Congratulations and best wishes to 11 DECA students who will represent Lake Park and compete in the International Career Development Conference beginning Saturday, April 22, and concluding Wednesday, April 26 in Orlando, FL. The students earned this opportunity having placed in the Top 5 in their respective categories during the DECA State competition held March 2-4 in Rosemont at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

DECA members: Dex Cullen (10), Ieva Darvidas (10), Frankie Jakresky (10), Ashley Mallqui (10), Sona Ohanyan (10), Bhakti Patel (10), Amelia Sienko (11), Himakshee Sublok (10), Julia Surzykiewicz (10), Selena Thomas (11), Karolina Tomasik (12)

The DECA sponsors are Katie Bestvina, Patryk Pliszka, and Brittany Simpson.

Congratulations to the 10 members of the Lake Park Math Team on a very successful year in preparation for the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) State math competition beginning Friday, April 21, and concluding Saturday, April 22. Mathletes will compete in the categories of Algebra, Junior-Senior 8-person team, and Calculator team.

Math Team Members: Alex Babiarz (11), Dom Capozolli (11), Alex Davis (9), Luisa Frackiewicz (10), Jalen Joseph (11), Vinny Lanzito (11), Chintan Patel (11), Kailen Patel (11), Laasyasri Rangu (12), Rushil Shah (12)

The Lake Park Educational Foundation established the Spirit of Excellence awards to support and recognize the accomplishments of Lake Park students, staff, and distinguished alumni. This year's recipients were honored at the 14th Annual Spirit of Excellence Celebration Dinner at the Medinah Shriners Banquet Center on Tuesday, April 18.

Esha Aggarwal, Natalie Angel, Michela Barbanente, Chloe Berkich, Cameron Birk, Katie Bozek, Gabrielle Burgess, Sammy Carstens, Kaleigh Colucci, Grace Cord, Evan DeValk, Saachi Dhiman, Isabella DiDomenico, Juliana Dowling, Cailynn Gdowski, Mia Giammarese, Abigail Hatfield, Amira Jones-Faggins, Areej Khan, Elijah Matas, Tyler Michelini, Madeline Mintrup, Imani Oganuribido, Laasyasri Rangu, Youstina Riad, Jannete Robles, Kelci Saele, Rushil Shah, Julia Smith, Connor Spoczynski, Margaret Thiemann, Carolyn Torres, Emma Winiecki, and Jake Zegger

On Tuesday, April 18, students from several DuPage County high schools displayed their green building projects to the public at the 17th annual Sustainable Design Challenge held at DuPage County's Administration Building in Wheaton.

Lancer students (L-R) Phillip Sullivan (11), Quinn Griffin (12), Katie Okada (11), and Mia Medina (11) collaborated to research, design, and present their model to a panel of professionals from design fields including architecture and engineering.

Twenty-five student teams discussed the design elements that made their buildings sustainable, including renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines and water conservation elements such as native plant landscaping, rain barrels and other green infrastructure for stormwater management.

Each year, DuPage County Stormwater Management sponsors the event, and SCARCE coordinates the Challenge. The contest encourages students to construct building and landscape models using environmentally friendly and water-conserving design practices. Winners will be announced in May.

The best student artists from more than 100 Illinois high schools will compete on Sunday, April 23 for more than $119,000,000 in college scholarships at the Illinois High School Art Exhibition (IHSAE). The show runs through this weekend at the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood.

Congratulations to Lake Park art students who had their work accepted into the Northern Regional exhibition: Sophie Leszczynska (12), Nathanael Lyle (11), Brooke Olejniczak (10), Youstina Riad (12), and Zoey Sperando (12). Their artwork was selected to be displayed in a juried exhibition with peers from high schools across the state. The showcase celebrates artistic expression, achievement, and provides talented young artists with the opportunity to represent at a state level.

Congratulations to seniors Milo Caravello, Sophie Leszczynska, Savvy Mayers and Zoey Sperando for their artwork that was selected to be included in this year's senior scholarship Exhibition. These Lancers were awarded a combined total of $ $983,000 in scholarship offers from colleges and universities.

Lake Park's IHSAE art students will be recognized by the Board of Education during their regular meeting on Monday, April 24.

In honor of Autism Acceptance Month, the Lake Park High School Transition Assistance Program (TAP) will celebrate the annual Walk N’ Roll event with neighboring districts on Friday, April 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Clauss Farm Recreation Area of the Roselle Park District.

With more than 400 people already registered, the event will welcome participants from TAP, Pathways, NDSEC TLC, WDSRA Rec & Roll, Downers Grove Transition 99, DuPage High School Transition 88, Elmhurst District 205, Glenbard North Transition Program, Glenbard South Transition Program, Leyden BRIDGE Program, Leyden Transition Program, Lyons Township Transition Program, Ridgewood Life Skills Program, South Elgin High School Life Skills Program, and West Leyden Life Skills Program.

.... 10:00-10:45 Arrival and Registration 

.... 11:00-12:00 Walk 

.... 12:00-1:00 Lunch and Social Hour! 

The entrance fee is $1.00 per participant and will benefit the Autism Society. After the walk, please stay for a social hour with student-led activities, The Kona Ice Truck, which is donating 20% of gross sales to the Autism Society, and Doctor Dogs will be at the event with a limited lunch menu.

An Incoming Ninth Grade Parent Orientation program will be hosted on Wednesday, April 26 from 6:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at East Campus. This final orientation program is designed to benefit parents/guardians only.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the evening will begin promptly at 6:15 p.m. with a large group session in the Dice Auditorium. In the opening presentation, attendees will hear from the Counseling Team about important information regarding planning toward graduation. After the opening presentation, parents/guardians will have the opportunity to select four different breakout sessions. The purpose of this format allows families to explore topics most important to them and have their questions answered by school leaders, counselors, faculty, and students.

During a recent field trip to Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery in Chicago, members of Lake Park's Black Student Union (BSU) selected and purchased children's books that represent Black history and culture with the plan to donate these books to Lake Park's sender schools. Starting this week, BSU visited Greenbrook Elementary and has plans for Waterbury Elementary and Spring Wood Middle School to read to future Lancers and present their school libraries with these book donations for K-8 readers.