Congratulations Model UN!

There was fantastic news from this weekend's Model UN conference in Chicago called CIMUN, the Chicago International Model United Nations.  There were seven Hinsdale Central students who walked away with big awards in this international event.  It's hard to overstate how amazing this is.

CIMUN (pronounced sigh-mun, website here) is an international conference with attendees from some of the best schools in the country.  Many of the schools also offer Model UN as a class.  When our students, working as a club (not as a class), win awards, it is remarkable.  To win this number of awards is simply amazing.  Historically, it's the most awards we've ever won at a conference and the highest number in percentage terms by far.  Model UN isn't only about awards, in fact we try to downplay it, but this is simply amazing.

Michael Palmquist, Central English teacher, serves as Model UN sponsor.  Congratulations to all the students who participated.  Special note to the following:  

Alec Johnson - Outstanding Delegate - US Cabinet

Monica Bhagavan - Honorable Mention - League of Arab States.

Jacob Liu - Best Delegate and Delegate's Choice Award - International Press Delegation

Mita Rimani - Outstanding Delegate - League of Arab States

Peter Ren - Honorable Mention - Historical Security Council

Zach Kanjirath and Aneesh Balusu - Delegate's Choice - Historical General Assembly

Melissa Avila is the English Department Student of the Quarter!

English teacher Erin Lundin and Melissa Avila, English Department Student of the Quarter

I'm proud to announce that  Melissa Avila (Class of '16) is the English Department's Student of the Quarter. She was selected by her Acting 1 teacher, Erin Lundin.  When Ms. Lundin introduced Melissa at the Student of the Quarter Breakfast this morning, she spoke about a Melissa's maturity, leadership, and kindness.  Congratulations Melissa!

Tell Your Story 2016

I'm very excited to announce the second annual "Tell Your Story" event!  Last year's event was truly amazing, a remarkable display of true student stories and authentic and strong student voice.

"Tell your Story" is a night-time event that allows students to "tell their story" in a coffee-house-like setting (it's actually in the Community Room like you've never seen it before. ) Live musical entertainment and refreshments will be provided.  The theme of this year's event is "Knots."  Students must draw inspiration from the theme and be true,  and the story must be about YOU, not a best friend.

Student writing submissions are due on December 18th.  Four teacher sponsors will choose the speakers at the event.  I can't wait!

Do you want more information?  You can contact me, or Mrs. Robyn Corelitz (rcorelitz@hinsdale86.org), Mr. Hasham Bhatti (hbhatti@hinsdale86.org), Ms. Kate Saunders (ksaunders@hinsdale86.org) or Ms. Gina Chandler (gchandle@hinsdale86.org).

The deadline for submissions is on Dec. 18^th and the event will be on Feb. 18^th.

Solstice Wins CSPA Gold Again!

The 2014-2015 edition of Solstice, Hinsdale Central's art and literary magazine, was selected for top honors from Columbia Scholastic Press Association, receiving a "Gold Medal."  Thousands of magazines are submitted to CSPA from across the country, and, continuing the medal-winning traditional of the past few years, the staff of Solstice was honored to be among the few magazines to earn Gold.  Congratulations to last year's staff; design editors Nicholas Lucaccioni, Erin Bruns, and Connie Sarantos; literary editor Elizaveta Mangutov; and faculty sponsors Pat Potokar and Jim DiDomenico.

English Teacher Jordan Stob is a "Make a Difference Award" winner

The PTO's Make A Difference Committee announced today the Third Quarter Winners of the Make a Difference Award! 

I'm pleased to see English teacher Jordan Stob is one of the award winners.  Congratulations to all the winners!  

Sara Pendergrass- Special Education

Karen Ford - Bookstore

Pat Morgan - Bookstore

Jordan Stob - English

Mark McCabe - Guidance

Sally Belter - World Languages

Solstice Wins Coveted Scholastic "Crown Award"

More great news for Hinsdale Central publications!

This spring, the 2013-2014 edition of Solstice, Central’s art and literary magazine, was awarded the prestigious “Crown Award” from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association at its 91^st annual convention.  Out of over 1,200 entries, Solstice was one of 60 magazines to win the Crown Award.  

The chief editors from last year’s magazine, Gabrielle Lail, Sydney Schwartz, and Emily Ding, as well as the current editors, Nicholas Lucaccioni, Erin Bruns, Connie Sarantos, and Elizaveta Mangutov, are very excited about receiving this honor. 

This year’s Solstice staff was proud to distribute the 2014-2015 magazine last week.  The faculty sponsors for Solstice are HCHS art teacher Pat Potokar and HCHS English teacher Jim DiDomenico. 

A photo of the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 Solstice magazines:

Jahanavi Gaur is the Student of the Quarter

photo credit: Sigita Mitchell

I'm proud to announce that  Jahanavi Gaur (Class of '16) is the English Department's Student of the Quarter. She was selected by her AP Language and Composition teacher, Gina Chandler. When Mrs. Chandler introduced Jahanavi at the Student of the Quarter Breakfast this morning, she spoke about a fantastic online educational tool that Jahanvai created.

When she was a freshman, in response to a English class assignment, Jahanavi began a blog called the “Dream to Write” project, in which she partnered with schools in India to guide them through an exploration of different forms of writing. Her goal is to provide enrichment for students in India who require advanced writing challenges but who lack the requisite resources in their current schools.   Jahanavi created a curriculum with instruction and assignments on her blog and provides feedback to students through the blog. It is truly inspirational, an exceptional example of dedication to the craft of writing.

Interested in checking out the blog?  Find it here!  Congratulations to Jahanavi! It's students like Jahanavi that truly make Hinsdale Central a special place.

Cool assignment - frosh and senior collaboration

 

The more I hear about the innovative and creative stuff that English teachers do, the more excited I get.   I often feel that I don’t do a good enough job of sharing the good ideas.  I just heard of this cool collaborative project that Mike P and Kim W worked on together  and wanted to share the idea.  Kim’s E1H kids worked with Mike’s Brit Lit 2 kids for two hours this morning for an in-school field trip.  Mike’s kids taught Kim’s kids the 3-step process they use in his BL2 class from going from page to stage.  From the descriptions I got from Mike and Kim,  it sounded like it went really well and was good – for different reasons – for both groups of students.  Both would be happy (I think!) to talk to you about this idea.

 

 

 

Ecology Club receives award -- and grant -- for their video

from left: Stephanie Jamilla, senior; Josh Feldman, senior; Gardeneer Founder Adam Zmick; Claire Hultquist, senior; Wendy Li, sophomore

Congratulations to the Ecology Club for their award-winning video!  The Hinsdale Central Ecology students received recognition and a grant that they plan to use for the courtyard garden.  

The club was also able to chose an organization for a matching grant.  They chose the Gardeneers because the founders work with Chicago schools and assist them in developing school gardens.

Watch the award-winning video here.

Read about the winners in other age brackets at the Green Community Connections website here.

Devils' Advocate online is a Pacemaker Finalist!

photo credit: http://studentpressblogs.org/nspa

I just received notification that Devils’ Advocate Online has been awarded a Pacemaker Finalist Award.  Wow!  

According to the award's website, The NSPA (National Scholastic Press Association) Online Pacemaker competition "recognizes the top student-directed online news publications in 2015. The 30 finalists were selected from 172 entries. A team of three judges worked over the course of several weeks to select the finalists based on content and coverage, writing and editing, design, rich media and interactivity."

Coincidentally, I just wrote a post about an incredibly cool interactive feature about HC poets.  Check out that feature here.

Advocate Online Interactive Feature

I was blown away by the beauty and functionality of this recent interactive Devils' Advocate Online story about Hinsdale Central Poetry Club competing at a recent Louder Than a Bomb bout.  The story is by Paige Pialet.  The video and design is by Matt Stockmal. Advocate Sponsor and HC English teacher Cherise Lopez told me that the advanced features in the multi-media package can't be supported by the regular DA website.  So, you can go to this interactive feature by clicking here, or by scrolling down and clicking the "interactive story" link toward the bottom of the DA Online website here.

Fiddler on the Roof - To Life!

Just a quick congratulations to cast and crew (and director and retired English teacher Chris Hicks and English teacher Susie Jaffe and Auditorium director Charlie Cooper and Music Director Jeff Wirtz and English teacher Julia Kapelnikova) (and English Erin Lundin!) for a great Fiddler on the Roof!

What a delightful, funny, entertaining extravaganza!  Go see it tonight or tomorrow at 7:00!  

The picture is from the famous song: “Sunrise, Sunset.”

"Fiddler on the Roof" article in the Hinsdalean

photo credit: Jon Langham, Pioneer Press

Check out a recent Hinsdalean article by Kim Fornek about upcoming "Fiddler on the Roof" preformances here.  Great detail about how the great dance numbers in the production!

Hinsdale Central Poets Excel!

Congratulations to the HC Louder than a Bomb team!  This was this second LTAB bout, and they finished in second place!

There are two competitions at LTAB -- the "individual poem" -- the indy and the group poem.  The line-up for the Group Poem included Jackie Vinkler, Anika Arvanitis, Elisa Jennings, and Victoria Peralta.  And Matt Stockmal, Aly Claycomb, Jackie Vinkler, and Victoria Peralta preformed "indies."  They'll find out soon if they'll move on to the next round.

Louder Than a Bomb is sponsored by HC English teacher Kim Williams with help from HC English teacher Robyn Corelitz.

HC's LTAB team after their 2nd place finish. 
photo credit: Kim Williams

Louder Than a Bomb season begins!

Congratulations to HC Poets!  Wednesday, Feb. 25, the Slam Poetry Team competed in its first bout of the Louder Than a Bomb slam poetry festive and earned score ranging from 8.5 - 10 on a 10-point scale.  

LTAB is sponsored by HC English teachers Kim Williams and Robyn Corelitz.

LTAB poets at the first bout of the year.

Devils' Advocate captures Black History Month Poetry Jam on video

Check out the DA video here.
See my earlier post about the Poetry Jam here.

Black History Month: Jazz Band

Hinsdale Central Jazz Band and Director Matt Kurinsky (left)

Big crowd this AM for HC jazz band tunefully celebrating Black History Month.  They sounded great.  My favorite : Miles Davis' "Budo."   Great to see District 86 Superintendent Dr. Bruce Law enjoying the music.  This has been another great event.  I'm looking forward to the soul food menu tomorrow!

And, as Deborah Powell says, "Let the celebration continue!"

Poetry Jam Kicks off Black History Month Celebration in the Library

Students Inovled in Poetry Jam - and some HC administration
Photo Credit: Cassandra Richardson

There was a big crowd of students, staff, teachers, and administrators in the library this morning to see "Poetry Jam," the first event of Hinsdale Central's celebration of Black History Month.  It was a great way to start the day!

Eleven student presenters did a great job reading poetry today: Nehe Basti, Greg Debrosse, Danielle Evans, Sophia Lekas, Robert Laws, Haneen Mahmoud, Jasmine Mitts, Carolina Papoli, Talia Sankari, London Taylor, and Treci Thomas. 

English teacher Michael Smith has worked with this group of students in selecting (and rehearsing) these great poems.  Michael also read his own poem, dedicated to his son Langston, and based on Langston Hughes' poem, "Mother to Son."  Not many eyes were dry after this poem.

This was a great beginning.   As Black History Month organizer, and HC staff member, Deborah Powell said in a recent email: "Let the celebration continue!"

(update:  Devils' Advocate made a video of Mr. Smith's poetry reading and did a quick interview of him here.)

Here are some of my snapshots from the event:

 

English Teacher Michael Smith

HC English Teacher Published Again

Andrew W. Jones, who taught at Central for 6 years and is now leading a department at an international school in Istanbul, Turkey, was published again.

Check out his nonfiction article, "The Marlboro Men of Chernivitsi" which was published in The Morning News.

Read about Andy winning the Norman Mailer Prize here.

Clarendon Hills' Doings Kimberly Fornek interviews English teacher Andy Jones about his new book, "Two Seasons in the Bubble" last year.  See the interview about his life in Bulgaria here.  Andy's book is at Amazon.com here.  

Solstice is a Crown Finalist!

I was very excited to see that The Columbia Scholastic Press Association announced the finalists for its Crown Award for publications published during the 2013-2014 academic year... and that HC's Solstice was among the Crown finalists!

This year a total of 1,203 newspapers, magazines and yearbooks and digital publications issued during the 2013-2014 academic year were eligible for judging in the 2015 Crown Awards Program.

According to the CSPA website, "During Crown consideration, publications are judged on their excellence as shown by their design, photography, concept, coverage and writing.  Crown Awards summarize overall excellence in the entire publication."

As a finalist, Solstice will win either a Silver or God crown award. Read about the award (and other finalists) here.  And check out this post about the publication of the magazine in May.

Congratulations to Solstice Chief Editors Gabrielle Lail ('14), Syndney Schwartz ('14), and Emily Ding ('14) along with the entire Solstice staff for the beautiful, remarkable 2014 edition. 

English teacher Jim DiDomenico shares duties of Solstice Sponsor with art teacher Pat Potokar.

"Tell Your Story" Student-Writers Selected!

I just learned about the line-up for the First Annual Tell Your Story event on Thursday, Feb 19 from 5:30-7 pm in the Community Room at HCHS.  I can't wait for what promises to be a fabulous musical-literary  celebration of the power of story.

Out of over 320 submissions, 12 students were chosen to read their personal essays next Thursday.

There will be music by singer-songwriters Gia Margaret and Alain DeCourtenay, hot chocolate, treats, and more.

All essays were written with inspiration from this year’s theme—Waves.

Please consider stopping by this event to support our wonderful student writers!

The selected authors are: Magali Blasdell, Melissa Mooney, Victoria Peralta, Emma Rosenberg, Jacob Becker, Melissa Osksuie, Saryu Sanghani, Carley Chana, Elin Dejus, Giana Scarpiniti, Askh Patel, Gabriella Seo 

Congratulations to everyone who submitted essays and to the twelve selected authors.  "Tell Your Story" has been created by English teachers Hasham Bhatti, Robyn Corelitz, and Kate Saunders.  

Find a recent Advocate article about "Tell Your Story" here and more information here and here.

Senior represents HC at English Speaking Union Event

Senior Jackson Dockery won an in-school competition a couple weeks ago and competed at Roosevelt University yesterday in the English-Speaking Union Chicago Branch regional Shakespeare competition.

Jackson performed the "Bottom's Dream" monologue from "Midsummer Night's Dream" and Sonnet #116.

This is first time in memory that HC has had a competitor.  The HC competition was organized by English teacher Mike Palmquist and English and Acting teacher Erin Lundin.  They're excited to make this a new tradition at Hinsdale Central.

Read more about the National Shakespeare Competition here.

Hinsdale Central Student Authors Win Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

The prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have been announced.  I was so pleased to see so many Hinsdale Central students identified as award winners!

Special congratulations go to Sophomore Selin Turkyilmaz won a "Gold Key" award for her poems "Star" and "Thief."  Selin's current English teacher is Erin Palmer.  The Gold Key marks the highest award.

A number of students were awarded "Silver Key" awards in the "personal essay/memoirs" category .  I have listed the winners, the title of their work, and their current English teacher at Central.

Junior Saadia Elahi for "Baby Steps" (Gina Chandler)

Junior Ellen Jiang for "A Bracelet of Memories" (Cherise Lopez)

Junior Nina Molina for "Unveiling a Hidden Heart"  (Cherise Lopez)

Junior B.J. Ryan for "Free-Range Sand" (Gina Chandler)

Junior Craig Smith for "Morales of a Dead Man" (Cherise Lopez)

Sophomore Selin Turkyilmaz for "On Beauty" (ErinPalmer

Junior Annie Zaher for "A Small Victory" (Gina Chandler)

Congratulations also for some of Central's young authors for winning "Honorable Mention" prizes.  

Junior Saadia Elahi for her personal essay "Turning Pages" (Gina Chandler)

Junior Ellen Jiang for her personal essay "A Different Normal" (Gina Chandler)

Sophomore Nina Molina for her poetry collection (Cherise Lopez)

Watch Ecology Club's entry into the Green Film Contest!

I just watched the Hinsdale Central Ecology Club's brand new entry into the Green Film Contest.  The Ecology Club Sponsor is English teacher Cherise Lopez.  Check it out!

And, check out the award that Ecology Club won last year in this contest here.

Celebrating Black History Month 2015

photo credit: WBS-TV Atlanta

I'm looking forward to all the great events planned for Black History Month, but I can't help to give a special shout out to one that closest to my heart:  this Friday's "Poetry Jam" in the library.  English teacher Michael Smith has worked with a group of Hinsdale Central students in selecting (and rehearsing) some great poems to present this Friday, February 6 in the library from 7:20-7:55.  I hope to see you there!

Come see "Fiddler on the Roof" March 12, 13, or 14!

The brand new "Fiddler on the Roof" poster

Don't forget to come see Fiddler on the Roof, on March 12, 13, and 14 at 7:00 p.m.  The play is directed by retired English teacher Christine Hicks, and so is sure to be awesome.  For more information, please call 630-570-8165.

See my posting about a great article in the Doings about how cast members learned about Jewish history from a local Rabbit here.

Rabbi discusses Jewish history with "Fiddler on the Roof" actors

Rabbi Max Weiss of Oak Park Temple talks with HC's Cooper
photo credit: Kimberly Fornek/Pioneer Press

Check out this excellent article by Kimberly Fornek in the Doings about a visit from Rabbi Max Weiss of Oak Park Temple with the cast and crew of "Fiddler on the Roof," the spring musical at Hinsdale Central.

The article does a great job of describing how actors learned to prepare for their roles by learning from Weiss.  "That way of life that you are going to be signing and dancing about doesn't exist anymore anywhere in the world," Weiss said.  Students learned about the Jewish culture represented in the play, including matchmaking customs and details of Orthodox Judaism.  The actors also discussed the history of anti-Semitism that still exists, even recently in the western suburbs.

What a great educational experience!  Christine Hicks, who retired for the English department last June, is directing "Fiddler," and invited Weiss to come.  Hinsdale Central's Charlie Cooper is the designer for all drama shows at Central, including "Fiddler."

Don't forget to come see Fiddler on the Roof, on March 12, 13, and 14 at 7:00 p.m.  The play is directed by retired English teacher Christine Hicks, and so is sure to be awesome.  For more information, please call 630-570-8165.