Board sets new criteria for diploma
By Iris Giannakis
Ridgewood High School graduates could leave the school with a "certificate of
attendance" rather than a diploma under a new policy to take effect next year which
requires students to meet state educational standards.
The new policy, which also incorporates a program to help poorly performing students
catch up, is aimed at increasing the value of a Ridgewood diploma, ensuring students take
standardized tests seriously, and making sure students do not coast through high school, a
school official said. The Board passed the measure on November 17th.
"Everybody’s griping about what a diploma means. I’m saying that a
student has to meet certain standards," Superintendent Al Schau said.
The School Board says that withholding a diploma from poorly performing students raises
the value of the diploma for students who earn one. In order to earn a diploma, Ridgewood
graduates starting with the class of 1999 would have to meet the minimum state standards
on the IGAP (Illinois Goal Assessment Program) test. Sophomores are tested in reading,
math and writing; juniors in social studies and science.
Students who do not score high enough to meet the state standards in a subject would be
required to take a remediation course in that subject. Ridgewood is calling the course an
Encore Class. Encore classes will be held outside the regular school day. At the end of
the Encore Class, students would have to score at least 80 percent on a
"Mastery" test written by Ridgewood. If they fail, they must repeat the course
until they are no longer deficient.
According to the policy, "Students not successfully meeting Illinois standards
will receive a Certificate of Attendance rather than a diploma." The policy will take
effect with the spring 1998 testing. Although the policy may sound harsh, it’s not as
bad as letting an ill-prepared student try to make it after high school, the Board says.
Students who blow off the test make Ridgewood look bad on paper and diminish the
test’s value as a tool for the school to evaluate its curriculum, school officials
said. "Here is a chance to tell students that this is a serious thing."
Whether the policy may be unfair to students who don’t test well, Schau said the
school will have to determine before Encore classes begin in Fall,1998.
Ridgewood is ahead of the curve with this new policy, Schau said. In the next few
years, he expects Illinois to develop a "Prairie State" diploma, which would be
a statewide honors diploma for students who exceed state standards.
Time to Give Blood!
by Diane Guth
On December 12th Student Council will be holding its annual blood drive in cooperation
with the Life Source organization. It will be held in room 122 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. If
you are to give blood, be sure to eat a good meal beforehand.
It is important that as many people as possible give blood because, since the end of
the year is near, blood supplies are very low. One donation can save up to 5 lives!
Mrs. Netterstrom, a Student Council advisor, said a common fear holding students back
is that the blood will be tested for drug and alcohol use. That, she says is untrue. If,
however, a disease is detected in the blood, the agency will personally notify the
student, and the school will not know about it. Thank you for your help this holiday
season!
Please note: a new sterile needle is used for each person, each time.
School Closing
Radio:
WBBM AM 780, WLS AM 890, WGN AM 720, WMAQ AM 670, WLS FM 94.7, B 96 FM.
Television:
CLTV, FOX 32, WMAQ 5, WGN 9.
Final Exams are and are not
Final Exams are an optional choice for teachers this year under block scheduling. But
whether or not you have finals, you will have a full day of classes on January 13 and a
half day on January 14.
On January 13 you will have regular block 1 and 2 classes and finals in blocks 3 and 4.
If there are no finals in blocks 3 and 4, you will have regular classes. On January 14
there will be finals or regular classes blocks 1 and 2, but then you will have the rest of
the day free. There is no school for students on January 15. Second semester starts
Friday, January 16.
Unspoken For Time
By Louie Mezzano
On November 20, 1997 I was privileged to sit in Ridgewood High School’s auditorium
and see the most inspirational play I have ever seen. Unspoken For Time is a play about a
girl who was beaten and raped by her brother and his friend as a child. The play revealed
the pain that the girl suffered throughout her life. "The play started off slow and
had me wondering what was to come, but by the end it sped up and turned out to have a huge
effect on me. It made me feel for the actress, and the whole time I just wanted to go help
her," said junior Kristi Meyer.
The parts played by Annette Tylka, Dan Swibel, Anna Krokos, and Anna Wasilewski were
powerful as well as overwhelming.
Annette Tylka the lead, who played the part of the victim, gave the audience what they
came to see. Her performance let the audience know exactly what pain "Diane" the
raped girl was feeling. "I really thought she was crying," said sophomore
Michelle Heflin. After seeing Annette’s performance, I don’t think there was a
person in the house who did not feel the pain and suffering of Diane.
Dan Swibel, "Joseph" in the play, was Diane’s college boyfriend who was
concerned with the pain Diane was going through. He was left in the dark throughout the
play, but he did everything in his power to enter her life and show his true love for her.
Dan is a powerful actor who has been in many plays at Ridgewood, and every time I see him
perform, he gets better and better.
Anna Krokos as "Sammi" played the part of the humorous friend of Diane at
Jordan College who was always there for her and helped her drive the bad thoughts and
memories out throughout the play. Even though this is Anna’s first play, she
performed an outstanding role.
Anna Wasilewski as "Mother of Diane" played a great role, the overprotective
mother. This is Anna’s seventh performance at Ridgewood, and it was a performance
that we as well as she will never forget.
I have been to many plays at schools throughout Illinois, and this is one of the
best-performed plays that I have ever seen. The music, the lights, and the props were
outstanding. The whole play was well put together by Mrs. Lewandowski and Mrs. Hansen. If
I were to star this performance I would most definitely give it 4 STARS.
New policy in IGAP testing
By Iris Giannakis
Ridgewood High School has adopted a policy to improve IGAP (Illinois Goal Assessment
Program) test scores. "The policy would require students who do poorly on the state
standardized tests in the spring to attend remediation classes," Superintendent Al
Schau said.
The policy will help students who do not have mastery of a subject, and would influence
some students to concentrate on the tests, which generally have little significance for
the students.
This year’s IGAP results were about on par with previous year’s performances,
except that reading scores plummeted to 205 out of 500 from 254, outpacing a statewide
decline to 208 from 223.
The recently released IGAP results are from required state standardized tests taken in
spring 1997; all grades refer to last school year.
Critics blame the statewide reading score decline on a new test format that had
students choose the "most right" answer, instead of providing only one correct
answer.
Ridgewood continued its high scores in writing, which is taken by 10th graders, scoring
a 29.5 out of 32. That score was only slightly lower than last year’s 29.6, which was
the second-highest score in the state.
Schau has set a high goal for the school, saying he would like to see scores break 300
in reading, math, science and social sciences.
In the last five years, students have only once broken the 300-point barrier, when the
class of 1998 scored 305 on their 10th grade math test.
The policy is pending school board approval. Remember, testing is one measure of who
you are. It is not the only one, but it is important.
Who are all these people?
By Anna Kritikakos and Louis Mezzano
You have probably seen many new faces at school this year. I’m not only talking
about students; I’m talking about teachers too. One of these new teacher’s faces
is James Gyori. James Gyori is a Physical Education /Spanish/Computer Aided Design
teacher. He is an all in one teacher. Not only does he teach at Ridgewood High School, he
was also a volleyball coach whose team did a great job this year.
He was born in Guatemala, but he went to Lincoln grammar School in Skokie. He then
attended Luther North High School, where he realized that physical education was for him.
His favorite high school sports were wrestling and football.
He attended the University of Wisconsin, where he wrestled, before transferring and
graduating from Northeastern Illinois University.
He has taught at many different places. He taught for three years in St. Thomas, U.S.
Virgin Islands. He then taught for three years in Quito, Ecuador. He also taught for two
years at a Chicago Public School.
He really likes it at Ridgewood because of the friendly nature of its students and
faculty. Many of these people have helped him out a lot, and they are continuing to show
him the "in" and "outs" of RHS. "Whenever you start at a new
school there are always new things to learn," he said.
He likes block scheduling, especially in gym class, because you can condition as well
as do an activity in one day. There also is a bad side to it because PE is only for a half
of a year.
One thing he also likes about RHS is the students/faculty who show respect when people
respect them. One thing he dislikes about RHS is that there is no swimming pool.
He also feels that for a small school, Ridgewood has a good variety and strong turnout
in athletics. Mr. Gyori feels " that the coaches here are dedicated and enjoy what
they do."
Some side notes are that he is married and has a two year old baby boy whose name is
Nikolas. He met his wife in Ecuador. They moved here because his wife wanted to get her
teaching degree.
Adult Center contributes to learning
Several people in the Adult Center have been helping students learn in sociology
classes. Ms. Connie Coleman, Mr. Joe Randazzo, Ms. Lucille Rasmussen, and Ms. Helen
Rickard were interviewed by the four Sociology classes about life as senior citizens and
what it was like when they were in high school and early adulthood. Student Kim Melendez
said, " it was neat seeing a high school year book from her school and time.’
Several other adults, including Marion Murray and Eleanor Zydlo, answered a survey
project for a sociology student during second grading period.
The Adult Center was very cooperative in getting us volunteers. They reported that the
volunteers were thrilled about their experiences with the Ridgewood students.
Art Club McD’s it
The Art Club recently decorated the windows of two area McDonald’s for the
holidays. The students who participated are Anne Caldarulo, Vince Ho, Tom Kacprzynski,
Carlos Lopez, Diana Matis, Andrew Nunn, Andy Revelis, and Shelline Sayre. Art Club
advisors are Mr. Gates and Mrs. Machaj. See the results of their work at
Lawrence/Cumberland and Harlem/Addison.
Outspoken Drama Club Delivers!!
By Debbie Barnes
RHS Drama Club’s production of the play Unspoken For Time was a hit! Many students
and teachers from RHS loved the play. Some thought it was "awesome!", many
thought it was "good", and also just simply "great!". This play, of
course, was evaluated by a theater committee, as part of the Illinois High School Theater
Festival. The cast will have another chance to perform the play at Illinois State
University since they were one of the 9 high schools chosen in the state by the committee.
Congratulations to Mrs. Lewandowski and the cast and crew of Unspoken For Time, and
"Break a leg!"
What’s on tap for RHS Drama Club is the Variety Show and their Spring production
of The Vindictive Will. The Variety Show is on Feb. 7, 1998, and auditions start on Jan.
21, 1998. The spring play is written by RHS’s very own student, Michael Pauley. It is
"...a comedic murder mystery for the entire family!". Watch the play March 12 -
14, 1998. If you want to be part of yet another "great" play, go to the meetings
every Wed., at 3:15 in room 147 for more details.
Time is beginning to run out!!!!
By Iris Giannakis
Reminder: It is not too late to turn in your submission(s) to Creative Waves. Creative
Waves is looking for submissions of poems, short stories, plays, essays, black and white
artwork, and photography.
Turn in your submission(s) by January 23, 1998 to Mrs. Micklo in room 145 or to your
English teacher. The magazine will come out some time in the spring. Hurry! Before its too
late.
What is R&R up to?
By Anna Kritikakos
The first thing to note is that the group has now changed their name to Rebel Respect.
To celebrate this change they are having a poster contest for a new design to signify
Rebel Respect.
They are also working with the social worker about how it feels to be a newcomer to
this country. Many students in the school do not know the feeling new to America students
have.
The latest thing they accomplished is sponsoring Joe Takash, our speaker on December
3rd. Rebel Respect hopes to have an effect on more and more students as time goes on.
Watch for future activities in classes.
NHS on volunteerism
By Joanna Szyndlar
NHS helped as tour guides on December 2 during the 7th and 8th grade open house for
students interested in attending Ridgewood next year.
On Wednesday, December 17th NHS, along with FBLA, DECA, and Band, will be caroling at
the Norridge Nursing Home and at the Central Baptist Nursing Home.
There are 63 students who are academically eligible this year. There was a special
meeting for all potential inductees on December 10th. You must attend this meeting in
order to receive an eligibility form. The eligibility form deals with the other three
criteria for membership - character, service, and leadership. The selection process will
take place shortly after the forms are turned in. The induction ceremony for newly
accepted members will be held in March.
People who are thinking about becoming a member, remember you need a 3.2 grade point
average, service every year you attend Ridgewood, and recommendations for character and
leadership. Plan ahead.
Junior Class Notes
By Michelle Gulik
Attention Ridgewood! We need your help! The Junior class has recently sponsored two
projects and needs your help for them to be a success.
Starting December 8th and wrapping up on December 19th , the Junior class will be
sponsoring a mitten tree. A Christmas tree will be on display and be decorated with
mittens and gloves donated by the student body. All gloves will be later delivered to the
Salvation Army and distributed to those in need. Be a part of this helping hand.
The Junior class will also sponsor a rummage sale on April 18th and 19th. Donations,
helpers, and buyers are all needed. Donations can be brought to Mrs. Hansen in room 229.
Juniors -to be an elf next year participation in the sale is crucial.
At the Thursday meeting in November, Juniors voted in favor of a ring dance. The vote
margin was narrow, but the dance passed. The dance will take place sometime in March and
will be funded by Herff Jones.
Read Part Two
