SIMULATION: Disaster at Geneva Middle School South

From extreme moulage to extreme disaster, this drill is playing for serious stakes.

Scenario As a part of a full-scale drill, a boiler explodes due to equipment failure during first period at Geneva Middle School South, collapsing part of the building. The building's fire alarm is activated. Extrication is needed for students and staff members trapped in the building. Triage is also needed. Five people are being transported to Delnor Hospital with a variety of serious, simulated injuries. The video and narrative that follows is the "reporter's-eye view" of the drill, first during the preparation stage, then from outside the building. Notes under the subheads were provided by School District 304.   11:15 a.m. — Preparing for the Drill It looks like fun, but it's serious business at Geneva Middle School South, as …

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Student

8:13 pm on Monday, April 29, 2013

I agree with that, as a student I know that it would be good if we participated so that we could know how to respond as well. And it would be kinda cool   more ›

Chic Williams' Legacy Includes Friday's Full-Scale Emergency Drill at GMS South

The Friday-afternoon drill that was the brainchild of the late Charles "Chic" Williams will involve "victims" in full makeup, sirens, explosions, smoke and hundreds of school and emergency personnel.

In a way, the sirens you hear Friday afternoon are paying tribute to Chic Williams, the man who helped build Geneva's Readiness and Emergency Management program to one of the best in Illinois. Williams, who died Monday after a fight with liver disease, was Geneva High School's National Incident Management System coordinator and the person who applied for the $374,000 grant that will make Friday's full-scale emergency practice run possible. Williams' visitation begins at 3 p.m. Friday at Malone Funeral Home in Geneva, a half-hour before the drill is expected to end. Friday's drill almost certainly will be the most complex and expansive in the city's history—the culmination of nearly three years’ work updating and aligning Geneva School …

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Don't Be Alarmed—School District 304 Plans Emergency Drill April 26

On the day of the drill, please do not be alarmed if you see emergency responders, smoke, ambulances, and/or media on the Geneva Middle School campus.

Geneva School District 304 is keeping the specifics of the drill a secret, but in the wake of school shootings at Newtown and others, it's not hard to imagine what the drill might entail. Geneva School District 304 Superintendent Kent Mutchler sent a letter to parents notifying them of the "districtwide, full-scale emergency drill" that will take place between noon and 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 26, at the middle school campus on Viking Drive. Viking Drive and Blackman Road will be blocked off during the drill, beginning around noon. The drill "is planned to provide Geneva School District staff the invaluable opportunity to evaluate their emergency response procedures and make adjustments where necessary," Mutchler said. Students will be …

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Avett Green

10:20 pm on Friday, April 26, 2013

Your point is? The fact that this drill didn't include 11 to 13 yr. olds doesn't make it any less valuable training for those in charge if a disaster occurs.   more ›

GHS, Middle School Graduation: 'I Must Be in the Front Row ... '

Well, you can be on graduation day if you make a donation to the Geneva Academic Foundation.

For anyone old enough to remember the Bob Uecker line in the Miller Lite commercial, this one's for you. Uecker, who will be inducted into the announcers' wing of the Hall of Fame on July 27 this year, is famous for a lot of things other than his Major League Baseball career, and one of them is the commercial where he utters the line ... "I must be in the front row!" Of course, in the commercial, he's not. He's in one of the noseblead seats—which is where most of us parents are on graduation day for the pomp and circumstance at Geneva High School or Geneva Middle School—North or South. But, if you really do want to be in the front row, here's your chance. The Geneva Academic Foundation has front row and reserved graduation seats available …

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Moments

GMS South 7th Grade Students Study and Volunteer at Forest Preserve

Field trip gives students a chance to learn about nature and to protect it.

On Friday, Oct. 19, the entire Geneva Middle School South seventh grade (245 students) spent the school day at the Dick Young Forest Preserve to participate in educational activities related to the prairie and stewardship.  Educational Activities: Students went on nature walks to learn about the prairie, learned about the importance of bird migration through lecture and a game, and reflected through observation and journaling upon what resources the prairie held in terms of plants and wild life and how important the prairie was to survival of Native Americans and early colonists (social studies connection). Students study life science in seventh grade and so the topics and environment related to their science curriculum, as well. …

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Rick Nagel

3:52 pm on Saturday, November 3, 2012

Way to go, GMS South seventh-graders!   more ›

Geneva Middle Schoolers Donate to Children in Afghanistan

Good works: Geneva Middle School South's White Team donate hundreds of school supplies for children in the Middle East.

Geneva Middle School South seventh graders shipped seven large flat-rate shipping boxes full of writing and drawing supplies Friday to the children of Afghanistan. It took only three days for the 125 students in South’s 7 White team to amass hundreds of donated pencils, small pencil sharpeners, pens, and small notepads to ship to the Middle East. Dr. Vicky Tusken, a seventh-grade language arts teacher at Geneva Middle School South, said the donations came in response to a call from a former Geneva Middle School student, Alex Meade, a specialist in the U.S. Army currently serving in Afghanistan.  In a recent phone conversation, Spc. Meade told Dr. Tusken that when he and his fellow soldiers are on patrol, the Afghan children come out to …

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Jeff Ward: There is Nothing Private About Facebook

Principal Terry Bleau and GMSS administrators did exactly the right thing when they asked a student to show them her Facebook page.

Imagine your son or daughter posted an online suicide note and not one of her 1,082 Facebook “friends” lifted a finger to stop it. In fact, some of them encourage her to go ahead and end her life. Don’t say it could never happen, because it did. What if your middle school daughter sent a nude picture of herself to friends and very specifically described her current and potential sexual experiences on Facebook? What would you do when the news spreads through the school like wildfire? How would you react if your middle school son brought marijuana-laced brownies to school and, having gotten away with it, bragged about the “prank” on Facebook? Don’t laugh. It happened in Virginia! What would you do if your son, in response to incessant middle…

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Noel G. Rooks

11:34 am on Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Double edged sword, I think. The administration does have a right to investigate things that are harmful and/or disruptive regarding students. That said, I think the bugaboo here from what I've read is that they questioned her without benefit of her parents being there? Which they should have done. In an abuse case, Jeff, as mandated reporters, the school would be obligated to call the …   more ›

MSNBC: Broviak Blasts GMS South Administrators for 'Rummaging' Daughter's Facebook Page

City of Geneva Public Works Assistant Director Pam Broviak says Geneva Middle School South Principal Terry Bleau and other administrators traumatized her 13-year-old daughter by demanding access to her Facebook page, according to a story posted on MSNBC.

A story posted Friday morning (May 18, 2012) on MSNBC and USEC Network International Magazine says the city of Geneva's assistant public works director is at odds with Geneva Middle School South administrators for forcing her 13-year-old daughter to log into her Facebook page and show them personal information. Pam Broviak, who also is the Public Works Department's civil engineer, says Geneva Middle School South Principal Terry Bleau and other administrators were anything but civil when they demanded that Broviak's daughter reveal personal information on the 13-year-old's Facebook page—according to the article written by Bob Sullivan and posted shortly before 6 a.m. Sullivan is "a consumer reporter at msnbc and author of three books on …

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S

1:30 pm on Monday, May 21, 2012

Time to get facts straight is more like it! A 13 year old having sex IS ILLEGAL! Even if it is with another minor - 720 ILCS 5/11-1.50 calls it Criminal Sexual Abuse. The school is a mandatory reporter and did the right thing to investigate what was going on. It seems strange that this happened last fall and is only blogged about when Mr. Bleau received the administrator of the year award. My …   more ›

Reminder to Middle School Parents: Mid-Quarter Progress Reports Aren't Printed Anymore

So please check out your student's progress this week on the Home Access Center.

Geneva Middle School North and Geneva Middle School South principals are reminding parents that mid-quarter progress reports won't be coming home in your kids' hands Tuesday. Tomorrow marks the mid-point of the third quarter, when mid-quarter progress reports used to be printed and sent home. They aren't anymore, because of the availability of the Home Access Center and Student Access Center. To monitor student progress, administrators are reminding parents to check out the Home Access Center this week. If you are not able to check your child’s grades online, please contact the main office to request a printed report. Geneva Middle School North's phone number is 630-463-3700 and Geneva Middle School South's phone number is 630-463-3600.   …

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Expect Traffic Friday for Geneva Middle Schools' Patriots Day

It's going to be snowy and busy at the Geneva middle schools Friday, so be careful, parents.

As if Friday weren't busy enough, what with Friday the 13th and snow galore, we've also got one of the best events of the school year—Patriots Day at both Geneva middle schools. Geneva Middle School North and GMS South seventh-grade students will have their annual Patriots' Day activities. That's when students and teachers dress in costume and reenact Revolutionary War and have a variety of activities on the traditional half day. Officials at GMS North are reminding parents that there will be plenty of traffic that goes along with the activities. "If you normally drive your student to school, you may want to give yourself five additional minutes Friday morning," a District 304 e-mail says. "If Friday is the first time you are driving your …

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