Dear Students/Staff/Parents/Guardians and Community Members:
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new principal of Antioch Community High School. My name is Eric Ernd, and it is an honor to serve as your principal. I am a former Assistant Principal of six years at Wauconda High School. I am looking forward to my responsibility as principal. I have heard great things about the community, students, parents/guardians, and staff of ACHS. My goal as principal is to provide each student with the best educational experience. Now that I am getting settled, I would like to offer an opportunity to all ACHS community members to stop by and introduce yourself and chat a bit. I am looking forward to working with the ACHS learning community. Please note that I can be reached at (847) 838-7793 or by email at eernd@sequoits.com.
Go Sequoits!
Eric Ernd
State of the Sequoits
Antioch Community High School – June 2010
We value commitment to creating a positive/safe school environment for students and faculty that is inviting, promotes creativity, and acknowledges success.
Student and Staff Success
Foreign Language
Amber Dalgaard won the Foreign Language slogan contest.
C. Lois presented Kailey Formella with a $400 Scholarship Award, ($200 provided by Suraya Brooks Scholarship and $200 provided by the Spanish Club) during the Honors’ Night ceremony.
Applied Tech
Marcia Zboril took 8 Accounting students to the Lake
County competition at CLC. James Cardis placed 1st.
Cody England was ICDC 1st place winner.
4 FCCLA members placed at state competition:
Mary Doty – Silver – Int. Design,
Issac Armstrong – Silver – Preschool Storytelling
Ashley Johnson – Silver – Cookie Decorating,
Hanna Olson – Gold – Apparel Const.
Social Studies
Congratulations to Alex Bock who we cited as our outstanding Social Studies student. Alex is incredibly knowledgeable and has a serious passion for social studies and history.
Social Studies teacher Charlie Trout was cited by senior student Alex Bock as his most inspirational teacher for 2009-2010. Amy Skonberg was cited by two students - Jimmy Costello and AJ (Aragorn) Horner as their most inspirational teacher for 2009-2010.
PE/Health/Dr.Ed.
Del Pechauer will be retiring this May. We appreciate his teaching and coaching expertise over the past 34 years.
English
On Honors Night, students recognized three English teachers for having a significant impact on them: Jamie D’Andrea, Audrey Nagel, and Dee Andershock were recognized by two students.
Math
Four Business Math students scored in the top 20th percentile of the Financial Literacy Challenge: Tom Hoffman, Kyle Langhans, Moises Rodriguez and Lindsey Vasey.
Media
TAB, in conjunction with Nikki Sutherland’s Reading Improvement Class and Donna Corcoran’s CWT class, conducted another successful book drive. We surpassed last year’s book totals (2,057) by collecting 2,310 books.
Last summer, the library underwent a renovation to make the library more inviting to students and staff.
Athletics
Athlete of the Year finalists and the Athlete of the Year award Brandon Ginter (see below) and Erin Poss (see below)winners, along with the Iron Sequoit award winners were
acknowledged at the student recognition assembly.
NSC All-Academic, NSC All-Conference
(Medalists) and IHSA State Qualifiers/Medalist were also recognized.
Fine Arts
North Suburban Conference 1st Place Art Show Winners on 4/31/10
Charter Chapter #3276 of the National Art Honor Society at ACHS was established. Officers for 2009-2010
Catherine ( Katie) Mundt- President and Nicole Giorgi- Vice President
Drama awards honored several students for their work in the year’s productions. Students honored were:
Best Character Actor- Jeff Inman Thirteen Reasons Why and Joe Utter 42nd Street
Best Character Actress Romelle Taday 42nd Street
Best Male Chorus Member- Zack Moser, Brandon Schnieder
Best Supporting Actor Dylan Zobel Thirteen Reasons Why
Best Supporting Actress - Stephanie Kowalczyk 42nd Street
Best Female Chorus Member - Katie Bentel and Alex Otter
Best Actor- Steven Farrell 42nd Street
Best Actress- Cara Lamusga Thirteen Reasons Why
During the PSAE days, the freshmen took a practice PLAN and the sophomores took a practice ACT. The results are:
Class of 2012
EXPLORE
PLAN
Practice ACT
English
13.4
18.8
17.9
Math
15.5
19
19
Reading
14.3
17.7
17.9
Science
16.4
19.3
17.9
Composite
15.1
18.8
18.3
Class of 2013
EXPLORE
Practice PLAN
English
14.7
16.8
Math
15.8
17.8
Reading
14.2
16.4
Science
16.6
18.1
Composite
15.5
17.3
College Readiness Benchmarks
EXPLORE
PLAN
ACT
English
13
15
18
Math
17
19
22
Reading
15
17
21
Science
20
21
24
Special Education
Andrea Kidwell was recognized as outstanding senior by the Special Education Department at Honors Night.
Kerri Elliott was recognized at Honors Night as Inspirational Teacher
Creativity
World Language department members and students worked together to promote a successful Foreign Language week with a variety of activities to involve the entire school.
English II teachers, led by Kelly Taylor, organized the sophomore activity for day two of PSAE testing. After taking a practice ACT during day one, sophomores viewed The Great Debaters the next day, a movie that tied well with the essential questions for the course.
The literary magazine Finesse hosted the annual poetry coffeehouse during the lunch hours in May. Students read their own and others’ poetry and performed music. The library staff was amazingly helpful in decorating the library and helping supervise the event.
Math utilized the You Make a Difference breakfasts throughout the year to recognize students on behalf of the Math Department.
We believe that the leadership at ACHS must ensure that the district’s guaranteed and viable curriculum is effectively taught by the faculty and learned by the students as measured by academic growth.
Foreign Language
In all Spanish I and German I classes district-wide Common Formative Assessments were created and administered in both semesters.
The entire World Language Department has provided students with summer reading and enrichment activities for the first time. The objective is to be able to do less review in the fall and move forward more quickly with new material since the recent practice and retention will be improved.
Applied Tech
Susan Groth created common assessment tests for the following classes and had the staff at Lakes evaluate:
Computer Applications 2 – Interactive Media
Computer Applications 3 – Web Design & Flash Animation
Computer Applications 4 – Video Production
Social Studies
ACHS Social Studies teachers Jamie Ellinger and Jeff Petersen will join LCHS teacher Morgan Allen for summer curriculum work in Global Studies.
US History- We plan on having one common CFA for each unit. Teachers will then create their own CFA’s to assist their instruction.
PE/Health/Dr.Ed.
Heather Coleman used a Spanish translation program in Driver Ed. to assist her Spanish speaking students completing assignments and exams. Their scores improved in classroom and behind the wheel with an increased understanding of basic vocabulary.
Update on Formative/Common Assessment: Nine fitness themes were targeted and taught to all PE students this year. ACHS first semester scores averaged 81.3.
English
As they did last year, all English students completed an end-of-the-year portfolio reflection sheet. The portfolios will be passed to next year’s English teachers, and can be a valuable formative assessment piece.
Reading Improvement teacher Nicole Sutherland
has fully implemented Reading Plus, a software
program designed to assist struggling readers.
Math
Students showed significant growth in performance on five semester exams.
Antioch students scored above district average on 9 of 10 semester exams.
Athletics
The Girls’ Softball team won the Prairie Division, NSC and IHSA Regional Championships. They also set IHSA state records for most home runs and grand slams in a single season. They are currently in the IHSA Sectional Final.
Erin Poss won her 6th and 7th IHSA State Medal with a 4th place finish in the 3200m run and a 5th place finish in the 1600m run. She is the most decorated Antioch athlete in school history.
Brandon Ginter was awarded an IHSA medal in the discus with his 9th place finish at the IHSA State Meet.
Special Education
39 students completed PSAE testing with accommodations between April 28 and May 12. Two students took AP exams with accommodations this May
Fine Arts
Formative assessments in art 2-D, 3D, Music Theory and Beginning Drama were incorporated and utilized all year.
Deans
The school is a safer place with fights and out of school suspensions being reduced.
Pat helped coordinate the Honors’ Assembly.
We value the ability to realize our School Improvement Plan
Foreign Language
World Language teachers worked in a variety of settings during intercollaborative meetings to promote an interdisciplinary goal for the school. Work will continue in the upcoming year.
Spanish IV Honors students were polled and volunteers matched to peer-tutor lower-level students in order to assist them with their studies. The outcome was very positive in many cases. S. Demeritt shared the idea with B. Mason in the library to try to develop a more extensive after school program for the entire building. More to come!
Social Studies
We have two active interdisciplinary groups – Global Studies and English I, and U.S. History and English III. These groups will vertically align writing strategies.
Our teachers have stated that differentiated lessons are valuable. As such they request more time to work on differentiated lessons.
ACHS Social Studies teachers are actively engaged in promoting clubs relevant to social studies.
PE/Health/Dr.Ed.
Jamie Walton is the dept. representative on the differentiation committee. She has inspired, energized, and been a role model for the department to create and use differentiation in lesson planning.
English
For the fifth consecutive year, students will read a book during the summer, which will enable students to tackle challenging work immediately when they return in August.
Math
Specific groups of students have been assigned to paired Algebra 1 and Physics First classes to allow math and science teachers time for cross-curricular work.
Deans
33 students had perfect attendance for the year.
The Unexcused Rate for 08-09 was .63% while for 09-10 was merely .49%
Guidance
The Guidance Faculty/Staff is responsible for promoting Red Ribbon Week during the month of October 2010.
Media
The ACHS Research Committee is comprised of members throughout the building. After careful deliberation of various research models, the Big 6 Research Model was chosen. Four forms were created: Web Site Evaluation, Library Resources, MLA/APA Citations and Source Log.
The librarian facilitated a “Using Technology to Differentiate” faculty discussion.
Athletics
A committee of teachers, counselors, and head coaches met to develop a plan to make it easier for student/athletes to receive tutoring services. Ideas were presented to the staff.
Special Education
Special education staff continue to plan for instruction as part of co-teaching teams in 34 sections of general education curriculum
We value the willingness to seek assistance as we try to improve.
Foreign Language
S. Menoni created a survey to receive feedback from her students regarding strengths and weaknesses of course and teacher.
Social Studies
Our Global Studies teachers presented to freshmen English teachers a model for students to use while writing essays that include proper procedures for the inclusion of outside sources.
Our Global Studies teachers presented to freshmen English teachers a model for students to use while writing essays that include proper procedures for the inclusion of outside sources.
PE/Health/Dr.Ed.
Fit for Life and Girls Physical Best classes were treated to a “Personal Safety/Self Defense” guest speaker. Participation was enthusiastic!
Health classes had two guest speakers for two days talking about AIDS.
English
Jamie D’Andrea and Mary Easton have helped Neil Lesinski who has been hired to replace Sana Jafri, who resigned at the end of the year.
Math
Specific groups of students have been assigned to paired Algebra 1 and Physics First classes to allow math and science teachers time for cross-curricular work.
Hannah Drye created, implemented and has shared with others a target-based assessment system.
Chris Roberts has completed the first year of her Doctoral work.
Fine Arts
Julie Elver worked with the special education department in order to maximize the physical participation of a student confined to a wheelchair.
The top bands at Antioch HS and Lakes HS combined together for an honors band performance at the annual~District Band Festival.~
Deans
Other thanks go out to the counselors, social workers and school psychologists that help supervise the lunch detention room this year.
Guidance
We are looking for more ways to promote a college education.
Summer School Incompletes—sheets should be turned in as part of check out.
Media
This spring, the library took on the responsibility of becoming
the clearinghouse for textbooks.
Special Education
Kerri Elliott, Sara Jowers, and Jamie Atkinson are in master degree program in Educational Leadership.
We value accountability and ownership throughout the school.
Foreign Language
This year, 8 students took the AP Spanish Language Exam, while 5 students took the German AP Exam.
Social Studies
AP teachers put in numerous extra hours tutoring their students as they prepared for the rigors of AP testing.
A goal for next year (possibly a SMART GOAL) will be to achieve a 70% mastery level for 70% of the students on common assessments.
PE/Health/Dr.Ed.
275 students attended after school PE makeup sessions second semester. Last semester 222 students attended.
321 students attended Driver Ed. makeup this semester. Last semester was 227.
English
Several teams of English teachers will be working this summer to apply the English writing scope and sequence to core writing assignments in English I, II, and III.
Math
ACT preparation material was integrated into the curriculum of all levels of math classes throughout the year.
Fine Arts
Fine Arts Appreciation curriculum will be finalized
Deans
Out of school suspensions have been reduced over the last 3 by over 33%.
Guidance
A total of 26 students received services through the Alternative Education program during the 2009-2010 school year.
20 students completed their high school credits and graduated.
Media
Assisted with the Junior/Senior Climate Survey.
Special Education
Teachers, psychologists, and social workers collaborate and consult with general education staff on a daily basis to assist all students to be successful within the high school setting.
We value the efficient use of resources.
Foreign Language
The World Language Department has agreed to reduce the required number of texts to class sets only next year in an attempt to save the district thousands of dollars.
The Spanish and German Clubs are being reduced to an International Club for next year, reducing the stipend in half.
Professional Development conferences were reduced to one this year for teachers in the World Language Department.
WL budgets have been reduced by 20% for the upcoming school year.
Applied Tech
Pat McGuigan & Susie Soukup were able to reallocate funds from Perkins to cover the CTEI money spent and not reimbursed by the state so district funds weren’t affected
FCCLA planted the herb garden for fall Foods classes
Social Studies
Rebecca Holst (Dept. chair of Social Studies at LCHS) and I concluded and agreed that the main cuts in expenses that our department could absorb, in lieu of RIFs and other personnel cuts, is in a reduction of new textbook purchases. Although we would like to see class sizes in our departments remain at an average of 24, we understand that in the long-term class size may need to increase.
PE/Health/Dr.Ed.
We appreciate the cooperation of three area car dealers that supply Driver Ed. vehicles to the department: Raymond Chevrolet, Kuhn County Ford, and Antioch Dodge. Next year, Driver Ed. cars will be furnished by Raymond’s at a reduced rate.
English
The English departments at both schools are transitioning to a new way of supplying students with paperback books, which over the next few years will cut this cost considerably. Next year students will be given approximately one book a semester in which they practice annotation skills. The remainder of the books will be rented to students rather than given to them. The newly introduced book fee that parents pay at registration will cover much of the cost of these paperback books.
Math
We have established 8 class sets of 15 calculators to begin regular incorporation of this graphing utility at all levels.
Tina has worked to update the Math Department website.
Fine Arts
As a department we have looked at ways to give students the same experience while trying to make the most out of the budget.
Deans
In working with Lakes Community High School we have come up with a District on line referral form. This would cut down on the cost of the 5 ply referral form.
Special Education
District “brought home” students from out of district programs (private and public) and developed self contained program in both schools. ACHS had 8 students return to ACHS
Guidance
College Applications:
701 (does not include duplicates sent to the same school for a student) transcripts have been sent for the purpose of college applications.
College of Lake County- 123
Northern IL University- 45
IL State University- 25
Carthage College- 23
Marquette University- 21
Eastern IL University- 12
University of IL- 12
Western IL University- 12
DePaul University- 11
University of WI-Whitewater- 10
Carroll University- 10
Media
COWs were added feature added this year. Each COW represents 10 computers. The total times an individual COW was checked out was 3,885.
Second Semester January- March 2010
Spring creates feelings of freedom, revival, and newness in the young and old. At ACHS, we want students to dream big about their lives and future and pursue their passions. Please help us encourage our students to have a vision of their future and read below about some students who are on their way to doing great things for our society. Woodrow Wilson explained this well: “We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter’s evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true.” Help us nourish and protect these dreams. Enjoy.
ACADEMIC NEWS
The IHSA bestowed the Team Academic Achievement Award on four athletic teams from first semester: Girls Volleyball, Girls Cross-Country, Boys Soccer, and Girls Tennis. This award recognizes teams with 3.0 or higher GPA.
The ACHS literary magazine Finesse received an “Excellent” rating from the National Council of Teachers of English for last year’s production. This year’s magazine features the theme “Beyond the Three Rings” and edited by Jordan Frye.
Over 150 juniors—nearly half of the class—are enrolled in the after-school ACT Prep Class so they can do their best on the PSAE in April.
The World Languages Department congratulates German IV students Kristin Petykowski and Randi Beyer for scoring above 90 percent of students taking the National German Exam. The department also recognizes Amber Dalgaard for winning this year’s Slogan Contest during Foreign Language Week.
Senior Erin Poss was named to the IHSA All Academic Team, becoming one of only 17 students in the state to receive this incredibly high honor.
Steve Yucknut, the Chief Sustainability Officer of Kraft Foods, spoke to Seminar for Scholars about how corporations seek to balance the need to make a profit with responsibility to maintain a healthy environment.
National Scholastic Press honored last year’s cover of ACHS yearbook as one of the year’s best. This year’s editor, Cheyenne Sullivan, promises more exceptional work from the yearbook.
This year’s freshmen have the lowest number of D’s and F’s since the high school has been tracking of these numbers. Grades for all classes are much improved over last year.
Sofia Farooq and Kerri Elliot sponsor the Mock UN team. An in-school practice meet was conducted in February in preparation for the trip to compete at Michigan State on March 26 – 28. Over one hundred schools will be represented at this meet. ACHS will be representing Mexico at the conference.
This year’s sophomore class showed significantgrowth from the Explore test they took as 8th graders to the PLAN test they took this year. English-4.8 points, Math-3.1 points, Reading-3 points, Science-2.4 points. Expected growth is from 2 to 3 points. The class also scored above national average on all tests.
Tom Deichsel continues to coach the Academic Team, which placed 2nd at the Masonic Tournament and performed well in the Regional competition. The varsity is led by Zach Moser, and the junior varsity by Kevin Boudreau.
The deans recognized 68 students for having perfect attendance first semester. These students were honored at a You Make a Difference breakfast and given a pizza party.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM ATHLETICS, ACTIVTIES & THE ARTS
TribLocal, a weekly publication of the Chicago Tribune, selected two students as Athletes of the Week: Kaitlyn Trusky in January and Alyssa Alvarez in February.
The ACHS DECA team won a number of awards at the state competition. Cody England came home with a first place in the Communications event, Second place on the Comprehensive exam and Human Relations events, third place in Economics, and first place overall in Automotives Marketing. Jimmy Costello and Cade England were both finalists in Economics, earned fifth place in Communications, and won the competency award for Human Relations in the Travel and Tourism event.~ Gray Dragin won fifth place in Communications and earned a competency award for Human Relations in the Principles of Marketing event.
Cheerleading coach Robin Gwinn was picked by the NFHS Spirit Association as Illinois Spirit Coach of the Year.
For the fifth consecutive year, the cheerleaders finished in the Elite Eight. This year the cheerleaders won eighth place in the state meet.
Noelle Bruce and Samantha Montenegro advanced to the IHSA Sectional Speech Tournament. Noelle Bruce placed 6th in Verse Reading.
The ACHS Advance Wind Ensemble performed with Lakes Area Community Band. One special part of the peformance was Brian and Mike Chivers accompanying their grandfather, a baritone in the band.
Girls Bowling was the sectional champion and ended up fourth in state.
Wrestlers were the regional champions and progressed to the Elite Eight
in the state.
Psychology Club's Officers Jimmy Costello (Pres.), Kellen Kay (VP), Jessie Greany (Tras.), and Sarah Balay (Sec.) have been organizing Psychology Club apparel for students to purchase. The small profits that the club will make on the sale of each shirt will help the Psychology Club budget. The students are currently considering various ideas for future club events.
At the Western Illinois Honor Band Festival, Meghan Krause placed first chair out of 27 flute players throughout the midwest. Mrs. Carl’s Fashion Class and FCCLA presented the Prom Fashion show. They had about 50 students modeling attire from six stores. Money raised goes to help defray expenses for FCCLA members attending the state competition and the admission costs for students in the Fashion class to attend a fashion show presented by the College of DuPage.
The choir did a great job at the recent IHSA Solo and Ensemble contest, taking 15 first place honors and 11 second place honors. Madrigals placed first for the 15th consecutive year. Stephanie Kowalczyk, Aiyana Emsun, Brandon Schnieder and Dylan Zobel were selected for the regional ACDA honors chorus. At the state meet the Dance Team won 4th in AA Kick for its performance of “Devil in a Blue Dress.”
Four students received NSC Winter All-Conference Medalists: Andi Potkonjak for Basketball; Kaitlyn Trusky, Alyssa Alvarez, and Symantha Rolph for Bowling; Al Arden, Zach Epker, George Gonzalez, and Hunter Mosely for Wrestling; and Kyle Melton for Basketball. ISHA State Qualifiers included Dominque Bessette in Swimming (200IM and 100 Back); and George Gonzalez, Al Arden, Zach Epker in Wrestling. ISHA State Medalists are Erin Poss for 6th in Cross Country, Kaitlyn Trusky for 4th in Bowling, and Alyssa Alvarez for 9th in Bowling. In basketball, Allie Anttila is Country Companies’ Three Point State Qualifier.
The Environmental Club, led by Milo Nielsen, is gearing up for Earth Day on April 22.
ACHS now has a YouTube channel, The Sequoits, that features over 100 short videos covering events from 1996-2007. The Yearbook staff produced these videos over the years.
Several athletes have signed athletic letters of intent: Kaitly Trusky (Bowling) with Calumet College of St. Joseph, Allie Anttila (Softball) with Georgetown University, and Lauren Moore (Softball) with Loyola University. Alyssa Alvarez anticipates a letter of intent in Bowling, and Erin Poss (Cross-Country and Track) has signed with Drake University.
PHILANTHROPY
Five adults are mentoring 15 students in Check and Connect, a pilot mentoring program. Results have been promising already.
The annual Spring Blood Drive at ACHS collected 440 pints, putting Antioch well on its way to repeating as one of the top three organizations in all of Northern Illinois.
On March 13 ACHS held its first Mosaic, recognizing the excellent work our students produce. Students from the Foods classes prepared food for over 400 people, and delicious desserts for the bake sale. Music and drama events took place throughout the school. Students from Finesse read their poetry, the Academic Team took on all comers, art students demonstrated how to use the ceramic wheel, the Science Department presented some of its lab experiments, and Mock UN explained its activities. World Languages sold a student-designed cookbook of recipes from other countries, and Fit for Life classes created a fitness DVD. Over $4,000 was raised to be shared between Sequoit Pride and Open Arms Mission.
Students and faculty competed in the Hoops for Haiti basketball game, raising over $1,000 to contribute to earthquake victims. In a separate event, SpecialEducation teacher Bob Staudt, along with students Leann Richards, Sam Abear, Jerryl Banait, and Nicole Worswick, received over $750 in contributions.
Teacher Town Showdown, organized by Alyssa Trudeau, raised over $500 for Project Kilimahewa, which supports a school in Africa. PE teacher Marni Polakow won the competition with her dance. The library’s Teen Advisory Board also conducted a bake sale and solicited donations to raise funds for Project Kilimahewa. TAB raised $200, which will pay for the salary for one teacher for two months.
National Honor Society’s annual Daffodil Days. The event will contribute over $5,000 toward cancer treatment and cure.
2009-10 Bound to Be GREAT
Amazing to think we have already passed the halfway mark of the 2009-10 school year. I hope we can
look back at the fi rst semester, holidays, and our experiences to help us succeed this semester. We will
continue to encourage our students to strive for greatness and promote good citizenship. We already have
many excellent examples of this throughout the year for us to build upon. Please join us in encouraging
this behavior and model what is the best about our society, our ability to treat each other extremely well. I
hope 2010 brings everyone in our community happiness. Enjoy this summary of great things from ACHS
over the past few months.
ACADEMIC NEWS:
The following students have been named Illinois State Scholars by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for their impressive grades, high ACT scores, and class rank: Megan Abramson, Alyssa Alvarez, Brittyn Anderson, Alexandria Anttila, Sabrina Babik, Randi Beyer, Nicholas Brinker, Sarah Bruno, Kevin Collings, James Costello, Eric Dahms, Teodora
Diaconescu, Cody England, Kailey Formella, Samuel Goral, Courtney Hope, Cameron Jerina, Daniel Jovanov, Erica Lubkeman, Katherine McNeill, Zachary Moser, Caitlin Mrowiec, Robert Nogle, Meghan Opolka, Samantha Paddock, Samuel Pimpo, Erin Poss, Allison Quarrato, John Richmond, Solange Simpson, Alyssa Trudell, Jamie Urbanik, John Wallner, Trevor Wiles, Aaron Wimer and Nicole Worswick.]
The ACHS Science Department earned a NASA grant unveiling mural size pictures of our galaxy in celebration of International Year of Astronomy. Come check out these pictures in our main entrance hallway. The ceremony included talks from Department Chair Kevin Collins and Dr. Ken Daniels from Lake
County Astronomical Society.
Meghan Opolka has been selected as the ACHS Daughters of the Revolution representative for her outstanding citizenship and Kevin Collings has received a Comcast Leadership Scholarship for his impressive high school career. Three outstanding seniors have given up their free time to assist freshmen with their
transition to high school by offering math tutoring all semester. Thanks to Paul Dejong, Kendall Padgett, and Cassie Mills for their outstanding efforts helping others.
Physics teacher Sarah Fay and students Zach Widder, Tracy Mapaye, and Cassandra Herman are building a hand-made machine to enter the Rube Goldberg state competition held in March.
Thirteen Reasons Why author Jay Asher visited Audrey Nagel’ Creative Writing class where he shared his process for writing and answered questions
about his craft. Ms. Nagel, Ms. Teddy, and some students collaborated to write the script of this best selling young adult novel.
The annual Math Fair brought over 300 sender school students to ACHS to play math games for fun and prizes. ACHS students ran the games and
booths.
Algebra and Physics First content teams meet weekly to help both courses create a more global presentation of course content. Common terminology
and skill sequencing have been developed. In these courses, test scores are higher than last year.
The following students have been selected to be student ambassadors for the Lake County Tech Campus. Congratulations to Vianesse Lopez (Certifi ed Nursing), Shannon Cahill (Cosmetology), Krystal Velez (Early Childhood), Daniel Wilgenbusch (Automotive), and Emily Harrison (Culinary I). These students are selected for their talents, maturity, and commitment to their education.
Judges representing Kettle Moraine Press Association were impressed enough with the ACHS yearbook and newspaper to award each of them All-KEMPA status for the 2008-09 school year. Earlier this fall the yearbook was rated First Class by the National Scholastic Press Association receiving special distinction for its theme concept. The Tom Tom staff also brought home KEMPA’ top rating for its 2009 editions citing the paper’ strong news writing and coverage of school events.
The Social Studies Department, in cooperation with the VFW, participated in the Voice of Democracy competition with Dominique Bessette, Scott Healy, and Tracy Mapaye earning top honors. Tracy will move on to the regional competition.
Many of our classes at ACHS have incorporated Moodle, an online technology to integrate modern technology with course content. Students have enjoyed this new opportunity to learn.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM ATHLETICS, ACTIVITIES, AND THE ARTS
All-state performers during the fall included Dominique Bessette, Erin Poss, and Steve Lorenzini. Dominique qualifi ed for her third
straight all-state performance for the ACHS Swimming Team competing in the backstroke and individual medley. Erin became the fi rst athlete in
school history to medal in three consecutive IHSA State Meets in a sport (Cross Country) with a sixth place fi nish in State. The last two years
she fi nished seventh and seventeenth respectively. Steve Lorenzinni was named to the all-state team as an honorable mention for his outstanding
rushing career on our Sequoit Football Team.
Nicole Giorgi and Robert Kay were selected to have their art prominently displayed at the Olson Gallary at Northern Illinois
University.
The combined Choir and Band winter performance left the standing room only crowd wanting to hear more holiday classics. Patrick Hayes
and Tim Hildner displayed faculty talent while impressive performances from all of our singers and musicians fi lled the air.
Brandon Schneider earned prestigious IMEA All-State honors. In addition Stephanie Kowalczyk, Madison Crosby, Noelle Bruce,
Katie Bentel, Romelle Taday, and Samantha Nuccio were selected to continue to compete for the Diva Quest at the IMEA competition.
Two hundred and fi fty nine student-athletes have been drug tested this year with all but one testing negative for drugs. We are proud of our Sequoits for demonstrating a
healthy life style. Also, the academic success of our athletes improved with more earning higher grades and fewer on the D/F list despite increasing our eligibility requirements.
The Boys Soccer Team won its second consecutive IHSA Regional Championship. Seniors Robert Nogle, and Andre Sippy captained this impressive group with tremendous play from Oscar Segura and goalie Alex Grimm.
Girls Volleyball captured their THIRD straight Divisional Championship. Seniors Erica Lubkeman, Solange Simpson, Kendall Padgett and all
conference players Lauren and Brianna Grant led the way during the successful season.
The forty members of the new Civilizations Club meets weekly to plan new societies based on computer simulation.]
PHILANTHROPY
Open Arms Mission was the recipient of contributions. Families were adopted by the main office, World Languages Department, Spanish Club, German Club, PE Department, and other student groups. Approximately 100 winter coats were collected by the baseball team in December. Coach Paul Petty said
the drive will benefi t Open Arms Mission and function as a service project for team members.
Well over 900 students received free EKG tests this fall through the Max Schewitz Foundation. Scores of ACHS parents helped lead our student body through the test that checked for heart problems. We hope to continue this program in the upcoming years, modeling healthy lifestyles and proactive health care. FThe annual Fall Blood Drive at ACHS collected a record setting 339 pints putting Antioch well on its way to repeating as one of the top three organizations in all of Northern Illinois.
Students in our Social Studies courses participated in a food drive for our troops stationed in Afghanistan. Nearly forty sacks of
goodies were collected with student Kellen Kay leading the way.
Several clubs, FCCLA and Snowball, each held separate food drives to gather nonperishable items for families in need.
National Honor Society was recognized by the Antioch Village Board for its fi rst ‘xtreme Makeover Antioch Edition.’NHS spent time cleaning up the town. The executive board of NHS includes Meghan Opolka, Katherine McNeill, Julianne Fine, Kevin Collings, and Zach Moser. NHS also collected hats and mittens during the holiday season.
The ACHS business club, under the direction of Donna Corcoran, participated with the Marine Corp in the ‘Toys for Tots’campaign collecting hundreds of toys for the needy during the holiday season. ]
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Antioch Community High School
1133 Main Street
Antioch, IL 60002-1899
Phone (847) 4395-1421
Fax (847) 395-2435
Any questions or comments, please call (847) 838-7620
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