newsletter nov dec 2014 proof 8 12-4-14 - east high...

November/December 2014

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PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences marks the start of the Holiday Season. I am looking out my window as I type the

Principal’s Newsle er and no ce there is snow accumula ng on the cars, grass and roads. We are approaching the snow season

and have worked on a delayed start schedule that we u lized during the last two snow storms of 2014. It delays our start to the

school day but gets students in the building learning without the need to make up the days in June. Here is a copy of the delayed

start schedule in case we need to use it this year.

High School Delayed Start Schedule

You will receive a parent link e‐mail, phone call, and text informing you of the delayed start at the high school. Buses will change

their schedule to make sure they can pick up all students prior to the 9:20a.m. delayed start.

In January we embark on semester one final exams. The schedule for final exams is listed below:

First Semester Final Exam Schedule

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Period 1 (exam) 7:30‐9:10

Period 2 (exam) 9:20‐11:00

Period 7 (exam) 11:10‐12:50

Buses Depart at 1:10 p.m.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Period 6 (exam) 7:30‐9:10

Period 3 (exam) 9:20‐11:00

Period 8 (exam) 11:10‐12:50


Period Start End Minutes

1 9:20 9:55 35

2 10:01 10:33 32

3 10:39 11:11 32

4 11:17 11:49 32

5 11:55 12:27 32

6 12:33 1:05 32

7 1:11 1:43 32

8 1:49 2:21 32

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Make‐Up Exam Time 7:30‐9:10

Period 4 (exam) 9:20‐11:00

Period 5 (exam) 11:10‐12:50


Office of the Principal

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In the past month, St. Charles East has been recognized na onally for excellence in educa on. We ranked in

the top 1,000 high schools in the na on and in the top 50 high schools in the state of Illinois by U.S. News and World

Report. We ranked #39 in the state of Illinois and 977 in the en re country. One academic focus for the past six

years is encouraging more students to take AP classes. We have increased the number of students taking AP Classes

and exams over the past 6 years from 753 exams in 2009‐2010 to 1111 in 2013‐2014. We have also experienced an

increase in the average score on the AP Exams from 3.02 in 2009‐2010 to 3.22 in 2013‐2014. The College Board

recognized St. Charles East for the 4th year in a row for significant gains in Advanced Placement access and student

performance. We are con nually looking to add more students in AP classes and a fi h year of increase in average

AP exam scores. This recogni on could not happen without incredible students, suppor ve parents and dedicated

teachers.

We had a number of student accomplishments represented on the cover of the PNL that I wanted to cele‐

brate. Megan Larry had the opportunity to represent St. Charles East as a member of Senator Mark Kirk’s Student

Advisory Commi ee. Anwuli Onwuta, a 2014 graduate of St. Charles East High School, won the gold medal in the

Architecture category at the 36th Annual NAACP Na onal Afro‐Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scien fic

Olympics (ACT‐SO) Compe on, and our Girls Swim and Dive Team won sec onals and placed at the state meet.

Lastly, course requests for the 2015 – 2016 school year for current freshman, sophomores, and juniors will open on January 20th through the student’s Home Access Center login. Please ensure that your son or daughter has entered the requests for 8 full periods worth of classes each semester. Course requests are due on Home Access Center on January 26th, and counselors will meet with each student to review their requests. The Course Offering Book is available on our school website under the “ACADEMICS” tab. If you have any ques ons about this process, please contact your son or daughter’s counselor. If you have difficulty accessing your Home Access Center account, please email Joan Barley at [email protected]. Have an excellent Holiday Season!

Office of the Principal

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With over 200 seniors and juniors in attendance, the St. Charles East LRC hosted its first College Scholarship and Application After-School Party. A joint effort from the College and Career Department, Learning Resource Center, The Writing Lab, VEI Department and the Illinois Student Assistance Center, students were fully engaged for an hour and half on how to apply for college and scholarships. Topics included: resume writing, receiving college application essay help and finding out how to apply for scholarships. Students learned how to apply for local, national and even the wacky scholarships that are available. We would like to thank every student that attended and made the event a great success.

During the month of November, we are meeting with each study hall to talk about internet safety. As a state requirement and the goal of making great digital citizens, we are highlighting the following areas:

● Think before you share online ● Protecting yourself online ● Knowing your setting of your phone and devices ● Avoiding scams ● Being positive online & building a positive online profile

Food for Fines- In the last two weeks of October, the LRC accepted one can of food for every dollar that a student owed in library fines. Public libraries, such as St. Charles, Elgin and West Chicago all have a Food for Fines event. We were able to erase $33 in fines and help the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

Parents and students, please do not forget that students can work off the fines they owe through the LRC. We understand that students make mistakes and we want to help them. Students can work off their fines in the library, by setting up for the Breakfast of Champions, processing text-books and library books, inventory scanning and other helpful activities. If you or your child would like to sign up for opportunities to work off your fines, please go to: http://goo.gl/forms/oFY3mLdCoQ (sign up forms) or text messages or emails of special events to work off fines: https://www.remind.com/join/workfines

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Nutrition Brief

We’ve heard your student’s voices! As we con nue to look for exci ng and new op ons in our cafeterias

for your students we will introduce our FUEL Wellness Specials in November. The FUEL program features

monthly menu specials, developed by our chefs and nutri onists, to generate excitement by introducing

new recipes or pu ng a twist on popular favorites. Designed for middle and high school students, FUEL

combats menu fa gue and reinforces the connec on between healthy meals and

performance at school and in favorite sports and ac vi es.

Keep an eye out every month for our ever changing FUEL Wellness Specials!

Please feel free to direct any ques ons you may have to the Office of Food Service

at (331) 228‐5242.

Thanks for joining us for lunch!

School Nutri on Announcement

Tired of the same old pizza? No, probably not. But s ll, we’re dishing up some new flavors down in the caf‐eteria that might strike your fancy. Flavors like our Polynesian‐influenced Sweet and Spicy Pizza, topped with diced ham and a spicy pineapple pico de gallo made with fresh ingredients. Fuel up with lunch!]

Yearbook ads are being sold for the 2015 yearbook. You can purchase a senior recognition ad by going to http://www.jostens.com/yearbooks/yearbook-ads.html We are giving a $20 early bird discount to ads purchased before December 31st. After that, ads will still be purchased at the standard

rate. Do it today!

Senior Parents!

Chess Team Congratulations to the Saints chess team for winning a 3rd place trophy at the Charger Chess Tournament. Special thanks to Ryan Chimienti, Swapnil Shah, Dan Gonzales, James Sullivan, Konrad Sowizral, and Drew O'Neill for their achievement! In addition Ryan Chimienti won a first place medal on Board 3 and Drew O'Neill won a 3rd place medal on Board 1! Go Saints Chess!

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Viewing Semester Grades on HAC:

To view your child’s cumula ve semester grade, please follow these steps on HAC: Click on CLASSES Click on FULL VIEW

Click on SHOW ALL AVERAGES

A pop‐up will display the semester grade (all work from first and second quarter). This is the grade that will be used for the se‐

mester work before factoring in the final exam. If you have any ques ons about your child’s grade, please do not hesitate to

contact their teacher.

HAC

The Reading Classes and Student Council once again organized Operation Holiday Card at East. After the kick-off on Veterans Day, we began making progress to our goal. Saints challenged themselves to put a smile on a soldier’s face this holiday season and write a card for a soldier deployed overseas. Greeting cards were provided to all teachers for use in class. Students were seen writing cards during lunch, club meetings, and in class. The East Post Office received a face-lift this year and was located in the Main Commons to collect the cards. Our goal this year was 4,500 cards! Thanks everyone for your participation!

A special shout-out to the event organizers: Joe Tatone designed the "Uncle Sam" poster, Annamaria Toth and Nicole Grondin designed the display case and Megha Nayar and Sydney Aganon redecorated the Operation Holiday Card post office for the Commons.

Operation Holiday Card 2014

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Foreign Language

FRENCH NHS: On Wednesday, October 22nd, la Société Honoraire de Français (French Honor Society) held its annual induction ceremony at 7 P.M. in the Little Theatre. This year, we welcomed nine new members. The ceremony was run by co-presidents Savanah White and Yatzyri Macias. New members of French Honor Society are: Kyle Aguilar, Yudesh Basavaraj, Eleanor Bessner, Gerard Cunanan, Katie Fetter, Rachel Grondin, Brittany Henkin, Jennifer Leben, and Nina White. French Honor Society is a service organization that provides after school French tutoring, contributes to the East High School turkey drive, and teaches French classes to elementary school students in February. SPANISH NHS: Officers and members of Spanish NHS have partnered with the "Pulsera Project" to sell bracelets made from children and young adults from Nicaragua. All proceeds go to the artist who made the bracelet to go toward their education so they can attend school. Each bracelet has the name and photo of the person who made it. They will be for sale in the Commons during lunch periods the week of Dec.1st-5th. In addition, Spanish NHS will be partnering with W.A.C.O. on Saturday, Dec.13th at the Wal-Mart in South Elgin from 7am-10am to take children from needy families shopping for the holidays. This organization provides $75 for each child and their families, and only requires Spanish-speaking volunteers to help the child fulfill the items on their lists. Students help shop as well as wrap these gifts. Spanish NHS students also wrote letters to bilingual soldiers via Operation Holiday Card as well as collected canned goods and turkey for the school-wide Turkey Drive. Lastly, students volunteered their time to take care of the children whose parents attended East's 1st annual Technology Workshop for Spanish-speaking parents. Have an idea how SNHS can use their Spanish skills to serve? Contact Sra. Gibbons at [email protected].

Spanish club celebrated Día de los Muertos together by watching a video about the holiday, coloring calaveras (skulls), eating the traditional pan de muerto (dead bread) and playing a trivia game. ¡Nos divertimos mucho! German National Honor Society: German National Honor Society elected their 2014-15 officers and would like to congratulate the following elected official: President - Carter Frey (grade 11) Vice-President - Swapnil Shah (grade 11) Secretary of Defense - Alexander Palatinus (grade 11) Public Relations - Rebecca Drennan (grade 12)

S A

Fox Valley Career Center: Congratulations to Allyson Fillion for being selected as Student of the Month in the Fire Science II program for the month of September, 2014!

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Fine Arts

Music The Holiday season is a very busy time of year for the Music Department with all the ensembles presenting concerts during the second and third weeks of December. The students also perform for many community and civic events in-cluding the St. Charles Lighting of the Lights ceremony and the St. Charles Electric Christmas Parade. The St. Charles East Music Program had many students participate in the Illinois Music Educators Association District 9 Jazz Festival and Concert Festival which were held the second and third Saturdays of November. Selection to these fes-tivals is through an audition that takes place in early October. The following students spent the day rehearsing and per-forming with the best high school musicians from the western suburbs:

Band: Michael Carbonell, Anna Dufresne, Andrew Egizio, Jimmy Farace, Kayla Gephart, Andy Heuser, Tim Hommowun, Amelia Smith, Sarah Willging, Elise Wirig Orchestra: Stella Childs, Nia Damgova, Morgan Fanning, Kerry Freese, Peter Hatch, Monika Stoskute, Carson Zhang Chorus: Stephanie Dierks Jazz Band: Trevor Andersen, Michael Carbonell, Kyle Decker, Andrew Egizio, Jimmy Farace, Mary Halm, Peter Hatch, Andy Heuser, Lauren Kaspzyk, Jack Macklin, Alex Murphy, Aimee Nawrocki, Arman Sangalang Jazz Choir: Jessica Blakely, Morgan Fanning, Dylan Ward

Many of these students are also eligible for selection to All-State, which occurs the fourth week of January. In December, we will be hosting the Saitama Sakae Wind Orchestra from Tokyo, Japan. This award-winning high school band will do two nights of home-stays with St. Charles East High School band students and will perform a con-cert for our students on Monday, December 15th, before performing later in the week at the Midwest Band and Orches-tra Clinic in Chicago. This is a unique opportunity for our students to hear one of the best high school bands in Japan, as well as interact with the members of this ensemble. Visual Arts The Upstate 8 Student Art Show is currently on display in the Norris Cultural Arts Center Gallery. The show will be on display through December 10th. Drama

Many of our drama students were involved in the Studio Theatre Student-Directed One Acts which were presented November 19th, 20th, and 21st in the Koeppl Black Box Theatre. These three productions were selected, produced, directed and performed completely by St. Charles East High School students.

Upcoming East High School performances at the Norris Cultural Arts Center (all performances at 7:30) Tuesday, Dec. 9 Holiday Band and Orchestra Concert Thursday, Dec.11 Holiday Band and Orchestra Concert Tuesday, Dec. 16 Holiday Choir Concert Thursday, Jan. 26 Jazz Band Concert

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Fine Arts continued

Upstate 8 Conference Student Art Exhibi on at Norris Cultural Art Center

Local high school students are par cipa ng in the Upstate 8 Conference

Art Exhibi on at Norris Cultural Arts Center, 1040 Dunham Road, now

through December 10, 2014.

Local art students include Raegan Neal, Grace Ditch, Brianna Caputo, Olivia Moe, Emily Bar‐

field, Tess Bourbeau, Joey Tatone, Hannah Rooney, Carissa Smith, Tim Barre , Lily Lichner,

Avit Tailor, Maria Kantak, Erika Grauzinis, Shannon Baumgartner, Emma Oberle, Hailee Stay,

Carlee Be ler, Jan Washington, Jacob McCoy, Gabrielle Stefan, Sarah Vasilopoulos, Annie

O o, Tyler Cabrera, Kyle Gustafson and Annie Dalbis. The show includes drawing, pain ng,

ceramics, sculpture, mixed media, digital and tradi onal photography, digital illustra on,

graphic design and video. The exhibi on was juried and will end with a closing recep on and

award ceremony on December 10, 2014 from 7 to 8:30 PM in the NCAC.

Schools represented in the show include St. Charles East High School, St Charles North High

School, Aurora East High School, Bartle High School, Batavia High School, Elgin High School,

Geneva High School, Larkin High School, Metea Valley High School, Neuqua Valley High

School, South Elgin High School, Streamwood High School, Waubonsie Valley High School,

West Aurora High School, Glenbard East High School and West Chicago Community High

School. The Upstate 8 Conference Art Exhibit is a yearly event of top art from the Upstate 8

Conference high schools. The show is open to the public during gallery hours. The public is

welcome. There is no charge for admission to the show.

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Career & Technical Education

Students in all areas of Family & Consumer Sciences are diving into their hands-on curriculums. Each and every student in Culinary Arts was able to take home a freshly made pumpkin pie this fall break. As a part of the Culinary Arts curriculum, students demonstrated many culinary techniques learned in the classroom such as “cutting in”, “folding”, “fluting” and more. Moreover, students practiced their applied math skills by having to scale recipes using their conversion factor formulas, measure by volume and weight and employ essential time management skills in order to complete their pies on time. Good job and happy eating Culinary Arts students!

Students enrolled in Culinary Practices in Entrepreneurship (formerly Restaurant Management) are excited to have The Getaway Student Restaurant up and running! As a part of their training, each student had to successfully pass the “Food Safety First Principles” Online Training & Assessment in accordance with the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act passed on July 1, 2014.

So far this year, students have enjoyed designing creative, healthy menus to serve their fellow students and teachers; and, of course, the bread remains a big hit among the students too.

Currently, CPE students are developing their first original recipes of the year to be judged in December during their class Panini Challenge. The winning sandwich will be featured on a service day menu. Students have also taken classic fall side dishes or desserts and put a unique or elevated twist on them to be enjoyed before break for the Fall Feast.

Family & Consumer Sciences

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Career & Technical Education continued

In Fashion Design

The Interior Design I classes have completed their midterm projects where they each work individually to transform an empty paper box into a creative bedroom masterpiece. In this culminating activity students were able to showcase skills learned in the first half of the semester including: color harmony, the elements and principles of design and designing functional interior spaces.

Fashion & Design Studio Field Trip to Fabric Images In early November Fashion classes took a field trip out to Fabric Images located in Elgin. While there students learned about different kinds of fabrics, how they are made, unique characteristics of fabric and the background behind different architectural creations that can be made with different kinds of fabrics. In addition, students also received a tour where they were able to see the different process; drafting, sewing, assembling the structure, etc., that go into making one of a kind fabric creations. “It was really fun! I learned a lot about fabric and architecture!” reflected Sophomore Hannah Ciro. “I thought it was very interesting to see all the different things you could do with fabric.” commented Sophomore Katie Ackerley. Overall, everyone en-joyed the field trip and look forward to making different architectural creations of their own using fabric!

Project Lead the Way: Engineering

This month in Project Lead the Way, a group of engineers have put together a St. Charles East robo cs team. A group of

15 PLTW students have come together to compete in state wide compe ons. This year’s event will be taking place in Skokie at

Niles North High School. The VEX Robo cs Compe on, presented by the Robo cs Educa on & Compe on Founda on, is the

ul mate STEM ac vity for middle school and high school students. Each year, an engineering challenge is presented in the form

of a game. Students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors, use the VEX Robo cs Design System to build innova ve

robots designed to score the most points possible in qualifica on matches, elimina on matches and Skills Challenges. In

addi on to having a great me and building amazing robots, through their par cipa on in the VEX

Robo cs Compe on and their work within their team, students will learn many academic and life

skills. The VEX Robo cs Compe on game for the 2014‐2015 season is VEX Robo cs Compe on

Skyrise. Come a er school to D‐140 to watch this group of students design and build their robot. The

compe on takes place on January 10, 2015.

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Family & Consumer Sciences

FCCLA So Far This Year

Living Well blanket making:

In October FCCLA hand crafted tie-blankets for cancer patients at Living Well in Geneva. The group cut and tied three different colored blankets; pink for Breast cancer, dark blue for Colon cancer and lavender for all cancers. As a club they decided to do a service project to benefit those battling or recouping from cancer, given it was Breast can-cer awareness month. “Bonding with other FCCLA members and helping the community at the same time is the best part of FCCLA” stated Charlize Tan Lim. After completing the blankets many members expressed their feelings towards the uplifting experience. “These people are so strong and hopefully we can put a smile on their faces” remarked Sydney Hollman. “I liked making the blankets and feeling like I’ve done something nice for some-one else” commented Lauren Farrow. As a group they will be personally delivering the blankets to Living Well later this month along with some baked goods for the patients and staff!


FCCLA Leadership Conference:

On October 26th FCCLA members attended the FCCLA Fall Leadership Meeting in Arlington Heights. While in attendance members enjoyed listening to Dan Duffy, a keynote speaker. “The speaker was really good and inspiring, He had many wonderful things to share” reflected Panni Toth. Following the speaker, members had the opportunity to attend two breakout sessions of their choosing. The most popular among our students were; learn about mental health in high school, interior design and culinary arts. The day concluded with a closing session where each school was asked to make monetary donations towards the funding of a school in Africa. As a club we were able to collectively donate the most money of all the schools in attendance. Way to go Saints!

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Woods

Pictured is a Christmas Wreath being cut into a piece of solid maple on the CNC machine in woods

class. This Christmas wreath will be one of the many auc oned items made by our students in

woods class and are available at the “Saints Helping Saints Auc ons on December 16th.

Automo ve Technology

In October the Auto Program had its first advisory board mee ng since ge ng its NATEF accredita on. In the mee ng we met

with local automo ve business owners who gave valuable input to be er our program and ensure that our equipment and

methods were current.

Auto 1 is out of the classroom and has had plenty of work to do in the shop. Car a er car has been coming in for oil changes,

res, and ba ery service. Auto 11 class is also finished with the classroom por on of the brakes unit and now are seeing a

steady diet of brake work in the shop. Auto 111 is finishing up their unit on steering and will soon be working on steering and

suspensions. All students that work in the shop do it with a strong sense of pride knowing that a staff member uses these

vehicles to go to work and drive their families around in. Auto instructors Mr. Straiker and Mr. Portokalis work closely with the

students to make sure that the jobs are done correctly and in

a mely fashion. Classes o en work together to ensure that

we finish the staffs’ cars. Whatever one class does not finish

the next class backs them up and finishes the cars to ensure

work comple on and a safe drive home.

Auto Club

Our Auto Club students have been working on mul ple projects a er school. Their plans to construct a go‐kart project have

stalled, but all the students have been learning how to work in an automo ve shop. Our officers, Nick Hanisch, Draven Hutche‐

son, Ma Soto, and David Seelentag are learning how to organize the mee ngs and ac vi es for success. They have also been

instrumental in teaching and training the new members in shop safety and other on‐vehicle service. Students have been busy

with jobs such as oil changes, re service, brake service, and we even have a member rebuilding a lawnmower engine.

Auto Club meets most Fridays from 2:30 – 5 pm throughout the year in D148 – D146.

Email Tom Straiker ([email protected]) or Lee Portokalis ([email protected]) for more informa on about the Automo ve Technology classes or club.

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Government For A Day

The Honors U.S. Government and Honors American Agenda classes will participate in the 47th edition of Government For A Day, a local government simulation, on Monday, December 15th. Students have been researching topics that impact the St. Charles community (Foxfield Theatre, Charlestowne Mall (the “Quad”), First Street Development, Pheasant Run, Valley Shopping Center, St. Charles Mall, and the “Active River Project”) and will make a presentation to the student run “government” on December 15th. City Project advisors this semester are Mr. Russell Colby, Mr. Matt O’Rourke, Mr. Chris Tiedt, and Ms. Ellen Johnson. Students will be selected for Mayor, Mayor Pro Tempore and Aldermanic positions after Thanksgiving.

The Government for a Day simulation is open to all parents of participating students.


BUSINESS EDUCATION St. Charles East Business Education Students Collaborate for Success

The connection to real-world content and applications plays an important part in Business Education classes. This semester the Entrepreneurship and Marketing & Advertising 1 students collaborated to create and produce professional level business cards. In Entrepreneurship, students created their own unique business and vision for their company logo. Marketing students were then hired to bring these visions to life, designing the logos in graphic editing programs and creating a personalized business card for each Entrepreneur student. It was a great learning experience as both classes collaborated and shared their expertise between the classes.

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Virtual Enterprises Prepares for Tennessee Trade Show

Virtual Enterprises International (VEI) is the capstone course offered through the Business Education Department. It is an international curriculum in which the students run a virtual business and interact with over 3,000 other firms in the VEI network. The first nine weeks of the program were spent creating resumes, cover letters, interviewing for positions within the firm, researching a product line, and preparing a business plan. VEI students from our virtual firms Clever Contraptions and Xtreme Comfort participated at Midwest Trade Show in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Clever Contraptions’ trade show team consist of Lexy Kos, Mackenzie Kos, Sophia Niforatos, Madison Ryan, and Jason Turnbull. Xtreme Comfort was represented by Brendan Benvenuti, Kevin Sobieski, Cathryn Augustine, Anoosha Memon, Nicole Cannistra, Amanda Nicolas, Jordan McQuade, Alexa Popiel, and Mackenzie Stanton. At the trade show, students network with over 100 different student firms, bought and sold products, and competed in business competitions including business card, sales presentation, booth design, flier, brochure, and impact marketing.

For more information about VEI or to share your expertise with our firms at East, contact Mr. Keith Glavan at [email protected] or Adam Boyer at [email protected].

Pictured are Employee of the Month Ethan Sellers and VEI students preparing their trade booth and presentation.


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DECA

On November 4th, 15 DECA students attended the 13th Annual Career Day with the Chicago Bulls. At this event, students got the opportunity to meet several members of the Bulls management team who shared with us how they market the team, use social media to connect with fans, increase ticket sales, entertain the crowd at the stadium and how the players reach out to help the community. Students also learned valuable lessons on how to succeed in the Sports Marketing field. After the event, students stayed to watch an exciting game with the Bulls playing the Orlando Magic. It was a great game; congratulations to our Chicago Bulls and our DECA students!

DECA Students will spend the next few months preparing for our next event, West Suburban DECA Competition at the Stephens Convention Center in January. Good Luck students!

SkillsUSA Members Prepare for Success

The mission of SkillsUSA is to help students become world-class workers, leaders, and responsible American citizens. It is a national organization for students interested in business, technical, health, skill, and service occupations. The club prepares students with the academic, occupational, and pro-fessional skills that are valued by employers in every industry. On November 14-15, East students Brian Foerstel, Erandy Padilla, Yahaira Padilla, Amanda Ni-colas, and Malaysavanh Anoulak attended the Fall Leadership Conference in Bolingbrook, IL. Be-sides participating in team building and leadership activities, these members earned their SkillsUSA Statesman Award and participated in competitions including customer service, quiz bowl, SkillsUSA Pin Design, and SkillsUSA Promotional Bulletin Board Design.

SkillsUSA members are now busy preparing for Region Competition that will take place on December 5 at Technology Center of DuPage. Students will compete in contests such as Job Interview, Creative Photography, Job Skill Demonstration, First Aid/CPR, Power Equipment Technology, Prepared Speech, Customer Service, and many others. See advisors Ms. Mary Hancock

or Mr. Keith Glavan for more information. IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN SKILLSUSA!


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English Department Meanderings

A lot is happening in the English department. Here are several curricular ac vi es and co‐curricular ac vi es that you should be aware: On Thursday, October 23, 2014, Crea ve Wri ng Club hosted the first annual Spooky Slam in collabora on with Community High School in West Chicago. Over 30 students read poetry on stage! The winners this year were:

First place: Caroline Sheehan (St. Charles East) Second place: Maria Garcia (Community High School in West Chicago) Third place: Megha Nayyar (St. Charles East) Nick Stellon (St. Charles East) won the Twi er Haiku Challenge during intermission!

Thank you to Townhouse Books in St. Charles for dona ng three $15 gi cards to our winners! Na onal English Honor Society invited 30 new members to join our organiza on at a formal induc on ceremony on Friday, November 21st at 3:30pm in the Li le Theater. All freshmen English students have the opportunity to see Romeo & Juliet performed live in the Norris Cultural Arts Center. English 9 teachers under the leadership of Sean McCurtain have organized a field trip for December 18 during periods 2, 3, and 4. English 12: Fantasy & Science Fic on students are excited about seeing The Hobbit: The Ba le of the Five Armies on opening day, December 17. Before watching the movie students will have read The Hobbit and discussed the book thoroughly in literature circles. Students are anxious to see if Peter Jackson is able to capture J. R. R. Tolkien’s magic and will be discussing their views in academic papers. The Wri ng Center (located in the LRC) is available to all students. The center is open during periods 4, 5, 6, and 7. We’re seeing more ac vity each day and we are excited to work with even more students. The Debate Team, coached by Gary Burgener, Kyle Libberton, and Geri Shouba, has begun a ending tournaments, par cipa ng in Congressional Debate, Public Forum, and Lincoln Douglas. Speech Team, coached by Court Burkhart and Stephanie Lally, started a ending tournaments in November and plans to compete at 6 to 8 tournaments through February. The team meets Tuesdays a er school in room mobile unit 2. Reading classes are partnering with the Student Council to once again sponsor Opera on Holiday Card. We kicked off the effort to write holiday gree ngs of encouragement for the soldiers sta oned in Afghanistan and Iraq on Veteran's day as a part of the whole school Veteran's Day presenta on. Cards will be provided for teachers, clubs and ac vi es, but also can be homemade. (No gli er, though; it is a ba lefield hazard.)

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MATH

Want Math Help? Ask your math teacher for a pass to see them during their plan period before or after school. Ask your math teacher for a pass to the Math Resource Room (MRR). The Math Resource Room is lo-cated in room B205 and it is open during periods 4 through 7. A math teacher will be present and able to answer any questions you have. There will be peer tutoring available from the Math Honor Society. This will be available during the mornings of Late Start Days. Just go to the LRC before school starts. Math help is always available in B121 right after school on Thursdays.

Practice Math ACT

The Math Department will be offering full length practice math ACT tests to all interested students. The practices will be held in the Little Theater. They will begin promptly at 2:30 and last until 3:40.

The tests dates are:

Wednesday, December 10

Tuesday, January 27

Sign up with your math teacher by Friday before the test. Bring pencils and a calculator.

Math Team The math team practices in B126 after school on Mondays. We practice a variety of fun topics and com-pete against 55 top schools. We also compete in the state math meet in May. If you are interested, please stop by our practice and check out this social and challenging team.

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newsletter nov dec 2014 proof 8 12-4-14 - east high...

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