Preparations for the second annual International Fair on March 10 are underway. Many groups already have committed to perform, and more are invited to help fill the program by representing their ethnicity, region, or religion, Co-superintendent Mike Nekritz said.

“It’s really about promoting diversity and encouraging people to be proud of what they stand for,” he said.

About 350 people attended the 2011 fair — a number Nekritz said he hopes to double this year. Attendees have the chance to sample food, hear music, and watch performances and demonstrations, such as Filipino dancers, Assyrian dancers, and Irish dancers. Germany and Poland are other countries expected to be represented at the fair so far.

The International Fair is one of the district’s initiatives to achieve its goal in diversity education. The goal states, “…we are committed to developing students who are knowledgeable and capable of recognizing differences and acting in a way that demonstrates acceptance, tolerance, and democratic principles.”

This year’s fair will be held in the ACHS main gym from 5-7 p.m. Contact Rachel Morales or Amy Skonberg for more information.

When extreme weather or other situations result in the cancellation of classes or other schedule changes, the quickest way to receive bulletins with important information is with our text message alert system.

By subscribing to District 117’s Text Message Alerts, students and parents can receive text messages in the event of school closings or other emergencies. By providing a cell phone number and the name of the wireless provider, district administrators can send these alerts directly to subscribers. The system proved successful this past year, and we hope to increase the number of families taking advantage of the program. Aside from a confirmation text message, no routine messages will be sent via the alert system, only urgent communications dealing with school closings or emergencies. Bulletins will also be posted on district websites, Facebook, and Twitter, as in the past.

Click here to sign up to receive District 117 Text Message Alerts. Subscriptions last for the entire school year.

While Lakes and Antioch are distinct schools with separate athletic programs and activities, one club has taken on a more global and unique approach. The Interact Club brings students from both buildings together to form the only District-wide club. This service organization began last spring and has continued its wonderful work this year. About twenty students from both Lakes and Antioch meet weekly to organize their philanthropic endeavors and discuss ways in which they can positively transform the world a little bit at a time. We are very proud of their wonderful commitment to humanity and limitless energy. Below is a list of the great things that this cadre of young adults completed during the first semester.

Students have been volunteering on the third Thursday of each month at Open Arms Mission helping to pack and distribute food to those in need in our area.

The Interact Club has been collecting fruit cups for the back pack program that goes to the kids in need at the elementary schools in this area.

In September, about 10 students volunteered several hours at “Fishing has no Boundaries” helping those with special needs experience fishing on the Chain of Lakes.

In October, students made and painted per request, two Baggo sets for the Rotary Auction and earned $300 to support their cause.

In October, students collected and donated money to feed school children in Tanzania.

In November, Interact students helped Rotarians pack food for the holidays to be distributed to local families that could use a little assistance.

In December, students packed food with “Feed My Starving Children” to be sent to countries in need.

In December, students visited Lotus School Afterschool club to educate students about healthy snacks. A good portion of the afternoon was spent making these healthy treats.

It has been a busy few months for our students involved in the fine arts and the results of their hard work are impressive. Check out these amazing accomplishments:

• Staff and students from ACHS wrote and performed a play based on the novel Thirteen Reasons Why a few years back. The story’s author, Jay Ashur saw this performance and used the Antioch script to create the now published stage play.
• Lakes Marching Band - State of Illinois Championships at Illinois State University, Normal, IL Class 2A Winner of Best Crowd Appeal, Class 2A, Overall 4th place. Percussionists Charley Gillette and Matt O’Connor were invited to perform in the 85th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as part of the Great American Marching Band. This band was “comprised of selected students from each of the fifty states” and was a way to honor “America’s finest high school musicians.”
• The Marching Sequoits - Marengo Contest, IL- first place in class, for the second year in a row. Also won caption awards for Best Drum Majors, Best Color Guard, Best Brass and Best Marching
• Lakes drama students will perform Scenes of Diversity. This free show features original work written and performed by Lakes students. The content focuses on the district’s diversity goal. The show is on December 2, 2011 at 7:00 pm.
• The Antioch Speech Team saw some record performances from Ryan Leonard in Dramatic Performance, Gaby Avila in Oral Interpretation and Dana Legg in Declamation.
• Kyle Hill has been working hard on the Illinois High School Theatre Festival’s All-State production of Almost Maine. Recently he was appointed the Stage Manager of the production! There is only one stage Manager chosen in the entire state for this all state production.

Musical Honors for District 117 students

• Tim Gorski has been chosen as a Future Music Educator for the All-State conference in the Choral division.
• Charley Gillette has been selected for the 2012 Illinois Music Educators Association’s All-State Band.
• DJ Kolpanen was selected for the Army All-American Marching Band.
• Steven Farrell and Trevor Olsen were selected for the District IMEA Honor’s Choir.   Steven was selected for the IMEA State Honors Choir and Trevor Olsen was selected All State Future Music Educators Seminar.<
• Payton Gallardo earned a position in the Top Vocal Jazz Group for IMEA District Jazz Band and Skyler Kite and Becca Bowen made the Vocal Jazz II Group.
• Angela Barone, Brian Chivers and Alexandria Hoffman were selected for the IMEA District Band. Angela and Alex were selected for the State IMEA Concert Band. Heather Beckman was selected for the District Honors Orchestra.

Click here for the press release announcing a teacher resignation.
Click here for District 117’s official response to computer tampering allegations.

School Report Cards from the 2010-2011 year are now official, and districts throughout the state are examining their scores. Unfortunately on the state level, performance on the Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE), the test given to all high school juniors, has dropped 2.5 points from the previous year. Community High School District 117 in northern Lake County, however, is bucking this state trend and has seen substantial growth.  While the district is still working to achieve all of its goals, it is another step closer to realizing its vision of becoming a preeminent educational environment in Lake County, promoting excellence through an unwavering commitment to its core values and to the needs of our stakeholders.

Both Antioch and Lakes High Schools saw their scores in all subgroup categories statistically improve. The growth from last year’s PSAE scores ranges from 3.72% to a tremendous 26.1% increase. The percentage of students meeting and exceeding state standards in reading went from 56.2% to 63.4% for a 12.8% improvement. In math the percentage meeting and exceeding jumped a tremendous 15.96%, growing from 57% to 66.1%. Not surprisingly ACT scores have improved as well.

District data from ACT demonstrates that student growth greatly exceeds national averages. Normal growth from the PLAN exam given to sophomores to the ACT given to juniors is about 2.4 points, while District 117 averaged an increase of 3.2 points for students in the district that took both exams. This represents a 33% greater growth than students throughout the rest of the country achieved. The district’s students, staff, and community share equal credit for these successes.

“We are extremely proud of the growth our students have demonstrated on the high stakes test, but we are more excited about how we are achieving these improvements,” stated Co-superintendent Mike Nekritz.

He added, “Our students understand the importance of learning and succeeding in school while our faculty has been committed to developing curriculum and instruction that are better preparing students for success beyond high school.”

In addition to these improvements in test scores, the district has experienced an enormous increase in students taking rigorous coursework, fewer discipline referrals, higher attendance rates, and consistently high participation rates in clubs and activities. The number of philanthropic endeavors occurring in both buildings is also impressive. “As a school leader and community member, I could not be prouder of our community’s role in shaping our young people,” Nekritz concluded.

Educators from the surrounding school districts joined District 117 teachers on Oct. 7 for a day-long program of sessions geared towards “Keeping High Expectations In A Changing World.” Districts 24, 33, 34, and 36 joined Antioch and Lakes teachers for the workshop, which was held at Lakes High School.

More than 525 high school, middle school, and grade school teachers attended their choice of six presentations from the available list of more than 100 which were prepared for those in attendance. Sessions covered topics in one of five categories: instructional strategies, special education and interventions, assessment and goals, technology, and common core standards.

Most attendees were treated to an inspirational keynote presentation by Manuel Scott, whose personal story was told in the 2007 movie Freedom Writers, starring Hllary Swank and Patrick Dempsey. Scott now travels the world giving motivational talks and inspiring people to succeed.

At 5:30 am on September 30, 2011, well over 1,000 spirited ACHS and LCHS students made their NBC debut at a pep rally held at the Lakes gymnasium. The Antioch-Lakes football game had been announced as the game of week by a community vote. Despite being smaller schools, the District 117 rivalry prevailed earning a live broadcast early Friday morning. This event demonstrated to the Chicago land area much more than a great athletic rivalry and school spirit. Our students shared the stage/spotlight and displayed tremendous respect for one another, while having a great time. The ‘house’ truly rocked. As the NBC crew was leaving, the technician went out of his way to let us know how wonderful the event had been. He commented on our display of nationalism citing both schools singing of our National Anthem, the record number of students participating in the Prep Destination rally, and the positive demonstration of our collective school spirit.

While the Chicago land area witnessed our passion for our schools, they could not see how proud we are of all our students for demonstrating class and respect. Antioch, Lake Villa, and Lindenhurst should be proud of our high school students. We certainly are!

Three individuals and one group in the District 117 community have been recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education’s Those Who Excel Program.

Lakes High School math teacher Scott Leverentz received the Award of Excellence in the Classroom Teacher category, teacher assistant Diane Scott earned the Award of Meritorious Service in the Educational Service Personnel category, and former school board member Tracy McGrath earned the Award of Recognition for the School Board/Community Volunteer category. The Antioch High School Differentiation Team received the Award of Excellence in the Team category.

District 117 administrators nominated the candidates for the awards last spring. These recipients will be recognized during the Those Who Excel Banquet in Normal, Ill. on Saturday, Oct. 22.

Adults in the community now will have the opportunity to sign up for various recreational and educational classes following a recent partnership between District 117 and the Antioch and Lindenhurst park districts. Parent University includes offerings in sewing, healthy cooking, retirement/college planning and more. Many of the classes will be taught by District 117 faculty members at Lakes and Antioch high schools.

Each class meets four times for an hour and a half on Tuesdays beginning Sept. 20. The cost is $40 per class. Childcare is also available for $3 per child.

The idea for Parent University came about after an interest survey conducted by the Lindenhurst Park District indicated that adults in the community were looking for more educational/recreational opportunities.

“Parent University is a great way for our community to model for students that education is fun and a life-long process,” said Superintendent Mike Nekritz. “Hopefully this new program will be successful and we can offer many more opportunities to our communities moving forward.”

For more information or to register, contact the Lindenhurst Park District at 847/356-6011.