January 31, 2025

Hello Mustangs and welcome to the latest edition of the MHS Principal's Blog!

As we step into February, we celebrate the incredible accomplishments of our students, from outstanding performances at the Purdue Jazz Festival to impressive finishes at the FBLA Northern Area Conference. Click here to see video of our celebratory state walk that took place on Thursday.

There are even more exciting events on the horizon—including the winter play (click here for tickets), college planning sessions, and the much-anticipated Winter Turnabout Dance—there’s so much to look forward to.

This issue also honors Black History Month and provides valuable student resources, including scholarship opportunities, wellness support, and academic assistance. Read on for all the latest updates and ways to stay engaged with Mustang Nation!

Have a great weekend!

Go Mustangs!

Dr. Alexandria Taylor

Principal

Mundelein High School

847-949-2200

www.d120.org

ataylor@d120.org

We have had a number of vehicles park in our student lots without parking permits. We want to ensure a smooth start to everyone's day, so please note:

1. Parking Permits Required: All students must have a valid parking permit to use our student lots.
2. Legal Spots Only: Please park only in designated legal parking spots.
3. Consequences: Vehicles without permits or parked illegally will be stickered and towed at the owner’s expense. No exceptions!

Let's work together to keep our parking areas organized and accessible for all!

SENIORS! Don’t miss out! Place your cap and gown order by February 28th.

👉 Order online at Herff Jones or call 815-756-4743. After February 28th, please visit Mrs. Lendino in the Principal's Office for assistance.

For more details on graduation and to download a helpful checklist, click here.

Jan 31-Feb 1 - Winter Play

Feb 3-7 - College Presentation Week for Juniors

Feb 4 - College Planning Night for Juniors

Feb 8 - Winter Kids Dance Clinic

Feb 13 - Honors Band Concert

Feb 14 - Teacher Institute Day

Feb 17 - Federal Holiday - NO SCHOOL

Feb 20 - Building Tour

Feb 22 - Winter Turnabout Dance

Feb 27-Mar 2 - CSMS Musical

Mar 6 - Winter Choral Concert

Mar 8 - Jazz Invitational

This week's feature is a "360 degree look at Cultural Expressions, an exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture". Courtesy of Cortina Media

Text courtesy of BlackHistoryMonth.Gov and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture

Wednesday, January 29th was the beginning of the Luna New Year! This year is the year of the wood snake.

Lunar New Year is a joyous celebration that brings families together. It's a time of renewal, hope, and traditions that have been passed down through generations. The centerpiece of the celebration is the family dinner on New Year's Eve. Families start a week in advance by cleaning and decorating their homes. Some traditional dishes include:

- Dumplings (shaped like gold ingots for good fortune!)

- Spring rolls

- Festive cakes

- Fish and pork dishes

Many of these foods have symbolic meanings, adding an extra layer of significance to the meal.

Click here to learn more.

Text adapted from: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/what-you-need-to-know-about-lunar-new-year-and-the-year-of-the-snake

Picture courtesy of Clodagh Kilcoyne/ Reuters at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/what-you-need-to-know-about-lunar-new-year-and-the-year-of-the-snake

MHS is proud of our 4 all-state musicians who are headed to Peoria, IL for the Illinois Music Educators Association (ILMEA) All-State conference.

Mariana Van Eycke - Orchestra Trombone

Dylan Buisson - Orchestra Trombone

Chloe Langford - Jazz Trombone

Jacob Irabagon - Composition Track

The accomplishment of being selected for All State places each of these talented students in the top 2% of musicians in the state of Illinois! Congratulations to all of our outstanding performers and best of luck this weekend in your respective performances!

MHS Robotics Team 499R was awarded Tournament Champions after winning the VEX Robotics Competition at the College of Lake County - Advanced Technology Center. They will be moving on to the VEX Robotics Illinois State championship in March! Congratulations to the following team members:

Damian Wydra

Toby Heikes

Jared Alba

Ryan Fletcher

Dennis Levenchuk

Mason Doerre

Congratulations to these students for representing Mustang Nation!

Mundelein High School FBLA students recently participated in the 2025 Northern Area Conference at the College of Lake County in Grayslake. They will compete at the end of March at the State Competition in Springfield, IL.

Area schools and students participated in over 70 events. MHS students either took objective tests or gave live presentations on a wide variety of topics. Students who score the top in their event can advance to the previously mentioned State Competition.

Top 10 finishers at the competition included the following:

1st Place: Alan Fisher, Nihal Joshy, Anthony Vynnyk, Introduction to Social Media Strategy

1st Place: Henry Molozaiy, Introduction to Business Concepts

1st Place: Michael Sager, Journalism

1st Place: Olivia Wallace, Business Communication

3rd Place: Mikaila Brown, Introduction to FBLA

3rd Place: Santiago Burgos, Computer Problem Solving

3rd Place: Caleb Murphy, Advik Sharma, Chance Winckler, Marketing

3rd Place: Morgan Pawlak, Human Resource Management

3rd Place: Marsha De Quina Tagala, Business Communication

4th Place: Owen Beake, Introduction to Financial Math

4th Place: Tyler Burnette, Introduction to Business Communication

4th Place: Bruce Dumblauskas, Introduction to Business Concepts

4th Place: Aidan Hanrahan, Computer Problem Solving

6th Place: Kaidan Boongaling, Rishi Sahu, Website Design

6th Place: Faisal Sanusi, Introduction to Business Concepts

7th Place: Shayla Agarwal, Business Law

7th Place: Victoria Skora, Introduction to Business Concepts

7th Place: Michael Townsend, Journalism

7th Place: Renata Turska, Economics

8th Place: Trevor Madden, Financial Math

9th Place: Darren Azul, Ashton Salski, Broadcast Journalism

9th Place: Victor Ortiz, Health Care Administration

10th Place: Joshua Adinku, Computer Problem Solving

10th Place: Brindelyn Fetzer, Alejandra Martinez Sanchez, Addison Ross, Broadcast Journalism

10th Place: Benjamin Hamberg, Jacob Hamberg, Sales Presentation

10th Place: Marek Sikora, Introduction to Financial Math

FBLA is the largest student business Career and Technical Student organization in the world. Each year, FBLA inspires and prepares over 230,000 students to become community-minded business leaders in a global society through relevant career preparation and leadership experiences.

In addition to running the Mustang Nation Spirit Store, Mundelein High School students prepare for careers in business through academic competitions, leadership and service development, and educational programs.

This past weekend, the Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble traveled overnight to Purdue University to compete and receive adjudication in the Purdue Jazz Festival. A staple of the jazz community here in Illinois, the Honors Jazz Ensemble placed 1st in their large ensemble room, with several students being named as outstanding soloists of the day and the Trombone section being named the outstanding section of the day!

The Jazz Orchestra placed 4th in their room and our Jazz Combo placed 2nd. Congratulations to all of our outstanding musicians and two fantastic Band Directors (Andy Sturgeon & Jerry Shelato) on the fantastic weekend of growth and collaboration!

Click here to see more pictures on Facebook.

by William Shakespeare
Directed by Jonathan Meier

January 31, February 1 at 7:30 p.m.
January 31 at 3:45 p.m.
February 1 at 2 p.m.

Performed with the audience sitting onstage in a thrust configuration, this production will feature original music composed and played live at each performance by Holden Meier, as well as fight choreography by Dan Haller (MHS ’18).

Adults - $10

Seniors/Students - $5

Limited seating. Early purchase is recommended.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Online sales stop 2 hours prior to each performance.

Walk-up sales start 30 minutes prior to each performance (cash or check only).

House opens 20 minutes prior to each performance.

Located in the College and Career Resource Center (CCRC)

Sign up via SchooLinks

This is a virtual event!

Click here to register for College Planning Night

Join us on February 8th for our MHS Winter Kids Clinic!

Dancers in grades K-8th are invited to learn from our very own Mundelein High School Dance Team. The clinic will be on Saturday, February 8th, 2025 from 10:30-12:00pm in the MHS Cafeteria. All dancers will learn their halftime performance as well as dance technique during the clinic. Following the clinic, all dancers will get picked up by a parent and brought back for the performance later that afternoon. All dancers will arrive back in the Cafeteria, on 2/8, with their clinic shirt and bow on at 3:30pm for the halftime performance at the Boys Varsity Basketball Game.

To view the halftime performance, you must purchase a ticket to the game via GoFan.

The performance will approximately be around 4:15pm and following the performance, all dancers are welcome back to the Cafeteria for cookies and water to celebrate their performance as well as to get picked up by their parent. Dancers can wear jazz shoes or gym shoes and bring a water bottle.

The total cost of the clinic is $40.

Click Here to Register

Save the date. More info coming soon.

Click here to learn more about the history and tradions of Valentine's Day.

NO SCHOOL!

Is it Washinton's Birthday or Presidents Day? If you would like to learn some history on the subject, click here to see what the National Archive has to say about this day.

We are proud to host visitors to learn more about our programming and facilities. In order to minimize the impact on the educational environment, we have chosen to host visitors on select days throughout the school year.

Therefore, to secure a visitation time, please select from the following options so we are able to provide the necessary information and personnel during your visit.

Our next tour is on February 20th at 4:30pm. Click here to register.

Date: Saturday, February 22nd

Time: 7 - 9:30 PM

Theme: Disco Nights

Tickets: On sale via RevTrak 2/5 - 2/20; cash sales on 2/18 and 2/19

Ticket cost: $15/each

Guests: Guest forms available in the dean's office on 1/31; due by 2/18.

Save the date. More info coming soon.

Save the date. More info coming soon.

Save the date. More info coming soon.

Entries are now being accepted for the Mundelein Coexist Club 3rd Annual Lip Sync Battle. There is no entry fee. Please contact Mrs Kolcz at lkolcz@d120.org for more information.

Senior yard signs are now available for $15 each! Each sign comes with yard stakes. All proceeds to benefit the MHS Student Support Fund!

Your student may pick up from the main office at the end of the school day. Please note, we don’t want students walking around the building with the yard stakes for the sign, so please encourage them to specifically pick up after classes. Alternatively, you may stop by the high school during school hours to pick up the sign.

The CCRC offers assistance with all aspects of the college application process:

• Narrowing down college choices
• Working through applications
• Checking essays
• Discussing financial concerns and scholarships
• Talking about standardized tests
• Working with potential college athletes
• Discussing military options
• Helping students connect with people at university

Click here to learn more.

Many scholarship opportunities for Mundelein High School Seniors are now open! Ms. Bogseth sends out weekly emails with a list of scholarships but all of the MHS specific scholarships as well as community scholarships are posted in SchooLinks.

Seniors- in your SchooLinks account, click on “Finances” and then “Scholarship Match”. Scholarships posted by Ms. Bogseth will be under the “District-Posted” tab.

www.studentaid.gov

Experiential Education describes all opportunities offered to students to give them a chance to explore the world of careers and professions. These include classes like Dual Credit Student Internship, Business INCubator, and Geometry in Construction as well as career treks and featured guest speakers.

If you’re interested in learning more about our Dual Credit Student Internship course or any of our Experiential Education programs, contact Alexander Kapotas at akapotas@d120.org or at (847) 949-2200 x1092.

Check out this promo video that captures the spirit of the experiential education program here at Mundelein High School. Your epic future awaits, Mustangs!

Athletics events week of 1/27/2025

Winter Athletic Department Newsletter

Last week Varsity bowled a season team high game - 991! That high game contributed to the 7-2 victory over Lake Zurich. The girls also took all points against Waukegan with a much better showing at Bertrand’s this time around.

On Saturday, Varsity competed in the Wauconda invite. They were consistent and showed excellent team work at a tough house. Their perseverance paid off as they overtook the home team for a second-place finish.

We then bowled Zion Benton. JV put up their team high game 839 - which would beat many varsity teams. JV and Varsity took all points.

Submitted by Coach Billitier

Last Friday the Special Olympics Mustangs hosted the 5th Annual Students vs. Staff Special Olympics basketball game. The Main Gym was packed with student-athletes, cheerleaders, staff, alumni, families and future Mustangs. It was such a pleasure to see the Mundelein community come together to support our adaptive-sport athletes. After some fierce competition, the Student team beat the Staff and are now 5-0 in the Student-Staff series. Better luck next year, staff! Thanks to everyone for your support!

Submitted by Coach Rosales

JV Cheer had a phenomenal end to their competition season this past week. Thursday the 23rd was the NSC Conference comp hosted by Libertyville where they “hit zero”, performing a routine with no deductions, and they came out with a 2nd place finish. During conference, we celebrated one of our JV seniors, Isabella Campos, as she was awarded with the NSC Sportsmanship Award. JV then had a weekend of back-to-back competitions, at Fremd and Huntley. They were able to hit zero once again, this time at Huntley while also walking away with back-to-back 1st place finishes at each of their respective comps! This was such a great year for our JV team and for our seniors. Congrats JV!

Varsity Cheer persevered through many injuries and setbacks this year but was still able to score the highest they ever had this season during the conference competition at Libertyville. The Varsity seniors were also recognized at conference for their hard work and dedication to our program. Varsity then traveled to both Fremd and Huntley where they could proudly walk away having hit zero at back-to-back competitions which is not an easy task to accomplish once. The work isn’t finished for them yet as they have been back at practices this week refining their routine to get ready for Sectionals this Saturday at Grayslake North. We would love to see the stands filled with all our supporting Mustangs Saturday at 3PM! Good luck Varsity!

Submitted by Coach Badgley

The boys basketball team is continuing to keep it exciting this season. After upsetting Lake Forest last week, the boys have been playing strong team basketball. This past Tuesday, we lost a heartbreaker to rival Stevenson by 2 points on a last second shot. This allowed the Patriots to avenge an earlier season loss when the Mustangs beat them on a last second steal and shot.

Boys are back at it again on Friday, Jan 31st at Libertyville. We love seeing our Red Rage students in attendance.

Next Week

Away at Warren on Wednesday, Feb 5, 2025

HOME vs. Lake Zurich on Friday, Feb 7th

HOME vs. Jacobs on Saturday, Feb 8th (3:30 pm tipoff)

PreVenture is a mental health program that screens students for personality related risk factors that may indicate increased risk for future participation in high-risk behaviors, including using drugs and alcohol. This does not evaluate for current high-risk behaviors, rather this is a preventative program to support the development of coping skills and self regulation strategies.

Omni utilizes the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) to screen students for eligibility. To learn more about PreVenture, click below.

English/Spanish

Quest is proud to be your dining partner and we are committed to providing the best experience possible to every student, including nutritious food, a wide variety of choices, and a seamless dining experience. We wanted to share a few important reminders about the dining program and we welcome your questions and feedback. Click here for more information.

New Year, New Look! Elevate Your Mustang Pride! Exciting news! We've expanded our spirit wear lineup with premium brands Under Armour and Champion at Mymustangnation.com.

Customize your gear with official school logos using our state-of-the-art DigiSoft printing for a smoother feel. Shop online 24/7 or see our printed merch at Mundelein High School. Visit us at mymustangnation.com or linked through the d120.org website.

Our MHS Portrait of a Learner tenets affirm student identity through schoolwide values, expectations and practices.

English | Spanish

We are excited to announce that our parent calendar has gone electronic. The MHS 2nd Semester calendar is now online in both Flipbook and PDF downloadable format.

A big thank you to Kameal Myrie, Class of 2025, who designed this semester's calendar! Very nice job! You can see more of Kameal's work at www.artisticallymira.com.

Regular school attendance is required and necessary to develop the academic and intrapersonal skills needed for success. Students are expected to attend each class and be on time. Students who attend school regularly have been shown to achieve at higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance. If your student is going to be absent, leave early or arrive late, please submit the attendance via the monitor application within Power School in lieu of calling the attendance line and leaving a voicemail.

Please log on to the Power School parent portal at the MHS website https://www.d120.org/ to record your student’s attendance.

Attached you will find instructions on how to submit your students attendance.

Power School Attendance Instructions

Guardians will be receiving an email with your parent Power School log in instructions if needed.

If you need further support please call 847-949-2200.

Would you like to know when your student’s bus is going to be late? For Mundelein bus routes, Lakeside Transportation is using the Bus Bulletin notification system to notify parents and students when there are bus delays and schedule changes.

For more information, or to sign-up and start receiving notifications, please visit Bus Bulletin (Find Mundelein Area Schools when prompted for a district) *Note - This is managed by Lakeside Bus Company and not MHS.

Although we take great pride in a dress code that encourages self-expression, we do want to remind students of our student dress code policy as found in our student handbook.

• Clothing must cover all undergarments (waistbands and straps excluded).

• Fabric covering all private parts must not be seen through.

• Clothing that depicts, advertises or advocates the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or other controlled substances is prohibited.

• Clothing that depicts pornography, nudity or sexual acts is prohibited.

With the increased enrollment in recent years, we have been unable to provide a locker for every student at MHS. Since many students do not use a locker, we are assigning lockers to students upon request. Click below to request your locker!

Sign up for a Guardian SchooLinks Account! Be a part of your student’s college and career exploration. Understand more about the benefits of a Guardian Account with this video. If you need assistance creating your Guardian Account, email akroll@d120.org with your student’s name and ID number. A claim code and directions will be provided in response.

• Principal's Blog Archive
• District Developments Newsletter
• The Mustang Newpaper

Website: www.d120.org

Location: 1359 West Hawley Street, Mundelein, IL, USA

Phone: 847-949-2200