Arpan Chokshi, who is a social studies teacher at Hinsdale Central, and Stephen Moore, who is an English teacher at Hinsdale South, have earned the Outstanding Educator Award from the University of Chicago.

For more than three decades, first-year students entering the university have nominated individuals for this award who have helped them "along the path toward intellectual growth." Chokshi and Moore are among the educators who are being recognized this year for the significant role they play in their students' education, and the positive impact they have on the lives of those they teach. You can learn more about the award by visiting http://bit.ly/2nVg6kn.

There will be a virtual celebration for this year's winners on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. In the meantime, we want to congratulate Mr. Chokshi and Mr. Moore on this well-deserved honor.

You can access the full results from the tournament by visiting https://bit.ly/2Z6uPv0.

The boys soccer team from Hinsdale Central captured the regional championship and helped Coach Mike Wiggins earn his 400th career victory in dramatic fashion against Whitney Young. After battling through regulation and two overtime periods, the Red Devils finally bested the Dolphins by going 5-for-5 in the shootout. Next up for Central is a matchup against Lyons Township in the sectional semifinal tomorrow (Oct. 25) at 4:30 p.m.

We congratulate the team and Coach Wiggins on their huge win, and wish them the best of luck against LT.

The boys team from Hinsdale South took third place at regionals behind top 20 finishes by Dziugas Meiliulis (10th place), Adam Fournier (12th place) and Andrew Petersen (16th place), while Abby Petersen's fifth place finish helped the girls team take fourth at its tournament.

The girls swimming and diving program at Hinsdale Central won the conference championship at the varsity and junior varsity levels this past weekend.

We congratulate both teams and their coaches on their accomplishments.

Junior Layan Al-Khaled from Hinsdale South earned the designation of Outstanding Delegate for her role on the NASA Post-Challenger committee that was part of the CSMUN (Carl Sandburg Model United Nations) XIII conference held on Oct. 15. You can learn more about the conference by visiting https://www.csmun.org/ and more about the committee by visiting https://bit.ly/3z0BZAg.

We congratulate Layan on this tremendous honor.

A professional potter recently visited Hinsdale Central to give

Evan Haase's pottery class a hands-on lesson in the ancient Japanese technique of Raku firing.

The students covered their pots with copper oxide glazes and fired them in a kiln that had been heated to between 900 and 1,000 degrees. After the firing process was complete, the pots were placed in metal cans with paper and sawdust in order to create the combustion and subsequent chemical reactions that help produce unique and myriad colors. The pieces were then dipped in water and allowed to air dry.

You can check out photos from the lesson by visiting https://bit.ly/3Dk0UBk.

The Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central girls volleyball programs held their annual Volley for the Cure match on Oct. 19. This year, the teams raised more than $3,000 through the sale of t-shirts, baked goods and raffle tickets that will benefit the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation.

We want to congratulate both programs on the success of the event. We also want to congratulate the Hornets on winning the matches at the freshman (A) and sophomore levels, and the Red Devils on winning the matches at the freshman (B) and varsity levels.

The Hinsdale Central Hispanic Student Association (HSA) celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by creating a mural based on this year's theme - "Unidos: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation."

The mural, which was painted in the hallway where the school's world language classrooms are located, features the various flags that make up the Spanish-speaking world.

You can check out a larger image of the mural and the HSA members who created it by clicking the photo on the right.

Reminder - The District 86 Family-School Relationships Survey was officially launched on Oct. 20. Through this survey, which features 59 questions and is estimated to take no longer than 20 minutes to complete, families can provide valuable feedback on important topics such as communication, engagement, readiness for learning, safety and support.

Any current District 86 parent/guardian who still wants or needs to take the survey can do so by:

The deadline for completing the survey is Nov. 16 at 4 p.m.

We want to thank everyone who attended the district's second Community Conversation on Oct. 19. You can access the video from this event by visiting https://youtu.be/JeBH6j0v6xk.

We also hope you will save the date for the next Community Conversation, which is scheduled to take place on Nov. 16 from 7-8 p.m. in the library at Hinsdale Central. This session will focus on the following topics:

Next week's email will include a link to the form that you can use to RSVP for this event. In the meantime, if you have questions or need more information about our Community Conversations, please contact Dr. Chris Covino at ccovino@hinsdale86.org.

The next District 86 Board of Education meeting will be held on Oct. 27. The agenda and packet of materials for the meeting will be posted on BoardDocs (https://bit.ly/394u9as) and shared via email tomorrow (Oct. 25).

Please visit https://bit.ly/3B4pHHk to access the latest COVID-19 data for our district, community and county. Below are the metrics we plan to update on a weekly basis.