School Events
More Than a 1000
By: Munya N., Adina K., and Pranjali P.
What is kindness?
You might think it is such an easy question and that the answer is obvious; however, it isn’t!
Congratulations Wildcats for hitting more than a 1000 acts of kindness to wrap Keller Junior High hallways with arrows!
Keller student ambassadors created orange arrows for students to continually have a chance to fill out the act of kindness they performed. Then, the students turn the arrows in to either their advisory teacher or in to Mrs. Konkey. We are very proud that Keller students continue to focus on wrapping Keller Junior High with their thoughtful deeds!
Small acts make a big difference! It could make a person’s day better. Kindness is not all about being kind to someone. It is about what someone can do to help their community, and each act can make a whole lot of change that could spread happiness all over the world. Wildcat’s acts of humanity showed the true meaning of kindness when they spread their acts around the school like magical dust.
Each advisory class created a list of mini miracles that they are doing within our building. As a result, students continue to fill out an arrow.
What mini-miracles did the classes perform? Let’s start with Ms. Groot’s advisory group. Each student was asked to bring in at least three canned items for the school pantry.
In Mrs. Moore’s classroom again they are donating items to the food pantry just like Ms. Groot’s classroom. That's sure to bring the amount up to a large number.
Ms. Dever’s classroom is sending thank you notes to teachers, friends and others.
Mrs. Ghani’s classroom random act is to put positive locker signs on everybody’s locker. Way to go everyone!
To wrap it up (see what we did there), kindness is not all about being nice to someone so that you can be recognized or rewarded for your actions. Kindness is something you can show to one another by letting that person know you care about them. Kindness is not something that is hard to do. All you need is a commitment to a random act like helping out a student or teacher. Kindness is not an option, it's a choice and it starts with you.
Mrs. Ghani's advisory class
Mrs. Moore's advisory class
Ms. Groot's advisory class
Ms. Dever's advisory class
Wrapping the school, one arrow at a time
Positive quotes line the walls
Flyers to promote student engagement
Exceeding the mark
Positive quotes on the students lockers
A kind message sure to make anyone's day a bit brighter
A quote Mrs. Younkin and Ms. Stoeck put up
Spark the Happiness Frog
Quote on Mrs. Konkey's classroom door
Quote in the lunchroom hallway
Mrs. Angel's students created this letter
Mrs. Angel's advisory kindness materials
Scholastic Book Talk
By: Sidrah F.
Many students joined us at the Scholastic Book Fair during conferences. There were various types of books to check out and entice buyers. The profit goes to our Keller library so that we can get new books. Mrs. Painter, our school librarian, says that there are two main purposes why book fairs are held, one of which is to allow students to view many different genres at one time and shop the book collection. The other purpose is that the fair allows librarians to put more books of interest into the students’ hands. Mrs. Painter also said that we as a school raised more than $1,000. She mentioned that the total profit we got is $900 which is more than the goal that Mrs. Painter expected. Students mostly bought paperback books than hard covered and bought more fiction than nonfiction. This exceeds the expectation and has allowed the librarians to buy more realistic fiction books, which seems to be the most popular genre here at Keller. Thanks to student and family purchases, we got somewhere near 90 new books that were added to the Keller library. Four book titles are: Destined to Live by Rachel Klein and Ruth Gruener, The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel, The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore, and Anything But Okay by Sarah Darer Littman. All in all, we should consider how our purchases are a direct payback to us in our learning.
Keller's Gone Mad!
- Mrs. Engel -
On Thursday, February 28th, Keller Junior High went mad! The evening opened with silly slushiness and the ability for students to make their own molecules!
Once settled in, Mr. Freeze took the stage with a freezing good time that ended the evening with a BANG (literally) before Keller's own mad scientists were asked to break out of the electronic escape room! Times were recorded electronically in a Google form and the top escapees were announced to come fourth to collect their prizes.
If you missed Mr. Freeze's presentation (a.k.a. Jerry Zimmerman from Fermilab), check out the YouTube link below!
Students, parents and staff work together to break out of an electronic Mad Scientist escape room!
McTeacher Night: We're Lovin' It!
By: Suzanne W. and Mrs. Younkin
Think you’d ever run into your teacher in a nearby restaurant serving up some delicious burgers and fries? Our annual McTeacher Night was yet another success, as students came out to support their Keller community. On Tuesday, March 5th, both staff and students alike gathered at the local McDonald's on Roselle Road to purchase everything from freshly fried McDonald's french fries to delectable, candy filled McFlurries. How could we forget the tray of pocket filled pies with baked apples? Ms. Hundley and Mrs. Kowalewski helped bring in extra tips with the sale of the desserts, as a percentage of the proceeds come back into Keller for future events. Mr. Barbini also made it a point to guarantee service with a smile as he helped passed out food...order number 347, get it while it's hot! The local eatery filled up quick and it was standing room only as the Keller Junior High staff band, performed by Mr. Gear, Mr. Stephens, Mr. Edwards, and Ms. Neofotistos, rocked the house with some jammin’ tunes. More so, it was a great scene to see everyone enjoying time spent together; it's magical what a bit of food and music can do for a crowd. We thank the many students, family and friends for making this night special and to help raise money for Keller!
Snowball Effect 2019
- Mrs. Engel-
On Saturday, March 2nd, three Keller students, Nawab A., Raahi M., and Kendall P., and one staff member, Mrs. Engel, arrived at Hoffman Estates High school at the bright early hour of 6:45 a.m. in order to get free leadership training. The attendees were a bit shocked as high school students cheered them on loudly when they entered the doors. The chants and cheers followed them all the way down into the cafeteria where the group found their high school student leader. What a nice surprise when it was discovered that Keller's small group leader, Autumn, was also a former Keller alumni herself.
Students and staff were led to their own private room that was decorated in various team-building themes. Small group games were put in play in order to learn each team member's name, build trust, and a community that each person could count on in and outside of the training. These experiences led into a large group gathering were students were treated to De'Marco Fomby's inspiring and motivational presentation (complete with Disney sing-a-longs) and ending with the powerful message that the young are the future. He challenged his audience to find their passion and pass it on! If this sounds like an experience you'd be interested in, no worries! It will be open again next year (for current 7th graders, soon to be next year's 8th graders) for free, as well as all four years at all District 211 high schools.
