Principal's Blog #31

Dear MHS Families,

It was mesmerizing to watch students participate in the solar eclipse on Monday. MHS was not disappointed in the show! Solar sunglasses were provided to students and staff for the 7th period event.

Have a great weekend Mustangs!

Dr. Alexandria Rios Taylor

Principal, Mundelein High School

847-949-2200 x1257

www.d120.org

ataylor@d120.org

Visit the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History to learn more.

MHS is excited for our seniors who participate in the A-Z themed dress-days. To ensure the safety of all our students, please refer to the expectations that were sent home.

We are so excited to be gearing up for El Baile 2024! Get ready for a night in traditional Latin America as this year’s theme is Herencia Hispana!

DATE: Saturday, April 13th from 7-10 PM.

TICKETS: $5 in advance in person and online Online tickets go on sale starting Monday, 4/1 and close the night of Thursday, 4/11. In-Person tickets will be sold near the cafeteria during all lunch periods Monday, 4/8, Tuesday, 4/9, and Friday, 4/12. At the door tickets will be sold for $15! The first 50 students who buy their tickets this year will receive free food and drink vouchers at the dance!

GUESTS: Guests are welcome. Forms will be available in the Deans’ office starting Monday, 4/1 and will be due on Tuesday, 4/9 after school.

The annual Mayor’s Cup STEM Challenge is a great opportunity for Mundelein students to showcase their Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills, earn cash rewards, and have fun in the process! Think critically, work together in teams, test your knowledge, and strengthen your collaborative and social skills. Expect real-world problem solving, hands-on involvement, and out-of-the-box thinking!

Questions? Please contact Jennifer Marshall at 847-949-3225 or jmarshall@mundelein.org

The 2024/2025 parking permit lottery begins Monday, April 15th at 8am and runs until Monday, May 6th at 11:59pm. Seniors and Juniors during 2024-2025 school year are eligible (Sophomores will not be accepted). If your student wants a permit to park on the premises next school year, they will need to register for this lottery. We will not have another lottery during the next school year.

La última sesión de La Universidad de Padres para este año escolar se celebrará este próximo jueves 18 de abril en la cafetería de la escuela, de 6 a 8 p.m. En esa noche, representantes de mano a Mano estarán con nosotros para discutir su programa “Familias Saludables”. Para más información, puede comunicarse con Hector Gonzalez al (847) 949-2200, ext. 1269. Los esperamos.

The last session of Universidad de Padres for this school year will take place Thursday, April 18 from 6-8 p.m. in the school cafeteria. On that night, we will be joijed by representatives from Mano a Mano, who will discuss their ‘Healthy Families Program’. For further information, you may contact Hector Gonzalez at (847) 949-2200 , Ext, 1269. We hope to see you there!

MHS Theatre presents Guys and Dolls!

Location: MHS Theatre

Tickets: $14 for adults, $10 for seniors (65+) and $8 for students/children.

As the weather warms up, it’s time to get outside and get your yards ready for the summer. Our annual Mulch Fundraiser will be on Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28 from 8am-4pm. We will be selling bags out of Sawvell's lot, at the corner of 176 and 60 (Across the street from Crossroads and Walgreens). Bags are $4 each. Yes, we are a little bit more expensive (only about 50 cents after taxes) per bag than that big orange store down the street. You're going to get a better product though, and you're supporting a local Mundelein business and MHS. Now for the best part, no need to get dirty, we will deliver and spread it for you! Email me (don’t reply all), if you would like to place an order.

Not sure if you want to order ahead of time, that’s ok. Since we are using Sawvell’s lot, we should always have what you need available. Feel free to also just drive by and pick up what you need on the day of. I have attached our flier with more info.

If it's not too much trouble I would love for you to help us get the word out. Please share our flier on your neighborhood Facebook groups and any other social media platforms. Please reach out if you have any questions. Thanks for your support.

The College Ambassadors are hosting the Senior Decision Day Celebration on Thursday, May 2, 2024 at 9:30am at the parking lot by the pool!

The 2024 Mundelein High School Prom is quickly approaching! Prom will be held Friday, May 3 from 6:30 PM to 11:00 PM at the Marriott Lincolnshire in the Grand Marquee Pavilion. All Mundelein High School Juniors and Seniors are invited to attend. This year’s theme is A Night Under Lanterns.

Tickets will be sold the week of Monday, April 8th to Thursday, April 18th online through RevTrak on the D120 website. All students must be in good standing in order to purchase tickets. The price per ticket is $85.00.

Click here to learn more.

Click here for the special schedule.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Join us on May 14th at 7:00pm in the Auditorium to celebrate our Senior Class. We have a remarkable senior class and we’re proud to celebrate their impressive and unique accomplishments:

• As outstanding scholars earning top grades and honors

• As stars in art, theater, choir and band

• As accomplished athletes - many in multiple sports - spreading Mustang Pride across the state and country

• As compassionate citizens, demonstrating support for your classmates, the community, and our country

Graduation will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3:00 pm at the NOW Arena, 5333 Prairie Stone Parkway, Hoffman Estates, IL. Seniors need to report to the NOW Arena by 2:00 pm. Students may drive on their own, however bus transportation to the NOW Arena and back to MHS will be available for any students and their families who need it. Information regarding transportation services will be released in the spring.

Tickets and seating: Each graduate will be issued 15 tickets (wristbands) for guest seating. General seating will begin at 2:00 pm.

Congratulations to Freshmen Kevin Ortiz-Campos (Picture below) and Tatiana Sanchez !! We received 34 submissions this week!🙂

On April 6th and 7th our Winter Guard team competed in the Midwest Color Guard Circuit State Championships. They finished the season with two amazing performances and placed 2nd in their class! We are so proud of each and every one of our students for their dedication and hard work throughout the season!

The month of March was Music in our Schools Month and Washington invited our band and choir students to perform for their music classes for the day! Our band and choir students provided an immersive experience for the Washington students; demonstrating the many different instruments in band as well as offerings in both choir and band!

The Mundelein High School chapter of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) attended the annual State Leadership Conference, held April 5-6 in Springfield at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Over 1890 members, advisers, and guests registered for this year’s conference with 1,744 in attendance. A total of 74 chapters from around the State of Illinois had members competing.

There are over 75 competitive events in which students can compete. They include objective tests covering a wide variety of business topics and include Accounting, Cyber Security, Organizational Leadership, Personal Finance, Securities and Investments, and Supply Chain Management to name a few. Role-play events with case studies include Client Service, Help Desk, Hospitality Management, and Sports and Entertainment Management. Computer-skills testing events include Spreadsheet Application and Word Processing; and speaking and interview events include Public Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, and Job Interview. Presentation events Business Ethics, Community Service, Digital Animation, Electronic Career Portfolio, Future Business Educator, Introduction to Business Presentation, Sales Presentation, and Website Coding & Development.

Mundelein High School participants included seniors Animesh Bijawat, Devin Boongaling, Xander Ede, William Fisher, Azael Sanchez, Adrian Rosales and Victoria Zherebna, sophomores Marsha De Quina Tagala, Zachary Glazer, Gabriella Goodson and Bruce Searle, and freshmen Lisa Choi, Alan Fisher, Aidan Hanrahan, Nihal Joshy, Michael Townsend, Anthony Vynnyk and Olivia Wallace. MHS Faculty sponsors Chris Hoster and Paul Franzen also helped organize, supervise and run the media production team for the livestreamed general sessions.

Top 10 finishers at State included the following:

1. Animesh Bijawat, Personal Finance *qualified for nationals*

5. Xander Ede, Website Design

5. Michael Townsend, Client Service

5. Victoria Zherebna, Business Communication

7. Devin Boongaling, UX Design

7. Azael Sanchez, Economics

7. Bruce Searle, Agribusiness

10. William Fisher, Public Speaking

The National Leadership Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida, from June 28-July 2.

Lia Kagan, the current Miss Mundelein, recently competed in the Lake County pageant and was crowned Miss Lake County for 2024!

"We are so proud of Lia for her hard work and dedication to the Village of Mundelein. We are excited for her reign to continue in this capacity and know she will represent Lake County with dignity and poise," said Betty Hurmis, Mundelein Pageant Director.

Currently, Lia is a Junior at Mundelein High School. She is a part of the Mundelein Theatre Advisory Board, serves as a secretary on the Choir Leadership Board, plays bassoon in the Honors Wind Ensemble, plays percussion in the Marching Mustangs, and sings in the Sound Show Choir and Honors Masters Singers, and participates in several theatre productions each school year. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her friends and her family. She lives with her parents, Sheila and Rick, and has one older sister, Sharron, who is in college. She has a dog named Merlin, a snake named Al Dente, and a beta fish named Sheila.

Lia is thrilled to have been selected as the 2024 Miss Lake County for the Lake County Illinois State pageant system and is looking forward to serving Lake County (and Mundelein!) in this role.

She hopes this opportunity will help to expand her platform, Amma’s Answer, which is dedicated to her late grandmother who struggled with Alzheimer’s, through which she is fundraising for Alzheimer’s research.

Quest is proud to be your dining partner and we are committed to providing the best experience possible to every student, including nutritious food, a wide variety of choices, and a seamless dining experience. We wanted to share a few important reminders about the dining program and we welcome your questions and feedback. Click here for more information.

Did you know that you can customize your Mustang spirit wear online? Since 2010, hundreds of items are available to choose from infant sizes to 6XL. Choose embroidery or screenprint, ladies or men’s fit, and front and back printing. You can add custom text to add your name to your shirt. Look at actual garment size (chest, body, and sleeve length) to find the perfect fit. Buy accessories like hats, bags, and luggage tags. All customizable and shipped directly to you! Visit us at mymustangnation.com or linked through the d120.org website.

Each year, the highlight of our graduation ceremony is our student speakers. If you are interested in giving a speech on stage this year, please submit your speech by clicking this link!

• Submission deadline Friday, April 19, 4pm

• Full speech must be submitted in writing

• Maximum speech length is 5 minutes

• Prompt: How has MHS propelled you forward / onward or helped you to ASPIRE (Get creative!)

If your speech is selected, you will then be given a mentor to guide you through the process of refining your speech and preparing you to speak in front of a live audience on the day of graduation.

Click here to see the full schedule of upcoming graduations events.

The Welcome Center is in need of donations to continue assisting those members of our community that are in need. With the fallout from some of our families being displaced recently by inclement weather, those donations are even more important today. We welcome donations of non-perishable food items, personal hygiene items, soaps, detergents and clothing. To help assist those families in need, we are also accepting gift card donations. Please take a minute to watch this video about how The Welcome Center helps our community.

The Wellness Center team is proud to share Mental Health Must-Haves for Mundelein Mustangs, a resource packet filled with tips and tricks to manage emotions and stress, regulate thoughts and anger, improve self-love and self-confidence, increase executive functioning, and enhance overall self-care.

Take a moment to review the April self-care check list.

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

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.

This annual event provides our freshman and sophomore students and their families with information about the resources available at MHS and some things to consider early on as you plan to attend college in your future.

Register here!

Seniors- did you procrastinate on completing applications, have you changed your mind about the colleges that you applied to in the fall, or are you just looking for additional options after graduation? Join us in the CCRC to meet with college representatives from schools that are still admitting students for the fall of 2024!

The College Ambassadors are hosting the Senior Decision Day Celebration on Thursday, May 2, 2024 at 9:30am at the parking lot by the pool! We want to celebrate all post-high school decisions: 4-year college, 2-year college, military, trade school, or going straight into the workforce. Seniors are encouraged to wear something representing their decision or direction!

Experiential Education describes all opportunities offered to students to give them a chance to explore the world of careers and professions. These include classes like Dual Credit Student Internship, Business INCubator, and Geometry in Construction as well as career treks and featured guest speakers.

Athletics Events week of 4/15/24

Submitted by Coach Booth

Congratulations to the Varsity for their 2nd place finish at the Maine East water polo tournament on Saturday April 6th.

Submitted by Coach Dayton

The Girls JV1 soccer team enjoyed Culver's Frozen Custard after a recent win that raised their season record to 8-1. The girls hope to continue their winning ways as they begin play in the North Suburban Conference next week.

Submitted by Coach Mahoney

With weather disrupting the first week of competition, the girls track and field team was finally able to open the outdoor portion of the season on Monday, April 5th. In a meet against both Waukegan and Zion-Benton, the team showed a number of strong performances across the board. The Mustangs also came away from the meet with team wins over both Waukegan and Zion-Benton. This strong start is just the beginning for outdoor and it will be exciting to see the athletes continue to grow. Be sure to come out to MHS on Monday, April 15th for our home meet against Lake Zurich!

Submitted by Coach Billock

On April 6th and 7th our Winter Guard team competed in the MidWest Color guard Circuit state championships. We finished our season with two beautiful performances and placed 2nd in our class. I am so proud of each and every one of these students for their dedication to this sport.

Submitted by Coaches Willis

It has been a busy week! With 3 levels playing in tournaments this past weekend, there has been a lot of MHS volleyball! Congratulations to the Varsity for taking 2nd place at the Deerfield Quad going 2-1 on Saturday! JV took 2nd at the Libertyville tournament going 4-1, and the Frosh/Soph team took 2nd at the Lake Forest Tournament going 3-2 for the day. This week Varsity earned a nice win against Wheeling on Monday night in 3 sets. Looking to the week ahead, all levels hit the road again for some exciting matches: the Varsity team will play 5 matches at the Lake County Tournament on Friday evening/Saturday morning. JV heads to the Barrington Tournament on Saturday for 5 games. And the Frosh/Soph team goes to the Libertyville Invitational, also for 5 games. Our Freshman head to Lake Forest on Monday the 15th while all other levels play at Antioch. On Wednesday, April 17, all levels travel to Stevenson for one of the most anticipated matches of the season. Please come out and support your Mustangs. It is going to be an exciting week!

Submitted by Coach Ryan

The MHS softball team traveled to Glenbrook South for a doubleheader this past Saturday. Shae Johnson and Sophia Zepeda led the Mustangs on the mound, striking out a combined 19 batters. We opened conference play on Monday against a good Stevenson team. The Mustangs took the victory, 11 - 4 in 7 innings. Freshman Taylor Pyke hit her first homerun of the season. On Saturday, April 20th beginning at 10 a.m., we will be hosting a "Community Day" with MBSA. We would love to invite the community, especially future Mustang softball players, to attend and meet our outstanding student athletes.

Submitted by Coach Rutz

Saturday Boys' Track was at Schaumburg for an invitational, and the weather actually cooperated with us. We kept all the freshmen and sophomores down and had some great results.

At the F/S level, we took 4th out of 8 teams with 67 points, just 1 point out of 3rd. The meet started with a bit of a surprise, as the 4 x 800 relay took 2nd, The foursome of Kessler Magrow, Mason McMurray, Delmar Mena, and Arturo Vargas all ran great, and got us 8 points for their efforts. The 4 x 100 relay of Aubre Booker, William Cunliffe, Riley Murphy, and Kadin Toussaint followed that with a 6th place finish. Next up came our first win, as Nathan McCreight led from wire to wire in the 3200, in a time of 10:28.02. Our next points came in the 800, where Izic Miller and Andrew Weaver went 1-2 in 2:04 and 2:09. The 4 x 200 relay of Jared Alba, William Cunliffe, Arturo Vargas and Riley Murphy contributed another 6th place. The final event on the track provided another surprise, as the 4 x 400 relay of Andrew Weaver, Kadin Toussaint, Izic Miller, and Jared Alba took 1st. Andrew's leadoff leg put us in the lead, and the rest of the relay refused to give it up, for a really great win.

In the field events, Michael Pacella took 3rd in the Pole Vault. In the throws, Marco Toledano scored in both events, taking 5th in the Shot Put, and 6th in the Discus. The scoring finished with Kadin Toussaint and Michel Pacella going 3-4 in the High Jump. Great job by the entire F/S squad!

At the Varsity level, we started our scoring in the 3200, as Alberto Diaz took 5th in a good field with a fine time of 9:59. Julian Eagar began his really good day by taking 3rd in the 100, with a great opening time of 11.31. Julian followed that up with a 5th place finish in the 200, with another good time of 23.22. Julian scored in a third event when he took 4th in the High Jump with a PR of 5'10". Maddux Hermestroff added a 6th in the High Jump when he cleared 5'8, also a PR. The 4 x 400 relay of Connor Tector, Adam Hauf, Alberto Diaz (in his 3rd event of the day), and Drew Patrick took 6th. On the day, Julian scored 12 of our 15.5 Varsity points.

The weather held out Monday for our only home meet of the season, and our guys responded with victories against Waukegan and Zion-Benton. Some of the highlights-

Wins by the 4 x 800 relay and the 4 x 400 relay, the latter with a season best time of 3:40.

Alberto Diaz won the 800 in a PR of 2:09.

Izic Miller won the 1600 in 4:50, followed by Logan Ramirez and Andrew Weaver in 2nd and 3rd.

A 1-2 finish in the Pole Vault by Nico Osorio and Michael Pacella.

1-2 finishes in both the Shot Put and Discus by William Vilchynskyy and Marco Toledano, with PRs by both in the Shot.

A 2-3 finish in the Triple Jump by Andrew Patrick and Ethan Connelly.

And did anyone have a better day than senior Julian Eagar? Still pretty new to the High Jump, Ethan won with a leap of 6'. He followed that up with his first ever attempt at the 300m hurdles, taking 3rd with a great rookie time of 45.15. All I can say is WOW!

I also want to mention the new Facebook page, the Mustang Sports Page. They were out supporting our team and posted a ton of pictures from the meet. I urge you all to Like and Follow them, I think it's great!

Next up- the Lane Tech Pizza Battle Thursday night at Lane Tech. A great meet in a great facility. Hope to see you all there!

Student Registration opened February 1, 2024. All students must register yearly. Visit our registration page for more information: https://www.d120.org/resources/parents/registration-2/

The 2024/2025 Early Registration Fee item has been added to PowerSchool fee accounts for the Class of 2026, 2027, and 2028. If you choose to pay the Registration Fee by May 1st, 2024, you will receive the $25 discount, currently applied in PowerSchool.

Starting May 2nd, the discount will be removed and the regular Registration Fee of $275 will be listed. Please know that all prior Registration and Course fees must be paid off before paying the Early Registration item.

If you have any questions, please reach out to KC Olson in the MHS Payment Center at kolson@d120.org.

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Past blogs are available at:

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

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