The North High Speech Team competed Saturday, February 16 at Neuqua Valley High School in the State Speech Finals. The team earned 8th place overall in the state.  

The following students were ranked among the best in the state.

Jordan Frank took 3rd place in Extemporaneous Speaking.

Elliot Karl and Brittany Childs received 3rd place in Dramatic Duet Acting.

Travis Trew was ranked 4th place in Humorous Interpretation.

North High School’s National Honor Society was honored on February 8, 2008 with an award for winning the Salvation Army’s John Williams Kettle Challenge. The competition, held among Chicagoland area high schools, asked students to help ring bells to raise funds during the holiday season. The North High National Honor Society raised the largest amount, a total of $4,886.85.

The group worked a total of four Saturdays in six locations, eight hours each day, with a minimum of two students per two-hour shift. The money that was raised will go to support the Salvation Army’s assistance programs, such as food pantries and energy assistance programs. Salvation Army Major David Gorton said, “We’ve been very impressed with the diligence, enthusiasm, and quality of the students from North. They are responsible and outgoing—a great tribute to our community. Salvation Army Lieutenant Scott Hurula said, “Whether there was sun or there was sleet, they had the same smiles on their faces.” NHS President Luke Tecson commented, “It was a great opportunity for the students to do some community service. We found it very fulfilling.” Junior Daniel Alore, who rang a bell for six hours, said, “It was cold, but it was cool--nice when people donated.”

A Season of Sharing

North High School students and staff are sharing with the community in many different ways this holiday season.

Direct Action Club continues its yearly tradition of the Giving Tree. This year they are providing gifts for 250 children and 30 senior citizens. They work with the Humanitarian Service Project on this project. When families pick up the gifts they will also receive two weeks worth of groceries from HSP.

The National Honor Society worked with the Fine Arts Department on a food drive at this year’s Holiday Mosaic Concert. Donated foods went to the FISH pantry. In addition to the food drive, twenty different families were helped through the FISH pantry as part of a Needy Families Project. These families were provided with gifts, food, etc. for the holidays. NHS has also been Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army on Saturdays at Yorktown and Danada Square, raising over $2,000.  After Winter Break, NHS will be holding a Dance-a-thon for Special Olympics on January 11.

The Volunteer Club, formerly Key Club, is collecting winter coats for Sharing Connections, an organization that provides items like coats and furniture for low income families. Volunteer Club also held a food drive in November in which over 2000 food items were collected and sent to the Humanitarian Service Project, which provides food for needy families in Kane and DuPage County.

Student Council made its yearly contribution to Upendo Village in Kenya in the amount of $1650 to support the education and medicine for one year for two children of AIDS infected parents. Money is raised all year through various Student Council activities to support these children on a yearly basis.

The DGN Social Studies Department faculty and their families will be volunteering time at the Marine base on Foster Avenue in Chicago in support of the Toys for Tots program.

The World Language Department has worked with Direct Action Club to fill bags with toiletries for almost sixty families. Students donate items while attending a holiday party featuring a buffet of homemade dishes from students’ heritages. The club also purchased a full six candy bar for every person in each family; this year that is over 300 people total.

The Physical Education Trainee classes have taken part in a number of community service projects. Twenty-five volunteers worked at the Bonfield Express 5K run on Thanksgiving day. The Bonfield 5K Express raises money for scholarships for District 99 students. The classes donated to the giving tree, and they are working on projects with the Heart Association, Support Our Troops Golf Campaign, and Relay for Life.

Athletes Committed to Excellence is collecting toys for Toys for Tots in memory of Sgt. Tommy Gilbert.

The HERO class of 20 students collected $428 and bought gifts for 4 children.

Ms. Melissa Dilworth’s English class is assembling care packages for U.S. soldiers.

North High School is proud to announce that two students have been named as National Merit Semifinalists in the 2007 Merit Scholarship Competition. Emily Kirkegaard and Leksa Pravdic are among the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 53rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. 

North High School is also proud to announce that eight students have been identified by the National Merit Scholarship Program as Commended Students. Michael Ball, Katrina Garland, Marika Garland, Arthur Gutzke, Harsha Pradeep, Monika Rastogi, Corbin Stulgin, and Andrew Vogler were recognized for placing among the top five percent of more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2008 competition.

Finally, North High School is proud to announce that Kellie Rios has been recognized by the College Board’s National Hispanic Recognition Program. This year, out of more than 196,000 potential Hispanic students approximately 4,000 were recognized as National Hispanic Scholars or Honorable Mention Finalists based upon their PSAT/NMSQT scores and their academic achievements.

Elliot Karl, currently a Senior at North High, accomplished something this June that no other student in North High history has accomplished. At the 2007 National Forensics League National Tournament held in Wichita, Kansas, Elliot placed as a finalist in two events. Reading an excerpt from “Loving Bobby” by Bill Huebsch, Elliot placed 4th out of over 400 students in Prose Interpretation. Elliot also placed 5th in Poetry Interpretation out of over 350 students for reading a poem titled “How to Watch Your Brother Die” by Michael Lassell.