H-F FYI - 2.27.23

This weekend two of our talented student-athletes came home with 1st Place titles from the IHSA State Girls' Wrestling Final, held in Champaign! Congratulations to Ini Odumosu (190-lb. State Champion!) and two-time 130-lb. IHSA State Champion Attalia Watson-Castro! Congratulations to Nina Hamm, who finished in 6th Place at State, and to our other State competitors for a great season this year: Alima Toheeb-Lawal (Sectional 2nd Place); Jocelyn Williams (Sectional 2nd Place) and Basirat Sodiq (Sectional 3rd Place)! Thank you to the Flossmoor Police & Fire Departments for escorting our champions back to campus Saturday night. The team was coached by Social Science teachers, Mr. Aronson & Ms. Davis.

• Junior Jazmin Rhodes brought home the 3rd Place medal in Oratorical Declamation from the IHSA State Speech Competition in Peoria! She also finished in 7th Place — along with sophomore Stella Hoyt — in the Dramatic Duet category. Also representing H-F at State was Aaron McIntyre in Extemporaneous Speaking. The Vikings were coached by Mr. Lowe (Math teacher) and Mr. Mulling (English teacher and H-F alumnus).

• Senior Deion Johnson finished as the Runner Up in the 113-lb. level at IHSA State for Boys' Wrestling! This was his second State performance. Senior Vincent Robinson brought home the 3rd Place medal in the 132-lb. level; he was State Runner Up twice during his Viking career. Also representing H-F was Jermaine Butler in the 152-lb. level. They were coached by Mr. Sokoloski, Math teacher.

• The Boys' Swimming & Diving team finished in 2nd Place overall at IHSA Sectionals, held at Lincoln-Way East H.S. This weekend two Viking student-athletes represented H-F at the IHSA State Competition in Westmont: Christian Curtis (Sectional Champion in Diving!) and Charlie Niemiec (Sectional Champion in 100-yard Breaststroke!). Christian came home with a 3rd Place medal in diving after making it into the final round! Boys' Swimming & Diving coaches this year were Mr. Fitzgerald and Mr. Carlson.

Great job, Vikings!

At this week's District 233 Board of Education meeting, a preliminary design video was shared by DLA Architects for the planned Net Zero Science Building Project (click the Vimeo box above). The board has been reviewing plans for more than a year and the project is set to go out to bid in late April. DLA has been working closely with H-F teachers and administrators to design the space around the school's current and future needs. The new building will be connected to the current G Building and will house state-of-the-art science classrooms, collaborative spaces, a Net Zero learning installation, an outdoor classroom and an educational garden. Construction is expected to begin in June with completion in September 2024.

An expansion of the Culinary course offerings — including the addition of a commercial kitchen that will allow students to earn restaurant management certifications — is also in the works. This project will now be included in the larger Net Zero Science Building bid. The space needed for the expanded commercial kitchen will allow fashion design classrooms to be moved into newly renovated spaces. These classrooms will better serve the growing student interested in these career paths. This project is expected to begin in June with renovations ready by August and the additional commercial lab ready by January 2024.

To learn more about these upcoming projects, please click here...

Also at this week's board meeting, academic calendars for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years were approved. The 2023-24 school year will begin Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, with graduation for the Class of 2024 held on Thursday, May 30, 2024. The 2024-25 school year will begin Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024; the Class of 2025 graduation will be held Sunday, June 1, 2025. See the full calendars below:

Join us for the final Black History Month event of February, the Black Excellence Showcase, set for Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the South Cafeteria from 3:15-5:45 p.m. The event will include performances by the H-F Steppers and the H-F Dance Team, as well as solo performances and presentations by student-filmmaker Patrice St. Jean, speaker Aaron McIntyre, and student-vocalists Laila Green, Kaiesse Haynes, Venus Jamison & Jazmine Rhodes. Featured Black Wall Street entrepreneurs will be: Kevonna Henderson (fashion designer); Joi Tabor (Baker); Vince McCaskill (photographer); Amber Smith (artist); Nicole Guyton (hair stylist); Tylrspence (video creator); and Kaleb Searless (designer).

Families of students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) are invited to another online presentation in the Transition Resource Series from our Special Education Department. The next presentation, Everything You Need to Know About PUNS, is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, on Zoom. Patti O'Brien & Lynn Rivero from Suburban Access will discuss what is PUNS, who is eligible, how to sign up, what funding can be used for and much more. Click here to join the presentation (Passcode 194745). Questions? Contact the Special Education Department at 708-335-5691 or angela.taylor@hf233.org.

The South Suburban Human Resources Administrators (SSHRA) is offering a job fair for educators, set for Saturday, March 4, Noon-3 p.m. at the H-F Fieldhouse. More than 20 elementary, high school and unit districts from the South Cook and Will County regions will be on site to conduct immediate interview screenings with candidates. Learn more by clicking here...

Attention, Seniors: If you haven't yet had your senior yearbook portrait taken by Visual Image Photography (VIP) — or you'd like to retake your yearbook photo — VIP will be at H-F for drop-in sessions from 9 a.m.-Noon on Monday, March 6, in the South Gym. This is an Institute Day for staff and there are no classes for students. After your photo has been taken you will have until March 15 to select which photo you'd like used in the Odin yearbook. If you do not select an image by that date, VIP will select one for you. Please adhere to the dress code for your photo and know that senior portraits are more formal than your Grade 9-11 photos! You can order and select photos at the VIP website — click here...

H-F will offer Driver Education again this summer for residents of District 233. Registration is for students who have completed the classroom requirement, and for students who will be age 16 before Nov. 1, 2023, and who need both the classroom and Behind-The-Wheel sessions. The classroom session ($75/student) will run June 6-July 3 Mondays through Fridays from 2:50-3:50 p.m. Behind-the-Wheel ($100/student) will be offered in three sessions: June 6-13, June 14-22 and June 23-30. Driving time slots are limited, so participants are registered on a first-come, first-served basis through an online form that will be open at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 15, on the school's website (hfhighschool.org). Payment is due at the time of registration through the PowerSchool Parent Portal. Questions? Please call 708-335-5335 or email lisa.martin@hf233.org.

The Homewood-Flossmoor League of Women Voters has scheduled forums to give voters in our community a chance to hear from the candidates running for local elected positions in the April 4, 2023, election. This Wednesday, March 1, voters can meet the candidates for the District 233 Board of Education at a forum held in the H-F Mall Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. The candidates are: Charles Dieringer, Pamela Jackson (incumbent), Beth Larocca, Nathan Legardy (incumbent), Gerald Pauling (incumbent) and Christopher Riedel.

H-F Theatre's New Faces production of Scapin, ran for three sold-out nights this past weekend in the Performing Arts Center. The production was directed by Mrs. Calderon and featured our newest H-F student-performers — including Moira Michel and Mallory Garcia (above) — who shined in this classic comedy about trickery, love and family.

Students, staff and community members came together last Thursday for the Black History Month STEM Professionals Panel, co-sponsored by the Village of Flossmoor. Panelists represented careers such as software engineering, construction, medicine and pharmacy. Thank you to Phillipa Leon-Thompson (Registered Nurse and Chair of Flossmoor’s Community Relations Commission), Louis Thompson (Pharmacist), April Odom (Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner), Jennifer Gee-King (Civil Engineer), and Fredric Mitchell (Software Engineer) for your time & inspiration!

Combining two areas of the Profile of a Viking, H-F Alumna Michelle Chen shared her keys to Communication & Collaboration in the Innovation & Problem-Solving process during an online meeting with the Principal's Advisory Committee. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab Engineer was a lead engineer for NASA's DART Mission to change the trajectory of an asteroid. Students learned the importance of respecting the humanity of team members, never dismissing ideas in the brainstorming process and embracing your individuality and what you bring to the project. She also stressed that failure is an important part of the innovation process and you figure out what works and what doesn't. Learn from failure and you'll keep growing!

Congratulations to our Students of the Month for February! They are:

• Cyndi Adams — Social Science (Nominated by Mrs. Davis)
• Angela Ceron — World Language: Chinese (Nominated by Ms. Ding)
• Christian Curtis — PE/Health/DE (Nominated by Mr. DeBenedetti)
• Alexander Ekstrom — World Language: French (Nominated by Mrs. Stiglic)
• Jaciel Franco — Math (Nominated by Mr. Fasse)
• Lauren Goins — CTE (Nominated by Mrs. Pesha)
• Chris Hamm — Student Support (Nominated by Mrs. Kluth)
• Georgia Holt — Math (Nominated by Mr. Laba)
• Kayla Jackson — Science (Nominated by Mrs. Stolzenbach)
• Kathleen Karner — World Language: Spanish (Nominated by Mr. Hernandez)
• Esmeralda Ramirez — Social Science (Nominated by Ms. Jones)
• Mia Seisor — Science (Nominated by Mr. Stiglic & Mrs. Vargas)
• Addison Sextonson — Science (Nominated by Mr. Bonges)
• Cameron Sykes — English (Nominated by Mr. Upton)
• Thaddeus Whorton, Jr. — PE/Health/DE (Nominated by Mrs. Boss)

Congratulations to senior Acey Smentek, the winner of the English Department's Annual College Essay Contest! His essay, Grasp the Hilt, was selected as the top essay submitted this year. He will receive a cash prize of $100. Senior Brooke Barber was selected as the runner up for her essay, Learning Others. She will receive $50. Both essays will be published in the upcoming print edition of Edda, H-F's art and literary magazine. Thank you to College Essay judges: Mr. Coy, Mr. Kain, Mrs. May & Mrs. Rodriguez.

Congratulations to the H-F Scholastic Bowl team for its 4th Place finish at the Masonic Sectional, held the weekend of Feb. 18 at Sandburg H.S.! The team went 4-3, defeating St. Ignatius, Shepard, Minooka and Crete-Monee high schools.

Congratulations to our H-F Mock Trial team for its recent accomplishments:

• At the 2nd Annual Viking Invitational at Niles North H.S. on Feb. 11, four of our Vikings received individual recognitions: Outstanding Attorney Makayla Taylor (pictured here) and Outstanding Witnesses Ari Bauer, Julia Blackwells & Kendall Pace.

• On Feb. 13, both the Varsity and JV Mock Trial teams competed at the McClean County Invitational in Bloomington against 25 other teams from around the state and more than 250 students competing for individual awards. Several Vikings received special recognitions, including: Acey Smentek (2nd Place - Outstanding Witness); Makayla Taylor (11th Place - Outstanding Attorney); Kendall Pace (12th Place - Outstanding Witness); and Maya McNeil (19th Place - Outstanding Attorney).

Mock Trial is sponsored by Ms. Day, Social Science teacher.

Please note: Only home athletic games & playoff games are shown below. For complete athletic schedules, please click here...

Feb. 27-March 3 is Respect & Inclusion Week! This celebration is derived from the Spread the Word Campaign that originally worked to promote the end of using derogatory terms to describe people with disabilities. This campaign now focuses on inclusion for people with disabilities. We celebrate Respect for All – no matter the disability, gender, race, etc. – each year to promote respect. At H-F, we will have a special dress day each day this week to show spirit and support respect & inclusion in our school community.

Respect & Inclusion Week: Wear Blue & Yellow for Down Syndrome

5:30 a.m. — Tryouts: Boys' Water Polo @ Natatorium

7:30-8:15 a.m. — Tutoring @ South G18 (Math), South B23 (Science) & H-F Library (Writing)

3:15-4 p.m. — Tutoring @ H-F Library (Math, Physics & Writing)

3:30 p.m.

• Tryouts: Baseball (V) @ Varsity Field
  
• Tryouts: Boys' Lacrosse @ North Field
• Tryouts: Softball @ Fieldhouse / Softball Fields
• Tryouts: Boys' Tennis @ H-F Racquet & Fitness Club (bus available)
• Tryouts: Girls' Water Polo @ Natatorium

4 p.m. — Tryouts: Badminton @ Fieldhouse

5:30 p.m. — Tryouts: Baseball (F & S) @ North Turf Room

7-9 p.m.

• Online Science Tutoring @ Google Classroom
• Online Math Tutoring @ Google Meet

7:30 p.m. — Tryouts: Girls' Soccer (V) @ North Turf Room

Respect & Inclusion Week: Wear Purple for Epilepsy

7:30-8:15 a.m. — Tutoring @ South G18 (Math), South B23 (Science) & H-F Library (Writing)

3:15-4 p.m. — Tutoring @ H-F Library (Math, Physics & Writing), @ North 223 (Spanish) & North 205 (Chinese)

3:15-8 p.m. — Music Dept. Honors Recital Auditions @ Music Wing

3:30 p.m. — Tryouts: Girls' Soccer (JV1 & JV2) @ North Turf Room

7-9 p.m.

• Online Science Tutoring @ Google Classroom
• Online Math Tutoring @ Google Meet

Respect & Inclusion Week: Wear Rainbow Colors for Autism Spectrum Disorder

1:55 p.m. — Wellness Wednesday: Consent Culture Starts with You with the YWCA @ South G5 (click here to sign up)

3:15-4 p.m. — Tutoring @ H-F Library (English, Math, Biology & Writing) & North 226 (French)

6 p.m. — Special Education Transition Resource Presentation: Everything You Need to Know about PUNS on Zoom (click here)

6:30 p.m. — League of Women Voters' District 233 Board of Education Candidate Forum @ Mall Auditorium

7-9 p.m.

• Online Science Tutoring @ Google Classroom
• Online Math Tutoring @ Google Meet

Respect & Inclusion Week: Wear Red for Apert/Marfan Syndrome

7:30-8:15 a.m. — Tutoring @ South G18 (Math), South B23 (Science) & H-F Library (Writing)

3:15-4 p.m. — Tutoring @ H-F Library (Math, Chemistry & Writing)

7-9 p.m.

• Online Science Tutoring @ Google Classroom
• Online Math Tutoring @ Google Meet

Respect & Inclusion Week: Wear Teal for Fragile X Syndrome

7:30-8:15 a.m. — Tutoring @ South G18 (Math), South B23 (Science) & H-F Library (Writing)

3:15-4 p.m. — Tutoring @ H-F Library (Math, Biology, Chemistry, Physics & Writing)

4:30 p.m. — Boys' Track & Field Invitational @ Fieldhouse

10 a.m.-1 p.m. — Tutoring @ H-F Library (Enter Door 12)

Noon-3 p.m. — SSHRA Educators' Job Fair @ Fieldhouse

7-9 p.m.

• Online Science Tutoring @ Google Classroom
• Online Math Tutoring @ Google Meet

No Classes

9 a.m.-Noon — Drop-In Class of 2023 VIP Senior Portraits @ South Gym

2 p.m. — Tryouts: Boys' Volleyball (JV & V) @ South Gym

3 p.m. — Tryouts: Boys' Volleyball (F) @ North Gym

7-9 p.m.

• Online Science Tutoring @ Google Classroom
• Online Math Tutoring @ Google Meet

7:30-8:15 a.m. — Tutoring @ South G18 (Math), South B23 (Science) & H-F Library (Writing)

3:15-4 p.m. — Tutoring @ H-F Library (Math, Physics & Writing), @ North 223 (Spanish) & North 205 (Chinese)

4:30 p.m. — Boys' Track & Field Quad @ Fieldhouse

5 p.m. — Home Opener! Boys' Water Polo (V & JV) vs. Hinsdale South @ Natatorium

7-9 p.m.

• Online Science Tutoring @ Google Classroom
• Online Math Tutoring @ Google Meet

3:15-4 p.m. — Tutoring @ H-F Library (English, Math, Biology & Writing) & North 226 (French)

1:55 p.m. — Wellness Wednesday: Gratitude! How important is it? with Mrs. White @ South Room G5

5 p.m. — Home Opener! Girls' Water Polo (V & JV) vs. Richards @ Natatorium

7-9 p.m.

• Online Science Tutoring @ Google Classroom
• Online Math Tutoring @ Google Meet

7:30-8:15 a.m. — Tutoring @ South G18 (Math), South B23 (Science) & H-F Library (Writing)

3:15-4 p.m. — Tutoring @ H-F Library (Math, Chemistry & Writing)

5 p.m. — Boys' Water Polo (V & JV) vs. Bremen @ Natatorium

7-9 p.m.

• Online Science Tutoring @ Google Classroom
• Online Math Tutoring @ Google Meet

Spirit Friday: Wacky Dress Day!

7:30-8:15 a.m. — Tutoring @ South G18 (Math), South B23 (Science) & H-F Library (Writing)

3:15-4 p.m.— Tutoring @ H-F Library (Math, Biology, Chemistry, Physics & Writing)

Please remember to stay at home if you are not feeling well, especially if you are having COVID-19 symptoms or suspect you have COVID-19. If a student is COVID-19 positive, parents/guardians, please complete the District 233 COVID-19 Reporting Form (click here) for the Nurse's Office.

Click here to read the MARCH/APRIL 2023 issue of the Viking Voice, a newsletter for H-F families...

Coyote Run proves to be an idyllic winter setting for golf - HF Chronicle

H-F's New Faces Theatre presents 'Scapin' this weekend - HF Chronicle

Viking Choir get superior ranking in choir contest - HF Chronicle

H-F wrestling senior class finishes with three state qualifiers - HF Chronicle

Book it. Freshman Jenesis Moore delivers on both ends of floor as H-F ousts Lincoln-Way Central. ‘She was ready.’ – Chicago Tribune