2011-2012
(Feb. 2012) Students from the school's newspaper, The Voyager, participated in the SWSC Journalism Conference on Feb. 3, and earned first-place awards in three out of six categories! Congratulations to:
* Danielle Banks - Best News Story for Occupy Chicago
* Kayla Sosa - Best Two-Page Spread for Are You a Hipster?
* Marissa Bell-Taylor for Best News Photo forKrossing Kedzie
(Feb. 2012) Teacher Alana Drude has been selected as a speaker at the Illinois Association of Teachers of English conference Feb. 17 & 18 in Springfield. She will present Writing Authentic Persuasive Speeches: Addressing the Needs of an Ever-Changing Audience on Friday, Feb. 17. The IATE is the statewide affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English; it serves 1,500 English teachers in Illinois. Congratulations, Ms. Drude!
2010-2011
(May 2011) On Friday, May 6, Newspaper, Broadcasting and Yearbook students traveled to Eastern Illinois University for the IHSA State Journalism Finals, where the team finished in 1st Place! The following students placed in their event at the competition:
• Dana Yanow - 1st Place Broadcasting
• Veronica Morris - 1st Place Yearbook Theme Development
• Amy Jackson - 1st Place Yearbook Theme Development
• Olivia Lubeck - 2nd Place Newspaper Design
• Laura Nichols - 3rd Place Review Writing
• Abby Schultz - 4th Place Editorial Writing
Congratulations, students, on this awesome achievement!
(May 2011) English Teacher Janine Stroemer was recognized with a 1st Diamond Degree by the National Forensic League for excellence in coaching speech activities. Each Diamond degree represents more than 2,000 speech performances or debates over five or more years. On June 17, she will receive special recognition at the Lincoln Financial Group/NFL National Speech & Debate Tournament in Dallas. Congratulations, Janine!
(April 2011) More incredible news from the H-F Debate Team! The weekend of April 30, H-F Debate achieved a true milestone in the history of the team. For the first time ever, HF advanced a team to the elimination rounds of the 40th Annual National Tournament of Champions (TOC), the most prestigious event in the entire activity, held every May at the University of Kentucky. The team of Juniors Donald Grasse and Margaret Strong compiled a preliminary record of 5-2, making them the 13th seed (in a field of 71). "It is difficult to convey the immensity of this achievement except to say that this is the single biggest and most important award ever won in the history of the team," said Coach Josh Brown. Of those 72 teams from around the country that qualify for this national tournament, only 16 advance to the elimination rounds! Grasse and Strong attended the tournament with two other students: Junior Rufus Coates-Welsh and Senior Laura River, who as a pair finished with a very respectable record of 3-4. Also, Grasse was recognized as the 16th speaker out of a field of 142 of the best high-school debaters in the country! The students were joined by Coach Brown and Assistant Coaches Anthony DiLorenzo and Aaron Davis. Team H-F was also assisted by Joe Upton, Sam Brown & Jacob Schoeneman. Great job, Vikings!
(April 2011) The weekend of April 16 H-F Debate was represented at the National Debate Coaches Association National Championships at the University of Scranton by Juniors Donald Grasse and Margaret Strong. In the field of 74 teams from around the country, H-F finished 18th overall with a record of 4-3, defeating teams from the Woodward Academy (GA), Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart (FL), Lexington (MA) and Greenhill (TX). Grasse was recognized as the 15th speaker out of 148 students! Our team's head coach, Joshua Brown, was one of five people nominated for the NDCA Educator of the Year Award! Congratulations, coach and team!
(March 2011) GROUP INTERPRETATION — 2nd in State! Congratulations to H-F Group Interpretation's "Requiem for a Cellist: The Jacqueline de Pre Story" for claiming the Sectional Championship on March 19 and finishing in 2nd Place at the State Tournament on March 26! Kudos to the All-State Cast honorees: Bree Schmidt, Gloria Petrelli & Kanoa Mulling. The cast was coached by Janine Stroemer and Warren Sampson. Way to go, Vikings!
(March 2011) English teacher Alana Drude's proposal — Writing Authentic Persuasive Speeches: Addressing the Needs of an Ever-changing Audience — has been selected as a presentation for the annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English to be held in November. It will be a part of the Secondary section, High School Matters.