The Cugar
Chrnicles
“The Official Newsletter of CornellGrade School”
Tuesday, March 2nd Friday, March 12th
ISAT Testing Begins thru the 5th ISAT Make-Up
K,1,2 Breakfast Report Cards Mailed
7th VB (TBA) P.A.W.S. Dance 4-6pm
Wednesday, March 3rd Tuesday, March 16th
ISAT Testing 6,7,8 Breakfast
7th VB Reg. (TBA)
Wednesday, March 17th
Thursday, March 4th Community Dinner @ 11am
ISAT Testing Board of Ed. Mtg. @ 7:30pm
Friday, March5th Thursday, March 18th
ISAT Testing SID 11:30am Dismissal
3rd Qtr. Ends
5/6 VB@ St. Mary’s (TBA) Monday, March 22nd
Freshman Orientation @
Saturday, March6th FCHS at 6:30pm
5/6th VB @ St. Mary’s (TBA)
Tuesday, March 23rd
Monday, March8th Senior Citizens’ Breakfast
ISAT Make-Up
Track Begins Wednesday, March 24th
March Assembly @ 8am
Tuesday, March9th
ISAT Make-Up Thursday, March 25th
3,4,5 Breakfast Local Math Contest 1pm
8th VB Reg. @ Odell 4:15pm
Friday, March 26th
Wednesday, March10th 2 pm Dismissal
ISAT Make-Up
8th VB Reg. @ Odell (TBA) March 29th through April 2nd
SPRING BREAK
Thursday, March11th
ISAT Make-Up
8 VB @ Odell (TBA)
From the Desk of Mrs. Smith:
Winter continues to hang around with cold temperatures and lots of snow. Hopefully we won’t have any more winter storms that require me to use another snow day!
We continue to have many events at the school including volleyball games, Student Council events, and our monthly assemblies. Please join us on February 24 at 8:00 a.m. for our monthly assembly. Our students raised over $2,000 for HOOPS FOR HEART/JUMP ROPE FOR HEART and several of the faculty/staff members will be enjoying a pie in the face—myself included! I also believe I have to color my hair PINK!!!
It is really great to see so many people from the community come out and support the various events that include our students. Thanks for supporting 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
Be sure to check our new web site at The faculty and staff update information on a consistent basis. This is a great way to see what is happening at CornellGrade School. In addition, continue to monitor your student’s progress through TeacherEase.
Please mark your calendar for March 17, 2010 for our Spring Community Lunch starting at 11:00 a.m. Tickets are available at the door, but watch for more information later in this newsletter.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at the school (815)358-2214 or e-mail me at Again, thank you for support of your school!
Mrs. Amy B. Smith
Superintendent
Junie B. Jones Theater Field Trip
In January, Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade students went to the PeoriaCivicCenter to see Junie. B. Jones Live on Stage!
The play combined 3 of Junie B. Jones’ most popular books into a 1 hour live performance. The three books were Junie B. Jones 1st Grade at Last, Junie B. Jones Boss of Lunch, and Junie B. Jones Cheater Pants. The students found the performance highly entertaining with all the lighting, music, and her giant 10 foot journal!
After the performance, we got to eat lunch in the arena where the Bradley Braves play basketball and the Peoria Rivermen play hockey!
All the students were very overwhelmed by the enormity of the building and the many modern conveniences it provided. We had a great field trip and can’t wait to go again next year!
Disneyland or Bust! 4th Grade Enters Disney's Planet Challenge
by Miss Repking
With the school year in full swing, 4th grade students at CornellGrade School will have a new environmental science learning tool to draw from as they develop their ever growing knowledge base. This past October Disney announced the nationwide launch of Disney's Planet Challenge, a project-based environmental competition for 4th - 6th grade classrooms that will empower students to make a difference in school, at home and in their local communities. With more than 15 years experience running highly-acclaimed classroom environmental competitions in regional markets including California and Florida (as "Disney's Environmentality Challenge[R]"), Disney developed the new Disney's Planet Challenge in response to growing demand across all 50 states. Program collaborations with the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the K-12 Alliance and state and federal government agencies ensure academic and environmental excellence. Participation in the program is free, and enrollment is open today at To ensure Disney's Planet Challenge promotes excellence in science education and adheres to the specific educational standards of each state, Disney is collaborating with NSTA and the K-12 Alliance. Disney has also worked closely with the U.S. and California Environmental Protection Agencies, U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife and the California Department of Education to achieve the highest in environmental standards.
For the project, students are asked to identify an environmental issue in their local community and come up with a solution that they manage and document from start to finish. Past examples range from implementing campus-wide water conservation programs and electronics recycling drives to protecting local habitats. Classrooms will develop a portfolio that will be evaluated on environmental-relevance, student learning, changes in practices and attitudes, community involvement, lasting benefits to students, school and/or community and originality. National, regional and state winners will receive an array of Disney prizes including a class celebration at Disneyland[R] for the national grand prize champion. The winning class will also have a chance to meet a Disney Channel star and the class and its winning project may be featured on the Disney Channel. Other prizes include thousands of dollars in classroom grants, class screenings of the next Disneynature film, Oceans, and more. Additionally, winning teachers will receive a one year NSTA membership. The grand-prize winning educator will also receive an all expense paid trip to the national 2011 NSTA conference where he or she will be recognized at the NSTA awards banquet. Our classroom's project will focus on repopulating threatened and endangered plants of Illinois. Visit Miss Repking's homepage for a link to our project's portfolio!
5th Grade
Boy, will the fifth grade be happy when ISAT tests are over!!! It’s been writing. Did I mention writing? Oh, have we have been writing in many subjects like Language Arts, Reading and Math. On top of that, it’s been a mad dash to go over 3 months worth of Math skills and cram them into one month. During testing week please be sure your children are well rested, have a good breakfast, and a positive attitude. I’ll be bringing in healthy snacks to get them through the mid-morning blahs. Our schedule will be returning to normal during the second week in March.
We’re in desperate need of tissue, so if you haven’t sent at least 2 boxes, please do so now. If you’ve sent a third or fourth box, “Thank you” and feel free to send more.
Cornell Proves to Have Heart of Gold!
I am ecstatic to be able to say that this year for Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart, the students raised over $2,100!! What an amazing amount of money for the way our economy has taken a nose dive. Thank you to all of the families that helped to raise money. Also, thank you to everyone in the community and beyond who donated money to a student to help out the American Heart Association.
The Jr. High raised over $1,000 for Hoops for Heart and earned a Dodgeball Tournament. The elementary grades also raised over $1,000 for Jump Rope for Heart and got to see Mrs. Smith’s hair turn pink at the February Monthly Assembly.
Many pies were put into teachers’ faces for students reaching that level. Students in grades k-4 had to raise $50 and students in grades 5-8 had to raise $100.
P.A.W.S
We had our game night in February. We had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came. We are going to have a hat day on March 12th so bring a dollar and you can wear a hat all day. Your hat needs to be school appropriate. We are also having a St. Patrick’s dance on March 12th from 4-6p.m. We have suckers for $.50 each so please see Mrs. Cavinder for them.
MUSIC NOTES
The results are in...from Solo and Ensemble Contests! We arrived at school at 7:00 am on Saturday, February 20th and made our way out to DwightGrade School. While Tyler and Tyson were performing, Mrs. Long and Mrs. Wells were on our way back to Cornell to pick up the accompaniments that I forgot...oops! We made it back in time though and had a wonderful day after that fiasco. All the students played and sang their best and had a great time. So many parents came out to support their children's performances! That was really great to see!
Students will receive their awards on Wednesday, February 24 at the morning assembly, which starts at 8:00a.m.
Ratings from Solo and Ensemble Contest are listed below:
IITyler Kreush and Tyson ReedPercussion Ensemble
IIAlyson Kauffman and Emma WalsbergMixed Ensemble
IMandy UrbanekFlute Solo
IEmily RussowTrumpet Solo
IKassin PhinneyFlute Solo
IAshley WaltersFlute Solo
ICheyanne KreushOboe Solo
IIAshley VollmerClarinet Solo
IKassin PhinneyPiano Solo
IBailey LongSaxophone Solo
ICheyanne KreushPiano Solo
IIKassin PhinneyVocal Solo
IIKassin Phinney, Mandy Urbanek, and Emma Walsberg Flute Trio
IEmily Burkitt and Ivy MotlVocal Duet
INikki RogersSaxophone Solo
ICarrie Campbell and Cheyanne KreushVocal Duet
IIAlyson Kauffman, Emma Walsberg, and Mixed Ensemble Cheyanne Kreush
IIAmir DanaPercussion Solo
ITyler KreushPercussion Solo
IAmanda DanaPercussion Solo
IEmily BurkittPercussion Solo
ICheyanne KreushVocal Solo
IIAleaha Erschen and Cheyanne KreushOboe/Clarinet Duet
Thanks so much to everyone involved in Solo and Ensemble Contest! It was a huge success!
Fitness Fun in PE
This quarter has brought new fitness challenges to some of the elementary PE classes. First and second grade have a challenge chart that they work on once a week. There are different physical challenges for the students to choose from. Some of the challenges are much more difficult than others. The students decide which challenges that they would like to work on during that class period. If they are successful, they receive a sticker on the chart. Some of the challenges are run ¼ mile, skip half a mile, do a mile backwards, 100 vertical jumps, jump rope for five minutes, 20 stars, and many more.
The third and fourth grades have been doing an activity called Dash for Cash. For every lap that they run in the gym, they receive a PE dollar. They can “buy” different activities to participate in during that class period. They have to make the decision whether they are going to run just a little and spend their money on basic activities or receive something big if they run a lot of laps. We do this activity about once every other week. This is a great activity because the students have to use some decision-making skills. They are working with “money”, and they are running because they want to, not because I am telling them to.
ROAD RUNNERS:
In January, we started over with ¼ of a mile and the turnout was fantastic! The kindergarteners are joining in the challenge this semester. They practiced and decided that they were ready! Congratulations to the following students for making the January RoadRunner:
Jared Bayer, Jadyn Bohm, Ashton Crawford, Jennifer Fitzpatrick, Kayla Fletcher, Jackson Gamblin, Caige Garzanelli, Makenna Gray, Jacob Hutton, Sam Jones, Lilia Mascote, Destini Moranville, Kamrin Rummerfield, Raya Bauman, Emily Helander, Alison Huffman, Caleb Long, Kyla Sidfrids, Mason Walsberg, Nicole Arwood, Jadyn Bayer, Hannah Dunahee, Nathan Huffman, Tyler Garey, Makenna Tkach, Amirah Dana, Ben Gamblin, Molly Garretson, Erin Huddleston, Andrew Jones, Hannah Jones, McKayla Kisela, Garret Ruddy, Jordan Snyder, Breanna Swanberg, James Trainor, John Trainor, Selena Wilson, Tristin Barlow, Brock Barton, McKenzie Hutton, Zach Hutton, Teresa Jones, Kylie Kindermann, Dylan Melvin, and Liberty Vollmer.
In February, the challenge continued to get harder. The following students were able to run for ½ a mile without taking a break:
Destiny Bennett, Kayla Fletcher, Jacob Hutton, Sam Jones, Destini Moranville, Raya Bauman, Emily Helander, Alison Huffman, Caleb Long, Connor Reed, Kyla Sidfrids, Mason Walsberg,Nicole Arwood, Jadyn Bayer, Hannah Dunahee, Nathan Huffman, Tyler Garey, Lola Reed, Makenna Tkach, Amirah Dana, Ben Gamblin, Molly Garretson, Andrew Jones, Hannah Jones, McKayla Kisela, Michael Moranville, Garret Ruddy, Jordan Snyder, Breanna Swanberg, John Trainor, Selena Wilson, Ethan Winters, Tristin Barlow, Brock Barton, Andrew Hurt, McKenzie Hutton, Kylie Kindermann, Dylan Melvin, and Liberty Vollmer.
Congratulations to all of the students that have made Road Runner already in 2010!
~ Art News ~ Art News ~ Art News ~ Art News ~
Kindergarten students have been working hard to learn the specific order of the colors in the rainbow. They are currently creating a rainbow weaving that can be viewed in the learning center or on Artsonia in the next few weeks. First through fourth grade just got done learning about the artist Piet Mondrian who created very geometric abstract artwork painted with primary colors. 1st and 2nd graders learned how to use a ruler to make a straight line, which really is not as easy as it looks! They created their very own Mondrian paintings which are currently hanging in the learning center and can be found on our online art gallery Artsonia! 3rd and 4th graders studied maps of Illinois and all the different kinds of lines that can be found in an atlas. They recreated their own part of Illinois using different lines they discovered. They painted their very own Mondrian maps which are also displayed in our art gallery.
Junior high students have been working hard on one and two point perspective. 5th and 6th graders are creating a room in one point perspective and making it surreal by adding pictures of themselves and a random object to their drawing, 7th and 8th graders are creating cities in two point perspective, which they should start painting using watercolors in the next two weeks. Look for their finished artwork on Artsonia! If you have not visited our gallery please do so at You can see all the wonderful artwork Cornell students have been creating this year. You can even order gifts with your child’s artwork on them!
Congratulations to the artists of the month! 3rd grader Breanna Swanberg and 5th grader Emily Burkitt
~ Art News ~ Art News ~ Art News ~ Art News ~
Volleyball Tournaments
Girl’s volleyball has just finished St. Anthony’s tournament. The 7th grade team played the St. Anthony Friars, and won, which placed them 3rd! The 8th grade volleyball team also faced the St. Anthony Friars and won, they also placed 3rd in the tournament! Both teams are very happy with their accomplishments.
Track will be starting March 8th, 2010. If you would like to join track, see Cheryl Loudon in the office, or Mr. Rapp! This year, the coaches will be Mr. Rapp and Mr. Burkitt. We encourage people to join track; it is a very sociable and fun sport!
The 8th Graders: Who Are They?
For the remainder of the 2009/2010 school year, the Cougar Chronicles will include articles revealing each 8th grade student’s secret innermost thoughts – well, maybe not so secret and probably not so innermost but we thought it would be nice to let the Cornell community know a little something more about the 8th grade students. There are currently 15 8th grade students so our plan is to cover all 15 by the last newsletter. Following are the first four articles.
EMILY RUSSOW has been quite active in CornellGrade School participating in volleyball, basketball, track, and a year of softball. She also plays the trumpet in our junior high band and is President of the student council (PAWS) having been a three year member. Emily has won numerous awards in sports including the Falcon Award and defense award for basketball as well as trophies and track ribbons galore. She was also an avid 1st place ribbon winner in speech contest until her 8th grade year when her speech partner was no longer available.
Emily has many favorites such as the color purple, playing basketball, watching the best movie ever Remember the Titans, reading her favorite books in the Harry Potter and the Twilight series, listening to her favorite song Dear Jamie…Sincerely Me, and watching the TV show The Office.