Friday, March 4, 2016

State-Bound Edition

Take the School Climate Survey


District 211 uses the Comprehensive School Climate Inventory to gather information from students, parents and staff regarding areas of improvement for our school. The survey asks questions related to physical and emotional security, learning programs, student wellness, and school connectedness.


Many of you are participating in our Community Engagement sessions (the next ones are on March 14 and 15). Although this survey is not related to these experiences, your participation with this form of feedback is just as important. I have used the results from last year’s survey to make many decisions, including the professional development experiences that we provided to our staff throughout the year.


Please take 15 minutes to fill out the survey here.



Only at Fremd

On Monday, we hosted the Super-Sectional for our Girls Basketball team. Needless to say, our team earned a berth at State for their victory in front of a packed house, including the largest student section I have seen in my five years at Fremd.



Students poised to storm the court
Toward the end of the game, when our victory was imminent, I shouted into the student section, “No storming the court!” At many schools, this request might be met with name-calling, boos, or direct defiance. When I explained that I was concerned about the other teams’ safety, our students worked with me to develop a plan to celebrate with our team AFTER Huntley's team cleared the area.

The game ended. Cheers of jubilation filled the air. As the teams lined up to shake hands, our students poured out of the bleachers. But instead of spilling onto the court, they patiently waited on the sideline for their moment to celebrate.


There are many moments like this where I am thankful for strong parental support and positive, respectful student behavior that shape our school culture. This is my public acknowledgement of gratitude for all of the things our students are doing “the right way,” embodied in just this one example.

Keep up the good work, Vikings!


Did You Know

Our Girls Basketball Team is not the only Fremd team competing in a State Competition this weekend in Bloomington-Normal. The Scholastic Bowl Team is competing in the Masonic State competition Saturday at Bloomington High School. If you're staying overnight in Bloomington, check the Fremd High School twitter account for Saturday's competition times.



Highlights and Successes:
  • Congratulations to the Fremd Jazz Ensemble, under the Direction of Matt Moore and the Jazz Combo under the Direction of Sam  Simpson on being  awarded straight “Division 1/Superior” ratings for their performances at the 31st annual “Jazz in the Meadows” Festival.  Each ensemble performed a fifteen minute set in front of a panel of collegiate jazz educators.  Following their performances the ensembles received outstanding feedback and clinics from the adjudicators.   
  • Congratulations to Coach Chris Grattoni and the Fremd High School Math Team for earning first place at the ICTM Regional Competition. The Senior Pre-Calculus Team (Julia Cai, Amy Chen, Mark Guo, Angie Peng, Varshini Ramanathan, and Daniel Tokarz) earned second place. Mark Guo and Daniel Tokarz earned second and third place, respectively, with their individual scores on this event. Oralists Adam Quinn and Kevin Chen earned first place in their event.
  • Congratulations to Kevin Chen, Mark Guo, Edward Li, and Adam Quinn for qualifying to take the AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination). Students must score in the top 5% of all AMC 12 Math Contest participants to qualify to take the AIME. Kevin Chen has been recognized by the MAA with the highest score in the school (123.0) and both Kevin Chen and Ed Li were recognized with a Young Student Certificate of Achievement for scoring so highly as underclassmen. The AIME is being administered on Thursday, March 3rd.
  • Congratulations to Coach David Yates and the Girls Basketball Team on winning the Super Sectional game vs. Huntley and advancing to the State Tournament.
  • Congratulations to the Fremd Debate Team for earning the 2nd Place Sweepstakes Award at the ICDA Congress Championship at Harper College. The following debaters won individual Chamber awards: Anusha Thotakura (1st Place, Championship Division), Shreya Mukherjee (1st Place, Invitational Division), Brad Posdal (1st Place, Invitational Division), Srivats Prakash (2nd Place, Invitational Division), Nicholas DeConcilis (3rd Place, Invitational Division), and Nicholas Parekh (3rd Place, Invitational Division)
  • Congratulations to Coach Jerry Moon and the Fremd Chess Team for their 14th place finish (out of a record 146 teams!) at the IHSA Chess State Tournament! This represents the highest finish from an MSL team, with our rival Palatine High School finishing 20th place and Barrington High School finishing 31st place. Not only that, this year's 14th place finish is the highest finish ever in the history of the Fremd Chess Team, surpassing the previous record of 18th place from 2013!  Another highlight from the state tournament was Matthew Kennedy, a junior at Fremd, winning an individual medal on Board 6.  Other highlights from this season include winning the MSL Team Tournament (again - for the 4th year in a row!), as well as a 3rd place trophy at the Glenbard South Team Tournament (out of 46 teams). Congratulations to the team on a very successful year!
  • Congratulations to Boys Varsity Basketball players Patrick Benka, Payton Kim and Kyle Sliwa who were named MSL All-Conference!
  • Congratulations to the following Girls Varsity Basketball players for their post-season honors: Bryana Hopkins, 2nd Team All-State, Daily Herald All-Area Team, Daily Herald Honorary Captain; Brianna Lewis, Honorable Mention All-State, Daily Herald All-Area Team; Erin Lenahan, Grace Tworek and Amanda McCartney, Daily Herald All-Area Team.



Upcoming Home Activities and Varsity Events


March 4
Boys track & Field @ Proviso West H.S. - 5:00 p.m.

Girls Basketball State @ Redbird Area - Normal - 6:30 p.m.

Boys Basketball Regional @ Barrington H.S. - 7:00 p.m.
March 5
Girls Basketball State @ Redbird Area - Normal

Girls Track & Field @ Proviso West H.S. - 9:00 a.m.

Boys Track & Field @ Homewood-Flossmoor H.S. - 9:30 a.m.

Boys Gymnastics @ Glenbard West H.S.- 10:00 a.m.
March 7
Winter Sports Awards - 6:00 p.m.
March 8
Boys Basketball Sectional @ FHS - 7:00 p.m.

Late Start - 8:50 a.m. start
March 9
Boys Water Polo vs. Buffalo Grove H.S. - 4:30 p.m.

Girls Water Polo @ Buffalo Grove H.S. - 5:30 p.m.

Boys Basketball Sectional @ FHS - 7:00 p.m.
March 10
Boys Gymnastics @ Barrington H.S. - 6:00 p.m.
March 11
Boys Basketball Sectional @ FHS - 7:00 p.m.


For a more complete list, please visit our Athletics Page.



Staff Spotlight


Name: Kevin Palmer
Position: Social Studies Teacher – Scholastic Bowl Head Coach

Years at Fremd: 26 (29th year of teaching)

Life Before Fremd: - Before Fremd? Was there life before Fremd? I taught for three years in Southeastern Indiana – Shelbyville. A very different place than Fremd – 20,000 residents and pretty much working class. And before that, I worked in Washington, D.C. for U.S. Congressman from Indiana Elwood “Bud” Hillis and Indiana U.S. Senator Richard Lugar. I decided that the life of politics did not fit in with my values and chose to leave. Before I went back to school to get my teaching license, I was offered a Reagan White House appointment to the Department of Health and Human Services but I turned it down. I have my B.A. in Political Science and an Area Certificate in Public Affairs from Indiana University and a M.A. in History also from Indiana University. I started life as a farm boy in Northwestern Indiana near Purdue in the town of Wolcott, Indiana.

Hobbies/Interests: I love to travel – especially to France. I collect McCoy Pottery and anything Art Deco. I very much love foreign language films and when I can I try to write my dissertation for my Ed.D on Integrated/Interdisciplinary Curriculum.

Insider Tip for Parents: I think that parents are Fremd’s best allies and I always tell parents to contact teachers directly if there is a question, concern, or an issue and we can work to resolve it. The best advocacy for our students is communication. We like to hear from parents good or bad, but mostly good….just like parents like to hear from us that their child is doing well, or to prevent a course failure so that we can right the student back on to the correct path to success


Ask the Principal


Are you curious about something at Fremd but have never asked? Email me at ktenopir@d211.org. If your question is pertinent to a wider audience, I will include it in the next blog post.

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