Downers Grove Woman's Club Junior High Art Contest
NASA Scientist Addresses Group Five
Science Fair Results
Group Seven Visits Fermilab
Illinois MathCounts Finishes 2nd in Nation
Students Participate in North-South Foundation Competitions
Group Three Fifth in Nation in Word Masters Challenge
Alums Named to All-State Academic Team
Student Council Recap
P.E. Program Receives Blue Ribbon Award
Whiffenpoofs Visit ACS
Yale University a capella group, the Whiffenpoofs, visited ACS on Friday, April 23 for a special gathering. Founded in 1909, the Whiffenpoofs consist of 14 Yale seniors and are the nation's oldest collegiate a capella group.
During their visit to ACS, the Whiffenpoofs invited crowd participation and even had one student stand in for a singer while he took a break in the crowd. Highlights of the show included the traditional "Whiffenpoofs Song" and the crowd-favorite, "All I Want to Do Is Eat Your Brains."
Busy Month in Group Two
Group Two students had a busy April.
Group Two finished first regionally in the Second Grade division of the Continental Math League competition. Nationally, the class tied for third place out of 266 schools. Neha Ramani, who received perfect scores on all three meets, was recognized as a National Student Leader.
On April 20, Group Two students were joined by Madam. Clivaz for their annual "Canadian Tea." Students were served English breakfast tea and French pastry cookies in recognition of the strong British and French influences that shaped Canada.
Students performed the play Stone Soup on April 27. Stone Soup tells the story of a group of soldiers seeking food and shelter in a village. When the villagers refuse to share their food, the soldiers create their own "stone soup" that becomes the talk of the town. The villagers eventually join the soldiers and together they cook a wonderful stew to be shared by all -- showing that everybody achieves more when all parties contribute.
Students Recognized at Downers Grove Woman's Club Junior High Art Contest
Several ACS students were awarded prizes at the Downers Grove Junior Woman's Club Junior High Art Contest.
Natalie Heniff (Group Seven), Katie Portman (Group Eight), Alexa Simos (Group Eight), and Amanda Walsh (Group Seven) were award recipients.
NASA Scientist Paul Tompkins addressed Group Five students during a teleconference on May 6. Tompkins attended ACS for two years before moving to California but he remains a close family friend of music teacher Ms. Blum.
Tompkins was the Flight Lead on NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCRSS) mission. The LCRSS mission objective was to crash a vehicle into the poles of the moon looking for signs of water. Students learned how the LCRSS module was designed, attached to a larger rocket, sent into orbit, and eventually crashed into the moon. Images of the particles kicked up in the crash were analyzed, and eventually water was discovered!
Group Seven scientists participated in the State Science Fair in Champaign on May 7 and 8. Students participated in one of two sessions: project or paper. ACS results were impressive:
Project session: 7 Gold 7 Silver
Paper Session: 6 Gold 1 Silver
Two students received special mention for their work. Out of 50 special awards given from 1000 projects, Amberly Petkus received an award from the American Zoological Society, and Ellie Metros took the best in category for Health Sciences.
Group Seven Students Visit Fermilab
Group Seven students visited Fermilab on April 20. The trip complemented their study of the atom. While there, students learned about particle physics, viewed portions of particle accelerators, and met with a scientist for a Q & A.
Illinois MathCounts Team Finishes 2nd in Nation
The Illinois MathCounts team finished 2nd in the nation at the Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Orlando, FL. Group Eight student Ravi Jagadeesan was a member of the Illinois team and finished 21st in the individual competition, the 2nd highest finisher from Illinois.
Congratulations to Ravi and the other members of the Illinois MathCounts team!
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Several ACS students participated in academic competitions sponsored by the Illinois Chapter of the North - South Foundation.
Intermediate Science Bee Sanjana Ramrajvel (Group Four) -- 3rd Place
Junior Essay Writing Sanjana Ramrajvel (Group Four) -- 1st Place
Junior Spelling Bee Ananya Asthana (Group Two) -- 2nd Place
Junior Vocabulary Bee Ananya Asthana (Group Two) -- 2nd Place
Math Bee Level 1 Visagan Subramanian (Group One) -- 2nd Place
Math Bee Level 2 Sanjana Ramrajvel (Group Four) -- 3rd Place
Congratulations to Ananya, Sanjana, and Visagan!
Group Three Finishes 5th in Nation in Word Masters Challenge
Group Three won 5th place in the nation in the year-end standings for the Word Masters Analogies Challenge. Two ACS students finished in the top 20 out of 5880 students who participated in the Gold Division. Congratulations to Group Three on your outstanding accomplishment.
Alums Named to All-State Academic Team
ACS alums Robert Kyle Hutchison, Elizabeth McKay, and Vinay Nayak were named as finalists on the Chicago Tribune All-State Academic team. Ten winners were chosen out of 265 top students nominated by their principals, with finalists named across seven regions.
Click here to read the Tribune article about the All-State Academic team.
Student Council Recap
The Student Council has had a busy spring, supporting a number of service projects and participating in leadership activities that will lay the foundation for our work next year. In February, members presented information about the organization Malaria No More and raised enough money to purchase 24 mosquito nets, each of which will protect a family of 4 for one year. That same month, money raised through hot chocolate sales and candy grams was combined with money raised by the PE department, resulting in $2000 being sent to Haiti relief. $1000 of that amount was allocated for PUR water filtration packets, and $1000 went to Feed My Starving Children to provide thousands of nutritious meals.
In April, attention turned to the IAJHSC Convention, held in Springfield, IL on April 16 and 17. ACS sent twenty delegates this year: Ravi Jagadeesan, Katie Portman, Anisha Nallakrishnan, Jack Larrabee, Andrew Wiggin, Kent Hutchison, Stephanie Smick, Grant Louis, Zoe Briskey, Alexa Simos, Yianni Kinnas, Anne Richter, Zachary Kennedy, Meena Jagadeesan, Elise Glaser, Dana Platt, Malika Ramani, Tristan Jahn, Emma Mueller, and Madeline Cohen. They were among 943 delegates from all over the state. ACS donated $750 of the $16,000+ state-wide donation to Ronald McDonald House charities, which will be used for the new facility currently under construction in Chicago. Enough aluminum pop tabs were collected to provide another $2500 for that charity. Other convention activities included a motivational speaker, election of district representatives, sharing of ideas with other councils, and opportunities for socialization. A highlight of the weekend for ACS was being recognized as an Honor Council for the 9th consecutive year. While in Springfield, the group also took advantage of the opportunity to tour the beautiful Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. The Council is most grateful to the parent drivers, without whom the trip would not have been possible: Dawn Hogan, Jennifer Larrabee, Kevin Kennedy, and Jill Mueller.
On Tuesday, May 18, officers for the 2010-2011 school year were elected, and the group of Representatives-at-Large and General Assembly members was also set. They are: President - Anisha Nallakrishnan; Vice-President -Andrew Wiggin; Corresponding Secretary - Amanda Walsh; Recording Secretary - Meena Jagadeesan; Treasurer - Madeline Cohen; Representatives-at-Large - Zachary Kennedy, Anne Richter, Elise Glaser, Mahesh Kumar, Malika Ramani; General Assembly - Amberly Petkus, Emma Mueller, Tristan Jahn.
ACS Group Five students with Fifth Graders from St. Joe's in Downers Grove.
P.E. Program Receives Blue Ribbon Award
The Avery Coonley School Physical Education program was named a "Blue Ribbon Program" by the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (IAHPERD) on Monday, May 3. Avery Coonley is the first private school to receive this honor and one of only three kindergarten through grade eight schools in Illinois to be recognized by the IAHPERD Blue Ribbon Committee.
In order to receive the Blue Ribbon Award, PE programs are evaluated on curriculum, instruction, enrichment, facilities, finance, safety, and administration. After a period of self-evaluation based on state and national PE standards, representatives of IAHPERD visited Avery Coonley to meet with teachers, staff, parents, and students. Blue Ribbon Chair Chris Beese said, "As a recipient of this award, the Avery Coonley School will be a model of excellence in the state and provide encouragement for all schools in their pursuits to develop rigorous and effective physical education programs."
Be sure to check the next issue of The Avery Coonley School Magazine for an article about the P.E. Department.
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NASA Scientist Paul Tompkins addressed Group Five students during a teleconference on May 6.
Group Seven students visited Fermilab on April 20. The trip complemented their study of the atom. While there, students learned about particle physics, viewed portions of particle accelerators, and met with a scientist for a Q & A.
The Student Council has had a busy spring, supporting a number of service projects and participating in leadership activities that will lay the foundation for our work next year. In February, members presented information about the organization Malaria No More and raised enough money to purchase 24 mosquito nets, each of which will protect a family of 4 for one year. That same month, money raised through hot chocolate sales and candy grams was combined with money raised by the PE department, resulting in $2000 being sent to Haiti relief. $1000 of that amount was allocated for PUR water filtration packets, and $1000 went to Feed My Starving Children to provide thousands of nutritious meals.
The Avery Coonley School Physical Education program was named a "Blue Ribbon Program" by the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (IAHPERD) on Monday, May 3. Avery Coonley is the first private school to receive this honor and one of only three kindergarten through grade eight schools in Illinois to be recognized by the IAHPERD Blue Ribbon Committee.