Post by slt on Sept 25, 2009 6:41:19 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/lifestyles/1789185,2_5_AU25_TATAR_S1-090925.article
September 25, 2009
By SHERRY TATAR Guest Columnist
Opinions may vary on its exterior appearance, but we all know that it's what's on the inside that counts. What you'll find inside Metea Valley High School is a great deal of enthusiasm, energy and school spirit in an environment well-designed for student learning.
After seeing the hubbub of construction on a daily basis for more than a year, we finally got to see the interior Aug. 11. This is when incoming students had their orientation and dance, and their parents had an information session and were given a chance to tour the building.
Everyone else gets their turn to go inside Oct. 4, when the school will hold its formal dedication at 2 p.m., followed by an open house until 5 p.m. The afternoon before, the Mustangs will play a home football game against the Neuqua Valley Wildcats at 1 p.m. There is no cost to attend this meeting of sophomore teams, and this is a great opportunity to see an exciting football game as well as performances by the Metea Valley marching band, color guard, poms and cheerleaders.
On Aug. 22, the school held Mustang Mania. Here we had our first glimpse of several sport teams and the marching band. The PTSA and Sports Boosters had tables set up and concessions were available. This was a well-attended event, as was the first home football game Sept. 11, in which the stands were well more than half-filled, despite the fact that the school's student body will more than double in size in the next two years. Many families who don't even have high school students were there with their young children.
The great things going on here didn't start with the first day of school. Principal Jim Schmid, his staff, the PTSA and Sports Boosters parents have been hard at work for quite some time, yet it feels like school spirit happened virtually overnight. Many new Mustangs had been looking forward to being Waubonsie Valley Warriors, yet the transition has gone well. Some MVHS students attended the first football game at WVHS with friends, and then some WV students attended MV's first home game the following week.
The start of the school year is, by all appearances, going remarkably well. Clubs and sports have larger than expected numbers of participants. Sports teams are winning. Audition and nonaudition extracurricular music groups are set up and rehearsing. A spring break band trip to Disney World and a summer break trip to Spain for students who will have completed Spanish 2 are in the works.
The school's fall play, "I'm getting Murdered in the Morning," has been cast. It will be a dinner-theater wedding reception held in the school's cafeteria Oct. 22-24.
Metea Valley Student Government (MVStudentGo) is working on its constitution and planning fall events. In lieu of homecoming, a new high school has events that are like what homecoming would be in another school, but named differently since there are not yet any alumni. Metea's Black and Gold Masquerade Dance will be held the evening of Saturday, Oct. 3. Leading up to that weekend will be spirit week with the following days -- Monday is Sports Team Day, Tuesday is Twin Day, Wednesday is Decades Day, Thursday is College Day, and Friday is Black and Gold.
As expected, freshman and sophomore students get to do things in this school they would not have if they'd been in a school that has juniors and seniors. They get to join some organizations and/or hold leadership roles that would not have been available to them otherwise. I heard from chorus director Nathan Bramstedt that he is working with his students to perform at the upper level from the start, that they will be performing as juniors and seniors would. In this district's music program, that's impressive.
At curriculum night Sept. 17 I was impressed by the professionalism and enthusiasm of the teachers and other staff as well as by the number of parents in attendance; it was standing-room-only in almost every classroom I was in.
I love the layout of the building and how easy it is to get from one place to another, in addition to how easy it is to find the rooms and for the students to have access to their lockers, their counselors and academic help throughout the day. The facilities are impressive and the new Mustang mural in the gym is beautiful.
The administration, staff, students and parents have already come together to form a new school community and have begun new traditions in an environment with ample opportunity for all.
Metea Valley High School is at 1801 N. Eola Road, Aurora.
Contact Sherry Tatar at SherryTatar@ameritech.net.
September 25, 2009
By SHERRY TATAR Guest Columnist
Opinions may vary on its exterior appearance, but we all know that it's what's on the inside that counts. What you'll find inside Metea Valley High School is a great deal of enthusiasm, energy and school spirit in an environment well-designed for student learning.
After seeing the hubbub of construction on a daily basis for more than a year, we finally got to see the interior Aug. 11. This is when incoming students had their orientation and dance, and their parents had an information session and were given a chance to tour the building.
Everyone else gets their turn to go inside Oct. 4, when the school will hold its formal dedication at 2 p.m., followed by an open house until 5 p.m. The afternoon before, the Mustangs will play a home football game against the Neuqua Valley Wildcats at 1 p.m. There is no cost to attend this meeting of sophomore teams, and this is a great opportunity to see an exciting football game as well as performances by the Metea Valley marching band, color guard, poms and cheerleaders.
On Aug. 22, the school held Mustang Mania. Here we had our first glimpse of several sport teams and the marching band. The PTSA and Sports Boosters had tables set up and concessions were available. This was a well-attended event, as was the first home football game Sept. 11, in which the stands were well more than half-filled, despite the fact that the school's student body will more than double in size in the next two years. Many families who don't even have high school students were there with their young children.
The great things going on here didn't start with the first day of school. Principal Jim Schmid, his staff, the PTSA and Sports Boosters parents have been hard at work for quite some time, yet it feels like school spirit happened virtually overnight. Many new Mustangs had been looking forward to being Waubonsie Valley Warriors, yet the transition has gone well. Some MVHS students attended the first football game at WVHS with friends, and then some WV students attended MV's first home game the following week.
The start of the school year is, by all appearances, going remarkably well. Clubs and sports have larger than expected numbers of participants. Sports teams are winning. Audition and nonaudition extracurricular music groups are set up and rehearsing. A spring break band trip to Disney World and a summer break trip to Spain for students who will have completed Spanish 2 are in the works.
The school's fall play, "I'm getting Murdered in the Morning," has been cast. It will be a dinner-theater wedding reception held in the school's cafeteria Oct. 22-24.
Metea Valley Student Government (MVStudentGo) is working on its constitution and planning fall events. In lieu of homecoming, a new high school has events that are like what homecoming would be in another school, but named differently since there are not yet any alumni. Metea's Black and Gold Masquerade Dance will be held the evening of Saturday, Oct. 3. Leading up to that weekend will be spirit week with the following days -- Monday is Sports Team Day, Tuesday is Twin Day, Wednesday is Decades Day, Thursday is College Day, and Friday is Black and Gold.
As expected, freshman and sophomore students get to do things in this school they would not have if they'd been in a school that has juniors and seniors. They get to join some organizations and/or hold leadership roles that would not have been available to them otherwise. I heard from chorus director Nathan Bramstedt that he is working with his students to perform at the upper level from the start, that they will be performing as juniors and seniors would. In this district's music program, that's impressive.
At curriculum night Sept. 17 I was impressed by the professionalism and enthusiasm of the teachers and other staff as well as by the number of parents in attendance; it was standing-room-only in almost every classroom I was in.
I love the layout of the building and how easy it is to get from one place to another, in addition to how easy it is to find the rooms and for the students to have access to their lockers, their counselors and academic help throughout the day. The facilities are impressive and the new Mustang mural in the gym is beautiful.
The administration, staff, students and parents have already come together to form a new school community and have begun new traditions in an environment with ample opportunity for all.
Metea Valley High School is at 1801 N. Eola Road, Aurora.
Contact Sherry Tatar at SherryTatar@ameritech.net.