Monday’s Varsity Results
Girls Bowling
Zion-Benton 2,078, Stevenson 1,855: Senior Noa Givati led the Patriots with a 401 series and high game of 161 in their season-opening match at Sunset Lanes in Waukegan. Also competing for SHS were seniors Jodi Katti (380) and Reilly Sullivan (372), and juniors Esther Lee (360), Kelly Radelet (342) and Yumin Kim (316).
Quick Hits
Tonight’s varsity and junior varsity girls basketball games against Warren in the Sports Center will be streamed live on Stevenson’s NFHS Network page. The JV game starts at 5:30, followed by the varsity contest at 7 o’clock. … Wheaton College’s football team, which includes defensive lineman Patrick O’Connell (Class of 2015) in the starting lineup, is headed to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals. The Thunder walloped Central College on Saturday, 49-13, improving to 12-0. O’Connell, who helped Stevenson win the state championship in 2014, recorded four tackles, including a sack. Wheaton will play host to St. John’s University of Minnesota on Saturday.
STUDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
O Say, Can You Sing (or Play)?
Sing or play the national anthem this winter at a boys swimming and diving meet. Musicians and singers are needed. If you would like to audition or get more information, contact Coach Lillydahl at dlillydahl@d125.org or stop by Room 2514 before school.
COLLEGE
Juniors are invited to apply for the Stony Brook University Simons Summer Research Program. Applications are available in the College Career Center (Room 1123). Stevenson may nominate up to two students for the program. Students must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, must be high school juniors, and must be 16 by the start of the program to be eligible. The application has an essay requirement and will need to be completed and turned into the College Career Center by Friday, Dec. 13. Click here for more information. Stop by the CCC with any questions.
ILLINOIS EDUCATION NEWS
Ten years ago, states across the country began to embrace Common Core learning standards in public schools. The goal was to raise the bar and level the playing field for schools across the country. But using standardized test scores as an indication, Common Core has fallen short of its original promise in Illinois. Only about one third of Illinois students are hitting the new high bar on state exams that gauge how well students are mastering the Common Core learning standards.
How can Illinois address its growing teacher shortage? State officials say building better preparation programs, streamlining regulations that block people from entering the field, building more diversity among prospective candidates, and doing more to recruit and retain good educators are among the key strategies. One example of molding teachers during their teenage years can be found in Northwest Suburban High School District 214.
The University of Illinois has joined more than 200 higher-education institutions worldwide in a letter declaring a climate emergency ahead of a major United Nations global warming conference in Madrid.
Kevin Blankenship, who oversees two school districts in west central Illinois, has been named the 2020 Illinois Superintendent of the Year by the Illinois Association of School Administrators. Blankenship is the dual superintendent of Scott-Morgan CUSD 2 and Winchester CUSD 1, which serve about 900 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Blankenship is one of only two superintendents in Illinois to lead two unit districts.
NATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS
American students may not be reading any better, but they’re moving up in rankings of educational achievement worldwide because many of their peers in other countries are performing worse. That’s the takeaway from the latest results of the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which seeks to test not only what students know, but whether they can apply that knowledge to solve problems. About 600,000 15-year-old students in nearly 80 nations and educational systems took part in the two-hour computer-based test last year.
A police officer inside Waukesha South High School in Wisconsin shot a 17-year-old student who pulled a gun in a classroom and refused to drop it, according to officials. The suspect, who was taken into custody, was the only person injured in the Monday morning incident, police said.
Reports that a white supremacist manifesto was sent to some Syracuse University students’ cellphones was likely a hoax, the chancellor said last week. The screen was an apparent copy of one written by a man accused of killing 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand.
Stevenson Daily Digest 