Senior Literature Class provides funds for Four Surgeries

Connecting real life with literature is one of the objectives of English teacher Chris Billie and Special Education teacher Alecia Faull. Reading the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Senior Literature students in Billie’s and Faull’s courses encounter the character Hassan, who is born with a cleft palate. The class started collecting loose change for Smile Train daily. This semester the two classes raised $1,182.25 – enough for four cleft surgeries and money toward a fifth surgery. This curriculum-based fundraising opportunity has helped create a community of learners, provided students with a sense of pride, and opened student eyes to the world far from Hinsdale Central High School. We are so proud of Senior Lit!

English Teacher Presents on "Teen Cyberspeak"

English Teacher Sibyl Krucoff presented recently at the IATE Conference at Oak Brook, IL. Her presentation, titled “Catch the GenNext Wave: Teen Cyberspeak,” investigated the impact of text and impact messaging on writing in the classroom.

Junior Recognized for National Gold Medal for Poetry

The English Department is proud to recognize Junior Julia Quintero for winning a National Gold Award for her poem "Intoxicated" in the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This is an impressive honor given that only 328 gold awards were given for more than 140,000 submitted works. Julia and her family attended the award ceremony in Carnegie Hall in New York City. Central English teacher Jan Bujan recognized Julia's special writing abilities when she was a freshman in Jan's English I Honors class, and has continued to encourage Julia in her writing pursuits. Congratulations Julia!

HC Literary Magazine Recognized with Gold

The Art and English Departments are pleased to announce that Hinsdale Central’s art and literary magazine, Solstice, was awarded a Gold Medal by the Columbia University Scholastic Press Association. We would like to congratulate the 2009 faculty advisors: Pat Potokar, Jim Di Domenico, and Abby Richardson. The 2009 student design editors were: Jason Pan, Tianyu Qiu, Christian Reich, Emily Wilhelm, and Sarah Wilm. Poetry/Prose Editors were: Karishma Bhatt, Madeline Marucha, and Mackenzie Melvin. Photo editors staff members were: Kelly Adams, and Natalia Mata. Communications editor staff member was: Arlyn Maas. Solstice staff members were: Ian Barnes, Rebecca Copper, Spencer Davis, Pauline Donaldson, Hillary Galvin, Mina Golubovich, Sarah Kamp, Marina Konstantinovic, Stephanie Lenchard-Warren, Casey O’Day, Helena Pena, Georgia Qiao, George Rembos, Monica Sharma, Michal Sieczka, and Mike Weaver. Congratulations, to these talented individuals.

NCTE Achievement Award in Writing 2009

The National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Award in Writing was established in 1957 to encourage high school students in writing and recognize publicly some of the best student writers in the nation. The selection process is intense. The winning writers are selected for independence of thought, fresh insight, concern for expressiveness, keen observation and reflection, and sensitivity to nuances of word meaning. This year two young women were judged to be among the best young writers in the nation. This number is unprecedented in HC history is the top school for Illinois. The English Department is honored to recognize the following young women as NCTE Achievement Award Winners:

Adabelle Eckechukwu, (EK – A – CHU – KAH) who will be attending Harvard University, wrote an essay entitled “Beat of the Drum”

Fallon Johnson, who will be attending University of Missouri, wrote an essay entitled “Learning Success”

Suzy Oskouie, who will be enrolling in the UIC –GPPA program, wrote an essay entitled “Meeting Halfway”.

Three Central Seniors Win National Writing Prize

The English Department is pleased to announce that three Hinsdale Central seniors, Adabelle Ekechukwu, Fallon Johnson, and Suzanne Oskouie, have been given top prizes in the national Achievement Award in Writing for 2009. The winners are among the best student writers in the country: these three young authors are among only 28 winners in Illinois and 544 national winners. The Achievement Awards in Writing are conferred by the National Council of Teachers of English in recognition of excellence in writing by high school juniors. Winners demonstrate writing ability in two forms: first, in a sample of their best writing, in any form or genre, drafted and revised over time; and second, in an impromptu essay on a subject set by the NCTE. The superior achievement of each winner is a reflection of the teachers and the English program at Hinsdale Central. Congratulations to these talented students and our committed staff!