Stevenson Daily Digest - May 24, 2019
Jim Conrey
Stevenson Daily Digest - Friday, May 24, 2019
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Farewell to the Class of 2019
Stevenson bids a fond farewell to the Class of 2019 today. The commencement ceremony takes place at 5 p.m. at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates.
Doors open for public seating at 3:30. Graduates must arrive no later than 4 o’clock, and enter through the rear receiving dock doors.
Visit our graduation page for information about commencement photos, directions to the Sears Centre Arena, and more. For those unable to attend the ceremony, a live stream will be available at this link.
Parking Lot B Closed Next Week; Use the Field House
Anyone coming to campus next week to return books, pay fines, visit a counselor or register for summer school should enter SHS at the Field House entrance, which is off parking lot D. Parking lot B will be closed due to filming for Stevenson’s new safety video, which will be unveiled in August.
Odyssey 2020 Logo Design Winner Announced
Junior Alex Lobo is the winner of the Odyssey 2020 Logo Competition. You can see his logo on the Odyssey web page. Alex attended the May 2 design workshop at which Kristin Maskalunas, principal designer and owner of KMGD Design, offered advice to students. Specifically, Alex was influenced by the importance of taking into account the psychology of the colors he planned to use. Here is what he told the judges:
“The colors I decided to use in my design are orange (to represent creativity), blue (to represent the serenity of the event), and red (to represent the energy and passion that surrounds it,” he said. “When researching other art festival logos I noticed that they often put popular landmarks in their logos to show where the event was taking place; for my logo I used “The Point” because it is what sticks out the most when I think about Stevenson. Overall I just wanted the logo to look bright, fun, and welcoming to the people attending Odyssey 2020.”
Odyssey 2020 will take place Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 4-5.
Stevenson Wins State Academic Challenge
Stevenson won the state championship in its division at the annual Academic Challenge last month at Eastern Illinois University. The Academic Challenge is a test-based competition covering seven areas: biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering graphics, English, mathematics and physics. The Academic Challenge was formerly known as the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering competition.
SHS captured the Unlimited Division, which includes schools with an enrollment of 1,500 or higher, finishing ahead of runner-up Naperville Central. The team roster included seniors Andrew Gan, Aniket Nuthalapati and Tony Tan; juniors Akash Kumar, Philena Liu, Radha Patel and Josh Tsai; sophomores Justin Chen and Praneet Rathi; and freshmen Andrew Liu and Greycen Ren.
Several members of the Academic Challenge roster also won state-level honors earlier this semester in the annual Tests of Engineering, Aptitude, Math and Science (TEAMS) competition in Wheaton.
The one-day event challenges student to work collaboratively in applying their math and science knowledge to solve everyday engineering challenges. Teams had to use designated materials to complete a hands-on design challenge related to the competition theme, “The Engineering Brain,”; solve 80 multiple choice questions in 90 minutes; and submit an in-depth essay written prior to the competition.
Tony, Andrew Gan and Aniket were part of a eight-student squad that tied for first place in the 11/12 Division. They were joined by fellow seniors Andrew Ding, Alex Dong, Michael Hu, Jacob Minin and Joey Rivkin. Stevenson also took first place in the 9/10 Division behind sophomores Doogy Lee, Sean Li, Sophia Li, Lily Ma, Krishna Patel, Aditi Singh, Ricky Wang and James Xie.
Stevenson also finished second, third and fourth in the 9/10 Division. The runner-up roster included Greycen and Andrew Liu, plus freshmen Trisha Gannu, Kelly Mao and Lillian You. The third-place team had sophomores Krushank Bayyapu, Arthur Bereznyakov, Saanvi Juneja, Shreyas Khati, Violet Park and Alicia Zeng. The fourth-place squad featured Justin and fellow sophomores Edward Kang, Stephen Moy, Jun Ha Paik, Daniel Thomas, Daniel Trager, Nicholas Xing and Gordon Xu.
In total, Stevenson took nine teams to the TEAMS state competition, and eight scored high enough to make the cutoff for nationals, which will be held June 28-July 2 in Washington, D.C. The school is limited to two teams at nationals, however. Representing SHS on one team will be Ricky, Sean, Aditi, Lily, James and Sophia from the 9/10 state champions, plus sophomores Richard Bi and Brandon Lu. The second team will include Shreyas, Arthur, Alicia and Saanvi, along with sophomores Isha Rustagi and Arun Sivarajah. The sponsor for Academic Challenge and TEAMS is Andrew Richardson.
Alumnae Playing With The Who
Stevenson alumna Audrey Snyder (Class of 2008) has been hanging around Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend lately. She is a cellist in the backing orchestra on The Who’s “Moving On!” tour, which included a stop Tuesday night at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park. The Eastman School of Music graduate is a member of the Chicago-based Zafa Collective, has recorded two EPs, and performs regularly for musical theater productions in the city, including “Hamilton.”
Alumni Discuss Value of World Languages
A panel of Stevenson alumni discussed the value of learning a second language during Monday’s World Language Career Day. Five SHS graduates discussed their educational and career paths, and how they use world languages in their careers. The lunchtime sessions, organized by Spanish teacher Beth Merkin, featured these alumni:
• Julie Schullian (Class of 1990), a global data analyst with Stryker Medical, who received a bachelor’s degree in foreign service and French from Baylor University.
• Mia Carris (Class of 2016), a senior at the University of Illinois majoring in Spanish education. She plans to teach high school Spanish.
• Dr. Neha Rao (Class of 2012), who uses Spanish daily in working with patients. She will be starting a residency in emergency medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine in New York City.
• Anne Grujanac (Class of 2015), a recent graduate of DePauw University, who will be entering the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic as a Spanish literacy promoter in primary education.
• Ryan Strassburger (Class of 1999), who teaches seventh-grade social studies at a Chicago public school in which 45 percent of students are English language learners. Most of his communication with parents is in Spanish.
The panel also included Stevenson parent Margaret Dolores “Lorrie” Castaneda Rodriguez Hardy, who works as a talent recruiter for IOR Global Services. She has an MBA in international marketing from DePaul University.
Final Fling for Alumnus on UW Ultimate Squad
2014 SHS graduate Jeff Maskalunas and his University of Wisconsin teammates are competing in the USA Division I Men’s Ultimate College National Championship this weekend in Round Rock, Texas, outside of Austin. The UW Hodags are among the top 20 teams in the country (out of 435 overall). Maskalunas has served as team captain the past two years. He is earning a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, and has been conducting solar power research with the U.S. Department of Energy.
Final Daily Digest of the 2018-19 School Year
This is the final Daily Digest of the 2018-19 school year. After a summer respite, the Digest will return on the first day of school, Monday, Aug. 12.
Click here for today’s athletic schedule
Thursday’s Varsity Results
Boys Tennis
Stevenson at IHSA State Tournament: The Patriots stood in third place after the first day of action, with three of its four entries reaching this morning’s quarterfinals at Hersey. SHS has 21 points, one behind defending champion Hinsdale Central and New Trier. Senior Zach Kim, a 5-8 seed, reached the singles quarterfinals for the second straight year. He won his first two matches in straight sets over opponents from Metea Valley (6-0, 6-1) and Streamwood (6-3, 6-2), then outlasted a 9-16 seed from Glenbrook South (6-4, 2-6, 6-4). Zach, who finished fourth in the state last spring, will face No. 2 seed Jeremy Learner from Highland Park. Sophomore Eric Perkowski also reached the singles quarterfinals. He met little resistance in his first three singles matches, defeating opponents from Hinsdale South (6-1, 6-1), Maine West (6-1, 6-3) and Glenbard West (6-0, 6-1). The 9-16 seed will take on the 3-4 seed from Hinsdale Central. Seniors Arjun Sheelvanth and Aswath (Ozzie) Viswanathan, a 9-16 seed, won their first two matches in straight sets (6-0, 6-2 over Belleville West and 6-2, 6-1 over Conant), then upset Naperville Central’s 3-4 seed, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. They will face one of New Trier’s two duos today. Sophomores Payton Adkisson and Daniel Tulchinskiy, also a 9-16 seed, won their first-ever state match over Barrington (6-4, 6-3), then got knocked into the consolation bracket by Conant (6-4, 6-4), but rebounded with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Lincoln-Way Central. The pair faces a duo from Chicago Latin in a third-round consolation match at Wheeling. - Official Results | Daily Herald
Today’s Lacrosse Sectional Final Time Moved
Due to the weather forecast and to avoid potential lightning delays, tonight’s IHSA girls lacrosse sectional championship game between Stevenson and Deerfield will start at 5 p.m. rather than 7 o’clock. Stevenson is the top seed in the SHS Sectional, while the Warriors are the No. 3 seed. The winner advances to the Lake Zurich Supersectional on Tuesday, and will face the winner of the St. Viator Sectional title contest between Barrington and Glenbrook South. SHS enters tonight’s final with a 13-7 record, and has won five games in a row and 12 of its last 13. Deerfield is 14-7, and is riding a nine-game winning streak into tonight’s matchup. The game is scheduled to be streamed live from the Stadium on Stevenson’s NFHS Network page.
Girls Soccer Seeks First Sectional Title
The girls soccer team takes aim at the program’s first-ever sectional championship Saturday morning when it faces Fremd at Buffalo Grove High School. The contest begins at 11 a.m. The winner advances to the IHSA Class 3A Fremd Supersectional at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday against the New Trier Sectional champion, which will be New Trier or Glenbrook South. Stevenson, playing in its first sectional final since 2007, enters Saturday’s contest with a 21-1-2 record, and has won 16 consecutive games. The Patriots have outscored their opponents 74-6 this season, and have recorded 19 shutouts in 24 games. Stevenson has held its last 14 opponents scoreless. Fremd is 14-4-3 and also has been stingy on defense. The Vikings have yielded 10 goals all year, while scoring 45. Fremd has a 11-1-2 record in its last 14 games, and has won three in a row.
Baseball Alumnus Earns All-Big East Honor
Xavier University freshman third baseman Jack Housinger (Class of 2018) earned All-Big East Second Team honors this week. Housinger has started 46 of the Musketeers’ 54 games this season, hitting .276 with a .418 on-base percentage thanks to a team-high 36 walks. Defensively, he has a .978 fielding percentage with only three errors on the year.
STUDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Click This Link to See More Announcements
Watch the Sectional Lacrosse Title Game for Free
The first 25 SHS students in attendance at tonight’s girls lacrosse sectional championship game will get in free, courtesy of Stevenson Sports Boosters. Students must show their school ID to receive free admission.
ILLINOIS EDUCATION HEADLINES
Teacher shortage bill passes minus pension boost
New CPS application didn’t help black students
Ethics report released on ex-SIU chief’s hires
District 211 trying again to sell 62-acre site
CPS nixes perk at pricey preschool
Hawthorn 73 names new kindergarten center
NATIONAL EDUCATION HEADLINES
The line between high school and college is blurring
Retiring university president giving school $20M
Retailers cash in on “captive” college market
Oklahoma gave false data to US News for years
80 minutes of unstructured time: Good or bad?
Texas school shooting survivor trying to live again
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The Daily Digest is compiled and edited by Jim Conrey. To subscribe or unsubscribe, contact him at jco...@d125.org.