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After the hottest summer on record, our
students and staff are back in classes
for the school year. As we bid summer
farewell, we are always excited about the
possibilities that a new school year brings.
Nearly 10 years ago, we began to imple-
ment our strategic facilities plan,
designed to replace aging facilities and make capital improve-
ments where needed. Since then, a number of key renovations
have occurred at a combined cost of nearly $20 million:
• Renovation of the Mall Auditorium
• Refitting piping and renovation of restrooms in G Building
• Addition of state-of-the-art science labs to the South and
North Buildings
• A working greenhouse was built, replacing the original
greenhouse
• Original 50-year-old boilers were replaced in the
South Building
• H-F Stadium driveway and student-access paths received
complete makeovers
• H-F Stadium also received new turf, track, lights and
expanded seating
• District offices were redesigned
• Viking TV & Radio stations were rebuilt in E Building
These are but a few of the many facility improvements we
have made in recent years. Our Board of Education and admin-
istrators are committed to providing the best possible opportu-
nities and resources available to students, staff, parents and the
greater H-F community that we possibly can, while remaining
fiscally responsible.
As the facilities and infrastructure at our 53-year-old school
district age and become outdated, we will continue to make cap-
ital improvements within our means to meet the expectations
required of providing a first-class educational experience at
Homewood-Flossmoor. Since 2005, H-F has annually received
the highest financial profile score of "financial recognition" from
the Illinois State Board of Education and was awarded a perfect
4.0 score in 2012. In addition, we have attained a AA+ rating
from Standard & Poors. We remain committed to keeping our
district fiscally sound now and well into the future; we accept
the charge and responsibility of maintaining these accom-
plished ratings.
The district has been preparing for the past several years to
implement the next phase of its strategic facilities plan, focused
on the North Building. Highlights of the project include reno-
vating the North Building’s main entrance, making it more user
accessible and ADA compliant; and rebuilding the H-F Field-
house. This heavily used facility will be expanded to allow for
additional and more convenient programming opportunities for
our students and athletes for the next 50 years. Look for more
details on this project in future issues of the Viking Connec-
tion, and, more immediately, on our website:
www.hfhighschool.org.
— Superintendent Dr. Von Mansfield
Strategic Facilities Planning Offers Vision for the Future
VikingConnection
The
Volume 31, Fall 2012
Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School District 233, 999 Kedzie, Flossmoor, IL 60422 • 708-799-3000
Homewood-Flossmoor welcomed a new school board member
this August: Gerald Pauling of Flossmoor. Pauling has re-
placed Mallory Sutton, who
retired from the board after 15
years of dedicated service.
“Mrs. Sutton will be sorely
missed; I thank her for her lead-
ership and hard work over the
years, ensuring our high school
maintains its foundation of ex-
cellence,” says Dr. Von Mans-
field, superintendent.
Pauling is an alumnus of H-F
from the class of 1985 and the
father of three children, includ-
ing an H-F freshman this year.
He is a labor and employment
lawyer and partner with Sey-
farth Shaw Attorneys, LLP, in
Chicago.
“We are extremely fortunate to have Mr. Pauling join the
Board of Education. While his credentials are extremely im-
pressive, more importantly, he is a par-
ent and a long-standing community
member whose actions will certainly in-
spire both students and staff to continue
the legacy of excellence we have come to
expect at Homewood-Flossmoor,” says
Dr. Mansfield.
Current board members — in addition
to Pauling — are: President Rick Lites,
Vice President
Dr. David Mayer,
Dr. John Farrell,
Andrew Lind-
strom, Jeanne
McInerney-
Lubeck and Jody
Scariano.
Gerald Pauling
President Rick Lites (center) and Superintendent Dr.
Von Mansfield (right) present Mallory Sutton (left)
with a framed proclamation for her 15 years of service
at the District 233 Board of Education meeting on
Tuesday, Aug. 16.
New School Year Brings New Leadership
2 • VIKING CONNECTION, FALL 2012 HFHIGHSCHOOL.ORG
Mobile Computer Lab AddedFamiliar Faces in New PlacesThe new school year is underway, and, in
addition to H-F’s new faculty members who
can be seen on page 4, the school also has
some familiar faces in new places.
Kathy Dreger — for-
merly a Special Ed-
ucation transition
counselor — has
stepped into a new
role as the Director
of Special Educa-
tion, replacing the
retiring director, Stacey Rubin.
Filling Kathy’s
shoes as the new
Special Education
Transition Coun-
selor is Bonnie Dol-
son, formerly of our
Guidance Depart-
ment.
Guidance Counselor
Brad Kain is now a
new College Con-
sultant in the Guid-
ance Department,
specializing in edu-
cating students and
parents on the path
to post-secondary schools.
A familiar face in
the Guidance De-
partment, Kathy
Fleming, has been
named Guidance
Counselor in Brad’s
place. Kathy will
serve students with
last names beginning with Ca-Eg.
Last school year,
Steven Vaught
served as our In-
School Detention
teacher. This year
he has replaced the
retiring Bruce
Bergren as a new
Special Education Teacher.
New Broadcasting Studio to Open in October
As part of this
year’s technol-
ogy improvement
plan, Homewood-
Flossmoor added a
mobile computer
lab for students,
consisting of 30
iPad tablets in a
compact charging/
syncing station.
The iPad lab is
available for teach-
ers and librarians
to use with classes
doing research in
the library. It will
be housed and
mainly used in the
library classroom. If need be, librarians can accompany
the iPad lab to an individual classroom when teaching
research and/or library skills to students.
“The iPad lab is a great solution to the demand for
classes needing computers for library research,” says
Kathy Tisonsic, H-F librarian. “They really seem to en-
gage the students and are perfect for quickly accessing
our online resources.”
In addition to the mobile computer lab, H-F also has
recently added a Macintosh lab in the Music Depart-
ment; 30 new touchscreen HP workstations in the
Teaching & Learning Center; and two Apple TVs and
two iPads for each academic department, designed for
individual classroom use.
H -F has always been proud of its
unique broadcasting program,
where for decades young communica-
tors have received hands-on experi-
ence producing, directing and being
the on-air talent for daily news broad-
casts and special projects. This fall,
however, that pride will reach a new
level as the school unveils its newly
redesigned station and classrooms for
Viking TV and WHFH 88.5 FM radio.
“Our new facilities will be state-of-
the-art, and our entire staff is ex-
tremely excited and anxious to get to work with the new equipment,” says Mark
Ciesielski, H-F Broadcasting teacher. “I believe this new studio will further the
opportunities students have to learn and will allow us to bring a professional, qual-
ity product to the school and greater H-F community.”
The new station will feature an improved ascetic design, editing stations, green
room and control room. The entire studio, including the radio station, will get a
new look with updated carpeting and furniture. The TV equipment will feature
high-definition capabilities, as well as a network system that will speed up the flow
of production on a daily basis. There are approximately 140 students involved in
this year’s VTV and WHFH programs. The new station is set to open in October.
Above, senior English students test out the iPads in the school’s
new mobile computer lab. The tablets can all be charged through
one laptop cart (below).
VTV classrooms are outfitted with Macintosh
computers for professional-level video editing.
HFHIGHSCHOOL.ORG VIKING CONNECTION, FALL 2012 • 3
Mentoring Program
Begins its Third Year
In October
2010, H-F
Guidance Coun-
selor Broderick
Booth formed
VICTORS, a
mentoring pro-
gram designed
to engage young
men in the edu-
cational process.
The program —
with a goal of
providing young
men with oppor-
tunities for personal, social, academic
and professional growth — has nearly
doubled in number of participants since
it began. Identified high schoolers are
paired up with a volunteer adult male
mentor from the greater H-F commu-
nity. The pairs of mentors and men-
torees meet twice per month to listen to
guest speakers, participate in small
group discussions and talk one-on-one.
H-F alumnus (2011), Lawrence
Lett, became involved in VICTORS dur-
ing his junior year.
“The VICTORS program benefitted
me in a way that it gave me an ex-
tracurricular activity, and it helped me
build leadership skills that will help me
throughout my life,” he says. Lett is cur-
rently a pre-dentistry student at South-
ern Illinois University - Edwardsville.
The typical mentor, according to
Booth, is a successful professional from
the H-F area who wants to give back to
the community and be a positive influ-
ence on a young man’s life. Lett’s men-
tor was Dr. Louis Rutland, an area
dentist.
“I became involved in VICTORS
through an initiative that was pre-
sented to the Delta Sigma Boule frater-
nity and saw that it would be a great
opportunity to interact with current stu-
dents,” Dr. Rutland says.
Rutland continues to mentor students
at H-F, and Booth continues to look for
more professionals to get involved. He is
hoping to begin a VICTORS group for
female students, as well this school
year. For more information about the
VICTORS program, please contact 708-
335-5621 or [email protected].
H-F Students & StaffStar, Direct in All-StateTheatre Production:Memphis
H-F Theatre students and staff are
stepping up in a major way for the
2013 Illinois High School Theatre Festi-
val. More than 10 percent of the cast,
crew and musicians for this year’s musi-
cal, Memphis, are from Homewood-
Flossmoor. The all-state director, scenic
director and choreographer are H-F
English teachers: J.R. Rose, Kevin
Wall and Becky DeDecker, respec-
tively.
The musical was cast in June, but in-
tense rehearsals just began at the Mall
Auditorium in early September. The set
is being built at Andrew High School,
then it will travel to the University of
Illinois — Champaign-Urbana for the
culmination of the festival held Jan. 10-
12. The festival — which draws more
than 4,000 Illinois high school students
representing more than 170 high
schools annually — is designed to enrich
the education of high school students
and to serve teachers, directors and the-
atre sponsors.
The festival’s Memphis is the first
production of the 2009 Broadway musi-
cal outside of Broadway and its national
tour. Memphis received Tony Awards
for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book
and Best Orchestration in 2010.
Junior Phil Glover will represent H-F
in the Memphis orchestra; H-F seniors
Jordan Bos-Watson, Sam Dreyfuss
and Evan Duckworth are part of the
state technical crew. H-F student-actors
in the Memphis cast are: juniors C.J.
Butler and Anna Meehan; and seniors
Christopher Kelley, Jasmyne Mack-
lin, Kayla Robertson, Jo. Schaffer
and Amaris Smith.
S E P T E M B E R
19..........Free! Visual Arts Showcase @
Great American Bagel, 6 p.m.
20..........Children’s Play: You’re a Good Man,
Charlie Brown @ Mall Auditorium, 9:30 a.m.
21..........Children’s Play: Charlie Brown @
Mall Auditorium, 9:30 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.
22..........Children’s Play: Charlie Brown @
Mall Auditorium, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
30..........Free! Fall Orchestra Concert @ Mall
Auditorium, 3 p.m.
O C T O B E R
3 ............HFPA Meeting @ TLC, 6 p.m.
4 ............Free! Rachel’s Challenge @ Mall
Auditorium, 7 p.m.
14..........Free! Viking Choir Fall Concert
@ Mall Auditorium, 3 p.m.
17..........Free! Senior Citizens’ Breakfast &
Tour @ South Cafe, 9 a.m.
Free! Visual Arts Showcase @ Great
American Bagel, 6 p.m.
Free! Music Dept. on Parade @ South Gym,
7:30 p.m.
22..........Free! College Night @ South Gym,
6:30 p.m.
27..........Thespians Haunted House @ Mall
Auditorium, 6 p.m.
N O V E M B E R
1 ............Parent-Teacher Conferences @
South Cafe & Gym, 1:30 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.
7 ............HFPA Meeting @ TLC, 6 p.m.
National Art Honor Society Induction
@ E1, 7 p.m.
8 ............Musical: Urinetown @ Mall
Auditorium, 9:30 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.
9-10 ......Musical: Urinetown @ Mall
Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
14..........Free! Visual Arts Showcase @ Great
American Bagel, 6 p.m.
15-17 ....Operation Snowball @ Camp
Manitoqua)
21..........Free! Viking Choir Community
Thanksgiving Service, 7:30 p.m. (Location:
TBD)
Lawrence Lett withhis VICTORS mentor,Dr. Louis Rutland
H-F Memphis participants pose with
Chad Kimball, the Tony Award-nomi-
nated actor from the musical’s Broadway
production. He visited H-F on Sept. 1.
FY I
4 • VIKING CONNECTION, FALL 2012 HFHIGHSCHOOL.ORG
H-F Rolls Out New Website
In August, H-F High School launched its new website at its existing
URL — www.hfhighschool.org— that has been designed to better
communicate the high school’s events, news and accomplishments with
the greater Homewood-Flossmoor community. The new site has interac-
tive features, including RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, which
allow you to subscribe to the information that interests you most via
email alerts. An internet-based content-management system now allows
the school's teachers and staff to more easily and more frequently update
information. Specially designed landing pages have been tailored to
these specific audiences: parents, students, alumni, staff and community.
“We encourage everyone in the Homewood-Flossmoor community to
visit our new site,” says Jodi Bryant, director of Human Resources &
Public Relations. “Start at your appropriate landing page and please
take a look around to learn more about
our prestigious academic progams and
expansive extracurricular opportunities.”
The website puts a strong,visual focus on our students and programs. The main page slideshow
is set to upload new photos each week, highlighting recent activities in and outside of the class-
room. Page headers — include photos and testimonials from real H-F students, alumni and staff
— will be changed quarterly.
“There’s no better way to showcase our school of excellence than to prominently feature our
students and dedicated staff,” says Bryant.
Website visitors can also create an account to save pages as favorites and customize their
visits. Coming soon to the new site: a custom mobile version, making the high school's news
even more accessible via smart phones and tablets. For more information on the new site, call
708-799-3000.
Meet H-F’s New Faculty & Counselors for 2012/13
Alec Anderson
Director of Athlet-
ics & Activities
Southern Illinois
University • Gover-
nors State University
Evan Roberts
Science
Chicago State Univer-
sity • National Louis
University
Gilbert Smit
Social Science
Trinity Christian
College
Amy Venable
Reading
St. Xavier University
• Concordia
University
Rebecca
DeDecker
English
Illinois State
University
Valentine Manada
PE/Health/DE
Northern Michigan
University
Phillip Barker
Social Worker
Loyola University
Daryl Luigs
Permanent
Substitute
Eastern Illinois Uni-
versity • Chicago
State University
Kevin Coy
College Consultant
Loras College •
Lewis University
Julio Jimenez
Music
Vandercook College
of Music
Meredith Pauley
World Language
St. Ambrose
University •
DePaul University
Josh Lindstrom
Permanent
Substitute
Olivet Nazerene
University
Jeromy Flowers
Special Education
University of Arkansas
Erica Sagerman
Director of Fine
Arts
State University of
New York - Fredonia
Sarah Quinlan
Social Science
University of Illinois -
Chicago •
DePaul University
Michael Brahm
Science
University of Illinois -
Champaign/Urbana
College Night to Help Students,
Parents Find Direction
H-F High School invites area high school stu-
dents and parents to its annual College Night
on Monday, Oct. 22. From 6:30-8 p.m., attendees can
visit with representatives from more than 200 col-
leges and universities from across the country. The
college reps will be able to provide information about
their institutions and answer questions regarding
admissions, programs of study, financial aid, hous-
ing, athletics and more.
“This is one of the largest and well-attended col-
lege fairs in the South Chicagoland area,” said
Kevin Coy, H-F college consultant. “This is a won-
derful opportunity for parents and students of all
ages to take advantage of the vast majority of schools attending.”
Attending
colleges this
year include:
•Arizona
State Univer-
sity •
• Butler
University
• Columbia College
• DePaul University
• Eureka College
• Indiana University
• Johnson & Wales
• Kent State University
Lewis University • Loras College • Marquette University
Northern Michigan University • Northwestern University
Ohio State University • U.S. Navel Academy • University of Chicago
University of Illinois - Chicago & Urbana • University of Missouri
University of Southern California
FrEE! Annual Senior Community Breakfast & Tour: Oct. 17
When was the last time you visited H-F?
Seniors in the H-F community are invited
to a complementary breakfast in the
school’s South Building Cafe on
Wednesday, Oct. 17. Beginning at 9 a.m.,
the event includes an overview of the
school by administrators, musical
performances and a student-guided tour
of the main building. Please RSVP to
708-335-5581 or [email protected]
by Wednesday, Oct. 10. Don’t miss this
memorable event!
HFHIGHSCHOOL.ORG VIKING CONNECTION, FALL 2012 • 5
H-F Summer Camps
This summer H-F’s campus was alive with
the sounds of music and shuffling gym
shoes as camps were held in our Fine Art
and Athletic Departments. View some
highlights below:
Hundreds of students and parents attended last
year’s College Night in the South Gym.
Board of Education President Rick Lites
addresses a community of seniors at last
year’s breakfast.
Future Vikings practiced flag football during this
summer’s week-long H-F Football Camp for
Grades K-3.
Approximately 40 area grade- and high-school
students took the Mall Auditorium stage for H-F
Theatre’s summer production of Bye Bye Birdie
in July.
To prepare for the busy school year’s performance
schedule, H-F musicians took their horns outside
during Summer Band Camp in early August.
6 • VIKING CONNECTION, FALL 2012 HFHIGHSCHOOL.ORG
HFHS Alumni Association
The summer of 2012 has flown by and
another reunion season along with it!
Kudos to the dozens of volunteer coordi-
nators from the classes of 1962, 1967,
1972, 1977, 1982 and 1992 for their
time, effort and creativity that went into
planning each of the reunions. We also
welcomed the class of 2002 to the ranks,
as it hosted its first reunion earlier this month. Some re-
unions were classic and held at area country clubs, while
others were very informal, but in each instance they drew
alumni from near and far for a chance to reconnect with
each other and the common bond they share as graduates of
Homewood-Flossmoor.
The Alumni Office has several exciting projects underway
that will be completed this fall, including one that has come
about directly because alumni have asked about it. We are
taking our complete yearbook collection and having it digi-
tized. Once this is completed, we will post each yearbook as
an individual PDF, so alumni who no longer have their
yearbooks can view them online, and, if they wish, purchase
a DVD of any of the books. Look for this and more updates
about activities and events on the wonderful, new Home-
wood-Flossmoor website: www.hfhighschool.org. Be sure to
sign up for our Facebook page as well, under “Homewood-
Flossmoor High School Alumni Association.”
— Ann Cherry, Director of Development & Alumni Relations
Michael Pawlak, Class of 1995
Michael is a member of the Cedar Rapids
Symphony, Des Moines Symphony and the
Dubuque Symphony, where he is the principal
percussionist with the Waterloo/Cedar Rapids
Symphony Orchestra. He began his musical
training at age six with accordion lessons
from his grandfather. As age 10, he was al-
ready beginning his percussion career.
From 1993-95, Michael was a member of the Chicago Youth Sym-
phony Orchestra, all the while pursuing intensive private lessons. After H-
F, Michael attended DePaul University as a music major. His professional
career began during this time and he spent six years as a percussionist
and Principal Timpanist with the Civic Orchestra, the training orchestra of
the Chicago Symphony. He has performed under some of the world’s
finest conductors, including Pinchas Zukerman and Zubin Mehta. The
highlight of his career with the Civic Orchestra was playing a concert at
New York City’s Carnegie Hall under the direction of the esteemed Daniel
Barenboim.
Besides his outstanding musical career at H-F, Michael played two
years of soccer. He was in Band and Choir all four years and took part in
the international performance tours with the H-F Symphonic Orchestra
and Viking Choir. He was also a member of the H-F Jazz Band, Viking En-
semble and Barbershop Quartet. His sister, Dina (H-F ’98), is also musi-
cal, having played flute and piccolo in the H-F Band for four years, while
his mother, Sue, is the accompanyist in the H-F Music Department.
Michael lives in Iowa and is the father of Lidia, age 5, and Elijah, age 1.
Ikenna Okezie, M.d., Class of 1990
Dr. Okezie spent only his final two years of
high school at H-F, but what an influential two
years they were! He took early admission to
Yale University, graduating cum laude with a
B.A. in economics, captain of the wrestling
team, the 1994 Scholar-Athlete of the Year,
and a Rhodes and Marshall Scholar finalist.
After college, he worked in the corporate fi-
nance division at Goldman Sachs, but he endeavored to follow a path
into medicine. He soon enrolled at Harvard Medicine School, intending to
become a trauma surgeon, but his interest in business drew him instead
to earn a dual advanced degree: one in business and one in medicine —
one of the first two people ever to take this dual degree at Harvard.
Dr. Okezie credits H-F teachers — such as Mr. Casper, Mrs. Valenti and
Mr. Morton — for fostering his love of humanities and economics. Aside
from being an outstanding student, he was also a member of the
wrestling team, where he earned the 110% Award his senior year.
Combining his interest in medicine and business, he is now a division
head at DaVita, Inc., a leading provider of kidney care, dialysis services
and renal education to patients with chronic kidney failure and end-stage
renal disease. He has helped propel his East Coast region into a $300
million division with more than 1,500 employees. In March 2012, Dr.
Okezie visited Trinidad and Tobago on the invitation of the U.S. ambassa-
dor. His visit enabled him to speak to medical groups, youth and entre-
preneurs about his experiences in building businesses, teaching about
health and the importance of mentoring the next generation of leaders.
V I K I N G S N E A R & F A R
Faces from this summer’s Alumni Social
Justin Foster, ’96
Sarah Carr Huffman, ’84 Marcus Yancey, ’99
Susie Finder Goldberg, ’61
HFHIGHSCHOOL.ORG VIKING CONNECTION, FALL 2012 • 7
Viking Country
is calling you!
Come on out to
root for your H-F
Vikings at a
home game this
fall!
F a l l S p o r t S
BOYS’ SOCCER• Sept. 18, 5 p.m. vs. Lincoln-Way West
Location: H-F Stadium
• Sept. 22, 9 a.m. vs.
Bradley-Bourbonnais
Location: H-F Stadium
• Sept. 27, 5 p.m. vs. Joliet West
Location: H-F Stadium
• Oct. 2, 5 p.m. vs. Lincoln-Way East
Location: H-F Stadium
• Oct. 4, 5 p.m. vs. Bolingbrook
Location: H-F Stadium
FIELD HOCKEY• Sept. 22, 10 a.m. vs. Antioch
Location: Varsity Field
• Sept. 22, Noon vs. Highland Park
Location: Varsity Field
• Oct. 2, 4:30 p.m. vs. Stevenson
Location: Varsity Field
FOOTBALL• Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m. vs. Lockport
Location: H-F Stadium
• Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m. vs. Joliet Central
Location: H-F Stadium
• Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m. vs. Sandburg
Location: H-F Stadium
GIRLS’ GOLF• Sept. 18, 4 p.m. vs. Sandburg
Location: Coyote Run Golf Course
• Oct. 3 IHSA Regioinals
Location: Coyote Run Golf Course
GIRLS’ SWIMMING & DIVING• Sept. 27, 5 p.m. vs. Sandburg
Location: Natatorium
• Oct. 2, 5 p.m. vs. Marian Catholic
Location: Natatorium
• Oct. 18, 5 p.m. vs. Lincoln-Way East
Location: Natatorium
GIRLS’ TENNIS• Sept. 18, 4:30 p.m. vs.
Lincoln-Way East
Location: South Tennis Courts
• Sept. 20, 4:30 p.m. vs. Bolingbrook
Location: South Tennis Courts
GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL• Sept. 18, 6:30 p.m. vs.
Bradley-Bourbonnais
Location: South Gym
• Sept. 25, 6 p.m. vs. Thornridge
Location: South Gym
• Oct. 2, 6 p.m. vs. Lockport
Location: South Gym
• Oct. 11, 6 p.m. vs. Sandburg
Location: South Gym
• Oct. 18, 6:30 p.m. vs. Joliet Central
Location: South Gym
ICE HOCKEY• Oct. 2, 6:55 p.m. vs. Providence
Location: H-F Ice Arena
• Oct. 26, 7 p.m. vs. Providence
Location: H-F Ice Arena
• Nov. 9, 7 p.m. vs. Lemont
Location: H-F Ice Arena
• Nov. 30, 7 p.m. vs. Champaign
Location: H-F Ice Arena
t h e V i k i n G V i e w
Board of Education member Andy Lindstrom’s red-and-white dress shoes toed off with a
student’s blue tennis shoes on the first day of school on Wednesday, Aug. 15. Lindstrom
was on hand in his custom-made Viking suit to greet students for the new school year.
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
ECR WSS
FLOSSMOOR, IL
PERMIT NO. 5
POSTAL CUSTOMER
homewood-flossmoor community high School District 233
999 kedzie, flossmoor, il 60422
708-799-3000The Viking connection is a community newsletter for residents of Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School District 233.
board of education
rick liteS, preSident
Dr. DaViD Mayer, Vice preSident
Dr. John farrell
anDrew linDStroM
Jeanne Mcinerney-lubeck
JoDy Scariano
GeralD PaulinG
Dr. Von ManSfielD,Superintendent
Dear Stakeholders of Homewood-
Flossmoor Community High School:
We have had a tremendous start to the
school year. In the academic arena, we
were again recognized by Newsweek as one
of the best high schools in the country.
Our theater program performed an excel-
lent production of Elephant’s Graveyard and is preparing for
the children’s play, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. As I
reflect upon our successes from last year and look forward to the
year ahead, I believe the 2012-2013 school year will be high-
lighted with increases in student achievement data, quality fine-
arts productions, and many Viking victories within our athletics
program, making the entire community proud.
As a school, we are renewing our focus to continually improve
our academic environment, athletic and fine-arts programming,
and extracurricular offerings. Our challenge is significant.
Homewood-Flossmoor is currently regarded as one of the finest
high schools in not only the state of Illinois, but also in the en-
tire country. During the past four years we have aligned to the
College Readiness Standards, created common assessments, an
assessment framework, course syllabi, and scope and sequence
documents. This year, our department chairs and faculty are
identifying areas for improvement, and building a subsequent
framework for additional support, including — but not limited
to — instructional practices within the classroom. More than
ever before, educators will be visiting classrooms and sharing
best instructional practices. This improvement will allow our ed-
ucators to better learn from each other, becoming perhaps our
best form of professional development.
I encourage all parents to understand and get involved in
your child’s high-school experience. Our HFPA offers you an op-
portunity to do this; our first meeting had approximately 100
parents in attendance and we hope to have more in the future.
As a faculty, we have embraced the opportunity to improve
Homewood-Flossmoor High School. While challenging, we feel
we have placed Homewood-Flossmoor High School in a fantastic
position: assessment scores are trending up equaling or surpass-
ing all-time highs; student behavior is exceptional; and the qual-
ity of our faculty is rivaled by only a select, few schools. While
we have much to celebrate, because of the professional work ac-
complished and the talent level of our students, we feel our
greatest celebrations are still to come, for the finest years of
Homewood-Flossmoor High Community High School and our
entire community stand in front of us.
On a personal note, it is hard to believe I am entering my fifth
year as principal. Having started when my sons, Trey, now 8,
and Seth, now 6, were only ages 4 and 2, this community has
become our home. My wife, Wendy, and I thank you for contin-
uing to support our family. I continue to look forward to working
with you and your students this school year.
— Ryan Pitcock, Ph.D., Principal
Principally Speaking