Regional Alternative School

Digital Field Trip Part 2 was a wild success! From African ecosystems to the Open Aviary, DLL Students dove into conservation topics like population control & habit fragmentation at Milwaukee County Zoo-- perfect timing on Earth Day! 🌍🦒🦜 Thank you, Mrs. LaCroix-DLL Instructor, for providing this opportunity for students and staff!

See you all on Tuesday!

💰💡⚡️🦺Congratulations, Mrs. Jenkins, for being a recipient of the Corn Belt Energy Education Grant! RAS will use these funds to cover the cost of OSHA certifications for our students who are close to graduating. This certification is a HUGE résumé boost and allows our students to have an advantage when applying for jobs after graduation. Thank you, Corn Belt Energy, for your continued support and generosity! 🦺⚡️💡💰

Yesterday, our students at RAS had a fantastic opportunity to sit down with Megan from Midwest Technical Institute (MTI) in East Peoria. Finding the right path after graduation is all about knowing your options. Megan shared some great insights into MTI’s hands-on programs. A huge thank you for visiting us and showing our students how they can turn their passions into a professional career.

RAS staff members from our Bloomington and Livingston County campuses are participating and presenting at this year's ICEARY Conference in Normal. Never stop learning!

🚨RAS students will work remotely March 5th & 6th!🚨

🫶🏿🫶🏾🫶🏽🫶🏼🫶🏻March is National Social Work Month. RAS would be LOST without this amazing team! The theme this year is Uplift.Defend.Transform. and these five individuals do that every.single.day. Collectively, our Social Work Team sees each student, each day in a variety of ways that help meet individual needs. From counseling to providing basic needs to helping our students and families access outside community agencies, they do it all! 👏🏻👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾👏🏿

Yesterday, RAS middle school students enjoyed a valuable opportunity to engage with local businesses and skilled trades at the Bloomington Career Academy 8th Grade Career Expo.

Throughout the event, students explored various career pathways, engaged in meaningful dialogue with industry representatives, and participated in dynamic, hands-on demonstrations. Events like these are essential for bridging the gap between the classroom and the workforce, allowing students to visualize their future potential.

Learning can happen anywhere, and today, it happened at Milwaukee County Zoo with Mrs. LaCroix and our DLL students! We explored great apes and monkeys, amphibians, fish, reptiles, sea lions, and elephants. We met zookeepers and learned about conservation, habitat loss, animal identification, breeding programs, geography, sign language, poetry from a Navajo member, and how even reading food labels can help protect wildlife. Students also got a behind-the-scenes look at so many cool careers like zookeeper, veterinarian, architect, chef, animal care, landscaping services, and more, while seeing how zoos are designed so animals often have more space than humans. We talked vet care, zoo trading, fun animal facts, and what it really takes to care for animals every day. Final fun fact: elephants are like us and have a preferred side, and the tusk they use most is always shorter, so next time you see one, check their tusks to see if they’re a lefty or a righty! 🐘

It has been a great two days connecting and reconnecting with students and their families. Student-led conferences allow our students to self-reflect, lead the discussion about their learning, and take ownership of their choices and overall academic engagement. We appreciate the time and support our families gave to us to continue to foster the partnership between home and school! 🏠🔁🏫 A future educator from ISU, Mr. Tamayo, volunteered his time and interpreter skills to help us communicate more effectively with families. We were happy to welcome him back into the building! 🙌🗣️ As always, our friends and First Christian Church made sure the staff was well-fed to help us get through the longer days! ❤️

🗣️🗣️🗣️We will be hosting Student Led Conferences tonight from 3:30-7 and tomorrow morning from 7:30-noon. Please call the school if you still need to schedule yours! ☎️309-828-5807☎️

Due to inclement weather, RAS-Bloomington Campus will have a remote learning day on Monday, January 26th. Students should check their RAS email for further information from their teachers. Please email kquick@rasblm.org if you have any questions or concerns or call 309-828-5807.

Due to inclement weather, RAS-Bloomington Campus will have a remote learning day on Friday, January 23rd. Students should check their RAS email for further information from their teachers. Please email kquick@rasblm.org if you have any questions or concerns or call 309-828-5807.

Phew! Fall semester flew by and felt like a blur, but were we BUSY! 📌240+ students enrolled in our program=240+ student & family orientations 📌23 high school graduates 📌50+ preservice teachers assisted in our classrooms 📌1 Art Ed student teacher 📌1 BSW intern 📌1 Criminal Justice intern 📌 6 VR trade skills activities with 49 student participants 📌5 Guest Speakers from MTI, Lincoln Tech, Navy, YWCA, & A to Z Catering 📌30 students exposed to Botvin Lifeskills 📌1 Senior Trip to Heartland CC 📌4 Trips to FCC for the Helping Shelf Pantry 📌7 trips to MFB 📌Numerous donated items for our classrooms, hygiene closet, and coat and clothes closet 📌1 trip to St Mary's to help with landscaping 📌Multiple staff & student trips to the community garden 📌1 visit from a local politician 📌1 community volunteer provided professional training of our student custodian 📌11 times local agencies, partnerships, and individuals brought in snacks for staff 📌1 Golden Hammer event to mark the beginning of our journey to a new facility 📌10+ opportunities for professional development of RAS staff 📌Countless learning opportunities tor students, in & out of the classrooms 📌20 caring staff members and 2 support animals who showed up to love, serve, & care for our students and families

🎓👏🥳 We had 2️⃣3️⃣ amazing youngsters complete their graduation requirements with us during the fall semester! We wish them well as they enter the workforce, pursue certification in the trades, and/or take courses for college credit. Congratulations! 🥳👏🎓

🎓👏🥳 We had 2️⃣3️⃣ amazing youngsters complete their graduation requirements with us during the fall semester! We wish them well as they enter the workforce, pursue certification in the trades, and/or take courses for college credit. Congratulations! 🥳👏🎓

The RAS Sweatsuit Set wants to remind you that we are on Thanksgiving Break from Monday, November 24-Friday, November 28. We will see you all back in school on Monday, December 1! We wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving! 🧡🦃🍁🥔🍗🍠🥧🤎

RAS Staff wore 💚GREEN💚 today to support Project Oz's Youth Hope Month. Project Oz describes Youth Hope Month as "a powerful opportunity to shine light on youth homelessness, spark conversations, and take meaningful action to support youth in crisis." We work alongside this amazing agency every day to support youth in crisis in McLean and Livingston Counties. #youthHOPEmonth

Chestnut Health Systems’ Lighthouse Institute is recruiting Emerging Adults (18-26 years old) who are facing challenges related to substance use, along with their parents, for a paid research study seeking feedback for a new recovery program called Launch. Participating families will receive Launch services at no-cost, be compensated for virtual research visits, and there is no waitlist! Call or Text Alice today at (541-251-8507) or fill out the form on the Launch Website for more information.

Please find the attached newsletter for November. We value the partnerships we have with our students and families. As we settle into the cold months, please let us know if you are in need of cold-weather items. Also, our School Market is available for students to sign up for each week. Please email Miss Cave (jcave@rasblm.org) if your family is in need of additional food. We are running low on dress code clothing for students to borrow. PLEASE make sure your child is dressed in the correct attire every day. As always, please let us know if you have any questions.