8 Central Students Published; 8 Honored in Illinois English Bulletin

Each year, the Illinois English Bulletin devotes its Fall issue to publishing student work from Illinois students. This year, an astounding 16 Central students were published and honored. Congratulations to this remarkable group of authors!

Published

Madeline Beja (senior) "Generation to Generation"

Audrey Glaser (senior) "Canta Y Une Tu Voz"

Laurel Johnson (senior) "A Fight Worth Having"

Mackenzie King (class of 2011) "Adopting an Identity"

Danielle Labotka (class of 2011) "Dancers Don't Cry"

Riley O'Donnell (senior) "The Crash"

Jennifer Oetter (class of 2011) "Untitled"

Julia Quintero (class of 2011) "Dear Dragonfly, Love Meggers"

Jeffrey Yang (senior) "Quit"

Honored

Meredith Christian (senior) "Purple is Everything"

Claire Dunderman (class of 2011) "Clause and Effect"

Gemma Groch (senior) "The Evolution of My Father"

Divya Kirti (senior) "Don't Freak Out, But I've Got Three Kids in My Backpack"

Mahum Mirza (senior) "Facebook Motto: With Great Positives Come Great Negatives"

Elizabeth Ann Shaw (senior) "Learning How to Talk"

Grace Walsh (senior) "A Chance Conversation"

Hinsdale Central PSAE Scores remain tops in DuPage

The Chicago Tribune reported today that Hinsdale Central students scored very well on the Prairie State Achievement Exam that all juniors took last April. Of non-selective schools, Central is ranked #1 in DuPage County (and just behind New Trier and Deerfield High Schools overall). Central's continued excellence is a marked contrast to general gloomy outlook that the Tribune reported in a recent article about this year's scores.

Central students scored #1 on the Reading subsection of the test, as well.

Find the data here.

Senior Stephanie Lenchard-Warren wins national writing award

Senior Stephanie Lenchard-Warren recently was awarded the prestigious "Achievement Award in Writing" for "superior performance in writing" by the National Council of Teachers of English. A total of 1,649 juniors were nominated by their schools to participate in the 2011 program. The essay that she submitted to the contest, "Eyes Against a Black Canvas" was also published last year in The Best Nonfiction Writing, Hinsdale Central High School. (View this post to learn how to order your own copy.) Stephanie is currently enrolled in the Honors Seminar in Writing.

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.

Congratulations to Stephanie and the entire faculty for helping her develop her writing skills.

Online Devils' Advocate goes global!

English teacher and Devils' Advocate sponsor Sue Grady just told me that the online newspaper is gaining international attention. Website statistics show that it is being viewed in Beijing, London, Leicester, Kennsington and London. Check it out at http://www.hcdevilsadvocate.com/

Student of the Quarter Award Winner: Rachel Krauss

Senior Rachel Krauss, shown here with her parents, is the English Department Student of the Quarter. English teacher Ms. Erin Timmons nominated Rachel and introduced her at the Student of the Quarter breakfast today. Ms. Timmons, who works with Rachel in El Diablo, the student yearbook organization, celebrated Rachel's natural leadership and incredible organizational skills. Rachel is currently the Managing Editor of El Diablo. Congratulations, Rachel!

Two HC finalists in the 2011 Normal Mailer Writing Award

Hinsdale Central Alum Maz King (2011) and Senior Stephanie Lenchard-Warren have earned recognition as national finalists in the 2011 Norman Mailer High School Writing Award for Creative Nonfiction competition.

Evaluation criteria for this elite award reflected qualities of writing Norman Mailer pursued across a lifetime: originality; insight; clear voice and style; artful arrangement of elements and materials; and overall aesthetic, emotional, or intellectual effect.

The essays of Maz and Stephanie were among the top five entries received from high school writers across the country. Congratulations to both of them!

The New Online Devils' Advocate!

If you haven’t checked out Devils’ Advocate Online, do it now! It is beautiful,very cool, and new, going online earlier this week. And, according to Sue Grady, Adovocate sponsor, and English teacher, a hit across the country with . You can find it here: http://www.hcdevilsadvocate.com/

This is such an exciting opportunity for kids a whole new frontier. While the sliding pictures/headline thing on the homepage is cool, my favorite thing is to go to one of the sections, like sports, and scan down the pictures and headlines – exactly like I do when I'm on online news websites.

El Diablo 2011 wins national awards!

The 2010-2011 El Diablo yearbook was recently awarded FIRST PLACE from the American Scholastic Press Association. Congratulations to all of the staff, especially editors-in-chief Alexandra Lanphier ’11 and Audrey Jeannin ’11. Additional congratulations go out to the following returning members of the editorial staff: Maddie Beja, Jordan Bromberg, Madison Grace, Sneha Kasuganti, Rachel Krauss, Allie Pitcher, Hayley Prokos, Carlee Schwartz, and Taylor Wilder. Congratulations also to El Diablo advisor, and English teacher, Erin Timmons.

Poet Kevin Coval Performs

Kevin Coval, the “New voice of Chicago,” according to the Chicago Tribune, and “a new, glowing voice in the world of literature,” by the late, great Studs Terkel, performed poetry from his new book, L-VIS Lives: Racemusic Poems, to several hundred students in the auditorium today.

Senior Divya Kirti (on left, photo by senior Taylor Wilder of the Advocate staff) served as emcee of the event, which also included poetry readings from several Central students, which were written (in almost all cases) in a poetry workshop that Coval ran for English 2 Honors courses last Thursday in the Community Room.

Between poems, Coval (on right, photo by Taylor Wilder), who was part of a Character Counts! presentation five years ago, spoke to students about writing and self-expression. I was excited to see how many male students took an active role in the reading, answering questions, asking questions, and -- at the end of the performance -- swarming around Coval at the stage like he was a pro athlete. Poetry lives!

In answer to a question from the audience, Coval gave three pieces of advice for aspiring writers: First, be excellent at your craft. You become excellent only by steady and focused practice. Second, be part of the community of writers. Join a group, give and get feedback. Third, don't stay hidden on a mountain, waiting to be discovered. Share your work. Be heard.

Kirti, shown above wearing her new Homecoming Court sash while performing an original poem, invited students to join HC's poetry club and spoke movingly about the importance of writing and poetry in self-expression and self-exploration. She said, "It's never a bad idea to explore yourself via pen and paper.... Poetry is a way for kids to explore themselves and explore language."

Find out more about Coval at his website here.

Thanks to Taylor Wilder for these great photographs.

Devils' Advocate Expansion to Cyberspace

If you haven't heard yet, The Devils' Advocate is set to expand online on October 3. This week's Doings reports on the change here. I happened to speak with senior Online Co-editor Lizzie Shaw this morning. She is very excited about the increased ability of the DA to cover a wide range of stories about the Hinsdale Central community quickly. And she's excited about the cool new online medium, too. I think that it's such a great learning experience for the entire DA staff. Good luck to Lizzie, along with the other online-co-editors, Kristy Hamilton and Priyanka Aribindi, as well as the printer editor Katherine Doyle and Gabby Georgieva.

English teacher Sue Grady has been working hard behind the scenes for a year to prepare for this launch.

You will be able to find The Devils' Advocate online on October 3 at www.hcdevilsadvocate.com.

Duke Prof says to Engineering Student from Hinsdale Central: Writing Skills Key to Engineering Success

From time to time, HC English teachers receive feedback from HC grads. Typically, the feedback reports that they found themselves to be well prepared for the writing tasks they encounter at college. That doesn't surprise me because the senior rhetoric class at HC is every bit as challenging as the Rhet 105 classes I taught at the University of Illinois. Teachers, of course, cherish these notes of gratitude.

The following email, though, from an HC mom, expresses not just gratitude for the expert and caring teaching, but also shares an important insight into the world into which our graduates are headed: writing well is a necessary component to rising to the top of any field. One of my favorite contemeporary writers, Atul Gawande, says something similar in his book Better: the doctors who distinguish themselves -- the positive deviants -- in a wide range of healthcare fields share one thing in common: they write to understand and to communicate.

This email was sent to English teachers Lauren Otahal, Christine Hicks, and Jared Friebel. I have changed the student's name.

As Laura’s English teachers when she was at Hinsdale Central, I thought you’d be interested to know about a writing curriculum Laura is in as a mechanical engineering major at Duke. A graduate of Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering who has been working in the field of aeronautical engineering came back to Duke to spearhead a writing program for engineers. Duke has discovered that it is an inability to effectively communicate that impedes engineers from progressing in their field. The gentleman heading up this program, a unique one among engineering schools, told Laura’s class that if one has gone into engineering to avoid writing papers, they have made a grave mistake. While at Duke, every presentation and paper will go through a draft process in this writing center. And those who hoped to get away from writing will end up working for the students in the class who excel at writing and communicating ideas (which made Laura smile). I was surprised to learn from Laura that her two engineering courses this semester are project presentation and writing based (a very different, more technical type of writing that Laura is learning). We just wanted to express our gratitude to the three of you for helping to make Laura such a proficient writer and communicator. No matter what direction Laura's education and career takes, the Hinsdale Central English curriculum has clearly provided her a solid foundation on which to build.

Just Arrived: The Best Non-Fiction Writing: Hinsdale Central 2011

In her Introduction to this the 2011 edition of The Best Nonfiction Writing at Hinsdale Central, English teacher Angelique Burrell writes, "In years to come, the authors in this edition can reread their pieces and get a sense of who they were at this time in their lives. Whether they have contributed a memoir about a struggle to master a song on the violin, a critique on unfruitful political bickering or an analysis of the superego in Heart of Darkness, my hope is that they will hear their voices, feel their passion, and remember themselves as they were in 2011."

As I wrote here in April when I reported on the students whose work was selected, this book collects a wide range of creative and thoughtful student writing. The book is, itself, the product of countless hours of selection, editing, and proofreading by the students in last year's Honors Seminar in Writing and the three current English teachers assigned to teach Honors Seminar in Writing -- Angelique, Alexis Colianni, Jared Friebel.

The book serves as an inspiration for students, a source of model writing for teachers, and, as Angelique suggests, a "time capsule" for anyone who wants to know what HC students in 2010/2011 were thinking about.

If you'd like to learn more or to purchase your own copy of the book contact me or Angelique (aburrell@hinsdale86.org).

Devil's Advocate wins "All American Award" in NSPA Critique

We just received notification from the National Scholastic Press Association that the Devil's Advocate won their "All American" Award with three marks of distinction. NSPA provides a critique service for newspapers, magazines and yearbooks. "All American" is the highest distinction. This is a prestigious recognition for a school newspaper staff that is very talented and very hard-working. The Devil's Advocate is sponsored by English teacher Sue Grady. Congratulations to staff and sponsor!

Hinsdale Central Students Earn Highest GPAs in College

Today's Chicago Tribune ran an extensive investigative report about how, for many high school students, high school GPAs don't predict college GPAs. The article attempts to "raise fundamental questions about how well the state's public high schools are preparing their students for college." But the article shows that there is no question about HC's preparation: students from HC have the highest GPAs compared to public high schools in DuPage County, and Cook County (except for one magnet school), and McHenry and Kane and Will Counties... (only Lake County has a single school with a higher average GPA.)

Teachers at Hinsdale Central expect a lot from students, and, evidently, that rigor pays off in terms of our alumni's GPA. Certainly the anecdotal reports we always get from students who come back to visit teachers confirm that HC has prepared them well for the next step in their education.

Senior Harrison Boling wins national Essay accolades

Senior Harrison Boling was one of 8 winners of the Young Native Writers Essay Contest, sponsored by the Holland and Knight Law Firm and the Holland and Knight Charitable Foundation. The winners and their teachers spent a week in Washington D.C., where the activities included tours of the White House and the Capital, as well as meetings with Senator Tom Dorgan at the Aspen Institute. Students and teachers also spent time at the Cultural Resource Center of the National Museum of the American Indians in addition to seeing a play at the Kennedy Center. They were interviewed for an NPR radio show hosted by Jay Winter Nightwolf.

The students were asked to discuss what they perceive as a problem in the Native American community and to come up with some solutions for the problem ( or at least propose what they might do to help the situation). Harry chose to write about the low rate of college graduates among Native Americans, and his solution was more intermediate steps to insure that students were comfortable in the college setting. Here's the website for those interested in more: http://www.nativewriters.hklaw.com/index.asp

Harry was accompanied by English teacher Christine Hicks.

Devil's Advocate wins Gold Medal

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association awarded Devils’ Advocate a gold medal status. This status is awarded based on a variety of categories such as: design, writing, photography, typography, overall magazine appearance/style, and journalistic integrity.

Hinsdale Central Ranked 3rd Best Illinois School

It's always been clear to me that Central is a special place: kids work incredibly, teachers have high expectations and are willing to do anything to help kids, and parents support teachers and the school. Still, I was excited (and honored) to see that Central rated so highly. In fact, if you discount schools that have selective enrollment, Central is #1 in the state. Newsweek magazine has rated Hinsdale Central as the 3rd best in Illinois. See Newsweek's ranking here.

English 1 Honors Students Impact the World

English 1 Honors classes have been engaged in a year-long “Impact Your World” research project. Students read a book on humanitarian efforts, researched an organization of their choice, and voted on their favorite charity to support this semester, including Habitat for Humanity, The Global Fund, International Children’s Heart Foundation, and Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Some exciting fundraising projects included an art show, an iPod raffle, swimming for pledges, a bake sale at Westmont Yard, and a raffle and donation collection at a dental office. In addition, students sold some creative items like beautiful handmade paper cranes pictured above, Nike RED shoelaces, and awareness bracelets.

Although the project was primarily developed as a meaningful way to teach research skills, it has become so much more. Awareness campaigns were also important to the classes’ success. For instance, students wrote to local politicians, hospitals, and corporations to promote awareness and support. They also distributed stickers, flyers, and candy to students and the community in an effort to educate them on our charities. In the end, the students in Ms. Otahal's four courses, alone, raised over $3600 and spread awareness in both the school and the community. And students surprised themselves by how much they really can impact their world one small step at a time. As a couple students reflected, “I feel like I have a voice and I can change things if I set my mind to it.” “By putting in the necessary effort, anyone can impact his or her world!”

Congratulations to all English 1 Honors students who took part in this world-changing project!

El Diablo 2011 "Non Stop" published

The beautiful new El Diablo yearbook was distributed today during school. English classrooms were filled with students transfixed by their books. The Doings published a really nice article by Chuck Fieldman (and several pictures) about this year's distribution. Here’s the online article:

http://hinsdale.suntimes.com/5454609-417/yearbooks-are-out-at-hinsdale-central.html

Congratulations to the entire yearbook staff, and to Alexandra Lanphier and Audrey Jeannin, Editors in Chief, Colleen Moran, Manager of Creative Design, Elisabeth Schnell, Writing Manager, Codi Steinborn and Erik Jaworski, Photography Managers, Madeline Beja, Copy Editor, John Menza, Business Manager. Congratulations also to faculty advisors, and English Department members, Erin Timmons and Kate Saunders.

Student of the Quarter Award Winner: Simon Landfors

Congratulations Simon Landfors, pictured on the right, for being selected as the Student of the Quarter for the English Department. English teacher Susan Sangwa, second from the right, praised Simon for his resilience in the face of challenge and told the story of Simon's growth in class into an outspoken leader in the classroom. Simon's mom is on the left. (Photo by Sigita Mitchell)

Solstice 2011

I got a peek of the brand new, and gorgeous Solstice, Hinsdale Central's Art and Literary Magazine. Congratulations to all the students whose work was published: Saba Imran, Pauline Donaldson, Malik Jones, Amanda Werley, Casey O'Day, Thomas Tung, Kelly Adams, COCO Wang

Charlotte Kanzler, Literary Editor

Casey May, Kat Herron, Ian Bames, Kris Dale, Design Editor

Matiss Dale, Enrique Lopez-Yanez Saenz, Stuart Morrris, Colleen Ahern, Maggie Morrone, Geogia Qiao, Monica Sharma, Andrea Cladek, Gouri Dharmavaram, Sarah Vesely

And congratulations to the fine work done by English teacher Jim DiDimenico and Art teacher Pat Potakar.

Junior Wins National Essay Contest

Junior Harrison Bolling has just learned that he won the 2011 Young Native Writers Essay Contest. He was one of only five national winners who will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the National Museum of the American Indian, and other prominent sites. Harrison responded to the prompt: "Describe a crucial issue confronting your tribal community today. Explain how you hope to help your tribal community respond to this challenge and improve its future." For the contest Harrison adapted an essay he wrote for his AP Language and Composition course taught by English Teacher Jared Friebel.

The Best Non-Fiction Writing: Hinsdale Central 2011

I just learned that the selection committee for The Best Non-Fiction Writing: Hinsdale Central 2011 has finished the very difficult job of selecting the very best non-fiction writing from the 165+ submissions they received. Teachers on the selection committee commented to me that they were very impressed with the improved quality of the entries, which made their job even harder this year. Senior Peter Bernardi is currently working on the design and layout of the manuscript. The book comes out in early fall. Each selected student will receive a complimentary book. Additionally, we send books to the HC library and local public libraries. Congratulations to all of the following students!

Freshmen

Paxton Gammie, “Imposter in Pink”

Alex Otto, “The Box”

Suhana Thakrar, “Taking Flight”

Caitlin Wong, “The Misery Melody”,

Luke Zhan, “A Not-So-Happy Meal”

Sophomores

Sagar Dommaraju, “Sickness”

Emma Harrison, “Nana’s Pringles”

Charlotte Kanzler, “Rosary”

Caroline Morant, “Finding Balance in Black and White”

Juwairyah Syed, “The Threads of Allah”

Juniors

Ryan Callen, “The Other N-Word”

Meredith Christian, “Purple Is Everywhere”

Andrea Cladek, “Different Strokes”

Laurel Johnson, “A Fight Worth Having”

Stephanie Lenchard-Warren, “Eyes Against a Black Canvas”

Ted Owens, “Who’s Your Daddy?”

Michelle Scarpino, “The Caffeine Addict”

Melissa Trofa, “All Tests and No Play Makes Johnny a Dull Boy”

Alexis Williams, “39 Reasons”

Steven Yeh, “Dear Japanese Soldier”

Seniors

Jennifer Bush, “The Unconscious Darkness”

Marianne Hardek, “Listen to the Voice”

Shirley Yarin, “Overcoming Your Destined Labyrinth”

These represent the winning essays. The book also contains the best essay from each of the seniors in the Honors Seminar in Writing.

18 Students Win "Best of Illinois" Writing Award

Earlier this week I learned that a whopping 18 (!) students won the Illinois of Teachers of English "Best of Illinois" awards for their writing. Not that I want to brag about our students too much, but this was the most of any high school in Illinois. All nine first place winners will have their essays published in the fall issue of the Illinois English Bulletin.

Senior winners:

Danielle Labotka "Dancers Don't Cry"

Claire Dunderman "Clause and Effect"

Jack Henry Kelly "The Boy Who Cried Dirt"

Mackenzie King "Adopting an Identity"

Jennifer Oetter "Untitled"

Julia Quintero "Dear Dragonfly, Love Meggers"

Grace Walsh "A Chance Conversation"

Junior winners:

Madeline Beja "Generation to Degeneration"

Laurel Johnson "A Fight Worth Having"

Jeffrey Yang "Quit"

Elizabeth Ann Shaw "Learning How to Talk"

Mahum Mirza "Facebook"

Riley O'Donnell "The Crash"

Claire Walker "First Fig, First Friend"

Divya Kirti "Don't Freak Out"

Audrey Glaser "Canta y une tu voz"

Meredith Christian "Purple is Everywhere"

Gemma Groch "The Evolution of My Father"

Congratulations to all of you!

"Best Student Nonfiction" book receives 175 entries

In our second year of publishing our "Best of Student Writing," we received a very large number (175) of entries. Last year we had about fifty fewer. Today one of my students who submitted an essay said, "The amazing thing is that I've never thought of myself as a writer before. I'm more math and science. But I've really come to think of myself as a writer, too. My parents are going to be so mad." At this point, I told this student about my current nonfiction writer, Atul Gawande, a renowned surgeon... and author of bestselling books. In his book Better (which I highly recommend), Gawande says that one of the things he learned while writing the book is that the best practitioners of every particular field that he studied (obstetricians in India, CF specialists in Minnesota, hospital administrators in Detroit, emergency room docs in Iraq, etc.) shared on trait: they wrote about their fields as a way to think through their own projects and to communicate their findings with others.

English Department Awarded Grant to Publish Student Work

I was excited to get a letter from The HCHS Foundation over break that said that we had been awarded the Jodie Harrison Teacher's Grant to publish our second book: Best Student Nonfiction Essays 2010-2011. We hope to build on the success of last year's book.

Here's a snapshot of the process of how essays are selected. Teachers nominate students in their courses who wrote remarkable papers this year, papers that teachers found compelling and thoughtful, papers that fulfilled assignments, but something more. We sent out letters of recognition to these students and their parents and asked them to consider sending in their favorite essay/s to be considered for the book. Often this leads to discussions between teacher and student about which writing was remarkable.

Next, the Honors Seminar in Writing students (with guidance from the Honors Seminar teachers, Alexis Colianni, Angelique Burrell, and Jared Friebel) serve as editors of the book, selecting the year's very best writing. Students also serve in designing the cover and layout and working as a liaison with the printer. Students who will be published are notified in May. The book, which comes out over the summer, is distributed to all the published students, the HC library, the Hinsdale library, the Clarendon Hills library, and a few others in the building. Students can also order extra books at a small extra cost.

I have nine extra books from last year if you are interested. Contact me if you're interested.

The goal of this project is that it will help students become young authors communicating valuable ideas.

Seniors win top regional award for writing portfolios

Seniors Julia Quintero and Joanie Greve have both been presented the Gold Key for Excellence in The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2011 for their portfolios for nonfiction writing that they submitted to a national competition. This is the top regional award which qualifies them for the national competition. English teachers Angelique Burrell and Jared Friebel have been recognized by the competition as important sources of support for these two student authors.

ELL Student wins first place in TESOL Essay Contest

ELL Tutor Geraldine Deliva received first place for her essay from the Illinois Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Association. Her essay was number one out of all the area high school submissions. Geraldine, whose family is from the Philippines, is graduating this year and will be attending the University of Illinois at Chicago. Congratulations to Geraldine! Congratulations also to Amy Profetto, Hinsdale Central Director of TPI.

English Teacher and Librarian to Present at National Conference

English Teacher Jared Friebel and Librarian (and honorary English Department Member) Myles Laffey have been working together for two years on developing broad and deep critical research skills for freshman at HC. Their work has influenced English 1 curriculum.

This year they applied to present at the AASL (American Association of School Librarians) National Conference, and were accepted!

Their proposal entitled Research Curriculum Gymnastics: Using TRAILS as a Springboard to a FLIP (Freshman Level Interest Project) will be presented at AASL’s 15^th National Conference & Exhibition, October 27-30, 2011 in Minneapolis, MN.

Congratulations to Jared and Myles! And thank you for being teacher leaders in critical literacy at Hinsdale Central.

Two English Teachers Present at Reading Conference

English teachers Jan Bujan and Jim DiDomenico presented today at the 35th Annual Reading Conference "From Our Roots to Our Branches" sponsored by Concordia University and the West Suburban Reading Council.

Their topic was "Visual Literacy in the High School English Classroom," a topic that both have become experts in during the last couple years.

Congratulations to both of them for sharing their expertise outside the walls of HC!