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Graduation and End of the Year Update!

Felicity would like to congratulate its largest graduation class in the history of the school! With nine 8th graders, and 10 high school graduates, we couldn’t be prouder. On May 24th we hosted a celebration of our graduates with over 120 people cheering on the great accomplishments of the group. Our students worked so hard to get where they are today, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for them as they continue on their path.

With the 2022-2023 school year coming to an end, we look forward to the students joining us again for the start of our 2023 Summer School session. With outdoor lunches, activities, and field trips, summer school is a great way to infuse a calm work environment, with fun summer experiences!

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End Of Semester Raffle!

Here at Felicity, students are given tickets for work that they complete during the school year. These tickets can be used to get special breakfast items in the morning, and bags of chips or drinks during lunch.

At the end of each semester, Felicity holds a blind raffle, where students can use the tickets they have leftover, and put them into different bags for different prizes! These prizes include soft blankets, gift cards, and even headphones or an electronic massager! It is always a blast watching students divide their tickets up amongst the different items they may want to go for, and some students even pool their tickets together in an attempt to win certain prizes! Congratulations to all the students who went home with something from our end of the semester raffle!

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Felicity Art Project Update – Ceiling Tile Painting!

Over the last two months, students have had time to work on their very own ceiling tile with Ms. Medina to put up in the school building! These tiles are being installed into classrooms all around the building. This art project allows students to leave their permanent mark on Felicity, long after they are gone!

Students were allowed to paint something that they felt represented themselves, or whatever they felt they could paint best. Some students even chose to use their own free time to put the finishing touches on their tiles. Below, are a few examples of some of the incredible work that has been done!

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Caael Basketball Update!

Our Felicity basketball season is only a few weeks away from ending! Felicity is a proud member of the Chicago Area Alternative Education League. CAAEL, a not-for-profit organization, has been providing a full spectrum of academic, athletic and art programs to the Chicagoland area’s youth since 1976.  Each year, CAAEL offers 1100+ events to 5,000 students from 30 Illinois counties. Working together, building a team like atmosphere, and coming together to achieve a common goal, are three important parts of the Caael program we try our hardest to achieve!

Caael is not about having the best record in the league or winning every game. The goal is to give students a reward for their academic success in the classroom. If students reach an academic goal set by their teacher, and want to participate on the team, they get to spend a chunk of their Friday’s playing against another school in the Caael program. When Felicity travels to an away school for a game, students are treated on the way back to a lunch outside the building!

We have one away game, and one home game left in the season! After basketball season, we move onto either Softball, or Soccer, depending on how many kids show interesting in signing up!

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Our Mental Health and COVID-19: A Message From Felicity’s Clinical Team

To Our Felicity Community,

Where do we even begin to know how to process this? How about some good news? You are not alone! This is an unusual time for all of us and a brand new challenge in adaptation, expecting the unexpected and restructuring time management strategies.

In order to address the impact of CO-VID19 on us as individuals, we wanted to include some perspective to keep in mind:

  • Consider the resources that you may be reading, there are many sources being shown online, specifically social media, that may not have the most updated and factual data regarding health risks.
  • Pay attention to when you may need a break from the news or if you need to set a boundary with someone in your life who is giving you a lot of information at once (i.e. “I can hear that you are very concerned, but I think it is time to focus on a new topic right now”).
  • Try new things! Use this opportunity to organize a closet, cook yourself or your family a nice meal, make a new routine, walk outside for thirty minutes a day, take a break from your phone!
  • Maintain relationships with your loved ones, consistent contact with people we care about may help ourselves and the other person in more ways than one.
  • Re-frame negative thoughts. Psychology studies show that our thoughts influence our behavior, perspective of situations and can even affect our physical health with increased stress levels. Writing down a couple of things in your life that you are grateful for each day may encourage mindfulness, otherwise known as the act of being present.

For more information, the list below includes some great resources from mental health professionals to help all that may be struggling with how to cope at this stressful time:

Last but not least, please do not hesitate to reach out to Felicity’s clinical team for support and suggestions on how to navigate strategies to adapt to the impact of CO-VID19 on the community. The staff email directory is found on the “Contact” tab of the website. Stay Healthy, Inside and Out, Felicity Community!
-Felicity’s Clinicians: Mollie Swillum, Hazel Patel and Sarah Greenawalt