10 The Reporter
SCHOOL NEWS
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Marist High senior is named 2016 Chicago Student Journalist of the Year Marist High School senior Solomon Davis was named 2016 Chicago Student Journalist of the Year by the McCormick Foundation and the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago (SPAC) at the foundation’s annual high school media awards luncheon at Roosevelt University on March 10. The foundation describes the award as a “most valuable player” award to honor the senior student who has done the most for his or her school publication each year. The McCormick Foundation provides SPAC with a $1000 scholarship for the winner.
Students, who are nominated by their journalism teacher and/or newspaper adviser, have completed work that has meant all the difference to the school’s paper as a copy editor, a photographer, a reporter or a writer. The judges for the Student Journalist of the Year Scholarship are professional journalists and journalism educators that consider the nomination form and writing samples from the nominee. Davis is a two-year staff member of Marist’s newspaper The Sentinel, and credits his fellow staff for part of his success.
“It’s an amazing thing to have done journalism for so many years and to receive recognition for it,” he said. “But I couldn’t do it without (Sentinel adviser) Mr. (John) Gonczy, who has been a great mentor and Davis supporter of everyone in the journalism class.” In addition to his work at Marist, Davis has been a three-year member of Columbia Links, a news literacy, journalism skills and leadership program for
Chicago teens and teachers, housed at Columbia College Chicago. Davis has narrowed down his college search to three formidable Midwestern schools, and plans to major in journalism or digital interactive media. “What’s important about journalism is that it allows us to take the stories of individuals and bring them to masses,” Davis said of what he enjoys about the industry. “Someone from one neighborhood can hear the story of someone from another part of country. And, it also offers the opportunity to bring the story of the disadvantaged to the spotlight.”
Kolmar Elementary School students (from left) Eman Akhatib, fi st grade; Matteo Filippo, fifth grade; and first-graders Namiko Juarez and Jack Leahy took part in a STEM activity before spring break creating objects like the structure above that resembles Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat,” a story the classes read together.
Kolmar students take part in STEM challenge
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SXU alumna Nicole Munoz thanks Gianna Donato, 10, of Palos Heights, for getting her head shaved in support of childhood cancer research. Munoz was one of two students honored by SXU. She is currently battling Ewing Sarcoma.
St. Xavier students, community shave heads in fight against cancer The second annual St. Baldrick event was held March 29 at St. Xavier University in Chicago, where students and community members shaved their heads in solidarity with children who are batting cancer in exchange for donations. This year’s theme, “Past, Present, and Future,” honored SXU
students Nicole Munoz, an SXU alumna, and Tara Hill, current SXU student, who are presently battling cancer. The event was sponsored by the St. Xavier Council, Student Nurses Association and SXU’s Student Veteran Alliance. The event raised a total of $9,140 so far and donations are continuing.
Johnson Phelps Post and Auxiliary honor local essay contest winners Three local students are winners in the Johnson Phelps VFW and Auxiliary Post 5220 Voice of Democracy high school and Patriot Pen middle school essay contests. Justin Aubin, a resident of Oak Lawn and student at Brother Rice High School, and Oak Lawn resident Julia Kasprzak, a student at Oak Lawn Community High School, were the winners of the audio essay contest, “My Vision for America.” Aubin placed first in the contest. Kasprzak placed third in the competition. Margaret Hennessy, a student at St. Gerald Elementary School in Oak Lawn, and Lorenzo Zamarano, who attends St. Bruno Elementary School in Chicago, were the winners of the Patriot Pen middle school essay contest, “What Freedom Means to Me.” Hennessy placed third in the district competition.
The first- and fifth-grade students at Kolmar Elementary School, 10425 S. Kolmar Ave. Oak Lawn, engaged in a STEM activity before spring break with the objective being to create two structures using 10 and 18 ounce plastic cups and 3 x 5 and 4 x 6 index cards. Students discovered and discussed science terminology such as gravity, stability, and distribution of weight. Through trial and error, they redesigned their structures to achieve maximum height. Unifex cubes were used to measure the structures. During the follow-up activity, students compared the different structures’ shapes and heights and possible reasons why they were successful or not. The students also noted that their structures resembled Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat,” a story they had read together.
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Chicago Christian High School hosts Seventh-Grade Step Up Day
Chicago Christian High School hosted its annual Seventh-Grade Step Up Day as 120 seventh-grade students (above) from 12 local schools attended the event on March 17. The day started with a short presentation from the Chicago Christian Improv Team. Several mixer games were led by the student council students. The seventh-grade visitors then toured the school, attended classes, and learned about various clubs and sports offered at the school. The day concluded with the students being treated to a pizza lunch.
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STUDENTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT Local students are selected to dean’s list at Augustana College Several local students were named to the dean’s list for the 2015-16 winter term at Augustana College in Rock Island. Earning dean’s list honors were Oak Lawn residents Joshua Hennen, a junior majoring in Psychology and Philosophy; junior Isabel Valle, Teaching; senior Michelle Dempster, Communication Sciences and Disorders; and senior Angela Rembles, Biology. Also earning dean’s list honors was Palos Hills resident Christina Scott, who is majoring in Psychology.
Richards High School students are selected to honor roll
Top photo: Brother Rice High School student Justin Aubin is congratulated by Johnson Phelps VFW Post Cmdr. Rich Bukowski for placing first in the Voice of Democracy high school audio essay contest, “My Vision for America.” Oak Lawn Community High School student Julia Kasprzak (middle photo) is congratulated by Johnson Phelps VFW Auxiliary President Sue Opila for placing third in the contest. Right: St. Gerald Elementary School student Margaret Hennessy is congratulated by Sue Opila for placing third in the Patriot Pen middle school essay contest, “What Freedom Means to Me.”
Davis, along with seniors Caroline Roeper, Kara Keating, Miranda Insley and Taylor Allison, junior Faith Laughran, and sophomores Michelle Lenz, of Orland Park, and Marie Weber, Oak Lawn, also received certificates of excellence in journalism at the event. The Sentinel also received certificates of excellence for overall newspaper and layout. Marist will expand its journalism program during the 2016-17 school year with the addition of broadcast video studio where students will learn all aspects of news and video production. The studio will be built during the summer.
A group of students from Richards High School in Oak Lawn have been selected to the honor roll for the second quarter of the 2015-16 school year. Freshmen selected to the honor roll are Keighley Armstrong, Julian Hernandez, Trevon Jones, Julian Rodriguez, Pedro Serna-Gomez, Emily Trinidad, Bryianna Williams, Ali Abdel, Avery Graham, Jesse Torres, Iman Ahmad, Abdulaziz Bakhovuddin, Sennad Bin Ghalib, Jordan Couch, ElainaGregory, Brendon Kleczkowski, Connor Pulido, Katherine Strache, Yazan Thabet, Jessica Alba, Ezeldeen Anaqrah, Isaias Bordonaba, Valeria Calzada, Jessye Davis, Joshua Fritz, Abdullah Jamil, Damian Palomar, Juan Ramos, Neveen Salti, Aaliyah Seals, Hemza Zubi, Maya Arends, Zoe Moralez, Marius Washington, Ivan Aragon, Emmi DiVito, Ryan Peterson, Kaitlynn Prince, Gina Angone, Diana Falkowska, Justin Gardner, Kacper Kaczmarczyk, Carrington Stewart, Erick Vargas, Tristian Whitaker, Stephanie Nelson, Laith Ahmed, Jack Bulger, Angelina DesFosses, Cody Dryier, Alan Flores, Alonso Fonseca, Bashar Hamdan, Kamryn Hayes, Lanejah Huff, Kimari Jimmar, Cassidy Larson, John Lind, Adrian Martinez, Isabel Martinez, Khaled Muthana, Sean Nestor, Joshua Peterson, Walter Riley, Odei Sweis, Eleni Tsakonas and Dennzel Watts. Sophomores named to the honor roll are Samantha Caldera, Hemali Patel, Raul Rico, Sarah Sayeed, David Tobin, Melanie Salgado, Catherine Aguinaga, Kristijan Kleckaroski, Kayla Meske, Sofia Gomez, Milena Jakubauskaite, Taylor Comiskey, Ronald Kaminsky, Kenny Pham, Balqis Nasser, Patricia Samonte, Brian Lovetere, Mark Grochal, EwaBasiorka, Orrin Prater, Joshua Shores, Issa Smadi, Sarah Victor, Alex Drexel, Arianna Boerema, Haneen Sadeq, William Veal, Jazmin Davis, Jailah Martin, Brian Muniz, Farah Douleh, Julian Sanchez, Elijah Woodard, Angel Olmos, T’Rae Cooper, Dane Garcia, Jasmine Stennis, Yasmina Priebe, Mona Hulais, Emad Altamimi, Margaret Mary Murphy, Mouj Ziadat, Angel Zych, Zoie Winston, Yoseli Aguirre, Kelly Ackermann, Nadia Taiym, Tristan Lee, Theresa Meegan, LaMesha Brown, Tyler Fuquay, Lara Abbadi, Montell Dukes, Dominic Lueras, Ryan McHale, Hannah Pruente, Ryan Weber, Subhi Abu-ghoush, Brandon Avery, Illeana Martinez, Raymond Hight, Lilean Zubi, Amanda Gill, Kenya Johnson, Yanni Klementzos, August Matthews, Ruba Salma, Matthew Callan, Nasser Gaamoom, Nicholas Grochowski, Zaria Hughes, Azael Torres, Jordan Dixon, Seham Abdulhafid, Ayeda Ahmed, Breanna Green, Mohannad Hussein, Chase Lorz, Nadhrah Omer, Xavier Trayweeks, Mohamed Yafai and Abdelrahman Zubida. Juniors selected to the honor roll are Michael Rider, Erica Serna-Gomez, Lauryn Lockett, Gina Bartkus, David Gomez, Cassandra Juarez, Taylor Slehofer, Dimitra Vithoulkas, Alexander Ewell, Jonathan Prostka, Victoria Gonzalez, Martin Krickl, Frank Hesik, Jose Sandoval, Christine Leverenz, Jessica Hayes, Montaser Hamayel, Janie Hillman, Adam Zeiger, Emanuel White, Jasim Al-Beitoni, Maya
Escalona, Lorraine Hart, Satoria Davis, Tiffany Donohue, Jordan Scott, Rickey Griffin, Noah Isaacs, Thomas Pavesic, Mitchel Mulhall, Tasneem Rayyan, Mohammad Zuhour, Alex Zwick, Derrick Givens, Phoenix Lopez, Cristian Rivera, Sarah Abuadas, Hayley Grayson, Erin Hemphill, Tatiana Hyde, Marcus Hullett, Abdul-Ramon Ajasa, Frank Laxton, Michael O’Leary, Dominick Simik, Kevi Drummond, Trevon Caples, Christopher Hobbs, Jeremiah Melton, Weronika Lassak, Erika Swanson, Lanee Blackman, Nicole Candra, Matthew Pierce, Decola Rogers, David Baez, Aicha Therra, Fadel Shawar, Rania Hattar, Treveon Freeman, Bradley Arrigoni, Steven Ramirez, Leo LaPapa, Austin Pierce, Lexi Dryier, Klaudia Sulka, Catherine Johnson, Leslie Morales, Yazan Naser and Brianna Rodriguez. Seniors named to the honor roll are Filippo LiVolsi, Jennifer Ellement, Dejah Wimberley, Carolina Martinez, Sthefani Ortega, Matthew Paske, Maria Salas, Jocelyn Mosley, Agata Lichaj, Moataz Shaikh, Alexandra Pell, Kevin Thompson, DeJa Benson, Nuridean Alsaras, Asma Abdulhafid, Mohammad Sumaira, Minerva Espindola, Devaughn Jones, John Wysocki, Khalid Al-Itter, Judi Bataeineh, Madeline Kleczkowski, Savanah Julian, Alexis Bell, Montrell Bryant, Gianni Herrera, Jake Fleming, Gabriel Frausto, Hoang-Chuong Vuong, Janelle Davis, Chaaka Bolton, Gabrielle Murphy, Sarim Sajjad, Denise Vo, Leah Kendryna, Patrick Strahorn, Brandon Haynes, Ashley Bartels, Alexa Sweis, Ahmad Abdel, Joseph Doyle, Husam Naser, Kimberly Passananti, Danesha O’Dell, Juan Reyes, Nicholas Kamba, Jonathan Strache, Onofrio Loconsole, Daniel Schwarz, Paris Durden, Carlito Garcia, Joshua Mireles, Emillie Medina, KVaughna Hayes, Timothy Houlihan, Thomas Barker, Melissa Altahat, Otis Patterson and Wendy Morales.
Shepard High School students earn Honors with Distinction A group of students at Shepard High School in Palos Heights have received Honors with Distinction for the first semester of the 201516 school year. Students with a 4.0 or above grade-point average have earned Honors with Distinction. It is possible to exceed a GPA of 4.0 with weighted grades offered in honors and Advanced Placement courses. Freshmen earning Honors with Distinction are Shepard are Malak Zatar, Zachary Chua, Lucas Contreras, Reem Efein, Farah Elhoumaidi, Timothy Kopec, Jenna LoPresti, Millisent Caballero, Breanna Cordova, Paige Fugger, Aniya Jackson, Regan Monahan, Allison Witt, Katie Alex, Francesco Di Dio, Nadia Hernandez, Brandon Herrera, Alexander Komperda, Skyler Safi, Tatiana Almeida, Jason Covone, Alyssa Gonzales, Emma Horstmann, Elizabeth Jeeninga, Casey Bruce, Lillian Fisher, Kujtesa Gashi, Tyler Harvey, Christian Kowalkowski, Mario Owens, Ryan Wyrobek, Andrea Zavala Tinoco, Sabreen Ballout, Tucker Carter, Veronica Janik, Rudy Krastin, Magdalene Myrda, Nicholas Strama, Citlalli Velez, Kaylin Carreno, Joel Esparza, Yousef Isa, Christian Johnsten, Haley Kamholz, Symantha Noftz, Abigail Notter, Madelyn Powers, Justin Reilly, Jalen Rodriguez, Jainika Sharma, Kaitlyn Shelton, Kyle Skopec, Samuel Vander Weele, Dianna Lopez, Susan Zarebczan, Ameer Mohammed, Isabel Plasencia, Kylie Radz, Cynya Al-Ruh, Daniel Born, Emilie Bowman, Nicholas Brown, Thomas Dougherty, Mitchell Elzinga, David Klein, Carolina Lozano, Brandon Pizur, Kyle Reynolds, Joseph Thompson, Alyssa Zaldivar, Grace Culver, Paige Gilbert, Rebecca Harkala, Michael Ritchie, Grace Snelius, Micah Bourke, Emily Callahan, Sara Dziadkowiec, Emily Edmiston, Kevin Graham, Rachel Guzman, Anderson Kitzmiller, Zachary Oganovich, Yazan Shareef, Paulina Slaby, Alexis Urbauer, Samantha Witkowski and Jakub Zolnik.
Sophomores on the list are Rachel Habbal, Delaney Lyons, Isabella Gorzelniowski, Rebecca Ruger, Adam Zatar, Lauren Banicki, Alana Born, Jacob Kalabich, Elizabeth Correll, Meghan Hill, Nicholas Condon, Kathy Myrda, Jonathan Runquist, Angeline Schmelzer, Declan Quinlan, Amanda Wandachowicz, Hayley Goebel, Tania Hernandez, Ramsey Nakhleh, David Castillo, Jamal Mizyed, Matthew Dykstra, Paula Clohessy, Connor Sterling, Charles Szykowny, Reiner Mahler, Andrew Mutzbauer, Andreina Romero, Alexander Spindler, Kiley Boerema, David Cooper, Nicholas Smeraldo, Adam Alleruzzo, Jacob Kats, Kareema Keshta, Brooke Pieroth, Noor Ballout, Matthew Randich, Hanin Abuzer, Tyler Divis, Ahmad Zatar, Brooke Zielke, Mohamed Efein, Emily Paolini, Ryan Smith, Jillian Cabusas, Cristian Guerrero, Eric Ramirez, Thamer Yasin, Katherine Juarez, Abigail Morgan, Stephanie Reichard, Moriah Southall, Jacob Wolniak, David Dziuba, Angela Flisk, Joshua Lagrosa, Melissa Sanchez, Rainah Folk, Brianna Lukasiewicz, Nicholas McLawhorn, Lucas Gleich, Joseph O’Connell, Paul Striepling, Noelia Perez, Eric Bruesch, Sabdiel Romo, Nicholas Dombroski, Andrew Alheim, Sarah Kiwan, Ashley Klein, Caroline Staszak, Mallory Byrd, Christopher Sneed, Elizabeth Martinez, James Mundo, Anastasia Gadomski,Tiffany Kozlarek, Klaudia Styrnik and Cole Urban. Juniors on the Honors with Distinction are Oluwatobi Sogebi, Daniel Becker, Kevin Callahan, Valeria Hernandez, Alison Elzinga, Veronica Jacobson, Victoria Churin, Kelli Callahan, Brenna Braasch, Matthew Gibson, Ednan Gusic, Kelly Pawlak, Caleb Washington, Thomas McInerney, Jenna Huisenga, Joseph Iaquinta, John Clohessy, Timothy Komperda, Joseph Monahan, Marley Wiest, Paul Milkus, Stephanie Wasag, Brian Nelson, John Cody, Erika Brann, Jack Carberry, Alexis Carr, Allison Terry, Connor Kapala, Justin Soriano, Emma Toomey, Hailey Pezdek, Ellen Mueller, Alyssa Riley, Austin Castillo, Naledge Killins, Scott Huston, Nathan Sanchez, Brenna Koepp, Felicia Lonosky, Aleksandra Mierzejewska, Maryam Sandoka, Nicole Connors, Aaron Gowaski, Miquela Rubio, Brian Maty, Eryk Nowak, Robert Marinec, Jacob Esparza, Emma Sisk, Mary Stocklen, Karolina Budz, Nicole Fleck, Maura Callahan, Reilly Longawa, Samah Rafati, Audrey Stocklen, Adrian Cabrera, Patricia Medina-Malpica, Jacob Walters, Jackson Bergman, Valerie Stone, Hamzah Alkhatib, Ines Ruiz, Mark Farenga, Taylor Senf, David Lepak and Saul Tototzintle. Seniors selected to Honors with Distinction are Natalie Bruce, John Wolniak, Abigail Graham, Hayden Wiest, Sara Campione, Jacob Zuiker, Caroline Graham, Michael Graham, Hannah Horstmann, Aleck Poradowski, Jacob McGrath, Hannah Vasil, Michael Cuzco, Kylie Sterling, Janet Santoyo, Kendall Yerkes, Krystyna Nedza, Alexander Gowaski, Dylan Doidge, Sarah Quattrocki, Kailey Fitzgerald, David Lawando-Reddy, Troy-Lemuel Magpantay, Zachary Sierzega, Dinah Tadros, Taylor Hoekstra, Morgan Dolehide, Angeline Schulist, Alyssa Trinko, Nancy Lesnicki, Riley McDermott, Margaret Sera, Bryanna Cross, Samantha Stone, Karsyn Hettlinger, Dylan Porter, Maria Munoz, Jacob Nolan, Logan Couture, Maulika Thakkar, Max Jones, Nickolas Loquercio, Aolani Cahue, Garrett White, Benjamin Meyer, Elizabeth Ciukaj, Randall Barnes, Abigail Schultz, Grace Spindler, Jennifer Kempczynski, Anthony Crespo, Jacob Vander Weele, Jayna Wilson, Taiah Womack Hayes, Timothy Kruse, Kathryn Baker, Jenna Kozicki, Marlen Terrazas, Skylor Hilger, William Fitzgerald, Alana Oliveros, Paige Harkabus, Brandi Roberts, Lamese Ballout, Edmund Leyden are Noah Oprondek.