Cookies for the homeless

They say that the Christmas season is a time to give and not to be given and that is what many members of the Ridgewood, Norridge, and Harwood Heights community did. Many community members donated their time and made cookies which would be distributed to the homeless over the holiday season. Below are some of the many pictures of parents, students, children, and teachers donating their time and making some cookies.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Charles Duncan Helps Student Mentors Take-off

This years junior and senior student mentors have an amazing opportunity set for them this year. The Vice President of United Airlines, Charles Duncan, is leading Junior Achievement sponsored sessions, which guides students in picking a career that is satisfying to them. During the first session, Charles Duncan talked about how his passion for airlines lead him to the position of Vice President of United Airlines, his time in Tokyo, Japan, and his experience at United Airlines. Also, the students were able to write down their "noble cause" (doing something that is self rewarding to a one's self) and will receive what they have written down at the end of the year. And to end the day, the student mentors played a "quote card game" where we had a set of cards and tried to single out our favorite one. It was an eye-opening and inspiring experience and we cannot wait until Mr. Duncan comes back for our next session.

Below are some pictures from our session:

Image Credit For Sessions: http://www.ridgenet.org/District/News/2853-UAL-VP-Leads-Juniors-Seniors-in-JA.html

United Airlines Photo Credit: http://sfappeal.com/news/2012/04/united-airlines-to-quit-flying-to-oakland.php

ALSO, Here are some of the many quotes from the card game that we played.

"For if we are to build a better world, we must start by building bridges of friendship, asking the questions and listening to the answers that underpin trust and connection."

-Rania Al- Abdullah

Queen Of Jordan (1970-)

"It just came to me. This is something I was meant to do."

-Apolo Anton Ohno

US Olympic Gold Medalist (1982-)

"Work hard, be patient, and be a sponge while learning your business. Learn how to take criticism. Follow your gut instincts and don't comrpomise."

-Simon Cowell

English music and television Producer (1959-)

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

-Albert Einstein

German scientist (1879-1955)

Project Happiness Invades Ridgewood

On the morning of October 25, 2012, every student at Ridgewood High School had the opportunity to watch the heart-warming and inspiring movie Project Happiness. After watching the movie, there was a school assembly in the Rebel Field House where each student received a blue "I Choose Happiness" wristband and were able to ask questions to Chief Operating Officer Brian Rusch and Educational Director Emily Crubaugh. During the three lunch periods, six lucky students from each lunch period had the opportunity to meet and talk with Brian and Emily about their experiences shooting the movie, and throughout the day, many teachers and students felt inspired to talk about their experiences of happiness in their own lives.

Below are some pictures from the Assembly:

Image Credit: http://www.projecthappiness.org/2012/11/02/ridgewood-high-school-encourages-students-to-find-their-happiness/

Presidential Service Award Guide

ATTENTION JUNIOR AND SENIOR STUDENT MENTORS: This is the very first year that the first Presidential Service Award will be awarded during the 2012-2013 Awards Assembly. In order to achieve this award, you must track your hours in the presidential service award website. You are required to track:

• The summer hour meeting that we held over the summer (the one at the Eisenhower Public Library Board Room)
• The sessions where you assist your adult mentors at the monthly goal setting sessions.
• The once a month meeting we have with Mrs. Barry where we review the Freshmen's planners.

Here is a guide to help you track your hours. (Click images to enlarge)

1. Go to: https://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/tgact/login/dspLoginAll.cfm

2. Type in your username and password.

3. Click on 'View'

4. Click on 'Create New Record'

5. Under 'General': Make the service activity Mentoring, Make the Organization name RHS Mentoring, and put specific area of service as Education and Literacy.

6. Under 'Date of Service' Select single day, put the date of which you have done the following listed above in this post (the bullet points), and put the hours of service you have done that correlates with that time (usually for an hour for the activities listed in bullet points above).

7. Put the 'location' as Norridge and 'State' as IL. For 'Description of Service' put the Description of the service you have done, and put your own personal opinions for 'Tell us about your experience'.

8. Hit Update this activity at the bottom.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO DO THIS AFTER EACH SESSION! THANK YOU!

Image credit: http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/tg/pvsainfo/dspAboutAwards.cfm

Preparing for the 2012-2013 Mentoring year

Over the summer right before the school year started, a combination of both the junior/senior mentors along with the adult mentors crammed into the Eisenhower Public Library Board Room and discussed how we were all going to approach the upcoming year. During the session, the junior/seniors were able to meet the adult mentors they were going to assist and were able work together to plan a common goal: to guide the next generation of freshmen through their next four years at Ridgewood High School. Below are some of the pictures from the session:

Credit: Norridge/ Harwood Heights Pioneer Press

Link to article: http://norridge.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/index.html?story=14852720

2011-2012 Mentoring year

The 2011-2012 mentoring year was successful. In the video above, we have stories from our student mentors, senior mentors, and our freshmen who will be entering their sophomore year in the fall.

Ridgewood High School Awards Assembly 2012-2013

On May, 24, 2012 at the 2012-2013 Ridgewood High School awards assembly, Carol Valentino-Barry presented mentoring awards to the Junior and Senior Student Mentors for their efforts in helping and mentoring the Freshmen Students.