06-13-24
June 13, 2024
District News
D128 Provides Summer Learning Opportunities for Teachers
Though the school year has ended, the dedication of our teachers hasn't wavered. Throughout this summer, approximately one third of D128 educators will participate in one or more of the enriching D128 Summer University classes. Offered by the District, these courses, offered both in-person and remotely and led by fellow D128 educators, cover a diverse range of topics including mastering differentiation, supporting diagonal movers, and promoting diversity.
In addition to the Summer University classes, 151 educators are actively engaged in summer curriculum work, ensuring they are well-prepared for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. This is nearly twice the usual participation rate. This valuable partnership between District 128 and its teachers empowers teachers to continuously grow and enhance their skills, ultimately benefiting our students and community.
D128 Summer School 2024 Underway
Semester One of D128 Summer School is underway at LHS with approximately 525 LHS and VHHS students taking the opportunity for either credit recovery or credit advancement. Summer School attendance policy requires daily attendance due to the intensive nature of the program to ensure that all students receive the full benefit of their summer coursework. Shout out to D128 students for their dedication! (photos by Sophia Jackman, D128 Summer Communications Intern)
D128 Boasts Impressive and Increasing Teacher Retention Rate
The Illinois Report card features a wide variety of comparative data about schools and school districts in Illinois. While there have been recent comments and posts made about the number of educators leaving D128, we felt it is important to share our historically high level of teacher retention. The rate has continued to rise over the last three years, and is above the state retention average.
Explore Multiple Paths Updates
The D128 Explore Multiple Paths strategic plan goal calls for all students to explore various career, college, military, and trade pathways and graduate informed, prepared, and empowered to pursue their chosen future careers.
The D128 Board of Education received an update on the Explore Multiple Paths work for the 23-24 school year. Click here for the presentation.
Are you interested in building your pipeline and connecting with students who are eager to explore your industry? We invite you to complete this form and join us in this exciting journey!
Parent/Guardian Input Focus Group: The D128 College & Career Readiness office would like your input on several projects to support students in being informed, prepared, and empowered to pursue their postsecondary goals. Please complete this form to share your interest by June 20, 2024. These projects include:
Previewing SchooLinks, our college and career readiness platform
Understanding early college credit opportunities
Reviewing College & Career Pathway Endorsements
LHS News
2024 National Latin Exam Results and Awards
The National Latin Exam, sponsored by the American Classical League and National Junior Classical League, is a test that focuses on a student’s ability to read and comprehend Latin. The exam includes questions on Latin grammar and vocabulary, translation, mythology, history and geography, Roman literature and culture, derivatives, and Latin in use in the modern world.
This year 96 students in Latin 1 through Latin 4 Honors took the NLE with almost 70% of test takers earning an award.
Summa cum Laude
Latin 1: Sophia Hughes, Caroline Waller, Riley Henderson, Cinna Davis, Elizabeth Bruenning, Valentina Perez Klamburg, Maggie O’Grady
Latin 2H: Claire Weadick, Finley Weinstein, Ava Graditor, Zoe Mueller, Tanisha Desai, Justin Wang, Emma Erisman, Anne Buchert, Ardra Nair
Latin 3H: Michael Harris
Latin 4H: Mirabella Marubio
Maxima cum Laude
Latin 1: Kira Dolph, , Dustin Lang, Sabrina Stevens, Peri Budak, Celia Dogadalski, Isaac Byrnes, Lainey Chung, Ryan Hoch
Latin 2H: Wren Frey, John Nevill, Micah Liu
Latin 3H: Richard Dombrowski, Amelia Stark
Latin 4H: Brayden Brafford, Liam Foo, Christian Manley
Magna cum Laude
Latin 1: Julia Steffensen, Meredith Booth, Sarah Drake
Latin 2H: Megan Blakeman, Emma Keeble, Emma Thompson, Sofia Lombardo, Kathryn Mitchell, Maya Basich, Emme Fogle, Sophia Krummick, Sophia Teppen
Cum Laude
Latin 1: Katelyn Golumbeck, Heather Gay, Tayla Makowsky, Mackenzie Carlson, John Monahan, Tyler Houglum, Max Marubio, Chloe McTeer, Emma Webster, Lauren Harris
Latin 2H: Olivia VanHeirseele
Latin 3H: Allen Wang, Ellery Schumacher
Latin 4H: Madeline Hassert, Danielle Gibson
Honorable Mention: Iona Bailey, Jack Schumacher, Avery Hassert (Latin 1), Olivia Poell (Latin 4H)
French Students National Exam Honors
Félicitations to these award-winning French students from Libertyville High School! These students took the National French Contest, Le Grand Concours, this spring. This challenging contest is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French and is offered to student in all 50 states and abroad.
Gold medals
Sammy Powers (level 3), Shubh Varshney(level 4)
Silver medal
Connor Desiron (level 3), Caroline Guiard (level 3), Sofia Peuckert Tatsch (level 3), Shriteja Patil (level 4)
Bronze medals
William Beauchamp (level 4), James O Keefe (level 4), Thomas Teixeira (level 4)
Mention honorable
Pierce Adams (level 3), Dion Sui (level 3), Finn Bowman (level 5), Jasper Wexler (level 5)
Certificat de mérite
Jacob Romie (level 2), Maleeha Alanji (level 3)
Special congratulations to Sammy Powers, a freshman in Laura Guiard’s French 3 honors class, who has been awarded the AFS-USA Global Citizen Scholarship for a month-long language and culture study in Cap d’Ail near Nice, France this summer. They will spend the month of July at the French summer camp, Le Centre Méditerranéen d’Études Françaises, learning French with students from around the world. We wish them a Bon Voyage!
German Students Receive Honors on National Exams
The National German Exam is administered each year to over 15,000 high school students of German. The exam, now in its 64th year, provides individual diagnostic feedback, rewards students through an extensive regional and national prize program, and creates a sense of accomplishment. Exam results provide teachers a means of comparing students in all regions of the country, as well as programmatic data to help inform curricular decisions.
The Level 1 Exam targets student proficiencies in the Novice Low to Mid range as measured by the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. These students understand some ideas on familiar topics containing phrases, simple sentences, and frequently used expressions. They can understand the main point and a few details in short conversations, messages, and announcements.
D128 German teachers Alex Kerth and Heidi Lechner are proud to announce that LHS received 5 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze Awards and VHHS German program earned 1 Silver Award. Herzliche Glückwünsche!
View all the results on the AATG website.
Graduates Continuing in the Arts
Wildcats of the Week
Congratulations to the LHS students recently recognized as Wildcats of the Week.
VHHS News
D128 Students Receive Honors on National German Exam
In January, German students at VHHS took the German National Exam at levels 2-4. The students at LHS took the German National Exam at level 2. The National German Exam is administered each year to over 12,000 high school students of German. The Exam, now in its 63rd year, provides individual diagnostic feedback, rewards students through an extensive regional and national prize program, and creates a sense of accomplishment.
The following students taught by Herr Kerth earned either a gold, silver or bronze medal based on their high scores on this exam:
The top scorer in level 3, Madelyn Wright, represented VHHS in a competition with other top scorers from Illinois for travel prizes. She took part in interviews with a panel of German teachers and won a two-week scholarship to Waldsee, the German area of the Concordia Language Villages for two weeks this summer! Congratulations, Madelyn! Rhea Narasimhan gave a speech about her time at the Concordia Languages Village last year. That makes two years in a row that a student from VHHS has won this prize!
German 2 Honors LHS students: Timothy Courneya (Gold), Sofia Reinfelds (Bronze), Alexandra Gamburg (Bronze), Eli Zammiello (Gold), Mathias Klemp (Gold), Ryder Allan(Gold)
German 2 Honors VHHS students: Michael Deng (Gold), Amin Aburub (Gold), Olivia Bush (Silver), Eva Zhang (Silver), Lauren Kendrick (Gold), Christine Lee (Silver), Kaviya Ramesh (Gold)
German 3 Honors, German AP VHHS students: :Liam Marcikic (Bronze), Francesca Gaus Ehning (Silver), Clara DeSandro (Silver), Madelyn Wright (Gold), Tanya Mehta (Silver), Kylie Makosch (Silver), Isabella Fernandez de Ferrariis (Gold), Rhea Narasimhan (Silver), Noah Kim (Gold), Joseph Drasler (Silver).
Danyil Zinkevych Honored for Submission to State Art Competition
Senior Danyil Zinkevych submitted his design to the second annual "Art You Really Winning" statewide art competition, dedicated to raising awareness about problem gambling across Illinois. The judges were impressed by his artwork, and he received a $100 prize. His illustration will also be included in the traveling art exhibition this summer. The competition was open to all high school students, college students, and professional artists across Illinois.
His work will be made into a poster and will be part of public art displays around the state throughout the rest of the year. The 25 total pieces of awarded art will go to Carbondale (June/July), the Illinois State Fair in Springfield (August), and the University of Illinois’s campus in Champaign (September through December). Danyil is invited to an awards ceremony at the Illinois Problem Gambling Awareness (IPGA) Conference in June in Bolingbrook, IL.
Photography Student's Work Seleted for Perspectives Show
Work by VHHS freshman photography student Jordyn Hein was selected for this year’s 2024 Student Perspectives Student Show. The gallery received over 400 images from Chicago and area high schools this spring. Juror Nate Matthews from Northeastern Illinois University selected 40 images and was very impressed with the breadth of work submitted. One student photographer's work from D128 was selected for inclusion in this selective exhibit where students display and sell their work in this professional gallery in downtown Evanston. Jordyn is pictured below with her image at the reception.
Cougar Athletic Signings
Deen Hatibovic Signs with Knox College
VHHS Senior Deen Hatibovic will continue his basketball career at Knox College in Galesburg, IL. He is pictured below with his family, principal, coaches, teammates and friends. Deen will be studying Business while competing for the Prairie Fire.
Deen chose Knox College because it is a great school academically and he gets to keep playing basketball. Deen’s mom was very emotional about the decision. Tears were flowing because she knew it was the best place for Deen.
Coach McCarty had this to say about Deen: "Deen was a four-year member of the boys' basketball program. Deen started every game his senior year and proved to be a versatile player on the inside and from the three-point arc. Deen finished this past season in strong fashion by scoring in double digits in 8 of our last 10 games including three 20-plus point games. He had a career-high of 24 points in back-to-back games against Maine East and Zell H.S.
Most importantly, Deen was an extremely coachable player who never missed practice and always came ready to compete. He was a pleasure to work with daily and I know he will bring the same positivity to the Knox College basketball program. Best of luck, Deen!"
Best of luck to Deen at Knox College!
Max Adkisson Signs with Catawba College
VHHS Max Adkisson will continue his volleyball career at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC. He is pictured below with his family, coaches, teammates and friends. Max will be studying Business and Computer Science while competing for the Indians.
Max chose Catawba College because it provided him an opportunity to play volleyball and he really liked the campus. Max’s parents were very excited when Max chose Catawba. They are happy that he gets to play volleyball at the next level with a great coach and a great program.
Coach Curry had this to say about Max: "While Max is really good at volleyball, he's even better at leading a team, at having fun while working as hard as he can to improve, and at keeping things in perspective. He's harder on himself than he is on his teammates, leads by incredible example, and is quietly as funny as anyone we've had in the program in years. "
Best of luck to Max at Catawba College!
Charlie Blackmer
VHHS Senior Charlie Blackmer will continue his running career at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH. He is pictured below with his family, coaches, counselor, teammates and friends. Charlie will be studying Statistics and Data Science while competing for the Owls.
Charlie chose Kenyon because through the application process the place felt comfortable. He liked the balance of academics and athletics and he really liked the team when he met them. Charlie’s parents were super excited. Mom is a Kenyon alum and Dad figured that Charlie would pick Kenyon. They felt it was a good fit.
Coach Szabo had this to say about Charlie: "Charlie has been a leader on the Cross Country team his whole career. He pushed through every obstacle that ever stood in his way to become one of the top runners in the state of Illinois.
Coach Caton had this to say about Charlie: "Charlie's work ethic and competitive drive was second to none on the track team. The expectations and example he set for himself, and his teammates, was on full display every time he stepped out onto the track."
Best of luck to Charlie at Kenyon College!
Shyanne St. Louis Signs with College of Lake County
VHHS Senior Shyanne St. Louis will continue her softball career at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, IL. She is pictured below with her family, principal, coaches, teammates and friends. Shyanne will be studying Communications & Psychology while competing for the Lancers.
Shyanne chose the College of Lake County because it has a good softball program, it is close to home and she really liked the team and coach. Shyanne’s parents' reaction when she selected the College of Lake County was to go for it. They really liked the coach and believe he can help her play at the next level.
Coach Pauly had this to say about Shyanne: "Congratulations to Shyanne St. Louis, a 2 year varsity softball player. Cougar Softball is proud of Shyanne for pursuing her dream of playing college softball. She is a talented athlete and the best is yet to come for her."
Best of luck to Shyanne at the College of Lake County!
Transition Pathways News
Young Adults Leave Lasting Mark at Pathways through Legacy Art Project
The inaugural Transition Pathways Legacy Art Project (pictured below) was completed last month by the seven young adults who recently exited Transition Pathways. The artwork reflects the personalities and talents of each of the students, and will be on display at Pathways as a symbol of the students' lasting impact on the school staff and students. The project was overseen by Pathways Teacher Cory Burns.
