News

Gala Recap & 'Brick' Donor Opportunity

Weekly Update from the Director - May 23, 2025
Dear GISC Families:
 
A tremendous thank you to everyone who attended or otherwise supported our 2025 Gala, A Night Under the Desert Stars, presented by HARIBO. What a terrific evening of celebration for our community!
 
Photos are now available to download from the big night - a big thank you to Heather Penzkofer for providing us with so many beautiful images from our special evening!
 
We are still processing payments and donations from last Saturday night, but as of right now we have raised over $318,000 to support our school, with a little over $158,000 of that going to Phase Two of our Playground Renovation Project. We want to thank our donors for their generosity, and we look forward to beginning the final phase of playground renovations this summer.
 
The final playground renovations will include a new extensive “nature-scape” climbing element, additional water runoff solutions, a new clubhouse, an outdoor classroom, and beautiful landscaping courtesy of trees and native prairie plants. We look forward to keeping you informed on the progress of these upgrades as the renovations commence this summer.
If you weren’t with us on Saturday night, you might have heard that we conducted a special donation drive to build a brick walkway on our playground. In the photo we've included here, you can see an example of what a brick walkway looks like. We are inviting the entire GISC community to purchase an engraved brick (a custom message in honor of your child/ren or GISC faculty members) to help us meet our goal of $175,000 to complete the full playground renovations. The bricks can be reserved with a donation of $500 or more by visiting our playground project donation page or donating via Zelle at news [at] germanschoolchicago.com. (Memo: Playground Brick)
 
We will follow up later this year with all of our brick donors to coordinate the engraving and inscription process.
 
Whether you supported the playground, bought tickets or a table and joined us, sponsored the evening, or bid on our Silent Auction from the comfort of your couch, we deeply appreciate your support of our 2025 Gala. We are greatly pleased to announce that we have met our fundraising goals for this fiscal year, assuring us of a successful bottom line result in 2024-2025. Thank you – your generous support helps GISC move forward.
 
With warm regards,
 
Ben Hebebrand
GISC Director
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1726 W Berteau Ave, Chicago, IL 60613 | +1-773-857-3000 | info [at] germanschoolchicago.com
German International School Chicago (GISC) is an IB World School that prepares students to become well-rounded, creative, and responsible global citizens. Located in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood, GISC provides students with a German-English bilingual education in a supportive and individualized learning environment. GISC graduates are prepared academically and socially to succeed in an increasingly global world. Now enrolling Preschool to Grade 8.

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