Summer School Fields Trips – 2023

Summer at Felicity is a time where we are offered the opportunity to work on social skills in non-stressful settings. We had plenty of fun on these adventures and staff enjoys providing our students with these rewards for their hard work over summer. Here is the list of outings students have gotten to attend on Fridays: Par King, Antioch Theatre, River Rand Bowl, Lambs Farm, and a trip to the Equine Center.

Park King: At Par King, students and staff were able to enjoy a round of 18 at one of the most well-known mini golf courses around. Whether they were just there to have fun, or competing with staff members for the highest score, laughs were heard all throughout the course!

Antioch Theatre: Staff and students were treated to a private viewing of DC’s newest movie “The Flash”. Established in 1924, Antioch Theatre provides a cool throwback experience, that reminded our older staff of times gone by.

River Rand Bowl: The competitive juices were flowing at River Rand Bowl, as students went head-to-head against their fellow classmates, and staff in 3 games of bowling!

Lambs Farm: Lambs Farm in Libertyville provides endless entertainment for staff and students to enjoy, while appreciating all types of disabilities. They give out bags of hay so that students can feed the animals (some of the animals included are Goats, Llamas, Cows, and even a Camel).

When they weren’t feeding or petting the animals; students could be found on the mini golf course, or in different buildings that house reptiles, birds, and even an adoption center where the students got to look at some adorable puppies!

Equine Center: For our last field trip of the year, we got the chance to head out to the Equine Center. The Equine Center is a large plot of farmland with horses, a pond, and plenty of open space for outdoor games!

Students have the freedom to grab a fishing pole and catch some fish, head over to the stables and check out the horses, and even spend their time swimming! Watching the students smile and laugh throughout the day was a perfect way to spend our last Friday of summer school at Felicity!

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!

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!

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!

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!

Hydroponics At Felicity!

Over the Summer, staff members worked very hard on setting up our Hydroponics System! Now, we are fully functioning, and able to share our full set up with you all.

Here, we are able to grow fresh produce for some of our animal friends in the building to enjoy, along with teaching students a fun way to grow food without having to use soil! The system is able to use water-based nutrient solution, instead of the soil, to grow these plants!

For the students that choose to participate, this is a place they can go to learn about a small piece of agriculture, and the places science can take us moving into the future!

Addressing Food Insecurity Locally

One of our administrative assistants, Jenny Sugarman, shared that Bella Ru Catering, was taking initiative to utilize extra catering supplies to start a food pantry nearby and taking volunteers to help pass out the food and making sure each family would receive a proper amount. After Ms. Sugarman discussed the work done with our Felicity students and families, each Monday there is a set aside amount of bags, coordinated with a pastor in Waukegan to ensure there is enough to provide to multiple families, while supplies last.

Felicity is lucky to partner with local organizations who believe in our mission and want to support our families by going above and beyond to provide extra supplies, save some families a trip to the grocery store or an easily made dinner.

For more information, please visit the below link: https://www.bellarucatering.com/

Let the Boxing Begin..

Felicity students and staff have gotten the unique opportunity to attend a weekly boxing class over the past few weeks at Marvelous Fight Studio in Wheeling. Coach Six has been a great role model for each of the students to take non-traditional boxing techniques into consideration, debunking common myths with boxing and safety techniques with self-defense.

He also demonstrates direct communication, consistency in learning and staying on task, which further enhances life skills. Each class involves perfecting techniques of beginner’s boxing techniques and increasing endurance across each type of workout, with adding new challenges for each workout to build on skill sets. Please see the photos below for a behind the scenes look at some of the lessons with our students!