THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW: 

• No school Tuesday November 5, 2024



Happy Halloween! On this day, I've been reminded how uplifting it is to see our students relishing in the healthy, innocent fun of this season—even in a time filled with so many pressing issues. This past week, our GIANT pride was unmistakable, bringing a sense of joy and unity to our school community in inspiring ways.

In English I Honors, students brainstormed ways to make our cafeteria more inclusive—a project that speaks to their desire to create a place where everyone feels at home. Our Halloween concert added even more excitement to the week, delighting both community members and my own boys, who were shocked to see students performing in costume! At our Senior Night football game, we celebrated the Poms, Marching Band, and Football team, ending with a victory on the field and an outpouring of support from our fans.

I’m especially proud of our Giant Hockey Team, who recently organized the Highland Park Giants Sled Hockey Community Fundraising Event, a sold-out event that brought our community together in support of Cooper Roberts and his family. Thanks to this incredible effort, they've raised over $19,000 for the Hornets Sled Hockey Team.

And just when it seemed the week couldn't feel more unified, our wonderful PTO nourished our staff with a “just because” breakfast on Monday, simply to show their appreciation.

Thank you for being such an essential part of our community, one that values compassion, togetherness, and pride in one another. I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of this GIANT family this week and always.

As always, thank you for sharing your students with us this week and beyond,

Holly Fleischer

HAPPENING NEXT WEEK

Shout out to Maria Barbanente for the Italian Club (she is the sponsor) planning an amazing Italian History experience for all of HP! She and her students organized a staff slide deck for staff to post their visits to Italy and that was displayed on all Student Activity TV’S throughout the building all week. There was a Gelato fundraiser that sold out! Her classes and Italian Club displayed information in the cafeteria hallway about Italian history, Italian brilliance, Italian cuisine, and the geography of Italia!  DJ Dylan played ONLY Italian hits in the student cafe, Italian Club organized a table to engage students around Italian History and facts about the Italian influence of Highwood, decorations throughout the cafeteria of Italian pride, AND Maria teaming with Quest to offer genuine Italian cuisine options (outside of the everyday options) that students loved! One more thing - Her presidents of the Italian Club ran a fun 90 sec. REELS on Instagram to inform the HPHS community about Italian culture and taste testing, THAT WAS SOOOOO FUN! THANK YOU MARIA AND ITALIAN CLUB FOR YOUR PASSION AND HARD WORK TO LIFT THE GIANT SPIRIT AND EVELEVATE ITALIAN CULTURE AT HP!!!

Halloween Concert (Amazing work by Josh Chodoroff, Rad Olshansky, and Joel Zishuk)  - Thursday, Oct. 24:

Senior Night Student Section - Friday, Oct. 25:

ATHLETICS



The season came to an end for some of our teams this past week.  Our Varsity Football team defeated Vernon Hills 43-36 in dramatic fashion on Friday night.  It was a great way to finish the season for our Senior Football players and Marching Band members.  Varsity Field Hockey gave it their all in round two of the state playoffs, but was defeated by Lake Forest.  It was a fantastic season for the members of the Field Hockey Program.  Boys Varsity Soccer also has a lot to celebrate, despite having their season come to an end in the Regional Semifinal.  The program made Giant strides at all levels this Fall.  Finally, our Girls Tennis team capped off a championship season with strong performances at the IHSA State Finals.  Mira Schmidt and Gabby Gold went 1-2 in the doubles competition.  In singles, Nadia Barbieri had a tremendous state tournament going 4-2 and showing a lot of grit and resilience in her Friday matches.  Congratulations to all of our athletes and coaches.

Congratulations also goes out to the Varsity Girls Volleyball on a special week.  The team defeated Maine East on Monday and Niles North on Wednesday.  They rode their current winning streak into the state playoffs where they defeated Lincoln Park on Monday night, before being eliminated by New Trier in a hard fought contest on Tuesday.  Congratulations to the team on a fantastic finish!

Our Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams ran well at the Glenbrook South Regional.  For the Boys, Dylan Dominguez (3rd place), Lucas Hoobler (11th place), and Henry Gamson (15th place) led the team to a 4th place finish.  The Girls finished 9th as a team and were paced by Maggie Mariano (22nd place) and freshman Kate Kubicki (40th place).  The IHSA Sectional is Saturday at Busse Woods.  Good luck to our Giants who are competing.

Highland Park High School is proud to host the IHSA Sectional Swim and Dive Meet on  Saturday, November 9th.  Come out to support our Girls Swim & Dive Program and see some of the most talented swimmers and divers in the state of Illinois.  Diving starts at 9:00am and Swimming begins at 1:00pm.  The cost for the event is $7.00 on GoFan ($8 cash) for all spectators.