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.

The PTSA will hold its second general meeting of the school year on Wed, Jan. 22, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in Uni Rm 109.  We will create a nominating committee for our Apr. elections and we will discuss two upcoming class family parties, our spring conference meal for teachers, our Trivia Night & Silent Auction, our recent incorporation, upcoming construction in Kenney Gym, and our 2025 mini-grant program. If you are unable to attend in person, you may join the meeting via Zoom with the following link:  We hope to see you there!

Winter Orchestra Concert
Tuesday, Jan. 28 
7:30 p.m.    
South Attic

Uni's latest oral history project launches soon! This two-part podcast series, recorded with Illinois Public Media, explores the experiences of Central Illinois community members with ties to the former Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries. Through this project, students learned about life under communism and Cold War fears. Tune in to WILL-AM (580) Sunday, Jan. 26 from 8-9 p.m. or stream online at Illinois Youth Media. Student producers: Diza Baryshnikov, Krishna Jaswal, and Maya Viswanathan ('24). Interviews conducted by the class of 2027.

Students for a Better World (S4BW) is hosting our annual Hearts in Bloom during lunch on Feb. 6, 7, and 12 in the first-floor hallway. Anyone can buy a rose wrapped in paper and ribbon for a special someone (or for friends!) These bouquets will cost $3 for one and $5 for two. Cash only, please! All money will be donated to LA Wildlife Recovery Fund. Please contact heidilw2@illinois.edu if you are interested in helping the club make the bouquets or if you have any questions! 

On Monday, Apr. 14 Uni High will be holding a day-long outreach event at Booker T. Washington STEM Academy. We're seeking proposals for 40-minute activities for grades K-5 related to water, Earth Day, or the scientist St. Elmo Brady. Activities may be proposed by Uni faculty, students (on behalf of a club or independently), or parents. Activity proposals do not need to be STEM-focused. To learn more or submit a proposal, please visit https://forms.gle/3cHghdZhPMjGAsm67.

This year, Uni will have a booth at CU's Read Across America celebration on Saturday, March 8. We're seeking clubs who are willing to volunteer for a one-hour shift to read picture books to kids at the event. Club sponsors will need to be present as chaperones for participating clubs during their shift. If your club is interested in volunteering for this event, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/p8aLuTmLMxzH7VeX9. See link for additional details.

The Math Circle students will be hosting a middle school math competition on Saturday Feb. 8 from 9 -11 a.m. Uni student volunteers are needed. If you are interested in gaining some volunteer hours, please sign up to help.  You do not need to be a member of Math Circle to participate in this event.  Please sign up using the registration and permission slip here. Registration closes Jan. 29. See Mrs. B with questions.

The students of Uni's Math Circle are hosting a Middle School Math competition on Saturday, Feb. 8 from 9-11 a.m. at Uni High. This is open to any 6-8th grade student, including those attending Uni and those not at Uni (invite your friends).  The event is free of charge. Registration will close Jan, 29. 
Registration and permission slips are available online here.

To celebrate several cultural heritage months in 2025, Uni High and MPAG are hosting a series of student poster competitions. We invite student artists to help Uni celebrate Black History Month this February by submitting original art at https://forms.gle/ZxJkNzZimdCR2Rdi9, where you can also find more information about contest guidelines. Three winning submissions will be selected, and the artists will receive prizes of $50.

As part of our in-class cell phone policy trial, we are collecting input from students, parents, and faculty/staff. Input polls for each group have been sent out via the school listservs. 
If you have not yet read the trial policy in full, please do so here. 
To share your thoughts, please complete the short poll in your email by the end of the day on Sunday, Jan. 26.  

Uni parent & alumna Oksana Maksymchuk (Class of 2000) will read from her poetry collection Still City: Diary of an Invasion. The book was featured as Best Recent Poetry by The Guardian and named a Best Summer Book by The Financial Times. Please join at U. of I. on Friday, Jan. 24 at 5.30 p.m., with a reception to follow; or at the Literary Book Bar on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. Oksana is a recipient of numerous national and international awards and fellowships. She holds a PhD in philosophy from Northwestern University. Both events are free and family-/community-friendly. All are welcome!

The PTSA would like to thank all the parents and staff members who braved the cold to attend our Parent/Guardian Coffee Social on Friday, Jan. 10.  Another big thank you to everyone who contributed food items, helped set up, and/or helped clean up after the event.  We enjoyed having the time to visit and we appreciate you!

If you haven’t yet made a gift to the Parent Fund, please consider making one today! Every contribution—no matter the amount—brings us closer to our goal of 100% participation.
A convenient way to do this is by making your gift online via credit card HERE. You’ll also be provided with the option to give through PayPal or Venmo.
If you’d prefer to make your gift via stock transfer, EFT, or payroll deduction, please contact the advancement office at unihighadvancement@illinois.edu for further instructions.
Thank you for considering supporting Uni High in this way. 

MPAG has updated its meeting schedule for the spring. We'll be meeting on the 3rd Tuesdays of the month from 6-7 p.m. until May (except in March, when we'll meet on the 4th Tuesday). MPAG meetings are open to all Uni families, staff, and students, and we'd love to have some new attendees join us this spring. 
For our Jan. meeting, we'll discuss our Sum of Us book discussions and other upcoming events. Attendees are welcome to raise questions and topics for discussion and/or suggest event ideas. We'll meet on Zoom at go.illinois.edu/mpag (Meeting ID: 850 7082 8404, Password: unimpag).

MPAG will be hosting Part 2 of a discussion of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together for Uni students, families, and staff on Saturday, Jan. 25 from 1:30 - 4 p.m. at Uni. All members of the Uni community are welcome to attend. Although the discussion is structured around the book, we encourage everyone to attend, even if they didn't read or listen to the book, or if you didn't join the first discussion. Snacks provided! Please RSVP by Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 5:00 pm. (If you already RSVP'ed, thank you! No need to RSVP again.) We hope you can join us.