To help spread awareness to the water crisis happening around the world, District 99 students and staff came together, in partnership with the WE organization, to raise funds to provide clean water for Ecuador on Friday, Feb. 7 during the annual Walk For Water at Unity Junior High School.

Valentine's Day wasn't the only reason love was in the air at Sherlock Elementary School on Friday, Feb. 14.

During the morning, parents of third graders joined their students for interactive Valentine's Day-themed math activities filled with sweet treats, puzzles and coloring.

Love was in the air at Liberty Elementary School on Thursday, Feb. 13, as parents and grandparents flocked to the school for a Sweetheart Dance filled with dancing, sweet valentine-themed treats and crafts.

Last month, students at Cicero East Elementary School were celebrated by staff and administrators for outstanding MAP Test growth. Trophies were given for top scores and top growth in reading and math, both individually and by class, and all students who exceeded expected growth received certificates of achievement.

On Friday, Feb. 7, students from classrooms across Goodwin Elementary School were presented by Principal Al Molina and Assistant Principal Alison Espinoza with individual awards for academic improvement, excellence in their classrooms, good citizenship and perfect attendance.

This month, Cicero District 99 recognized Elvia Arellano, fifth-grade teacher at Warren Park Elementary School, and Lezley Harmon, special-education teacher at Columbus East Elementary School, for exemplary service and outstanding leadership in District 99.

In January, Elaine Dominguez, a student at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, was recognized by Achieve3000 as an outstanding user of its literacy software during its Make the Break contest — a national initiative launched by the digital instruction platform to encourage students to continue using its reading tools over their holiday breaks to maintain growth achieved during the first half of the school year.

Kindergartners at Drexel Elementary School celebrated the 100th day of school senior-style, coming to school dressed as 100-year-olds. Students donned gray wigs, glasses, makeup wrinkles and grandparent-style sweaters.

To display community solidarity during an extremely trying time for members of the Cicero community, Cicero District 99 and the Town of Cicero are teaming up to host a vigil Wednesday, Feb. 5 in honor of five-year-old David Castellanos III and his grandfather, David Castellanos.

Cicero District 99 is mourning the loss of a five-year-old boy from Liberty Elementary School, who has passed away following a Cicero house fire during the early hours of Tuesday, Feb. 4.

First-grade students at Liberty Elementary School were in for a big surprise last Thursday, Jan. 30, as representatives from IlliniCare Health presented the school's first-grade classrooms with $500 worth of school supplies.

Congratulations to Gabriela, sixth-grade student at Daniel Burnham Elementary School, for being the Chicago Blackhawks' top reader for the month of December.

Earlier this week, the Golden Apple teaching excellence foundation named Nichole Carder-Bocek, a fourth-grade teacher at Daniel Burnham Elementary School, as one of its finalist for the 2020 awards.

With the recognition, Carder-Bocek is among the lucky 30 finalists selected from more than 730 nominated educators from schools across Illinois.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, students from across District 99 read portions of King's famous 1963 speech, "I Have A Dream."