Thursday, December 16, 2021

Mustang News - December 17, 2021

With the close of semester 1, I would like to thank all our families for a successful first half of the school year! As a school community, we continue to persevere through difficult situations with a positive and constructive attitude. Please enjoy Winter Break with the holidays, extra time to sleep and time to relax. Certainly, the second half of the school year offers many exciting events for everyone to enjoy. I look forward to enjoying them with you.

On behalf of the MHS staff, I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Anthony Kroll

Recognition

MHS Jazz Ensemble Performs for International Music Clinic

On Thursday, the MHS Jazz Ensemble performed in front of an international audience at McCormick Place in Chicago. The one hour set was played in capacity crowd who provided a standing ovation at the conclusion of the performance. The MHS Jazz Ensemble has been preparing for this event for 20 months as the Pandemic delayed their performance last year. An invitation to play at the Midwest Clinic is as elite level of performance as winning a state title in athletics. It was great to see a room of educators, families and students nodding their heads in approval of great musicianship or back and forth to the music. Our band members should be proud of their performance just as our school community is proud of them.

Activities

SAT Prep offered in the Literacy Center

Juniors! Get ready for the SAT in April by prepping in the Lit Center starting in January. Please register using the form or stop by the Literacy Center for more information.

Foreign Exchange Students Looking for Host Families

CETUSA is a non-profit organization that sponsors high school exchange students.

Currently, we have over 50 exchange students that are scheduled to arrive at the first of the year to attend a local high school for the spring 2022 semester.

Contact CETUSA with any interest.

Athletics

Girls Bowling

Coaches Corner: Vanessa Prorok

Huge week for Girls bowling. We had two wins against Zion Benton and Warren.

Then this past weekend, the Girls Bowling JV team took part in the Wildcat Baker Classic hosted by LHS. With a majority of the team bowling for the first time this year, our girls did awesome!

We sent two teams to compete. With a nail-biting finish, Mundelein's Team A won first place in the entire invite. Mundelein's Team B took second place in the Black Division.

Molly Maresh took fourth in the entire invite with a high series score of 422.

High game medalists were: Reena Photopoulus earned 4th place with a score of 156. Molly Maresh and Ana Kuznetsova who tied for 10th with a 151. Caitlin Sciortino who bowled a 150 and earned 13th place.

Girls Bowling JV A Aryanna Solis, Molly Maresh, Caitlin Sciortino, Melissa Orozco, Eliana Solis and Brianna Orlowski Merner

Girls Bowling JV B Charlotte Niziolek, Reena Photopoulus, Meghan Morey, Yazmin Torres, Ana Kuznetsova and Talia Zavialov

Girls Basketball

Coaches Corner: Greg Dorgan

We recently participated in the Holiday Gift Drive. We went shopping and wrapped gifts together for a family we are sponsoring. This was a great team bonding experience! Our Frosh/Soph & JV teams continue to show improvement: JV just had a solid comeback victory over Lake Zurich 29-24. Our Varsity team has struggled the last few games, but really showed some fight against Lake Zurich in the second half. Over winter break our JV will play in the Lake Zurich Tournament and our Varsity will play in the Libertyville Tournament. Go Mustangs!

Boys Bowling

Coaches Corner: Chris Sweno

This past weekend freshman Winston Petri won the Warren Invitational Bowling Tournament. Junior Samuel Gottfried had the tournament high game, 255. Freshman, Shawn Mastandrea took second in scoring at the Glenbrook North JV Eliminator Tournament. On Monday the Mustangs beat Lake Zurich 2 of 3 games to win 2979-2797. Junior Myles Kugler had his career best 713 pin series bowling 247, 210, and 256.

Boys Bowling Left to right is Sam Gottfried, Winston Petri, Myles Kugler, and Shawn Mastandrea

Boys Basketball

Coaches Corner: Matt Badgley

This past week has been a challenging and next man up week for the Mustangs. On December 11th we traveled to our rivals Stevenson for an entertaining game. Mustangs went into the game short handed because of injuries which gave Sophomore Vinny Rogalski his first varsity start. Mustangs came out hungry and led 13-0 after 1. A highly contested game ended with a final score of 39-38 in favor of Stevenson. Varsity was led by Ty Moenning with 16 points! We could not be more proud of the support and class that our Red Rage displayed during the game!

We are also in the final push for our Snap Raise Fundraiser and would appreciate any help passing out the word!

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Mustang News - December 10, 2021

Friday Focus

Announcements

Final Exam Week Schedule

Due to transportation limitations, adjustments needed to be made to the Semester 1 Final Exam schedule. Students will have an early release on Tuesday, December 14 in order to prepare for Finals. Below is the schedule for next Wednesday and Thursday.

MHS Job Board

Are you looking for a job? Would you like a summer job, employment after graduation, an internship or another employment opportunity?

MHSCareerDiscovery.com is our career webpage. The purpose of this page is to connect interested students with part-time employment, seasonal and internship opportunities as well as after high school career opportunities. It also includes information about upcoming career fairs, employer open houses and various industry specific promotional events.

Most of these jobs do not require prior experience. Instead, local companies are seeking students who are eager to learn, dependable, committed and willing to work hard. That’s what Mustangs are all about; so companies want to work with you!!

Click HERE to access the job list.

Some of the current jobs include:

Front desk receptionist-Ultimate Ninjas
Lodge attendant-Grand Dominion Del Webb
Camp Counselor-Banner Day Camp
Part time coach-Sports R Us
Service Technician-Zettl Mimatic

….and many more

Jobs are added all the time, so keep looking. See Mrs. Fiore in the CCRC with any questions.

Check it out today!

College & Career

College scholarships for Seniors are in full swing, so be sure to catch up on any of the scholarships that are being offered through Naviance.

Click on This Link for Next Week's Scholarship List

Also check out our Twitter and Instagram accounts for upcoming events.

As a reminder, if you have not yet done so, please take a moment to review and bookmark the Virtual College and Career Resource Center. (Virtual CCRC)

Remember, if you have questions at any time you just have to schedule an appointment with Mrs. Rusk, our College Counselor, and we can connect via Zoom to talk through any questions or concerns you may have!

Or, you can just stop by The College & Career Resource Center (CCRC) - Room B105 Monday through Friday from 7:25 a.m. until 3:25 p.m.

Athletics

Football

Coaches Corner: Vince DeFrancesco

Congratulations to Omari Rhinehart for being recognized this past Saturday for the IHSFCA 7A All-State Football team. The All State ceremony took place in Dekalb, IL prior to the 7A State Championship game. This award consists of only 18 players in the state who are nominated and voted on by a panel of football coaches across the state. Coach DeFrancesco, who nominated Omari, was thrilled to hear Omari received this prestigious award. Mundelein has not had an All-State football player since 2005.

Omari Rhinehart with Coach DeFrancesco

Boys Swimming

Coaches Corner: Rahul Sethna

The Mustangs won the Niles West Varsity Invite this past weekend. In winning 7 out of the 12 events, the Mustangs won the invite by over 80 points. Event (Individual and Relay) winners included: Omar Fathallah, Michael Romero, Edwin Serrano, Aaron Anastos and Cameron Gilbert. Other Top 3 (Individual and Relay) finishes also included: Matt Willis and Alec Sethna. The Mustangs are currently ranked 8th in the state and are back in competition against Lake Forest on Thursday and at the Glenbrook North Invite on Saturday.

Daily Herald scouting Lake County Swim

Mundelein Mustangs Coach: Rahul Sethna (14th season)

Top returning swimmers: Omar Fathallah, sr., (sprints), Michael Romero, sr., (breast, fly, IM), Aaron Anastos, sr., (200 free, relays), Cameron Gilbert, sr., (back, IM), Dominick Fidanze, sr., (breast, IM), Johnathan Anno, Jr, (diving), Eddie Serrano, Jr, (200, 500), Matt Willis, Jr, (500, back), David Tatevosian, Jr, (fly, IM), Alex Sethna, soph., (breast, 100, IM), Zach Gonzalez, soph., (fly, 50)

Top new swimmers: Ayesh Chandrasekera, sr., Marcus Gallegos, sr., Alan Fox, sr., Anthony Petrashko, sr., Ethan Trankalov, Jr, Jacob Hall, soph., Trey Halas, fresh., Tovi Kharpak, fresh., (diving, swimming), Joey Kafka, fresh., (diving)

Outlook: A lot going on for Mundelein. Fathallah, Sethna noted, is one of the top sprinters in the state and is a state title contender in the 100, plus a possibility to final in two individuals. He medaled his first two years at state and will be a key relay component. Romero is a state qualifier in the breast, fly and IM. Sethna said he also has a chance to medal at state in the breast and fly, and is another relay mainstay. Anastos is a state qualifier in the 200 and in the relays with Sethna labeling him one of the top mid-distance freestylers in the area. Sethna would like to see the Mustangs get two relays to the state finals. "Last year was probably our deepest team we ever had, which had a mix of top-end speed and fast, balanced depth," Sethna said. "This year, we are probably not as deep, but we are a potential Top 10 team at state. Our front line swimmers will carry the boat in most meets, but we need our other younger guys to step up and carry the boat if we want to be successful at the dual and invite level." Mundelein, a sectional champion two years ago, is ranked eighth in one preseason poll.

Boys Basketball

Coaches Corner: Matt Badgley

This past week has been an eventful week for the Mustangs. We had our first program sweep of the year on December 1st vs North Chicago. Varsity was led by Junior Chris Martin with 25 points and 9 rebounds a Freshman Derek Bishop who scored 21! All three levels played hard, competed, and played as a team. We welcomed Evanston to the Stable on December 4th and unfortunately did not have the same results!

On December 7th we traveled to Waukegan to open up NSC play. The Mustangs were able to complete the second sweep of the young season. Varsity was led by Freshman Derek Bishop who poured in a career high 29 points! We travel to play Stevenson on December 11th. Red Rage we need you!

We are also in the middle of our Snap Raise Fundraiser and would appreciate any help passing out the word!

Girls Basketball

Coaches Corner: Greg Dorgan

5-4 overall, 2-1 in North Suburban Conference

We have won 3 games in a row: Beat Zion Benton 51-30, beat Lakes 40-31, and beat Waukegan 59-31. This is our first 3 game win streak since November of 2018. Our team only won 1 game last year, so some nice improvement early in the season.

Before we resume conference play this Friday, we are participating in a Holiday Gift Drive. We are going shopping and wrapping gifts for a family we are sponsoring. This is a great team bonding experience while making a positive contribution to our community!

Our JV team also practiced with our Special Olympics team this week to help prepare them for their next game. Shout-out to our players and coaching staff for being so selfless and teaching life skills that our players will take with them beyond the basketball court!

Girls Gymnastics

Coaches Corner: Bridget Erickson

12/8/21 was an early senior night for MHS. Hosting conference rivals Lake Zurich and Warren for a tri the Mustangs enjoyed a celebrated evening with their seniors. Congratulations to Keely Murphy, Jessica Lake, Jenna Rose Klein, Alexis Bellecomo, Tori Collins, Tori Bloniarz. We thank you and your families for your commitment to MHS.

Photos From the Week

After school in the weight room on Thursday Dec. 2, Xavier Ortiz '22 is staying consistent with lifting after football season came to a close.- Alexandra Brimmer ‘22

With finals week coming around the corner on Wednesday, Dec. 8, Jacob Buysse '22 & Ryan Guerrero '22 work on their final assignments of the semester in Zoology class.- Ashley Wolverton ‘23

The Sound FX show choir performs their dancing themed show at the Spotlight event on Friday, Dec. 3.-Addison Klein ‘25

During 6th period lunch on Dec. 8, Anjeli Modi ''22 colors a coloring sheet that went along with Mental Health Week.-Keely Murphy ‘22

Friday, December 3, 2021

Mustang News - December 3, 2021

Recognition

2021-2022 MHS Robotics Team

MHS Robotics Team

The robotics competition season restarted last month! This past Sunday, November 21, four of our teams from Mundelein Robotics competed in the Great Lakes VEX Robotics Tournament in Batavia, IL. The four teams dominated the competition winning multiple awards:

Team 499S was the undefeated tournament champions (10-0-0) and was also the recipient of the Excellence Award - the highest award given in the competition for being the "team that exemplifies overall excellence in building a high-quality robotics program".

Teams 499H (9-1-0) and 499M (7-3-0) finished the competition as tournament finalists.

Team 499A competed for the first time this season and made it to the quarterfinals.

For more pics and clips from the tournament, click here.

MHS Art Student wins Honorable Mention

Congratulations to freshman Maisy Price who was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2021 ArtConnectED Art Throwdown Photo Competition. Maisy is currently enrolled in Digital Photo Design 1.

The Art Throwdown is a live, fast-paced, head-to-head, interscholastic Visual Arts competition where students will be given a timed Art Challenge. Art students were asked to put their artistic skills to the test while competing against other area high school art students. Each artist was faced with a hands-on, 90-minute, visually creative challenge. This year's photography challenge was, “OOPS,” students were given one word and asked to make a triptych of three images to tell a story encapsulating the word oops.

MHS Distinguished Alumni Award recipient speeches

MHS routinely identifies alumni who have distinquished themselves after graduation from high school. The remarks of each of this year's recipients are below. Learn more about distinquished alumni here.

Max Petersen, Class of 2006 https://youtu.be/Z6zuT3-f5Lc

Larry Markus, Class of 1967 https://youtu.be/HxrnJoFzVds

Richard Witt IV, Class of 2000 https://youtu.be/J1h3v-RMP44

Michael Gunther, Class of 1995 https://youtu.be/KKbJWEVtYRY

Lawrence Maligaya, Class of 2005 https://youtu.be/yOYZ8OmIZs4

Chris Wetteland, Class of 1993 https://youtu.be/1U7NG0_oU6E

Chad Vale, Class of 1974 https://youtu.be/Vq3JvAL9AXw

Books donated in honor and memory of Mundelein Teacher

Thank you so much for your support of the Kristen Meister Memorial Book Drive. It was a huge success!

More than 400 books were donated in memory of Kristen. Carl Sandburg took in 121 books from the drive, Mechanics Grove received 151, Washington accepted 105 books, and Lincoln received 20 books. (See the attached flyer). We are also in the process of ordering books to put in the MHS Library. The drive included about $500 in donations to cover that cost as well as some book covers for all of our librarians.

Each book contained a sticker that reads, in part: “This book was generously donated in memory of Kristen Lee Meister, a beloved educator, colleague, mentor and friend.”

We are so excited for the donations and books to benefit all of our schools. Thanks again to all who donated in memory of this amazing member of our community!

Announcements

Activities

Show Choir Spotlight Event

This Friday, December 3rd is our show choirs’ annual Spotlight Event at 7:30pm in the MHS Auditorium! The evening will consist of performances by our award-winning show choirs, SoundFX, Lights, and Sound, premiering their competition shows, complete with costumes and accompaniment by our extraordinary band, Noise, directed by Andy Sturgeon! There are also over 60 raffle prizes, including Bulls tickets and tickets to Broadway in Chicago’s “Moulin Rouge,” complete with a stage door meet and greet with one of the stars of the show!

Spotlight serves as our largest fundraiser of the year, helping offset the travel expenses of our students, as well as the operating costs of our program.

If you are interested in attending, tickets can be purchased HERE.

Event and raffle tickets can be purchased the night of the event.

Thank you for all your support and encouragement of our amazing students!

November Social Emotional Learning Lesson

On November 30th, 2021, your student viewed the fourth of eight wellness-related presentations this school year. This presentation serves as an introduction to some of the benefits of kindness. Students participated in an activity where they practiced an act of kindness by writing a letter to someone that they appreciated. Please send immediate questions or concerns to: Gwen Lopez, Jaime Thatcher, or Samantha Smigielski, School Counselors.

The Top 3 Takeaways and Tips for this month’s presentation include:

Be Kind
Kindness leads to physical and emotional benefits
An act of kindness has positive impacts for all involved, including bystanders

Presentation Links:

English: Kindness Presentation - English
Spanish: Kindness Presentation - Spanish

Slides:

English: Kindness Slides - English
Spanish: Kindness Slides - Spanish

Students and Staff participate in Wellness Week.

Athletics

Girls Bowling

Coaches Corner: Vanessa Prorok

Varsity had its first tournament this weekend in Antioch. The girls did great! With 4 of the 6 members bowling in their first 6 game tournament, MHS earned 5th place out of 8 teams. Special individual standing shoutouts go to: Samantha Sciortino - 5th place (1028), Abbie Catania - 11th place (930), and Alex Devine - 17th place (848).

Girls Basketball

Coaches Corner: Greg Dorgan

Our JV finished 2-1 in both of their Thanksgiving tournaments to start the season. Our Varsity finished our Thanksgiving tournament 2-3, finishing in 4th place out of 6 teams. Congratulations to Allison Binz (Sr) and Rylan Foster (So) for earning All-Tournament Team honors. Conference play starts this week in the North Suburban. Go Mustangs!

Boys Basketball

Coaches Corner: Matt Badgley

This past week our program opened the season in their respected Thanksgiving Tournaments. Varsity co-hosted with Grant to provide a well-run tournament. Varsity came away with a 3-1 record beating Lakes, Deerfield, and Grant. Mundelein had Freshman Derek Bishop and Junior Chris Martin make the All-Tournament team. Sophomores went 1-2 at their Thanksgiving Tournament at Lakes High School. Freshman A finished 1-2 and Freshman B went 2-3 at their Thanksgiving Tournaments.

We travel to North Chicago on 12/1 and host Evanston on 12/4.

We are also in the middle of our Snap Raise Fundraiser and would appreciate any help passing out the word!

Gymnastics

Coaches Corner: Bridget Erickson

Congratulations to the Mundelein gymnastics team on their first meet. We are so proud of all of them.

Photos From The Week

Staying after, Gianna Horcher '23, continues to work on her composition art project for class after school on Tuesday, Nov. 30.- Brianna Richards ‘22

During winter wellness boost week, Caitlyn Ekstrom '23 wears green to school on Monday, Nov. 29 to support mental health awareness.- Ashley Wolverton ‘23