Shirley Ruzumna, "Woman of Valor" Award

Your Old Mobile Phone Can Make a Difference

by Lane Lubell, 8th Grade

ALL: If a child drops his books, the unwritten laws of integrity say that one should help him by picking-up the books. In other words, the right thing to do is to help clean-up the mess.

As you read this, thousands of barrels of oil are leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, closing in on the Mississippi River Delta. Considered part of the Atlantic Ocean, this large body of water is being destroyed.

Whilst cleaning up the mess isn’t as easy as picking up a book, we can do things to protect what remains, and prevent further destruction.

One way to do this is to recycle. Another is to round-up other nasty chemicals, for example, mercury (Hg), which can ultimately ruin the oceans’ ecosystem. This round-up will ward-off improper disposal of these nasty chemicals into the environment.


Here at CCS, being environmentally friendly is something that is taken very seriously.

The support and success of the Acts of Green campaign, which ran in conjunction with Earth Day, not only realized over 800 Acts of Green within the school, but it also encouraged us to believe we should participate in a completion called March to a Million.


The basis of the competition is to collect as many old cell phones as possible. The winning school will receive $5000 towards a party, and a performance by the famed band, Hey Monday! (Sorry, girls. I guess Justin Beiber just isn’t as eco-friendly, or maybe his people just don’t have connections with the sponsor.)


Cell phone collection and recycling is very important. In an average cell phone, there are precious metals like gold (Au), silver (Ag), and even platinum (Pt). In addition to the precious metals, there are also multiple ounces of mercury (Hg), which is a metal in a liquid state. When thrown into a landfill, cell phones leak mercury, which can seep into the groundwater and contaminate our oceans. In fact when mercury meets the ocean, it can be more toxic than the petroleum (CH4) that is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico!

So what does this mean to you right now? Well, it means you have the opportunity to make a difference by gathering old cell phones from your homes, from your coworkers, from your family members and bringing them to the collection boxes at school. Mobile phones can be donated through the end of the month, and will be turned over to the March to a Million campaign, which will coordinate the proper disposal of these phones.
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High School Admission Results

by Kate Anderson, High School Placement Counselor

MS: Our fabulous 8th grade students have done it again: another year of terrific high school acceptance results to celebrate! All twenty-eight of our students have received offers to rigorous programs throughout the Chicago area, and we are thrilled to report the following high school highlights for our soon-to-be-CCS-graduates:

• This year, we had our first ever acceptance to Northside Prep! 
   Good Job Lane Lubell

• Four acceptances to Walter Payton and seven acceptances to Whitney Young; the highest number to date for both


• Three of our eighth graders earned perfect scores on the Selective Enrollment Placement Exam!


• Eight acceptances to Lincoln Park International Baccalaureate program; out of seventeen test takers, almost half were invited to continue

• 21 out of 25 students were accepted into one of the top five CPS Selective Enrollment high schools

• 25 out of 28 (about 90%) students were accepted into one of their top three school choices

• 79% private school acceptance rate; however, this does not include wait-listings, which could still result in ultimate acceptance at this time

• This year, we celebrate our first ever CCS recipient of the prestigious and highly-coveted Daniel Murphy Scholarship Award!

With all these offers to choose from, where will our eighth-grade students be going? Four students have accepted places at the Latin School, and two at Francis W. Parker School. Four students will be attending Walter Payton, five students will be attending Whitney Young, and three students are headed over to the Lincoln Park High School Double Honors magnet program. Two students will be attending St. Ignatius College Prep, and three more will be traveling up to Winnetka to Loyola Academy. Two students have accepted places at St. Scholastica Academy and one each at St. Patrick High School and Lyons Township High School. One student will be moving internationally at the end of the school year.


Congratulations, 8th graders! We are so proud of you!
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History Isn’t Just Something That’s Studied; It’s Made

MS: Last Thursday six students from The Catherine Cook School joined hundreds of other junior historians from around the state of Illinois to compete in the Illinois State History Expo in Springfield, Illinois. Each student submitted a Chicago-related project under the National History Day theme Innovation in History: Impact and Change.


Seventh grader Brigid Freed competed with her Individual Historical Exhibit titled Schwinn Bicycle Innovations. She explored the impact of the bicycle, specifically Schwinn and Co., on Chicago and society at large. Seventh grader Blue Stevenson completed her Individual Historical Exhibit on The Ferris Wheel: The World’s Greatest Ride. During her research, Blue made her own impact on the history of the Ferris Wheel by proposing a marker be placed at the site of the original Ferris Wheel. The Univertisty of Chicago was excited about the idea, and pointed her to the Chicago Park District, who owns and manages that space. While there are formal proceedures and costs associated with placing a marker, the Chicago Park District likes the idea and has provided information on next steps. Sometimes History Fair isn’t just about investigating history, it’s about making it!


Three of our eighth grade students also received special recognition at the State Expo, earning ribbons for superior level projects:

• Davey Keegan Barry for his Individual Documentary The History and Innovations of the Chicago Transit Authority.

• Nour Hatoum for his Individual Historical Exhibit Open Heart Surgery: A Revolution in Medicine

• Brett Jacobson for his Individual Historical Exhibit The Reversal of the Chicago River


Only two projects in each of the History Day project categories qualify to continue to the National History Day competition in June at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. In the category of individual documentary, Lane Lubell is one of only two Junior Division documentaries to advance to the National History Fair with his film: The History & Legacy of the Chicago Blue. Congratulations, Lane!


History Fair is a year-long project for all 6th through 8th graders. The success of these six students has inspired the middle school community to continue to persevere in pursuit of excellent work.

Lane advances to National History Competition

For a person that walks everywhere I go, I have to say Wednesday was a very long day and night of driving. We left Southfield, Michigan after a beautiful and touching event honoring Shirley.  By the time we got on the road, it was a Little after 3:00pm. We had planed to go home to Chicago that evening, then get back on the road to Springfield early that morning, but the more we looked at the logistics, the less that plan appeared to make sense. That left us with no real choice other than to go straight to Springfield, and a Midnight arrival.

We got up, got to the convention site (It had all the feel of a fencing tournament only without the fencing) O.K. call me a Tech Snob; but I expected them to have a smart Board, or at least spring for a 42" monitor. But no, just one 16" laptop (Windows XP).

Any of these kinds of tournaments, if nothing else teach you Patience. There is an awful amount of waiting. That said, the judges seems nice and in good spirits, as did the other kids there for the event. It was clear they had all put in the time, and all deserved to be proud of their work.

I think I might have been less bothered by the waiting if any one of the 16 Pop machines worked- no such luck.

We did finally get to go out to lunch with the other Catherine Cook families. I have said this before, but Lane is so lucky to be surrounded by these kids. They are so supportive of each other. I must admit It will be difficult not to be in the constant company of this group.

After several hours of waiting, we found that Lane was one of 4 that made it to a Run-off stage. Of that 4, two would go to represent Illinois in the national event.

The awards ceremony, while less than 45 minutes, seemed to drag on for hours. Of course the category of Individual Documentary was last. Lane was pacing like a caged tiger on crack. But the very last award, very last name was a poorly pronounced "Lane Lubell"

Lane advances to National History fair competition in Washington DC.

I was very proud of him, Ilene was excited, but I think his history teacher "David Harris" was the most excited. With that kind of support coming form his teachers, it's little wonder Lane is doing well.