The administration recently awarded Academic Letters to students who earned at least a 3.75 grade-point for both semesters of the 2016-17 school year. The first year students received chenille "OL" lettermen patches embroidered with the "honors" distinction. Students who achieved the honor for a second or third year, were presented with certificates and gold chevron pins for their honor patches
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Third year recipients - Nevin Abdelghani, Alfred Agapito, Mohammed Alabed, Holly Bryce, Amanda Bulow, Jacqulyne Carvelli, Daniel Duran, Hagar Elsokary, Rogelio Esparza, Anna Gil, Ashlee Griffith, Bayan Hammad, Allison Hebel, Juan Hernandez, Thomas Herrera, Stephania Izaguirre, Sydney Janik, Anna Komperda, Ashley Lizak, Emily March, Allyson Niedospial, Shane Noone, Donal Nugent, Adem Osmani, Thomas Panek, Eulises Pena Bello, Litzy Pena Bello, Larissa Ptak, Jules Rollberg, Nicole Seremet, Emad Shehata, Paulina Staszel, Pamela Urchel, Francisco Vazquez, Kailee Vopelak, Justin Wisniewski, Allison Yacko, Wojciech Zacherek, and Layal Zaidan.
Second year recipients - Malak Abdeljaber, Morgan Albertsen, Matthew Arndt, Aisling Berry, Dakota Braatz, Noeleen Brown, Katelyn Byrne, Melany Cadenas, Adrian Cetera, Alondra Corral, Ricardo Cortes, Alexandria Demas, Karina Diaz, Marlene Favila, Peggy Fritz, Samantha Gavras, Nicole Grening, Enior Guerrero, Kelsie Haseltine, Jose Hernandez, Rawan Hussein, Lena Jadrawi, Mia Jaworowski, Jacob Kerwin, Salaam Khater, Justine Kwak, Michal Landa, Tala Liqyanah, Jacob Luzadder, Nadeen Mahmoud, Michael Majcherek, Michal Malek, Cassidy Mccormick, Morgan Mcdonnell, Madeline Mcgrath, Mia Menzel, Marcin Michalik, Abigail Moore, Khaldoon Omer, Nicolas Pajor, Natalie Para, Oskaras Patasius, Stela Perojevic, Matthew Plutz, Angelica Rafacz, Priya Rana, Joshua Rios, Emmanuel Romo, Brooke Rothman, Claire Rothman, Dunia Samra, Melanie Schlesser, Brenda Serna, Ahmed Sharfi, Emily Stachowicz, Matelda Sweis, Hope Unger, and Samantha Welninski.
First year recipients - Mya Abdelrahman, Ali Al Qazaq, Safiya Ali, Suha Ali, Manal Alshariff, Juana Angulo, Nicole Atko, Sabrina Bernal, Michael Bernitt, Juliette Bertalmio, Amira Biba, Brandon Bidochka, Diego Bonilla, Evelyn Bonner, Taylor Bulow, Reagan Cameron, Pablo Carrillo-Serna, Mario Castrogiovanni, Zeren Cebi, Kevin Celis, Jenna Cipriani, Mack Ciszek, Destinee Cwik, Mariel Diaz, Mia Digrazia, Chaniece Dobson, Kailey Dolan, Michelle Domino, Eleanor Featherstone, Cayla Fett-Davis, James Fetzer, Victoria Flores, Karolina Galica, Lizbeth Garcia, Alyssa Gonzalez, Isabelle Gonzalez, Jayna Greiman, Louai Hamdan, Sebastian Haro, Cathriona Heneghan, Cassandra Hernandez, Isabelle Hernandez, Jacquelyn Herrera, Alexandria Isajczuk-Macelli, Christopher Jadwiszczak, Antonio Jones, Kendallyn Julkowski, Jillian Kierna, Alyssa King, Caroline Kruk, Tia Liqyanah, Danyelle Luckett, Pablo Macias, Ahmed Mahdi, Mary Majcherek, Mario Maka, Julia Marusarz, Jenine Matariyeh, Timothy Mendez, Julia Monigal, Jennie Morales, Nicholas Mrowca, Jose Munoz, Molly Murphy, Karen Navarro, Alexxis Neal, Ryleigh Novak, Sami Osmani, Diego Perez, Yarah Quad, Nicholas Ramirez, Adam Rasoul, X Zavier Reed, Daniel Reyes, David Reyes, Diana Roman, Elizabeth Ruiz-Rosales, Sarah Saleh, Gabriela Sanchez, Victoria Serna, Martin Sheehan, Olivia Shell, Kristina Simonelis, Lucas Sodaro, Cylia Srmek, Natalie Stasiuk, Ashley Sullivan, Alexander Sweis, Tyler Tischer, Mariah Trujillo, Loreen Tumeh, Natalia Tylka, Amanda Unger, Maria Villagomez, Fernanda Villalpando, Kara Welch-Kurysz, Brendan Yerkes, and Weronika Zielinska.
McNamara Joins 300-Win Club With Recent Girls' Volleyball Victory
Way back in 1999 when Dennis McNamara took over as coach for the sophomore girls' volleyball team, he certainly had high expectations for himself and his team. And when he took over the varsity program for Mary Kay Nichols in 2002, those ambitions only grew. But after last Thursday night's win, McNamara now joins a club that many energetic, young coaches might have ambitions to become a part of some day. McNamara notched coaching win number 300 with his girls volleyball program as the Spartans defeated Reavis on the road Thursday.
As for what McNamara does to push his teams to success, he simply says, "My method for success is teaching the game and demanding effort when we compete."
McNamara has been a picture of stability and success at Oak Lawn. In all, he has two South Suburban Conference Coach of the Year Awards, two Fred Parks Coach of the Year Awards at Oak Lawn, and one Southtown Coach of the Year Award. In addition to the 300 wins with the girls' program, he currently has 236 victories with the boys.
As for his teams, the boys and girls have each won seven South Suburban Conference Red Championships. With the girls, his teams have won four Illinois High School Association Regional titles and with the boys, they have won six regional championships.
After winning so many games, one might think he would have a specific game or match that stands out in his memory. However, the athletes are what make this accomplishment so special for McNamara.
"I don't think I can give you just one specific win," he said. "I think back on all the kids I have gotten to coach here and the time and effort they put in in order for me to reach this milestone in my career. I have been truly blessed to have coached so many great athletes and even better people."
The season continues for McNamara's Spartans on October 11 at the Lincoln-Way Central Tournament.
Senior Nicole Seremet attended The Illinois Girls' State leadership program at Eastern Illinois University. This summer program, sponsored by The American Legion, offers young women the opportunity to learn about government and experience it by running for office, voting, and making policies. Nicole and other participating young women were first split into different districts and cities and then assigned different political parties: Nationalists and Federalists. Nicole, a Federalist in Stahl City, ran for mayor. She campaigned, made posters, and won! Once elected, Nicole appointed city officials and chaired city meetings. The girls learned about nationalism and government, including how to raise and lower a flag. The young women also heard from speakers, such as treasurers and comptrollers.
On the last day, all participants took a government test and out of over 300 girls only 11 passed. Nicole was one of them. Congratulations, Nicole!
Evento Comunitario Para Hispanohablantes - Community Outreach for Spanish Speakers
Do you Speak Spanish at home? Would you like to learn more about District 229 in your home language?
¿Habla español en casa? ¿Quisiera aprender más de Distrito 229 en su lengua materna?
Students in Spanish 4 and 4 Honors will host the fourth annual Community Outreach Event for Spanish-Speaking parents of District 229. This community outreach event is scheduled for the evening of November 15, 2017, from 6:00-8:00 in the High School's Media Center. The purpose of this event is to foster a relationship between Oak Lawn Community High School and its Spanish-Speaking community. This will be a wonderful opportunity for students to use the target language with heritage speakers in a safe and fun environment.
Additionally, parents will be able to access important information about Oak Lawn Community High School exclusively in Spanish regarding (but not limited to): Athletics, clubs, graduation information, and technology. Thea Meierkort will represent student services to share information about post high school planning.
To find out more information, or if you would like to offer your resources during this event: Please contact Alexandra Wong at [email protected] (Se habla español).
Amazon Smile - Supporting the Spartan Educational Foundation
AmazonSmile is an automatic way to support charitable organizations every time you purchase - at no cost to you.
Amazon donates to the organization on your behalf. It is very simple. On your first visit to AmazonSmile (
smile.amazon.com), you need to select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. AmazonSmile will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at
smile.amazon.com will result in a .5% donation.
Search for the foundation using its proper name: Spartan Educational Foundation
Once the search finds this organization, click on select. It's that easy. Amazon will remember this organization every time you log in and order through smile.amazon.com.
Thank you for your support!
Parent-Teacher-Student Association
As we welcome you to a new school year, we invite you to become part of our OLCHS Parent-Teacher-Student Association team!
Membership is the foundation of a successful PTSA partnership and we encourage all parents, students, and staff members to join. We also seek support from community members, family, and friends through membership ($8.00 each) or donations (any amount is greatly appreciated!). Memberships can be purchased online through the
OLCHS Webstore or by cash/check in the Main Office.
We are very proud to be able to provide scholarships for a number of graduating seniors. Proceeds from the table rental at our annual craft fair fund these scholarships. As you can imagine, this is a big undertaking and we need volunteers to help out. Thank you in advance!
Meeting dates are September 5, October 10, November 7, January 9, February 6, March 6, April 3, and May 1 at 7:00 p.m. in the Board of Education Room.
The Annual Craft Fair will be held on Saturday, October 21 from 10:00 a.m-3:00 p.m.
Mission Statement. Oak Lawn Community High School exists to: inspire, challenge, and empower students and staff in a safe, supportive environment; maximize individual potential through academic and personal growth; and graduate students who attain the high standards set forth by our community.
Board of Education
Administration
Robert Loehr, President
Matthew Egan, Vice President
Judy Ott, Secretary
Timothy Burke, Member
Margaret Nugent, Member
Lenny Svoboda, Member
Safaa Zarzour, Member
Dr. Michael Riordan, Superintendent Joseph McCurdy, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jeana Lietz, Principal Lauren May, Assistant Principal Marcus Wargin, Assistant Principal
Newsletter Contributors:
Brian Frangella, Feature Writer
Jennifer Jepsen, District Publications
Assistant
Marcus Wargin, Assistant Principal Mary Santangelo, Administrative Assistant
