Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018

63 Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

Sixty-three members of the Class of 2019 have been named semifinalists in the 64th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. They are among approximately 16,000 semifinalists nationwide whose names are being announced today.

Stevenson’s National Merit semifinalists are: Anubhav Agarwal, Elyse Baden, Archit Bajaj, Michelle Cai, Sanjana Chunduri, Ishaan Deshmukh, Andrew Ding, Chase Duvall, Adam Elkins, Joshua Ezrol, Saaniya Farhan, Andrew Gan, Anjana Ganapathy, Samarth Goel, Vaibhav Gupta, Andrew Huang, Claire Huang, Jason Huang, Varun Jagannath, Nishant Jain, Sanjana Jain, Shreya Karpoor, Jessica Keane, Aarim Khan, Madeline Kim, Olivia Lamberti, Stephanie Li, Miranda Liu, Emily Luo, Varun Malladi, Rohit Mandava, Rajarshi Mullick, Aniket Nuthalapati, Meghan Oh, Poojan Palwai, Mary Polupan, Varun Putcha, Amy Qian, Rahul Ramkumar, Joseph Rivkin, Spencer Robieson, Joao Victor Rodrigues, Ananya Shah, Miriam Silberman, Thivya Sivarajah, Jay Stegall, Tony Tan, Michael Treiber, Christopher Varghese, Shreya Viswanathan, Alisa Wang, Daniel Wang, Melanie Wang, Winston Wang, Jennifer Xiong, Austin Yang, Katherine Zeng, Angela Zhang, Hannah Zhang, Josephine Zhang, Melanie Zhang, Rachel Zhang and Daniel Zhu.

Semifinalists entered the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves as an initial screen of program entrants. The national pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Semifinalists will continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.

About 90% of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship. Finalists will be notified in February. National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in April.

Fall Play’s Popularity Leads to Sunday Show Addition

The fall play, “Distracted,” is a big hit, and no one has taken the Black Box Theater stage yet. All three evening performances, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, are sold out.

Due to the extraordinary ticket demand, a fifth performance has been added at 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are only available for the 2 p.m. shows on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available for $6 through the Patriot Superstore (open before school and during lunch hours), and at the door. Admission is general seating. Note: The language and themes found within this production may not be suitable for children under the age of 13. Here’s a promotional video for “Distracted” created by the Theatre Department.

Alum to be Featured on WGN-TV Tonight

Stevenson alumnus Brad Goodman (Class of 1999) and his miraculous story of receiving a life-saving liver transplant, is scheduled to be the “cover story” on the WGN-TV news at 9 p.m. tonight. Goodman battled a chronic liver disease for six years before receiving a transplant last year with a liver that had hepatitis C. For years, livers with hepatitis C were rejected as transplant possibilities. But advances in treating the viral disease have changed that. This article from the GI Research Foundation tells Goodman’s story.

What is the Connection Between Stress and Substance Use?

Stevenson‘s Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator, Dr. Cristina Cortesi, will share regular reflections during the school year in the Daily Digest. For more information on Dr. Cortesi and the substance abuse prevention program, visit her web page.

The mind/body connection may be stronger than you think. Stress can cause significant chemical and structural changes in the developing teen brain. Among several other negative effects, studies suggest that (1) some teens who experience stress may be more vulnerable to addiction and relapse and (2) those who become addicted to drugs may be hypersensitive to stress (NIDA). To learn more about how stress can impact your teen, attend the upcoming presentation by renowned author Dr. Michael J. Bradley at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Performing Arts Center. The presentation is co-sponsored by Stand Strong and Catalyst. Click here to register.

Late Arrival Schedule on Thursday

Stevenson will operate on a late-arrival schedule Thursday. Classes will begin at 10:30 a.m. Buses will begin their routes at 9:20. Thursday will mark the first opportunity for student-athletes to attend a required meeting with the athletic director from 9:45-10:15 in the West Auditorium. The Stand Strong Coalition reminds parents that late-start days can provide students with unmonitored time prior to school, and can lead to high-risk behavior for some, such as drinking and smoking marijuana. The coalition recommends that parents ask their students these four questions: Where will you be? Who will you be with? What will you be doing? and What time will you be leaving home? For more tips, visit standstrongcoalition.org.

EBR, Grading Topic of Facebook Live

Grading practices at Stevenson will be the topic of the next “Lunch With Jim” Facebook Live session at 12:15 p.m. Thursday on the school’s Facebook page. Public Information Coordinator Jim Conrey will talk with Director of Assessment, Research and Evaluation Anthony Reibel about evidence-based reporting (EBR), which is used in approximately 80 percent of Stevenson’s academic courses.

PATRIOT SPORTS

Click here for today’s athletic schedule

Tuesday, Sept. 11 Varsity Results

Girls Golf

Stevenson 146, Warren 177: The Patriots broke the school record for lowest nine-hole score on their home course, Crane’s Landing at the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort. The previous record was 155, set earlier this season against Libertyville. SHS (4-0 overall and in the North Suburban Conference) also won its 20th consecutive dual dating back to the 2016 season. Freshman Emily Duan recorded two birdies while shooting an even-par 34 to earn medalist honors by two strokes. Sophomore Kelly Dong also recorded a pair of birdies en route to a 35. Sophomore Sophia Zhuang posted a 38 and junior Joyce Bai had a 39. Also competing for Stevenson were sophomore Faith Wang (44) and junior Julia Yoo (45).

Girls Tennis

Stevenson 7, Lake Zurich 0: The Patriots rolled to seven straight-set victories on their home courts at the Vernon Hills Athletic Complex. Winners in singles were senior Elizabeth Ferdman at No. 1 (6-2, 6-3), junior Maggie Gong at No. 2 (6-2, 6-3) and freshman Thea Surya at No. 3 (6-0, 6-0). The Kolli sisters, junior Athena Kolli and freshman Alaina Kolli, were 6-0, 6-0 winners at No. 1 doubles. Other victorious doubles tandems were junior Ellen Ma and senior Alyssa Glaser at No. 2 (6-0, 6-0), sophomore Abby Schueneman and junior Sneha Yellapantula at No. 3 (6-0, 6-0), and junior Alexis Lee and sophomore Emily Hu at No. 4 (6-0, 6-1).

Girls Cross Country

Stevenson 21, Lake Zurich 39; Stevenson 22, Warren 33: The Patriots’ depth carried the day in Gurnee. SHS had nine of the top 20 runners, led by seniors Natalie Sorenson (18:17.5) and Kendall Roberts (18:31.1), who finished second and third, respectively, and junior Caimin Xi (19:37.2), who was fourth. Junior Michelle Yu was eighth (20:09.6), followed by three sophomores: Emma Finnegan (11th, 20:45.1), Emily Fejes (14th, 21:10.5) and Helena Ebeling (18th, 21:30.5).

Boys Cross Country

Lake Zurich 25, Stevenson 30; Warren 27, Stevenson 28: Senior Alex Beckerman finished third overall (16:01.7) in Gurnee. Juniors Corey Pacernick (16:28.9) and Anthony Rodriguez (16:29.9) were fifth and sixth, respectively. The Patriots’ other points came from senior Alan Sherman (14th, 16;59.5), freshman Tyler Roberts (15th, 17:02.8), senior Daniel Saltz (21st, 17:27.4) and sophomore Jack Lee (22nd, 17:36.4).

Boys Soccer

Stevenson 1, Lakes 1: Senior Luka Lezhava scored off an assist from classmate Ethan Bende for the visiting Patriots (4-2-1). Seniors Zach Klaber (one save) and Josh Dicker (three saves) split time in goal.

Girls Field Hockey

Highland Park 4, Stevenson 2: The Giants jumped out to an early lead at home. SHS (2-5) received second-half goals from junior Molly McCoy and senior Charlotte Russell, with an assist by Emily Hersh.

Two Football Alums Make Memories

Two Patriot alumni celebrated firsts during their college teams’ games on Saturday. Michael Marchese (Class of 2017) made his first start for the University of Illinois. The sophomore safety intercepted a pass and returned it 42 yards during the Illini’s 34-14 win over Western Illinois. Marchese also made three tackles, broke up a pass, and was credited with a quarterback hurry. Matt Morrissey (Class of 2014), a fifth-year senior at Michigan State, recorded his first interception and had five tackles during the Spartans’ 16-13 loss at Arizona State. He also had this wicked (but legal) hit on star Sun Devil wide receiver N’Keal Harry.

STUDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

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What Do You Do When a Friend is Struggling?

What do you do when a friend is depressed or has other issues? This week’s Catalyst video offers advice for students who are caring but aren’t sure how to help.

ILLINOIS EDUCATION HEADLINES

UI’s record-breaking freshman class: Most in-state residents in 10 years

NIU enrollment down 4.8 percent

UI-Springfield enrollment down 7.7 percent

Provision in 2017 state law could force tax-cut referendums

Hyde Park Academy gets $40M boost ahead of Obama Center opening

Chicago school principal ignored warnings in horrific abuse case

Marijuana use up among Deerfield, Highland Park students

Fire district station proposal raises concern in Barrington

North Central trustee accused of driving SUV at construction worker

Tweeting CEO leads Chicago schools onto social media

NATIONAL EDUCATION HEADLINES