February 2017 Issue -- Humans of Libertyville

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FEBRUARY 23, 2017 VOLUME 90, ISSUE 5

Manal Ahmed, Editor-in-Chief Becky DeAcetis, Editor-in-Chief Lola Akinlade, Online Editor Demi Glusic, Online Editor Hannah Hutchins, Features Editor Alo Garcia Escobar, Opinion Editor Jack Kosowski, Sports Editor Maria Thames, Photo Editor Olivia Griffith, Layout Editor Rachel Benner Maggie Burnetti Anna DeNoia Rachel Dudley Luke Ekdahl Allie Goldman Jenna Grayson Abbey Humbert Ben Kanches Breezy Listman Kevin Loumeau Molly Magill Elizabeth Manley Colleen Mullins TJ Murbach Samantha Nelson Kyle Patterson Tia Petrzilka Matthew Price Georgia Sampson Kelly Shinnick Matthew Smith Brandon Simberg Maya Trott Paige Ward Maddie Wasser Savanna Winiecki

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Letter to

2016-2017 Staff Listing

Greetings, fellow humans!

Welcome to our February issue, where we shine a light on the amazing humans of Libertyville High School just like YOU. You have a special place in my heart because you didn’t forget to read this letter -- the most exciting part of the magazine that everyone goes to bed anxiously anticipating the day before distribution day.

This issue, we decided to take some inspiration from the blog Humans of New York. I would like to present to you this month’s focus: Humans of Libertyville! So, you may be wondering, ‘Who are these ‘Humans of Libertyville?’’ Well, that is the beauty of it -- these humans are everyone. From teachers, to students, to staff -- every face has a story that needs to be told.

I know that school can be a lot, and it’s oh-so-easy to get caught up in selfish thoughts, only focusing on our own difficulties or on our own triumphs, and I’m sure as most of you walk down the hall, you’re not thinking about the other faces you casually pass every day. However, ever since I started running the blog Humans of Libertyville (which can be found on Drops of Ink’s website under the “blogs” tab -- shameless self-promo), I have become more aware of the everyday lives of people around me and more curious (some may argue a little too curious) about the people I surround myself with. My hope is that after reading some of the stories of these people, you will see everyone a bit differently.

Maybe you will look at the person next to you and decide to talk to them or maybe you won’t. Maybe you will just think about the life they live or maybe you won’t.

It is your choice to isolate yourself in the bubble of your own being, but I highly suggest questioning the life outside your bubble. Life is full of so many extraordinary people it’s overwhelming, but you’ll never know what you’ll be missing out on if you don’t venture out into the faces of the unknown and start the discussion -- start talking to the humans in your ‘Ville.

Sincerely,

Michael Gluskin, Faculty Adviser Lola Akinlade Online Editor

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

Contact us at doi@lhswildcats.org February 23, 2017

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Drops of Ink

5 Operation Snowball

Photo by Sam Nelson

16-17 Girls in STEM

20-21 Outside the Core

Photo by Colleen Mullins

Photo by Colleen Mullins

Feature

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Wildcats promote kindness through renamed club The club Cats Against Conflict changed its name to Random Acts of Kindness after winter break and is trying to do more for the school this year.

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LHS participates in annual Operation Snowball trip

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Opinion

Girls in STEM*

Though girls are underrepresented in the STEM fields, multiple female students at LHS are hoping to combat the statistic.

Students Support the Use of School Shortcuts

20-21 Outside the Core

There are many websites students can use as shortcuts for schoolwork, and the DOI staff believes that students should be able to keep using them.

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Humans of Libertyville*

Inspired by the blog Humans of New York, DOI’s own take on the popular phenomenon sheds light on the stories of some students and staff seen in the halls every day. Those featured discuss important moments in their lives, as well as their hobbies and interests.

The history, mission and activities that Operation Snowball has are to promote a drug and alcohol-free life.

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What’s Trending & What’s Happening

Ten anticipated movies coming out in 2017, as well as recent and upcoming events in the news, are featured on these recurring pages.

Many students don’t know about all of the classes offered at LHS; take a look at some of the more unknown elective options.

Help! I’m Trapped and I Can’t Get Out!

Many teachers take away students’ phones to suppress distractions, but it’s hard to pay attention when you’re longing for your phone.

Sports

24-25 DOI ≠ PR

18-19 Coaches of Libertyville*

Although many students and staff think DOI exists to solely represent the school, the publication is not written to promote LHS.

*= Focus Story Cover photos by Rachel Dudley, Sam Nelson, Maria Thames and Paige Ward Focus Cover photo by Sam Nelson Cover and Focus Cover designs by Becky DeAcetis and Olivia Griffith Table of Contents by Colleen Mullins Contents

LHS coaches share what they love about coaching, as well as the importance of being understanding and working with passionate players.

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Wildcat Stats

This edition of Wildcat Stats highlights student-athletes at LHS who have signed to play their sport beyond high school.

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Drops of Ink

Wildcats promote kindness through renamed club

By Manal Ahmed

Photo by Luke Ekdahl Formerly Cats Against Conflict, the Random Acts of Kindness Club (RAK) is a club dedicated to spreading kindness and positivity throughout LHS and the surrounding community. Several members of the club include Bridget Horvath, Caroline Short, Lauren Kavathas, Olivia Devin, and Carl Michelotti, who are pictured here.

The club formerly known as Cats Against Conflict has recently been renamed Random Acts of Kindness, and students who are a part of the club have been working to spread their message about positivity and compassion throughout Libertyville High School.

A few years ago, Random Acts of Kindness was known as Peer Mediators. Through this club, any student from LHS could request to have a mediation session with two trained leaders from the club about any conflicts they faced. As mediation requests became more and more sparse, the club changed their name to Cats Against Conflict, where they set up an email hotline, so kids facing conflict could request help.

They also began to spread positivity around LHS by putting post-its on lockers with kind messages.

“Most recently, the club decided that [since they] had been promoting peaceful things [such as] messages on lockers [and] stickers on the hot chocolate with kindness messages, that they wanted to change the name to Random Acts of Kindness club,” Mrs. Sarah Kelly, sponsor of Random Acts of Kindness, stated.

According to junior and member of Random Acts of Kindness, Olivia Devin, the club changed its name for two main reasons.

“We wanted to get more people involved. Also, we wanted people to know what it was about,” Devin expressed. “R.A.K. was more representative of what we do instead of Cats Against Conflict, and we hoped that more people would want to be a part of it.”

According to Devin, since changing their name and having a segment on Wakeup Wildcats, Random Acts of Kindness has gone from having about four constant members to having 20 show up on a biweekly basis.

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Random Acts of Kindness meets every other Tuesday at 2:55 in room 1114. At an average meeting, it will start with Mrs. Kelly talking about the agenda and what she wants to get done that day. This could be creating posters for publicity, sharing ideas for potential projects or planning events.

Since the club no longer deals with conflict between students, they now work towards spreading warm-hearted and affectionate feelings throughout the school.

In the past, students who were part of Random Acts of Kindness have put stickers on the hot chocolate Friday cups saying positive messages such as, “hot chocolate is like a hug from inside.” They also taped notes to people’s lockers during anti-bullying week in October that had short quotes such as, “be a buddy not a bully,” and were able to present to Link Crew about the importance of communication and how things can easily be miscommunicated.

As a kickoff to their new name, Random Acts of Kindness held an after-school event on Valentine’s Day, where they made valentine cards to send to a local nursing home, along with friendship bracelets.

Currently, students part of Random Acts of Kindness are planning a community service event, where they will get volunteers to attend a nursing home, and they are also working to possibly get stress-relief puppies for students to play with after school.

“I like [Random Acts of Kindness] because I like the message that it spreads to the school and it’s also really welcoming and everyone there is super just nice….everyone kind of takes everyone’s ideas into consideration when we’re trying to figure out what we want do,” Devin stated. “It’s really just welcoming and fun to be a part of!”

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LHS participates in annual Operation Snowball trip

By Abbey Humbert

Photo by Sam Nelson Snowball, an annual trip for some LHS students, is held at a drug and alcohol prevention camp and encourages students to have fun and meet new people from Barrington and Vernon Hills High Schools.

Starting in 1977, Operation Snowball formed through the youth and adults of Rockford who attended The Illinois Teenage Institute on Substance Abuse. This group saw it as their duty to create a message to prevent drug and alcohol usage.

Operation Snowball’s mission is clearly stated: “Through the development of leadership skills, Operation Snowball shall be a youth and adult partnership, providing awareness and prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, while encouraging healthy decision-making in an active community of caring.”

This year, students from Libertyville, Vernon Hills and Barrington High Schools attended Snowball on Feb. 9. It was held at a camp about an hour away from Libertyville, just past the state border, in Burlington, Wisconsin.

LHS students have been attending Snowball with this same group of schools for the past 13 years. Prior to that, LHS went without these schools by their side.

While at Snowball, “the general format is to get teens and adults talking about issues of relevance to the lives of teenagers. Sometimes it has very much a prevention focus in the sense of kids’ lives tends to go better and on track when they are avoiding underage drinking,” said Dr. Brenda Nelson, Prevention and Wellness Coordinator at LHS. The day was composed of small-group sessions, large-groups sessions,

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workshops and outdoor team building.

“It’s about embracing the diversity people have and their thoughts and their actions. Getting to have fun, letting go, being you weird, authentic self,” expressed senior, student leader and coordinator Liz Stevens.

This year was the first year that Stevens attended Snowball. She has been working to bring prevention projects to LHS alongside Dr. Nelson.

As a coordinator, Stevens’s job was to direct leaders and their groups throughout the day.

Every year at Snowball is a little bit the same and a little bit different.

But never before had a Snowball alumnus come back to lead the day.

Joey Gallagher graduated from Barrington High School in 2010 and attended Snowball three out of his four years. Right out of college, he participated in Teach for America, a program where teachers go through intensive training to be sent to impoverished areas and impoverished schools of America to make a difference in the lives of students.

Gallagher led the day by giving the keynote speech, running workshops and doing the closing message.

“I remember valuing the opportunity to meet and interact with my peers who attended different high schools,” said Gallagher over email.

“While each school had its differences, we all had the shared experience of knowing what it was like to attend a rigorous suburban high school.”

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Drops of Ink

Inspired by the popular blog Humans of New York, Humans of Libertyville — also a blog on the DOI website — strives to give light to the everyday people seen in our halls, illuminating the untold stories behind every face. Through these 24 stories, we hope to showcase the various cultures, talents and overall diversity of experiences at LHS.

Focus Cover

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Drops of Ink

Photo by Paige Ward

Photo by Sam Nelson Photo by Rachel Dudley

Photo by Paige Ward

ANNIE LANCASTER (12)

By Lola Akinlade

GRANT HERBEK (10)

By Lola Akinlade

“Last summer my team won the state championship for club [soccer], and it was just really cool. All our hard work paid off. When we hoisted the trophy, that was the moment of realization that we’d actually won, and I think that might have been the happiest moment of my life.”

Banner and Layout by Kevin Loumeau

“I’m really big on equal rights. I go to a unitarian universalist church, so my youth group is entirely people that are transgender, people that are gay, like my best friend is gay. I have a brother with special needs, so seeing other people around me not have the same rights as me or even seeing myself not having the same rights as others is just a travesty. I just want everyone to be able to be happy, and I am not sure why others wanna prevent that from happening...My older brother has autism and when I was in the sixth grade, these older boys on the bus, who were in the seventh grade, were making fun of him, so I stepped in and I was like you guys can’t do that, like you guys really suck if you are making fun of someone with special needs. And then, two years later they came back to me and apologized for what they had done and recognized that they needed to reevaluate their actions. So, that was a moment where I realized that you need to stand up for people that can’t stand up for themselves, and you will change how people act, even if it takes a long time, by your words.”

Focus Feature

ISABELLA ZALEWSKI (9)

By Maddie Wasser

“I want to do great things. I guess that I aspire for greatness in [astronomy] because I want to set an example for other women who want to be strong in science. We need more women in science, and we need their different perspective on everything.

Men were the only people who were allowed to work on the Apollo Missions, for example. That new movie, ‘Hidden Figures,’ we need more women like that, the strong women characters, to enter the scientific field because they can be strong and that will encourage younger girls to get into that too. That should be an open thing for everyone.”

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MR. JONATHAN MALATS

By Matt Smith “The way people saw things, viewed things, and had opinions that weren’t necessarily mine, that took some getting used to but ultimately it was rewarding because looking back, I think it’s the reason that I’m really open-minded to a lot of different views because I had to spend my teenage years listening to people who were not like me and listening to opinions that were different from mine. I can’t imagine I’d be the same person without moving from America (to Luxembourg).”

Drops of Ink

Photo by Maria Thames Photo by Rachel Dudley Photo by Maria Thames

Photo by Rachel Dudley

MANIT KAUSHAL (11)

By Ben Kanches

MARY GRACE LOTHSPEICH

“So everyone has their passion from their childhood and mine was business. My parents and grandparents, especially my grandmother, they were all businessmen and businesswom(12) en. And before I had [my current] business, I had an organization. So

By Ben Kanches what it does is millions of people “What am I currently passiondonate books, which are no use to ate about? Right now, I know as them [anymore] and then I send them cheesy as it sounds, [it’s] making to children who need them and also a difference. Being a Muslim can’t afford them. I had a goal of ten in this day and age, it’s [often] million books in a year, but I could people’s first experience meeting only do one million.” a Muslim, or you know, their first interaction with a Muslim, so [I’m focused on] making myself look good.”

BLAIR ABINGTON (12)

By Maddie Wasser

AREEBAH WASEEM

(11)

By Maddie Wasser

“Last summer I went away to work in Yellowstone for six weeks. I worked through the youth conservation core and it was just an incredible experience. It was super awesome, definitely unlike anything I’ve ever done before. Hopefully I will be able to continue doing something like that. This summer, I’m looking at a couple conservation cores around the country. There is one in Minnesota I’ve been watching and hoping to apply for. On a day-to-day basis, it’s not just national parks, but I think conservation of our planet in general is incredibly important. I wish that it was something that could be integrated into our daily lives more so. I’m a big advocate for just like recycling and reducing single-use plastic and stuff like that.”

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“Mission work has always been a big part of my life and I guess I’ve never felt more joy than knowing I helped someone or made a difference in someone’s life. I just feel like if I could help in a third-world country, I’d make such a difference, even if it’s just in one person’s life and it doesn’t affect the world. It’s the world for that one person and that means more to me than anything.”

Drops of Ink

Photo by Paige Ward

Photo by Rachel Dudley Photo by Sam Nelson

Photo by Rachel Dudley

IMA WASEMANN (12)

By Maddie Wasser

KILEY NOLAN (9)

By Maddie Wasser

“My parents inspire me to do better every time I step out on the [tennis] court. Because I see all the hard work they do for me and my other siblings, when I win or play my best that I can possibly play, it’s my way of thanking them for everything they have done for me.”

SEÑORA MONICA FEENEY

By Lola Akinlade

“The transition [from Mexico to America] was a little difficult for me, simply because you don’t know the system and you don’t know the culture. There is definitely a language barrier, but I think it is more about not knowing the system. If you have someone who is helping you navigate the system, it is a lot easier to get from point A to point B. For me, I had to ask a lot about the educational system and figure out how to go to college and how to transfer my credits from Mexico, so it was a lot of investigation and asking...It wasn’t only the content that I had to learn, but it was also the language. So, it was learning English, while I was learning new content and the whole culture, so that was difficult. Another difficult thing is being away from my family. I mean I have my husband here and my kids, but definitely being away from my sisters, my mom, and my dad -- that’s been hard.”

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“So our main work project [in Cambodia] was we were building a pavement area around one of the schools. You dumped a whole bunch of sand on the ground and then you have these little hexagon cement things you have to hammer in, so that was our main project every day.

It was super hot, we’re sweating, I have blisters all over my hands and it was really hard work, but then all of a sudden, the bell rings for the classrooms and all the kids ran out and these arms wrapped themselves around me. This little girl just comes and sits in my lap and it was the cutest thing. One of the things that we teach them in the classroom is the difference between, ‘There is one flower. There are two flowers’ and things like that. She shows me her backpack that has flowers on it and is like, ‘One, two, three,’ and she starts counting in English showing me her English and it’s the only English she knows, but she’s so proud and it was so cute. It totally made my day!”

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JAKE SLATER (12)

By Matt Smith

“In England (which I had moved to from America), halfway through the year, granted, I was new and I was in the middle of the school year, and I walked into class and I was obviously scared, and the first thing they asked me was what soccer team I supported and coming from America, I didn’t know very many soccer teams. But before I moved, my friend Dylan had given me a Liverpool jersey and so I just said Liverpool because that’s the only club I knew, and from there, we’d just talk about it every day...Like you say...‘Haha, we beat your team’ and [it was] good joking around. Their first question was really different and really made me extroverted.”

Drops of Ink

Photo by Paige Ward Photo by Paige Ward Photo by Maria Thames Photo by Sam Nelson

SURAJ RAJENDRAN (11)

By Lola Akinlade

MRS. JENNIFER ANDERSEN

By Lola Akinlade “I am really passionate about social justice. It’s a big part of everything I do. I’m the chair for the National Association of Social Workers and the chair for the Social Justice and Economic Peace committee. So, we do a lot of educating other social workers, who also work in social justice on current issues coming up in social justice, best practices in working in social justice and for peace and social work, like working towards racial equity, working towards smashing the patriarchy, kyriarchy. So yeah, I would say that’s probably the thing I’m most passionate about.”

“There was a book I read called ‘Outliers’...In the book, it addressed societal issues and certain ways we think...It made me think differently about how people view each other and the world in general, and just what makes certain people different from other people. It’s not just their skin color or their gender. There are certain ways people think that makes them different from each other. There are certain ways they address a problem and certain ways they analyze a situation. Instead of focusing on the physical characteristics of a person, — after reading the book, which I actually read, usually I don’t read all the lang books, or generally any books — I tried to think about how each person as an individual would address a problem. By analyzing that, or at least understanding how each person looks at a situation, I feel like it is easier to understand that person individually, as an actual person rather than just one of a group.”

NATHAN ROSENBERG (12)

By Matt Smith

“[The happiest moment about having my company (4044) was] definitely when I got random people across the country to buy my clothes because I didn’t have influence on them. It was [that] they saw my clothing and they liked it and then they bought it, and that was really cool to me.”

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MR. KEVIN O’NEILL

By Matt Smith “We get so much help from the school community and our neighbors with the triplets, and it’s been just amazing. That might be the most amazing thing about having the triplets too, is the incredible outpouring of support that we got from the school community and also our neighborhood, and that’s just been so overwhelming, how many people that have been willing to help us with meals and coming over just to hold a baby, and just offering words of support, it’s been incredible.”

Drops of Ink

Photo by Sam Nelson Photo by Rachel Dudley Photo by Maria Thames Photo by Maria Thames

ZOHA KHAN

KEVIN PILMAN MIKAILA CORRIGAN

By Matt Smith

“[I want my legacy to be that] I really enjoyed life, and my grand(10) child...I’ve got a few things I want

By Ben Kanches to do [when I retire in a few years]: travel, go camping; I plan on buying “I have been to about 17 different a camper and attach[ing] it to my places, [including] a lot of places in the Caribbean, and a lot of places that truck, so I can do what my brother is are more remote and not commercial- doing right now, spending the winter in Arizona.” ized, I like being able to experience different cultures and visiting places that are different from here.”

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SAVA PRODANOVIC (11)

By Ben Kanches

“I moved from Serbia when I was 4 with my parents so I could get a better education [and a] better lifestyle.

It is a kind of a backwards country there. My dad was a U.S. citizen, which made me a U.S. citizen and reap the fruits of success.”

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(12)

By Maddie Wasser

“It’s mostly that my life revolves around my artwork. Every day I look forward to art, my art classes that I have [twice] a day. I sometimes go in during my lunch and I have a study hall, so I’m in the art room around a good half of the day. I deal with anxiety and depression and stuff like that, and it helps me escape from that, if that makes sense. I just put all of that into making a piece.”

Drops of Ink

Photo by Paige Ward

Photo by Sam Nelson Photo by Sam Nelson Photo by Maria Thames

FRANNY QUENAN (11)

By Lola Akinlade

“It was the end of my freshmen year, and my brother had some personal issues at college, so he had to come home. It was issues with mental (12) illness, and it really had a big impact on my family because we had never

By Matt Smith experienced anything like that before.

(12) “I remember the transition pretty Learning how to deal with that as well because a couple weeks beBy Ben Kanches a family and then seeing him at the “[The best part of learning piano is] forehand, my dad was talking to me lowest point was really hard to see about going to the U.S (from Brazil), probably getting to share the music and he’s my older brother...So, just with someone else because you spend and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty seeing that was really surreal, like cool,’ but I didn’t really know what all this time practicing by yourself this isn’t how it’s supposed to work.

By Ben Kanches the U.S. was because I was like 4...I and when you finally get to perform Like, he’s supposed to be at college, “My friends and family make me really only thought Brazil was the [pieces] for people, it’s cool to see but now he’s at home. But then, we happy.

I have three children; they only country, like, ever; I remember people react to them and see how also grew so much because of it and the first time going to the U.S., and I make me happy. I’ve been married they like it.” we learned more about mental illness, was at the airport with everyone and for 34 years. Going to our place up which I think everybody can. We north in Wisconsin, that is my happy I was like, ‘Wow, these are strange, learned to actually take mental health weird-looking people, and I wonder place. We have four-wheelers, pontoon boats; it takes us about three and days seriously. I guess I’ve learned if they know how weird they are,’ from that to always keep my mental which is ironic because I was the one a half hours to get there. I love the health in check. Also, to make sure deer up there.

I love my grandson; he who was weird.” makes me very happy. Watching my everyone around me is okay, not just physically, but mentally and know son play volleyball is another thing that not everyone around you is as that makes me happy.” peachy as they seem. They may be struggling with something internally.

I think just going through that experience with my brother opened my eyes a little bit. It was more of a negative experience that turned into something positive because he is doing great now. He is doing so much better than he was two years ago...I guess it has just made me more open-minded, more understanding of other people and their own issues.”

ALEX HECKSHER GOMES

LINH TRAN

DIANE BAUER

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Girls iN

By rachel Benner Photos by Maggie Burnetti

Stem

Photo Illustrations By Allie Goldman

layout by Manal Ahmed

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emales are underrepresented in STEM. It’s just a fact. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, less than 25 percent of women are involved in those fields.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math and as competitive as these fields may be, they have also been dominated by men for a long time. The girls featured in this story, all of whom attend Libertyville High School, are excelling in these fields. Breaking the mold, these females are the next generation of scientists, mathematicians, programmers and creators of the 21st century.

Emily:

dealing with severe storms; working for NASA, or “nerd heaven” as Detlaff described her dream, to launch weather balloons and get readings before a rocket is launched; or working at airports to help predict weather to guide planes to land and take off.

Since third grade, sophomore Emily Detlaff’s thing has been meteorology. It started when one of her grade-school teachers asked what the weather was one day. What started as a question grew into a passion.

“I was thinking, ‘Wow, that would be really cool to be that person to tell what the weather is,’” Detlaff explained. “Ever since then, I’ve always wanted to do something [with] meteorology and learn about it.”

By self-teaching, Detlaff used different resources, such as the internet and books, to increase her knowledge on the varying concepts.

“A whole corner of my bookshelf is just lots of weather books. [I have] all these really in-depth ones I used to bring to school. I spent so much of my elementary school [time] watching The Weather Channel. It was an obsession! It was all that I would ever do,” Detlaff exclaimed.

Over the years, her parents have helped in fueling her interest by helping her pursue opportunities. Detlaff has visited Channel 32 and Channel 7 to meet the meteorologists there and assist them with forecasting. Her favorite topics include volcanoes and earthquakes; however, she would love to learn more about tornadoes and hurricanes.

“There [are] a lot of unknowns about tornadoes, so that really interests me. The main question is, ‘Why do some storms spawn tornadoes and why do some not?’ I would love to contribute to learning about the reason.”

In addition to discovering information for the meteorology community, there are other jobs that interest her: studying meteorology, specifically

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Deborah: Senior Deborah Hanagan has taken every AP science class this school has to offer, bearing an extensive amount of homework and studying. AP Chemistry was her least favorite, and she enjoyed the challenge of AP Physics (both times), but ultimately, Hanagan enjoyed AP Bio the most because she is more “biologically minded.”

Hanagan plans to go into pediatric care and major in neuroscience because she is fascinated with the brain, saying she finds it intriguing how much control it has over our body. There is a long process in entering the field, including multiple years studying, training and shadowing surgeons.

“First, I have to get my undergrad, so I’m going into neuroscience.

[Then] you have to go to med school and then you have to do a residency. I have to do a basic surgery residency. I want to say it’s five years, pretty long,” Hanagan explained. “Then a pediatric surgery, which is basically another residency, but you’re already a surgeon and you have to be specialized in pediatric surgery. So, a lot of learning.”

Going into a science field has its challenges, one being the high ratio of males to females. Hanagan expressed what she thought of being a girl in

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“I wouldn’t say [being a girl] makes it harder, but it makes you prouder, because not all girls want to do

this. And I’ll do it,” -Deborah Hanagan

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Ka STEM. “I wouldn’t say [being a girl] makes it harder, but it makes you prouder, because not all girls want to do this. And I’ll do it,” she said, also inviting other girls to join. “I just want to encourage other girls to do STEM and to not be scared of AP sciences. It’s not scary, you’ll be fine!”

STEM fields, and I think that’s a really good thing,” Lund expressed. “I’m really excited to be a part of that and really excited to be able to be a woman in STEM and be accepted in today’s society. Support from those organizations is really nice.”

Amelia:

Senior Amelia Lutz can do what a lot of people can’t: code. Taking Computer Science Honors, Computer Science A and Computer Science Principles, Lutz has learned how to program computers and write code.

Outside of school, she has completed several additional programs with Coding Cats, a club at LHS that teaches beginners how to code and work with that type of technology. One of these events that occurred last November was called Code Day, a 24-hour event where participants are required to code for 24 hours straight.

Another outside activity was a competition in which she and her fellow programmers were given a set of problems that had to be solved in half an hour.

Lutz enjoys computer science because of the creativity that is being used.

“I really like how it’s creative problem solving because there is not just one way that you can accomplish the task,” Lutz explained. “You have to think it through and plan it through, and there are multiple different ways to arrive at the answer. I just think it’s super fun to do that.”

Lutz plans on going into the computer science field and wants to begin by being a programmer.

“I want to start off programming and actually designing things. I’d love to work for a big tech company or a social media company, I think that would be interesting too,” Lutz said.

Addressing other girls who might be interested in going into STEM, Lutz commented, “I feel like other girls shouldn’t be intimidated by it, because even if you are one of very few girls like I am, I think it’s such a great field to be in that you shouldn’t be intimidated by that and you should really go for [it].”

Katie:

Katie Lund, a junior, has been recognized at LHS for her natural talent in the math department.

Lund has been on the math team all three years of her high school career. As part of the math team, Lund has gone to State and won the past two years. She has specifically worked on Algebra 2 this year, in preparation to hopefully go back to State, which she believes the chances are “looking pretty good.”

Along with math, Lund has been interested in technology and has taken Honors and AP Computer Science. She was exposed to computer science for the first time in an elective in eighth grade.

“You [drew] borders and designs and then you [went to] code a website and include all your drawings in it. So, it combines art and technology and coding the website was my favorite part.

I thought it was really cool,” stated Lund.

Although Lund doesn’t know exactly what kind of computer science she wants to study, she has researched what seems fitting.

“I don’t even know exactly what computer scientists do on a day-to-day basis. I just know that I really like writing out code, so I’ve been looking at articles about what specific jobs [I should do],” Lund explained.

After doing a paper for English class that focused on the underrepresentation of women in STEM, Lund started looking for solutions.

“There are organizations these days called ‘Girls Who Code’ and ‘Women in Technology’ and they try to really bring girls into

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Boys Track and Field

Rohde

“[Something] I try to teach in the sport as well as in the classroom is to accomplish anything worthwhile, it costs three things: time, energy, and love. I guess that’s what it means to me...I try to tell the kids all the time that time, energy, love -- that’s what it takes to get worthwhile accomplishments fulfilled.”

Zyrkowski

Boys Basketball

“Coaching is not just teaching the game of basketball, but it’s teaching everyday life lessons -- how to grow as an individual, how to learn how to be a student-athlete, how to be just a complete team and what’s most important is we need all the individuals to be a part of that team, and everybody brings their own little identity to the team.”

Girls Gymnastics

Owens

“I think [gymnastics] teaches mental toughness along with physical strength, I love that combination. I feel like anyone can get stronger physically, but not everyone can be strong mentally and build self-esteem that way and perform individually that way in front of a crowd. I like helping people develop that mental toughness to really be successful in anything they want to do in their lives.”

Coaches of

Many coaches at Libertyville High School teach, inspire and impact their athletes on and off the playing field. Coaches for LHS, regardless of their sport, spend

By Maggie Burnetti

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Layout by Olivia Griffith 18

Photos by Savanna Winiecki

Drops of Ink

Holtsford

Girls Basketball

“If you’re on the basketball team, in order for you to be succesful, you have to be passionate about the sport and about competing and about basketball. You get to see that passion that students have in a whole different light because often times, at least with what I teach, I may not be able to see that passion.”

Boys Lacrosse

Cauble

“Having a coach that understands what they’re going through off the field, what they’re going through in the classroom, and what they’re going through in their athletic careers I think gives me an opportunity to really have a big impact on these kids in a positive way and help them make better decisions with their life. [I] help them be more confident when they approach dayto-day situations and just overall be happier and have fun while they’re in school.”

Eggert

Boys Wrestling

“I would say that wrestling -- I mean, obviously it’s an individual sport -- but I think it’s more of a team sport than people from the outside see it as. You go through so much together through your training. Every guy on the team knows when some guy has a great win, how good that feels [and] can’t wait to congratulate them; they know how bad a tough loss feels [and] they console them. How one guy does contributes to how the team does overall.

I think it’s definitely individual, but it’s very much a team sport.”

Libertyville

countless hours throughout the year with their team. The best way to describe these coaches would be to allow them to present their own words and perspective.

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Photo by Sam Nelson After her experience in the entrepeneurship class taught by Mr. Reichert, senior Lexi Acosta started a business with senior Michela Mosconi called L + M Jewelry.

Photo by Savanna Winiecki Juniors Dylan Foster and Vittorio Barigazzi and seniors John Corkins and Olivia Fordham in Electronic Music use Musical Instrument Digital Interface keyboards to create their music.

OUTSIDE THE

By Maya Trott

CORE

Photos by Sam Nelson, Maria Thames and Savanna Winiecki

Layout by Becky DeAcetis

Were you obsessed with GarageBand as a kid? Are you curious to know what it takes to start a multimillion dollar company? Do you have an outlet in your house that hasn’t worked properly since you were 4? Ever wondered if you had what it took to raise a newborn?

If your answer to any of these questions was yes, then maybe it’s time to explore lesser known classes that LHS offers, including Electronic Music, Entrepreneurship, Electronics and Infant Development.

Entrepreneurship As many students have started to discover, students are not as limited by their age as they once were. Students are now able to create incredible things and become a part of the adult world. As the Entrepreneurship teacher, Mr. Bill Reichert, said, “starting your own small business has never been easier with all of the technology that’s available.”

Entrepreneurship is a part of the Business Department at LHS. As well as Entrepreneurship, the department’s offerings includes classes such as Accounting, Marketing, and Management. The course is designed “for students who have an interest in starting and running their own business,” stated Mr. Reichert. “We try to cover the basic areas that kind of serve as pitfalls to people who strive to do that and interfere with them achieving their goals.”

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Current events are a very important element of the course. “I never teach out of an old textbook. Everything we learn is tied to right now,” Mr. Reichert said.

In the near future, Entrepreneurship will count towards what the department is considering an LHS Masters of Business Administration (MBA). “Any kids that take three business classes, to kind of diversify their knowledge base and have a good broad perspective on things, we’re gonna give them this honor of having earned a Libertyville MBA,” Mr. Reichert explained.

Mr. Reichert believes that this is something students can put on applications to show their experience in business; students who have earned the LHS MBA may also receive a shirt and certificate.

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Photo by Savanna Winiecki Sophomores Adrianna Helstad and Hannah Rubinsein, in Infant Development take on the responsibility of typical scenarios for a real baby, like changing diapers and feeding it, as part of the “Baby Think it Over” program.

Photo by Maria Thames Two LHS students, junior Christina Simley and sophomore Trinity Hudson, from the electronics class located in room 002 taught by Mr. Thomson, work on an in-class lab on parallel circuits.

Electronic Music When most students think about music at LHS, orchestra, band or choir usually come to mind. However, many forget that there are more music classes, like Guitar, offered at the school. One of those classes is Electronic Music, a fairly new addition to the curriculum.

The course ran for the first time in the 2015-16 school year. Electronic Music uses technology, such as computers and Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) keyboards, in order to create different beats and rhythms. In addition to learning this technology, students learn a bit of music theory.

According to the course’s teacher, Mr. Matthew Karnstedt, the course

is “very student-centered.” The rubrics for projects are relatively general to allow students to explore whatever types of music interests them.

“If you want to explore creating a hip hop beat, then there’s room for that; if you want to make dubstep, there’s room for that,” Mr. Karnstedt expressed.

Unlike many of the classes within the music department, students do not need any prior experience in this area in order to enroll in the course.

“Students can pick up [Electronic Music] from day one rather than having to go through a middle school band program to get to where they are now,” Mr. Karnstedt explained.

Infant Development Although many students are familiar with the Preschool Program, less are aware of the Infant Development class. Infant Development deals with relationships, pregnancies and newborns, the things that happen prior to that preschool stage.

One of the activities that the class is known for is “Baby Think it Over,” which uses a computer-programmed baby doll. The company that created the dolls “had new moms do a record of when their newborns needed to be fed, changed, burped, and rocked,” Mrs. Kristin Tarrant, the Infant Development teacher, explained.

The dolls are then programmed with this information and simulate what it is like to actually raise a newborn. “Students will take the baby from Friday after school until Monday morning when school starts. And they’re basically in charge of the baby over the entire weekend,” Mrs. Tarrant elaborated.

Since the dolls are supposed to simulate what it would be like to raise

a newborn, throughout the weekend, the dolls will cry at random times, including daytime and nighttime, for a variety of reasons including needing to be rocked or fed.

While this may seem exciting to some, others are terrified by this prospect. Because of this, Mrs. Tarrant has created an alternative assignment for those who do not wish to take part in “Baby Think it Over.”

Despite all this, senior Brittany Barrera, who was in the class last spring, thinks that the experience with “Baby Think It Over” was worth it. “I recommend taking the baby home, even though during the moment you might not like it because of the crying and everything. [It] is actually a really fun project you can do,” Barrera expressed.

The class itself is very discussion-based. Mrs. Tarrant said that “students are really able to voice questions that they have, to talk about things that they maybe wouldn’t talk about in other classes or with other people.”

Electronics Although most electrical problems in a house are simple to fix, most people do not have the knowledge to fix them, making the task significantly more complicated. That’s where classes like Electronics come in handy. “[Students] learn about how electronics works, how it’s important, [and how to] complete a circuit,” Electronics teacher Mr. Andrew Thomson explained.

Unlike many of the academic classes taught at LHS, Electronics is a very hands-on course. “I’m not sitting up front lecturing all the time,” Mr. Thomson said. “It’s taking what you learned in physics and applying it here.”

Although the class has no prerequisites, there are many classes, like physics,

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that teach material that can be applied to Electronics.

Electronics deals with many practical applications of what is taught, such as wiring of outlets and lights in a house. “I’ve had many students go home then and fix a switch that’s been broken for years all of a sudden [because] they know how to do it,” Mr. Thomson stated.

Since electrical problems are almost inevitable sometime during one’s lifetime, it is a great money-saving skill for students to have. Mr Thomson explained that “an electrician right now [makes] around 120 dollars an hour.”

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Students Support the Use of School Shortcuts Staff Editorial

Photo by Sam Nelson Many teachers discourage the use of shortcut websites and apps, but Drops of Ink staffers believe that it is difficult to tell when they are used, and that in the long run, they are useful towards school work.

Wikipedia. SparkNotes. Group chats. Wiki Notes. Shmoop.

The list is endless. Many students use these “school shortcuts” just to get by in their classes.

As high school students, to describe us as busy is an understatement. Some nights there just isn’t time to read a chapter and take notes, or work on one math problem for an hour.

That’s where these “school shortcuts” come in handy.

When we’re in a bind, it’s better to get the information from a secondary source than to blow off an assignment completely.

We’ve learned that if there is an easier way to accomplish a task, we will use it. There are an insane amount of resources available for high school students, and using them to better your education isn’t cheating, it’s just learning.

There’s a difference between supplementing learning with mindless copying and enhancing information that you have already obtained. Many of these websites do not replace the work we put in during the school day, but they alleviate some of the stress that comes from a full day of class, extracurricular activities, work and family obligations.

An act of desperation, yes, but as students, we are still taking our learning into our own hands. If we can’t learn from the book, we’ll watch a Crash Course. If we don’t understand the symbolism of a literary text, we look it up on SparkNotes.

Shortcuts aren’t always used out of laziness, but rather because we have learned how to be efficient in a way that’s compatible with our individual learning styles. Even if you understand

what happens in class, using websites or a classmate to double check lightens the workload and any concern that material is not understood.

We believe that teachers can hardly recognize these outside sources, if they recognize them at all. There are even times that teachers encourage using websites like SparkNotes as a review tool before a test or Crash Course videos as a way to recall units learned months previously before a final. These teachers have accepted that technology is now an integral part of learning.

On the opposing side, some teachers have taken utilization of materials like these as an insult, as though their teaching was not good enough. Our staff has never found faulty information, or suffered from teachers who change answers on commonly used websites (though they are known to happen). These teachers mainly give out empty threats, but to students, this opposition poses no real threat.

Students don’t need to be taught how to use these resources.

No teacher intervention is actually needed; this is a part of our education we can handle ourselves.

We accept that these resources will not be available in college, or in whichever path we pursue after high school.

College classes are more specific than high school ones, and no website can do adulthood for you, but for now, we will continue to try and find better, faster ways to get work done that will make our crazy lives a little less…well, crazy.

Note: As this piece is a staff editorial, it is representative of the opinions of 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 37 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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Help! I’m Trapped And I Can’t Get Out

By Demi Glusic

Photo by Kyle Patterson Sometimes the temptation to use your phone in class can be too much to handle. One can only imagine what the phone would think, if it had thoughts.

The bell rings, and everyone rushes to sit down before they’re marked tardy. Chatter dies as 50 minutes of instruction begins.

Twenty minutes in, the looks of boredom set in on the faces of students.

A hand reaches into the pocket and takes me out. Honestly, I’d take myself out too. This lecture sounds terribly educational; I’m sure I’m much more entertaining! A scroll here, a scroll there -- I can’t hurt my human’s education. It’s called multitasking, am I right?

Not even three minutes later, I feel two pairs of eyes on me.

Oh no. No, this can’t be happening; the teacher is giving me a dirty look and is storming over towards me. Oh gosh, where am I going? I’m being lifted up and away. Maybe I’m going to my charger, that would be nice; I’m running out of juice anyways.

Ouch! Nope, I’m dropped into a hanging confinement pocket on the wall.

I can see my human across the room through the little mesh holes of the pouch I’m sitting in. My human is sitting there, actually working. What? You mean to say my human actually has to learn now?

Does my human miss me? Do they still care about me? Can they even breathe without me?! Once in a while, I’ll see my human take a quick glance in my direction, with eyes longing to just tenderly cradle me again. To take a few snaps or scroll a finger

Opinion

along me.

I start buzzing. Missed call from mom, and another, and another.

What in the world does she want?! Boy, she’s not letting up, it must be important if she keeps ringing. Too bad she won’t get through… it’s not my fault that I’m so far away from her child!

Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, texts, basketball scores, weekend plans: My human is missing too many notifications. Ouch, Powerschool got some new grades put in: a C- on that last physics test?

This is too much to handle now. Am I allowed to be taken away?

Aren’t I my human’s phone? Yes, maybe I should have stayed in the backpack, but ultimately my human is hurting their own education by not paying attention to the class.

Suddenly a loud bell sounds once more -- finally the class is over! I’m taken from my imprisonment, and my human runs out of the class before the teacher can say anything. Five minutes of freedom. Five minutes to respond to mom, check social media, make weekend plans, cry because of the physics test and enjoy my presence while I’m still here.

After five minutes, I’m put back into the pocket as the next class is about to start. Occasionally I’ll get a little pat to make sure that I haven’t fallen out and that I’m still there, but other than that, I’m kept in the darkness for the entire 50-minute period. We don’t want a repeat of me being a prisoner in jail again -- what a terrible experience that was!

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DOI

PR

By Hannah Hutchins Photo by Kelly Shinnick Layout by Hannah Hutchins

Contrary to the belief of many LHS students and faculty, Drops of Ink’s purpose is not to show Libertyville High School in the best light possible.

As I’m sure you very well have noticed by now, the DOI issues that have come out recently have looked significantly different than they have in previous years. If you happened to open the issues, I’m sure you saw that the content was different as well. Less fluff, more stuff, as I like to put it.

Not all of our readers have been totally cool with that.

This piece is in response to the comments that I, along with many other staff members, have recently received about our work. This is quite similar with what is going on in the professional media right now. In our world today, news organizations as a whole have been subjected to a great deal of hate and mistrust. People tend to write news off as “fake” if it isn’t a topic people want talked about or expresses a different opinion from what they believe.

This is my attempt at clarification. Hopefully you’ll see that everything that is done by DOI is done for a purpose. Here is our purpose.

Common Misconceptions Journalism is not exactly a new concept; it’s actually been around since the 1700s, but for some reason, we are always getting mixed up with other professions. This includes, but is not limited to, public relations. Someone in PR has the job of endorsing whoever they work for and maintaining a positive image for their audience. Let me clarify this now -- Drops of Ink is not PR. Yes, we are a school publication whose staff members attend LHS, but we are not at all responsible for making the school look good.

Things happen here. Kids send nudes to each other and cheat on tests and drink alcohol and take Adderall, but things also happen that are

Opinion

more significant than what goes on inside our small Libertyville bubble.

Sexual assault is real and the lack of equality between men and women is still ever-so present. There is racism and bullying and so much more that goes on that we don’t even notice. These are not “biased” opinions; these are actual things that actually happen.

We don’t make these things up, and we don’t exist to cause trouble or criticize the school. We, as the staff of DOI, simply feel that the things that don’t get talked about in a school setting are some of the most important things -- the ones that should be talked about.

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Our Purpose As for opinion pieces, those are very different. We have staffers write about political views, experiences they have gone through, and other values and beliefs they may have. These are always always always specified as opinion pieces, though. Most of the opinions stories that you see are written by one staff member, such as this one, and their opinion certainly does not reflect the thoughts of the whole staff. However, staff editorials are reflective of our staff. We hold a big class meeting led by a designated writer (whose opinions are not in the story) and everyone in the class gets to have their say.

Now, back to the “service” thing. In the past, DOI has been thought of as “fluffy,” and while we do hope to entertain you lovely readers, we also want you to know about things that matter.

Heck, just this year, DOI has helped to permanently abolish “bathroom bucks,” and on an even larger scale, we have helped inspire a class to create a sexual assault awareness week at LHS. Our stories have informed readers that whatever they are going through, they are not going through alone. We make a difference. I know we do, because DOI has made a difference in my life. I just hope we’ve made a difference for you too.

If you tilt your head down a bit, you will see our editorial policy. Not all of it, of course, simply the part that falls under the header “Purpose.”

Although our purpose is short and not terribly specific, these are the words our staff follows--nay--lives by. The first part, detailing the “student-written” aspect, is completely 100 percent true. Students on DOI write, edit, and create every single part of our magazine and website.

Personally though, my favorite part of the policy is the word “service.”

Let me explain.

The word “service” can be taken to mean many things. I find it to mean that everything we do and write and distribute to the public is there for a purpose. We act as a service, not in the aspect of promoting anyone or anything, but to inform.

Upholding this purpose is something we pride ourselves on. To remain as unbiased and as truthful as we can, Drops of Ink staff members are not allowed to write about something they are a part of. This is called conflict of interest. That means that I could not write about a club I am in or a sport I (don’t actually) play. We do this to remain as objective as possible, which we always try our best to be in news, feature, and sports stories.

Infographic by Hannah Hutchins Opinion

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Advertisement

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:

By Matthew Price

Information courtesy of LHS Athletic Department

Sports

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