Friday, Feb. 1, 2019

Robotics Team Earns Chance for Third State Title

Three of Stevenson’s entries qualified for the state tournament, and a fourth came close, during the VEX Robotics competition at SHS last Saturday.

Two teams were named tournament champions: The “Duck Duck Goose” squad of seniors Ethan Gordon, Erik Rademacher and Riya Gyanmote, and juniors Rahul Subramanian and Divyansh Ojha, and the “Firewall” team of sophomores William Rademacher, Kendrick Boardman, Ansh Parekh, Krethikram Gowrisankar, Sofia Kolobaev, Rushil Vora, Brandon Lu and Jeremiah Lee. The Firewall unit also captured the tournament’s Design Award.

Also qualifying for the state tournament was the “Warm Refrigerators” group, which reached the finals. The roster featured juniors Piper Starr, Wynne Chen, Husain Badri, Jaap Singh, Michael Levin, Max Kulick, Duncan Paul and Pranav Putta. They reached the finals by knocking off the all-freshman “Fresh Princes of Bel Air” team of Joshua Neela, Johnny Burrer, Tanmay Panchpor, Neil Thakker, Andrei Nistor, Iyad Hamid and Adam Taylor in the semifinals.

Stevenson, winner of the last two state championships, will defend its title at Niles West High School on Saturday, Feb. 23.

169 Finish in Top 10 at FBLA Area Competition

Nearly 170 students finished in the top 10, and 37 earned first-place honors, at the Future Business Leaders of America area competition at Grayslake Central High School last Saturday. In total, 188 SHS students competed, with 169 earning top 10 finishes. More than 800 students from 17 high schools competed. Click here to see all of Stevenson’s results.

Patriots placing first were: sophomore Jennifer Cheng (Accounting I), junior Joie You (Accounting II), junior Sashank Varanasi (Advertising), sophomores Rishika Chikoti, Caroline Mazur-Sarocka and Ojasvi Saxena (Business Plan), freshmen Julia Goberman, Sriesakthi Gowrisankar and Sabrina Xue (Digital Video Production), juniors Grace Fan, Kaitlyn Lu and Jasmine Wang (Emerging Business Issues), senior Alisa Wang (Insurance and Risk Management), sophomore Krishna Patel (Introduction to Business Communication/Grades 9-10), freshman Lillian You (Introduction to Financial Math/Grades 9-10), juniors Ketna Kolakaluri, Julie Mathews and Rayann Yao (Marketing), juniors Swarna Jammalamadaka and Megan Wei (Mobile Application Development), junior Cheryl Chen (Organizational Leadership), seniors Jacob Bayer, Amelia Lee and Kendall Roberts (Public Service Announcement), seniors Yunsik Jeong, Ryan Present and Matthew Walsh (Publication Design), junior Sowmya Venkatachalam (Sales Presentation), freshmen Julia Chen, Gabbi Mak and Aliyah Omran (Social Media Campaign), seniors Brendan Coburn, Daniel Doczi and Jack Xiao (Sports and Entertainment Management), and sophomores Kelly Dong, Faith Wang and Sophia Zhuang (Website Design).

SHS Wins Poetry Slam on South Side

Stevenson took first place at the Gwendolyn Brooks Regional Poetry Slam at Butler College Prep High School in Chicago last Saturday. Seniors Ananya Shah, Emily Luo, Hannah Severyns and Johnna Geick, and junior Anna Wang competed with individual poems and a group poem. Ananya, Johnna and Anna all received higher than a 9.0 (out of 10) in their individual slams and Emily, Hannah, Johnna and Anna received, from one judge, a 10 out of 10, on their group slam. Click here to watch the video. The regional event was part of “Louder Than a Bomb,” the world’s largest youth poetry festival. This was Stevenson’s first appearance in the event.

Archery Team Opens Season

The archery team opened its season last Saturday at Jefferson Middle School in Champaign. The varsity placed fourth in the High School Division and the junior varsity was 13th. Junior Caitlin Goldberg led the varsity with 283 points, with sophomore David Bayer (282) and juniors William Fitzgerald and Kassy Muradian (280) close behind. The JV squad featured many archers shooting for the first time in a tournament. Sophomore Nitish Varma Bhupathi Raju (257) and juniors Josh Nimmo (256) and Yui Nonoda (251) took the top spots. The team travels to Chicago for the Phoenix Academy Tournament on Saturday. Also Saturday, the S3DA archery team will compete in its first tournament at the Kenosha Bowmen Archery Club.

Fundraiser Held for Senior With Rare Genetic Condition

A fundraiser was held earlier this month at Prairie House Tavern to support senior Jenny Callen, who was born with a rare genetic condition called Williams Syndrome. One in 10,000 people have the syndrome, which causes multiple medical problems, including cardiovascular disease, developmental delays, and learning challenges. At the same time, those with Williams Syndrome often display highly advanced verbal abilities and social personalities, and an affinity for music. Jenny, who is in Stevenson’s Transition Program, talked with Todd Shields of the Pioneer Press about her condition and her future plans.

PATRIOT SPORTS

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Cheerleading Team Competes at State Today

The Patriot cheerleading team makes its fourth consecutive appearance at the Illinois High School Association state tournament today at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. Stevenson performs in the Large Team preliminaries at 4:10 today, seeking a spot in Saturday’s finals. The NFHS Network will carry the preliminaries and finals live online. Watch the action through this link (subscription required). This is Stevenson’s 13th state appearance in the 14 years that competitive cheerleading has been a state-sanctioned sport. SHS finished third last year. Click here to follow state results.

Wrestling, Girls Bowling Regionals on Saturday

The wrestling and girls bowling teams will participate in IHSA regional tournaments on Saturday. The girls bowlers head to the northwest side of Chicago for the 12-team Resurrection Regional at Habetler Bowl, while the wrestlers head to Carpentersville for the Class 3A Dundee-Crown Individual Regional. Here are links to follow regional results: Wrestling | Girls Bowling

Fencing Teams Prep for Conference Championships

The SHS fencing teams cap their season this weekend at the Great Lakes High School Conference Championships at Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, Wis. The Patriot girls and boys went undefeated through the conference regular-season schedule, each compiling 13-0 records, and had a strong showing at last weekend’s state championships. The girls are seeking their fourth consecutive title, while the boys are looking to return to the top after placing second last year. Junior Aya Taira is the defending conference champion in women’s foil.

Freshman Bardic Adds Spark to Girls Basketball Team

The varsity girls basketball team’s recent surge has been fueled in part by the arrival of Ava Bardic. The freshman was seen as a potential starter before the season began, but surgery to repair a broken finger caused her to miss the Patriots’ first 10 games. “She’s finally caught her wind, and she’s playing so nicely out there,” head coach Ashley Graham told the Daily Herald’s Joe Aguilar. “She’s an excellent ball handler, another scoring threat for us and a great attacker. She’s got a moxie about her. She’s a gamer.” Ava has scored in double figures in each of Stevenson’s last three games, including a team-high 15 points against Lake Zurich on Tuesday. Ava and her teammates return to action tonight with a home game against Mundelein at 7 o’clock. The game will be streamed live through the NFHS Network, as will the junior varsity contest at 5:30. Watch the action on Stevenson’s NFHS Network page.

Arctic Blast Nothing New for UCLA’s Maleski

Most of the members of the UCLA men’s volleyball team were unprepared for the wintry blast that met them when they came to Chicago earlier this week for a two-match Midwestern road trip. One of the Bruins who took the cold in stride was SHS alumnus Grant Maleski (Class of 2017). He was interviewed by CBS Chicago for this report that aired on Wednesday. Maleski had a team-high four blocks Thursday night as UCLA, ranked fifth in the country, defeated No. 7 Loyola University. The Bruins close their Chicago visit with a match against No. 10 Lewis University on Saturday.

STUDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

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What Juniors Taking the SAT on Saturday Need to Know

Juniors who signed up to take the free practice SAT exam on Saturday should arrive in the Field House 15-30 minutes before the 8 a.m. start time. Also, juniors need to bring their school-issued iPad, and download the Revolution Prep app. Click here for details.

ILLINOIS EDUCATION HEADLINES

What’s new with state’s standardized test for grades 3-8

Daniel Wright Science Bowl team qualifies for nationals

Hawthorn District 73 kindergarten center plan hits snag

Pritzker appoints five to UI board of trustees

Death of school bus driver still under investigation

District 300 schools to be closed for third straight day

Bus problems keep Schaumburg district closed today

Gelled diesel fuel in buses leads Peoria schools to cancel

Who’s responsible for robocalls in Hinsdale District 86?

Carmel Catholic receives largest donation in its history

Co-curricular racial disparities concern New Trier officials

Waukegan High revives African-American studies course

Award-winning NIU Steelband director dies at age 82

Longtime University of Chicago professor dies at age 92

NATIONAL EDUCATION HEADLINES

Denver teachers union rejects latest district offer