The C ugar
Chr nicles
“The Official Newsletter of Cornell Grade School”
Wednesday, June 1st
Teachers’ Institute
Tuesday, August 16th
Teachers’ Institute
Thursday, June 2nd
Report Card Pick-up
9:00a.m.-11:00a.m.
No buses will run.
Wednesday, August 17th
Student Attendance
7:55a.m.-10:00a.m.
Monday, August 1st
School Registration
9:00a.m.-12:00p.m./3:00p.m.-6:00p.m.
Thursday, August 18th
Student Attendance
7:55a.m.-2:00a.m.
Friday, August 19th
Student Attendance
7:55a.m.-2:00a.m.
Enjoy your summer vacation!
From the Desk of:
Where has this school year gone? It is hard to believe we have less than 6 days left of
school. The warm weather, flowers, and sunshine are welcome sites to see! We are
“sprucing up” the school preparing for graduation!
Graduation ceremonies are set for May 26, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. Families with 8th grade
students have received important information concerning graduation ceremonies.
ROAR continues to be Positive part of our School! Please continue to support the
ROAR traits listed below at home as well. Students look to adults for guidance and
consistency. Together we can build ROAR character traits that will last a lifetime.
Remember ROAR stands for
R = Responsible
O = Organized
A = A+ Attitude
R = Respectful
Have you checked out our web site lately? Feel free to visit our website at
www.cornellgradeschool.org. The faculty and staff update information on a consistent
basis. This is a great way to see what is happening at Cornell Grade School. In
addition, continue to monitor your student’s progress through TeacherEase.
Summer will be a very busy time at Cornell Grade School. Our summer hours will be
Monday –Thursday from 8-2 starting June 6 through July 22. Starting July 25, the office
will be open Monday-Friday 8-3. Registration will be on Monday, August 1, 2011 from 9noon and again from 4-7 p.m.
I hope you have a wonderful summer, and spend quality time with family and friends.
Remember to keep reading with your children this summer—August will be here before
we know it!
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at the school (815)3582214 or e-mail me at smitha@cornell.k12.il.us Again, thank you for support your
school!
Mrs. Amy B. Smith
Superintendent
Kindergarteners have had a GREAT year learning and working
hard. They have become GREAT readers, writers, and
mathematicians. They have been an excellent class to teach, and
I have had a great year with them!
Here are the students’ highlights for the year in their own words.
Original spelling and wording left intact! 
Hannah- I like to play sight word bingo. I learnd how to read
books I learnd how to tell time.
Jacob- We git to play. And we have fun. And we know 56 word
wall words.
Jadyn- We lrd how to be god (good). We did art. We lrd how to
wrt nicle. We know 56 words.
Kalynne- I liket wen we did science and we know 56 wrd wll wrds!
I likt to tll time and have fun Friday!
Neve- I like to read boks. We know 56 word wall words. I like to
tell time. I like to have fun Friday.
Regan- My favolit part of Kindergarten wos how to read books at
school! My othr favrit part of scool wos sight word bingo!
Romiah- I read books. Tell time. Play bingo. We no 56 words!
Skyler- I can be good. We know 56 word wall words.
What we liked about 1st Grade this year…
I like taking AR test because I get points. I like plaing on the computer because
there are fun math games. - Destiny Bennett
I like wether in sinence when we made tornadoes in a bottle and win Miss Harms
put supercalifragilisticexpialidocious on my spelling test. - Sam Jones
I like listn to reding on the computer and using cumfy hedfones. I like been
with my frens. - Jackson Gamblin
I like taceng AR tests because I like to get popcorn points. I loved Christmas
Around the World because we made sutkases with cereal boxes. - Kayla
Fletcher
Frst grad rocks becuse we do math and tell time. I like to take AR tests becuse
we get mor AR points. - Makenna Gray
Frst grad rox becus we go to the computer lab and win we are good all week we
get Fun Frida. - Jared Bayer
I like computer time and playing learning games. I like word work because we
get to use sparkly markers. - Lilia Mascote
I like when we sit at the blue carpit. I like when we go to the computer lab and
we get on star fall. - Jennifer Fitzpatrick
I like my teacher because she teaches us evrething and she gav us markers for
Christmas. I like to go outsid to play. - Jake Hutton
I was exsited when I met the teacher, Miss Harms. And I liked wen we stordid
learning about bugs and made hives with honeycombs the cereal. - Caige
Garzanelli
I love first grade because I got to see my teacher and my frends. I like AR tests
because I want to get a pop. - Destini Moranville
I love my teacher in first grad this yare. I love wine my teacher lest us go on the
computer’s to play games that help us learn. I love wine she helps me out wine I
m at school. - Abigail Haberkorn
Second Grade Memories
The second graders have written about their favorite memories of their
second grade year at CGS.
My favorite memory of 2nd grade is P.E. I love P.E. because Mrs.
Cavinder lets us play on scooters. My favorite scooter game is tag.
-Mason Walsberg
My favorite memory of 2nd grade is watching the ducks swim. I liked it
because Puddles had a little Mohawk. That is something I will never
forget.
-Nick Eggerstaffer
My favorite memories are when I was elected student of the month and
when I went on a field trip to the Cornbelters baseball game. I was
elected student of the month because I followed ROAR traits. ROAR
stands for Respect-Organized-A+ Attitude-Responsibility. The
Cornbelters game was awesome!
-Kyla Sidfrids
My favorite memory of 2nd grade is when we went to the Cornbelters
game. I had fun throwing T.P at the game and had fun in the bounce
house. My second memory is the ABC countdown at the end of the
year.
-Kadin Lane
My favorite memory of 2nd grade is when we went to the Cornbelters
game because I got a hat and t-shirt and two cups.
-Caleb Long
My favorite memory of 2nd grade is when we started Geometry because
we are learning about shapes.
I liked the field trip to the baseball game to see the Cornbelters. At the
baseball game, we ran the bases.
-Emily Helander
My favorite memory of 2nd grade is the field trip to the baseball game and
the bowling alley. I loved the music and had fun at the disco too. I liked
the baseball game because there was a jumping house which was very big.
I got 2 strikes on the field trip to the bowling alley.
-Alison Huffman
My favorite memory of 2nd grade is when I went to the Cornbelters game.
I liked it because I got a t-shirt and I got to run the bases!
-Connor Reed
My year in 4th grade
At the beginning I was a little intimidated at the stuff we were going to
learn; it seemed so advanced! But this was only my first day. On the car
ride home, I thought about all of this and had a completely different
outlook and so began my 4th grade year
We started learning about eco-systems and reviewing
multiplication facts, easy. Then we read Hamlet! I loved it!!!!!!
My love of Shakespeare begins!
By the end of the year we read 34
novels!!
Our favorites are: The Witches, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and
Hamlet.
Other than the novels my favorite subject is science. Science is very
interesting to me, and it is very easy. But my favorite thing I learned is
about the Holocaust.
Of all the academic subjects, my class likes science the best. Of the nonacademic subjects my class likes band best! Now towards the end of the
year I love the 4th grade! It was my best year, and I’m going to miss the 4th
grade.
By: Molly Garretson
Results for the votes:
Books, 1st place was The Witches, 2nd place was The Boy in the Striped PJ’s,
and 3rd place was Hamlet
Academic subject
1st place -science
2nd place- math and reading
3rd place- spelling
Non-academic subject
1st place- band
2nd place- P.E.
3rd place -art
Memories from Fifth Grade
Liberty Vollmer
A favorite memory of my 5th grade year was when we did our volcano project. We were able to learn about
many different volcanoes. They were interesting.
Another memory of 5th grade was when we visited the Museum of Science and Industry. My favorite part
was the space center.
Dylan Swanberg
I love 5th grade because of the trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. I loved the science storms with
the tornado.
I also loved the science volcano project because we got to build volcanoes and erupt them.
Dylan Melvin
One memorable thing is that we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. Also we made telescopes out
of really thick paper towel roles and it can see most of the planets in the sky.
Kylie Kindermann
I love 5th grade because during science we got to do science activity kits. They are so fun to do. We got to
run in front of the Go!Motion to make letters.
Another memory is when we went to the Museum of Science and Industry for a field trip.
Zach Hutton
One memory I had in 5th grade was when we went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago for a
field trip.
Another memory I had was when I went to Chicago for a Chicago Cubs game because I was able to get 31
AR points.
McKenzie Hutton
I really liked it when we built the volcanoes for a science project. We worked on it in art too. We used
bottles, cardboard, paint, tape, and newspaper. The second favorite thing we did this year was going to the
Museum of Science and Industry. It was really fun. We got to see some animals, go rock climbing on a
wall, going in a mirror maze, and when we went to this room where it had bubbles were colored. It was
cool looking.
Andrew Hurt
A good memory was when we learned about constellations.
Another good memory was when we made a telescope.
Brock Barton
I remember making a telescope in class for every student in 5 th grade. The telescope could reach all the
way to Neptune! Usually a telescope can cost a couple hundred dollars but my class and I got them thanks
to the Cornell Education Foundation.
I also remember going on our class field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I saw
many interesting things that included moon rocks and a real baby that shows its growth cycle! 5 th grade
was a great year!
Tristin Barlow
Two memories I have from fifth grade are when we went on the AR trip to Chicago when the Chicago
Cubs lost against the Reds.
Another memory is when we went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago for our class field
trip.
6th grade memories:
The 6th graders had a lot of fun memories. As a class, their favorite memory they
all shared together was dissecting owl pellets. Students even said it was fun to see and
identify the bones of other animals. By what they all say, it was the best part of science
class.
As part of 6th grade, another thing they got to do in geography while studying
China was to visit the China Buffet in Pontiac. While there, they each got to try food
from China, even though some of them didn’t like it very much.
Another memory they all share were PAWS events that happened. Emily, Ivy,
and Cheyanne enjoyed finally being able to join student council and enjoyed convention
the most. Others even enjoyed coming to dances, movie nights, and game nights we
sponsored. They even participated in events where we asked for certain items.
2010/2011 School Year
7th Graders remembers:

Construction Career Fair – Learned a lot of new things and even got to do some of
the jobs like using a jackhammer and putting up a scaffold

Cubs – Even though they lost, it was a fun day.

Dances – PAWS sponsored them and we even had Phat Dave, a DJ, at one.

Movie Night – We saw some good movies and enjoyed popcorn and pizza!

Lion King – A play in Chicago? What could be better!

Convention – Student Council enjoyed a couple days in Springfield even earning
Honor Council!

Girls Basketball – Both 7th and 8th grade teams made it to state. Featuring Kelsi
Scott and Liberty Vollmer.

Spring Lake Nature Park – We all got to walk around and explore the park on a
beautiful day.

ACES – A good game of kickball was played with the 8th graders.

Scholastic Bowl – Even though no matches were won, Kassin Phinney and
Mandy Urbanek (for part of the year) participated in it.

Math Contest – It was a lot of fun and the 7th grade team even earned 1st place
both times.

Volleyball – The girls all had a good time playing and participating.
8th Grade Class of 2011
It’s difficult to write a short article about the 8th grade class.
The year always goes so quickly; it seems that we’ve hardly begun.
But here is a quick recap of the year.
We had a very busy year, an auction in the Fall based on the
number of ROAR tickets each student earned, AR trips to see Lion
King in the fall in Chicago and a Cubs’ game this Spring, a trip to
Flanagan to watch a brief preview of their Spring Musical, class
holiday parties, our class trip to Chicago, 7th and 8th grade trip to 6
Flags. Cornell does a terrific job of offering opportunities for its
students to see and do things they might otherwise not get to see or
do. Go Cornell!
In 8th grade math, the students started the year kind of
remembering how to work equations to ending the year writing and
solving multi-step equations. They came a long way ending the
last few days working on a geometry program in the computer lab.
In Ancient History, they wrote 1st person stories about
Hunters and Gatherers, completed Power Point Presentations
covering Ancient Greece, sketchbooks over Ancient Roman
Architecture, competed in the Annual Ancient Greek and Roman
Olympics, made presentations over Ancient Egypt and are ending
the year watching the History Channel’s video of America: the
Story of Us which takes us through many of the struggles and
successes of the United States.
I’ve seen the 8th graders mature emotionally as well as grow
like mad physically (we measure every quarter). It will be exciting
to see how both of these types of growth continue through high
school; their future will be interesting to watch. I wish them all the
best.
Career Day
On April 27th, seventeen local businesses’ visited our school for our
first career day for grades kindergarten through 8th grade. The morning was a
huge success, students learned that all dairy cows give great milk but they
differ in the amount of milk they give.
We would like to say thank you again to these great companies that
shared their morning. They taught our students about the variety of jobs in
our area through hands on activities and a multitude of displays and
handouts.
Science Fair News!
The science fair was a huge success! Thanks to all students, parents,
and judges! Congratulations to Nikki Rogers for being our overall winner of
this year's science fair. Nikki tested the strength of paper towels while they
were wet. She did a super job of explaining her experiment. Way to go
Nikki!!
Butterfly Garden
The 8th grade class has worked very hard to get the Butterfly Garden
in tip-top shape for graduation. The garden looks great! I couldn't be more
proud of how hard these nine students have worked to weed, plant new
flowers, and lay down mulch. If you see an 8th grader, thank them for a job
well done!
Thank-you!
To each and every 8th grader that helped with this year’s edition of the
Cougar Chronicles. You did an amazing job each month of publishing the
newsletter and meeting all deadlines.
Good luck next year in high school. I wish you all the best! Mrs. Jones
Student Council
The Cornell Grade School Student Council for the 2010-2011 school year has had
a fantastic year. On Thursday, May 5th and Thursday, May 12th, the junior high students
voted in officers and representatives for the 2011-2012 council. Officers names are as
follows: President: Kelsi Scott, Vice President: Mandy Urbanek, Secretary: Kassin
Phinney, Treasurer: Nikki Rogers, Historian: Emily Burkitt, 7th grade representatives are
Ivy Motl, Cheyanne Kreush, and Kylie Reynolds. 6th grade representatives are Kylie
Kinderman, Mckenzie Hutton, and Liberty Vollmer. Congratulations to all the people
elected to be on the 2011-2012 council!
The 2010-2011 Student Council has had its fair share of fun and business. As a recap, we would like to share some events that we have hosted. Our first meeting to start of
the year was at Grady’s last June. There we started planning for the year and just hung
out and had some fun. In July, we met at the Humane Society and helped out by walking
dogs and playing with cats. Our principal, Mrs. Smith, had a pool party for us in August.
There we had another meeting for last-minute planning before school started. We started
out the school year with Cougar Camp. During Cougar Camp, we put on a play to show
the students how to use their good ROAR traits. In September we had a Game Night and
sold suckers at Fall Fest. In October, we had Red Ribbon Week and had a Halloween
Dance where we gave out prizes to the most creative, scariest, and funniest. Teacher
Turkeys, the fall food drive, and Movie Night were all the events in November. Our
Mitten Tree drive was in December. After the drive, we took all the food items to the
Cornell Food Pantry, and we took the non-food items to the Salvation Army in Pontiac.
The second semester of school was just as busy. In January, we had Hat Day and
the Student Council went ice skating. The Student Council members had a lot of fun! In
February, we had Tie Day, sold carnations, and had a Valentine’s Day dance. In March,
we started our Humane Society Supply Drive. April’s events were Movie Night, Spirit
Week, and Student Council members attended the IAJHSC state convention. Teacher
Appreciation Week and elections were in May.
We would like to remind the students who signed up, that we will be going to
Magic Waters in Rockford on Friday, June 3rd. We will be leaving around 8 a.m.
Thank you for all your support you have shown the Student Council this year, and
we can’t wait to see what is in store for next year!
Road Runners
Many students were able to complete every Road Runner of the year. This
is quite an accomplishment. I do not do make-ups for those who were not
feeling well or were absent. I let students know in advance when we will
be doing these challenges and hope that they are all at school.
Kindergarten joined in with us in January, so they had the opportunity to
run a total of 2 ½ miles. First through fourth grades ran 5 miles!
Congratulations to the following:
Kindergarten- Kalynne Kindermann & Neve Pinkerton
1st Grade- Jared Bayer, Kayla Fletcher, Jackson Gamblin, Caige
Garzanelli, Sam Jones & Destini Moranville
2nd Grade- Nick Egerstaffer, Alison Huffman & Connor Reed
3rd Grade- Jadyn Bayer, Tyler Garey, Nathan Huffman & Lola Reed
4th Grade- Amirah Dana, Ben Gamblin, Molly Garretson, Hannah Jones,
McKayla Kisela, Garret Ruddy, Jordan Snyder, Breanna Swanberg & John
Trainor
Fall Sports Announcements
In the fall, Cornell co-ops with Flanagan for softball and baseball for 5th-8th
graders. Softball practices will start the last week of July. They are tentatively
set to start Monday, July 25th from 7:30-9:00 am at Flanagan. A bus will leave
Cornell at 7:00am to take players to Flanagan and will bring them back after
practice. Baseball will start the following week and practices the same time as
softball. You MUST have an updated sports physical either on file with the school
or with you at the first practice to be able to practice. You may use your current
physical if it does not expire before the season is completed. If you have any
questions, please call the school. Girls who expressed interest in playing softball
will receive a practice schedule in the mail prior to July 25th.
If you have any questions about softball or baseball, please contact that coach.
Softball: Mrs. Cavinder cavinderl@cornell.k12.il.us
Baseball: Coach Johnny Martin
ROAR
Each school day students have opportunities to earn ROAR slips. This piece of paper is
given to a student that demonstrates ROAR expectation such as walking quietly in the
hall, being organized in the classroom, having a great attitude, and being responsible.
Each Friday, a name from each classroom ROAR bucket is drawn and announced
over the intercom. The students chosen for the week go to Mrs. Smith’s office to receive
their ROAR award such as a homework pass or a prize out of the prize box.
In addition, the students’ names are then placed on the front bulletin board for
everyone to see.
Week Ending
April 29, 2011
Week Ending
May 6, 2011
Week Ending
May 13, 2011
Week Ending
May 20, 2011
Jacob Gamblin
6th Grade
Emily Burkitt
Hannah
Swanberg
Jennifer
Fitzpatrick
Nick
Eggerstaffer
Tyler Garey
Garret Ruddy
Liberty
Vollmer
Taya Walters
Kaylnne
Kindermann
Destini
Moranville
Emily Helander
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
Kaylnne
Kindermann
Caige
Garzanelli
Nick
Egerstaffer
Nicole Arwood
Ethan Winters
Zach Hutton
7th Grade
Kassin Phinney
8th Grade
Amir Dana
Faculty/Staff
Miss Harms
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
Jake Hutton
Emily Helander
Lola Reed
Ben Gamblin
Liberty
Vollmer
Tyson Reed
Mandy
Urbanek
Alyson
Kauffman
Mr. Beirne
Jadyn Bayer
John Trainor
Brock Barton
Kelsi Scott
Cheyanne
Kreush
Jessica Potter
Alyson
Kauffman
Miss Redman
Kendall
Loudon
Mrs. Nickels
In addition to the ROAR slips, each Monday morning during homeroom time, a “Cool
Tool” lesson is read aloud and discussed with students. The Cool Tool lesson is designed
to promote positive behavior throughout the building.
Grades 5th–8th
Monday-Thursday
July 11th -14th
4:30p.m.-6:30 p.m.
At Graymont Grade School
Bus will be available for kids who do not
have a ride.
Community News!
Cornell Grade School (CGS) will be undergoing several
changes this summer. Every ten years, schools are
required to undergo a Health Life Safety Survey to make
sure that the school is in compliance with rules and
regulations. Cornell Grade School has several projects that
need to be updated, repaired, or just replaced. Several of
these projects are not optional, but required by the State
Board of Education and our Regional office of Education.
In order to fund these projects the Board of Education
issued Alternate Revenue Bonds. An area bank was able to
purchase these bonds, so the money will stay in our
community. These bonds are structured for a 15 year
period with the hopes that they will be paid off early if funds
are available. As a taxpayer, everyone is concerned about
paying more in taxes. The Board of Education has worked
very hard in the last 2 years to lower your tax rate knowing
that bonds would have to be issued to pay for some of these
projects. In addition, we were able to secure a $250,000
Energy Efficiency Grant through the State. There were
486 schools that applied for this grant, and we were one
that was chosen to receive this much needed funding. This
is a matching grant that will allow us to do some MUCH
needed repairs to our school. Some are visible changes and
others are changes that are desperately needed, but you
may not notice.
Some of the projects this summer are: Floor removal and
replacement throughout the school. We will be tearing out
the carpet and tile in all classrooms and replacing the floor
with carpet that was DONATED by STATE FARM
INSURANCE COMPANY in Bloomington. Also we will have
new flooring in the foyer, hallways and cafeteria. Our Fire
Alarm System has to be replaced as well to comply with Fire
Code. This will ensure that our building will be safe for your
children. In addition, we have several other smaller projects
that will be done this summer. Next summer, it is our hope
to replace our old, single-pane windows with energy efficient
windows to help save cooling and heating costs!
In order to do all of our summer work, we were able to hire
three workers through a jobs grant from the federal
government. This will not be an added expense to the
taxpayers. Again, this is good news. We are utilizing grants
to do projects that otherwise would not be done or would
have to be done at a higher expense to the taxpayers. You
should be proud of the Board of Education for being frugal
and vigilant about keeping spending to a minimum, but
doing what is needed to keep our school a GREAT place to
send your children!
Please be aware that the main office will be open throughout
the summer, but the public will have very limited access to
the school. We will have several contractors in the building
throughout the summer which limits the access for the
public. Please call the school before making a trip to the
school and not being able to come in.
The Board of Education and I are looking forward to August
when some of the projects are complete, and the public will
be able to tour the building. Look for a special date for a fall
open house! Thank you for your continued support!
Mrs. Amy Smith
Superintendent
School Registration 2011-2012
School Registration Date:
Monday August 1, 2011 from
9:00a.m.-12.00p.m. and 3:00p.m.-6:00p.m.
Fees for the new school year are as follows:
Registration fees for grades K-8
$60.00
All Lunches
$ 2.25
All Breakfast
$ 1.50
Snack Milk (Grades K-2)
$ 50.00 (per year)
Class list/supplies will be available after July 1st.
Please check the school’s website for this
information. www.cornellgradeschool.org