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September 10, 2015 • 75¢
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Students urged to join in AD aims to boost participation in sports, activities By LYLE R. ROLFE news@kendallcountynow.com If a Plano High School student is not having fun in school, it’s his or her own fault, according to James Schmidt, athletic director. Schmidt is trying to find something for every student to be involved in. Every one of Plano’s 168 freshman students has been interviewed by Schmidt and urged by him to participate in at least one sport or other school activity during the year. “It’s very rare to get above 70 percent student participation, but we’re just not going to settle for that,” Schmidt said. “Last year out of our 618 high school students, we had 76 percent participation – 52 percent in sports and 24 percent in activities.” “My target goal is 80 percent. I think 80 percent is a realistic goal, but it’s going to be more difficult. That’s why I’ve talked to every freshman at the start of school,” he said. “We also track the varsity team GPAs [grade point averages] and last year the overall average was 3.7. Only two varsity sports did not have a combined GPA of 3.0. The range was from a high of 3.83 to 2.92,” he said. By keeping track of their academic goals, career goals and extracurricular goals, Schmidt can follow every student’s progress through all four years of high school. Schmidt said being involved in an activity or sport helps a student reach his or her academic goal or the GPA they would like to attain by graduation. He tells them a 4.0 GPA would be all A’s, 3.0 would be all B’s, and 2.0 would be all C’s. No one expects to receive any lower grade, he noted. Many freshmen are already involved in a sport or other activity even though this is their first year in high school, he said. But if not, they have their choice of seven fall sports, four winter sports and four spring sports.
By LYLE R. ROLFE news@kendallcountynow.com
Hispanic Institute), and a group that helps televise and broadcast various sports and other school activities. ”When we ask a student what they’re interested in, if it’s not on the list, we’ll make a point to get a program started,” Schmidt said. Bowling was one such program. Last year, 23 students joined the club, which is not quite enough to make it a full-time school sport. Schmidt said some club members were able to compete in IHSA competition. Some activities, such as band, madrigals and theater, take place during school hours while others are offered at other times. Schmidt also asks students if they plan to become involved in intramurals for volleyball, basketball, floor hockey or bags tournament. He also asks them if they want to choose college, enter the military or get a job after graduation. If the students are college or military bound, he asks what they hope to learn or major in, giving them one more thing to think about.
“Imagine you’re 17 years old and I’m saying ‘Here’s what I have for you. I’m going to make you work harder than you’ve ever worked before, you’re going to have more homework then you’ve ever had before. And you’re not only going to have one of these classes – I want you to have two and three classes as a junior and play sports.’” This is a message Dr. Hector Garcia, Plano School District superintendent, is giving to all high school students. He’s letting them know that they can enter high school this year and graduate in four years with a full semester of college credit. He was referring to the AP (advanced placement) program, which allows high school students to take a college course and receive college credit for it. And as of last month, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation stating that all state colleges and universities in Illinois must now accept a 3, 4, or 5 score received for any AP course and give college credit for it. Class subjects include biology, calculus, capstone, chemistry, English language, English literature, government, human geography, psychology, Spanish language, statistics, U.S. history and world history. The district also now offers AP music theory, and is looking to offer AP arts, Garcia said. Plano students are getting the message and taking advantage of the AP program. They can sign up for one AP course as freshman. None signed up
See ACTIVITIES, page 3
See AP CLASSES, page 3
Photos by Eric Miller - emiller@shawmedia.com
Plano athletic director James Schmidt talks with freshman Eddy Garcia about being involved in high school.
Plano High School athletic director James Schmidt talks with Reaper soccer players before the Sept. 3 game against Coal City. The list of activities includes 18 items – band, art club, chess team, SLIP (Student Leadership Initiative Program), class officer, FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), FEA (Future Educators
of America), Madrigals, National Honor Society, scholastic bowl, and Operation Snowball, an anti-drug group, student council, theater, bowling club, a dance team, family focus, NHI (National
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WHERE IT’S AT
Plano improves to 2-0
Woman saves toddler
Reapers score 36 points in second quarter en route to win over South Shore Prep / 24
Firefighters: Plano woman pulls 2-year-old from retention pond and resuscitates him / 8
Forum ................................................... 5 Fire calls .............................................. 7 Local News.....................................2-10 Opinion................................................. 4 Kristy Lawrie Gravlin........................ 9 Sports........................................... 23-24 Tax assessments........................ 11-22
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More teens take AP classes
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Vol. 40, No. 37 3 sections