Hinsdale High School Teachers Association

After a long process, District 86 announced a new principal for Central next year:

On Monday, December 14, 2009, the Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Board of Education unanimously approved the appointment of Mr. Michael McGrory, Principal of Ames High School in Ames, Iowa, as the next Principal of Hinsdale Central High School for the 2010-2011 school year.

Mr. McGrory brings much experience, energy, and excitement to this position, having served most recently as the Principal of Ames High School since 2001. In this role, he manages budgetary, operational, and personnel aspects of a high school with a very diverse and high achieving student population of 1,500, and oversees 105 certified teachers, and 65 support staff. In addition, he implemented a High School Reform recommendation and oversaw a $13 million building renovation project. Ames High School is comparable to Hinsdale Central in that it is a state leader in its number of National Merit Finalists and 93% of its students attend a postsecondary institution. Professionally, Mr. McGrory serves on various district and state committees, and he participates in community committees and volunteer opportunities, as well. Prior to his principalship at Ames High School, he served as Principal of a Middle School for three years, and Principal of a K-12 school for two years.

Mr. McGrory was introduced to the faculty and staff on Tuesday morning, followed by a short reception for us to begin to get to know him. I look forward to continuing the productive and collaborative relationship that has been developed over recent years with our current and former building leaders. We wish him well, and look forward to working together at the start of the 2010-11 school year.

Congratulations and welcome to Hinsdale Central, Mr. McGrory!

For American Education Week, our current Interim Principals wrote the following letter to the local media:

The occasion of American Education Week provided us the opportunity to reflect on our experience at Hinsdale Central.  In August, we met with a group of students and asked them what they liked most about attending Central.  The first thing they said, to a person, was their appreciation for the fine teaching and support staff.  Their eyes “lit up” when they shared about the passion which teachers have for their subject and for teaching; when they shared how much the support staff cares, helping students through both academic and non-academic issues; and when they shared about the excellent relationship which students have with the staff at HCHS.

Since that day in August, we have visited classes in which students have struggled with the material and have observed teachers differentiating instruction in order to meet the varied academic needs of those students.  We have observed teachers challenging students academically in order to “stretch them” educationally, preparing them for the post-high school experience.  We have observed dedicated coaches and sponsors giving students wonderful opportunities to grow in the areas of team work and learning the benefits of hard work.  We have observed counselors helping students understand what it takes to prepare a quality college application.  We have observed social workers meet with students in extreme social and emotional circumstances and help them cope with those circumstances.  The staff at Hinsdale Central is among the finest with which we have worked.  It has been an honor and privilege to be associated with them as colleagues.
Tom Paulsen
Frank Kesman
Interim Principals, Hinsdale Central High School

Thanks to Tom and Frank for their dedication and wonderful professionalism shown this year as well.

With the chill in the air and the variety of innovative invitation methods being employed for dance partners, it must mean we are rapidly approaching Homecoming!  That means that it is time for the Annual Pancake Breakfast, taking place this Saturday, October 10th, from 7:30am to 12pm. Ah, I love the smell of pancakes in the morning!

Come see current and former teachers do daring deeds like flip pancakes, juggle cups of coffee, and balance pans of hot sausages before the parade and games. Carbs are your friends! Tickets can be purchased in advance from teachers for a price of $5.50; tickets are $6 at the door. Proceeds from the Pancake Breakfast benefit the Hinsdale High School Teachers Association Scholarship Fund.

Teachers its not too late to be a part of this tradition. Teacher  sign up sheets are available in the mailroom or through your Department Representative. Even if you can’t be here for the breakfast, be sure to sell those tickets! Thanks and hope to see you there!!

In last month’s IEA Insider, Jim Crandel, HHSTA’s Chief Negotiator during our last contract talks, writes about the importance of relationship building and the previous Board’s decision to not honor its commitment to retired teachers:

“Sure, we had our outrage, but what we needed was community members, parent organizations and the media to help our board realize that destroying teacher trust would NOT result in better schools.

Relationship building is key to the success of any organization. It’s one of the reasons your Association’s leadership has been discussing relationship building with the current Board via district administration. These talks have resulted in a compromise of sorts: a Memorandum of Agreement approved at the September 21st Board meeting that ensures Roundtable meetings between the Association and Board will continue during the negotiations process – the opposite of our current contract language. Although a step in the right direction, as we attempt together to achieve a successor agreement to our current contract, this process will be complicated by the profound breach of trust that culminated in the retiree grievance process Jim was writing about.

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The following are the prepared remarks presented at the Regular Action Meeting of the Hinsdale High School District Board Meeting, Monday August 17th, 2009:

On behalf of our members I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you a piece of history I found when going through files in our relocated Association office as we start the new school year.

Our organization has its roots in the Hinsdale Teachers Association, which served both District 181 and District 86 teachers in the early days of Hinsdale schools. However, in fall of 1956 members of the Professional Committee contemplated forming a separate high school organization, resulting in the first official meeting of HHSTA being held the following spring. Today we are proud to begin our 52nd year as the professional Association advocating for the teachers of our two high schools. Such an established history within our tradition of excellence is inspiring to me, as are the many individuals associated with our history.

For example, individuals like Harvey Dickinson often carry multiple connections within this tradition. A legendary coach; a nationally recognized Athletic Director; Harvey Dickinson is a HCHS Foundation Hall of Fame inductee in whose honor Central’s Dickinson Field is named.

In 1957, Harvey Dickinson was also the first president of HHSTA.

Too often individual connections such as this can be overlooked or forgotten if we view each other as separate entities: “the Board” or “the Association”. It’s easy to be wary of a faceless organization, to paint a group with a broad brush, or to tarnish the majority based on the minority. In reality we’re part of the same organization and far greater together than these labels imply separately.

With this in mind, I’d like to put a face to our Association. Certainly we are first and foremost the professional educators in our classrooms, student support networks, nurses’ offices, and our libraries. But our members are also the directors of school plays, variety show organizers, float builders, prom chaperons, and sponsors of a multitude of clubs and activities that take place before and after school.

Every year Association members flip pancakes and serve spaghetti to provide scholarships for our students. Every season, our members are the coaches that continue our highly recognized athletic traditions. And every day our members help students with their homework, their choice of college major or career, and through the ups and downs of high school life.

I’ll close by reiterating what leaders who have stood here before me have said: we look forward to working together to build upon our long tradition of excellence. By building our relationships and working together we will continue to achieve the best environment possible for our students.

Thank you and have a great year!

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!!!

Each year HHSTA sponsors a pancake breakfast at Central during our homecoming weekend. All of the net proceeds from this breakfast go directly into a scholarship fund that is used to provide numerous scholarships to seniors who intend to major in education in college. Applications are available in the guidance office in March and interviews for qualified applicants take place usually in May. This year six HHSTA scholarships were awarded at Central for applicants entering teaching training programs.

HHSTA proud to recognize, encourage and support students interested in pursuing degree programs that will help them enter into teaching profession. This year’s recipients are:

HHSTA Teacher Scholarship:

Ryan DeLeon
AnneMarie Madej
Madeja “Maddy” Metcalf
Jacqueline “Jackie” McGinn
Taylor Schroyer
Kelly Yadinak

Congratulations!