Lake County Gazette

Westminster High School has received a $20,000 shopping spree as the grand prize in a national competition sponsored by Best Buy and Intel Corporation. Principal Maureen Bangsund said her team initially thought the award notification was suspicious. “We honestly thought it was a scam,” Bangsund said. However, the prize turned out to be legitimate recognition for excellence from the Best Buy store at 93rd and Sheridan.

Best Buy employees nationwide participated in an eight-week training challenge focused on Intel technology. The Westminster team won and chose their local school as the beneficiary of the prize. Instead of using all funds on large purchases, Westminster High decided to invest much of the money in products intended to motivate students throughout the academic year, particularly as rewards for meeting academic and behavioral goals during periods of budget constraints.

The school also made a purchase designed to benefit all students: “Our student council has been trying to do more outdoor movie nights to increase that feeling of community,” Bangsund said. “We got an outdoor projector and projection screen.”

The new equipment will be used both in classrooms and at student events at Westminster High School.

Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 is not affiliated with this event but represents several schools in Lake County, Illinois, including Waukegan High School and multiple elementary and middle schools (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The district’s demographic makeup is primarily Hispanic (79.5 percent), with Black students representing 13.2 percent, White students 3.2 percent, and Asian students 1.3 percent (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The district employs over one thousand teachers who earn an average salary of $63,524; about 71 percent are women (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In fiscal year 2020, Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 spent $23,429 per student (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).