District 86 is inviting students, staff, families, alumni and community members to help us celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week (May 8-12).

If you have expressions of gratitude (e.g. kind words, artwork, photos, videos, etc.) that you want to share about any of our teachers, please email them to abarry@hinsdale86.org by 7 p.m. on May 11. Please note that anything you send us may be posted on the district's social media sites in accordance with board policy.

Reminder - registration is now open for the district's summer school program. The first semester will take place June 12-29, while the second semester will be held July 5-20.

Please visit https://www.hinsdale86.org/summer-school to register for courses or learn more about our program.

The following District 86 students won awards in their STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) or proficiency events at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America's (FCCLA) recent state competition.

We want to congratulate these students on their amazing achievements.

Zuzanna Sokolowski, Toral Bhatt, Keira Leech and Chloe Chang

Eva Bargher and Ashley Leban

Maddy Ventimiligia

Several District 86 students earned awards at the annual Northwestern University Model United Nations Conference (NUMUN). Below is a list that features the name of each student, the school they attend, the award they won and the committee they served on.

We want to congratulate these students on their impressive accomplishments.

Members of Hinsdale Central's Model U.N. team

Sachin Malhotra, Layan Al-Khaled and Collin Caldwell

The JETS (Junior Engineering and Technical Society) team from Hinsdale Central took fourth place at the state tournament, and had the following students earn a total of 15 medals for finishing in the top five in their individual events:

We want to congratulate the team on its outstanding accomplishments this season, which included first place finishes at regionals and sectionals.

The following students from Hinsdale Central earned recognitions for the work they submitted for the annual Poetry and Prose Contest held by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English (IATE).

Details about the specific awards that were won will be published in an upcoming edition of the Illinois English Bulletin. In the meantime, we want to congratulate these students on their incredible achievements.

Senior leaders Owen Atkinson, Keira Hagen, Grace Koziol, Claire Petrosius and Sam Sherry from Hinsdale South's Environmental Concern Organization (ECO) participated in the 17th annual Sustainable Design Challenge that was hosted by SCARCE (School & Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education) and the DuPage County Stormwater Management on April 18.

This event brings together high school students from across DuPage County who design and construct sustainable building models that they present to a panel of industry experts from fields that include architecture and engineering.

We want to congratulate the ECO members on their ingenious designs, and will be rooting for them when the winners of the competition are announced next month.

On April 14, the Rotary Club of Hinsdale presented its Youth Merit Award to several students, including Hinsdale Central seniors Sam Chung, Alexander Hadesman and Jenna Jazayerli. This award "recognizes extraordinary high school and middle school students for services to their community and classmates, leadership qualities and academic achievements."

We want to congratulate Sam, Alexander and Jenna on this well-deserved honor.

Sam Chung

Alexander Hadesman

Jenna Jazayerli

Each month, the world language teachers from Hinsdale South nominate 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 April.

As part of Islamic Awareness Week, Hinsdale Central's Muslim Student Association organized activities (i.e., a donation drive and Krispy Kreme sale) that raised $800 for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria. The money the group collected is enough to fund a month of housing for 16 families in need.

Great job, Red Devils.

There was a story about the teens from Hinsdale, including Central students Cayleigh O'Hare, Aoife Stover and Gracie Massery, who won titles at the 2023 Irish Dance World Championships that were held in Montreal April 2-9. The Doings Hinsdale had a related article about O'Hare's decision to step away from Irish dance competitions following the event. (Subscription required to access the online version of the piece in the Doings).

There were photos from the official grand opening of the school's new gymnastics gym, which was named after former coach Neil Krupicka.

There was a story about the hiring of Christopher Cirrincione to serve as the school's new assistant principal for curriculum and instruction.

There was an interview with junior Grace McGowan about the school's production of "Urinetown."

There was also a Q&A with senior Tommy Webster, who is a captain of the boys lacrosse team.

We want to thank everyone who attended the district's sixth Community Conversation on April 19. The video from this event, which featured updates from the district's student services department and information related to the reporting requirements that Illinois schools must adhere to on an annual basis, can be accessed by visiting https://youtu.be/e9twZQMolFw.

We also hope that people will save the date for the final Community Conversation of the school year, which is scheduled to take place at Hinsdale Central on May 10 from 7-8 p.m. This session will feature information about the work of the Portrait of a Graduate committee, and updates about the district's academic dishonesty policy.

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

Katie Hurley will be the featured presenter for the final two events being held in conjunction with the 2022-23 Community Speaker Series.

During her sessions, which will take place April 25 from 7-8:30 p.m. and April 26 from 9:30-11 a.m., Hurley will discuss the critical role that empathy development plays in improving a child’s relationships, mental health and ability to work through difficult times. She will talk about the impact of bullying and cyberbullying and provide a proactive approach for empowering empathy and resilience in children. She will also provide attendees with concrete strategies for increasing empathy, kindness and resilience.

Both sessions are free and open to the public, and will be held in person at The Community House (415 W. Eighth Street in Hinsdale).

Please use the links below or visit http://www.d181foundation.org/ to register for the session you want to attend.

The Community House is hosting the 17th Annual Walk the Walk for Mental Health on May 21 from 9 a.m. to noon. The event is a 1-mile Color Walk that will celebrate "mental and physical wellness, access to mental health services, and ending the stigma associated with discussing mental health with friends, family and community."

You can learn about, register for or donate to the walk by visiting https://bit.ly/3Lik25J.