The Seal of Biliteracy Edition

Seal of Biliteracy

Township High School District 211 students have the opportunity to earn the Illinois State Seal of Biliteracy by demonstrating high levels of proficiency in English and an additional language.  Interested students should pick up an application in the Student Services Department to find out school-specific testing details.  Applications are due February 23, 2018 to the Student Services Department.   Illinois public universities will accept the State Seal of Biliteracy as equivalent to 2 years of foreign language coursework taken during high school if a student's high school transcript indicates that he or she received the State Seal of Biliteracy.  Current languages available are Arabic, Chinese (Traditional or Simplified), French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Thai.

Students interested in taking the APPPL or STAMP exam will take it the week of March 12 - 23, 2018 during the first four periods of the day.  The exam consists of four modules and lasts two – four hours. There is a $20 fee associated with the administration of this exam. Payment and registration will need to be submitted by the end of the school day February 24, 2017.  For more information on how to earn the Illinois Seal of Biliteracy please go to the D211 website on Seal of Biliteracy.

Please contact the Student Services Department at 847-755-2630 with questions.

As part of our continuing effort to keep parents informed about important educational issues, Fremd High School will offer a College Planning Seminar for students and their parents. This evening program will be held on Wednesday, February 7 at 7:00 p.m. in our auditorium. The presentation will conclude in about one hour.  We conduct the program at this time to help families who wish to begin the college visit process during the spring break of junior year. Our presenter this year is Julie Nelson of Xavier University.  Julie has over 20 years of experience in college admissions.  There will be no handouts so please bring something to take notes.

Some of the topics to be discussed at this seminar will include:

• College application procedures
• Admission policies and standards (in-state and out-of-state schools)
• ACT and SAT college entrance tests
• Financial aid and scholarship search process
• Questions to ask when visiting colleges
• Factors involved in choosing a college
• Rating the colleges
• Selective v. competitive college admissions
• Resources available to help parents and students
• Student/ Parent/ School responsibilities

Highlights and Successes:

• The Fremd Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab Band, and Jazz Combo were all awarded "Division 1/Superior" ratings at the Glenbrook South HS 41st annual "Northshore Jazz Festival".  All three ensembles received unanimous "Division 1/Superior" ratings in their division from the collegiate adjudicators.  Addition honors include Jazz Ensemble - third place in Band 1 division, Jazz Lab Band - second place in the Band 2 division, and Jazz Combo - second place in the Jazz Combo division.  Outstanding soloist awards were awarded to Joey Ranieri (bass - Jazz Combo), Kevin Nakajima (trumpet - Jazz Ensemble), Ariette Kaberlein (alto sax - Jazz Lab Band), and Abby Svec (piano - Jazz Lab Band).  The Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Band are co-directed by Matt Moore and JT Teichert.  The Jazz Combo is directed by JT Teichert.  
• Congratulations to the Fremd Congressional Debate Team for earning 1st Place Sweepstakes at the ICDA tournament at Wheeling High School. The following debaters earned individual awards:  Shruthi Kumar, 3rd Place TOC Finalist, Arash Abbas, 6th Place TOC Finalist and 3rd Place TOC Chamber Award, Shreya Mukherjee, TOC Finalist, Swathy Karthikeyan, TOC Finalist, Asad Ukani, 1st Place Chamber Award, Andrew Son, 1st Place Chamber Award, Varun Kompala, First Place Chamber Award, Austin Mei, Second Place Chamber Award, Satej Sukthankar, Second Place Chamber Award, Varsha Krishnan, Third Place Chamber Award, and Nithika Karthikeyan, Third Place Chamber Award.
• Congratulations to the Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas Debate Team on their performance at the Carl Sandburg High School tournament.  In Lincoln-Douglas: Andy Ruan, 2nd place Varsity, Kylie Zhang, 5th place Varsity. Speaker awards were won by Ji Eun Kim (8th) on the novice level, and Kylie Zhang (9th), Kashif Javid (4th) and Andy Ruan (2nd)on the Varisty Level. In Public Forum: Nikhil Sriram and Sharon Wu, 5th place Varsity, Abhi Balu and Adhith Palla, 1st place Varsity,  Miguel Mercado and Andrew Kim, 3rd place JV, Speaker awards in PF were earned by William Zhong (1st) in novice, Andrew Kim (7th) and Miguel Mercado (1st) in JV, and Adhith Palla (5th) in Varsity.
• Congrats to Coach Dana Musinski and the Varsity Cheerleaders for placing 5th at the Lake Zurich & Lincolnway Central Invites, 2nd at the MSL Conference Competition, and 7th out of 34 teams at the Huntley Invite.
• Congratulations to Coach Kacey Kronforst and the Girls Gymnastics Team on winning the MSL Conference title.  Award winners include:  Vault - 5th place, Samantha Shirmer and 6th place Loanna Christodoulopoulos; Uneven bars - 2nd place Melanie Ng and 5th place Loanna Christodoulopoulos; Balance Beam - 1st place, Melanie Ng and 2nd place Abby Moran; Floor Exercise - 1st place Abby Moran and 6th place Samantha Shirmer and All Around champion Melanie Ng.

Upcoming Home Activities and Varsity Events

January 26	Boys Swimming & Diving @ Barrington H.S. - 4:45 p.m. Boys/Girls Basketball @ Conant H.S. - 6:00 / 7:30 p.m.
Janaury 27	Girls Bowling Conference Meet @ Arlington Lanes - 8:30 a.m. Boys Wrestling MSL Championship @ Rolling Meadows H.S. - 9:00 a.m. Competititve Cheer Sectional @ Niles West H.S. - 4:00 p.m. Boys Basketball @ Fox lake (Grant) H.S. - 7:00 p.m.
January 30	Scholastic Bowl MSL Meet @ FHS Girls Gymnastics Regional @ FHS - 6:00 p.m. Girls Basketball @ Barrington H.S. - 7:30 p.m.

For a more complete list, please visit our Athletics Page or the Athletic Department Blog.

Staff Spotlight

Name:

Paul Radek

Position:

Art Teacher, AP Capstone Teacher, Art Department Chair, Assistant Bowling Coach

Years at Fremd:

I have taught at William Fremd High School for 17 years

Life Before Fremd:

After undergrad at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, I taught at Schaumburg High School before transferring to Fremd.

Hobbies/Interests:

Going to dinner with my wife, playing board games with my 8 and 10 year old sons, coaching rec-league soccer, mark-making, and novice quilting

Insider Tip for Parents:

From preparing for a test, to giving  a presentation, demonstrating a new learned skill, trying out for a team, or asking a peer on a date, students are faced with moments that have consequence of perceived success or failure  multiple times a day.  Be mindful of and empathetic to the frequency with which our kids are asked to manage a variety of emotions and stressors with results that have significant gravity in their high school lives.

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.