001e e e so uh I will start recognize them individually we'll start with Audrey Casten a junior come on up Audrey Junior Hannah rener [Applause] senior Sydney natuk and then special recognition goes to these four uh girls uh as all four of them were all State uh so we have Junior Ava Gilly who finished 24th in state junior Elena todam who 14th in state senior Sarah Paul who finished 13th in state and sophomore Lily Edington who finished 10th in state while cross country is a short uh season relative to the school school year uh it is a tremendous amount of work all year uh we start in June uh getting ready for the cross country season and the summer portion is just as long as the competitive portion and we haven't even talked about the
002track season which is longer uh and so uh it says a lot these girls are dedicated year round uh a lot of the people in the community uh probably start to recognize them over the four years that they're running out there uh out on the roads so uh congratulations girls uh it it was an amazing season and you should be proud awesome [Applause] job don't go anywhere all right as we've been getting better at celebrating our students so have both of our main villages in Downers Grove and Woodridge uh so they've gotten in on the fun as well so I have a proclamation here from the village of Downers Grove uh that recognizes uh on September November 4th 2023 The doners Grove North girls cross country team Pac placed second in the State final class
003three championships uh it recognizes all of the students that are up here the student athletes that are up here and their coaches and says that the hard work dedication drive and sportsmanship of the girls Coss country team deserves an exemplary representation of Downers Grove to the sport of cross country uh of cross country running and to the state of Illinois bringing pride and recognition to our community and the mayor then congratulates the team and proclaims Wednesday April 17th as 2023 dgn Trojan girls cross country team day in the village of Downer's Grove so congratulations the village of Woodridge also recognizes your accomplishments on S Saturday November 4th 2023 uh says that the achievements of the Downers Grove North student athletes highlight the commitment spirit and pride of the Woodridge community and they should be recognized
004they thank the runners coaches students administrators parents and all other involved with the program for representing this region so well making Downers Grove North High School proud and for bringing the community surrounding Downers Grove North High School together during this exciting cross country season uh Gina Cunningham the mayor of Woodridge then by virtue her office declares Monday April 15th today as the Downers Grove North High School girls cross country team day congratulations I'll invite the board members to come forward and get a picture with our fine athletes I [Applause] thank you oh gosh that's so loud sorry thank you again oh that's better thank you again um for all of you for coming tonight um and letting us celebrate you once again so um in the fall first we made uh we put a lot
005of miles on our car this fall so we first made the trip to Peoria to see the girls and the boys and then a couple weeks later we went to Bloomington um to see our boys uh football team participate in the State final uh game so at this time I would like to call up head coach Joe heri who's going to talk a little bit about the team and have the team come [Applause] up thank you so much for uh for having us I'm not as good of a speaker as Tim was so um just bear with me um I did go to District 99 schools though so you know topnotch education um but yeah thank you to uh our Dr thely our superintendent in the board of education for honoring um our our kids
006accomplishments um it was a tremendous season um a lot of hard work goes into it obviously um you know strength training in the offseason Friday mornings uh of course McDonald's breakfast U which the kids you know that get some there um but uh in our summer camp U seven on sevens things like that um and then obviously our fall season um we we started off the season really really well 5-0 for the first time I think since 2004 um we had to set back uh the week six and seven and then you know rattled it off until we uh played Mount Carmel in the state championship game so um tremendously proud of our kids um they brought a lot of you know excitement to the to the town and um donor's Grove loves a winner
007so you know we're excited to hopefully keep that rolling um you know and our our plan is to be here next year at this same board meeting we'll do that just for fun um but we'll we'll bring home the big one uh that's our goal um kids are working hard at it um obviously kale um was recognized as an Allstate athlete as well um in the state of Illinois that's a really big deal um played through um a lot of adversity had a foot injury the the entire year um thankful that Iowa State didn't tell him he couldn't play um and I don't think he'd listen anyway um but uh obviously he's not here with us he's already at school um but we're you know uh excited for him and I we know he had
008a great uh great season for us and I think I'm on video right now so Kale's going to see it good to see you buddy I hear your neck is huge um getting bigger every day um but uh tremendously proud of our guys uh I'm not going to say everybody's name um but we have a lot of guys here we have some that are uh participating right now in a charity um dodgeball tournament um in uh in Wheaten so a lot of our seniors are doing that with Coach cochi um and then we have a lot of guys on baseball and uh some other Sports so they're competing right now so we don't have the full group but um a lot of our guys are here so uh including our manager Lily Carter so team
009come on up and Lily [Applause] there's the leader all right our Villages wanted to celebrate uh the football team as well and they say on Saturday November 25th 2023 the DN Trojan football team play second in the State final class 7A championships in Normal Illinois and achieved seven regular season wins for the first time since 2005 they actually name all the members of the 2023 team here I won't read them all for sake of time but you are all listed uh and recognizes all of the coaching staff as well they say the hard work dedication talent and team chemistry of the 20203 DJ and Trojan football team serves in is an exemplary representation of Downer's Grove in the state of Illinois bringing pride and recognition to our community and says throughout the season the students
010parents and fans demonstrated a positively North attitude mayor Barnett mayor of village of Downers Grove has then proclaimed Tuesday April 16th 20124 as 2023 dgn Trojan football team day in the village of Downers Grove congratulations yeah you still got to come to school you don't get a day off for that yeah yeah yeah don't even try that one then the village of Woodridge also mentioning your fine day on November 25th 2023 uh recognizes the significant accomplishment through the hard work dedication sportsmanship talent and exceptional teamwork of all of it Stu all of the student athletes recognizes the coaches and trainers and says that the achievement of Downers Grove North student athletes highlight the commitment spirit and pride of the Woodridge community and they should be recognized they thank all the players coaches students administrators parents
011and all of the others involved with the program for representing the region so well making Downers Grove North High School proud and for bringing the community surrounding Downers Grove North High School together during this exciting football season mayor Cunningham the mayor of the village of Woodridge has declared today Monday April 15th is the Downers Grove North High School football team day congratulations [Applause] organ is not any come [Music] [Applause] what it's today all right as we continue our recognitions this evening um we have um one individual recognition for our ihsa Allstate basketball player Jack Stanton Jack could not be here tonight um he had a prior commitment um but his coach Jim Thomas sent me something that I just want to read a couple of highlights for you um J back had a record of
01283 and 25 leading his team to victory in four holiday championships securing the West Suburban Conference Championship and clinched five ihsa State Series Championships including of course our memorable appearances in the Elite 8 and Final Four Jack's outstanding skills and dedication did not go unnoticed as he was honored by being named to the Illinois first team All State team both as a junior and a senior he is committed to Princeton University to further his academic and athletic career so Jack we are really really proud of you I know you couldn't be here tonight um but it's really an honor to have you as a student athlete here um and we're really happy to recognize Jack this evening so thank you one of the things that um is really really cool to think about as we
013honor all of these student athletes and um students in activities is they that they have a lot of opportunities to go play After High School school and so you'll see um we have we will have a lot of our student athletes do that and our coaches really helped facilitate those plans so um I think it's really it's really cool to see our student athletes growing not only here but then of course after high school as well so um at this time I would like to bring up our girls head swim coach as we recognize our two student athletes in girls swim and dive so if Kelly logman could come up and I'll have her introduce the girls and talk a little bit about their accomplishments okay um I'm going to go ahead and just call
014them up here um Emily wein gust and Gian Capello um the two of them had excellent Seasons alog together um and I think the two of them standing up here being recognized is a huge Testament to both of their work ethics um two of the hardest working people I've ever met um and I'll start out with Emily Emily's just a sophomore and she placed 14th in the state this year in the Hun fly um so she has two really exciting more years to come um and we're very excited to see what else she's going to do after that um and then Giana placs fifth in the 200 freestyle um another incredible season um Gianna is a senior this year um she did so much for our team um was a great leader for us and
015she has committed to swim at the University of Illinois champagne so we're excited to follow along with what she does After High School um super proud of both of these girls um and what they've brought to our team and the dedication they've had for the team and bringing the team together as a whole um it just it was a really really good season and um I just can't wait to see what both of them have in the future congratulations we move over here for a picture have Lisa come up too come on [Applause] so at this time I know um Don would like to say a few words to our students who we've recognized this evening Don thanks Cy um thanks for everybody coming here tonight um first I I want to thank thank all
016the coaches here tonight um coaches have a huge impact on a young person's life um at a time in most of the students lives where they are hardpressed to listen to what their parents are advising them oftentimes their High School coach uh can have a profound impact not only in athletics but also in dealing with issues off the field um these coaches here tonight have created a positive culture that breeds success um collectively Athletics at dgn may be at an all-time high and I I don't think it's h hyperbola to to make that statement uh the coaches in this room tonight play an outsized role in that success and I'd like to give a round of applause to acknowledge their achievements but tonight is about the teams and individual students being recognized here tonight uh
017they achieve achievements are amazing um the Board of Education and and administration would like to take the time to recognize each and every one of these teams achievements as well as the individuals being honored here tonight uh to Jack who I know cannot be here tonight who will be taking his talents to Princeton next season on behalf of the community who you and your teammates have captivated over the past two years I wanted to extend a sincere thank you for all of the memories that you have made for all of us in the community uh celebrating your and your team's achievements have been truly so much fun over the past two years so thank you so much Jack um to kale and his teammates on the dgn football team kale who who is already taking
018his talents to the Iowa State uh football team I also wanted to thank him and all of his teammates on behalf of the community as well uh the run you and your team had to the state championship was so exciting and also was a rallying point for the community seeing all the dgn flags in downtown downers Grove during your playoff run was inspiring we wish you all the best with Coach Campbell kale and the Cyclones next season and Beyond so congratulations to Gian and Emily um we're so proud of your achievements and the continued success that you and your teammates have demonstrated for the dgn swimming program Giana we wish you all the best as you take your talents to Champagne next season [Applause] to Lily Sarah Elena and Ava you've brought the girls cross
019country and track and field teams to new heights um your accomplishments at the state Regional and National Cross Country meets were the Talk of the Town uh you should be extremely proud of your achievements and all we and we all look forward to what this team can do next year um although she probably won't like this there's one student who I'd like to single out tonight um and it's not my daughter um Sarah Paul um if you could just wave to the crowd please thank you Sarah um Sarah's an amazing CrossCountry Runner she finished 13th at this year's girls cross country meet and she happens to be one of the best MERS in the state in this year in track but that's really not the most amazing thing about Sarah Sarah lished all of this
020with asthma um as you can imagine being this successful at running with asthma takes an awful lot of grit and willpower but that isn't the most amazing thing about Sarah in addition to her athletic prowess she excels in the classroom like Jack she will also be competing in the ivy league next year as she takes her running talents to Brown University but that still may not be the most amazing thing about Sarah on top of all of these achievements she truly is an amazing artist artist and has been recognized as such Sarah whatever you end up doing after Brown I hope you still find time to draw because your talent is undeniable so thank you sah um while Sarah's story is incredible um she isn't the only one here with an amazing story many of
021the students here tonight and a part of these teams have similar stories that is the point and purpose of tonight to celebrate at their these amazing student athletes their uniqueness and their fantastic achievements to each of the students here tonight I also want you to know the that the success that you have achieved will have and has had a profound impact on the next generation of dgn student athletes as I sat in the stands for basketball games at dgn I heard six and seven year old boys scream we love Jack I you know at at at the downers girl football games I watch Panthers players stand on the sideline lines throwing footballs following every aspect of the dgn football team as they soar as they soar to new heights inspiring the dreams of future dgn
022football players and what they can dare to achieve GI and Emily have had the same impact on young swimmers in our community Lily Sarah Ava Elena McKenzie Audrey cydney pvy and Hannah you've all inspired young girls in our community to want to run cross country the success that you all the successes that all of you here tonight have achieved achieved goes beyond yourselves you should be proud of the impact that you've had on your community on behalf of the board and administration we wanted you to know how proud We Are of each one of you here tonight and how proud the community is of each of your achievements to the seniors here tonight wish we wish you all the best in your next Endeavors and for those returning to your sports next year at dgn
023we wish you continued success thank you so much no we have student perspectives first yep all right thank you so much Don we appreciate those words um and it is it is so cool to be able to recognize so many students this year it's really been incredible the other incredible piece is that we have these amazing athletic teams and we also have these other amazing Club clubs and activities that our students get to take part in um and one of those is being featured tonight and I'm really really excited um to call up uh an Miss Annie Driscoll she is our sponsor for our orchus team and we have TAA and Nora here tonight too so the three of you if you want to come up um they're going to talk to a little bit
024tonight um about the orchus team and their most Rec recent accomplishments which are amazing um and so I'm going to turn it over to Annie tonight to and and we're a little shorter than everyone else who's been up here um so like Dr DeMent said my name is Annie drll and I am the proud sponsor of DG's orchesis Dance Company I've been a special services teacher and orchesis director for the past 15 years and I am very proud to have two of my dancers with me tonight I have Nora Rajesh who is a senior and four-year orchus member and then I have TAA Dessa who is a sophomore and who is a first year officer this year this year's orchus Dance Company com was comprised of 31 company members Four Freshmen six sophomores five Juniors
025and 16 seniors our company was led by three officers myself Junior Maddie Swinson and Senior Kelsey art in order to become a part of the company members must audition we welcome a diverse range of Dance Experience our dancers are well versed in a number of dance genres such as ballet contemporary jazz hipop tap and Bollywood to name a few year after year our company continues to grow in in in its involvement and recognition we are proud to perform at both all all School assemblies at the homecoming assembly dancers performed the professionally choreographed pce finale from the pr previous year showcase and at the winter pep assembly we performed the professionally choreographed hip-hop piece to fundraise for costumes lights and choreographers we put on our annual event showstoppers our largest group to date had 50 prek
026through sixth graders learn a dance to perform and ignite our dancers also performed and participated in their first professional photo shoot each dancer had shots taken which were projected to the audience in the house prior to current opening all right while our showcase takes place in early February our work begins at the beginning of the school year our dancers must audition choreography to be accepted as a dance for our showcase after which our dancers sign up start rehearsing on a weekly basis in addition to rehearsals at school our dancers spend countless hours at home watching video and perfecting their movement each choreographer takes on a great deal of responsibility to get their piece stage ready the majority of our rehearsals take place right outside those doors in the auditorium Lobby and in addition to student
027choreography we welcomed three professionally choreographed uh professional choreographers this year we had Christian Sosa who choreographed um a contemporary piece Iran Kashi who choreographed A hip-hop dance and Matt pum Manz who choreographed finale Matt pum Manz is an especially renowned choreographer in the area he's known for choreographing for the lovables and he even does ABC7 New Year's Eve um dance it continues to be a highlight for our dancers to learn from those who have made their passion for dance a career all of this however takes a significant amount of time and dedication our choreographers spend truly hundreds and and dancers spend hundreds of hours preparing for showcase so our main highlight of the year for our members is our showcase this year's showcase ignite welcomed over 900 audience members and impressed them with 24 dances
028not only does the company bond an incredible amount during this time but it is great to see the product of everyone's work not only of the choreographers and dancers but also of the tech crew senior member Alina Lee captures the power of what showcase does for members in that it teachers are dancers the importance of taking risks and going out of their comfort zone as a senior my favorite part of orchesis has been the opportunity to share and celebrate my culture here is an excerpt from my Bollywood dance musty must be while it is extremely thank you while it is extremely challenging to teach a style like this to dancers who are of and learning it for the first time the end product makes it so much more rewarding orchus has had a Bollywood piece
029in the showcase for the past eight years and my family is very proud to be a part of that our success this year did not end with our annual showcase for the first time in company history one of our dances was selected to perform in the Illinois High School Dance Festival my dance broken trust was one of 14 selected out of over 50 submissions on April 5th our dancers were celebrated as some of the best in the state on stage at barington high school it was truly an honor to be acknowledged at this level and to perform on stage alongside other state qualifying dancers I am so honored to be the director behind this incredible group we are proud to be a group that Fosters leadership creativity diversity and Community we are so thankful for
030this opportunity to share our hard work and successes orchus is a true labor of love for all involved and for the administration and board to validate orchus as equals to our theater and athletic programs would further Empower our dancers and allow us to continue providing opportunities for students to create lead and perform thank you so [Applause] much thank you again Annie TAA and Nora for being here tonight um it is really really cool how many opportunities we get to provide students that provide an inclusive environment um for them to really be who they are and for them to express what they want to um and we have so many venues and avenues for students to do that and I'm just really really proud to be a part of that so thank you again everyone for
031coming um I'm going to turn it over to Don I believe who's going to um transition to a recess just one take yeah uh so we will briefly recess and then reconvene in the community room here at North High where we will continue the remainder of the board meeting to get to the community room ex to the back back the auditorium and go left the community room is on your right thanks for coming and have a great [Applause] night those are yours it's like somebody left e