1

AUGUST 2012 -OCTOBER 2012

Inside this issue:

Principals Message 2

Assistant Principal’s Interview 3

Team 7-1 4

Team 7-2 5

Team 7-3 5

Team 8-1 7

Team 8-2 8

Team 8-3 9

Sports, Band and More ... 10—13

Principal: Pam Hodgson

Assistant Principal: John Wade

Volume 5, Issue 1

Summit Hill Junior High 7260 North Avenue Frankfort, IL 60423

815-469-4330 www.summithill.org

Summit Hill Junior High had the privilege of having Matt Wilhelm speak to our students about being bullied and how he used his bike to overcome those fears of bullies. As a kid, Matt was called “Ears" and was often the target of bullies. He grabbed our students attention with a powerful visual analogy depicting how he was bullied. While telling his personal story, Matt offered three specific steps on how to deal with bullies: Never fight, tell an adult, and engage the bystanders.

Students learned what bullying is and what it is not, the

difference between "Tattling" and "Telling", and the idea that it takes a tougher person to walk away from a fight than to actually fight.

Our 7th and 8th grade students are very excited about reading, passing the Accelerated Reader quizzes, and earning prizes as they read the 20 nominated titles for the 2013 Rebecca Caudill award. This award is voted on by students throughout the State of Illinois who have read at least 3 of the 20 titles during the month of February, 2013. Prizes at SHJH are awarded for every 5 books read and AR quizzes passed. The Battle of the Books will take place on Wednesday, May 15, 2013. The 7th and 8th grade teams will be selected from the students who have read and passed the greatest number of AR quizzes on the 2013 Rebecca Caudill Nominees. All SHJH students who have read and passed three of these 2013 RC books, will be invited to attend the Battle. Our goal is for all students to attend!! Prizes include treat day certificates, Barnes & Nobel gift cards, Marcus Theatre tickets and a Target gift cards. Get on board today!! As we integrate Common Core requirements, non-fiction books are being ordered to support our curriculum and critical thinking/vocabulary improvement for all students. Our EBSCO database provides thousands of high quality articles to support student research in all subjects. See Ms. Noonan for details!

@ Your SHJH Library….. 2013 Rebecca Caudill nominees are flying off

the shelf.

Our 4th annual Battle of the Books

2

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on November 19th and 20th. If you still need to schedule a conference, please see our online link or call our office for assistance. Please do not feel you must wait for an “official” Parent-Teacher Conference Day to discuss your questions with your child’s teachers. If you are not receiving a weekly email from me about our school events, please email me so that I can add you to the mailing list. In order to make your child even more successful, please check his/her assignment notebook every day. Our teachers have been stressing student responsibility by encouraging the use of the assignment notebook throughout the day. Please arrange for homework to be done every night in a calm and quiet setting. Also, please encourage your child to attend Academic Assistance after school Monday through Friday. The purpose of Academic Assistance is to help you child with any assignment and to provide computer usage for every child. The program is staffed with teachers from our building and is a free service to help your child excel. As a school, we are continuing to promote reading in and outside of the classroom. Fluency, vocabulary development and reading comprehension will be strengthened by increasing the amount of time students spend with printed material. Please encourage your child to read both fiction and nonfiction materials every day. We have experienced numerous successes in a short period of time. Our fall athletic program was again a huge success! Our baseball and cross country teams both qualified for the IESA state tournaments. Our basketball teams are off to a great start! Several students qualified for the IMEA Music Festival. Our band made us proud at the LWN football and two local parades this fall. We have many activities during the school day and after school for students to get involved and meet new people. One of the many great things about Summit Hill Junior High School is that there is something for everyone. On the behalf of all of our staff, thank you for sending us great students every day. We take pride in helping your child succeed and are happy to be working together with you and your family. Please do not hesitate to contact any of us. We are always here to help. Sincerely, Mrs. Pam Hodgson Principal 815-469-4330 phodgson@summithill.org

3

…..From the Nurse From the Desk of Nurse Kathy: The Importance of Hand Washing: Some Interesting Facts 80% of all infectious diseases are transmitted by touch. Soap might not kill ALL viruses, but thorough hand washing will decrease viral counts to a point below the infectious level. If the hands are either wet or damp, they can spread germs a thousand times more than dry hands. Hand washing for 15 seconds is recommended (sing “Happy Birthday” twice), but reduction of skin bacteria is nearly 10 times greater by washing with soap for 30 seconds. Alcohol gels (hand sanitizers) with more than 60% alcohol, are even more effective than soap. So remember: COUGH & SNEEZE INTO YOUR SLEEVE & WASH YOUR HANDS!!!

An Interview with The Assistant Principal by Brooke Andretich

What are some words you think of when you hear Mr. Wade’s name? Perhaps new, scary, discipline? Well, Mr. Wade is actually a really nice, normal person. I recently interviewed him and below you will find some interesting information about our new Assistant Principal. This is Mr. Wade’s first year in administration. Previously he was a Dean, Athletic Director and Coach. Mr. Wade likes having the opportunity to say hello to each student in the morning. He feels everyone is kind and has great personalities. He mentioned that coming to work with good kids makes his job the best. Mr. Wade said the best part about being an assistant principal is having the chance to see every student. He felt when he was a classroom teacher he only got to see his own class, but now he has the chance to see and get to know everyone. What he likes about being a Spartan is how nice everyone is. He states “Summit Hill puts a smile on my face and its always great to be here”. When asked to sum up Summit Hill in one word he exclaimed “Encouraging”. When I asked him why he said “because I know when you leave you will be on your way to becoming great adults and great people.” So, if you see Mr. Wade in the hall, be sure to say hello!

4

TEAM 7-1

Mr. Hagen’s Math Classes Algebra students have just finished Chapter 2 in which they learned how to successfully simplify variable expressions. After drinking a combination of mile and orange juice, students now will never forgot that they can’t combine unlike terms! As for now the Algebra students will take a break from the textbook and enter the exciting world of probability! Pre-Algebra students have ventured into work with Integers. Through card games if Integer War, Go for Zero, and Integer Multiplication War, students are now experts in Integer operation rules. Additionally, students have discovered the coordi-nate plane and through their understanding of the x and y axis, have dissected a coordinate map of Chicago. The students will now make their way into more intense algebra topic including the distributive property and combining like-terms. Honors students are in the middle of a Business Project in which they use algebraic equations with variables on both sides to determine how many units are needed to break even and make a profit. Currently students have become business consultants offering their algebraic expertise to either the bobble head, t-shirt, ice-cream, guitar, or softball glove industry. Mrs. Ostrowski’s Science Classes: In the Honors class it was the battle of the Astronomers. While Barak Obama and Mitt Romney duke it out for votes from the American people, this class was trying win votes for their Astronomer that they were assigned. Each group was assigned an astronomer and need to use researching skills, cooperative learning, communication, and presentation skills to show that their astronomer truly was the World’s Greatest Astronomer. While it was a tough battle, Galileo came out on top winning the title. Great job to Kelly Prusak, Samantha Grobmeier, and Amanda Wilson for working so hard on this project. Great job to all the students as well. After completing our Scientific Method test, all students were assigned the competitive Paper Tower lab. Each group was allowed to have one sheet of computer paper, 30 cm of scotch tape, scissors to cut, a ruler to draw/measure, a pencil to write and one class period to see who could build the tallest freestanding paper tower. The day started off strong in 3rd hour, and throughout the day no one could match or beat a particular group of boys. Jack Dauer, Manuel Urcino, and Kenny Powers who built the tallest tower of the day that was 1 meter tall. Great job to all the students!! Ms. Rodgers’s Social Studies Class: Students have just finished learning about the Revolutionary War and America’s victory over the British. Students are now going to begin learning all the ins and outs of the United States Constitution. All students will begin making flashcards to help them prepare to take the U.S. Constitution Test. Students will also begin debating over the Amendments, understand-ing how a bill becomes a law, and finding out that the Electoral College actually elects the President of the United States. After taking the test students will be moving on to the Illinois Constitution. Mrs. Goebel’s Reading and Language Arts Class: We’ve read a variety of fiction, non-fiction, and research texts as well as worked on English and writing skills. One of our main focuses in writing is to use word choice and voice. In doing so, students’ writing samples have come a long way al-ready! It is truly amazing to see the quality of their work soar just in one quarter. We are looking forward to what the rest of the year brings! Soon all classes will begin reading novels in which literature groups will be formed. The Honors Class will begin reading Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick, a class favorite, while regular education classes will begin to read Fever, 1793 and Chains both by Laurie Halse Anderson, and both class favorites! Here’s to a wonderful, successful school year! Go Spartans! Mrs. Bergmann’s Reading and Language Arts Class: The 7th-grade Language Arts students have been focused on the essential questions for Quarter 1 which emphasize nonfic-tion reading and writing. They have read many essay samples including narrative, personal, reflective, expository, and .persuasive. Meanwhile, the students continue reading fiction with their AR books so they can ultimately compare the strategies needed for nonfiction and fiction. However, they are ending the quarter by writing a research report on one of the thirty-nine species of Illinois snakes. After choosing a snake from lists available from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Natural History Survey, the students pursue information via the Internet. They spent a period in the wireless lab finding facts about features, habitat, behavior, and diet. In addition, Mrs. Noonan prepared a collection of resources from the Learning Center for further print research in the classroom. The rough draft was completed in class, and then back to the wireless lab for the final copy. Although this sounds like a science class, the 7th-graders have been applying reading and writing skills throughout the quarter while improving their comprehension of nonfiction. I look forward to l earning about all our native Illinois snake species from the students’ reports. I think I’ll start with Taylor Donnelly’s paper on the Eastern Hog-nosed Snake.

5

TEAM 7-2

Language Arts—Mrs. Barron: The school year is off to a great start! Students have been involved in a variety of activities including reading short stories, incorporating the 6-trait writing tools, and analyzing interpretative questions. In addition to these skills, the Honors students have been working hard compiling a literature review to support their science fair project. Many important research techniques are being used in order to complete the writing process. Currently all classes are writing to an author incorporating formal letter writing. We’ve been busy in room 167! Math—Mrs. Furmanek: Math classes are starting out great! Students have really been working hard. In Honors Algebra, they are working to solve equations, but soon will enter the world of Linear equations. Pre-Algebra is well into being able to understand factors, fractions, and exponents. Their skills of evaluating rational numbers will soon be tested. Finally, in Algebra 1A, the students have just begun their introduction to Algebra. They will soon begin to solve equations. From the Stemen Zone: Science News Students have learned the basics of the Metric System, Lab Safety, and how to conduct themselves while working in a lab. We have also learned about the great early astronomers such as Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo, and what they believed about our solar system. We are about to embark on our greatest journey across the solar system to learn about the planets, especially Mars. We will also enrich our lives studying the stars and how they are born and die. The students have all done a very good job in Science so far. I look forward to our year together. Language Arts—Mr. Sullivan: Wow, does time fly when you’re having fun! It’s hard to believe that winter is almost upon us; but we have been very busy in room 161. In English, we’ve been covering a slew of topics; from research to vocabulary, we’re doing a little bit of everything. We’ve also been focusing on writing in relation to details and introductions/conclusions in order to make our essays a bit more enjoyable for the reader. The second quarter will see the arrival of fictional narrative writing, as well as MORE vocabulary. In reading, we’ve been looking at all different types of narratives, all of them in the nonfiction realm. Predicting and summarizing strategies have been the bulk of our focus, and hopefully the students have been taking these skills into their other content areas. We have been reading novels for our two upcoming Independent Novel Studies, and are really looking forward to the start of short stories in the second quarter. Social Studies—Ms. Trotta: Redcoat! Lobsterback! Students are on the verge of finishing the unit about the American Revolution and are going to start learning about the United States Constitution. Students have completed some great writing activities. In one of these activities, students chose whether they wanted to write about the Boston Tea Party or Boston Massacre and then pick what view they would write it from: Colonist or British Soldier! Students turned in some very well writ-ten first hand accounts! Resource—Ms. Pacton: Wow! It has been a busy first quarter so far in Ms. Pacton’s room. Students have been working hard and learning some great reading, writing, and math strategies! We have learned how to make different words through the classic game of Boggle. Students have read an independent novel and are creating fabulous book jackets for their novels.

6

TEAM 7-3

Mr. Barnas’s Language Arts: Since the school year began, room 169 has hit the floor running! Mr. Barnas’s reading and Language Arts classes are off to a wonderful start! In Language Arts, students began the school year by writing their own “I Am” poems and presenting them to their classmates. Throughout the first quarter, students have mastered the fundamentals of nouns, the four different types of sentences, and compound and complex sentences. All of the grammar students have learned have been incorporated into Expository Writing. Students will begin quarter two with composing a creative Halloween story and implementing the 6+1 good writing traits into their writing.

Mrs. Kelly’s Math Classes:

Algebra Classes : We have completed the first two chapters in our Algebra book. We have talked about Order of Operations to adding/subtracting real numbers. Be sure to ask your student about the amazing songs that we have been signing in class. This next quarter will be focusing on solving equations. Honors Class : Wow! We have gotten through so much information. We started with a brief review of concepts that were presented last year and moved to solving equations. We will be finishing the official solving equations chapter and moving towards graphing and systems of equations.

Mrs. Hartley’s Science Classes: Our 7th grade junior astronomers have just entered the realms of space. We kicked off our unit with learning about our early astronomers, from Copernicus and Newton to Edwin Hubble. We created “Astronomer Wanted” Posters featuring our favorite scientist to writing original Cosmic Poems as well. Some brave 7th graders dressed up as Ptolemy, Galileo or Kepler and performed a “Cosmic Vignette” highlighting their discovery. Notes on the telescopes and adopting constella-tions were also part of this unit. We have just started “Stars” and are looking forward to our “Star Family Portraits” and the life cycle of stars. This unit is an infinite amount of continuous inquiry and investigations. The discussions held are amazing! Keep working hard as we enter into our Solar System next. Hats off to our Science Fair participants who are working extremely hard on their topics. From “Glow Stick Crazy” to “Vanishing Liquids”, the students have been researching, outlining, gathering data, and putting the finishing topics on their rough drafts. Thanks to our Language Arts teachers who have been working with them on summarizing, citing information, and the tools used to write a wonderful research paper. This has been a tremendous help and the students have been extraordinary! We are looking forward to remarkable results.

7

TEAM 8-1

Language Arts – Ms. Greene In language arts, Mrs. Greene’s classes are currently working on punctuation skills. The reading classes just finished an excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. We are beginning a novel by Ron Jones entitled The Acorn People. This is a memoir written about the author’s experience working at a summer camp for the disabled. In it, he tells of the children he meets at this camp and how they influenced his life. Math– Mrs. Blevins Mrs. Blevins' Algebra 1A classes have been working diligently applying the rules of integers. Algebra 1B classes have been solving linear equations graphically, using substitution, and using elimination. At first the students thought it was so hard, but now it's all making sense. Honors Algebra classes have been working with the quadratic formula to solve quadratic functions. The students have really risen to the challenge! Social Studies - Mrs. McSpaden Our classes have been working on reading documents. We have read W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Woodrow Wilson, and Howard Zinn. Many more will come! If you have any family stories or pictures from history (was great-grandma a flapper?), we would love to know about them. History is always more fun when there is a personal connection! Keep in mind, all test and quiz announcements are made a week ahead of time, and study guides for tests can be found online. Science – Mrs. Hollowell In 8th grade, the Honors Science students are working at completing the SFB (Science Fair Brief) Assignments. All of the Science Fair DUE Dates and SFB clarifications are located on the school website, teacher pages, select Hollowell, and downloads. Science Fair Presentations & Papers DUE 11/12/2012. PBL News: All PBL handouts, rubrics & etc., located on the school website, teacher pages, select Hollowell, downloads. PBL Presentations & Papers DUE 11/12/2012. All Students are also working on Metric Measurements, Conversions and Writing a Lab Report. We are currently studying Chemistry. Luckily that book is online (my.hrw.com) all student usernames and passwords have been distributed. Reading—Mrs. Stupay Room 230 is in full swing. In Language Arts we began reviewing nouns, verbs, and just began adjectives. Students are reviewing the 6+1 writing traits. We are also utilizing the vocabulary workshop program. Incorporating these skills, students have written two narrative stories. In Reading, students have read many stories from their reading text book and have cross analyzed them with comparative stories. Students are reading for their independent novel study and the class reading challenge. Students have begun the first in-class novel, Esperanza Rising. The multi-cultural novel is about a young girl having to leave a life of privilege in Mexico for a life of hard work in the United States. This novel is a cross curricular novel with Social Studies relating to the Great Depression and The Mexican Revolution.

8

TEAM 8-2

Science – Ms. Szymanski Welcome to team 8-2 the Barracudas! My goal is to provide a positive educational atmosphere for academic growth and to encourage every student to take responsibility for his/her actions. During the first couple of weeks of school, we have been reviewing the scientific method and metric measurements with numerous lab activities. The students have learned to work together and share their ideas while writing the lab reports. They have been exploring density, mystery boxes and making dollar bill bridges. Motion will be all around us soon while the students measure speed, acceleration and momentum of objects. It’s that exciting time of year again- science fair! Every other Friday a segment of the project is due and the deadlines are available online at www.summithill.org. Although some time will be given in class for this project, the majority of the project is to be done on an independent basis at home. The students have shared their past experiments and are hopefully, challenging themselves with more complicated projects. Please mark your calendars for the school wide Science Expo on December 14, 2012 Language Arts—Mrs. Miller The new school year has brought a new focus on Common Core Standards in the Reading and English classes. Students will notice a greater focus on nonfiction selections used to practice our critical reading skills. Additionally, we are adding paired readings to our curriculum so students are given the opportunities to critically evaluate two selections with differing formats on related topics. Our students found themselves in a true-to-life firefighting simulation when they read “Fire on the Mountain.” Cross-curricular skills were incorporated as teams used compass readings to locate possible fire locations from two virtual lookout stations, measured distances using scale, and assessed the situations to determine the actions they would take to fight forest fires. The paired reading “Smokejumpers” further explored the role of firefighters in mountainous regions. Following the activity, several teams were commended for their job performances while others, alas, were advised to seek further training or other job possibilities! Social Studies – Mr. Evenhouse This year in social studies we’ve done everything from debating supreme court verdicts to reenacting the opening sequences of World War One (with Mr. E playing the role of Franz Ferdinand!). In addition, we have made sure to build up our writing and note taking skills so that we’re prepared for the rigors of high school classes. Students have learned how to write a topic sentence, how to elaborate and add detail to their writing, as well as how to analyze a primary source like a speech or photograph. In the next few weeks, we’ll continue to learn new ways to take notes and trying to build an understanding of the Jazz Age, Great Depression, and World War Two. Math—Mrs. Zayed Students in Mrs. Zayed’s 1A Math classes are working on solving real-life problems involving integers, without the use of a calculator. This will help them prepare for the unit test, which will be in two parts. For part 1, the students will not be able to use a calculator. Part 1 will involve basic computation. Part 2 will be more challenging, and students will be allowed to use their calculator. 1B students have just wrapped up the unit on System of Equations. In this unit, students were able to solve a system of equation using 3 different methods. They also applied system of equations to real-life word problems. They had to set up the system and solve. Their next unit will involve Rules of Exponents. Honor students are just about to complete the unit on Solving Quadratic Equations through graphing and the use of the Quadratic Formula. In the next unit, they will learn how to solve these equations through Factoring. Factoring is a method of solving Quadratic Equations that the students will use a lot in High School. Please be sure to check PowerSchool at least once every two weeks, so that you are aware of your child’s progress.

9

TEAM 8-3

Language Arts – Ms. Canter So far, we have mastered the “Power of Punctuation” and have re-familiarized ourselves with figurative language. Now, we are enhancing our narrative writing skills. In Honors English, we have also been working on research writing skills. In Reading, we’ve analyzed several short stories, a memoir from Maya Angelou, and a biography on Harriet Tubman. Students have also completed independent reading projects, and in the next quarter, we will begin working on a class novel.

Language Arts—Ms. Marinucci Students have worked diligently on learning commas, semicolons, and colons for English; however, the fun has just begun. We'll be looking at sentences with various phrases during the second quarter as well as exploring narrative writing. In reading, students have shown great interest in their personal books while exploring irony, theme, plot characteristics, and various types of figurative language. Keep up the good work! Algebra 1A , Algebra 1B & Honors – Ms. Bottomley In Algebra 1A, Mrs. Dinolfo and I have completed working with the students evaluating and solving algebraic equations and inequalities. We are currently working on properties of real numbers. In Algebra 1B we reviewed solving and graphing linear equations and inequalities. We are currently solving linear systems of equations, and relating the strategies to real world situations. In Honors we reviewed solving and graphing linear equations and evaluating exponential expressions. We are currently solving and graphing quadratic equations, and will be using the quadratic formula! Science - Mrs. Schlesselman We have been busy studying metrics and scientific methods, and now we have moved into the world of physics. Motion, speed, velocity, and acceleration are being studied. Students enjoyed the track activity recently, calculating and graphing speed. Next, we move on with forces and Newton’s laws of motion. Social Studies - Mr. Chrusciel We have made it through our examination of Imperialism, and we are now researching how this led to the Spanish American War and World War I. The students will also explore the changes that came after these wars. This includes how American lives, and the nation as a whole, were affected by the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. From here, the students will begin to research the causes of World War II.

10

Spartan Sports, Band and more…..

The 2010 Spartan Cross Country runners ran the whole season with two dates on their minds: the Des Plaines Valley Conference Championship on October 2nd at Homer Glen and the Troy Sectional on October 6th in Shorewood. Knowing that the faster they ran meant the quicker they would finish, the 8th grade boys’ team did not disappoint. Not only did four Spartans finish in the top twenty-five, but they locked up a third place team finish, edging out Manhattan by two points. Noah Healy nailed down third place for one of his most impressive races of the season. On the girls’ side, Bianca Galassini’s 13th place finish was proof again that this eighth grader was having one of the top seasons in recent Spartan ladies memory. With that strong finish, it was on to the Sectional Championship.

The Troy Sectional was not as much a success, but a couple Spartans punched their tickets to the IESA State Championship in Normal. Noah Healy continued his stellar season with a fourth place finish, followed by Joey Scheutz, Jack Zinsky, Trevor Jellison, David Nino, Ryan Scheutz, and fifth grader Ben Zinsky. On the other side, Bianca Galassini’s lucky thirteenth place finish took Summit Hill’s only girls’ qualifying spot. She was followed by Tyler Milhouse, Elyse Ditusa-Rios, Ana Warkocki, Renee Murphy, Lauren Williams, and Annie

8th GRADE SUMMIT HILL BOYS VOLLEYBALL TEAM

CONTINUES WINNING WAYS

After defeating Hickory Creek 2-0 in a hard fought game to win the IESA 3A Regional #3 Championship on September 17th, the Summit Hill Spartans hosted the Manteno Panthers on Saturday, September 22nd in the IESA 3A Sectional B Championship game. In a thrilling contest, Summit Hill outlasted Manteno 5-4 to claim the sectional title. After falling behind 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Spartans came right back in the top of the fifth inning behind hits from Matt Blaney, James Nebelski and Jimmy Quinn to take a 4-3 lead. However, Manteno came right back in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at four. After a scoreless sixth inning, the Spartans struck again in the top of the seventh, thanks to Panther errors and aggressive base-running from Brendan Radecky and Matt Blaney. With the Spartans up 5-4, Manteno loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh with two outs.

The game looked to be in jeopardy for Summit Hill when a ball was lined into shallow right field. However, Ryan Berger fielded the ball on one hop in the outfield and threw a strike to Jared Mutter at first base to beat the Manteno runner by a step and send the Spartans to IESA Class 3A State Tournament! Matt Blaney picked up the win on the mound for the Spartans, pitching a complete game while tallying four strikeouts. Offensively, the team was led by Jimmy Quinn and Max Schulz, who each recorded two hits in the contest. Quinn also led the team with two RBI's, while Brendan Radecky tallied two runs in the victory. The win improves the Spartans overall record to 11-8 on the season and advances them to the IESA Class 3A State Tournament.

This will be Summit Hill’s fifth straight appearance in the IESA 3A State Tournament. Their next contest will be on Friday, September 28th, in the Elite Eight, where they will play Troy at 4:30PM at Eastside Centre in East Peoria, IL.

Summit Hill J.H. 8th Gr. Boys Volleyball Team continued their winning tradition with a Des Plaines Valley Conference Title for the fifth season in a row. The 8th Grade Spartans finished with a 9-3 record and first place for the regular season. Spartan team members earning DPVC all-conference recognition were Tom Trojniar (Tri-Capt.), George Lang (Tri-Capt.), and Jake Snyder. The other team members contributing to the winning season were: Jon Bonomo, August Doubrawa, Jason Kuznieski, Dylan Peterson, Matt Filicette, Ryan Murphy, Teddy Trost, Matt Shemanski,

Kerolos Sam, Brian Kapec, and Mike Fowler (Tri-Capt.) Summit Hill is coached by Keith McGrail.

11

Our band program has gotten off to a great start this year and already has several high profile performances under their belt! We started the year with a four-day band camp in August, where students experienced team-building activities, learned to march and started their 2012 parade song, “Hot! Hot! Hot!” On Sunday, September 2, they marched in the annual Frankfort Fall Festival Parade, and on Sunday, September 30th, in the Lincoln-Way North Homecoming Parade. They also performed the pre-game show for the LWN Varsity football game on September 28th with the award-winning LWN Marching Phoenix and performed with their “sibling band” in the end zone.

On Saturday, September 29th, thirteen eighth grade band mem-bers were recommended, and selected, for inclusion in the VanderCook College of Music Middle Level Honor Fest. This group involved band students from over 30 different schools.

They met for the first time at 9 am for rehearsal that day, only then receiving the music they’d rehearse and learn during the day. They then presented a wonderful concert at 4:00 in the De LaSalle Institute Concert Hall on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Representing Summit Hill were Nick Brattoli, Carmel Bumaa, Jared Candelaria, Michael Gaertig, Carli Liva, Meg Raimbault, Brendan Rowe, Tom Scott, Natalie Seidel, Sydney Stanuch, Hunter Sweeney, Aaron Zilinskas and Joanna Zobak.

Several music students recently auditioned for spots in the Illinois Music Educators Association 2012 Festivals and the following will be representing Summit Hill! In the festival band on Nov. 3 at Riverside-Brookfield High School will be Michael Gaertig, Meg Raimbault, Brendan Rowe and Natalie Seidel. Olivia Heppler and Xavier Sevcik will perform with the IMEA Orchestra and Xiya Akande and Mary Gorski will be part of the festival Chorus. The IMEA Jazz Festival on November 10 will include Michael Gaertig and Tom Scott. Congratulations!

The Spartan Show Choir has been rehearsing for a “really big show” at Lincoln-Way North to the show stopping song, Do You Believe in Magic? Costumes are great with a big thank you to the SHEF organization for fulfilling the Show Choir grant request. Immediately following this performance, the Spartan Show Choir will be rehearsing for our Holiday show on Tuesday, December 4 at 7PM in the SHJH Cafetorium. Together with the strings and choir this will be an evening you will not want to miss.

Don’t miss these talented students performing their One Night Only Shows!!

Ms. Goddard – Vocal Director Ms. Noonan – Dance Director

12

After viewing paintings by Surrealism artists Salvador Dali and Rene Ma-gritte, students created their own "dream" imagery using pictures found on the internet and in magazines. The students were also asked write a short paper describing their collage, identifying three principles of design, and explaining how these principles were incorporated into their work. The Term 1 collages were phenomenal! The students really enjoyed sourcing their images and the artistic freedom they were given to develop their own concept for this project. Take a look at some of the students' work.

We visited the Transition House this month. The Transition House is a house set up for students to explore and work on real life situations. This month our class learned the rules of the house and made acorn treats. While we were there we were responsible for cleaning up after ourselves and needed to make sure the house stayed in great shape.

Mrs. Tina Yiakos's first

term communications class at Summit Hill Junior High School is coming to an end. This class has

been an absolute joy; from crazy impromptu speeches to acceptance

and presenters speeches and talk shows. This class has taught the

students valuable skills that will be utilized throughout the course of

one's lifetime. “The public speaking confidence level of every student has done a complete 360 from the first

day of school”, stated Mrs. Yiakos. The final speech was to present and accept an award similar

to an Oscar in front of a crowd.

Ashley Loftin Jacob Grygus Rachael Sealy Jake Snyder Lauren Ostrowski

In Mrs. O’Keefe’s Research Writing classes we are bridging the reading and writing connection. Students are exposed to classic short stories which are discussed and analyzed as we respond to the literature. Our summative assessments have included web based research projects that utilize the suite of Microsoft Office Programs. Students are creating projects using Word, Publisher

and Power Point. This class incorporates literacy, written communication and sparks creativity.

13

Summit Hill Lady Spartans Brighten Up Day for Alden Residents

The Summit Hill Junior High Softball A -Team has really banded together in more ways than one. The Lady Spartans had an incredible year and as they finished the season with an impressive 15-3 record. The team made it all the way to the Regional Championship before losing a tough one to Beecher. Throughout the season the team showed heart and dedication and the resolve to never give up. This attitude was contagious and a big reason for such a successful season! Their team spirit and heart was especially evident on Saturday, August 25th, when the girls from Summit Hill visited Alden Estates, a Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Orland Park, IL. After pre-game inductions, the team played a 16 inch softball game for the excited residents. The girls wore either White Sox or Cubs t-shirts for the occasion and this year it was surprisingly that the Cubs won the game! After the game, it was the residents turn to play, as several took their cuts at hitting a softball from a batting tee to the delight and cheer from the Spartan girls. Alden Resident Victoria Kozacek was so touched that she wanted to speak to the softball team. Victoria spoke about how much of a joy it was to watch the girls play the game and how thankful she was to the team and their parents for taking time out of their Saturday to visit. After the event was over, Activity Coordinator Nancy Johnson said, “Many of the girls through their own idea, asked if they could come back to Alden and volunteer spending more time with residents throughout the year. I was delighted.” The team has much to be proud of on the field as well. The Lady Spartans found ways to win with a never say die attitude. The team has had some thrilling comebacks including a 10-9 victory over Kelvin Grove Junior High in which in extra innings, pitcher Abby DeVries came in and pitched out of a bases-loaded, no one out jam to secure the one-run victory. They have also defeated powerhouse Troy Middle School in two nail biters behind Catcher Riley Lang’s great arm. Further-more the Lady Spartans got a 2-out, game-winning, walk-off RBI double from 8th grader Danielle Thieman to beat Minooka. The Summit Hill Lady Spartan A-Team includes 8th Graders Abby DeVries, Maritza Sanchez, Hannah Santay, Danielle Thieman, Delaney Hoger, Megan Quirk, Renee Murphy, Ally Carlson, Danielle Burkman, and Riley Gaynor. 7th Graders include Lauren Hunter, Allison Jaquith, and Savanna Watson.

By: Allison Jaquith, Team Manager

The 2012 Summit Hill 7th grade girls’ basketball team is off to a spectacular start! Almost half-way through the season, the Spartans are undefeated with a 10-0 record. The team is 6-0 in the Des Plaines Valley Conference. The girls are good teammates and work well with each other. Co-Captain Carolyn Waleski adds, “I’m really proud of our team and we are doing great! I believe we are good enough to

make it to State. I’m so proud of every single player; everyone works hard.” Co-Captain Lauren Hunter also chipped in, “Hard work beats talent when talent is not working.” A key win so far this year includes defeating Hickory Creek, who won the conference championship last year. “This victory was especially important to these girls, and I’m happy that they won!” responded Coach Jodi Canter. This year’s team consists of 13 players. Nicolette Blasgen, Olivia Contreras, Lani

Grayer, Lily Hicks, Hannah Hill, Lauren Hunter, Sydney Limon, Amanda Logan, Nicole

Miller, Brittany Miller, Claire Stec, Carolyn Waleski, Ashley Wolszon, and manager

Allison Jaquith.