Speech Challenge
Speech Challenge is a district speech competition open to all District 75 students in third through eighth grade. This competition takes place during the fall semester of school at Carl Sandburg Middle School. Informational meetings are held for students and parents in September.

The purpose of Speech Challenge is to enable students to sharpen their public speaking skills. Each student works with a teacher / parent coach for six weeks prior to the competition. On the day of the competition, students, along with their parents and coaches, are invited to present and watch speeches before a panel of district teachers and administrators. Presentations can be oral interpretations of poems, stories, or speeches and must be memorized. Students may present alone or with up to two other students.

Saturday Scholars
Saturday Scholars is an enrichment program open to all District 75 students in all grades. The program meets for six Saturday mornings during January, February, and March at CSMS. Teachers offer classes in a variety of areas including:

• Art
• Cooking
• Games
• K’Nex
• Languages

Tuition is charged for each class, and class sizes are limited. Class information is sent home in backpack mail in December.