The Flossmoor Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 3 was packed with special recognitions, starting with a long list of accomplishments by Homewood-Flossmoor High School students, teachers and coaches.
Mayor Michelle Nelson gave shoutouts to a number of teams and individuals who had standout achievements during the previous year, including the state champion boys basketball team, “but we had quite a few other state champions and even a national champion to celebrate as well.”
“I could not be prouder of the work that Homewood-Flossmoor High School does and all of our kiddos, our coaches, our teachers, all the time our volunteers and parents put in to our children on a daily basis,” she said. “They really make Flossmoor shine.”
She mentioned the theater production of “Urinetown,” which was named best high school musical production in the state in the Broadway in Chicago Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards in May.
She noted that Stella Hoyt and Jazmin Rhodes were nominated in the best female performer, and Bryce Stewart and Gabrielle McKinney were nominated for best male performer. Jazmin Rhodes won the top prize and was invited to appear in a musical revue in New York City. Teacher Anne Calderón directed the show.
The mayor noted that Jack Piros was the champion of the National Political Science Bee. The speech team’s Emma Steiner, Hoyt and Rhodes won individual state champion awards. They were coached by teacher Prince Lowe.
She mentioned the four students who won the state title in the Lincoln-Douglas debate, the first time H-F students to have won that event. Competitors were Kevin Gibek. Zavier Scott, Max Benitz and Aliya Gaskin. They were coached by Kathyrn Cole, Emily Carroll, Beverly Lenore, Dan Bush and Tiana Sharpe.
Nelson also lauded the Special Olympics unified team that won the state championship in soccer.
Not all the students and coaches who were recognized were present at the meeting. Several students had graduated and were off to college. But those who were at the meeting posed for a group photo.
Nelson also honored the Bracken family while proclaiming Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in the village. Dan Bracken is a captain with the Flossmoor Fire Department. He and his wife, Lacey, lost their young daughter, Finley, to cancer in 2020.
After her death, the family started the Finley Forever Foundation, and one of its projects is the Lights and Ladders Brigade, a volunteer effort that puts holiday lights up for families dealing with childhood cancer.
“They let their grief be turned into something good for others by creating the Finley Forever Foundation in 2021 to provide support, hope and financial assistance to those in need,” Nelson said.
The meeting also included a proclamation recognizing Constitution Week from Sept. 17 to Sept. 23. Sept. 17 was the 237th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.
Marilyn Trapajna, a local representative of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, accepted the proclamation.
Nelson also read a proclamation on railroad safety, “See Tracks? THINK TRAIN Week” for Sept. 23 to Sept. 29.