Mustang News: Mustang News

Graduation and other end of the year events for the Class of 2017!
Graduation is quickly approaching!

All seniors and their parents and guardians are invited to the Senior Honors Ceremony on Tuesday, May 9 at 7:00pm in the MHS Auditorium with a reception to follow in the Cafeteria.

Graduation practice will be held Wednesday, May 10 during Homeroom.

Senior final exams will take place on Thursday, May 11. It is a regular schedule day.
Classes begin at 7:45am

On Friday, May 12 all seniors must report to the North Gym sometime between 7:45am and noon to pick up their cap and gown and graduation tickets. There will be busing available. All school fees must be paid, all library books and textbooks must be turned in, and all Chromebooks must be turned in or purchased in order to pick up the cap and gown and tickets.

To avoid the lines on Friday, all tasks except cap, gown and ticket pick up may be taken care of before May 12. If you are exempting from finals-turn in or purchase your Chromebook early!

Calendar Reminder
Thursday, May 11 is a regular “A” schedule day (classes begin at 7:45am) for all students to accommodate senior finals.

Recognition

Student newspaper earns first place; editors headed for collegiate journalism
Mundelein High School’s student newspaper, The Mustang, was recently awarded a first place finish in the American Scholastic Press Association [ASPA] school newspaper contest with a score of 900 of a possible 1,000. According to one of the judges, The Mustang is “an excellent school newspaper which shows the creativity and journalistic knowledge of your editors, reporters, writers, photographers, layout/graphic designers and advisor.”

To help the student staff celebrate their accomplishment, the staff spent some time recently with 2011 MHS graduate Jordyn Reiland who works as a courthouse reporter for Northwest Herald. Reiland served as editor-in-chief for both The Mustang and for The Daily Iowan, the student newspaper of the University of Iowa, where she graduated.

Many of the senior editors on staff will continue their careers in journalism after they graduate from MHS. Delaney Appelhans, feature/centerspread editor, will major in journalism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Melissa Burgett, print editor-in-chief, will major in mass media at Illinois State University; Michael Del Rosario, production editor-in-chief, will study journalism and computer science at Northwestern University; Adriana Feijoo, features/centerspread editor, will major in political science and public policy at George Washington University; Alex Loding, sports editor, will study mass communications at Concordia University of Wisconsin; Kate Siltman, management editor, a pre-law student, will major in psychology, and communications; Ben Szalinski, sports editor, will major in political science at the University of Illinois, Springfield; and Stefani Zeiger, online editor-in-chief, will major in communications and political science at Ripon College.
“These senior editors have put in countless hours in their four years at MHS to produce a quality print product for the student body as well as to start and maintain an online edition,” said The Mustang advisor, Michelle Didzbalis.”I’ve been inspired by their passion to serve the MHS community through their reporting and writing skills. I am even more inspired by their commitment to serve society beyond high school as many of them continue their education in the field of journalism, communications and political science,” she said.

MHS students recognized for Stand-Up projects
Community leaders from the Village of Mundelein recognized Mundelein High School students who have worked in the Stand-Up Task Force to help prevent underage drinking and other teen drug use. In a reception held April 26 in their honor, the following students were recognized: Gabriela Antenore, Jake Antenore, Ryan Antenore, Sidney Brunkow, Cindy Garcia, Maggie Lucas, Jessica Marvin and Megan Rastrelli.

Stand-Up is a community coalition that develops student leadership skills which help them educate their peers to lead substance-free lifestyles. Students also deliver substance abuse prevention messages to parents and the Mundelein community at large to help create a safe and healthy community environment for teens.

“You are all leaders in your school and community and I am proud of your work to educate your peers about the dangers of underage drinking and other drug use,” said Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz. “My hope is that through your experience with Stand-Up, you will continue to be active citizens who make a positive difference in your community.”

Three specific Stand-Up projects were singled out: The “Be the Majority” school marketing campaign, based on local data taken from the Illinois Youth Survey, reports that most high school students in Mundelein avoid alcohol and other drugs. MHS Dean of Students Paul Thatcher and MHS School Resource Officer Sarah Wirth explained that the students did a great job creating posters and spreading drug-free messages throughout the school.

The Photo Voice Contest encourages eighth to twelfth grade students to submit photos and captions that describe their decisions to be drug-free. According to Mundelein Police Deputy Chief Don Hansen, Stand-Up Chairperson, “this is the first year Stand-Up students held the contest. We are very pleased with the entries which were on display for the first time during the event.”

The third project focuses on the “Parents Who Host Lose the Most” campaign set for Tuesday, May 2. Students will join other Stand-Up members, the Mundelein Police Department and the Mundelein After School Coalition to display campaign materials that raise awareness about Mundelein Social Host Ordinance 9.80 that prohibits adults from providing alcohol and other drugs to minors.

Mundelein Police Chief Eric Guenther said, “Sometimes parents think that by allowing teens to drink at their home and taking away the car keys, they are providing a ‘safe’ environment for their kids after prom.” He went on to explain that it is illegal and dangerous for teens to drink, period. “We take hosting underage drinking parties seriously because we want to protect the health and well-being of our youth and there are safer and drug-free options for students after events like prom and graduation as well as during the summer,” he concluded.

The Mundelein Stand-Up Task Force started in 2007 to prevent and reduce underage drinking and drug use among youth in Mundelein. The group is comprised of community leaders, organizations, schools, police, churches, youth, parents and neighbors who are concerned about the health, safety and well-being of Mundelein youth. The Task Force meets the second Thursday of every month at the Mundelein Police Department from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Meetings are free and open to the public.

Lake County Technology Campus Year End Awards
Our students had another great and productive year at the Lake County High School’s Technology Campus! Below are some of the main highlights and awards at the end of this year. Please congratulate these students when you see them. These students will be honored at the Tech Campus Award Night Tuesday, May 9th.

Program Students of the Year
David Tolosa Automotive Service II
Peter Filerman Culinary Arts I

Skills USA Competitors
Carson Bernett Firefighting
Madison Janis Esthetics
Drew Ozog Information Technology

Preferred Graduates
Daniel Scheuer Emergency Medical Serv I
Julie Avila Certified Nurse Assisting
Taylor Parola Certified Nurse Assisting
Annika Dunlap Certified Nurse Assisting
Daisy Cerdas Certified Nurse Assisting
Itzel Gonzalez Certified Nurse Assisting
Diana Flores Certified Nurse Assisting
Vicente Vargas Automotive Service II
David Tolosa Automotive Service II

Technical Honors Society Inductees
Julie Avila Certified Nurse Assisting
Jovanny Mata Automotive Collision Repair
Daniel Scheuer Emergency Medical Services
Jeffery Smithy Project Lead The Way
David Tolosa Automotive Service

Activities

Final choral concert to feature seven MHS choirs
For its final concert of the year, the vocal music department at Mundelein High School will put the spotlight on all seven of its choirs. The groups to perform include the Treble Choir, Bel Canto, Concert Choir, Master Singers, Mundelein Sound, Mundelein Lights and SoundFX. The Wednesday, May 3 concert is free and begins at 7 p.m.

Each of the three show choirs will perform a new song, the Treble Choir and Bel Canto will combine to sing two pieces from the hit Disney movie, Moana. In addition, a slideshow of the seniors and a recap of the 2016-2017 school year will be shown.

Stevee Bellas and Cory Thompson direct the vocal music program at MHS.

Four groups to star in Evening of Jazz at MHS
All four of Mundelein High School’s jazz groups will perform in concert Sunday, May 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the MHS Cafeteria. Doors will open at 5 p.m. The free concert is open to the public.
Performance groups will include the Jazz Lab Band, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Workshop and Jazz Orchestra. A silent auction and refreshments will be available during the concert.

Andrew Sturgeon and Jerald Shelato direct the instrumental music program at MHS.

Youth Dance Clinic, Orchesis Recital May 7, 8
Mundelein High School’s Orchesis Dance Club will host its final recital of the school year Monday, May 8 at 7 p.m. in the MHS Auditorium. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for students and seniors.
The recital will feature dances performed and choreographed by Orchesis members, PE dance students, MHS alumni and community youth dancers.

Prior to the recital a community youth dance clinic for the Orchesis Show will be held Sunday, May 7, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Participants will learn dance combinations and choreography from the Orchesis dancers. All participants will be encouraged to perform with Orchesis in the May 8 recital. T-shirts will be included with the $15 registration, $10 for participants who have attended a previous clinic in the 20160-2017 school year.

Nancy Toland is the Orchesis Club advisor.

College and Career Resource Center

May 1 Decision Day Celebration at MHS!
On May 1 MHS Seniors celebrated their future plans with music, donuts, coffee, photos and a raffle for prizes. The class of 2017 is heading off to some amazing places all across our nation from The University of Southern California to Florida Atlantic University to The George Washington University. Many of our seniors are also choosing to stay in state and heading to the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, Loyola University Chicago and many more! Still others are committing to serve our country and joining the armed forces, entering into apprenticeship programs, and heading off to serve abroad.

Seniors who were unable to attend the event are invited to the CCRC (B103) for photos or to sign the Class of 2017 poster with their future plans. This poster will also be available on Tuesday, May 9th at the Honors evening event.

A big thank you to Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts for their donations to this event! More photos of this event are at the end of the blog!

PLTW Scholarship
Completing Mundelein High school’s Project Lead the Way (PLTW) courses can lead the way to college scholarships and college credit. MHS Senior Jacob Horvat received a $4,000 Project Lead The Way Scholarship at Bradley University where he will study mechanical engineering in the fall. At Bradley University, scholarships are available to students who completed PTLW courses in high school and who enroll in the school’s College of Engineering and Technology. “When I took PLTW, I knew I would be studying engineering in college. Taking the class reassured me that engineering was the major for me. Eventually I hope to go into biomedical engineering and make a career in the prosthetics industry.”

PLTW courses at MHS include Introduction to Engineering and Design, Principles of Engineering and Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Private universities like Bradley and state universities in Illinois and around the country offer scholarships and/or college credit, including Northern Illinois and Illinois State universities, which offer as many as 7 university credit hours for completion of high school coursework. Students with a strong interest in math should discuss these MHS course options with their guidance counselors

Athletics

Girls Lacrosse
Girls Lacrosse Program Undefeated on Staff Appreciation Nights!
Girls JV and Varsity lacrosse honored MHS staff members this week at home games against Geneva and Warren High Schools. We had fabulous support from our teachers at our games this week, and many teachers got to see their first lacrosse games! Varsity won 16-12 and JV tied 10-10.

Girls Track-Lake County Invite Results
Thursday was also a cold night, but our efforts on the track were hot, as the Mustangs scored 46.5 points and took 8th out of 19 teams at the Lake County Invite. Considering the previous year we only scored 1 point at this meet, it was quite an improvement.

The scoring started in the 3200, as Andrea Cordova took 6th with a time of 11:56....17. Following that, the 4 x 100 relay has a Season's Best effort, with the team of Yax Sanchez, Mady West, Ryan Ray, and Bree Park running 53.89.

Next up was one of the highlights of the night, as Kalli Majewski ran a big PR, taking 3rd in 16.38. Khari Thompkins matched her effort in the 100, taking 3rd in 12.92.

Abby Ambrose came up with a big PR in the 800, breaking 2:50 for the first time ever in 2:48.56.
Khari Thompkins followed with her 2nd race of the night, and possibly her best effort, taking 2nd in the 400, running 60.13 in tough conditions. The 300 hurdles were next, and we got a big surprise in this one. Not Kalli, who placed as expected, taking 5th. No, Megan Schlebecker killed it, taking 6th and dropping over a second from her PR, running 49.86!

Khari came back for one more race, taking 2nd in the 200, running 26.69.
In the field events, Ryann Ray tied for 6th in the High Jump with a height of 4'9". And finally, Kalli finished her night with a 3rd place finish in the Triple Jump with a leap of 35'6.5".

Boys & Girls Track Palatine Relays Results
The weather was even worse at the Palatine Relays on Saturday, with the cold being augmented by heavy winds and rain thought the 2nd half of the meet. Both squads still performed well, though, as the boys took 4th with 89 points, and the girls took 6th with 50 points. We’ll start with the field events, which are unique at Palatine, as all 3 team competitors scores are added together for a total. EVERYONE COUNTS!!

The boys’ team medaled in the long jump, triple jump, shot put and discus. The long jump trio of Aaron Woolford, Mat Empalmado, and DeShon Davis took 5th, while Mat, DeShon and Shane Kosmach took 5th in the triple jump.

The girls medaled in the long and triple jumps, with Kalli Majewski, Megan Schlebecker, and Natalia Ozymko taking 3rd in the triple jump. Megan and Natalia teamed up with Dasha Stepaniouk to take 6th in the long jump.

The track events started on a good note as both Kalli Majewski and Sal Roman placed in the 300 hurdles. Kalli took 3rd with a great PR of 47.75, and Sal took 4th in 41.18.

Next on the track were the 1600 Medley Relays. The girls’ relay of Khari Thompkins, Ryann Ray, Camila Rangel, and Andrea Cordova took 3rd, while the boys’ relay of Alan Salgado, Alonzo Diaz, Armando Jimenez, and Dario Carrillo came home with the first 1st place finish of the day.
The boys next scored in the 3200 meters, as Rob St. Clair took 2nd in a highly strategic, and pretty funny, race (too long to explain here, but trust me, it was funny). Both the boys and girls scored in the 400, as Bobby Nuzzo took 3rd, and Khari Thompkins came up with the teams’ next win, running a great time of 59.99 in lousy weather.

Nuzzo 1st place 200m Dash.

Nuzzo

Salgado, Diaz, Jimenez, Carrillo 1st place 1600m sprint relay

St. Clair 2 mile run

The boys scored again in the next race, the Distance Medlay Relay, as Ben Krauss, Alan Salgado, Dario Carrillo, and Mikey Parduhn took 2nd. Both the boys and girls scored again in the Shuttle Hurdle Relay, as the boys’ team of Sal Roman, Shane Kosmach, Monty Brak, and Nate McCune took 6th, and the girls team of Bree Park, Jessica Reisman (overcoming hitting one hurdle pretty hard), Katie Miller and Kalli Majewski took 3rd.

Both squads also placed in the 100, as Khari Thompkins took 4th, and Bobby Nuzzo took a close 2nd.

The 4 x 800 relay squads both scored as well, as the girls team of Andrea Cordova, Kalli Majewski, Leslye Rodriguez and Jeanelle Jimenez took 6th, with Jeanelle running an awesome anchor leg. The boys’ relay of Alan Salgado, Dario Carrillo, Mikey Parduhn, and Ben Krauss came back to take 2nd on short rest.

The boys’ 4 x 100 relay of Bobby Nuzzo, Sal Roman, Isaiah Wellman and Aaron Woolford took another narrow 2nd place, with Rob St. Clair following that up with a 4th place finish in the 1600. The boys’ 4 x 200 relay of Sal Roman, Charles Nacion, Aaron Woolford, and Isaiah Wellman came up with a 4th place finish.

Both the boys and girls scored in the 200 meters, as Khari took 2nd, and Bobby provided the last win on the day, taking the race with a time of 22.33. The boys 4 x 400 provided the last points on the day, taking 5th in the worst conditions of the day. Aaron Woolford, Alan Salgado, Diego Lyle, and Aidan Afonso doing the honors.

Boys Track-Senior night
Senior nights meet was shortened due to the rain, but not before 1 school record was broken. The foursome of Dario Carrillo, Alan Salgado, Robert St. Clair, and Mikey Parduhn smashed the year-old F/S 4 x 800 meter relay record by 13 seconds, running 8:19. Their time would be impressive even in great weather, in tonight's rainfest, it's spectacular!

Girls Water Polo
From Illinois water polo Ballers of the week: Westgate & Lukas

Girls Water Polo Team Breakfast

Boys Water Polo
JV Boys Water Polo competed in the annual Prairie Lake Invite the weekend of April 28-29 against Warren, Stevenson, and co-host teams Lake Forest and Libertyville. Many players showed great skill work to carry on for next season. On the first day of the tournament, Ben Ford had an outstanding game against Lake Forest scoring 3 goals and drawing a penalty. Later that night against Stevenson, Matt Allore lead the defense with 6 steals. On the second day of competition, goalkeeper Brandon Paluch brought his top game keeping Warren scoreless while defending the shallow end goal. To cap the tournament Jacob Schiro led the team with 3 goals and drew two ejections against Libertyville. These performances are among many the JV team had throughout the season.

Sports summer camps are ready: http://www.d120.org/athletics/default.aspx

Cheerleading-Tryouts
2017 Spring Skill Evaluation Dates
Monday, May 22: 6:30-8:45pm
Tuesday, May 23: 6:30-8:45pm
Wednesday, May 24: 6:30-8:45pm

Dance-Tryouts
2017 Spring Clinic Dates
Tuesday, May 9: 3:45-5:45pm
Wednesday, May 10: 6:00-8:00pm
Thursday, May 11: 3:45-5:45pm
Friday, May 12: Tryouts! 4:00pm

Photos from the Week

During homeroom, Heidi Siren '18 creates a Kahoot for her Mythology Class. Heidi Siren '18 is an exchange students and creates the Kahoot about her home country Finland, where she will return at the end of May. Photo by Lena Krieg.

Reading a mentor text, Hailey Fay '18 prepares to write her own commentary writing project in Mr. Buck's honors english 3 class in room A114 on May 4. She chose her topic shortly after reading the example. Photo by Kyle Ehemann.

Working hard, Abigail Ambrose '19 works on a math worksheet during her third period class, Honors Algebra 2/Trig. She had a productive class and learned a lot. Photo By Sydney Szalinski.

On decision day in the Mundelein Room on May 1, Olivia Michalski '17, Allison Kolosick '17, Jayna Long '17 and Jordyn West '17 smile big in their University of Iowa gear. There were many kids representing their college on that day. Photo by Meghan Ehemann.

On Friday the 28, Kendall Klatt '20 hits the pitch causing it to pop up. Klatt is one of four freshmen who made Varsity this year. Photo by Adriana Rawlings Benitez.

Advanced Placement testing started this week and will continue through next week!

Dr. Dave McIntosh, Associate Dean of Urban Health, Chief Diversity Officer, & Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine @ University of Louisville spoke to MHS staff about equity.