Friday, November 18, 2016

The Fall Haul Edition

The Goodwill Fall Haul
Here is a unique win-win-win opportunity. Please consider donating any unused items that you may have to Goodwill during their Fall Haul campaign which runs through the end of November. The William Fremd National Honor Society chapter has partnered with Goodwill to sponsor this event at our school.
The positives of this campaign are:
  • Someone else can make good use of items you no longer need or use.
  • You can play a part in helping Fremd High School win this year’s Goodwill Fall Haul. Click here for details.
  • You can enter the holiday season without having that New Year’s resolution looming over you to finally organize that out of control closet, dresser or garage!

Note: Fremd High School is accepting clothing at our school which will be taken to Goodwill – other items need to be taken directly to an attended Goodwill Donation Center. Please feel free to send your student with a bag of clothes which they can drop off here at school.


Highlights and Successes:
  • Congratulations to Coach Martin Zacharia and the Fremd Debate Team on their performance at the Illinois Congressional Debate Association Tournament and Nabeela Syed for receiving the 1st Place Overall Speaker Award. Award winners are as follows: Varsity Division: Nabeela Syed, 1st Place Chamber Award & Best Presiding Officer; Shreya Mukherjee, 3rd Place Chamber Award; Bill Gao, 3rd Place Chamber Award; Arash Abbas, Best Presiding Officer; Nicholas DeConcillis, Best Presiding Officer; Sarah Yoon, Best Presiding Officer.
  • Congratulations to Coach Kittrell and the Girls Swimming & Diving Team on winning 3rd place at Sectionals.  The following athletes were medal winners/State Qualifiers: Diving: Emily Zukowski -3rd place and  Carly Goodsite - 5th place and State Qualifiers; 200 Medley Relay: Sophia Kuehn, Rebecca Ballo, Kristina Buzuloiu, Emily Bolger - 2nd place and State Qualifier; 200 IM: Rebecca Ballo -  5th place; 50 Free: Lauren Savage -  4th place; 100 Fly: Sophia Kuehn -  4th place; 100 Free: Emily Kini -  6th place and  Emily Bolger -  2nd place and State Qualifier; 200 Free Relay: Lauren Savage, Anna Miller, Emily Kini, Emily Bolger - Sectional Champions and State Qualifier; 100 Back: Sophia Kuehn -  3rd place and State Qualifer;  100 Breaststroke: Rebecca Ballo - 2nd place and State Qualifier;  400 Free Relay: Emily Bolger, Sophia Kuehn, Emily Kini, Lauren Savage - 3rd place and State Qualifier.
  • Congratulations to this week’s Viking Pride winners:  Cameron Chiu, Grace Downing, Nicole Kehoe, Shruthi Krishna, Jerry Kurkcu, Adam Mahnke, Camilla Mroczkowski, Dina Rizkalla, and Daniel Sanfilippo.

Upcoming Home Activities and Varsity Events

November 19
Competititve Dance Invite -10:00 a.m.

Girls Swimming & Diving State Finals - Evanston H.S - 10:00 a.m.

Girls Basketball Tournament @ Lakes Community H.S. - 5:00 p.m.
November 21
Boys Basketball Tournament vs. Warren @ Mundelein H.S. 5:30 p.m.
November 22
Wrestling Quad @ Grayslake Central H.S. - 5:00 p.m.
November 23
Non Attendance Day - no school

Girls Basketball Tournament @ Lake Zurich H.S. - 5:00 p.m.

Boys Baskeball Tournament @ Mundelein H. S. - 5;30 p.m.
November 24
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
November 25
Wrestling Tournament @ Barrington H.S. - 10:00 a.m.

Boys Basketball Tournament @ Mundelein H.S. - 5:30 p.m.
November 26
Wrestling Tournament @ Barrington H.S. - 10:00 a.m.

Boys Basketball Tournament @ Mundelein H.S. - 7:00 p.m.

Bowling Tournament @ Poplar Creek Bowl - 9:00 a.m.
For a more complete list, please visit our Athletics Page.


Staff Spotlight
Name: Kim Schuman
 
Position: Attendance Clerk
Years at Fremd: 3 months
Life Before Fremd: I worked at Hoffman Estates High School as the Receptionist. I really loved my job, but decided that a 10-month position would be a better fit for me.
Hobbies/Interests: I enjoy taking care of my family and spending time with friends.
 
Insider Tip for Parents: Always be humble and kind.

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.

Friday, November 11, 2016

The Daylight Savings Edition

Changed Clocks, Changed Calendar

Last week, our clocks fell back an hour. With the change, many of us may have felt sluggish for a few days. Experts say that we could have minimized the effects of the time change by gradually adjusting our bedtime over the span of a few days. It is also recommended that we adjust other routines, such as mealtimes, to prepare our bodies for the shift.

In a similar manner, we have “turned back the clocks” on our school year. For those students who have experienced the “old” calendar for a number of years,  their minds may be stuck on the “old” calendar, where final exams occurred almost three weeks after Winter Break.

Don’t let the new calendar play tricks on you! Tuesday, November 15 marks the 2nd Quarter midterm. If the semester was a race, I’d tell you to start your kick now. Don’t wait until December, like you might have done in the old calendar. There are a mere five weeks left of the semester. Five weeks to complete all of your tests, quizzes, projects and make-up work. Five weeks to review for Final Exams. Five weeks to achieve the grade of your preference.


Craft Fair Volunteers Wanted

The Fremd Booster Club will be hosting its annual Holiday Craft Fair on Saturday, Dec. 10th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Once again, we are reaching out to Fremd students to ask them to volunteer some time to help us make this event run smoothly.  We'll be needing volunteers for Friday evening, Dec 9th, for the set-up (taping out booths, putting up signs, etc.).  We will also need students on the day of the event with 4 timeslots available starting at 6:30 am.  There are a variety of jobs for them to help with, but our biggest need on Saturday is from 6:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. helping the vendors bring all of their items into the building. Throughout the day, we'll also need help with concessions, providing general information, and helping vendors take items back to their vehicles.

The Fremd Booster Club benefits all Fremd students and activities, and we are grateful for your help in previous years.  Listed below is a link to the Holiday Craft Fair Volunteer sign-up page.  Please take a few moments to let your students know about this volunteer opportunity and encourage them to help out at the Craft Fair.  Your help is truly appreciated.  We know this is the same day as the ACT so that will make it impossible for some students to volunteer on Saturday.  That's why we really need your help to get the word out to all the students.

This is a perfect opportunity to community service hours for Vikes or Harper’s Promise! Sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a054baca623a46-fremd


Highlights and Successes:
  • Congratulations to November English Student of the Month Jack Rosenwinkel.
  • Congratulations to Girls Cross Country runner Linda Varela on being a State Meet medal winner! Linda earned “All-State (top 25)” honors by placing 24th in a talented field of 210 runners.
  • Congratulations to the Girls Swimming and Diving Team on being the Titan Relay Champions and taking 2nd place in the Varsity Conference.  At Varsity Conference, the following girls were medal winners: 200 Medley Relay: 2nd  Place: Sophia Kuehn, Rebecca Ballo, Kristina Buzuloiu, Anna Miller; 200 Freestyle: 2nd Place Emily Bolger; 5th Place Marie Grzybek; 200 IM: 4th Place Sophia Kuehn; 6th Place Rebecca Ballo; 50 Free: 6th Place Lauren Savage; 100 Free: 2nd Place Emily Bolger; 4TH Place Emily Kini; 500 Free: 4TH Place Marie Grzybek; 200 Free Relay: 2nd PLACE, Lauren Savage, Anna Miller, Emily Kini, Emily Bolger; 100 Back: 3rd Place, Sophia Kuehn; 100 Breast: 4th Place, Rebecca Ballo; 400 Free Relay: 2nd Place, Emily Bolger, Sophia Kuehn, Emily Kini, and Lauren Savage.
  • Congratulations to Coach Martin Zacharia and the Fremd Debate Team for hosting their 38th Annual Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum Tournament. Award Winners include: Lincoln Douglas: Kashif Javid, 8th Place Speaker; Andy Ruan, 13th Place Speaker. Public Forum: Claire Athanas and Piyush Biswas, 6th Place; Jesse Huang and Edward Li, 10th Place; Sharbik Dutta, 7th Place Speaker.



Upcoming Home Activities and Varsity Events

November 11
HAPPY VETERANS DAY!
November 12
Speech Invite Tournament - all school 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.

Daddy/Daughter Dance - Gym 7-9 p.m.

Swimming & Diving Sectional  Diving @ Stevenson H.S. - 9:00 a.m.
Swimming Finals - 1:00 p.m.
November 15
Late Start - 8:50 a.m. start

Fall Sports Awards - 7:00 p.m.
November 16
Girls Basketball @ Johnsburg H.S. - 7:30 p.m.

Choir Solo & Ensemble - Music Department 6-9 p.m.
November 18
Girls Basketball vs. Deerfield H.S.- 7:30 p.m.

Girls Swimming & Diving State @ Evanston H.S.


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

Staff Spotlight

Name:

Derek Bahn
Position:
Palatine Police Officer currently assigned to Fremd High School
Years at Fremd:
0 years, 3 months
Life Before Fremd:
University of Illinois graduate, then worked in a DFCS shelter and as a juvenile probation officer prior to becoming a police officer in 1999
Hobbies/Interests:
Spending time with my family
Insider Tip for Parents:
Wait, what?  No one told me that we had to tip the parents...

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.

Friday, November 4, 2016

The Cubs Win Edition

Lessons from a Winner

Important life lessons from the Cubs:

High academic expectations are important, but life is full of important things. Joe Maddon understands the need for a proper work-life balance. Cubs players are not allowed to show up too early for batting practice; he would rather they work hard during the time he sets aside for them. And if Joe Maddon could find time for players to celebrate Halloween with their families during the World Series, we should be able to help our students to balance their school work and social lives.

Success relies on perseverance. When the Cubs were down 3-1 in the World Series, they still approached their challenge one game at a time. A poor test grade (or quarter grade, for that matter) doesn’t have to mean the end of the world--keep working every day, and keep your eye on the prize!

History doesn’t have to define you. Unlike the previous 108 Cubs teams, this year’s Cubs team ignored talk of a curse, of being the lovable losers. Whatever your student’s educational history, today is a new day, a new opportunity to get better.

It’s important to be genuine, and to have fun. There were many iconic moments of the 2016 World Series--the almost-dropped tag-team foul ball, “old man” Ross’ homerun, Zobrist's RBI double--but one moment that epitomized the Cubs’ season to me more than anything was the look on Kris Bryant’s face as he ran toward the ground ball that became the very last out of the World Series. He was smiling! A guy who was in position to potentially be the next Bill Buckner approached the magnitude of that moment with a smile on his face. What an unbelievable example for how we should approach our jobs, our relationships, and the things that matter most to us.


Highlights and Successes:
  • Congratulations to Coach Joe Marcin and the Girls Cross Country  Team on finishing 9th out of 18 schools at the Waukegan sectional meet.  Linda Varela qualified for the state meet in Peoria!
  • Congratulations to Coach Lou Sponsel and the Fremd Football Team on winning their first playoff game  against Brother Rice.
  • Congratulations to this week’s Viking Pride Winners:  Ariel Brown, Marianne Cazares, Alexia Giannopoulos, Zoe Hannon, Grace Humphris, Jorge Martinez, Beck Masi, Tyler Matuszczak, and Kyra Pagones.
  • Congratulations to Curt Pinley and the Girls Volleyball team for making it to the Sectional Finals.


Upcoming Home Activities and Varsity Events

November 5
Fremd Football @ Huntley H.S. - 2nd round playoff game
1:00 p.m.

Girls Volleyball Super Sectional

Boys/Girls Cross Country State Meet - Detweiler Park

Debate Invite @ Fremd H.S.
November 7
Band Solo & Ensemble - Music Department 5:00-9:00 p.m.
November 12
Speech Invite @ Fremd

Daddy Daughter Dance - Gym 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Fall Sports Awards - 7:00 p.m.


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

Staff Spotlight

Name: Lou Sponsel

Position: PE Teacher/Head Football Coach/Assistant Track Coach-Sprints and Relays/Varsity Club

Years at Fremd:13 or 14, I can’t remember, plus I was volunteering here and student taught before that starting in 2002.

Life Before Fremd:  NIU, Played and continued as student assistant with the football program.  Took me 6.5 years to get degree, delaying it allowed me to stay in the offices all day long and learn from some great college coaches.

Hobbies/Interests:  My kids and family!  I love spending time with my family.  I wouldn’t trade that time for anything, you never get it back.

Insider Tip for Parents: Do your work early with children, it is difficult to go back and fix things once patterns and habits are set in their lives.  Love your kids with all your heart, kids today are under a lot of pressure in our culture, they need to know they are loved.  Finally, Let them fail, pick themselves up, and fix their problems on their own.  Give them the space to develop into a leader.

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.