We recently mailed the spring 2023 edition of our D86 Forward newsletter to nearly 38,000 residences and businesses in our community. In the publication, we highlight what has been accomplished during the first four years (2019-2023) of the district's five-year strategic plan. We also detail our next steps heading into the plan's final year.

If you would like to check out the electronic version of the newsletter, you can do so by visiting https://bit.ly/3VwMlSv.

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, sign up for bus transportation (available to all students at no additional cost) or learn more about our program. Those who want to register and pay for courses will need to log in to the parent portal for Infinite Campus and select Activity.

In our past few update emails, we invited students, staff, families, alumni and community members to help us celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week by sharing expressions of gratitude (e.g. kind words, artwork, photos, videos, etc.) about our teachers. Please click the image on the right to view the submissions we received.

We want to thank our teachers for everything they do on behalf of our students, schools and community.

Hinsdale Central students Samiksha Gupta, Nicole Hu and Meghna Mitra were recognized by the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) and InnerView Technologies in conjunction with their sixth Annual Community Service Awards. All three of them earned an Ambassador Award for completing at least 100 hours of community service and 12 service activities. Please click the images below to learn more about the activities they engaged in and the impact their efforts had at the local and global levels.

We want to congratulate Samiksha, Nicole and Meghna on this recognition, and commend them for all they have done for the community.

Hinsdale South's Oliwia Mikos took third place and won a prize of $3,000 in The BIG IDEA Pitch Contest for her Aqua Safe business concept, which features a system of devices that will send an alert to a parent/guardian if their child has fallen into a body of water and is at risk for drowning.

The contest, which was organized by Innovation DuPage and the College of DuPage, gave students the chance to pitch their ideas to a panel of expert judges who were looking for "innovative products and services that solve real problems to satisfy the needs of growing markets." You can check out Oliwia's presentation by visiting https://fb.watch/kt45ZHHaIg/ (starts at the 50:00 mark and ends around the 57:20 mark).

We want to congratulate Oliwia on this impressive achievement.

Students from District 86 turned in outstanding performances on the world language national examinations that were administered during the 2022-23 school year. They earned 29 gold medals, 33 silver medals, and 45 bronze medals for the scores they received on the Spanish, French, Latin and German exams.

We want to give a shoutout to Dyana Banian, Ella DeGuzman, Veanka Francisco, Elisa Gonzalez, Elizabeth Martin and Alex Styczynski for earning honors on both the Spanish and French language tests.

We want to give another shoutout to the 32 students whose scores on the Spanish exam placed them among the top 10 for their competition level in the local chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). This group includes Hinsdale South's Parth Joshi, who placed first at his level for the third straight year.

We want to congratulate the more than 150 District 86 students who were recognized for their incredible success on the world language national exams. You can access the complete list of honorees by visiting https://bit.ly/3Mklczh.

We also want to thank world language teachers Sally Belter, Christina Brodell, Jennifer Cummings, Peter DeRousse, Amanda Ketterhagen, Cherie Lodl, Sarah Lombard, Alisha McCloud, Courtney Mikulcik, Rebecca O’Connor, Amy Piccoli, Kristine Pohlman, Lesley Samuel, Renee Sandoval, Deborah Trujllo, Renaud Verdier, Alison Vrtis and Tanya Walery for all they do to help our students learn, grow and lead.

Hinsdale Central's Alexander Burt is among the 2,500 students from across the country who have been awarded a $2,500 scholarship by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Those who were selected for this scholarship were judged to have "the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies."

We want to congratulate Alexander on this well-deserved honor.

The girls badminton teams from Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central finished their seasons strong at state. Below are some of the highlights from the tournament.

We want to congratulate Hinsdale Central's Elias Argyris on his ninth place finish on the vault at the state tournament for boys gymnastics.

The girls track and field teams from Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South had outstanding performances at their sectional tournament. The Red Devils took second place overall, while the Hornets took 10th. Both teams also had top 10 finishes in the following events.

*Qualified for the state tournament

We want to congratulate the following students for being named Hinsdale Central's athletes of the month for April.

There was a story about the role that juniors Maya Menon, Moira Hughes and Kavya Ravi have played in organizing the Walk the Walk for Mental Health, which 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.

There was a piece about the 50th anniversary of Central's softball program.

There was also a Q&A with senior Angie Conley, who is a captain of the girls lacrosse team.

Below are reminders about upcoming district events and activities.

On May 17, the Hinsdale South Foundation is hosting a magic show featuring world-famous illusionist Jeanette Andrews. The event will be held in the school's auditorium at 7 p.m., and will include an opening performance by the Hinsdale South Jazz Combo.

Tickets for the show, which is open to the public, are $20 for adults and $12 for students. There are also VIP tickets available for $30. Proceeds from the event will support the foundation's goal of providing scholarships for seniors.

Please visit https://www.hshsfoundation.org/ to purchase tickets, access additional information about the show or learn more about the important work of the foundation.

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 End of the World."

The performance will take place in the auditorium at Hinsdale South on May 26 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $6, and voice interpretation will be provided. You can access a flyer for the show by clicking the image on the right.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act helps protect the educational rights of homeless children and youth, and provides them with access to resources that support their success in school.

Below are links to fact sheets that detail who is eligible for McKinney-Vento services and the rights those individuals are afforded under the law.

If you missed the edition of Board Briefs for the board of education meeting on May 11, please visit https://conta.cc/3I4AYLT.