District 214 news
Third in accounting: Buffalo Grove High School's Accounting I team placed third in a field of eight schools in the 23rd annual Harper Area Accounting Contest, held at Harper College on April 18.
Open to all high schools within the Harper attendance area, the Harper Accounting Contest is a 100-question test. Ranking in the contest is based on the number of questions answered correctly. The total of the highest five students' scores per school determines the winners in the Accounting I contest.
Buffalo Grove's top finishers this year were junior Keelin Molloy and senior Sawyer Goldberg. Head coach Rich Roberts, who has guided the BGHS Accounting team to 18 championships in 23 years, was honored for his teaching, leadership, and team building. Roberts, who has also served as the Bison head football coach for the past 18 of his 34 years in education, will retire in June.
All-State Journalism Team: Three District 214 students were recently named to the 2008 All-State Journalism Team, sponsored by the Illinois Journalism Education Association. John Hersey High School senior Lena Shapiro, Prospect High School senior Emily Smoucha, and Rolling Meadows High School sophomore Jimmy Hibsch, all Arlington Heights residents, were among the select group of 10 outstanding high school newspaper/yearbook staff members chosen this year. These students represent the "most valuable players" in Illinois high school journalism. In his junior year next fall, Hibsch will take the top staff position as one of two Editors-in-Chief of the school's newspaper, The Pacer.
According to the Illinois Press Foundation, the leadership, energy, dedication, and expertise of these students help define their publications. Each member of the All-State Journalism Team will receive a plaque and be honored at a banquet in Springfield, on June 14.
Arts Unlimited winner: Adin Lenahan, a Rolling Meadows High School senior and Mount Prospect resident, has been chosen from six exceptional District 214 nominees as the winner of the 2007-2008 Richard W. Calisch Arts Unlimited Award. The honor was established in honor of Richard Calisch, a former English teacher and Arts Unlimited program coordinator. The award recognizes the student who best exemplifies creative excellence in the arts -- drama, speech, music, visual art, dance, and creative writing.
Lenahan is speech team captain, Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper, The Pacer, and a highly regarded performer. He has played many principal roles in more than a dozen plays and musicals throughout his four years, including the Illinois High School State Theater Festival and a production at Columbia College. This year Lenahan was also a recipient of the "Best of 214" Drama Award.
A four-year staff member of The Pacer, Lenahan began as a staff writer, found his niche as entertainment editor, and advanced to editor-in-chief his senior year. Professional journalism associations have granted him several Blue Ribbons and a Superior rating for his writing. He was a state qualifier in the IHSA State Journalism Tournament this spring.
Lenahan has exhibited two of his works in the Harper College Art Show and has served as a tutor in the Writers Workshop. Leading the speech team, he has won 26 top awards in Forensics. He will pursue acting at New York University's Tisch School for the Arts this fall.
Candidates from the other five District 214 schools include the following "honorable mention" seniors who also are exceedingly talented in performing arts and academics, and share their time and talents with their communities:
• Tanya Shestopalova of Buffalo Grove High School, a Buffalo Grove resident, is captain of the school's Speech and Acting team. She has won many awards in individual events speech tournaments and was a qualifier for the National Forensic League's All-American Award. The talented artist and has exhibited and placed in numerous art shows. Shestopalova will attend New York University this fall.
• Connie Oshana of Elk Grove High School, a Des Plaines resident, has been a key four-year member of the I.E. Speech team and a two-time qualifier for the IHSA State Tournament. She is a four-year performer in musicals and plays and a top contributor to the choral program. Oshana has been a vital member of the Variety Show's Comedy Troupe and was this year's director.
• Elena Snow of John Hersey High School, a Mount Prospect resident, is a top student, exemplary cellist in the orchestra, outstanding vocalist in three Hersey choirs, leading actor and student director, award-winning writer, and ambitious photographer. She was awarded a substantial scholarship to attend DePaul University's School of Music.
• Alex Brewer of Prospect High School, a Mount Prospect resident, is Editor-in-Chief of the Pacemaker Award-winning school newspaper, the Prospector. His excellent work has been recognized by professional journalism organizations and he was a State Journalism Finals qualifier this year. Brewer is top contributor to the speech team and theater department.
• Dylan Evans of Wheeling High School, a Wheeling resident, is a superior student leader, outstanding musician, and actor. He has participated in the school's top band, orchestra, choral and dance ensembles, drama productions, speech team, and photography. Evans was selected several times for the IMEA District VII and the All-State Choir and Honors Choir.
Journalism champs: District 214 journalism students competed on April 26 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, in the State Final Journalism Tournament with excellent results.
Elk Grove High School sophomore Julie Blindauer was named a state champion, capturing first place in Info Graphics. Senior Joseph Matusiak earned fifth place in Yearbook Layout: Double-Page Spread. Advisers for Elk Grove's publications are Alissa Calabrese, newspaper (Guardian), and Rachel Cieslak, yearbook (Montage).
For the third consecutive year, the Wheeling High School Journalism team, made up of student staff members from the WHS publications, earned places in the rigorous competition. Junior Claire Christensen won second place in Feature Writing and junior Neal Christensen placed sixth in the Editorial Writing competition. Karen Barrett is adviser for the school's newspaper, Spokesman, and Stephanie Keber advises the Lair yearbook staff.
John Hersey High School junior David Dragovich captured second place in Editorial Cartooning. Advisers for the Hersey publications are Janet Levin (newspaper, Correspondent) and Kristen Aloisio (yearbook, Endeavor).
Prospect High School junior Margaux Henquinet placed sixth in Copy Editing. Advisers for Prospect's publications are Jason Block (newspaper, The Prospector), and Cindy Rousseau (yearbook, Crest).
State qualifiers: On April 19 District 214 students competed in the IHSA Journalism Sectionals, where many qualified for state competition. Elk Grove High School participated in the sectionals at Roosevelt University in Schaumburg, placing second overall. The other five District 214 schools -- Buffalo Grove, John Hersey, Prospect, Rolling Meadows, and Wheeling High Schools -- competed in the sectionals at College of Lake County in Grayslake, where Prospect placed second overall and Hersey placed fifth. The following students were state qualifiers:
Buffalo Grove High School: Ivan Kaspruk and senior Katy Wolpoff. (Lauren Kraft, newspaper adviser, The Charger; Matt Branham, yearbook adviser, Stampede).
Elk Grove High School: Urszula Szpila, Julie Blindauer, Matt Vuchichevich, Kelley Greenan, Gina Erbacci, and Joseph Matusiak.
John Hersey High School: David Dragovich and Katie Wells.
Prospect High School: Margaux Henquinet, Caroline Hughes, Kevin O'Brien, Virgil Bonifazi, Paige O'Neil, Alex Brewer, and Andreana Holowatyj.
Rolling Meadows High School: Adin Lenahan and Jessica Loveless. (Stan Zoller, newspaper adviser, The Pacer; Joy Ruckoldt, yearbook adviser, The Yearling).
Wheeling High School: junior Neal Christensen, Claire Christensen, Julie Euyoque, Valerie Clarke and Hannah Siedenberg.
Math whiz: Paige Malec, a senior at Buffalo Grove High School, received the highest score of any female in the Midwest region of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin on the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges exam. Thirty-one schools compose the Midwest region.
The AMATYC Exam is administered to students in more than 165 two-year colleges in 35 states. Buffalo Grove High School students enrolled in Calculus 3/ Differential Equations are dual-enrolled in District 214 and at Harper College as they take the course, making them eligible to take the AMATYC Exam.
Malec took the first -round exam in late October of 2007, and then the second-round exam in late February of 2008. The questions on the exam are of the precalculus level, and include precalculus algebra, trigonometry, synthetic and analytic geometry, and probability. Students are given 20 multiple-choice questions, and are scored by the number correctly answered. Exam takers are penalized for guessing.
Additional recognition goes to Buffalo Grove senior Christopher Delaney, who tied for the 10th highest score overall in the Midwest region.
Geography challenge: Three sections of Advanced Placement Human Geography at John Hersey High School recently took the ninth grade 2008 National Geography Challenge, sponsored by The National Council for Geographic Education. Hersey placed second overall in the nation on this year's test.
The top scorers were the following, all freshmen: Lina Chervak, Brian Havel, Ben Coulomb, Kate Loomis, Danny McGovern, Carina Muir, Eric Yates, Maura Kelly, Piotr Mikrut, Sam O'Neil, and Jessica Powers.
Chervak scored a perfect 50 out of 50, the first Hersey student to ever do so, and the only one this year nationally. She is the National Champion for 9th graders.
In past years, Hersey students have twice won the competition and placed third once.
Schools from numerous states took the exam this year. The top three were all Illinois high schools.
Relay For Life: Prospect High School was the site for Mount Prospect's annual Relay For Life May 16-17. From 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday, students and community groups walked laps in the Prospect fieldhouse and camped on the campus in this signature fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
According to PHS Service Learning Coordinator Dave Jacobson, 196 Prospect students collected $23,968 for the cause, with an overall total of $39,000.
"We had 21 student teams participate, including boys and girls soccer, Family Career and Community Leaders of America girls track and field, girls water polo, Orchesis, Service Club, girls volleyball, and Student Council," said Jacobson. "Special thanks go to the Knightline, Xentricity, One Step, Orchesis, and the Bluemoon string quartet for their performances; senior Alexandra Moxley for singing the national anthem; and English teacher Joanne Chidester for her killer kick-boxing workout!"
The following Prospect staff members helped organize teams and assisted with supervision: Audrey Smith, John Hardey, Amy Gordon, John Kaminsky, Tom Froats, Jason Cohen, Kurt Trenkle, Cambria Shad, Andrea Ripinski, Lyn Scolaro, Kristin Burlinski, Trish Kranz, and Barb Wolf.
Top fundraisers for the Relay event at Prospect were the following students: freshman Nicole Grivas ($865), freshman Savannah Snead ($800), senior Kathleen Barkan ($700), sophomore Amy Glod ($585), sophomore Lindsay Macnab ($580), and junior Dan Santiago ($500).
"Our students and the Mount Prospect community came together for a spectacular night of celebration, reflection, and fun," said Jacobson. "Everybody who helped organize and participate in the event did an amazing job."
They speak Spanish: Students enrolled in Spanish classes at Rolling Meadows High School have recently been recognized as high achievers in the 2008 National Spanish Exam. The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese annually sponsors the challenging Spanish language contest. Prize winners are honored in the Native Speaker/Bilingual, Outside Experience, and Classroom Use only (Regular) categories. Winners range from Spanish 1 to AP Spanish and Spanish for Spanish Speakers classes.
Students from Rolling Meadows High earned a total of nine gold, 20 silver, and 31 bronze medals, as well as 51 honorable mentions.
"Attaining any placement or honorable mention for any student on the National Spanish Examinations is very prestigious," said National Director Kevin Cessna, "because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States with well over 106,000 students participating in 2008."
The winners are:
Level 1 (Regular-Classroom Only)
Silver: David Priest and Eliza Nune
Bronze: Sara Shumaker, Michelle Mitchell, Spresime Bektesi, Nicole Wellhausen and Natasha Cozzi
Honorable Mention: Hanna Fry, Sarah Szymczak, Haley Kowaleski, Lukasz Siek, Kimberly Harmon, Skipremi Bektesi and Samuel Deau
Level 2 (Regular--Classroom Only)
Gold: Claire Brady
Silver: Annette Ruby, Alexandria Johnson, Steven Pavlakis and Margaret McCarter
Bronze: Chris Sanchez, Adriana Kondilis, Natalia Gola and Madelynn Conlin
Honorable Mention: Abby Horan, Emily Ciesil, Kayla Davis, Amanda Adreani, and Kate Mrofcza. Amie Connor, Nao Nishio, Klaudia Smykowska, Hannah Sabal, Brian McCarter, Ryan Vaswani and Ryan Kulpins
Level 2 (Outside Experience)
Gold: Cynthia Acosta
Silver: Enrique Plata
Honorable Mention: Maritza Garcia and Yesenia Rea
Level 3 (Regular--Classroom only)
Gold: Catherine Moore
Silver: Brian Bourn
Bronze: Jonathan McCarthy and Jireh Louie
Honorable Mention: Rene Poellinetz, Damian Fitzsimons, Marissa Prodanovic, Kamila Gornia and Thomas Chung
Level 3 (Outside Experience)
Gold: Sandra Ramirez and Viridiana Polanco
Silver: Marielena Torres, Ivan Tapia, Veronica Angeles, Diana Mendez, Blanca Mendez, Sabrina Perez and Yesenia Del Carmen
Bronze: Cesar Mendoza, Miriam Muñoz, Yolanda Becerril, Grant Lowe, Enrique Rodriguez, Brenda Escutia, Fabian Fraire, Julia Matamoros, Mayra Zamarripa and Jesus Maldonado
Honorable Mention: Juan Catalan, Yari Rivas, Daisy Soto, Jennifer Estefanía, Claudia García,
Jannette Figueroa, Maria Benites, and Dayana Muñetón
Level 3 (Bilingual)
Bronze: Silvia De La Torre
Honorable Mention: Maira Munoz
Level 4 (Regular--Classroom Only)
Bronze: Kevin Bourne, Daniel Gorecki, Saad Siddiqui, Dominika Franciszkowicz, Amanda Middleton and Jessica Loveless
Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Beranek, Jenna Shumaker, Jessica Vannatta, Jessica DaPisa, Katie Kuczynski, Madeline Urban and Jenna Brandon
Level 4 (Bilingual)
Gold: Laura Palacios, Melissa Reyes, Verónica Torres
Silver: Lizbeth Vázquez, Gabriel Trejo, Omar Zavala
Honorable Mention: Lizbet Flores and Ramiro Alcantar
Level 5 (Regular--Classroom only)
Bronze: Angela Gaddini and Rhianna Gorder
Honorable Mention: Christopher Olson, Juventina Hahn, Michael Estry, Melissa Heller and Melissa Greenwood
Level 5 (Outside Experience)
Gold: Bianca Serrato
Silver: Jennifer Contreras
Level 5 (Bilingual)
Silver: Claudia Flores
Bronze: Arely Sanchez
Honorable Mention: Guadalupe Paredes and Wuilver Cisneros.