Boys’ Basketball Team Posts Fine
17-7 Mark

Mike Tovar (20 above) jumps in jubilation while Anthony Westbrook also celebrates in the final moments of Mooseheart’s playoff victory over Oregon.

> Certainly, there have been Mooseheart boys basketball teams that won more games than this year’s 17-7 squad.

And maybe even a case could be made that there have been more talented teams in the history of the Red Ramblers program.

But this year’s team did win a postseason tournament game-- something that hadn’t happened in a generation-- when the Ramblers defeated Oregon in the opening round of this year’s Illinois state tournament.

And it almost got better. Mooseheart led Byron, one of the top-ranked small-class schools in Illinois, in the late-going of the second-round of the tournament.

Unfortunately for upset-minded Mooseheart, the favored Tigers recovered and knocked out the Ramblers with a 40-34 defeat.

Next year looks incredibly bright for this Ramblers team, though senior star Stephen Pinto, a rebounding and shooting force, must leave to graduation.

But most of the starting lineup is back, including Mike Tovar, who will be a senior next season.

And the sophomores showed they are ready for their chance to play varsity basketball too.

Tovar Tries To Dunk The Competition

> Officially, Mike Tovar had just 45 seconds on the court during the state high school slamdunk competition.

But in reality, Tovar had much more than those precious few seconds in the cavernous Carver Arena at the Peoria Civic Center. And while he did not advance to the competition’s finals he gained a lifetime of memories in his March 8 appearance.

“It’s great,” Tovar said. “That’s why I wanted to come down here, for the experience.”

Tovar recorded three official dunks in his 45-second routine and the judges gave him 26 points. That score wasn’t among the top four, which meant Tovar, a Mooseheart junior, saw his basketball season end in the preliminaries.

“I do feel good about how I did,” Tovar said. “In the first round, there were six people who got ‘zero.’I was worried I was going to choke. But getting 26 was good. My goal was to be higher than halfway and I did that.”

In State Wrestling, Fernandez Makes It To 135-lb. Sectional

> Arturo Fernandez finished his senior wrestling season with a trip to the Plano Sectional -- although he was hoping to get just a little further.

A week after struggling with flu and a cold, he finished second in the 135-pound weight classs at the Harvard Regional. Fernandez was the only Red Ramblers’ Sectional qualifier.

“I was excited, it was really exciting,” Fernandez said. “I was feeling a lot better and I thought I’d be able to wrestle better than I did at Regionals.”

Fernandez wrestled well but was eliminated in early-round action at the Sectional meet.

“We had a very inexperienced team this year,” Mooseheart coach Mark Johnson said. “We had a lot of freshmen and sophomores on the varsity. Next year, they’ll be more experienced and, hopefully, stronger.”

Ramblers Girls Basketball Team Nearly Finishes
Above .500

> Mooseheart’s girls basketball team had twin goals in the 2006-07 season: one was to finish above the .500 level; the other was to win at least one game in the state playoffs.

As it transpired, the Red Ramblers missed both goals, but the closeness with which the team came to fulfilling its aspirations showed the tremendous improvement the squad showed during the season.

Senior leaders such as Jasmin Barnes and Adrianna Tezanos-Pinto graduate, but a great core returns from this year’s 10-11 squad, as will head coach Bryan Miller, who infused the squad with enthusiasm and knowledge in his first year leading the program.

School’s Strongest Bridge Ever!

Senior’s Creation Holds 71 Lbs.;
Previous Mark: 47 Lbs.

Adrianna Tezanos-Pinto places the final weight in the bucket at the 2007 Bridge-Breaking Competition.

> It had never happened: there had never been a time when the annual Mooseheart Bridge-Breaking Competition had witnessed a bridge using all the available weights and still refusing to break.

Clearly something special was happening. Senior Adrianna Tezanos-Pinto built a bridge that withstood 71 pounds, a whopping 24 pounds more than any bridge in the lengthy history of the event.

“I didn’t think I was going to win and I did,” Tezanos-Pinto said. “I’m really happy.”

The project is an annual exercise by Mooseheart physics students. Curt Schlinkmann, who has taught science at Mooseheart since 1975, has conducted the competition as part of his class since the early 1980s. He has the best all-time scores posted next to his desk; Lathe Helms’ 1998 design had been the previous champ, having withstood 47 pounds before it broke.

“Every year, they get better,” Schlinkmann said. “This year’s class was great.”

All the bridges do eventually break, as did the six put together by this year’s Mooseheart seniors.

“The hardest part is that they have to break them,” Schlinkmann said. “They put so much time building them. But when they get down to breaking them, they have a lot of fun doing it.”

“It’s very exciting,” Tezanos-Pinto said. “It’s something new and it’s very fun. It was a fun project.”

Students Celebrate Diversity at World Academic Challenge

> All Mooseheart’s students competed as different countries in the World Academic Challenge in mid- February. “Team France” won, but all students were really the winners because they learned a lot about the world in which they live.

The students representing “Team Lithuania” march during the opening ceremony.

Josie Stone and the Costa Rica team work on a team-building exercise. In addition to the games, students had a chance to answer trivia questions to show just how much they learned about their countries. Everyone did a great job and learned a lot!

Arranda’s Spirit of Giving is Alive and Well

Eighth-Grader Stuart Donates 14 Inches of Hair to ‘Locks of Love’

Arranda Stuart

> In O. Henry’s classic 1906 short story “Gift of the Magi,” a young couple who want to buy each other Christmas presents sell their best possessions: the wife’s hair, and the husband’s pocket watch.

The wife has her hair cut to make a wig, and uses the money buy a watch chain for her husband. The husband sells his watch to buy her beautiful hair combs.

More than a century has passed since that story was written, but Mooseheart eighth-grader Arranda Stuart embodies that same spirit of selfless giving. And she did it with her hair too.

Stuart had fully 14 inches of her hair cut so she could donate it to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization which makes hairpieces for children 18 and under who have long-term hair loss due to cancer treatments, or any medical condition.

“I didn’t know how it would look,” Stuart said. “But I felt good because I knew maybe a person who’s in need of hair could use my hair. I wasn’t really doing anything with it and it might change someone’s life.”

Stuart said she grew her hair for two years in order to have enough length to donate to Locks of Love. But when she arrived in the Cosmetology room to have it cut, she caught most by surprise.

“I know she’s been planning on doing it,” Mooseheart cosmetology teacher Dodie Whitmer said. “I didn’t think she was planning on doing it until May. So when she came in (Monday), she was ready. So we scrambled. I figured if she was ready, it was time to do it because I didn’t want her chickening out.”

Stuart’s hair formerly reached beyond the middle of her back. She still has shoulder-length hair, but said it is taking time to get used to the shorter length.

“I’m so used to bringing the brush all the way down through my hair,” Stuart said. “Now I just bring it down to my shoulders and that feels weird. I used to be able to do stuff with it like long ponytails.”

As in O. Henry’s story, Stuart’s hair had become one of her prized possessions. And a few tears were nearly shed as the hair was cut.

Whitmer said, “I said ‘you go ahead and cry. You have every right to cry. You’ve had that hair for how many years? And it’s a part of you.’ ”

Stuart said she would like to donate hair again, once it grows to the proper length, which may or may not take all that much time.

“My hair grows really fast,” Stuart said. “I probably will do it again.”

NJROTC Military Ball Honors Armed Services March 16

Mooseheart’s 2006 Military Ball court was (from left) King Chris Fitzgerald, Queen Tara Janssen, Andy Greenaway, Carmen Avila, Davon Davy, Basheeba Mays, Martin Gutierrez and Robin Young.

> The Military Ball has a long history at Mooseheart, and it involves a significant portion of the students on campus. Every high school student at Mooseheart is automatically enrolled in the Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC).

This year’s ball on March 16 gave U.S. Army Gen. Bill Weir, also a Kane County (IL) circuit judge, a chance to meet the students. “For all of them, it’s a great opportunity,” Weir said. “It teaches them American military and our national traditions. I think the overall mission of Mooseheart and the mission of ROTC are very complementary.”

Following the National Anthem, Mooseheart’s NJROTC leader, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Doug Groters (ret.) made some initial remarks, which were followed by a sequence of toasts (alcohol-free, of course) to U.S. military service branches and their members. The formalities ended with announcement of the ball’s court; Chris Fitzgerald, the event’s “king” crowned Tara Janssen the event’s “queen.”

IL Moose Fund $69K Backhoe

> The Illinois Moose Association raised $69,000 to provide for replacement of the Child City’s backhoe -- one of the most integral pieces of machinery on the campus. So when the Case Industrial Equipment-manufactured backhoe arrived at the Child City, it was accorded star status. Director General William B. Airey, Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart and Illinois Moose Association officials took advantage of a clear February day to pose with the backhoe (above). “When you’re dealing with a 1,000-acre campus and close to 100 buildings and when your utilities run underground, having access to a machine like this at any hour of the day is critical,” Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart said. The existing backhoe at Mooseheart has been on the job for nearly 18 years and was in need of replacement. The Illinois Moose Association raised the money through a variety of means. Illinois Moose Association Fraternal Fundraising Chairman Mark Hanford said: “I’ve had a lot of people behind me who have helped make this happen.’’

NEW CITIZENS of the Child City

Dennis Davis born May 18, 1992 ARRIVED 8/15/06 Sponsor: Chicago SW Lodge 44	Adrianna Aguayo born Dec. 26, 1990 ARRIVED 8/18/06 Sponsor: Chicago SW Lodge 44	Skie Cullen born Dec. 27, 1989 ARRIVED 8/21/06 Sponsor: Longmont, CO Lodge 1548
Amber Hayden born Dec. 11, 2002 ARRIVED 8/23/06 Sponsor: Lebanon, IN Lodge 1269	Nathan Hayden born Dec. 6, 2001 ARRIVED 8/23/06 Sponsor: Lebanon, IN Lodge 1269	Kenny Arceri born June 24, 1990 ARRIVED 8/25/06 Sponsor: Chicago SW Lodge 44
Jeff Kalleck born April 25, 1992 ARRIVED 9/18/06 Sponsor: LaPine OR Lodge 2093	Emmanuel Toe born Feb. 21, 2001 ARRIVED 10/24/06 Sponsor: Capital City, IA Lodge 2589	Samuel Toe born Feb. 5, 2003 ARRIVED 10/24/06 Sponsor: Capital City, IA Lodge 2589
Dart Perry born Oct. 14, 1996 ARRIVED 10/17/06 Sponsor: Davenport, IA Lodge 28	Mike Perry born Oct. 14, 1997 ARRIVED 10/17/06 Sponsor: Davenport, IA Lodge 28	Colton Bullock born Oct. 28, 1992 ARRIVED 10/30/06 Sponsor: Lake Worth, FL Lodge 994
Austin Perkins born June 3, 1996 ARRIVED 10/30/06 Sponsor: Lake Worth, FL Lodge 994	Addelina LaBlance born Sept. 14, 1990 ARRIVED 11/3/06 Sponsor: Sault Ste. Marie, ON Lodge 535	Randy Hamm born Sept. 28, 1991 ARRIVED 1/8/07 Sponsor: Medford, OR Lodge 178
Zion Haugabook born July 6, 1999 ARRIVED 1/18/07 Sponsor: Elgin, IL Lodge 799	Jocelyn Ranum born April 9, 1993 ARRIVED 1/22/07 Sponsor: Campbell, CA Lodge 1811	James Ranum born Sept. 1, 1994 ARRIVED 3/2/07 Sponsor: Campbell, CA Lodge 1811
John Ranum born Jan. 5, 1996 ARRIVED 3/2/07 Sponsor: Campbell, CA Lodge 1811	Jacob Ranum born March 9, 1997 ARRIVED 3/10/07 Sponsor: Campbell, CA Lodge 1811