Mundelein High’s Ongtengco wins award

Mundelein High School Assistant Principal James Ongtengco was presented with a Distinguished Service Award during ceremonies held at the Park Ridge Country Club.

The award was sponsored by the Illinois Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association. Featured speaker and awards presenter was Dick Johnson, NBC 5 reporter and anchor.

Ongtengco earned this award for his leadership role in the creation and implementation of the Universidad de Padres program offered by District 120. It provides an outlet for members of the Latino community to interact and share ideas with members of the school community and the Mundelein community at large.

Now in its fourth year, the Universidad de Padres program offers six workshops a year on a variety of topics of concern to Latino parents.

Some of those include valuing children’s education, maintaining family unity, connecting with teachers and school personnel, making reading a lifestyle, building children’s character, understanding the judicial system, Internet safety and many others.

Attendance has been consistent throughout the four years, with 60 to 100 parents taking part in each of the workshops.

“The excitement and enthusiasm by parents and families in attendance is contagious,” said Superintendent Jody Ware. “The objective of having the Mundelein Latino families feel comfortable in our school setting and understanding the importance of a parent’s guidance in a child’s education has clearly been understood and implemented by the participants.”

Ongtengco has been assistant principal at MHS for the past five years.