Select students will participate in the annual school wide competition during the late start on Friday, Jan. 16.

In multiple English classes, teachers have picked their top performers to compete with different poets throughout all of Niles West.

Poetry Out Loud is a great way for students interested in poetry to express themselves and practice doing what they love.

“Poetry has always been important to me. When I was a little girl, my mom always read me poems before bed. I especially look forward to the competition because it is always so interesting to get the students interpretation of their poems,” English teacher and Poetry Out Loud supervisor Courtney Hanson said.

“This is my second year being a part of the Poetry Out Loud competition. I did it my sophomore year and I placed second in the school wide competition,” senior Rita Carmona said.

After the Semi-Final winners are announced, the final competition will be held Tuesday, Jan. 27.

Pizza Wars will be held Thursday, Jan. 15 in Niles North High School at 6 PM. The night will end around 9 PM; however, the pizza tasting will end at 7:15 PM.

Dance Marathon representative Lauren Flahive explains the importance of the night.

“Pizza wars are a fundraiser for the D219 Foundation, which is responsible for funding local students in need from North and West,” Flahive said.

Dance Marathon executive and senior, Rita Carmona seems excited for the night.

“I love pizza wars. I didn’t know what it was when I started here, I thought it was gonna be some really expensive thing or you barely got any pizza, but it’s definitely not that. You get pizza from so many different restaurants and get to eat a lot. This year ‘Nothing Bundt Cakes’ is providing dessert so it’s gonna be a delicious night,” Carmona explained.

The money that is collected at Pizza Wars goes to both Dance Marathon and the D219 foundation board.

“It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year and we [Dance Marathon] get thousands of dollars from it. They [D219 Foundation Board] use the money they raise to pay for free lunches and free music lessons and things like that.”

Tickets are $15 at the door and $12 in advance. To purchase tickets in advance, find a DM executive or email Ms. Moy or Mrs. Flahive.

If interested, all students are encouraged to be a part of Dance Marathon since it is not too late join.

Niles West’s poetry-enthused students competed in the school-wide Poetry Out Loud semi-finals during the late start this morning. The school-wide finalists have been announced. They include:

Seniors Matt Small, Julia Lohan, Jordan Goldberg,  Kasia Ciesielska and Grace Park. 

Juniors Thea Gonzales, Lauren Patt and Billy Rosenzweig.

Sophomores Asma Akram, Weronika Jozwiak, Maeve McCaffrey, Claire Embil and Chester Beck.

Freshmen Nasim Salehitezang, Nicole Zelasko and Sophia Cinquemani.

Patt said she was surprised but happy to advance.

“That’s surprising. I didn’t really expect that and it’s pretty awesome,” she said.

“I was thrilled to see a lot of kids come out this morning,” English teacher and Poetry Out Loud judge Paul Bellwoar said, “and it was great to see that they all seemed to spend a great deal of time preparing for the competition.”

The final competition will be held Tuesday, Jan. 27.

Video by Katrina Nickell.

The make-up day for last week’s “cold” day will not have to be made up by students, instead an additional teacher’s institute day, a non-attendance day for students, will be added to the school calendar on Friday, May 22.

“After reviewing all the available options, the district decided that maintaining the current finals week schedule was in the best interest of the students, particularly the seniors in order for them to focus on their exams and perform to the best of their abilities,” principal Jason Ness said. “This decision also helps the buildings operationally as it allows us to prepare for graduation and make it a great day for the class of 2015 and their families.”

This will not change any end-of-the-year events that are planned. School will still end May 21, prom will be May 22, and graduation May 24.

Students said they were thrilled that they don’t have to make-up the cold day, especially because they had to last year.

“I’m super excited, this is such a good thing, I’m happy about it, one less day we all have to worry about!” sophomore Jessica Salgdago said.

“I’m glad that we [the seniors] don’t have to come in on Friday, the day of prom,” senior, Isabella Domazet said. “I was really upset when I thought we would have to make it up. One day doesn’t make a difference.”

Correction: A previous version of this story listed the make-up day as Friday, Feb. 27, which is scheduled as a teacher institute day. This information was incorrectly reported. We apologize for the confusion.

Emmy-winning composer and electric violinist Mark Wood performed part of his “Velocity” tour at Niles West Tuesday, Jan. 13. The tour consisted of two rehearsals and the night of the concert which included Niles North, Niles West, and the feeder middle school students.

Orchestra director Steven Katz praised the event.

“It was a great experience. This is the second time we’ve worked with Mark Wood and it’s an amazing opportunity to get the students out of their comfort zone. Good music is good music no matter what, we don’t get to play orchestra music in different styles that often and its a high level is a good challenge for the kids,” he said.

Wood travels around the United States to work with school orchestras big or small to inspire them to be creative and interact with different types of music.

“The three days were intense and enjoyed by many students,” junior Conor Hermer said.

The first rehearsal consisted of  the high school students where they spent two hours practicing four pieces that they’ve prepared for since their winter concert. An additional day was taken for the middle school students who joined in on the day of the concert.

The day of the concert consisted of repetitive rehearsals and uniting with the feeder middle schools to bring a great concert for parents, students, and residents.

“It was so great, an inspiring experience for all musicians,” junior Eric Drozd added.

The night consisted of rock classics like “Eleanor Rigby,” and  “Synchronicity” and several other numbers that included the full orchestra, electric violin and cello. Tickets were sold out and it was an experience for the students and the crowd. The audience interacted by putting flash on their phones to make a light show during one of the songs, the clapped and sang along to many songs.

The night was filled with electrifying, majestic music that brought the district 219 community together to share their musical interests.

In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. and his movement, Niles West is hosting its annual MLK Assembly Thursday, Jan. 22 in the auditorium.

The Black Student Union will be hosting the event. There will be performances by a gospel choir and a step team; a poem and spoken word will be performed; and professionals from around the community will perform some unknown discussions of MLK.

Black student union sponsor Jason Foster said he  wants students to come to learn something new about MLK Jr. and see black students participate in a positive setting and learning about black people in a positive light.

“It is important to attend so other ethnic groups can learn and experience the significance of Black Americans to the history of this country,” he said. “Some of the popular musical artists and athletes of today are not representative of us all. But yet other colors see them as representing all of us. We are complex individuals hence why it is important other groups come to the assembly to see the complexity of who we are and not assume we are all about sagging pants, drugs, hip-hop music, sports and criminal activity.”

The day will run on an a.m. double-assembly schedule .

As hoards of incoming freshmen and their parents fill the auditorium and field house tomorrow night for curriculum and activities night, some changes might be noticed.

This year, the focus with be on school spirit  instead of talking at the parents about clubs and activities, according to director of student activities Katie Odell.

“This year my main goal is to really put an effort on school spirit,” she said. “Unlike most years, we’re going to have the JV cheerleaders, a mascot, and it’s really a time to get the freshmen excited.”

Tomorrow night will include the addition of 10 more organizations and a crammed field house full of pep and wolf spirit. In addition to these changes, Odell talks about a new way to have the freshmen interacts.

“We’re going to be handing out passports to each freshmen and as they go to each booth they’ll have their passports stamped,” she said. “This way at the end of the night they’ll give them back to me and I’ll be able to contact them to provide more information on the clubs their interested in and put them on the email list.”

The night will begin at 6:30 with an address with principal Jason Ness and assistant principal of student services Antwan Babakhani. At 7:15, half of the families will be given tours by student leaders and the other half will visit the field house where information about clubs and activities with be provided. Each group will have an opportunity to experience each event.

Social worker Kate Minkus will be overseeing the 2015 variety show auditions scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 22 and Friday, Jan. 23 after school.

“Anyone and everyone is welcome. There can be eight singers, but they can all sound and be different,” she explained.

To sign up for an audition students must fill out this google doc in order to be assigned a time slot. The show will be held on Friday, Feb. 13 at 7 PM in the auditorium.

Three years ago, Felix Angelov was selected as an Intel Semifinalist and was one of seventeen students to win best Best in Category at the Intel ISEF competition. This year, senior Reyvin Reyes is a semifinalist for his research project on the Synthesis of Colin M Using Cell-Free Protein Synthesis. Reyes is a part of a course here at Niles West called STEM Inquiry and Research, or SIR.

 Reyes’s project involved trying to make colicin M, which is a type of protein that kills bacteria using a method called cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS). Usually, researchers use bacteria to make a protein that they want, but this becomes a problem in creating proteins like colicin M because of its properties. He wanted to find out how someone can use bacteria to produce something that kills bacteria. If someone tries to make a protein like colicin M, they would kill the bacteria they’re using to produce the protein. This becomes very inefficient and a new method is needed.

 In his project, Reyes used a new process, CFPS, which bypassed these problems and tried to see if he could successfully produce colicin M while still keeping its properties. Fortunately, the method worked and he was able to produce colicin M.

With his project, he was able to see that he could make these “antibiotic” proteins with a new method and he also used it to see if the protein actually worked and killed bacteria, which it did.

 Most research projects goes through a similar process. First is either asking a question or getting an idea, then researching the topic, and then creating an experiment from it.

“I first became interested in antibiotics and bacteria during sophomore year when I conducted another research project involving these topics,” Reyes explained. “During junior year, I wanted to continue with bacteria but could not find a project. Luckily, I was paired up with a mentor from Northwestern in our mentoring program who specialized in CFPS. He told me I can pretty much make whatever protein I wanted and I combined the two ideas together: using CFPS to synthesize a protein that can be used as an antibiotic.”

 Besides being involved in science, Reyes is one of the presidents of Filipino Club, a member of Dance Marathon, Math Team, Science Olympiad, and Camping Club. He is also a tutor at the Lit Center. He does want to go to college and right now, he is really hoping to get into Northwestern University. As for his area of study, he plans to focus into either biochemistry or cellular and molecular biology with goals of becoming a scientific researcher in the future. “When I go to conduct my research at my mentor’s lab,’ he said, “I see how being a researcher is like. I think what researchers do is perfect for me and my interests.”

 There is a lot more to this competition than just a good title on a resume or college application. For this competition, Reyvin has already won prize money and they also give Niles West prize money, as well. Last year, Reyes was also chosen to go to Los Angeles to present his project at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. He won a 4th Grand Award in the category Cellular and Molecular Biology.

“I couldn’t believe I accomplished something like this. I never saw myself winning awards and dwelling in the realm of science when I entered high school but I am very grateful that I took the chance and followed through. It feels really great being acknowledged but I could’ve never done it without my teachers and my mentors that helped me along the way, so I thank them for all of their help and support.”

 One of the people that helped Reyes is Stem Inquiry & Research instructor JulieAnn Villa, who also happened to have him as a student in her honors chemistry class and has known him for three years.

“The thing that is unique about it is that many students have an opportunity to work with a mentor, it’s the individual initiative that Reyvin has shown with this project that really impresses me,” Villa said. ‘I haven’t been teaching him about this project, it’s been pure research on his part.”

Graduation will be held at Niles West’s football stadium on Sunday, May 24. Traditionally held at Northwestern University, graduation will continue to be at Niles West from this year and on.

“It’s different. Graduation is at Niles West for the first time in a whole heck of long time,” assistant principal Mark Rigby said.

Holding graduation at Niles West changes a lot of things, including the number of tickets each student gets.

“We have to limit the number of tickets we give to every graduate because of the size of our stadium and how many people we can seat there. Everybody’s going to get five tickets and that’s final. You can’t request any extra tickets or anything like that,” Rigby explained.

With graduation being held at the football stadium, there is always a chance of bad weather, but Rigby says they have it all figured out.

“In case of inclement weather, we will hold it indoors and we’ll still have five tickets. Three of the ticket holders will be allowed in the contest gym and the other two will go to the auditorium and we’ll stream it on a big screen, if we have to come in because it’s raining, bad weather, or lighting, something like that,” Rigby said.

Another big change is the way seniors will be given their graduation tickets, pay fees, and turn in textbooks.

“Because now that the seniors are finishing the same time as everybody else is, they don’t have the extra time to get books turned in and fees and fines paid.”

A new board policy requires students to be up to date on their fines and fees otherwise they won’t be able to get their graduation tickets.

“The problem is it goes right up until Thursday and you’re still taking your exams and you  might need your books. So, the seniors need to be aware that during finals week, when they finish testing, they need to start turning their stuff in whenever they can. Get that done, get cleared from the books store, get to the book keeper and get cleared so you can get your tickets from the book keeper,” Rigby said.

Seniors who haven’t purchased their cap and gowns can still buy them at this link and they will deliver the cap and gown. The cap and gowns are available for purchase until the day of, but Rigby recommends seniors hurry and get it taken care of.

While freshmen and seniors have the day off, will be administered to The ACT will take place at Niles West on Tuesday, Mar. 3 all juniors. The IACT will be administered on the same day to all sophomores.

On Wednesday, Mar 4, all freshmen will take the PLAN test. It will be a regular school day, but freshmen will be excused from their first three periods of the day.

PARCC tests will take place Tuesday, March 17 and Thursday, March 19 for junior English students. The PARCC test for students in Algebra 2 will take place on Wednesday, Apr. 29 and Friday, May 1.

‘This is the first year [The PARCC Test] is coming out so it’s new for everybody, but I think there is a feeling that the questions are a little more thought provoking and require students to make connections with things that are a little different from other tests,” assistant principal Mark Rigby said on the new assessment.

Duaa Israr contributed to this story.

Niles West held its annual Poetry Out Loud competition and this year, the unbelievable happened. For the first time in Niles West history, there was a seven-way tie for first place.

“We’ve never had so many great students compete,” said English teacher Sharon Swanson.

On Tuesday, Feb. 3rd, a run-off will be held to determine the overall winner.

“We’ve never had a second round ever,” Swanson said.

The students advancing to the second round consist of:

Seniors Matt Small and Jordan Goldberg

Junior Thea Gonzalez

Sophomores Asma Akram, Weronika Jozwiak, Claire Embil, and Chester Beck.

“It’s an honor to be able to compete, and I look forward to [the run-off],” Beck said.

English and Social Studies teachers have been invited to help judge the next round.

Editor’s Note: This is the first story in a four-part series about the possible new school day schedules which the board will vote on at its meeting on Monday, March 16. 

The current school day schedule is up for debate for the 2016-17 school year and may change depending on the outcome of the March board meeting during which the school board will vote on the matter.

Typically the school day schedule is in teachers’ contracts, and oftentimes when the contracts were up for discussion it became a tense subject.  Consequently, the school board decided to create a committee of four students, four administrators, four teachers, and four parents, to deal with the matter and conduct focus groups.

Information gathered from the focus groups led to the four potential schedules.

“There are all sorts of crazy schedules that are possible, but they don’t necessarily work in a school like ours,” committee member and social studies teacher Joseph Edwards explained.

Some complications include lack of space in the cafeteria and difficulty scheduling electives.

“These [schedules] were the least complicated to a certain extent,” Edwards added.

The possibilities include an A/B block schedule, an eight period 51-minute day, a nine-period 45-minute day, or the current schedule. If the board decides to change the schedule, science classes will be greatly impacted due to major changes with double period labs and general time allotment.

“I have two opinions on the possibility of a school day change. On one hand, I am not a fan of the current schedule. Especially since I believe that freshman don’t need doubles and there could be major job changes. On the other hand, a block schedule concerns me in terms of retention because students aren’t used to it,” science teacher Meghan McGovern said.

The next three parts will discuss each of the possible new schedules. 

The Niles West fine arts department has had a successful year thus far, sending four students down to Peoria for the Illinois Music Educators Association All State festival from Wedesday Jan. 28 through Saturday Jan. 30.

The choir sends two students to state this year: junior master singers Kristin Recinto and Alan Kotlyar. In addition, junior bassoon player Kevin Thurman and senior trumpet player Jesse Sacks– both members of Niles West’s top band and orchestra– have earned All State honors and will participate in the festival this weekend.

Beating out other high school musicians across the country, participants in the All State festival must audition in order to qualify for the festival. Once making the festival, the musicians have already participated in the district IMEA festival but now enter a significantly more selective group. At the festival, the musicians will have the opportunity to play alongside the state’s top high school musicians and receive coaching and clinics from renowned music educators.

Fine arts director Patti-Anne Ford is very pleased with the high number of all-state participants representing Niles West this year. ” It has been an incredibly successful year for our Fine Arts Department. I am so proud and privileged to work with a staff who clearly found their callings at a very young age. They are leaders in their field. They are the best of the best, and they are truly here for their students. When you have staff like that, and students who are intrinsically motivated to achieve that level of mastery, ” she said, “All State is to be expected.”

It’s that time of year again, Niles West. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner which means it’s time for the yearly cutest couple contest! Embrace all the love and romance in the air and share it with us!

Use #nwncouple on your pictures with your boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend, soul sister or bromance mate when you upload pictures on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, you can also email pictures to nwn@nths219.org. What’s in it for you? The winning couple (the picture with the most votes by 5 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11) will win a $50 gift card to Cheescake Factory, as selected by 57 percent of students that took the NWN homepage poll.

Everyone who plans on entering will have their picture uploaded to the NWN’s Facebook album called “Cutest Couples Contest 2015.” The pictures with the highest number of likes on our album will proceed to our next voting round which will take place on a poll on the NWN website.  The couple with the most votes on the site’s poll will win the contest.

Some rules follow with entering:

1. The couple (both students) needs to attend Niles West
2. Anyone can like the picture on Facebook, including friends and family
3. Entries must be received by Friday, Feb. 6. Finalists will advance to a second round of voting that will take place via a poll on the NWN website Monday, Feb. 9-11. Voting ends at 5 a.m. Feb. 11.

The winning couple will be announced on Friday, Feb. 13 on morning announcements.

Niles West high school had the honor of cheering on 3 seniors who committed to take their football journeys onto the next level: college football. The signing took place this morning in the student commons .

Today being national signing day, brothers Jeremy and Adam Pignato officially committed to University of Wisconsin- Stout to partake in their football program at a division two level. Senior Brandon Costantino also committed to Northern Michigan University  at a division two level.

“Being able to play at a higher level with my brother is really all we’ve wanted. Once we knew we could play at a higher level, it was in our mind set to go to the same school together. It’s nice knowing that i’ll have my brother right by my side for another four years to come,” Adam Pignato said

The boys were surrounded by family and friends as they finally picked up their pens and signed the papers that would start a new beginning for them.

“Out of all four years of playing Niles West football, my senior year has to have been the best. This year I felt more developed and I had way more knowledge of how the game works. I couldn’t have been here without my family and teammates,” Costantino said. He also said he would miss his girlfriend, Olivia.

All three boys agreed that they wouldn’t be anywhere without their Head Coach, Scott Baum, who consistently pushed them so they could achieve their goals of playing at a higher level.

D219 has teamed up with CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange) and created a summer abroad program. All freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are encouraged to apply.

“Be sure to explore this chance to do service, learn leadership skills and explore other cultures and languages. Scholarships and funding through the D219 foundation are available so stop by student activities or the college resource center to find out more and complete an online application,” according to an email from Equity & ELL director Corrie Wallace.

Students have the opportunity to study right here at home in the U.S. or across the world in places like Japan, Morocco, France, etc.

You can use this link to find out more information and apply. In addition, Financial Aid will be offered to those who apply.

International Weeks will be celebrated with a variety of cultural events and celebrations throughout this week and the upcoming week.

The finalists for the cutest couple contest have been announced. There are five finalists in the contest. Vote on the poll by Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 8 a.m. The winners will be awarded a $50 gift card to Cheesecake Factory.

Desmond O'Shaughnessy and Deborah Kim

Steven Ho and Kristie Kuzuhara

George Tripkos and Veronika Sostaric

Phillip Duros and Jennica Hontiveros

Jessica Nakic and Tristin Minx

Congratulations to senior best friends Tristin Minx and Jessica Nakic who won the third-annual cutest couple contest. Minx and Nakic received 30 percent of the vote in the NWN poll. They won a $50 dollar gift card to the Cheesecake Factory.