Celebrating outstanding achievements for academic, art, and musical accomplishments, members of the Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 Board of Education congratulated students at the May 19 Board meeting for their efforts during the 2013-14 school year.
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Stretching back more than 90 years to 1923, these awards are considered the most prestigious program to recognize youth and teens in grades 7-12 in 28 categories of art and writing. Students compete to win scholarships and have their works exhibited or published. Each work is judged for “originality, technical skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.” The awards program is sponsored by the non-profit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.
Students from District 64’s Emerson Middle School received awards for their creative works submitted to the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards national competition. (Students listed below in 9th grade submitted their work as 8th graders.)
Awards in the category of black and white photography were received by: Gold Key Award - Noah Fishman, Grade 8, “Devil’s Doorway;” Silver Key Awards - Meghan Breslin, Grade 8, “Brother” and Luke Calahan, Grade 9, “Nature in Focus;” and Honorable Mentions - Julia Marin, Grade 8, “Emily”and Georgia Slojkowski, Grade 9, “Veiled in Violin.” In the category of painting, Silver Key Awards were received by Nicholas Mistrata, Grade 9, “My Stuff” and Hannah Warlick, Grade 9, “Sunshine Lorikeet.”
Young Authors
The District-level winners of this annual creative writing competition were selected from a pool of outstanding school winners at every grade level. Students wrote and illustrated an original story independently at home. This year’s outstanding Young Authors are:
- Kindergarten – Joshua Nieves, Franklin School
- Grade 1 – Noah Felipe Munoz-Lo, Field School
- Grade 2 – Abbas Raza, Franklin School
- Grade 3 – Olivia Das Gupta & Ella Trieloff, Roosevelt School
- Grade 4 – Nathan Fernando Munoz-Lo & Kieran Doran, Field School
- Grade 5 – Eden Paterno, Carpenter School
- Grade 6 – Sara Starecheski, Lincoln Middle School
- Grade 7 – Amna Sorbun, Emerson Middle School
- Grade 8 – Anne Longman, Lincoln Middle School
Spelling Bee
For the fourth year, each school conducted its own spelling bee to select the top three spellers to participate in the District 64 competition. The District 64 Spelling Bee included 21 student contestants, and was held in January at Carpenter School. It lasted 16 rounds. First place winner, Catherine Sernel, fifth grader at Washington School, spelled the word “renegade" correctly to capture the championship over second place winner Christo Fosse, 8th grader at Emerson Middle School. Third place was a first-ever tie between two fifth graders: Karolina Bisiak from Field School and Kenneth Kim from Franklin School. Catherine Sernel went on to represent District 64 at the North Cook Regional Bee, where she placed 6th out of 30 contestants.
Instrumental Music & Chorus
This year, 12 students were recognized for their participation in the Instrumental Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA) competition this year. IMEA sponsors a yearly music festival for nine regions in the state. District 64’s region ranges from the northern Chicago border to Wisconsin, and Lake Michigan to Woodstock. Each year, approximately 50 schools in this region send their finest students to audition for a position in this all-star ensemble.
District 64 students selected to participate this year following rigorous auditions are:
- Elaina Bridich, Grade 8, Emerson Middle School
- JJ Butler, Grade 8, Lincoln Middle School
- Brandon Christopher, Grade 8, Lincoln Middle School
- Justin Grigus, Grade 8, Lincoln Middle School
- Jacob Lenzini, Grade 8, Emerson Middle School
- Benjamin Levin-O'Leary, Grade 8, Lincoln Middle School
- Steven Manos, Grade 8, Emerson Middle School
- Mary Clare Nagai, Grade 8, Emerson Middle School
- Eva Nicholson, Grade 7, Emerson Middle School
- Allison Paxhia, Grade 7, Emerson Middle School
- Shea Walters, Grade 8, Lincoln Middle School
- Theodore Wyshel, Grade 8, Lincoln Middle School
In addition, District 64 reported that choral groups from the middle schools as well as the elementary schools were active in the community throughout the year:
- Middle school choral groups were warmly greeted at the Fine Arts Gala on Michigan Avenue, the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra’s December concert, Park Ridge Rotary, St. Matthew’s Rehabilitation Center, Golf Mill mall, and other locales.
- Grades 4-5 choruses from the elementary schools also received enthusiastic acclaim for their singing, including performances at Iannelli Studios for the Kalo Foundation, Golf Mill mall, Bethany Terrace Health and Rehabilitation Center, Summit Square, Resurrection Nursing & Rehab Center, a Chicago Wolves Game, Park Ridge Police Memorial Service at City Hall, and “Music in the Parks” at Great America, among other appearances.