as they all learn together! Please help us wish Miss Carani well as she works to complete her teacher preparation program. Her last day at Woodland is Dec. 20th.
We have had many other wonderful student teachers this year, and we are expecting a few more to begin with us in the new year. This is just one example of the next generation of educators making a difference for our students and in our schools.
#LifeintheW
