THE (Virtual) BIG EVENT

Saturday, November 6, 2021

7:00 pm - 9:15 pm ish

Join the D128 Foundation for Learning for its annual fundraiser, THE BIG EVENT, on Saturday, November 6, 2021 from 7:00 pm - 9:15 pm. This year's event will include:

Recognition of the 2020 and 2021 Alumni Achievement Award Recipients
Live Trivia Competition - Start planning your team! (Limited to 10 members per team)
Silent Auction, Raffles and more!

Ticket sales:

All proceeds benefit programs that support the students of Libertyville High School and Vernon Hills High School.

Event tickets are $25 per person and a ticket must be purchased for each trivia team member in order to participate.

Raffle tickets are $10 each. Event tickets and raffle tickets may need to be purchased as two separate transactions.

All ticket purchases are nonrefundable. Note: Using a laptop or desktop to purchase your event tickets appears to work best when finalizing your PayPal transaction.

Online Silent Auction:

D128 Foundation for Learning has partnered with Your Charity Auction for our Online Silent Auction. The Auction takes place Thursday, November 4 (6:00 am CDT) until Monday, November 8 (9:00 pm CDT). Here is the link for the Silent Auction.

November 6 Event Specific Details:

The Zoom link for the event will be sent to paid participants on Friday, November 5 along with directions how to sign up for your Trivia Contest team. Each team will need a captain and a Team name for the event. Make sure that your Zoom account is up to date.

SPECIAL PROMOTION:

The D128 Foundation for Learning and The Wine and Spirit Warehouse have partnered to support THE BIG EVENT. Show the promotional flyer found at this link or mention D128 Foundation for Learning BIG EVENT and the Wine and Spirit Warehouse, 830 S. Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville, will donate 10% of your purchase to the D128 Foundation. Promotion valid 10/24/21 - 11/7/21. All proceeds benefit programs for Libertyville High School and and Vernon Hills High School students. Great opportunity to stock up for the holidays and support a local business and the Foundation.

Innovation Grants in Action:

#D128DARING Students Impact Their Community Through Project Based Learning with Local Focus

Students of VHHS English Teacher Ellen Macias were recently given an opportunity to hone their research, writing and speaking skills while also making a positive impact on their local community. Earlier this year, Macias submitted an application for a District 128 Foundation for Learning Innovation Grant. Her proposed project was titled Making an Impact in Our Community: PBL with a Local Focus. She was named a grant winner in January and began to move forward with her plans for the project.

Project Based Learning is an instructional methodology through which students learn and apply knowledge and skills through an engaging experience. Through the experience, students are given opportunities for deeper learning and the development of skills tied to college and career readiness.

Earlier this semester, Macias presented her students with five problems facing Lake County residents: contamination of lakes, resource disparity between schools, rising poverty, a spike in heroin use among teens, and a loss of family-owned businesses. After selecting a topic, the students worked in teams to investigate their chosen issue and propose a method of support.

The project culminated in the students presenting their findings and proposed solutions to a group of VHHS and D128 administrators and teachers on March 20. The audience also included representatives from the organizations that the students determined would make the greatest impact on helping solve the problems they researched. Those organizations each received $500 from the students, which was funded through Macias’ Innovation Grant.

Topics researched, student team members, and the recipient organizations were:

Heroin Use: Amelia Tehrani, Vito Accettura, Alyssa Shniper, Batima Mukhametgalym Selected funding recipient: A Way Out
School Funding Gaps: Nedas Pazereckas, Natalya Ulloa, Nathaniel Meza, David Kasyanyuk
Selected funding recipient: United Way of Lake County
Food Insecurity: Sadi Thomas, Mohammad Kannoun, Lesly Guzman-Uvera
Selected funding recipient: Libertyville Township Food Pantry

Students who researched the problem of heroin use in Lake County learned about a number of organizations providing assistance but found that A Way Out provided the best support for those fighting addiction. The team was able to interview A Way Out Director Bill Gentes who explained the program to them.

Team members agreed upon the importance of education for students on this topic and felt that more speakers for students at VHHS would be helpful. “We should get more resources and learn why it’s bad for us and our brains,” said team member Alyssa Shniper.

The need for equitable, not equal, school funding to meet the needs of each individual school’s specific needs became apparent to the team researching school funding gaps. The team noted successful programs helping in Lake County including the Schuler Program and Head Start, but selected United Way of Lake County as the recipient for their funding. “They help with finding the roots of the problem and offer programs to address issues like learning skills for life and the future,” said David Kasyanyuk. Student Nathaniel Meza also shared the amazing differences he saw as a VHHS student who previously attended a Chicago Public School.

United Way of Lake County representative Karla Alamar thanked the group and shared a relatable experience, having gone to high school in an affluent suburb, but now seeing the disparity among schools while working with United Way.

Food Insecurity research was presented by the final student group. They noted that food insecurity is not something people think is happening throughout Lake County. Their research found that during the recent government shutdown impacted 38 million people dependent upon SNAP, and many of those included children--the group most impacted by food insecurity in Lake County. Team member Sadi Thomas noted that the team had an opportunity to volunteer and observe at the Libertyville Township Food Pantry, after which they selected the Pantry as the recipient of their donation. They found it to be close to their community, easy access and liked that it was a non-government entity.

The class thanked the D128 Foundation for Learning for its support of this project. They also thanked the following Lake County Board Members who attended the presentation and the organization representatives who supported and attended the presentations:

Lake County Board Members:

Jennifer Clark
Julie Simpson

Organization Representatives:

Bill Gentes--A Way Out
Karla Alamar--United Way of Lake County
Kathleen O’Connor--Libertyville Township Food Pantry

Pictured above:
Macias and her students gather with check recipients following the presentations. (Back row) Vito Accettura, Nathaniel Meza, Mohammad Kannoun, David Kasyanyuk, (middle row) Alyssa Shniper, Amelia Tehrani, Julie Simpson, Jennifer Clark, (front row) Kathleen O'Connor, Sadi Thomas, Natalya Ulloa, Lesly Guzman-Uvera, Karla Alamar, Ellen Macias, Batima Mukhametgalym, Nedas Pazereckas

News