Newsletter, April 2015

Read online at: http://whs.d214.org/academics/avidnewsletters.aspx
WHEELING HIGH SCHOOL
*Year 7 of AVID
*Guest speakers
*Field trips
*AVID Club
*AVID Student of the month
*Fundraising
The AVID Newsletter
Senior update – Mr.
Varela
Seniors are definitely counting
down the days to graduation.
There is excitement and
nervousness in the room on a
daily basis. It’s getting close to
the May 1 deadline of choosing
which college they are going to
go to. They recently finished
their final AVID assignment,
which was to do some research
on a leader and do some college
style writings on them. They
then did an oral presentation on
their chosen leader. Next up is
the AVID senior project,
cardboard confessionals where
they will make a video.
Junior update – Mrs.
Wyatt
For the first half of Term 3,
our juniors continued to
prepare for the ACT. Several
different content area teachers
visited our junior AVID
classrooms to help the juniors
discover appropriate strategies
for each section of the test.
The juniors also continued to
practice these strategies with
sample passages and
collaborated with one another
to discuss the best possible
answers for each test. After
their test on March 3, the
junior class began working on
their academic resumes in
order to prepare them for
college and scholarship
applications in the fall. Most
recently, the juniors started to
draft personal statements for
their college applications as
well. The highlight of Term 3
was certainly the spring break
college visit to Eastern Illinois,
Millikin, Illinois State, Illinois
Wesleyan, and Western
Illinois University.
Sophomore update – Mr.
Lennon
The sophomore class has been
researching colleges. Students
created a list of schools that
interested them based on
intended major, location, size,
and other factors. They then
narrowed down their lists and
selected one school to research
more and present
about. Students created a
presentation for their selected
school and had the opportunity
to learn about many different
schools as their classmates
presented.
Freshmen update
Recently the freshmen completed
an autobiographical essay along
Wheeling, Illinois
An AVID Publication
April 2015
with a Mandala that illustrated
their essay. The stories came out
really great. They are currently
preparing
to do a Socratic
http://whs.d214.org/acade
seminar
in class on the measles
mics/avidnewsletters.aspx
vaccination.
After that, they will
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be writing
a descriptive essay.
mics/avidnewsletters.aspx
We are continuing to build on
their essential academic skills.
We are incorporating many
WICOR activities every week.
They are getting excited for
their next college visit to
Marquette.
2nd Term GUEST
SPEAKERS
Mr. Waple
By: Erica Herin
Mr.Waple talked to the
freshman AVID class on
Janurary 30, 2015. He is a
Human Geo teacher and
explained how it's good to
know people since then you
have a better way of getting
through life. For example, you
probably have a higher chance
of getting a job if someone
recommends you, and the only
way to get recommended is to
know people. He also
explained how he wished he
had a program like this in high
school since we teach time
management and time
management is key on getting
900 S. Elmhurst Rd. Wheeling, Illinois 60090 (847) 718-7124 http://whs.d214.org/academics/avid.aspx
WHEELING HIGH SCHOOL- AVID NEWSLETTER
through college. Also the fact
that he could've taken notes
much easier would've helped
as well. Overall, Mr. Waple
left a large impression upon
the freshman class of AVID.
Danny McGuire
By: Saleta Anda
On February 6, Danny
McGuire came to the freshman
AVID class giving us bit of
information on his college and
career experience, while also
giving us great advice. He
went to a community college
first. College was very
important to him. He was a
cop and was involved in the
swat team. One day he was
injured and had to retire. Mr.
McGuire now teaches at
National Louis University and
teaches criminal and
justice. He said that when you
promise something or you say
that you're going to do
something good, you should
follow through. Whenever he
had a goal, he would always
have a plan or steps to reach
that goal. The most important
thing he said was when you're
trying to reach a goal you
should never give up without
at least trying. If you really
want that goal of yours to
come true, you have to give
100% effort.
Mr. Piatek
By: Adrian Figueroa
Mr. Piatek is the head of the
English Fine Arts division.
Before hand, he was an
English teacher here at
Wheeling. He explained to us
that now is the time to take our
education seriously. Mr. Piatek
fought his way through school
and managed to get his masters
degree at Aurora University.
He is currently attempting to
get his masters degree at
National Louis University. He
hopes that the rest of us can
make it just as far.
Mr. Males
By: Jose Perez
You can find Mr. Males in the
help desk right inside the
library in WHS. He is a good
example of how doing
internships is a good way to
get a job that you like. Mr.
Males started working here as
a security guard even though
he majored in physical
education. Working as a
security guard wasn't an
internship, but it's kind of like
one because he put his foot in
the door to be able and get his
current position. He had even
changed his majors three times
before. In the end what's
important to recognize is that
you might want to do an
internship in something
because it might just help you
get the position you want later.
Mrs. Mackenzie
By: Antonio Uriostigue
Ms. Mackenzie is the type of
person you want to look up to.
As a little girl growing up in
Frankfort, IL she saw her
father and uncles all go and
work in the mines. Many of
the people who lived in the
town all worked in the mines.
She was an average student
and she really enjoyed sports
and helping people. As she
grew older she attended a
community college and as a
sophomore she transferred to
Illinois State University. She
knew that she loved to help
people and one summer she
decided to be a counselor in a
camp in Colorado. She worked
with teenage delinquents who
were on the edge of being sent
to a juvenile facility for a long
time. She created a bond with
them and she helped them over
come whatever obstacle was in
their way. She has a love for
helping people and that skill
that she has to connect with
someone is just another reason
to look up to her.
Mrs. Gayton
By: Karina Gutierrez
Ms. Gayton came to speak to
Avid on March 13th. Her story
was a bit different from other
guest speakers. She talked to
us mostly about college and
our future. She kept reminding
us that we are a lucky group of
kids because we have this
program to help guide us
through high school. She didn't
have that, which is why there
weren’t many options for her
when it came down to college.
Yet, here she is speaking to a
WHEELING HIGH SCHOOL- AVID NEWSLETTER
group of kids about her life
and how successful she's
been.
Michael Pinsoff
By: Melissa Moreno
In AVID we always have guest
speakers that come in each
week and they talk about their
experiences in life and how
they got to where they are
today. One of my favorite
guest speakers was Mr. Pinsof.
He was one of my favorite
guest speakers because he is
both a lawyer and a teacher.
That's a weird combination of
jobs, but that's what makes
him really cool. I learned a lot
about him. He was really good
at baseball and football when
he was in high school and
college. A fun fact that I
learned about him was that his
son was one of the eight
people to create the popular
card game Cards Against
Humanity.
Mrs. Ginnan
By: Jessica Chavez
Mrs. Ginnan is a very
intelligent woman that
succeeded in life. She
overcame many things
throughout high school and
college. In high school she
went to Elk Grove, which is a
pretty good school.
Surprisingly, both Mrs. Ginnan
and Mr. Lennon went to Ohio
State. That's where she met her
husband. At first it was hard
for her to decide where to go
because she had two colleges
in mind and one was Ohio
State and the other was
University of Iowa. She
mentioned to us that in college
we should try to relax and
enjoy the good education there
is. One thing that I kept from
her was that everyone has
issues but we have to learn
how to overcome them.
Kelly Voigt
By: Jose Rodriguez
Kelly Voigt was one of the
many guest speakers from
AVID. She talked about how
when she was a little girl she
really liked dogs. But one day
she saw a dog and went to go
pet it and it attacked her. After
that she was traumatized by
dogs for almost for a year. She
later decided that she would
not want anyone else to get
attacked by a dog like her. So
she started a new awareness
campaign called "Prevent The
Bite" (PTB). The campaign is
to teach people about how to
be safe around dogs. She
has appeared on several TV
provides a variety of places
around the area. He travels
around the world with his
company and also interviews
the people who work there.
Tony joined the Marines when
he was younger. He chose to
work with photography because
he worked with computers for 4
years in the military. He told us
that it's better to sacrifice some
fun in our young age to fulfill
our happiness in our future.
Mrs. Castro
By: Tiffany Bucio
On Jan 30 Mrs. Castro came
into our AVID class to share
her experience that got her
where she is today. She is
currently a Spanish teacher
and worked very hard to get
where she is now. She went to
Cuernavaca in Mexico to teach
for some years and with the
help of her Spanish-speaking
mom she had more of an
advantage. Not only has she
learned how to speak the
language, but she also adapted
to the culture. Her advice she
gave us was when we are
picking out our college, we
have to feel an excitement in
us and feel comfortable there.
shows like "Good Morning
America".
Mrs. Rawlinson
By: Luis Lucero
Tony Arce
By: Luis Bailon
Our sophomore avid classroom
was able to meet Mrs.
Rawlinson as a guest speaker.
One of her main points
throughout her entire speech
was that you should never give
up because there is always a
way. She was able to use her
own advice with her own
children. One of her sons has
severe dyslexia, so to get into a
Tony Arce helps advertise
restaurants around the world.
He has a website, devhour.tv,
that has pictures of a restaurant's
food. The website is used for
people who are interested in
dining somewhere but can’t
decide where to go. His website
WHEELING HIGH SCHOOL- AVID NEWSLETTER
good college they had to put in
extra work, but in the end they
accomplished their goal. Mrs.
Rawlinson's son will always
remind me to never give
up and that there is always a
way.
Ms. Mattingly
By: AnaKristy Gonzalez
On February 20, we were visited
by Carrie Mattingly, a World
History teacher. She had wanted
to be a teacher since she was
young. Getting there was a bit of
a struggle. She took honors
classes during high school.
During college she majored in
communications at University of
Missouri. Not only was she a
student but a waiter as well to
help pay for college. Once she
had earned a certificate in history,
she applied for a teaching job at
Wheeling High School. She
decided that if her first three
years of teaching goes well, she
will continue. If not she would
do something else. Now, she has
been teaching for eight years. She
was also coaching the girl's
badminton team for a few years.
Her advice for students is to
figure out what you're capable to
do well and focus on what you
can do.
Mr. Swierczek
By: Selena Gomez
Enthusiastic and motivational;
these two words best describe
the presentation that Mr.
Swierczek gave to our AVID
classes. Right from the
beginning of his presentation,
he was very energetic and
passionate about his school
ISU. He made college seem
like an environment where
anybody can thrive. He also
gave us a ton of useful
information ranging from real
life experiences to how to be
mentally prepared for the real
world. Most importantly, he
explained how to best find
your career for the rest of our
lives. The AVID family is very
thankful that we have
somebody such as
Mr.Swierczek!
Dorm at Illinois Wesleyan
2nd TERM FIELD TRIPS
Junior Spring Break
Field Trip
On Monday and Tuesday of
Spring break the Juniors went
on a 5 college tour. We were
also joined by the Junior AVID
class from Rolling Meadows
High School. They were able to
visit Eastern Illinois, Millikin,
Illinois Wesleyan, Illinois State,
and Western Illinois. It was a
great experience and a lot of
fun!
Western Illinois U.
AVID Students of the
Month
January – Saleta Anda
February– Rafael Ortiz
March –Yoneli Cabral
AVID Club and Other
Activities
Bus ride to Eastern
Yoga
Eastern Illinois U.