At Uni High, we strive to foster an environment where everyone, inclusive of race, color, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, political beliefs, ability, language, and religion, will feel welcome, visible, and heard.

Uni's annual Open House is next Wednesday, Sept. 4, starting at 6:45 p.m. (details at this link). Prior to Open House, please be sure to visit the PowerSchool parent portal and locate your child's schedule for fall 2024, then print it or take a screenshot. If you need assistance, you can email Uni's Registrar, Cheryl Lehman (ctrotter@illinois.edu) for help.
Please note that since Chorus and Orchestra meet during different periods, Mr. Murphy welcome any and all parents to class during Open House.
Uni has a late start (9 a.m.) on Thursday, Sept. 5. The full late-start schedule for that day is included in the details linked above.

The Uni High Booster Club and Sprabitat Club are partnering together to run a Car Wash raise money for Uni High Athletics and Spring Initiative!  The event will be held at Prospect Bank (Prospect & Kirby) from 12-3 PM on Sunday, Sept. 8.  You can help in two ways:

• Want Uni students to wash your car in return for a donation? Bring your car to Prospect Bank Sunday afternoon.
• Want to volunteer for a good cause and have fun with your friends? Sign up for a carwashing shift here!  

The PTSA invites all students, families, and staff to our first general meeting of the fall semester! Please join us on Wednesday, Sept. 4, from 6-6:45 p.m., in DCL Room 1310, just prior to Uni's Open House. If you're not able to attend in person, the Zoom link is as follows:  https://illinois.zoom.us/j/87497158345?pwd=biJduFA9QQwF2UW2ZwuFrBhubF5A31.1  (Meeting ID: 874 9715 8345 and Meeting Password: PTSA).  We hope to see you there!  Questions?  Contact Mary Kate Arend at uniptsa2021@gmail.com

The Student Library Advisory Council (SLACers, for short) is holding our first meeting of the year in the library on Sept. 4 during lunch. Join us to discuss library updates, suggest events, write trivia questions, and catch up with your friends and library staff. Snacks will be provided, and you are welcome to bring your lunch. We hope to see you there!

To celebrate cultural heritage months in 2024, Uni/MPAG is holding a series of student art competitions. We invite students to submit original art for a 16" x 20" poster. The artists whose posters are selected for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will receive a copy of their poster and prizes of $75, $50, and $25, respectively. Winning posters will be displayed at Uni during the heritage month for which they were submitted.
We are currently seeking submissions for posters for National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sep. 15 - Oct. 15, 2024). While our contest uses the US's official name for the month (National Hispanic Heritage Month), we invite posters that highlight Hispanic and/or Latine/o/a communities, historical figures, cultural contributions, or traditions.
Submit your designs here by Sep. 9.

Uni High’s Moon Festival Celebration is seeking performers, volunteers, and food donations for our 4th Annual Moon Festival, which will be held on Friday, Sept. 20 during lunch.
Performers Wanted: Singing, dancing, instruments, and other cultural performances welcomed! Email rw19@illinois.edu if interested.
Volunteers Needed: Sign up here to volunteer for setup, teardown, and serving food.
Food Donation: Please sign up here if you'd like to donate a main dish, side dish, or utensils.
All Uni students, faculty/staff, and families are welcome to participate, regardless of their cultural background.

The Fine Arts Department needs a NAME and LOGO for their new parent support group. The logo will be used on T-Shirts, theatre programs and school communications. Your design should communicate the three art forms at Uni (music, visual art and drama). It could be all text, or a combination of text and image. The design should be black and white, high contrast.   You may enter more than once. All art must be entirely your own creation.  Please upload a .jpeg of your design(s) here.  
Label submissions as follows:   FineArtsLogo#_Lastname_Firstname_graduation year
By submitting your design(s), you are authorizing Uni to use (and alter) your image. Entries due by Tuesday, 9/17/24. Winners announced at the school play on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024
Prize: two tickets to a Uni theatre production. 

If you are interested in signing up for the AMC 10/12 this year, please use the provided link.  This year the Math Department will be supporting the A, and we have a donor who has agreed to help support the B test, so Uni will be able to host both rounds of the test this year. (Thank you to our donor!)  The AMC 10/12 A is offered on Wed., Nov. 6, 2024. The AMC 10/12 B is offered on Tues., Nov. 12, 2024. Only students signed up for the test will be able to participate. Deadline to sign up is Sept. 16. 

If you are crafty and enjoy artistic and fashion design than Ms. Smyser has the opportunity for you!  The freshmen will be able to earn 2-D avatars and clothing and accessories for them in biology.  However, Ms. Smyser's artisitc abilities and fashion sense need help.  Attend the avatar fashion design and help create accessories for the freshmen avatars.  Or, you could just some hang out with friends and help cut things out and laminate them.  Hope to see you there!

There is an informational Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision meeting during lunch on Friday Sept. 6.  ExploraVision preparation does not actually begin until October.  However, this will be an opportunity to find out what it is, think about potential topics and group members.  Groups can be 2-4 people. Subbies through seniors encouraged to attend.

The subbie girl's team and subbie boy's team both earned 4th place in their first meet of the season at the Saber Classic at St. Thomas Moore Academy on Saturday Aug. 24.  Congratulations to all the runners and to Jax Taylor who placed 9th overall.  This event was an open meet with over 20 teams participating.  Go Uni!

Congratulations to Boys Soccer winning their first game this season beating SJO 5-3.  Shabi Prasanth led the team with 2 goals, and 1 assist.  Leor Gal added a goal and an assist. Aiden Kim had two assists along with one from Josh Persiani.  Yuto Inoue and Robert Tu added the 4th and 5th goals to seal the win.  

The Uni Athletic Booster club is happy to announce that the Uni Apparel Store is now open through midnight on Sept 15.  This is a great way to order Uni sweatshirts and t-shirts.  You can decide whether to pick-up your items at Dixon Graphics or ship them to your house. Items are usually ready about two weeks after the store closes. Here is the link to order:  https://stores.inksoft.com/uni_high/shop/home

Math Team is back! Are you interested in challenging math problems or competing as part of the math team? Come join us! We will meet Tuesdays during Uni period. High schoolers (Frosh-Sr) will meet in room 206 and Subbies in room 205.

Math help is a walk-in service with time volunteered by Uni's math teachers. It is being offered on Wednesdays and Thursdays during Uni period in room 206. A math teacher and peer tutors are available. Services offered during Math Help include: getting more explanation on a topic covered in your math classes, a quiet space to do homework with support nearby, go over mistakes from an assessment, study for an upcoming assessment with a group of friends, and more...
If you are an upperclassman and looking for volunteer opportunities at Math Help, reach out to your math teacher and let them know you'd like to volunteer as a peer tutor!

If you'd like to sign up for a Uni lunch plan for Quarter 2, please complete this form by Tuesday, Oct. 1. Our Quarter 2 lunch menus are available here. For Quarter 2, we'll be offering a 3-day (Mon./Weds./Fri.) plan ($177.60) and a 5-day (Mon-Fri) plan ($303.40). Checks made out to "University of Illinois" should be dropped off in Uni's main office by Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, or you can call 217-333-2870 to pay by phone. Lunch plans are available at no cost to students with full or partial fee waivers. 
Students/staff with a 1st Quarter lunch plan will need to complete a form for 2nd Quarter if they'd like to continue participating in Uni's lunch program.

Starting this week, the Writing Center will be open every TUESDAY and THURSDAY afternoon during UNI PERIOD in room 106S. Students at all grade levels are encouraged to bring in writing projects at any stage in the composition process--you will work one-on-one with one of our outstanding peer-tutors, who will engage in a detailed conversation about your aims and intentions for your work in progress. And we always have some dark and milk chocolate "writing vitamins" on hand to fuel your peer-editing experience. No appointment is required, but if you'd like to reserve a session in advance, simply email Mr. Mitchell at mtmitch@illinois.edu to make a reservation.

Those needing financial support to participate in educational opportunities OR those looking for funding for new and inspired activities, the McNevin Scholarship and the Makino Grant are available for you to apply.
You should have received a detailed email about each of these opportunities last week. If you would like more information for these or other school grants, please visit the School Grants section of the Uni website: School Grants for Students.

Uni’s Main Office has returned to its regular office hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We are in the late stages of hiring a permanent reception/attendance staff person, and in the mean time we're grateful for the help of RaNae Pelmore from U of I’s Extra Help department. (If you're in the main office, stop by and meet RaNae!) We have appreciated the recent help of Dorothy Baker, who has moved on to her next Extra Help position.

Updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccines that target more recent strains of the virus are becoming available at our local pharmacies. The CDC recommends an updated vaccine for all children (over 6 months old) and adults. Vaccination has been shown to reduce the risk of infection, severe illness, and long covid.
If you have been recently infected, current recommendations suggest waiting three months to receive a vaccination. 

Parents/Guardians: 
Please make sure that you have stopped in the Main Office to fill out a Medication Authorization form if your child is going to be taking necessary medications at school. We want to make sure we have the information and tools necessary to support your child.
This authorization is for students that need medication dispensed at school or for self-carry of medications such as asthma medication, epinephrine, etc. You should have already received information regarding the school’s policies and procedures for administration of undesignated emergency medications as part of the registration process.