THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS CHICAGO

MORTON HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT 201

2015 Morton graduates will be attending some of the best colleges in the country.

Moving Foward

IIt’s only the summer, but I’m already excited for what this year has in store for us. Just as school was letting out, our boys Varsity and JV rugby teams made it to state. And they returned champions, as they have in the past, and as I’m sure they will again in the future. If you weren’t able to make it to our celebratory parade this yeayear, I invite you in advance to next year’s parade, when we again take state.At the same our rugby players were winning state, one of our freshmen was in Florida, following his dream of becoming a soccer player. He was competing in Sueño MLS, the Major Soccer League’s annual talent search. The field was down to the three best soccer players under 18. When the official announcement came, our ownown Baltazar Duran was victorious. He will be given the opportunity to attend the Chicago Fire Academy, where he will train among the best players in the area. Few things make me as proud as the long tradition of excellence in sports we have at Morton.               One thing that does make me immensely proud is the level of solidarity and compassion I’ve witnessed inside our building walls. For the past three years, students and members of our community have raised about $40,000 each year for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. And when one of our students was diagnosed withwith cancer, her classmates ran to her aid. They began fundraising for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, which helps fight childhood cancer.  In about a week, they raised $1,300 for the charity. This goes to show that even in adverse times, there is nothing that can trump the Mustang spirit.I’m happy to announce that our graduates have been accepted to and will be attending dozens of colleges across the country. I wish them the best of luck as they pursue higher education. I know college isn’t easy, but I’m confident the skills they learned at Morton will carry them through four years of midterms and term papers.feedback fills meme with gratitude. Those who know me know that I am constantly trying to do better for our school district, a school district that I

School Spirit at All-Time High

AAs Board President, I take our students’ education and their success very seriously. We’ve tried to expand on the successes of the present and overcome the hardships of the past to provide our students with the best education possible. It’s difficult to think that even twenty years ago, personal computers weren’t all that commoncommon and that almost no one had a cell phone. But we’re living in the future now, and the science and technology fields are more important now than ever before. I’m happy to say that we’ve stepped up our responsibility to our students by enhancing the science learning environment to make it more conducive to student successstudent success.At the West campus, we are renovating three chemistry labs. At the East campus, we are renovating one science lab and will be transforming two existing home economics labs into chemistry labs. Students at both campuses will benefit from new fume hoods, preparation areas, and electrical utilities. This year we successfulsuccessfully rolled out the Technology Service Internship at the Freshman Center. It allows students to the learn the basics of computer repair and puts them on the path to earn A+ computer repair certification, which makes them more employable, and which puts them closer to college degrees in technology.We are also in the process of renovating our culinary arts labs, which will provide 21st-century enhancements to the decades-old culinary arts tradition at Morton. Currently, the lab at the East campus is finished; the one at West is still in progress. We will keep you up to date with all the renovations, which are part of the Board’s commitmentcommitment to providing safe and well-maintained schools for our students. We hope to see you, parents, at our open houses and conferences and see for yourselves the new environment we are forging for our students.

A MESSAGE FROM YOUR LEADERS:

The new Culinary Arts lab will provide 120 students with a professionaly equipped environment to excel in their field of study. New industrial stoves, ovens, flat top grills and deep fryers are some of the new features available for students. The new Culinary Arts Lab also includes new industrial standards refrigerators, frfreezers, ventilation system, and fire proof windows. Features such as these will better prepare students for culinary schools and a careers in Culinary Arts. The new commercial kitchen appliances will also allow students to familiarize themselves with standard equipment used by culinary professionals. The new aappliances and the professional environment will also prepare them for the student-led restaurant that will be launched next year to provide students real life experiences dealing with serving, cooking and customer service.The new Culinary Arts Lab is located adjacent to the main entrance and features several large panel windows so that guests can view students cooking along with other food preparation activities at all times. The new adjacent classroom, which has a seating area will provide students with the opportunity to combine hands onon work with traditional lectures and presentations.Currently Morton East has five different Culinary Arts classes with each class averaging 24 students. Over the years, Morton has experienced an increasing demand for this program because of the growing number of students who show interest in pursuing a career in the culinary field. Today, students will be learninglearning in a professional setting, complete with commercial grade equipment, allowing them to prepare for their futures.The grand opening of the lab took place on March 25th, 2015. Renowned guest Chef Dudley Nieto of the restaurant Barbakoa along with Morton East Culinary Arts teacher Claudia Fernandez and West teacher Lindsay Strobel helped our students create dishes for all teachers and guests.

Jessaly graduated as one of Morton West’s Top 25 students, an Illinois State Scholar and a member of the school’s tennis team. Her impressive accomplishments have eaearned her acceptances to prestigious universities, such as the University of Chicago, Loyola and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Her acceptances were accompanied with accompanied with over $100,000 in scholarships. Way to go, Jessaly!

Jasmine was offered over $410,000 in scholarships! She is attending the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the fall as an accounting major. Her passion for math was fifirst ignited by Mr. Como’s Micro-Economics class. When she’s wasn’t crunching numbers she was running circles around the competition as a Mustang on the Cross-country and TTrack teams and paying it forward as a member of the Freshman Mentor Program and National Honors Society.

Blanca graduated in the top 10 of her class, and her competitive drive and dedication have earned her an acceptance letter from Dominican University. She plans on enrolling as a Pre-Medicine student in Pre-Medicine student in hopes of achieving her life-long dream of becoming a doctor. If her past accomplishments are any indication of her potential it’s safe to assume the lettethe letters “M.D.” will one day trail Blanca’s name.

Blanca DiazMorton West

Nino will be attending the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign where he plans to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. His goal is to one day attain safer energy sources sources for a better future. His ambition is reflected in his active school involvement over the years with tennis, Mathletes, Class of 2015, and his time spent as a Student Ambassador.

Areliz will be attending the United States Naval Academy. Only 300 students were selected for the Naval Academy nationwide. Not only will she have all tuition paid for but will also get paid for attending schoolfor attending school. She will work hard to gain the necessary hands on experience to become a mechanical engineer and a Marine Corps Officer one day. She’s excited to see what the future will bwhat the future will bring for her.

Braulio graduated an Illinois State Scholar and was a proud member of the school's orchestra. His passion for music has driven him to pursue a degree in the field of music next next year and his hard work earned him over $370,000 in scholarship money from different universities. Braulio will be attending the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Melina will be attending University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign this fall to pursue studies in Veterinary Medicine and Practice. Her hard work has never gone unnoticed; as a freshman she receias a freshman she received the President's Award and earned the top Female Student Award for her class. She kept her GPA high throughout the years while juggling tennis, badmintonbadminton, Mathletes and SAALT.

Jayre will be graduating this year after being an active member of the school's Mathletes team and the Historian for NHS. As an Illinois State Scholar, she has been offered over $90,000 in scholain scholarship money and plans on majoring in English. Her major is the result of the encouragement Jayre received from her parents to pursue her passion and the confidence she gained in her win her writing from the many conversations she shared with Mr. Robinson.

Morton Mustangs have committed to colleges nationwide

$4,848,600Total scholarship amount offered to students

Morton Mustangs 2015 College Admissions

The number of colleges where Morton Mustangs were accepted162 The number of colleges

Morton Mustangs commited to87Morton Mustangs Attending Colleges From Coast to Coast

ForFor four years recently graduated mustangs gave it all they had in the classroom and in their communities. Now as alumni they will take what they have learned at Morton and apply it at universities across the countcountry. 2015 graduates will be attending colleges near and far; north from UW Madison and as far south as Mexico City. Some will remain near their hometowns, opting for schools like Northwestern in Evanston, UniUniversity of Illinois at Chicago, or University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. On the east coast, Mustangs will represent their alma mater at Cornell, NYU, and Harvard.

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#MORTONPRIDE#ORGULLOMORTON

Non-Profit Org.U.S. PostagePAID

Chicago, ILPermit No. 5612

Morton High School District 2015041 W. 31st St.Cicero, IL 60804

Morton West: (708) 780-4100 Ext. 3067 Morton East: (708) 780-4000 Ext. 2009 Morton Freshman Center & MAS: (708) 863-7900 Ext. 1117

Progress Reports:Morton District 201 is reducing the number of printed progress reports sent home throughout the school year.This same information is available on Skyward, along with more detail on students’ grades on specific assignments and assessments.SkywardSkyward Family Access is a better way to look at students’ progress because:• The information on Skyward is the most accurate and up to date• Parents can view their child’s class attendance• Parents can access Skyward anytime• Skyward gives full detail on specific assignments and assessments within each key conceptAA printed progress report will be mailed home halfway through each semester. Semester grade reports will continue to be mailed home, as well.If you have any questions or would like to find out more about Skyward Family Access and how to set up a password, please contact your school’s parent liaison.Access Skyward on our website: www.Morton201.org

Informes de Progreso:La escuela de Morton ha decidido minimizar el número de hojas imprimidas para los informes de progreso que se mandan a casa.Esa misma información y más se puede encontrar en la página de Skyward.El acceso familiar de Skyward es una mejor maneEl acceso familiar de Skyward es una mejor manera de ver progreso del estudiante porque:• La información es la más actualizada.• Los padres pueden conectarse a Skyward cuando quieran, en vez de esperar a que llegue el siguiente informe de progreso.• Skyward contiene detalles completos sobre asignaciones específicas y evaluaciones.•• Imprimiendo y distribuyendo los informes de progreso cuesta dinero y tiempo adicional.El informe de progreso imprimido se enviara a casa a la mitad de cada semestre. Igualmente, las calificaciones imprimidas del semestre continuaran siendo enviadas a casa.Si tiene cualquier pregunta o quiere más inSi tiene cualquier pregunta o quiere más información sobre el acceso familiar de Skyward y como programar una contraseña, favor de comunicarse con el padre de enlace en su escuela Morton.Acceder Skyward en nuestra página: www.Morton201.org

SKYWARD

RegistrationFall Sports Tryout Dates:Reminder: All students are required to register for the upcoming school year. In-Person Registration begins August, 3 and ends August, 13. Please visit Morton201.org for all details.

|Recordatorio:  Se requiere que todos los estudiantes inscritos para el próximo año escolar se registren. Registración en persona empieza el 3 de3 de Agosto, y se termina el 13 de agosto. Por favor visite nuestra página Morton201.org para información referente a registración.