School Digest

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Updated: May 2, 2011 1:06PM

DISTRICT 68

Dates to remember:

March 10 - No school, 1 p.m. Parent Teacher Conferences

March 11 - No school/Teacher Institute Day

March 12 - Student Council Fun Fair!

March 15 - 4:30 p.m. Market Day pickup; 6:30 p.m. 2011-12 Kindergarten Parent Meeting

March 16 - 1:30 p.m. eighth grade play dress rehearsal

March 17, 18 and 19 - Eighth Grade Play

The Oak Grove Chess Team represented the school well in the Kumbaya Scholastic Chess Tournament at National Louis University in Skokie, and took top honors in several sections. The following members participated in three different sections of competition: Jacob Gunter, Sebastian Ingino, Nikhil Patel, Matthew Price, Albert Sterner, Malcolm Sullivan, and Joseph Welch. A total of 130 students gathered together from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin to compete in this United States Chess Federation rated tournament.

The final results in the Non-Rated K-2 Section awarded an individual Third Place trophyto Nikhil Patel, with three out of four wins, and Sebastian Ingino placed tenth with two out of four wins. In the Non-Rated 3-8 Section, an individual third-place trophy was awarded Matthew Price and the fourth- place individual trophy was awarded to Albert Sterner. Also, they are retuning with the first place team trophy for their efforts.

In the U600 Rated Section, Joseph Welch took top honors with a perfect score of four out of four wins, sharing first-place honors with two other players. He was ranked third in the section. Jacob Gunter with three out of four wins tied for fourth place, returning ranked tenthin the Section, and finally Malcolm Sullivan with two out of four wins tied for 20th place. This U600 Section had over 50 players and was extremely competitive.

Congratulations to all participants!

Ten seventh and eighth grade math students competed at the Carmel Math Contest. Jason Ji, a seventh grader, placed third in the individual standings in seventh grade Division A at the contest. Other seventh graders on the team were Andy Zhang, Jordan Mitchell, Sarah Arora, and Nicole Dorcy. Members of the eighth grade team were Ankur Rastogi, Alec Zhang, David Cao, Melanie Qing and Pooja Sajeev.

Congratulations to eighth grader Alec Zhang who won the Sectional Spelling Bee at Great Lakes. Alec will compete next month at College of Lake County against 11 other spellers for the title of Lake County Spelling Bee Winner. The winner at CLC will have the opportunity to compete in the 2011 National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Good luck Alec!

Mrs. Angster's sixth grade students decided to make a difference in a child's life by holding a fund raiser for an orphan in Mailisita Tanzania. The boy's name is Augustino Christian. He is in first grade. Students voluntarily made their own contributions toward this cause, and raised the $300 needed. This money will go toward food, uniforms, and teacher salaries. Donations will be sent to Watoto club and Mailisita Foundation. Thank you for your generousity,

The eighth grade homerooms have been battling it out in Beta Club's Penny Wars. All of the benefits are going towards the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) and will be used to help financially support abusive relationship victims with shelters and emotionally support them by creating programs and new coalitions. It was a very great cause and a fun way to raise money for it.

And now it's time to reveal our coveted winners of the eighth grade Penny Wars. This year we had a prize for most positives (pennies) and a prize for most money raised. The homeroom with the most positives (pennies) is Mrs. Mahoney's homeroom. Mrs. Mahoney won her homeroom a pizza party. And finally, the homeroom who wins for most money is Ms. Crary's homeroom. Ms. Crary won her homeroom cupcakes. All in all, each homeroom put forth a fantastic effort and helped Beta Club raise $335.04 to help victims of abuse. Thanks to all of our eighth graders for all their charitable donations!

For all students interested in owning a copy of the Valley Forge reenactment DVD, we are reproducing these for a charity outreach to the Libertyville Township Food Pantry. Please send a minimum donation of $15. We will produce the DVDs and give them to your child. Please check the Oak Grove News for an order form.

The Oak Grove Class of 2011 proudly presents 'Once on this Island Jr.' Tickets can be purchased online for the eighth grade play at ogschool.org. Please check the Oak Grove News for more information.

Hats Off To Good Character: K - Nate Kallas; First Grade - Lily Garcia; Second Grade - Sam Kallas; Third Grade - Tyler Selvaggi; Fourth Grade - Katie Zurek DISTRICT 70

Copeland Manor fifth grade teacher Kerri Bongle was named as the new Highland Middle School assistant principal as of July 1.

Bongle, 32, replaces Jon Hallmark who will be promoted to principal with the retirement of current principal Sharon Aspinall this summer.

Bongle, who has taught in Libertyville Elementary District 70 for 10 years beginning with third grade at Copeland Manor, also was named Director of District 70's summer school program this year. The up and coming administrator previously served as summer school principal for three years.

A University of Dayton alumni who graduated Cum Laude, Bongle earned a master's degree in educational leadership from Northeastern Illinois University four years ago. She also received her administrative certificate in 2007.

Rockland Principal Jean LeBlanc is leaving at the end of June to join East Maine School District 63 as principal of V. H. Nelson Elementary School in Niles. LeBlanc, who has been a principal at Rockland for four years, said her doctorate program sparked an interest in working with equity and cultural diversity issues.

Information from the 2010 Illinois School Report card shows that Nelson School has a Hispanic population of almost 28 percent and an Asian population of 22.5 percent with almost 600 students in the kindergarten through sixth grade school. By comparison, Rockland School has an enrollment of almost 350 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, with only 5 percent Hispanic and almost 4 percent Asian.

Before joining District 70, LeBlanc held was a principal and curriculum director at Oak Grove School in Green Oaks. LeBlanc also taught third grade at Half Day School in Lincolnshire for nine years and third grade at Rockland from 1994 to 1995.

She has her bachelor's degree in business from Indiana University, and worked as a certified public accountant in Chicago for 13 years. Changing her career to teaching, LeBlanc earned a master's degree from National-Louis University and is a National Board Certified Teacher, a very prestigious accomplishment. She also has a Certificate of Advance Studies from National-Louis University.

Libertyville Elementary District 70 summer school on-line registration begins March 6 for district residents. The information for the program is located at the district web site, d70schools.org/summerschool.

Summer school will be held from June 13 to July 14 at Highland Middle School and Rockland Elementary School. There will be no classes held on Fridays this year. Busing will be available for students for a fee.

District residents may begin registering on March 6, while out of district residents can begin signing up on March 13. Registration will end on June 1.

The Butterfield Family Association is sponsoring its spring Gently Used Children's Clothing and Toy sale on March 11 and 12 at the school. Members of the family association, parents of children attending the school, will part with some of their treasures for the sale, which will run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on March 11, and from 8 to 11:30 a.m. on March 12 (when selected items also will be half off) at the school, 1441 W. Lake St., Libertyville. Forty percent of the sale will go to the BFA, a volunteer group which enhances education at the school.

The Copeland Manor Fun Fair will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 12 at the school, 801 S. Seventh St., Libertyville. Enjoy, games, prizes, refreshments and raffle items.

Adler Park students will be performing a musical titled "This Is America!" for an annual spring musical set for March 16 in Libertyville. The first, third and fifth grade students will be performing well known patriotic songs. Some of the songs include "There Are Many Flags In Many Lands," "Thankful for the USA," "Oh, I Love America," "Allegiance Rap" and "Salute To America," which is a medley of "You're A Grand Old Flag," "This Land Is Your Land," and "America The Beautiful." The concert will be held at 7 p.m. at Butterfield School.

The Highland Middle School choirs will perform a Choir Concert at 7 p.m. on March 17 at the school. The choir will tour the four elementary schools on March 18 to encourage fifth-graders to get involved next year. The tour times and locations include 8:50 a.m. at Rockland School, 160 W. Rockland Road, 10:10 a.m. at Copeland Manor School, 801 S. Seventh Ave., then break for lunch. The choir will begin performing again at 12:50 p.m. at Butterfield School, 1441 W. Lake St., and at 2:10 p.m. at Adler Park School, 1749 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Copeland Manor fifth-graders will conduct chemistry experiments and explore chemistry concepts with parent volunteers in Kids and Chemistry at 1 p.m. on March 17 at the school.

Adler Park School will participate in an all school assembly at 12:50 and 1:45 p.m. on March 21 when nationally known story-teller Chris Fascione presents "Bringing Literature to Life."

The success of a special education classroom created in the middle school two years ago will make way for a similar classroom on the elementary school level. Libertyville Elementary District 70 will create a self-contained classroom next year to house up to eight students requiring special education, said Marilynn Menuey, the district's director of special education. The Board of Education approved the new program Monday night.

A similar program at Highland Middle School allows 10 students in special education to remain in their home school and be integrated with their peers in selected academics, physical education and fine arts classes.

Creating a similar classroom on the elementary level is a natural step in the program, allowing students to easily flow from the elementary level to the middle school level.

Currently, Menuey has identified seven students who would benefit from such a program. Those students would be in first through third grade in the fall. They vary in special education needs from Learning Disabilities to process delays to physical disabilities. All of their needs could be met by a District 70 teacher, rather than having to attend a special school outside of District 70 or receive piece-meal help within the district, she added.

Menuey expects to transfer a teacher from within the district to the new classroom, eliminating the need to hire additional staff.

By educating the children locally, Menuey said it allows student to stay with their peers and neighbors, provides more focused instruction and allows the district to control the curriculum. It also saves the district money by not having to pay tuition and transportation when students are placed in specialized schools outside of the district. However, the district fully expects to continue to keep a child's needs as a top priority and when a child's needs are beyond the scoop of the district, they will continue to be placed in specialized schools that meet their needs.

Libertyville Elementary District 70 elementary students involved in an international Destination Imagination program are busy preparing for a regional competition in March. Destination Imagination challenges students in problem solving techniques. This year, students from Adler Park, Butterfield, and Highland have teams competing in the regional competition to be held on March 12 at Juarez Middle School in Waukegan. The sponsors for all the District 70 teams this year are teachers Karen McLean and Ashley Zeinz.

At Highland Middle School, a team will be competing in the "Unidentified Moving Object" challenge where teams will need to figure out how to design and build equipment to move between towering heights without using electricity. Highland team members are Miltry Anderson, Jacob Cowsky, Annika McDermott, Curtis Sparks and Alex Ziggler. The manager is Greg Sparks.

Adler Park School also will sponsor an Unidentified Moving Object team with members Elias Anderson, Alex Dikelsky, Jacob Dikelsky, Benjamin Johnson, Andy Liu, Adam Sparks, and Chad Spinozza. The manager is Greg Sparks.

Butterfield School also will sponsor a Unidentified Moving Object team, "DI-Classified," Emma Chandler, Jonathan Timm, Milica Lukic, Erin Leese, Tate Constable and Jake Duffy. The manager is Elizabeth Chandler.

Butterfield School will sponsor "The D Team" as they take on the Mythology Mission challenge where the team does an improvisational skit involving a mythical creature and use a country they previously researched to create a culture. Team members are Ryan Ledman, Alex Lu, Cole McClurg, Will DeBruler, Christopher Palmer, John Scott and Steve Suk. The team manager is Mary Ledman.

An Adler Park Team also will take on the Mythology Mission. Team members include Annika Bjorklund, Abigail Cima, Alex Houser, Maddy Jacobs, Emily Loizzo and Jessica McLennan. The team manager is Eric Cima.

Two combined teams from Adler Park and Butterfield schools will take on two challenges under the name "Rest in Pieces." Team members include Andrew Clark, Ally McLean, Edward Moy, Victoria Moy, and Mark Plunkett. The team manager is Elizabeth Moy. The team will tackle the Spinning a Tale challenge will perform their own three act skit about an energy cycle in the natural and/or physical world. In the next challenge, "Verses! Foiled Again!," the team will design and build a structure made out of aluminum foil, wood and glue and see how much it will hold.

The Rockland kindergarten classes will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day by creating elaborate Leprechaun traps in hopes of catching the tiny pranksters. The students and their families work together to create elaborate traps, which will be displayed for classrooms throughout the day on March 16, with special showings from 10:15 to 10:30 a.m. and from 12:15 to 12:30 p.m. for the families. During the display, students will demonstrate how their traps work and how they will catch Leprechauns, which have traditionally visited the school every St. Patrick's day. Students will set the traps on March 16 and discover if a leprechaun has been caught when they return on March 17. To date, no Leprechauns have been caught but students have seen evidence of Leprechauns having visited the classrooms by springing their traps. This is the only school building traps this year in the district.

The annual Patty Cake Breakfast, featuring pancakes, sausage, juice, milk, and coffee, will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. on March 19 at Rockland School. The fund-raiser offers parents and their children time to share a meal together with classmates, neighbors, teachers, administrators, and school board members. During the breakfast, many items also will be raffled. The tickets to win the raffles will be sold for a minimal fee. Items to be raffled may include services of lawn mowing, baby-sitting, arts and craft items, popular stuffed animals and toys, Great America tickets, baskets and lunches with teachers.

The event is sponsored by the Rockland Family Association. DISTRICT 73

Hawthorn Education Association will host a Board Candidate Forum to help voters learn more about candidates for Hawthorn Board of Education. The forum will begin at 7 p.m. on March 16 at Hawthorn Middle North, 201 Hawthorn Parkway, Vernon Hills. Four four-year positions on the seven-member Hawthorn Board of Education are up for election on April 5. Candidates are Jeffrey Bard, Michelle Comitor, Lisa Jay, Matthew Napierkowski, Cristopher Nolan and Jayson Tran.

During the Feb. 28 meeting, the Hawthorn Board of Education received the formal plan for closing an estimated $1.5 to $2 million gap in nest year's budget. The plan, which was researched and developed through the efforts of the volunteer Financial Advisory Task Force, focused on addressing the budget gap while causing the least amount of negative impact for our students and the programs and services we provide for them. A key part of the plan was the agreement by Hawthorn staff and Hawthorn Education Association (HEA) members to amend existing contracts, thereby reducing salary increases as well as eliminating some non-teaching positions, such as teacher clerks, health clerks, and lunch-recess supervisors. Union leaders and members agreed to those changes during a vote on Feb. 25. All Hawthorn employees (even those not covered by the union) will also abide by those decisions. Other components of the plan include raising student fees to align more closely to those of other districts, reducing professional development, reducing paper/color copy costs, reducing Summer Scholars summer school costs, reducing summer school locations, and implementing energy savings programs. The board is expected to make a final decision regarding the plan during the March 14 Board of Education Meeting at 7 p.m., Hawthorn District Office, 841 West End Court, Vernon Hills. The complete plan is available at www.hawthorn73.org or by calling the District Office at (847) 990-4200. Thank you to HEA members, FATF volunteers, and everyone else involved in the development of this thoughtful plan.

Information about Hawthorn Enrichment Institute and Hawthorn Band and Orchestra Summer Camp is now posted at www.hawthorn73.org/summerprograms.

Congratulations to Sarang Park, a fifth grader at Hawthorn Elementary South, who was one of four top finalists in the sectional spelling bee held Feb. 23 at South Park School in Deerfield. Sarang moves on to the Lake County Spelling Bee, which will be held at 7 p.m. on March 16 at the College of Lake County. Top finishers in that Bee will move on to the renown Scripps National Spelling Bee held each June in Washington, DC. Congratulations to all of the Hawthorn spelling champs who competed in Deerfield, including Madison Madhani, Nikhil Mangtani, Anmol Parande, Christine Tsai and Maria Yunovich. Kudos to all of the students throughout the District who polished their spelling skills during the entire spelling bee season.

Hawthorn Middle North's Mathletes turned in a terrific showing at the recent MathCounts competition held Feb. 19 at the College of Lake County. The math team of Hyun Woo Yim, Aakash Setty, Steven Zhang and Paul Montegrande brought home the second-place trophy out of a field of 18 schools representing Lake, Cook and McHenry Counties. Out of 200 competitors, Hyun Woo also recorded the top individual score, while Aakash ranked sixth and Steven 11th. The team now moves on to the Mathcounts State Competition in Matteson on March 12. The team also did well at the Carmel Catholic High School Math Competition with Justin Yim finishing first, Steven Zhang third, and Caleb Ju first in their individual categories. Middle North math team members include (sixth graders) Ankit Agrawal, Olivia Jazbutis, Emily Komessar, Oliver Leuny, Hirsch Nangia, Aakash Setty, Derek Zhang, Jeffrey Zhang, (seventh graders) Caleb Ju, Brandon Kim, Zackary Kurzenberger, Lucy Wu, (eighth graders) Fayth Kim, Patrick Kowzon, Paul Montegrande, Peter Moras, Steen Zhang and Hyun Woo Yim. Nancy Alexander is coach.

Congratulations to the Hawthorn Middle South Math Teams for their trophy-placing finishes at the Carmel Catholic High School Math Competition on Feb. 26. The seventh grade team had a great finish, placing second. The eighth grade team brought home the coveted 1st place trophy. The team also did well the previous week at the Regional MathCounts Competition, coming in sixth as a team while Isaiah Liu turned in a ninth place finish. The team includes (sixth graders) Aparajitha Adiraju, Kishore Iyer, Andrew Kim, Harsha Namburi, Alex Orlov, Eunice Yoon, (seventh graders) Ari Bard, Jolie Boulos, Niki Chakrabarty, Ryan Curtis, Isaiah Liu, Jeet Nair, John Powell, Manik Trikha, (eighth graders) Anantha Aruloli, Noah Cho, Bei Deng, Mark Markosyan, Jessica Ni, Shubham Patel, Heena Singh, Tyler Smith, Christine Tsai and Jane Zhang. Tia Alexander is the coach.

Student artists from across the District will have their creations featured in an art show at the Aspen Drive Library. The art show, which celebrates Youth Art Month, will be open from March 10 through April 4. The show kicks off with an Artist Reception today from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the library, 701 Aspen Drive, Vernon Hills. Thank you to Cook Library for the continued partnership with Hawthorn schools.

The Hawthorn Middle North wrestling team has turned in terrific performances all season long, and continues the march to the State Meet in DeKalb on March 11. In fact, Middle North won both the SMSC Conference Tournament as well as the Regional Meet, which was held at Viking Middle School in Gurnee on Feb. 26. Individual Conference Champs include Jessy Goldufsky, Bryce Lucich, Max Rickard, Dylan Geick and Brae Cruz. Dylan Geick earned "Wrestler of the Meet" honors as he wrestled up a weight class to challenge state-medalist Austin Mazzenga. While Mazzenga scored the first take down, Dylan took the match to a decisive 11 to 5 victory. Other top finishers at Conference included (with second-place finishes) Jovany Castaneda, Matt Spitzer, (third place) Cesar Obispo, John Avila, (fourth place) Juan Avila, Felipe Yanez and Ronnie Lester. The Middle North Wrestling Team followed up this championship performance with an equally impressive effort at the IESA Regional Tournament the following weekend. The team was actually down by 21 point going into the final round of competition. North had eight wrestlers in the finals, and six wrestling for third and fourth place finishes. Almost all had to win in order to come back and take the team champtionship - which they did! Congratulations to Regional Champions Bryce Lucich, Max Rickard, Dylan Geick, Peter VanderBloomer, Brae Cruz, Juan Avila, Jovany Castaneda and Matt Spitzer. They will compete at the Sectional competition, along with qualifiers Jessy Goldufsky, Jr. Hernandez, Moises Flores, Antonio Argomandiz, Cesar Obispo and Ricky Schmidt.

Hawthorn band, orchestra and choral students once again embraced the District 8 Solo and Ensemble Contest. Students presented more than 150 different musical pieces for the competition, which was held Feb. 12 in Lake Zurich. Students scored extremely well for the event, which features individual and small group (duet, trio, etc.) performing for a judge who provides comments. More information is posted online at www.hawthorn73.org under Happenings.

Congratulations to the Bookineers of Hawthorn Middle South. The reading team of Marc Edler, Chirag Patel, Shubham Patel, Melanie Rogers and Christine Tsai won this year's all-school Battle of the Books competition. This is the third year in a row the Bookineers have taken the top spot in the competition, which quizzes students on their knowledge of Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award winners. The competition culminates on March 11 with the All-District Battle of the Books hosted by Hawthorn Middle North. Congratulations to all of the competitors for putting in extra time and effort to prepare for the competition, including Team American Vicious and Delicious Soup-a-Stars featuring Bailey Lang, Carissa Robbins and Beverly Walker; Team Chocolate featuring Ari Bard, Ryan Curtis, Isaiah Liu, Sam Patt and Jack Potrykus; and Team Olympian featuring Alex Frumkin, Gabby Gaidamak, Kishore Iyler, Alex Orlov and Yaajnovalki Varanasi.

Hawthorn Middle North crowned their school's Battle of the Books Champs. Congratulations to Team Iguanas, featuring sixth graders Ricardo Genaro, Brandon Meister, Hirsch Nangia and Jeffrey Zhang. The team showed the most knowledge about a selection of books (Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Awards). The Iguanas will face off against the Middle South champs during a March 11 All-District Battle of the Books. All of the competitors worked hard, putting in extra time during lunch hours and after school to prepare for the competition. Other competitors included Team Thunderhak featuring Sergio Conejo, Humberto Huerta, Olivia Jazbutis, Emily Komessar and Jesus Ortegon, as well as Team Smartees featuring Arina Kryrko and Annie Sokolowiski.

Hawthorn will be sending four bowlers to the 1st Annual IESA State Bowling Tournament being held March 25 and 26 in Joliet. Best wishes to Hawthorn Middle South's Pricilla Yim and Emily Chiarello as well as Hawthorn Middle North's Jack Duffley and Brian Duffley, whose individual averages were used to determine who would compete. Congratulations, also, to Middle North's Trevor Moyers, who posted a qualifying score, but who will be out of town for the tournament. This is the first year that bowling has been included as an Illinois Elementary School Association activity - and the first year our middle schools have fielded a bowling team. Middle North bowlers include Brian Duffley, Jack Duffley, Jacob Hollis, Caleb Klatt, Chris Mangoni, Trevor Moyers, Kyle Ranallo, Sammy Thornburg and Alex Yates. Middle South bowlers include Coleman Adams, Jimmy Cervantes, Emily Chiarello, Anusha Das, Giovanni Gallardo, Julia Kagan, Sarah Kain, Isabel Lopez, Francesca Muraca, Justin Park, Corey Truger, Shane Williamson and Pricilla Yim. Thanks to Brunswick Zone for their support.

Hawthorn middle school bands, orchestras and choruses will be performing in the District 8 Organizational Music Concerts on March 11 or 12. Our fifth and sixth grade bands will be performing at the Little People Band Festival in North Chicago on March 15 or 16.

A group of chorus students from Hawthorn Middle South will perform a selection of African music for the April 9 Cove Alliance fund raiser. Cove Alliance is a local community organization that is helping children in Uganda.

Hawthorn Middle South students have wrapped up a very successful Hoops for Heart physical education unit. The students not only worked on their basketball skills and personal health, but they also raised nearly $2000 for the American Heart Association. Congratulations to top fundraiser Corey Truger for his extra efforts.

Hawthorn Elementary South first graders have been working on an author study of Eric Carle. To cap off the study, students and teachers have created an Eric Carle Museum where parents can look at student projects, read Eric Carle books, and write a letter to the author. The Eric Carle Museum will be open to parents on March 8 from 2 until 2:40 p.m.

Hawthorn Calendar:

Hawthorn Spring Break is from March 28 to April 1, with student returning on April 4.

There is no school on April 22 for Good Friday or on May 30 for Memorial Day.

Please note that the end-of-year calendar will be adjusted to accommodate the two recent snow days. If we have no more snow days, the last one-hour day for grades one through seven will be June 9. The complete calendar is posted at www.hawthorn73.org. DISTRICT 76

The track and field season has gotten underway at the middle school with the beginning of training this week. Students in grades fifth through eighth are eligible to participate with the submission of a sports physical and parental consent form.

In the midst of ISAT testing, parents are reminded to make certain that students are getting plenty of sleep and eating healthy meals. The mind-body connection influences how well students perform on tests, so please help students be at their best.

The seventh and eighth grade choirs from West Oak Middle School performed at the Mundelein High School Choral Concert. The students sang "When You Believe," "Glory Glory Halleluia," "Earth Song," and "We Are the World." Those songs were among the many performed at the school's French Toast Breakfast.

Fairhaven kindergarteners will be rocking the stage for their first school concert. "Great Day for Music!" is being performed at Diamond Lake School at 7pm. Song selections include "Children of the World," Rainbows Rock!" and "Walking in he Light."

Diamond Lake School is hosting the last of the district book fairs for the school year. The fair runs March 16-18 and March 21. The big gym will be set up with a large variety of books, and students can shop during the school day or with their parents during conferences.

Crepes were the order of the day for French students at West Oak Middle School. The students prepared dozens of crepes to enjoy the French food experience. Posters and essays about monuments in Paris were on display to add to the ambience.

Monarch Award voting is underway, and Fairhaven School students can tune in to podcasts at school in order to recall the books that have been nominated. Librarian Karen Cynova coordinated photos of the books with sounds and songs in order to help the students with their voting.

With Spring around the corner, it's not too early to start thinking summer plans. District 76 is offering 20 classes for third through seventh graders. All students in the district are eligible to participate in the courses, which range from sports to music to practical and fun applications for math.

Visit the district website for more information at www.d76.lake.k12.il.us. DISTRICT 79

Fremont Elementary will be welcoming author and illustrator Kevin Luthardt to our school March 14-18. Having an author/illustrator visit is a great way to promote a love of reading as well as to inspire children to write and illustrate their own wonderful stories. While he is here Kevin Luthardt will be taking the students through the process of creating a picture book from the basic idea to the finished product. The students will get an up close look at sketches, drawings, and finished paintings from his books, and even artwork he created as a child! Kevin will explain what publishers do and how a book gets published. Students will learn the virtues of hard work, practice, and persistence to achieve their goals. They will also learn drawing and illustration skills as they do their own step-by-step drawing with Kevin! We will be having a Family Night on March 16. The Family Night will begin at 7 p.m. in the Fremont Elementary School gym. The Family Night will be a great night where Kevin Luthardt will share some of his books with us as well as sign books. Mark your calendar now!! The class with the most students in attendance will win a pizza party.

Thank you to the PTO, Fremont Education Foundation, and Brennan Ammentorp Angel Foundation for sponsoring this wonderful event.

Femont Middle School psychologist Austin Schwartz completed the last step of a three-year doctoral program when he defended his dissertation as part of his doctoral degree in educational psychology. His dissertation was titled "Utilizing Green Club Programming to Cultivate Environmental Citizenship". Austin examined how environmental initiatives by the Green Club at Fremont Middle School affected the students' and school community's cultivation of environmental citizenship. MUNDELEIN HIGH SCHOOL

Whether it's Rock 'n Roll from the '60s, '70s disco fever, big hair bands of the '80s, '90's alternative or hip hop in the new millennium, the MHS 50th Celebration committee is looking for MHS alumni interested in donating their time and talent for a reunion evening Sept. 17, 2011. The committee would like all five decades of Mundelein High School's history represented in the music that is played that evening.

Musical entertainment will be scheduled on the celebration evening from 5 p.m. to midnight. Each group would perform between 30 and 45 minutes including live acts and DJs. "Fun" will be the theme for the evening, so entertainers will be encouraged to have time available to reconnect with classmates and enjoy the special night.

Interested alumni should contact Colleen Hodges, Class of '75, at Mchodg@aol.com as soon as possible.

The Mundelein High School Mock Trial Team took third place this past weekend at the Cook County Invitational. This particular event was sponsored by the John Marshall Law School which donated tuition wavers for the winners. As the third place team, each MHS Mock Trial Team member received $2,000 in tuition money.

Members of the team include: Schannel Shittu, Eleni Gryparis, Marisol Carreon, Juana Guzman, Jacki Alberts, Will Herchenbach, Anna Lentz, Cameron Gonzalez, Valentina Vargas, Jackie Galindo, Kai Ohashi, James Shon, Daniel Szoke, Phil Quach and Ana Antonio.

Michelle Sibery and Nicole Malham are the advisors.

Mundelein High School will host the third of four Parent Boot Camps about raising teenagers tonight from 6 -8 p.m. The seminar for English speakers will meet in the Media Center while Spanish speakers will meet in the District Meeting Room.

Each of the Boot Camp presentations concerns the general subject of raising teenagers with specific topics set for each meeting. The March meeting will focus on Family Management and Discipline.

Because each generation of teenagers has its own expressions, social pressures, expectations, norms and values, parents sometimes feel "out of touch" with their own children. The Boot Camp seminars explore adolescent development, how teens think, reason and feel about their lives today and how to effectively communicate with them about various subjects. The remaining seminar on April 7 will address teens' relationships.

Presenters for the series of seminars are Wendy Gwaltney, BS, MSC, Nicasa Parent Coordinator, and Ramiro Aranda, Nicasa Prevention Coordinator.

Additional information is available from the MHS Guidance Department at extension 1257.

The Mundelein High School Variety Show, set for March 11 at 7 p.m., will provide a venue for students to show off their many talents; it will also benefit a Mundelein youth suffering from a serious illness.

All of the profits from the show will go to the Mundelein family of five-year-old Jack Czapla, who is fighting acute lymphoblastic leukemia. According to Patti Bruno, MHS senior class advisor, "we decided it was appropriate to donate our profits this year to someone from our own community."

The show will take place in the MHS Auditorium, with the ticket price set at $5 for all seats. Sponsored by the seniors in the MHS Student Government, the show will provide many types of entertainment for everyone.

A total of 18 acts will compete for the first-place prize of $100. Second and third place finishers will receive $75 and $50, respectively. A number of local businesses have also donated prizes to be awarded between acts when games are played with audience members.

Some of the many acts will include a gymnast, a Latin duo, Paint Drumming similar to Blue Man Group performances, dance routines, rock bands, soloists, a Blue Grass band, a piano solo and a rap group.

Judges for the event will include members of the MHS faculty/staff along with the 2010 Homecoming King and Queen.

Residents who wish to donate but are unable to attend the show may bring a donation to Bruno in the MHS guidance office. CAMPUS

Diana Carolina Buitrago of Mundelein graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor of arts degree from Bradley University in December.

Michelle Clemens of Hawthorn Woods was named to the Dean's List for the fall 2010 semester at the University of Missouri.

Alexandra Hein of Libertyville, a junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was named to the Dean's List for the fall semester of the 2010-11 academic year.

Natalie Bridget Jonko of Mundelein graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor of arts degree from Bradley University in December .

Michael Paar of Vernon Hills, a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was named to the Dean's List for the fall semester of the 2010-11 academic year.

Edward Z. Schwartz of Vernon Hills achieved Dean's List status for the 2010 fall semester at Loras College.

Margaret Smith of Vernon Hills has been named to the Dean's List for the 2010 fall semester in Villanova University's College of Engineering.

Lisa A. Taylor of Libertyville has been named to the Clark University Dean's List for fall 2010 semester.

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