Today, November 15, is about saying "Thank You" to the Mokena School District 159 Board of Education. Our board members spend multiple hours each month on district work, attending meetings, reviewing reports, and taking on other responsibilities most will never hear or read about. We want to personally thank all seven members of the board for their service to the district, our students, and the community. You truly are the heart of local education! #ThankABoardMember
Our district received an Award of Merit today from the Illinois Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association (INSPRA)! The honor recognizes our "District Strategic Plan Social Media Campaign", launched at the midpoint of our strategic plan to highlight progress and accomplishments across many of our strategic goals. Our work was evaluated by school communicators from across the country and will be added to the INSPRA library for other school public relations professionals to explore for ideas and inspiration.
The MJHS Poms Team did a great job with their dance at the basketball game!
MES students enjoyed a read aloud of "The Leaf Thief" in the library today! Did squirrel ever find out who took his leaves?!
Each of our schools honored our country's Veterans with special programs today:
❤️ MES invited Veterans of our students to school. Students shared letters of appreciation and sang songs to celebrate those in attendance.
🤍 MIS students attended an all school assembly where they learned about the history of Veterans Day, why we celebrate it, the branches of the military, and celebrated Veterans connected to our students and staff.
💙 MJHS was visited by the Lincoln-Way JROTC for a morning assembly and had local Veterans as guest speakers during history classes throughout the day.
❤️ MES invited Veterans of our students to school. Students shared letters of appreciation and sang songs to celebrate those in attendance.
🤍 MIS students attended an all school assembly where they learned about the history of Veterans Day, why we celebrate it, the branches of the military, and celebrated Veterans connected to our students and staff.
💙 MJHS was visited by the Lincoln-Way JROTC for a morning assembly and had local Veterans as guest speakers during history classes throughout the day.
Today, we celebrate our veterans, including our very own Mr. Hipplehauser (MES), Mr. Scott (MIS), Mrs. Storino (MJHS), Mr. Fred (Transportation), and Mr. Jimmie (Transportation), who served our country. Thank you for your service! We look forward to our Veterans Day programs at each school today.
Congratulations to MJHS ELA teacher and Department Head, Mr. Craig Martinus, for presenting at the Association for Middle Level Education's (AMLE) National Annual Conference. He presented strategies for writing at the middle school level. Thank you for representing our district so well and sharing your expertise with other educators from across the country!
Our district-wide spirit week in honor of Veterans Day continues Monday and Tuesday!
Congratulations to all three Mokena SD 159 schools for being named among the 2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Schools in Illinois! We’re so proud of our students, staff, and families for continuing to make Mokena one of the best places to learn and grow!
According to the U.S. News website, "“For each state, schools were assessed on their pupils’ proficiencies in mathematics and reading, as measured by state assessment tests. Half of the ranking formula was the results themselves; the other half was the results in the context of socioeconomic demographics. In other words, the top-ranked schools are high achieving ones that succeeded in educating all of their students.“
According to the U.S. News website, "“For each state, schools were assessed on their pupils’ proficiencies in mathematics and reading, as measured by state assessment tests. Half of the ranking formula was the results themselves; the other half was the results in the context of socioeconomic demographics. In other words, the top-ranked schools are high achieving ones that succeeded in educating all of their students.“
MJHS ELA students used the HUNT annotation strategy to dig deeper into poetry. Using metacognitive skills, they analyzed a poem looking for emotional shifts, literary devices, word connotations, and thematic ideas. This work ties directly to their school improvement plan goal of building self-monitoring and independent thinking through consistent annotation strategies across all subjects. It’s incredible to see how much meaning students can uncover when they learn to slow down, think about their thinking, and truly HUNT for understanding.
Yesterday’s 6th grade ELA lesson: Reading between the lines—literally.
Students took on the 3X Inference Challenge, using visual clues and background knowledge to make logical inferences from images. The goal? Strengthen comprehension and learn to think beyond what’s directly stated - aka making inferences.
It’s incredible to watch how much students can uncover when they slow down, look closely, and connect what they see to what they already know!
Students took on the 3X Inference Challenge, using visual clues and background knowledge to make logical inferences from images. The goal? Strengthen comprehension and learn to think beyond what’s directly stated - aka making inferences.
It’s incredible to watch how much students can uncover when they slow down, look closely, and connect what they see to what they already know!
❄️🧥 Mokena School District is partnering with Midland State Bank and the Mokena Lions Club for a Winter Coat Drive. Boxes are located in each school to collect new and gently used coats! 🧥❄️
Save the Date for Parent-Teacher Conferences!
On Friday, 6th graders completed their catapult challenge as part of their Energy, Forces, and Motion science unit. Not only did students try to create a catapult that would throw a ball the farthest, they also tried out their creativity in their designs as well!
November 3-7 is National School Psychology Week! This year's theme is "Finding Your Path" and recognizes the ways that school psychologists take an active role in helping students determine their paths to learning, growth, and overall well-being. Through their deep expertise and training in consultation, collaboration, and evidence-based practices, our school psychologists empower others to set their destination and find a route that fits their needs, all while sharing tools to help them thrive along the way! Thank you to our three school psychologists: Dr. Lucas-Nihei, Ms. Darling, and Mrs. Montgomery!
The district-wide spirit week honoring Veterans Day starts tomorrow!
🕷️🧛 Happy Halloween from Mokena School District 159! 🎃👻
"When one runs, we all run!" 🏃♀️💨 MJHS students never hesitate to jump in and support their peers during the PACER Test — that’s true Meteor spirit! Today there was one runner left and many students volunteered to stand in a line and run down and back with the remaining runner to motivate them to keep going!
6th grade scientists are builiding and using fan cars to learn about Newton's Third Law of Motion!
