Bullying Hotline

Do you have

bullying

concerns?

CALL

708-952-3255 ext.55333

Leave the following

information: your name (optional),

bully’s name, what happened where,

when and other

information that may be

important.

We Are The Champions Liberty Band Tour 2

2014 Patriot Pen Essay

Winner 3

NJHS Fundraiser 3

Liberty’s Got Talent 4

Important Dates 4

Inside this issue:

The Liberty Bell December 2014

708-952-3255

5900 W. 81st Street

Burbank, Illinois 60459

Mission Statement: The mission of Burbank School

District 111 is to provide a

quality education in a safe and

secure environment to ensure

students reach their full

potential as socially responsible

life-long learners.

Tis the season to show someone you care!

The Six Pillars of Character are trustworthiness, respect, responsibil-ity, fairness, citizenship and caring. The pillar of caring means to be kind, to be compassionate and show you care. It teaches to express gratitude, to forgive others and to help people in need. December is the perfect month for the pillar of caring. Approximately six hundred Liberty students (pictured above) show their support by forming a human sculpture during Character Counts week. Students also wore red in solidarity to show their conviction to the pillar of caring. Take a moment this month to do some act of kind-ness and show someone you care!

Caring Makes The Season Bright!

Student Council Sponsors The Kindness Project

Liberty Band Goes On Tour And Spreads Holiday Cheer

Page 2 The Liberty Bell

This year Student Council is sponsoring the Kindness Project. Each student is chal-lenged to show fifteen acts of kindness, by December 16th. The students are given five areas they can complete this chanllenge. The five areas are: compli-ments, good deeds, charity, helpfulness and school improvements. Some ideas for kindness have come from students who have participated such as helping other younger students in your school with math or science. Or giving someone a compli-ment, smiling and saying thank you to the bus driver and or anything else that is kind. The program is to convey that showing kindness goes a long way. The Student Council is also sponsoring the program Operation Gratitude. Operation

Gratitude sends one hundred thousand care packages each year to Deployed Troops, Veterans, New Recruits and Wounded Warriors. This program promotes showing appreciation to those who serve our coun-try and make sacrifices for our freedom

that we enjoy each day. Writing a letter is

just one way of showing our apprecia-tion for all they do or have done for our country. So far students have ral-lied and have written many letters. Writing the letters helps students re-flect on what it takes to have a military life and how important it is to our na-tion. The soldiers receiving letters have expressed how moving it is to read letters of admiration and thanks for all they do. For Liberty students who have taken a few minutes to write a letter, draw a picture or just a few lines of gratitude can make a powerful statement to someone who is thousand of miles away from their homes serv-ing our country.

The Liberty Junior High School Bands performed at the Cen-ter Cass District 66 Winter Invitational on December 6th. The students benefited from working with the guest clinician, Brayer Teague, Director of Bands at Downers Grove North High School. The bands gave an outstanding performance. Mr. Teague provided the students with many compliments. The clinician spent time working with the students to improve their performance skill and interpret music more effectively. The 8th Grade Band students spread some holiday cheer for young and old in the Burbank community on Friday, Decem-

ber 12th. The band students prepared a selection of Christmas carols that they performed for the morning Burbank Park District pre-school. A second stop for the caroling ensemble was at the Viverito Sr. Center where the students enter-tained the seniors before their lunch. The students were given a great welcome and played for almost an hour. Liberty Junior High will present their Winter Band concert in the gym on De-cember 15th at 7 p.m.. The

concert will feature the 7th grade Band, 8th grade band and District 111 Cadet Band. In addition to the selections that each group has prepared in class, the band students will com-bine to perform selections from the Polar Express movie.

Pictured to the left is 8th grade student Chris Butnariu on saxophone. Pictured above is the Liberty Band. Middle pic-ture is the Burbank Park District pre-schoolers. Pictured to the right is

Yaseen Qatanani on saxophone.

Page 3

Liberty Student Wins Essay Contest!

NJHS Fundraises For Food Pantry And The USO

Liberty Junior High School’s National Junior Honor Society inductees have been busy coordinating events that have helped many people. During the first fundraiser, the students collected their spare change and in one week they col-

lected over five hundred dollars to help the USO. The USO is an or-ganization that helps military men and women and their families. The students also coordinated a food drive that will help the local food pantry. NJHS students coordinated the event by volunteering their time to set up boxes, make posters, count, and collect all food donated by fellow students and staff. The students collected approximately 2,000 servings of food which will be donated to the Our Saviors Church Food Pantry! NJHS students and staff would like

Why I Appreciate America’s Veterans There was a time a couple of summers ago when I had a strong desire to join the military. My family and I were visiting Pearl Harbor, and all of the vets there had seemed so loved and appreciated. The military had never ap-pealed to me before, but out there it didn’t seem so bad. Young men and women, maybe only six or seven years older than me, were on the deck of the USS Missouri, fully clothed in camouflage. They were having a good time, playing around with one another and talking to tourists like they were old friends. Suddenly, being in the military seemed great. But the more I pondered it, the more I came to the same conclusion: it wasn’t always like that. Even when they weren’t off at war, it was still an extremely tough job, physically and psychologically. The grueling workouts, endless drills and complicated tests were only part of it. Most of the soldiers are far away from their family and friends. And while they may make new buddies, I’m sure the loneliness of not being with their loved ones had to be difficult to deal with at times. That was when I knew a military life wasn’t for me. I don’t think I could be that brave and strong so far from my family. That’s one of the reasons veterans inspire me. They sacrifice their lives to protect a country full of people they’ll never meet. Both of my grandfathers have served, and I don’t think they would give that up for anything in the world. I hope they’re proud of what they’ve accomplished, because anyone who is courageous enough to risk their lives for their country deserves self-satisfaction. In conclusion, I believe that the men and women who are serving currently, as well as those who have served before them, should receive our utmost re-spect and gratitude. We have the opportunity and security to live freely be-cause of them. And to those who have fallen in battle may they know they will never be forgotten, and we are thankful for their final sacrifice. I hope that all the veterans who have helped to protect our country know just how much I appreciate them. By Caroline Cragg

The VFW sponsored youth essay competition that is conducted nationwide is a way for students to express themselves and voice their views of democracy. This years 2014 Patriot Pen Essay Winner is 7th grade student Caroline Cragg. Pictured above and front is Caroline Cragg. Back row left to right is Caroline’s grandfather, Thomas Cragg and Caro-line’s parents Emily and Kevin Cragg.

to thank everyone at Liberty Junior High School for taking part in each event thus far. The fundraisers could not have been a success without all the help of the staff and students of Liberty. Thanks to all who helped with these worthy causes.

December 19 – Last Day of School

22 - No School

Winter Break

Begins

Have A Great

Winter Break!

January 31 - New Years Eve!

1 - Happy New Year To All Our Liberty Students And Their Families!

IMPORTANT DATES

5 - School

Resumes

Winter Break Is Over!

19 - No School

Martin Luther King Holiday

Page 4

Liberty & District 111 Shows We Have Talent

Yearbook

O

N

S

A

L

E

N

O

W

Your 2014-2015 Yearbook Is On Sale Now! Yearbook Price Is $25.00

If Purchased before December 15th. $35.00 starting January 5th. Make Checks Payable To

Burbank School District 111. All Payments Should Be Turned Into

Your Matrix Teacher.

Volunteer

Your Services

If you are interested in being a volun-

teer for Liberty Junior High School,

inquire in the school office.

Lilian Rosales & Jumannah Abdelkader…..Jingle Bells Neveen Husien…..Theme from the Pink Panther Diana Castro…..Just Give Me A Reason Aylin Flores…..God Bless America Samantha Madison….I Really Don’t Care Deena Abushakra…..Drawing Kayla Lenton…..Hard Rock Blues Kinga Szelinga…..Radioactive Estrella Chavez…..The Entertainer Kegan Sakowski & Matthew Guzmam…...Rude Michael Walsh…..Forward March Mateusz Klak…..Mortal Combat Jamin Pascual, Natalia Carrion, Kassandra Salazar, & Arly Delgado…..Chandelier Bridget Danaher…..Somewhere Over the Rainbow Hailyey Ruehle…..Let It Snow Karolina Rzepka…..Minuet in G Ricky Kirk…..Four Leaf Clover Gabriella Kulach…..Firework Erika Gamboa…..The Cup Song Angelika Rzepka…..Canon in D Genesis Abad…….All I Ask of You …..King of my Heart Zuzanna Radecki…..Really Don’t Care Alexia Carillo…..Stay With Me Vivian Wong…..Carol of the Bells Catlin Diaz…..Almost is Never Enough Jenna & Jersey Panock…..The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Jazz Band

Thomas Butnariu Dottie Cuevas Arturo Saucedo Fernando Juan Diaz Jordan Diaz Michael Winstead Matthew Diaz Emilia Flores Jose Santoast Caroline Garcia Alfredo Guzman Bartek Szumiec Michael Harvey Josh T. Lara Ricardo Zuniga Isaac Lunar Sandra Marquez Gabriel Rivera Sandy Martinez Haley Palausky Angelika Rzepka Jose Pineda Amanda M. Przygonska

Stage Crew

Shahd Abukalil ,Cassie Gow, Alex Tomasik, Shawn Whalen,

Amer Dalis, Lizbeth Sanchez, Alexis Cohn, Sylvia Bednarczyk,Diana Kobylar-

czyk, Saul Hernandez and Evelyn Aguliar

On Friday, December 5th Liberty hosted the District 111 Talent Show. Students from all eight schools audi-tioned for a spot to showcase their various talents. The show was a en-joyed by all. Thank you to all who participated and worked so hard to make it a huge success. A special thank you to Mrs. Harvey and Mrs. Lindemann for all their dedication.

Pictured upper left is 8th grade student Angelika Rzepka. Upper right 7th grader’s Jenna & Jersey Panock and lower right is 7th grade student Ricky Kirk.