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Week of January 29 to February 2
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Update from Superintendent Ongtengco
Dear Fenton Families,
February is Black History Month and Fenton honors the sacrifices of past, present, and future. Our students and staff will engage in rich discussions throughout the month, including a February 7th in-school field trip to learn about Emmett Till and a February 16th Evening of Black Excellence dinner that is open to the public.
Please RSVP for the Evening of Excellence by February 12: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8pvCwmN7TEIPwKBGh6NhiUgHDisyEHriN4aWUUneFytU5Zg/viewform Our team of volunteers simply needs to know how many guests to plan around. The event will include performances and readings by Fenton students, dinner, and special guest speakers. Donations are greatly appreciated and will go toward next year’s event.
On another note, February is when we find out if Mr. Mark Drelicharz and the Fenton Automotive Program will win another great honor. Mr. Drelicharz is one of only 20 schools throughout the country to be nominated for Tomorrow’s Technician 2023/2024 School of the Year, sponsored by WIX Filters and O’Reilly Auto Parts.
Tomorrow's Technician is a national automotive publication geared toward educators and students in the automotive field. Other nominees include public high schools, private high schools, vocational consortiums similar to TCD, community colleges, and trade schools.
This is a great example of our hard work in career pathways being noticed and recognized outside our walls. All 20 nominees were asked to submit a 6-minute video highlighting their program and addressing questions about innovation and student buy-in. As you’ll see in the video, our program heavily emphasizes partnerships Mr. Drelicharz has formed with local businesses like Grand Subaru as well as unique guest speakers like the Army National Guard that captivate and motivate our students. A panel of judges from sponsoring advertisers select the top four schools in February.
Click here or click on the embedded YouTube video to watch our 6-minute feature. As far as we are concerned, Mr. Drelicharz has already won the award. He's a rock star as a teacher, and his wisdom is helping other teachers grow because he's also a great Instructional Coach who mentors others.
Our broader efforts toward Career Pathways is also receiving some air time. Thank you to the Village of Bensenville media production team for attending our Career Fair and filming a Spotlight on Fenton High School show for the public access television station.
This show centers around explaining Career Pathways and our expectation that all students by the time they graduate develop one or two possible plans for where they want to be in the workforce after high school.
The Career Fair itself allowed every single student the opportunity to speak with a variety of industry professionals and ask questions about their daily tasks, pay, and required levels of education needed for their job.
Another option students have for determining their plan is to do an internship with a local business or organization and actually do the real world job. The second half of our Bensenville TV show featured two students who shared their internship experiences – one of them is at a local law firm and the other is at a multinational engineering and manufacturing company.
I couldn’t be more proud of our students, and the staff that built an incredible Career Fair.
But most importantly, these partnerships are only possible thanks to the dedication and hard work by the economic development teams at the Village of Bensenville and City of Wood Dale. Thank you Bensenville Village President Frank DeSimone and Bensenville Village Manager Evan Summers, as well as Wood Dale Mayor Nunzio Pulice and Wood Dale City Manager Jeff Mermuys. Your diligence has made our community a great place to live, work, and raise our children.
Let’s Go Bison!
– James Ongtengco, Superintendent
Get Informed About Fenton's Facility Referendum
Fenton High School’s Facility Referendum is on the March 19 ballot. We urge everyone to get informed, register to vote, and make time to vote one way or another. This school is an asset to our community, from our community. Your preference matters and is counted in the polls.
If the referendum is successful, we will be able to:
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Renovate Our School to Make it Safer for Students and Teachers
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Modernize Some Classrooms and Career Learning Spaces for 21st Century Learning.
Fenton is hosting a special Referendum Town Hall at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 2 for students, parents, and community members to tour the building and ask questions about the proposed renovation.
Our website is your main resource for getting informed on this Fenton High School Facility Referendum. Please utilize and get immersed in all the assembled web pages:
www.fenton100.org/referendum – Facility Referendum Home Page
- Referendum Tax Information
- Referendum Questions and Answers
- Voting Information
- Referendum Project Overview
As always, Fenton administrators will be on-hand at numerous special and regular school functions. Please feel free to ask for a referendum team member or send an email to fentonhelp@fenton100.org if you have questions.
Drive Thru Food Pantry on Tuesday, February 13
Fenton High School and the Bensenville-Wood Dale Food Pantry have a Mobile Food Pantry distribution on Tuesday February 13, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Fenton High School.
This unique opportunity is open to anyone in the area who is in need of food; supplies are limited and will be distributed on a first come first served basis. Please drive through our bus lane, remain inside your car, and open your trunk when you approach our teams.
National School Counseling Week
The week of February 5 to February 9 is National School Counseling Week, highlighting the unique contributions of school counselors within U.S. school systems, and their tremendous impact on student success. We appreciate and thank our eight Fenton school counselors for their work and advocacy for our Bison!
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Freddy Cano
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Melissa To
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Rachel Georgakis
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Ron Cuellar
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Araceli Avila
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Sarah McDougal
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Maia Whalen
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Paul Welsh
Speech Team Repeats as Regional Champions
Congratulations to your Bison Speech team who are your 2024 Regional Champions in Individual Events and your 2024 champions in Performance in the Round. Fenton hosted and won regionals on Saturday, February 3. The following students are headed to Sectionals this Saturday, February 10 for a chance to advance to STATE:
- Senior Alexa Calderon double champed in Informative and Prose
- Senior Sarah Guerrero double champed in Oratory and in Poetry
- Sophomore Faith Wrzeciona double champed in Dramatic Interp and Humorous Duet Acting
- Junior Tereza Belej champed in Radio
- Junior Lex Mikulski champed in Humorous Duet Acting and took 3rd in Humorous Interp
- Senior Febe Reyes took 2nd in Dramatic Duet Acting and took 4th in Declamation
- Sophomore Josslyn Wade took 2nd in Dramatic Duet Acting
- Junior Aldo Benitez took 4th in Impromptu Speaking
- Junior Julia Windham took 4th place in Special Occasion Speaking
Congratulations to the 2024 champion cast of The Paper Menagerie Performance in the Round: Freshmen Alita Thach, Angie Varghese, AJ Arteaga, Diya Patel, Damaris Lopez, Alonso Romero, and Taylor Corona, Sophomores Arturo Hurtado and Jayden Mojarro, Senior Ariana Acosta and Understudies Wren Hamilton and Anna Belle Burleson.
Fenton Gets Jazzed Up at Purdue University
Huge Bison Shout Out to Benjamin Sanchez, Maximilliano Diaz, Febe Reyes, Lita Aguilar, and Denisse Hermida for earning an “Outstanding Soloist Award” during the Purdue University Jazz Festival on January 19th and 20th.
Fenton’s band is now gearing up for its next concert, scheduled for 7 p.m. on March 7. All are invited! The Music Boosters Fundraiser Spaghetti With a Song is also scheduled for 1 p.m. on March 10.
Xavior Gonzalez Breaks Basketball Milestone
Congratulations to Fenton senior Xavior Gonzalez for surpassing 1,000 points in his career as a Bison Baller. Xavior achieved this milestone in a triple overtime battle against Glenbard East on January 30. His incredible milestone comes shortly after his teammate, Alejandro Diaz, also scored his 1,000th career point. This duo should make for an exciting playoff push!
The all-time points leader for the boys basketball program is Diamon King with 1,208 points, a total that was set in the 2019-2020 school year.
Pack the Place for Bison Basketball's Class of 2024 Senior Nights
Come celebrate the Class of 2024 Bison Ballers! The Lady Bison will be recognized prior to their 7:30 p.m. game against Elmwood Park on Thursday, February 8. The Upstate Eight Conference Champion boys team will honor their seniors prior to their 7 p.m. game against West Chicago on Friday, February 9.
Let's pack to place and show these hoopers our Bison Pride!
Special Olympics Basketball Defeats Morton in Pack The Place Matchup
Congratulations to our Special Olympics Basketball Team for defeating Morton West during the Friday, January 26 Pack the Place matchup at Fenton. Each school had enough players to completely swap lineups after halftime. Fenton won Game by a score of 48-28.
Bison Coaches Simon Sanchez and Emma Kiel expressed their gratitude for the large turnout in the stands, the decorations and raffle organized by the Interact Club, the great music from the Fenton Pep Band, and the incredible halftime performances by the Dance Force. Principal Sam Bentsen made a special guest appearance to spice up the starting lineups.
Yearbooks and Senior Advertisements Only Sold Online
Don’t miss out on buying your copy of the 2023-2024 Highlights Yearbook. Walsworth Publishing allows for guaranteed yearbook orders through January. After that, all yearbooks are available while supplies last.
Yearbooks and senior ads (hint, hint, moms and dads) are only sold online. Search "Fenton High School" on yearbookforever.com.
Attention Seniors!
Our yearbook editors will soon start designing our seniors advertisements.
Senior ads are a great way to cement your favorite memories and accomplishments in a book that's archived forever. Simply choose your desired advertisement size, write your custom message, and upload your picture(s).
The “Guess Who” senior baby pictures are another fun way to contribute to this school-wide celebration. Start looking for your best picture. The Highlights staff will begin collecting photos for $10 in the next few weeks.
Email Mr. Kambic (kambic@fenton100.org) if you have any questions.
Noteworthy Dates
- February 6 – NHS Meeting (Seniors Only), 7:30 am
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February 13 – Food For Families Distribution, 4 pm
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February 19 – No School - President's Day
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February 27 – Talent Show Dress Rehearsal, 5 pm
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February 28 – Choir Concert, 7 pm
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February 28 – Board of Education Meeting, 7 pm
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February 29 – Talent Show, 6 pm
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March 1 – No School, Teachers Institute Day
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March 7 – Winter Band Concert, 7 pm
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March 8 – Elmhurst College Band Festival
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March 10 – Spaghetti with a Song music boosters fundraiser, 1 pm
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March 20 – Student Council Blood Drive