Devils' Advocate November-December 2018

In This Issue — Hidden Holidays, pg. 16 STEM or STEAM, pg. 22 Fall Fashion, pg. 28

HINSDALE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL | HINSDALE, ILLINOIS | VOLUME 91 | NOV-DEC 2018

LETTER TO THE [ EDITOR ]

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his letter is in response to the Devil’s Advocate editorial titled “We Don’t Need No Physical Education”. The editorial addressed Senate Bill 1947 on educational funding but more specifically the mandate relief of physical education in kindergarten through 12th grade. The new mandate states that school districts do have the choice to move from daily physical education to three days a week of physical education. Why was this decision made by state legislators is still unclear a year later. Some could argue funding, some would say to regulate those districts that are not providing daily education, and others may respond “I have no idea”.

The one comment you did not see or hear was that daily physical education is bad or unhealthy for students.

In District 86 we are committed to educating the whole child. We are committed to providing an educational environment that offers curriculum that will ready students for life after high school. In our district we provide curriculum that builds on academics, activities, and life-skills. What separates our district from so many other districts

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is structuring curriculum that will provide quality education from all content areas and will challenge all levels of learners.

Together we take on challenges and work together to achieve that one goal of supporting students to be the best they can be because greatness is not cheap, it will cost time, it will cost energy, and it will cost sacrifice.

Physical education is not a roadblock for student success. In truth, it is the total opposite. Dr. John Ratey a professor of psychology at Harvard University states that “exercise is the single BEST thing you can do for your brain in terms of mood, memory and learning.” New federal guidelines supported by researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago have stated that young children and adolescents should get at least an hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity throughout the day. The research continues to show that physical activity will chemically ready the brain to learn, reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and build self-confidence. To ignore this scientific research and give our students less would be the complete

opposite of our district’s mission and vision of providing more for our students in all educational areas. The value we see is the same as what neuroscientists are telling us, daily physical education has more value to our students’ overall wellbeing than drawing back to a minimum of three days a week.

The value of daily physical education is not only seen by our district but in a recent survey of 43 districts in the Chicagoland area there was only one district that will be moving to a 3 day a week physical education model. Districts that we often compare ourselves to such as New Trier, Stevenson, Lyons Township, Downers Grove, Naperville will all continue to provide daily physical education in order to support and ready their students for the challenge and rigor of academics and beyond.

The Physical Education Department will continue to do everything in our power to enhance the lives of our students through physical education, especially as peer reviewed scientific studies continue to support our cause. Your health and wellness will always be our priority, even if it is not yours.

-PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

CONT EN T S OUR STAFF LAYO ADELAKUN HANNAH AHDAB SARAH BADAWI OLIVIA BEARGIE AUDREY CARTER GABBY COSTELLO CATHERINE DOLAN CAMERON GARBER RAYHAN HUSSAIN ANCHAL KUMAR RIMA RAFIQ KATIE SHARP GAYATRI THIRUNARAYANAN ANAND YALLAPRAGADA

01 04 08 11 16 28 30

COVER 02 LETTER TO EDITOR 03 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PERSPECTIVES 04 EDITORIAL 05 BATTLEGROUND 07 DEVILISH ADVENTURE

AROUND CAMPUS 08 THE DAILY DEVIL 09 DEVIL IN DISGUISE

PROFILES 11 BEHIND THE PADDLE 14 A NEW NOTE

FEATURES 16 HIDDEN HOLIDAYS 20 IN THE FRAME: DECORATING 22 STEM OR STEAM 25 INVISIBLE DISABILITIES

BY THE NUMBERS 28 FALL FASHION

IN OUR COMMUNITY 30 HOLIDAY RECIPE 31 CHEERS & JEERS

MISSION STATEMENT Devils’ Advocate seeks to provide an open and diverse forum created by and for students from Hinsdale Central. The staff of Devils’ Advocate aims to bring news to the community of the school and surrounding area, by working with students, parents, and faculty, as well as reporting on events in a fair and balanced manner. The publication strives to inform, educate, and improve the atmosphere and student body by sharing information and recognizing individuals and ideas.

LETTER FROM THE

[EDITO R ]

On Nov. 1 we all heard the holiday music playing in the hallway signaling the start of winter. While some may think of this time as Christmas season there are many other holidays that the student body celebrates. This month we explore how students of other religions celebrate during the stressful times of finals and our school calendar’s inclination to favor Christian-based holidays. Also, we profile professional saxophone player Mr. Rajiv Halim, who has worked with celebrities including Jennifer Hudson and Chance the Rapper, and is now working with students here. With finals coming up our columnists take a yoga class to help them relax before their tests. Meanwhile, our Devil in Disguise watches the Forensics team and their preparation for the tournament season.

In other news, we look into two sports: rowing and table tennis and how they started. We then dig into STEM and how the science-based curriculum is affecting students and teachers. Also, we examine invisible disabilities like ADHD, Dyslexia and hearing aids and how they affect students in and out of the classroom.

Finally, we assert that all departments should collaborate about test dates and that having multiple tests on one day is detrimental to our health.

HEAD EDITORS

ANNIKA AGRAWAL

LAUREN LEE

CONTACT ADVISER, CHERISE LOPEZ CLOPEZ@HINSDALE86.ORG 630.570.8361

CONTRIBUTERS

SAFI Z. A. QADIR

AMY DONG | GABRIELLE TSAMIS | AHMAD SHIRAZ

Cover photo by Safi Qadir

Cover | 3

illustration by Audrey Carter

StreSSed & FineSSed

Most of us can recall a time when we have had up to four or five tests on a single school day. Exams often stack up before long weekends or extended breaks, because no teacher wants students to forget material during their time off of school. Yet, many teachers may not realize that every other teacher is thinking the same way, causing a pileup of stress for the students in their classes.

In 2017, Central introduced a policy allowing students to reschedule one of their tests if they had too many on one day.

The Request to Reschedule Exam Form is available on the school’s website for any student to download and submit to the Dean’s office at least 24 hours prior to the date of the exam. Unfortunately, many students and teachers remain unaware of this change in policy, due to a lack of advertisement and proper addressment.

Furthermore, the rescheduling request form also requires a signature from the teacher whose test is being moved—and many teachers are not willing to give that.

Teachers often structure their curriculums around certain test dates, and they do not want students to reschedule exams and disrupt those plans, so many tell students to simply move another teacher’s test.

But this is a catch-22, where no tests get rescheduled at all.

However, teachers underestimate the stress students are under. A study conducted by The Atlantic on competitive high schools like Central (defined by standardized test scores, AP classes offered, and strength of extracurriculars) found that 49 percent of students at these schools feel a great deal of stress on a daily 4 | Perspectives

basis. Around 26 percent of them show symptoms of anxiety or depression—four times the national average. When students have multiple tests on one day, they also sleep less, which only adds to the stress.

This stress is also detrimental to teachers, because it forces students to prioritize subjects, meaning that they are not able to perform to the best of their ability on every single test.

“I have multiple tests on one day all the time,” said Laila Riba, a senior who is currently in four AP classes. “It’s overwhelming because you have to choose which class to study for the most, and that can lead to you feeling overly prepared for one test and underprepared for another.”

If teachers truly want their students to do well on their exams and fully learn the material, they have to be more flexible and willing to accommodate students who need to move exams. No test is truly immovable, and if students are willing to come in before or after school, teachers should be able to accommodate them.

While some stress is motivational, expecting someone to be able to effectively study for all of those tests is unreasonably stress-inducing.

On the flip side, some teachers say that students moving tests may not necessarily be helpful.

“Tests do change. Sometimes a test will be pushed off, but I don’t have an interest in coordinating my test dates with other teachers because a few days after [a test], we’re on a different topic, and suddenly, students don’t remember [the previous unit] as much as they used to,” said Julie May, AP Chemistry teacher. “Every day

a student pushes the test off is a day that they think they have more time to study, but the reality is they’re not using that time to study.”

However, if exams were coordinated, especially across classes common to certain grade levels, such as Physics and U.S. History for juniors, and English I and Algebra for freshmen, forgetting unit material would not be an issue.

Departments should either coordinate testing days, ensuring that students do not have intradepartmental tests s on one day, or, like other schools, adopt a policy where departments have one or two days where they are allowed to give tests—for one department it may be Monday and Wednesday, for another it may be Tuesday and Friday. An even spread would stop the phenomenon of having tests in every single class on one day.

According to David Lange, English Department Chair, he has repeatedly proposed the idea of creating a test calendar where all teachers could input the days when they planned to administer tests, but to little success.

“The argument against [the calendar] is that in college, students will have to do the same. But in college you don’t have five classes in one day, so you can’t have five tests in a day,” Lange said. “My son is a junior in high school, and he does the first two [tests] but by the time he gets to the third one, he’s just like ‘I hope this works out well’. I am certainly a supporter of offering students a little bit of protection, but right now, it’s just an idea.”

We hope that idea comes true.

This editorial is the consensus of the Devils’ Advocate editorial board.

BATTLEGROUND Caravan Controversy

CONTEXT —Right now, asylum seekers from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and other Latin American countries are making their way to the United States in the form of a migrant caravan. As they traverse the path from their nation to ours and anticipate the U.S. reaction, thousands currently receive limited support in Tijuana, the boundary between the U.S. and Mexico. While Trump has expressed his nonconsent at their entrance into the country, Congress’s ultimate decision will not necessarily align with that of the president.

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illustration by Audrey Carter

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uring the 2016 presidential campaign, a tactic used by both political parties was fear mongering, or to win votes by inspiring fear. Hillary Clinton utilized fear over the future of a Trump presidency. Donald Trump instilled fear of, among other issues, illegal immigration—most notably, when he made a call to action to build a “great big wall” between Mexico and the United States. Regardless of whether that call was justified or not, it certainly parallels with recent events when President Trump called the incoming migrant caravan a threat to national security.

The timing of his announcement right before the midterm elections could not have been a coincidence.

Through the same tactic that won him the White House, during the past few months, he has been reinstilling the immigration fear all over again, using the the migrant caravan as a convenient vehicle to hope that the Republican Party retains its congressional majority.

While this does not directly correlate with just how much the migrant caravan is a national security threat, it explains one disparity between modern day politics and cold hard facts. After all, according to the Washington Post, illegal immigration rates have actually been going down. Before 9/11, the Border Patrol was making more than 1.6 million arrests by the US-Mexico border per year. Since then, arrest rates have been decreasing, a trend seemingly unbelievable given the amount of times politicians have told us otherwise.

Right now, the main migrant caravan is estimated to have around 5,000 asylum seekers, many of them unarmed women and children. Before 9/11, 5,000 was approximately the amount of arrests we made daily. In the end, this migrant caravan cannot possibly be as trumped up as it’s supposed to be.

The New York Times tells a story of a mother who was forcibly impregnated by a Honduran gang member, and after death threats, is currently fleeing with the rest of the migrant caravan fearing for her and her childrens’ lives. She, like many other asylum seekers, is not braving what is often called the “death route” between the U.S. and Mexico because she wants to. Rather, it is because she needs to. After all, these migrants aren’t like nuclear missiles or terrorist strikes, which are genuine threats to American security. They are victims, and we need to remember that.

To President Trump, perhaps it’s the Angela Han unapologetic demonization of people in need that’s preventing America from being great again.

he stories of many migrants are indeed heartbreaking and deserving of sympathy, but providing shelter for nearly 7,000 migrants from the caravan is not just the output of kindness and liberalism—it is millions of dollars from a country in debt to help those that, at this point in time, provide no present benefit.

With the migrant caravan’s journey to America comes their stampede through Mexico and subsequent invasion of Tijuana.

The Mexican government has accepted these immigrants with open arms, and the U.S. should use their precedence to foreshadow the effects such actions will have on our own country. An NPR report gives the example of Tijuana resident Magdalena Baltazar, who considers her city welcoming, but only for those who have the necessary documents. “We work hard here,” she says. “We don’t get handouts. The government shouldn’t be giving things to migrants when plenty of Mexicans are in a difficult position.” The same applies to our own nation, when at a time when a New York Times article says that in regards to our fight against poverty, our “gains over the last few years are fragile,” the United States needs to complete its work at home before our fate parallels that of Mexico—sanctity to nonAmericans at the expense of our own.

An NPR report states that “2,000 caravan members are expected to arrive in Tijuana in coming days. Another caravan of roughly 1,500 migrants is just north of Mexico City […]

Smaller contingents continue in southern Mexico.” And these numbers are in spite of Trump’s current attitude—the effects of our consent would be unfathomable as 7,000 asylees turn to 14,000 and beyond, once they have a clear destination that has confirmed their support.

But then where do we draw the line? America has for years been regarded as the “land of opportunity” and a safe haven for many fleeing from persecution, but similar to when the oxygen masks deploy on a falling plane, America is at the time when she must prioritize herself, no matter the circumstances, to ensure her future prosperity. She must insure the wellbeing of her people, those who reside in the country legally and fairly, of whom nearly a third find the caravan to be a major threat (according to the Hill), before she overexerts her ability to give.

The line must be drawn now—and it Aliza Panjwani must be in between the illegal immigrants and the United States for good.

Perspectives | 5

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Set_the _Adventure Devil’s Adventure: Stressing and Stretching

By Rima Rafiq and Rayhan Hussain

Junior Rima Rafiq practices some quick post-school yoga.

I

t’s been a long day. You bombed that one math test you studied so hard for, you lost your graphing calculator somewhere in the depths of the school, and you sped all the way to yoga class so you wouldn’t be late. You enter the studio, and the warmth envelopes you like a towel fresh from the dryer. In that moment everything that overwhelmed you drifts away. Finally, you sit down on your mat and take a deep, cleansing breath. If you feel overwhelmed by stress, yoga is the perfect way to release these negative feelings. Yoga is all about clearing your mind through different poses and stretches.

With finals season on its way, we wanted to find to a way to manage the stress of student life. Research has constantly praised yoga, so we decided to attend a class and see if it lived up to the hype. We went to Yoga by Degrees, which is located at 54 Ogden Ave. in Downers Grove. When we got to the studio, a prick of nervousness rushed through us as we saw people already set up and doing advanced stretches. The teacher started by putting her hands to her heart and stating her intention for the class. We dedicated our session to forgetting all the difficulties we had faced earlier in the day.

As the teacher went through a calming sequence of warm up stretches, we felt the nervousness drift away. We spent the rest of class going through sequences such as tree pose, warrior pose, and of course, downward dog. We ended with a ten minute resting period as the teacher placed a cool, lavender-scented towel on our foreheads. It was the perfect way to end our first yoga experience, and we felt

ready to face the stress of school again.

The two questions most frequently asked about yoga are when it became so popular and where it came from. According to Yoga Journal, the beginnings of yoga were developed in Northern India nearly 5,000 years ago. While yoga has always been popular in Asian culture, it became prominent in the Western hemisphere during the late 1960s. Today, yoga studios have popped up all over America and have become a staple for those searching to improve their physical and mental health.

Currently, 1.7 million teens under age 17 practice yoga in America. A 2012 study by the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics showed that students taking yoga classes performed better on tests compared to students taking regular physical activity classes.

Yoga tackles many techniques that the human body needs to thrive, such as meditation and social interaction.

At Central, the Group Exercise class offers yoga on Fridays as part of the curriculum. This class also offers other ways of getting fit, such as zumba. In addition, Meditation Club is a relaxing environment where everyone can take a moment out of their day to unwind. The club is offered every Wednesday in the Dance Studio, from either 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. or 3:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. depending on the date. A week trial at Yoga by Degrees costs $20. If you’re ever feeling stressed, drop by a class for a quick fix to your problems.

Who knows? You might just enjoy it.

Perspectives | 7

The Daily Devil

By Amy Dong & Gabrielle Tsamis

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n March 30, 2018, the World Health Organization revealed that one in four people suffer, or will suffer from a mental illness, affecting 450 million people worldwide. Yet, almost two thirds of those with a known disorder never seek help. With these statistics in mind, it may not be surprising that a new club has formed at school: Strong Minds Bring Change (SMBC).

“There’s a tarnish to these words that make people less willing to talk, and it’s scary for people, especially around our age,” said Ella Baderman, senior president and founder of SMBC. The club has already garnered membership and organized a kindness day in November. Annually, people celebrate this day on Nov. 13, and it encourages everyone to be mindful of their words and actions, and to make a small effort to perform one small act of kindness.

Members organized kindness grams for delivery to students throughout the day.

“In a world where many people don’t think carefully about what they say or how they impact others, it isn’t surprising that some people think what they say isn’t important,” said Victoria Lee, freshman.

The resurgence of organizations and clubs that raise mental health awareness in communities, such as Erika’s Lighthouse and SMBC, collectively help fight stigma.

The clubs complement the school-wide initiative to address social-emotional learning, which aims to teach students how to maintain balance in their personal and academic endeavors.

“We’re trying to bring strong minds together,” Baderman said.

The club held its first meeting, sponsored by Teri Marshall, on Nov. 7 and will continue to meet Wednesday mornings in room 124.

photo by Layo Adelakun

Changing the Stigma of Mental Health

Seniors Alek Malone and Sarah Berg help students raise money during the Kindness Gram day.

By Ahmad Shiraz

A

ny student who walks down the music hallway during December is bound to hear a plethora of cheerful sounds: bows gliding across the strings of violins, flutes trilling high notes, drums keeping beat to the music, and singers crooning out lyrics to popular carols.

These rehearsals take place all month in preparation for the school’s annual holiday concert, where every student musician has the chance to showcase their talent and have fun playing holiday songs.

This year, the holiday concert will take place on Dec. 11, when students will be treated to performances by several musical ensembles, including the philharmonic and symphony orchestras and the chamber choir known as Madrigals, among others.

The lineup for this year includes “Pas Redoublé”, arranged by Arthur Frankenpohl, “Let it Snow!”, and “Carol of the Bells”.

Typically, the songs performed vary from year to year. For example, “The Polar Express”, which features the notable 8 | Around Campus

soundtracks from the movie, is a new piece for Orchestra. However, some pieces are traditions—the Madrigals perform “Carol of the Bells” every year. Additionally, Orchestra Winds plays the finale every year, but their song is always an original rendition of a piece arranged specifically for the school.

This year, there is also a new addition to the schedule: an octet composed of four violins, two violas, one cello, and one bass.

“Given the lack of numbers, admission into this octet is highly selective, featuring only our best strings players in each of the sections of our top orchestra,¨ said Serge Penksik, Orchestra Director.

For student musicians, the holiday concert is a chance for them to showcase the festive atmosphere of the season.

“The holiday concert is one of the highlights of the music department. We are all able to come together and through our musical talents bring joy to the holiday season,” said Chris Deligiannis, senior.

photo by Layo Adelakun

Tis’ the Season

Choir rehearses for the upcoming Holiday Assembly scheduled for Dec. 11.

DEVIL IN DISGUISE An outsider’s perspective on the inner workings of a different club every month.

O

pening the door to Room 181, I was greeted by people arguing.

They were standing in front of the classroom screaming about where the wine glasses are. It was an odd scene, two people standing in a science classroom shouting about wine glasses and why their marriage was falling apart, but to anyone in Forensics it’s a typical, Thursday afternoon.

Forensics is one of the larger clubs at school, capping at around 67 members, ranging from freshmen to seniors. Despite its size, it prides itself on creating a community within the club.

Junior Kaitlyn Bergin and sophomore Henning Ley are partners in Dramatic Duet Acting, an event that requires them to perform a scripted scene together. Their event this year is about a boy and a girl who fall in love, get married and eventually divorce. The scene calls upon many different emotions, including frustration over wine glasses.

Dramatic Duet Acting is one of fourteen events the Forensics team competes.

The events range from public speaking to dramatic acting.

“The variety of different events attract a variety of different people. We often say that there is no place in the school that this collection of people would hang out, other than here,” said Paul Woods, coach and sponsor of the Forensics team.

Woods splits his responsibilities in half with Christopher Wilbur, another coach. Woods tends to take more of the performance pieces and Wilbur

leans more towards the informative speaking events.

Despite their differences they manage to create a feeling of family and community.

“Everyone is so supportive. It doesn’t matter if you’re being assigned to the same event as your friends, you always support them no matter what,” said Addie Lee, junior and second year Forensics team member.

Creating bonds between team members is important, especially in events like Dramatic Duet that require two people in sometimes some uncomfortable situations.

“A lot of what we have to do puts people on the spot. It can sometimes be uncomfortable, whether it’s dealing with real human emotions or public speaking,” Woods said. “So, you really have to be with people that you feel comfortable with. You need to feel like you’re in a safe environment.”

Woods works on creating that safe environment within his chemistry classroom every day after school. The front of the classroom gets transformed into a stage. Members perform their pieces at the front as if it is the real event. As they perform, Woods walks around the room. He steps back towards the other end of the classroom, trying to see the whole scene sprawled out in front of them. Then he walks forward, and sits in a desk to see the performance at eye level. He’ll interrupt every once in a while, telling members to repeat a line, alter the way they’re standing, or change

courtesy of Emily Goggin

Forensics

Members of 2018’s IHSA Forensics lineup in Peoria, Ill. in March 2018.

their facial expression.

It is this attention to detail that has landed the Forensics team in the top ten for the fifth year in a row, and has ended their last season with multiple state finalists. Entering this season, they keep their sights set high and have started out their season on the right foot, winning first place in their first tournament at Downers Grove North.

I personally find public speaking to be terrifying. Yet, no one on Forensics seemed afraid. While some were naturally at ease in front of a crowd, I found that many people had joined Forensics to push themselves out of their comfort zone.

I might not be able to speak in front of large crowds, but the next time I have to give a speech in class, I’ll try to imagine Mr. Woods standing in the back of the classroom cheering me on.

- Discoursing Devil

Around Campus | 9

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behind

Although not all sports are offered at school, students continue taking strides to participate in what they are passionate about

by Anchal Kumar and Audrey carter

Profiles | 1 1

photos by Rayhan Hussain and Arnima Agrawal

the paddle

a

h atie S s by K

photo

F

rom Bowling to Badminton, the school offers numerous athletic opportunities to its students, yet, many of them hold the desire to pursue more unconventional sports. Some of these more obscure aspirations include rugby, rowing, hockey, and table tennis.

Students, teachers, and parents alike have congregated over the years to form teams that reflect their interests.

Although less common, these sports are by no means hard to find. The teams are constructed of students and ran by students, but are not affiliated with Central’s athletic department itself. Both Central’s table tennis and rowing teams have begun practices at the Hinsdale Community House and Katherine Legge Memorial Park respectively.

Table Tennis Each sports a sleek red paddle of their own. The intense cheering can be heard through the double doors on the second floor of the Community House as every player wears their school brand table tennis hoodie. Every one of them rigorously competing against their peers to be the best they can. Each of their eyes follow the small white balls which dance across the dark green tables.

Earlier this year, junior Sachin Advani, with the help of senior leader Milan Outarsingh, created the table tennis team. The team began its development throughout the last year. They hold their practices less than a mile away from the school at the Hinsdale Community House. Advani explained that although the club now practices outside of school, his original intentions were for it to be completely run through school.

12 | Profiles

“It was a lot of putting ourselves out there and taking chances, getting as much opportunity as we could to make this thing good,” said Milan Outarsingh, senior.

Initially, Advani presented the club to activities director Sally Phillips. The two underwent discussions regarding finances, teacher sponsors, transportation, spacing, and equipment. Advani explained that there was interest and demand from both males and females of all age levels. Although he approached local park districts and residences for locations where the team could host practices, after conferring with the school, both parties came to the conclusion that table tennis conducting practice outside of the high school could not be completely affiliated with Central. While Advani and Outarsingh underwent this process, they also gathered support and tried to gauge the interest level among students.

“Even more now that people have seen it come to fruition, everyone wants to be part of it next year,” Outarsingh said.

Currently, table tennis is in no way legally associated with the school, although principal William Walsh granted approval to wear the school’s name as long as they are respectable players who uphold the code of conduct. Advani also consulted with math department chair, Kurt Vonnahme, who assists them in managing connections, coordinating match dates, and meeting with different heads who are connected to the Interscholastic Table Tennis of Illinois (ITTI).

“It seems like everyone has wanted to join it when they’ve seen my sweatshirt around school,” said Thomas Mercurio, junior. “In other sports it’s playing to play but in ping pong you can have fun and make friends, [which] adds to the atmosphere of the team. Ping pong is more social and this club is good for that.”

This past summer Advani and

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Outarsingh used the communication service Remind and held informational meetings for their players. They sent out newsletters as well to make their team and others aware of updates.

Currently, their practices are from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. every Thursday at the Community House. Advani described that 12 individuals will be entered into each of the five competitions coming up.

“You keep constantly playing so you can fight for that highest position that you could possibly have,” Advani said. “It is a really fun, social, and competitive atmosphere; I think it’s really ignited a strong interest in a lot of the players to continue playing ping pong.”

Every member will attend a minimum of two matches and maximum of three matches. The third match will be determined by a fluid team ranking system of all 30 members. Team members can challenge each other and move up or down on the roster.

“It’s nice because its another way to get away from the school environment,” said Adam Taylor, junior. “Overall it’s more lenient and relaxed compared to other sports, but I think the structure is good for something like ping pong.”

A lot of students currently on the team have expressed their feelings on the club’s disconnect from Central. One main idea which has been consistently expressed is the difference in practice schedule.

Student leaders have expressed that there is a lot more flexibility in terms of practices.

“There’s less competition; it’s more of a friendly environment because we’re not competing for a spot really we’re having fun,” said Alexander Ovan, Executive Music Coordinator. “I think the less rigorous nature of the team is a reason that many people have joined it.”

With the process for starting the team being transferred outside of Central’s walls, Advani had to find another sponsor.

They turned to a company called Killerspin.

Advani became involved with Killerspin in

the winter of his sophomore year. He took a trip down to Chicago where he met with the CEO of Killerspin, Robert Blackwell.

“I feel like ours is set up a lot more professional because of Killerspin,” Ovan said.

Killerspin’s motto is “UnPlugNPlay”, so Blackwell supported the students taking initiative. Additionally Killerspin is more active when it comes to giving back in the community. They also contribute to different charities.

Blackwell has supplied the team with Killerspin tables, paddles, and jerseys.

“The whole meaning behind this phrase is to get off your phone, don’t be on the screen all day long, be more social, and play with your friends,” Advani said.

The Community House also expressed interest in helping out with the table tennis team especially because it demonstrated strong connections to the Hinsdale community.

“They wanted to do everything they could to support the growing interest of youth,” Advani said.

More specifically, Dan Janowick at the Community House has contributed significantly to this process, providing help with equipment, spacing, dates, and facility issues.

In the future Advani and Outarsingh want to host charity events to attract other individuals to the club and work that it has done. The team strives to give back to the community. Advani explained that the club aims to achieve in competitive, social, and philanthropic aspects. They also want to bring in different coaches who could come in and assist with techniques for current players.

“I think it’s really moving in a positive direction and I can only hope that things continue to grow for the club in the future as it continues to build,” Advani said.

Rowing They move with absolute synchrony.

Staring ahead in focus, each bend of

the knees, each haul of their oars shows the markings of hours and hours of practice. Seated in a vessel just under two feet wide, they are in a state of constant, almost rhythmic motion. As the blades of their paddles plunge under the surface of shimmering water, the high school members of the Chicago Rowing Foundation’s western branch glide across the Des Plaines River.

In a school somewhat lacking in boathouses, it may not be surprising, to some, why Hinsdale Central has never had an official rowing team. According to CBS, rowing is the oldest college contested sport, and as a result, it is not often associated with competitions at the high school level.

Yet, in recent years rowing has continued to gain popularity amongst students of younger ages. In 2015, US Rowing reported that top-tier membership rose by 27 percent, with just over half of their total members being 18 years or younger.

This trend has not missed the Hinsdale community. With no school-affiliated team, many Central students have turned to an outside organization instead. Two years ago, the Chicago Rowing Foundation (CRF) created a new western branch for aspiring youths in the Chicago suburbs.

Today, the team has more than 25 members.

“I just love it,” said Jana Zogbi, junior at Central and varsity member of the team.

“Being on the water, it’s just a special feeling that you get from no other sport.”

Being on the team requires no prior experience, and thus it consists of members of a variety of ages and levels of expertiece, drawing from many of the local schools.

The west branch of CRF practices Monday through Friday, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and again on Saturday mornings from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. They typically meet at the CRF boathouse in Chicago, 30 minutes from campus.

“The practices can be really hard,

not only are [they] pretty physically challenging, but also mentally challenging.

If you keep telling yourself that you can’t do it then you won’t be able to...You just have to keep trying,” said Will Lindsey, sophomore and novice on the team.

Even in the winter months when the cold makes it too difficult to row, practices continue and the team goes through a strenuous work out together.

This takes place either in Katherine Legge Memorial Park or in Erg rooms at the XSports Fitness in Darien which is filled with rowing machines.

“We’re always supporting each other,” said Kate Demakis, freshman. “I think we’re a lot tighter knit [than other teams].”

US Rowing attributed their 2015 spike in membership to competitive students looking to get an edge on the college admissions process. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, in the 2013-2014 year, rowing scholarships were awarded to nearly half of the women who participated at a high school level. The members of CRF, however, have seen different motivations.

“In general rowing isn’t as popular as other sports, but I think it’s such a good workout and a unique activity to be a part of, so I think people are starting to recognize that,” Zogbi said.

For students looking to expand their extracurriculars, Central offers numerous options, but where that selection may have failed some, students have been able to collaborate and find new ways to express their passions.

Profiles | 1 3

A

Mr. Rajiv Halim, an internationally recognized saxophonist and composer, helps guide jazz students and shape their saxophone skills

I

t’s Tuesday night and Rajiv Halim takes the stage at Andy’s Jazz Club at 9:30 p.m. with his band.

As he plays a set consisting of original pieces and improvisation, the crowd is enraptured by his smooth, soulful notes filling one of Chicago’s oldest jazz clubs.

But earlier in the day, Halim was using his talents to teach rather than entertain.

Halim teaches private and sectional lessons at Central as well as being a professional saxophonist and composer from Chicago. Halim began in September after being hired by the Music Department Chair Matt Kurinsky. He focuses on helping school saxophonists work on improvisational skills and overall playing as a band during classes on Mondays or Tuesdays.

Halim took up the saxophone in the fifth grade, playing more as an obligation to his parents than for himself. However, as time passed, he started to produce an extensive professional background, beginning with his first paid gig as a junior in high school—this was also the year he realized he wished to turn his talent into a career. He started to understand that he could make money and create a real job out of his music.

Since then, Halim has collaborated with artists such as Jennifer Hudson, Chance the Rapper, and Rudresh Mahanthappa, a fellow saxophonist.

Chance the Rapper featured Halim on “Finish Line,” a part of the album “Coloring Book,” which went on to win the Grammy Award for “Best Rap Album” in 2017.

But Halim said his greatest accomplishment so far has been being able to put out an album of his own music. Released in 2015, his debut album titled “Foundations” consists of ten self-composed songs and is available for purchase worldwide.

Sophomore saxophonist, Fiona Kowalkowski, said Halim’s professional 14 | Profiles

note

experience brings great benefits to the band. “It’s cool having a teacher who’s been so experienced in the industry,” Kowalkowski said. “It’s an experience you don’t get that often.”

Halim has also won many solo awards for his work. In 2013, he placed second at the first annual “Saxophone Idol,” an international competition, judged by legendary players such as Ernie Watts.

Halim also competed in the 2014 Taichung Saxophone Competition in Taiwan.

Making it to the final round, with 29 finalists from eight different countries, Halim won second place.

“I’ve gotten to play with a lot of people I wouldn’t have met otherwise, like Jennifer Hudson, Chance the Rapper, and Lorde,” Halim said.

When he’s not performing or composing, Halim spends his time at school, guiding students in their own work to become great saxophonists. As a new teacher, Halim has already had great success with his students.

“We are super lucky to have these specialists,” Kurinsky said. “These are professionals who are experts on their instruments and we get to have these people to spend time with the students on specific things they’re working on.”

Halim helps his students with fundamental ideas of saxophone sound and technique. Junior saxophonist, Jackson Hughes, said the jazz band has even played some of Halim’s own arrangements, including one which Halim split into a four part harmony that they performed in a recent concert.

“It’s one of the best songs the combos have played in all the years I’ve been in [ jazz band],” Hughes said.

Hughes said the jazz band is really fortunate to have such an experienced musician like Halim to help them grow as a band and as individual players. “[Halim] has great performing experience because he is a legitimate performer in Chicago, and he’s already

By Katie Sharp and Sarah Badawi

had a studio of students that he’s taught.

He was a good fit because of his music and expertise,’’ Kurinsky said.

Halim said that he gets just as much back from teaching his students as they receive from his lessons, saying he learns from his students, so it is important for him to teach younger generations. His goal is to teach his sections how to have one sound, for people to listen and only hear one saxophone rather than 20 different ones playing together.

“I work on rhythms with [the saxophones], trying to make them sound stronger as a section. All the kids are really interested in band and in getting better as musicians,” Halim said.

Halim also teaches private lessons to help saxophone players improve their sound and better themselves as individual players. “[Halim] finds a way to make the lessons different for each student,” Kowalkowski said. “He focuses on what each student needs to work on and what they’re good at.”

Along with teaching, Halim plans to release an album in the near future featuring his music with lyrics and rap focused around politics. He said he hopes to collaborate with Chicagoland and international artists in this next piece of work as well.

Halim’s students look up to him and his work as he leads them to work hard and become greater.

“He inspires me as a player by showing me what I could do in the future if I put in a lot of hard work and passion into playing the saxophone and having a good time doing so,” Hughes said.

For information regarding Mr. Rajiv Halim visit his website at https://www. rajivhalim.com. His album “Foundation” is available for digital purhase worldwide.

photo by Scott Hesse

“Being able to grow my skills as a teacher has been really cool.�

Profiles | 15

HOLID

As the holidays and winter break approach, students discuss to what extent religious holidays are accommodated by the school

By Olivia Beargie & Gayatri Thiru

16 | Features

photo by Hannah Ahdab

DAYS T

ension builds throughout the hallways as students frantically review and compare notes while preparing for the next few hours of testing.

At one table, senior Amani Mryan quietly tries to recall information in her head while dismissing thoughts of food. After the teacher distributes the scantrons, she feels a strength that lets her cruise through the first part of the test. As the minutes crawl by, however, the strength slips away and new pangs of hunger chip at her focus.

By the end of the day, she hopes to have done her best and recalls feeling ravenous after the efforts to take multiple high-stake tests while fasting.

Mryan is one of the estimated 3.45 million Muslims living in the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center demographic study conducted in 2017, who is celebrating the Islamic holiday of Eid during the last week of May—finals week.

While Mryan’s holiday fell in May, various students observe religious holidays throughout the school year. On the eve of winter break—a celebratory two and a half week period of non attendance at the school marking the conclusion

of first semester and providing time for students to celebrate their holidays— students discuss the school calendar and to what extent it accommodates student religious practices.

The Washington Post attributes the changing demographics in American schools as one reason school calendars, in recent years, have become controversial.

Research conducted by Gallup shows a decrease in the amount of people in America that identify with a Christian religion.

In 2008, 80 percent of people followed Christianity; however, that number is down to 75 percent as of 2015. The same study revealed that the Christian percentage was lowest among young Americans, meaning the religious demographic is one that is slightly changing among the younger, school-aged generations.

With this shift comes an increased awareness for other religions, yet some members of this growing population feel overlooked by the school, primarily due to the timings of holiday breaks such as Christmas and Good Friday.

Winter break traditionally falls over the Christian celebration of Christmas on

Dec. 25 and the African American cultural celebration of Kwanzaa from Dec. 26 to Dec. 27.

Many schools around the country also observe this two week break. According to the Washington Post, in 2014, a school in Montgomery County, Md. ruled in a 7-to-1 ruling to change the name from “Christmas break” to “winter break.” This name change was meant to distance the school from supporting a specific religion due to complaints from Muslim community members regarding religious inequality.

Central’s two week break is also referred to in student handbooks as “winter break,” and has evidently become more cognizant of the diversity within the school, but some students believe the school still favors the Christian holiday “Christmas” over others.

“I think the change from Christmas break to winter break is meaningless. It doesn’t offer any inclusivity at all. The name change merely shows that [the school] wants to avoid the problem,” said Zamaan Qureshi, junior. “It is a representation of a lack of understanding and a lack of inclusiveness for the diverse students that go to this school.”

Features | 17

Timeline Key

HOLIDAYS & DAYS OFF

Hinduism African American Heritage

Christianity Nonattendance days

August 21-22 September 13 September 29 - October 1 Eid al-Adha Ganesh Chaturthi Rosh Hashanah

September 18, 19 Yom Kippur

of students at school follow Christianity

Islam

How Christian religions line up with non-attendance days compared to other religions in the 2018 school year.

September 3 Labor Day

60.3%*

Judaism

October 8 Columbus Day

November 9 Diwali

*160 responses December 2 -10 Hanukkah

November 21, 22, 23 Thanksgiving Break

December 25 Christmas

December 21 - January 7 Winter Break December 26-January 1 Kwanzaa

In the First Amendment of the Constitution, two clauses can be found relating to religion and public institutions such as schools. The “Establishment Clause” prevents schools from activities giving advantage of one religion over another and the “Free Exercise Clause” prohibits actions that would prevent individuals from observing their religious practices.eir religion.

“Religious holidays are a special experience for people. It allows them to connect with their faith, but it is also an excuse to come together with their community. By having that burden of school during a holiday, it takes all those positives away,” Qureshi said. “For example, this year we went to a holiday party after school, and I was stressing the whole time. I wasn’t really present throughout the celebration because I was thinking about all the school work I had to do. I even had to make my family leave early so that I could start my homework.”

Qureshi also points out how missing school can lead to falling behind in classes and makeup work.

“Typically, I have had to go to school instead of celebrating my holiday, and that is because I have to prioritize school. I can’t fall behind in what I am doing; otherwise, I would have to make up a bunch of tests, and that is not something I would want to do,” Qureshi said. “I know there are kids that 18 | Features

do miss for religious holidays, and quite frankly, I think it is harder for them to have to make up all of their work.”

Sports eligibility is another issue students consider. Under the “attendance procedures for student participation in athletics and activities” section of the student handbook, it is stated that “student participation in any athletic or co-curricular activity requires a student to be present in school all day on the day of a practice, event, contest, or competition.”

The student handbook goes on to say that under the circumstance where a student misses a part of the school day due to the observance of a religious holiday “the student must notify the coach or sponsor, who will determine if participation will be allowed on that day or not.”

This means that not all students are guaranteed eligibility if they have to miss part of the day for a holiday.

“Students shouldn’t have to miss [an] activity because they are still being present for as much of the school day as possible even with their religious holiday,” Qureshi said.

Senior, Hajera Naveed who practices Islam, recalled a time last year when she had to attend track during the few weeks or Ramadan that fell during her track season.

“I asked my coaches if I could be excused and they were fine with it, but I still felt guilty that I wasn’t able to be

there especially since attendance is taken very seriously,” Naveed said. “I was afraid at some points of whether I would still be eligible to compete at meets.”

Another topic that has sparked controversy in the school is having Good Friday off, which is the Friday before Easter Sunday, in which Jesus Christ was crucified.

“I am not going to complain about having a day off of school, but if we have a day off on Good Friday, at least acknowledge it or don’t do it at all,” Qureshi said.

Some students see this as favored treatment to one faith.

“It makes me feel neglected in a way,” said Saba Ali, junior who practices Islam.

“I know there are other schools in New York that have days off for Eid and other religions.”

Eid is a holiday that in accordance to the lunar calendar, can fall on various different sets of days. For the 2019 year, it will begin on the first weeks of May which not only continues into finals but also starts on the weeks of AP testing.

Although students acknowledge that it would not be practical for the school to change the dates of finals, there are other ways in which students suggest the school could help.

“It wouldn’t necessarily be a viable option to take finals earlier, although I think students who are observing religious holidays during school days could be

M

61.8%*

36.3%*

of students are willing to miss class to observe their holiday

of students practice a religion in which the school provides no days off for

*160 responses

*152 responses

January 21 Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

April 19 Non-Attendance Day Good Friday

March 1 Teachers’ Institute

February 18 President’s Day

accommodated with lightened homework loads,” Mryan said.

According to the Washington Post, in locations with highly concentrated Muslim populations such as school districts in Michigan and New Jersey, schools close on Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr— the various days within the three–day feast that follows the month-long fasting during Eid. Some school districts in New Jersey have also begun closing school for Diwali— a Hindu holiday. Additionally, school districts that host a large Jewish population close for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

For these areas, school closures are due to a large population of the student body being absent from class. Central, however, does not hold as much religious diversity and does not face a large number of absences during the religions mentioned previously.

“I think Hinsdale Central isn’t religiously diverse. Even though I have friends who practice other religions, they make up a small population, and the rest of the students are primarily Christian, even though a lot don’t actively practice their faith,” said Chloe Aquino, sophomore.

Regardless, some students suggest that instead of the addition of more non attendance days, the existing ones get redistributed over more holidays.

“I celebrate Hanukkah, which is a holiday that falls right before winter

March 21 March 25-March 29 April 21 Spring Break Easter Holi

break. I feel that because of this, maybe the school could allocate at least one to two days from winter break to give a break for another holiday such as this,” said Emily Kizior, senior. “Although of course with any change, it would be tricky trying to make that sort of an approach appeal to everyone.”

Some students believe that breaking up winter break would detract from what, in their eyes, is the main purpose of the break: time for relaxing.

“I wouldn’t break up winter break for other religions even though I support people in whatever religion they choose to practice because winter break is an essential part of the American school year and is a much needed refresher for all students,” Aquino said.

Kate Venis, junior, agrees with Aquino.

“I would not like breaking up winter break to have more shorter breaks because winter break gives me a good amount of time to get away from the stress at school,” Venis said. “If there were shorter breaks, my teachers would probably assign homework and then it wouldn’t be as relaxing as break needs to be.”

While Ali acknowledges that there might not be enough students celebrating certain religions to validate a day off, she does suggest that teachers become more aware of religious diversity at school.

“Most of my teachers, when I come

May 5 - June 5 Ramadan

May 27 Memorial Day Holiday

to school, they don’t even know it is Eid. Most of them are just unaware, and they don’t take [the fact that it is Eid] into consideration when they are forming their class plans,” Ali said. “Even if they don’t give us that day off, it would be nice if [teachers] were more relaxed on that day and didn’t do as much heavy work so that more people could miss school.”

Other students have also lent their support for this idea where teachers would be encouraged to incorporate more leniency in their curriculum for the observance of other religions.

“Our school has a system where I think the teachers are definitely great and free in their curriculum, although I think students who have religious holidays to observe should be given an opportunity to coordinate between their teachers to plan out importants tests or schoolwork,” Mryan said.

The main goal of these students is to see more diversity in their classrooms.

“There is no doubt that there are more diverse schools than Hinsdale Central, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still students that practice other religions,” Qureshi said. “[We should celebrate] what makes this school important—that we have diverse views, opinions, and faiths.”

Features | 19

During the holiday season, residents of District 86 often go above and beyond when it comes to decorations. photo by Safi Qadir

20 | Features

Features | 21

STEM OR STEAM?

By Cameron Garber and Gabby Costello

22 | Features

Allan Li (left), senior, and James Giltner (right), senior, show off their skills and knowledge in science and art, respectively.

photo by Safi Qadir

Students and staff discuss their opinion on STEM and art classes and their relation to one another

“W

e live by the quote ‘Technology does not stand still,’” said John Madden, Technology Department Chair.

“We use technology every day. We use it to communicate, and more importantly, we use it to create.”

Recently, technological revolutions seem to occur roughly once a week.

Smartphones, touchscreen tablets, gaming systems, and even flamethrowers have all gone on the market. With all of these new innovations comes a new job market as well. There is a high demand for jobs in STEM fields, which encompasses Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Jobs such as engineering, computer analytics, and data architecture, just to name a few, have become increasingly more popular in recent years.

For example, according to the U.S. Department of Education, the projected percentage in job increase from 2010-2020 for biomedical engineers is 62 percent.

In comparison, the projected percentage in job increase for historians between 2016 and 2026 is six percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A study conducted by the University of WisconsinMadison additionally reported that about 8.65 million jobs related to STEM will be created between the beginning of 2017 and the end of 2018.

So, how is America preparing for this new market? The answer, for many American schools, is simple: tailoring education in high schools and colleges to a more STEM-driven curriculum. A general trend towards STEM education has been occurring for decades, but a broader national push for STEM education became a federal priority during the Obama administration, when President Barack Obama announced that he would be setting standards to train 100,000 new math and science teachers in his 2011 State of the Union Address.

This push for STEM-driven courses has led to prioritized funding for these courses, with programs such as the Perkins Act, which was first passed in 1984 and was recently reauthorized in 2018 by President Donald Trump. The Perkins Act sets guidelines for the funding of STEM departments and provides a simple medium through which the federal government can directly fund STEM courses. There is no equivalent for humanities courses.

This past year, Central has additionally

set aside funding to give every student a Chromebook as part of a one-to-one initiative, in order to keep up with the influence of technology. New Chromebook support stations have been set up around the school, several of which are even student-led classes. These new standards affect every aspect of students’ lives, as almost every class keeps core materials online with some teachers switching to testing online as well. Technology does not stand still, and as a result, schools such as Central, push for education to advance in tandem or risk failing to adequately prepare students for the modern world.

The increasing integration of technology into everyday lives may lead to an increase in the number of adolescents who foster an interest in STEM-based skills and hobbies as they grow older.

However, this does not preclude students from also having passions that are not explicitly focused on STEM. For many students here, their passions fall under the umbrellas of both STEM and the arts.

One such student is senior DJ Walsh.

Walsh has been involved in the productions of plays and musicals both behind the scenes as a crew member and as an actor

“What I’m most concerned about is a balance between humanities and STEM courses.

They’re not polar opposites; they’re complimentary.”

-Laura Milas, Art Department Chair since sixth grade. He has participated in productions in and outside of school such as Be More Chill at the Community House for Stage Door Fine Arts, as well as 1984 for Central. Walsh is also an aspiring engineer, and has been building drones in his basement since he was 15, as well as taking commissions for odd jobs requiring his engineering expertise, such as helping to map out the elevation of a hiking trail.

“I became interested in engineering as a combination of what I was doing as part of a stage crew and my Pre-Engineering class,” Walsh said. “In both areas, I

enjoyed the problem solving aspects using technical knowledge. A lot of the correlations between engineering and theater are obvious—behind-the-scenes set-building is just engineering in practice, but a problem-solving oriented thought process is helpful for actors as well.”

At Central, the dichotomy between STEM courses and humanities courses— which encompass art, English, and history, among others—is a pressing issue which directly affects students’ daily schedules. At school, certain STEM classes are a graduation requirement for students, with every student required to take two years of science courses and three years of math. However, there are no graduation requirements specific to art, as the “arts” graduation requirement can also be fulfilled with credits in either world language or music. However, within the humanities students must take four years of English and three years of social studies. While all art classes are electives, the majority of STEM courses are considered core classes, while only a select few are electives.

“That makes me sad because I feel like I haven’t had the opportunity to take those classes,” DJ said. “The way that it is set up, it’s very easy for students to not take those art classes. I am an example, and I sort of regret not being able to take some sort of computer graphics class.”

According to a survey sent out by Devils’ Advocate with 101 respondents, 56.4 percent of students prefer STEM courses over art or humanities courses, as opposed to 20.8 percent who prefer humanities courses and 18.8 percent who specifically prefer art courses. This preference is reflected in the courses AP Seminar and AP Research. According to the College Board, other schools such as Glenbard West High School, York Community High School and Martin Luther King High School offer AP Seminar and Research. At each school, the administration is tasked with picking the subject that both of these classes fall under. Central chose to classify both of these courses under science, whereas other schools chose humanities subjects.

One of the common criticisms of art courses by students, according to the Devil’s’ Advocate survey, is that art classes are not as relevant as STEM courses in terms of preparing students for life in the modern world, and that skills pertaining to art classes have no place in a world that becomes more dependent on STEM Features | 23

occupations by the minute.

“The arts provide no practical career options other than ‘design,’ music, or being a professor, all of which are... unstable professions,” said a respondent to the survey.

While the number of students who prefer art classes is not insignificant, the amount of these students varies from year to year. According to Mr. Evan Haase, art teacher, over his last two years he has seen a large fluctuation in the number of students taking art courses, with fewer students becoming involved in the higher level art classes.

“What I’m most concerned about is a balance between humanities and STEM courses,” said Ms. Laura Milas, Art Department Chair. “They’re not polar opposites; they’re complimentary. Every educational domain in a high school has an advantage; the disadvantages to each kind of course only occur when students don’t utilize everything available to them.”

Research shows that there are benefits to an education in art outside of just the skills gained by doing so. According to Arts for Life, a study conducted at the University of California Los Angeles, students with high involvement in arts programs performed better on standardized tests in comparison to students with lower art involvement. Additionally, arts-involved students were more likely to participate in community service and reported less boredom in school.

“The advantage in this economy is that [students] can take this information and combine it with a new thing,” Milas said. “The thing that we do in art classes is give kids a broad concept, and the class becomes about what each individual student is going to bring to the table and how they are going to solve the problem.”

The previously mentioned University of Wisconsin-Madison study argues that implementing STEM education in grades K-12 could help children become more creative and better at problem solving.

“I have respect for the scientific method, but I think that is one way of approaching knowledge, and it has to be supplemented by other perspectives,” said Mr. Christopher Freiler, who teaches AP European History and Philosophy Honors.

“An education in the humanities makes a person aware of all of the different features of the human experience.”

One common consensus was shared by every student and staff member interviewed, as well as a large share of respondents of the Devil’s’ Advocate survey: the need for balance was more important than an increased focus in a particular field.

“Increased specialization can happen in college and beyond. High school should be about becoming an educated individual, which involves being well-rounded. Even colleges generally require students to take varied courses,” one respondent to the Devil’s’ Advocate survey said.

STEM Courses at Central

On the survey, 39.4 percent of respondents said that they felt that Central should not change its focus towards or away from STEM or art courses, which was the response that received the largest share of votes. Many schools have acknowledged this desire for balance, and have even grouped together art and STEM courses to make a new category that allows STEMspecific funding to reach art courses: STEAM. Art and STEM skills can be and often are applied simultaneously, with art skills being necessary for architecture and engineering courses, though both of these classes are classified as STEM exclusively and not art. Although the STEAM funding initiative is not implemented at Central, it is supported by Madden.

“There is a place for both art and STEM courses to work together cohesively,” Madden said. “By allowing student choice, by giving the students options, they become well-rounded. You have your arts classes, your humanities; I think there is a place for those. Whatever someone’s passion might be, I think that we, as a school, should be able to offer that and allow for students to make that choice to see if it’s for them.”

Art Courses at Central

Meteorology/Astronomy Geology/Oceanography AP Seminar: Science AP Research: Science Pre-Engineering I & II Engineering and Design Architecture and Design Advanced Engineering and Architecture Modeling Graphic Communications Fundamentals Game Design Print Design Advanced Graphics Digital Video Production illustrations by Audrey Carter

24 | Features

Studio Art Drawing and Design Advanced Drawing and Design Painting Advanced Painting Jewelry, Metal, and Glass Ceramics/Clay Sculpture Advanced Ceramics Sculpture Basic Photography Digital Color Photography Advanced Photography Digital Imaging I & II Graphic Design Digital Video Art Honors Portfolio AP Art History AP Studio Art

Out of sight, but not out of mind.

By Catherine Dolan and Anand Yallapragada

Features | 25

B

ackpack on, junior Kayleigh Excell walks through the school’s crowded halls. She weaves between her peers, trying to make it to her next class. At first glance, she seems just like every other high schooler; yet, Excell has an invisible disability.

Since the age of ten, Excell has worn hearing aids due to a hearing impairment.

While she is currently open about her disability, this wasn’t always the case.

Previously, Excell said she often felt like she had to hide her impairment, choosing to wear nude hearing aids as opposed to colored ones in an effort to conceal her needs to others around her.

A 2002 survey shows that 96 percent of all disabilities in the United States are invisible. These disabilities include dyslexia, ADHD, and hearing impairments, among others, and often go unnoticed by the general public. Invisible disabilities also exist at Central, with many students other than Excell living with them daily.

Today, Excell has no problem explaining her hearing situation to others. Yet, not everyone is aware of Excel’s impairment.

“I do get a shock [when I tell people about my disability] because I think I hide it pretty well [and] I have learned to overcompensate,” Excell said. “People think I must not be disabled because I am succeeding.”

District 86 offers accommodations and resources to people with varying types of disabilities. The school stands in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which ensures that students with a disability are provided an education that is tailored to their individual needs.

Under the 1973 section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, students may receive a 504 plan, which outlines a plan for students to have access to learning that meets their needs. Recipients of the 504 plan have needs ranging from a broken arm to post-traumatic stress disorder, and are provided with non-intrusive support. At Central, the Student Services department oversees 504 plans.

Excell currently receives preferential seating—meaning that she sits near the front in her classes—and gets either transcripts or captions for videos she views in class. In addition, she gives a Bluetooth microphone to all her teachers.

This device pairs with an earpiece that 26 | Features

she wears, enabling her to directly hear her instructors’ words.

“It goes on like a necklace for the teachers. It looks like an iPod but more clunky and it has a microphone. The sound then transfers to my hearing aid,” Excell said.

Excell said if there’s an accommodation she isn’t getting, it’s because she hasn’t brought it up.

However, even with accommodations, Excell said she still worries about missing things. When talking with friends, especially in louder areas, she sometimes needs to ask them to repeat themselves.

“I was always insecure asking what people said in a busy hallway or lunchroom after [they’d already said it] three times. So I’d just act like I’d heard it and move on,” Excell said.

University of Chicago freshman and former student Lilja Carden found out she had dyslexia in second grade.

Growing up, it was something she found difficult talking about. For years, Carden wouldn’t even use the word dyslexia.

“My best friend and I would have a code word. Whenever [dyslexia] would come up in conversation we used the code word oranges,” Carden said. “I would say ‘Now I’ve got tutoring for oranges.’ Really, when you’re a young kid it’s really difficult to process and deal with, especially when you don’t have a good understanding of it.”

Later in life, Carden said she still struggled with people not understanding or knowing about her disability. She recalled a moment at school where she was asked to respond to a passage displayed in the front of the classroom. Carden could not interpret what it said and thus came up with a response opposite to what the true answer was. She can still vividly remember other students laughing at her.

Yet, Carden also recognizes the helpful accommodations she received at school.

Carden recalls high school as the first time in her academic career where she was able to completely finish a test.

At school, Carden received extra time on tests. That way, she was able to process the reading with as much time as necessary.

Furthermore, Carden’s teachers were allowed to give more aid. When a sentence was particularly troubling, instructors would be permitted to read a sentence aloud to her. Carden cites the extra time as being the biggest improvement.

“It leveled the playing field. I like to

know and enjoy the [class] content. The extra time gave me an opportunity to actually show what I knew. It changed everything,” Carden said.

American high schools offer two types of aid for students with disabilities. As mentioned previously, the 504 plan is one of the main types of aid in public schools.

However, there exists aid known as the Individualized Education Plan, (IEP) which falls under IDEA. This option is geared towards students that require more specific aid due to a disability.

An IEP is a blueprint made to detail a student’s strengths and challenges and provides the precise strategy the school will use to aid its students.

Another common invisible disability is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). An anonymous student with ADHD at school said he will only share his disability with close friends.

Diagnosed at a young age, this student has been a recipient of both the 504 plan and an IEP. In seventh grade, he received an IEP which placed him in a special education class and granted him access to separate testing facilities. When he arrived at Central, he lost eligibility for an IEP and was granted a 504 plan instead. His accommodations today include extended time on tests by 150 percent and the ability to write on any testing material. This student said that he appreciates the institution of the 504 plan, especially the increased time on tests. However, he attributes his lack of an academic struggle in high school to his personal learning system rather than school-provided assistance. “[I] take good notes, try all problems in math classes, use computerized help online for humanities, and ask the teacher if I need help,” he said.

George Liu, junior, said he had always been a rowdy child. In preschool, Liu was diagnosed with ADHD and began to receive an IEP. Liu says he faced skepticism at first. The source of the doubt was not from the classroom, but from his home.

“My parents actually kept it a secret, almost like it was taboo. Once they told me, I fully embraced that it’s just a part of me,” Liu said.

Liu remembers the fear of almost being removed from class in Gower West Elementary School. Liu was up to his usual antics, and the teacher decided to remove him from the class permanently.

His mother had to deliver a plea to the school asking them to let him stay. Liu said he appreciates his mother’s effort to convince the school to let him stay.

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity and I actually might have been in a special education program,” Liu said.

His accommodations include separate testing locations, as well as extended time. Liu said that the former was especially beneficial since it removes any distractions he may encounter in a regular classroom.

However, he remarked that he doesn’t take advantage of these aids as often anymore. Similar to the anonymous student, Liu credits his academic improvement to his personal strides.

“I’ve matured since I came to high school. It’s a lot easier for me to focus. I have become a better time manager, and I still get help from my teachers when I need it,” Liu said.

The Director of the Student Services Department, Brad Verthein, is the lead administrator of 504 plans at Central.

Verthein serves students with a wide range of disabilities. He provides aid to students with impairments such as ADHD, dyslexia, anxiety, or depression, as well as physical ones. Some examples include kids like Excell, with hearing or vision loss, but this could also mean food allergies or autoimmune diseases.

The basis for the service that Verthein provides is every student’s legal right to obtain the same learning. IDEA ensures that all students receive the services they need and provides children with disabilities the right to a free,

appropriate public education tailored to their individual needs. Verthein said he sometimes has difficulty providing accommodations. The nature of his job is uncertain since he has to provide support in reaction to each specific disability.

Frequently, he needs to attempt several different solutions.

“Say we provide an alternate setting for a student who has difficulties taking a test in class. So, the student goes to the testing center to take tests. They find out they don’t like that environment and they miss being with the teacher while they’re taking the test to ask questions,” Verthein said. “Now we have to say, ‘OK, you’re still uncomfortable in your testing environment. What strategies can we give you so that you can be comfortable in class?’ Sometimes it takes a little patience and experimentation to get it right.”

Despite the trial-and-error aspect of his work, Verthein says he finds his job satisfying. Verthein helps find feasible options that allow students with disabilities to realize their potential at school and keep pace with their peers.

“We try to make sure that most of the impairments stay invisible so that students feel like they’re not being segregated, isolated, or made to stand out in any way,” Verthein said.

Verthein’s effort to keep the student aids low profile is reflected in how few of these invisible disabilities are noticed.

Freshmen Jay Pothuganti, while he often sees students traversing the hallways with adult aids, has far less cognizance of students with disabilities.

“I feel like [the school’s responsibility to students with disabilities] is 100

“My best friend and I would have a code word. Whenever [dyslexia] would come up in conversation we used the code word oranges.

I would say ‘Now I’ve got tutoring for oranges.’

Really, when you’re a young kid it’s very difficult to process and deal with, especially when you don’t have a good understanding of it.”

–– Lilja Carden

percent because this is a public school and [all students] should have their needs met,” Pothuganti said.

Alisha McCloud, World Language teacher, said she finds that information on what helps students learn best is always valuable. She tries to optimize the learning process for all her students, whether or not they have a disability.

Some of McCloud’s students have extra time, which may create issues when they have less time for curriculum afterward; however, McCloud would not say handling accommodations for extra time or anything else is difficult.

“I absolutely want to help my students. It’s a set of skills, so as a veteran teacher you get more adept at handling them. It’s empowering to figure out what I can do to help my students learn,” McCloud said.

For Verthein, the most rewarding part of his job is meeting with upperclassmen and seeing how far they’ve come with their accommodations.

“I loved hearing about how we’ve supported them. It’s always great to hear that they’re feeling confident and that upon leaving Hinsdale Central they can take on any challenges that come their way,” Verthein said.

The goal of accommodations, according to Verthein, is to enable a student to deal with challenges of life after high school. Verthein acknowledges that kids won’t always receive accommodations for their disability. At some point, students will get jobs, and often, they won’t be allowed things like extra time or alternate settings when finishing reports or completing other career responsibilities.

“It is really important, no matter who you are, to not focus on comparing yourself to other students but to really focus on how you’re growing as a person,” Verthein said.

Features | 27

Fall Fashion Trends illustrations & design by Audrey Carter and Saf i Qadir

Sweater + Jeans 61.3% of respondents said this was their go-to fall outfit.

28 | By the Numbers

Data from this infographic gather

Teddy Jackets Supreme The most-seen “fashion” brand at HCHS.

red from a poll of 153 respondents

One of the prominent trends of Fall 2018.

White Sneakers With 58.3% of students preferring sneakers, it’s no surprise white sneakers remain a trend year-round.

By the Numbers | 29

Mrs. Galich’s Crunchy Potatoes INGREDIENTS •

1 bag of Ore-Ida diced hash-browns

•

1 cup of sour cream

•

8oz shredded cheddar

•

1 can of cream of chicken soup

•

Pinch of Salt

•

Pinch of Pepper

TOPPINGS •

¼ crumbled corn flakes

•

Melted stick of butter

PREPERATION 1.

Mix all ingredients except butter and cornflakes in a large bowl.

2.

Lightly grease 9 x 13 pan

3.

Pour mix into pan.

4.

Top with cornflakes.

5.

Pour melted butter on top of cornflakes.

6.

Bake for an hour and 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

30 | In Our Community

photo by Layo Adelakun

7.

when in winter

What winter activities describe you most based on your study habits?

How much in advance do you study for finals?

What kind of study breaks do you take?

A. I start reviewing at least 2 months before B. The day before...

C. What’s studying?

A. I don’t take breaks (no days off) B. With many snacks and coffee C. Mmm, I take more breaks from procrastinating TO study

What studying tool helps you the most?

What do you listen to when studying?

A. Flashcards...I’m old school B. A massive group study guide on Google Docs C. The finals calculator on the HC app

Where do you like to study?

A. Starbucks (to feed my coffee addiction) B. Library (with the rest of the high school student body) C. No place like home

A. Dead silence B. MUSIC KEEPS ME MOTIVATED C. Chatting with my friends while working

On the morning of the test you have…

A. A full, balanced breakfast B. Some coffee to get the blood flowing C. Nothing, maybe some left over pizza

Holiday Planning (Mostly A’s)

You are the queen or king of precise planning. This season is always your favorite because you get to be in charge of everything important. ranging from managing your annual holiday party guest list to decoration clean up at the end of the season. You take pride in getting your recipes made just right. You have the perfect outfit pre-planned for every winter event. Your gift giving skills are on point. Overall, if anyone is on top of their game during this season it’s you, and if finals were still held after the break you would still ace them.

Ice Skating (Mostly B’s)

Your personality is between relax and rigor. If getting a lot of work done early means you get to hang out with your friends later, it’s totally worth it. You love the holiday season for the unity it brings to your community.

Nothing makes you happier than getting a big group of friends to go ice skating with and then stopping for hot cocoa after. You may become a little basic when the holiday season rolls around but you just can’t help yourself.

Sledding (Mostly C’s) How much time do you spend studying at night?

Have you acquired any good study tips this semester?

A. The whole night B. Two to three hours C. Umm...a few minutes

A. So. Many.

B. Nope.

C. Yes, but just the basics.

Cheers & Jeers

You are a go with the flow kind of celebrator. There is nothing more exciting than having fun with your cousins and extended family that come from out of town. You, without a doubt, get excited about visiting your grandparents, reconnecting with your siblings that come back from college, and cooking special meals with your aunts and uncles.

Last, but certainly not least, sledding with the rest of the kids on your block is an annual event you will always cherish.

Cheers to hot chocolate mornings

Jeers to holiday music on Nov. 1 in the hallways

Cheers to the Mr. Hinsdale Pageant

Jeers to homework over Thanksgiving

Cheers to class friends-givings

Jeers to making up the snow day In Our Community | 31