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Dear Baker Families,
What do the Baker Bonfire, 4th and 5th grade Baker sports teams, Race Against Hate, Wilmette Block Party, Pride Parade, Evanston 4th of July Parade, Baker 5k snack stations, Baker Robotics teams, the Baker Benefit, the beautiful Baker gardens, new family mentors, tour tuesday ambassadors, the Baker Board of Trustees, library books being reshelved, Human Library, BPO coffees, the Green Team, Class Parents, EqAT, Baker Book Fair, Teacher & Staff Appreciation Gifts, and many Community Service events have in common?
All of these incredible, important activities, groups and events are supported and/or made possible by Baker Parent Volunteers. All of them, and I’m sure I missed many others. With that list I barely scratched the surface of the myriad of ways that Baker Parents volunteer their time, treasure and talent to our community. Without parent volunteers our school simply would not function. The school is actually only in existence thanks to parents. In 2004, when National Louis University announced that they were selling their Wilmette campus, including Baker Demonstration School, a group of parents and faculty members got together and decided that they would not let Baker disappear. In a Herculean effort they purchased the campus and school from NLU and continued operations, taking out a large mortgage and selling off chunks of NLU’s land to offset costs.
I recounted this story to a prospective family touring last week and they remarked, “Wow, those families must’ve really loved the school a lot to do that.” I replied, “Yes they did, and families still do.” They were really impressed by that fact, and have submitted an application for their child for next year.
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We hear the word community bantered about often, but the Baker community thrives because Baker parents have always cared deeply about this school. When I was a student here in the 1980’s and 90’s, NLU wouldn’t let Baker fundraise for itself. All fundraising was done by NLU and very little of that money made its way to Baker. To help support the teachers the BPO began a program called the Small Grants Program to raise money for teachers. Parents contributed to this fund and it was distributed to teachers for projects in their classrooms, professional development, field trips and other great ways to enhance the student experience. A Baker community member was so impressed with this program and the parents’ dedication to the school that they’ve continued the program by donating $20,000 every year, even though they are no longer at the school.
Nowadays, our lives are even busier than before. Schedules, to-do lists, and responsibilities can be difficult to juggle. However, so many parents still take time to dedicate themselves to the school, while also paying tuition and donating additional monies to the school. I am incredibly grateful for these contributions and our community is enriched greatly by it.
Thank you parent volunteers!
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Mason Rocca
Interim Head of School
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May 9
BASH (Baker Arts Showcase) 5:00 p.m. - See details below
May 10
Grandparents' & Special Friends' Day 9:00 a.m. - See details below
Early Dismissal Day: (PK & K - 11:15 a.m. | 1st - 8th Grade - 11:30 a.m. / BASE Available)
May 24
Annual 5K - See details below
Early Dismissal Day: (PK & K - 12:15 p.m. | 1st - 8th Grade - 12:30 p.m. / No BASE)
May 27
Memorial Day - No School / No BASE
Now Available: The 2024-2025 major dates calendar is here.
Baker's public calendar at bakerdemschool.org/calendar
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BASE is offering care for the upcoming school day off. Morning Care is available to all registrants, while BASE aftercare is limited to those who have a current BASE Care Package registration for Spring. No after school enrichments will run on these days.
Where do I sign up? Click HERE to access the registration page. All spring BASE days are open for registration.
Spring Bonus Day Special
May 10 - Grandparents/Special Friends Day
- Half Day Care (11:30-3:15 pm)
- Fun Swim (Kinder - 8th)
Questions? Please contact Erin at esteiner@bakerdemschool.org or at ext. 5823.
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There's been Spring Cleaning going on at Baker. We have a bunch of games, puzzles, and toys that are ready to be passed along. We want to offer these first to Baker families. Please come and take whatever you would like. These will be available on a first come basis outside the front office. Please check in with the office to let them know you are here. The games will be available until the end of the school day on Friday, May 3. After that, whatever remains will either be donated or thrown away.
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BASH (Baker Arts Showcase) - Thursday May 9th | |
BASH is a celebration of the wonderful creativity of our students and our arts programs here at Baker. Our Art Gallery will include a student selected work of art from all the 1st-5th grade students. This year we will also spotlight the Music and Maker Space program, featuring the Arts Core classes Band, Choir and Maker+Music. There will be two performances from our Choir and a collaborative, improvised performance piece by Band and Maker+Music students. Everyone is invited to the performance. | |
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Baker Arts Showcase (BASH)
Who: All Baker students, family members and friends are welcome to attend.
Where: Baker
When: Thursday, May 9
Visual Art Gallery, 1st-5th Grade: Open from 5:00-7:00 p.m.
MS Band, Choir and Maker+Music Performance: 5:30-6:15 p.m. (gym)
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Grandparents' & Special Friends' Day - May 10th | |
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We hope you can join us for this annual tradition
when students share their School with family, friends and loved ones.
Grandparents' & Special Friends' Day
Friday, May 10 at 9:00 a.m.
Baker Demonstration School
201 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, IL 60091
RSVP by May 1* using this form.
* STILL OPEN! Please RSVP now.
Details will be sent Monday.
Questions? Contact Kate Alpert at communications@bakerdemschool.org.
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Community Service Spotlight - Evanston Community Fridges | |
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Evanston Community Fridges is a mutual aid network rooted in collective community care through access to free food. We organize fridges hosted within our city to feed one another.
We take responsibility for meeting each other's needs without relying on ineffective institutions to provide nourishment and cultural affirmation.
The Evanston Community Fridge team is committed to fighting food insecurity and food waste through unequivocally free access to nutritious and culturally affirming food.
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How can we help?
Visit the Evanston Community Fridge website. Here you can find many opportunities to help.
How can Baker help?
There are 4 fridges in Evanston that need to be cleaned and restocked. We are asking for food donations and volunteers to visit each fridge, clean it out, and restock it with donated food. If you would like to help please go to this Sign Up Genius to help!
This event will take place on Saturday, May 18th from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM
If you have any questions please reach out to Justin Travis at allowishes@gmail.com.
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Baker 5K: May 24th - Volunteers Needed | |
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The 2024 Annual Baker 5K event is coming up on Friday, May 24, 2024 at Gillson Park. We are so grateful to have volunteers every year to help make this wonderful all school event happen!
We are looking for volunteers for:
- Setup - NEED 3 MORE
- Chef/Food Prep - FILLED
- Post Race Fuel Station - FILLED
- Water Station - NEED 1 MORE
- Take Down - NEED 2 MORE
Please Signup Now for one of the available volunteer shifts.
Questions? Contact Erin Steiner at esteiner@bakerdemschool.org or Megan Baxa at mbaxa@bakerdemschool.org.
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Save the Date: June 4th for the Baker End of Year Picnic | |
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Please save the date for Baker’s End of the Year Picnic Tuesday, June 4th from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. at the Baker Field, and join us in celebration of another successful year at Baker.
Feel free to bring a nut-free picnic, blankets and/chairs, and whatever else you might like to have for fun in the sun.
- Frisbees
- Bubbles
- Lawn games (cornhole, lawn darts, etc.)
- Footballs, soccer balls, etc.
There will also be a Kona Ice* truck (thanks 7th grade fams), music, and other student lead activities!
If you would like to help plan this event please reach out to Justin Travis at allowishes@gmail.com.
*Kona Ice is nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free. Some allergens are on premises. Allergen Information.
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Baker Team for Race Against Hate: June 16th | |
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This year is the 25th Annual Race Against Hate
Sunday, June 16, 2024
7:30 a.m. | Floyd Long Field | Evanston IL
Baker is sponsoring a booth!
We are looking for 1 or 2 volunteers to work the tent for this event.
We are also looking to put together a Baker team. Please email communications@bakerdemschool.org to express interest.
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BPO Community Service Spotlight on The Night Ministry:
Hygiene Kit Drive
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A huge THANK YOU goes out to the Baker Community for your participation in the March Hygiene Kit Drive for the Night Ministry. Thanks to all of your kind donations we were able to assemble 20 hygiene kits! We also had a lot of other hygiene products left over for donation as well. | |
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The Night Ministry is a Chicago-based organization whose mission is to provide human connection, housing support, and health care to members of our community who are unhoused or experiencing poverty.
With an open heart, they compassionately accept each individual as they are and work alongside them to advocate for their immediate physical, emotional, and social needs while affirming our shared humanity.
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Remember to visit The Night Ministry’s website and click on the Get Involved link. Here you can find many opportunities to help. You can volunteer your time and/or give a donation. | |
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The Stolen Wealth of Slavery: A Case for Reparations
May 6, 2024
7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
ON ZOOM
DAVID MONTERO
Emmy Award-nominated journalist and producer
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, PH.D.
University Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University and author of 25 books
In this timely, powerful, investigative history, The Stolen Wealth of Slavery: A Case for Reparations, Emmy Award-nominated journalist David Montero follows the trail of the massive wealth amassed by Northern corporations throughout America’s history of enslavement. It has long been maintained by many that the North wasn’t complicit in the horrors of slavery. The truth, however, is that large Northern banks—including well-known institutions like Citibank, Bank of New York, and Bank of America—were critical to the financing of slavery; that they saw their fortunes rise dramatically from their involvement in the business of enslavement; and that white business leaders and their surrounding communities created enormous wealth from the enslavement and abuse of Black bodies.
Most white Southern enslavers were not rich—many were barely making ends meet—with Northern businesses benefitting the most from bondage-based profits. And some of the very Northerners who would be considered pro-Union during the Civil War were in fact anti-abolition, seeing the institution of slavery as being in their best financial interests, and only supporting the Union once they realized doing so would be good for business. It is a myth that the wealth generated from slavery vanished after the war. Rather, it helped finance the industrialization of the country, and became part of the bedrock of the growth of modern corporations, helping to transform America into a global economic behemoth.
In this remarkable book, Montero elegantly and meticulously details rampant Northern investment in slavery. He showcases exactly what was stolen, who stole it, and to whom it is owed, calling for corporate reparations as he details contemporary movements to hold companies accountable for past atrocities.
Montero will be in conversation with Michael Eric Dyson, Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University and author of 25 books, including 7 New York Times bestsellers, among them Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America.
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