Students from OH who participated in and won awards through the Scholastic Arts & Writing competition saw their artwork displayed at Downers Grove High School from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3. In addition to having their art displayed, many were in the annual Illinois High School Art Exhibition held by ArtConnectED. Senior artists received scholarships amounting to over 2.5 million dollars in total.
“For me, the Golden Key means not just getting an award but something that helps me feel much more confident in myself,” said OH senior and Golden Key winner Shyann Beasley. “[[The inspiration for my art]] was my idea of what I wanted to do. I wanted to try something very challenging like painting on glass and even doing layered glass.”
Each art piece displayed the students' passions, their beliefs, and even things that fascinate them.
“I wanted to create a fallen angel piece,” said OH senior and Silver Key winner Jay Dove. “It’s meaningful to me because it relates to how I felt falling from that platform of being an honors kid. It connects to the fall of Lucifer and how he used to be God’s favorite but then fell.”
OH will host 2024’s prom at a new venue, The Matrix Club in Naperville, on Saturday, April 27, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. This year’s theme, “Rio Carnival,” was decided by senior votes from the following theme options: Clue, Rio Carnival, and Boardwalk.
“We meet with the Junior Class Council several times between October [[and]] January to choose three possible themes, said one of the event organizers, junior Jessica Kawulia. “Students use inspiration from past proms, proms from other schools, and ideas from Pinterest.”
She explained that “[[o]]nce we choose three themes, they are sent to all seniors to vote on in January [[to]] February, and the senior class gets to pick what the theme will be.”
According to an e-mail sent out to students, each ticket will allow one person in. These tickets are nonrefundable, and guests are not allowed to sell them. Although guests may enter at 6 p.m., they are welcome to arrive afterwards, however, attendees will not be allowed in after 7 p.m. Online ticket sales will begin on Tuesday, April 2, and end on Friday, April 12.
Five OH culinary students, led by culinary teacher Thomas Dwyer, showed off their talents at the Prostart competition on March 2, 2024, and won third place at the event.
“[[The]] competition helps high school students get their foot in the door when it comes to scholarships to culinary schools,” explained OH senior Phoenix Goldstein. “One section has teams cooking an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert; the other is teams pitching a restaurant concept in the fictional city of ProStartville to show their knowledge of what it takes to get a restaurant running.”
On Feb. 9th, 2024, the OH chess team went to State at Peoria’s civic center. They ended up placing 62nd overall, a big step from last year, in which they placed somewhere around 90th place.
“I was very excited about the experience and memories I would make at state,” said OH senior and first board of the team, Bryan Camargo. “[[The]] team and I were messing around the whole time. Don't get me wrong, though; I love playing chess and had a lot of fun playing.”
There are a variety of free ways that students can prepare for the PSAT and SAT. Although not all students can afford to hire an SAT tutor, there are free ways to prepare for the exam.
Considering SATs will be coming up on Apr. 10 and 11, it is ideal for students to take advantage of the variety of options available.