Opening Night of "The Diviners"!

(photo credit: Mrs. Gallo)

Last night was opening night of the spring play, "The Diviners," directed by English and Drama teacher Sonia Gecker.  Come see it Friday, April 26 or Saturday, April 27 in the Hinsdale Central Auditorium at 7:00.  It's a touching and memorable production of a thought-provoking play.  

In this photo, Buddy (David Gallo, senior), having learned about heaven and angels and where his dead mother is from  C.C. (Spencer Wawak, junior), ends up teaching C.C. a lesson himself.

Congratulations to Sonia, David, Spencer, and the rest of the cast on a wonderful show.  Come see it if you can.

Mindfulness Training Can Help Improve Standardized Test Scores according to Harvard Business Review

(source: Harvard Business Review "The Daily Stat" email) APRIL 15, 2013

If You're Prone to Distractions, Mindfulness Training Can Help

A series of eight 45-minute "mindfulness" training sessions, in which participants learned to focus on a single aspect of experience, such as breathing, led to standardized-test improvements analagous to 16 percentile points, on average, says a team led by Michael D. Mrazek of UC Santa Barbara. For people who struggle to maintain focus, mindfulness training appears to dampen distracting thoughts, the researchers say.

Source: Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering

Doings Article Profiles English Teacher and Drama Director Christine Hicks

Here's a link to the excellent article.

Photo Credit: John Langham Sun-Times Media

Here's the article:

Director’s love for job at Hinsdale Central is no act

BY CHUCK FIELDMAN | cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com April 11, 2013 5:46PM

Updated: April 12, 2013 9:56AM

HINSDALE — The passion Chris Hicks has displayed over more than 35 years as a teacher at Hinsdale Central is no act.

By all appearances, Hicks has had a very successful run at Central, both as an English teacher since 1976 and as a director of 63 school plays since 1989. She plans to retire at the end of the 2013-14 school year.

“There were no teaching jobs when I graduated from college (in 1971 from Northern Illinois University), and I wasn’t particularly confident in my ability to be in-charge of a room full of young adults,” she said.

The combination of a lack of confidence and a tight job market left Hicks working as a secretary after college, but she knew she wanted to do something that was more than just a job.

“I needed to get back to making a difference, so I decided to apply for some teaching jobs,” she said.

Growing up in Brookfield and graduating from Nazareth Academy, Hicks said she knew Central had a reputation as an outstanding school when she went through the interview and hiring process there.

“I have a feeling my application was on top of the pile,” she said with a smile.

Hicks took about 1 1/2 years off from teaching when her son was born. Her involvement in the school’s theater department started after she returned.

“I had been involved in theater when I was in school, both in high school and college,” she said. “I knew that was something I wanted to do along with teaching.”

While the settings are different, Hicks said being in the classroom as a teacher and directing plays at Central share common elements.

“It’s two different ways of helping young people, but both allow them to discover things about themselves and shine,” she said.

The moments when students get excited about an accomplishment have been Hicks’ favorites.

“That’s something that happens when I teach classes and with our plays,” she said.

Hicks also has enjoyed the experiences of working in plays with students who have been in her classes, saying she gets to see their intellectual side

“I get to know them by what they write for class, and sometimes it’s a different side I get to know when they are in plays,” she said.

Her final show will come in the spring 2014 musical, which has not yet been chosen.

“I don’t want to get caught up in making a big deal out of it being my last show,” she said. “I’m not really thinking about that last show now.”

Doings Article Profiles Golden Apple Finalist and English teacher Kim Williams

Photo Credit - Kimberly Fornek Sun Times Media

Hinsdale Central teacher understands waiting for an apple

link to full article

by Kimberly Fornek - SunTimes Media

Updated: April 9, 2013 9:35PM

HINSDALE — Hinsdale High School District 86 has many wonderful teachers, and one has been singled out for special recognition.

Kimberly Williams, who teaches English Hinsdale Central, is a finalist for a Golden Apple Award.

Her students second the nomination.

Two students walking in the hall at last week praised Williams at the mention of her name.

“She’s the most kind teacher,” said Jacob White, a junior from Clarendon Hills. “She understands what life is like in high school. She understands we’ve got all these classes and not just one subject.”

Williams explains how the literature they study applies to the real world, said Ryan Haff, a junior from Oak Brook.

“I always wanted to work with teenagers,” said Williams, who has been teaching since 1996. “I enjoy talking with them. They are at a stage in life when they’re asked to take on some of the responsibilities of an adult, but they don’t have all the freedoms an adult has. I understand what they are going through.”

Williams helps her students explore those feelings through the texts they read.

“When we read, we rehearse. We see life in other ways and other places without actually experiencing it,” Williams said.

In works such as “Romeo and Juliet,” the students “see how the characters’ decisions work out or don’t work out.” The classes discuss the characters’ actions and the author’s choices.

In one of her classes, students read the nonfiction work “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, which recounts how a top student and athlete, after graduating college, hitchhikes to Alaska to live alone in the wilderness. He dies on his journey.

The students are asked, “Was he an idealistic hero or an irrational fool?”

Hinsdale Central Principal Michael McGrory said Williams is “a very compassionate individual and a great communicator, not just with the students, but with the parents, too.”

One of her remarkable qualities, McGrory said, is “her drive to meet the needs of all her students.”

She is always reviewing what worked and what didn’t to improve her teaching methods, he said.

Williams had been teaching for three years at Hinsdale South, when she started her family and wanted to spend more time with her young sons. She took a job with University of Illinois at Chicago, doing field instruction of student teachers and conducting a course that prepares teachers to teach English.

It was a colleague from UIC who nominated her.

“I have seen her mentor and guide her student teachers,” said Renee Dolezal, UIC English education student teacher coordinator. “She is a motivator for students and adults, and she understand how to incorporate progressive methods and social justice into the classroom.”

The Spring Play is Two Weeks Away!

The Diviners by Jim Leonard, Jr.  is the spring play at Hinsdale Central.  It's directed by Hinsdale Central English teacher Sonia Gecker.   This Junior Grant Dunderman designed this great poster!  The play takes place in the fictional town of Zion, Indiana during the Great Depression era.  

The play runs from April 25-27.

Want more info? Check out the drama website:   www.hinsdaledrama.com

Residential Academic Summer Camps at NIU

Northern Illinois University offers Residential Academic Summer Camps at their DeKalb campus.  Several of them sound really interesting.  Here's the link to the web page :http://www.niu.edu/clasep/camps/index.shtml

Early bird registration deadline is May 15.

Here's a list of this summers' camps:

Academic Summer Camps

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS May 15, 2013!

2013 Residential Camp dates:

Campers entering grades 9-12: 
Creative Writing Camp - June 16-21, 2013
Global Leadership and Philanthropy Camp - June 16-21, 2013
Film Camp - June 23-28, 2013
Speech Camp - June 23-28, 2013
*NEW: GSA Camp: LGBTQA Leadership and Activism - July 7-12, 2013
*NEW: Math Camp - July 7-12, 2013
Broadcast Journalism Camp - July 14-19, 2013
*NEW: Journalism Camp - July 14-19, 2013

2013 Day Camp dates:

Campers entering grades 6-8:
Creative Writing Day Camp - July 29-August 2, 2013
Archaeology Day Camp - August 5-August 9, 2013
*NEW: Film and Media Day Camp - TBD

Erin Timmons and Andy Jones win PTO's Make a Difference Award

Erin Timmons (who teaches English 2 Honors and sponsors the yearbook, El Diablo) and Andy Jones (who teaches English 1, AP Literature, and Rhetoric and is the Assistant Boys' Varsity Basketball Coach) won the PTO's Make a Difference Award.  Both of these teachers are masters at creating lessons that connect school to life.  Both of these teachers have high expectations for students and are student favorites.

Is Going to College Still Worth It?

Check out this recent article, "Fact and Fiction About Getting a College Education," published in The Chicago Tribune by Northwestern's president (and others).  The article challenges some recent media coverage about how the investment value of college education is falling.