Friday, March 1, 2013
Niles West student James McLellan was voted the number one speaker in the Junior Varsity division out of 240 debaters.
The Niles West Debate Team competed at the 40th annual California Invitational held at the University of California, from Feb. 16 to Feb. 18. Niles West sent 14 debaters to the tournament. Niles West student James McLellan was voted the number one speaker in the Junior Varsity division out of 240 debaters. Niles West sent one team to compete in the Junior Varsity division, which included 120 teams. James McLellan and Soretti Donka went 5-and-1 in the preliminary rounds and advanced as the third seed to the Double Octafinals, ultimately reaching the Semifinals. McLellan was named top speaker and Donkha placed fifth. Niles West sent six teams to compete in the Varsity division; which comprised 234 teams from across the country. Theo …
Friday, February 22, 2013
A Niles West High School teen was charged with felony disorderly conduct after he made multiple bomb threats to his school, police said today.
Samuel Breitberg, 18, of Lincolnwood, was charged with one count of felony disorderly conduct, police announced today. Breitberg was arrested for making multiple bomb threats directed at his school, Niles West, on Nov. 20, 2012, police said. Detectives, in conjunction with District 219, investigated the incident and determined Breitberg responsible, according to a press release issued today. No further details were available. If new information comes in, Patch will update. -- Skokie Patch on Facebook
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Current Niles West High School principal Kaine Osburn is leaving July 1. Now, District 219 has announced a new principal.
Well, that didn't take long. Niles West principal Kaine Osburn recently announced that he will be leaving the school to become deputy superintendent of Naperville School District 203. Now, District 219 has announced his successor. Niles West assistant principal of student services Jason Ness has been named the next principal of the school, effective July 1. The District 219 school board approved his transfer at its Feb. 11 meeting. Ness has led the school’s student services programs since he became assistant principal in 2009 and was responsible for guidance and college counseling, social work and nursing services, crisis intervention, coordinating response to intervention and student scheduling, according to a District 219 press release…
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Niles West gymnastics coach and gym teacher Pam Foerch was voted into the Illinois High School Girls’ Gymnastics Coaches Association Hall of Fame recently.
Niles West physical welfare teacher and girls gymnastics coach Pam Foerch has been voted into the Illinois High School Girls’ Gymnastics Coaches Association Hall of Fame. She will be formally inducted at a ceremonial luncheon during the IHSA Girls Gymnastics State Finals on Feb. 16. “I was in awe when I learned about this,” Foerch said in a press release. “I’m blessed to be so honored by all my peers and the people I’ve been working with all these years. I thank Niles West for the opportunity to work with gymnastics and with all my great students.” Foerch has coached gymnastics since 1979 and began coaching at District 219 in 1989. In 2004, she was named Central Suburban League Girls Gymnastics Coach of the year for the fourth time in her …
Friday, February 8, 2013
Kaine Osburn has accepted a position as the deputy superintendent of Naperville School District 203. He begins his new job July 1.
Niles West Principal Kaine Osburn will be leaving District 219 at the end of this school year to become the deputy superintendent of Naperville School District 203. Osburn made the announcement during a Niles West staff meeting on Tuesday. He begins his new job July 1. “Leaving Niles West and District 219 is not without great pain,” Osburn said. “I have dedicated the last 14 years of my life to the students, parents, and teachers of Niles West. “No matter the difficulty, challenge, or triumph, every day has been my honor and privilege to serve here,” he added. Osburn began working as principal at Niles West in 2007, after serving a year as assistant principal of operations. He taught English at Niles West from 1998 to 2005. District 203 is…
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Students at Niles West High School are going on a lunch strike. The movement has gone viral since students started posting pictures of their cafeteria food. Some are saying the prices are too high and the portions are too small.
Today, some Niles West students will be ditching the school's organic lunch menu in favor of food packed in a brown paper bag in what they're calling #LunchStrike2013. In just 24 hours the strike has gone viral among the community. There’s a Facebook page - it's titled "Lunch Strike" - and has more than 1,500 followers. There's also an online petition that Niles West sophomore Mike Wheeler created. But if you want to know how students really feel, Twitter is buzzing with the hashtag #LunchStrike2013. Niles West junior Benjamin Zenuovic started the Facebook page on Monday. Zenuovic said he wants to see the school’s cafeteria food change and added that students aren’t getting their moneys worth. “The portions are too scarce,” Zenuovic said…
Friday, December 21, 2012
78 percent of Niles West & North High School graduates who attend Oakton Community College need to take remedial reading classes; the district wants to merge its English and social studies departments by 2015, saying this will address the problem.
English and social studies teachers from Niles North and Niles West high schools crowded into the Niles Township High School District 219 school board meeting Dec. 17 to protest plans to combine their two departments into one humanities department starting in the fall of 2015. The goal, said Superintendent Nanciann Gatta, is to make sure social studies teachers focus on improving students’ reading and writing skills in their classes, just as English teachers do. In the end, the board unanimously agreed to call for a humanities department, under one department director, with separate divisions for English and history. The proposal was one of many included in this year’s annual review of programs and has been listed as a recommendation …
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Community input leads the district to adjust recommendations on whether to start the school year Aug. 7, kill honors classes, require 50 percent of students to take Advanced Placement courses and require all students to take a lunch period.
Students at Niles North and Niles West High Schools won’t have to change their summer plans in order to head back to school the second week of August next year. After receiving input from students, teachers and parents at a district town hall meeting, online and at PTA meetings in sender elementary districts, the Niles Township High School District 219 administration pushed its recommendation to push the school start back until the 2014-2015 school year, and board members suggested that it might not happen even then. Earlier: Parents weigh in on proposed changes The proposed calendar change was just one topic in an extended discussion of the district’s annual review of programs at the Nov. 26 school board meeting. The meeting was the …
Thursday, November 29, 2012
A student at Niles West High School in Skokie recently landed first place in the National Scholastic Press Association's story of the year competition.
Niles West student Gabby Abesamis, a news editor for the high school's paper, received first place in the National Scholastic Press Association’s (NSPA) Story of the Year competition (Diversity category). She received her award on Nov. 18 at the NSPA fall convention held in San Antonio, Texas. Abesamis’s story “Bryan Taico, Not Just the Kid with the UGGs” was published in April 2012 and named a finalist in the Story of the Year contest in September. When explaining why they selected Abesamis's story, the judges commented, "The reporter did a masterful job of telling the story of one teen’s coming out through simple, clear writing backed up by solid multi-source reporting," judges from the NSPA said. "The variety of interviews and the …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
More than a dozen Niles West High School students attended the third-annual DECA Innovations in Entrepreneurship National Conference in Chicago recently. The group was among the few selected as having the best marketing idea for the use of a plastic bag.
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Fifteen Niles West DECA students attended the third-annual DECA Innovations in Entrepreneurship National Conference held in Chicago recently. More than 320 students from across the country attended the conference, taking part in workshops in the areas of opportunity recognition, financing, marketing, social entrepreneurship and sustainable entrepreneurship. One activity at the conference is the Idea Challenge. DECA teams are given a scenarios and must deliver a five-minute presentation on that scenario to entrepreneurs, and business executives. This year’s challenge was to take a plastic grocery bag and create a new use for it while creating the most value possible. Students were evaluated on the following criteria: New use and value, …
Natalie
12:10 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
I think this is sad, no matter what religion, race he is. I've known this boy since he was little and was shocked when I read this. As Sarah said, my heart goes out to him and his family. It is unfortunate that he did this and it will affect him for the rest of his life. more ›