School Digest

GBS

Newsletter available in new format

The District 225 community newsletter The Glenbrooks is now available in a mobile device format. To download the spring edition,visit www.glenbrook225.org and click on the newsletter link on the homepage under "Our Mission."

Superintendent's Letter

As the school year comes to a close, the calendar is filled with a multitude of important events, activities, and celebrations in virtually all areas of our schools. Instead of winding down, the Glenbrooks are taking it up a notch! It has been an exciting year of achievement and accomplishment for our schools, and under the guidance of the Board of Education, the staff and administration were successful in completing a notable number of initiatives:

• Student Information System. A new student information system was implemented that allows students and parents secure access to a portal for limited student record information.

• RtI. Implementation of mandated Response to Intervention (RtI) programs was completed in both high schools.

• Communication. A new three-year District communication plan was adopted based on data that included a community-wide survey.

• District Offices. The Passport Plaza building at 3801 West Lake Ave. was renovated and became the new location of the District administrative offices.

• Glenbrook Evening HS/Off-Campus. Renovation of the former District office at 1835 Landwehr Road was completed in January and Glenbrook Evening HS and Glenbrook Off-Campus now occupy the building.

• Energy Conservation. Energy conservation plans were developed and implemented at the school and District levels.

• Cost Reduction. Cost reduction strategies for FY2011 were successfully implemented and additional strategies have been developed for FY2012.

• Technology. A technology plan for the 2011-2012 school year was adopted that will improve existing infrastructure, and address computer refresh needs.

• Bond Issue. The district completed the final $10 million bond issuance from the 2006 referendum to complete promised Life Safety and renovation projects.

The 2011-2012 school year will kick off in grand fashion as Glenbrook South celebrates the school's 50th anniversary, "Titans Strike Gold." Both schools will welcome the Class of 2015 and their parents with enthusiasm and eager anticipation. The 2011-2012 school year also brings a list of initiatives such as:

• Technology. Network equipment will be upgraded to improve speed, storage capacity and redundancy. Internet capacity will be increased and a new Internet content filter will be implemented. District and school websites will be redesigned with improved navigation, a new calendaring system, and social media connections.

• Library Cataloguing. The library cataloguing system will be replaced.

• Telephone System Replacement. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone systems will replace the current digital systems at both GBN and GBS, reducing costs over time.

• Construction. Many projects will be completed this summer including identified life-safety work, replacement of the flooring in the field house facilities at both GBN and GBS, reconfiguration and renewal of the GBS library and the renovation of old shower areas along the back gym hallway to provide new public bathrooms at GBN.

As we look to the future, proposed legislation and funding at both the state and federal levels will have significant influence on public schools and their operation. The Glenbrooks are positioned to face these challenges. The value of a great high school education has never been higher and we are fortunate to serve communities that have always supported education at the highest levels.

Horticulture teamwins 20thstate title

The GBS Horticulture team won its 20th state title in the 2011 competition. In addition, GBS students earned the top five individual spots out of 180 competitors. Team members include: Sam Bielanski, Monica Gunther, Joe Hampton, Elim Jeong, Joanna Kim, Sean Tietz. Teacher Jeff Yordy coaches the team.

Temporary recordsto be destroyed

In accordance with Illinois statute, Glenbrook South will destroy temporary records for the class of 2006 graduates June 15. Students who have graduated, transferred or withdrawn from GBS and would like to take possession of their temporary records may do so by contacting the school's registrar prior to June 15, at (847) 486-4535. Only temporary records will be destroyed. In accordance with the Illinois Student Records Act, GBS will retain transcript, health and award records.

Teacher winsMIT award

GBS teacher Neil Schmidgall has been selected as a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) InvenTeam Excite Award recipient. Schmidgall has been invited to travel to MIT this summer to present a grant application that proposes next year's engineering students build a kinetic sculpture in one of the school stairwells.

Five debaters namedAll-Americans

The Glenbrook South Debate team is proud to announce that the National Forensic League has named five seniors as Academic All-Americans. Seniors Colin Bianchi, Mitchell Bigelow, Philip Han, Jacob Saltzman, and Alyssa Zimmer were honored as Academic All-Americans for their excellence in speech/debate competitions, grades, and test scores. Tara Tate directs the GBS Debate Society and is assisted by Jon Voss, David Kane, Calum Matheson, and Abraham Corrigan.

Debate coachnationallyrecognized

The National Federation of High Schools recently named GBS director of debate Tara Tate as the Central United States sectional winner for the 2011-2012 Speech/Debate/Theatre Educator of the Year Award. In October 2010, the Illinois High School Association selected Tate as the state's award recipient, which advanced her into consideration by the NFHS for Section 4 honors, which includes speech/debate/drama teachers from Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Illinois.

Tate has been the director of debate at GBS since 2003 and currently oversees 120 student debaters. She also serves as the chairperson of the Board for the National Debate Coaches Association.

Radio stationcelebrates 30th anniversary

The Glenbrook South High School Radio Program will celebrate its 30th anniversary during the 2011-2012 school year. The station will be hosting special programs and events to commemorate this milestone. Glenbrook South Radio began in the fall of 1981 as a club "broadcasting" music into the cafeteria from the school's Student Activities Office. Glenbrook South went "on air" in the winter of 1982 using rented time from the Glenview radio station WMWA. In 1997, District 225 purchased the station and changed the call sign to "WGBK" to reflect the new ownership.

Business students recognized foraccomplishments

The GBS Business Professional of America (BPA) group attended the national conference in Washington, D.C. and numerous students were recognized for their accomplishments. Aimee Jose, Noor Malik, Nihreer Matani, Justina Mathew, and Roya Naderi were named BPA National Merit Scholars. Only 37 students out of more than 4,500 earned this distinction. Carrie McClellan earned an Ambassador pin. Aimee Jose pleased 13th in Administrative Support Research Project; Casey Kalman, Charlie Manning, Chrystal Mattappillil, and Max Mattappillil placed 13th in Presentation Management Team; Roya Naderi placed 14th in Human Resource Management; and Nolan Henrickson placed 21st in JAVA Programming.

Glenbrook South was also recognized in the following areas: Safety Awareness, Special Olympics, Community Action, Community Relief, and Marketing and Public Relations.

Rosie McManamon advises the BPA program at GBS.

District 34

ChamberOrchestra toperform in Peoria

The Attea Middle School Chamber Orchestra has been accepted to perform at the 2012 Illinois Music Educators Association State Music Conference, which will be held in January at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria. The Chamber Orchestra is scheduled to perform at 8 a.m. Jan. 27 in the Civic Center Theatre. The group submitted an application with recordings from the past three years along with a description of District 34's string program. Performing at the conference is a great honor, and the group will prepare a 30-minute concert for the upcoming event. The students who performed on the audition tape that was submitted are Neda Abbaszadeh, Kiran Ajani, Grace Avila, Jordan Chiappetta, Jonathan Chung, Courtney Day, Danielle Eickenberg, Lexi Fakhouri, Mark Galperin, Dana Grad, Jean Ha, Min Seung Jung, Arina Kim, Brian Lada, Lydia Lutz, Brandon Moy, Winston Park, Becky Pavchinskiy, Elena Pertsalis, Nivi Ravi, Stephen Sholty, Priya Soni, Patrick Tener, Tracy Tojo and Megan Tristano.

Bookfaircontinues

The Pleasant Ridge School annual Spring Bookfair continues from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. May 26 at Pleasant Ridge, 1730 Sunset Ridge Road. A highlight of the event will be the "Literature Alive" program, which will be presented from 6. to 9 p.m. May 26 also at Pleasant Ridge.

Calendar

Glen Grove ELL Family Game and Art Night will be held at 6 p.m. May 26 at Glen Grove School, 3900 Glenview Road.

Lyon School Incoming Kindergarten Social will be held at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. May 27 at Lyon, 1335 Waukegan Road.

School will be closed May 30 in observance of Memorial Day.

Glen Grove Market Day Pick-up will be at 2:45 p.m. June 1 at Glen Grove School, 3900 Glenview Road.

District 30

Maple Honor roll

Maple School Principal Dr. Nate Carter has announced the third quarter Honor Roll recipients. Students with an asterisk by their names were named to the High Honor Roll.

Sixth Grade

Adam Altman, Max Altman*, Courtney Anetsberger*, Kyle Angelbeck*, Rishabh Arora*, Holly Arriaga, Bryce Balonick*, Brian Baruck*, Kristina Beddaoui*, Cameron Bersh*, Justin Bifeld, Nikol F. Blinov, Chase Bolan, Melissa L. Bruckman*, Dana Cagen*, Nicolas Cavallaro*, Katherine Cavender*, Luke A Cherchenko*, Jonathan L. Chu*, Suzi Chung*, Emily Clesen*, Alexander L. Cramer*, Meghan C. Cruz*. David I. Deborin*, Jozette Deegan, Zachary Dolins*, Itai Epstein*, Jake J. Fahey, Van Fairbanks, Samantha E. Farkash*, Nathan D. Fong*, Miranda Fromm, Vivian Gao*, Liam Garrity*, Zachary Garti*, Brian Goldman, Ashley Goldstein*, YouLim Han*, Madalyn Hirsh, Miri Ishida*, Grace Jan, Justin H. Ji*, Sarah X. Jiang*, Minseok Jo*, Charlotte Joselit*, Anjit T. Joseph*, Isabella Kang*, William Katranis*, Anna Kim*, Eileen Kim*, Ellie Kim*, Rachel Kim*, Sonya Klimek*, Jacey Kolker*, Matthew Kramer*, Matthew L. Landauer*, Ryan Larsen*, Dori M. Latek*, Abby Lenhoff, Anna A. Lipkind*, Jeffrey A. Liss, Emma Litch, Gianna J. Loiacono*, Harrison Lupfer*, Hannah R. McDermott*, John McMenamin*, Shivam Mehrotra, Michelle Michalczewski*, Rebecca Paddor*, Christina E. Pappas*, Hannah Park, Jonah Pazol*, Emily Press*, Connor T. Purcell*, John P. Purcell*, Avani S. Ramachandra*, Gillian E. Redstone*, Kayla D. Reid, Clark Reinfranck*, Marissa Rogoff*, Nathan Rosenberg, Heather Schlitz*, Biata O. Shem-Tov*, YouJin Shim, JoonSeop Shin*, Whitney W. Sloneker*, Lucas Smeds*, JuHyung Song, Joseph Sperber, Melissa Spero*, Sara Stanicek*, Madison Stat*, Emily Stoller*, Julian Stone*, Iordanis Stylianou, Jack J. Sullivan*, Stephanie Tan*, Mya Tsang*, Jacob D. Turk*, Calliope Vaselopulos*, David N. Vayngart*, Ryan Veith, Daniel J. Voronov*, Liat Wasserman*, Allison Wyland*, Julia Yep*, Valeriya Yuryk*, Brett Zera.

Seventh Grade

Zainab Ahmed*, Sahil Akolawala*, Danielle Alper*, Georgia Arvanitis*, Mary Batrich*, Zachary Bernstein*, Kasey Bersh*, Quentin Bobart, Shannon Buttimer*, Graham Cohen*, Zachary Cohen*, Mollie E. Cramer*, Zoey M. Degen, Allan Dontsis*, Amelia E. Dorr, Samuel Ehrlich*, Grace Elisco, Idan Epstein, Allan L. Farkash*, Austin Fialkow*, Brian C. Filipiak*, Madeline Flamm*, Allison Galanter*, Paul Graham*, Matthew Grinde*, Lane Gruemmer, Nicole Hampton*, Alexander E. Hanskat, Brant Hlavin*, Lexi Hoffman*, Suyeon Hong*, Alexandra F Hristakos*, Daniel W. Hu*, William C. Huie*, Molly Isley, Michael Jesser*, Jini V. John*, Brendon Johnson*, Madeline Kahn*, Erik Karpinski*, David Kim, Isaac Kim*, Katherine A. Knight Johnson*, Nicole Koshevatskiy*, Matthew J. Lampert*, Changmin Lee*, JungEun Lee*, Vivien Lee*, YeJin Lee*, Jason A. Levin*, Paul Licata*, Jessica Livas*, Kristina Louras*, Lindsay Malkin*, Ilana Malman*, Daniel Z. Marx, Samantha Mason*, Leopold Mayer*, Afreen A. Memon, Nathan Mirochnick, Sara Moradi*, Tiam Moradi, Elayna Mork*, Samantha Nevin*, Debbie Noh*, Christine O*, Chris Oh*, HyeMin Oh*, HyunHee Park*, SungKyung Park*, Sydney Parks, Halia Parrott*, Taya Placik*, Devin Reisman, Louis Rosenberg*, Mason Rosenberg*, Rina Rosenwasser*, Aleksandra Savic, Abhay M. Sawhney, Leah Schwartz-Dodek*, Nikhil Shah*, Daniel A. Silver*, Daniel Simon, Jonathan Simon*, Madelaine Sorrisso*, Leah Sternberg*, Monica Strom, Kiersten A. Teresi*, Andrew Tuchler*, William Villaflor*, Jason R. M. Ward*, Patrick Wdowikowski, Miranda E. Weber, Hailey Winer*, Robert Wos, Lauren Yep*, Francine Yoon, Joshua Yoshikawa, Jonghwa Yun*, Ivana Zhou*,  Jack Zieske*

Eighth Grade

Seby S. Achettu*, Joan Alcazar*, Philippa Allen*, Craig Angelbeck*, Nicole Angelbeck*, Stavroula Antonopoulos*, Kendall Barrett*, Rachel Bilimoria*, Molly Blitt*, Kylie Boersma*, Gabrielle A. Boiskin*, Alexander Brandt*, Brandon Brocato, Alexander Cacioppo, Lydia Carpenter, Nathaniel Clough*, Talia Dechter*, Madalyn Deegan*, Allie Drazner*, Samuel Drazner*, Tamara Erlich*, Jordan A. Fahey, Jonah Fialkow*, Aaron Forman*, Samantha Franklin*, Dustin S. George*, Arielle Goldman*, Derek Goldstein*, Pedro Gomez*, Emily Gordon*, Michelle Gotteiner*, Nicole Grundy*, Cameron Hillocks*, Lauren Horwitz*, Ashley In*, YoonKyung Y. Jang*, SeungHyun Jung*, Aaron Kahn, Rachel Kahn*, Alice Karasinski, Jay Kim*, Lauren Konopka*, Alek Kopulsky*, Dana Koretz, Alice Koshevatskiy*, Emily Koshevatskiy*, Brian Kuncheria*, Jenna Kwon*, Dana Lenhoff*, Danielle Levenson*, Yasmeen Mansoorieh*, Victoria McMenamin*, Caroline C. Minn*, Michal Mlynowski*, Tyler Mulier*, Jess Nathan*, Jory Nathan, Nicholas Niznik, Daniel Nowicki, Sarah Nwia*, Sarah Odeshoo, HyeYoung Oh*, Amanda Paddor*, Samantha J. Pahos*, Sabrina Palmer*, Rebecca Panitch*, Ki-Deok Park, Minho T. Park*, David Pawlan*, Charles Pierre*, Yasmine S. Ramachandra*, Emily P. Redstone, Rachel Resnick*, Christian Rodriguez, Alexa J. Rosenson*, Julia G. Rosenson*, Curtis Rotheiser*, Asher A. Rothstein*, Benjamin Samborn*, Elizabeth Schack*, Kari Scott*, Mario Senese*, Jan Siegien, Jay Silver*, Lauren Smeds*, Anne Snow*, Jennifer Soler*, Ethan Stillman, Esther Yegi Suk, Joseph M. Tangorra, Jonathan Thomas*, Michael Tuchler*, Nathaniel J. Turk*, Isabel Vargas, Lauren Veith*, Jessica Wax*, Emily Wyland*, George Youssef*.

School schedule There will be a half day of school due to a School Improvement Day May 27. Wescott and Willowbrook School students will be dismissed at 11:45 a.m.; and Maple School students will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. No kindergartners will attend school on this day. There is no school on Memorial Day, Monday. The Maple School band will play in Glenview's Memorial Parade.

New WorldLanguage Program

On April 27, District 30's Board of Education approved a new World Language Program for the 2011-12 school year. The curriculum is outlined as follows: For the first time, Chinese will be offered in sixth, seventh and eighth grade; Spanish instruction will be added in third grade for 90 minutes a week; Spanish will be restored in fourth grade. It was removed for a curriculum study at the end of the 2008-09 school year. Instruction at fourth-grade level will be increased from 50 to 120 minutes per week; Spanish instruction will continue in fifth grade from 90 to 150 minutes per week; French will be eliminated from the elementary curriculum; and French and Spanish will continue to be offered in sixth, seventh and eighth grade.

This program was researched and developed by a committee of staff, parents and administrators. It is consistent with a curriculum research and design process which included surveying of our community and multiple school districts, site visits to school districts with high caliber, research-based, World Language Programs, speaking with experts in the field and participation in the 2010 American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Convention and World Languages Expo.

Some research findings included the fact that the earlier that children are introduced to a new language, the better; early language learning improves cognitive abilities, and assists with the acceptance of differences to learn about other cultures; learning languages affords a person economic and career benefits. The language taught does not make a difference, but all children should learn a language. While teaching in the target language, the focus will be on the 5 C's — Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities, which are the ACTFL standards of foreign language, the principles for effective instruction.

According to Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Melissa E. Hirsch, "Committee members have participated in extraordinary work, researching and developing this new, best practice curriculum. Numerous facets of communication have also been planned by the District World Language Committee. A letter will also be sent to all District 30 parents this week which articulates the new World Language Program. "As a district, we have been formally studying this important curriculum for 18 months in order to provide a well developed and research based curriculum. This program enhancement in District 30 is an enormous step in preparing our students for a global society and the future," stated Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Edward Tivador.

Staff members and retirees honored

On May 6, over 250 faculty and family members attended the annual Northbrook/Glenview School District 30 Family Dinner at the Highland Park Country Club.

"District 30 is privileged to have employees who dedicate their careers to our three schools. We value all our District 30 family. As we grow and prosper, we continue our tradition of recognizing those who are celebrating a milestone year with the district," stated Superintendent of Schools Dr. Edward Tivador.

In honor of their retirement, Dr. Tivador and Board of Education President James Bream presented each of the retiring staff members with a gift. Retirees included Wescott School's Learning Specialist Jayne Amhaus, Maple School Librarian Jennie Depke, Maple Math teacher Jennie Depke, Willowbrook School kindergarten teacher Pat Liss, Willowbrook Second Grade teacher Jan Southerton, Wescott School first grade teacher Sue Stoehrmann, Special Education Assistant Pat Pawola, Willowbrook School physical education teacher Paul Szerszen, Maple Math teacher Barbara Wolke, and Maple Social Worker Barbara Woodbury.

Fifty-five staff members were recognized for achieving a milestone year with District 30: 40 years, Karen McCluskey; 30+ years, Jayne Amhaus, Kristin Anderson, Ben Chin, Cathy Cuccio, Lynn Gerber, Joann Hoetzer, Anita Jay, Judy Lenger, Sue Smilie, Jan Southerton, and Helen Weeks; 30 years, William Vaananen; 25+ years, Cindy Habel, Jeff Jay, Debbie Kob, Lynn Reimer, Sue Stoehrmann, Paul Szerszen and Barbara Wolke; 25 years, Jennie Depke, Betty Garber and Tia Stevens; 21+ years, Carrie Bargowski, Debbie Dubow, Pat Liss, Jeanne Mills, Sheila Nelson, Decima Panitch, Karen Roloff, and Michelle Rosen; 20 years, Jane Eilhauer and Mary Norquist; 15 years, Judith Anderson, Sharon Cook, Mary Jean Fetzer, Mary Garcia, Jenny Moy, Lorene Schramm and Barbara Woodbury; 10 years, Barbara Appell, Nancy Cook, Suzanne Grace, Peggy Martin, Jamie Reding, and Dr. Edward Tivador; 5 years, Julie Fleisch, David Karnoscak, Michelle King-Mulvihill, Nancy Lifshitz, Aimee Neumann, Betsie Onsrud, Randy Saeks, Jeannine Staunton and Annette Teer.

Dinner Committee members who planned this event included Kurt Barker, Dr. Yasmeen Bilimoria, Betty Garber, Sharon Latek, Suzanne Nelson, Michelle Rosen, Jackie Ruf, Dr. Edward Tivador, Barbara Wolke, Nadine Lee and Chris Young.

Graduation cards available

Maple School's PTO is selling graduation cards which can be used to congratulate students who will be graduating and going to Glenbrook North or Glenbrook South High School in the fall. The cards cost $5 each, or three or more can be purchased at $4 each. The deadline for purchasing graduation cards is June 1. To view a list of graduates, refer to the May 6 Maple Marquee. For more information, call PTO chairs Rachel Brandt at (847) 562-9116, Sara Filipiak at (847) 205-2530, or Wendy Kopulsky at (847) 291-7846.

Math team excels

On May 5, Maple School's Mathematics Team competed at Glenbrook District Junior HIgh Mathematics Contest. The team consisted of Jonah Fialkow, Derek Goldstein, Shyun Jung, Sarah Nwia, Minho Park and Michael Tuchler. Fialkow tied for first in the individual contest while Jung and Park tied for fifth place. Jung was a member of the first place team; and Park was a member of the third place team.