The Friars out-performed staunch competition from Latin School of Chicago and north suburban Lake Forest Academy.
On Saturday, February 25, at the Niles West State Math Regionals, Fenwick took first place and — for the 30th consecutive year — qualified all 33 members of itsMath Team for the State Math Finals. The finals will be held at Illinois State University in Normal, IL, in April. The top three Math Teams (with their scores):
Fenwick 845
Lake Forest Academy 832
Latin School 661
The Friars finished first in five of the ten events:
Algebra 2 Team
Calculator Team
Oral Math Topic Team
Two-person Junior/Senior Team
Eight-person Freshman/Sophomore Team
In individual events, for the first time in the 43 years of the State Contest, Fenwick had two perfect scores: by Kyra Miller ’25 (Riverside, IL) in Geometry and Tuoyu “Toby” Yang ’24 (Oak Park, IL)in Algebra 2. Quinn Hynes ’23 (Western Springs, IL) also placed first in Pre-Calculus.
Congratulations to the entire team and their six coaches/moderators: Mrs. Brigid Esposito ’96, Mr. Roger Finnell ’59, Mrs. Bozena Kopf, Mrs. Maria Nowicki, Mr. Andrew Reuland ’94 and Ms. Diane Sabbia!
The school’s Math Competition Club is moderated by alumnus Roger Finnell from the Class of ’59, who has been teaching in the building this academic year.
Fenwick High School defeated 12 other Chicago-area, Catholic high schools earlier this month to win the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Math Contest. The competition has been held annually since 1967 — four years after Roger Finnell began teaching math at Fenwick in the fall of 1963. Mr. Finnell (pictured above, in his classroom, where he still uses chalk!) grew up in Cicero and Forest View, IL, attending grade school at Queen of Heaven, then St. Leonard’s in Berwyn. He has been in charge of running the archdiocese’s contest for the past 52 years.
“Fenwick has been fortunate to win first place 15 of the last 22 years with some extremely talented and dedicated math competitors,” reports Finnell, who is the Friars’ proud math club moderator and longtime chair of Fenwick’s Mathematics Department. To win this year’s Archdiocesan championship, his team tallied the highest score among both divisions of Catholic schools, which include (in alphabetical order): De La Salle Institute, DePaul Prep, Marist, Marian Catholic (Chicago Heights), Marmion Academy (Aurora), Montini (Lombard), Mount Carmel, St. Francis (Wheaton), St. Ignatius, St. Rita of Cascia, St. Viator (Arlington Heights) and Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart (Lake Forest). Like much of this school year, the 2021 math contest was conducted “virtually” online.
Mr. Finnell in 1968 (yearbook image).
Alongside many Archdiocesan high schools, Fenwick has successfully operated a hybrid education model since last August. Approximately half of its 1,100 students are in the building on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the other half comes in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Note: Some families have opted for fully remote, eLearning.) However, COVID-19 adjustments have not deterred Finnell, a 1959 alumnus of Fenwick who has been teaching at his alma mater for 58 years. The former Friar student returned to Oak Park shortly after graduating from Loyola University (Chicago), where he also completed his master’s degree in mathematics. Amazingly, five decades later, he can be seen in the building this school year. “The past year has been challenging to say the least!” Finnell admits. “Like others [teachers], I have had to adjust teaching to a camera while still engaging the in-person learners,” he explains, “but I miss the one-to-oneness in class during normal times.
“I have tried to do all the usual math competition activity [this year],” Finnell continues. “Three math leagues [17 contests total] have been online — with fewer participants than usual. Our junior-high math contest was online and drew twice as many contestants as usual! For state math contest practices, all early ones were conducted online. Now, for three team events, we have asked students to attend in-person practices, which have gone fairly normally. I miss going to a local college for state math regionals, and the team misses going to Champaign for the state finals. This year, the state contest is totally virtual, one day only, with less events than usual. But our team is still looking forward to it.
Mathematics Department Chair and True Fenwick Treasure
Alumnus and Math Teacher Mr. Finnell is wrapping up his 55th year as an instructor at Fenwick. Having produced more than 100 Blackfriars Guild productions (and counting), he’s still going strong!
What is your educational background?
RF: I graduated from Fenwick in 1959. (The White Sox in World series!) B.S. (natural sciences) from Loyola University Chicago in ’63 (the year they won the NCAA basketball!); M.A. from Loyola Chicago.
Finnell as a Fenwick junior in 1958.
What did you do prior to becoming a Fenwick teacher?
RF: I graduated from college and started at Fenwick three months later, in September of 1963. (Obviously, I was five at the time!)
What are you reading for enjoyment?
RF: The New Yorker magazine, for play and movie reviews and in-depth articles.
What interests do you pursue outside the classroom?
RF: Travel and seeing plays (some for possible BFG production) and seeing White Sox games (once saw a no-hitter vs. the Sox).
To what teams/clubs did you belong as a student?
RF: I played alto sax in the Fenwick Band (and still have it!).
Which clubs/sports/activities do you run at Fenwick?
RF: I coach the State Math Team. (I’m the only original head coach in Illinois still coaching since the state contest started in 1981.) I produce and direct BFG productions. “Banua 2018” was show #82 as a director (100 as a producer). I am Vice-President of the Archdiocese Math Teachers’ Association (board member since 1968). I also help when I can with the Kairos retreat program. I am a member of the State Math Contest Committee (head statistician since about 1985). For 33 years I ran a student tour to London. For many years I was student Council Moderator. (No, really, sometimes I do sleep!)
As student and mentor, Roger has spent a total of 59 years (and counting) at Fenwick!
What qualities/characteristics mark a Fenwick student?
RF: Gifted, hard-working and (hopefully) caring and compassionate
When did you decide to become a teacher, and why did you choose this field?
RF: I always enjoyed math and (hopefully) was good at it. I decided in junior year of high school to be a math teacher, inspired by Fr. George Conway, a legendary Fenwick math teacher, who was my teacher here for three years. (And I did get to teach with him for about five years when I returned.)
What personal strengths do you find especially helpful in your teaching?
RF: I am a good listener and a detail person. I think this helps me anticipate almost any question a student may ask. I guess maybe I can visualize the wheels turning in their minds.
What do you like most about teaching as a career?
RF: Every period of every class day is different and brings new experiences. I enjoy seeing students grow in their math knowledge and, hopefully, in developing constantly more mature attitudes towards study.
What is your philosophy of education?
RF: To treat my students as young adults, because that is what they are (and how they act most of, but not all of, the time). As I do this, hopefully I can help instill Christian values in them both in and out of the classroom. I strive to encourage students to think analytically and to develop sound reasoning techniques, and to help students see the beauty and logic in the mathematics and its place in the structure of God’s universe.
What is the greatest success you have had in teaching?
RF: Seeing that my students are well prepared in math when they leave for college and hearing from them about their success in college math and, for some, hearing how they are using their math in their careers.
What do you think is the greatest challenge facing students today?
RF: In this technical age of society today, I hope that students will not just rely on calculators and computers to do all of their thinking for them. And that they will not let social media dictate how they live their lives morally.
How do you encourage class participation?
RF: I hope my students know that they can stop class at any time with appropriate questions. To be sure the thinking I am looking for is going on, my goal is to hear every student’s voice in class every day. This does not happen all of the time. But I will ask students whose voices I have not heard whether they see what is happening in a problem and hope this will encourage questions from them in the future.
Any memorable moments?
RF: Where to begin?
As student Council Moderator, many successful homecoming weeks and proms. (I have lost count!).
Spending a large amount on bringing to Fenwick “Otis Day and The Nights,” the “Animal House” movie band, for a concert in the Lawless Gym that wound up drawing a crowd of 1,100.
As London tour guide, watching students’ reactions as they were exposed to so many historical and cultural sites in London and surrounding areas and, for a number of years, in Paris.
As Math Team Coach, winning the state championship in our division in 2002, with six or seven second-place finishes since, along with a good number of individual and team event state champs.
As BFG producer/director, guiding so many very talented student performers to success in so many memorable productions. I follow the professional performing arts careers of some very gifted BFG alumni. (My favorite BFG show is “Les Miserables” from 2011 — it was the perfect show for a perfect cast.)
As a math teacher, getting the privilege of helping to develop the math skills of so many extremely talented students. At least two now have Ph.D.’s in math. Mr. Kotty and Mrs. Esposito are two former State Math Team captains!
As Kairos assistant, so many emotional moments as I see retreatants growing in knowledge and love.
‘Preparing the scientists, researchers and health-care workers of tomorrow.’
by Fr. Richard LaPata, O.P., President Emeritus
For example, the dictionary defines excellence as “a quality of being outstanding or extremely good.” Does Fenwick have, as a matter of fact, the right to describe itself in these terms and to embrace the word “excellent” as an integral part of its motto?
Father LaPata is a 1950 graduate of Fenwick.
As a former president of Fenwick, I could write a long essay giving many particular examples of the excellence to be found in the school’s multiple departments — from its teachers, its curriculum and its extracurricular activities to its actual educational outcomes. But perhaps what is even more persuasive is the testimony to Fenwick’s excellence given by those who have little or no ties to our school.
Recently, I was invited to have lunch by and with a group of men whom I did not know. They were not alumni nor family members of our students. After some pleasant conversation I asked them what the real purpose of our meeting was. They explained that in the recent past each of them had a loved one who succumbed to the ravages of cancer. In response, they had a benefit golf outing to raise funds for the “fight against cancer.”
As it happened, these gentlemen gave half of the proceeds to the Northwestern University Research Center. And, to my surprise, they said they were giving the other half to Fenwick because “we know you are preparing the scientists, researchers and health-care workers of tomorrow, and you are doing it well.”
These men seem to know how well we educate our students in the sciences, in part because of our reputation for excellence. What a remarkable testimony to what Fenwick claims in its motto!
Educational background:
BS Computer Science Engineering
JD Intellectual Property Law
What did you do prior to becoming a teacher at Fenwick? DK: I love work. Prior to university, I was an ice cream scooper, bus boy, and owned a window washing business. After university, I worked in the software industry for 20 years. Ultimately, I founded a company with a close friend and we grew that business until we were acquired by Cognos, IBM’s software divisions. I worked at Cognos for 5 years post acquisition running an international business unit focused on financial performance and analytic software.
What are you currently reading for enjoyment? DK: I just joined a men’s book club with some friends that are also in my fantasy football league. We are reading The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis. Interesting already!
What interests do you pursue outside of the classroom? DK: I like anything outside and that involves new travel. I love to run, bike, hike, ski, and board in new and old locales. I am also a bit of a greenie and a handyman. This past summer I installed a new deck and solar panels. Fun!
To what teams and/or clubs did you belong as a student? DK: When I was young, I was on the soccer, wrestling and math teams. Our math team was 12 people. Quite a difference from the numbers Fenwick sees on the math team and on the WYSE and JETS teams. I love how engaged our students are in STEM. Continue reading “Faculty Focus: February 2017”
