Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019

Junior Leads Team to National Deaf Academic Bowl

Junior Yael Lenga was named Most Outstanding Player after leading her team to first place at last weekend’s Midwest Regional Academic Bowl for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Yael is a member of Hersey High School’s Deaf Academic Bowl team, which defeated its top rival, two-time defending national champion Indiana School for the Deaf, for the regional championship at the Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe, Kan. The Hersey squad also won the regional’s Sportsmanship Award for the second consecutive year.

With the victory, Yael and her teammates qualified for the national National Academic Bowl for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., April 11-15. This will be Hersey’s second straight trip to nationals and eighth since the event began in 1997. Yael earned National All-Star honors in 2018. In addition to the competition, Yael said she is excited for the opportunity to visit the new Starbucks Signing Store, where all of the employees are fluent in American Sign Language.

Freshman Finalist in CSO Young Artists Competition

Freshman Rosie Wang is one of four finalists in the 2019 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition, which concludes Saturday on Armour Stage in Symphony Center. Rosie, a flutist, will perform Fantaisie, by the French composer Georges Hüe, accompanied by the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Saturday’s winner will perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during its 2019-20 concert season. Performances by all four finalists are open to the public and begin at 2 p.m. Stevenson alumna Gina DiBello (Class of 2000) plays in the CSO’s first violin section.

Students Can Earn State Honor for Language Proficiency

Current Stevenson students who are fluent or progressing toward fluency in a second language have an opportunity in March to earn a special seal on their diploma recognizing their achievement. Next month, the World Languages Division is offering three different tests for various languages through which students may qualify for the Illinois State Board of Education’s Seal of Biliteracy program. The deadline to sign up is March 7. Click here for details.

Winter Play Tickets On Sale

Tickets for the winter play, “She Kills Monsters,” are available for $6 through the Stevenson Superstore. Shows are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, March 8, and 3 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 9 in the West Auditorium. Click here to order. Online ticket sales end at noon Thursday, March 7. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door on the performance dates. Note: The production contains mature content, and may not be suitable for all ages.

Archery Team Wins Home Meet

The SHS archery team swept the top three spots in its home meet against Oak Park and River Forest High School Saturday in the Field House. Junior Saumya Malhotra won first place with a score of 279 points, junior Caitlin Goldberg and sophomore David Bayer tied for second at 277, and sophomore Hayden Gantt was third with 276. In addition, sophomore Rayna Finn shot a perfect round at 10 meters.

Also over the weekend, the S3DA archery team traveled to Shorewood for an indoor regional competition and won four categories. Saumya took first place in the Female Open division, Rayna was first in Female Traditional, David claimed Male Traditional, and junior Madison Higgins led Female Fixed Pins. Three archers were runners-up: senior Nick Filerman (Male Fixed Pins), freshman Emma Mural (Female Traditional) and sophomore Justin Gordon (Male Traditional). Stevenson also had a trio of third-place finishers: Caitlin (Female Traditional), senior Breanna Faber (Female Fixed Pins), and freshman Jackson Esposito (Male Traditional).

At the Armstrong tournament on Feb. 9, the varsity archery team finished fifth with a score of 3,244 points. Senior Temma Saito led the squad with a score of 286, followed by Caitlin (282) and senior Adhya Gowda (277). The junior varsity’s top scorers were freshman Alicia Zheng (274), and sophomores Oriana Funez (266) and Alexandra Bikbulatova (249).

Pokémon More than a Game for Brother-Sister Duo

For most kids, going on the road to play Pokémon means heading to a friend’s house. For Evan and Alyssa Smith, the road leads much farther. Evan, a freshman, and older sister Alyssa, a junior, compete regularly at Pokémon tournaments around the country and abroad. They traveled to Melbourne, Australia for last weekend’s 2019 Pokémon TCG and Video Game Oceania International Championships. This weekend, they’ll head to St. Louis for a regional competition.

Evan has won $15,000 in his career, including $5,000 for capturing the National Junior Championship in 2015. He has competed in 10 regional tournaments during this school year, and already has qualified for the World Championships in August in Washington, D.C. Last fall, he finished seventh out of 97 players from 14 countries in the TCG Senior Division at the Latin America International Championships in Brazil. Alyssa, meanwhile, is one of the top female Pokémon video game players in the country. Their father, Greg, serves as a judge at Pokémon tournaments.

Corrections

Wednesday’s Digest incorrectly listed senior Miffy Tani as being part of the Illinois High School Art Exhibition’s General Exhibition rather than the Senior Scholarship Exhibition. Jasmine Lin, a junior, should have been listed among the General Exhibition artists from Stevenson. Also, SHS alumnus Emery Liu graduated in 2016, not 2017.

PATRIOT SPORTS

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Wednesday’s Varsity Results

Boys Basketball

Lake Forest 49, Stevenson 40: The host Scouts (11-16, 6-8) denied the Patriots an outright North Suburban Conference championship with the upset victory in the regular-season finale for both teams. SHS (23-5, 12-2) finished league play tied with Waukegan, which it defeated twice during the season. Junior John Ittounas led Stevenson with 14 points. The Patriots and Scouts may play each other again next week. Lake Forest takes on Highland Park to open the IHSA Lake Forest Regional on Monday. SHS faces the winner at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the regional semifinals. Stevenson is the No. 1 seed in the Waukegan Sectional. Lake Forest is No. 15 and Highland Park is No. 17. – NFHS Network Replay.

Swimming and Diving Team Heads to State Meet

Senior Topher Stensby will close the books on his stellar Stevenson career this weekend at the Illinois High School Association boys swimming and diving state meet at New Trier High School. Topher is the defending state champion in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, and also won the 50 free in 2017. He is the only boys swimmer in SHS history to win three state championships, and has earned 10 state medals. Only two Patriots have more medals: 2004 graduates Tommy Gregory (16) and Brian Boger (12). Topher will have a chance to add four more medals to his collection. In addition to the 50 and 100 free, he’s also part of two state-qualifying relays: the 200 free and 400 free. The other individual state qualifiers from SHS are senior Joseph Song (200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke); his younger brother, freshman Josh Song (100 butterfly); junior AJ Carollo (100 backstroke, 200 free); junior Jack Zhang (100 backstroke); freshman Jack White (1-meter diving); junior Jake Kim (100 free); seniors Nathan Gates and Ethan Ross (500 free); senior Richard Lee (50 free); and senior Max Ryaguzov (200 individual medley). Stevenson also qualified in the 200 medley relay. The diving preliminaries begin at 9 a.m. Friday, with the swimming prelims following at 3:30. The finals will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday. Results will be available at this website. Saturday’s finals will be streamed live by the NFHS Network.

STUDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

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Sign Up for the Next SHS Blood Drive

The next SHS blood drive will be held Friday, March 15. Students who are 17 or older and weigh at least 110 pounds are eligible. The blood drive will be held during periods 3-8 in the Weight Room (Room 2111). Click here for details and to sign up.

Reminder: Class Colors Day on Friday

Don’t forget to wear your class colors on Friday for Winterfest. Seniors wear green, juniors gold or yellow, sophomores blue, and freshmen red. Faculty and staff will wear pink.

COLLEGE NEWS

The College of Lake County Foundation has added four new scholarships for the 2019-20: The Lancer Scholarship, two Connect to Your Future scholarships, and the “DREAMERS” Scholarship. March 31 is the application deadline. To read more about these scholarships and others, visit clcillinois.academicworks.com.

ATHLETICS

All current students, as well as incoming freshmen, are invited to participate in the Stevenson ice hockey program’s spring-summer program. The focus is development and strength training for the fall season, although games will be played. The program is open to all players, regardless of gender. Stevenson will have one varsity team and one JV team. A second JV team may be added if enough players register. Tryouts are scheduled for March 19 and 21 at Twin Rinks Ice Pavilion in Buffalo Grove. The program commences the week of April 8. Click here for registration and details.

ILLINOIS EDUCATION HEADLINES

Hinsdale chief leaving for Deerfield-Highland Park 113

Western Illinois University enrollment down 14 percent

The 12 cliques found in every high school

Northwestern fraternity suspended for unspecified reasons

SIU to begin new cancer specialist training program

Loyola University employees fight for fresh air in BVM Hall

Streator High will accept Chinese students in August

Chicago charter school teachers laud new contract

Oak Park District 97 staffers take polar plunge for charity

Lebanon High AD donates kidney to freshman son

NATIONAL EDUCATION HEADLINES

The U.S. teaching population is getting bigger, more female

To what extent are districts liable for student safety?