October 2012
Glenbrook South H.S. | Connections
College Report- 2012
More than 94 percent of Glenbrook South's graduating class of 2012 is pursuing higher education this fall at 149 campuses throughout the nation and select parts of the world.
GBS College Day 
Oakton Community College, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois at Chicago remain the top three college choices selected by the former Glenbrook South students.
 
Some of the other top selected colleges or universities include Illinois State, DePaul, Loyola, University of Missouri, Indiana University, Marquette, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Purdue, Lake Forest and University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Of the 94.2 percent of 2012 graduates attending college, 85 percent are in the Midwest - 61 percent of them in Illinois. Eight graduates are attending overseas in the following countries: England, Antigua, Korea, India, Israel, Poland and Scotland.

Four GBS graduates also were accepted into Cornell, Princeton and Yale. Ten have entered the military, one in Korea, seven have gone to work and another seven are taking a GAP year - two of those will be overseas.

Additionally, three graduates also enrolled in career/technical education and 27 reported that they are participating in college athletics.
Calendar Highlights
 
October
1-6  Homecoming Week (see article)

11  Junior Parent Night I

17  Student Late Arrival, 10 a.m. PSAT Testing

22  Board of Education meeting, 7 p.m. @GBS

22-26  Red Ribbon Week

24  Parents' Assoc. Mtg.,
7 p.m.

CHOICES @ Maine South

24-27  Fall Play

30  String Strings Concert, 7:30 p.m. @GBN
GBS News Update
Homecoming 2012: South Goes Old School 
Glenbrook South is going "old school" and taking students back to their childhood days filled with cartoons, board games and candy.

Homecoming week runs from Monday, October 1 through Saturday, October 6. Monday officially kicks off the week with float building in the Autos Courtyard from 3:15 to 9 p.m. Construction will continue throughout the week up to Friday at 11 p.m.
GBS Homecoming
 

On Friday, the street dance will take place from 7 to 11 p.m. in the Autos Courtyard. The pep rally will follow at 9 p.m. in the Main Gym.

The homecoming parade kicks off at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Different from past years, Glenbrook South will also host the first Mama Glass 5K Spirit Run/Walk following the parade at noon. The event will take place at GBS on the new titan track and celebrate the iconic figure. Family and alumni are welcome. Click here to download a registration form.

The Titan Tailgate Party also will be held in the West Cafeteria from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. All are welcome. GBS varsity football will play Waukegan at 1:30 p.m.

The homecoming dance, themed "Sweet Dreams," runs from 8 to 11 p.m. in the Main Gym.

Dress is semi-formal (sport coat and tie for guys; semi-formal for girls-no jeans). Those not appropriately dressed will be turned away. Bid price is per couple is $15 with activity pass; $18 without activity pass; $20 at the door. Single tickets are $7.50 with activity pass; $9 without activity pass; $10.00 at the door.

Parents are encouraged to chaperone buses and large limos, although most couples do not use limos. For student safety, all vehicles are subject to search. It is customary for boys to provide girls a corsage.

The dance is chaperoned by GBS staff, and school rules apply. Parents are advised to verify supervision at pre- or post-dance parties. The Glenview curfew for age 16 and under is midnight. Please enter through West Lake Avenue stoplight; all other entrances will be closed.
Junior Parent Night
Juniors and parents of juniors should mark their calendars for Thursday, October 11. The first Junior Parent Night for parents and students will take place at 7 p.m. in the Norman B Watson Auditorium.

Speakers from the University of Illinois-Urbana, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Oakton Community College will present "Examining the College Experience." Learn first hand how to get a head start on what to consider when choosing a college. All junior students and their parents are invited to attend.
Parents/guardians can now view their student's daily attendance online through the same parent portal used to access grades. Click here, or go to the GBS website at http://www.glenbrook225.org/gbs, click on the "Parents" tab at the top of the page and then click on "Homelogic." A few reminders regarding this process:

1.      If there is a discrepancy with your student's attendance please contact the individual teacher and have them contact the attendance office to correct the issue.
2.      Parents/guardians have until the end of the next school day to contact the attendance office and excuse their student's absence.
3.      If a student is more than five minutes late to a class, the student will be marked absent per Board policy.
4.      If your email address has changed or if you have not provided one to the school, please call (847) 486-4535 to update that information as attendance issues will be communicated via email whenever possible.
National Merit Semifinalists, Commended 
Seven students from Glenbrook South have been named National Merit Semifinalists and 22 have been named Commended Students.  

National Merit Semifinalist students include: Austin Bream, Steven Kim, Matthew Park, Dina Peck, Faith Savaiano, Kaitlin Sontag and Elizabeth Woo. They join the nationwide pool of semifinalists that represent less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and include the highest- scoring entrants in each state.

National Merit Commended students include: Gregory P. Abbott, Douglas G. Chan, Christopher Chu, Tamara M. Craven, Joshua Dein, Ellen Hirsch, Timothy J. Hofmockel, Avraham S. Kahane, Brandon C. Loebbaka, Rebecca L. Naal, Leah M. Perri, Alison D. Pigott, Evan J. Richter, Jordan A. Scherer, Zoe L. Shancer, Ethan M. Spalding, Ben E. Thompson, Isabelle B. Uhl, Jeremy D. Vollen, Nicolette C. Wells, Arthur T. Binstein and Gabriella R. Barnas.

About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and their high school must submit a detailed scholarship application in which they provide information about the semifinalist's academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, and honors and awards received. A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test.

From the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of finalists.
A school within a school: The Glenbrook Academy 
Across District 225 on August 23, students filled the halls of Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South high schools for the first time after a particularly challenging summer.
Glenbrook Academy
Glenbrook Academy Program Director Matt Whipple speaks to students on the first day of school.

The months usually consumed with vacations and relaxation had been broken up by a handful of inexplicable events that touched the lives of many in the Northbrook and Glenview communities.   

So on the rainy Thursday morning, as students of the Glenbrook Academy of International Studies gathered in the Student Activities Center at GBS, they were greeted with a personal story from the program's director Matt Whipple about the strength of the Glenbrook community.

I've spent more than half my life here and it took me 28 years to have a tough (year)," he said while speaking about the recent loss of four of his family members.   "And the beauty of being here during that time was I had a lot of good friends in this building...people I knew well. I also had a lot of people I didn't necessarily know well, but I developed a respecting relationship with them. And I could count on them even if I didn't call them my closest friends."

Founded in 1981, the Glenbrook Academy of International Studies is a nationally recognized program that links the teaching and learning of English, foreign language, and social studies to help provide students with a more global understanding of international issues.

For more on the Glenbrook Academy, click here.
GBS hosts mock election

Many students at Glenbrook South may not be of legal voting age, but on Monday, October 8 they will have a chance to cast their ballots.

 

In conjunction with the League of Women voters, GBS will hold its own mock election. Throughout the school day, students will visit the Adams Resource Center where they can vote for their favored presidential candidate and several local, state and federal races. Students will also vote on a referendum that, if approved, would restrict the amount of campaign donations given to candidates.

 

On October 4 and October 5, student representatives will visit each social studies class to speak in favor of presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney and present both sides to the referendum question. Four students will visit each class to give their two-minute persuasive speeches.

 

"Through this activity, I hope my students learn more about the two presidential candidates and also about campaign financing.  It will also help develop their public speaking skills," said Social Studies David Kane, who is helping organize the election. "I think the general student body will get a chance to hear about the candidates and the referendum and be in a better position to make an informed vote."

 

GBS will also host a voter registration drive that day through the League of Women voters.  There will be flyers placed throughout the building and announcements made for the voter registration.

Students lead beach cleanup
GBS Interact
Taylor Thomas records the garbage collected while Devin Maki collects and looks for garbage.
On September 15, the Glenbrook South Interact Club participated in a nation wide event called Beach Sweep. Beach sweep is through the Alliance for the Great Lakes and promotes keeping our beaches clean.

Seventy-three members from the club participated in the event. Half of the participants went to Clark Street Beach and the other half went to Lee Street Beach. Up to 80 pounds of garbage was collected. 
GBS Student Spotlight
Each month, this section will feature a different article that ran in Glenbrook South's student-run newspaper The Oracle, and, occasionally, other student-produced work.
A new edition of The Oracle is distributed approximately every five weeks and can be found in newsstands throughout the school. It is also mailed to all Parents' Association members. GBS Student Spotlight will return next month.
District News Update
Board appoints two new members to fill vacancies  
On Monday, September 10, the Glenbrook High School District 225 Board of Education approved the appointments of two new members to fill vacancies left earlier this summer. After taking their oaths, Bruce Doughty and Karen Stang Hanley immediately began sBOE Appointmentserving the remainder of terms, which expire in April 2013.
 
Doughty and his family have resided in Northbrook since 1995.  His wife is a GBN graduate, eldest son is a current student, and youngest son is scheduled to attend in a few years.  He and his wife are members of the GBN Choir and Theatre Parents Organization and the Athletic Booster Club. Doughty currently serves as a commissioner on the Northbrook Community Relations Committee.
 
An attorney who currently works for a litigation boutique, Doughty has served as a partner at two previous firms.  He majored in public and international affairs during his undergraduate degree work at Princeton, and earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School.
 
Hanley and her family have resided in Northbrook since 1987. She has four children, three of whom graduated from GBN, with her youngest child currently attending. Hanley was a founding trustee of the Glenbrook High School Foundation, and has held leadership roles in the Glenbrook North Parents' Association, Northbrook Elementary School District 28 Parent Teacher Organization, and the District-wide Parent Teacher Organization.
 
Hanley is a freelance editor who works with private clients on a variety of books and web publications, dissertations and memoirs.  She received a bachelor of arts in ancient history from the University of Kansas and a master of arts in library science from the University of Chicago.
    
District 225 sets organizational goals for 2012-13 
Each year, the Glenbrook High School District 225 administration works with the Board of Education to develop District Initiatives and set organizational goals for the coming school year.
 
"Even though state and federal mandates impact our work as administrators, our district will continue to strive beyond these minimum requirements to improve our schools, according to identified needs" said Superintendent Dr. Mike Riggle. 
 
The plan discussed with the Board includes numerous tasks designed to accomplish a total of 10 high-level goals. The goals are divided into targeted categories that include curriculum and instruction, human resources, business, public relations and communications, and technology.

For more information on the goals, click here. 
District 225 joins Pinterest 
In an effort to further enhance its communication with the local community and beyond, Glenbrook High School District 225 recently launched its own Pinterest page. District Pinterest
Pinterest works as a virtual pin board where users can "pin" interesting items they find online or upload to the site. The District's profile can be viewed at http://pinterest.com/District225/

Some of the pin boards featured on the District's page include "Glenbrooks in the News," which houses links to different articles written about District 225 students and teachers by the local press. There are also pin boards titled "Our Students" and "Our teachers" for each of the schools that contain links to articles written by the Public Relations Department.

GBN and GBS alumni also have access to their own boards where they can "pin" flyers for upcoming reunions, old yearbook photos or other items of interest relating to their time at the Glenbrooks.

"The District has already recognized the value in having a presence on social media. However, Pinterest offers us another tool to not only help tell our story locally, but also share that story with a larger community," said Karen Geddeis, director of communications.