Hinsdale High School Teachers Association

The Hinsdale High School Teachers Association is pleased to report that eighteen graduating seniors were the recipients of $12,800 in scholarships awarded by the Association this year. The scholarship fund was raised through the Staff Talent Show and Spaghetti Dinner at Hinsdale South, and Pancake Breakfast at Hinsdale Central. Events were held during Homecoming week at both schools.

Student recipients were selected from an outstanding pool of applicants. Criteria for consideration included: academic achievement, community service, demonstrated pursuit of excellence, commitment to a career in teaching and financial need.

Recipients at Hinsdale South included four $1,000 scholarships and eight $500 scholarships awarded to:

• Gina Calvello
• Grace Chang
• Cristina Duran
• Yasmine Hatamleh
• Christine Miller
• Kevin Miller
• Justin Ng
• Rahul Puranmalka
• Jessica Reif
• Vienet Romero
• Mariah Wood
• Dan Zangri

Recipients at Hinsdale Central included five $700 scholarships and one $1,300 scholarship awarded to:

• Maeve Andrews
• Christina Lantero
• Colleen Leahy
• Erin Quaid
• Ann Marie Richard
• Jordan Spinazola

Congratulations and best of luck in college to our recipients!

The HHSTA at Hinsdale South is pleased to announce that we have once again set a record in the number of scholarships awarded to graduating seniors of the Class of 2009.  Four $1000 awards were given, as well as eight $500 awards.  Recipients of these scholarships, based on applications submitted in the spring of 2009 were:

• Angelene Arito
• Meghan D’Andrea
• Eva Davis
• Hilary Fung
• Danielle Jauregui
• John Leganski
• Amanda Lofgren
• Emily Markham
• Meghan McDonnell
• Marina Nir
• Brittany Novy-Mackey
• Allison Ross

Scholarship funds are derived from the HHSTA Spaghetti Dinner, held the Friday evening of Homecoming Week.  Also, for the last four years, a Faculty Variety Show has been held during Homecoming Week.  Proceeds from the first V-Show benefited victims of Hurricane Katrina.  Proceeds from the shows in 2006, 2007 and 2008 went directly to the Scholarship Fund.

We urge community support of these efforts, in order to continue to offer these funds to deserving Hinsdale South graduates.  The date for this year’s Faculty Variety Show is Wednesday, September 30, curtain rises at 7:30 pm.  The Spaghetti Dinner will be held on Friday, October 2 from 4 to 8 pm.  Please join us!!!

The HHSTA at Hinsdale South was pleased to award a record-setting number of scholarships to graduating seniors of the Class of 2008.  Five $1000 awards were given, as well as six $500 awards.  Recipients of these scholarships, based on applications submitted in the spring of 2008 were:

• Anjylla Foster
• Regina Gallian
• Katie Kaczmarski
• Elif Karatas
• Jenna Kirwan
• Joseph McGuire
• Daniel Miller
• Amanda Peterson
• Afia Shareef
• David Walker
• Reed Wilson

Scholarship funds are derived from the HHSTA Spaghetti Dinner, held the Friday evening of Homecoming Week.  Also, for the last three years, a Faculty Variety Show has been held during Homecoming Week.  Proceeds from the first V-Show benefited victims of Hurricane Katrina.  Proceeds from the shows in 2006 and 2007 went directly to the Scholarship Fund.

We urge community support of these efforts, in order to continue to offer these funds to deserving Hinsdale South graduates.  The date for the Faculty Variety Show is Wednesday, October 15, curtain rises at 7:30 pm.  The Spaghetti Dinner will be held on Friday, October 17 from 4 to 8 pm.  Please join us!!!

At the end of the the 2007-2008 school year, I received my first evaluation as “satisfactory,” after having received an “excellent” evaluation for my previous five years at Hinsdale South.  It was a disappointing evaluation for me, for in October of 2007  I earned National Board Certification, the highest level of certification/achievement available to our nation’s K-12 educators – an achievement I thought would have earned me an excellent rating if anything ever did.  But alas, I received a “satisfactory” rating along with what appears to be 100% of the teachers in District 86; we all received the same rating this year, regardless how we performed in the previous school year.

We were informed this rating stemmed from the Administration’s realization that the dimensions of an “Excellent” rating needed to be “negotiated,” and this not having been done, everyone received the default evaluation of “Satisfactory.” This of course left me confused.  If the details of an “Excellent” rating need to be negotiated, why don’t those for “Satisfactory?” And how exactly had it been decided/determined that I had performed in a “Satisfactory” manner? And was it true that all the teachers at our district had performed at more or less the same level for the previous school year?

None of this made any sense to me, nor did it make much sense to many of my colleagues, who were frustrated by what seemed like an arbitrary decision by the district Administration. This in turn led to speculation and suspicion about what the “real” motivations of such a decision might have been. This is a natural by-product of decisions made without the full participation of all involved.

In my opinion, the administration has shot itself in the foot, for the product of this year’s staff evaluation simply has lost respect from the district corps of teachers, and hence become meaningless (at least that is the sense I have gotten from my colleagues). Although the long-term damage of this outcome remains to be seen, I ask our district administration to look at this experience and learn from it. I invite them to employ openness, honesty and full participation going forward in this. I can guarantee teachers’ desire to participate in such fashion.

The Vision / Strategic Plan document, “A Future of Excellence,” was presented to the District 86 Board Monday night by the Board’s consultants, ECRA Group. The report contains the “fundamental goals and initiatives that were derived from the key findings of the strategic planning process” undertaken ECRA Group.

The Doings, in their article “Consultants: District 86 Great, Could Be Better” found the findings of low satisfaction among teachers and staff “startling”:

“Among the report’s more startling findings was a generally low satisfaction level among teachers and staff members.

“The faculty and staff don’t feel supported by the board and appreciated in their work,” John Gatta said. “These are the lowest levels we’ve seen compared to other schools.”

A year ago, dozens of Central and South teachers packed board meetings to voice a number of concerns centering on low morale and poor relations with the board.

“We hope to change that,” board member Dianne Barrett said.”

For more on all of ECRA Group’s findings, read the whole report by downloading a copy here.