t e c ec volume 31, fall 2012

After the hottest summer on record, our

students and staff are back in classes

for the school year. As we bid summer

farewell, we are always excited about the

possibilities that a new school year brings.

Nearly 10 years ago, we began to imple-

ment our strategic facilities plan,

designed to replace aging facilities and make capital improve-

ments where needed. Since then, a number of key renovations

have occurred at a combined cost of nearly $20 million:

• Renovation of the Mall Auditorium

• Refitting piping and renovation of restrooms in G Building

• Addition of state-of-the-art science labs to the South and

North Buildings

• A working greenhouse was built, replacing the original

greenhouse

• Original 50-year-old boilers were replaced in the

South Building

• H-F Stadium driveway and student-access paths received

complete makeovers

• H-F Stadium also received new turf, track, lights and

expanded seating

• District offices were redesigned

• Viking TV & Radio stations were rebuilt in E Building

These are but a few of the many facility improvements we

have made in recent years. Our Board of Education and admin-

istrators are committed to providing the best possible opportu-

nities and resources available to students, staff, parents and the

greater H-F community that we possibly can, while remaining

fiscally responsible.

As the facilities and infrastructure at our 53-year-old school

district age and become outdated, we will continue to make cap-

ital improvements within our means to meet the expectations

required of providing a first-class educational experience at

Homewood-Flossmoor. Since 2005, H-F has annually received

the highest financial profile score of "financial recognition" from

the Illinois State Board of Education and was awarded a perfect

4.0 score in 2012. In addition, we have attained a AA+ rating

from Standard & Poors. We remain committed to keeping our

district fiscally sound now and well into the future; we accept

the charge and responsibility of maintaining these accom-

plished ratings.

The district has been preparing for the past several years to

implement the next phase of its strategic facilities plan, focused

on the North Building. Highlights of the project include reno-

vating the North Building’s main entrance, making it more user

accessible and ADA compliant; and rebuilding the H-F Field-

house. This heavily used facility will be expanded to allow for

additional and more convenient programming opportunities for

our students and athletes for the next 50 years. Look for more

details on this project in future issues of the Viking Connec-

tion, and, more immediately, on our website:

www.hfhighschool.org.

— Superintendent Dr. Von Mansfield

Strategic Facilities Planning Offers Vision for the Future

VikingConnection

The

Volume 31, Fall 2012

Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School District 233, 999 Kedzie, Flossmoor, IL 60422 • 708-799-3000

Homewood-Flossmoor welcomed a new school board member

this August: Gerald Pauling of Flossmoor. Pauling has re-

placed Mallory Sutton, who

retired from the board after 15

years of dedicated service.

“Mrs. Sutton will be sorely

missed; I thank her for her lead-

ership and hard work over the

years, ensuring our high school

maintains its foundation of ex-

cellence,” says Dr. Von Mans-

field, superintendent.

Pauling is an alumnus of H-F

from the class of 1985 and the

father of three children, includ-

ing an H-F freshman this year.

He is a labor and employment

lawyer and partner with Sey-

farth Shaw Attorneys, LLP, in

Chicago.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Mr. Pauling join the

Board of Education. While his credentials are extremely im-

pressive, more importantly, he is a par-

ent and a long-standing community

member whose actions will certainly in-

spire both students and staff to continue

the legacy of excellence we have come to

expect at Homewood-Flossmoor,” says

Dr. Mansfield.

Current board members — in addition

to Pauling — are: President Rick Lites,

Vice President

Dr. David Mayer,

Dr. John Farrell,

Andrew Lind-

strom, Jeanne

McInerney-

Lubeck and Jody

Scariano.

Gerald Pauling

President Rick Lites (center) and Superintendent Dr.

Von Mansfield (right) present Mallory Sutton (left)

with a framed proclamation for her 15 years of service

at the District 233 Board of Education meeting on

Tuesday, Aug. 16.

New School Year Brings New Leadership

2 • VIKING CONNECTION, FALL 2012 HFHIGHSCHOOL.ORG

Mobile Computer Lab AddedFamiliar Faces in New PlacesThe new school year is underway, and, in

addition to H-F’s new faculty members who

can be seen on page 4, the school also has

some familiar faces in new places.

Kathy Dreger — for-

merly a Special Ed-

ucation transition

counselor — has

stepped into a new

role as the Director

of Special Educa-

tion, replacing the

retiring director, Stacey Rubin.

Filling Kathy’s

shoes as the new

Special Education

Transition Coun-

selor is Bonnie Dol-

son, formerly of our

Guidance Depart-

ment.

Guidance Counselor

Brad Kain is now a

new College Con-

sultant in the Guid-

ance Department,

specializing in edu-

cating students and

parents on the path

to post-secondary schools.

A familiar face in

the Guidance De-

partment, Kathy

Fleming, has been

named Guidance

Counselor in Brad’s

place. Kathy will

serve students with

last names beginning with Ca-Eg.

Last school year,

Steven Vaught

served as our In-

School Detention

teacher. This year

he has replaced the

retiring Bruce

Bergren as a new

Special Education Teacher.

New Broadcasting Studio to Open in October

As part of this

year’s technol-

ogy improvement

plan, Homewood-

Flossmoor added a

mobile computer

lab for students,

consisting of 30

iPad tablets in a

compact charging/

syncing station.

The iPad lab is

available for teach-

ers and librarians

to use with classes

doing research in

the library. It will

be housed and

mainly used in the

library classroom. If need be, librarians can accompany

the iPad lab to an individual classroom when teaching

research and/or library skills to students.

“The iPad lab is a great solution to the demand for

classes needing computers for library research,” says

Kathy Tisonsic, H-F librarian. “They really seem to en-

gage the students and are perfect for quickly accessing

our online resources.”

In addition to the mobile computer lab, H-F also has

recently added a Macintosh lab in the Music Depart-

ment; 30 new touchscreen HP workstations in the

Teaching & Learning Center; and two Apple TVs and

two iPads for each academic department, designed for

individual classroom use.

H -F has always been proud of its

unique broadcasting program,

where for decades young communica-

tors have received hands-on experi-

ence producing, directing and being

the on-air talent for daily news broad-

casts and special projects. This fall,

however, that pride will reach a new

level as the school unveils its newly

redesigned station and classrooms for

Viking TV and WHFH 88.5 FM radio.

“Our new facilities will be state-of-

the-art, and our entire staff is ex-

tremely excited and anxious to get to work with the new equipment,” says Mark

Ciesielski, H-F Broadcasting teacher. “I believe this new studio will further the

opportunities students have to learn and will allow us to bring a professional, qual-

ity product to the school and greater H-F community.”

The new station will feature an improved ascetic design, editing stations, green

room and control room. The entire studio, including the radio station, will get a

new look with updated carpeting and furniture. The TV equipment will feature

high-definition capabilities, as well as a network system that will speed up the flow

of production on a daily basis. There are approximately 140 students involved in

this year’s VTV and WHFH programs. The new station is set to open in October.

Above, senior English students test out the iPads in the school’s

new mobile computer lab. The tablets can all be charged through

one laptop cart (below).

VTV classrooms are outfitted with Macintosh

computers for professional-level video editing.

HFHIGHSCHOOL.ORG VIKING CONNECTION, FALL 2012 • 3

Mentoring Program

Begins its Third Year

In October

2010, H-F

Guidance Coun-

selor Broderick

Booth formed

VICTORS, a

mentoring pro-

gram designed

to engage young

men in the edu-

cational process.

The program —

with a goal of

providing young

men with oppor-

tunities for personal, social, academic

and professional growth — has nearly

doubled in number of participants since

it began. Identified high schoolers are

paired up with a volunteer adult male

mentor from the greater H-F commu-

nity. The pairs of mentors and men-

torees meet twice per month to listen to

guest speakers, participate in small

group discussions and talk one-on-one.

H-F alumnus (2011), Lawrence

Lett, became involved in VICTORS dur-

ing his junior year.

“The VICTORS program benefitted

me in a way that it gave me an ex-

tracurricular activity, and it helped me

build leadership skills that will help me

throughout my life,” he says. Lett is cur-

rently a pre-dentistry student at South-

ern Illinois University - Edwardsville.

The typical mentor, according to

Booth, is a successful professional from

the H-F area who wants to give back to

the community and be a positive influ-

ence on a young man’s life. Lett’s men-

tor was Dr. Louis Rutland, an area

dentist.

“I became involved in VICTORS

through an initiative that was pre-

sented to the Delta Sigma Boule frater-

nity and saw that it would be a great

opportunity to interact with current stu-

dents,” Dr. Rutland says.

Rutland continues to mentor students

at H-F, and Booth continues to look for

more professionals to get involved. He is

hoping to begin a VICTORS group for

female students, as well this school

year. For more information about the

VICTORS program, please contact 708-

335-5621 or [email protected].

H-F Students & StaffStar, Direct in All-StateTheatre Production:Memphis

H-F Theatre students and staff are

stepping up in a major way for the

2013 Illinois High School Theatre Festi-

val. More than 10 percent of the cast,

crew and musicians for this year’s musi-

cal, Memphis, are from Homewood-

Flossmoor. The all-state director, scenic

director and choreographer are H-F

English teachers: J.R. Rose, Kevin

Wall and Becky DeDecker, respec-

tively.

The musical was cast in June, but in-

tense rehearsals just began at the Mall

Auditorium in early September. The set

is being built at Andrew High School,

then it will travel to the University of

Illinois — Champaign-Urbana for the

culmination of the festival held Jan. 10-

12. The festival — which draws more

than 4,000 Illinois high school students

representing more than 170 high

schools annually — is designed to enrich

the education of high school students

and to serve teachers, directors and the-

atre sponsors.

The festival’s Memphis is the first

production of the 2009 Broadway musi-

cal outside of Broadway and its national

tour. Memphis received Tony Awards

for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book

and Best Orchestration in 2010.

Junior Phil Glover will represent H-F

in the Memphis orchestra; H-F seniors

Jordan Bos-Watson, Sam Dreyfuss

and Evan Duckworth are part of the

state technical crew. H-F student-actors

in the Memphis cast are: juniors C.J.

Butler and Anna Meehan; and seniors

Christopher Kelley, Jasmyne Mack-

lin, Kayla Robertson, Jo. Schaffer

and Amaris Smith.

S E P T E M B E R

19..........Free! Visual Arts Showcase @

Great American Bagel, 6 p.m.

20..........Children’s Play: You’re a Good Man,

Charlie Brown @ Mall Auditorium, 9:30 a.m.

21..........Children’s Play: Charlie Brown @

Mall Auditorium, 9:30 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.

22..........Children’s Play: Charlie Brown @

Mall Auditorium, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

30..........Free! Fall Orchestra Concert @ Mall

Auditorium, 3 p.m.

O C T O B E R

3 ............HFPA Meeting @ TLC, 6 p.m.

4 ............Free! Rachel’s Challenge @ Mall

Auditorium, 7 p.m.

14..........Free! Viking Choir Fall Concert

@ Mall Auditorium, 3 p.m.

17..........Free! Senior Citizens’ Breakfast &

Tour @ South Cafe, 9 a.m.

Free! Visual Arts Showcase @ Great

American Bagel, 6 p.m.

Free! Music Dept. on Parade @ South Gym,

7:30 p.m.

22..........Free! College Night @ South Gym,

6:30 p.m.

27..........Thespians Haunted House @ Mall

Auditorium, 6 p.m.

N O V E M B E R

1 ............Parent-Teacher Conferences @

South Cafe & Gym, 1:30 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.

7 ............HFPA Meeting @ TLC, 6 p.m.

National Art Honor Society Induction

@ E1, 7 p.m.

8 ............Musical: Urinetown @ Mall

Auditorium, 9:30 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.

9-10 ......Musical: Urinetown @ Mall

Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

14..........Free! Visual Arts Showcase @ Great

American Bagel, 6 p.m.

15-17 ....Operation Snowball @ Camp

Manitoqua)

21..........Free! Viking Choir Community

Thanksgiving Service, 7:30 p.m. (Location:

TBD)

Lawrence Lett withhis VICTORS mentor,Dr. Louis Rutland

H-F Memphis participants pose with

Chad Kimball, the Tony Award-nomi-

nated actor from the musical’s Broadway

production. He visited H-F on Sept. 1.

FY I


H-F Rolls Out New Website

In August, H-F High School launched its new website at its existing

URL — www.hfhighschool.org— that has been designed to better

communicate the high school’s events, news and accomplishments with

the greater Homewood-Flossmoor community. The new site has interac-

tive features, including RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, which

allow you to subscribe to the information that interests you most via

email alerts. An internet-based content-management system now allows

the school's teachers and staff to more easily and more frequently update

information. Specially designed landing pages have been tailored to

these specific audiences: parents, students, alumni, staff and community.

“We encourage everyone in the Homewood-Flossmoor community to

visit our new site,” says Jodi Bryant, director of Human Resources &

Public Relations. “Start at your appropriate landing page and please

take a look around to learn more about

our prestigious academic progams and

expansive extracurricular opportunities.”

The website puts a strong,visual focus on our students and programs. The main page slideshow

is set to upload new photos each week, highlighting recent activities in and outside of the class-

room. Page headers — include photos and testimonials from real H-F students, alumni and staff

— will be changed quarterly.

“There’s no better way to showcase our school of excellence than to prominently feature our

students and dedicated staff,” says Bryant.

Website visitors can also create an account to save pages as favorites and customize their

visits. Coming soon to the new site: a custom mobile version, making the high school's news

even more accessible via smart phones and tablets. For more information on the new site, call

708-799-3000.

Meet H-F’s New Faculty & Counselors for 2012/13

Alec Anderson

Director of Athlet-

ics & Activities

Southern Illinois

University • Gover-

nors State University

Evan Roberts

Science

Chicago State Univer-

sity • National Louis

University

Gilbert Smit

Social Science

Trinity Christian

College

Amy Venable

Reading

St. Xavier University

• Concordia

University

Rebecca

DeDecker

English

Illinois State

University

Valentine Manada

PE/Health/DE

Northern Michigan

University

Phillip Barker

Social Worker

Loyola University

Daryl Luigs

Permanent

Substitute

Eastern Illinois Uni-

versity • Chicago

State University

Kevin Coy

College Consultant

Loras College •

Lewis University

Julio Jimenez

Music

Vandercook College

of Music

Meredith Pauley

World Language

St. Ambrose

University •

DePaul University

Josh Lindstrom

Permanent

Substitute

Olivet Nazerene

University

Jeromy Flowers

Special Education

University of Arkansas

Erica Sagerman

Director of Fine

Arts

State University of

New York - Fredonia

Sarah Quinlan

Social Science

University of Illinois -

Chicago •

DePaul University

Michael Brahm

Science

University of Illinois -

Champaign/Urbana

College Night to Help Students,

Parents Find Direction

H-F High School invites area high school stu-

dents and parents to its annual College Night

on Monday, Oct. 22. From 6:30-8 p.m., attendees can

visit with representatives from more than 200 col-

leges and universities from across the country. The

college reps will be able to provide information about

their institutions and answer questions regarding

admissions, programs of study, financial aid, hous-

ing, athletics and more.

“This is one of the largest and well-attended col-

lege fairs in the South Chicagoland area,” said

Kevin Coy, H-F college consultant. “This is a won-

derful opportunity for parents and students of all

ages to take advantage of the vast majority of schools attending.”

Attending

colleges this

year include:

•Arizona

State Univer-

sity •

• Butler

University

• Columbia College

• DePaul University

• Eureka College

• Indiana University

• Johnson & Wales

• Kent State University

Lewis University • Loras College • Marquette University

Northern Michigan University • Northwestern University

Ohio State University • U.S. Navel Academy • University of Chicago

University of Illinois - Chicago & Urbana • University of Missouri

University of Southern California

FrEE! Annual Senior Community Breakfast & Tour: Oct. 17

When was the last time you visited H-F?

Seniors in the H-F community are invited

to a complementary breakfast in the

school’s South Building Cafe on

Wednesday, Oct. 17. Beginning at 9 a.m.,

the event includes an overview of the

school by administrators, musical

performances and a student-guided tour

of the main building. Please RSVP to

708-335-5581 or [email protected]

by Wednesday, Oct. 10. Don’t miss this

memorable event!


H-F Summer Camps

This summer H-F’s campus was alive with

the sounds of music and shuffling gym

shoes as camps were held in our Fine Art

and Athletic Departments. View some

highlights below:

Hundreds of students and parents attended last

year’s College Night in the South Gym.

Board of Education President Rick Lites

addresses a community of seniors at last

year’s breakfast.

Future Vikings practiced flag football during this

summer’s week-long H-F Football Camp for

Grades K-3.

Approximately 40 area grade- and high-school

students took the Mall Auditorium stage for H-F

Theatre’s summer production of Bye Bye Birdie

in July.

To prepare for the busy school year’s performance

schedule, H-F musicians took their horns outside

during Summer Band Camp in early August.


HFHS Alumni Association

The summer of 2012 has flown by and

another reunion season along with it!

Kudos to the dozens of volunteer coordi-

nators from the classes of 1962, 1967,

1972, 1977, 1982 and 1992 for their

time, effort and creativity that went into

planning each of the reunions. We also

welcomed the class of 2002 to the ranks,

as it hosted its first reunion earlier this month. Some re-

unions were classic and held at area country clubs, while

others were very informal, but in each instance they drew

alumni from near and far for a chance to reconnect with

each other and the common bond they share as graduates of

Homewood-Flossmoor.

The Alumni Office has several exciting projects underway

that will be completed this fall, including one that has come

about directly because alumni have asked about it. We are

taking our complete yearbook collection and having it digi-

tized. Once this is completed, we will post each yearbook as

an individual PDF, so alumni who no longer have their

yearbooks can view them online, and, if they wish, purchase

a DVD of any of the books. Look for this and more updates

about activities and events on the wonderful, new Home-

wood-Flossmoor website: www.hfhighschool.org. Be sure to

sign up for our Facebook page as well, under “Homewood-

Flossmoor High School Alumni Association.”

— Ann Cherry, Director of Development & Alumni Relations

Michael Pawlak, Class of 1995

Michael is a member of the Cedar Rapids

Symphony, Des Moines Symphony and the

Dubuque Symphony, where he is the principal

percussionist with the Waterloo/Cedar Rapids

Symphony Orchestra. He began his musical

training at age six with accordion lessons

from his grandfather. As age 10, he was al-

ready beginning his percussion career.

From 1993-95, Michael was a member of the Chicago Youth Sym-

phony Orchestra, all the while pursuing intensive private lessons. After H-

F, Michael attended DePaul University as a music major. His professional

career began during this time and he spent six years as a percussionist

and Principal Timpanist with the Civic Orchestra, the training orchestra of

the Chicago Symphony. He has performed under some of the world’s

finest conductors, including Pinchas Zukerman and Zubin Mehta. The

highlight of his career with the Civic Orchestra was playing a concert at

New York City’s Carnegie Hall under the direction of the esteemed Daniel

Barenboim.

Besides his outstanding musical career at H-F, Michael played two

years of soccer. He was in Band and Choir all four years and took part in

the international performance tours with the H-F Symphonic Orchestra

and Viking Choir. He was also a member of the H-F Jazz Band, Viking En-

semble and Barbershop Quartet. His sister, Dina (H-F ’98), is also musi-

cal, having played flute and piccolo in the H-F Band for four years, while

his mother, Sue, is the accompanyist in the H-F Music Department.

Michael lives in Iowa and is the father of Lidia, age 5, and Elijah, age 1.

Ikenna Okezie, M.d., Class of 1990

Dr. Okezie spent only his final two years of

high school at H-F, but what an influential two

years they were! He took early admission to

Yale University, graduating cum laude with a

B.A. in economics, captain of the wrestling

team, the 1994 Scholar-Athlete of the Year,

and a Rhodes and Marshall Scholar finalist.

After college, he worked in the corporate fi-

nance division at Goldman Sachs, but he endeavored to follow a path

into medicine. He soon enrolled at Harvard Medicine School, intending to

become a trauma surgeon, but his interest in business drew him instead

to earn a dual advanced degree: one in business and one in medicine —

one of the first two people ever to take this dual degree at Harvard.

Dr. Okezie credits H-F teachers — such as Mr. Casper, Mrs. Valenti and

Mr. Morton — for fostering his love of humanities and economics. Aside

from being an outstanding student, he was also a member of the

wrestling team, where he earned the 110% Award his senior year.

Combining his interest in medicine and business, he is now a division

head at DaVita, Inc., a leading provider of kidney care, dialysis services

and renal education to patients with chronic kidney failure and end-stage

renal disease. He has helped propel his East Coast region into a $300

million division with more than 1,500 employees. In March 2012, Dr.

Okezie visited Trinidad and Tobago on the invitation of the U.S. ambassa-

dor. His visit enabled him to speak to medical groups, youth and entre-

preneurs about his experiences in building businesses, teaching about

health and the importance of mentoring the next generation of leaders.

V I K I N G S N E A R & F A R

Faces from this summer’s Alumni Social

Justin Foster, ’96

Sarah Carr Huffman, ’84 Marcus Yancey, ’99

Susie Finder Goldberg, ’61


Viking Country

is calling you!

Come on out to

root for your H-F

Vikings at a

home game this

fall!

F a l l S p o r t S

BOYS’ SOCCER• Sept. 18, 5 p.m. vs. Lincoln-Way West

Location: H-F Stadium

• Sept. 22, 9 a.m. vs.

Bradley-Bourbonnais


• Sept. 27, 5 p.m. vs. Joliet West


• Oct. 2, 5 p.m. vs. Lincoln-Way East


• Oct. 4, 5 p.m. vs. Bolingbrook


FIELD HOCKEY• Sept. 22, 10 a.m. vs. Antioch

Location: Varsity Field

• Sept. 22, Noon vs. Highland Park


• Oct. 2, 4:30 p.m. vs. Stevenson


FOOTBALL• Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m. vs. Lockport


• Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m. vs. Joliet Central


• Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m. vs. Sandburg


GIRLS’ GOLF• Sept. 18, 4 p.m. vs. Sandburg

Location: Coyote Run Golf Course

• Oct. 3 IHSA Regioinals

Location: Coyote Run Golf Course

GIRLS’ SWIMMING & DIVING• Sept. 27, 5 p.m. vs. Sandburg

Location: Natatorium

• Oct. 2, 5 p.m. vs. Marian Catholic


• Oct. 18, 5 p.m. vs. Lincoln-Way East


GIRLS’ TENNIS• Sept. 18, 4:30 p.m. vs.

Lincoln-Way East

Location: South Tennis Courts

• Sept. 20, 4:30 p.m. vs. Bolingbrook

Location: South Tennis Courts

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL• Sept. 18, 6:30 p.m. vs.

Bradley-Bourbonnais

Location: South Gym

• Sept. 25, 6 p.m. vs. Thornridge

Location: South Gym

• Oct. 2, 6 p.m. vs. Lockport

Location: South Gym

• Oct. 11, 6 p.m. vs. Sandburg

Location: South Gym

• Oct. 18, 6:30 p.m. vs. Joliet Central

Location: South Gym

ICE HOCKEY• Oct. 2, 6:55 p.m. vs. Providence

Location: H-F Ice Arena

• Oct. 26, 7 p.m. vs. Providence


• Nov. 9, 7 p.m. vs. Lemont


• Nov. 30, 7 p.m. vs. Champaign


t h e V i k i n G V i e w

Board of Education member Andy Lindstrom’s red-and-white dress shoes toed off with a

student’s blue tennis shoes on the first day of school on Wednesday, Aug. 15. Lindstrom

was on hand in his custom-made Viking suit to greet students for the new school year.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

ECR WSS

FLOSSMOOR, IL

PERMIT NO. 5

POSTAL CUSTOMER

homewood-flossmoor community high School District 233

999 kedzie, flossmoor, il 60422

708-799-3000The Viking connection is a community newsletter for residents of Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School District 233.

board of education

rick liteS, preSident

Dr. DaViD Mayer, Vice preSident

Dr. John farrell

anDrew linDStroM

Jeanne Mcinerney-lubeck

JoDy Scariano

GeralD PaulinG

Dr. Von ManSfielD,Superintendent

Dear Stakeholders of Homewood-

Flossmoor Community High School:

We have had a tremendous start to the

school year. In the academic arena, we

were again recognized by Newsweek as one

of the best high schools in the country.

Our theater program performed an excel-

lent production of Elephant’s Graveyard and is preparing for

the children’s play, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. As I

reflect upon our successes from last year and look forward to the

year ahead, I believe the 2012-2013 school year will be high-

lighted with increases in student achievement data, quality fine-

arts productions, and many Viking victories within our athletics

program, making the entire community proud.

As a school, we are renewing our focus to continually improve

our academic environment, athletic and fine-arts programming,

and extracurricular offerings. Our challenge is significant.

Homewood-Flossmoor is currently regarded as one of the finest

high schools in not only the state of Illinois, but also in the en-

tire country. During the past four years we have aligned to the

College Readiness Standards, created common assessments, an

assessment framework, course syllabi, and scope and sequence

documents. This year, our department chairs and faculty are

identifying areas for improvement, and building a subsequent

framework for additional support, including — but not limited

to — instructional practices within the classroom. More than

ever before, educators will be visiting classrooms and sharing

best instructional practices. This improvement will allow our ed-

ucators to better learn from each other, becoming perhaps our

best form of professional development.

I encourage all parents to understand and get involved in

your child’s high-school experience. Our HFPA offers you an op-

portunity to do this; our first meeting had approximately 100

parents in attendance and we hope to have more in the future.

As a faculty, we have embraced the opportunity to improve

Homewood-Flossmoor High School. While challenging, we feel

we have placed Homewood-Flossmoor High School in a fantastic

position: assessment scores are trending up equaling or surpass-

ing all-time highs; student behavior is exceptional; and the qual-

ity of our faculty is rivaled by only a select, few schools. While

we have much to celebrate, because of the professional work ac-

complished and the talent level of our students, we feel our

greatest celebrations are still to come, for the finest years of

Homewood-Flossmoor High Community High School and our

entire community stand in front of us.

On a personal note, it is hard to believe I am entering my fifth

year as principal. Having started when my sons, Trey, now 8,

and Seth, now 6, were only ages 4 and 2, this community has

become our home. My wife, Wendy, and I thank you for contin-

uing to support our family. I continue to look forward to working

with you and your students this school year.

— Ryan Pitcock, Ph.D., Principal

Principally Speaking

t e c ec volume 31, fall 2012

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