Ridgewood Reporter

April 1997

Volume 12, Issue 6

This issue was so large, it had to be split up into two pages to fit on the website. Read the first section before this page.

Ms. Robinson helps out Ridgewood Reporter

By Iris Giannakis

Ms. Robinson is one of the four student teachers here at Ridgewood. Ms. Robinson was born and raised in Jamestown, New York. She came to Chicago to attend North Park College and is currently a senior there. Right now she is working with Mr. Lovelace and Ms. Netterstrom teaching English class, helping teach Spanish class with Ms. Hansen and helping out the newspaper staff with layout and computer graphics. "I have always wanted to be a teacher," Ms. Robinson said. "What I enjoy most about being a teacher is that I get a chance to get to know the students better."

Ms. Robinson enjoys Ridgewood because "the faculty is very supportive and the students are nice." Her favorite times at Ridgewood so far are the Shakespeare play Macbeth. And she has fun helping the newspaper staff by putting together the layout and computer graphics. "It was fun helping put together the issue for March. Now I know what it’s like to put together the newspaper here and to see how much hard work goes into it. It is really fun, and I enjoy helping out very much," she said. " My greatest challenge as a student teacher is figuring out how to manage my time without going crazy."

Ms. Robinson likes to read, listen to music, cook, go downtown, and hang out with her friends in her spare time. She will be done at Ridgewood with her training on May 21st. She is getting married in New York on May 31, and then she and her new husband plan to come back to Chicago in the fall.

New Baseball Coach

By Joe Cavitao and Iris Giannakis

Have you heard about the new social studies student teacher at Ridgewood? His name is Mr. Rico D’ Amore. Mr. D’ Amore currently teaches American History classes and will soon teach two Western Civilization classes.

Mr. D’Amore was born and raised in Berkeley, Illinois. He attended Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, and then went to Elmhurst College, where he will recieve his teaching certificate. He got his B.A. from Lewis.

When I asked him what motivated him to student teach at Ridgewood, Mr. D’Amore said " I really like the students here at Ridgewood."

Mr. D’Amore is also a JV Baseball coach. He jokes around when he says that nothing is better than coaching high school baseball in the warm month of April/May. " We don’t have many games under our belt, but that gives the fans the opportunity to come and see us play." he said.

Mr. D’Amore’s hobbies are collecting baseball cards and participating in sports. His favorite musical artists are U2, Jimmy Buffet, and Frank Sinatra.

Interestingly, Mr. D’Amore was a disk jockey at his college and broadcasted sports events on the radio.

Mr. D’Amore plans to complete his student teaching and get his certificate to teach the 1997- 98 school year. Hopefully, he says, that dream will come true.

Miss Hayes is a student teacher here at Ridgewood, where she assists Mrs. Papierski in her Special Education classes. She also helps with DECA and FBLA. She came to Ridgewood in January and will be here until the end of the year. She attends Northeastern Illinois University and is graduating in May. She completed five years at Northeastern and majored in Special Education and minor history. She was a student ambassador, a Student Senate member, and worked with mentally handicapped children and young adults during college.

When I asked Miss Hayes how she feels about Ridgewood she responded, "I feel that Ridgewood is an excellent school, and the students here are great."

Miss Hayes grew up in River Grove, graduating from East Leyden in 1992. She traveled to England as a foreign exchange student. She is a summer camp program director. She will be a leader at the camp this summer, running programs for girls in grades 1-12 that teach them about the outdoors. She is a Girl Scout leader and has traveled to Hawaii with the Girl Scouts.

Her hobbies are watching movies and swimming, but she doesn’t have much time for them because she is also a supervisor at Boston Market.

Student Math teacher, Mr. Kriz, lives in Norridge. He went to Northeastern Illinois University. Mr. Kriz came to teach at Ridgewood because it is close to his home and he had heard good things about Ridgewood. Mr. Kriz teaches Algebra and Geometry.

In his free time he likes to play basketball, baseball, search the net and e-mail. Mr. Kriz likes Ridgewood because it is a small school, and it has a lot of pride. Mr. Kriz would like to teach here if he had the opportunity.

Let's ponder these opinions one more time, and rethink a better way to deal with a problem. It is just being thrown onto the students as if they are the ones who are supposed to play police officers. In case someone has forgotten, our responsibility is not to play the police officers and turn in the smokers, it is to come to school and educate ourselves. Responsibility for monitoring students lies in the hands of the administration. One suggestion to help solve the problem is to have a security guard in the bathrooms throughout the school day. If this is too costly then the administration may want to consider the idea of having teachers or aides or administrators regularly check the bathrooms.

Mr. Kunio Responds

By Sofia Frangiadakis

Mr. Kunio was given a chance to read and respond to the comments about smoking in the bathrooms.

He told us that he has been working for numerous years to get people to understand this is not only his school but everyone’s school. He told us that the smoking problem will not be solved until the whole school gets involved.

"The only way anything can change is when people get involved," said Mr. Kunio. "It is amazing how the students let the smoking 20% of the student body dictate what goes on in their bathrooms. Every student has a right to clean air when they walk into the bathrooms, and until more students get fed up with being punished for the minority who smoke, nothing will be done. Society teaches us to stay silent about situations like this, but the silence code has to end somewhere. This doesn’t only apply to this smoking problem but also to other problems. If you want a solution, don’t throw it on someone else. Get involved in the solution so something can be done."

Pisces- So far in 1997, you’ve been too busy to stop and think. Your head has been in the clouds and your eyes are on the future. Warning: Your favorite’s declaration of love will rock your world. S/He is attracted to you like moths to a flame.

Mathletes are going to Great America!

By Anna Kritikakos

This year Mathletes have done very well. They have an all time membership high. At the ICTM Regional Competition they placed 6th out of 13. Slawek Rokita also qualified to go downstate to compete in Algebra II by coming in third in the Regional. As a reward for their great work for the year and good performance at the ICTM, they are going to Great America for a Math/Science Day.

At the Lemont Suburban Prairie Conference they came in 4th out of 10. Kristin Keglovitz came in first in the American High School Math exam.

Ms. Tanner is looking for seniors next year for Pre-Calculus. Mathletes always will be open to more people wishing to join.

Women’s soccer keeps kicking!

By Anna Kritikakos

The women’s soccer team is off to a good start as their first season as an official team. There are two teams - the freshmen/sophomore team and the varsity team. This is their first year in conference competition. They are playing against some larger and high powered schools.

On March 24th they played Chicago Christian and lost 5-0. On March 25th they played Steinmetz and won 2-0. The goals were scored by Kathleen Conneely and Bridget Bielecki. On March 26th they played Resurrection and lost 2-3. Goals were scored by Deanne Guagenti and Anna Kritikakos.

On April 7th they played Batavia and lost. On April 10th they played against Lemont and lost. On April 14th they played against Glenbard South and lost. On April 17th, they played Sycamore and lost. On April 21st, they played against St. Benedict. They won 2-1. Goals were scored by Deanne Guagenti and Kathleen Conneely. On April 23rd, they played Mother Guerin and lost. The score was 2-6. Goals were scored by Deanne Guagenti and Kathleen Conneely.

The freshmen/sophomore team had a game on April 7th against Batavia. There was a scheduling problem, and the other team gave up a win. On April 14th they played against Glenbard South and lost. On April 17th they played against Sycamore and lost. On April 24th they played against Geneva and lost.

The teams are practicing hard and not letting their losses get them down. They have managed to score some significant goals and are building up skills.

I am upset with the way Ridgewood High School reacted toward Frances Bernero’s death. No one did anything publicly to remember her . Instead of remembering her one to two days after her death, Ridgewood has waited until the day the Reporter came out.

I believe this is very wrong. If we had gone to war, and many people lost their lives, we would fly the flag at half staff the day after, not two weeks later. Why should this case be any different? I believe Ridgewood should not have waited, but I’m glad you did not forget.

Sincerely,
A Concerned Student

Ridgewood softball off to slow start

By Scott Shudy

Ridgewood’s softball team is off to a 1-11 start as of April 24. Ridgewood coach Donna Sokolowski said, "This past week we’ve seen some improvement in our basics. What we need now is to get into the game mentally." Sokolowski hopes the tough competition pays off once Suburban Prairie Conference competition heats up.

The young Rebels are building around the leadership of three seniors. Kelly Dziwulski has played solidly at first base and has shown effectiveness on the mound. Angela Karcinski is making the best contact at the plate, according to her coach. Outfielder Jenny DelAngel also is setting the tone for the younger players.

The Lady Rebels lost to Loyola 10-0 on April 9. Kelly Dziwulski’s double and Erin Conley’s single were Ridgewood’s only hits. "We obviously have to generate more offense," Coach Sokolowski said. "But more importantly we have to stop the other team from that one big inning. Loyola got six runs in the third."

Past games included:
April 15- Resurrection 19, Ridgewood 8 (L)
April 16- St. Viator 10, Ridgewood 1 (L)
April 17- Good Council 18, Ridgewood 4 (L)
April 24- St. Ignatius 7, Ridgewood 5 (L)

PLEASE NOTE- Not all the games Ridgwood played are listed here.

Varsity R visits schools

By Melissa Guynn

Varsity R club members recently visited local elementary schools to talk about the importance of participating in sports. On April 12, Mike Bujalka, Beth Bundalo, President Jenny DelAngel, Secretary Kelly Dziwulski, and Pete Wojtow visited Giles School. On April 14, Vice-President Joe Buttita, Rich DeFelice, and Brian Floral visited Union Ridge. On April 18, Angela Karcinski, Tony Marti, and Kathy Slowinski visited Leigh School.

The club will sponsor a Teacher Appreciation breakfast on May 9. A picnic will finish off the year. Members have to attend at least two meetings to be eligible to attend the picnic. If there are any questions or comments, contact Jenny Del Angel, Joe Buttita, Kelly Dziwulski, or Mr. Kalina. They will be happy to discuss them with you.

May
11th-Mother’s Day ( Don’t forget to buy your mother a present!)
14th-Awards assembly & Spring Concert
19th-1:51 Dismissal
26th-Memorial Day-No School. Memorial Day is also called Decoration Day. It was started to honor the U.S. soldiers who died in the Civil War, but is now a day to remember all the dead.

The 3rd Quarter honor roll is posted at http://www.ridgenet.org/honor/honor963.htm.

The Ridgewood Reporter Staff

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