HP_070617

12 | July 6, 2017 | The highland park landmark school
hplandmark.com
School News
Carleton College
HP native graduates,
gives remarks at
graduation
Eli Ruffer of Highland
Park graduated with a BA
in Chemistry from Carleton
College at its 143rd
Commencement exercises
held Saturday, June 10.
Ruffer is the child of
James and Galya Ruffer
of Highland Park.
Following remarks by
Carleton College President
Steven Poskanzer,
two senior students addressed
the graduating
class: Reina Desrouleaux,
a chemistry major
from Mariland, and Eli
Ruffer.
Founded in 1866, Carleton
College is a private
liberal arts college in the
historic river town of
Northfield, Minnesota, 45
miles south of Minneapolis/Saint
Paul.
Miami University of Ohio
Students receive degrees
at Miami University
spring commencement
Miami University
awarded 3,683 degrees
to students during spring
commencement exercises
Saturday, May 13, in Yager
Stadium.
Highland Park students
who received degrees are:
Maya Johnson, Bachelor
of Science in Kinesiology
and Health majoring
in kinesiology, Cum
Laude; Caroline Lester,
Bachelor of Science in
Business, majoring in
marketing; Stanley Echt,
Bachelor of Science in
Kinesiology and Health
majoring in kinesiology,
Cum Laude; Isaac Shapiro,
Bachelor of Science
in Business majoring in
supply chain & operations
management; and Sasha
Schneider, Bachelor of
Arts, majoring in strategic
communication.
University of Iowa
Spring 2017 UI graduates
Four Highland Park natives
graduated from the
University of Iowa spring
2017.
Chase Bougeon received
a BA in economics;
Cara Gutnayer received
a BS in therapeutic
recreation; Ryan Hochman
received a BA in
elementary education and
Dylan Timmeny received
a BA in communication
studies.
Spring semester 2017
Dean’s List
Eight Highland Park
natives were named to
the University of Iowa’s
spring 2017 Dean’s List:
Haley Goodman, Ketan
Patel, Ariel Seyedin,
Julia Wagner, Andrew
Schneider, Tyler Welter,
Lauren Jacobson and
Maria Chusin.
University of New Hampshire
Spring 2017 Dean’s List
announced
Erin Cullather of
Highland Park has been
named to the Dean’s List
at the University of New
Hampshire for earning
Highest Honors for the
spring 2017 semester.
Cullather is majoring in
Biomedical Science.
Students named to the
Dean’s List at the University
of New Hampshire
are students who
have earned recognition
through their superior
scholastic performance
during a semester enrolled
in a full-time course load
(12 or more graded credits).
Highest honors are
awarded to students who
earn a semester grade
point average of 3.85
or better out of a possible
4.0. Students with
a 3.65 to 3.84 average
are awarded high honors
and students whose
grade point average is 3.5
through 3.64 are awarded
honors.
University of Rhode Island
URI Dean’s List announced
The University of
Rhode Island is pleased
to announce that more
than 5,290 undergraduates
have qualified for the
Spring 2017 Dean’s List.
The students represent
nearly all of Rhode Island’s
cities and towns, all
six New England states,
New York and New Jersey,
many other states and
countries.
Max D. Zavell of Highland
Park was named to
the Dean’s List.
To be included on the
Dean’s List, full-time
students must have completed
12 or more credits
for letter grades during a
semester and achieved at
least a 3.30 quality point
average. Part-time students
qualify with the accumulation
of 12 or more
credits for letter grades
earning at least a 3.30
quality point average.
University of Wisconsin-
Whitewater
Spring Dean’s List
Jacob Wolkoff, of
Highland Park, has made
the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Dean’s
List for the 2017 spring
semester.
These students have
demonstrated their academic
abilities by receiving
a grade point average
of 3.4 or above in a single
semester.
The Registrar’s Office
reports 3,148 students
were selected for the
Dean’s List for the spring
semester. About 12,000
students are currently enrolled
at UW-Whitewater.
School News is compiled by
Editor Courtney Jacquin
on the highland park beat
Lessons learned covering
Highland Park board meetings
Erin Yarnall
Freelance Reporter
When I first
decided to go
into journalism
I imagined myself
as William Miller — the
main character in the film
“Almost Famous” —
interviewing my favorite
musicians for Rolling
Stone and living a life of
excitement and intrigue.
I’ve spent the past year
— my first out of college
— covering the North
Shore School District
112, Highland Park City
Council and occasionally
Township High School
District 113, and while
they don’t sound as glamorous
as covering rock
bands for Rolling Stone,
I’ve found the past year to
be just as interesting and
meaningful, and one I’m
sad to leave behind as I
move on to another job.
My first meeting I
covered was in July 2016,
when the City Council
heard from residents about
putting in a stop sign at
Beverly Place and Park
Avenue West, and it was
one of the more terrifying
experiences of my life for
a few reasons.
The first was that I
could not understand
anyone said at the meeting
after the Pledge of Allegiance.
The legal jargon
the members of the City
Council used sounded like
a foreign language to me,
and I spent every second
up until my deadline
the next day analyzing
the video recording of
the meeting to try and
decipher what actually
happened.
The second reason I
was so scared was because
I listened to resident after
resident give their opinion
on the placement of a stop
sign — something I had
never even thought about
in my own community.
I heard the passion from
speakers on both sides,
and I did not want to do a
disservice to the passion
that Highland Park residents
had for their community
in my story. I felt
a pressure to make sure I
had everything perfect to
reflect the passion that the
residents shared about the
issue.
That meeting wasn’t
the last time I was scared
covering local politics.
I started covering North
Shore School District 112
right in the thick of the
BDR3 debate. I had no
preparation before attending
my first school board
meeting, where BDR3
was discussed for nearly
three hours, and all I could
wonder was,“What is
BDR3?”
After the disastrous
meeting where I sat
confused for three hours,
I did an extensive amount
of research on BDR3 and
the issues that plagued
the district. I would hang
out with friends and talk
to them about the district
because at that point the
board of education and
the City Council were all I
could think about.
As meetings went
on, and I became more
comfortable understanding
what was actually
happening in them, I came
to thoroughly enjoy attending
them. Breaking
through my initial fear and
lack of education about
local government procedures
felt like learning a
new language, and I was
determined to become fluent
in it. I took the skills
and knowledge I was
learning from covering
local government back to
my own community, and
became passionate about
asserting my input to
make my hometown better
than it is.
During my year writing
for The Highland Park
Landmark I was never
able to interview any rock
stars (unless you count
“Hamilton: The Revolution”
author Jeremy
McCarter — which I do)
like I imagined when I
was younger, but I may
have found something
just as fulfilling. I heard
from residents about their
thoughts on not only
what’s going on in the
community, but on my
articles. I’ve seen, time after
time, people give their
feedback and opinions on
what’s happening in the
city, and their passionate
opinions have resulted
in real change. I’ve seen
firsthand the amount of
power people have to
creative positive change
when they step up in their
communities. It’s been an
incredibly inspiring
year.