Now A Published Author, Senior Ally Frank Uses Poetry To Deal With Her Deepest Feelings And Most Complicated Problems
A good cry. A long walk or run. A venting session with a trusted friend. We all deal with our biggest stresses and most complicated feelings in different ways.
Senior Ally Frank’s go-to coping mechanism is writing. Writing poetry, specifically.
“I’ve been writing as a way to release emotions for a very long time,” Frank said.
Since the age of about 11, Frank has been chronicling her most intimate and poignant feelings about the events of her life through poetry. This fall, in her Creative Writing class with Mr. Robert Zagorski, Frank had a poetry assignment that led her to revisit some of those old poems and compile them into a collection with some of her more recent poems.
That was the catalyst for a project that Frank could have never expected: a book. And within just about a month, Frank was suddenly a published author. On Nov. 29, Frank’s book, “late night thoughts & all the things I never said” was officially available for purchase on Amazon.
To read more about Frank’s story and her new book, please click here.
Statesman Represents Stevenson Well At Illinois Journalism Education Association Write-Off
The Statesman had several students compete in the 2021 Illinois Journalism Education Association Write-Off contest held virtually in October. Students were given prompts on the day of the competition and had one hour to complete their entries. The contest was open to all schools in Illinois.
Senior Victoria Feng won first place in News Writing, junior Kelly Liu won third place in Features Writing and junior Aayushi Wadhawan competed in Editorial Writing.
Choir Consortium Concert On Monday Can Be Viewed On Vimeo
Middle school choral students from Stevenson’s Consortium Schools will combine at 6 p.m. on Monday for the Consortium Choral Concert, an informal concert performance. Members of Stevenson’s co-curricular a cappella ensembles (Low Frequency, Nothing But Treble and Polyphonics) will join the middle schoolers from Aptakisic, Daniel Wright, Fremont, Twin Groves, West Oak and Woodlawn for their afternoon rehearsal, while also participating in the concert performance as well. To watch a livestream of the performance, please visit the Fine Arts Vimeo page.
Stevenson Website Is Experiencing Issues
The Stevenson website (d125.org) has been experiencing issues since Wednesday, with spotty performance and functionality. Please be assured that every effort is being made to rectify the situation. If you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to e-mail the Communications Team at: communications@d125.org.
Get Ready For Spring Sports
Don’t forget…Spring is right around the corner…and so is the spring sports season. The athletic department has put together a comprehensive document with information about tryouts, preseason workout schedules and registration for spring sports.
Please note that the first meetings are coming up soon. The girls soccer program is hosting its information meeting for the upcoming Spring 2022 season at 3:45 p.m. today in Room 2004. The boys volleyball program is hosting informational meetings at two times on Monday. Please attend only one meeting: 8 a.m. Monday in Rooms 8046/8048 or 3:30 p.m. Monday in Rooms 1508/1510.
Watch The Patriots On Stevenson’s New YouTube Channel!
Just a reminder: Stevenson Athletics has a NEW YouTube Channel! Don’t miss out on viewing live and recorded athletic events. Click the link here to subscribe now!
Athletic Results
Boys Hockey: In a battle of the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the state of Illinois, the No. 2 Patriots were handed a tough loss by No. 1 Loyola in a final shoot-out. After one period, no goals had been scored by either team. Stevenson was the first to score, with a goal from Alan Wu and an assist from Will Harlow at minute 15:20. In the third period, Andrew Lermer scored at the 10:15 mark with the assist by Wu. Stevenson then tied it up at 8:04 with a goal by Brandon Schultz off an assist by Ethan O’Gradney. Tied 3-3, the game went into a one-period overtime where no goals were scored by either team. That forced a shoot-out that didn’t quite go Stevenson’s way. The Patriots lost 4-3 in a well-fought battle. Next up for the Patriots is a home game against Carmel at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. It’s “Fan Appreciation Night!”
Boys Swimming and Diving: The Patriots traveled to Lake Forest for their second North Suburban Conference matchup of the season and were victorious, 137-49. The Patriots showcased their depth by winning eight of nine individual events with seven different winners. Individual event winners included: Colin Zhang (200 Free and 500 Free), Jonny Farber (50 Free), Jack White (Diving), Michael Wywrocki (100 Fly), Diego Rosario (100 Free), Josh Song (100 Back), and Lance Bi (100 Breast). The Patriots swept all three relays in dominating fashion. Relay winners included: 200 Medley Relay (Josh Song, David Badarch, Jonny Farber and Brandon Xiong), 200 Free Relay (Michael Wywrocki, Kunal Rajadhyax, David Kohan and Colin Zhang), 400 Free Relay (David Kohan, Liam Plautz, Josh Song and Brian Povilus). The Patriots will continue their season at the 56th Evanston Invitational at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Stevenson Alum Aidan O’Connell Living Rags To Riches D-I Football Dream At PurdueIn 2017, Aidan O’Connell, a Stevenson graduate, joined the Purdue Football team as a walk-on and did not see any playing time that season. Since then, O’Connell has made a name for himself in the Boilermaker football community. O’Connell debuted at quarterback for the Boilermakers in 2019, when he appeared in six games and started three. He completed that season with 1,101 yards and 8 touchdowns. However, O’Connell struggled with injuries in 2020 and played in only three games. But 2021 was good to O’Connell and during last month’s Music City Bowl Game, O’Connell became the leader in single-season completion percentage at Purdue, ending the season with a completion rate of 71.8%. O’Connell finished the season with 3,712 yards passing and 28 touchdowns and is set to return in 2022.
Chicago Public Schools Classes Canceled Again As Union, District Fail To Reach Agreement
In an interview with Univision Chicago, CPS CEP Pedro Martinez said the district needs to develop a plan this week on returning to school as the city sees a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The Week Ahead
Mark your calendars for these events and see the Stevenson Calendar for details on these and future programs.
Jan. 10: Consortium Choral Concert
Jan. 11: Incoming Freshmen Parent And Guardian Night Via Zoom
Jan. 11: Sports Boosters Meeting
Jan. 11: BPO Meeting
Stevenson Daily Digest 