SD89 Honor Roll Students Saluted At PMSA!!!

According to the West Suburban Journal Newspaper, School District’s 89 and 209 collaborated for the first time ever to acknowledge first and second quarter honor roll students from ten schools throughout Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview.

In December the District 89 School Board broke tradition and chose not to participate with the Village of Maywood officials to recognize students who attend District 89 schools in Maywood.

Despite the split, village officials held the honor roll ceremony in January.

Fifty-three students were expected to show, but only 46 were in attendance compared to past years 200 students participated.

District 89 School Board, President, Grady Rivers, said politics would no longer play a role in student oriented activities.

“In past years they have pulled parents aside to sign petitions during the honor roll event. That’s unacceptable,” said Rivers of village officials. “We’re taking politics out of the event and it’s just about honoring the students.”

The ceremony ran five days from Feb. 19 thru the 26 and recognized 670 students, of which 363 students attended as of Tuesday, Feb. 25. Those honored included fourth to eight grade students with As and Bs in all eight subjects.

“We had really good turnout by parents and kids,” said District 89 Interim Superintendent Thea Perkins about the event. “We had a lot of positive feedback from parents who appreciated their children being honored at the district level as apposed to the local level,” she said of the collaboration with District 209.

The event was held at the District 209 Proviso Math and Science Academy (PMSA). The
platform, according to Perkins, allowed students to see the possibilities of higher education if they continue in their studies.

Markethia Fair, 13, who attends Garfield Elementary School, is excited about making the honor roll, and even more excited about her acceptance into PMSA in the fall. “I can’t believe I got accepted,” she said.

“Given the choice of public schools, getting into PMSA was a major accomplishment and possibly the first step in achieving her goals,” said Stephanie Jacob about her daughter, Sasha Taylor, 14, who will also attend PMSA in the fall.

“I am so excited that this was a success” Perkins said of the event. “The emphasis is all about putting forth students’ best effort in preparation for high school and college” she said. “We have succeeded.

“We hope this event is the first in a long tradition with District 209,” Rivers said.