April 23, 2024

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IMSA is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Angela Rowley as Principal and Chief Academic Officer. Dr. Rowley has served as Interim Principal and CAO since July 1, 2023. Before her interim role, she was Director of Statewide Educator Innovation at IMSA.

Dr. Rowley is an experienced school administrator and K-12 educator, earning an Illinois Superintendent License and an Illinois General Administrative License for teacher growth and development. Before coming to IMSA, Dr. Rowley served as Principal of Fred Rogers Magnet Academy, where she created and opened a new STEM Magnet Academy, designed the STEM-focused curriculum, wrote and received over $1 million in grant funding, and led educators on new adventures in STEM education. She cares deeply about developing relationships and supporting faculty and students.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Rowley worked at IMSA as a Resident Counselor, Hall Coordinator, and Admissions Counselor, giving her a profound understanding of our students' academic and residential experiences. We are thankful for Dr. Rowley’s continued exceptional work at IMSA and look forward to benefiting from her leadership in the years to come. 

Science Olympiad

Congratulations to the Science Olympiad team for taking 1st place at the Harper College Regional and 8th place in the State Tournament at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign! The students competed against the top 50 schools in their division and had a fantastic performance!

Power Pitch 2024

IMSA hosted the Power Pitch 2024 competition on Saturday, April 13, marking the first in-person Power Pitch since 2020! Power Pitch invitations went out to over 700 high schools representing at least one school in every Illinois county. Over 95 entry videos were submitted, and the top 10 teams, representing five Illinois high schools (Barrington High, Prairie Ridge High, Neuqua Valley High, Lake Forest High School, and IMSA) gathered at the Center for Innovation and Inquiry to pitch their ideas to a panel of expert judges. The competition was fierce and close. 

Congratulations to the winning teams:

FIRST PLACE

SignAll

Aaditya Shah '25 and Shridhar Mehendale '25

SECOND PLACE

BrainGuard

Alea Ritchie '25

THIRD PLACE

ProtectShin

Shatakshi Chatterjee '25 and Rachel Coutinho '25

Vex Robotics

Yash Yardi ‘25, Krish Konda ‘25, Rakshan Chandrasekhar ‘26, Aryan Mansingh ‘26, and Shiv N. Rai ‘26 founded the VEX Robotics Team, 1755K Kinetic. In their first year, they competed in four competitions, ranking first and winning the Build Award in the most recent tournament. Their victories at these regional competitions qualified them for the State Championship, where they finished in the Top 20 and won the Judges Award. The team showed terrific initiative, collaboration, and hard work in starting the team and competing at the state level!

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.

Students participating AND attending SLX must wear business casual or business professional attire.

SLX Meal Schedule

7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Grab and Go Breakfast

*Sophomores and LEAD Facilitators should attend this mealtime.

9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Brunch for All Students

11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Networking Lunch

*This event is reserved for sophomores, LEAD Facilitators, evaluators, and IMSA staff participating in SLX.

Juniors - Rescheduled SAT with Essay

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

1:00 p.m.

Main Gym

All Juniors should report to the Main Gym at 1:00 p.m. with their charged laptops, chargers, and IMSA IDs.

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

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. 

Finals Study Session

Sunday, May 19, 2024

1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

B Wing and the IRC

Work with classmates and peer tutors to finish your end-of-year assignments and prepare for final exams. PAC will provide pizza!

Group Fitness Class

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

Strength Class - Thursday, 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.

AI Prototyping Center

I Days

1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

A148

Stop in with your ideas and questions about AI anytime the door is open.   

If you're unable to stop in during an I Day, email Britta McKenna with your ideas or questions. 

ITS requests that students remove IMSA-provided software like Symantec, CrowdStrike Antivirus, and Adobe products before leaving for the school year. If you have questions about this process, contact helpdesk@imsa.edu or visit B-205 during office hours (Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.).

Class of 2024: Seniors must remove all IMSA-provided software licenses, such as Symantec Antivirus, CrowdStrike Antivirus, and Adobe products. Wolfram Mathematica may be converted to a free student license.

Class of 2025 and 2026: Juniors and Sophomores can uninstall CrowdStrike for the summer but may need to reinstall IMSA-provided antivirus in the fall.

All students must return loaned IT equipment in person to the IT HelpDesk Office before leaving campus. will be sent to students and their parents/guardians over

the next few weeks, listing the equipment that is expected to be returned. Juniors and Sophomores with loaner laptops may keep them over the summer. Keep an eye out for updates in your email.

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.

Each year, a team from IMSA heads to Springfield to share our legislative needs with the House and Senate appropriations committees for higher education. This year, our focus was on requesting a replacement of the residence halls, as well as operational costs to support increases in salaries, ongoing maintenance needs, and to support our strategic direction in the areas of extending our research programs, building our AI efforts, and offering courses online to students around the state. You can read more about our IMSA 2033 vision and progress here.

During our testimony, students Madison Clarke '24, Ellen Nguyen '24, and Brandon Rogers '24 shared their IMSA experiences, highlighting how they have grown and discovered at IMSA and gained access to unique opportunities to support their interests. I am really proud of our students for sharing these reflections with their elected officials. In addition, many more students from IMSA wrote letters to their local legislators to share their IMSA experience. It's important that legislators understand the impact of IMSA throughout the state.

More IMSA students from our LEAD program joined the trip to learn more about civic engagement. Representative Barbara Hernandez from Aurora showed our students around the House floor and answered their questions. These LEAD students and the rest of their 10th-grade classmates will give their Student Leadership Exchange (SLX) presentations on Wednesday. If you have a 10th grader, make sure to ask them about the problem their team has been exploring, and the approaches they have brainstormed to address it. We truly desire our students to be mindful of advancing the human condition.

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

Race Talks is an opportunity for IMSA students to discuss the current racial climate at IMSA. Marcus Sibley, a Social Justice Activist and Spoken Word Artist, will facilitate the conversation.

Marcus Sibley is an advocate that utilizes speaking, poetry, and recorded music to convey a profound passion for justice. The New Jersey native and former Family Crisis Intervention Specialist received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work from Rutgers University. He now travels the country presenting on various environmental and social justice-related topics.

Come share your experiences, perspectives, and solutions! Dinner will be provided.

Saturday, May 4, 2024

11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

The Residence Life Department invites all students, staff, and faculty to a Field Day event! There will be several fun activities, food, and a live DJ!

If you are interested in helping to volunteer for this event, please fill out the Res Life Field Day Interest Form. 

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.

Class of 2024

Please remember to log your service learning hours in HelperHelper and check in 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.

Ellen Hsuan '25 recently led a service opportunity at IMSA called the Little Green Monster Project. Students gathered to make green monster plushies, assembled into kits with The Little Green Monster: Cancer Magic! books and activity sheets. These kits are then donated to children whose lives have been impacted by cancer.

Regarding her experience, Ellen stated, "Working on this project with my peers has been an amazing experience because of the positive energy we are putting into the world by working together and serving a community in need!"

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.

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 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.