Stevenson Daily Digest - May 8, 2019
Jim Conrey
Stevenson Daily Digest - Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Follow Stevenson on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest, and at d125.org. Want to see previous editions of the Digest? Visit the Daily Digest archive.
Bill Created by Student Advancing in Legislature
Junior Victor Shi and a student from Aurora, Adam Pauley, are the driving forces behind a bill in the General Assembly that would give young people in Illinois a greater say in state policymaking.
House Bill 0837 would create the Illinois Legislative Youth Advisory Council, which would be a state-sanctioned group of young people ages 16-22. The council would be able to request the drafting of legislation from the Legislative Reference Bureau, testify before House and Senate committees, and vote on any issue before the General Assembly, sharing its opinion with the legislature.
The bill passed the House recently by a vote of 84-26, and is now in front of the State Government Committee in the Senate. Anyone who wants to weigh in on the proposal, can fill out a witness slip at this link. When completing the witness slip, type “Illinois Youth Advisory Council” in the title field of Section 1; put “self” in the field for Section II on representation; and select “record of appearance” in Section IV.
90 Students Attending WE Day Illinois
Approximately 90 Stevenson students are participating in the annual WE Day Illinois today at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. Most of the students are part of the Free the Children club, led by science teacher and SHS alumna Kristen One (Class of 2010). They will be among a crowd of more than 15,000 students and teachers who gather to celebrate work they’ve done through the WE Schools program to address global and local causes, such as education, clean water and sanitation, health care, hunger and homelessness. Senior Kenzie Novoselsky, president of the Free the Children club, will be “taking over” Stevenson’s Instagram page today and posting photos from Allstate Arena. A live WE Day feed is available at this link.
The event will feature talks and performances from a number of speakers and performers. One of the scheduled speakers is senior Mari Young, who will talk about her work with the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation Junior Board. She has served as board president the last two years, guiding a group of about 50 youngsters ages 6-18 in activities to raise money for gastrointestinal cancer research. During her tenure, the Junior Board has raised more than $100,000. She also will speak about her “personal passion project,” raising money to buy tablets for local underprivileged schools. The project emerged from her time on the Illinois WE Youth Council.
Stevenson’s contingent earned invitations through its volunteer work this school year. Free the Children led local campaigns to collect canned goods for local food banks; developing handwritten cards with positive messages; and creating care packages for the homeless. The club also sold more than $5,000 in bracelets as part of the WE Are Rafikis global campaign, and with donations going to Ecuador, Kenya and the Dominican Republic. Last summer, 15 students joined One in a service trip to Ecuador, where they helped create a school kitchen and cafeteria in the Amazon Basin.
Spring Choral Concert Thursday Night
The Spring Choral Concert takes place at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Performing Arts Center. Admission is free. For those unable to attend, the concert will be live streamed on the Fine Arts Division’s Vimeo page.
More Honors for Journalism Program
Journalism teacher Dean Bradshaw will be speaking at the Rotary Club of Lincolnshire’s meeting Thursday morning. His talk will be entitled “The Student Newspaper: Nerve-wracking and Necessary.” Bradshaw will address the challenges that can arise when students cover a sensitive topic for the Statesman.
Less nerve-wracking were the results of the 10th annual Youth Journalism International newspaper contest. Several members of the Statesman staff earned awards, with eight receiving First Place honors.
Seniors Olivia Lamberti and Bella Schneider, and juniors Cheryl Chen and Nellie Maloney earned a First Place in Feature Writing with their “American Identity” series. Cheryl and senior Chloe Myers earned First Place in Photo Illustration for “The Buzz” cover. Junior Caimin Xi earned First Place in Sports Feature for her “Gold Mettle” profile of SHS swimmers with Olympic aspirations. Junior Emily Lu and sophomore Ojasvi Saxena earned first place in Sports Feature Team for their work on hate speech in sports, “No Place for Hate.”
Senior Ellie Baden earned Second Place in Columns for her “Standing up to Anti-Semitism” column. Three Statesman staffers received Honorable Mention: Junior Trisha Patel in Cartoon for her underage drinking illustration; sophomore Olivia Han in Photo Essay for her “Shell We Dance?” Homecoming photos; and junior Ben Bowler in Tech Journalism for his story, “iPads with Purpose.” Also, the Statesman staff editorial on “Decision to Cheat” earned Honorable Mention.
Bass Fishing Team Competes in Sectional
Stevenson’s two bass fishing boats finished sixth and 10th, respectively, at the Illinois High School Association Chain O’Lakes (North) Sectional. The No. 2 boat with Jason Qualich and Will Votapka was sixth out of 15 entries with a total catch of 6 pounds, 4 ounces. The No. 1 boat with Cameron Grisamore and Jack Grisamore hauled in 4 pounds, 3 ounces. Both teams found fish early, but the arrival of rain and cold made fish increasingly harder to catch. Will and Jason had a late flurry that resulted in one last keeper and a couple of decent-sized fish that were lost at the boat. The team’s season continues May 19 with an Illinois BASS Nation competition on the Des Plaines River. Stevenson will look to move up in the IBN rankings and qualify for next month’s state finals.
Three Students Complete Wisconsin Half Marathon
Sophomore Vidhat Nelavelli, his freshman brother Yash Nelavelli, and freshman Shreyas Mishra competed in the Wisconsin Half Marathon Saturday in Kenosha. They were among 927 runners in the race, and completed the course.
Click here for today’s athletic schedule
Tuesday’s Varsity Results
Baseball
Warren 5, Stevenson 4 (10 inn.): The visiting Blue Devils (24-2; 11-0) clinched their first-ever North Suburban Conference championship with their 21st consecutive victory. Brandon Ward doubled, walked three times, stole two bases and scored a run for the Patriots (17-8, 8-4). Zach Taylor went 2-for-5, while Chris Farina and Isaiah Hart each knocked in two runs. - Daily Herald
Badminton Team Looks to Make State History
Stevenson’s girls badminton team will attempt to win its third consecutive state championship Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. If the Patriots are successful, they would become only the third team in state history to win at least three straight state titles. The now-closed Arlington High School in Arlington Heights won the first five IHSA championships from 1977-81, and Andrew High in Tinley Park won three in a row from 2000-02. Coach Grant Johnson has six players who will take the court at EIU: Defending state doubles champions Emily Hu and Jenny Yang and runners-up Jyotsna Harikrishna and Benna Li, the top two seeds in this year’s tournament, plus No. 1 singles seed Shibani Ram, who placed third at EIU last spring. They will be joined by singles player Kaitlyn Lu, who was a state doubles qualifier as a freshman. Jenny and Emily have a 36-0 record, while Benna and Jyotsna are 36-1, with the only loss to their teammates in the sectional final. Shibani carries a 35-2 record into Friday’s first round.
JV Boys Tennis Team Makes KIN Fund Donation
The junior varsity boys tennis team recently sold more than $200 in tennis hats, and is donating the money to the Stevenson High School Foundation’s Kids In Need (KIN) Fund.
Football Alum Becomes Pivotal Player at Miami
Miami University wide receiver Jack Sorenson (Class of 2016) is expected to be a key player for the RedHawks football team this fall. Sorenson had a breakout redshirt sophomore season last year, catching 53 passes for 742 yards and two touchdowns, and landing a spot on the third-team All-Mid-American Conference squad. In the upcoming season, he faces the challenge of catching passes from a quarterback with no collegiate experience. Overcoming challenges is not new to Sorenson, who bounced back from a knee injury suffered during his sophomore season with Miami. He talked about recovering from the injury, and much more, in this report.
Today on NFHS Network
Today’s varsity girls and boys lacrosse games against Lake Zurich, as well as the varsity and junior varsity boys volleyball matches versus Warren, will be streamed live on Stevenson’s NFHS Network page. The Patriot girls plays at Lake Zurich beginning at 4:30, while the boys play host to the Bears at 6:30 in the Stadium. The JV volleyball match starts at 5 o’clock in Gurnee, followed by the varsity contest at 6.
STUDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Click This Link to See More Announcements
Clean Out PE Lockers By May 21
All Physical Education lockers must be cleaned out by the end of the last regular school day on Tuesday, May 21. Locks will then be cut off and any belongings left behind will be donated to local charities.
Considering the University of North Carolina? The Morehead-Cain Award, the oldest and one of the most prestigious scholarship programs in the country, recognizes well-rounded student leaders who demonstrate outstanding potential for leadership in high school, in college and beyond. The Morehead-Cain Scholar is expected to be, in conduct and achievement, a superior citizen. This merit-based award includes four years of tuition and expenses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as fully funded summer enrichment programs that supplement academic study with off-campus travel and experience. Stevenson is allowed to nominate two students from the Class of 2020. Interested seniors may pick up nomination materials in the College Career Center (Room 1123). The deadline to return nomination forms is Thursday, May 23. If selected, the nominee will need to complete and submit the Morehead-Cain application by Oct. 1.
ILLINOIS EDUCATION HEADLINES
Pritzker drops plan to lower pension payments
ISU recommending tuition freeze, small fee hike
Fenton, York adjust to influx of migrant students
Cost of UI sports complex jumps 50 percent
Ex-school worker charged with hitting student
Maine South student arrested after posting threat
UI prof’s accuser, roommate charged in attack
School has 6 pepper spray incidents in 2 weeks
NATIONAL EDUCATION HEADLINES
1 dead, 8 wounded in Colorado school shooting
Police arrests end Johns Hopkins sit-in
“Restorative justice” falters under rigorous research
Struggling to serve gifted students with disabilities
New state superintendent selected in Michigan
Porn-making student profile sparks tensions at school
###########################################################
The Daily Digest is compiled and edited by Jim Conrey. To subscribe or unsubscribe, contact him at jco...@d125.org.