Mustang News: Mustang News - December 8, 2017

Friday Focus

Final Exam Schedule
Semester final exams are approaching! The final exam schedule for December 18, 19, 20 is below.

Students must be in attendance for the Final Exam periods in which they have a scheduled class.
Students in Study Hall or Lunch are not required to attend those periods on their scheduled Final Exam Days.
Breakfast will be offered from 7:00am – 7:45am.
Lunch will be offered during the break between B and C period (11:00am-11:30am).
Students waiting for transportation will be allowed to remain in the cafeteria only.
Students will not be admitted to the classroom after the bell. Students who arrive late for a final exam will remain in the Cafeteria for the remainder of the final exam period. Students must remain during the class period in order to be eligible to make up the final exam.
ALL final exam make-up exams will occur during the Make Up Final Exam period on Day 3 (12/20).
In event of school being canceled due to weather, 12/21 will be used as a replacement day. **If this occurs, MHS will provide more specific information.

Tech Campus

PM tech campus students will continue to attend tech campus on all final exam days. Leaving at their regular time of 12:35 and returning at 3:25 (Cosmo 4:45), there will be no after school transportation.

AM tech campus students will attend tech campus as scheduled on Monday, December 18th and will be excused from tech with a calendar conflict for Tuesday and Wednesday of final exams (no am tech bus).

Athletic Practices

Monday, December 18 and Tuesday, December 19th athletic practices can begin at 1:15 pm.
On Wednesday December 20th practice can begin at 11:15 am.
If a student is required to attend the final exam Make-Up period, he/she must do this before attending athletic practices.

Sunday clinic, Monday recital for MHS Orchesis
Pre-school children through eighth graders are welcome to take part in an Orchesis Clinic at Mundelein High School from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 10 to learn choreography from the Orchesis dancers. The fee is $15 and all participants will be encouraged to perform in the Orchesis Show on Monday, Dec. 11.

The Orchesis Show will begin at 7 p.m. Dec. 11 in the MHS Auditorium. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for seniors and students with ID. The show will feature solos, duets and small groups choreographed and performed by Orchesis Club members and students in the PE dance classes.

Recognition

ISAC announces 59 MHS students as Illinois State Scholars
Mundelein High School has 59 Illinois State Scholars as deemed by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission [ISAC]. The students were chosen based on several factors including grades, extracurricular activities and leadership.

“State Scholars are among ‘the best and the brightest’ of Illinois high school seniors in the Class of 2018,” said Eric Zamikow, ISAC Executive Director. “I salute you, your family and your teachers for your accomplishment. Congratulations and good luck as you begin this exciting new chapter in your life,” he said.

The 2018 Illinois State Scholars from Mundelein High School include:
Colin Biesterfeld, Jeffrey Bikus, Sydney Blackmer, Hannah Buscher, Sergio Calderon, Kaleb Carlson, Nathan Cartland, Tyler Collins, Henry Deap, Anna Dec, Kelly Delgado, Lindsay Dickens, Henry Dumblauskas, Angelina Duong, Yasmeen Fathallah Rivera, Sophia Fiore, Jacob Fordham, Jack Frane, Colin Geary, Kayla Gonzalez, Daniel Gottfried, Michal Gryga, Daniel Haller, Mathilde Hanchard, Christopher Henning, Sydney Herchenbach, Maaz Imam, Kendall Job, Jessica Kafka, Kim Eubin.

Kelsey Kroening, Natasha Kumar, Kurt Lawrence, Kristen Lay, Sabrina Lee, Abigail Lukas, Patrick McInerney, Elizabeth Meister, Nathanael Morris, Phoebe Morris, Emily Nailor, Jake Nakagi, Allison Nick, Emily Olson, Breanna Park, Janine Pasquali, Ryan Patel, Shlok Patel, Nicholas Pawlicki, Ray Sommer, Ricky Rodriguez, Juliana Roznowski, Joshua Saunders, Carl Schoenfield, Shane Stanley, Myah Strokosch, Anna Van Belleghem, Briana Ventrella, James Willman.

Mundelein Shakespeare Slam Team advances to final competition
For the second year in a row, the Mundelein Theatre Shakespeare Slam Team has advanced to the final round of competition. Roughly 50 teams from across the Chicagoland area participated in this program, sponsored by Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Nine schools advanced to the final bout, which will be held on December 11on the Courtyard Stage at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at Navy Pier.

The team developed two pieces for this performance. The first, known as the Scene Round, can come from any play in Shakespeare’s canon. The Mundelein team decided to use a scene from Much Ado About Nothing. The second, the Dream Round, is a creative exploration inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Both pieces are five minutes long.

The team is made up of eight performers (Kimberly Barr, Anooha Dasari, Dan Haller, Rachel Larson, Sydney Litka, Miriam Mitry, Allan Rodriguez, Ginny Zundel), as well as two student coaches (Ellie Mellen, Colin Nacion). In addition, several students from last year’s team wanted to help develop and coach this year’s team. Known as the Bard’s Circle, these students (Maddie Martorana, Brianna Moderhack, Natalie Williams) attended every rehearsal and served as additional resources for the team. The team is coached by Mark Landuyt and Jonathan Meier.

“This program has turned out to be one of the highlights of our theatre season,” said Landuyt. “It is a completely student-centric program, with the kids taking the lead on both the development of the material, as well as the staging of the pieces.”

The Slam competition is described as first and foremost, an ensemble building program – building community, first among the members of a school’s team, and second between the many schools participating from across the Chicago region.

Activities

Adaptive PE students from Mundelein and Warren High Schools to compete in basketball
Students in adaptive PE classes at Mundelein and Warren Township high schools will compete in a friendly game of basketball on Friday, Dec. 8.

After warmups, the teams will be introduced at 11:15 a.m. with game time set for 11:30 a.m. following the singing of the national anthem. The game is expected to conclude at approximately 12:50 p.m. with time after for photos of both groups. A ceremony with MHS athletes, leaders, teachers and administration will take place after the Warren team departs at 1 p.m.

Holocaust survivor to speak with MHS sophomores Dec. 11
Marion Blumenthal Lazan, one of a small number of Holocaust survivors still living, will visit MHS on Monday, Dec. 11 to share her story with sophomore students in the MHS Auditorium from 9:40 to 10:30 a.m. She may also be available for interviews immediately after the presentation.
Lazan wrote the book, Four Perfect Pebbles, and spends her time now traveling the US and speaking about her experiences living in Nazi Germany and prison camps like Bergen-Belsen. Her story is often compared to that of Anne Frank’s.

Composer premiers two works at MHS band concert
The Mundelein High School Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Winds welcomed renowned composer Dr. Dana Wilson from Ithaca New York to their Band Concert Nov. 30. With the financial support of the Mundelein High School Band Boosters, Wilson wrote two compositions in honor of Mundelein. The compositions were Old Number One and The Banquet. Here is a synopsis of the two pieces. Below you will find quotes from the students about the event.

The Banquet (2017) Dana Wilson
Protest and even “terrorism” are not new to American life. On February 12, 1916, a large banquet was held at the University Club of Chicago to celebrate the installation of George William Mundelein as the third Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois. The chef for the event, the anarchist Jean Crones, slipped arsenic into the soup in an attempt to poison Mundelein and over 100 other guests, including Illinois Governor Edward F. Dunne. Due to the late arrival of about fifty extra guests, however, it was decided that the soup should be watered down so that the unplanned-for arrivals could also be fed. Virtually all suffered considerable agony and were near death when a doctor, J.B. Murphy, though stricken himself, managed to hastily prepare a potion to help the victims. Due to the soup's dilution and antidote, the guests were able to recover--including Mundelein--and none died.

Newspapers referred to the mass-murder attempt as the "Mundelein poison soup plot." If the anarchist had succeeded, there would be no town of Mundelein, Illinois. By extension, there would be no Mundelein High School, and we wouldn’t be sitting in this auditorium hearing this composition (since Mundelein’s music faculty members Jerry Shelato and Andy Sturgeon organized the consortium that commissioned it).

The more important lesson, however, is that if the decision had not been made to share the soup with the unplanned-for arrivals, the dignitaries’ selfishness would undoubtedly have led to their deaths. By sharing what was designated for them, they were saved.
Notes from the Composer’s Score

Old Number One (2017) Dana Wilson
In 1924, the village of Mundelein, Illinois was so named out of gratitude for then-Chicago Archbishop George Mundelein’s monumental financial investment in the community; this came in the form of his purchase of a business college near St. Mary’s Lake and his transformation of that college into a seminary. In response to the community’s gesture, Archbishop Mundelein (who was elevated to the position of Cardinal by Pope Pius XI around the same time) purchased a new 1925 Stoughton fire engine and donated it to the village fire department.

“Old Number One,” as the truck has come to be affectionately known, saw 20 years of service with the Mundelein Fire Department before it was sold in 1945. The truck returned to Mundelein (from North Carolina) in 1994 and again became the property of the Village of Mundelein in time for the Village’s 2009 Centennial Celebration. Since then, the village’s Old Number One Fire Truck Preservation Committee has worked to preserve and showcase this piece of community history. With a roofless, open top and a maximum speed of approximately 25 miles per hour, Old Number One still makes its way around the community, appearing at local events to spread its inherent message of connectedness through common history.

Subtitled “A Wild Ride in an Antique Fire Engine,” Dana Wilson’s Old Number One is a musical depiction of what the truck’s activity may have been like during its heyday serving the people of a still-young Mundelein, Illinois. Honking horns, pealing bells, and wailing sirens complement the work, reminding us all that Old Number One is still on the job and on its way!

Student comments about the evening:

“I really liked Dana Wilson. He had a great positive energy and all of his answers were amazing. He had this fantastic way of answering a question by tying in seemingly unrelated topics that fit really well (favorite musical motifs are just like favorite colors).” – Tyler (Clarinet – class of ’18)

“I really enjoyed being able to perform something and learn how the composer envisioned it being performed. I also shook his hand at the end of the concert which was super cool” – Nishi (Clarinet – class of ’20)

“I thought that Dana Wilson was amazing, knowing that he’s a great American Composer and came all the way from Ithaca to Mundelein to hear us perform.” – Moises (Tenor Sax – class of ’19)

“I was the most nervous I’d ever been for a concert. It was super scary and super exciting. It was really cool to have the composer there and work with us.” – Anna (Clarinet – class of ’21)

“The Q&A was really cool and I think it’s interesting how much his jazz background still influences him. It’s very apparent in Colorado Peaks” – Ryan (Flute – class of ’19)

“It was a cool opportunity and a great way to understand the art of music more in depth. – Andrew (Trumpet – class of ’18)

“Sooo… I really loved it. I thought it was very interesting. After the Q&A thing, I told Dr. Wilson that the euphs rest for 83.076% of his song and he asked me when I had the time to figure that out and I said “during my rests”. He laughed so hard. Then yesterday after the concert, he said it looked like I had fun during my 17% of playing. I love this guy! J” – Komol (Euphonium – class of ’19)

“It was very interesting to know that Dana Wilson started out like most of us. The rehearsal gave me a little more insight on what the piece was about.” – Anuj (Trombone – class of ’18)

“I thought it was exciting to have Dr. Wilson there teaching us how to play the piece the way he intended it. I found it interesting that he was willing to be so open with us about his inspirations.” – Diya (French horn – class of ’20)

Veterans Day ceremony inspires student to form new club at MHS

On November 10, 2017, Mundelein High School hosted a Veterans Day assembly honoring vets from the area. Approximately 75 veterans took part in the ceremony which impressed school officials and the community as well. Sophomore Matt Pawlowski has been active in giving back to the US Armed Forces through an Eagle Scout project but the Veterans Day ceremony motivated him to create a club that would extend this work to the MHS student body.

“Named Helping Heroes of America, the new club came on the heels of the moving and well-received Veterans Day celebration,” said club advisor Nicole Malham, an MHS social studies instructor. “This will give students the chance to give back to active members and veterans of the US Armed Forces,” Pawlowski explained.

The club, which Pawlowski anticipates having more than 20 members, will send care packages overseas, organize letter-writing campaigns for veterans and work to record the stories of veterans’ experiences.

“We’d love to have a book of personal stories from older veterans while they are still able to tell about their military experiences,” Pawlowski said. He envisions the book to be available both in print and online.

“This service-based club will offer students the opportunity to show members of our military how much we value and appreciate the sacrifices they have made on our behalf,” Malham said.

“The reaction that community members had to all the flags around the perimeter of the school on Veterans Day and to the assembly itself has inspired us to keep that patriotic spirit alive all year-long,” Pawlowski concluded.

Athletics

Dance Team
Congratulations to the varsity dance team for taking home the championship trophy this past weekend from the Lake Zurich invite

Basketball
Both boys and girls teams opened up with conference wins vs Zion.
Girls 44-28 and Boys 67-56

Amanda Muench focuses on her vault attempt during the meet against Antioch Co-op

Audrey Kafka competes on the vault during our home meet vs Antioch-Lakes co-op

Photos From The Week

Carefully watching the Wind Ensemble band director, Jerald Shelato, Molly Podraza '19 and Sarah Pechtl '19 play their entrance of The Banquet. On November 30, 2017, Dr. Dana Wilson, composer of many symphonic pieces, worked with the band for the concert contributed to him. Photo taken by Cayla Manaligod


	In preparation for the premiere performance of his compositions The Banquet and Old Number One, composer Dr. Dana Wilson sits down for a Conversation with the Composer for parents and any other interested community members. This was the first time a piece has been commissioned for the MHS bands. Photo taken by Lindsay Nootbaar


	Sophomore Ellie Mellen participates in decorating Madame Ambrey's classroom for the holidays at French Club on Nov. 30, 2017. This was just one of several activities French Club students participate in when they meet. Photo taken by Kendall Job

Before late start on Wednesday, Dec. 6, members of NHS prepare lunches as a part of the PADS program. The club highlights the importance of volunteering within the MHS community. Photo taken by Sophia Fiore

Mundelein Varsity Girls Basketball team competes against Zion Benton at our home court. Taking the win at the end of the night on Tues, Dec. 5 , ending with a final score of 44-28. Photo taken by Lizeth Mora Ramos