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What’s Trending : Fall Edition

Rowan Hornsey Jade Foo

Stade’s Farm and Market (pronounced stah-dee) in McHenry was the first local orchard available to go apple picking this season. The farm is around a half-hour drive from Libertyville. The varieties of apples available in late September and early October are scheduled to be Honeycrisp, flaming early red, red jonaprince, empire, september wonder fuji, red cameo, cox’s orange pippin, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Winecrisp and Rosalie, according to their website. A quarter peck, which is plenty enough for a week’s worth of apples, is $6, but there is also a half peck, peck, and half bushel options for higher prices. The orchard is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. when apples are in sears, so if you have a few hours free and are looking for a quick snack or a fun fall outdoor activity, this is a great option. In addition to the apple orchard, Stade’s also has a fall-themed park open until Oct. 27 on Saturdays and Sundays in Sept. and on Friday-Sunday in Oct. Some common attractions of the park are the petting zoo, pumpkin cannon, giant slide and corn maze.

Photo courtesy of Paige Bleck

Both the home and away football games this year have had a successful fan turnout thus far. The next home game is against Mundelein on Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m., and the theme is a pink out for breast cancer awareness. The last scheduled home game is against Zion-Benton on Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m., and the theme is a rock ‘n’ roll out. Many students have worn their spirit pack shirts to the games, but some have also decided to rely on their personal style and created outfits on their own.

Fun fact: In most recipes, pumpkin spice isn’t made with any pumpkin ingredients, only cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.

In addition to those activities, the fall brings many 5K races and seasonal food festivals. Some local festivals are the Vernon Hills Fall Festival from Sept. 28-29 and the Highwood Pumpkin Festival from Oct. 11-13. You can expect both to have lots of music and pumpkin-themed crafts. Other events to keep your eyes peeled for are the Oktoberfest at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Oct. 26 from 6-10 p.m. and the Knights of Columbus Oktoberfest in Lake Zurich on Oct. 5 from 6:30-10:30 p.m. Oktoberfest originates from the celebration of a German royal wedding, but currently is more of a fall-themed event with traditional drinks and Bavarian music. Some local 5Ks this fall are the Cancer Schmancer 5K in Grayslake on Sept. 28, the Lake Bluff Pumpkin Chase on Oct. 26 and the Long Grove Turkey Trot on Nov. 28.

Rayna Wuh

Brooke Hutchins

Over the summer, decor was added to the outside of the main entrance. Part of the design recognized last year’s blue ribbon award.

With the 2019-20 school year in full swing, several changes have been implemented all around LHS, including those relating to Parchment, AP Classroom, the athletic department’s core values and school security policies.

Seniors will be the first to experience change in the form of Parchment, a college application resource that allows students to send their transcripts directly to the schools they are applying to.

Although Naviance is still a useful college search tool, College and Career Resource Counselor Ms. Amy Belstra described that its previous use to send scores was not intuitive.

“Based on what I’m seeing, I think everybody’s going to like [Parchment]. I think it’s much easier, it’s much clearer. It’s just taking the middleman out of the equation,” she expressed.

In addition, for students taking AP classes, there is now a fall registration date as opposed to one in the spring and increased resources available online through AP Classroom.

However, Associate Principal Mr. Raymond Albin explained that the AP courses at LHS are essentially the same. The alterations by College Board merely supplement pre-established courses and guidelines. His main suggestion is for students to keep track of a single College Board account for all testing to accommodate the recent consolidation of College Board’s resources.

In the athletic department, the acronym PROGRAM was developed to reflect its core values. It was created over the course of five months last year, with input from the coaching staff as well as hundreds of students. LHS athletic director Mr. John Woods was largely responsible for initiating the new vision.

In order to unify more than 90 LHS sports teams, Mr. Woods first asked students to name athletic core values and how they imagined them in action. A committee of coaches then grouped similar words into categories, producing umbrella words to represent different submissions.

The chosen words -- Passionate, Respectful, One, Grit, Reliable, Accountable and Mindful -- along with the athletic mission and vision statements, are now displayed in a mural outside the West Gym. “ If we do get recognized for our successes on the field, it’s going

The athletic program has been working to create a set of values that embodies everything LHS athletics stands for. This mural, placed outside the west gym, outlines these beliefs.

to be because the work that we put in behind the scenes and how we treat each other and [opponents].”

A similar message is displayed to those who see the new murals and decor as they enter through the school’s front doors.

“We’re Libertyville High School. Go Wildcats!” exclaimed Mr. Woods.“That’s who we are. So we brought this sense of pride in who we are and branding all over the place.”

Additionally, there is a new recording studio behind the Studio Theater. The Electronic Music class, recently renamed Music Production and Sound Engineering, will utilize this space, although it will be available to others as well . The space was previously used for the LHS radio station. The studio will be in use again after a floor reinstallation.

Mr. David Ness, who teaches the class, described goals students would pursue throughout the year.

“[In] music production, literally, [students are] producing the music from beginning to end. From the beginning, where there’s nothing, to the end when [they] have a recording that you can play,” he explained. Mr. Ness hopes that some of the students’ recordings will eventually be played in the hallways during passing periods.

Policies regarding use of the music hallway doors are also new to this school year. Seniors are no longer allowed to exit the school for lunch release through the band doors. In addition, the use of mobile food delivery services like Uber Eats and Grubhub are also forbidden. Head of Security, Mr. Robert Uliks, cited the main purpose for the changes as an attempt to control entry access to the building. In past years, students had let others in through the doors, which became difficult to regulate.

For online food services, issues arose from inconvenience as opposed to safety concerns.

“We were getting sometimes 50, 60, 70 [orders] a day from students. So there was just food that was piled up,” Mr. Uliks described.

Although carriers generally did not enter the school, the security team not knowing any of the people bringing the food, in conjunction with the buildup of food, ultimately led to that decision, Mr. Uliks said.

Sayre DeBruler Peyton Rodriguez

At the beginning of August, the Illinois Congress passed a statewide law stating that, at the start of next school year, schools must implement LGBTQ history into their curriculum.

According to this recent legislation, the Inclusive Curriculum Law, students must be well-informed of LGBTQ people who have contributed to state and national history by the end of eighth grade, meaning the law does not officially apply to high school curriculum. The bill was introduced and sponsored by State Representative Anna Moeller from the 43rd District and State Senator Heather Steans from the 7th District.

Government and psychology teacher Mrs. Laura Brandt believes that the “Obergefell v. Hodges case [was] sort of a grassroots movement [for the bill].” This 2015 Supreme Court case legalized gay marriage throughout the country, and Mrs. Brandt believes that this helped to push states like Illinois and California to pass laws concerning LGBTQ history.

She also remarked that it would make sense to compare the similarities and differences between the fight for civil rights in the ‘60s and the fight for gay rights now. While not required at the high school level, Mrs. Brandt suggested U.S. history classes could combine an African American civil rights unit with one on the LGBTQ civil rights movement.

U.S. history teacher Mrs. Sarah Greenswag also considers combining the two to be beneficial. However, Mrs. Greenswag believes that LGBTQ rights should be brought up a multitude of times, not just in one unit. The first part of history that Mrs. Greenswag sees as significant for the LGBTQ community is the era of cowboys. Because so many men were living among each other with no women, “there was all of this homosexual activity that was happening, but nobody cared because it was just seen as normal because that was your only option,” Mrs. Greenswag stated.

Mrs. Greenswag also strongly believed that while the law does not technically require high schools to teach

LGBTQ history, they still should. She asserted that “a lot of

students and

teenagers in

general don’t know their sexual identity before eighth grade.” As a result, Mrs. Greenswag believes that teaching LGBTQ history in high school is a fantastic way to help students better understand exactly who they are and realize “there’s a lot of people like [them].”

Teachers are not the only ones to have opinions on Illinois’ new law. Albert Sterner, a senior, was quick to point out how many people did not know that homosexual behavior had once been considered a crime in America and was labeled as a mental illness until 1973 by the American Psychiatric Association. Because of this lack of knowledge, Sterner stated that “it’s really frustrating to talk to someone about queer history, and they just don’t understand.” Sterner believes that teaching LGBTQ history will help people understand that being part of the LGBTQ community is not a bad thing.

Like Mrs. Brandt, Sterner explained that looping an LGBTQ unit in with the civil rights unit makes sense: “It wasn’t just people of color fighting for rights. It was gay people. It was disabled people.”

However, Sterner explained that learning a lot about the subject after eighth grade makes more sense to him than before.

Sam Krinninger, another senior, agrees with Sterner that LGBTQ history doesn’t need to be required before high school. However, his views come from his belief that people “who aren’t supporters of the LGBTQ [community] could possibly find it offensive” and wouldn’t want their children learning about sexuality at a young age. Krinninger also stated that learning “how the LGBTQ community [in general] started” should be an important part of the curriculum. As a member of the LGBTQ community, LHS senior Albert Sterner is happy about this new law getting passed.

At the start of the 2020 school year, LGBTQ history will start to be integrated into the new history curriculum in Illinois schools. Pins courtesy of Libertyville’s GSA club sponsor, Ms. Nasland.

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