Black Girls Rock Queens’ Camp for Leadership & Excellence, Conference, and TV Awards Show Empowers Janaé Robinson
Black Girls Rock isn’t just a saying written on a t-shirt. It happens to be a national non-profit organization committed to enriching the lives of young black women through leadership, education,and positive identity development.

The organization was founded in 2006 by the celebrity DJ, Beverly Bond. Each year the organization televises its Black Girls Rock Awards show, awarding women of color for their contributions in a wide array of areas. Last summer, Janaé Robinson participated in the summer immersion camp at Barnard College in New York City.

The Black Girls Rock Queens Camp for Leadership and Excellence is geared toward young black women and offers workshops in Entrepreneurship, Civil Engagement, and Service. The workshops are taught by professors from around the world.

This year, Janae is hoping to attend Black Girls Lead in July, a four day international conference held at Columbia University in New York City. The conference pulls together young black women in grades 8-12 to foster leadership and confidence. Art, technology, academics, and life skills are taught to these young women. The application process to be accepted includes a resume,  nine short essays, a personal essay, and a 3 minute video.

Earth Day
Although Mother Nature called the shots this year with rain, she did not stop Regina Dominican from supporting environmental protection or having an enjoyable Earth Day in the cafeteria. There was food, of course, but, there was also a lot of fun activities.  The environmental science students played music and sponsored games, while participants had the opportunity to tie-dye t-shirts, purchase student-made knick-knacks, or buy classic flower pots to decorate. A new feature added this year was a raffle featuring Lush beauty products.

Elections
At the end of each year, a new group of officers are elected for Student Council, National Honor Society, as well as the upper class leadership boards and advisory representatives. Congratulations to the newly elected:

Student Council
President: Laura Fino
Vice President: Francesca (Fran) Cambria
Corresponding Secretary: Claire Beiter
Recording Secretary: Margaret (Maggie) McNaughton
Treasurer: Nina Menon

National Honor Society

President: Mary Berg
Vice President: Linette Maliakal
Secretary: Syeda Fatima
Treasurer: Sharika Elahi
Historian: Reem Darwish
Parliamentarian: Olivia Kiefhaber

Senior Leadership Board Officers

Clare Broderick
Emily Monick
Jessica Wollney

Senior Class Reps
Kathryn Cressy
Linette Malialka
Larkin McGarr
Madelyn Sweeney
Kayla Ylagan

Junior Leadership Board Officers
Allison Svachula
Meghan Marrs
Maddy Wilson

Junior Class Reps
Katie Allerman
Maddy Fox
Sam Koutnik
Kelly Richards

Sophomore Leadership Board Officers
Katie Clancy
Hailey Hoffman
Rachel Lucas

Sophomore Class Reps
Katie Burke
Virginia Connolly
Aedin Donahue
Grace Owens

Prom
May 6 may have been a bit rainy, but Regina girls and their dates did not let the weather dampen their evening.  This year’s theme, “Skyfall,” was a nod to the 2012 James Bond movie. Prom was held at Michigan Shores Club in Wilmette. Attire included black tie for the boys and evening dress for the girls. Appetizers, dinner, and dancing were on the event menu. After a fun evening, many Regina girls went to a a lake house or to an after-party at a friend’s house.

Mathletes
Regina’s math team started out the school year hosting the popular math event for middle school students. As the year progressed, Mathletes competed in Regional and State competitions. Students can take a team test or take an individual test. The competition is divided into  different math areas. At the 2015 regionals, Regina placed second overall in algebra and pre-calculus and received first place among six to seven other schools in calculus. This year, Regina sent 23 girls to participate in the state finals at the University of Illinois.

This year  Ms. Anna Bohlke’s served in first year as head coach. Bohlke said Regina’s teams always do well. Mathletes is important to any school because, as Bohlke says, “Not everyone is good at sports, but Mathletes lets students be a part of a team and connect with other Math minded students.”

Spring Pep Assembly
The Spring Pep Assembly featured Regina’s spring athletes in Bass Fishing, Lacrosse, Soccer, and Track and Field, and Softball. Each team took the floor and introduced their players, and the faculty and students participated in a fun balloon race.  The main attraction, however, was the unexpected performance by the Jesse White tumbling team. This internationally acclaimed group of tumblers wowed the Regina community with their acrobatic ability.

Teacher Annette Bochenek’s eBook Published
English teacher and classic film buff, Annette Bochenek has published an ebook entitled The Fabulous Films of the 30s, which can be downloaded free from Smashwords or purchased through Amazon. The ebook features 19 blog articles by different authors of classic films during the 1930s. Ms. Bochenck’s movie review is on the 1936 classic musical, Born to Dance. You can visit Ms. Bochenek’s blog here or visit Classic Movies Blog Association.

WYSE
This year’s WYSE Team from Regina Dominican performed spectacularly. WYSE stands for Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering and is headquartered at the University of Illinois. Each year, students compete at the regional, sectional, and state level. At each competition, the competitors take two standardized tests in two different subjects. The subjects include Biology, Chemistry, Engineering Graphics, Computer Science, English, Mathematics, and Physics. Contestants are eligible to win individual medals for the test they take, and the team score qualifies the group to move on to the next competition. This year, our WYSE team advanced to the State competition in the 300 Students , and was highly competitive. Medalists at the state competition included Mary Berg ’16 in 3rd for Chemistry, Michelle Delana ’15, Izzy Laurie ’15, and Linette Maliakal tied for 6th in Chemistry, Ally Te ’15 in 1st for Physics, and Yujin Lee ’15 in 4th for Physics.