The District will be closed on Friday, December 23, Mondy December 26, Friday, December 30, and Monday, January 2.
Recognition
MHS gymnast alum qualifies for Maccabi Games in Israel
Keith Kohn, a 2013 MHS graduate, has recently qualified to represent the US at the Maccabi Games
Currently, Kohn is the team captain of the UIC Flames Men’s Gymnastics team. He took silver on rings in the international qualifier. With a degree in Communications and also studying Management, Kohn plans to work in public affairs and relations as well as some sort of management. Kohn has an intensive academic schedule along with organizing events and working part time as a state senator’s press aide.
“I do plan to continue to train gymnastics after graduation, although it remains to be seen for how long,” he explained.
While in high school at MHS, Kohn earned silver and bronze medals at the 2013 Men’s Junior Olympics National Gymnastics Championships in Portland, OR. He finished 12th all around while earning a silver medal on pommel horse and a bronze on rings. He also earned an Academic All-American award in recognition of academic excellence at the event.
“My most vivid memory of MHS is eating those little sandwiches that consist of two cookies of some sort of chocolaty paste...incredible.”
Activities
Term 2 Final Exams and Winter Break
Term 2 Final Exams will be held on Monday, December 19 and Tuesday, December 20. We are on a Exam “D” Schedule. Student dismissal will be at 12:45pm both days.
Winter Break will be December 21 through January 3.
January 4 is a Teacher Institute Day-No classes.
Term 3 will begin on Thursday, January 5.
Thursday, January 5 will be a Regular “A” schedule. Classes will begin at 7:45am.
Northwestern physics professor to meet with astronomy class
Dr. Shane Larson, of Northwestern University’s CIERNA [Center for Exploration and Research in Astrophysics] will visit students in Mark Michalski’s Astronomy Class at Mundelein High School Friday, Dec. 16, from 7:30 to 9 a.m. The class will engage in an exercise on gravitational waves that will help them to better understand how LIGO works. LIGO is a gravitational wave detector that has already identified gravitational waves from a black hole. Larson will also discuss his background and field questions about gravitational waves and astrophysics.
Larson holds a bachelor of science degree in physics from Oregon State, and master and doctoral degrees in physics from Montana State University. One of his questions to pose to students is are there others like us or are we alone in the Universe?
MHS joins other districts to host Mental Health Symposium
Mundelein High School District 120, along with a number of other school districts who are part of the Transition Action Network for Mental Health, [TANMH] hosted a Mental Health Symposium held Dec. 7 at Oakton Community College. Five MHS staff members attended as did several staff members from Mundelein School Districts 75 and 79. About 250 people attended the all-day event.
“Based on feedback from the past year, TANMH decided to look at addressing how to support students with mental health needs and their families from kindergarten through transition,” said Jamie DiCarlo, MHS director of special education. “We want to remove the stigma and provide open dialogue, strategies and support,” she said.
According to the TANMH, the number of students requiring intensive mental health resources is increasing in most school districts. This interactive symposium aimed to raise awareness, explore common challenges and share resources to support the schools’ shared goals of supporting students with mental health needs across their school years.
Topics covered included recognizing emerging mental health issues, emerging brain-based research, considerations and implications for schools, de-stigmatization as a barrier to treatment and support, current landscape in schools and empowering staff to individually and collectively transform their work to support a seamless transition from kindergarten to young adulthood.
Other schools who sponsored the event include Highland Park and Deerfield high schools, Vernon Hills and Libertyville high schools, Lake Forest High School, Palatine area high schools, Glenbrook, Arlington Heights, Niles high schools, Stevenson, New Trier, Maine Township, NSSED and NSSEO cooperatives.
Off Campus Lunch Privilege
Beginning January 5th 2017 students with off campus lunch privileges (juniors and seniors) will not be allowed to leave the school unless they show security staff the FRONT of their Mundelein High School issued ID. If a student does not have a current ID they simply can head to the security office, room B151, and a new one can be printed on the spot! Replacement ID’s are $5.00. Bus drivers are now also checking ID’s. Please make sure your student’s bus number is correct on the ID.
The Security Team thanks you for your cooperation and helping MHS be a safe school for all.
Parent Group to welcome middle school students and parents
The Mundelein High School parent group, known as the MHS Ambassadors, will visit each of the middle schools that send students to MHS to welcome them as the MHS Class of 2021.
“The purpose of the parent group is to build bridges with parents, sender schools, the community and the MHS faculty,” said Kevin Myers, MHS superintendent. “Our goal is to promote MHS and to educate our future Mustangs about their upcoming high school experience,” he explained.
The meetings will take place at the various middle schools. Eighth graders and their parents will see a short video about student life at MHS, they will hear about paths of study and they will learn about the new STEM lab, Project Lead the Way and the Business Incubator Lab. The Class of 2021 will be only the second class to have these options available to them for all four of their years. The new three-story building addition just opened this fall.
While parents will hear from building administrators and faculty, the students will meet separately with an MHS student group, Link Crew. New freshmen each year meet regularly with Link Crew students who help the new freshman class navigate through their first year of transition from middle school to high school. The student meetings will conclude with the MHS students teaching the incoming freshmen the MHS Fight Song.
The MHS Mustang Ambassadors will meet with eighth graders and their parents on the following evenings: Carl Sandburg Middle School, Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.; Hawthorn Middle School, Tuesday, January 10, 7 p.m.; Fremont Middle School, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 6:30 p.m.; West Oak Middle School, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 7 p.m.; and Frassati Catholic Academy, Thursday, Jan. 12, 7 p.m.
5Essential Parent Survey
Beginning November 16, students, teachers and parents across Illinois will have an opportunity to participate in the fourth annual statewide Illinois 5Essentials Survey. This survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of your child’s school. As a parent, this opportunity will allow you to share your thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness in a survey about your child’s school.
On behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be administered online by UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago. The survey gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains. These five indicators that affect and predict school success are:
Effective Leaders
Collaborative Teachers
Involved Families
Supportive Environments
Ambitious Instruction
Prior research in more than 400 schools has shown that schools that were strong on at least three of these “5Essential” indicators were 10 times more likely to improve student learning gains in math and reading than those that were weak on three or more Essentials.
All teachers and 6th through 12th grade students will be responding to this survey. 5Essentials Reports will be generated for schools if their teachers and/or students meet the response rate threshold of 50 percent. These reports will be sent to schools and districts in March 2017 and will also be included in the State School Report Card.
Additionally, your district has chosen to provide the optional 5Essentials parent survey. If at least 20 percent of District 120 parents complete this survey, a parent supplement will also be generated. The parent data will not be reported on the State Report Card.
Your participation in the parent portion of the survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.
The Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be conducted November 16 through January 16, 2017. To take the survey please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ and select the appropriate survey to begin.
For more information about the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, or to view previous years’ Reports, please visit https://illinois.5-essentials.org. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact 5Essentials Client Services at 1-866-440-1874 or 5essentials@uchicago.edu.
Athletics
Boys Basketball at the United Center
The Mundelein Boys Basketball team will be playing Chicago Schurz at the United Center on Saturday, January 21st at 3 pm. The Bulls play the Sacramento Kings at 8:00 pm that evening. You may order your ticket now and have until January 9th to do so. There are limited tickets and anyone going to the HS game must purchase one. See the Flyer attached if interested.
Football
Congratulations to Aaron Woolford, named Pioneer Press All-Area 1st team defense. Sammy Escobar & Mitch Sharer were named Honorable mention.
Gymnastics
Mustangs captured 3rd place @ Hersey this past weekend.
Taylor Shanahan won 1st place All-around.
Boys Swimming
This past Saturday, JV swim team took 3rd place at the Deerfield sprint classic.
Photos from the Past Week:
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| Before taking a quiz on Acids and Bases in 1st period Chemistry, on Thursday Dec. 15, Angelica Gonzales '19 and Diego Valencia '19, they study hard to memorizes important information. " Gosh this is really stressful because since we are in finals, we have to finish very quickly" said Angelica. Photo taken by Brian Hernandez |
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| During the gymnastics meet on Wednesday, Dec. 14, Katie Miller '19 watches as her teammate performs her beam routine in the Main Gym. Miller stresses the importance of motivating her teammates. Miller said, "It is important for me to cheer on my teammates during a meet because I always want them to know that no matter how they do and what score they get, they will always be a part of the team." Photo taken by Sophie Fiore |
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| Greg Godellas '17 works on his TV video based on "someone you should know", "I might have to stay after school to finish this video." he said as he hurries to perfect little details in the video by the end of the day. Photo taken by Leslie Cuna |
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| While taking a breather and ready to go score points, Charles Binz '20 get's ready to to go out and help the team out and bring home the win on Tuesday Dec.13, 2016 on an away game vs Carmel High School. The boy's had been preparing themselves for the game and never lost faith. Charles said. " As being a member on the team I never lose faith, even though we lost a the game a two week's ago, I still believe we can beat them. " Photo taken by Erika Lara |
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| As Voices is underway, Nicole Casler '17, Janet Perez '17 and Ashley Flores '20 all watch the artwork displayed to vote on for the end of the year magazine, which displays the most voted on student artwork submitted. A112 12/8/16. Photo taken by Henry Fiocchi |