Hinsdale Central Internship Program

Hinsdale Central’s Career Internship Program is looking for mentors who are interested in providing students with opportunities to get valuable real-world experience that will help them make critical decisions about their future careers. The program is seeking placements for the summer and/or the 2020-21 school year that will give students the chance to work 40 to 60 hours outside of the school day in their field of choice. Internships will not be paid, and students must complete an interview prior to taking a position. At this time, the program is seeking mentors in a variety of fields that include, but are not limited to: accounting, business, finance, healthcare, law, marketing, medical research, medicine, physical therapy, real estate and veterinary medicine.  

 

If you have questions, need additional information or have an internship available, please contact Karen Russo at 630-570-8284 or krusso@hinsdale86.org.

Hinsdale South Speech Team

The speech team from Hinsdale South continued the incredible start to its season with a first place finish at the Willowbrook Winter Tournament. It was the team's third first place finish of the year.

In addition to beating out 13 other teams for the top spot, South took individual championships in eight of the events, including: Isabel Villagomez (Dramatic Interpretation), Cate Cianci and Darrell Mondaine (Humorous Duet Acting), Cate Cianci (Humorous Interpretation), Emily Miller (Informative Speaking), Darrell Mondaine (Original Comedy), Judi Nwonye (Poetry Reading), Johann Tabbilos (Radio Speaking) and Spencer Staak (Special Occasion Speaking).

You can access the results from the Willowbrook tournament by visiting http://bit.ly/35OS1Mc. We congratulate the Hornets on their success, and wish them the best of luck with the rest of their season.

National Coach of the Year Finalist

John Naisbitt from Hinsdale Central has been named a finalist for national coach of the year in boys tennis by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association (NHSACA). Coach Naisbitt will be honored with the other finalists during the National Coach of the Year Awards Banquet, which will take place during the NHSACA's national convention in Lincoln, Nebraska July 20-23. During this event, the NHSACA will name its national coach of the year in 19 different sports categories.

Coach Naisbitt was nominated for this honor by the Illinois Coaches Association. His selection was based on "longevity, service to high school athletics, honors, championship years and winning percentage."

We congratulate Coach Naisbitt on this well-deserved recognition.

Transition Center and Bridge Program

Below is information about some of the opportunities that students from our Transition Center and Bridge program have had to develop their skills and get valuable real-world experience.

Young adults from the Transition Center learn and practice life skills by supporting the important work being done by local charities such as PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter), which is an emergency shelter program that offers a variety of services aimed at helping end homelessness. Once a month, students from Transition take multiple bags of laundry to a laundromat where they practice setting the washers and dryers, using the payment features on the machines, measuring detergent and folding. The clean laundry is then picked up by a student from Hinsdale Central and returned to PADS.

Meanwhile, students from the Bridge program had the chance to do some job shadowing during their semester break. The students were tasked with finding a partner employer that would host them for a few days and help them get hands-on work experience that would aid their career pursuits after they fulfill their post-secondary educational requirements. The partners that agreed to take part in the program included schools, medical facilities, auto dealerships and a radio station. In the accompanying photo, Bridge student Cody Wagner gives us a glimpse into his experience shadowing at The Drive Radio Station (97.1 FM).  

Illinois High School Theatre Festival

Hinsdale South senior Kristina Martinet served as one of the stage managers for the All-State Production of "Aida" that was performed during the 45th Annual Illinois High School Theatre Festival held at Illinois State University Jan. 9-11. More than 4,000 students, teachers, university representatives, exhibitors and volunteers from across the state take part in the festival each year, which features a variety of productions and workshops. You can access additional information about the festival and the All-State Production by visiting http://bit.ly/2Txy2iy.

We congratulate Kristina on this tremendous honor.

In the News - Hinsdale Central

Below are links to several recent articles about students and staff from Hinsdale Central.

World Language Students of the Month

Each month, the world language teachers from Hinsdale South nominate up to five individuals for recognition as the World Language Students of the Month. These students have a strong interest in a world or classical language, demonstrate the traits of being accountable, respectful and engaged, and perform actions and exhibit an attitude that exemplify what it means to have South Pride.

Below are the students from South who earned this honor for December.

Presentation on Virtual Reality

Dr. Ellen Lawrence, who is the librarian at Hinsdale South, led a presentation titled "Virtual Reality in School: Enhancing the Pursuit of Learning" at the Future of Education Technology Conference in Miami, Florida Jan. 14-17. During the session, Dr. Lawrence and co-presenters Lissa Blake, a K-2 instructional technology integration coach at Holmes Primary School in District 60, and Jack Schultz, the assistant head of Youth Services for the Indian Prairie Public Library, provided attendees with information about how virtual reality can be used in the classroom and in conjunction with after-school events to enhance STEM programming as well as college- and career-readiness. You can access additional information about the presentation and the conference by visiting http://bit.ly/38eyMgu.

Community Speaker Series - Feb. 5

The next event in the 2019-20 edition of the annual Community Speaker Series that is being co-presented by districts 181 and 86 will feature a free screening of the documentary “Screenagers Next Chapter: Uncovering Skills for Stress Resilience” followed by a discussion with filmmaker and physician Dr. Delaney Ruston. In her latest film, which features interviews with students from District 86, Dr. Ruston examines the science behind teens’ emotional challenges, the interplay of social media, and, most importantly, what can be done in our schools and homes to help them build crucial skills to navigate stress, anxiety and depression in our digital age.

You can access additional information about this event by visiting http://bit.ly/2uAHNlJ.

Board Meeting

The next District 86 Board of Education meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria at Hinsdale Central. The agenda for this meeting will be  posted in BoardDocs tomorrow, and will include an update on some of the curriculum work being done in conjunction with the implementation of the ESS-integrated PCB sequence (ESS stands for Earth and Space Science; PCB stands for Physics, Chemistry and Biology).