Principal's Blog #11

Dear Mustang Families,

It’s been a thrilling week at MHS!

• Our MHS students, Science Department, and club sponsors hosted HallowSTEAM at MHS. It was a haunting and spooktacular evening filled with ghostly experiments and creepy crawlers.

• Our fall play, Lost Girl, directed by Jonathan Meier, tells the story of Wendy Darling in the years following her adventure with Peter Pan. Their shows continue this evening and weekend: October 27 & 28 at 7:30 p.m.

• Town Hall – We welcomed community members to learn about the proposal being considered to bring MHS up to modern educational standards. Our next Town Hall is Wed., Nov 1 at 6:30pm. More info can be found here.

• Our AVID families were welcomed to AVID parent night where they learned about college opportunities, FAFSA applications and how students can begin preparing for their postsecondary adventures.

• Our MHS Adaptive PE Basketball team just scored a victory over Warren High School!

Well done, Mustangs!

Dr. Alexandria Rios Taylor

Principal, Mundelein High School

847-949-2200 x1257

www.d120.org

ataylor@d120.org

Our Finance & Facilities Committee, in conjunction with our School Board, has been working on a plan to address the current and future needs of our high school. The next Town Hall Meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1 in the MHS auditorium. You’re encouraged to attend.

We also have updated information available on our website: d120.org/mhs-facilities/ as well as a mailing and fact sheet for all registered voters in District 120 (see below).

We’ll do our best to keep you informed and answer all of your questions along the way.

Filipino American History Month

"Filipino Americans are the second-largest Asian American group in the nation and the third-largest ethnic group in California, after Latinas/os and African Americans. The celebration of Filipino American History Month in October commemorates the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the continental United States, which occurred on October 18, 1587, when “Luzones Indios” came ashore from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Esperanza and landed at what is now Morro Bay, California."

The Filipino community has a long and storied history in the United States. Click here to learn more.

Text: Filipino American National Historical Society

Image: University of Washington

Dia de los Muertos

"Día de los Muertos acknowledges the symbiotic relationship between life and death. El día de Los Muertos is celebrated on November 1st and November 2nd, in which the spirits of the dead are believed to return home and spend time with their relatives on these two days. To welcome them, the family build altars in their honor. These altars have a series of different components that vary from one culture to another that mostly include yellow marigolds, candles, photos of the deceased ones, papel picado or cut tissue-paper designs, as well as food and beverages offerings for the dead."

Text:The Mexican Museum, In Association with the Smithsonian

Image: Seattle Artist League

Jonathan Pruc and Kevin Shifley presented at the Illinois Arts Education Association state-level event in St. Charles, IL on Friday, October 20th to a full room of fellow educators on the topic of, “How to make the Visual Arts more Visual.” Mr. Pruc went on to win 1st place in the Arts Exhibition! We are proud of our Fine Arts Team here at MHS!

The Honors Jazz Ensemble performed at the Jazz Showcase on Monday, October 23rd with the renowned Bob Lark Alumni Band to standing ovations from a packed house! Kudos to Andy and Jerry on their hard work with our Band students!

Thank you to all of the families who came out to MHS on Monday October 23rd for our HalloSteam event. This year we had over 170 kids from the community come and celebrate making this our biggest HallowSteam ever! We look forward to seeing you all again next year!

Oct 31 Halloween Wellness Boo Bash

Nov 3 Late Start

Nov 20-24 Thanksgiving Break

Nov 27 Senior Cap and Gown Orders Due

Halloween Costumes: Halloween is Tuesday, 10/31. Although costumes are permitted, please keep in mind that the following will not be allowed:

• Full face paintings or face-masks (all student and staff must be identifiable)

• Weapons nor their look-alikes

• Fake blood and/or gore

• Costumes that disrespect other cultures, genders, races, or religions

Monday- Wear a mustache

Tuesday (Halloween)- Costume

During the week of November 6-10 Mundelein High School will be honoring all of our military branches during our annual Military Week. This week will highlight ways that students can choose to further their education while serving their country along with thanking our military veterans for their service. Please read on to learn more about the events we will be offering.

Students are asked to pre-register for any event they would like to attend in their Naviance account. Registration will occur the same way it does for any college visit. After logging in, select “Colleges” at the top of the screen. Then select “College Visits” and scroll to the event you would like to attend. Click “Register” and confirm your registration! Be sure to put a reminder in your calendar so that you don’t miss it. Head straight to the CCRC (B105) at the beginning of the class period and your attendance will be excused.

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

Schedule week of 10/30/23

Submitted by Coaches Willis

The Girls Volleyball season has come to an end with a tough loss to Jacobs at Jacobs High School in the IHSA Regional Match on Tuesday. We ended the season 20-13. We are so proud of our Varsity team and all our athletes who have worked hard this season! We are proud of the growth they have made, their dedication to the sport, and their commitment to each other. Next week, we will have our Awards program to honor that hard work and commitment that our Mustangs have made this season. We are grateful for the support that the student body, staff, and the Mundelein community showed toward all of our teams. We are already looking forward to next season. Go Mustangs!

Congratulations to Maggie O’Brien for receiving the NSC sportsmanship award.

Submitted by Coach Rodriguez

Great practice at the Regionals course followed by a fun team dinner!

Beautiful sunset after a great 1 Mile time trial on the

track! 5 out of 7 lifetime bests and 2 more almost lifetime bests!

2 Course Bests and 1 Season Course Best at Regionals! CONGRATULATIONS to Brooklyn D’Ambrosio on qualifying for Sectionals! A multi-season goal came true!

Last week’s Runner of the Week: SO Brooklyn D’Ambrosio! Brooklyn has been working all year to improve & achieve her goals of being All-Conference & qualify for Sectionals! She is the epitome of doing the right thing even when no one is looking & always has a positive attitude!

Submitted by Coaches Dayton and Falinski

MHS Athletic Director, Troy Parola, celebrates another successful season for the MHS boys soccer program. The varsity boys finished with an overall mark of 10-9-4. The record earned the team a 2nd place finish in the very competitive North Suburban Conference. Head Coach Sebastian Felinski was very complimentary of this year's team saying "This is one of the most technically gifted teams I have coached. I expect we will begin hearing about college commitments very soon and no one should be surprised when we hear about the great things they are doing in college."

Submitted by Coach Rutz

Saturday we started on the road to Peoria and State at the Grant Regional. We fell short of qualifying the team for Sectionals by 12 points (13 points out of 5th), taking 7th with 153 points. We were led by Senior Tom Russ in 20th place. Sophomores Nathan McCreight and Elijah Mendoza took 24th and 25th. Freshman Izic Miller took 29th, with sophomores Nathaniel Mendez and Andrew Weaver taking 55th and 69th, and junior Logan Ramirez taking 72nd. Russ, McCreight, and Mendoza all qualified for Sectionals next Saturday at Busse Woods as individuals. Congrats to Tom, Nathan and Elijah on qualifying for Sectionals, hope to see everyone there!

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