I hope everyone is handling the beginning of winter well. Technically it hasn’t even begun but you can’t convince me of that!
- Eliasek scholarship information and paperwork will be available to every SEA and SEEO member’s families beginning on December 19th so expect an email from me with that attachment. I will also be sending it to every rep to post on your SEA bulletin board and will also include in next week’s SEAside. If you have a child attending college, please look at the paperwork.
- Gossip is Toxic! If you have an issue with someone, please talk to them. Take your building rep with you or a fellow staff member, but please try to refrain from talking to your admin at first. If the situation were reversed, would you want the person you offended going straight to the admin about you?
- SPARKS – for our newer staff – it’s a great overnight trip and a wonderful learning experience for everyone involved. Check out the attached paperwork – the form is due next Monday; please join us for a terrific time!!
- I will be out of the district tomorrow – Skunkworks – it’s a meeting with all the local area presidents – no idea why they call it skunkworks – I’ve asked and no one remembers! I will be available by phone so if you need me, please call – NO worries – we all walk in and out all the time – it’s actually a norm for this meeting.
Chery
PS – Holiday trees and the White House Holiday Traditions
Germany made the first fake holiday tress – they were made of goose feathers that had been dyed green. Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895 and the 1st president to decorate the White House with a tree was Franklin Pierce. Oregon produces most of the holiday trees in the US and many parts of the tree are edible with the needles being a great source of vitamin C. Jimmy Carter was the first president to attend a menorah lighting ceremony and that tradition has continued. Bill Clinton began the tradition of placing a menorah in the Oval Office in 1993 and George W. Bush held the first White House Hanukkah Party in 2001. The past 3 commander in chiefs have acknowledged Kwanzaa, but the White House does not yet have an established set of customs surrounding the holiday. Here’s hoping your traditions are celebrated over Winter Break with family and friends.
Chery Anderson
SEA President
Schaumburg, IL
School District 54
Schaumburg Education Association 