Work on the set began in August, with Leyden’s 3 students being joined by an additional 39 exceptional technical theatre students from all over the state.  These students were selected by the All State staff based on their portfolios, tech directors’ recommendations, and an interview.  They are responsible for building the entire set - one of the largest ever for an All State show.  Once complete, the set will be dissassembled, moved to Champaign, and reassembled in early January for the performances.

Long days - up to 15 hours - are typical for these students. They worked seven straight days in August, then came back over every holiday weekend (Labor Day, Columbus Day and Thanksgiving), and will make their final push starting December 20.   

As Vic Pilolla says, “Working with these kids has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my theatre career.  The work ethic, enthusiasm and dedication that these students show is almost unbelievable, and our Leyden students are showing everyone else that they truly belong with the “best of the best”.

A few weeks ago, the home of two East Leyden students was completely destroyed in a tragic fire.  Although thankfully no one was hurt, the family (mom, dad and seven children ranging in age from 8 months to 17 years old) lost not only their home, but all their possessions. 

Knowing the generosity and compassion of Leyden students, staff members, and community, I’m not surprised that we have already collected a storage room full of items for the family.  In addition, in a massive, coordinated effort, the freshmen ACCESS program at East has started their EAGLES project early this year in support of the family.  ACCESS is our daily freshmen mentoring program.  There are 20 advisories, each comprised of about 18 freshmen, 2-3 upperclass mentors, and a teacher.  As Barb Georges, the ACCESS coordinator, describes the EAGLES project, “It is an activity for freshmen to reach out to their peers, school and community.  Freshmen work to achieve six categories of personal development, school involvement, and community service.  The EAGLES project is one of the initiatives created in ACCESS to help our freshmen and upperclass mentors grow academically, socially, and culturally.” 

The ACCESS advisories are working to organize and execute fundraisers and collections for the family.  Since they are in temporary housing at this time, they are unsure of their future needs, but financial support of any amount would be greatly appreciated.  If you would like to help, please feel free to contact me at krobbins@leyden212.org or Barb Georges at bgeorges@leyden212.org for more information.

On the first day of December, with the first real snow of the year falling outside, I can’t help but think about the month ahead and how busy it will be for students and staff members–starting with this weekend.

I’m looking forward to attending  Leyden’s annual Madrigal Dinner this Sunday, December 7 (other performances are on Friday and Saturday, December 5 and 6.)  It’s a perfect way to start the holiday season and to support Leyden’s talented student musicians.  Typically a sold-out event, there are still some tickets left for this year’s performances ~ details are available on the Leyden web site, www.leyden212.org.

I’m also looking forward to seeing many of Leyden’s alumni and fans this Saturday night, December 6, as the boys’ basketball program celebrates its 2000th game, with an overall record–after 83 seasons–of 1208-787.  Between the sophomore game at 3 p.m. and the varsity game at 6 p.m., an exhibition game between many of our former basketball players will be played at 4:30 p.m.  Former players and coaches will be welcomed back and introduced.  As a bit of trivia, the first boys’ basketball game was played on February 12, 1926, against Bensenville.  Leyden won–with a score of 12-9! 

The entire Leyden community should be proud of Leyden’s long history . . . and its promising future.

I recently came back from a conference on Educational Technology tools and learned how easy it is to blog so I decided to try it.  I know many of you get news about the schools from the local newspapers, the principals’ newsletters, and the superintendent’s newsletter, but I wanted something more timely.  This will allow me to quickly share news and events with you and to provide accurate information about things that are happening in the district.  I welcome your feedback and have included my email address and phone number in this post. 

We are in week 12 of the 2008-2009 the school year, and a lot has happened since the end of the last school year.  During the summer we completed numerous construction projects designed to keep our two buildings (85-year old East and 50-year old West) up-to-date, safe, and functional.  While this was going on, nearly 600 students took summer school courses and another 450 were in driver education classes.  In addition, 141 incoming freshmen completed the 6-week Freshman Academy designed to improve skills in reading and math, with over 90 percent seeing an increase in at least one of those areas.  Hundreds of other students participated in athletic camps and marching band camp.

The school year started smoothly, with students and staff members making pledges to ‘commit to excellence’ this year.  On September 11, we had a reception to dedicate our newly renovated Alumni Wall of Fame at East Leyden, made possible through the generosity of the Village of Rosemont and the East Parents’ Club. 

Just two days later, on September 13 and 14, we were hit by the torrential rains that fell in the Chicago area, and because of unprecedented flooding at West Leyden and the communities around us, we closed school on Monday, September 15.  This was just the second time in my ten years as superintendent that school was closed, and I hope we won’t have to do it again. 

Homecoming weekend on October 3 and 4 started with a faculty football game and pep rally on Friday night, and football games and the dance Saturday.  A highlight of the weekend for me was watching the family of a 6-year old Northlake girl accept the keys to a minivan, enabling them to take their daughter to her weekly chemotherapy treatments.  Students and teachers in the Sports and Entertainment Marketing classes had committed to the lofty goal of raising enough money to buy the family a minivan, and with the help and generosity of individuals, groups, and Arlington Heights Ford, they met their goal.

And just last week on November 6, we held our second annual Career Fair, open to the public and to all Leyden students.  Held at West Leyden, this year’s fair allowed nearly 450 job seekers access to 45 employers.  We also offered other career resources, including course information from Triton College representatives.

All in all, a busy, productive first 12 weeks of school.