Principal's Blog #9

Dear Mustang Families,

It was exciting to invite the following students to present at our D120 School Board of Education meeting this past Tuesday evening.

• Daniela Chavez '25

• Ronan Gardner '25

• Grace DeMilio '24

• Grace Cordova '25

• Nick Bryan-Boateng '25

• Gael Diaz '25

• Sema'j Newby '24

• Nataly Cisneros '24

• Diya Patel '24

• Animesh Bijawat '24

• Adrian Rosales '24

These students made our D120 Strategic Plan come alive by presenting an overview of the goals within the new strategic plan and sharing their experiences of growth, achievement, and identity. It’s never easy to stand up in front of an audience and give a presentation. Especially when you’re a high school student and you’re speaking to the Board of Education. However, these students did such an amazing job! Great job, Mustangs!

Additionally, MHS wishes to congratulate Rahul Sethna, as he was chosen by the IHSA to be the Country Financial Teacher Spotlight recipient. It is a well-deserved honor for someone who has given much of his time to the community, school, programs, classes, students, and athletes at Mundelein High School. Rahul has established a wonderful culture in water sports here at MHS.

Congratulations Rahul. Mustang Nation is proud of you!

Dr. Alexandria Rios Taylor

Principal, Mundelein High School

847-949-2200 x1257

www.d120.org

ataylor@d120.org

Oct 15 Deadline for Physicals

Oct 17 Class Ring and Letter Jacket Sales Begin

Oct 18 Fall Breakfast

Oct 19 Unity Day / Theme Thursday

Oct 19-20 Parent/Teacher Conferences

Oct 23 HallowSTEAM

Oct 23-31 Red Ribbon Week

Oct 25 Picture Re-Take Day

Oct 25 Student Movie Night

Oct 31 Halloween Wellness Boo Bash

Nov 3 Late Start

Nov 20-24 Thanksgiving Break

Nov 27 Senior Cap and Gown Orders Due

"MHS honors the dedication and hard work of Dr. Alex Taylor for her contributions to the success of our students, staff, and the Mundelein community! The celebration of National Principals Month highlights the importance of strong leadership and the positive impact Principals have on students and their educational journey."

- Dr. Sarah Cacciatore

This week's special stories include...

• Superstitions about Friday the 13th
• How the literacy center can help students
• What art club is all about
• Minute to Win It promotion for the Hoops n Halloween game
• Marching Mustangs preparation for a halftime show

Enjoy your weekend, and stay dry!

On October 5th, the Project Lead The Way classes took a short trip over to William Meyer & Sons to preview careers in manufacturing with a local business. Students witnessed the CAD design process as well as various machining of additive and subtractive manufacturing. Prior to the tour, students were given the opportunity to ask questions of the CEO and business manager, Charlie Meyer.

Charlie Meyer introducing Meyer & Sons Manufacturing

PLTW Students getting a tour of the manufacturing facility

The Jazz Ensemble performed the opening act for the Jazz Consortium Big Band this past Sunday, October 8th at Nellies Gastropub in Palatine. The unique experience gave our students the ability to play for and listen to some of the area’s most talented professional musicians in a real-live gig experience. Come out to hear the Jazz Band’s first concert on November 2nd at 7pm in the MHS Auditorium!

Large Group at Nellie’s

Trombones, Trumpets, and Rhythm Section at Nellie’s

The College of Lake County is pleased to once again offer an opportunity for high school students (grades 9-12) to learn about a Career Pathway through Apprenticeships. Attached are the registration form and photo release form that students need to complete in order to register for one session of the Manufacturing Career Pathways program offered by CLC on October 17-18-19. Follow this LINK for registration and photo release forms.

There are 70 slots available. Students will receive a $50 stipend. Students will need transportation to and from the session site. MHS will assist with transportation if necessary - please contact Mr. Kapotas in the CCRC.

Deadline to register is Thursday, October 6th but space is reserved on a first come-first served basis.

Students can attend only one session, but they can select a second (2) or third (3) choice in case their first choice is filled. Most sessions will have 10-15 students max since they will be in labs.

Here are the programs and dates:

• Automation, Robotics, Mechatronics (ARM) - Thursday, October 19th (Grayslake campus)
• HVAC - Tuesday, October 17th (Grayslake campus)
• Precision Machining Technology (PMT), formerly CNC - Thursday, Oct. 19th (Grayslake campus)
• Industrial Technology (INT), Wednesday, Oct 18th (Advanced Technology Center - Gurnee)
• Welding (WFT) - Thursday, Oct. 19th (Advanced Technology Center - Gurnee)

All sessions will be offered from 4:30 -5:30 PM.

Please follow the links below for more information about the 5 different areas:

• Automation, Robotics, Mechatronics (ARM)
• Industrial Technology (INT)
• HVAC
• Precision Machining Technology (PMT)
• Welding and Fabrication Technology (WFT)

On October 19th MHS will host our own Unity Day by wearing orange to unite together for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion as we increase awareness about bullying prevention. During lunch periods students will have the opportunity to sign the anti-bullying pledge and receive a raffle ticket as a reward for their commitment to kindness, acceptance, and inclusion of other.

Bullying statistics:

• One out of every five (20.2%) students report being bullied. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019 )
• 41% of students who reported being bullied at school indicated that they think the bullying would happen again. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019 )
• School-based bullying prevention programs decrease bullying by up to 25%. (McCallion & Feder, 2013)
• 41% of students who reported being bullied at school indicated that they think the bullying would happen again. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019

DID YOU KNOW?

Children of parents who talk to their teens regularly about drugs are 42% less likely to use drugs than those who don’t; yet, only a quarter of teens report having these conversations. Red Ribbon Week® (October 23-31), the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the nation, is your opportunity to get the ongoing conversation started. This year’s theme is Be Kind To Your Mind. Live Drug Free.™ Visit www.redribbon.org to learn more about Red Ribbon Week® and get tips for talking to your kids about drugs. The life you save may be that of your own child or a dear friend.

At school, students will engage in activities that promote a drug free and healthy lifestyle. Each day of the week there will be a dress up theme and an activity during lunch. The week will culminate on October 31st, when the Wellness Center hosts our first Wellness Boo Bash, where students can dress up and go trick-or-treating around the Commons for resources, candy, and raffle tickets. Please partner with us and discuss this message at home.

Join MHS Staff for another fun month of self-care activities.

Mila Patel leads the AP Chem study group once a week in the Literacy Center. Want to learn tips for an AP class? Hear what students who’ve taken the course are saying by joining a study group.Quesitons? Reach out to Ms. Babowice in the Literacy Center. The schedule and Remind codes for each group is as follows:

Schedule week of 10/16/23

Submitted by Coach Sethna

The Mustang girls swimming and diving team made a huge splash at the Hersey Invite this past weekend! Showcasing their strength and spirit, the ladies powered through the challenging competition to take 6th place overall.

Leading the team were standout performances from our talented athletes:

• Charlotte Oliver - 6th place in diving

• Gracyn Gigiano - 3rd place in the 500 free and 6th place in the 100 fly

• Amelia Willis - 2nd place in the 100 back and 4th place in the 100 free

• Karina Schwalbach - 6th place in the 500 free

• Lauren Tableman, Karina Schwalbach, Gracyn Gigiano, and Amelia Willis - 5th place in the 200 Medley Relay

Lauren Tableman, Ruby Puerzer, Gracyn Gigiano, and Amelia Willis - 6th place in the 400 free relay.

Submitted by Coach Rutz

Friday had the cross country team traveling to Lakes HS for the Sunset Series. A slightly different format requiring more depth. They run 3 flights- the Open, the Gold (team runners 1-5), and the Silver (team runners 6-10). Each flight is scored by itself, and then the Gold and Silver scores are added together to determine the champion.

In each flight we had runners who finished in the top 10. In the Open Nick Schwenk took 3rd. In the Silver Andrew Weaver took 4th in a huge PR, displaying an awesome kick. And in the Gold Tom Russ took 8th in a new PR for him.

In the team results, we took 5th overall out of 14 teams. We took 6th in the Gold (8 points out of 3rd), 5th in the Silver, and a remarkable 3rd in the Open. Lots and lots of fast times, and a lot of happy faces on our runners during the evening.

This Saturday we compete in the NSC Conference Championships at the O 'Plaine Warren HS Campus. We'd love to see everyone come out to support us. The boys' Championship Race starts at 10am. Hope to see you there!

Submitted by Coach Willis

Thank you to all for your support of our Cancer Awareness Night! Whether you have promoted the event on social media, bought a t-shirt, or put together a basket for the raffle, it has been wonderful to see our MHS community come together to support the Lynn Sage Foundation. We are truly grateful to be part of such a caring community!

As the season winds down, Varsity heads to their final regular season invitational on Saturday at Grayslake North where they will play 5 matches. In pool play, we will face Deerfield, Fremd, and Ridgewood.

Finally, please mark your calendar for our last home game against Grant on Monday, October 16, where we will be honoring our senior athletes during the Varsity match. Senior Night will take place at approximately 6:00pm. We would love to pack the gym in support of our seniors! The amount of growth and confidence our athletes, at all levels, have demonstrated this season is remarkable! We are so proud of our Mustangs!

Submitted by Coach Rodriguez

Great sunset after great racing at the Lakes Sunset Invite! 21/22 PRs, with 16 lifetime PRs, 4 season PRs, & 1 course PR! Congrats to Brooklyn for breaking 19 for the first time, and Chloe for breaking 20 for the first time! Great confidence booster before the Conference meet!

Last week’s Runner of the Week: FR Aaliyah Jones! Aaliyah is new to XC this year but has been putting in the work to get better each week! She has shown some leadership skills among the other freshmen and just had a huge PR by 1 minute!

Each week we will feature a student, staff member or department at our school (Or all three at once), to give Mustang Nation a closer look at these wonderful folks! “We are MHS”! To nominate yourself or others for this feature, please email Mr. Gonzalez – hgonzalez@d120.org

The Mundelein Foundation is seeking new members! Do you have one night a month to make a difference? Contact Jennifer for more information on how you can have some fun helping the next generation: 847-987-7955 or brunkow4@sbcglobal.net

ASPIRE

Our MHS Portrait of a Learner tenets affirm student identity through schoolwide values, expectations and practices.

Student Supports

MHS has many supports to offer students. Students can access a quick-reference guide of all supports available on this page. Available is everything from social-emotional support, to financial support. Check it out!

Click here to see all the student support areas we have to offer.

Monthly Building Tours

We are proud to host visitors to learn more about our programming and facilities. In order to minimize the impact on the educational environment, we have chosen to host visitors on select days throughout the school year.

Therefore, to secure a visitation time, please select from the following options so we are able to provide the necessary information and personnel during your visit.

Click here to schedule your tour.

Go Mustangs!

Past blogs are available at:

https://www.d120.org/about-mhs/principals-newsletter/

Email: ataylor@d120.org
Website: www.d120.org
Location: 1359 West Hawley Street, Mundelein, IL, USA
Phone: 847-949-2200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Mundelein-High-School-District-120/100095401983567/
Twitter: @MundeleinHS