September 2021
Dear Alumni:
I can’t even begin to share with you how wonderful it is to have returned to full in person student learning for the 2021-2022 school year! It remains a unique and challenging time for our entire school community. Our students and staff wear masks and maintain social distance but we can still see the smiles and we feel closer than ever before!
This year’s Homecoming theme is “Hooray for Hollywood!” We are so excited to resume our homecoming activities! Our dance will be outside and have more of a concert feel. Other activities include a fundraising kickball tournament, pep assembly, dress up days, and our amazing hallway decorations! On Friday, September 24th at 7:30 pm the Cougars varsity football team will take on the Fremd Vikings at the Charlie O. Feutz Field. Alumni are welcome to join us for the game and to reminisce!
If you know of any classmates who have not yet joined the Alumni Club, please encourage them to do so. Alumni Club membership and involvement keeps you in touch with classmates and up-to-date on events occurring at your alma mater. Those interested can contact John Shoro at [email protected].
Our Cougars in Need program continues to help many families by providing food, transportation, clothing, and school supplies. If you are interested in supporting our Cougars in Need, donations are accepted through our Conant High School Boosters.
It is truly an honor and a privilege to serve as the principal at Conant High School. Thank you for your interest in our school community. As you know, “Once a Cougar, Always a Cougar.” These remain tough times, but we stand strong together!
Sincerely,
Julie C. Nowak Principal Distinguished Alumni Award Nomination (Click above for online application)
Nomination submitted by:
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Address______
Phone______
E-mail______
I would like to nominate:
Name______Class______
Home Address______
City______State______Zip______
Phone______E-mail______or
Business Address______Phone______
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Please include: *Justification for nomination *Career related achievements *Community Service *Letter of Recommendation
Please return to: John Shoro Conant High School 700 East Cougar Trail Hoffman Estates, IL 60169 Or send email to: [email protected] DEADLINE: JANUARY 31, 2022 CONANT NEWS UPDATE – 2021
• The 2021-2022 enrollment is: Freshmen 624 Sophomores 595 Juniors 595 Seniors 598 2,412 Cougars
• Last year we had an enrollment of 2,367. • Please continue to let us know of any address changes and/or exciting news so that we may include that in next year’s issue. Suggestions and comments are always welcome.
Email John Shoro at [email protected]
• Class of 1971 celebrated their 50th year reunion on September 17th and 18th at The River City Grille and Main Event. They toured the school during the day of the 18th.
• Class of 1981 celebrated their 40th year reunion on September 18th at Busse Woods.
• Class of 1990 will celebrate their 30 year plus 1 reunion on October 2nd at Fox and Hound.
Lost and Found Class Rings
Great news! We have been very lucky to have returned three class rings to a 1968, 1983 and 2003 alumni. We have two more that we would like to return to their owners. If you are or know the following people please contact Michelle Diaz at [email protected].
Stephen Evans - class of 1973 Tamara “Tammy” McDermott - class of 1976 Thomas Connell – class of 1970
Lost and Found Diploma
A resident of Georgia has found and sent CHS the diploma of:
Sherry L. Whitehead – class of 1972 Conant High School has continued to update our facilities within this past school year. The southwest parking lot and a portion of Cougar Trail has been resurfaced and looks great! Many of the hallways received new carpet. In addition, much of the roof has been replaced and two of our elevators have been updated. Conant’s facilities continue to shine and welcome students and the community!
Welcome Little Cougars!
Henry William Pieper Sophie Mae Adelman Lauren Pieper (Science) & Chris Shayna Adelman (Applied Tech/Math) & Brian
Sawyer Rae Sobey Haven Faith Nathan Austin Sobey (Counselor) & Jenna Zia Nathan (English) & Mary
Matthew Gregory Galla Blakely Dean Hilgendorf Tracy Galla (Science) Maren Hilgendorf (Business) & Ben
Quinn Claire Rogers Andrew Robert Guilde Jr. Jimmy Rogers (Science) & Danielle Andrew Guilde (English) & Kelly
Mateo Nedovic Scarlett Lynn Rosslein Margaurete Nedovic (ESL) & Bosko Maggie Rosslein (Counselor) & Kent
Olivia Gianna Krajack Mackenzie Kay Strauch Ashley Langley-Krajack (Psychologist) & Brian Todd Strauch (Special Education) & Kelsey
James Bernard Pullia Jr. James Christopher Kosmicki Gabriella Pullia (Science) & James Jaclyn Kosmicki (Faculty Service) & Ray
Congratulations to our Newlyweds!
Martell Halloran (English) & Caitlin
Matt Marks (Business) & Ilyssa
Devin Godzicki (Music) & Colin
Conant High School Among Career Services Needs Top High Schools in IL and the Your Help Nation The Career Services Department is The U.S. News and World Report released looking for creative ways to provide the Top Schools Report on April 27. All five career exposure opportunities to District 211 schools were among the top 15 students. In the past, we have offered percent of schools both within the state of IL experiences like workplace field trips and the nation. and speakers, both in-person and Criteria that was used to determine the virtually. Please consider helping our ranking included a college readiness, math students make informed decisions and reading proficiency and performance, about their futures, by offering a job underserved student performance, college shadow, hosting a group at your office curriculum breadth and graduation rate. or visiting the school to talk in a Our own Conant High School placed 42th classroom. There is a lot of flexibility, (46th last year) in the state and 882nd (1,011th and we are open to any ideas you might last year) in the nation! Way to go Conant have. Who better to motivate and Cougars! inspire students with their success stories than Conant Alum? Your participation will really make a difference in the lives of Conant students. Go Cougars!
Kristen Fitzgerald, Career Advisor- [email protected]
Figure 1 Table borrowed from https://d211post.org/d211- post-u-s-news-and-world-report-ranks-211-schools-among- top-100-in-illinois/
Science Department
The Conant Science Department has entered into a period of change, saying goodbye to retirees Department Chair Sharon McCoy and Earth Science Teacher Steve Riggs. Generations of students were impacted by their teaching, and we are grateful for the impact that they have had. We now transition to the new Department Chair Dave Torpe ’03, as well as first year cougar teachers Shannon Malone and Gus Karapanos ’14. Shannon is an experienced teacher transitioning to Conant from Resurrection College Prep, teaching Chemistry and Coaching Basketball. Gus is a CHS grad from 2014 who spent time as a CHS teacher’s assistant and now is a full-time biology teacher and wrestling coach.
As part of the changes that all spaces are feeling, the science department is excited to be bringing back three field trips to our students in September. Students will have opportunities to visit the International Museum of Surgical Science, Spring Valley Nature Center, and the Indiana Dunes. In each of these trips, students will have rich opportunities to extend their learning outside of the classroom.
World Language Department
Ms. Lichien Chan had several students from her Chinese classes participate in Chinese competitions that were conducted remotely due to Covid-19. We are very proud of their accomplishments.
• We had multiple students participate in Valparaiso University’s Chinese contests. Katie Auyeung won 3rd place in speaking. Mallika Malhotra won an award of excellence in speaking and talent show. Anaya Prasad won an award of excellence in talent show. Jay Yang won 3rd place in speaking. Jin Bao Boehm won 2nd place in speaking. Gauri Menon won an award of excellence in talent show and 1st place in speaking.
• Gauri Menon won 3rd place in the Midwest High School Chinese Speech & Culture Knowledge Contest.
Business Education Department
• Conant Business Education Alumni! Follow @ConantBusEd on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn at tinyurl.com/LinkedInConantBusiness • Current faculty: o Patti Ertl, @PattiErtl, [email protected] o Tony Miller, @CoachMiller_CHS, [email protected] o Matt Marks, @MattMarks6, [email protected] o Maren Hilgendorf, @Mrs_Hilgendorf, [email protected] o Greg Grana, @Mr_Grana, [email protected] o Song Kim, @SongAe3, [email protected] • Conant Business Professionals of America had national champions in Banking and Finance and Extemporaneous Speech. • Patti Ertl was nominated for 2022 Illinois Teacher of the Year. • Maren Hilgendorf welcomed her second child, Blakely. • Matt Marks married Ilyssa Hoffman this past summer on July 3rd, 2021. Matt is returning for his 7th year at Conant teaching Finance and Investing along with Dual Credit Technology Applications. This is Matt’s second year as Head Coach of the Girls and Boys Tennis team, and he also stays involved during the winter by advising our Business Professionals of America chapter. • Greg Grana has joined the Conant Business Education Department as a full-time teacher. He is working on his MBA and will teach dual credit sections of Business Management during the 2022 - 2023 school year. He is also the Varsity Assistant Boys Basketball Coach. • Tony Miller’s ‘1993, daughter Jessica (Conant Class of 2021) is now a freshman at the University of Alabama. Tony is in his 24th year teaching. He currently is in his 7th year teaching the Business Incubator program where his student incubator teams have been awarded over $30,000 in seed money. Tony is in his 3rd year as the founder and Director of Operations for Conant Boys Feeder Basketball Program (a.k.a. “Cougar Feeder Basketball, NFP”) where seven teams will be playing in the 2021-22 season with 62 players enrolled (4th, 6th, 7th and 8th Grade teams). Tony coaches his son’s 7th Grade Feeder team (Andrew - Conant Class of 2027). • Song Kim is in her final year of teaching in District 211 after 31 years. • Finance & Investing class - Did you know we now offer a semester long Finance and Investing Class? Students are able to learn about financial planning, advanced trading styles, and focus on the various investment strategies to propel them towards financial success! Room 236 recently received a face-lift including our new 14-ft Ticker! Students are now able to stay up to date with real time stock updates throughout the day.
Family and Consumer Sciences Department
Family & Consumer Sciences is thrilled to welcome Conant grad Tracey Taaffe ‘16 to the FCS Department. She is teaching Culinary Arts 1 and Design Studio and recently graduated from Illinois State University. We are excited to be back and in-person and get Cougar Perk up and running again. Students are excited to be back in our culinary rooms and cooking in-person instead of through lab kits that were sent home last year for at-home cooking.
Cougar Kids Preschool is excited to open their doors again this year and welcome our preschool friends, ages 3-5, back for a full year of in-person preschool. If you know of anyone looking for a wonderful preschool experience, please have them contact Katie Koopman or Fatima Candia at 847-755-3736. There are still some spots available.
Social Studies Department
After over 30 years of great teaching and leadership, the social studies department said good bye to our two retirees – Mr. John Braglia ‘81 and Mr. Tim Kirby ‘81. Their commitment and service to District 211 will be celebrated.
We welcome two new additions to the department: Ms. Carmen Gutierrez and Ms. Arden Panek.
In addition, we have revamped the Learning through Community Action Program (LCAP). It is now called the Civic Engagement Project. Along with service, students will discover how the community provides for our social needs and about why engaged and informed citizens are needed in the community. Students craft actionable plans and demonstrate how their efforts contribute to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We look forward to continued commitment to our community.
Conant Theatre
Conant Theatre is ecstatic to be back live to present its 2021 fall musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un- affirming "ding" of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves! At least the losers get a juice box. A riotous ride, complete with audience participation, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a delightful den of comedic genius.
Conant’s musical will run November 4th-6th at 7 pm with a matinee at 2 pm on November 6th. Tickets will be available online starting in early October. If you have any questions please contact Katherine Apperson at [email protected].
Last year was quite a new experience for Conant Theatre as we produced three mainstage productions, a student-written Last-Minute Show, and four improv shows with some virtual component involved in each.
Freaky Friday One Act Edition was a completely filmed and edited movie musical during which students participated through Zoom, film editing, and in person experiences. It was the first ever musical to fully be performed through film. The students utilized the skills learned from that experience throughout the rest of the year as the Winter Showcase was entirely presented using Zoom. For the winter production, four short plays were selected and directed by students. The process was done entirely through Zoom until it came time to edit the entire showcase together. Again, a new process that yielded several new skills and relationships. Our final play was A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed in the spring. This was our first show live on the stage after a long hiatus, but the students rallied and adapted to safety guidelines like pros. In order to allow audiences and some company members to partake in the spring play experience, the show was live streamed as well as produced in front of a live audience. The same happened with our student run Last Minute Show. Students created short plays, rehearsed, and performed the show all within the time span of a day. Our Improv Troupe saw a similar trend as the plays where they began their season fully remote and performing through Zoom webinars and ended with their final performance back home on the Conant stage with a Zoom live stream.
Overall, it was a zany year, but one that showed us that art can survive anything and our students will find ways to create, design, and perform no matter the circumstances. We look forward to seeing you back in the theatre this year!
Junior Class Council Conant Crier
The Junior Class Council sponsors for the 2021-2022 school year are Kevin Garvey The Conant Crier is led by co-editors-in- and Jennifer Stearns (Meyer) ‘90. Our chief Johanna Selmeczy (sr.) and Ella 2022 Prom will be held at the Hyatt Regency Saputra (jr.). Together, they lead a staff of O’Hare on Saturday, April 30th. 20 student journalists covering all things Conant. JCC hosted a prom this year…and it went through many revisions as the health Visit Conant's student-run news site at guidelines kept changing! Although there www.ConantCrier.com, and follow the Crier was no dancing allowed, students enjoyed a on Twitter and Instagram @ConantCrier. staff band, two photo booths, karaoke machines, and games with prizes. English teachers David Gwizdala and Katie We had a great turnout from the senior class Sall advise the student newspaper staff. and were happy to be able to bring back a fun event for them!
Yearbook
Are you looking for a yearbook from a previous year? You’re in luck! We have most CHS yearbooks available for purchase. Please reach out to Camille Lutz at [email protected] for more information and pricing.
HOSA Speech Team
HOSA, Health Occupations Students of Conant Speech made the best of hybrid
America, sponsored by Erik Hauser and learning by switching to virtual
Sharon McCoy, competed at the 2021 State tournaments during the 20-21 season. and National Competitions. Conant students The new format required students to made us proud by bringing in the following record their performances for a judge to awards at State: view and critique at home. Award
ceremonies were held on YouTube where
1st Place CPR/First Aid: Rishita Ghelda and students congratulated their friends and fellow competitors. As we move ahead Syeda Ali
this year, we expect to navigate a
1st Place Public Health: Mihika Jalwadi, combination of virtual and in-person Juliana Dugo, Rhea Razdan, Sadhana tournaments, but it’s a challenge that we are ready for! Any former members Viswanathan, Samuel Park, and Vinusha interested in judging tournaments should Venkatesh contact Vera Bass at [email protected] for
1st Place Job Seeking Skills: Alishba Kamran more information.
1st Place Forensic Science: Sruthi Sundar and Brooke Zhang
1st Place Health Education: Riya Jain and Nivedha Krishnan
1st Place Public Service Announcement: Andrew Solaka, Caleb Kim, and Christian Kim
2nd Place Health Career Photography: Maher Fatima
At the 2021 International National Leadership Conference, Nivedha Krishnan and Riya Jain took home 1st Place International Champions for the Health Education Team Event!
Cultural Awareness Club Debate Team
Cultural Awareness is a club Last year, the Congressional Debate Team dedicated to promoting cultural diversity in at Conant was extremely successful after our school and community. Its goal is to taking home the first-place trophy at the provide individuals an opportunity to explore IHSA State Debate tournament. Although their own culture and learn to appreciate the 2020-2021 season was fully remote, our other cultures through group presentations, team worked hard to support one another showcases, field trips, participation in and ultimately take home a 1st place trophy. seminars, and discussions. The club is Individually, Nicholas Chen (Class of 21’) sponsored by Song Kim, Patrick Malloy, Iris placed first in the competition. The Marji and Amy Spizzirri and the club's main Congressional Debate Team is looking event is the International Fair, a showcase of forward to another successful year! food, dance, music, and culture of the students in Conant High School. This year, Cultural Awareness is delighted to present an in-person I-Fair.
Another event, known as “An Immigrant’s Story” has caught the eyes of many faculty and staff at Conant. This monthly event aims to tell the story of students and faculty at Conant who have immigrated to the US. It gives them a platform to share their stories and experiences about what it was like to come here, along with how their culture impacted them throughout their journey. An Immigrant's Story was founded and is run by Conant students Angiarm Nasanjargal ‘22 and Jaahnvi Patel ‘22 (pictured). This year’s September event will feature one of Conant’s honorable Business teachers, Ms. Kim. She has been working at CHS for over 30 years and will be retiring this year. For her hard work and dedication within the school and in Cultural Awareness, the club would like to extend their deepest gratitude and best wishes in her retirement next year.
Autos Club
Automotive Club sponsored by Joe Tullo ’05 had their annual car show September 11th from 11am-1pm in the main lot at Conant. Students were able to see all different makes and models. The public was invited and everyone enjoyed themselves.
New to Conant Athletics: Girls’ Wrestling
Wrestling coaches Chad Hay and Gus Karapanos ’14 had a passion to bring wrestling to female participants. During the 2019-2020 school year, Hay and Karapanos started Conant’s first ever Girls’ Wrestling team. In the past, girls didn’t want to directly compete with the boys and this limited the wrestling numbers. To ignite the numbers and reach out to female participants, Hay and Karapanos reached out to Coach Kalli Dalton and other supporters who let them promote wrestling to the Girls’ Cross-country team.
During the 2019-2020 school year (first year of Girls’ Wrestling), 15 girls registered. There were many more girls actively showing interest by attending practices and seeing what wrestling is all about. During the 2018-2019 wrestling season, there were a total of 5 girls who wrestled with the boys. During the 2017-2018 season, there was only one female wrestler. This year, they are expecting around 20 girls to join. The interest in wrestling is growing dramatically and more girls feel comfortable with joining and competing.
This past year, we had two girls qualify for the Girls’ Wrestling State Tournament and they both placed! Gianna Gagliani placed 5th at 106 pounds and Sam Anderson placed 6th at 126 pounds. Way to go!
Figure 2 Gianna Gagliani (left), Coach Graff (middle) and Sam Anderson (right) Conant Welcomes New Varsity Basketball Coach
The Cougars are excited to announce the hiring of former Conant Basketball standout, Matt Walsh ‘93 as their new Head Boys’ Basketball Coach.
As a team captain and MVP of the Conant Basketball team, Matt earned MSL All Conference and Daily Herald All Area honors.
Returning to Conant as a Special Education Teacher, Matt served as an assistant coach for the boys basketball program. In 2009, he was named the Head Boys Basketball Coach at Schaumburg High School. A position he held until 2014. Under his guidance, the Saxons earned two MSL Conference Championships (2012 and 2013), Three Regional Championships (2010, 2011 and 2012) and were sectional finalists each of the three years. Individually, Matt was named the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year District 4 2011 and 2012.
The Boys Swimming and Diving Team had a successful, but Covid-shortened season last year. After a week of in-person practice, we were shut down for 8 weeks as all IHSA sports were postponed. For those 8 weeks, the guys worked hard doing drylands Zoom-workouts led by the coaches. The second week of January we were allowed to start back up and competed in a brief 6 week season that included 5 dual meets and ended with the MSL Conference Meet. Despite the short amount of in-water practice, the guys had some terrific swims!
In our last Dual Meet of the season against Hoffman Estates High School, the 200 Medley Relay team of Bryce Loeger, Evan Bestor, Spencer Vecchione and Patrick Recko broke the Conant Pool Record by over a second with a time of 1:37.20. At the MSL Conference Meet, they continued their success by finishing 3rd (1:36.57). Evan Bestor finished 3rd in the 200 IM (2:02.98) and 4th in the 100 Breaststroke (1:00.13); Patrick Recko finished 5th in the 50 Free (22.61); Bryce Loeger finished 4th in the 100 Free (47.72) and 4th in the 100 Back (52.40); the 200 Free Relay team of Spencer Vecchione, Noah Lawson, Patrick Recko, and Ali Wahbeh finished 5th (1:31.80) and the 400 Free Relay team of Patrick Recko, Spencer Vecchione, Bryce Loeger and Evan Bestor finished 6th (3:21.40).
On the All Time Top Conant Times list the 200 Medley Relay now ranks 2nd, Evan Bestor’s 100 Breaststroke time ranks 2nd, Bryce Loeger’s 100 Back time ranks 2nd and his 100 Free time ranks 4th.
Due to the continued Covid-19 Pandemic, Coach Brian Drenth ’96 is again postponing this year’s Alumni Meet. Until things are back to normal, please cheer on the Cougars during their meets on the web. Successes and meet results will be posted on our Twitter page @ConantSwimming.
Please stay safe and GO COUGARS!
New Conant 200 Medley Relay Pool Record Holders— Patrick Recko, Bryce Loeger, Evan Bestor, and Spencer Vecchione) Divers KarlHeintz Megger and Steven Rodriguez prepare for their MSL Conference Dives Girls Swimming
Girls swimming has a variety of new faces on the pool deck this season. Coach Robin Yactor took a counseling job in southern Illinois after over 20 years with the team as we welcome new diving coach Victoria Zervos who is a former gymnast and diver from Rolling Meadows High School. The JV team also has a new coach in former cougar Kodey Visitacion. The team is very young throughout and we are looking for some fast swims and high scores at the end of the season.
Girls Water Polo
Girls Water polo finished 2nd in the MSL west last season and appeared in its 7th straight sectional championship game. The team had 4 players selected to the all sectional team. Conrats to Nina Matusiak, Sam Henry, Hannah Dibek and Katie Kuffel. Matusiak, Henry, and Kuffel were also MSL all-conference selections and goalie Sam Henry was selected to the all-state team! We're looking forward to another successful season with some young players stepping up and experienced players taking on new leadership roles. The team also welcomed a new assistant coach in Mike Slowik who had filled in previously in 2016.
Conant Coed Cheerleading
The Conant Coed Cheerleading team finished 5th in the State at the 2021 IHSA Virtual State Finals Competition. This is the cougars 16-consecutive year State appearance. This was one of the hardest seasons in IHSA history – managing to stay strong during a worldwide pandemic. Together, we made an impossible year turn into an unstoppable season. Our team overcame challenges that no other Conant coed cheer team has faced, and we could not be any prouder. We are so thankful to our seniors, athletes, parents, alumni, coaches, and school for all their support during these unprecedented times. Our program is truly Conant Cougar Strong and we plan to compete, stay healthy and safe, and improve our title in person this year during the 2021- 2022 season.
Javier Espinosa ─ Wellness John Braglia ─ Social Studies Aaron Essex ─ Wellness Doug Dannewitz ─ Special Education Dawn Griswold ─ Athletics Joanne Desider ─ Food Service Carmen Gutierrez ─ Social Studies Yvette Jones ─ Counselor Scott Hoeft ─ Counselor Tim Kirby ─ Social Studies Gerry James ─ Assistant Principal Deborah Mauro ─ Library/Media Gus Karapanos ─ Science Sharon McCoy ─ Science Machaela Leno ─ Art Steve Riggs ─ Science
Scott Lilley ─ Special Education Shannon Malone ─ Science Pamela Nehrke ─ Counselor Arden Panek ─ Social Studies Tracey Taaffe ─ Family and Consumer Sciences Matt Teipel ─ Police Consultant Mary Toman ─ Math Sandra Xi ─ Psychologist Victoria Zervos ─ Wellness
Once a Cougar … Always a Cougar Former Cougars Currently Working @ CHS