April 16, 2024

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KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Kishor Kapale, Ph.D.

Dr. Kapale is a Physics Professor from Western Illinois University. He was an integral part of the Promise 2.0 pilot program last summer and is currently part of the IMSA parent community. His research interests include Theoretical Quantum Optics, Atom Optics, and Quantum Information Science.

Team ProjectShin

InnoVators Pitch Competition

InnoVators, in partnership with Illinois Wesleyan, hosted a pitch competition featuring entrepreneurial-minded high school students from Illinois, Texas, California, and Istanbul, Turkey. Multiple teams from IMSA took home top prizes at the event after winning their regional qualifiers. Congratulations to the following project teams:

GOLD LEVEL WINNERS

• Lingual Detect: Tatyana Pronitcheva '24 and her teammates Shashi Salavath '25 and Shridhar Mehendale '25 designed an AI-based writing evaluation tool designed to detect writing disorders quickly and accurately
• ProjectShin: Shatakshi Chatterjee '25 and her teammate Rachel Coutinho '25 developed an innovative safety guard to address tibialis anterior injuries encountered by martial arts students during training.

BRONZE LEVEL WINNERS

• TouchGrass: Rushina Patel '25 and her teammates Lily Zhang '25, Carolyn Zhang '25, and Katherine Ge '25 presented an innovative solution addressing excessive phone usage among younger generations to promote real-world interactions over screen time.

Team Lingual Detect

Team TouchGrass

Girls Badminton

Congratulations to the Girls Badminton Team for winning the Highland Park Birdie Bash over the weekend! The team faced some tough competition, including some of the top badminton teams in the area.

Due to the unexpected internet outage, the SAT and PSAT were rescheduled for the dates listed below. All students will need their charged laptops, chargers, and IMSA IDs to take their respective tests.

Sophomores - PSAT 10

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

10:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Main Gym

Students will be dismissed from the IMSAloquium sessions to test. Students will be provided with a snack break during the test and will have time for lunch once the test concludes. This is a mandatory event for all sophomores.

Juniors - SAT with Essay

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

1:00 p.m.

Main Gym

Juniors participating in SLX will be excused from the Hollister Lecture.

8:00 a.m.

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Registration

Keynote Speakers in the Auditorium

College Fair

College Breakout Sessions

Attendees can opt to attend all or just part of the program.

The CAC Office looks forward to seeing you on College Day 2024! The list of the 54 colleges attending can be viewed on the Naviance Student Homepage (on the right side of the page) or on the bulletin board outside of the CAC office.

Mix and mingle with current IMSA parents and guardians before the next PAC meeting. PAC announcements will start after the mixer at 1:00 p.m. (note the time change from our usual session time), followed by a panel featuring parents of IMSA alumni, who will share their experiences and answer your questions.  If you can't participate in person, join us at 1:00 p.m. on Zoom.

The panel will take place immediately after the College Day sessions, so parents of juniors can join the meeting in person since they will already be on campus. As always, we encourage all parents/guardians to attend! Parents and guardians are invited to attend the Asante cultural show starting at 4:30 p.m.

On April 29-30, IMSA will have Virtual Engagement Days. This allows students to return home for a longer weekend while still having the opportunity to engage in their academics and academic support remotely.  

Additional Details:  

• Virtual Engagement Days will not be regular, full class days via Zoom. Each faculty member will have an appropriate plan for their course and students, which may or may not include some synchronous meeting times via Zoom.  
• Assignments and assessments can be given and/or due on the Virtual Engagement Days.
• For attendance, if a student cannot participate in synchronous meetings during the Virtual Engagement Days, the family must notify the Attendance Office, just as they do on a normal day of classes. 
• The Student-Parent Handbook policies for attendance still apply. If a student has an unexcused absence from a required meeting during the Virtual Engagement Days, it will be marked as such in the attendance records.
• Faculty and Academic Support (CACs, Learning Strategies Coordinator, etc.) will communicate any synchronous meeting requirements or opportunities to students as early as possible but no later than Friday, April 26, 2024.
• The B-Day (Monday) and C-Day (Tuesday) schedules will remain in place so that faculty who want to schedule synchronous meetings have a designated time to do so without creating scheduling conflicts.
• Faculty may still host office hours or drop-in Zoom time outside their regularly scheduled class times, just as they do during normal class days.

Any questions about the Virtual Engagement Days can be directed to Paul Gaszak, Dean of Academics and Equity, at pgaszak@imsa.edu. 

Applications are now open for the Fall 2024 Peer Tutor Program. The Peer Tutor team is seeking friendly, motivated, and supportive students to help their peers in various subjects. If you are interested in becoming a Peer Tutor next year, please complete the form below by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 22, 2024.

The Black Student Union (BSU) is proud to present Asante, the final cultural show of the year! Students have been working hard to prepare an amazing show for the IMSA community!

Student Show

April 19, 2024

6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

There will be a dinner reception following the Student Show.

Parent Show

April 20, 2024

4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Admission to the Parent show is $3

BSU is still looking for parent help. If you would like, please use the links below to donate, volunteer during the reception, or help transport catering orders.

Historical Research and Writing

Presented by History Faculty

April 17, 2024

S&E Period

Ac Pit

Learn writing strategies for history papers straight from the History Faculty! Dr. Bailey and Dr. Buck will also talk about their background and passion for the subject. Writing Center Tutors will be available for assistance!

Group Fitness Class

Are you looking to relieve stress, have more energy, and improve your fitness level? Join the Group Fitness classes this month!

Full Body Workout - Wednesdays at 3:15 p.m.

Strength Class - April 25 during S&E

Classes are in the Multipurpose Room (the room next to the gym with the mirrors) unless otherwise specified. If you have any questions, email Alex Pratt.

All sophomore students are required to attend the Student Leadership Exchange (SLX) to complete the LEAD program. SLX is a day-long event where students will present their LEAD projects surrounding social entrepreneurship, activism, and data journalism in correspondence with the UN's Sustainability Development Goals. and network with evaluators from IMSA and the wider community.

Grab-and-go breakfast and a networking lunch will be provided for students presenting and facilitating during SLX. For any students not participating in SLX, brunch will be provided in Lexington from 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

The family of Dr. Michael Keyton has established a new scholarship in honor of the dedicated educator who taught at IMSA for over 14 years. As a mathematical scholar, musicologist, and professional golfer, Dr. Keyton had a profound impact on IMSA. Through his wisdom, kindness, knowledge, and lifelong curiosity, he helped inspire his students to believe in themselves and in what they could accomplish. With this newly established scholarship, we hope Dr.Keyton’s legacy will carry on for many future generations. 

This scholarship will provide $800 to a deserving IMSA senior who plans to pursue an education and/or career in mathematics. Students who are interested in applying for this scholarship should meet the following requirements:

1. Plan to pursue an education in mathematics (minors in math are acceptable). Students pursuing a career as math teachers would be ideal candidates
2. Demonstrate a financial need, although this is not a strict requirement.
3. Plan to attend an accredited college or university after graduation.

Students interested in applying must complete the form below by

Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

All IMSA students participate in research, initially through our Methods of Scientific Inquiry course. Then, they can opt for a research experience through our SIR program, where they will work closely with a professional mentor.

When I connect with alumni, they share their research experience, which was instrumental in their development because it allowed them to become more familiar with problems without known solutions. They’ve developed skills that enable them to investigate, analyze, and discover. Our alums share that the opportunity to work with a mentor who trusted and challenged them to learn those research skills made them feel more confident about exploring and inventing in their careers today.

This week, we celebrate our students’ research at IMSAloquium, an annual showcase where students offer presentations and poster sessions of their research and internship experiences. This is a great way for students to learn about what’s possible at IMSA and connect to what they might pursue in their future research experiences. Check out this year's program. These projects truly illustrate that our curriculum has no boundaries and what an IMSA student can discover.

If you have thoughts on this topic or wish me to address others, please reach out to me at eglazer@imsa.edu.

The Annual Brotherhood/Sister Circle Retreat is an event open to the entire IMSA community where students come together to learn about racial injustice and inequities faced by the Black and Latinx communities. During this event, students will have the opportunity to learn about Black and Latinx empowerment and hear from members of the Black and Latinx community. Speakers include alumni, diversity professionals, and activists advancing racial equity for these communities. 

Lexington will provide breakfast. This event is open to all Students. If you are interested in attending, please complete the registration form below by April 30, 2024.

Did you know…

Public schools in the United States produce over 14,500 tons of waste daily. This waste primarily comes from plastic utensils, bags, and straws. These materials are designed for single use and do not biodegrade within a human lifespan, leading to substantial environmental impacts. This plastic waste also contributes to plastic pollution in the oceans, where it can harm marine life and ecosystems. 

To help reduce these effects, you can try switching to reusable or biodegradable items, such as reusable water bottles and tote bags! Also, start recycling your plastics, but ensure no food or drink residue (other than water) is in your containers!

Please complete the Spotlight Submission Form if you have been recently recognized in your field, celebrated for your academic or professional achievements, or are working on a project you'd like to share. If you have any questions, please contact Alex Johnson at ajohnson2@imsa.edu.

Class of 2026

Your next LEAD elective module will take place on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 from 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.! 

The remainder of the LEAD schedule is as follows:

• Wednesday, April 17: 8:30 - 9:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 24 (SLX): 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
• Thursday, May 2nd, 2024: 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Class of 2024

Please remember to log your service learning hours in HelperHelper and follow up to make sure they are approved. Data transfers and email blasts will be sent out monthly until graduation. As a reminder, students who do not complete the graduation requirement for service learning, as stated here, will not receive their final transcripts until they have done so. All hours must be submitted and fully approved (present in PowerSchool) by May 21, 2024.

Check out the new search engine from the Illinois of Gifted Children for local STEM enrichment opportunities for all ages. This search engine was developed by IMSA Senior, Michael Meng '25!

Titan To Go is a resource for students to discreetly order basic toiletries when they cannot replace them before a trip home. Students may select from the following items:



• Shampoo and Conditioner
• Toothpaste and Toothbrushes 
• Dental Floss 
• Deodorant 
• Menstrual products
• Hand soap 
• Body lotion 
• Facial tissues
• Lip balm  
• Contact lens cases

Requests are confidential and can be made by clicking on the button above. Requests received by 8:00 a.m. will be processed daily, Monday through Friday. You will pick up your items in a Smart Locker once you receive a notification that your package has been scanned in.

For more information, contact Michelle Bemis, Volunteer Coordinator for Titan To Go at mbemis@imsa.edu.

Mark Your Calendars! 

April 17 - IMSAloquium, PSAT for Sophomores

April 20 - College Day

April 24 - SLX/Hollister Lecture, SAT for Juniors

April 28 - Halls Close at 1:00 p.m.

April 29 - 30 - Virtual Engagement Days

May 1 - Halls Open at 1:00 p.m.

ILLINOIS MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE ACADEMY



1500 Sullivan Rd., Aurora, IL 60506-1000 |  630.907.5000 |  imsa.edu

To ignite and nurture creative, ethical, scientific

minds that advance the human condition.