ISVI Happenings
December 20, 2006
Festival of Trees
The pre-vocational skills students decorated a beautiful Christmas tree for the
Woodhaven Hospice’s festival of trees. The tree was sponsored by the Southbrooke
Garden Center and the theme of the tree was "A Patriotic Christmas". Eight
students worked on this enjoying all different responsibilities from making a
red, white, and blue paper chain to using a die cut machine. The students used a
group Orientation &Mobility class time to go and buy the necessary supplies.
Then, on November 17, 2006 the students visited the Festival of Trees to see
their tree along with trees from other schools. The tree looked fantastic and is
now being proudly displayed in the teen center.
(Picture of an ISVI student decorating a Christmas
Tree)
Angel Tree Party
Once again the Angel Tree Party was a huge success. The Department of Human
Services staff throughout the state sponsors the event every year for the
children. It was held on the evening of December 6th at the Illinois
School for the Deaf’s (ISD) gymnasium. ISVI and ISD take turns hosting the party
every year. Santa Claus was there to hand out gifts and did a great job of
ensuring every child received a gift. The students were very excited!
(Picture of an ISVI student sitting on Santa Claus's
lap)
ISVI Hosts Big Sports Event
On December 8th and 9th, ISVI hosted a wrestling and
cheerleading meet. Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin all traveled to
ISVI for the competition. Team Illinois wrestlers won 12 matches (all by pins)
and only lost 7 matches. Awesome job! As always, Team Illinois Cheerleaders were
loud and proud. Participants did a great job making ISVI very proud of all of
them. The entire ISVI campus were very gracious hosts to all of the visiting
teams. The weekend was an enormous accomplishment and enjoyable to all.
(Picture of an ISVI student attempting a near-pin in a
wrestling meet)
Volunteering at ISVI
Students at ISVI are really appreciating volunteer work. Students at Illinois
College are taking time out of their busy schedules to come over to ISVI to do
activities in the evenings. These college students come over at least once a
week to decorate cookies, play games and organize other fun events for the
students. The volunteers seem to be having just as much fun as the students. It
is truly a "team" effort.
(Picture of two Illinois College volunteers working
with two ISVI youngsters)
Singing Students are Busy!
The Community Chorus and Concert Choir students sure have been busy in December
singing holiday songs. They have had many performances and have done an
exemplary job. They have performed at nursing homes, a hospital, the Lessons and
Carols festival, an Advisory Council meeting, and at the Holiday Program. Their
performances bring a smile to all bringing out the true meaning of this very
giving holiday season.
Braille Challenge
Many ISVI students have been asked to attend the Braille Challenge preliminary
contest at the Missouri School for the Blind in St. Louis, Missouri on February
15th, 2007. This contest is sponsored by the Braille Institute. The
day will be filled with Braille activities such as speed and accuracy, chart and
graph reading, proofreading, reading comprehension, braille spelling and much
more. Scores will be kept and the highest scoring students will be eligible to
go to Los Angeles, California in the summer of 2007 for the final contest. Good
luck, ISVI!
Hoops for Heart
ISVI raised approximately $1,500 this year at the annual Hoops for Heart event
to help the American Heart Association. This event was held on November 22nd
in the ISVI gym. By Participating in Hoops for Heart, ISVI helped people in the
community fight against heart disease and strokes. There were about 50 ISVI
students that participated in the event and raised money for it. This year’s top
money raisers include Michaela Wood raising $307, Brad Mathews raising $150 and
Morgan Schulte raising $100. The students jumped rope, shot baskets, hula hooped
and tossed bean bags to only name a few of the activities going on that day. Way
to go ISVI for making a difference!
(Picture of an ISVI student shooting a basketball into
the basket)
ISVI Parent Association
The ISVI Parent Association needs your help. There are a variety of ways that
you can help out without having to contribute a lot of your time. All of the
proceeds from any of the below mentioned fundraisers will go to the Parent
Association which will go towards a variety of items needed for school
improvement. One easy way to help is by collecting Campbell’s soup labels and
Box Tops for Education. After you cut them out, please send them to the
attention of the ISVI Parents Association at the schools address. Next, ISVI is
participating in Target’s Take Charge of Education initiative. Enrolling is
easy. Go to www.target.com to apply for a Target REDcard. Then choose ISVI as
your school to receive the donation. Once enrolled, 1% of your REDcard purchases
at Target and www.target.com are donated to ISVI. The funds can be used for
playgrounds, books and more. Another way to help out is This is a way for ISVI
to earn contributions through your everyday shopping at merchant websites,
select stores and catalogs. All you have to do is log on to the Schoolpop
website and pick ISVI as your organization to receive the contribution. Finally,
please send your used inkjet cartridges, used laser cartridges and old cell
phones to the ISVI Parent Association. They can earn money for ISVI by recycling
these items through the Schoolpop recycling program. If you have any questions
or want to become a member of the Parent Association, please contact Tracy Orr
at 217/248-6320 or at orrjk@csj.net .
Dates to Remember
January
2: Students return to campus from Holiday Break
8-12: Mid-Terms Week
18-21: NCASB Cheerleading and Wrestling Championships
19: ISVI Birthday Celebration
25-28: Break
February
7: Goalball at home
9-10: Goalball at Missouri
15: Braille Challenge at Missouri
20: Goalball at home
22-23: AER Conference
21-25: Break