Business Professionals of America chapter competes in area competition

Naperville Central’s Business Professionals of America (BPA) chapter attended its area competition at Neuqua Valley High School on Saturday Jan. 11.  An area competition for all computer events was held before winter break at Central.

Aside from Central and Neuqua, Waubonsie Valley, Metea Valley, and Naperville North High Schools were also in attendance.  Thirty-four Central chapter members advanced to the state competition.  

“A lot of presentation events qualified, which is good, because those are the harder ones,” club co-president Caroline Li said. “Not a lot of freshmen or sophomores [qualified].  I think [that] because the upperclassmen have been through it a few times and they understand how it works; they have realized you actually need to put work into it.  Even though we have told them many times to ask us for help, they still don’t, so there’s nothing we can do about it.” 

Those who did advance expect to perform well at state.

“Our state competition will be from Feb. 27-29, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oakbrook,” club co-president Hersh Prathak said. “We hope to qualify over 50% to the national competition, which will take place in Washington, D.C., in early May.”  

BPA is one of Naperville Central’s numerous business oriented clubs.  It is sponsored by Brad Neubauer and meets on Thursday mornings in the Business INCubator room.  

“You do a lot of business competitions, like presentation competitions, computer competitions, [and] tests, and it has a wide range of subjects,” Li said.   

BPA also runs a number of service events.

“At the state competition we will have a fund-raiser for Special Olympics,” Prathak said.  “BPA [also] hosted a cookie bake with CEC (Club for Exceptional Children) in December. Service is a great part of BPA’s mission statement.”

Naperville Central hosts annual 8th grade orientation

Current eighth grade students and their families attended Naperville Central’s eighth grade orientation on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 7. Principal Bill Wiesbrook and Dean of Student Activities Lynn Nolan welcomed them with a speech at the beginning of the orientation. The future Central students and accompanying family were then introduced to activities, athletics and academics through booths set up by students and staff in the cafeteria, field-house and main gym.

Instagram post over vaping dangers goes viral

 Nineteen year-old Claire Chung from Maryland was sent to the emergency room on Christmas morning following health issues due to vaping. Her since deleted posts about her experiences went viral on Instagram.

“After being on two antibiotics for 48 hours, the fevers were still spiking to 104,” Chung wrote. “I was hospitalized and given IV fluids and antibiotics.” 

Chung wanted to share her story with  teens who are also addicted to vaping.

“The stories that you’re hearing online are REAL,” Chung wrote. “Death was a VERY real possibility, I am still hospitalized on a laundry list of IV drugs and steroids, I may have permanent scarring in my lungs, and it’s all because of Juuls and carts.”

Theatre Central begins preparing for One Act Play Festival

NCHS’ Theater Central is hosting its annual One Acts Festival, with auditions on Jan. 28 and 29. Those auditioning would have to sign up outside of the Communication arts office for at least three of the five shows, with each show hosting 15-minute group audition blocks after school. The shows welcome students of all acting experience levels to participate in the show. 

Each show is 15 to 20 minutes, with all shows being written, directed, and produced by NCHS students. 

The shows are constrained by time, set and lighting. Each show gets 16 black boxes to arrange however they want and are only allowed one special lighting cue. 

This year’s festival is being produced by Theatre Central Vice President Hayaa Chhaya and her assistant producer, Sandy Gemeny. 

The shows will take on place March 12, 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. 

Speech team competes at Glenbard West Topper Tourney, Wheaton Warrenville South Tiger Tourney

Naperville Central’s speech team competed at the Wheaton Warrenville South Tiger Tourney on Jan. 18, placing ninth out of 24 schools. Captain Michelle Kee placed first in Original Oratory and fifth in Informative Speaking; executive officer Kate Li placed third in Informative Speaking; captain Hersh Pathak placed fourth in Oratorical Declamation; Aastha Chouhan placed fifth in Radio Speaking and Sritulasi Alokam advanced to finals for Poetry Reading. 

A week prior, the team placed seventh out of 20 at the Glenbard West Topper Tourney. Kee placed second in Informative Speaking and fourth in Original Oratory; executive officer Rukan Parves placed fourth Special Occasion Speaking; Li placed sixth in Informative Speaking and Sanjana Prashanth advanced to finals for Dramatic Interpretation. 

Naperville Board of Education met on Jan. 6

On Jan. 6, District 203’s Board of Education met to discuss their five year capital improvement plan, summer school’s impact on students and expenses. 

A primary focus was on the “summer slide,” or summer learning loss often experienced during break where students can fall up to a month behind in learning, though it is not as drastic in District 203 as others.

While there was some extended conversation on the impact summer school has on students in District 203, their future plan considering the topic was brought into discussion. 

Though there are other unseen variables involved in every student’s summer, the board concluded that encouraging attendance to summer programs by making it more accessible would ultimately improve learning. 

District 203 updates old application

Naperville School District 203 has switched from using their proprietary  application to using an app, called Bb.

Parents and students can find district news and updates through the app.

The app is used by several districts and run by school software company Blackboard. To get updates from District 203, users must search and select Naperville 203 once they have downloaded the app.