November 19, 2024

Titan Tuesdays are packed with valuable information. Depending on your email settings, you may need to click "Display Images" to see the full content of Titan Tuesday. If you ever need to refer back to a previous edition, you can find all the information in our Titan Tuesday Archive.

If a student is going to miss class for any reason, parents or guardians must notify the Attendance Office by emailing attendance@imsa.edu or calling 630.907.5029.

All college visits must be pre-approved by the CAC office. Email your CAC and CC Attendance to get permission.

For any pre-arranged absence longer than three days, you must receive special permission from Dr. White. Email Dr. White at awhite@imsa.edu at least one week in advance to get special permission.

Upcoming Peer Tutor Review Sessions

Tuesday, November 19

5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

IN2

Study with tutors and peers in a cool space! All are welcome! Attendance is taken. 

Join classmates and Peer Tutors to prepare for final exams and projects!

If your student needs a supply of their prescription medication(s) from the Health Office for Thanksgiving break, please email nurse@imsa.edu. Please be sure to include the day you will be picking up your student. Failure to notify the Health Office may result in your student not having enough medication to last the entire break.

Parents/guardians should pick up medication in the Health Office before 3:00 p.m. or in the Hall RC office after 3:00 p.m. Students riding the downstate bus will be given their medications as they board the bus. Please return all medication bottles sent home, as we re-use them to send medication to the halls on nights and weekends.

When sending refills to campus, please complete the medication receipt form and turn it in with the refill. If your student goes home frequently, please remember to keep a supply of medications at home. 

Way to Go, Speech Team!

The Speech Team competed at the Fremd High School Viking Varsity Invitational over the weekend against over 500 competitors. Congratulations to the following students who placed in their events:

• Ellen Hsuan '25 - 6th place in Special Occasion Speaking
• Rishinima Mukherjee '26 - 3rd Place Next-In Finals, Original Oratory

Aurora Achieves

The City of Aurora recently featured IMSA in the Aurora Achieves Newsletter alongside other area schools. View the publications below.

Looking to stay warm? Purchase Senior Class Club’s new merch! Starting November 12 until December 1 you can purchase a hoodie or crewneck through the link below. All proceeds will go to the Senior Class Club to help offset the student cost of Prom.

Students should take note of upcoming class meetings with their College and Academic Counselors.

Sophomores

College Admissions

December 11

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Auditorium

Juniors

College Selection

December 3 and December 5

S&E Period

Auditorium

Seniors

December 2

S&E Period

Auditorium

Sophomore

Course Selection

January 22, 2025

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Auditorium

Sophomores will meet with Faculty Department Team Coordinates (TCs) to go over the course selection process.

Sophomore and Junior Elective

Mini-Fair

January 29, 2025

2:00 p.m. - 4:25 p.m.

Main Gym

Sophomores and Juniors can learn more about electives offered next year.

College Admissions Orientation

For Parents and Guardians of Juniors

December 17

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Via Zoom

Passcode: 822504

Has My Child Applied to College Yet?

For Parents and Guardians of Seniors

December 5

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Via Zoom

Passcode: 292289

Previous webinars are also available on the CAC webpage under "College Planning Process."

Click here to view your student's CAC assignment.

Upcoming College Deadlines

• December 1: Anticipated FAFSA opening (the CSS Profile already opened on October 1). View a previous Titan Tuesday for helpful FAFSA resources.

IMSA is a pretty unique institution that provides opportunities that may not be available in your local school, whether that's challenging students to a new level, providing unique courses, accessing research experiences, working with entrepreneurs, learning "how-to's" to become more independent, and much more.

We're actually not alone at a national level. There are 13 public, STEM-focused residential schools nationwide, and hundreds more STEM-focused regional programs. At IMSA, we aspire to excel in this space and learn innovative practices from peers. I'd like to applaud the following colleagues for their leadership in giving presentations at our recent national conference earlier this month:

• Credentials: New Pathways for Student Success in the 21st Century by Dr. Luke Berryman, Dr. Paul Gaszak, and Dr. Angela Rowley
• Designing Higher Education Partnerships to Create New Access Opportunities by Dr. Evan Glazer, Dr. Anita White, and Dr. Paul Gaszak
• Leadership in AI Education: Approaches for Pathfinding Pedagogy, Student Research, Curriculum and Programs by Tami Armstrong, Dr. Ashwin Mohan, and Dr. Eric Rettberg
• Finding Time: Implementing a Student Support Period by Dr. Paul Gaszak and Takeisha Rheams

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to learn more about any of these efforts.

SCIA (Student Committee for IMSA's Advancement) and the Alumni Relations Coordinator are collaborating to host a spring career fair for IMSA students. We'll invite Alumni from many fields to share their experiences and for students to network with. Please fill out the survey to gauge your availability and interest.

Sophomore LEAD Elective Module

November 20, 2024

8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Sophomores should bring their laptops, notebooks, and writing utensils to every LEAD session. Please review the syllabus for your elective by Wednesday to familiarize yourself with the attendance policy and upcoming modules. Attendance is mandatory. Any absences should be reported via email to LEAD Program Coordinator Emma Wilson Parker by Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Class of 2025

Please remember to be vigilant in logging your service learning hours into Helper Helper and then following up to make sure they are fully approved. As a reminder, students who do not complete the graduation requirement for service learning, as stated here will not receive their final transcripts until they have done so. All hours must be submitted and fully approved (present in PowerSchool).

Meet in the AI Center during S&E period (2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.) to hear from guest lecturers in various AI fields.

• December 3:   Dr. Eric Rettberg, Teacher in the Hot Seat
• December 10: Ms. Charity Freeman, AI Student Credential Pilot
• December 17:  Mr. Dan Campbell, Software Engineering Career

The AI Center (A-148 by the math study area) is excited to announce DAILY hours staffed by our amazing CS faculty and AI Center student interns. Stop in for CS study, AI/CS mentorship, guest speakers, peer collaboration, and career guidance.

A, C, and D Days

Staffed by CS Faculty for AI Study & Project Help

8:55 a.m. - 11:35 a.m.

12:10 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.



I Days

Staffed by AI Student Interns and IMSA Staff

9:50 a.m. - 2:55 p.m.

B Days

AI Bytes Student Programming

2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Last month, the Girls IN2 STEM program wrapped up its fall cohort, uniting over 70 mentors and mentees to explore STEM online and in person. 

The cohort featured various exciting activities, thanks to collaborations with Chasewood Learning and IMSA clubs like the Titan Astronomical Society, Med 4 Minorities, and TALENT. On the final day, mentees proudly presented their projects and gained valuable insights from IMSA’s admissions team.

Do you know any students or mentors interested in joining the Spring Cohort? If so, please fill out the form linked below!

Ankit Walishetti '25 and Shridhar Mehendale '25 presented their paper titled, DexAssist: A Voice-Enabled Dual-LLM Framework for Accessible Web Navigation, at the 16th International Conference on Intelligent Human-Computer Interaction (IHCI 2024) held at the University of Twente in Enschede, Netherlands.

Their work introduced a novel LLM framework designed to improve the reliability of automated user interface control. Their framework has applications in the field of assistive technology, allowing individuals with fine motor impairments to control the web browser through voice commands. Their paper will be published in Springer’s Lecture Notes in Computer Science in the coming weeks. Read a preprint of their work.

Coping with Change

Change is a part of life that we are all constantly going through. Change can be scary, hard, and uncomfortable, but change is inevitable, especially in your teenage years. Here are some tips and tricks to help you navigate change:

• Establish a support network - It can be very important to find supportive and trustworthy people. Having people with whom you can be open and get support can be very helpful.
• Practice self-compassion - Sometimes mistakes give us room to grow. We can be very hard on ourselves and hold ourselves to such a high standard, but it is okay to not know everything. Building a positive relationship with ourselves can help us build resilience.
• Seek additional support – Sometimes we may need a little extra support or help, and that is okay! Come talk to a counselor or email us at counseling@imsa.edu.

Group Fitness Classes

There are now two weekly group fitness opportunities for staff and students! No registration is required. Just show up with workout clothes, shoes, and water. If you have any questions, email Counselor/Group Fitness Instructor Alex Pratt at apratt@imsa.edu.

Weight Training

Mondays

1:55 p.m. - 2:35 p.m.

(S&E Period)

Multipurpose Room

Group Fitness Class

Wednesdays or I-Days

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Multipurpose Room

Mark Your Calendars! 

November 23 - Halls Close at Noon

November 25 - 26 - Virtual Engagement Days

November 27 - 30 - Thanksgiving Break

December 1 - Halls Re-open **at 3:00 p.m.**

December 2 - Classes Resume

Click below to view the complete 12-month calendar, along with other helpful information about various bell schedules. Please refer to these calendars for important dates and special class schedules throughout the year.

Notice of Nondiscrimination: IMSA prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity that it operates. Individuals may report concerns or questions to the Title IX Coordinator.