Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central decided to team up again this holiday season to celebrate the memory of a brave seven-year-old boy from Darien who lost his battle with cancer three years ago. The Hornet Leadership Board from South and several clubs from Central (National Honor Society, Business Professionals of America and Peer Mentors) have been working together to collect new, unused and unwrapped toys that will be donated to a toy drive organized in honor of Joey Ventimiglia, who passed away in 2018 from a rare form of cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).

Tomorrow (Dec. 7) is the final day that donations will be collected. Please visit https://bit.ly/3FVRo5Q for information about where you can drop off toys. In addition, anything you can do to spread the word about this important initiative would be greatly appreciated.

Nearly 300 students from District 86 were named Illinois State Scholars by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. They were selected for this honor based on their SAT and/or ACT test scores and sixth semester class rank. You can access additional information about this recognition by visiting https://bit.ly/3G4zA8D. You can also access the list of scholars for Hinsdale Central by visiting https://bit.ly/32V2Hgz and the list of scholars for Hinsdale South by visiting https://bit.ly/31lQznW.

We congratulate all of the students who earned this impressive accolade.

The following students from District 86 earned All State selections for band, chorus and orchestra from the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA).

They were chosen from among the more than 10,000 students who auditioned for this honor.

In addition, the Hinsdale Central Women's Chorale has been invited to perform at the Illinois Music Educators Conference, which is being held in Peoria Jan. 26-29.

We congratulate all of our students on their tremendous accomplishments. We also want to recognize and thank teachers Jennifer Burkemper, Serge Penksik, Matthew Kurinsky, Matthew Goeke and Kiyona Ohshika from Central, teachers Chris Gumban, Kirk Hickman and Jennifer Boso from South, and fine arts department chair Patrick Maag for all they do to nurture the talents of our students and support their love of music.

The speech teams from Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central finished in first and second place respectively at the D211 Varsity Turkey Tourney on Nov. 20. They also had top three finishes in the following individual events:

We congratulate both teams on their success at the tournament.

The Hinsdale Central Scholastic Bowl team had a strong showing at its tournament on Nov. 18. Varsity (JJ Chen, Jeffrey Liu, Alex Burt, John Hines-Shah and Jonathan DeToro) went 8-1 and finished fifth out of 32 teams, while junior varsity ( Alex Jiang, Jaden Schmit, Yicole Ng, David Collins, Ryan Thomas, and Abigail AuYeung) went 9-0 and took first out of 24 teams.

We congratulate the team on its success at the tournament.

The Hinsdale South Math Team took first place at the recent West Suburban Math League meet held at Downers Grove North. The team also had top 10 finishes in the following individual events:

The Latin Clubs from Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South performed well during their second Certamen gathering of the year with their peers from Lyons Township and Benet Academy.

The students from Central (Hank Bolenbaugh, Ben Yan, Yusuf Ahmed, Jonathan DeToro, M Bolenbaugh, Lucas DiGuido, Hannah Li, Nadir Muzaffar, Sara Quiballo, Michael Sahs and Ivy Shen) took first place at the novice (Latin I) and lower (Latin II) levels, and second place at the upper (Latin III/IV) level.

The students from South (Philemon Rassi, Rachele Cameli, Anna Meng, Emiliano Weiberg, Benjamin Poulos, Fouzaan Amjad and Andrew Metzger) took second place at the novice (Latin I) level and third place at the upper (Latin III/IV) level.

We congratulate both clubs on their continued success at the Certamen competitions.

Prior to Thanksgiving break, we shared that Sean Allison from Hinsdale Central was named to the 2021 Class 8A Illinois High School Football Coaches Association (IHSFCA) all-state team, and that his teammate Thomas Skokna was named to the IHSFCA's honorable mention all-state team.

There are several other student-athletes from across the district who earned similar honors.

We congratulate Junior, Jack, Dawson and Jacob on their well-deserved recognitions.

Students who receive educational and support services from the district's deaf and hard of hearing department will be part of the cast and crew for the Deaf Drama production of "The Elf on A Shelf Must Go."

The performance will take place in the auditorium at Hinsdale South on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $5, and voice interpretation will be provided. You can access a flyer for the show by visiting https://bit.ly/3IiDmx1.

Hinsdale Central world language teachers Christina Brodell and Sally Belter were selected to present at the recent American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Virtual 2021 Fall Conference. Their presentation, which was titled “Creating Courageous Classrooms,” focused on the importance of creating meaningful relationships with students in the classroom and facilitating an environment that invites them to use their voice and be their authentic selves. It also featured information about strategies and techniques that teachers can use to create environments that foster courageous classrooms and lead to increased student cooperation, engagement and language proficiency growth.

We congratulate Ms. Brodell and Ms. Belter on being chosen for this opportunity.

This month, students and staff from Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South are organizing and engaging in events and activities that are focused on bringing increased attention and awareness to the importance of mental health and making healthy choices. Last week, the Operation Snowball organizations from both schools invited M&P Presentations to campus to speak to students about:

Both schools are also holding a spirit week Dec. 6-10 that will feature the following themes:

The efforts being undertaken this month are serving as a reminder that it is OK not to be OK. They are also highlighting the resources that are available for those who want or need help, which include the services provided through the district's partnership with ReferralGPS.

We want to thank Phil Januszewski and Matt Matkovich from M&P Presentations for the information, energy and enthusiasm they shared with our schools. We also want to thank Operation Snowball and faculty sponsors Jennifer Cave from Hinsdale Central and Michelle Proutsos and Bridgette Bova from Hinsdale South for all they do to support the health and well-being of our students.

The District 86 and District 88 Transition Family Group will be hosting a presentation about work training and trade careers on Dec. 8 at 6:30 p.m. During the event, representatives from Inspired by Ability and WorkNet DuPage will talk about the current demand for skilled trade workers and provide information about their work training program.

You can access the Zoom link for this event, as well as information about previous or upcoming sessions, by visiting https://bit.ly/3kyqglb.

You can access a more detailed breakdown of this data by building at https://bit.ly/3d93aws.

Employees who work in the administration building or are not assigned to a specific school - 98%