Friday, January 18, 2019

Principal's Blog 01/18/2019


Friday Focus:   Careers in Music Series
This is the second year in BG's "Careers in Music Series," which features professionals in various music careers.  Our second presentation of the 18-19 school year featured the legendary Charles Heath Trio. This jazz trio consists of three musicians that travel around the country performing, educating, and composing.  The trio (piano, bass, drumset) performed for the students of BGHS, worked with the state-bound BGHS Jazz Ensemble, and spoke to the students about succeeding with a career in music and how possible it is to do so!  The trio spoke of the necessity of being your own entrepreneur and creating opportunities for yourself. They also spoke of those who may not be pursuing a career in music but how their role of support is necessary for the culture and society of today.  The trio reiterated what all presenters have said: It is absolutely possible to have an incredibly successful career in music! Pursue your passion and do it with gusto!

This year's "Careers in Music Series" was made possible by board accounts from D214, as well as grants from Arts Unlimited and the District 214 Education Foundation.

Celebrating Our Success!
  • BGHS is very proud to have hosted Freedom Riders: A Conversation and Exhibit, a traveling exhibit and conversation on the Riders' bravery and transformational progress within the civil rights movement. Wednesday’s event featured a discussion with Thomas Armstrong, an original Freedom Rider who now makes his home in the southwest suburbs, and Robert Allare, professor of history at Harper College. Over 250 members of the community attended. Teacher Ami Relf was instrumental in bringing this event to BG. Thanks also to Dr. Jill Maraldo, Diane Baldwin, Matt Myers, Stef McCleish, Kim Miklusak, and Joan Dabe.
  • Congratulations Coed Cheer MSL Champions!
  • Congratulations to our first time MSL East Champion Bowlers!
  • Congratulations to our Freshman Girls Gymnasts on winning the MSL East Championship! Emily Antonetti, Chloe Fickett, Chloe and Lily Wintergerst, and Kristen Smith!
  • Congratulations to the BGHS JV Girls Gymnastics Team on their 2nd Place finish at the Prospect Invite this week!
  • Congratulations to the BG Scholastic Bowl team for finishing 3rd at the 24 team Fenton Tournament! Fight on Scholastic Bison!
  • Congratulations to Scholastic Bowl member Justin Wytmar on being named top individual scorer at the 24 team Fenton High School Scholastic Bowl tournament with an average of 121 points per match!
  • Congratulations to Divers Ben Goldberg, 1st place and new pool record, Emanuel Yalda 4th place, and Alex Musat 6th place at the Highland Park Invite!
  • Congratulations to Class of 2019 Girls Basketball players celebrating Senior Night this week! Bison got that W!
  • Freshman Leadership Academy gave back by volunteering at Feed My Starving Children this week!
  • Congratulations to Varsity Coed Cheer on winning 1st place at the Niles West Tournament!
  • Congratulations to Wrestlers Eli Shereshovech, Dane Cottrell, and Emanuilon Apostolov on winning their weight class at the Hoffman tournament!
  • Congratulations to Wrestler Andrew Ruby on finishing 3rd at Hoffman!
  • Congratulations to Wrestler Trevon West on finishing 5th at Batavia!
  • Congrats to Wrestler Alejandro Mejia on taking 4th in a loaded Batavia field!
  • Congratulations to Wrestler Michael Goubine on taking 3rd place at Batavia.
  • Congratulations to Gymnasts Sofiya Savytska 3rd place and Chloe Fickett 4th place on floor at the Prospect JV Invite!
  • Congratulations to Gymnasts Lily Fickett on placing 2nd and Emily Antonetti on placing 3rd on beam at the Prospect Invite!
  • Congrats to Gymnast Iskra Popova, 4th on the bars at the Prospect JV Invite!
  • Congrats to Gymnast Emily Antonetti, 5th in All-around at Prospect JV Invite!
  • Congratulations to Gymnasts Olivia Tangorra on placing 3rd on bars, 4th on floor and 5th in the All-Around at the Prospect Invite!
  • Congrats to JV Vault Champion Chloe Fickett and 4th place Sofiya Savytska!


Upcoming Dates


Date
Event
January 21
Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Building Closed
January 31/Feb 1
Parent Teacher Conferences - Thurs 1/31 5:30-8:30 pm and Fri 2/1 8:30-11:30 am
February 1
In-Service Day  - Students Not in Attendance
February 7
Board of Education Meeting at Forest View Educational Center 7:00pm
February 18
President’s Day - Building Closed
February 20
Buffalo Grove Parent Association (BGPA) Meeting 7:00pm
Hispanic Family Night at Wheeling High School
February 23
Turnabout Dance
March 15
End of 3rd Quarter
March 18
First Day of 4th Quarter
March 25-March 29
Spring Break
April 1
Classes Resume after Spring Break


Jazz Showcase Concert TONIGHT!
Jazz Showcase concert tickets are $10 at the door.


District 214 Women in Sports Summit
On Saturday, February 2nd the District 214 Athletic Departments and Girls’ Athletic Directors are planning a Girls & Women in Sport Summit at Forest View Educational Center from 2:00pm-4:30pm. This February marks the 33rd anniversary of annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day, a national observance celebrating the extraordinary achievements of women and girls in sports. This year’s NGWSD theme is #LeadHerForward, to honor the many ways that sports push girls and women to achieve excellence and realize their boundless potential. The celebration will consist of keynote speakers Mary Wise, Head Volleyball Coach, University of Florida and Tanya Raquel Prewitt-White, Sport Psychologist, University of Illinois-Chicago. The presentation will also include a panel of former District 214 student athletes who also were college athletes or are currently working in athletics. All current District 214 female student-athletes and coaches are invited to attend.


Back Those Bison!
Varsity Home Sports and Fine Arts for the Coming Week
Date
Time
Event
January 18
4:45pm
Boys Swimming & Diving vs. Elk Grove
6:00pm
Boys Basketball vs. Elk Grove - Theme Navy Out!
6:00pm
Jazz Showcase Dinner - Tickets $10 at the door (concert only)
7:30pm
Girls Basketball vs. Elk Grove - Theme Navy Out!
January 19
6:00am
Boys Swimming & Diving Meet
January 23
4:30pm
Bowling vs. Schaumburg
January 25
4:45pm
Boys Swimming & Diving vs. Rolling Meadows
January 26
4:30 pm
Boys Basketball vs. Palatine
For underlevel and away sporting events and the most current information for BGHS activities, please go to: Buffalo Grove High School Comprehensive Calendar


K-8 Orchesis Dance Clinics January 26


Bisonettes Winter Dance Camp


BGHS in the News


Determined Trieb making the most of his senior season at Buffalo Grove
The Daily Herald, January 17, 2019
A serious car crash. A fall from two stories or higher. That's the kind of catastrophic event that would cause an injury of the magnitude of Tom Trieb's broken hip. But the Buffalo Grove senior wasn't in a car accident, and he didn't take a fall from 20-plus feet. Trieb, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound running back who is built like a truck, broke his hip in a football game this past fall, in an unusually forceful fall that drove his right leg violently into the ground. Trieb, who had already committed to play college football at Northern Illinois before the season even started, had just caught a 40-yard pass. He had a defender on his back and that added to the force of the impact of his leg into the ground. Read Story


'You need to try to right that wrong': Freedom Rider urges Buffalo Grove students to fight racism
The Daily Herald, January 16, 2019
In 1961, Thomas Armstrong sat in a whites-only waiting room at a Jackson, Mississippi, bus station as he and three other Tougaloo College students tried to board a bus for New Orleans. They were arrested and taken to jail instead. Read Story


Buffalo Grove nips Glenbrook North
The Daily Herald, January 12, 2019
Buffalo Grove went into Northbrook and stole a nonconference boys basketball game away from Glenbrook North Saturday. The Bison forced 5 turnovers in the final 2½ minutes to rally to beat Glenbrook North 58-55. "The toughness the guys showed was impressive," Buffalo Grove coach Keith Peterson said. "They kept fighting back and fighting back." Read Story


Constable: American Girl model from Arlington Heights morphs into Power Ranger
The Daily Herald, January 12, 2019
Facing numerous possibilities for life after high school, Jacqueline Scislowski of Arlington Heights was sure of one thing. "I was going to get yellow for my dorm room. I always loved the color yellow," the 18-year-old says. Instead of buying yellow bath towels to match a yellow comforter for her college dorm room, Scislowski is spending part of a gap year in New Zealand, where she plays the Yellow Power Ranger in "Power Rangers Beast Morphers," the 26th and 27th seasons of the iconic worldwide television series, which debuts soon on Nickelodeon. Read Story


Looking for More?
Click Here for BGHS’s Daily Announcements
Click Here for the Third Quarter Parent Newsletter
Click Here for BG's student newspaper, The Charger
Click Here for The oneBG Podcast
Click Here for the Fine Arts Calendar
Click Here for One Grove Gallery exhibits and information
Click Here for the detailed daily BG Activity/Athletics Calendar


Staff Spotlight


1. What is your name?  Kate Smith


2. What department have you/do you work in? I teach in the Social Science department.  I teach AP Psychology and Human Geography

3. How long have you been working at BG? I have been teaching at BG for 14 years.

4. Where did you go to high school? I went to high school at HD Jacobs High School.

5. What part of working at BG do you find the most rewarding? I find it very rewarding to incorporate my natural positivity and enthusiasm into my curriculum.  I love my job and I hope my students can share a bit of my passion about learning!

6. What is something unique about you? I have 4 chickens and 2 dogs.  I really enjoy animals and nature.

7. What activities or clubs do you coach/ sponsor? I help sponsor the Right Mind Club and am a member of the Harbor and BG Gives Back committees.

Friday, January 11, 2019

Principal Wardle's Weekly Blog 01/11/2019


Friday Focus:   BGHS to Host Freedom Riders Exhibit

On Wednesday, January 16, the District 214 Education Foundation and Buffalo Grove High School will host an opportunity to view a powerful traveling exhibit on the Freedom Riders and hear personally from a Rider in a conversation on civil rights and how he helped shape history. The event, held the week before Martin Luther King Day, is open to all, and we encourage you to register. Though it is free, seating is limited. Click HERE to register for the Freedom Riders event.

The Freedom Riders took their name from the Rides in which they participated in 1961: bus and train trips through the Deep South focused on integrating segregated bus terminals. The national traveling exhibit tells the harrowing and inspirational story of six months that changed America, using photos, news coverage and first-hand accounts of the Rides and the protests to examine the event from the perspectives of the Riders, the Kennedy administration and the international community.

The January 16 District 214 event will feature Thomas Armstrong, a Mississippi native who became a Freedom Rider while in college, and Robert Allare, a Harper College history professor and civil rights expert. Armstrong and Allare will talk publicly with Buffalo Grove High School English Teacher Ami Relf at 6:30 p.m. January 16; Armstrong's 2011 book, "Autobiography of a Freedom Rider: My Life as a Foot Soldier for Civil Rights," will be for sale, and the exhibit will be open for viewing, starting at 6 p.m. The event, in the school's library, will conclude by 8 p.m.

The District 214 Education Foundation supports innovative education, lifelong learning and student success beyond the limits of conventional support for public education. To learn more, visit www.214foundation.org. For questions on the event, contact the school, (847) 718-4014.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Celebrating Our Success!
  • Congratulations to the BG Jazz Ensemble, honored at the 72nd Annual Midwest Clinic at the International Band and Orchestra Conference at McCormick Place in December.
  • Our Orchestra students had the opportunity to perform at the All-State Area for the Chicago Wolves game over break.
  • Congratulations to JV Cheer on placing 2nd at the Lake Zurich tournament!
  • Congrats to Football player, Sean Jacobs, for making  2nd Team Pioneer Press All-Area Defensive team.  

Upcoming Dates

Date
Event
January 16
BGPA Meeting 7:00 pm
January 17
BOE Meeting 7:00 pm at Forest View Educational Center
January 21
Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Building Closed
January 31/Feb 1
Parent Teacher Conferences - Thurs 1/31 5:30-8:30 pm and Fri 2/1 8:30-11:30 am
February 1
In-Service Day  - Students Not in Attendance
February 18
President’s Day - Building Closed
February 23
Turnabout Dance


As you may be aware there has been a significant increase in teen vaping in our local communities over the last few years. Last week, the Arlington Heights Village Board voted to raise the age from 18 to 21 to purchase all tobacco/vaping products, effective immediately. This ordinance is already in effect in Buffalo Grove, so now both communities will be able to work hand in hand. This effort is one piece of prevention to keep our middle and high school students safe from these products. Educating ourselves and our students about the dangers of vaping are also important steps we can take to help reduce teen use. This link provides more information about vaping.
We encourage you to have a conversation with your student about avoiding these products.

Our local prevention coalition, Link Together, along with the Arlington Heights Police Department, American Heart Association, and the Arlington Heights Board of Health were a part of this process.
Back Those Bison!
Varsity Home Sports and Fine Arts for the Coming Week
Date
Time
Event
January 11
4:45 pm
Boys Swimming & Diving vs. Schaumburg
6:00 pm
Boys Basketball vs. Hersey
7:30 pm
Girls Basketball vs. Hersey
January 12
2:00 pm
Girls Basketball vs. Glenbrook North
January 14
4:30 pm
Bowling vs. Hersey at Arlington Lanes
January 15
7:30 pm
Girls Basketball vs. Prospect
January 18
4:45 pm
Boys Swimming & Diving vs. Elk Grove
6:00 pm
Boys Basketball vs. Elk Grove
6:00 pm
Jazz Showcase Dinner Click HERE for tickets and info
7:30 pm
Girls Basketball vs. Elk Grove
January 19
6:00 am
Boys Swimming & Diving Meet
For underlevel and away sporting events and the most current information for BGHS activities, please go to: Buffalo Grove High School Comprehensive Calendar


Join the Buffalo Grove High School Music Department for an evening of award-winning jazz performances and great food. The evening will feature the BGHS Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Band, Jazz Combos and By Popular Demand, with special guests the Cooper Middle School Jazz Band. A catered dinner and beverages are included in the ticket price.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children and students. Children under the age of 3 will be admitted for free. Tickets WILL NOT be available at the event and must be purchased by January 11th.

What Every Parent Needs to Know
Wednesday, January 16, 2019 – February 20, 2019
7:00 to 9:00 pm
Fee $30 per person
D214 Future Ready Parent is an engagement series dedicated to providing comprehensive community topics and education to ensure parent readiness for tomorrow’s challenges. We believe in providing relevant topics that can enrich and engage our community. The next class offered in the series is What Every Parent Needs to Know led by Bob Leece, the Student Assistance Coordinator at Buffalo Grove High School.  With over 30 years experience, Bob has trained thousands of parents through his lecture series giving them practical tools to deal with issues facing today’s middle and high school students. These sessions help parents navigate and respond appropriately to their children’s growth and development, anticipate and prevent behavioral problems proactively, develop mutually respectful relationships, explore fair discipline, maintain effective communication and use productive problem-solving methods. This program is presented in partnership with Link Together Coalition. Buffalo Grove High School Library (enter through Door 7).

BGHS in the News

Buffalo Grove proving there's more to life than just basketball
The Daily Herald, January 8, 2019
Coaches and athletes like numbers. And for the Buffalo Grove boys basketball team, the numbers were favorable. And inspiring. One-hundred eight-seven boxes. 40,392 meals. 11 children fed -- for an entire year. Those are the numbers the Bison helped generate last week when they spent some time working at Feed My Starving Children in Schaumburg. Read Story

Buffalo Grove stuns Schaumburg
The Daily Herald, January 8, 2019
Buffalo Grove's 64-52 Mid-Suburban League crossover boys basketball win Tuesday night was a combination of three things. Kam Craft's scoring, Nathan Cole's fourth-quarter effort and Tom Trieb's determination helped the host Bison cash the winning trifecta ticket. "Our guys just grinded this one out," said Buffalo Grove coach Keith Peterson. "Our execution in the fourth quarter was just great. The way we used the ball and spread it out, it think that might have tired Schaumburg out." Read Story

Buffalo Grove's 4th quarter blitz does in Grayslake North
The Daily Herald, January 5, 2019
A mid-afternoon tip-off on a Saturday in January might lend itself to a slow start for some teams. Not Buffalo Grove. The Bison returned from the holiday break to put up 93 points on visiting Grayslake North in a 93-71 victory but BG had to rally in the fourth quarter to win. Read Story

Pioneer Press 2018 Football All-Area Defense: First Team and Second Team
Chicago Tribune, December 27, 2018
Sean Jacobs
School: Buffalo Grove.
Year: Senior.
Position: Linebacker.
Accolades: All-conference.
Key stats: Made 132 tackles, including nine tackles for loss.

Craft's 25 lead Buffalo Grove over Maine East
The Daily Herald, December 22, 2018
Freshman Kam Craft scored a game-high 25 points Saturday as the Buffalo Grove boys basketball team bounced back from Friday night's loss to Prospect to earn a 70-57 nonconference home win over Maine East. Matt Brunelli and Tom Trieb added 12 points each for the Bison, who are now 7-4 on the season. Read Story

Looking for More?

Click Here for BGHS’s Daily Announcements

Click Here for the Third Quarter Parent Newsletter

Click Here for BG's student newspaper, The Charger

Click Here for The oneBG Podcast

Click Here for the Fine Arts Calendar

Click Here for One Grove Gallery exhibits and information

Click Here for the detailed daily BG Activity/Athletics Calendar

Staff Spotlight

1. What is your name?  Brittany Vesper

2. What department have you/do you work in? I am in Student Services.  I am a School Counselor. I am a generalist and work with all grade levels in the academic, college/career, and social emotional domains.

3. How long have you been working at BG? This is my first year at BG; however I worked as an instructional assistant and coach at BG from 2011-2014.

4. Where did you go to high school? I am a 2005 BG graduate.  BG is home.

5. What part of working at BG do you find the most rewarding? Relationship building with students and staff.  I find it very rewarding when I can connect with students and be any part of making their educational experience a positive one AND help create an environment where they feel safe and supported.  I also believe positive relationships with my co-workers has helped me grow as an educator. I am inspired by the people I work with (kids and adults) daily.

6. What is something unique about you? Something unique...unfortunately I had two back surgeries before the age of 30.  College Soccer will do that to you. Something a little more fun, I am the proud mama of a Little Bison (Maeve)!

7. What activities or clubs do you coach/ sponsor? I have coached soccer for 7 years, but I am incredibly excited to join the Girls' Softball program this year as the frosh/soph coach!  I am also a part of Buffalo Grove's Harbor.