Stevenson High School notes

Foundation shows: The Stevenson High School Community Foundation will present the following performances as part of the 2007-08 school year.

• ComedySportz will be featured at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Performing Arts Center. ComedySportz offers a improvisational comedy that is appropriate for all ages. The Red and Blue teams battle it out in front of a referee in games that the audience selects, and points are awarded based on how hard the improvisers make the audience laugh. For information, visit the Web site comedysportzchicago.com. Tickets cost $13 for adults and $10 for seniors and students.

• Vocal Trash will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 5 in the Performing Arts Center. Texas-based Vocal Trash performs a cappella harmonies and industrial "Stomp-style" drumming. For information, visit the Web site linderandbrock.com. Tickets cost $22 for adults and $20 for seniors and students. The community foundation also will offer the following children's theater productions. Both performances will take place in the high school's West Auditorium. All seats reserved and cost $5:

• "Rapunzel" will be performed at 1 and 3 p.m. Oct. 28.

• "The Elves & the Shoemaker" will be featured at 1 and 3 p.m. March 9.

To place an order for all performances, call Barb at (847) 634-4000 ext. 1882.

Communication arts faculty featured: Three members of the communication arts division are featured in the latest edition in the College Board's "Special Focus" series.

David Noskin and Steve Heller wrote essays for the Advanced Placement Language and Composition edition on "Using Sources," and an article by Denise Foster written for the AP Central Web site titled "Entering the Synthesis Conversation: Starting with What We're Already Doing" is referenced in an essay by former Stevenson faculty member Jason Stacy.

The publication highlights research and best practices in how students use sources and do research to meet the demands of navigating the information superhighway. Noskin's essay is titled "Vertically Aligning Research: Leading to the Research Paper," and Heller's piece is called "Synthesizing Visual Rhetoric."

Heller also served as chief editor for the publication.

Fun in Philadelphia: Stevenson High School's journalism program recently went to Pennsylvania and received several awards at the 2007 National Scholastic Press Association/Journalism Education Association fall convention in Philadelphia.

The Statesman, the school newspaper, was one of 14 nationwide to receive the Pacemaker award for prep journalism publications of 16 pages or less. Only one other Illinois student newspaper, Naperville Central's Central Times, joined Stevenson in the 16-page category. The Statesman also finished fourth in the Best of Show competition for high school newspapers of 13 to 16 pages.

For the first time in its history, the Ambassador, Stevenson's yearbook, placed in the Best of Show competition. In addition, all six students who attended the convention placed in the write-off competition. Garrett Craig earned a superior rating, the highest possible in sports writing. Sam Taylor, Jessica Weeden and Stella Yi garnered excellent awards in three different areas, Taylor in copy editing/headline writing/caption writing; Weeden in yearbook student life copy and caption writing; and Yi in yearbook academic copy and caption writing.

Sean Madden (editorial writing) and Ariya Akhavan (yearbook clubs copy and caption writing) received honorable mention awards.

Barb Thill, Stevenson's journalism teacher and adviser to the Statesman and Ambassador, was one of four people to receive the 2007 Pioneer Award, the highest honor given by the group to journalism educators. Pioneers are individuals who make substantial contributions to high school publications and journalism programs outside of their primary employment.

Chess team takes second: The Stevenson chess team tied for second place Nov. 10 among 24 teams at the Evanston Team Tournament.

Stevenson had victories over Lincoln Park, New Trier and last year's state runner-up, Whitney Young, and suffered a close defeat against tournament champion Niles North. Several team members won individual awards. Jordan Cohen finished third on board 2, and Robby Hecht placed fifth on board 4. Justin Feng and Alex Gross went undefeated on boards 2 and 7, respectively.

Other team members who competed were Nathan Wong, Kenny Alldredge, Kevin Mark, Scott O'Connor and Corbin Rudnik.