St. Charles North to get national award

After a couple weeks of divisiveness in the halls of St. Charles North High School regarding sexuality, students will have cause to come together in celebration.

St. Charles North was named a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education back in September. The honor came in recognition of St. Charles North ranking among Illinois' highest performing schools as measured by its performance on state assessments. Just 304 schools across the nation received a Blue Ribbon in 2010.

St. Charles North will celebrate the award with a ceremony at 9 a.m. Thursday in the school gym.

“This is a tremendous honor for both our school and our community,” Principal Kim Zupec said in a written statement. “The focus of the event will be on the hard work and dedication of our students and staff through the years.”

The school's wind ensemble will perform at the ceremony. Zupec will address the students, as will district administrators and student body President Buddy Haas.

Recently, district administrators have been talking to students at the school about freely, but respectfully, expressing their views on sexuality. An all-school anti-bullying event a couple weeks ago took a different turn when some students showed up to school wearing “Straight Pride” shirts, some with a Biblical passage many interpreted as advocating death for homosexual activity. Students plan to address the school board about the matter at their next meeting on Dec. 13.

Meanwhile, district staffers are asking parents to weigh in through an online survey regarding how St. Charles North and other district schools, administrators and teachers are performing. The survey runs from Dec. 7 to the day of the next school board meeting. It is accessible via the district's website. The results of the survey will be available in January or February.