As the school year comes to a close, we've had tons of fun programming as a hall.
May 7th brought our annual Birthday Party for the hall as 1501 was dedicated "Harris Hall" on May 7, 2002. This annual celebration included cakes, ice cream sundaes, and a healthy round of singing "Happy Birthday!" to the hall that we call home.
We also had our annual End of the Year Party with S'mores and superlatives voted on by the hall. Unfortunately, this year the event got rained out and we had to make it indoors but we still had a fun time.
Lastly, we had a fun senior celebration watching the quintessential high school film: Mean Girls. With tons of food and friends, it was an amazing time before we graduate this weekend.
With that in mind, I would like to thank you all for joining us this year. On behalf of the entire Residential Student Leadership and professional Residential Counselor teams, it has been an absolute pleasure to live with each and everyone of our 86 student residents over the course of this year. We hope you've had tons of fun and our excited for whatever the next phase brings for you.
If you are returning to the hall next year, you have a fantastic RSL team for you and I hope you enjoy.
April is stereotypically known worldwide for its rainy days, but in 1501 it's known for our annual Battle of the Stereotypes events, in which students compete in various competitions that are typically gender-coded.
Tuesday brought relay races. The Battle started with our perennial favorite: the high heel race. In this event, the feminine team INCH-ed slightly ahead, earning one point. Next was the tie-tying competition, where by just a small fraction of a second, the masculine team earned one point. Last came a unique twist on a four-legged race, which had teams racing through the entire hall. In this event, the feminine team hopped over the finish line first, earning a second point for the night.
Wednesday brought a fun Mario Kart Double Dash Tourney, in which the masculine team DASH-ed into first place by winning 5 of the 6 face-offs, earning their team 2.5 points, while the feminine team won only one, earning .5 points.
In the last night, the feminine team tied the game up in our "Newly-Friends" Game, beating the masculine team in 2 of the 3 face-offs. Ultimately, neither team won because the stereotypes are just that, inaccurate assumptions about people's characteristics.
While the end of the academic year may be approaching, we still have plenty more fun activities left to go here in 1501.
Introducing the newest member of our hall: a Nintendo 64! Student Life held a raffle for the halls to win one of 4 consoles, and we got an N64. Come and play in the hall commons.
You may have noticed no update for February, but that's because we've been hard at work preparing for Clash of the Halls. As Joe previously mentioned, Clash is a week long competition every March from Student Council and their amazing Campus Activities Board. But, we have been hard at work preparing for the week long competition that took place two weeks before Spring Break since right after Lunar New Year in late-January, early-February.
On Monday, we thought hard (pun intended) and secured second place in the Think Tank competition. While we were hard at work, judges went around and gave our hall 1st place on hall decorations. Come the night event, we took seventh in hall movie. While not the result we were hoping for, the increase year over year in the quality of 1501's movies is not to be discounted, and we are incredibly proud of the work our residents put in.
For the decoration contest, we turned the hall commons into our very own treasure map.
01 hard at work in the Think Tank competition.
On Tuesday, two of our residents Becca E. ('19) and Nyxel C. ('18) represented 01 in the cake decorating competition. Using innovative methods such as turning a paper towel into a frosting bag, they transformed the cake into a beautiful pirate hat, earning us 4th place in
a difficult competition. Later that evening for Talent Show, two groups of pirates set off individually on hunts for treasure, and after a brief scuffle, decided to set apart their differences and work together to find treasure. While the treasure of first place may not have been obtained (we got 5th), the true treasure of fun and entertainment was as we had the entire auditorium in applause.
On Wednesday, in the Game Show, residents worked hard in a variety of challenges, including doughnut string trivia, ramen challenge, gummy bear hunts, and making breakfast. We earned 4th place for this event.
Thursday brought the main event--pep rally--and more than half of the points. During midday, as judges scored our hall mural portraying the diversity themes of sizes and physical disabilities (6th place), our profile photo (7th place), and our t-shirt designs (6th place), the Campus Activities Board (including 1501's very own Diego A. ('18)) provided supplies and designs for amazing face paint masterpieces. Come evening, armed with out 1501 flag and banners galore, pep rally began. While specific place values from Pep Rally are unavailable, residents of 01 participated in events such as Obstacle Course in which 12 residents navigated the turbulent seas of each hall's theme, Food Eating Contest in which 4 residents ate a wide variety of foods as fast as they could, and seniors Yoanna I., Alex H., Giezelle C., and Dan M. participated in this year's senior game. Lastly, our residents showed off their dancing skills in Drill Team, which had been practicing every night for the past month.
Our annual pre-Clash pep rally hall photo with the "01" hand symbol
While we may have gotten last place in score, we got first in fun. We had an amazing party that night and to celebrate everyone's hard work, Colette and Adam made a pancake breakfast for the hall the next morning.
Additional photos will soon be available from our amazing IMSA Student Productions team and videos of talent show and pep rally should be available on YouTube already. Ask your student for access and more information!
With Clash and the third quarter of the academic year over, we start to look towards winding down the school year and transitioning into the next. While we still have many events left as an RSL team here in 1501, we have also begun the process of seeking next years RSL team. The CD application process is ongoing and the Wing Guide process will begin as soon as that ends. Anyone who's looking to get involved in either position for next year should reach out to any of the current RSL's, their RC, or 1501's RSL Liaison Joe Mastrocola.
Getting right back into the swing of things for second semester, we've been busy studying and having fun.
During Intersession week, when students have a little more free time, we ran a movie series marathon to introduce residents to movie series they may not have previously watched. We showed the first installment of Shrek, High School Musical, Sharknado, and Bring it One.
The winter months can sometimes be hard on students since the sun sets so early and the main building has few windows. So, as a hall, we planted flowers and other plants to brighten up rooms. Reusing the bottom halves of plastic water bottles, we made nice little planters out of typically discarded materials. Ask your student what plant they chose to plant!
The upcoming month will be busy for sure, but we have plenty of fun events in store. Check back soon for another look into life in 1501.
December is always a busy month for students at IMSA with finals right around the corner and projects piling up. With that said, we had a set of fun activities designed to help students sit back and relax during the colder months of the year.
1501 has annual tradition of hosting a gingerbread decorating event with 1502 each year, and with the generous support of both halls' parents, it was a fantastic success increasing cross campus connections between our residents.
Some of our residents amazing creations
CD's from both halls joined together to build a nice residence for all 14 CD's across campus.
We also had two fantastic events for finals prep. The Sunday before finals Mathematics faculty Dr. Fogel brought a fantastic feast of cookies and milk to remind us to take a study break and also provide a little personal math support without students having to leave the cold in the -20F weather. In another annual tradition, Colette and I cooked a wonderful pancake breakfast to ensure everyone went off to take their exams with a full stomach.
We've had a fantastic semester living with everyone in the hall, and we hope to see each and every resident back for a great second semester. From the 01 family to yours, have a fantastic break and a great end of 2016/beginning of 2017!
Just as November brings changing weather, so too does it signal the start of our annual Wing Wars event. This year, owing to our Greek mythologies theme and the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, we themed the week-long battle as the 01ympics.
To get people excited for the competition, we had two mini-events running all month long. For Assassins, each participant got a target to "kill" by swiping their student ID across the student's back. Wings earned points based on how long they lasted. D Wing pulled off a narrow win here. We also had 1501's first-ever Penny Wars. Each wing selected a charity to play for, and got a jug in the RC office. Students could put pennies in to boost a wing's score or add silver to a different wing's jar to lower the score. Overall, we ended up raising $559 for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, C wing's charity, as well as getting a collection of Canadian coins, Westfield Fox Valley Shoppingtown carousel tokens, and a Marriott Silver Elite key card.
Throughout the week, we had a wide variety of fun dress-up days. On Monday, students twinned without at least one other student in their wing for Matching Monday. Tuesday, people dressed to the nines for Fancy Tuesday. In the spirit of catching up on work, we had Pajama Wednesday. Lastly, residents showed off their Wing Wear or wing color on Wing Spirit Thursday.
For the first night of the 01ympics, wings worked together to decorate their poles and create wing flags. Next time you are in the building, take a look at the poles in the hall commons to see each wing's creativity.
Monday night, students participated in our obstacle course. We had challenges such as a Four Legged Race (a more difficult variety of the typical Three Legged Race), a surprisingly difficult newspaper basketball game, and life-sized Candyland. A wing took an early lead that couldn't be beat.
Tuesday night brought our annual Food Competition, in which residents race in their wings to consume a wide variety of appetizing and unappetizing dishes. This years specialties included clam juice, tuna fish, pizza with M&M's, Corn Flakes, and habanero peppers, and grocery store rolls. D wing just barely achieved a first place finish.
Wednesday brought 01's 1st Annual Film Festival, with each wing creating an entry to showcase their wing's personality. The Area Coordinators which live in 01 served as our judges, and they especially appreciated C wing's take on the mannequin challenge. Which film do you like best?
Thursday night brought our annual Talent Show, in which wings pair up to show off their talents in a creative manner. This year, A & C wings worked together, as did B & D wings. Each wing did an excellent job showing off their skills in a manner unique to their wings. However, the judges did prefer A & C wings.
The last part of B & D wings' act involved a group serenade!
At the end of the week, each wing had one at least one event, and truly everyone was a winner because the true purpose of the 01ympics (just at the real Olympics) is to strengthen bonds within the community, that being said, we had been keeping score, and by the end of the week, this is how each wing stood:
Wing
Score
A
2530
B
1992
C
2476
D
2333
With A wing taking top prize, they ended D wing's D-omination, preventing them from a three-peat.
Congratulations to each and every participant and have a fantastic Thanksgiving break!
We have our second extended of the school year coming up so I have some useful information for all of you.
Closing Procedure
Your student's room must be clean an inspected by an RC before they can leave. They can not leave until their RC approves them. Once they are approved, they will turn their key and fob into their RC. At least one of the RCs in the office needs to make visual confirmation of whoever is picking up your student before they can leave.
Hall Closing - 5:00pm on 11/22
The halls close at 5:00pm this Tuesday 11/22. Please note this is a change from previous years. For every 5 minutes your child stays on campus past 5:00pm, you will be charged $25 (Ex. If you show up at 6:00pm, you'll be charged $300 for being 60 minutes late). I highly recommend planning to pick up your child by 4:15pm the latest, that way if you hit traffic or are running late, you have a buffer to make it here before 5:00pm.
Halls Open - 3:00pm on 11/27
The halls will open at 3:00pm on Sunday 11/27. You may bring your child back any time after this, but we'd prefer you brought them back before 10:00pm. Have your child call 630-907-5101 to be let back in since they won't have their key or fob on them.
Parental Permission
If your child will be taking public transportation (the ATC) or going home with anyone other than you or someone not listed on their overnight permission form, you must call the 1501 Office (630-907-5101) to grant your student permission. You can call any time this week when the office is open.
ATC Shuttle Times on 11/22
11:50 am
1:50 pm
2:50 pm
3:50 pm
Downstate Bus on 11/27
Departs at 2:30pm
Thanks and if you have any questions feel free to reach out to your child's RC or call the 1501 Office at 630-907-5101.
October was a fun and exciting month packed with many fun events for residents of our hall.
We started of the month with a fun visit from History/Social Science faculty member Dr. Robert Kiely who regaled of with some of his favorite stories about the spookiest month of the year. It was a fun and exciting time that everyone really enjoyed his engaging talk.
Bringing back a popular event from first quarter, we had another fun Pancake Party--this time with our friends from 1504! RSL's from both halls worked together to make pancakes for everyone and get people talking to people from different parts of campus. The pancakes were a great hit, as always.
CD's Adam and Colette work with 1504 RSL Richard to make pancakes for everyone.
While the line starts to form, C Wing RSL Katie mixes more batter.
With the left over batter, the RSL's from both halls make a giant pancake to share after a hard evening's work.
We've got a whole lot more fun in store for November, with our annual Wing Wars events! Which wing will come out on top? That will be determined then, but no matter what, everyone will have tons of fun.
We have our first extended of the school year coming up so I have some useful information for all of you.
Closing Procedure
Your student's room must be clean an inspected by an RC before they can leave. They can not leave until their RC approves them. Once they are approved, they will turn their key and fob into their RC. At least one of the RCs in the office needs to make visual confirmation of whoever is picking up your student before they can leave.
Hall Closing - 5:00pm on 10/6
The halls close at 5:00pm this Thursday10/6. For every 5 minutes your child stays on campus past 5:00pm, you will be charged $25 (Ex. If you show up at 6:00pm, you'll be charged $300 for being 60 minutes late). I highly recommend planning to pick up your child by 4:15pm the latest, that way if you hit traffic or are running late, you have a buffer to make it here before 5:00pm.
Halls Open - 3:00pm on 10/10
The halls will open at 3:00pm on Monday 10/10. You may bring your child back any time after this, but we'd prefer you brought them back before 10:00pm. Have your child call 630-907-5101 to be let back in since they won't have their key or fob on them.
Parental Permission
If your child will be taking public transportation (the ATC) or going home with anyone other than you or someone not listed on their overnight permission form, you must call the 1501 Office (630-907-5101) to grant your student permission. You can call any time this week when the office is open.
ATC Shuttle Times on 10/6
11:50 am
1:50 pm
2:50 pm
3:50 pm
Downstate Bus on 10/6
Departs at 2:30pm
Thanks and if you have any questions feel free to reach out to your child's RC or call the 1501 Office at 630-907-5101.
This past Tuesday night, 01 and 07 teamed up for a few rounds of dodgeball. We played various rounds with teams separated by a wide variety of characteristics: upstairs v. downstairs, A & B Wings v. C & D Wings, odd v. even, and the ever-popular seniors v. upperclassmen. Both halls had amazing turnout, and we were glad that everyone had so much fun. Special thanks to 07 for having us over!
While an 07 friend prepares to throw a ball, B wing resident Garrison gets ready to run as fast as possible.
Immediately after a round begins, both teams put forth their strongest effort.
The seniors prepare for their battle against the upperclassmen, getting ready to put up a valiant fight.
We hope Parents' Day was fun and informative for everyone. We'd especially like to thank those of you who donated so much food for our potluck meal. The entire hall commons was full of food and everyone left happy and full. The food continued to last for a few days, feeding hungry students as they worked hard on projects, papers and problem sets.
For those of you who couldn't make it, we were sad to miss you, and hope to see you next semester. In case you'd like to imagine some of the food supplies, marvel at these delicious dishes:
The short month of August has already passed through 1501, and it was jam packed full of fun and exciting events in the hall.
On Saturday the 13th we welcomed our lovely new sophomores to the hall, followed shortly there after by our upperclassmen. As a hall we bonded through activities such as "Bang!" (a reaction game), "Superlatives" (a fun twist on find the person that most embodies certain characteristics), and "Freeze!" (an improve game). My personal favorite moment from these was when for the superlative of "furthest" people tried to get as far as they could, when they actually then had to compete for the furthest distance covered in a crabwalk in 1 minute.
Our lovely 01 sophomores!
Every year, the school year starts with a formal event known as Convocation, in which the entire IMSA community gathers to set the tone for the academic year. An 01 tradition involving Convocation is the Convocation Fashion Show, in which various upperclassmen dress up in appropriate and inappropriate outfits for the event. A hilarious event, it always results in a large round of laughing.
Juniors Dmitri and B Wing RSL Charlie show off appropriate Convocation outfits!
Of course, we didn't spend the entire month getting ready for the start of the school year. Once the year got into swing, we found time to come together as a hall for some quality fun. As a snack before the first full week of school, CD Colette donned her chef hat supported by her sous chefs CD Adam and RSL's Katie and Charlie to crank out delicious pancakes for the hall. They were so popular we frequently had lines as the demand outweighed the rate at which we could cook.
We had a pajama party in the hall commons watching a film relevant to the 01 theme: Disney's Hercules. People filled the hall commons dressed in their finest quality pajamas and consumed 5 pounds of popcorn, surrounded by their friends.
The school year is just getting started, and here in 01, we have plenty more fun to come!
Welcome to the 1501 family at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy! All of us on the leadership team in the hall can't wait to meet you (if you're new to the Academy or the hall) or reconnect with old friends.
Each year, the Residential Student Leadership (RSL) team works hard to develop a community that supports residents in their social and emotional growth, while ensuring each student enjoys their time at the Academy. There are two Wing Guides (WG's) for each wing of students and two Community Developers (CD's). While you can learn more about each of the RSL's on the bulletin board in the hall commons, we'd like to provide you with our names so you can begin to get to know us.
CDs: Adam G. and Colette V.
A Wing: Yoanna I. and Becky M.
B Wing: Alex H. and Charlie H.
C Wing: Katie P. and Sandra D.
D Wing: Daniel M. and Lucas U.
Yesterday, our RSL team in 1501 moved in and immediately began work on decorating the hall to make 01 a home away from home for the 86 students that will live here this year. Breaking out the paint brushes, scissors, and various other crafts supplies, the RSLs sprung alive in turning over the hall. Part of building the community spirit of our hall involves our hall theme, which this year is "Mount 01ympus" based on the rich history of Greek mythologies. Each wing has a subtheme related to Greek culture and history.
A Wing: Titans
B Wing: Deities
C Wing: Mortals
D Wing: Monsters
01's residents will come from all over the state of Illinois. Where are you from?
D wing's Wing Guide Lucas U. paints some spooky monsters.
Community Developer Colette V. hanging up her lovely masterpiece in the Hall Commons!
