Our great partnership with ISU and Dr. Jay Percell continues! We welcomed 14 pre-service educators into our building today in preparation for their very first clinical experience this semester. They learned about our school and toured our facility to see all of the amazing opportunities and services we offer. Through 20 hours of clinicals, reflections, and a final project, this group will gain invaluable experience of working in a non-traditional educational setting. We are excited for this ongoing collaboration which is mutually beneficial to both programs.
Today, students got the opportunity to learn some survival skills with Mr. Krause. They made penny stoves to cook and stay warm with. Kaden made the longest lasting penny stove, lasting over 12 minutes! Students also learned some fire safety and fire starting skills as well. Keegan in the AM and Daveon in the PM created the best fires using the tippee method as well as a hybrid of the tippee and log cabin methods. In the words of Smokey the Bear, "Only YOU can prevent wildfires."
Children’s Home & Aid - Parents Care & Share Groups
PREGNANCY & BEYOND (ParentingNewborns)
For all expectant Moms. (partners welcome)
Socialize with other Moms.
Learn to advocate for you and your baby.
Begins again in May
Contact Stephanie Neumann at
sneumann@childrenshomeandaid.org
DADS UPLIFTING DADS (Fathers Only)
For dads to meet with other dads and learn from
each other. Special speakers for dad-specific topics.
Tuesdays at 5:30 pm on Zoom
Contact Jay Skibbens at
jskibbens@childrenshomeandaid.org
During our Triple I Day Inquiry project on Wednesday, January 26th interested students had the opportunity work on basic automotive repair and maintenance skills by providing service to our RAS School Van. Students were able to engage in demonstrating their knowledge of checking/cleaning filters and fluids, perform intereior cleaning and maintenance tasks, and make plans for future needed maintenance and repairs.
Reminder- No school on Monday, January 16th in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Official first day for new RAS Art Instructor Matthew Thornton. Mr. Thornton had a tremendous first day learning with a great group of educators focused on providing resources, supports and opportunities for students, families and the greater community.
Friendly reminder: RAS staff will return to school for an in-service day on Wednesday, January 4th. RAS students will return to school on Thursday, January 5th. We hope you enjoy the last couple days of Winter Break!
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It’s always a combination of stress and celebration during this time. We are happy to assist 1️⃣7️⃣ students complete their requirements for graduation this semester! Achieving this milestone allows for opportunities to move on to bigger and better things! Congrats!
**Thank You** First Christian Church for providing cold weather items for our students. They are greatly needed and much appreciated. Thank you for your ongoing support!!
**THANK YOU** St. Mark Lutheran Church for providing Christmas gifts for our students with children for the 6th year in a row!!! Each child received diapers, clothes, and a toy! We continue to be humbled by your generosity!!
RAS Staff can be considered an embodiment of lifelong learning. We celebrated FIVE staff members who recently completed degree programs in education! Mr. Eddins and Mr. Krause completed their Master of Science in Special Education. Mrs. Stoneking and Mr. Keller completed their Master of Arts in Education-Secondary Teaching and Mr. Thornton completed his degree in Art Education! Education is a continuously evolving part of our society and being open and willing to learning and trying new methods is vital to staying relevant! Congratulations to OUR graduates! ❤️🤍🎓🎉🥳🤍❤️
2nd Annual Holiday Blessing FREE Give Away
When: Saturday December 17th 12:00-4:00 pm
Where: Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church 801 W. Market Street Bloomington
Free Gently used clothes, shoes, toys & household items. Men, Women and children’s items, all sizes! A hot “to go” dinner will be provided.
All items and dinner will be provided on a first come first served basis while supplies last.
The holidays came early for our Middle School student this year! Thanks Debbie Horvath for the generous donation of sweatshirts to our kiddos. The new attire will keep them warm through the winter, in dress code, and most importantly in class.
It is December now- the season for focused work and blissful learning
The 40th annual Children’s Christmas Party for low-income families will be held Saturday, December 10th from 9 a.m. – noon at the Midwest Food Bank, 2031 Warehouse Road in Normal. There will be a gift and food distribution along with a special guest appearance: Santa! This will be a drive-in, drive-out event and packages will be loaded in vehicles. Children are welcome but do not have to attend. Registration is required and can be accessed at shorturl.at/FGUY5. Please sign up no later than Monday, December 5th. This event is brought to our community by the McLean County Chamber of Commerce and the local Trades and Labor Unions
Congratulations to former RAS student/family services coordinator Kevin Jones on being honored as one of the IPCF Philanthropist of the Year. We are so proud of your intentional efforts to make our community, region, country and world a better place!
The Boys & Girls Club is hosting their annual Holiday Shopping Spree for our Boys & Girls Club families and a limited number of community families. Families walk through the shopping area and pick out toys, winter items, and other necessities for their children and family including a food box with all the fixings for your Holiday dinner.
Distribution of toys will be Saturday December 17th from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm.
To sign up for a time slot and for more information contact Leslie Adams at 309-829-3034 ext. 112 or ladams@bgcbn.org.
We are grateful to all veterans, but have a special affinity to Mr. Folkens and Mr. Eddins for their service - Past and Present :)
💚 Today, RAS Staff participated in Project Oz’s #WearGreenDay for #NRPM2022 💚
👨🏻🍳🍗👩🏿🍳🍠👨🏼🍳🍎👩🏾🍳🥖🧑🏽🍳🥔👩🏻🍳🧈🧑🏼🍳🫓We had another great Inquiry Day today as part of our III Wednesdays! Students had to take a food handlers course and pass the ServSafe exam to earn a certificate in order to participate in our holiday cooking class. Students were taught how to be cost-effective with food (utilizing local food pantries, etc), in addition to how to use small kitchen appliances to prepare full meals. We prepared a one-pan Thanksgiving meal and apple crisp, all with food from our pantry using kitchen equipment we purchased through grants from PNC and the Illinois Retired Teachers Association Foundation. Kenji, one of our ISU TCH 212 students, was on-hand to help out and offer his sous chef skills, which came in handy!
