Faculty Highlights: Week of October 24

• Mr. Glonek’s AP Environmental Science students went to Jackson Park to collect samples of water from the lagoon and the lake to analyze the contents of the water.  Students are also collecting samples from various trees for lab work back at school. 
• Ms. McKay’s A.P. Psychology students went to the Illinois Holocaust Museum as a means to apply actual historical events to Social Psychology.  The tour guide said, "students will learn what humans are capable of doing to others, and what humans are willing to do to help others."  When students returned from the museum, they completed the free-response portion of their test using examples from the museum to demonstrate key concepts from their social psychology unit.
• Dr. Berry required his English III students to compare Tom Walker’s fear of the devil with Tom Sawyer’s fear of death and hell.  Students were challenged immediately as they walked into class as questions on Tom Sawyer were projected onto the screen.  Students were conditioned in class to begin describing the location and the scene of the passage they read the night before
• Mr. Sweany’s Latin students cooked Roman food and brought it into class to share.  In Latin, which can undoubtedly be a convoluted subject, students were able to concretely experience Roman culture.  Mr. Sweany reported that students who often struggle in Latin thrived with this lesson.
• Mr. Taylor’s English III immediately began working individually on questions from The Crucible when they walked in the room.  When questions were answered, students took on parts from the play and acted it out.  Mr. Taylor directed the students as they read parts.  This creative lesson held students’ attention and provided them with visual images to scaffold their reading of the story.
• Brother Dave welcomes his students with a pre-posted agenda for each class projected from his laptop.  Students immediately begin class with prayer and know what to expect during class that day.
• Ms. Mayhan’s World History students analyze what various artifacts say about cultures.  Students were required to think about what the pyramids, plazas and earthen mounds suggested about ancient societies. Students were asked to consider what artifacts future historians may use to describe our culture before they were encouraged to hypothesize what they would say.
• Mr. Hoerster’s freshmen English class read Suzanne Collins’ best-selling book Hunger Games.  This novel specifically written for you adults piqued the interest of one student so much that he read Collins’ sequels in the trilogy Catching Fire and Mockingjay – all within the past month.
• Congratulations to Mrs. Tierney and Mr. Taylor for their remarkable work with our student-actors in the fall play A Few Good Men.
• Mr. Eisenbraun organized a College Fair that showcased over fifty colleges and universities from across the country for our students.