Updates from 86

Schedule for the Week of Nov. 16

District 86 will continue bringing approximately 25% of our students back on campus Nov. 16-20 in conjunction with our phased-in approach for administering in-person instruction. Below is information about the schedule and activities for this week.

Students in Group C will be on campus for in-person instruction on Monday and Tuesday, and students in Group D will be on campus for in-person instruction on Thursday and Friday. Students who are not scheduled to be on campus or are assigned to Group R (R stands for remote) will engage in synchronous learning from home on these days.

We will follow the Wednesday remote schedule that we have been using since the start of the school year - i.e., students and teachers will engage in synchronous instruction from 8 a.m. to 11:25 a.m., with early bird taking place from 7:30 a.m. to 7:55 a.m.

Students and staff who are on campus will be required to follow the district's health and safety procedures and protocols - e.g., performing symptom self-checks, participating in daily temperature checks, wearing face coverings, wearing IDs on a district-issued lanyard, adhering to the six-foot rule in accordance with social distancing guidelines, adhering to the rules and expectations regarding the flow of student and staff traffic in the building (e.g., hallways, stairwells, entrances/exits and classrooms), etc.

Students who are on campus for in-person instruction will receive a free grab-and-go lunch at the end of each day.

COVID-19 Data

Below is the updated COVID-19 data for the district as of Friday, Nov. 13.

Current number of positive cases among students and staff - 39
Current number of students and staff in isolation - 89
Current number of students and staff in quarantine - 130
Total number of positive cases among students and staff since the start of the 2020-21 school year - 78

You can access the dashboard where this information is being stored by visiting https://bit.ly/3d93aws.

National African American Recognition Program

Senior Dylan Davis from Hinsdale South has been selected for the College Board's National African American Recognition Program. He earned this honor by achieving the minimum requested score on the PSAT/NMSQT, and by having a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher by the middle of his junior year. You can access additional information about this program by visiting http://bit.ly/2nlTutk.

We congratulate Dylan on this tremendous achievement.

Gender Sexuality Alliance

Last week's edition of The Hinsdalean featured a great piece by Sandy Illian Bosch about Hinsdale Central's Gender Sexuality Alliance, which is a student organization that is focused on "creating a safe environment where everyone can feel accepted."

You can read the story by visiting https://bit.ly/3poKHln. Photo credit to Jim Slonoff from The Hinsdalean.

Speech Teams

The speech teams from Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central had strong showings in their first tournaments of the season.

York's Royal Court Invitational

Both teams took part in the virtual Royal Court Invitational hosted by York High School on Nov. 7. Hinsdale South took first place overall in the tournament, and had several top three finishes at the varsity and novice levels, including:

Darrell Mondaine - tournament champion in the Humorous Interpretation event; third place in the Original Comedy event
Zola Hinojosa - tournament champion in the Poetry Reading event
Eric Hardman - tournament champion in the Special Occasion Speaking event
Cate Cianci - second place in the Humorous Interpretation event
Grace Cvengros and Madelyn Motherway - second place in the Humorous Duet Acting event
Francesca Whalen - second place in the Informative Speaking event
Grace Corson - second place in the Original Comedy event
Sofia Guerrero - second place in the Original Oratory event
Destiny Prater and Zola Hinojosa - second place in the Dramatic Duet Acting event
Sophia Yen - second place in the Radio Speaking event
Nikki Govostis - third place in the Radio Speaking event

Hinsdale Central also had several top three finishes at the varsity and novice levels, including:

Quinn Stromberg - tournament champion in the Original Comedy event
Eric Seppanen - second place in the Extemporaneous Speaking event
Andi Shievitz - second place in the Prose Reading event
Ella Graeb - third place in the Poetry Reading event
Leah Bradley - third place in the Special Occasion Speaking event

Ike's Early Bird Novice Invitational

Hinsdale South had several top three finishes at the Ike's Early Bird Novice Invitational that was held on Nov. 7, including:

Jenna Cox - tournament champion in the Oratorical Declamation event
Zola Hinojosa - tournament champion in the Poetry Reading event
Sophia Yen - tournament champion in the Prose Reading event; second place in the Radio Speaking event; second place in the Special Occasion Speaking event

We congratulate both teams on their great start, and wish them the best of luck with the remainder of their respective seasons.

Latest News from the Devils' Advocate and Stinger

The Devils' Advocate at Hinsdale Central recently released its fall newsmagazine. The publication, which you can check out by visiting https://bit.ly/32FgiWa, includes articles about the recent election, the work of student activists and entrepreneurs from Central, and the way new teachers are adjusting to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, there are several interesting items currently featured on the website for Hinsdale South's Stinger newsmagazine, including a piece about how youth in Nigeria are fighting for justice, a story about the research that has been done on gaiter masks and their ability to protect people from COVID-19, and an article summarizing some of the highlights from the fall sports season.

We thank all of our student journalists for continuing to share their incredible talents with us.

D86 Gives Back

Below are two recent examples of students and staff from District 86 giving back, helping others and making a positive impact on the community.

Hinsdale South's Environmental Concern Organization and AP Environmental Science class took part in the Pumpkin Smash 2019 event on Nov. 2. The countywide initiative, which was organized by SCARCE (School & Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education), gave community members a chance to compost their Halloween pumpkins, while also decreasing landfill waste. During the event held by the groups from South, more than 430 pumpkins were smashed to help the environment.

The members of Hinsdale Central's CARE (Club for Animal Rights and Education) Club held a cat food drive from Oct. 28 to Nov. 6 to benefit the Tails Humane Society in Dekalb,

Board of Education Meeting - Nov. 19

The next District 86 Board of Education meeting will be held on Thursday, Nov. 19. During this meeting, the board will receive an update on the district's return to school plan and phased-in approach for resuming in-person instruction.

The agenda and packet of materials for the meeting, as well as instructions for how to participate in the session, will be posted on BoardDocs (https://bit.ly/394u9as) and shared via email tomorrow (Nov. 17).

Community Speaker Series - Nov. 17

New York Times best-selling author and science writer David Epstein will be the first featured presenter for the 2020-21 Community Speaker Series. During a special webinar being held on Nov. 17 from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., Epstein will discuss the keys to achieving high performance in any domain. He will also talk about how generalists triumph as the world around them becomes increasingly specialized.

The webinar is free and open to the public. However, registration is required if you want to take part in the livestream of the event, or watch the recording of it afterward.

Please visit www.d181foundation.org to register for or learn more about the webinar.