March 28 issue

Pool Door Update p. 5

College Visit Guide p. 20-21

MARCH 26, 2015 VOLUME 88, ISSUE 6

p. 16-17

p. 14-15

Fine Artists

Spring Health and Fitness p. 31-32

LETTER TO THE READER 2014/15 STAFF LIST Alex Zoellick, Editor in Chief Kyle Laska, News Editor Ryan Jackson, Feature Editor Mike Gasick, Sports Editor Tom Ackerman, Opinion Editor Hannah Jenkins, Opinion Editor Korina Valenzuela, Photo Editor Maddie Salata, Layout Editor Abby St. Claire, Layout Editor Katie Vrba, Social Media Editor Manal Ahmed Lola Akinlade David Black Hannah Boufford Josh Bragg Becky DeAcetis Anna Demartini Kayla Fiore Lauren Forrest Alo Garcia-Escobar Olivia Griffith Emily Hamilton Eryka Jones Conor Kennedy Jake Luce Jarrett Malec Jack Murphy Tia Petrzilka Connor Polk Jillian Ruff Puja Saha Tyler Skinner Marijke Sommer Gabrielle Struik Maria Thames Sara Thunga Jasmine Turner Kate Vittore Jake Vogt Madeline Werner Kaitlyn Zabadal

DEAR READER...

As students of this school, we feel your pain. Let me rephrase -- we understand your reluctance to read this issue, or do any sort of work for that matter, so to those reading these words (hello?), we thank you. With second semester in full swing, especially for seniors, the idea of -- get ready for it -- work is about as enticing as watching the clock in math class tick down, seemingly slower than the minute before.

As the year progresses, we hope our typos and mistakes have lessened, but here we were banking on senioritis on your part in taking care of that problem. Nevertheless, we have some great stories for you to flip through as you wait in that math class for the bell. We feature some very talented students, including senior Lucia Zhang, a violinist here at LHS. We also feature Mr. Mark Buesing, a cross country coach and physics teacher who has given this school more than we can put into words, but we’ll try! We also feature an accomplished synchronized swimmer, LHS junior Barbara Garcia-Stam. Also check out junior Carly Herrmann and her world of ballet. We’ve got plenty more, and as always, constant updates for LHS on the web and our social media accounts. Thanks for reading! (Anyone?)

While you’re there, be sure to check out the rest of the website. It’s regularly updated with new stories that don’t always make it into the magazine.

SINCERELY,

Michael Gluskin, Faculty Adviser

DROPS OF INK 2

Tom Ackerman

4-6 8-9 WHAT’S TRENDING & WHAT’S HAPPENING 11-13 A STORY BEHIND THE STATISTICS 14-15 THE WORLD ON HER STRINGS 16-17 ON POINTE 18-19 MIDDLE SCHOOL COMPARISON 20-21 DOI VISITS COLLEGE JUST RUN WITH IT 22-23 24-27 OPINION 28-29 PAVING THE PATH 30-31 TOO MUCH, TOO EARLY? 32-33 SPRING INTO SHAPE ALL IN SYNC 34-35 NEWS

Catch up on LHS news for the month, with new AP classes being offered, an update on the pool doors, and a preview of Writers Week.

Check out what DOI finds trending and current.

Explore how LHS helps lower-income students here at school.

Senior Lucia Zhang is no stranger to music. Check out her musical accomplishments on the piano and violin so far.

Junior Carly Herrmann displays her ballet expertise weekly at the Joffrey Ballet.

Think your middle school prepared you best? DOI looks into the readiness of incoming LHS freshmen.

Underclassmen: Organize your college visits with these tips from DOI.

Take a look at the impact of Coach Mark Buesing at LHS as he honorably retires as head coach from boys cross country.

DOI’s staff discusses “Bad Teachers,” while columnists look at math education, diets and cleanses, and hateful words DOI looks into how parents influence a student athlete’s journey.

Explore the idea of underclassmen comitting to schools for sports before they’re seniors.

Get tips on staying healthy as the warm weather arrives.

Check out LHS’ own synchonized swimmer, junior Barbara Garcia-Stam.

Cover photo by Korina Valenzuela DROPS OF INK

3

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia Two years ago, World History was one of the most popular AP tests, and Human Geography also held a significant portion of the pie. Both will likely be offered as classes at LHS in several years.

APotential New Set of Classes The Social Studies Department at LHS is currently working on instituting two new AP courses that will be offered in several years to freshmen and sophomores: AP Human Geography and AP World History.

The new classes, which are higher-level variants of the two social studies courses offered to freshmen right now, will likely be offered first during the 2016-17 school year, according to Mr. Shawn McCusker, the Social Studies Department Supervisor at LHS. As of now, though, neither course has yet to even be approved. The classes are still very much in development; curricula, textbooks, teachers, and a plethora of other facets have yet to be decided upon, and many details may not finalized for some time.

“We’re in the process of applying to create those classes right now. So it [will take] a while, and there’s a lot of figuring out the textbook and finding the curriculum, and figuring out…

Look, any AP program, there’s a very structured way that it [needs to be] taught to meet the test,” said Mr. McCusker.

Though little has been settled upon yet, both courses have made it through arguably the toughest phase of approval: community acceptance.

“Before you do something like this (You don’t just say, ‘Hey, let’s do these classes’) you have to ask, is it right? Does the community want it? AP classes are hard, and you have to have students who want to do it and parents who support it,” Mr. McCusker asserted. “When you get done here, your senior year, it shouldn’t just be like, ‘Hey, I took another AP class.’ It should have improved your ability to take AP classes. It should have given you more and made you more ready for college. So, we have a lot of discussions, we talk to teachers and parents to see if this is the right thing, and we’re moving past that, and we feel it’s a direction we’d like to go in.”

Suraj Rajendran, a freshman who plans to take AP European

By Conor Kennedy History and AP Chemistry next year, added, “I hope LHS standards change; I would have taken so many [AP classes this year]. I mean, who wouldn’t want to do it?”

Still, the notion of offering AP classes to freshmen has been met with anxiety, as freshmen often tend to struggle with the challenge of such courses.

“There are split results as to how well freshmen do on AP courses. Typically, on some AP classes that students as young as freshmen can take, their scores aren’t the best,” said Mr. Ray Albin, an assistant principal and the director of LHS’s Advanced Placement program. “I mean, AP is AP because it’s a college-entry level course. It would take a pretty special freshman to understand the rigors of a college-entry level course when they’re 14, 15 years old. Not to say that it can’t be done, but that consideration goes in as well. Students may want to take it, but ultimately are they going to succeed? Are we putting them into the best position to succeed? And there’s some good evidence out there that that may not be putting someone in the best position to succeed.”

Nevertheless, these courses might be on their way to becoming available at LHS, whose course offerings might soon begin to resemble those of other schools like Mundelein High School, which offers AP World History to freshmen.

“Because our world is moving, because AP is growing, because the quality of students here is so good, it makes sense to provide a greater challenge for the students who want that greater challenge, and it’s a way for them to dive deep into subjects they like,” Mr. McCusker contended. “If you love social studies and you’re taking AP classes, that’s awesome. Plus, taking AP classes helps you to do better at taking AP classes.

So, if you’re a high-achieving freshman and you feel like you can do it, and you support it and your parents support it, then why not create the right class?”

DROPS OF INK 4

Pool doors to open soon, new pool being considered

By Hannah Boufford

Current and possible construction is centered around the pool work and will be reporting out to the Board in the next few at Libertyville High School. Right now, the pipes near the pool months,” she said. doors are under construction, as they have been for the entire The current pool at Libertyville High School is used by a school year. After this project is finished, in the years to come, variety of groups. These groups include competitive swimming, there is also a possibility of a new pool being built on the LHS water polo, the Learn-To-Swim program, gym classes, open grounds. swim, Special Olympics, and Cats Aquatics. Different needs and As months go by, still the pool doors are under construction. uses of the pool arise from the various programs, as a result.

However, this project should be ending soon. According to an Not only do current needs need to be factored into the pool earlier update, the Buildings and equation, but possible future reGrounds Department Supervisor quirements are also considered by Chris Stancil hopes to have the the board, according to Mr. Kelly. project done over spring break.

“So if you design a pool, you Originally, the project was thought want to anticipate [changes] - a to be completed in October, little, not overboard - but at the however, the unknown conditions same time you want to anticipate of the underground lines required those changes so that you’re ready outside contracts and caused defor them,” he said. lays in the progress.

However, the construction of a “We’re hoping to have the new new pool is a lengthy progress and doors installed by the pools entrance will take years to complete. at the beginning of April,” Mr. Stan“There’s still a lot of initial cil commented more recently. planning that goes into it, and then The current construction is you need approval from the Board occurring on the pipes and boiler of Education on the initial plans, system. Previously inconvenient, and then you can go and make the system will be moving from some more definite plans with the underground to along the walls and architect,” Mr. Kelly explained.

Photo by Kayla Fiore “Then you go out to bid, and then roof of the building to create more access for fixes and check-ups.

Originally scheduled to be finished in October, the construction on the pool doors is you do the construction phase.

The doors in the pool lobby will be now expected to be done over Spring Break.

Construction is a two-year process, moving as a result. so it just depends on how much “So if you look at the door, you can see some big pipes right in more there is in planning.” front of the door, that’s all going to be bricked up and enclosed,” Along with the construction of the pool, a new aquatics building Athletic Director Mr. Briant Kelly commented. “And where the also requires mechanical systems for the pool, AC and heat systems window is in that pool lobby, that door would be open.” for the building, and other factors than just the pool itself.

As for a new pool, the Board of Education has authorized the “It is important to note, if the Board approves any large capital district administration to look into the possibility of a new pool. project, such as a new LHS pool, the resources to pay for any While the board has yet to vote for a new pool, they also have not or all of those large capital projects will come from existing devoted any district resources for its construction. However, the district resources and not from new tax dollars,” Ms, Dada stated. current condition and age of the LHS pool lends itself to a higher “In other words, the Board will not vote to raise resident taxes possibility of being added to the top of the large capital projects (through Bond Referendum) for the purpose of paying for identilist, according to Ms. Yasmine Dada, the associate superintendent fied large capital projects, including a new LHS pool. The Board of business for District 128. will continue its financial analysis over the next several months.”

A pool committee, consisting Ms. Dada, Mr. Kelly, Dr. Scott, In addition, the school would hope to connect the new pool Mr. Stancil, the Physical Education Department Supervisor, Ms. building to the main building of LHS. The construction could Patti Mascia,, the district architect, swim coaches, and a swim possibly go near the back parking lot, where the road wraps community member, has been meeting to discuss and look into around the school, though the plans have not been set in stone. different options for a new pool.

“You want to connect it to the building because it’s used According to Ms. Dada, the pool advisory group’s purpose during the day for PE and you don’t want people going outside,” is to determine a needs-based rationale for a new pool (or not); Mr. Kelly explained. “So you know the building, you’d need to current pool strengths and weaknesses; future projected pool put it into a space where you would need to reconfigure some needs, use, and costs; advancements in pool-building efficiencies parking, some entrances, some road and stuff like that. so there’s and technology since the building of the VHHS pool; and visits to a lot of stuff that we’re looking at, but our hopes is to be able to other schools in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. do something like that.”

“The LHS pool advisory and study group is continuing their “It’s a long construction, it’s a long process,” he concluded.

DROPS OF INK 5

Pen, Paper, WRite!

Every year there is Writers Week, a time for students who have a passion for writing short stories, music or poetry. As Writers Week rolls in for its fifth year at LHS, it gives student writers a chance to step into the spotlight and share their work.

This year, Writers Week is from Monday, April 6 until Thursday, April 9 and will include a variety of students and professionals who wish to inspire students to take up writing, or just to give them a new perspective on it.

This year, Writers Week has had a drastic increase in student writers who will present their pieces to the school, which will result in “a good mix of performers every day,” according to junior Sarah Arora, a three-year participant in Writers Week.

Writers Week allows students to express themselves and show the school the hard work and dedication it took to make the masterpieces that they present. Mrs. Mary Kate Schoenbeck, a coordinator of Writers Week, corroborates this: “We know, at times, who the best athletes in the school are. We know who the best theatre people are in school. We know who gets the high score on the ACT. But now, after Writers Week, we notice the best writers in the school who are the poets, who are the storytellers, who are the songwriters.”

In addition, Mrs. Schoenbeck believes that Writers Week allows students to “see that writing is not just writing a thesis statement. Writing is all different types of professions. It can look many different ways. It’s something that is a part of many professions which students may not realize.”

Mr. Craig Schmidt, another committee member for Writers Week, said: “I want to say, pay attention to everything and everybody,” when he was asked who the audience should be looking forward to. “It’s interesting because we don’t know who’s going to be awesome. And it actually can change from period to period.”

Mr. Schmidt said that the purpose of Writers Week is “to get the chance to acknowledge the student writers, and [try] to create more of a culture where that kind of stuff is [something that] people look up to.”

Furthermore, the guest speakers allow the student body to see the wide variety of jobs that incorporate writing. The guest speaker list this year includes poets, journalists, and singer-songwriters. The Writers Week committee reaches out to people they would like to come speak; they even offer to pay for travel costs.

Some professional writers to watch out for at Writers Week this year are poets Mary Fons, who will perform April 6, and Aja Monet, who will perform the 7th. According to Mr. Schmidt and Mrs. Schoenbeck, a few of the students who have been extremely active in Writers Week are Isaac Shur, Alexis Kristoffersen, and Emmalee Berger; on the list of active participants were two of Drops of Ink’s own staff members, David Black and Hannah Boufford.

For updates on what to expect each day, students can follow @LHSWritersWeek on Twitter. “Follow us now so we can get you up and ready before Writers Week comes and try to come as much as possible,” suggested Mrs. Schoenbeck.

Students will be able to use the #LHSWritersWeek hashtag on Twitter to tweet about what they listened to. “We’ll hopefully give them a minute,” Schmidt said, “[...] to share your experience, like positive reviews.”

By Kaitlyn Zabadal & Marijke Sommer

Photo by Eryka Jones Junior Sarah Arora, a three-year veteran, rehearses her piece for Writers Week.

“But now, after Writers Week, we notice the best writers in the school.”

-Mrs. Schoenbeck

DROPS OF INK 6

ADVERTISEMENT

Our Big Deal for your Spring Lunch Break

For Students Only

Black Angus Cheeseburger with Fresh Cut Fries and Pepsi $5.99 Add 2 Chicken Love Me Tenders for $1.00

Show your current Student ID Card for regular menu 15% Discount Or Free Fries with Sandwich Purchase See complete and regular menus www.fodraks.com

327 South Milwaukee Avenue, Libertyville . 847-816-8111 DROPS OF INK

7

What’s Trending?

By Lola Akinlade

Fashion

Timberlands Price- $294 Found- ASOS.com

Layered necklace Price- $78 Where- Etsy.com

Fringe Boots Price- $93 Found- MinnieTonka.com

TV Shows

ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” has been around for over nine years and still manages to keep the audience captivated.

Bob Oderink, who was a star in “Breaking Bad,” makes a reappearance in the 6th Most Highly Ranked TV show, according to IMDb.

“Empire” first aired on Jan. 7 and was able to climb its way up to number 13 on The Most Popular TV Series, according to IMDb. DROPS OF INK 8

Miscellaneous

Bath Bomhs Price- $6 Found- Lush Cosmetics

Shamrock shakes price- $2-$3 Found- McDonald’s

Many teenage girls have been ditching the long hair for a cute, shoulder length cut.

(Photo Courtesy of Pinterest)

What’s Happening

By Anna DeMartini Anyone on social media would know about the battle over the dress. The initial argument began with a bride whose mother wore a black-and-blue dress to her wedding. Or was it white and gold? Over the last few weeks, social media has been battling it out over what color this mystery dress is.

For those who are curious, the dress does not change colors nor come in both sets of colors. Why the arguments then? Every person’s eye interprets light differently. Light enters through the eye lens in varied wavelengths. These wavelengths are carried to the retina, where they create a pigment that makes a neural connection to the visual cortex. Since everyone’s brain is a bit different, the color of the dress is subjective in a way. In simpler words, the brain chooses the color it sees based on the pigments that are sent to it from the light that your eye sees. However, there is a true color to the dress.

Sorry for all of the white-and-gold viewers: the dress is actually blue and black!

Violence in Ferguson, Mo., could be opening back up due to a recent shooting of two police officers.

The Disney channel show “Suite Life of Zach and Cody’s” cop, Kirby (played

by Windell Middlebrooks) has passed away.

Get ready to build another snowman! It has been announced that there will officially be a “Frozen 2”. Making more than $1.3 billion worldwide on the first movie and estimating to dress 1.6 million children this past Halloween, Disney has decided to make a sequel to one of the world’s newest favorite cartoon mov ies. Not only is the second movie on its way, but a possible Disney park and Broadway show are in the works also.

“Frozen” fans, you are in luck!

This October, “American Horror Story” fans will take a journey to a haunted hotel. With two new cast members, Lady Gaga and Matt Bomer, Ryan Murphy is ready to take a new spin on his show. Jessica Lange, the queen of AHS who previously played Elsa Mars, Fiona Goode, Constance Langdon, and Sister Jude, has announced that she will not be returning for season 5, “American Horror Story Hotel.”

Brandon Marshall, former player of the Bears, has recently been traded to the New York Jets.

John Green’s upcoming movie, “Paper Towns” has pushed back its release date to July 24.

This Valentine’s Day, millions of couples and friends flooded through the doors to see the award-winning “Fifty Shades of Grey” on the big screen. Although the plot of the story is very basic and easy to comprehend for most, there are many arguments as to what the meaning behind the movie is. Many have written

articles, started petitions, and even showed up on the news regarding their feelings that E.L. James’s book alludes to the idea of rape, and that it is acceptable.

Significant amounts of viewers of the movie were disturbed and triggered by the ideas the movie gave off. Although many fans of the movie were pleased with the outcome, others could not help but notice the worrisome effects the movie has created. An 11-year-old boy in England dressed up as the main character, Christian Grey, and went to school with cable ties and an eye mask, causing an uproar in the news. This movie creates many different opinions and is resulting in very controversial issues.

The release date of the Apple watch has been announced.

This new sensation will be in stores on April 24.

The trailer for the documentary being released on May 4, on lead singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, has been released.

The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma recently had a video containing a racist chant leaked. Unheard, an African-American student group at OU, outraged by the video, posted it to YouTube, hoping it would begin a movement to end such racism. Many officials saw the video and began acting on

the situation immediately. Students who were seen in the video were expelled, and more information is being found to expel the others who were involved with the racist chants. Due to this outrageous behavior, the university has decided to cut ties with the fraternity. Multiple students who had plans to attend OU have decided to de-commit due to their feelings on going to a school with such a now-racist reputation. OU’s football team took this issue to heart and said that it touched every one of them to a personal level. Being a team of diverse races, it is not something this football team will tolerate in their school. Starting the hashtag #OUnited, OU is working hard to eliminate this mistake that has been made at their school.

DROPS OF INK 9

ADVERTISEMENTS

Get all of your latest Drops of Ink news and updates through social media: on Twitter: @lhsdoi

on Instagram: lhsdoi

on Facebook:

“Libertyville High School Drops of Ink” page DROPS OF INK

10

story statistics behind

the

a

How LHS helps low-income students

By Gabby Struik If a visitor walked through the hallways of LHS, they would be impressed by the wealth of this district, with its top-grade teachers and expensive facilities. Everyone seems to blend into one mold and it’s easy to forget that not all school districts are the same. In a community as privileged as Libertyville, students often fail to realize that not everyone has the same life as them, and that everyone’s experiences are different and each compile into a unique story.

DROPS OF INK 11

T

he word “poverty” is not a derogatory term; it is simply a classification the government uses to figure out who they can help. The U.S. population is sorted into poverty thresholds. These thresholds are dollar amounts used to determine a person’s status. Thresholds are determined by how many blood relatives are in the family and by the amount of income the family will need to spend on food. If the family’s income is less than the threshold determined for that family, then the family is in poverty.

Poverty exists because of numerous causes, and with the recession in 2007, it has been harder for people to get back on their feet.

According to an article from The Huffington Post, after the recession, the average household income declined by $2,700 from 2007 to 2009.

It became increasingly hard to find jobs and jobseekers outnumbered job openings by a ratio of 5 to 1.

The Federal Census Bureau conducted a study from 2013 that showed that for every 1 percentage point rise in the unemployment rate in America, there is a .5 percent increase in the poverty rate. Even though it is 2015 and the unemployment rate has stabilized, some Americans are still struggling to get back onto their feet.

Health problems also lead to greater economic hardship because they limit a person’s ability to work, and health care costs, even if the individual is insured, can be extremely expensive. Another study conducted by the Federal Census Bureau demonstrated that medical problems caused 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies in the United States in 2007, and three quarters of those filers had medical insurance at the start of their illness.

Also in 2007, the average income in the United States was reported to be $51,939, whereas in 2013, the average income in Lake County was reported to be $74,869; in Libertyville, it was reported to be $135,584. That’s a difference of almost $85,000 when comparing the national level to our suburb, and it paints a picture of the type of community that we live in.

“I think we assume that everybody’s life is very similar to ours because we all go to school here at the same place, we sit in the same classes. I think sometimes we forget that everyone has a story, everyone has experiences that they have had that make them different,” Principal Dr. Marina Scott stated.

In 2013, it was recorded that 49.5 million Americans or 14.5% of the population fell below the poverty threshold. Recently, there has been a national 3.1 percent increase in poverty since 2007, and the increase can be seen throughout the Libertyville area as well as in District 128.

In 2010, according to the state’s School Report Card for LHS, only 4 percent of students came from low-income families, whereas in 2014, that number rose to 6 percent. Since 2,028 students were enrolled at LHS in 2014, this statistic rounds out to 119 students coming from low-income families.

To once again bring the statistics back out to a broader level, 8 percent of kids in the district come from low-income families, while 52 percent of the kids in the state come from low-income families.

LHS prides itself in its ability to help students who ask for it while handling the matter with respect and dignity.

“It’s a very embarrassing, very uncomfortable situation for students who might be in that position, so we treat each case with great respect,” the principal’s secretary Sandra Kruckman shared.

One main way that LHS helps out students who ask is through the free and reduced lunch program. However, LHS automatically gives students free meals instead of reduced ones if students qualify for the program. The school allows parents to fill out a form for the lunch program and if a student qualifies, they receive a free breakfast and lunch. To qualify, a family must fall into a poverty threshold based on their family’s income and size.

Many kids aren’t aware of these programs.

“I’ve told a couple people that I get my food for free and they are like, ‘I didn’t know you could do that, like how do you get that kind of stuff?’ I think that since this is such a wealthy community, they are kind of surprised that people who can’t support themselves are going to school” shared a junior at LHS who takes part in the programs and requested to be anonymous.

The program operates through a student’s ID so anytime they are buying lunch, no other students would ever be able to tell that they are part of this group. Students in the program get a main entrée and drink for each meal.

LHS also tries to supply students in need with other necessities by paying for their gym uniforms, caps, gowns, books, or other supplies.

Additionally, the school has a program called “scholarship books,” which supplies students with the books they need for their English classes and the school makes sure to give the students who are part of the program their books at the same time as the students who paid for them.

The school receives its funds for these types of aid through programs like the WildCat Account and D128 Foundation. The district gives LHS funds to put into the WildCat account to be earmarked for students who need supplies, and the D128 Foundation helps raise money through fundraising that can also be used to help students. To donate to the foundation, you can log onto www.d128foundation.org; all donations are used to enrich the educational programs at D128 schools, including students in need.

“I think what helps us here is that students have good relations with teachers and counselors,” shared Dr. Scott.

Social workers and counselors are consistently there to help low-income students and are always available if ever a student needs to talk or wants to request help.

“The programs are really nice, it’s a lot less stress. I get early release just so I can be home because my mom is working and my dad is working, so I’m home for when my younger siblings get home, so not having to worry about spending more of my parents’ money each day on food and books is really nice,” shared the junior mentioned earlier.

DROPS OF INK 12

Data from the Federal Census Bureau

DROPS OF INK 13

The World on Her Strings

By Ryan Jackson

If you’ve been to any of Libertyville High School’s theater productions in the last few years, like Legally Blonde or Spamalot, to name a couple, you might have noticed the piano. Or you might not have -- it’s less a brash, attention-seeking sound than it is a metronome, a sturdy and flawless playing that keeps the content on the stage, the stuff you do notice, humming along smoothly. That piano you hear is played by senior Lucia Zhang, playing away on an instrument at which she claims to be, in her words, “okay.”

While Zhang refuses to sing her self-praise in any aspect of her life, she is a little slower to ridicule her playing of the violin. And anyone with a lick of musical knowledge -- and even those without it -- would have to agree. Since Zhang denies to boast about her talents, others are happy to do it for her.

One of the presiding members of the ever-expanding Lucia Zhang fan club is LHS orchestra conductor Mr. Jeremy Marino, who has worked with one of his top proteges since her freshman year. He commends Zhang’s balance of attention to detail with the mindset of “playing out,” an attitude of boldness when it comes to performing.

“She’s understood from very early on that what (she does) on the violin is playing this kind of character,” Mr. Marino said. “It translates in a lot of ways to being a great musical leader.”

While Zhang is quick to sidestep any notions that she is a leader, her role as concertmistress, which is the lead violinist and assistant conductor, solidifies her as a key aspect of the orchestra’s cohesion.

“I try to cue everybody and make sure everyone is adhesive with what Mr. Marino wants,” Zhang explained. “Everyone has good ideas, I just try to facilitate those ideas.”

Senior Matthew Schubert, a cellist who has played alongside Zhang since their freshman year, has elevated his performance in an effort to keep pace with his orchestral mate.

“I feel privileged to be able to play in the same group as her,” Schubert said in an online interview. “Lucia has forced me to be a better player, not literally, just because she made me want to improve.”

Whether she’s deemed a leader, facilitator, or motivator, Zhang is an integral piece to the LHS Chamber Orchestra, which is audition-based. From beyond a musical standpoint, her fearlessness on the violin encourages her peers to follow her lead and step outside their comfort zone.

“She provides cover for others to feel comfortable to come up with her, so she kind of brings them up,” Mr. Marino stated.

DROPS OF INK 14

Zhang’s willingness to “play out” can be attributed to her musical background; she started playing piano as soon as her hands were large enough to cover the keys (upon a little nudging from her mom), and picked up the violin in stride during fourth grade. While Zhang is critical of her piano playing, she recognizes the effect it has had on her musical career, explaining that it has

Zhang credits piano as the basis of her musical prowess (below).

She has used that base to thrive on her main instrument, the violin (right).

Photo by Tom Ackerman

helped her “build that musical foundation.”

If the piano helped to build a foundation, then the violin has built her an extravagant skyscraper; her talent on the stringed instrument has offered her opportunities she described as “life changing...even though that sounds really cliche,” she added with a laugh. Her most recent endeavour was a one-on-one musical session with Riccardo Muti, the conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

“We are incredibly lucky to have him in Chicago.

Photo taken by Korina Valenzuela I’m such a fan,” Zhang raved. “Not only is he a great conductor and someone who knows what they want in terms of music, he’s also one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met.”

The opportunity to meet Muti, and many others throughout her career, came through the Midwest Young Artists (MYA), an orchestral group independent from LHS. Mr. Marino likens MYA to a travel team for sports; they select the top musicians from the Chicagoland area and give performances throughout the year. “(MYA) is something I’m really passionate about,” Zhang shared.

“Music is a big part of my life, so as much as I can get involved, I can...it’s a really fun opportunity to get the orchestral experience.”

That’s perhaps the most remarkable thing about Zhang and her craft: instead of getting overwhelmed and burned out on music, she craves more.

Many high schools students see their various commitments as a burden on their everyday life, while Zhang juggles violin, a challenging academic schedule (she’s waiting on college response letters from the University of Virginia, Illinois, and a host of Ivy League universities), clubs like Model UN, and the occasional recruitment of her piano prowess, all the while maintaining a demeanor that leads one to believe she sleeps about 11 hours per night.

“I don’t do any sports for the school, so it’s the same for a lot of people,” she said modestly, using the phrase “the same” rather loosely.

While Zhang’s resumé is one that could send CommonApp into overdrive, it appears that a job is missing from the list. That’s because she doesn’t need one; she is frequently hired to play violin for events like weddings, parties, or open houses, in an attempt to “class up” the events, as she puts it.

While earning around $600 per gig is more than enough motivation to master her instrument, (yes, those decimal points are aligned, $600 per gig), that’s not what fuels Zhang to play the violin. It’s not the money, the sparkling college application, the opportunities to play at Orchestra Hall in

“I feel privileged to play in the same group as her...she made me want to improve,” Schubert said.

Chicago, or even the lasting friendships she’s built with her orchestra companions, whom she calls her family. At the root of it all is an authentic love for what she does, a passion that’s hard to find among anyone.

“If you play it really well and understand what the composer is trying to do and exploring beyond the notes, it’s a really fulfilling feeling,” she said. Her passion goes beyond just playing the violin, but immersing herself in music. On a given day, you might find any artist from Tony Bennett to Ed Sheeran streaming through her headphones, but she holds an exalted admiration for the classical music she’s grown to love.

“It’s not my music of choice (for listening), but if you do it right, there’s so much to it,” Zhang explained. “There are so many nuances... so many mind-blowing moments where you learn about the history and what the composer was going through.”

Mr. Marino captured Zhang’s passion when he stated simply: “She plays music because she loves music and because she’s naturally gifted at it.”

Where Zhang’s gift will take her in the future remains to be seen, but the possibilities are abundant. Wherever she ends up next fall, she plans to audition for the university orchestra. “Something low key,” as she put it. Whether it’s pursuing a career in music, law, or business, all of which are potentials on the Lucia Zhang agenda, a future awaits her that even she would admit is a little better than just “okay.”

DROPS OF INK 15

If you were to see Carly Herrmann in the hallways or in class, you may not be aware of the talent she has in the studio: she dances for a pre-professional company in Chicago, the Joffrey Ballet Company, and plans to pursue being a professional dancer.

This is Herrmann’s third year at Joffrey, as she joined the company when she was just a freshman. She found out about it through Haley Johnson, a former LHS student who graduated last year and was a part of the company for all four years of high school.

“When we were figuring out where I was going to go to high school, my dad wanted me to go to Carmel since I went to Saint Joe’s and so the options were staying where I trained back in eighth grade at Dance Academy and then going to Carmel or I could go to Libertyville High School and then go to Joffrey, so I ended up going to Joffrey,” she said.

However Carly continues to work privately with Juliet Stephenson, the owner of the Dance Academy of Libertyville.

“Juliet has been involved in my dancing career since I started at three years old. I always looked to Juliet for guidance,” Carly shared.

Although being at Joffrey definitely has its benefits pertaining to preparing for her future, Herrmann finds that it’s hard for her to do other activities and hang out with friends like some stu-

“...she has her head on straight and she’s able to manage a lot of demands and high pressure...”

-Ms. Greenswag

on pointe

by Sara Thunga

dents at LHS are able to do. She has such a crazy schedule that every minute has to be used wisely.

“Well, I don’t have a social life, that’s for sure,” Herrmann admitted, laughing.

Herrmann’s day begins just as any student’s would: getting up early and going to school. After school gets out, Herrmann rushes to catch the 3:10 train to get to Joffrey. The train ride is about an hour and a half long, so Herrmann does her hair, eats dinner, and sleeps in order to prepare for a long night ahead of her.

By the time she gets to Chicago, it’s 4:20, and to get to her class, she has to walk about 20 minutes. Dance starts at 5, so she usually has a little time to stretch beforehand. Class ends at 8:30, and the night would usually consist of ballet and pointe, followed by a style class, such as character, modern, or contemporary.

The ballet/pointe style of dance focuses on classical technique, with pointe focusing on pointe work, where dancers support all of their body weight on top of fully extended feet. Character is a subdivision of classical dance, and allows for ballet dancers to develop their characters and personality for the theatrical aspect of dancing. Modern, on the other hand, is seen as a rejection of ballet, with more free-flowing movements as opposed to following classic technique. Contemporary combines the styles of ballet, jazz, and modern and is now the most commonly seen style to be performed.

layout by Abigail St. Claire photos by Kayla Fiore DROPS OF INK 16

17-year-old, she has her head on straight and she’s able to manage a lot of demands and a high pressure thing too, like I think ballet is so high pressure, I think there’s a really strong expectation on her, so I think she’s able to handle the pressure and a lot of demands and she’ll do well with that,” Ms. Greenswag said.

Herrmann doesn’t just partake in performances at Joffrey, but also in other companies. She enjoys the performance aspect of dancing so much that she makes sure that she can expose herself to it as much as possible.

Most nights, Herrmann then takes the 8:10 train and gets home around 9:45; however on Tuesday nights -- since it’s a late start the next morning -- she’s on the 9:45 train and gets home at 11:15.

Herrmann is already planning for the future because her dreams of becoming a professional dancer will take all the hard work she’s putting in. As of this moment, she sees landing a spot in a professional company as a priority first and then whether she wishes to go to college later will be thought of next.

the aspects of her life, not just dance.

“I actually got accepted into Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s year-round and summer intensive program, so this is actually most likely going to be my last year of high school and then when I’m a senior, I’m going to be doing online school,” Herrmann explained.

Teachers and students in Herrmann’s classes enjoy being around her with her energetic and positive energy brightening up the classroom atmosphere.

Despite her crazy long weeknights, on the weekends Herrmann manages to make time for fun with friends and has many activities that she enjoys doing as a break from her hectic schedule. Although the little free time she has doesn’t allow for much, as most of the time she is only free early in the morning, she makes sure to spend time with the people who matter.

“We went laser-tagging the other weekend. We hang out, we drive around, watch movies, hang out with friends,” shared one of Herrmann’s friends, junior Sahaj Patel.

Despite the fact that Herrmann has more commitments than the average student, she never asks for special treatment from her teachers and still finds time to do all of her obligations for school, showing that she is willing to work hard in all of

“She has her priorities really in line and even though she knows that dance could potentially turn into a career for her, she understands that the academics do still matter and I’m glad that she’s not just pushing that aside. So I think it’s really mature because I think a lot of kids might see: ‘oh, I might have this other ticket to get me to the next level’ and forget about school, but she cares about both,” Ms. Sarah Greenswag, Herrmann’s U.S. History teacher, noted.

“I always find Carly to be extremely polite and easy-going, and I never really have heard her complain about anything, and whenever we are doing group work and I walk around and talk to groups, I always find her to get along with everybody really well and with me,” Mr. Dave Lapish, Carly’s American Lit teacher, affirmed.

Herrmann’s teachers also see potential in her and foresee her doing great things based on how she carries herself and how she acts in the classroom.

Her personality and attitude also contribute to the effort she’s been putting in.

“I think if as a 16 or DROPS OF INK 17

“Joffrey will have their Nutcracker, and I’m always in that, and then Joffrey will also have their spring performance, so most of the time I perform 6 or 7 times a year. But this year instead of staying at Joffrey, I did a Nutcracker with the Schaumburg Ballet Theatre and I was able to perform 12 times, which was really great because normally at Joffrey we don’t perform that much,” Herrmann said. “But I was able to do that and then also I am currently with Dance Academy’s Ballet Company Theatre doing ‘Peter and The Wolf’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’... It’s great; I love performing, I just love being on stage and enjoying everything that goes along with preparing for the show and all the rehearsals.”

Carly was also involved in Orchesis this year -- performing in the March shows -- and is part of the Dance III physical education class.

So although Libertyville High School may not see Herrmann next year, those who know her -- and those who do not as well -may see her name in lights in a few years.

MIDDLE SCHOOL COMPARISONS

By Hannah Jenkins

Friends scatter familiar hallways. Classes reside close together. Laughter creeps into the lunch room. The Constitution test remains a stressor for the eighth graders.

Then summer comes and the frets for high school begin to infect future ninth-grade minds.

And once high school finally arrives, some feel like it’s just another year at school while

others feel like they were tossed onto a completely different island of education.

Between the three main feeder schools, Highland, Oak Grove, and St. Joseph’s, a search occurred to see which middle school seemed to have the most prepared students and how each middle school decided on curriculum.

Oak Grove Along those lines, Oak Grove has a similar way of preparing students for what lies beyond middle school. Oak Grove is the second-biggest feeder school into LHS, with 100 students in the freshman class and 120 planning on attending next school year. Mr. Lonny Lemon and Ms. Sarah Cacciatore, members of the Oak Grove Education Board, revealed that there are many factors that go into picking the curriculum for the students, with questions like “Does the resource address the standards required? It is research-based? Does it have community and faculty support? Does it assist our students in developing life-long learning skills?” However, along with those questions they “also look at the alignment to ensure successful transitions to the high school.”

Senior Jeanette Burke agreed, stating that “Oak Grove excelled at motivating us to have good grades with the courses we had and the grading scale we had.”

Oak Grove’s administration is also proud of its academic achievements, as illustrated by Mr. Lemon and Ms. Cacciatore: “We have a tradition for providing a well rounded curriculum at Oak Grove. Our students have consistently performed in the top 10% of elementary schools on state testing. Our teachers constantly receive professional development to guide and improve instructional strategies. In addition, we provide every student with a personal technology device for ease of student productions. Our teachers and administrators communicate regularly with the high school staff to ensure a smooth transition. By incorporating all of the above mentioned ways to

guide our students, we are able to focus on consistent and rigorous instruction for all.”

Students at Oak Grove felt a community vibe as well, since they had a smaller amount of kids and because they got to grow up with the same kids from kindergarten to eighth grade, according to freshman Jenna Silverman.

However, there were also some things that, similar to other suggestions, were about how overwhelming a middle school could make high school seem scarier than it is. Silverman disclosed that “teachers would sometimes exaggerate things saying, oh teachers won’t let you do this next year [in high school] and stuff like that, which made high school seem more intimidating than it really is. I wish they wouldn’t have over exaggerated things as much just because it stressed me out so much.”

Also, Burke admitted that Oak Grove overwhelmed them with the stressors of high school, stating, “They literally freaked you out into not missing school because then you thought you would fail.”

Even through all this stress and preparations for school, both students said that they were happy that they were prepared so thoroughly.

“I think the best part was that the teachers were always ready to help you with anything you needed. Like if you asked for something, they’d always be happy to answer any questions or stay after with you.” Silverman said.

DROPS OF INK 18

340 116 21 27

St. Joe’s

4

Similarly, Saint Joe’s, the third-biggest feeder school, with 21 students attending LHS in this year’s freshman class and 27 students planning to attend next year, revealed a mix of benefits and also frustrations with having such a small grade.

“I feel like everyone in St. Joe’s was like a family because there were only 50 kids per a grade so I see them in the halls and I’m always like ‘hey’ because it’s always nice to see familiar faces... Everyone was friends with everyone and we keep talking about like reunions and stuff like that,” freshman Bridget Horvath mused.

Senior Jesse Stanfel agreed as she reminisced about her days back at elementary and middle school at St. Joe’s: “Going from a school that I knew like the back of my hand, because I had attended it for 11 years, to a school that was so much bigger and unfamiliar was strange but exciting at the same time. I was excited to meet new people too. Having been with the same people since preschool can be amazing but I still wanted to go out of the St. Joe’s crowd and meet new people.”

Also, a major sense of community helped the students gain a philanthropic outlook on life, since volunteer work was a major component of their curriculum.

“Ever since I was in kindergarten, I can remember doing some sort of charity work that was sponsored by our school. Basically, all through our upbringing at St. Joe’s we were always taught to give back to our community, which I thought was amazing things to ever teach us,” Stanfel disclosed.

However, students were unhappy with how the language program was at their school, stating that “It’d have been better to have more opportunities for different classes because here there’s so many different classes but at Saint Joe’s it’s just like you take this and you take that. So it feels kind of restricted. There was only Spanish for a language, so it’s little things like that, but when you were in the class, they prepared you. But it’s just kind of having different classes,” Horvath stated.

Other than that, students were pleased with how their sense of community, for both their school and Libertyville in general, helped prepare them into being a better, more mature person now. “[LHS] was a newer, bigger school with all new people that I’d never met before and some from schools if never even heard of. If was a big change to get used to, but it was a change that ended up being good and not at all as threatening as I had first thought,” Stanfel admits.

320 100 35 22 20 12

Highland

Highland, the biggest feeder school at 320 students from the school in the current freshman class, and 340 registered to come into next school year’s freshman class, students concluded that, even though it could be an awkward experience, it had its perks. “[Highland] excelled at keeping us busy and really trying a variety of topics, teachers, and teaching styles trying to find us the best fit and getting us to success,” revealed Freshman Caroline Short.

Senior Jessica Bringle commented, agreeing with how Highland helped students with going to LHS, “I know that all of the teachers and faculty at Highland make sure that their eighth graders graduate, are ready to move up to high school, and are confident they’ll succeed,” senior Jessica Bringle commented, agreeing with how Highland helped students with going to LHS. According to Mr. John Hallmark, principal of Highland, the school tries its very best in order to prepare students for the future by combining state laws and guidelines along with the guidance of District 70 Board of Education’s own standards to ultimately approve the changes and standards for the curriculum.

What District 70 focuses most on are “Working on teams, Self-direction, Solving Problems, Using Technology, Making connections, [and] communicating,” Mr, Hallmark stated in an email.

Teachers tend to focus on these while crafting their teaching styles so students can get as much as possible out of classes.

“I felt mostly prepared for high school. The classes we took in middle school, especially in eighth grade, were similar to ones we would take in high school and that really helped with transitioning,” Bringle admitted.

Short commented, “I felt semi-prepared. During my 6th and 7th grade year I had very challenging homework loads and curriculum, but in my 8th grade year, things seemed to get easier.”

Also, Highland admits that they focus more on the transition between 5th and 6th grade, leaving the gap between middle and high school up to both Highland and LHS, since they both “work hard to make sure students have all the support they need,” according to Mr. Hallmark.

DROPS OF INK 19

DOI Visits College - FROM START TO FINISH By Kate Vittore

1. Where to visit: Visit schools you’re interested in.

While your parents or friends might give you some ideas of good schools to consider, the choice will be yours in the end. Giving your parents a list of schools you might want to visit is a good way to show them that you’re taking control of what you want to do.

>

High school revolves around academics, activities, and most importantly, preparation for college. As soon as you start getting the question, “Where are you thinking about going to college?” reality hits as you realize that you will soon be committing to the next step in your education.

Whether you go to CLC or across the ocean, the preparation for life after high school can induce lots of stress when it comes to visiting schools and determining what school will be best for you. Here’s DOI’s guide to starting your college visits.

2. When to visit:

Visiting colleges shouldn’t take time out of school. There are plenty of holiday breaks and long weekends to take the time to take your trip. Amy Belstra, an LHS college counselor, said that an ideal visit would be during an active college school day.

“It would be best not to miss school for a visit,” she said. It would be wise to check out when the school itself has their breaks, because there most likely won’t be as many people around.

3. How you sign up for visits: Signing up for a visit can be done on a college’s official website. Small group tours can provide a general information session for the college and often a walkaround tour of the campus buildings and facilities. Some colleges offer certain portions individually if you’re only interested in a certain aspect of the visit.

5. Experiencing life on campus: There’s much more to college life than going to class. Going to restaurants and shopping around the campus gives a good feel for life outside of classes at the school. Knowing where you can buy basic necessities like clothes and food, if you’re living in a dorm. “If you have the time, go experience other aspects of campus,” said Ms. Belstra.

4. Holding onto your information: College visits scheduled through the school will most likely give out brochures, pens, and sometimes even other spiritwear. Taking notes and pictures while on the campus will help you remember what you experienced when you were there.

DROPS OF INK 20

6. specific colleges within the school: Lots of colleges offer tours and one-onone sessions with people from the specific schools within each school. Common schools that do this are the College of Communications, Education, Business, and Liberal Arts. Setting up these appointments can be done when signing up for the tours. These sessions have specific information about majors, classes, and other opportunities. If there’s no time, sitting in on a class or lecture can give you a good sense of what they’re like.

7. Don't be afraid to ask questions: Your college experience begins with the knowledge you take away from the schools you’re considering! If something isn’t mentioned during the tour, don’t be afraid to speak up to get your answer. “Be sure to get the information you need while you’re there,” said Ms. Belstra. “The more you know, the easier your decisions will be. “

8. Sports or clubs on campus: Whatever you plan on experiencing in college, whether it’s a football game or a club you want to join, go find it! There are sporting events constantly happening on a college campus no matter what season you’re visiting during, and clubs most likely have flyers and posters around campus with further information about the activities. “If you’re an athlete, talk to a coach. Find the individuals that you want information from,” said Ms. Belstra.

DROPS OF INK 21

finding my own path - my college decision storyBy jasmine turner In the fall, I will be attending Spelman College in Atlanta. Spelman is an all women’s college and is also the number-one historically black school, according to U.S. News & World Report.

When I began to consider Spelman as a potential home for the next few years, one of my top priorities was visiting the campus. Visiting a campus can give you that “gut feeling” about a school and can potentially decide whether or not you are going to go to that school.

Like most colleges and universities, Spelman offers special days in which prospective students can visit the college. At Spelman, these days are called “A Day in The Life.” In October, I decided to attend one of these days to hopefully get that “gut feeling.”

I arrived at the college early in the morning to register for the visit. I got a name tag, information packets, and sheets to fill out my information so that the college and I would be in contact in the future.

The day started off with a welcoming ceremony in which we all met the president of the college, listened to guest alumnae talk about their experiences, met current students, and was given brief information about the history of the college.

After the opening ceremony, the prospective students, including me, separated from our parents and split up into our different intended majors. I went with with the Liberal Arts majors in a separate building and there I met the head of the English Department and was given more information about my major.

After that, the students were given an hour for lunch. This was my favorite part, not just for the food, but because in the cafe I could really get a firsthand experience on what the college atmosphere was.

Here I talked and connected with other future and current students, learning about what they wanted to be and why they wanted to go to Spelman.

After lunch, both parents and students were given a tour of the campus, complete with tours of each freshman dorm. Finally, at the closing ceremony, the school’s award-winning glee club performed for us.

Although I was extremely tired from all the day’s activities, I felt like that day, I was convinced where I would be spending the next four years. I saw myself in the alumnae who spoke to us, I saw myself working hard as an English major, I saw myself running to the cafe between my classes for a quick lunch, and I saw myself graduating with the people who were around me.

LHS Cross Country Coach Mr. Mark and his Two-Decade Career

By Puja Saha

Tall with kind blue eyes and thin rectangular glasses, sitting in LHS physics teacher and boys cross country coach Mr. Mark Buesing’s presence is kind of like sitting in the presence of a real-life Albus Dumbledore, minus the beard and extra years. His coaching legacy at LHS is incomparable, and 18 years of wise words, unwavering love for the sport, and unconditional support for his team have made him, similarly to JK Rowling’s dynamic character, an inspiring mentor to the students who look up to him.

Photo courtesy of Mr. Mark After nearly two decades of changing the attitudes and building the character of the boys he coached, Mr. Buesing-- affectionately known as Mr. Mark to his students and runners-- resigned as cross country coach this past January. Despite leaving his position, it’s obvious to anyone who asks him about it that Mr. Mark is more passionate about cross country and being active in general than most people are about anything else.

“Being outdoors is a great thing, and as a cross country runner, you get to literally run to places in town that not a lot of people see...” he said. “It’s about the growth of boys to men... we see that full transition played out for a kid who comes in as a freshman and leaves as a senior and it’s that personal, physical, emotional, spiritual growth that can come from something like cross country.”

But according to Mr. Mark, the passion doesn’t come without pain. Asking LHS students how they feel about running a mile, let alone more, will earn a shudder or disgusted look at best from most. Beyond the sweat and racing pulse comes shin splints and sore muscles and stress fractures that put the intensity and difficulty of the sport into perspective. “If you’re at the top of that game in cross country, it takes 15 minutes of the worst kind of suffering you can imagine, the kind of suffering that literally feels like you’re dying,” he explained. “...the secret to success [is] the more pain you can handle, the better you get.”

The pain and exhaustion of running a race in beating September heat is something LHS senior and two-year cross country runner Tommy Doherty can attest to. According to him, it might have been intolerable if Mr. Mark didn’t empathize. “He ran with us during all the workouts, whereas some other coaches, you’ll see them sitting there on their bikes just waiting for kids to run by... but Coach Mark will actually run the workout, so it’s like he’s going through the pain with us.”

Still, though the physical pain of running mile after mile in scorching temperatures can seem insurmountable, Mr. Mark insists that the real challenge cross country presents to athletes is mental.

“It can be a physical struggle... but equally as important are the mental obstacles. Kids who suffer from depression can be helped by physical activity, kids who have trouble at home... cross country kind of becomes their escape.”

Besides conditioning a runner’s physical self, Mr. Mark explains how cross country can become “a vehicle for growth” in many aspects of their life. “Under stress, people either come together or break apart, and to a person, we saw that group of young men come together, and that was really DROPS OF INK 22

rewarding for us coaches,” he recalls about a special “Goruck” workout designed to improve the team dynamic and promote togetherness in a highly individualistic sport by forcing runners to complete grueling workouts they couldn’t finish without the help of their teammates. “I think the teams of Libertyville have always had a good sense of togetherness, and that’s only fostered by the coaches here... So while cross country is individual, we’ve always found that there’s a neat camaraderie around here.”

Mr. Mark’s influence reaches beyond his runners, too-Photo courtesy of Mr. Mark LHS AP Physics teacher Mr. Michael Cook speaks highly of his colleague and fellow cross country coach.

“He’s a great guy to work for,” Mr. Cook said. “He doesn’t micromanage; he gives us his intent and just lets us run with it.” And in considering plans for the upcoming season, Mr. Cook hopes to continue some of Mr. Mark’s tried and true practices. “He leads by example. That’s how any good leader leads.”

Leading by example is something Mr. Mark excels in-- he’s a natural at unifying the team and making sure no one is left behind, prompting underclassmen and upperclassmen alike to bond together as a close-knit team of more than 100.

“He’s nice, and he cares about everyone on the team, but he still gets work done when it needs to be done. He really balances that well, and he cares about the first person to finish and the last person to finish, so you know, he tries making sure that everyone works hard and no one slacks off,” explained LHS sophomore and first year varsity runner Stephen Richardson. “He’s a really fair guy. I know he addressed the problem of underclassmen getting hazed... which wasn’t a problem at all, but he definitely made sure it didn’t happen. He definitely gave equal respect to both underclassmen and upperclassmen.”

With a cross country team as competitive and as accomplished as LHS’, it’s hard not to get caught up in the spirit of competition and “run dirty,” but according to LHS junior and varsity runner Will Johnson, Mr. Mark never let competitive edge turn into an unfair advantage. “Before anything else, before we ran meets, before we started practices, he would remind us to be athletes of good character. That was really important to him,” Johnson said of his coach.

And now as the runners look to the upcoming season with high hopes for their team, speculations are running high-- while a new coach hasn’t been appointed just yet, the boys are confident that the program will maintain its standard of excellence.

“The team won’t be as big,” senior Robbie Seneczko predicted. “The parents respect him a lot, and the general opinion of [Coach Mark] is really high... I think he’s going to be missed a lot by everyone.”

Meanwhile, Tommy Doherty is sure that the team will continue to excel.

Photo courtesy of Mr. Mark “I feel like whoever steps in is still going to do a really good job of coaching the team and keeping the team aspect going, but they have really big shoes to fill... [Coach Mark] has such a huge presence when he’s there, and when he’s gone, it’s going to affect some people. But at the same time, I know he’s going to be checking in with the team every week, probably. I’m sure it’ll still be okay.”

DROPS OF INK 23

Cartoon by Erin McAuliffe

The Reality of “The Bad Teacher”

Staff Editorial

A frequent comment made by students when they’re complaining to their parents about school or trying to study with a friend is, “she’s such a terrible teacher” or “he doesn’t know how to teach.”

While some of these accusations may be students attempting to place blame somewhere for their poor grade, the Drops of Ink staff discussed the truth behind the notorious “terrible teacher” concept.

First off, when the staff was prompted to raise their hand if they’ve ever felt like they’ve had a “bad teacher,” the entire class shot up their hands. When asked why we felt like a teacher was poor, the answers varied across the board.

Students tend to get aggravated when they don’t understand a concept in class. Not understanding the foundation of a concept just leads to confusion throughout the entire chapter or unit, which puts kids in a hole so deep, they feel like they can’t get out. We feel it’s important for teachers to extensively explain the foundation of a unit because the material is most likely a foreign concept to students and requires deep explanation. On the other hand, some staff members feel like their notes in class seem easy and understandable, but the homework and tests do not match the level of difficulty, being much harder than the original content learned during school hours.

The aggravation deepens when teachers don’t go over the nearly impossible homework or tests, which makes students feel like they never got a good grasp of the concept, worsening their position for the rest of the unit. Even when teachers do go over the homework, they often do so too quickly because they want to make sure they move on to the planned lesson for the day, which doesn’t help at all.

Being lost and confused during class is a common feeling for students, so it is nice to be able to ask questions. According to the DOI staff, the unfortunate aspect to asking questions is that some teachers often treat your questions as a joke and almost laugh at your confusion on such an “easy concept.” This only discourages students even more and leads them to never want to raise their hand again. When this happens, students then rely on help from the teacher outside of class time. The problem with this is that many staff members feel

like some teachers are unapproachable and don’t outwardly seem like they want to help. There are many teachers at LHS who always offer help before school, after school, and during study hall or lunch periods, but some teachers fail to offer their time to students. The DOI staff feels that it is unfair when teachers don’t put in effort to help kids review and understand but expect the students to put in hard work for their class. Learning is all about communicating and asking questions, so when a teacher makes students feel uncomfortable to do so, it hurts the student’s grade and ability to understand the material.

The DOI staff did have a lot to say about the “bad teachers” at LHS, but we also had a lot to say about the helpful techniques we have experienced from numerous teachers. It is agreed upon by all staff members that they learn better when the teacher is engaged with the material. Students enjoy when teachers don’t just go through Powerpoint slides, but ask questions to the class and tell stories at the same time. Application of skills is also another important factor to the staff. Application is best used through things like labs and practice problems, as they allow you to apply the skills you have been lectured about in class and see the concepts at work.

The most popular learning technique among the DOI staff was class discussion. Many students feel that discussion allows shy students to break out of their shell and allows students to see something from a different viewpoint while keeping the class active. Discussion allows for the teacher to show their true passion for the subject as well, which only intrigues the students more; when the teacher is excited, so are the students.

While every teacher in District 128 went through extensive education and interviews to obtain their job, their skills don’t always show through teaching. DOI does agree that LHS has a majority of amazing teachers who are always looking to help, re-explain, and engage with students. There is only a small amount of teachers who seem to be “bad” in DOI’s eyes, and we hope these suggestions are helpful.

DROPS OF INK 24

Before you criticize math concepts, look at the big picture By Jack Murphy When am I ever again going to approximate the area of an integral by using a Riemann sum? Or use long division when there is always going to be access to a calculator? Differential equations?

The fact of the matter is that a lot of us will never again use these equations and formulas, so they are very irrelevant. Many students from Libertyville High School are going into fields that have never required knowledge of a Riemann sum or the quadratic equation. The school is full of artists, writers, and musicians, going into fields that may not require or apply any mathematical prerequisites. There are a lot of topics that are taught in our math department here that a lot of students probably will never see in their jobs. So why is it required we take three years of math to graduate, and are recommended to take a fourth year?

While there are a plethora of students in the building who are not embarking upon a journey involving math, there still are many students that will apply what is taught in Libertyville’s math classes. There are students who are planning on majoring in different fields in business, which apply math in a multitude of ways; there are engineering majors that require a ton of knowledge in math; there are also many other science and mathematics majors that apply directly what is taught in the Libertyville math department.

Beyond what math students are taught in high school for their prospective field in college and afterward, the mathematics curriculum at LHS holds a bigger purpose. According to Mr. Tim Roegner, the head of the math department, the goal of the math department is to “prepare students for life beyond high school” by teaching the students “mathematical thinking.” Mathematical

thinking teaches students to reason abstractly and to solve problems multiple ways. The development of these problem-solving skills is very beneficial for students in their prospective fields, as well as in their everyday lives because they learn to solve problems a variety of ways and in different sequences, which applies to everyday problems because real-life problems can be solved in a variety of ways too.

Also, LHS is not the only school that has such a rigorous math curriculum; most schools have, or are working to have, a curriculum on par with ours. If the majority of high schools have been doing this for years, then it must be justified and worthwhile for students to do it. Colleges are looking for students’ success in the math department because -- as previously stated -- the problem solving developed in high school math classes translates into success in the future.

The topics specifically covered in the math classes are not supposed to apply to everyone directly. Obviously, different subjects are going to correlate with different fields, like other classes. The random equations that are learned in classes do apply to some students here, and those students must be accounted for as well.

So in the end, no, learning long division with variables and solving Riemann sums is not going to save your life some day.

Some of you probably have never even heard of those, and most of you will never do it again. But it is not the little details that benefit the student; it is the process of getting there. The problem-solving skills that it takes to solve real-world problems are what come from the math department. So while I won’t argue how relevant it may be for you to learn these topics, it may be that important for someone else.

DROPS OF INK 25

Photo courtesy of MCT Campus Some diets can actually cause you to gain weight afterwards instead of lose it because of lowered metabolism

Diets and Cleanses: Wishful Shrinking?

Why do people diet? To lose weight? To look thin? To be able to wear those jeans? What about to just be healthier?

People these days, especially Americans, are so preoccupied with calories. The biggest misconception is that as long as you lose weight, it doesn’t matter what you eat. But it does. The truth is, being thin and being healthy are not the same thing. Over the past decade, new ways of dieting have become more and more popular.

Some of the more popular ones are low-carb diets, low-calorie diets, low-fat diets, and cleanses. While these might sound like a good way to lose weight, if not done correctly, they may be harmful to your health over time by depriving you of some of the nutrients your body needs.

A low-carb diet limits carbohydrates, such as those found in grains, starchy vegetables, and fruit, and emphasizes foods high in protein and fat like eggs and nuts. The idea behind the low-carb diet is that decreasing carbs lowers insulin levels, which causes the body to burn stored fat for energy and ultimately leads to weight loss. Carbs are the body’s main fuel source, so cutting carbs too drastically may lead to headaches, weakness, fatigue, and cravings.

When your body is deprived of carbs for too long, you may end up binge eating carby foods like pasta, bread, rice, or baked goods, and your efforts are all for nothing. So what’s the point?

According to Institute of Medicine, of the calories that you eat throughout the day, carbohydrates should be 45-65 percent of them for your diet to be considered healthy and balanced. To ensure a healthy weight loss, switch to complex carbohydrates, like whole grains. They’re better for you and they take longer for the body to break down, therefore the nutrients last longer and you don’t need to consume as much to get energy. So don’t be afraid of carbs!

As for low-calorie diets, yes, if you lower your calorie intake, it can help you lose weight. But your calorie intake needs to be from healthy foods. Eating smaller amounts of junk food to lower calorie intake isn’t the solution. You’re still eating junk. The healthy

By Lauren Forrest

way to do it is to make sure that you’re getting your calories from nutritious foods, and not empty calories from junk food. By simply opting for the healthier option, you may not even need to lower your calorie intake to be lose weight.

Low-fat diets can be beneficial as well. But just know that not all fats are bad! Trans fats and saturated fats are bad for you because they raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease.

But monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are good for you, lowering cholesterol and reducing your risk of heart disease. In fact, according to WebMD, they might even help you lose weight.

By eating more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like olive oil, other vegetable oils, salmon, and tuna. It helps you stay full longer, so you don’t feel the need to eat constantly throughout the day.

Cleanses, also known as detox diets, have become increasingly popular. This method of dieting is thought to minimize the amount of chemicals consumed by eating only organic foods and emphasizing foods that provide the vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants that the body needs for detoxification, such as fruits and vegetables. People will blend fruits and vegetables into a juice or a smoothie then drink it as a snack or even a meal replacement, since it’s a good way to get your daily helping of fruits and vegetables all in one sitting. Now, I feel that people can get a little crazy with this method of dieting.

Some might only drink juices and smoothies for three meals a day, every day. Your body doesn’t need detoxification that often. Actually, your body does that naturally all by itself. It can be helpful to have a juice fast once a week maybe, but not every day.

Diets and cleanses may sound healthy, but all too often they deprive you of the nutrients your body needs to get you through the day. Besides, what’s the fun in limiting yourself in order to lose weight if you’re just going to gain it all back afterwards anyways?

So, instead of dieting, change your eating lifestyle to a healthier, more balanced one. One that helps you lose weight and keep it off while enhancing rather than harming your health.

DROPS OF INK 26

arey g o s s t tardedtoo WORDS tha Speak

gay

A

reta tardesdtop acting gay ard t e r his is re May u tctions g gay rded ay Loud, yo Speak but

By Maria Thames Walking through the halls at LHS, you hear countless snippets of “It’s really just to bring awareness again to people every year, strangers’ conversations, some intriguing and some you may forget but the only way it’s going to stop is if people start advocating for it within seconds. and stand up. And when someone says it you don’t have to get all in No matter what you’re hearing, you more than likely notice that their face, just be like ‘c’mon’ or just change the word for them. If students every day say something along the lines of “that’s so gay” or they say ‘that’s retarded’ just say something,” said Ms. Hays, a Best “this is so retarded.” What we don’t realize is that we are using these Buddies advisor. “I feel that that’s the only way it’s going to stop. words and phrases in a derogatory sense, hurting the feelings of many Teachers and people who believe in Best Buddies; we’re not always around us. around, so it’s going to come When you say somefrom everybody else. If thing is gay, you are not you’re like ‘oh that test was only using the word incorretarded’ you could say ‘that rectly, but you are making test didn’t make sense.’” fun of someone’s sexual Saying something is orientation, making those retarded is completely inapwho are gay feel as if propriate; you’re making fun they can’t be themselves. of someone with a cognitive Other than meaning impairment, and they can’t someone is attracted to control that; that’s just how their own gender, an older they are. definition for the word “You know, people do gay is “lighthearted and have mental retardation, but carefree” according to they’re not using it in that Google Dictionary, but context typically. They’re now, it is more commonly using it in a context to put used as “foolish, stupid, someone down by calling or unimpressive.” them retarded, or saying “The use of ‘gay’ is something is retarded, they’re kind of hurtful because using that in a negative way,” it’s not even that they said Best Buddies advisor don’t know, it’s that they and social worker Mrs. Linddon’t even try to know or say Rescetar. try to understand. It hurts, The only way these you know? It’s someone derogatory phrases are going using what you are as an to stop is if people start to tell insult,” expressed Antheir peers not to say them. thony Milunas, a junior “Say something if you who is a part of the Gay hear someone say it. Just tell Straight Alliance (GSA) them ‘hey, that’s not cool for and is openly gay. you to say that’ because it’s According to stopjust their habit, and people bullying.gov, LGBT teens might stop it if you say are two to three more something,” suggested junior times likely to commit Photo by Maria Thames Julia Thurau, a member of suicide than their peers.

GSA. Julia Thurau, a junior, works to eliminate the use of derogatory words.

“As far as the ‘gay’ word Don’t be afraid to stand goes, check the percent of suicide amongst gay people in our society up for what you believe in. If someone says something and it bothers and it’s difficult. It’s how you love, not who you love, and I just don’t you, just politely suggest another word; you wouldn’t be telling them have tolerance for people that continue to upset people; obviously this what to do, you’d just be suggesting an alternative word for them to a big deal because everyone talks about it, so just stop,” voiced health use. teacher Ms. Anne-Marie Hays.

“Words are powerful, so use them wisely. ...You can really Along with saying a situation or problem is “gay,” using the impact a person either positively or negatively and you want to leave word “retarded” inappropriately is also quite common among high high school as a positive impact on people, and not have people school students. At LHS, Best Buddies is all about stopping the use remember you as the big jerk that always made fun of everyone and of the R-word. Every year in March, Best Buddies sponsors the camused derogatory words,” said Ms. Hays. paign “Spread the word to end the word.”

DROPS OF INK 27

Paving the Path: Parental Influence on Student Athletes Often times, athletes have been playing their sport for the better part of their lives by being mentored and trained by their parents. Living in Libertyville and growing up playing sports as a kid at Butler Park and having parents coach was a thrilling experience for many. For some athletes at LHS, parents have been involved in their athletic career from a young age.

For senior baseball pitcher and future player for Cedarville University Andrew Plunkett, his dad has always had a great impact on him as he started playing.

“My dad got me into baseball around when I was 6. He loves the sport and he started coaching me at a young age, which made it the sport for me,” Plunkett said.

When starting off playing a sport, there needs to be a passion from the young athlete and the correct guidance by his/her parent. For someone who wants to play a sport from a young age all up until college, it takes love for the game and complete support from family, friends, and coaches. In Andrew’s case, his dad was the person guiding him through baseball all his life.

“He’s definitely been a huge part of me becoming a

By Jarrett Malec

better baseball player; he has taught me a lot of what I know,” Andrew said.

Being a “winning” parent is a term that is used when it comes to how to raise a child, whether it be with sports or not. In an article by Dr. Allen Goldberg, a specialist in sports psychology and mental toughness, on CompetitiveAdvantage.com, there are 13 steps to becoming the ultimate sports parent. A few that stick out are about teaching kids how to fail and deal with failure, and to not define success by winning and losing.

“I started teaching Andrew baseball around 3 years old and began helping coach his teams at 6 or 7 years old. I was fairly serious from the beginning,” stated Andrew’s dad, Dave Plunkett.

Mr. Plunkett saw great potential in his son at an early age as he pushed him to do his best to improve his “natural abilities.”

LHS junior swimmer Siobhan Prince has worked very hard to get where she is now, and she believes that her parents are a part of her success.

“Swimming is a huge part of my life and without my parents helping me through, I wouldn’t be where I am

“Swimming is a huge part of my life and without my parents helping me through, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” -Siobhan Prince

Couretsy of Siobhan Prince Prince cites her parents as a source of inspiration in her swimming.

DROPS OF INK 28

today,” she said.

A survey conducted over the past decade by two As a varsity athlete, Prince has had times where men who are a part of Proactive Coaching LLC she has been worn down from 5 a.m. wake-up calls looked into what makes a nightmare sports parent. and long practices, but she says that her parents reBruce Brown and Rob Miller, the creators of this mind her of her goals and how all of the morning and survey, asked hundreds of college students to think late-night practices will help back to their best and worst her reach them. memories of playing sports as “Siobhan is independent a kid involving their parents. and very committed to swimThe result of the survey was ming. She makes sure that that the dreaded ride home afshe attends most practices and ter a tough game was the worst manages her time well with experience. The awkward conschool and swimming,” said versation between the athlete Siobhan’s mom, Ann Prince. and parents could very much When watching an athletic be relatable for kids pasts here event at LHS, parents are at LHS as a rough game at asked to respect both teams by Butler Park could turn into an acting as an appropriate audieven more rough ride home. ence. Here at LHS, parents or On the contrary, the most posiguardians of athletes are asked tive things that parents can say to sign a Code of Conduct to their kids is that they love that states how they should watching them play, according act at games and how to treat to the article. their child. This code is to be For LHS junior and girls accepted fully and it has rarely gymnast Maddie Knollenberg, been a problem in the past, gymnastics has been a huge according to Athletic Director part of her and her parents’ Briant Kelly. life.

“As always, we encourage “I started gymnastics at our parents and student-atha young age and as I kept on Courtesy of Andrew Plunkett doing it, my parents became letes to communicate about their expectations for athletics Senior baseball pitcher Andrew Plunkett picked up the game from his dad. more and more serious with me at the high school level,” stated about it,” stated Knollenberg.

Mr. Kelly.

Although at times KnollenWithout support from a parent or sibling through berg has gotten tired of gymnastics, the support from tough times, playing a sport may become a drag. her parents keeps her going.

Student athletes often need that rock to lean back on “I have had to travel a lot for gymnastics and my when times get tough. mom always helps me with my preparation before I Parents everywhere treat their children in different perform,” she said. manners during a game situation;for example, there is Athletes from LHS have had and will continue to the scream in the face to see if that will work parent have parents and guardians who help them prosper in and then there is the I’ll just sit here and watch in their athletic careers. silent parent.

“I started gymnastics at a young age and as I kept on doing it, my parents became more and more serious with me about it.” -Maddie Knollenberg.

DROPS OF INK 29

Layout by Abigail St. Claire

Too Much, Too Early?

By Mike Gasick December.

For many high school students, this is a highly-anticipated month, as the holidays bring families closer together, along with a nice twoweek break from tedious coursework. A relaxing Netflix binge-watching during the days of break usually bring facing family members at dinner time asking question after question about their future plans.

The answer?

“I don’t know.”

Understandably so, asking high school students--regardless of grade-level--what they want to do in the future can be too premature.

Seniors can respond with the major of their choosing, yet according to College Parents of America, as many as 80 percent of college students change their major at some point during their college career. And that doesn’t even account for the number of students who enter a college undecided.

What about freshmen and sophomores? Not even halfway through their high school academics, there should be little reason at all to have a headache about future plans.

However, in the ever-changing high school sports world, an interesting trend has started to arise, which may cause some more concrete answers coming out of the mouths of underclassmen around the holidays.

LHS Athletic Director Mr. Briant Kelly noted that athletes who commit early should be open-minded about their coaches and academics in college.

“At the college level, there may be more changes with coaching,” stated Mr. Kelly. “Hypothetically, somebody could commit, but when it comes down to it, the person they committed to is no longer there.”

Mr. Kelly further stated that he has seen athletes already committing as middle-schoolers and freshmen, ages that he thinks is just too early.

“The athlete may make a commitment to a college and their academic choices may have changed, and even their athletic ability, for better or worse, so when you make a verbal [commitment], lots could change,” stated Mr. Kelly.

Sophomore varsity tennis player Stefano Tsorotiotis verbally committed to the University of Illinois. In his case, it was not solely the university approaching him for visits; he had many connections that made this opportunity possible.

“My personal coach knows the head coaches at Illinois very well so they contacted him to watch me a few times,” stated Tsorotiotis. “After that, I started scheduling unofficial visits because NCAA rules state that I can only socialize with the coaches while I’m on campus or if I call the coaches directly.” Tsorotiotis even started to be contacted by coaches in the eighth grade.

After he went down to see Illinois play a match against North Carolina and Duke, Tsorotiotis was hooked, as the atmosphere for the college tennis match was amazing, as the crowd and level of play made it enjoyable for him to be apart.

Junior Jessie Lauret also committed early to play softball at Purdue University. According to Lauret, she picked Purdue early because it relieved the some of the pressure of making the stressful college decision. photo courtesy of Jess Lauret “It’s a major stress reliever,” stated Lauret. “Knowing where I will be playing college softball takes a lot of pressure Junior Jess Lauret, who’s committed to Purdue, warms up before a summer league game. off in school; I don’t have to have straight A’s for next year, which is kind of nice.”

Lauret originally played shortstop but changed to center DROPS OF INK 30

field because of her size. She will look to focus on the upcoming Libertyville softball season to help her team to a successful year.

In addition to playing softball, Lauret was impressed with the academics at the university. Purdue ranks as one of the top universities for academics in Indiana, as Lauret would like to also focus on earning a degree to become a special education teacher one day.

The number of verbal commitments to various colleges and universities, starting as early as eighth year, have been increasing significantly over the past years.

In a 2008 study conducted on Rivals.com, a sports and recruiting website, over 50 percent of their top 100 football players verbally committed to a school-most of these cases before senior year.

Verbally committing to a college may give student-athletes a sense of security as to where they will be competing in their post-high school sports careers. Committing early may also bring a sense of relief and reality knowing that college teams accept student-athletes’ athletic abilities and want them to join their teams.

However, according to a Q and A article with Rivals.com recruiting experts, five out of the six experts noted that they see the trend as potentially harmful and dangerous to young athletes. They criticized the students’ inexperience with the schools by not touring or looking deeper into what the school has to offer for them. Just seeing a name and signing has Chris Nee, one of the Rivals.com recruitng experts, shaking his head at the thought of early-committing.

“You have prospects committing to verbal offers who know little or nothing about a school and have never visited,” stated Nee in the Q and A. “That sets the stage for them to be a future transfer when it turns out that it isn’t what he thought it was.”

The experts also disliked the idea of various schools offering scholarships to athletes without even going to any of their games or practices just because they saw another school offer scholarships to them. This lack of personal contact causes a disconnection between the college and student. Because colleges cannot officially make contact with players at their high schools, recruiters instead offer the desired athletes to their camps on campus, which constitutes a legal, unofficial visit.

Unofficial visits are when the athletes take a trip to campus on their own and tour it with family and friends. A visit is deemed official if any part of the visit is financed by the university.

Athletes will have to decide if the benefits of committing early are advantageous enough to make that important decision.

“It’s a major stress reliever.

Knowing where I will be playing college softball takes a lot of pressure off in school.”

-Jess Lauret

photo courtesy of Stefano Tsorotiotis Sophomore Stefano Tsorotiotis follows through on a shot.

photo courtesy of MCT Campus Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky freshman, committed to the school back in October 2011.

DROPS OF INK 31

g into shape n i r p S

By Maddie Salata and Katie Vrba

With the snow melting and the sun shining once again, it’s time to hop off the couch and spring into shape! Let’s be honest, we could all use a little nudge in the right direction after those long winter months. And it’s important to take care of our bodies and fuel them with the food they need. This guide will give you some tricks and tips on how to stay healthy and fit this spring in a really simple way.

Snack Swaps

quick and easy lunch water fruit

Cheetos

Popcorn

Fruit Snacks

Strawberries

M&Ms

Chocolate-covered blueberries

veggie

snack/chip protein

sandwich

DROPS OF INK 32

workout outfifif its

It’s been said that when you feel your best, you’re more motivated to work out. So why not treat yourself to some cute workout gear? Before you hit the gym or go outside, put on a fashionable workout outfit. Whether you color coordinate to your shoes, show off a Lululemon headband, or rock a bright shirt, looking your best will make you feel confident and motivated during your workouts.

weekly fi f itness schedule MONDAY: go on a run

gym memberships

TUESDAY: crunches and planks WEDNESDAY: rest day THURSDAY: go on a bike ride FRIDAY: go on a run

Sometimes being around motivated people can help us get motivated too. If you can afford it, getting a gym membership can be really beneficial. Gyms have specialized equipment for everyone to use and you can even take classes, like spinning or yoga. There are a lot of gyms in and around Libertyville that LHS students can take advantage of, depending on the price range.

Xsport Fitness- $9.95/month Life Time Fitness- $110/month Centre Club- $48/month Anytime Fitness- $35/month

SATURDAY: do some yoga SUNDAY: rest day DROPS OF INK 33

n l al in sy c

By Olivia Griffith

Layout by Maddie Salata

Maneuvering as one in multiple swift movements, captivating Plaines, where practices are held at the local YMCA. the audience. Pushing through the gallons of water, all the while There are many aspects to synchronized swimming. “The to the rhythm of music. These are things a synchronized swimmer athleticism, the musicality, the friendships. I can’t just pick needs to think every time they one thing,” said one of Garpractice a routine. cia-Stam’s close friends from Junior Barbara Garthe team, Alice Kenny, when cia-Stam is a synchronized asked what her favorite thing swimmer who has won several about synchronized swimming impressive medals for her part was. in these competitions.

The team trains year round Synchronized swimming is except for two weeks in late Aua sport in which members of gust. Competition season runs a team put on a show where from February to July. “We are they perform identical movein the thick of our competition ments or routines to music. season now and every meet is It’s a cross between dance and a qualifying meet for nationals gymnastics and while they are this summer in North Carolina,” performing, the swimmers are said Garcia-Stam’s head coach, unable to touch the bottom of Patty Moyer. the pool.

The team has one to two Since fourth grade, competitions a month. The two Garcia-Stam has been taking most important competitions part in this sport. She first they compete in are regionals started after seeing a flyer for (midwest region) and nationals. a test clinic she and her mom “We usually place second or happened to get in the mail, first for regionals, and then the as it was part of the school top three go to nationals. For district, so it was sent around nationals, we usually get top to everybody that went to the twenty,” stated Garcia-Stam.

Photo courtesy of Barbara Garcia-Stam school.

During their practices on There are 20 girls on GarTuesdays, Thursdays, and SaturGarcia-Stam (third from left) poses in uniform with some of her teammates. cia-Stam’s team, around 10 or so days, they work to prepare routines. of whom are within her age group, as well as five young swim“We place significant emphasis on our warm-up, which is the the mers in a synchronized swimming class, preparing for a chance first 45 minutes of our practice,” said Moyer. This helps to keep to be on the team. Levels go from novice to the higher age-group injuries from occurring as well as to prepare them for their coming division. According to her coach, Garcia-Stam is one of the top practices and meets. According to Kenny, practices are exhausting swimmers in the 16-17 age-group division. but meets are stressful.

Most of the girls go to Mount Prospect High School, but there They train for each meet by practicing their routine with are girls like Garcia-Stam who go different schools such as Warmusic. They then practice it without goggles so they are able to ren, LHS, and Barrington. Both the coach and practices are in Des do the routine without having to use their eyes because when they

DROPS OF INK 34

are performing, they are unable to wear goggles. It is necessary to hear music for each performance; there are speakers both outside and under the water, so onlookers and performers are both able to hear the music. At meets, the coaches are there to help give constructive criticism without making the girls more nervous than they already are.

For each group they compete with, the girls get a new uniform.

This consists of a suit, nosepiece (sometimes), and hairpiece. The girls can either compete in a team, solo, duet, or trio. This year, Garcia-Stam is doing a duet with Kenny. As of now, their duet is to a mashup of an instrumental version of “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis as well as a remix of “Heart Upon My Sleeve” by Avicii.

The team as a whole is very close. “It’s hard not to be friends when we travel together all the time and it’s a very up-close and personal sport,” stated Kenny. Although many live quite a distance from each other, they still find time to get together and hang out once in a while.

Many of the girls on the team have been doing the sport for nearly five-plus years. Synchronized swimming is the main sport for many of them, however many also participate on the swim team and other sports.

Photo courtesy of Barbara Garcia-Stam Garcia-Stam (in front) practices her duet routine at the team’s training facility in Des Plaines. they’ll let [her] leave early if [she] has a lot of homework.” She also used to do dance, which helps a lot with her routines.

Since practices are only three or so times a week for two hours (four hours on the weekends), they generally don’t interfere with schoolwork. “Because we don’t have practice that often through-

“As well as being a hard worker, Garcia-Stam is

also noted as

having a big heart, always

helping others and never putting anyone else down.”

As well as synchronized swimming, Garcia-Stam participates in swimming at LHS in the fall and Spanish Club year-round.

Doing multiple activities can make it hard for her to maintain her grades; however, she says her “coaches are really lenient. Like, if [she] has a big test, they’ll let [her] stay home and study. Or

out the week, I can get stuff done earlier,” said Garcia-Stam.

According to her coach and two friends, Garcia-Stam is one of the hardest workers at practice. Although “she has been plagued by shoulder and back injuries for the past year, she has learned to adapt her warm up to not tax certain muscle groups in her body.

She also puts in extra time away from the pool working on her core muscles, flexibility and cardio,” stated Moyer.

As well as being a hard worker, Garcia-Stam is also noted as “having a big heart, always helping others and never putting anyone else down. She never gets frustrated and I’ve never seen her raise her voice at anyone before,” Sasha Boudko, a senior at Warren Township High School, said.

Her coach noted that Garcia-Stam is quiet, but an amazing power source for the team. She also talked about how Garcia-Stam is “is very coachable, which is every coach’s dream.”

DROPS OF INK 35

Liberty Sports Complex 1950 N Hwy 45, 2nd Level Libertyville IL 60048 POWERED BY PALMEN SPORTS

New Value Pricing in 2015!

Train with a performance coach for $15-20 per hour (with membership)

Take Your Game to the Next Level Athletic Republic of Libertyville is a science-based, sports performance training movement with real, quantifiable results.

How do we give you the edge? With intensive training, sport specific training programs and advanced, patented equipment designed to safely push athletes beyond their limits.

#1 in performance sports training Baseball

Volleyball

Soccer

Football

Cross Country

Tennis

Basketball

Track & Field

Softball

Lacrosse

Golf

Hockey

What Works For The Pros

Will Work For You Train with the same scientific methods and equipment used by professional athletes like Misty May-Treanor, Jim Thome, Darren McFadden, Jameer Nelson, Marian Gaborik, and Montee Ball. “ Their acceleration training has improved [my son’s] 40 yard dash, pro agility, foot quickness, and game speed.”

– Montee Ball Sr.

Science. Technology. Results.

Average Performance Improvements With Athletic Republic Training: 0.2 – 0.4 seconds in 40 yards 2 – 4 inches of vertical jump height 5 - 8 inches in standing long jump distance 5 mph in throwing velocity 50% improvement in recovery ability 20% gain in peak force and power 33% increase in foot speed Significant improvements in both running and skating efficiency  fb.com/palmensports

 twitter.com/arlibertyville

Check us out at palmensports.com/libertyville