On Tuesday, March 3, JK friends celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday. JKers wore their pajamas and enjoyed hearing Mr. Barton (also in pajamas) read You Can Read With Your Eyes Shut in a large, comfy tent.
Thanks to the JK faculty for reminding us that the wisdom of Dr. Seuss is relevant to the entire ACS community:
"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."
Group Two Maple Tree Tapping
A long-standing ACS tradition continued when Group Two tapped the maple trees in Maple Grove Forest Preserve. Maple tree tapping is a tradition that has existed for over 70 years. During their course of study, Group Two students study the weather and tree structure, drill and insert stiles, and collect and measure the sap from the trees. The Maple tree tapping unit touches every part of the Group Two curriculum.
All of the hard work of Group Two pays off for the rest of the school when the maple syrup is served over ice cream to the other students.
Group Four Celebrates Native American Fair
Group Four students had center stage in the ACS community with the events of Native American Fair on Friday, March 6.
Students worked with partners to represent Native American tribes of the Northeast, Southeast, Great Plain, Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and Arctic regions. The tribes included the Mohawk, Ojibwa, Iroquois, Wampanoag, Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Blackfoot, Sioux, Ute, Zuni, Navajo, Pueblo, Makah, Inupiat, and Inuit.
The all-day event included music, student-produced theatre performances, informational booths, and a philanthropy table that raised $786 for the American Indian College Fund. The quality of the performances and booths by this group of students and teachers was truly outstanding (not to mention the help of the parents).
"Migwetch" (thank you) to all who contributed to this eye-catching and informative event!
Regional Science Fair Results
Twenty-two ACS Group Seven students competed in the Regional Science Fair on Saturday, March 21, at Unity Jr. High in Cicero. Forty-eight schools and 550 projects were judged. ACS students received 19 Outstanding awards, and 17 of the Outstanding qualified for the State Fair in Champaign on May 8 and 9.
State qualifiers were: Kent Hutchison, Ravi Jagadeesan, Yianni Kinnas, Grant Louis, Erik Maday, PJ Maniatis, Drew McKinzie, Serena Patel, Katie Portman, Alexa Simos, Gabby Sims, Stephanie Smick, Sonam Vyas, Aidan Weinberger, Ellen Woods, Meagan Yeh, and Anna Zechel.
Congratulations to all who participated in this year's Regional Science Fair and good luck at state.
ACS Alum Judges Shelter Building
Mr. Schallmoser and Mr. Metcalf posed the following scenario in Middle School PE: You and your group were rafting in southern Mississippi. The waters became too rough and your raft was overturned. You washed ashore and were able to locate 2 members of your group. It is late afternoon and you have no means of contacting rescue. The sun will be going down within the next couple of hours and weather conditions do not look good. Building a shelter is the first priority. The shelter does not need to be permanent, but must protect you and your other group members from the elements for the night. You may only use materials that are found on the ground; do not break branches off living trees. Think about what would be a good place to start this shelter. Think about keeping warm, the wind direction, level of ground, sturdiness, potential threats, and weather.
Mr. Barton and ACS Alum Rhys Louis ('07) helped judge the shelters on teamwork, sturdiness, protection from potential threats, and weather resistance. Rhys, who attended ACS from Group Five to graduation, will attend either Deerfield Academy or Holderness School in the fall.
ACS Alums Named National Merit Finalists at Downers North High School
Three members of ACS Class of 2005 have been named National Merit Finalists at Downers Grove North High School. Jessica Bollow, Austen Mack-Crane and Burke Sims made up three of the eight National Merit Finalists at Downers North, a school of over 2200 students.
In addition to their achievements on the test, Jessica, Austen and Burke participated in the National Honor Society, academic and athletic teams, and community service organizations. While Jessica and Austen are undecided about college, Burke will attend and swim at Stanford University next fall.
The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test -- a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.5 million entrants each year.
Greek Fest
The annual Language Arts festival this year centered around Ancient Greece. In preparation for the Fest, all Middle School students studied Greek myths or read other Greek literature such as The Wanderings of Odysseus, The Birds, or Antigone. While reading literature from Ancient Greece, students also created a variety of projects based on their knowledge of Greece. Projects ranged from creating board games and building chariots for chariot races to learning about Greek food and music as well as Ancient Greek weaponry.
On the day of the Festival, Sixth through Eighth Group students performed scenes from different Ancient Greek plays in front of an audience of ACS parents, students, and faculty. Group Five students performed their version of an "Odyssey Rap." Students, faculty, and parents all enjoyed the day-long festival filled with Ancient Greek performances, games, food, and entertainment!
Math Team Wins IMSA Math Contest
On Wednesday, March 25, Avery Coonley sent 24 students to the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora to compete in the 2009 IMSA Junior High Mathematics Competition. Twenty schools competed for honors. Avery Coonley was placed in the AA Division (the division for large schools). There were approximately 480 individual competitors. ACS sent two teams and an alternate team at both the 7th grade level and the 8th grade level. All students were eligible for individual honors, and two teams at each grade level were eligible for team honors. The students participating at the 7th grade level were: Zoe Briskey, Lauren Burke, Tyler Christian, Chris Dineff, Meena Jagadeesan (a 5th grader), Yianni Kinnas, Jack Larrabee, Drew McKinzie, Conor O'Neill, Katie Portman, Meghana Shownkeen, and Ben Yates. At the 8th grade level were: Ana Carrell, Champ Davis, Conner Fear, Jordan Hank, Rachel Herrup, Miranda Herzog, Karun Koppula, Peter Metros, Gavin Mitchell, Stephen Sullivan and Sonam Vyas.
ACS brought home the overall first place trophy, and in the five categories in which plaques were awarded, ACS brought home four 1st place plaques and one 2nd place plaque. Avery Coonley students earned a total of 677 points.
Congratulations to all the members of the team for ending the competitive math season with a great performance!
ACS Hosts WDESA Girls' Basketball Tournament
The girls' basketball season came to a close at the WDESA tournament held in the ACS gym. Both the Junior Varsity and Varsity lost hard-fought games to Winfield Middle School.
The teams competed hard through the year and showed constant improvement from game one to the end of the season. Congratulations to all the girls who participated in basketball this year.
ACS runners and jumpers will compete in track through April and May.
ACS Alum Member of Indiana State Quizbowl Champion
Andrew Van Duyn ('08, far left in photo) was a member of the Culver Academy Quizbowl State Champion. The championship is Culver's first-ever Quizbowl State title. Van Duyn, from Wheaton, was the only freshman on the Culver team and finished second on the team in points scored per game.
Congratulations to Andrew on the beginning of what is likely to be a very successful Quizbowl career!
Print Page
Email to a Friend
RSS
Group Four students had center stage in the ACS community with the events of Native American Fair on Friday, March 6.
Twenty-two ACS Group Seven students competed in the Regional Science Fair on Saturday, March 21, at Unity Jr. High in Cicero. Forty-eight schools and 550 projects were judged. ACS students received 19 Outstanding awards, and 17 of the Outstanding qualified for the State Fair in Champaign on May 8 and 9. 
Mr. Schallmoser and Mr. Metcalf posed the following scenario in Middle School PE: 
The annual Language Arts festival this year centered around Ancient Greece. In preparation for the Fest, all Middle School students studied Greek myths or read other Greek literature such as T
Andrew Van Duyn ('08, far left in photo) was a member of the Culver Academy Quizbowl State Champion. The championship is Culver's first-ever Quizbowl State title. Van Duyn, from Wheaton, was the only freshman on the Culver team and finished second on the team in points scored per game.