While we are all anxiously awaiting Spring here in Chicago, the Owl Way would like to remind you about our annual Shoe Drive.

Every April, in honor of Earth Day, we do a shoe drive to benefit “Share Your Soles”. This non-profit organization collects gently used footwear for children and adults in the most impoverished areas of the world.

Collection will run from April 16th-25th, including at the Earth Fair.

Both adult and child size shoes, in good/clean condition, will be accepted. The best way to recycle is to reuse, so during your spring cleaning, hold on to shoes that can be donated.

Share Your Soles Drop Site

The Owl Way – would like to thank Mr. Jerry Leland a Marine Veteran & Olive dad for delivering all of the OMS Valentines to the Captain James Lovell VA hospital for our “Valentines for Veterans” project.

Mr. Leland drove through the very snowy conditions on Friday 2/9/18, so that hospitalized veterans would have the cards in time for Valentine’s Day. These colorful and thoughtful Valentine cards will provide these heroes with hope and healing.

The Owl Way wants to remind you to send in your pop tops December 1st through January 8th. This Pop-Top drive benefits the Ronald McDonald House.

What is the Ronald McDonald House? RMHC cares for families of children with complex medical needs by providing comfort, compassion, and a sense of community. RMHC keeps families of hospitalized children together in a “home away from home.”

Please place closed zip lock bags into The Owl Way Mailbox in the commons, which is next to the stage. Collect at Work, Home, community events, even pop top helps to keep families close.

During the month of October, The Owl Way worked with teachers to have students write letters to deployed soldiers. Those heartfelt letters were sent to Operation Gratitude and will be delivered to soldiers in time for Veterans Day. As the students reflect on this lettering writing project, they will realize that we are the “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave”.

The Owl Way – “Warm the Nest” Coat Drive begins Wednesday, November 1st and ends Tuesday, November 27th.

Please send in child/adult coats & winter gear for our November “Warm the Nest” service project. New or clean gently used items such as coats, snow-pants, boots, mittens, gloves, hats will be accepted. Our partner, Journeys The Road Home and The Community Cares Closet in School District 59 has indicated this as their greatest need right now.

Items can be placed in the large box marked “The Owl Way – Coat Drive” located in the commons. Let’s show how much OMS cares about those in need in our community! Please email Christine Gilbert with any questions.

This October, the Owl Way has many opportunities to promote kindness and helping others. The Owl Way Week will be October 17th-19th. Have your child wear their OMS spirit wear or Olive colors sometime during that week.

Children will receive a project called “What’s Your Big Idea?” This optional program gives flight to Owl Ideas on how to promote being kind and helping others. The “What’s Your Big Idea” banner will be hung outside the LMC. Plan on viewing the ideas outside the LMC during Open House.

Also this month, staff will teach formal letter writing skills benefiting Operation Gratitude. Completed letters will be shipped to Operations Gratitude and be included in care packages for deployed military.

The Owl Way formerly known as Character Counts, kicks off September with a Salute to our Community Helpers. This program promotes good character and kindness at all grade levels. The Owl Way implements monthly service initiatives to promote good character traits such as being kind, responsible, honest, fair and helping others. On occasion, this PTA program partners with other clubs such as the Ecology Club and the 5th Grade Service Learning Club, to carry out monthly projects with the help of students, parents and staff. The Owl Way fosters a positive learning environment and breeds a culture of kindness. OMS has a strong tradition of raising global-minded students and is committed to fostering a passion for service learning in tomorrow’s leaders.

Eat at Garibaldis between 11 & 2 or 4-8 on Monday, March 13. CLICK HERE for details. The money we raise will help Pencils of Promise build schools to help the 250 million kids living on the planet who can’t read. Let’s show these kids that we believe they have the right to go to school just like we do. Grab your friends & eat at Garibaldi’s today!

The results are in for our Warm the Nest event….356 coats & winter wear items for kids and 34 adult items! Our 5th Grade Service Learning Club worked like a well oiled machine over lunch Wednesday to count, sort & bag these items – give these owls a pat on the back for a job well done! Our friends in District 59 (south Arlington Heights) were thrilled to stock their closet with the kids items due to very real & unmet needs within their district. Interventionists within the District will be getting these items in the hands of children in our community who need them immediately. Journeys was grateful for the adult wear they received today too! This month perfectly illustrates how many hands working together can show OMS cares in a big way & we can make a real difference in Arlington Heights!

A quick recap of the Character Counts work to date this year:

In August we raised enough money to create 1,200 meals for nokidhungry.org through our Ice Cream Social at Berry-Yo.

In September we saluted Military parents with huge cards signed by the entire school on the morning announcements. It was an incredibly exciting & moving experience for everyone!

In October we celebrated National Character Counts week with millions of kids around the world. The “Good Character, It’ll Take You Places” banner was created by our kids, hung outside the LMC & generated inspiring conversations. Staff taught formal letter writing skills that were used to participate in Operation Gratitude. Those letters of thanks were embellished by students in our CAP program & delivered to be included in care packages for deployed military.

Our Student Council is taking the lead on our Pop Top Collection to benefit the Ronald McDonald House this month. Send in your pop tops through January 6th.

Wishing you all a warm & joy filled winter break. Please know that the PTA is committed to working with Olive staff to ensure that character building service work is a significant piece of our kids education. Thanks for your support!

Rachael Hooker & Christine Gilbert
Character Counts Co-Chairs

Send in your pop tops through January 6th. Our Student Council leaders are working hard to collect Pop-Tops to benefit the Ronald McDonald House all month long. Our 5th Grade Service Learning Club is wrapping up the Winter Wear Warm the Nest drive & is excited to report back soon! OMS students are working hard each month to show how much they care about our community!

The PTA Character Counts program asks you to begin collecting child/adult coats & winter gear for our November drive. Our partner, Journeys The Road Home, has indicated this as their greatest need right now. Let’s show how much OMS cares for those in need in our community!

The Character Counts Program will salute our military parents and grandparents on the morning announcements on Friday, September 30th at 9am. We welcome any parents/grandparents involved with the military in any way to contact Rachael Hooker to learn more: rachael.hooker@gmail.com.

December Recap:

In the month of December we showed Responsibility through our Pop-Tops collection benefiting the Ronald McDonald House. Students viewed a personal testimony during their lunch hour describing the ways the Ronald McDonald House touched the lives of a family in our Olive community. The photo below shows the amazing results of this campaign! 

January’s Campaign: 

Do you know that 1 in 11 people on our planet do not have access to safe drinking water?  We will show we value Fairness by collecting coins throughout the month of January to benefit Charity Water.  charitywater.org  Students will learn more about the efforts of Charity Water & each classroom has a mason jar to collect coins throughout the month. We will watch the collection grow in a secure location in the main office.

Thank you so much for your support!

October Recap:

We celebrated National Character Counts week with millions of kids around the globe. The “What’s My Superpower” banner created by our kids, hung outside the LMC & generated lots of teachable moments & great conversations among kids. Staff also taught formal letter writing skills for our Operation Gratitude campaign in October. The letters will be embellished by our 5th Grade Service Learning Club & delivered for inclusion with the >150,000 care packages this organization sends to the troops each year.

November: Warm the Nest

This month we have partnered with JOURNEYS The Road Home which provides goods & services to suburban cook county families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. http://www.journeystheroadhome.org We will be collecting gently used adult & kids winter wear (coats, hats, gloves, boots) in support of this agency throughout the month. Students can deliver donations to the Character Counts Mailbox, located to the right of the stage. If the mailbox is full, please instruct students to place items next to the mailbox. We will be managing the donations as they come in & report back to you next month. We are excited to see what we might accomplish as a school community!

Also, if you have leftover candy from Halloween, please consider donating it for our troops overseas. Drop off sites at Beverly Lanes or Glueckert Funeral Home through November 8th. The Veterans Memorial Committee of Arlington Heights will pay to ship it in loving memory of LCPL James Bray Stack, USMC. KIA Afghanistan, November 10, 2010.

The feedback from students, staff & our parent community is so encouraging & keeps us really excited about this pilot program. Stay tuned, Pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House is coming in next!

Thanks for your support!

Rachael Hooker & Christine Gilbert
Character Counts Co-Chairs

1)  Patriotic stickers & ribbon for Operation Gratitude.
2)  Valentines stickers, red/white/pink card-stock, heart stampers or other embellishments for our Valentines for Veteran’s program in February. Valentines will be delivered to the Veterans Hospital in Maywood.

3)  Remember to hold onto pop-tops, gently used winter gear & shoes for upcoming drives.

Thanks for your support during this exciting pilot program!

Rachael Hooker & Christine Gilbert

Character Counts Co-Chairs

We are honoring first responders in our Olive Family at a brief event on October 2. If you are unable to attend we’d like to recognize your child. Please contact rachael.hooker@gmail.com if you have not done so already. On behalf of our community, we thank you for your service!

Our focus this month is on being Trustworthy. We will salute our Trustworthy first responders through outdoor signage along the fence and through card making during recess time. Cards will be presented to OMS first responder parents on the morning announcements.

Going the Extra Mile at Home:

1) Write a personal letter to a family member who is first responder. Tell them about what you are learning at school and how thankful you are for the work they do.
2) When you pull over for a siren, use the opportunity to talk about the importance of Trustworthy protectors in our community.
3) Echo ideas about the importance of being Trustworthy when navigating family conflicts.
4) Bake cookies or do something nice for a first responder you know in your neighborhood. Have your child write a note of thanks.

Character Counts needs your help! As part of our expanded pilot program, there are a few upcoming events to keep in mind. This November we will “Warm the Nest.” If you have gently used winter wear will be a great service opportunity for your kids! In April we will collect gently used shoes for impoverished people throughout the world by participating in Share Your Soles. Consider holding onto shoes your kids have outgrown & be a part of this event. Details will come as the events near, but we wanted to give a heads up. And please keep collecting aluminum can pop tops for our December collection benefiting Ronald McDonald House.

Are you a firefighter, police officer, EMS worker or other community first responder? If so, Character Counts would like to talk with you. In September the students are celebrating our communities first responders. We are working to assemble these parents to receive thank you cards on the morning announcements October 2 at 9am. Please contact rachael.hooker@gmail.com to be involved & thank you for your service.

We kicked off a full year of Character Counts initiatives by including an optional donation to nokidhungry.org at the Ice Cream Social. We are pleased to announce that we raised money to provide 1,700 meals to the 1 in 5 U.S. children who do not receive adequate food. This month we chose kindness! Each month we target one of the pillars of good character: kind, responsible, respectful, trustworthy, fair, caring and a good citizen. Stay tuned for more information on this exciting pilot program at OMS!