April 2, 2024

The Board of Trustees has approved the 12-month Academic Calender for the 2024-2025 school year. This calendar includes important information about move-in dates, breaks, and major campus events, so please be sure to review it!

IHSA Solo and Ensemble Festival

IMSA music students had numerous noteworthy performances at the 2024 IHSA Solo and Ensemble Contest at Bradley-Bourbonnais High School.

Congratulations to the following students:

Orchestra: Division 1

Superior Rating

Ryan Kim '24, Violin Solo

Shriya Koduri '26, Piano Solo

Sophie Pehlke '25, Cello Solo

Grace Rhee '26, Violin Solo

Ayan Trivedi '25, Violin Solo

Vivienne Uenuma '26, Violin Solo

Ankit Walishetti '25, Violin Solo

Yash Yardi '25, Violin Solo

HOSA State Leadership Conference

The students in Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) attended the State Leadership Conference in Springfield last week. Overall, IMSA had 25 State Finalists and 13 International Qualifiers. 

The International qualifiers are:

Adity Hansoty '25 and Laksh Mehta '25 - Forensics

Zuyu Liu '24, Sukanya Ghosh '24, Carolyn Zhang '25, and Lily Zhang '25 - Biomedical Debate

Meitreyi Pandey '24 - Epidemiology

Adity Hansoty '25 - Pharmacology

Laksh Mehta '25 and Haley Shah '25 - Medical Terminology

Kannan Ilamparithi '25 - Cultural Diversities

Arnav Patel '25 and Abhinav Anne '26 - Behavioral Health

The CAC office invites Sophomores and Juniors to a college visit from the University of Pennsylvania. Meet Caroline Bormann, UPenn Admissions Representative, who will share information about the University of Pennsylvania and answer questions. 

College Day, sponsored by the College and Academic Counseling Office and Parent Association Committee, is held annually and consists of a keynote speaker and presentations from college representatives. Sophomore and Junior students are encouraged to attend the fair with their parents. The IMSA College and Academic Counseling (CAC) team coordinates and hosts the event.

Stay tuned for a full list of colleges that will be in attendance!

The CDC has announced more streamlined COVID-19 guidelines to align with other respiratory viruses. Please review the following updated guidelines:

• If you are sick, stay home.
• Seek testing and treatment when sick (particularly if at high risk for severe disease)
• Return to normal activities when symptoms have improved overall for 24 hours. If a fever is present, wait until you have been fever-free for 24 hours without using a fever-reducing medication before returning to normal activities.

Once people resume normal activities, they are encouraged to take precautions for the next five days to curb disease spread. These precautions include:

• Taking more steps for cleaner air
• Enhancing hygiene practices
• Wearing a well-fitting mask
• Keeping a distance from others
• Continuing to test to inform your actions and prevent the spread to others

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, only 5.7% of physicians in the United States identify as Black or African American. Join the panel discussion to hear the experiences of these IMSA Alumni and their path to becoming doctors.

Stop by this week's Resource Workshop to get help finding academic sources for research projects, and learn about the fun and free resources the IRC has available!

IMSA’s strategic direction aims to elevate IMSA everywhere. In essence, we want to be more accessible around the state, and for those enrolled in our residential program, expand ways to experience IMSA. One such example is the development of an IMSA Innovation Hub which aims to create an IMSA community in an area where we desire to have a greater impact.

Will Perkins, our Chief Mission and Impact Officer, has established a relationship with Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Their STEM Education Research Center is a great location to open an IMSA Hub next year. It will allow us to bring our outreach and professional development programs to Southern Illinois, and give 20 of our students a chance to work in SIU's research labs this summer for a SIR experience. By having a satellite location in another part of the state, we can recruit, support, and enrich students in new ways.

Please take a look at our recent Board presentation about IMSA Innovation Hubs which outlines a variety of possibilities. We look forward to this model expanding our impact into the future.

If you have thoughts on this topic or wish me to address others, please reach out to me at eglazer@imsa.edu.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Kishor Kapale, Ph.D.

Dr. Kapale is a Physics Professor from Western Illinois University. He was an integral part of the Promise 2.0 pilot program last summer and is currently part of the IMSA parent community. His research interests include Theoretical Quantum Optics, Atom Optics, and Quantum Information Science.

Last month, the Girls IN2 STEM program concluded its spring cohort on a high note with a showcase event in IN2. They welcomed IMSA Alum Adelaide Zhang '95, a Senior Product Manager at Chamberlain Group, and Anna Gaffey, a SIR Mentor and graduate student at the University of Chicago. The gathering included over 60 mentors (IMSA students) and mentees (middle school students), who came together to hear the speakers' personal experiences, engage in Q&A sessions, and present their projects from the spring cohort.

Congratulations to Matthew Salinas '24 for earning his First Class Medical Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration! Matthew is now gearing up to spend his weekends flying as he pursues his dreams of becoming a pilot, and one day, working for NASA as an astronaut.

Congratulations to Jaden Blankenship '25 for winning a gold medal in biology at the DuPage County ACT-SO awards! ACT-SO is a nationwide program that promotes academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students. The DuPage County ACT-SO program hosts an academic competition, where students present projects developed with mentor guidance. As a gold medalist, Jaden will have the opportunity to compete against winners from other cities at the National ACT-SO finals during the NAACP's Annual Convention in July.

Please complete the Spotlight Submission Form if you have been recently recognized in your field, celebrated for your academic or professional achievements, or are working on a project you'd like to share. If you have any questions, please contact Alex Johnson at ajohnson2@imsa.edu.

All sophomore students are required to attend the Student Leadership Exchange (SLX) to complete the LEAD program. SLX is a day-long event where students will present their LEAD projects surrounding social entrepreneurship, activism, and data journalism in correspondence with the UN's Sustainability Development Goals. and network with evaluators from IMSA and the wider community.

Check out the new search engine from the Illinois of Gifted Children for local STEM enrichment opportunities for all ages. This search engine was developed by IMSA Senior, Michael Meng '25!

Titan To Go is a resource for students to discreetly order basic toiletries when they cannot replace them before a trip home. Students may select from the following items:



• Shampoo and Conditioner
• Toothpaste and Toothbrushes 
• Dental Floss 
• Deodorant 
• Menstrual products
• Hand soap 
• Body lotion 
• Facial tissues
• Lip balm  
• Contact lens cases

Requests are confidential and can be made by clicking on the button above. Requests received by 8:00 a.m. will be processed daily, Monday through Friday. You will pick up your items in a Smart Locker once you receive a notification that your package has been scanned in.

For more information, contact Michelle Bemis, Volunteer Coordinator for Titan To Go at mbemis@imsa.edu.

Mark Your Calendars! 

April 2 - Classes Resume

April 10 - SAT/PSAT and IMSAloquium Practice

April 13 - ACT Testing

April 17 - IMSAloquium

April 20 - College Day

April 24 - SLX/Hollister Lecture

April 28 - Halls Close at 1:00 p.m.

April 29 - 30 - Virtual Engagement Days

May 1 - Halls Open at 1:00 p.m.

ILLINOIS MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE ACADEMY



1500 Sullivan Rd., Aurora, IL 60506-1000 |  630.907.5000 |  imsa.edu

To ignite and nurture creative, ethical, scientific

minds that advance the human condition.