Well…we made it! What a beautiful ride it’s been, filled with a stand-out senior class who has paved the way for greatness for the rising sophomores, juniors and seniors. A snapshot look at their academic accolades this year includes the following: 21 IL State Scholars; 60 seniors who earned the Seal of Biliteracy and 21 who earned the Il Commendation toward Biliteracy; 1 National Merit Commended Scholar; 5 AP Capstone Diploma Candidates; 2 Golden Apple Scholars; and collectively the CO2024 has been offered more than $14 million in scholarship funds to further their studies next year!

This year for the first time ever, we had a surprise CLAP OUT on the seniors’ last day of school, May 30, to commemorate their final departure through the doors of PMSA. Students in Grades 9-11 along with teachers and staff lined up along the north side of the building before the dismissal bell, while seniors were still in 8th period. When seniors exited the building, they were met with cheers of congratulations, balloons, music, signs, flowers, confetti, and surprise visits from some family members, whom I had secretly reached out to the day before!

The hallways were somewhat quiet once the seniors were gone, but the freshmen through juniors forged ahead with their Spring STAR testing for Reading and Math and wrapped up their review sessions for Final Exams. During this last week of school, the PMSA bookroom was open so that rising sophomores through rising seniors could stop by and check out a copy of their Summer Reading Book. If students did not find a title that interested them among the Grade 10-12 options, they may CHOOSE a title from the 2024 Lincoln Award Nominees. Titles from the list are voted on by IL students aged 14-18. Copies of books from this list can be acquired from the public library, purchased online, or at a local bookstore. All PMSA Summer Reading Lists as well as the Summer Reading ASSIGNMENT are linked below and posted on the PMSA website under the "Students & Families" tab. Assignments are due on the FIRST day of school - Thursday, August 15.

We are excited to launch our new Freshman Mentor Program (FMP) for the 2024-2025 school year! The purpose of the program will be for small groups of freshmen to have an upperclassmen Ambassador to serve as their academic, social, and civic mentor for their entire freshman year. We are committed to raising the bar on improved culture and climate within our building, and through this program, we not only want to help freshmen successfully transition into high school, but also develop model citizenship and character attributes as they mature within our school community. Rising juniors and rising seniors with a minimum non-weighted GPA of 3.0 will receive a form to apply for the opportunity to serve as an FMP Ambassador for next year. For more information, click on the document below.

Lastly, congratulations to the CLASS OF 2024! We wish you all the best on your future endeavors. You will all be greatly missed!

With love and gratitude,

Ms. Chiganos

Congratulations to PMSA seniors CLARENCE WELLINGTON, SHANDY CORDERO, & MANUEL MONTOYA! Each received a $1,000 scholarship from the Porter Family Center Foundation

to further their studies, and they and their families will be invited to a Scholarship Award Presentation Event on July 11 at 2pm. This will take place at the PLCCA Headquarters in Maywood. This scholarship is a testament to your academic excellence, leadership qualities, and commitment to making a positive impact in your community. Way to go - we are proud of the legacy you have left behind for the rest of PMSA, and we hope returning students will follow in your footsteps in terms of academic perseverance, community service, and strength of character.

The seniors officially celebrated their post-high school plans with a decision day event. The students designed pennants representing the various universities, colleges, and trade schools that they will be attending in the Fall. In addition, the auditorium was decorated and included a graduation backdrop to take photos.

Thank you, Ms. Paulus, for coordinating this event to celebrate our seniors!

The Juniors in our IH Research Core Science and Social Science courses; AP Seminar; IH Engineering and Design; and One Goal Year 1 celebrated PMSA's annual Junior Research Symposium by presenting their findings to the school community along with visiting parents/guardians. They spent the school year dedicating their time to creating research questions, collecting data, and provided implications.

Thank you to Mrs. Asselborn, Ms. Demirlika, Ms. Gart, Mr. Markus, and Mr. Syed for making sure that our scholars were prepared to become research scholars!

On Wednesday May 29, juniors in Ms. Huels AP and IB Biology courses got the opportunity to do field research at Lincoln Park Zoo.

For their end-of-year group project, students completed background research on the native habitat of their assigned animal and used that information to critique the habitat that houses of the animal at Lincoln Park Zoo.

They then used this information to suggest four improvements to the animal's current zoo enclosure and chose one of those suggestions to fully develop a proposal of how it could be implemented.

Students had a great time learning about their animals, talking to docents, and exploring the zoo.

Thanks go out to Mr. Colwell, Mr. Garcia, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Olivares, Ms. Paulus, Mr. Zenteno, and Ms. Huels' mother, Yvonne for chaperoning the field trip!

On Tuesday, May 28, Mr. Godinez and Ms. Watt took students to the Museum of Illusions. Their field trip provided students with insights into how the mind works and how our perceptions can sometimes be clouded by reality. The goal of this trip was to empower our students to view challenges and obstacles from a different perspective. The students provided very positive feedback and were grateful for the experience.

Thank you Mr. Godinez and Ms. Watt for supporting our student's socio- emotional needs.

We would like to announce that Mrs. Weiner will be retiring at the end of this school year. We are grateful for her dedication and commitment to the Proviso Township school district. Mrs. Weiner was an English teacher at Proviso East for 23 years before joining the faculty at PMSA. She has been an amazing asset to the PMSA English department for the last four years. While we are extremely sad to see her leave, we wish her the best in her future endeavors!

JOB WELL DONE MRS. WEINER!

NAACP ACT-SO Competition Winners!

Please help celebrate our talented scholars for their awards:

Victoria Lawson – POETRY – BRONZE

Solé Stampley – VOCALS – BRONZE

Kailtlyn Lopez – VOCALS – SILVER

DANIEL BAKER – DRAWING – GOLD!!

DA’MIAH CARTER – DANCE – GOLD!!

All students who placed won a new personal laptop and our two GOLD medal winners are advancing to Las Vegas in July for the National Round of the competition! Photos are of Daniel and Da’Miah.

Please join us next year in one of the 33 areas of competition! This is an annual event!

Thank you to Professor Schmidt and PTO President Anissa Butler for supporting our talented students!

On Saturday, May 18, PMSA students joined other local artists, families, businesses, and organizations from the community at the Circle Ave Bridge for Forest Park’s Brushes on the Bridge mural painting event. Students designed and painted for PMSA! Take the scenic route home sometime soon to check it out! More info on the event here: https://www.forestparkreview.com/2024/05/20/brushes-on-the-bridge/.

PMSA Artists involved:

Marilyn Sanchez

Jermaine Shirlee

Arrin Tibbs

Thank you to Professor Schmidt for helping our artists with this project!

On Saturday June 8, PMSA held their commencement ceremony at UIC. It was exciting to see some of the senior choir members sing their last medley with the Academy Voices, directed by Mr. Brown; the senior musicians play their last ensemble in the Concert Band under the direction of Mr. Jain; and for ALL the seniors to turn their tassels to the left. We are truly honored to have experienced the tenacity, academic excellence, and kindness from the class of 2024.

We wish you the best in all of your future endeavors!

Student Octavio Barraza received an award of recognition in the West Suburban Conference for being an outstanding baseball player. Octavio is a sophomore at PMSA and is on the Proviso East Baseball Team.

Congrats Octavio!

Yard SIGNS are here!!! We officially launched our PTO Yard Sign Fundraiser. One of our goals as a Parent Teacher Organization is to increase school pride in our communities. We hope that the yard sign project helps us achieve this goal, as well as serve as a fundraiser for future projects for our school. Yard signs are 20 dollars apiece and can be delivered to your home or picked up at our next PTO meeting. If you are interested, please fill out the google form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGpFlD2heUgdQoTjVD9rblWGfMaf3NvR_eKGAtilkhhN71LA/viewform. Payment must be received before sign delivery. Cash, check (made out to The PMSA PTO), or Zelle (thepmsapto209@gmail.com) are accepted. You are NOT required to join the PTO in order to purchase a sign.

PTO Board Vacancies: We are looking for parents that would be willing to serve on our PTO board next school year. If you are interested, please contact President Butler (text 630-240-2191).

Teacher and Staff Appreciation: We are planning our Teacher and Staff Appreciation Activities and need your help. If you are interested, please contact Mary Ellen Newhouse at 312-593-7414 or at mnewhouse29@yahoo.com

Thanks for your support,

Anissa Butler (President),

Maria Barba (Vice President)

Kim Arnold (Treasurer)

Kathleen Franzwa (Secretary)

Parent Advisory Councils (PACs) empower parents to serve as partners in the education of their children at schools that receive Title 1 funding.

Parent Advisory Councils (PACs) bring together parents/legal guardians, teachers/staff, and community stakeholders to work with their school principal in the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of the Title I Program.

PACs empower parents to inspire and assist their children in achieving educational goals.

Title I Program Goals

The main goal of Title I is to provide instructional services and activities which support students in meeting the state’s challenging performance standards. The Title I program strives to increase academic achievement by providing direct instructional support to students and effective professional development for teachers. Title I program promotes parent education and involvement.

PAC Committee Members

Maria Scavella- Chair

Patricia Patrick-Gutierrez -Co-Chair

Maria Escobedo- Secretary

Berenice Garcia -Outreach Coordinator

All Meetings times 6:30-7:30pm

Feel free to contact the PMSA PAC by email at pmsapac209@gmail.com

Learn more about Title 1

https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Parent-and-Family-Engagement.aspx

First Baptist Church of Melrose Park is looking for volunteers! Community service hours are available for food pantry delivery on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month from 8-11:30 am. They are also looking for food distribution volunteers for the Thursday of each month on Fridays from 9 am-12 pm.

Please contact sister Cynthia Mobley for more information.

(708) 217-3553

About WYEC 2024

WYEC is designed to inspire and cultivate the next generation of leaders by engaging them in a series of empowering workshops, dynamic activities, and networking opportunities. This year’s event will take place Downtown Chicago from Friday, June 28th to Sunday, June 30th.

The conference aims to bring together 100 high school students from across the Westside of Chicago to develop their leadership skills, enhance their understanding of civic engagement, and empower them to make positive changes in their communities. It’s an opportunity for students to learn, grow, and be inspired—an experience that goes well beyond the ordinary educational setting.

Thank you for considering this opportunity. If you are interested or have students interested, please register using this student application link and you will be provided with further instructions and details. student application

• Athletics (East)
• Athletics (West)
• Enrollment & Registration
• Food Menus

• Online Payment Portal
• Paper - Online Tutoring

• PowerSchool
• Schoology (Parents)
• Schoology (Students)
• Transportation