2009 High School Winners

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Addams
Language Arts
Poemlab
Students will be exposed to a broad range of poets and styles. They will then generate self-edit and peer-edit of their poetry. They will perform their own works which will be published in a journal.
Barbara Mellody-Pizzato, Michael Szymanski

Amundsen
Gardening
Outdoor Learning Center
Freshman Academy students will work together with their classroom teachers to design and implement an outdoor learning center for the school and community. Students will design and plant new thematic gardens to teach about native plants and pollinators and will add sculptures, benches and signage.
James Doyiakos, Peter Voss, Michael Troop, Erin Kaminski

Austin Polytech
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Learning Spanish through Art
Through a study combining Spanish and art, students will learn about the works of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. They will use artistic techniques that characterize these artists in order to create either a class mural or self portrait.
Lisa Dallacqua, Edward Banks, Brenda Hernandez

Bowen Discovery
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Tracing Literary Lineage
Students will create a mural of a world map that incorporates figures of literary importance from each continent.
Summer Kee

Bowen Environmental
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Intergenerational Podcasting
We will partner with a senior center in our school neighborhood to create podcast recordings. Students will conduct conversational interviews with seniors where they will explore the seniors
Philip Kendall, Tera Dunn

Bowen Environmental
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Peace Chart Memorial
Students will be involved in research and construction of a small display in a native plants garden. Our monument will be comprised of four concrete walls of staggered heights with mosaics depicting statistics on military casualties affecting groups from the Bowen area.
Albert Stabler

Brooks
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
World Healing Machine
Students will create awareness of hunger and poverty at both a local and global level. They will compile a collection of poetry, hold a food drive, conduct art workshops and create a sculptural mobile using recycled materials
Pamela Paggao, Cheryl Boone, Christina Lufrano, Landis Weidner, Katie Clark

Chicago Agricultural
Entrepreneurship
P.A.P.E.R. Making
Students will use recycled, shredded paper to make paper into cards which will be sold in the school Farm Stand and our other successful business venues throughout the school year. They will learn the papermaking process and develop different styles of cards.
Jane Klunk, Amy Hughes, Molly Condon, Susan Schlitz, Mary Ann Piszczor

Chicago Vocational Career
Special Education
On Our Own - Phase 2
The Life Skills Center was created for the population of students at our school who have moderate to severe disabilities. The Center will enable us to teach skills that are necessary to survive in the world such as cooking, cleaning and hygiene.
Andrea Smith, Lisa Taylor

Clemente
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
Creativity, Instruments, Music
Students will learn how to perform and read music through the use of instruments in the general music classes. We will add drum pads and percussion music to the general music program, repair and maintain the guitars and keyboards.
Jeremy Green

Clemente
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
Wildcat Mosaic
Students will learn about "public art" by creating a broken-tile mosaic.
Catina Robinson-Hale

Curie Metro
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Green Screens
Students will create screen-print posters consisting of both text and image. The project will promote environmental awareness, conservation and sustainable energy. Emphasis will be on exploring and exploiting the versatility of the screen-printing medium.
Colin Ewald

Curie Metro
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
The Art of Bookmaking
Students will study the history of bookmaking and will learn different styles of book structures as they make their own books using traditional binding methods. Students will also make their own paper for the books from recycled materials found at school and their homes.
Alex Gordon

Curie Metro
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
Curie Spring Dance Concert
Through participation in Curie's Spring Dance Concert, all 155 dance students will understand and be recognized for presenting eclectic, innovative and classical repertoire, while promoting an appreciation for contemporary dance and the evolution of the art form itself.
Melinda Wilson

Foreman
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Thoughts, Ink and Voices
Eighth and ninth grade students along with high school students will collaborate to illustrate and print small books and create a digital portfolio inspired by the written stories of children from elementary school and their own everyday stories.
Francis Allende-Pellot

Foreman
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
Spring Musical
Students, faculty, staff and parents/guardians will work to produce a spring musical at Foreman High School in the Spring of 2009.
Sarah Buino

Gage Park
Science / Mathematics / Technology
Being Good Stewards
Gage Park students will work with elementary school students and community members to recognize the important of being good stewards of our natural resources. They will learn the importance of leaving an environment that is healthy and safe to future generations.
Patricia Parsons, Thelma Parks, Miguel Davis

Gallery 37
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
ART ON STAGE
Students will be exploring the visual arts and related careers by studying theater. As they collaborate to produce a puppet show, students will consider the various art making processes used to create play scenery, costumes, posters and playbills.
Susan Dardar, Mary Ann Dardugno, Vivian Dobrowolska

Gallery 37
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Waves of Change
Students will research the history of Chicago's Lakefront to create a bricolage mosaic that highlights the importance of Lake Michigan to the past, present and future of the City of Chicago. The piece will be installed at Gallery 37 or in the headquarters of one of its partner organizations.
Susan Dardar, Patrick Miceli

Harper
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
School Beautification Project
Students will study the cultural relevance of murals and help design and create a new mural for the school as part of our school beautification project.
Pamela Adams, Quentin Frison

Harper
Science / Mathematics / Technology
Geometry All Around Us
Using everyday objects, students will construct and analyze three- dimensional structures and then build their ideal community.
Angel Johnson, Thomas Betten, Amy Dollarhite, Talisa Harris, Nadine, Patnett, Melinda Pauly, Roland Steel, Jackie Smith, Steven Chester, Sharon Lawson, Mo Abunijmeh, Omar Kamara, Kenneth Smith

Harper
Science / Mathematics / Technology
Eye-opening Dissections
Upperclassmen in Health will mentor and academically support freshman biology students interested in health careers through a series of anatomy lessons, including dissections of sheep organs and fetal pigs. The culminating experience will be a trip to a human cadaver lab led by medical students.
Kaitlin Schneider

Healy South-ALOP
Service Learning
Plumbing the Depths of Giving
Students will design, assemble and plumb three new bathroom vanities and then donate the finished products to a charitable organization such as Habitat for Humanity.
Denna Quillin

Jones
Language Arts
The Sound of the Page
Students in AP English Language will produce audio recordings of their personal essays, using music and sound for rhetorical effect using sound recorders. Students in Latin American Lit will produce documentaries on Latin American music, blending research, sounds and images.
Ray Salazar, Ben Dipman

Jones
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
Teaching & Performing Shakespeare
Students will create a series of instructional videos on performing Shakespeare. Videos will reveal the secrets of text analysis, mining the meaning, expressing character through rhetoric, rehearsing and performing. Our Spring production of "Twelfth Night" will be used as a model.
Robin Bennett, Charles Mills, Grace Moody

Jones
Science / Mathematics / Technology
Modeling Circus Act
Students will create a visual mathematical model of a Ferris Wheel circus act. They will figure out when a performer should be dropped from a rotating Ferris Wheel to land in a tub of moving water.
Matsuo Marti, John Remiasz, Jim Bywater, Jessica Fulton

Jones
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
Porgy & Bess: A Study in Diversity
Students will examine current events and the way race continues to be played out in modern society through performance and reflection on the history surrounding the inception and performances of opera scenes from
Gaye Klopack, Meghan McClory, Katherine Palmer, William McHenry

Kelly
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
American Dream Redefined
Students will define both the national concept of the American dream and their own personal dreams through an exploration of literature, NPR audio essays and student-created interviews. A dramatic performance of student work will explore how economy and culture shape the scope of their dreams.
Michael Buino

Kennedy
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Neighborhood Places and Spaces
Students will present a formal gallery art show featuring framed original paintings, drawings and photographs that focus on our school's community and neighborhood, Garfield Ridge. The show will be presented in cooperation with the Bridgeview Bank "Artists Among Us" program at our local branch.
Deborah Ryder, Jennifer Barron

King
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Hidden Potential
Students will develop an appreciation and understanding of creating a mosaic mural for their school community.
Jiwon Chun

Lake View
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
It's All Fun and Games!
Students will focus on the concept of play by shooting color photographs of childhood toys and the creation of chess/checker game pieces. A "game day" and silent auction will follow. Half of the chess games will be donated to the Chess Club.
Kate Sanford-Garcia

Lake View
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Lake View Film Festival
Students studying film in advanced English classes will have the opportunity to create their own stories told in a medium they have seen their whole lives.
James Fusco, Jill Howe, Jennifer McGee, Brian Quigley

Lane Tech
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Art & Tea
Students will construct a large mosaic mural to celebrate the history and design of teapots. Students will each contribute a design for the mosaic, as well as a functional teapot, from which we will sample teas from around the world at a final tea party and mosaic unveiling.
Amy Moore, Daria McMeans, Adele Friedman, Amy Arter

Lane Tech
Language Arts
Organic Poetry
Students will use organic and/or recycled materials to create their personal poetry books. They will also learn how to effectively use poetic devices and the history of books.
Lisa Chappell

Lane Tech
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
Lane Playwrights
Students in Drama and Creative Writing classes will write and submit original plays to a panel of teachers. Four to six original plays will be selected to be showcased, performed and fully produced on Lane's main stage. Students will direct, design and perform the original plays.
Kirsten Hanson, Curt Maslanka, Molly Meachum, Monico Yadao, Kate Laroche

Lane Tech
Science / Mathematics / Technology
CSI: Lane Tech
High school students investigate a staged crime scene and use scientific and legal techniques to solve the crime and prosecute the criminal.
Sara Anderson, Susan Sebestyen, Jason Lanfair

Lincoln Park
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Learning to Etch
Students will be introduced to the rich history of etching through viewing the works of artists and they will create their own etchings.
Kathryn Roeck

Lincoln Park
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Lion's Pause Literary Magazine
A student-designed and written school literary magazine will feature young writers' poetry, short fiction, short non-fiction and satire, along with artwork from talented students in our art classes. This showcase is intended for students, parents, teachers and the Lincoln Park community as a whole.
Bart Hanson, Ahoo Kosari, Melinda Stinnett, Margaret Pickert

Lincoln Park
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Retablos: Documenting Miracles
Students will learn the art of traditional retablo painting in Mexican Culture by looking at traditional and contemporary retablos and creating retablos that document miracles that have occurred in their own lives and sharing them through a public display in the school.
Didi Grimm

Lindblom
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Arabic Music Maintenance
Students will participate in Arabic music and dance clubs.
Lalainya Goldsberry, Steven Bradley

Little Village
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
Spring Puppet Theater Festival
Students across disciplines will work throughout the school year to develop puppet and story telling performances. These will be showcased in an evening springtime festival open to all campus students, families and community members.
Edward Cisneros, Anthony Costa, Robin Roberts, Michelle Corpus, Blair Namnoum, Janelle Wernick

Manley
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Picture the Possibilities
Students will learn to identify and apply the steps necessary to design murals that illustrate their world views and their views of life possibilities after high school. The pieces that they create will be displayed in the stairway landings to inspire all students.
Linda Comminos

Marshall
Science / Mathematics / Technology
The Animal Farm: Reptiles
Students will explore small animal and veterinary medicine careers through the introduction of reptiles into the Agriculture curriculum.
Carol Williams, Sandra Payne, Brenda Hartzol

Noble Street
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Drawing & Comic Illustration
Students will take part in this after school art class to learn fundamentals of drawing, storytelling and editing. Our school currently does not offer any art classes; for many students this will serve as the only form of organized art instruction they receive.
Michael Ryan Maxwell

Northside Learning Center
Entrepreneurship
Bicycle Mechanic Program
Students connect bicycles with math, science and history while developing skills allowing bikes to be sources of vocation and recreation. Students learn to disassemble, clean, repair and reassemble bikes. They also decide the outcome of refurbished bikes: whether to donate, market or keep them.
Franklin Joseph Clark

Northside Learning Center
Entrepreneurship
We Can Do It, Custom T-Shirts
At Northside Learning Center we provide students with moderate mental disabilities an educational program which enables students to become independent, productive members of our community. We own a T-shirt press, and are building a business that will provide printing services to the public.
Mary Mendoza

Orr
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Education v. Incarceration
Through oral history, community partnerships, printmaking and photography, three art classes will explore how the prison system affects families, the economy and quality of life. Ideas about what can be done to bring about needed change will influence the mural design.
Jeanne Walker

Orr
Language Arts
Through the Eyes of Children
Spanish 1 students will create bilingual children
Anne Prendergast

Payton
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
Circus Seminar
Students will learn basic circus skills such as silks, Spanish web, juggling, stilt walking, unicycling and trapeze. Students will work with circus artists from The Actors Gymnasium and Lookingglass Theatre Company.
Kerry Catlin, Greg Wright

Phoenix Military
Language Arts
In Their Own Words
Students collaborate and develop poems, spoken word and raps for a CD to be distributed throughout the school and community. This project is an audio version of a school literary magazine. It will give students an opportunity for self-expression while developing literacy and writing skills.
Eric Waller

Scholastic Achievement
Language Arts
Poemlab
Students from two entire schools will participate in a Poem Power Day. Visiting Chicago poets will conduct workshops that take students through each phase of writing a poem. The best poems generated will be published in an end-of-year anthology.
Eugene Booth, Danielle Lewis

Schurz
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Broadcast TV Production
Students will use digital video cameras and Macintosh computers to produce Video Journals on topics of interest to the school and surrounding community. Videos produced are broadcast over the school's closed-circuit TV network and compiled on a DVD yearbook. They will also compete for the Tribune Teen Media Awards.
Thomas Voegtle, Parkinson Gerald

Schurz
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Doors to Morocco
Students will create a Moroccan-styled mosaic to display at school to deepen our Sister Cities Connection. Students will research Moroccan art and design a pattern with input from students at our Sister School in Casablanca.
Samantha Godden-Chmielowicz

Schurz
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Hispanic Traditional Clothing
Our project consists of having our students research the traditional dresses of the Hispanic Speaking Countries. After finding the information, they will make small replicas of them by hand using fabric, thread, ribbons and beads. The traditional dresses will be displayed in our school's showcase.
Elisa Soto, Olga Echeverry

South Shore
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Ethical Tee-Shirts
Students will create stencils and tee shirts addressing ethical issues from their lives. Students will study examples from hip-hop music and basic ethical philosophy. The project will culminate with multiple ways the students can exhibit their shirts.
Daniel Mcelgunn

Sullivan
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Loss and Grief
Students who have lost someone significant will participate in a project to help them through the grieving process. They will keep a journal and their words and images will be translated into movement. Words and images will be projected on students who are clothed in white as they perform their movements.
Cassandra Hale-Daoud, Stephanie Romero

Taft
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Ethnic Inspiration
Students will transform the library at Taft which is dominated by grey cement. They will create historically inspired colorful ethnic patterned mosaics that reflect the rich diversity of the students.
Joanne Conroy

Taft
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Paint the Town!
Paint the Town! will create a traveling art studio that tours downtown Chicago to make drawings and paintings of our many gardens and architectural gems. This project will enrich my art students' cultural understanding of Chicago's beautiful landscape while enhancing student AP Studio Portfolios.
Jennifer Trejo

Tilden
Fine Arts - Photography / Film / Murals
Pride on the Outside
Students will work on various projects including mosaics, benches and gardens to beautify the front entrance of our school. The cross curricular project will vastly improve both community relations and school pride.
Anastasia Healy, Maria Martin, Patrick McGill, Reggie Hill

Vaughn
Performing Arts - Music, Dance & Drama
Hand Bell Choir
Special education students will learn to play hand bells and work together to perform concerts for the school and community.
Mara Silver

Vaughn
Service Learning
Assisting Senior Citizens
Special Education students accompanied by their teachers go into the school community and assist seniors at their homes with grass cutting, leaf removal and other chores. Students also beautify the community by planting flowers at senior homes.
Gerard Slania, Patricia Bonness

Vaughn
Service Learning
Warming the Holidays
Each student will make a stocking, a fleece scarf and blanket to give to Night Ministry to distribute to homeless teens. Students will make a budget and purchase gifts to fill the stockings.
Patricia Bonness

Von Steuben
Language Arts
Podcasting in Language Classes
Students will learn podcasting as a tool for providing authentic language learning experiences in Korean. They will benefit from shared teachers
Seon Hwa Eun, Chris Han, Stella Hahn

York
Language Arts
Project Atlas
Students of York Alternative High School will create and compose a collection of self-reflective writings to address the issues that face the teens of Chicago. The goal of the project is to communicate lessons learned by our students in the hopes of preventing others from being incarcerated.
Chelsea Armstrong, Karl Schenk, Renee Wisniewski, Jennifer Johnson