NEWS | April 21, 2016
Melis Ozkan
Commentary Writer
M
aine South’s Science Olympiad team competed in a Regional Competition with fourteen other schools at Oakton Community College on March 16. After a day of testing, experimenting, and operating machines, the team took 6th place overall and qualified for State which will be held at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign on April 16. After four years of almost qualifying for State as runners-up or 8th place, the varsity Science Olympiad team earned the opportunity to compete with hundreds of other schools from different regions in Illinois. In 2015 and 2016, Maine South was also awarded the Spirit Award which is given to the school with the most positive outlook, encouraging attitude, and best sportsmanship. “Science Olympiad taught me the value of friendship and community,” said senior Charlie Mistrata, reflecting on the short, yet exciting year that he has had being a part of this club. This is als o t he f irst st ate competition for club sponsors Mrs. Wagner and Mr. Pisanko. This is the second year that they have jointly been in charge of the club, having participated in two invitationals and one regional both years. “We are so proud of our SciO students,” said Mrs. Wagner. “They
have demonstrated the principles of Maine South, studying science and building in their ‘spare’ time with a smile on their faces and the fight song on their lips. So many students were involved this year that we fielded strong varsity and junior varsity teams, and we have high hopes both for the State competition and next year.” Most of the bonding happens over the various events that the students are assigned. “I came for the science, but I left with friendship and integrity,” said senior Jeff Galiotto. The competition consists of different testing, lab, and building events. Cell Biology took second place, Chemistry Lab took third place, Anatomy took fifth place, and Protein Modeling took sixth place for the Varsity team. The junior varsity team also performed very well with multiple first, second, and third places. “I think Science Olympiad has helped me grow as a person while allowing me to explore my love for science,” said junior Katherine Heyde. “I am excited for the opportunity to go to State this year.” Most participants in Science Olympiad have shown character development as a result of individual hard-work and skills from working in small groups. Because the competition fund
PHOTO COURTESY MELIS OZKAN
Science Olympiad goes to state for the first time
FINALLY, STATE
Varsity Science Olympiad members Jessie Krawitz, Isis Zaki, Melis Ozkan, Ann Kapustiak, Katie Donovan, Jeff Galiotto, Katherine Heyde, Anjali Venkat, David Kloc, Alys Dobbins, Lia Grandinetti, Joe Grigus, Charlie Mistrata, Fritz May, and Steve Manos dedicate some of their success to their strong team chemistry. Their victory in Regionals has qualified them to compete in the State competition.
for the school has been depleted this year due to the number of teams that qualify for higher competitions, the Science Olympiad team boarded a yellow school bus instead of a coach bus (which was used four years ago, the last time Maine South made state) for the six-hour journey. Students needed to meet at school at 3:00 a.m. because the competition events began at 7:00 a.m. The team also had to leave before the awards ceremony because some
varsity members, such as juniors Ann Kapustiak, Heyde, and Alys Dobbins, needed to be back at Maine South in time to participate in the musical, “Big Fish.” The members of the Varsity team were excited to finally be a part of the State Science Olympiad competition. They hope that their continued hard work, motivation, and passion for science will allow them to succeed and to return multiple times over the next few years.
together to help make communication more effective. The cost of making this change also played a factor in the decision. By switching to School Messenger, the district will be saving $22,894 per year. School Messenger proposed that the district pay $31,255 per year for
the full suite of tools. The new website will feature a fresh look with modern tools. It will also be more convenient for faculty and staff to manage and maneuver. “It will be much easier for our staff to edit content, and it integrates with other online services such as Google Docs,” said Dr. Thiele. The website is currently in the works and will be ready for use before the start of the 2016-2017 school year. A mobile app will also accompany the new website, providing a useful and accessible resource for parents and students. “We are in the design phase right now and working on moving our current content to the new platform,” said Dr. Thiele. “It will be ready to launch sometime this summer with the mobile app coming shortly after the launch of the site.”
District 207 websites under construction Rhyanne Noche
News Editor fter eight years of using the c u r r e n t w e b s i t e v e n d o r, American Eagle, District 207 has decided to switch to a new company. As a result, this will lead to changes in all Maine Township high school websites. The district has decided to make this change to achieve one of the goals they set this year. “One of the district goals this year was to increase our ability to communicate effectively and efficiently,” said Dr. Thiele, Assistant Superintendent of Technology and Learning. “In meeting this goal we are recommending that we switch web hosting companies to Sharp School by School Messenger.” For the last five years, District 207 has already been using School
A
2 SouthwordS
GRAPHIC BY ARDEN SASAK
Messenger for mass communication. “ We c u r re nt l y u s e S c h o o l Messenger for our autodialer, the tool that makes automated calls home,” said Dr. Thiele. “They offer an integrated communications suite including web services, autodialer, and a mobile web app that all work
PHOT