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03/08/26 01:16 PM

#2241

Holly Semiloff (Ciotti)

Sorry to detract from weighty issues like war, destruction, hatred, and terrorism, but I have a down-memory-lane question: anyone recall what AP courses we had at Niles West back in the early 1060s? I recall Liz Honnet telling me she took AP Literature and they read King Lear, but I was so, like, totally not academic then, that it was news to me, not that I would have cared.

I'm still teaching high school English, and my students sometimes ask about "the old days." Ha, ha, I show them my senior yearbook, and they are delighted with the hairstyles. To them, the 9/11 attacks were ancient history, and soon, they think babies will be born with their little hands clutching a cellphone.

Those of you peeking at this website might have been ones to take AP courses, so maybe you recall.

thanks, holly (semiloff) ciotti

03/08/26 02:38 PM

#2242

Roger C. Kaage

Hi, Holly--

I only took one AP course - World History, my senior year. Knowing the people responding to this site, I'm sure you'll have many others listed pretty soon.

03/09/26 11:21 AM

#2243

David Alexander Merrill

Hi Holly!
In the sciences we had AP Physics and Chemistry. There probably was AP Mathematics as well.
Does anyone remember the workbook we used in Chemistry written by George Sackheim? It was excellent, clear and concise. In the 1970s my wife was taking a chemistry intro course at UIC and Mr Sackheim was the instructor! I went with her one day to class and was impressed by the respect shown by the students. When he entered the room, all chatter ceased and he received everyone's full attention. He certainly knew how to keep a class engaged.
My best to all,
Dave

03/09/26 03:22 PM

#2244

Paul Richard Hain

Good for you, Holly. Your teacher story was great! Keep teaching those young minds the lessons you learned all these years. There is a youthfulness expressed in your remarks that I wish young teachers aspire to be like as "senior" teachers themselves.. I made it 43 years in education, so you have me beat! Congratulations!

03/10/26 09:55 PM

#2245

Holly Semiloff (Ciotti)

43 years -- indeed. I'm in year 42; I didn't start teaching until I was 39.

Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I caught wind of a half-baked senior saying, "Me and my mom went to Bloomingdale's last week" and I muttered, "Dang, I guess I can't retire yet; those precious ignoramouses are putting objective case pronouns in subject position."

Alas, something to fret about besides drones (but pardon me for droning on and on.)

Remember sentence diagramming?

holly

03/10/26 11:22 PM

#2246

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

I do remember diagramming sentences, Holly.
I admire your energy and the joy you experience with high school students.
Age is just a number; you're younger than our president.
Take heed, 80 is just a bend in the road.

A wise African said: "The opposite of poverty is not wealth, it's dignity."
You do not diminish your students' dignity. You know what it is to give and to receive.

03/13/26 09:19 PM

#2247

Paul Richard Hain

Don;t let them get away with that, Holly. Good catch!

Janice I like the "bend in the road" analogy.

03/14/26 08:11 AM

#2248

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Hey teach!
You misspelled my name.

03/19/26 03:26 PM

#2249

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Finland tops the list for happiness -
five years in a row -
followed by the other Scandinavian countries.

03/22/26 03:45 PM

#2250

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Cherry blossoms in DC.

Spring has sprung.

Cubs and Brewers: Thursday, Opening Day

03/24/26 02:07 AM

#2251

Jack Edmund Bookwalter

To all those who participated in our class's production of "The Music Man", is anyone besides myself having deja vu with current events? Character Harold Hill is a traveling huckster with an overblown ego who created and identified serious "problems" that the townspeople had been oblivious to before. "WE GOT TROUBLE! RIGHT HERE IN RIVER CITY!! WITH A CAPITAL "T" AND THAT RYMES WITH "P" AND THAT STANDS FOR "POOL"!! His efforts landed him lucrative sales contracts for his musical instruments. Even after he was exposed as a fraud, he is still beloved by the tiwnspeople.
Hmmm...Sound familiar? Just saying...
Methinks composer/playwrite Meredith Wilson had a good command of the foibles of human nature.

03/24/26 11:35 AM

#2252

Nancy Doyle (Sudlow)

Any comments, Lee Miller?

03/26/26 11:32 PM

#2253

Alan A. Alop

Partial translation of prior post of JK: "marksist"--a third-grader's phonetic attempt at "Marxist". "Pewing" -- an addled but close try for "spewing."

Full translation of prior post: Janice (sic) (should be Janis) I am confident (he has no idea actually; he is simply trying to sound amicable before he brings down the hammer) that you are nice old lady (something pernicious in the use of "nice old lady"; I don't think he really believes Janis is nice) but you need to get a life ("get a life" seems rather contemptuous, doesn't it?) other than this solilist (no such word Jack but we know what you meant--or do we?) , marksist dogma (the quaint suggestion that the "nice old lady" is a Commie) that you are pewing (evidently the Commie posts too much for the taste of JK--or maybe the nice old Communist lady is sitting in a chuch pew too often). Jack

03/27/26 01:27 PM

#2254

Holly Semiloff (Ciotti)

Fab, Alan, fab.

Holly-still-teaching-high-school-English-Ciotti (Semiloff)

03/27/26 06:11 PM

#2255

Jack Edmund Bookwalter

Not to belabor the point (OK, I AM belaboring the point) but to get back to The Music Man: I remember Lee Miller playing the Harold Hill role so adroitly that I'm surprised Lee didn't use those skills and run for public office at some point (er, maybe he did??). BTW, I learned the word "adroit" in Mr Abrams English class and still enjoy throwing in a sentence whenever I can 😄

03/27/26 08:34 PM

#2256

Ronald I. Zager

Jack (Bookwalter), Do you think that Jack (Kristof) took Mr. Abrams' English class?

03/27/26 09:08 PM

#2257

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

To belabor the point of my age:

I admit to being happy not to be hiking the Appalachian Trail as two of my grandchildren will this summer, but I've been carded to verify my eligibiliy for the senior discount when out with friends and acquaintances. Life can turn on a dime, but my current driver's license is valid 'til 2034. I am known to pew (as be seated for services) in the church my husband serves. Seven grandchildren (ages 15-27) keep me young and on my toes.

Janis

03/28/26 12:35 PM

#2258