Volume 91, Issue 7 April 17, 2018
2017-2018 Staff Listing Hannah Hutchins, Editor-in-Chief Savanna Winiecki, Online Editor Lola Akinlade, Features Editor Rachel Benner, Features Editor Anya Belomoina Rachel Dudley OIivia Gauvin Maggie Hutchins Kylie Rodriguez
Amanda Black Moira Duffy Demi Glusic Ben Kanches Claire Salemi
Maria Thames, Editor-in-Chief
Maggie Burnetti, Sports Editor Matt Smith, Sports Editor
Molly Boufford Maggie Evers Jenna Grayson Jacob Kemp Bulat Schamiloglu
Ariella Bucio Megan Fahey Kath Haidvogel Corey Kuchler Kelly Shinnick
Jenna Carnazzola Katie Felsl Emily Hamilton Anna Legutki Nate Sweitzer
Sam Nelson, Photo Editor Olivia Griffith, Layout Editor Colleen Mullins, Social Media Editor Ian Cox Lizzie Foley Dylan Heimert Stephanie Luce Dylan Trott
Olivia Devin Zachary Ford Abbey Humbert Ella Marsden Megan Wolter
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Contact us at doi@lhswildcats.org
Michael Gluskin, Faculty Adviser
Community Discussion on School Safety When: Tuesday, April 17 Where: Studio Theater Time: 5:30 - 7 p.m. Purpose: To discuss the current safety procedures at LHS and what they may look like in the future. April 17, 2018
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Drops of Ink
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19-21
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News RAD training added to some sophomore gym classes next year
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Find out how the Gay-Straight Alliance was started at LHS and how it continues to be a safe place for members of the LGBTQ+ community and anyone who wants to be an ally.
Some future physical education courses will feature a new curriculum that teaches self-defense techniques.
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Green Dot training begins for some students
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10-11 14-15
Opinion Identity Defined
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The Right to Remain Fluid
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‘Wonder’ Boy
Peter Dankelson, who has a craniofacial disorder, shares his story and his experience as a motivational speaker.
Boys Have Body Image Issues, Too
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The Power of Mankind(ness)
Sports LGBTQ+ Athletes at LHS
A few LHS athletes express how being part of the LGBTQ+ community has impacted them while being part of a sports team.
Olivia Gauvin determines the difference between nice and kind. Table of contents by Ariella Bucio Cover design by Nate Sweitzer Cover and focus cover photos by Bulat Schamilogu Focus cover paragraph by Ella Marsden Focus cover design by Livi Griffith Contents
The Bridge to Recovery
Although not a commonly discussed topic, rehabilitation programs have impacted the lives of current and former LHS students.
Staff member Jacob Kemp argues that media ideals are having detrimental effects on body image for men just as much as women, especially for teenage boys.
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Student Bands at LHS
Learn how different student bands at LHS came to be and about their progression as a group.
Anna Legutki explores the process of discovering one’s sexuality and how it is not as black and white as some may think.
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Closeted Stories Uncovered
A compilation of some LHS students’ coming out stories.
The Drops of Ink staff discusses the topic of finding one’s true identity.
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The Silence to End the Silence Later this month, some LHS students will participate in the Day of Silence to stand with the LGBTQ+ community.
LHS is pushing to become a Green Dot school by offering bystander training for students and teachers.
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Feature Forming an Alliance
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Wildcat Stats
Take a look at how long each spring sport season lasts.
34-35 Competitive Nature 3
Badminton has proven to be one of the most competetive sports this spring. Drops of Ink
RAD training added to some sophomore gym classes next year By Maggie Hutchins
Photo by Amanda Black Cyrus Johnson participates in the gymnastics unit of Mr. Adam Stuart’s sophomore P.E. class. Next year, some sophomore P.E. classes will separate boys and girls during a small unit on self-defense training for girls. In the 2018-2019 school year, a self-defense program will become part of the physical education curriculum at Libertyville High School. Rape Aggression Defense, or RAD, is an international program whose mission, as stated on their website, is to train an alliance of instructors who “will provide educational opportunities for women, children, men and seniors to create a safer future for themselves. In doing this, we challenge society to evolve into an existence where violence is not an acceptable part of daily life.” The RAD curriculum has been chosen to provide LHS students with the best training in both physical and mental self-defense skills, stated principal Dr. Tom Koulentes. Dr. Koulentes, while working at Highland Park High School, saw RAD incorporated into Highland Park’s P.E. courses several years ago. The reason why RAD was implemented at Highland Park, according to Dr. Koulentes, was because “sexual assault, date rape, and sexual violence [occur] throughout a person’s lifetime, but in particular when students got to college. We wanted to do some things that were proactive to help students learn skills to protect themselves.” One key element of RAD that made it attractive to LHS staff and administration is how it teaches a way of thinking, not just punches and kicks: “75 percent of RAD is really learning to have a mentality to protect yourself… You learn to assess and make sure you understand where are the danger points and where are your escapes and learn to read a situation to know when it is likely that something could happen that could cause you harm,” Dr. Koulentes said. Physical education teacher Mr. Adam Stuart and several other teachers visited Highland Park High School in late February to observe RAD in action. He found that RAD really zooms in on the mindset behind keeping yourself safe. Mr. Stuart explained that the class he observed was focused on teaching what to do “if you are confronted by somebody that is getting aggressive towards you, how can you de-escalate that situation and not have to use your self defense skills….Secondly after that is just to make a quick move and get away from the confrontation as quickly as possible.” According to Dr. Koulentes, another aspect of RAD that sets it apart from
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other programs is the specialized training it provides. RAD has separate programs for boys and girls simply because their bodies are different and therefore need to be defended in different ways. Two LHS teachers have been certified to teach the female RAD course, Mrs. Carrie Keske and Mrs. Joyce Amann. Both semesters of next year’s general sophomore P.E. class with Mrs. Keske will have a small RAD pilot unit, according to P.E. department head Ms. Patti Mascia. It is undecided whether one or two of Mrs. Keske’s classes will have RAD at this time. “Right now we are trying to decide how many days we are going to pilot it. The program is legitimately nine full weeks; we will not be doing nine full weeks. We are going to do a mini, mini pilot, so it could be potentially anywhere from six to nine or 12 days…for each semester,” explained Ms. Mascia. During the time when the girls are being trained, all the boys from that class will join Mr. Christopher Davis’s general sophomore P.E. class and participate in the unit being worked on in that class. Looking forward, Ms. Mascia elaborated on how RAD will be further incorporated in upcoming years: “Our thought process is, we pilot in a small sophomore group, the following year [RAD’s] fully invested in the sophomore curriculum (boys and girls), and then when they get to be juniors and seniors, we will then do a mini-review, like a three-day review, for the juniors and seniors in their curriculum…That’s the ultimate goal.” Freshman Maddy Clawson expressed that she thinks “a lot of girls would appreciate” RAD being taught in P.E. class. Clawson also felt that these skills will become very useful in college because “it’s your first time you are on your own, and I think that just knowing how to defend myself in that situation...would just make me more comfortable and confident when I am living on my own.” When asked about the impact RAD will have on the study body here at LHS, Dr. Koulentes responded, “I think [RAD] would have the same impact that it had at Highland Park [in Libertyville], and that is that students would feel empowered, and feel like they were given skills to protect themselves and to keep themselves safe, not just in high school or college, but throughout their life. And that is a great gift as we all go off into the world.”
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Green Dot training begins for some students By Rachel Dudley
Photo by Abbey Humbert Green Dot is a program that LHS is participating in to end bullying, and it teaches people how to be an active bystander. Dr. Brenda Nelson brought this movement to LHS and some students will become leaders. Green Dot posters can be seen throughout the school to promote this program. Health and wellness coordinator Dr. Brenda Nelson, along with other teachers and administrators, have brought the Green Dot initiative to LHS. Green Dot focuses on violence prevention, especially “suicide, workplace and street harassment, bullying, and harassment based on ethnicity or religion,” according to the website of Alterstic, a foundation that has helped spread the Green Dot program. The first step for LHS to become a Green Dot school was to educate the faculty and staff about the initiative. Currently, 18 adults are fully trained leaders and the whole staff has learned the basic goals and ideas of Green Dot. On March 9, some LHS students of all grades were invited to attend a Green Dot training session, which educated students about how to not be a bystander and how to spread positivity around LHS. Kathryn Hay, a junior, was one of the students selected to attend the training. She explained that “it trained you to [have] an active role in your school against bullying and watch out for people who [are] victims of sexual violence or relationship violence and just knowing what to say in response to that.” Green Dot was started in 2006 at the University of Kentucky as a sexual assault and stalking prevention program. As the initiative gained success, other universities began to adapt the program, and the message has spread from there to high schools, middle schools and even elementary schools. As sexual assault is a growing issue on college campuses, many schools have looked for ways to prevent it. Green Dot has been one of the most effective answers. A study done by the University of Kentucky found there was a “40 percent reduction in self-reported frequency of total violence perpetration at Green Dot schools.” This statistic, along with other research about the success of Green Dot, motivated the administration to bring the program to LHS. The idea of Green Dot is to spread positive actions. “If you imagine a
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map of the school or community, a red dot is a moment where someone is hurt in some way. A reactive green dot is when [a bystander] notices the red dot happened and does one of three things: directly [intervening], distracting, or [delegating] by telling a teacher or reporting it,” Dr. Nelson explained. The end goal is to cover all red dots with green dots and create a “green” school. The three different options Green Dot gives to help end violence intrigue students. “For shy people like me, it can be hard to directly confront bullies. The other options, such us delegate or distract, are options that appeal to me,” said senior Grace Kennedy, who attended the training on March 9. Hay believes the foundation of Green Dot is what makes it so effective: “It’s such a simple message: you see a red dot action and try to make it green to make LHS a safe place. It’s something everyone can apply to their life.” Starting next fall, every student -- seniors and juniors first, followed by underclassmen -- will learn about the basics of Green Dot in small-group information sessions. Additionally, 10 to 20 percent of the student body will go through a day long bystander training session every year. “[Students] are the ones who see most of the bullying, whether it’s in the cafeteria, online, or outside of school,” said Dr. Nelson. “Adults aren’t always there, so it falls on the students.” The sexual assault prevention aspect of Green Dot is very important to Kennedy. “I don’t see sexual assault here, but next year when I go to college I might and it’s important to know how I can help,” she said. This aspect of Green Dot teaches students to be on the lookout for sexual violence and use the bystander training to try to directly stop the assault by distracting or delegating the task to a third party. These methods have proved to work effectively across the country, and Dr. Nelson and the LHS administration hope educating students can help them in their future.
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n this issue, the Drops of Ink staff has worked to give a voice to the voiceless and represent people who often don’t have their stories told, or, in this case, their identities shared. Identity includes all characteristics of a person: their personality, their physical appearance, their sexuality and countless other traits. While it’s impossible to report on all people and explore everyone’s identities, this issue features just a few people whose stories may never be heard otherwise, from profiles on students who have immigrated to the United States to a focus on the LGBTQ+ community. The faces of the six students below combine to create the face on the cover, representing the vast variety of different identities that make up our student body.
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BY RACHEL DUDLEY
PHOTOs BY ANYA Belomoina
LAYOUT BY COLLEEN MULLINS
Forming AN Alliance
The Gay-Straight Alliance, or GSA, is a club at LHS that provides a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies to meet. According to the LHS website, GSA “aims to provide and advocate for a safe environment for all students at LHS, paying particular attention to issues surrounding the LGBTQ+ community.” GSA was started in the fall of 2004 by then junior Danny Sweeney. Sweeney decided to start the club after Mr. Carl Generick, the then-head of the physical education department, wrote a homophobic letter to the editor in Drops of Ink in response to a story DOI wrote on homosexuality. Sweeney explained how disappointed he was that a teacher at LHS had these thoughts and wrote his own letter to the editor in response to it. In Sweeney’s letter, he described his disappointment, saying LHS is “better than this, we’re better than close mindedness, we’re better.” Sweeney’s letter quickly became the talk of the school and although his name was withheld, he was very open to tell people that he wrote it. “I didn’t want anyone to think it was anyone but me [who wrote it]. I wanted ownership over this,” he said in a recent phone interview. The letter was also the way Sweeney came out to the majority of the school. After the letter, students and teachers helped support Sweeney and pushed him to start GSA. The club did not receive much backlash from Sweeney’s peers, he said; most of the retaliation came from parents. “That was more difficult, just to see parents, who are supposed to be the example, being closed off to [GSA] was upsetting because adults should know better.” Sweeney felt he “had to do something, not only for myself but for people who feel this way or don’t understand how they feel or people who just need somewhere to hang out.” Although Sweeney is gay, he says he did not start the club just for the LGBTQ+ community.
“[For the] most part, people who came to GSA weren’t gay, they were just ‘other,’ ya know? They were punks, emos, weirdos, and we all fit in together,” he said. This diverse group of people was what made the club so special to Sweeney. An important foundation of the club was the fact that it was a safe space for everyone, no matter what their sexual orientation was. This environment continues at GSA today. Senior Felisia Umadhay, who is the publicity relations officer of GSA, said “it’s not only a safe space for gay kids, it’s a place for people to learn and become more of an ally.” A focus of GSA is educating people on the LGBTQ+ community and problems that people in the community might face. Umadhay explained that students will often make presentations to inform the club about issues facing the community. According to Umadhay, the goal of these presentations is to help teach students about important topics that they might not have heard about otherwise. “[We want] to bring more awareness in the school to LGBTQ+ topics,” Umadhay said. “This year we did National Transgender Remembrance Day, [and] in the past we’ve done fundraising for Aids month and the Day of Silence.” This education goes beyond issues faced only by the LGBTQ+ community, but also tries to correct common myths and judgments people have towards them. According to Umadhay, “it’s a good resource to learn [how to] break down your own misconceptions about the LGBTQ+ community.” Sweeney is impressed with how GSA has changed at LHS and how the club has helped the LGBTQ+ community: “Now GSA is perceived as a normal club, so we have kids growing up to know it’s normal.”
*Note: Two Drops of Ink staff members -- Anna Legutki and Jenna Grayson -- are pictured in these images. They are president and vice president of GSA, respectively.
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The Silence to end the Silence By Megan Wolter | Photo by Zachary Ford | Layout by Ian Cox
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student, and Ms. Dyan Naslund, an English teacher. GSA has sponsored the Day of Silence at LHS for 10 years. The event is advertised through posters and announcements that are put out around the school three weeks prior to the set date. Those who take place in the event take a vow of silence from when they wake up until the end of the school day. The day is open to both teachers and students, with about 60 to 100 people typically participating each year. The majority of these participants are students. There have been teachers who have taken part of the day in the past, but according to Ms. Naslund, it is often easier for them to show their support by respecting the partakers rather than participate themselves, due to the fact that they still have other students to teach. Students wear t-shirts and rainbow wristbands, both organized by the club, to advertise what they are doing. The students are also encouraged to carry informational cards that they can hand out to both other students and teachers to advertise and inform others about the event. In order for students to participate, they must have a permission slip signed by all of their teachers, indicating that they give the student permission to not speak in class for the day as they have to remain silent. There are, however, exceptions to remaining silent all day, such as if a student has a presentation. As Ms. Naslund stated, “we aren’t forcing students to get 0’s on their presentations,” however, “the students really do their best not to speak.” The Day of Silence ends with a special celebration put on by GSA, where everyone who participated in the day is invited to “The Night of Noise.” It takes place in the teachers’ lounge in An estimated 60 to 100 students and teachers will participate in the Day of Silence this year on April 27. the cafeteria after school. It is the first time that students are allowed to talk that day. Here, they discuss different successes and struggles throughout the day, in addition to the different reactions they experienced. Since 2001, GLSEN has sponsored the event, allowing Senior Anna Burns was part of the event her freshman and sophomore year and is students at all levels of schools to sign up to participate planning on participating later this month. Burns expressed that this day is extremely in the day. important for her because she finds it necessary to use her voice to advocate for those GLSEN sponsors this event in order to show what who can’t and stand up for those who have had their rights taken away. it would be like if people never heard the voices of the “I think it’s really important because a lot of times people who are advocating for LGBTQ+ community and their allies. It represents the hisLGBTQ rights, one of their big messages is to use your voice. And a lot of people forget torical significance of their silencing throughout the years. that there are people who can’t use their voice, whether it’s because of their family or This year, the national event is taking place on Friday, religious pressures or because their community wouldn’t accept them,” Burns exApril 27. The Day of Silence was brought to Libertyville pressed. “So to recognize those people who can’t use their voice [and] to advocate for High School by the club Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). their rights, that’s really important as an activist.” GSA was founded at LHS by Danny Sweeney, a former eople within the LGTBQ+ community have had their voices silenced many times, from the raid at the Stonewall Inn in the 1960s to the recent transgender military ban. The community and its supporters have held many protests all over the country and world in order to restore rights that they have been denied, like marriage equality and to be free from discrimination in the workplace. One protest that has stood the test of time is the Day of Silence. The Day of Silence began in 1966 at the University of Virginia as a class assignment on the topic of non-violent protests, according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) website. It began to receive national attention in 1997 when a total of 100 colleges and universities participated in support of the protest.
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loseted stor For many members of the LGBTQ+ community, declaring one's sexuality, also known as “coming out of the closet,” is a big deal and often a life-changing experience. Sharing one's sexuality or identity with family and friends often generates feelings of nervousness and fear but may also release a wave of varied emotions like relief and excitement. No matter what they are coming out as or who they are coming out to, each person's narrative is different. In this feature -- inspired by the popular blog Humans of New York -- several LHS students recite their personal experiences with coming out.
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The way I did it, looking back on it now, is kind of weird. But [my friends and I] were at lunch, and I stood up with a milk carton in one hand and a plastic spoon in the other, and I’m like, ‘Attention! Attention!’ And I was hitting the milk carton with the spoon like, ‘I have an announcement!’ I wanted to be a little extra about it. So before I could even say what I was going to say, a friend of mine was like, ‘You’re gay!’ and I’m like, ‘Yes!’ So that’s when I came out to my group of friends [in middle school] and then almost the same thing happened on my bus ride home… The scary thing [about coming out] was my parents. I knew my mom would understand because my grandma is gay, so she grew up with a gay mom. But my dad, he would accept me -- like, he accepted me -- but he just didn’t want to believe it. [After coming out] I feel better. I feel like I can be myself.
Lucia Loffredo,
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freshman
*This is just an excerpt of the story; the full quote can be read on the Drops of Ink website.
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I never really came out. My dad actually more just [found out] that I was gender fluid. But he still doesn’t understand the concept of bisexuality. He either thinks that I am lesbian or straight and apparently [gender fluidity] just doesn’t cross his mind. So before I came out to my dad, I first came out to my friends and all of them were super supportive. I don’t even know why I was so nervous, to be honest. Then I came out to my boyfriend, which I know is not the most real person to come out to, but he was like, ‘OK cool, can we still date?’And I was just like, ‘Yeah, sure, that’s fine.’ My dad had found out because he saw one of my chest binders and he was like, ‘Yo, what is this?’ and I was like, ‘Oh crap.’ I explained to him that this is what I was going through and he was like, ‘Okay, that explained why you always cried when I made you put on dresses.’ Ever since I did come out and ever since my dad found out, I’ve been truly able to express myself for who I truly am.
Maddin Herberger, senior Feature
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By Lola Akinlade and Rachel Benner Photos by Amanda Black and Lizzie Foley Layout by Colleen Mullins
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I was trying to [come out] on Bisexual Visibility Day. But, I lost the nerve. I was kind of nervous about it because my parents and my family didn’t seem super accepting. They seemed pretty accepting of gay people, but not super accepting of bi people. Some thought it was a phase or they didn’t think it was a real thing. So, I was a little nervous about it. I remember I got tons of encouragement from [Gay-Straight Alliance members] here. I even had stuff planned out with friends so if it went badly, I could just drive over to one of their houses and hang out for the night. So, I ended up coming out at dinner. I said, ‘Hey, do you guys know it’s national coming out day, and I want to come out as bisexual.’ My dad was very surprised at first, as was my mom. I guess it didn’t go great, but it also didn’t go [terribly]. My mom thought the idea of me being bisexual would be a phase caused by teenage hormones. My dad doesn’t understand the idea of bisexuality, but at least he respects that I identify as it… I remember it was really awkward because I finished my dinner and then I just went and did homework… I’m glad I did it though. I’m glad I did it.
Jared Hedlund,
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senior
*This story was originally published on the blog Humans of Libertyville, which can be found on the Drops of Ink website.
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It was about seventh grade when I realized that I wasn’t like all the other kids -- all the other girls -- that were crushing on guys and stuff. I was like, ‘I don’t really understand. Why can’t I crush on a girl?’ [Society said] ‘no, you don’t do that’ and I was like, ‘Oh. Okay.’ And so basically for a long time, I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t do that.’ You know, it’s always been so natural to me. My mom never had a talk with me. When I did officially come out, [my mom] was actually like, ‘Oh yeah, you didn’t know I was bisexual?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, that would have made things a lot more easy.’ But, I’m never really out because half of my family, everyone besides my mom and dad -- my dad still gets weird about it -- is really against the whole LGBT community…. Everyone I really cared about was very loving to me when I officially came out as not-straight. I don’t really have an identity yet, just not-straight is kind of what I am... I always planned that I’m going to come out to my [extended] family and get a girlfriend and bring her to Easter and walk in with her on my arm and be like, ‘This is my girlfriend and I’m not ashamed.’ It’s going to be great. They’ll probably not talk to me for a while, but they’ll come around because they’re my family.
lyn Schams, Feature
sophomore
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What it Means to be an LGBTQ+ Athlete at LHS H
igh school is a time where it often seems that finding oneself is the finish line, and students race there with the help of friends, family, and even their sports teams. For some LGBTQ+ student-athletes at LHS, playing sports with the high school has had a minimal effect on their sexual orientation -- if any. Senior John Scott is a varsity tennis player and former cross country runner who came out as gay recently to his close friends. Scott believes that the sport a person plays can determine how comfortable he or she is with coming out, but not in every case. “There are some sports where there is a more open environment than others,” he stated. However, “there’s also people in every sport that are comfortable, so I guess it depends on the area and how they [live] their life.” Junior Lisa Zhao, who played on the junior varsity volleyball team this past season, divulged that the broader Libertyville community, as well as LHS specifically, have affected how she feels about her own sexual orientation: “I’m willing to bet if I went somewhere where people were more close-minded and kinda traditional, I probably wouldn’t be as comfortable.” When it comes to feeling accepted in sports, Zhao stated, “I think people are more generally accepting of [being gay/bi] which is really great; I think just as an entire society we’ve moved towards a more progressive view of different sexualities.” To many in the LGBTQ+ community, athletic or not, coming out plays a significant role in their lives. It can be a gradual, lifelong process or a spur-of-the-moment decision. Some choose to do so quietly, others in a more outright fashion, and others not at all. Scott made clear that he believes whether or not to come out and how to come out are completely up to that person. He disclosed that he himself did not come out in an extravagant way. “I told a few people, and I told them to go tell other people, and so other than that, I’ve never told people and haven’t made it an issue,” he stated. He wasn’t necessarily against people knowing he was gay, but he didn’t present himself as such to the public. “I just didn’t make it an issue that would define myself, so I haven’t really spoken about it,” Scott said. Similarly, Zhao didn’t make a show out of her coming out. “I didn’t really [officially come out]. I just started dating a girl and then people found out,” said Zhao. After her interview, Zhao added over email that she has noticed some members of the LHS community are uncomfortable around her because of her sexual orientation, but few directly confront her. “It’s mostly if someone says
Focus Sports
By Molly Boufford and Moira Duffy Photos by Sam Nelson Layout by Ian Cox
something rude, they really don’t mean it and genuinely feel bad about it,” she expressed. In the professional sports world, many women in the WNBA have come out and thrived, while there are currently no openly LGBTQ+ athletes in the NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL or MLS (there are former athletes from these leagues who have come out). “I think there’s just less stereotypes around girls who are LGBTQ+ than boys, so I’ve never really had to face [stereotypes],” Zhao stated. Jackson Bogus, a junior who identifies as gay, is on the junior varsity cheer team. Bogus explained that he does feel like there is a general stereotype of cheer being a gay man’s sport, but he doesn’t let the criticisms take root, and they roll off his back. “When I tell people I’m gay and I do cheer, it makes more sense to people [because] I feel there is a media correlation,” said Bogus. This is Bogus’s first year back in Libertyville after transferring to Woodstock, Illinois, for his first two years of high school. “I developed all of my feelings [of being gay] in Woodstock, but I Jackson Bogus, a junior, moved back to Libertyville for this school year. don’t think being back at Bogus doesn’t let the stereotypes that face boys who participate in Libertyville has deterred or changed my feelings,” cheerleading bother him, and he has been cheering at both schools he has expressed Bogus. attended during his high school career. More and more successful, professional athletes are coming out, some inspiring other members of the LGBTQ+ community to come out as well. In 2013, Robbie Rogers, a midfielder for the MLS’ Los Angeles Galaxy, made headlines when he came out as gay. NBA center Jason Collins and NFL defensive end Michael Sam followed soon after, though since then, all have ceased their careers. According to the Chicago Tribune, while the coming out of athletes is widely viewed as a progressive step for the LGBTQ+ community in sports, both Wade Davis and Robbie Rogers agree that homophobia is still present in the professional sports world through slurs and strict ideas of what is acceptable and what isn’t. Davis is a baseball player for the
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Colorado Rockies that has come out as gay and Rogers is a former soccer player that came out in 2013. Scott emphasized the importance of role models to young people in general, but to LGBTQ+ kids especially. One example Scott mentioned was 2014 Olympic silver medalist freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, the first openly gay American man to qualify for the Winter Olympics. “For a lot of people, they need other support, and so having that support from people that are big or influential, that will help them, make it easier for them,” said Scott. Former LHS Athletic Director Briant Kelly, who is the current associate superintendent for District 128, said that the most important thing for LGBTQ+ students who have come out in an athletic setting is having someone to talk to, especially if they are being mistreated due to their status. “Whether it’s an adult, their social worker, their counselor, team leader, their coach, I think the important thing for them is to be able to talk to somebody,” said Mr. Kelly. Although Mr. Kelly never dealt with LGBTQ+ athlete-related issues on a team in his tenure as athletic director, he said the school tries to be proactive and prevent problems through the introduction of the all-gender bathrooms and private changing and showering areas. Mr. Kelly further explained that if an issue occured between athletes and coaches, the athletic office would first get more information from both the student and coach involved. Most of the time, the situation would end by having a conversation with the coach. “[Coaches might] need to go through some types of training. We do have some online sensitivity training that they could go through that we could give them or just more chances to educate them one-on-one, but we all go through training as coaches,” said Mr. Kelly. Both Scott and Zhao stated that they try not to let others’ opinions of their sexual identities heavily affect them. “I just didn’t make it an issue that would define myself,” said Scott. He explained he isn’t different than other people, and therefore he doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it. For Zhao, the best thing she can do is stay focused on her end goal for her team. “I think the most important thing about sports is working together and winning obviously, so if someone is going to be mean to you about [your sexual orientation], it’s their fault,” Zhao expressed. Scott stated that people he knows in the LGBTQ+ community who have come out “may be uncomfortable in the beginning, but they find what works for them.” Scott emphasized to anyone who is an LGBTQ+ athlete, or a member of the LGBTQ+ community in general, that whether or not they come out and/or their way of coming out is completely up to them. He advised them to come out “in a way that you feel best. Make it so you feel comfortable with the situation and feel safe or are happy with yourself. If you want to wait, that’s fine. If you don’t, that’s fine.”
John Scott, a senior and three-year varsity tennis athlete at LHS, has come out to a few close friends but doesn’t want his sexuality to be defining.
Junior Lisa Zhao is a volleyball player who never officially came out but is comfortable that people found out about her sexuality. She said she has never faced any stereotypes because of her sexuality and believes that if someone was to be rude to her during a sport, it would be their own problem. Focus Sports
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Studen t Bands at L H S
Lights beam on your face, crowds cheer, the music begins to pour out of you, and you feel a rush of adrenaline and pure satisfaction: this is what performing is like for many of the student bands here at LHS. These bands are comprised of many different types of people who form a close-knit bond with one another to produce music for others; together, they identify themselves through the universal language of music.
By Kylie Rodriguez Photos by Lola Akinlade Layout by Jacob Kemp Although three student bands are featured on these pages, a total of six bands were interviewed for this story. The QR code to the right takes you to an article on the Drops of Ink website where all the band’s stories, photos and music are posted.
Seniors Luke Ekdahl and John McGuan had one week to get a band together after receiving an invitation to perform at Penny Road Pub in Barrington. They quickly found two additional members: junior Jack Muraoka on bass and sophomore Matt Sleep as lead singer. Although the band has only been together for six months, they clicked right away and said they have great chemistry together when performing. Every member of the group really enjoys playing music because it’s more interactive than simply listening to it. Sleep believes that “playing a song is such a wonderful gift to people because people love music. You enjoy [the song] and so does the audience.” Currently, the band is working on writing original songs, but the majority of the songs they play are covers. Muraoka writes a good amount of songs and has his own solo album. Sleep also writes song lyrics but doesn’t work on the rhythm of the songs much. The covers that the band plays range from surf rock to punk to disco. “I’d say all of us play different types of music, and we kind of work it into the set list,” stated lead guitarist Ekdahl. Sleep agreed that “a lot of our style is based off of our individual styles. We try to rearrange the music to make it flow.” The band enjoys each others’ company and loves to perform in front of audiences. Ekdahl knows that “usually our number one issue is time on stage because we definitely play a lot longer. We like it when the crowd dances and gets into it.” Drummer McGuan agreed that “if the audience is having fun, you know you are doing a good job.” With both McGuan and Ekdahl heading off to college this upcoming fall, “the only way we’d stay together is if we got some huge break and someone asked us to make a record,” explained Sleep. However, all the members still want to get together over breaks and play together. Muraoka was “thinking [him and Sleep] will find some new people [for a band] and then rename ourselves.”
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Every band has to start somewhere: this one began with senior, and bassist, Bryce Brown-Morris. Since no one in his family has ever been involved in music, he really pushed himself to pick up an instrument. He said he taught himself how to play the bass with a pick using his own influences and ideas. Around eight months ago, Morris gathered together his bandmates: guitarists junior Isaac Rodriguez and seniors Beck Ghantous and Brice Boyer; drummer junior Chan Sun; and pianist senior John Copeland. They took inspiration from the Red Hot Chili Peppers when brainstorming band names because they “called themselves the Funky Monks when they were our age, so we just took a play off that and called ourselves Fun Monkey,” explained Brown-Morris. The band not only takes a lot of inspiration from the Chili Peppers but also many other genres and bands. Rodriguez explained their sound as a “psychedelic funk alternative rock,” but everyone in the band agrees that each one of their songs is different and unique. Jonah Kincaid, a junior and fan of the band, explained that “the funk of them is really great. The fact that they can all play [their acoustic set] is really special and unique. It’s not easy.” Although Fun Monkey plays many song covers, they also have their own original music and are currently working on recording an album to put on Spotify. Boyer explained that “writing music for me is the best way to relieve stress [because] the creative side of me comes out.” They have played at a wide variety of places, ranging from Penny Road Pub to Bottom Lounge in Chicago. When the band gets together to practice, they all feel that it helps them deal with any negative feelings and improves their overall mood. Rodriguez feels that “there is something intimate about playing music,” and Copeland agrees that “it’s a special bond.” The group plans on staying together for as long as possible, but with college coming up for a few of the members, it may be difficult. However, this band means a lot to each member of the group. For Boyer, “it’s kind of what I’ve been wanting to do all my life: produce music, play in front of people and just get my music out there. It’s kind of like a dream come true.”
“People sometimes have respect for [jazz], but people call it boring, old people music, which is why I wanted to start this because it’s known as elevator music,” stated junior Evan Hill. Hill, the band’s drummer (also in Moonwaves, another band composed of both LHS and VHHS students), gathered together junior guitarist Thomas Power, bassist sophomore Amanda Murbach, and senior trombonist Beck Ghantous (also in Fun Monkey) to start this jazz combo. Although this group came together for the 2018 Caring for Cambodia Band Jam in February, Hill started this group with high hopes of bringing the jazz sound back. Hill is drawn to jazz music because he “noticed that all the drummers today sound bland, technical, repetitive and exactly the same. Then, you take a look at some of these old jazz drummers and they’re melodic, ringing, bright, warm and amazing.” The group agrees that playing together allows for everyone to have a good time. Power explained that “jazz arrangements are really hard to create, and I put about 60 hours into one song and work on it gradually; like any other project, it’s a passion project.” Creating and playing jazz takes a lot of time and effort, which the group doesn’t mind, but scheduling times for practice is one difficult obstacle that they run into often with their busy schedules. The combo plans on staying together for as long as possible and wants to work more over the summer together on practicing new arrangements. “It’s sort of a deep passionate connection with the people that you are playing with because you don’t even have to speak the same language, you can just start playing together. That’s why it’s the universal language,” explained Hill.
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t often isn’t easy being a high school student, especially for those who are battling drug or alcohol addictions, or struggling with their mental health. There are a number of different reasons adolescents may go to a treatment facility. In most cases, adolescents are forced into treatment by their parents or social workers, and initially, they are often very against the idea. Prior to working as the health and wellness director at LHS, Dr. Brenda Nelson had 13 years of experience having direct encounters with kids who struggled with drugs. “One way I found, especially if someone was resistant [to receiving treatment], [is to say] look, we all need a timeout sometimes in life... a time to say, OK let’s kind of insert parentheses and take time to think about what’s working, what’s not working, and to take oneself out of one’s immediate context and just reflect is really helpful,” Dr. Nelson said. In severe cases of addiction or mental illness, an intensive occupational form of treatment called inpatient may be the best option for students. According to LHS social worker Mr. Greg Loika, “stabilization is their main focus when [treatment is] that intensive, and then they’re trying to work towards getting you back into your life areas of function. In this case for students, school.” LHS social worker Mrs. Lindsay Recsetar described any treatment facility as “a safe place that’s kind of a wrap-around of everything [students] need at that time.” One LHS senior girl, who requested anonymity in order to protect her privacy said, she was forced into treatment: “The school found my suicide note... [the social workers] pretty much said that ‘you can’t come back to school. You have to get treated.’ That’s when my parents actually called 911 on me to go.” This senior girl spent three days at an inpatient facility. “When I was leaving inpatient, I remember a woman told me, ‘I really
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By Zachary Ford Layout and Illustrations By Nate Sweitzer hope to never see you again,’ in you know, the best way possible. I think that’s really stuck with me because I don’t want to go back there...it was kind of a wake up call for me that I need to get myself in check and I can’t just hide things,” she said. Upon leaving a long-term or inpatient facility, patients can continue to seek support from either an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) or a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), depending on their condition. For patients whose conditions never required long-term or occupational treatment, IOP and PHP facilities are also options, providing patients with the necessary support in their recovery process. The senior girl spent a little over a week in PHP immediately after her time as an inpatient. Still out of school, she went to PHP during the hours she traditionally would’ve been at school and went home at night. Reflecting on her time in in PHP and inpatient, the senior girl explained that for people struggling with mental illnesses, “time isn’t what helps. It’s learning how to deal with things that make you anxious. If you never address something, you will carry it with you throughout your whole life… things don’t automatically get better. You definitely have to work at it.” Even after treatment, this senior girl still battles depression and anxiety, but she has learned different coping skills to help her manage any sort of situational depression she may have: “I started getting better when I actually started doing mindfulness techniques, and I actually now acknowledge that this is something that I have to
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traditional environment and spent 13 weeks in the woods with no access to drugs or alcohol. Kevin described these 13 weeks as life-changing, but initially he was entirely against the idea of receiving treatment, let alone living in the woods for two and a half months: “You’re literally in the wilderness. You have a tarp instead of a tent. You cook your own food over a fire. You don’t even shower.” Seven weeks into the 13-week long program, Kevin started to get honest about his addiction, the cruelty he showed towards his parents and how he had been using while in IOP. Kevin experienced such a strong feeling of change while in Wilderness that he made the decision not to return home once the program ended. He didn’t want to relapse by being put back into the same environment he came from, so instead he went to Inbounds Ranch Academy in Tucson, Arizona, a program that helped Kevin maintain his sobriety and establish himself as a young adult out in the real world. Although rehabilitation and other treatment programs don’t always have the same transformative impact on all adolescents, the senior girl and Kevin claim that while they both resisted treatment at first, their rehabilitation programs changed their lives. For students who are struggling, the LHS senior girl encourages them to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to seek help... You can move on from it. I’m in a much better place than I was then. That wasn’t the end all be all, that wasn’t my life,” she said. “I really said to myself, ‘I don’t want to die, but this is no way to live.’ That’s something that I really live by.”
deal with, it’s not something I can just ignore.” For people who struggle with drug and alcohol abuse and are looking to get sober, they can seek rehabilitation from long-term programs. This type of occupational treatment allows patients to focus entirely on getting better, without any distractions from their traditional environment. There is no fixed amount of time that patients spend in a program like this; it is over when patients are confident in their ability to overcome their dependence on drugs and alcohol. All throughout his sophomore year, a former LHS student named Kevin, whose last name isn’t being revealed in order to protect his identity, struggled with serious drug and alcohol addictions. Living with his dad in Glencoe and attending New Trier High School during his junior year, Kevin’s dad realized the extent of his son’s drug problem and sent him to a local treatment facility called Rosecrance Intensive Outpatient Program. Eventually his drug and alcohol problem got Kevin kicked out of his dad’s house and he was forced to live with his mom in Atlanta. It was there that Kevin spent the majority of what would have been second semester of his junior year getting sober through a program his mom forced him into called Second Nature Blue Ridge, or Wilderness, as Kevin referred to it. During this time, Kevin was completely removed from his
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Note:Kylie Rodriguez contributed to the reporting of this story..
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GIRLS sports JANUARY FEBRUARY
BOYS sports JANUARY FEBRUARY
Sports
TRACK 110 DAYS
SOCCER 79 DAYS
BADMINTON 67 DAYS
MARCH
TRACK 110 DAYS
LACROSSE 87 DAYS
MARCH
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BY KELLY SHINNICK
WATER POLO 71 DAYS
LAYOUT BY NATE SWEITZER
APRIL
VOLLEYBALL 78 DAYS
TENNIS 76 DAYS
SOFTBALL 80 DAYS
MAY
GYMNASTICS 80 DAYS
LACROSSE 82 DAYS
BASEBALL 85 DAYS
WATER POLO 71 DAYS
APRIL
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MAY
By Matt Smith
Photos by Bulat Schamiloglu Feature
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Layout by Emily Hamilton Drops of Ink
When you first look at him, you might think, Why doesn’t that kid have two ears? What’s wrong with his chin? When people first see junior Peter Dankelson, they may think those things, but they’ll miss Dankelson’s inspirational story and extremely kind personality.
How I Became to Life
play, Palacio was there. They got to talk to her; they then got to see her again a few years later, when she came to Chicago because the city did something with the book as well. So, Dankelson and his mom went down to Chicago with some other families who are a part of the CCA. In Nov. of last year, they got invited to the red carpet premiere in Los Angeles of the movie “Wonder,” where they got to meet the actors from the film such as Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts. While in Santa Monica, “a school asked us to come, so we went in and talked to them. Then when we got back, word got around that we presented and [other schools] asked if I could come present,” said Dankelson. Dankelson now speaks at schools all around the country about the book and his facial disorder. He recently spoke at LHS during the “Spread the Word to End the Word Week” in early March. In the book “Wonder,” one of the themes is to choose kindness: “In his speeches and the way he lives his life, that’s a motto he goes by and conveys to everyone,” said Max Moulton, Dankelson’s peer buddy through the LHS Best Buddies club. Dankelson inspires many around him and his speeches bring a lot of joy to his family, specifically his mom, who loves seeing him speak. “My favorite part of hearing Peter speak is how he uses humor to put people at ease. He shows his audience there is nothing to be afraid of and that it’s empowering to embrace what makes you different,” said Mrs. Dankelson. It also brings Dankelson joy to have people understand what he is going through: “I love going to the schools because to me, it is one thing to read about someone’s experience, but when you have someone who relates to that come in and talk to you, it can bring the story to life, and I think that is a really cool thing to have experienced.” The students at these schools could ask him about bullies or the surgeries, but they often don’t. “They find common interests with him and don’t even realize what they just learned; we are all a lot alike on the inside even though we all look different on the outside,” said Mrs. Dankelson. During a speech with fourth graders from Carl Junction, Missouri, over Skype last month, the first question asked was about bullying, which Dankelson was ready for and said that he is lucky because he has never been bullied and then told a funny story with a smile. The kids then continued to ask questions about the book and there were constant connections from his life to “Wonder.” In addition, the students asked questions about sports, pets and much more.
Dankelson was born ten weeks premature and weighed less than three pounds. He had more than ten serious birth defects, resulting in a diagnosis of Goldenhar Syndrome, also known as Oculo-Auriculo-Vertebral Syndrome (OAVS). OAVS is a rare birth defect that causes malformations of the eyes, ears and spine. Dankelson required a tracheostomy (a procedure done to repair an obstructed airway) and feeding tube while he spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and this was all in the first four months of his life. Dankelson has a fake ear, he can’t swim due to his feeding tube, he has an obstructed jaw, and had to learn how to eat and chew following his jaw surgeries. “Peter’s had 29 surgeries, mostly to stabilize his airway. He had a trach for four years and still has a feeding tube,” said Mrs. Dede Dankelson, Peter’s mom, over email. “His most complex and longest surgery was last June. His jaw was reconstructed in an eight-hour operation that was done by [a] craniofacial, ear, nose and throat physician (ENT), and neurosurgeons.”
“
Choose Kind
When your child is born with a facial difference, you spend a lot of time worrying about bullies, staring and social stigma. When I see students want to meet Peter and hear his story, it’s the opposite of everything I feared. -Mrs. Dankelson
”
In 2012, author R.J. Palacio wrote a book called “Wonder” about a boy with a facial difference attending school for the first time and trying to be a normal kid. “I think someone must have told [my mom] about the book and she read it, and then she’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is really good,’” said Dankelson. Mrs. Dankelson went on to show the book to the Children’s Craniofacial Association, CCA, which is a national non-profit organization that addresses “the medical, financial, psychosocial, emotional and educational concerns relating to those with craniofacial conditions,” according to its website. “[My family and I] are really close with some of the people there, so she [spoke to] the head of the board and decided to promote the book,” said Dankelson. In 2015 Santa Monica, California was doing a community wide reading of the book, and the director of the event contacted CCA to ask if they knew any kids who would want to portray the main character, Auggie. They thought Dankelson would be perfect for the job. Dankelson and his mom flew down to California for this reading, and when Dankelson and his family were in Santa Monica for the
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Before his performance with School of Rock Libertyville at Adler Park School’s Winter Carnival, junior Peter Dankelson adjusted his guitar’s amplifier to his prefered settings.
basement’ from when he played guitar in high school, so he had some of the stuff from back then, including books of songs. And he kinda showed me how to hold it, how to hold the pick and then I went on YouTube and started to learn songs,” said Dankelson. Dankelson plays in a band through the School of Rock in Libertyville, where he plays classic rock. According to Mrs. Dankelson she enjoys it because he plays music from her generation, from bands such as AC/DC, Guns n’ Roses, and Led Zepplin. “I really like his passion when he is playing guitar. He loves talking about playing guitar. You can see him light up when he plays and when you talk about it,” added Moulton. Music has become a vital part of Dankelson’s life. “It brings him an escape because he has so many medical issues that he has to get constant care for, and that takes a physical toll on the body. So guitar provides a way for him to just go into his own world for a little bit,” said Moulton. Dankelson is also missing muscles in his thumb, so he can’t move it very well. He had to learn to play around it in order to learn a song. He does this in all aspects of his life. Whether it is school, music or speaking, Dankelson doesn’t let his condition get the best of him. As Dankelson says in many of his speeches, “embrace who you are, keep your head up, and keep walking, and always choose kind.”
His speeches have brought Dankelson many awards as well, such as the 2016 Teen Advocacy Champion of Hope Award from the Global Genes Alliance. He was also a Patient Ambassador for the Children’s Hospital of Michigan from 2010-2015. He served on their Youth Advisory Council, which helped make decisions on what to promote in the hospital; he also conducted television interviews and spoke at faculty meetings. Additionally, Peter has advocated in Washington D.C. on behalf of the Children’s Hospital Association. “When your child is born with a facial difference, you spend a lot of time worrying about bullies, staring and social stigma. When I see students want to meet Peter and hear his story, it’s the opposite of everything I feared,” said Mrs. Dankelson.
The Performance Space Another one of Dankelson’s favorite activities is playing the guitar, which he has been playing since freshman year. Dankelson first got into guitar by listening to more guitar-heavy music, such as rock and roll, instead of pop music. “One day I asked my dad, like, ‘Hey dad, I think I want to start learning guitar,’ and he was like, ‘Oh, I have a guitar in the basement and amp in the
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Finding Refuge in Libertyville By Hannah Hutchins Photos by Ella Marsden Layout by Savanna Winiecki
“Who Am I? Well, I am Martin.” Focus Feature
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they were coming to [Chicago],” shared Mrs. Kristen Palic, a teacher at Highland Middle School and Apimbu’s host mother. Apimbu spent the first 13 years of his life in the camp, and while he says he does not miss the living arrangements and food, he does miss his friends. “I [liked] to play and hang out and go to the river with [my friends]. There was a river close. There was a youth center. We [played] basketball there. [Sometimes we played] soccer with boys from Kigoma (a nearby town) and some from [the] camp youth center,” Apimbu said. Eventually, an agency called Refugee One sponsored the Apimbu family and brought them to Chicago in Oct. 2016. The agency was contacted for the purpose of this article, but they did not respond to interview requests. “Normally how it works is the refugee agency places them with a sponsor, but because of the change in [the presidential] administration, because it was just after the [2016] election, they rushed a bunch of visas so people could come because they feared what was coming with the new administration,” Mrs. Palic said. “Martin’s family didn’t get a sponsor until Feb., so they were here without any support, any guidance, any help whatsoever, for about five months.” Due to the lack of sponsorship, the Apimbu family found themselves in a new place with no source of income, merely doing the best they could. Soon, the Lake County Resettlement Group, which is a group of volunteers in the area that help co-sponsor families alongside Refugee One, helped out the Apimbu family, according to Linda Wiens, a founder and main fundraiser of the group. The Lake County Resettlement Group helped sponsor, support and tutor the children in the Apimbu family, as well as teach the parents different skills they would have to use in their new lives. “We have been helping the family with basic material goods they needed; learning to do all the ‘ordinary’ things like banking, smart grocery shopping and laundry; getting to medical appointments; using the library and other services; finding ESL programs; getting jobs and getting to them,” Ms. Wiens expressed over email. “We have also been tutoring the children in English and other school subjects, since their schooling in the refugee camp was very poor.” In Oct. of 2016, shortly after arriving in the U.S., Apimbu began his freshman year at Sullivan High School alongside his older brother. Sullivan is located in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago and was nicknamed “Refugee High” by Chicago Magazine due to its large population of refugees from around the world. However, according to Mrs. Palic, in addition to a large refugee population, there is also a significant amount of gang activity in the neighborhood and school. The administration at Sullivan High School was contacted multiple times for the purpose of this article, but they did not respond. “[Since Martin’s arrival], there has become a bit of a gang problem and the gangs target the refugee boys, particularly the black refugee boys,”
In 1996, the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp was created in Tanzania due to the civil war that erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Doctors Without Borders. Since then, Congo has been plagued by unrest and political corruption, and the civil war has claimed more than six million lives. Martin Apimbu’s parents fled Congo in 1999, when his mother was pregnant with his older brother, and moved into the refugee camp, where his older brother, Apimbu and three of his four younger siblings were born. “When you are in a refugee camp, you are waiting. You apply [for a visa], but it takes about three years to get through the visas and the application process and the interviews and the vetting and all the security clearance. When [the Apimbu family was] finally cleared, they were told
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Mrs. Palic, a teacher at Highland Middle School, tutors Apimbu on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school. He is still learning English on top of already speaking Swahili and Bamba, as well as taking French classes at LHS.
Mrs. Palic explained. A year after the Apimbu family moved, in Oct. 2017, one of Apimbu’s friends, who was also a refugee, was shot by a member of one of the gangs. While the friend did survive, his sponsors immediately relocated him to a different state in order to escape the danger. Apimbu, however, was left behind, and he soon became a target. “They would walk up to Martin, making gun symbols with their fingers and poking him with them. They said, ‘We shot your friend...We’ll shoot you too,’” Mrs. Palic shared, choking up. Soon after, Apimbu stopped attending school for fear of his safety. “Am I scared? That is why I am here. He was my friend, and the [gang], they saw me and him together. They shoot him. I am scared maybe they are going to shoot me too,” Apimbu said. Mrs. Palic had been volunteering with a tutoring group through Lake County Resettlement and had gotten to know the Apimbu family through her work there. After hearing the news of Apimbu’s situation, she consulted with her husband, and the two of them came to the agreement that Apimbu should move here, to Libertyville. Apimbu began school as a sophomore at LHS in Nov. During the week, he lives with Mr. and Mrs. Palic and their 6-year-old daughter. On the weekends, Apimbu returns to Rogers Park to stay with his family. When asked if he missed them during the week, he said “so-so,” as he currently has his own bedroom for the very first time in his life. The Palic house is much quieter too, which Apimbu enjoys, but that’s not to say being away from home is always easy. “He misses his family. I’ve caught him with FaceTime on in the background, not actually talking to them, just hearing them,” Mrs. Palic said, smiling. When he’s not at school, home, or tutoring,
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Apimbu can be found playing his favorite sport: soccer. Twice a week, Apimbu goes to the Libertyville Sports Complex and practices with the U17 FC 1974 team of the Greater Libertyville Soccer Association (GLSA). “[The team] has been so kind. They let him practice for free, they just invited him to come because he was there and they saw him,” Mrs. Palic said. Coach Scott Steib, the U16 FC 1974 team coach, was the one who invited Apimbu to play with the program; he was contacted for this article but could not be reached. Apimbu soon moved to the U17 FC 1974 team and has been with them for about two months. “Apimbu is talented and [has] good foot skills. He is good on [oneversus-one] attacking, [has] good shooting skills, and [knows] great attacking moves,” Apimbu’s current soccer coach, Memo Marin, said over email. As for future plans, no one is quite sure where Apimbu will be. He is staying with the Palics until June, but after that, nothing has been decided. “I don’t know [if I will be here next year],” Apimbu said. “Maybe. I hope so.”
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‘New culture, new expectations’ By Stephanie Luce
Photos by Bulat Schamiloglu
Layout by Jenna Carnazzola
The strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years, Hurricane Maria, formed as a tropical storm on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017. Four days later, on Sept. 20, Maria hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm with winds that reached up to 155 mph. Maria devastated Puerto Rico, killing at least 51 people, and left the whole island with no power and demolished infrastructure. Puerto Rican authorities estimated there was between $45-95 billion in damages. Because the island of Puerto Rico was destroyed and is still slowly recovering (about a third of its residents are still without power, according to NBC News), many of its citizens needed to evacuate and move to the mainland United States (Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and its residents are U.S. citizens). Many Puerto Rican parents sent their children to America so that they could continue to attend school. In total, three Puerto Rican students have attended school at LHS while their country recovers, and two are still at Libertyville. Sophomore Carlos Soto is one of these students. Soto is from Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, and came to Libertyville on Oct. 10. He is living here with his aunt, uncle and four younger cousins. His parents stayed behind in Puerto Rico and sent his older sister to Florida to live with their grandparents.
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Life in Puerto Rico Before the hurricane, Soto said Puerto Rico was a very green place with lots of trees and plants. However, when he left, everything was in ruins. The mountains were completely brown because all the trees had lost their leaves. After the hurricane hit, he could not even get out of his home for two days because of all the destruction outside. Soto, who spent much of his young life working, hopes to get a job soon. “I’ve been working since I was 9 years old. When I was 6, my mom got cancer and then my mom and dad got divorced, so my dad went away and my mom stayed home...So I’ve been taking care of my mom… She couldn’t work, so we depended on social security. She didn’t receive a lot of money, so I started working with things that I could,” he said.
“I even sold my own toys so I could help my mom, and if I needed new shoes, I bought them so she wouldn’t have to worry about it. So, I’ve been working pretty much all my life. When I don’t work, I feel like I need to do something.” Soto explained how although he, his mom and sister can bump heads sometimes, he still misses them greatly and talks to them almost every day. Back in Puerto Rico, his mom still does not have power. They live on a mountain, which usually has a lot of trees, but it’s been difficult for the workers who maintain the mountain to clean it up and put in new electrical lines. “We knew when the hurricane passed, we were going to be out [of power] for months,” said Soto.
Photo courtesy of Voice of America This photograph shows the destruction and effects of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
Experience at LHS As Soto’s counselor, Mr. John Mortillaro had to figure out Soto’s schedule of classes at LHS. Mr. Mortillaro explained how he “tried [to contact Soto’s old school] but unfortunately, they had no electricity, so it was very difficult. It took us a long time to get any official documents. When power was restored, his family that stayed back was able to go to the school and get them and send them. Initially, he brought me a list of the classes he was scheduled to take at his school there, and we tried to match them up as best we could.” Academically, Soto first thought he was going to be very behind in his school work, as he came in the middle of first semester. Initially, he would spend three to four hours a day studying to catch up on and keep up with his work. But, after starting second semester after winter break with everyone else, he said he does not have to spend so much time after school on homework and studying. Mr. Mortillaro and Soto made a few adjustments to his initially constructed schedule, but now there is a good mix of where he was and where he should be, they said. According to his teacher in the EL (English Language Learner) program, Mrs. Alison Reifenberg, he is performing well academically and is just like any other normal sophomore student. As for any student moving to a new town and school, Soto had to adjust to the students and social life at LHS. “Socially, I did not expect people to react in the way they did when I
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got here. The first day I got here, people were taking pictures of me and posting them on Instagram and some other weird stuff,” stated Soto. “And other people were looking at me like they were mad at me. This one kid told me to F-off. [Kids made] rumors about me saying that I’m gay.” Through the EL program, Mrs. Reifenberg has attempted to ease Soto’s transition. “[Adapting socially] is not just a Carlos experience; I think it is [something] all the EL students [deal with]...Carlos entered as a sophomore, not even as a freshman; it’s hard for any student to move, but to move into a completely new culture? It’s not even like moving to a new district. It’s moving to a new country, new culture, new expectations, and you don’t even know anyone,” she said. “So, I think for all of the students, it’s really tough. And I think some students aren’t as accepting as others, which is always upsetting. Overall this community is super accepting and welcoming, but a couple of students can put a damper on it. I think that is an important piece of information for people to know. On the whole, we’re a great, accepting community, but we cannot then pretend things like [how Soto was initially treated by some] don’t exist.” Reifenberg described Soto as being outgoing from day one: “I feel like I knew who he was within a week of meeting him. He is just really open and outgoing…He’s one of the most talkative students that I have.”
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“Puerto Rico is not an option for me anymore.” -Carlos Soto
Sophomore Carlos Soto works on schoolwork in his EL (English Language Learner) class. The EL program helps make the transition from a non-English speaking country to the United States much easier for students like Soto.
Future Plans “Puerto Rico is not an option for me anymore,” Soto conveyed. His mother is moving to Florida this summer, and while his dad is staying in Puerto Rico, Soto can’t stay in Puerto Rico even if they recover and there is electricity and clean water. He explained how it is still not a good place to be living because although there are jobs, they don’t pay enough to make it worth living there. Soto said he is either going to stay in Libertyville or move to Florida in the upcoming years, but he’s uncertain.
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Despite an unsure future, Mr. Mortillaro and Soto still met during course selection to plan out classes for next year. “The most important part is making my mother and father happy by getting good grades, focusing on school…the most important thing is to make my mom and dad proud,” expressed Soto. “They sent me here, and I don’t want them to think that they sent me here for nothing. I want them to think that they sent me here and it was worth it. That’s the most important thing.”
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dentity Defined
Staff Editorial
Layout and Illustrations by Jacob Kemp
Finding one’s “true identity” is a common struggle If you were plopped down in an entirely difmost people face, but especially during high school, ferent area, with different family with different when students are expected to make life decisions friends, would your identity stay the same? The based off their identity. It can be challenging, howmajority of the DOI staff thinks that morals and ever, for some teenagers to know their true self after intangible qualities are aspects that people are less than two decades of life. This may not seem born with, which would be unaffected by different like enough time for some but it could be plenty for environments. Although different environments others. offer different opportunities that can strengthen Out of the 7.6 billion people on Earth, not one inor weaken your identity, some believe that you dividual identity is the same. Identity is what makes would be an entirely different person in a differeach and every person unique and is influenced by ent setting, since the environment is important each and every decision and action. when considering the impact it has on identity. The Drops of Ink staff believes identity is inIn high school, there’s commonly this expectafluenced immensely by the parts of life that are tion to fit in and with that, many times students constantly surrounding you, like family, friends and lose their true identity because they alter it to school. Parents and family are a main contributor; make themselves appear one way. As we go into people are shaped by the way they are raised, which the real world, our actual identity becomes a lot correlates with the opinions and viewpoints their more important. You get a better handle of who you are as a person as parents have. Similar mannerisms and characteristics you mature because when you are young, you are still developing your will arise due to the amount of time family members spend with each identity. But the older you get, the more you start to figure it out and other, ultimately affecting one’s identity. focus on your core values. Identity is not driven by a single factor, but by every aspect of one’s Some students have found their identity, and some are nowhere close to life. It’s what you like uncovering their true self. and what you don’t like. A common theme among What you’re passionate the staff was that it is not about and what you’re essential to find your true apathetic about. What identity in high school. you agree with and what But if it is found, it can you disagree with. Morals provide more confidence and priorities shape and motivation and pave actions, and actions shape a path for the future that how you’re perceived and helps with some major life that shapes your identity. decisions. It can also be Some said that how negative because if high one is perceived is your school students are under reputation and how one a false perception of their views themselves is their identity because they’ve identity. been sucked into peer The fluidity or stability of pressure, it may lead them identity is not unanimously on the wrong path with the agreed upon among our wrong identity. staff. Some believe it is Most of the staff came always fluctuating because to a similar consensus every day you learn new that there is never one Photo by Kelly Shinnick single “aha!” moment things from new experiences Finger prints are one representation of a person’s identity; not one is the same. that can change how you that defines their entire view yourself. Additionally, as you grow up, you learn more about yourself identity. While significant events can help you realize your identity and and develop more complex thoughts. That allows you to identify with new make you more comfortable with your identity, they are not the driving people who can further contribute to your identity because they will have factor. different ideas to share. But in the end, most believed no one will ever truly understand themOn the other hand, some say one’s identity is constant because although selves, so it isn’t completely possible to know in high school, but as you actions may change when you stray away from your true self, your identity is grow up, you pick up more and more pieces of information that help the base layer that is constantly added upon. define who you are. Identity doesn’t change; it just evolves. Identity is complex with no single key to unlock it.
Note: As this piece is a staff editorial, it is representative of the opinions of the Drops of Ink staff as a whole. The staff is comprised of LHS students from each grade level and spans a wide range of opinions from two class periods, with 45 students total. The author(s) of this piece did not place their personal opinions in the story; they merely reflect the staff’s thoughts.
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The Right to Remain Fluid By Anna Legutki
In the “Accelerating Acceptance” study done by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in 2017, 20 percent of people ages 18-35 identified as LGBTQ+. This means that you likely know at least one person who identifies as something other than straight, which encompasses a wide variety of varying degrees of attraction to different genders. According to the Kinsey Scale, developed by Alfred Kinsey, founder of the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University and a prominent mid-20th century sexologist, all human sexuality exists on a scale, which ranks human sexuality from exclusively homosexual to exclusively heterosexual. These are separated by varying bisexual tendencies (degrees of being more or less attracted to one gender than the other). In addition to this is “X,” which is the lack of sexual response, also known as asexual. There isn’t a test that will tell one where they fall on the Kinsey Scale; our sexualities are entirely up to our perceptions. Discovering what one’s sexuality is can be a process of trial and error with dating, self-questioning or even knowing since childhood, which is to say: there is no one way to come out. The process of discovering one’s sexuality is not a finite process. If someone determines themselves to be heterosexual but then finds themselves attracted to someone of the same gender, those feelings aren’t invalid. Sexuality, as it turns out, is not set in stone. Very few people, according to the Kinsey Reports, are wholly heterosexual or homosexual. This means that even if one identifies as heterosexual, it is still likely for one to experience attraction to their own gender. A label is just a way to help understand attraction, it does not dictate it. This lack of experimentation and questioning can possibly be attributed to the perception of sexual identity being non-evolving; if you come out as one thing, you can’t later come out as something else. There is an
expectation for people who identify as non-straight to, for lack of better term, get their identity right the first time. What this means is that, if you come out as gay, there is an expectation that you will stay that way. As someone who has reconsidered and redefined their own sexuality, this feeling of confusion is something I can empathize with. The expectation to put a label on a feeling is daunting and can be a confusing process. However, throughout the course of many people’s lives, they’ll go through the entirety of their life without questioning their sexuality or experimenting. This is totally natural as well. This, truly, is unrealistic. The right to define, redefine and explore one’s identity is something everyone possesses, regardless of what part of their identity it is. Sexuality is no different. As one goes through life, has more experience and grows as an individual, it is natural to see one’s attraction shift. Like many things humans feel, sexuality is not consistent throughout one’s life. And like any sexuality, being sexually fluid is not a choice. In 2018, it isn’t as big of a deal to identify as LGBTQ+ as it once was, with marriage equality now legal, a growing social conscious about LGBTQ+ issues, and the acceptance of people identifying as nonstraight. As this is accepted more and more, it is natural for more people to question their sexuality or find that it doesn’t have a defined shape, that it might fluctuate or change or not be totally strict. This is sexual fluidity. It is not being greedy or a state of being unsure about one’s sexuality. It is simply when one has an undefined sexuality -- they could find their attraction fluctuates over time or is entirely dependent on the person and is not affected by gender. With growing acceptance of LGBTQ+ identities and as more people begin to question their identity, the use of defined labels such as “gay” and “straight” are becoming less and less popular, and more people are identifying as fluid or simply choosing not to label themselves at all.
Photo by Emily Hamilton The Kinsey Reports, released in the mid-20th Century, stated that very few people are wholly heterosexual or wholly homosexual. Focus Opinion
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Layout by Claire Salemi By Jacob Kemp Photo by Lizzie Foley
Boys have body images issues, too
A black sweatshirt with a blue logo that puffs around your torso. A navy blue t-shirt that hugs your shoulders. A maroon collared shirt with a black vest that covers imperfections. But no, you aren’t feeling it today. So back to the black sweatshirt and the looser blue jeans. You close your closet after having tried on three outfits and make your way to school, a little disappointed at your lack of self-confidence. You feel fat. You walk through the halls, the image of happiness. But on the inside, you’re aware of every little movement you make, and every time you lift your arms or someone brushes against you, you feel exposed. You feel weak. In gym class, it’s fitness testing day. You whip out a respectable 35 sit-ups before collapsing onto the blue yoga mat. Right next to you, the boy-wonder-popular-jock pushes through 100 before the teacher asks him to stop. Your feelings of self-loathing are only increased by the locker room antics, where you quickly change in the corner while those around you have fullblown conversations, bare-chested. You rush home at the end of school and change into sweatpants and a t-shirt chosen specifically to hide anything you don’t like. You’re not alone. Muscle dysmorphia, a common mental condition where you see yourself differently than others do, and other body image issues affect a lot more people than you might think. A research study conducted in 2014 by clinical psychologist Raymond Lemberg, as reported in the Huffington Post, found that out of every four people who suffer from an eating disorder, one of them is male. At least 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S, meaning that about 7.5 million men in the United States face this affliction. And that’s just specifically for eating disorders, not just body image issues. Boys grow up often trying to fit the societal ideal of a perfect male body. The idea of bulky arms, six packs, toned chests and muscular backs has infested itself into the minds of those who should be spending time enjoying their youth. And it’s only getting worse.
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Though still not as much as they should be, body image issues for women are talked about. Plus-sized women and what are deemed as “curvy” models are common social media gurus. The movement for female body empowerment has begun. But when was the last time you saw a plus-sized male model? When you walk into Urban Outfitters, H&M, or even Target, the walls are lined with large images of toned, smiling men, silently telling you to look like them. I encourage you to try right now to name an action hero from the last five years who didn’t look like he could coach a CrossFit class. Chris Pratt dropped 60 pounds to take charge in his role as Peter Quill in the movie “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s hulking frame dominates movies: from action to family flicks. As a result of these films, derogatory terms like “dad bod”, a male body type best described as soft and round, have become commonplace, stopping any sort of positive Hollywood discussion. There are those who walk around the halls every day hating themselves, for not having his arms or their stomach. Psychology Today highlights a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics, reporting that 40 percent of boys in middle and high school exercise regularly -- and 90 percent at least occasionally -- with the specific goal of bulking up. In today’s generation, we strive to tell young girls that no matter how much they weigh or how they look, they are beautiful. But it’s a double standard to not extend those same sentiments to those of the opposite sex. Societal views of the perfect body have drastically changed over time. In the Gilded Age, those with a chubbier frame were considered the height of wealth and perfection, while the early 1970s had a much bigger appreciation for those with skinnier, lanky proportions. However, there has never been a time where the pressure to look perfect has been greater than right now, with social media and constant Hollywood updates infiltrating our everyday life. The time to talk, to let people know they aren’t alone, is now. After all, it’s just as hard to be Ken as it is to be Barbie.
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The Power of Mankind(ness) By Olivia Gauvin Photo by Maggie Hutchins Layout by Ian Cox
I
have witnessed a lot of evil in the world. Not all of it has been inflicted upon me; in fact, almost none of the pure evil that exists in the world today has been. But I still see that our world, or perhaps more accurately, our “bubble” we find ourselves amidst in Libertyville, is not instinctively “good” merely because we do not live inside of the “pure evil.” The colorful symbols in this illustration represent good deeds, such as smiles and generosity. The figure on the left symbolizes a Libertyville is kind person, and the right a nice person. The key difference between the two is that being nice is randomly performing short-lived nice. It has nice houses with nice front lawns. friendly actions. Being kind is not just giving bits of joy, but embodying compassion. Being kind is not just defined by what you do It has nice individuals here and there, but by who you are and what you stand for. who work nice jobs, and a nice school system filled with nice community members. But being is not simple. There are plenty of individuals in the world who qualified as nice doesn’t define what is or is not good. pick and choose when and when not to be nice. They disI have a friend who is far wiser than anyone I’ve ever met, who has expericourage people around them, they bully or abuse individuals enced the true difference between niceness and kindness. I asked her how the in their lives, and sometimes they turn around for a moment, people who do not treat everyone with equal compassion or care can still be they open the door for the person behind them, and thus in held to such admirable and “nice” regards. She noted how niceness passes; someone’s mind they are nice. it is fleeting. Those quick actions of holding the door open or lending a hand “Nice” is a primary level, it does not reach deeper than a to help someone carry their books, those are nice. They show how we have moment. Yet, if calculated in units of “goodness,” kindness small moments to give and care. But those fleeting moments are not the core reaches far deeper. Kindness is not taken at face value. Kindfoundations to kindness. ness originates from the willingness to understand someone Kindness is not the act of giving in a moment of care; instead kindness is else’s differences and still treat them with respect and genuine consistently giving care despite the moment. People who are nice may never care. Kindness is the good you hold inside of yourself when be truly kind because they may never learn to selflessly give — and that is you are measured on nothing but your morals and your values. okay. Niceness is still so important. Niceness is what could make someone’s I think as a school, and even as a generation, we need to fomoment a little better and provide them with a little more help they may need. cus on how we can all move from niceness to kindness. I find But kindness is not small-scale. Kindness is continuing; kindness is what I often write someone off as “nice” as opposed to truly trying spreads revolutions of love across the world; kindness is the change I feel we to determine if they are kind. Do nice actions automatically so deeply need to focus on. make us kind? Or is there something more? I think we accept I know that hundreds of my peers at LHS are nice. I know the patience and niceness too easily, and again I reiterate, there is nothing care I am given every day is not without niceness. But I also realize that nicewrong with niceness. But “nice” is not the farthest we can go. ness can be short-lived, and I know that because we live in such a privileged Such helpful actions can ripple into revolutions of kindness if community, we have the opportunity to grow and solidify our kindness. we let them. Being “nice” is a step, an important step indeed; niceness in its entirety still In short, “nice” is a step. Kindness is the path.
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Restraints Cause 38% to be Dropped at Tryouts
Compet t ve Nature
By Maggie Burnetti Photos by Claire Salemi Layout by Jenna Carnazzola For the two years that the girls badminton program has existed at Libertyville High School, at least 50 girls have tried out for the team; however, the team’s maximum amount of players allowed is 36, due to space, coaching and time constraints.
In badminton, the rules for serving requires players to hit the shuttle below the waist and serve behind the line. The shuttle has to be hit back over the net in order for the point to count. This season, 59 girls tried out, an increase by nine compared to last year. Of those, 23 girls -- 38 percent of the athletes who tried out this year -- did not make the team. “It’s just weird to have it super competitive because usually I wouldn’t think of our sport as being [really competitive],” junior team captain Annalisa Waddick, a two-year player, said. The increased competition at this year’s tryouts may have stemmed from the positive environment that was created around last year’s team, which Waddick described in an interview. There are also physical benefits to being a member of the team that could have appealed to some athletes: “Badminton’s a great sport. It gets you in all-around shape. It strengthens your legs, your arms, your core -- basically everywhere,” said freshman and varsity member Kathleen Jin. Last season, there were 50 girls on the first day of tryouts for the brand-new team. However, 14 girls did not return the following days of tryouts, leaving the team at its maximum of 36 players. Mrs. Judi Neuberger, the
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team’s head coach, said that the girls who did not return did so because they didn’t fully realize the commitment that came along with the team. With a similar tryout turnout, the LHS girls basketball program normally has about 50 girls try out every year. According to Head Girls Basketball Coach Mr. Greg Pedersen, they cut one to two girls per year, amounting in a 2-4 percent cut for their whole program. While that is a substantial difference of cuts when compared to badminton, it is important to note the different restraints that each sport experiences. These limitations include available coaching staff and facilities. For example, there is only one gym that has the ability to set up badminton nets, and there are two coaches for the three teams. Furthermore, when comparing other sports to badminton, another element that causes a contrast in the percentage of athletes cut would be that some athletes decide not to try out. These individuals are not accounted for in the official amount of athletes cut, indicated Mr. Greg Loika, head girls volleyball coach. This can be seen in the following statistics: 13 percent
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of girls who tried out for volleyball in the previous season were cut. When Mr. Loika included the 10 girls who were in the program the previous season but didn’t try out this season, that number rises to 28 percent, showing a closer comparison between badminton and volleyball. Coach Neuberger stated that they have a maximum amount of players for their three teams: varsity, junior varsity and exhibition. The exhibition team plays at meets but does not keep score like the varsity and junior varsity levels do. As the main gym is the sole location where badminton courts are able to be set up, with eight courts of four girls each, amounting to 32 players at a given time, they have a strict cap on the amount of players they can keep on the team. “If we had more space, if we had more coaches, I would take everybody. I want everybody to love badminton!” said Coach Neuberger. With 23 girls to cut this year, Coach Neuberger and Assistant Coach Ms. Laura Govorchin had to make some tough decisions. Before this spring season, the Libertyville athletic directors met with and advised all of the coaches of this spring sports. In anticipation of certain sports having to make cuts from their team, Mr. Randy Oberembt expressed that he and co-interim Athletic Director Mr. John Fischl consulted with the respective coaches. While making those decisions, the athletic directors often advise coaches to quantitatively measure their decisions and remove the emotional component to give every player an equal and fair opportunity. Coach Neuberger felt that measuring tryouts this way was the best option “because the badminton team from last year was [her] family.” Coaches Neuberger and Govorich took data from the tryouts on a one-to-five number scale. The scale measured execution of skills, such as certain shots or serves. The other component that was considered in their final decisions was attitude, reaction to feedback and attempts to improve after receiving feedback. In separate interviews, Jin and Waddick expanded on the process and described it as complicated and stressful. Waddick communicated that there was a lot of sadness on that final day of tryouts because seemingly everyone wanted to make the team: “It was [hard] because we all care so deeply about it so evidently [that] when things don’t work out, you’re gonna be disappointed.” On the third day of tryouts this year, the coaches took an hour to
verbally deliver cuts. Due to the fact that there were some individuals who were on the team last year but did not make it this year, the coaches wanted to personally explain their selections. Junior Paula Magnuszewski tried out and made the badminton team last year, however, she did not make the team this year. “It was really intimidating because we didn’t have tryouts last year,” she said. With sadness also came confusion for a few athletes, specifically the ones who did not make the team. “I was definitely flabbergasted. I was really shocked,” Magnuszewski added. While being cut was not a good experience, Magnuszewski elaborated that the athletes were treated with respect in the process and stated that Coach Neuberger was “gentle and easy going into it. It was a hard thing to talk about.” Tryouts weren’t the only occasion that the athletes could showcase their skill; beginning in early December, there were seven open gyms that took place about every other week, according to Coach Neuberger. The open gyms were available to any player. Coach Neuberger expressed that the open gyms enabled the players a chance to get to know the game and rules before tryouts. This allowed the team to focus on skills and footwork, rather than the fundamentals at the beginning of their season. “I feel that we are getting better faster than we did last year because I’ve got that base already,” Coach Neuberger said. After girls were told they did not make the team, they were encouraged to try out again next year. There was not a guarantee they would make it again, just like any other sport. They were, however, given feedback and suggestions on areas of their play to improve upon. Magnuszewski is planning on trying out again next season to avoid missing an opportunity, she said. On the court, both the JV and varsity teams started off beating their opponents in their first match. Varsity then beat Zion-Benton and Wheeling on March 13 in a triangular meet, in what was described by Coach Neuberger as a “good, solid win.” The Wildcats continued this streak by beating Warren. On March 17, the team came in fourth at the Hersey Invitational, with doubles partners Angie Baquiran and Jin earning first-place medals. As of April 9, the team is 3-2, after losses against Lake Forest and Stevenson.
To see more information on the badminton team and its origins at LHS, scan the QR code to view an article from lhsdoi.com
The LHS badminton team -- made up of exhibition, JV and varsity levels -- competes in doubles and singles matches, but all practice together in the Main Gym. Sports
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