Lake Park High School Class of 2022
Graduates in Class of 2022: 609
Graduation ceremony: Thursday, May 19, at Now Arena, Hoffman Estates
Graduation Speakers: Nishant Mistry (Graduation ceremony) and Joseph Brant (Scholarship & Awards)
Class Officers: President Emma Valladares; Vice President Alexis Abbott; Secretary Fatima Quadri; Historian Dana Alvizo
Academic achievements:
• 119 graduates earned a minimum 5.0 GPA for seven consecutive semesters.
• National Merit Commended: Sara Afreen, Nishant Mistry, Abigail Pichay, Isaac Sentman, Mikayla Tesolin and Emma Weishaar.
• National Merit Finalist: Aanika Parikh.
• College Board Hispanic Scholars: Elizabeth Arias, Nicholas Barthelotti, Michael Furlin, Andrew Hernandez, Bryan Mendoza, Sarah Pena, Tristan Phillips, Antonio Pinto, Olivia Ramirez, Victor-Emmanuel Torres, Jacob Vera and Joshua Viola.
• 92 graduates members of the National Honor Society
Extracurricular achievements:
• ILMEA participants: Joseph Consoli, Senior, Trombone - ILMEA Jazz Band III; Matthew Sourwine, Senior, Tuba - ILMEA Senior Band
• Robotics Team 60172W finished in the top 16 in the elimination round of the tournament, and 36th overall rank in the skills division. Senior members: Trey McCallister, Nicolas Nevarez, Vivek Patel, Joey Portincaso, Frank Sprandel, Grace Weber
• IHSA Chess State Qualifiers - John Volland, Eraad Ahmed
• Math Team: North Suburban Math League 3rd place in division, DuKane Conference Math Contest 2nd place; All-Conference: Anthony Ware, Logan Sardina; ICTM State Math Contest Qualifiers: Anthony Ware, Michael Furlin, Emma Weishaar, Nina Reid, Reina Itai, James Capozzoli, Frank Sprandel, Ashley Wittmann, Sarah Pena, Vito Failla, Logan Sardina, Tanvi Mathur, Abigail Pichay
• DECA International Qualifiers: Raegan Biemolt, Tyler Fields
• IHSA eSports Super Smash Brother Ultimate State Champion: Shaan Patel
Athletic achievements:
• Competitive Dance IHSA Class 3A State Champions and DuKane Conference Champions
• Boys Gymnastics IHSA Sectional Champions and Team State Qualifiers
• Girls Gymnastics DuKane Conference Champions (3rd consecutive year)
Theater productions:
• Children's Play - "Ramona Quimby," directed by Kathy Weber
• Fall Play I - "Black Comedy/White Lies," directed by Erik Uppling
• Fall Play II - "Steel Magnolias," directed by Kathy Weber
• Winter Play - "Love/Sick," directed by Sara Keith
• IHSA Contest Play - "The Dream of the Burning Boy," directed by Sara Keith
• IHSA Group Interpretation - "Hamlet II" directed by Erik Uppling
• Spring Musical - "Legally Blonde," Erik Uppling
Senior Class gift: Campus beautification process.
What was new in 2021-22: During this school year, Lake Park added additional flexible furniture across both East Campus and West Campus to accommodate teachers who are using blended learning in their class periods. The Athletics Department installed a beautiful new press box on the West Campus Football/Soccer field. The College & Career Room at West Campus continues to come alive in its second year of institution. Finally, the Science Department also bought new furniture so that teachers could facilitate a modeling curriculum at East Campus in Biology and Chemistry Campuses. With regards to activities, the Black Student Union helped to welcome Arshay Cooper, the author of "A Most Beautiful Thing" about his experience on the first all-African American rowing team at Manley High School in Chicago in the late 90s. He delivered an all-school assembly on April 8 and then spoke to the community in conjunction with the local libraries on April 9. His book has now been made into a documentary and there will also soon be a Netflix series based off of it as well. This year was the inaugural IHSA eSports state tournament, and senior member Shaan Patel won the State Championship.
What challenges did the Class of 2022 face as they returned to in-person school full time, and how did they overcome them: As we returned to a traditional learning model with all students on campus, students still needed to wear masks per guidelines. However, our Lancers persevered and re-adapted to their school surroundings easily as they were excited to be back in-person, regularly with their teachers and peers. Given the time of year, Homecoming was hosted outside as opposed to traditionally in the West Campus gym. Students stated that they liked the change of pace and that it was nice to be outside under the stars. In talking to the students and everything that they have been through with the pandemic, they state that they were able to learn an incredible amount about themselves, that it reminded them just how important it is to be able to have regular social interaction with their peers and teachers, and that they are so happy that they were able to spend their last year at Lake Park in a way that will leave positive memories. These seniors are incredibly resilient and this will bode well in their future endeavors.
Principal's reflections on the Class of 2022:
Every student looks forward to their senior year. Our Lancers have spent the last four years with one another, whether it was in a physical classroom, in a GoogleMeet on a daily basis, in extracurricular activities or through athletic participation. The weight of pressure that we as a school felt throughout this year in an effort to provide them the most normal year possible after almost two years of not being on campus on a regular basis is hard to put into words. These students have worked so incredibly hard to get to this point and Lake Park wants every ability to celebrate them as much as possible and to be able to do that as a group for their final year. We are thankful that this year has been as traditional as possible and that we have been able to plan as normally as possible in doing our regular end of the year events for our seniors. They are an incredibly versatile group and as a school community, we just want them to be able to look back at their four years here and to say that even in spite of what they have been through, that we still ended on a high note.
- Principal Amanda Brode-Rico