Campus Closed Wednesday; E-Learning Day Planned
Stevenson High School’s campus will be closed on Wednesday, Jan. 30, due to the extreme cold weather. Students will participate in an “e-learning” day on Wednesday. Details were emailed to all parents and students, and also are available on the school’s website at d125.org and its Facebook page. All clubs, sports and other activities are canceled Wednesday.
School officials continue to monitor local weather forecasts, and will make a determination on Wednesday about any adjustments to Thursday’s schedule.
Monday’s snow day will be made up by moving final exams one day later. The last day of school will now be Friday, May 24. Any further snow days would push the school year into the week after Memorial Day weekend. The date of graduation remains the same: Friday, May 24.
Baroque Ensemble Concert Postponed
Tonight’s Baroque Ensemble Concert has been postponed due to the weather. A reschedule date will be announced soon.
Tonight’s Course Selection Evening Will Be Held
The Course Selection Evening for incoming freshman families will be held as scheduled today. The event takes place from 4-7 p.m. in Room 2104 of the West Building. Parents and guardians should park in lot B and enter the Forum (“Point”) entrance.
Marijuana Legalization Forum Postponed
Wednesday’s Catalyst community forum on the impact of marijuana legalization has been postponed due to the cold weather. The reschedule date has not been determined.
No Thursday Night Freshman-Sophomore Play
Thursday’s performance of the freshman-sophomore play, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” has been canceled due to the loss of technical rehearsals to weather-related cancellations. Anyone who purchased tickets for Thursday will be notified and given the option of using them for admission at the 7 p.m. Friday or Saturday performances, or receiving a refund. The Thursday performance will not be rescheduled.
PPA Bake Sale Canceled
The Patriot Parent Association has canceled its bake sale planned for Wednesday due to the dire weather forecast. The next bake sale is set for Feb. 13.
Chess Team Qualifies for State Again
The SHS cheerleading and chess teams qualified for their state tournaments last weekend. (Details on cheerleading can be found in the Patriot Sports section.) The chess team qualified for its 16th consecutive berth in the Illinois High School Association state finals by finishing fourth at the sectional tournament held at Highland Park High School on Saturday.
Two players won all four games on their boards: sophomore Ryan Yao and freshman Ashley Yan. Senior Shashank Bala had three wins and a draw, and junior Adam Wallach also posted three wins. Also competing were seniors Miranda Liu and Jack Xiao, junior Alex Pressman and freshman Fred Yuan. Click here to see results. The state tournament will be held Feb. 8-9 in Peoria.
Senior Wins S-Factor Singing Competition
Senior Vika Bekker won the S-Factor singing competition Friday night in the Performing Arts Center. She earned $150 for taking the top prize. Second place and $75 went to junior Nya Thomas, while junior Leo Mondschain placed third and received $50. Click here to watch the entire competition (start at the 15:52 mark), which was sponsored by the Kiva Club. Admission fees were donated to Kiva, which provides microloans to entrepreneurs in less-developed parts of the world.
No Digest Wednesday
The Daily Digest will not be published on Wednesday, but will return Thursday.
Substance Use Impacts Teen Brains More Than Adults
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 teen brain is different from the adult brain when it comes to substance use. The scientific evidence is clear: Addictive substances cannot be safely used by teenagers or young adults at any level. “Substance use in the teen years can have major impacts for two reasons:
- The areas of the brain that are needed for decision-making, judgment, impulse control, emotion and memory are not fully developed until the mid-20s. This makes young people more likely to take risks compared to adults. Risk-taking can include experimenting with tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.
- When the brain is still developing, addictive substances physically alter its structure and function faster and more intensely than occurs in adults. These effects interfere with brain development, which can affect the user’s judgment and increase addiction’s risks.” (www.Rosecrance.org).
For more information on substance use during the teen years, consider reading this article from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.
Click here for today’s athletic schedule
Monday’s Varsity Results
Girls Gymnastics
Stevenson at IHSA Glenbrook South Regional: The Patriots posted their highest score of the season, 142.4, and finished second to the host Titans, who had 147.325. Sophomore Hannah Brand, in her first meet since suffering a foot injury at the Evanston Invitational on Jan. 5, finished second on the balance beam with a 9.025 score. She earned an automatic sectional bid, as did four other Pats who placed in the top five. Senior Sarina Johnson was third in the all-around (35.70) and junior Emily Weinstein was fourth (35.15). Sarina also qualified for sectional with fifth-place finishes in the uneven parallel bars (8.875) and balance beam (8.80). Emily was third in vault (9.35) and uneven bars (9.10). Sophomore Ainslee Cutler placed fourth in uneven bars (9.05) and fifth in floor exercise (9.025). Junior Riley Polatsek was fourth in balance beam (8.95). Stevenson now must wait to see if it will earn an at-large team bid to next week’s sectional at SHS. Three more regionals are scheduled for this week. The winner of each regional advances to sectional, as do two at-large teams. – Official Results | Daily Herald
Saturday’s Varsity Results
Competitive Dance
Stevenson at IHSA Class 3A State Finals: The Patriettes finished second in Bloomington, the third runner-up finish in program history. Stevenson posted a score of 93.94, behind first-time state champion Naperville North (95.42) and ahead of third-place Lake Park (93.72). SHS also was second in 2016 and 2013. This marks the seventh consecutive top-four state finish for the Patriettes. Stevenson posted the second-highest score in Friday’s preliminaries, 93.92, just behind Naperville North, which had 94.60. – Official Results | NFHS Network Replay
Competitive Cheerleading
Stevenson at IHSA Class 3A Niles West Sectional: The Patriots won their second straight sectional championship and third in the last six seasons, qualifying for the state finals this weekend in Bloomington. Stevenson posted a winning score of 92.20 to capture one of the two Large Team Divisions at the sectional, ahead of Fremd (91.07) and 13 other schools. The winning score also was the highest among all sectional Large Team competitors. This was the seventh sectional championship in program history. SHS will make its fourth consecutive appearance at state, and 13th in the 14 years that the IHSA has sponsored competitive cheerleading. – Official Results | NFHS Network Replay
Fencing
Stevenson at Illinois State Championships: The Patriots won the girls team championship for the fourth straight year, and captured the boys title for the third consecutive season at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights. Stevenson won five of the possible six weapons categories. Sophomore Nikita Vasilyev took top honors in boys saber for the second straight year, with junior Jacob Chan third. Junior Aya Taira won girls foil, and senior Annika Rehberger was second. Junior Rachel Roh was second in girls saber, while junior Sanya Bawa and senior Chloe Myers tied for third. Senior Jared Ponticelli was third in boys epee, senior Geeta Jhangiani was third in girls epee, and freshman Stephen Yi was third in boys foil. – Official Results
Boys Swimming and Diving
Stevenson at Middleton (Wis.) Public School Invitational: The Patriots crossed the border and brought back the tournament championship after placing second last season. Stevenson topped the team standings with a score of 472 points, ahead of last year’s champion, Madison West, which had 409.5. Senior Topher Stensby broke the meet record in the 50-yard freestyle, touching first in a time of 21.21 seconds. The old mark of 21.22 had stood since 2003. Topher also won the 100 freestyle for the second straight year (47.44), and swam the anchor leg on two relays, the second-place 200 free relay (1:27.24) and the third-place 400 free relay (3:13.21). His teammates on the 200 free relay were seniors Richard Lee, Joseph Song and Max Ryaguzov, while his 400 relay mates were juniors Jake Kim, AJ Carollo and Jack Zhang. Joseph added a second-place showing in the 200 individual medley (1:58.57), and took part in the third-place 200 medley relay (1:38.55) with Jack, Richard and senior Beno Maya. Freshman Jack White finished second in 1-meter diving (407.62), and senior Nathan Gates was third in the 500 free (4:58.63).
Boys Ice Hockey
New Trier Green 3, Stevenson 1: Senior Seth Cohen had the lone goal for the Patriots at Twin Rinks Ice Pavilion. His goal, assisted by junior Josh Wright and senior Max Slavin, tied the game at 1-1 in the second period. Junior goalie Jeremy Riback made 27 saves. – Boxscore
Friday’s Varsity Results
Girls Basketball
Stevenson 48, Zion-Benton 47: Senior Kristin Hill sank a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining to complete a fourth-quarter rally by the host Patriots (18-8, 7-4) in the Sports Center. SHS, which has won eight of its last nine games, trailed the Zee-Bees (16-5, 6-3) by nine points entering the final quarter, 40-31, then outscored the visitors, 17-7. Junior Avery King and sophomore Nikki Ware led Stevenson with 14 points each. Avery scored 11 of the team’s 18 first-half points, while Nikki led all players with 10 points in the second half. Freshman Ava Bardic nailed a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. The Patriots hit 12 of 15 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter. SHS travels to Lake Zurich today. The start time has been moved to 5:30. – NFHS Network Replay
Boys Basketball
Stevenson 57, Zion-Benton 51: Juniors Matthew Ambrose, John Ittounas, Matt Kaznikov and RJ Holmes combined for 47 points in the Sports Center and the host Patriots (17-3, 7-1) won their eighth straight game. Matthew scored 15 points on five 3-pointers, John had 13 points, four rebounds and four assists, Matt tallied 12 points, and RJ added seven points and eight rebounds. Stevenson led 34-26 after junior Cameron Bernard hit a 3-pointer just before halftime. The Zee-Bees (9-10, 3-5) rallied in the third quarter, pulling within 39-36 before sophomore Evan Ambrose sank a pair of free throws near the end of the frame to give SHS a 44-38 lead. John hit six of eight free throw attempts in the fourth quarter as the Patriots never lost the lead. Stevenson plays host to Libertyville on Saturday. – NFHS Network Replay | News-Sun, Daily Herald
Boys Bowling
Stevenson at IHSA State Tournament: Sophomore Nicholas Sternes rolled a six-game series of 1,120 (186.7 average) at St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon, near St. Louis. He did not qualify for Saturday’s final round. Nicholas rolled a 201 in his opening game and finished with a 203 to cap his second straight state tournament appearance. – Official Day 1 Results
Girls Bowling
Stevenson hosted North Suburban Conference Championships: The Patriots placed seventh at Fairhaven Lanes in Mundelein. – Daily Herald
Wrestling
Stevenson d. Lake Forest
Today on NFHS Network
Today’s varsity and junior varsity girls basketball games at Lake Zurich are scheduled to be streamed live on the NFHS Network. The varsity game has been moved up to 5:30 p.m. The JV contest also starts at 5:30. Watch the action through Stevenson’s NFHS Network page.
STUDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Click This Link to See More Announcements
SPARK Meetings: New Date, New Location
The date and location of the informational meetings for the SPARK (STEM Professionals As Resource Knowledge) program have changed. The informational meetings will take place during the half-lunch periods on Friday, Feb. 8 in the West Auditorium.
Pep Bus Planned for State Cheerleading
The school is sponsoring a pep bus for students who want to watch Stevenson perform at the state cheerleading finals Friday in Bloomington. Click here for details.
The Diversity Council is sponsoring “Fat Stacks,” its annual Fast-A-Thon, on Friday. Fast all day, then join the council and eat varieties of pancakes from around the globe from 4-6 p.m. in Room 2104. The cost is $5, and proceeds benefit the Vernon Hills Food Pantry.
Animal Welfare will not meet today. Instead, the club will meet Thursday in the food labs to bake dog treats for its annual fundraiser.
ILLINOIS EDUCATION HEADLINES
10 new laws affecting Illinois schools, colleges
Judge dismisses lawsuit over Hinsdale buffer zone decision
District 41 board candidates want say in superintendent search
City Colleges faculty, staff reach contract agreements
Barrington gives District 220 go-ahead on new HQ
Arlington Heights district appoints administrator, two principals
Champaign board approves pay raises for 75 administrators
NATIONAL EDUCATION HEADLINES
Should access to public education be a constitutional right?
Shutdown resolution averts school lunch crisis
Feds moving away from one-size-fits-all accreditation model
Johns Hopkins nabs prime DC location with Newseum purchase
More middle schools to teach financial education
Duke official steps down after telling students to speak English
Tampa startup is like Uber for college tutors
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The Daily Digest is compiled and edited by Jim Conrey. To subscribe or unsubscribe, contact him at jconrey@d125.org.
Stevenson Daily Digest 