March 6, 2026 | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Secure your Child Care Today!
You can get childcare for the evening for only $25! Our friends at Right at School will be taking care of everything from 5:30p-9:30p on the 6th, for only $25 per child! They're at Ray every day before and after school and are highly trusted members of our community. If you're interested, click the button below, sign in, and select "Days Off" when you get to the reservation site. We hope you take advantage of this special offer just for Ray families. We hope to see you there!
Meet Ms. Bethanie Smith
Bethanie’s teaching career began more than 29 years ago. She has taught
preschool at Ray Elementary since 2006. She earned her master’s in
Curriculum and Instruction from Purdue University and is a Nationally Board-
Certified Teacher (NBCT). She currently serves as the Primary Team Lead,
Garden Coordinator, and member of the Instructional Leadership Team (ILT).
She is most passionate about mathematics. She has participated in various
math-related professional development opportunities, including the Erikson
Institute Early Childhood Math Initiative, conducting Everyday Math training for
colleagues, and serving as a Network Leader/Teacher Leader Facilitator for
Network 9 in conjunction with the Office of Early Childhood Education. She
strives to provide innovative, developmentally appropriate math activities for
her students. Participating in and leading training keeps her up to date on the
latest developmentally appropriate math activities for her students.
She
believes that each school year brings exciting new learning experiences that
hopefully cultivate a love of learning in our students. She also thoroughly
enjoys engaging her students in project-based learning experiences.
Spending time in the various Ray gardens and in nature is one of the
highlights of the extended outdoor classroom. Her love of the outdoors stems
from growing up in rural southern Illinois and gardening with her father. She
also loves to bake and often shares her desserts with her beloved Ray family.
When she is not enjoying the great city of Chicago, she loves to travel to
southern Illinois to visit family (especially her nephew) and childhood friends.
Meet Ms. Cynthia Annorh
I was born in Accra, Ghana and came to Chicago in August of 1977. I love to travel, be out in nature, and spend time with my friends and family. I also enjoy reading, exercising, cooking, and definitely dancing! I received my bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and my master’s from DePaul University.
My teaching career began almost 28 years ago at Ray Elementary School. I’ve taught in many different capacities: as a 1st Grade teacher, 2nd Grade teacher, 3rd Grade teacher, and as a Primary Interventionist. Currently, I’m a 2nd Grade teacher.
At present, I’m a member of the Instructional Leadership Team(ILT), the coordinator of the Out of School Time(OST)program, and a PilotLight Fellow. As a PilotLight Fellow, I incorporate food standards across the curriculum. Last year, I worked with A Seat at the Table in partnership with the Evolved Network initiative where students learned about food education and how it impacts their health and environment. In 2006, The University of Chicago employed me as a presenter for the Everyday Mathematics program which was instituted in many schools throughout the state.
I believe…“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Raise A Glass 2025
View the Event Gallery Here!
Dear Ray School friends and supporters,
Thanks to you, our Raise a Glass for Ray 2025 event was a super fun, vibrant, community-building celebration that also EXCEEDED its fundraising goal, raising over $16,000 in support of our Ray School community. You were generous, you showed out in your 90's gear, you danced, you enjoyed delicious food and drinks, you bid, and hopefully you walked away having met a member of the Ray community you didn't know previously. Thanks to our DJ and Ray parent Daniel Musisi for keeping the dance floor warm and to our photographer and Ray parent Paul Staniland who captured some fantastic moments. If you won an item in the auction, thank you for your support - a committee member will be reaching out to you to arrange pickup. If you lost out on an auction item because you were on the dance floor, we totally get it. Thanks so much for showing up for this community!
The Raise a Glass for Ray 2025 Committee: Carla Agard-Strickland, Solanna Bell, Kenya Butts, Cindy Cambray, Sasha Cervantes, Nathan Cragun, Kendalyn Diroll, Jon Heuring, Bill Housewright, Rebecca Incledon, Myron Lewis, Katie Yocum Musisi, Ulrich Rechenbach, Mennie Thompson, Allie Wunderlich