As we inch toward the end of the school year and the weather warms, summer is no longer a distant dream. For some students, summer is a time to find joy in the things they love to do. For others, it’s a time to continue their learning or to explore work opportunities. For Ella O’Neall, a graduating senior this year, it’s all of these as she prepares to work as a counselor for Camp Patriot.
“I love summer camp. It was a huge part of my summers growing up, and now I have an opportunity to make someone else’s summer just as good. That’s important to me,” O’Neall says.
For O’Neall, serving as a camp counselor gives her the opportunity to work a summer job and develop her leadership skills. She and other camp counselors collaborate to create and lead engaging programming for K-8th grade kids. Daily activities run the gamut, from art, cooking, dance and drama to music, sports, and STEM. Last summer, O’Neall and her co-counselors set up water kickball — a game that incorporates slip n’ slides into a traditional game of kickball — which campers absolutely loved.
Best of all, through this process, O’Neall hopes to make a positive impact on a young person’s life, just as summer camps of her past have left a positive impact on hers.
To read more about O’Neall’s story, please check out Facebook or Instagram.
Get Your Spirit On, Stevenson! It’s “Spring Fling Spirit Week”
The school year is winding down, but not without plenty of fun activities that will put on just the right kind of exclamation point!
“Spring Fling Spirit Week” is underway with Theme Days each day leading up to a big finale. The week concludes with a jam-packed Friday that includes a PPA Treat Day with free cupcakes, a Pep Assembly in the Stadium and, the topper, Spring Fling, an end-of-the-school-year celebration where students can socialize and build teams to go head-to-head in kickball, ultimate frisbee, volleyball and cricket!
SPIRIT DAYS
Today: Jersey Day
Tomorrow: Beach Day
Friday: Spring Fling Jersey Day Or Stevenson Spirit Wear Day
Statesman Slays First-Ever NISPA Gold Certificate Top Rating
The Statesman, Stevenson’s student news site, regularly wins awards.
But, this one was a first: The Statesman recently learned that it earned the top rating of Gold Certificate For Newspapers in the Annual Northern Illinois Scholastic Press Association’s Newspaper Contest.
Individual results included:
** Blue Ribbon, Advertising: Senior Natalie King
** Blue Ribbon, Editorial Writing: Junior Aayushi Wadhawan for “Survival of the Fittest” editorial in October.
** Blue Ribbon, Photography: Junior Shannon Moser and sophomore Kyla Smith for their photo essay on World’s Fair.
** Blue Ribbon, Team In-Depth: Senior Vaasu Kakuturu, juniors Kelly Liu and Surya Sethi, and sophomore Ava Winber for “Making Ends Meet” feature on economic disparity.
** Blue Ribbon, Feature: Seniors Matt McGowan and Sabrina Xue and juniors Shannon Moser and Sarah Zhang for “COVID Symptoms of Strain.”
** Honorable Mention, Column: Senior Sabrina Xue for “Gender Inequity In Sports.”
** Honorable Mention, Sports Writing: Senior Jasmine Sun and sophomores Elizabeth Yuan and Jenny Huang for “Coaching Potential.”
** Honorable Mention, Graphic: Senior Greycen Ren and juniors Anika Krishnaswamy and Collin Fan for “How SHS Course Proposals Become Classes.”
** Honorable Mention, Breaking News Story: Senior Griffin Brown for “The Lake County Roundtable about COVID.”
Seniors: Last Chance For Cap And Gown Pick-Up Is Today!
Seniors: The last day to pick up your Graduation Cap and Gown is TODAY during all three lunch periods outside of the Student Activities Office.
Catalyst Hosting “Spring Fling” Lunchtime Activity Tomorrow
In conjunction with the fun of “Spring Fling Spirit Week,” Catalyst is staging “ring toss” games in the Wood Commons and the Glass Commons during the lunch hours tomorrow. Students can play the game with their friends while learning about substance use prevention. Candy and Catalyst goodies will be given to all participants!
Interactive Gamers Club Showcasing New Three-Color Decks At Event Tomorrow
The Commander 2022 Pre-Con event, sponsored by the Interactive Gamers Club, will showcase the new three-color Commander Decks. Stop by Room 7116 after school tomorrow to play. The cost is $10 and students must be able to stay until 5:30 p.m. in order to participate. New players are always welcome. Please email RFedewa@d125.org with any questions.
Godoy Takes First In Archery Fundraiser
Congratulations to Nextanali Godoy of the Stevenson archery club, who earned first place in the Female Barebow category at the Aurora Sportsmen Club’s 3D Scholarship Fundraiser Tournament for Scholastic 3-D Archery (S3DA).
Last Day To Pick Up Yearbooks!
It’s here…the 2021-22 Yearbook! Yearbooks will be available for pick-up today during the three lunch periods in the Glass Commons and the College Career Center Lobby. This is the LAST DAY to pick up your yearbook.
Students must have their ID with them to receive their yearbook if they purchased one. If they did not purchase a yearbook, they will be able to at a later date (TBD) at the Patriot School Store.
Badminton State Champs Celebrated Today!
There will, of course, be memories of important games, and crucial points and big wins…and trophy presentations.
But it’s the less obvious moments that Stevenson badminton head coach Grant Johnson will cherish most about the 2022 season, which yielded his program its fourth state championship last weekend. He’s pretty sure his players feel the same way.
“If you ask a lot of the kids, some of their best memories…are just times with the team,” Johnson said. “Riding the bus, or those conversations. The laughs you get, the bonding.
“(After winning state), we had not only our entire group out with us, we also had former players joining us for dinner. That’s where I know that we’ve really crossed that hump from just a bunch of kids getting together to play badminton, to a program. That goes a long way. That carries on. And it’s really become a full-program attitude for us. That’s something we’ve always preached. Even though there’s a lot of individual aspects to badminton, there is certainly a team aspect.”
The entire badminton team was honored by the athletic department before school this morning in Room 6110 for its state championship, won in dramatic fashion at Hinsdale South High School in Darien. The Patriots edged runner-up Fremd by just one-half point. The victory adds to the state championships for the program, which also claimed titles in 2012, 2017 and 2018.
Putting Stevenson over the top this time was the doubles team of Ema Akutsu and Katherine Li, who won the doubles state championship, also with a victory over Fremd.
“If you had talked to people around the state this year (prior to the season), I don’t think they would have given us much of a chance to be walking home with that big (state championship) trophy,” Johnson said. “We had a group of athletes that graduated last year that really were dominant. We had one athlete back this year who had played in any sort of postseason for badminton. So we had to find kids who wanted to be part of it and I think all 14 kids who are sitting here wanted to be a part of it.”
Get Your State Championship Badminton Swag Now!
Another state championship at Stevenson means there’s another opportunity to get some cool state championship gear!
In the wake of the badminton team’s state title over the weekend, orders are now being taken for badminton state championship gear. The deadline to order is tomorrow and all orders will be processed once the store closes tomorrow. Orders will ship to the school/coach unless otherwise indicated. Please allow at least three weeks from the store close date to receive your product.
Come Out And Cheer On Our Water Polo Teams At State…Right Here At Stevenson!
Both the boys and girls water polo teams will be competing in the IHSA State Water Polo Finals this weekend…and they won’t even have to leave the comforts of home.
Stevenson is hosting the Boys State Finals and the Girls State Finals right here at the Stevenson Pool. Tickets are $9 and can be purchased at GoFan for individual games.
Boys water polo quarterfinals begin tomorrow with the Patriots playing their first game at 4:30 p.m. against Lincoln-Way East. Other teams competing at state are: Whitney Young, York, New Trier, Palatine, Naperville North and Lyons. The boys state championship game will be at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Girls water polo quarterfinals begin on Friday with the Patriots playing their first game at 4:30 p.m. against Fenwick. Other teams competing at state are: Chicago Lane, New Trier, Hersey, Lyons, Lincoln-Way East and Naperville North. The girls state championship game will be at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The third place and championship matches on Saturday will be streamed through the NFHS Network.
Athletic Results
Girls Soccer: The Patriots (15-2-1, 6-0-1) won their first playoff game of the season 3-0 against Buffalo Grove. Arria Chavez scored the first goal of the game off a cross from Ellie Egeland. Then, Bella Chavez scored a header goal off a corner kick from Egeland (2). Lastly, Ella Hong found the back of the net off of an assist by Brynn Stein. The Patriots will play in the regional championship at 6:30 p.m. Friday against Hersey in the Stadium.
Baseball: Stevenson (23-9, 8-5) hosted North Suburban Conference rival Libertyville last night and lost 6-4. Daniel Cabrales took the loss for the Patriots, surrendering 6 runs on 9 hits over six innings, striking out 7 batters. Stevenson collected 6 hits and Owen Housinger and Joe Richardson had 2 hits to lead the team. Housinger drove in two runs when he homered in the first inning. Next up for Stevenson is a home game against Whitney Young at 4:45 p.m. tomorrow.
Softball: The Patriots (9-14, 7-8) lost to Libertyville, 4-1. Despite out-hitting Libertyville, the Patriots could not recover from an error made in the second inning. Aubrey Jepson pitched for Stevenson and allowed 3 hits and 4 runs over three innings while recording 2 strikeouts. Olivia Ringham threw three innings in relief. Elle Ruchim led Stevenson with 2 hits in 3 at-bats. Next up for the Patriots is Senior Night against Cary-Grove at 4:45 p.m. tomorrow.
These Middle School Students Have A Warning About Teens And Social Media
Rockwall, Texas is home to the middle-school winners of NPR’s fourth-annual Student Podcast Challenge.The entry, The Worlds We Create, is a funny and sneakily thoughtful exploration of what it means that so many teens today are “talking digitally,” instead of face-to-face.
After Lockdowns, Some Students Found Comfort In Humor. But What Are The Jokes Hiding?
Some students use laughter to cope with a fear-filled reality that is known across the country, sadly, all too well. A podcast called Nervous Laughter — is one of the grand prize winners in NPR’s fourth annual Student Podcast Challenge.
The Week Ahead
Mark your calendars for these events and see the Stevenson Calendar for details on these and future programs.
May 18-20: Spring Fling Spirit Week
May 19-21: IHSA Girls Track & Field State Meet
May 19&21: IHSA Boys Water Polo State Finals
May 20: Pep Assembly
May 20: Spring Fling
May 20: SNN Film Festival
May 20-21: IHSA Bass Fishing State Finals
May 20-21: IHSA Girls Water Polo State Finals
May 21: Allies For Allied Soccer Tournament
May 23: Concert Dance Performance
May 23: Spring Sports Awards
May 24-26: Final Experience
Stevenson Daily Digest 