Huntley High School The Voice March 2016

the

VOICE H

aving a passion for fixing cars

PLUS Radio Club looks for students to get involved with community radio Kendrick Lamar’s new album takes charts by storm New football coach Matt Zimolzak looks to build on Red Raiders success

(R. O’Sullivan)

Huntley High School • 13719 Harmony Rd. Huntley, IL 60142 • (847) 659-6600 • @huntleyvoice • huntleyvoice.com March 24, 2016 • Volume 19 • Issue 6

VOICE

Features

the

12

Car Fanatic COVER STORY Junior Ryan Hellgeth looks to find a career in the automotive industry

15

Rapping away problems Sophomores Kenne Murray and Robert Garcia enjoy increasing success after dropping mix tape on SoundCloud

18

Injured but not out Freshman Darcy McQueeny tears ACL and fights to get back on the dance floor to finish the season with her teammates

(R. O’Sullivan)

A&E

Opinion

25

9

‘Allegiant’ Review “The Divergent Series: Allegiant,” the second to last of the series, has room for improvement, but stays true to the book

26

‘House of Cards’

7

33

HHS will be making the transition to new learning module system, Canvas, starting in the 2017-2018 school year 10

Season four continues to captivate audience with memorable characters

News

Haiku to Canvas

Sports

Same Old Songs

Lacrosse player Nate Monis encourages his teammates on and off the field 37

11

Class Rank no more The collegiate-style Latin honors system replacing the traditional class rank system will bring much needed change to HHS

Del Webb residents are bothered with students trespassing through their yards to get to school

The Karate Kid Junior Drew London competes at international level in Shotokan Karate competitions

Today’s popular music repetitive nature stems from the strong grip record labels have on their artists

Annoying the neighbors

Team Player

38

Team Captain Material Baseball pitcher Luc Sibert uses his unique personality to succeed on the field and make the game fun for teammates

VOICE STAFF

the

Editor in Chief • Adam Reckamp • Print Editor • Courtney Thomas • Online Editor • Ashley O’Brien • Assistant Online Editor • Camille Paddock • News Editor • Mawa Iqbal • Opinion Editor • Maddy Moffett • Features Editor • Charlie Vavrick • Design Editor • Sumbul Shakeel • A&E Editor • Devin Martin • Sports Editor • Tyler Watkins • Photo Editor • Ryan O’Sullivan • Staff Writers • Sarah Biernat • Brandon Frey • Danielle King • Alex Landman • Tyler Lopez • Maggie McGee • Lucas Modzelewski • Joe Rizzo • Raemon Savillo • Mohammed Syed • Natalie Trzeckiak • Austin Zeis • Photographers • Michael Czapka • Dana Kalish • Sehba Faheem • Adviser • Dennis Brown

Editorial Policy

H

HS Media are the official student-produced media of news and information published/produced by HHS Media students. HHS Media have been established as designated public forums for student editors to inform and educate their readers as well as for the discussion of issues of concern to their audience. It will not be reviewed or restrained by school officials prior to publication or distribution. Advisers may – and should coach and discuss content – during the writing process. Because school officials do not engage in prior review, and the content of HHS Media is determined by and reflects only the views of the student staff and not school officials or the school itself; its student editorial board and responsible student staff members assume complete legal and financial liability for the content of the publication.

NEWS

Raiders rockin’ the radio Radio club seeks students to host live shows natalie trzeciak • staff writer

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black plaque with gold lettering marked the entrance of the Al Litwin Studio. The room was filled with microphones and other recording equipment, ready to be used at any minute.

Students entered the room eager to begin their session. The bright “On Air” sign flicked on, and signaled the beginning of another broadcast recording.

The Radio Club has been making a steady comeback through advertising and meetings this school year after a brief decline in membership last year.

The club first made an appearance at Huntley High School in 2013 when student Emily Barron became interested in broadcasting.

Throughout the years, Radio Club’s popularity and success had fluctuated. It had gone through many leaders and sponsors until this year, when junior Zachary Fleck decided to take up the responsibility of running the club.

“At that point, I spoke with Mrs. Bardy who was interested in sponsoring the club,” said Fleck.

“We wanted to see if we could start it back up again.”

Club sponsor Cathleen Bardy first became involved in radio broadcasting in college, when she joined the production team for a year. Though she was not involved in any talk shows, she was in charge of the technical side of the transmission.

“It was something that I had a lot of fun with,” said Bardy. “I just wanted to give the students the chance to become a part of something like that.”

With the help of Bardy, the Radio Club was able to establish a solid foundation for Huntley students’ involvement in the Huntley

Junior Zach Fleck hosting a live broadcast at the Huntley Community Radio (M. Czapka).

Community Radio.

Students will be able to participate in three broadcasts that will air throughout the week. Each broadcast will have a 30 minute time slot on the station that will consist of two 15 minute segments.

Club members will have the opportunity to create and host their own radio shows, as well as participate in different segments that include HHS news, sports updates, tech talks, music reviews, and even teacher talks. Once the segments are chosen, students can pre-record their segments using the equipment provided by HHS or at the Al Litwin Studios located at Deicke Park. According to Fleck, the pre-recording of segments will eliminate student’s stress and potential of messing up.

Though most meetings will be held on Mondays after school, the club will be keeping a flexible schedule in order to give all interested students a chance to be a part of the experience.

“We just want to make sure that everybody gets a chance to record as much as they can,” said Fleck.

“Adjusting to people’s schedules will allow us to do that.”

Not only will Radio Club provide a fun environment for those

who wish to become a part of a broadcast show, it will also provide an opportunity for students to voice their opinions.

According to Bardy, the Huntley Community Radio has a large audience that includes important authority figures such as board members, and primarily Superintendent John Burkey. Having access to media with a strong base will potentially allow many to express their concerns and suggestions without having to attend board meetings.

“It really is a great outlet for all students, even those who aren’t in the club,” said Bardy. “With the recording equipment at HHS, anybody can be a part of this process.”

All broadcasts will be aired on 101.5 FM at 6:30 a.m. on Monday and Thursday, and 9 a.m. on Saturday. This will give the students and all of the community the chance to listen to the live broadcast during their morning commute.

With the broadcast times in mind, the club is also looking for other ways to expand their audience and membership. Listeners will be able to find the podcasts of the previous shows on the Huntley Community Radio’s website.

In the future, the community will be able to follow the club on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and

even Haiku. Club members are also working on putting the podcasts on Soundcloud and iTunes.

“We’re hoping that if we can find ways to get ourselves out there that more students will become involved in this process,” said Fleck. “We have to start somewhere.”

In the meantime, club members will continue to push for progress after their recent fresh start. The club will work on accomplishing short and long term goals that will better its future. Though membership is the club’s primary concern at the moment, Bardy wishes to someday move towards a completely live broadcast.

“If at all possible, it would be ideal if a select few students would have some form of a late start so they could sit in the studio before school,” said Bardy. “I would love to have them talking about the weather or traffic as it’s happening.”

Live broadcasts will allow the community to stay up-to-date on events occurring at the high school.

The club will begin recording new broadcasts in approximately two weeks.

“I want to see more people get involved so the club can move forward,” said Fleck. “It’ll be a great opportunity to connect the school with the community when it does.”

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 3

NEWS

Seniors Audrey Deguzman, Shazaib Haider, Aryon Shariati, and Dylan Parshall examine a patient (S. Faheem).

HHS Medical Academy pioneers unique program Centegra Youth Residency Program is the first of high school medical residency in the nation. mawa iqbal • news editor 4 huntleyvoice.com March 2016

I

t once stood as a simple skeleton of sturdy, steel beams. Surrounded by towering cranes and diligent construction workers, the outline of the future building was slowly developing into a healthy, fully-functioning body. Two months later, the finishing touches were added, and the Centegra Hospital in Huntley was officially slated to open its new front doors in the summer of 2016.

Establishing itself as part of a growing community in the midst of evolution, the hospital will be welcoming Huntley High School students for an exclusive behindthe scenes look into the world of medicine. Partnered with Centegra, HHS will launch its first ever Youth Residency Program in the fall of 2016.

HHS will be selecting 30 students from the Medical Academy to work side-by-side with medical professionals in the new facility. Students will be divided into mini groups of four to 5 people and rotate different departments halfway through their sessions, from CT-Scanning to surgical operations and everything in between.

This method of exposing the students to every nook and cranny of the medical world gives them a glimpse of what to expect when attending medical school.

Because the students’ personal interests aren’t taken into account, everyone has the opportunity to gain a broader perspective before making a decision.

“When you see the broader base, then you get into fellowship programs which is where you start getting into your specialised field of study,” said Project Lead the Way teacher Jeffrey Robinson. “You might be fascinated by cardiology, but you don’t know if you’re more fascinated by nuclear imaging until you’ve had more exposure to it.”

Unlike job shadowing or volunteering to do menial tasks, the students will be allowed to closely interact with the professionals for a more engaging, hands-on experience.

“We want our students to be engaged, inquisitive, and to learn,” said First Responder teacher Renae St.Clair. “We want them to see the medical professionals as mentors, not necessarily somebody they’re shadowing or doing volunteer hours for.”

Though they will receive a more involved experience than they would’ve through mimicking the professional or racking up volunteering hours, the students are, by law, limited to the activities they can participate in.

“If a student is in the ER and all of a sudden a gunshot victim comes in, the surgeons will tell them to get to the wall and become a wallflower for the rest of the session,” said Robinson. “It all depends on what’s going on in the hospital on that day, so they obviously can’t participate in everything.”

Despite this, the residency program will be putting Huntley students in a position that no current hospital employee had the opportunity to be in during their high school years.

“This program gives students a taste of what goes on in the hospital before they’re there, which is fairly unprecedented,” said Robinson. “High school students

NEWS

don’t really get that much besides volunteering, but this program makes more hospital features accessible to high school students.”

Because this innovative partnership is the first of its kind nationally, HHS has now become a frontrunner in a movement that can potentially open new front doors for future high school residency programs across the nation.

That future, however, is still left undetermined. According to St.Clair, it is all dependant on how well the selected students take responsibility of this monumental project. The first class of 30 seniors will either make or break this program for the students who will come after them.

“Unfortunately there’s going to be a lot of pressure on that first class,” said St.Clair. “If they do an absolutely phenomenal job then Centegra will want to do this again. But if they go over there and take it as a joke, then Centegra has the full power to say ‘We’re never going to do this again.’”

To ensure that Centegra won’t end up refusing students down the road, the program is looking for current students who would represent HHS professionally, through good work ethic and mature responsibility, in a hospital environment.

“If the radiologist asks you to read a paragraph on CT-Scan because you’ll be watching a CT-Scan the next day, you can’t show up and be like ‘Oh I didn’t do it,’” said St.Clair. “Not doing your homework is just not an option. You have to be very professional, and some students aren’t ready for that at 17 or 18 years old.”

The selection process will begin after spring break, once the exact number of students who signed up for the program is determined. A weighted, cumulative GPA requirement of 3.5 has been put in place in order to drain the depth of that pool. According to St.Clair, successful students must emulate the qualities of a Red Raider when it comes to their academic performances.

“We need people who do their homework all the time and show up to class 99% of the time,” said St.Clair. “They have to be respectful, responsible, and involved. If there is even a glitch on the radar, then they’re out.”

Yet those are just the prerequisites: an initial stage the separates the application forms in two piles of potential and highly unlikely. To truly determine who the selected 30 will be, Robinson will look beyond the course catalog requirements and evaluate each student on a deeper measure of character and personality.

“The further levels of the selection process, are more focused on their ability to think deeply, work

with patients, overcome setbacks, and problem-solve,” said Robinson.

“It’s hard to find measures of critical thinking, integrity, and character because those aren’t necessarily pegged to GPA or class rank.”

Much like the pressure on the first class to do a successful job, the competition to attain a coveted spot in this program has been very high. According to applicant Brian Russo, many students have been working exceptionally harder to maintain their grades.

“This is extremely competitive from what I’ve seen,” said Russo. “I’ve talked to other students who’ve applied to this residency program, and it will completely break their hearts if they don’t get in.”

For the students needing medical aid to mend their broken hearts, this isn’t the end of the road. Given the array of medical courses offered in the Medical Academy for members and nonmembers alike, they won’t be needing to hang up their lab coats for good.

“Is it an awesome part of the Medical Academy? Yes! But at the end of the day, it’s only a small part of a much bigger picture,” said St.Clair. “If kids don’t get in, it’s not the end of the world because there’s still so much this academy has to offer. It’s important for them to get as much experience as they can, whether that be through this program or through other courses” Seniors Audrey Deguzman, Shazaib Haider, Aryon Shariati, and Dylan Parshall patiently wait for their patient (S. Faheem).

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 5

NEWS

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NEWS

Respect thy neighbors Del Webb residents are bothered by Huntley students’ disrespect towards their property

Student cars parked along Delaney Road in Del Webb (D. Kalish).

maggie mcgee • staff writer

S

ince the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, residents of Del Webb’s Sun City have been bothered by HHS students parking on their streets and crossing through their yards to get to and from school.

Students use the beaten path located in the back of the school parking lot, which runs through a few Del Webb residents’ yards.

The issue of parking along the streets isn’t so much the problem for Del Webb residents, but they are upset with students rudely trespassing through their yards at early hours. As one resident puts it, the students “parade through” their properties.

“I don’t care if they park on the street, but they walk right through the patios in our yards. It’s just too close,” said a resident on Delaney Road.

“We can’t stop them from parking, but we don’t want them coming through our yards,” “They should park in the parking lot that’s available to them.” said another resident.

On the other hand, the opinion of one student, who has parked along Delaney Road but gets picked up and driven to school, expresses a different side of the story. He believes that the students aren’t the ones at fault here.

“I think [they] just need to relax, because we’re not breaking the law,”said sophomore Charlie Zornow. “We’re getting picked up from Del Webb by one of our friends,” According to Zornow, students have received notes from some of the residents, threatening to egg or key the students’ cars for parking along that road.

Del Webb’s exit sign in front of the beaten path that students trespass on to get to school (D. Kalish).

“What we’re doing is legal. We’re parking our cars on a state street.

What they’re doing is illegal. They’re leaving threatening notes on our cars,” said Zornow. “If we were walking through the yard I could understand, but we’re just parking our cars.”

Measures have been taken by the Del Webb residents such as contacting the school, the police, and attending the March COW meeting where they have strongly voiced their opinions on this issue.

Recently, the amount of issues reported has decreased, compared to where it was at previously.

“We want them to do the right thing, we’ve talked to the students about trying to make better decisions and not cut through people’s yards,” said Dean of students A-G 10-12, Dan Farlik. “I think we’ve done a good job with that, really recently it has died down quite a bit.”

Although the issue has diminished for now, Farlik and the district have acknowledged that the problem will continue to occur in the future, given the size of the student body.

“We have more student parking than any other McHenry County high school, by probably about 100 or so spots,” said Farlik. “In the future there’s going to be much more of a desire for parking, and the school is taking that into consideration.”

Still, students’ frustration with the current parking situation is just as prevalent as ever. The number of driving students and the number of students involved in school activities makes driving a struggle for many.

“I think we should find more parking, because there’s too many kids in school who drive and need a spot,” said sophomore Mckenzie Krich.

“Especially with sports, if you’re in a sport and you don’t have a ride home and your parents can’t pick you up, it’s hard to find a ride.”

Yet, students aren’t aware of what the school has done on their part to accommodate as many parking passes as there are available.

“There’s 700 student spots,” said Farlik. Last year we sold a set amount of passes. We got rid of the daily parking passes so that we can sell more yearly passes.”

Farlik believes that this situation can be resolved with cooperation and respect from students.

“We want the students to be lawful and mindful of our neighbors and respect their wishes,” said Farlik.

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 7

NEWS

FBLA succeeds locally and nationally The club trains students for local and national leadership by volunteering devin martin • a&e editor

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xcitement was one of the many feelings senior Brennan Sorkin felt on a cool September day. The grass was slowly drifting in the wind and the temperature was around 60 degrees on Harmony Road. The day could not have been better.

Sorkin was ready for his first Adopt-A-Highway. With a bright neon vest wrapped around him and an ET 36- inch Pinch Style Pick Up Tool in his hand, he was ready to collect trash along the road.

The experience of making a difference captivated Sorkin as he was cleaning the road. It is something that he will never forget throughout his journey with the Future Business Leaders of America. “[Adopt-A-Highway] showed me that not everyone cares [about] what they throw out their window and I could see first hand how it affected the surrounding environ8 huntleyvoice.com March 2016

ment,” said Sorkin. “I told myself that we are the first line of defense to not only help the people of the community but also the animals we share it with.”

FBLA does a lot of community service projects throughout the school year such as screen printing and helping out at the homeless shelter. Those are all local community service projects. FBLA teaches its members how to strive nationally as well.

The March of Dimes, non-profit organization that helps improve current efforts for preserving the health of mothers and premature babies. shines as a major local and national community service project for FBLA. Over time FBLA wanted to become more involved with the organization and as a result, FBLA has raised $15 million worth of needed supplies.

“I feel like helping out a non for profit gives you the opportunity

FBLA members (from left to right): Zayyan Faizal, Tyler Rau, Winona Sullivan, Randall Wynn, and Brennan Sorkin (courtesy of T. Eibl)

to have a self rewarding aspect because you are never going to meet [the people you are helping,]” said senior Winona Sullivan. “But you’re more knowing that you are helping them in a way that you can’t explain.”

But as far as FBLA goes with community service, there is more that they do nationally that prepares them for the real world, which includes competiting at the regional, state, or even national level.

Competitions range from many topics, including accounting, public speaking, sales, business law, business ethics, and more.

“My sales presentation, which was my competition last year, I [taught myself how to] create my own app,” said Sullivan. “It wasn’t a real app, but it was my calling card for FBLA when I made it to nationals and I tied for first at state and it helped me realize [sales] is what I should go into.”

Along with the plethora of competitions that FBLA has to offer, there are also of skills that many FBLA members learn, which that can help them throughout these competitions in various ways.

“You [also] do not want to say, ‘will you choose my product?’, but you say, when you choose my product,” said Sullivan. “You want to always be positive, have that go getting attitude, have to have a bubbly personality, and you cannot be quiet or shy.”

All of those skills mentioned

above will help FBLA members not only succeed in their competitions, but also in FBLA itself. Within the current FBLA chapter at HHS, there are many positions that are filled by leaders who are always willing to succeed. Zayyan Faizal is the current President, Sullivan is the Secretary, and Sorkin is the State Reporter. And those are just some of the positions, in the chapter.

Hence, if you are involved in FBLA as just a regular member or a member in national office, you learn one main valuable skill; networking. “[FBLA] gives you the opportunity to network and learn from people, like when I go to nationals I get the opportunity to network and meet with people that I have never met before,” said Sullivan. “It’s kind of like when you grow up with someone, it’s old, but when you meet someone face to face you have to connect all over again.”

Overall, FBLA at HHS knows how to get involved locally and nationally. But moreover, FBLA teaches its members to have a voice.

“FBLA is more than just being a future business leader, it’s networking and finding friends that you would be able to contact if you needed anything,” said Sorkin. “If there were any critics, your leadership skills in general [are great], you can stand up for something and not just be a follower of a group and [you can] have a voice.”

OPINION

G. Bryczek

Countdown to Canvas Canvas offers alternative solutions to Haiku mohammed syed • staff writer

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nother day passes by as senior Shahzaib Haider logs onto Haiku to begin his work. Like all Huntley students, Haider has been using Haiku for class discussions, announcements, and projects throughout his four years of high school. Unfortunately, this is about to change. In the 2017-18 school year, Huntley will transition into Canvas as their new Learning Management System.

“Haiku is just one LMS,” said media facilitator Erica Holton.

“Canvas and Schoology are also LMSs. The best way to look at an LMS is like a plate. It helps students keep everything together and connects students, parents, and teachers.”

Students do not use an LMS for all of their educational needs. They

use it mainly to find documents and other information needed to complete their homework.

In Haider’s Dual Credit English class, students use both Haiku as well as MCC’s version of Canvas.

According to Haider, Canvas is just used for their end-of-semester ePortfolios.

“I like Haiku more because I’ve used it more often,” said Haider.

Senior Shravan Panchal also agrees with Haider.

“I like Haiku because I’ve used it more,” said Panchal. “It was complicated at first, but now it feels simpler.”

Students have gotten used to Haiku over time, but whether or not they will get used to Canvas as quickly is another story.

“Right now, my position is very different from an IT person,” said Holton. “I help teachers integrate technology meaningfully and more student-centered. I think students should be able to adapt with any LMS because they have the same pieces: discussions, web pages, and Wikis. It really depends on what the teacher designs and how the

class is structured.”

On Haiku, students and teachers are able to create classroom pages, add and organize content blocks, and change layouts. Users are also able to embed content from YouTube, Google Docs, Maps, Skype and other third-party services or create their own from scratch.

Using WikiProjects, students can work together as an entire class, in groups, or as individuals to post text, links, photos, and videos in order to project pages within their classroom website. Haiku also has an ePortfolio feature. All of this is cloud-based.

Canvas is a new LMS developed

by Salt Lake City-based Instructure.

It is known for its user-friendly online environment and ability to easily connect instructors and students both in and out of the classroom. Although it is userfriendly, it seems to be plagued with numerous menus. Most of these menus do not change. In Haiku however, menus can be organized by the teacher.

One thing that Canvas has that Haiku doesn’t is its ability to man-

age enrollments and assign grades, as well as personalize features for individual students. It also has more administrative features, while Haiku has more instruction methods.

Based on my experience as a student, most of the learning will go on in the classroom. Students are best taught by their teachers and can ask questions on the spot.

Haiku and Canvas are not meant to be characterized as online homeschooling systems. Instead, they are supposed to allow students to get extra help and find study materials for tests and quizzes. Even still, tests and quizzes count for a large majority of a student’s grade. This is why it is important to have an easy-to-use system for students.

Haiku is an excellent example.

To me, it seems unnecessary to go from a perfectly functioning LMS to one that is more difficult to get used to. I think that students will adapt to Canvas, but it will take a longer time for them to get used to it, especially for those who have used Haiku throughout middle school.

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 9

OPINION

Can’t get it out of my head The repetition of today’s popular music is boring sarah biernat • staff writer

I

t’s 5:30 in the morning. I jump out of my skin a little because of my alarm, yawn, and stretch. Another morning where my alarm is a smidge too loud. The Social Experiment’s song “Wanna Be Cool” blares in my ear.

If there’s one thing anybody should know is how much I love music. I’ve grown up on it. Nirvana, Muse, Metallica, Madonna; all the M’s. It’s all I knew for the longest time, along with the radio. When I was little, the radio was everything, but it wasn’t until I got older when I came to realize how repetitive it is.

Over the years, I’ve also found my love for underground rappers and indie stars. If you take something indie band Local Natives puts out next to something considered “deep” and “meaningful” on the radio, there is a massive difference.

Not only in rhythm and style, but the overall purpose.

The same Billboard tracks have been playing for months now on the radio. Dearest radio, can I please go a day without hearing “Fight Song” 10,000 times? We get it Star 105.5, you love “Hotline Bling.” Ghost writers do amazing jobs making lazy acts famous.

You know in school when you are taught to cite your sources and not take ownership for something that isn’t yours? Well, Drake really should start using Easybib, but that’s a different story for a different time.

If it weren’t for record labels, your favorite artists wouldn’t be where they are today. Let’s face it,

10 huntleyvoice.com March 2016

Warner Brothers and Columbia Records have made today’s stars, stars.

There are two types of labels: major and independent . Major record labels control everything. Every little behind-the-scenes aspect of an artist’s project is controlled by that said label, and all the artists under that label’s contract have a tendency to sound the same. An example of this is Pete Wentz’s label, DCD2, which revolves around pop-rock bands such as Maroon 5, New Politics, and Panic! At The Disco.

It’s gotten to the point where these bands are trying to stay so relevant, that actual hard work has been thrown out the studio window minutes before recording a track.

“In 2005, bands were taking away from the major feel of music,” said sophomore Noah Evert, an avid old school grunge listener. “There is no emotion anymore, everything is just relatable.”

The environment of artists cause repetition. There is lack of originality here. DCD2 was founded in 2005, a glory year for Fall Out Boy, and is a subgenre of Fueled by Ramen. The producers have a set image they want to portray with their

music. The reason their music is on the radio all the time is because the labels have thousands of dollars to pay radio stations to play the newest hits. On the contrary, independent labels are flexible.

Independent record labels aren’t run by wealthy managers. Instead, they basically run themselves. This way, free content can be put out and these artists have more freedom to create music the way they want.

They don’t have a little bird chirping in their ear telling them what they can and cannot do.

A majority of artists who go the independent route post their songs on SoundCloud. With a SoundCloud membership, young aspiring singers can post their creations and the world can listen to them. People like Hoodie Allen and Chance the Rapper have gotten famous from doing this.

Sophomore Gwen LeVault has learned over the years from listening to modern music and old school music that there has been a chain reaction.

“Some aspects have grown, but some have not,” said LeVault.

“Influences have a big part in new

G. Bryczek

creations.”

According to LeVault, an influence of the band Panic! At The Disco is The Beatles. If a large quantity of bands have similar overall tastes before hitting the studio, of course there will be no way of getting out easy, especially if they’re apart of a major record label.

And then there are ghost writers.

I hate to throw shade to current A-list musicians, but y’all need to really take into consideration what is going on. You have millions of dollars and decide to use it by hiring someone else to write your music? That is not cool. Sure, there are people like Sia who have vocals from the gods and who also compose music for other artists.

But besides Sia, why not write your own music? This lady has albums of work and writes for other artists.

Most rappers use ghostwriters, and the beats all sound identical to any other song.

When an artist signs a contract, they give up the rights to own their produced music. The managers can play a game of Go-Fish with their new hit singles, sell them to other producers and managers, and even to radio stations. Then the radio overplays songs so that a new song will become a favorite to listeners instantly and will not be forgotten about in a week.

Believe it or not, well known labels only make up for 10 percent of the industry’s label capacity. If that doesn’t make you want to turn off the radio and find unfamiliar remixes on SoundCloud, I don’t know what will.

Please keep in mind there is more than just Drake, Katy Perry, and Adele out there. If music’s your thing, your personalized “Discover Weekly” on Spotify will become your new best friend. Fetty Wap is cool, but so is Skizzy Mars. Broaden your horizons and you won’t be sorry.

OPINION

Applaud for cum laude Latin honors system provides recognition to more students maddy moffett • opinion editor

R

emember that Kia commercial with the dad and his kid? The one where he gets a participation trophy even though his team went undefeated? It’s not an exaggeration to make people laugh and buy their cars; Kia was mocking an everyday occurrence. Nowadays every kid gets a gold star or a pat on the back, regardless of actual accomplishment. Schools across the nation are also moving toward this type of recognition, but still require a level of excellence.

Huntley High School is considering the implementation of the collegiate recognition model of the Latin Honors System. Instead of the orthodox class ranking system that pits classmates against each other, the Latin system negates extrinsic competition in favor of intrinsic competition.

The Latin System is broken down into tiers known as cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. Each tier will have ascending GPA requirements.For example, cum laude could be a 4.0 to a 4.249, magna cum laude could be 4.254.449, summa cum laude could be 4.45 and up. In reality, there is no competition; any student who meets the minimum GPA will achieve honors. There could be 15 students, or there could be 115 students. Everything is dependent

upon how each individual performs throughout their high school career.

I am not afraid of competition; in fact, I embrace it. Maybe it’s because I’m an athlete or I come from a large, exuberant family, or it’s a combination of the two. Regardless, I’m just as competitive on the court as I am in the classroom. Class rank is a way to compare yourself to your peers, and given my competitive nature I want to be one of the best.

The topic of class rank has become a hot topic in the educational world. Most of its opposition stems from the condemnation of unhealthy competition. Students will take as many AP classes as possible to give their GPAs an extra boost.

And what about the people who are in the top 10, but aren’t number one or number two? Does their lack of recognition undermine their accomplishments?

Junior Mathew Rodriguez, eighth out of 687 in his class, does not share such ideas.

“I select the classes I want to take and the classes that will present a challenge,” said Rodriguez. “Selecting your classes simply based on the GPA boost of the class will results in miserable efforts.”

However, the Latin system will attempt to eliminate the negative side effects of such competition.

“We have so much competition in everything we do,” said Kish.

“When it comes to academics, should it really be a competition there?”

But administration is not just looking from a high school perspective; they are also looking from a college admissions point of view. In the 2014 State of College Admis-

G. Bryczek

sion Report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, only 15 percent of college admissions officers said they use class rank as a determining factor. For comparison’s sake, the Report in 1993 found it was somewhere around 42 percent. The importance of class rank has been replaced with standardized tests, specifically the ACT and SAT. According to the Report, its importance shot up from 46 percent in 1993 to 58 percent in 2013.

According to Kish, another reason for the proposal was the prominence of the Latin system in local, top-performing districts.

High schools like New Trier, Stevenson, Fremd, Barrington, and Geneva have seamlessly disposed of the class rank system and have found major success. Falling in line, Huntley hopes to join the ranks of some of the top schools in the state and one way to do that is to mimic what makes other schools the best.

Think about how many times a week we see teachers and principals from other schools wandering around our halls, gaping at the fieldhouse or drooling over the cafeteria and commons area. They’re taking a page from our playbook, and we should return the favor.

The new system of recognition offers a more inclusive solution to the battle of tradition versus transi-

tion, but I agree with its implications. Why not recognize people who worked their butt off for four years? Plus it just sounds cooler. In a job interview, you’ll be able to say you graduated magna cum laude in high school instead of saying you graduated 20 out of 700. Doesn’t that sound way more badass?

My only reservation about the system is the elimination of valedictorian and salutatorian. Their speeches are a cornerstone of the American graduation ceremony, and their loss will seem quite peculiar. However, according to Kish, the opportunity to speak at graduation will become open. The specifics have not been worked out as to how the speech-giver will be selected, or if the student will have to “audition” in front of a selection committee. Regardless, speeches will still be made and life will go on.

Before you object to this proposal, remember one thing: this system, if approved by the school board, will be instituted starting with the incoming freshmen Class of 2020. So honestly, your opinion for the most part is irrelevant.

I applaud Kish and the committee that put the proposal together; they are forward thinking and desire the best for their students.

Change is frightening and strange, but I think it’s time to move on.

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 11

FEATURES

Automobile Aficionado Junior Ryan Hellgeth has a passion for cars alex landman • satff writer

H

is family took him to an auto show one year, thinking it would be a fun day out of the house. Then, the Taste of Lexus, because the auto show just was not enough, plus his family was always invited because they owned several Lexuses. But stationary cars were no fun, he wanted to see races.

What better race than a Nascar race, and that is where it really started. The speed, the power, the smell of the rubber on the pavement, the engine roar; he was mesmerized.

For junior Ryan Hellgeth, everything about cars raptured him and gave him complete joy. Cars were his happy place, his paradise, his safe haven. He decided at a young age that he wanted to pursue a future in the automotive industry.

In his mind, there were never enough cars.

Last summer Hellgeth and his family went to the BMW ultimate driving experience, an exclusive event with all models of BMWs. According to Hellgeth, they had pretty much their whole lineup of vehicles there to look at. While at that event, he took part in the BMW teen driving school.

“They taught us important things in the classroom on safety, and then on the track on how to handle the car when the road conditions change,” said Hellgeth.

Hellgeth passed all the tests with flying colors and decided that after this experience, BMWs were his favorite car because of their style, and the way they drive.

“BMWs are my all time favorite cars. Our three series is a blast to drive, especially when the road gets twisty,” said Hellgeth. “The sound of that inline six is awesome, it’s one of the last of the true driving BMWs and lives up to the “ultimate driving machine” tag line,” said 12 huntleyvoice.com March 2016

Hellgeth.

Hellgeth hopes to be working in the automotive industry because he could not see his life revolving around anything other than cars.

“Next year, I’m taking the automotive class at MCC. I want to be a designer, engineer, or technician... something with cars,” said Hellgeth.

To prepare for a career, Hellgeth has been working on his, as well as neighbor’s cars, for years. With three cars in his family, he keeps very busy with all of the precise work he does to ensure they are running and looking like new.

Hellgeth’s family owns a 2011 BMW 328i xDrive, 2014 Honda Civic EX-L, and a 2015 Toyota 4Runner Limited, and he looking into purchasing an older, used BMW or 4Runner of his own to fix up.

“Growing up we had two Toyota 4Runners. I was just a little kid and hardly remember them, but 4Runners are my favorite SUV,” said Hellgeth. “I was very excited this summer when we got our brand new 2015 4Runner; you could say they are in my blood. I love the way they look and drive.

It’s one of the last body on frame SUV’s, and it’s a real truck unlike all the other crossovers on the road today,” said Hellgeth.

Hellgeth can usually be found in his driveway, with the hood open doing mechanical work, or inside doing detail work.

“I do oil changes, tire changes and rotations, detailing, waxing, cleaning, and buffing. I give Fast Eddie’s a run for their money,” said Hellgeth. “Working with cars, especially detailing cars, makes me happy, and it is something I really enjoy doing.”

Although BMW’s are Hellgeth’s vehicle of choice for a fun drive down a winding road, his preferred cars to do maintenance on are Hondas and Toyotas.

“Hondas and Toyotas are nice to do maintenance on because everything is really easy to reach and find. They are designed really well,” said Hellgeth. “My friend just got a Honda Civic and I was really excited because that means that hopefully I’ll be able to work with it.”

Hellgeth changes the oil and details his neighbor’s cars for a small fee, with his most devoted customer being his neighbor Gwen Bryczek, whose family has been taking their two Ford Explorers to Hellgeth for years.

“He is very responsible and puts forth full effort when working with vehicles. He takes pride in his work, and he should because he does a great job,” said Bryczek.

“He did a phenomenal job when he detailed my Ford Explorer inside and out. He usually takes the car back to his house for a few hours to work on it, and when it comes back it is perfect.”

However, Hellgeth does not work on cars by himself.

He and his father, who was one of the reasons Hellgeth fell in love with cars, spend time together working on maintenance.

“We bond when we are working and teach each other different things, so it has made our relationship stronger. When we are working, it is our time to talk and catch up with each

other,” said Hellgeth.

The next step for Hellgeth is the automotives class at MCC, which he hopes will lead into a career.

He guarantees one thing though; he will definitely be working on a lot of cars over the summer to prepare and become familiar with the design and engineering of the different brands and styles.

Although he loves to design cars on paper, Hellgeth enjoys the hands on aspect of working on a car even more.

“I love seeing a finished design,” said Hellgeth. “But hearing the engine roar and seeing a car drive away down the street after all of the hard work I put into it is extremely rewarding. It’s a feeling of pride you just can’t beat.”

“Cars will always be in my life and I can’t wait to have a driveway full of different brands and styles when I’m older. I will have a diverse selection so that way I will never be bored,” said Hellgeth.

Junior Ryan Hellgeth holds up an automotive certificate in front of his BMW (R. O’Sullivan).

Junior Ryan Hellgeth sits behind the wheel of his BMW after a tune up (R. O’Sullivan).

FEATURES

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 13

FEATURES

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FEATURES

He’s got some flow

Kenne Murray uses rap to cope with struggle ashley o’brien • online editor

I

t takes rhyme, rhythm, the right beats, and perfect vocals.

It takes dedication, a dream.

To start it all, they needed a microphone.

Early last year, sophomores Kenne Murray and Robert Garcia stayed up all night mixing words together and figuring out the right beat for the first track ever: “Dreams.” Being tired or drained was nothing compared to the feeling of creating the first track. The desire to write and publish it was all they had on their minds.

“Once I recorded him, I showed him the video and [Kenne] was like ‘I should start rapping’ and I was like ‘yeah you should,’” said Garcia.

Shortly after, they posted “Dreams” to Kenne’s SoundCloud.

A year later, Murray, well known as Kenne G, has a signed producer, plans to make music videos, 20 tracks published to his SoundCloud, with over 77,000 views in total, and 323 followers. His most popular track, “Excellence,” has over 15,900 views and counting.

“Excellence” may be his most popular track, however it is not his favorite.

“When you’re making a song and you listen to it seven thousand times while you’re making it,” said Murray. “You’re gonna get sick of it.”

Despite “Excellence” being the most popular track, the second most listened track is “Young Diablo,” with over 11,500 views.

Even though “Young Diablo” was published more recently, it was written in a dark time in Murray’s life. He had gone through a bad time during the end of his eighth grade year, leading into freshman year.

For a short time, Murray had spent time in a juvenile detention center and was on house arrest.

Although the youth juvenile center was insightful for him, times were much worse during house arrest.

“If I go home and I’m pissed off,” said Murray. “I just put on music and it completely changes my mood.”

During the three and a half months of house arrest, Murray grew more as an artist. Although he had been writing music for fun and freestyling prior to his legal issues, he really spent his time learning music when he had to be home.

Murray would sleep with headphones in. He spent time learning lyrics, reading and listening to songs repeatedly. He enjoyed and connected to the words of his most inspired rappers. The most influential rapper, Mac Miller, and his album “Watching Movies with the Sound Off,” inspired him. “[It] helped so much seeing who I was,” said Murray. “Just to stare and think.”

However, when it comes to “Young Diablo,” Murray was inspired by Mac Miller’s “Diablo.”

Murray even used the same beat as Mac Miller.

“He’s got some flow,” said Garcia.

“His rhyming style is like Mac Miller. [He is] Mac Miller Junior.”

Murray’s favorite track is “Young Diablo.” He knows what he said in it is true, despite how it is interpreted. With everything going on in his life at the time of writing it, he knew he was in a depressed state.

Song art for “Excellence” by Kenne G, also most viewed song (courtesy of https:// soundcloud.com/enneurray)

“I’m not demonic,” said Murray. “[I] felt like I was trapped for so long.”

When Murray was off house arrest, life became better for him.

He realized that it taught him a valuable life lesson. He picked his grades up and worked out a life for himself, despite being a high school student.

“Kids that listen to me right now, start thinking about your future,” said Murray. “Challenging yourself in school only makes you a wiser person.”

Murray has taken making music while being in school as a challenge.

Not only is it fun for him, it is a commitment he will never regret.

Murray knows that creating music is a talent and a passion he

has. He is aware of diss tracks that have been directed towards him, however they don’t bother him.

“If you think I’m bad at rapping [then] think that,” said Murray.

“Cause I’m not making music for you. I’m making music for myself and the kids that want to succeed.”

Murray knows he inspires others, and thanks those who are inspired by him. He has even more of a desire to rap due to those who respect his music.

From here Murray can only go further,. His future is bright and he has achieved amazing things for someone his age.

In no time, Murray will be posting his next album, “Intelligence,” to the world on his SoundCloud.

Kenne G main logo (courtesy of https:// soundcloud.com/enneurray).

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 15

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Huntley’s helping hand Brianna Wilder finds a home in Service in Action sumbul shakeel•design editor

D

o you want to change the world? reads the Service in Action class Haiku page.

Most people know by now that it’s a blended class all about community service, but what they don’t know is all the knowledge you gain, the relationships you create, and the change you really can make while participating in the class.

Senior Brianna Wilder is one of those people. She truly appreciates being able to have time to plan and execute service projects that she cares about, while making an actual change in the community around her.

A varsity soccer player and NHS member, Wilder has always been passionate about what she does.

In fact, she felt like she didn’t have enough time to be able to do everything she wanted to do, which is where Service in Action came in.

“At first, I didn’t really know what it was. It was kind of just something my counselor threw out there. I thought that it would be a great opportunity.”

- Brianna Wilder

“It’s turned out to be so much more than just doing service projects; we take time to learn about whatever we’re trying to help,” said Wilder. “[The class] is so eyeopening, and it gets me so much more excited for what’s to come; to take what we know, and the knowledge we’ve gained and make a difference.”

Although Service in Action is considered a blended class, it is not a typical blended class that only meets two to three times a week.

Wilder seems to love the class anyways.

“I mean I’m quoting Mrs. Phillips here, ‘you cannot change the world outside of the classroom.’

So it’s important for us to be there as often as we can, instead of just coming in 2 days a week and talking about it,” said Wilder. “I don’t mind going to class five days a week.”

Since January, the students have gotten to know each other better through various group activities.

This way, they are comfortable with each other and can easily work on

projects throughout the semester.

“I feel like my favorite part it not only are you going out and helping people, that’s so rewarding in itself, but we took a lot of time in the beginning of the semester to get to know the people in our class,” said Wilder. “You know the people around you, their characteristics, and how they feel towards certain things, which it makes us all feel close, we’re all helping.”

They have also dived into their poverty unit to explore all the different causes of poverty. At the same time, they explored themselves to figure out what issues they wanted to tackle in their group projects.

For Wilder and her group, that would be disabilities and diseases.

More importantly, their awareness.

Her group plans on having a Disability and Disease Awareness week after Spring Break.

“We have a different disease for each day, and a couple of them are very important to the school because we went down to the nurse

and asked her what was common in our school,” said Wilder. “We made it so people can connect and want to participate. We’re really focusing on the awareness, and getting the people that want to know more about the disease the knowledge they need. The more knowledge you have, the more power you have.”

Knowledge is the reason Wilder both loves the class so much and wants to continue service in the future. She aspires to have a career in the medical field, to combine her interests with her passion to help others.

“I have to give credit to the Project Lead the Way classes for getting me on the path of where I see myself,” said Wilder. “Whether that be physical therapy, or more of the research side. Even that entails helping people, so it kinda combines the best of both worlds. You have to have that compassion and desire to help others.”

Brianna Wilder decorates the display for the upcoming St. Baldricks assembly (D. Kalish)

As it turns out, Service in Action is just the kind of class for her. Wilder loves being able to learn about the impact she creates. She loves having some time set aside in her day to work in groups and plan projects of her own.

However, the projects aren’t the only thing the class is about to Wilder.

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 17

FEATURES

Sticking with her team

Darcy McQueeny fights to dance with her team bri governale • staff writer

S

he stares out at the audience after messing up, hoping no one noticed. Bright lights block her view of the people, but she knows everyone is watching.

As she continues dancing, an excruciating pain runs through her right leg and she is unable to move.

She rushes off the stage and falls to the ground. 911 is called and she is rushed to the hospital, as she begins the scariest journey of her life.

For some, dancing is a hobby, and for others it is a passion. Taking classes, practicing at home, and performing dances on stage is a lifestyle. It is a lifestyle that freshman Darcy McQueeny lives all year long.

Getting on the stage and being able to show off her dance moves

is what she looks forward to.

Unfortunately for McQueeny, her life of dance came to a sudden halt. In the summer of 2015, at her dance studio’s recital, McQueeny experienced a painful setback.

She began to move her body into the position to do her straight leg headspring. As she began to land, her knee was not positioned properly, making her hips weak and unable to pull her body up.

This caused the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in her right knee to completely rip apart.

The ACL is one of the four main ligaments located in the knee joint and is crucial for movement. After tearing her ACL, she couldn’t move or put pressure onto her leg. While all of this was going on, she had no idea her ACL was the problem.

“I was rushed to the emergency

room. They couldn’t tell what was wrong without doing an MRI,” said McQueeny. “It was the scariest thing not knowing what was wrong with my knee.”

After about a week, the MRI was taken and McQueeny had gotten used to using crutches to get around.

The toughest part was sitting out at Poms practice, being that it was her first time on the Huntley High School JV poms dance team. Soon, she found out she tore her ACL and needed major knee surgery.

“At this point we knew she had a long and tough battle to fight,” said Lisa and Jim McQueeny, Darcy’s parents.

On July 14th, McQueeny returned to the hospital for her surgery. After, she had to get around on crutches for the next month.

For six months, she went to physical therapy in order to gain back the strength in her knee. A week before school began, she was off her crutches and put into a knee brace, but she was still unable to dance.

“The hardest part about this whole experience was knowing that I could possibly not dance at all this season,” said McQueeny. “I absolutely love to dance.”

With school starting back up, the season for poms began. McQueeny would stand on the side of the formations and do the movements with her arms. She couldn’t bear to sit on the sidelines and watch. Every football game, McQueeny stood next to her team moving her arms along with them. She went to practice and did as much as she could, but she refused to sit out.

“I was so motivated to dance

McQueeny watches from the sideline as her team performs (provided by D. McQueeny).

18 huntleyvoice.com March 2016

FEATURES

again so I learned the routine just like the rest of the girls,” said McQueeny. “I even got to experience being on the field with my team.”

Poms continues throughout the late fall, leading into competition season in the winter, but still, McQueeny was left unable to dance with her team.

“Knowing that she couldn’t dance or do what she loves broke our hearts,” said McQueeny’s parents.

McQueeny had no choice but to sit out the first three competitions and watch her team do what they love. At the fourth competition, her knee was almost completely healed, so she got to go out on the floor and perform.

“The first time I performed on the competition floor again I got chills,” said McQueeny. “It was one of the happiest moments for me this season.”

Junior Lauren Apa, a varsity poms dancer, was one of her teammates who stayed by her side.

Whether it was hanging out at practice or just relaxing at home together, McQueeny knew she could always count on Apa to be there for her.

“I loved being able to go over to her house to help her out or just hang out,” said Apa. Today, she is not fully recovered but very close. Although she was only able to perform at three competitions during the season, she still loved every moment of it. She went from standing on the side of her team on the football field, to finally dancing on the competition floor all within seven months from the time she got her surgery.

“As soon as she started feeling better, she joined right back in,” said Apa. “It was awesome to watch her dance again.”

With the help of her friends and family she was able to stay positive and gain her strength back in her right knee.

“It was really hard to see Darcy not being able to do what she loved, but she never gave up,” said Apa. “I’m so proud of how far she’s come.”

Darcy McQueeny back in action with her knee brace keeping her knee strong (Provided by D. McQueeny).

19 huntleyvoice.com March 2016

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Enjoy your Spring Break!

Top 6: Class of 2016

1

M

Courtesy of Ziolkowski

S. Faheem

Matthew Cannalte Lexi Ziolkowski charlie vavrick • feature editor

atthew Cannalte has been involved in many extracurriculars throughout high school, but has let none of them distract him on his path to becoming Huntley High School’s 2016 Valedictorian.

On his road to a 4.655 cumulative weighted GPA, Cannalte has taken 17 AP courses, including an independent study of AP Comparative Government, achieving highly on these tests and receiving the honor of being named a National AP Scholar.

“Taking AP Comparative Government as an independent study was an interesting experience and something I put a lot of work into outside of school,” said Cannalte. “It was cool to do something that a lot of people couldn’t do, even with a regular class.”

When Cannalte isn’t studying, you can find him on the track. He knew he wanted to run for Huntley when he attended a camp the summer before his freshman year. According to him, he was impressed with everything they were doing, and knew it was the right sport. Since that camp, he has been a 4-year member of the cross country team, as well as an alternate for the 2014 state-qualifying team.

“Getting to run with that group was definitely one of the highlights of my high school experience,” said Cannalte. “They were a very talented group of runners and it was the best year in the history of the program.

That was just pretty cool to be a part of.”

Cannalte is not only an athlete, but also a mathlete. As a member of the Math Team, he competes in events such as the individual pre-calculus competition, the calculator team, and the oral math team.

“As a team, we had the highest combined score of all the teams at our regional,” said Cannalte. “That means we will get to compete at state in May.” For Cannalte, the juggling act of extracurriculars and high achievement in school was made possible by time management and prioritizing what was important to him.

“It was always a struggle to balance school and sport, but it wasn’t that hard. It was never difficult for me to prioritize what the right thing to be doing at any given time was,” said Cannalte. “Obviously there were sacrifices made, but none of them were very difficult to make. I’d do it all again if I could.”

charlie vavrick • feature editor

T

CENTERSPREAD

2

his year’s Salutatorian, Lexie Ziolkowski, has excelled in academics throughout high school, maintaining a 4.65 weighted GPA, but it is her extracurricular activities that truly set her apart from the crowd.

One of Ziolkowski’s main pursuits is giving back through community outreach. In fifth and sixth grade, Ziolkowski worked, in tandem with the Kyle Busch Foundation, to run a very successful book drive, getting over 10,000 books into the hands of underprivileged children in North Carolina. After this experience, Ziolkowski has continued her annual book drive in a more local setting. With the aid of Bernie’s Book Bank and Bookworm Angels, as well as the community, Ziolkowski has been able to provide 16,000 books to children in the community.

Ziolkowski also has a passion for the fine arts, being involved in Theater and Speech Team.

This year, Ziolkowski qualified for state through Speech, as she has three times throughout high school, and did well enough to be offered a spot at Nationals in Salt Lake City this June. Due, in part, to her extraordinary success on the team, Ziolkowski was named a senior captain and is one of the upperclassmen who get the opportunity to coach and mentor the younger members of the team.

“I love coaching the JV kids and helping them share their message,” said Ziolkowski.

Having been named the president of Huntley High School’s Thespian Troupe, Ziolkowski’s success in fine arts extends to her career in Theater as well. While Ziolkowski hasn’t had time to specifically take any drama classes at Huntley, she still auditions for the shows, landing lead roles in plays such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Legally Blonde,” and “High School Musical”.

According to Ziolkowski, all of her after school commitments have been difficult to balance at times, while still maintaining her GPA. “Doing speech, theater, and keeping up with my academics has been hard to balance, but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t change anything,” said Ziolkowski. “I feel like when I get overwhelmed with academics, speech and theater are there to help with that.”

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 21

3

CENTERSPREAD

Jason Zobott danielle king • staff writer

T

he top students of the senior class are the types of students that you would assume to be the stereotypical nerds.

Maybe by nerd you would think that they dress with jeans that stop just before the ankles and use suspenders to keep their pants up. Or, it may even be because they spend all their time dedicated to school and have forgotten that high school is not just about academics, but about the experience.

As third in his class out of 644 students, Jason Zobott is the exact opposite of what you would think a traditional top student would be like. He does not just excel academically, but also is athletic and social.

“I am a really competitive person whether it comes to sports or academics,” said Zobott. “I always want to be on the top.”

Outside of school, Zobott participates in high school soccer, travel soccer, high school basketball, and Huntley High’s new boys volleyball team.

Being involved in activities out of school along with homework can be very stressful for Zobott. He would be starting homework at 10 p.m. and sometimes fall asleep during the process.

After high school, Zobott will be attending Colorado School of Mines and will be playing soccer there. He will be studying to become a petroleum engineer.

Zobott would like to become a petroleum engineer because it is one of the top paying engineer jobs which applies math, his favorite subject. Along with good pay, his uncle is a petroleum engineer and has taught Zobott about the job.

Without hesitation, Zobott says he will strive to be the best, a top student in college as well.

D. Kalish “Oh yeah, I am always going to try, especially with my competitve nature,” said Zobott.

Kelly Malecki camille paddock • assistant online editor

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4

oving across the country is a big, nerve-racking step for anyone to do, but moving the summer before going into high school was rough on senior Kelly Malecki.

“It was really stressful because I didn’t know anybody,” said Malecki.

Malecki spent her freshman year stressed out about not knowing anyone, but luckily her situation soon turned around. Always having been a good student, Malecki dedicated most of her time to school. Her motivation was pure and she took pride in excelling at school.

“I wanted to put down a foundation for my future,” said Malecki.

Ever since she was a young girl, her parents instilled in her the importance of doing well in school.

“My parents have always told me to focus on what I need to do and to do it well,” said Malecki.

She truly has taken her parents advice. Since her sophomore year, Malecki has taken a total of 10 AP classes.

“You should really challenge yourself,” said Malecki.

However, school is not her passion. In fact, Malecki does not enjoy school all that much.

“I feel like I’ll like college more because I’ll be able to study something I will actually be able to use,” said Malecki.

Malecki’s passion is volunteering; she loves to help others and has been doing so since middle school. During the fall of her junior year, Malecki decided to apply for membership of National Honor Society, and she was accepted.

Shortly after, Malecki began working with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. After having an interview, the coordinator asked her if she would like to work with a special-needs case. Malecki was paired with a boy named Tyler, who had been born prematurely with brain hemorrhaging that impaired his verbal communication. Malecki felt as though she was doing him a service, but her perspective quickly changed.

“The year I spent with Tyler ended up being the best gift I have ever received and changed my life,” said Malecki.

NHS has allowed her to find something she truly loves doing: volunteering.

22 huntleyvoice.com March 2016

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R. O’Sullivan

Morgan Sutherland camille paddock • assistant online editor

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ntelligent, hardworking, motivated. That is the way she has always been described. Ever since she could remember school had always been important, it had always been what it should be; the number one focus in her life. Now, as a senior in high school, she is ranked fifth in the Class of 2016. While it is something she is proud of, that is not what she wants to be remembered by.

“I’m not at the top of the class just because I want to say I’m at the top of the class,” said Morgan Sutherland. “I didn’t even think it was going to happen, and it kind of just did.”

As a math and science enthusiasts, Sutherland is a logical thinker.

“It’s just so clear-cut,” said Sutherland. “There’s always an answer to find.”

However, this is very contradictory to her love for music. Sutherland first picked up the flute in the sixth grade; she thought it was pretty.Before she knew it she had found something she loved.

“It’s just so different from everything in school,” said Sutherland. “It uses a different part of your brain.”

At the end of her freshmen year, Sutherland decided to audition for the McHenry County Orchestra. And the craziest thing happened, she was accepted in.

“I was beyond excited,” said Sutherland.

She has now been playing in the orchestra for three years and could not be happier about it. It has now been six years since she started playing flute, and it has become so much more than just a hobby, it’s a passion.

“It’s the one thing that I love to do,” said Sutherland. “It’s the one thing that always makes me feel good.”

Sutherland considers playing flute to be her stress reliever, which is why she could never major in music.

“For me it’s too much of a past-time,” said Sutherland.

Instead, she plans on majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois.

So while Sutherland may be in the top of her class, music has always kept her grounded.

“There is always something to be motivated for,” said Sutherland.

Courtesy of HHS Chieftain Yearbook

Brendan O’Donnell danielle king • staff writer

S

enior year is best known as the “blow off year”. Students take the easiest courses they can and form a contagious but not deadly case of senioritis.

However, for top student Brendan O’Donnell, his schedule consists of AP Physics 1, Chinese 4, English 4 Alienation and Perception, Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra, and AP Economics.

Along with school, O’Donnell participates in high school track, is a member of NHS, and on the regional qualifying math team.

O’Donnell is sixth in his class out of 644 students.

O’Donnell was the first in his class freshman year. He began to slow down but still appreciates the rank he is right now.

“I am definitely proud of myself,” said O’Donnell.” I worked hard and it is nice to pay off for something.”

O’Donnell does his homework and takes it seriously. He sees that homework is a way of studying.

“Do your homework,” said O’Donnell. He believes that doing homework can help a student get to the top of their class.

After high school, he hopes to go to Notre Dame, but will not know if he has been accepted until the end of March. His other options are University of Illinois or University of Wisconsin-Madison.

When O’Donnell grows up, he would like to pursue a career as a computer engineer.

“I really like math and I like the idea of applying math to something real, something physical,” said O”Donnell.

He feels that he is prepared to move on to college but feels that Huntley has been nothing but good to him. His high school years has been an experience he will not forget.

“I think it would be a challenge, definite step up from high school,” said O’Donnell. “I would be happy to be passing and graduate.”

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 23

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“The Divergent Series” starts to conclude with “Allegiant” (Courtesy of www.facebook.com/ TheDivergentSeries/?fref=ts).

‘Divergent’ surprises ‘The Divergent Series’ leads to ‘Ascendant’ courtney thomas • print editor

T

he school day seemed to drag, longer than usual, as senior, Katelyn Heiden, eagerly awaited the nightfall. With nightfall, the beginning of the end would be upon her. Sitting in the comfortable movie theater seat, she braced herself for “Allegiant” to start.

“The Divergent Series” began over winter break for writer Veronica Roth’s at Northwestern University, just miles north of the setting for her story, Chicago. Roth does not know the exact inspiration for her books because there were many different ideas that came together to form the series, but only when she thought up her main character was she able to tell the story.

“The Divergent Series,” set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago, follows 16- year-old Beatrice Prior, better known as Tris, as she moves away from her home to explore her identity, in a society that groups people, based on their personalities, into one of five possible factions. Those factions are Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Erudite, and Dauntless.

In the second book, “Insurgent,” political problems among the factions pose threats to society’s very structure. Divergents, people who belong in no set faction, also threaten the very balance of their fragile community.

As the series comes to a close in “Allegiant,” the faction system collapses and the city falls into chaos. Beatrice and her friends escape the walls

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of the city to leave and find civilization outside of the walls of Chicago, only to find that their society was apart of an experiment to purify genes.

The rights to a film-adaptation of “Divergent” were sold in March of 2011 to Summit Entertainment. It was not until December of 2013 that Summit announced “Insurgent” would also be made into a movie, along with “Allegiant.” It was not until April 11, 2014, that they announced “Allegiant” would be split into two parts, similar to “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games.”

The third movie, “Allegiant” was released on Friday, March 18. The Thursday night midnight release earned the movie $2.4 million dollars, $1.7 million less than what the previous movie, “Insurgent” made from the Thursday night release.

Critics have been bashing the movie, saying things like it fell flat, or that the story line has slowed from a gallop to barely a limp. While critics opinions are important to how well a movie does, their opinion is nothing compared to the opinions of the fans, which is who the movie was made for.

“It took my breath away,” said Heiden.

“Allegiant” explored the human mind a lot more than the other installments in the series did. One of the major themes of it was science based, and having “pure” genes, rather than damaged ones.

It played into that unknown-but-very-real-possibility of what scientists can do and the power that hold and how they use that power.

Some of the special effects used in the movie could have been done better, and some of the bigger parts of “Allegiant” should have been focused on more than the other parts were. But the writers have the chance to fix it in the fourth movie, to really do it well and go out with a bang.

The fourth installment to the series will not be called “Allegiant: Part Two,” but rather “Ascendant.” The movie is set to be released on June 9, 2017, instead of the typical end-of-March-date.

The release date was pushed back because the renewal of “Power Rangers.”

“It’s bittersweet that there is only one [movie] left because I’ve met so many people through fandom life, and it’s kind of sad because it’s like, ‘oh my god, it’s ending,’ but also ‘oh my god! It’s ending,” said Heiden. “I’m excited but it is so bittersweet because it’s been apart of my life for four years now, and plus the ending.”

The next movie, “Ascendant” is going to be jam packed with action, politics, heartbreak from our two favorites, Tris and Four, and a lot of tears at the end. So fans, brace yourselves, because this is where it all ends.

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 25

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

“House of Cards” continues to give back to fans in many ways (Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/HouseofCards/photos).

‘House of Cards’ prospers Season four gives fans what they want with memorable characters tyler lopez • staff writer

P

olitics are something no American, or anyone, can swallow easily. You have to take their party, their ideals and policies to mind and give the person, or people, serious thought. For many, it is an essential part of society and being a part of politics in their own ways.

Other factors, such as likeability and honesty, are key factors in deciding any winner in a political race. As of now, the 2016 race for presidency is heating up with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at each other’s throats, with Trump wishing to ban all immigrants from entering the U.S. However, through Netflix’s smash hit show “House of Cards,” another race for presidency is brewing and this one holds a vindictive runner up, determined to mold America into his dreams.

Season four of “House of Cards” premiered on March 4, adding 13 new episodes to Netflix’s smash hit political drama-thriller.

Former South Carolina State Representative and current President Francis J. “Frank” Underwood, played astoundingly by the equally astounding Kevin Spacey, Underwood is among the most brutal and cold hearted politicians to ever be created.

26 huntleyvoice.com March 2016

Between Underwood and Trump, Trump still stands as the biggest racist, as Underwood does not use race to his advantage, and in fact, ignores the idea of race.

Although despite his nefarious aims, the show makes the viewer actually root for the bad guy. An interesting take on a deep concern in today’s world.

“My job is not to label a character as “evil” or “psychotic,” said Spacey in an interview with Ziyad Saadi and Alison Willmore of indiewire.com. “Those are impossible to play.”

Spacey’s portrayal of the maniacal Frank Underwood is superb. He masterfully utilizes a thick southern drawl to fit the background of the character, who comes from Gaffney, S.C. The show opens with Underwood killing a wounded dog, with him saying that all politicians are murderers, but refuse to embrace it and ignore their more “primal” nature. With this, the tone is set for the show.

Being Netflix’s first show, many firsts were made. “House of Cards” became one of the first exclusives, the first show to have all episodes released, and one of the few to have many notable names. It can be reasoned that a lot of pressure was placed on a what many thought was a trail run.

“House of Cards “surpassed the pressure, and did so in spades.

Reviews, mainly from The New Yorker, praised the show for its direction and story. The show blew reviewers away and attracted millions to watch each and every episode.

Since its release, numerous shows have been exclusively made for Netflix, most notably being “Orange is the New Black,” which also has received rave review since its release.

The exclusive show trend has caught on with other streaming sites such as Amazon Prime and Hulu.

Now, what is interesting about Underwood’s southern background is that as the series progresses, he turns his back on his upbringing and slowly allows his drawal to fade as he assumes a more menacing role.

This paints Underwood as a sort of political chameleon, allowing him to blend in with his D.C home.

Underwood quickly climbs the political ladder, assuming the White House amidst a scandal with former president Garrett Walker.

Equally formidable is Underwood’s wife, Claire Underwood, played by Robin Wright. A native of Texas, Claire too shares the same hunger for power Frank does. As the series progresses, Claire begins to have higher aspirations and starts to make strives to secure more power in D.C.

“Spacey has immense talent,” said junior Justin Niemic. “He plays great bad guys and makes the audience actually like him, and I couldn’t wait to watch the new season.”

Creator Beau Willimon’s goal for the show was to have central figures who are morally dark, but generate a level of likability to have the audience emit genuine feelings for the central characters.

“All politicians are murderers,” said Beau Willimon in an interview with Chris Harvey of The Telegraph. “They just have to be willing to embrace what their job entails.”

With that sentiment in mind, Willimon does exactly that with both Frank and Claire’s actions.

The plot of the show is that of a massively budgeted Hollywood film, but is instead a Netflix only show that has garnered numerous awards and has been nominated for even more.

Frank Underwood having served numerous years in Congress as State Representative has the Chief of Staff position passed up on him, and is instead promoted to Democratic Party Leader, or House Whip, in which he is to sway Democratic Congressman and women to vote for bills and laws.

Throughout the course of the show, Underwood makes allies and dozens of enemies, in which he exposes for their corruption. The ways in which Underwood, his wife Claire, close friend, Chief of Staff and right-hand-man Douglas “Doug” Stamper (Michael Kelly) and press manager Seth Grayson (Derek Cecil) take down their opposition displays the tenacity politicians harbor to achieve their might goals.

With his team, Underwood becomes a shark, devouring the weak and intimidating those he needs on his side. Over the course of the show, Underwood’s actions become more diabolical of a tyrant.

The show is dark, the actions are twisted and the politics are corrupt and crooked, painting the perfect of the modern day D.C. Underwood is a spiteful man, whom the audience loves, for better or for worse.

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March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 27

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Kendrick Lamar gives his best album yet ‘untitled unmastered’ provides listeners with what they have been expecting austin zeis • staff writer

E

ver since Kendrick Lamar’s “untitled unmastered” arrived online a week ago, I’ve been walking around muttering “levitate, levitate, levitate, levitate,” one of the mantras Lamar repeats during the first couple minutes of “untitled 07 | 2014-2016” as a slowrolling rhythm commands all who listen to bob their heads.

It’s possible to imagine a version of that song as a hit, booming from car windows in summertime as America learns to say “no, no-no-no” in the exact cadence Lamar does. But in the form it’s in now, a hit it shall likely not become. Two minutes and 30 seconds in, the groove disappears, a child sings a jingle about Compton, and the tempo resets for a whole different Lamar rap. Later, the song mutates yet again into what sounds like a live acoustic demo, featuring Lamar ad-libbing imaginary backup singers and crowd sounds. The whole thing is kind of like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” if Freddie Mercury had just recorded himself saying “guitar solo goes here” where Brian May’s shredding currently is.

“Kendrick just has put so much into his songs,” said junior Sam Pitrone. “Every song he has written, especially this album, has so much background behind it and all the words have reason behind it.

He puts more into his music than any artist I have listened to.”

The (un)titles for this new album and its songs, the fact that its release apparently only happened because of a LeBron James tweet, and the fact that the music originated in the sessions for his 2015 album, “To Pimp a Butterfly” suggest that “untitled unmastered” should be approached as a bonus release. The arrangements are skeletal; the 28 huntleyvoice.com March 2016

26 huntleyvoice.com December 2015

song structures are disorienting; the rapping is excellent. But after listening a bit, the album’s form and content together come to feel like Lamar’s starkest statement yet about the struggle for purity in the face of capitalist pressures to compromise. If it’s not always easily digested, that’s part of the message. Don’t be too surprised if all his songs are untitled from here out.

Lamar often raps as a form of dialectic, and on the opening track, he’s in the difficult position of arguing with God. After the singer Bilal demonically recites some dirty talk toward a “little lamb,” Lamar launches into a furious narrative about the Book of Revelations coming to pass while a gut-rumbling bass line and dread-making strings play behind him. When it comes time for Lamar to be judged by his creator, he points to his discography: “I made To Pimp a Butterfly for you told me to use my vocals to save mankind for you ... I tithed for you, I pushed the club to the side for you.”

Pushed the club to the side for you: Avoiding pandering to the masses, according to this version of Lamar’s persona, is godliness.

And pander he didn’t. The most successful track off of the masterful “To Pimp a Butterfly” went no higher than 39 on the Hot 100. This seemed intentional; the album was a dense, noisy collage of experimental jazz over which Lamar rhymed—and gasped, and screamed—about shame, self-reliance, and social problems. At the end of “untitled’s” opening apocalyptic narrative, Lamar gets stuck on the way to salvation: “Life completely went in reverse/ I guess I’m running in place trying to make it to church.”

Maybe the stalemate comes from the fact that the club came to him even though he says

Photos and cutouts courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/ Drake/?fref=ts, https://www.facebook.com/JayZ/?fref=ts, https://www.facebook.com/IceCube/photos/a.477428651264.287417.

21973336264/10152531964971265/?type=3&theater, and Photo cutouts and pictures courhttps://www.facebook.com/tupacshakur/photos/a.104455329632531. tesy of https://www.facebook.com/ 6405.104452656299465/716068571804534/?type=3&theater. kendricklamar/timeline.

he didn’t want it to. Lamar has moved millions of albums and is more or less a household name by now, and while “Alright” or “King Kunta” aren’t universal nightlife staples, they’ve achieved conscious-party-anthem status. This success sometimes allows him to swagger like any other rapper (well, better than most any other rapper), as when he methodically builds momentum through a litany of boasts custom-tailored to each of his label-mates on “untitled 02 | 06.23.2014.”

But other times, he’s anxious about having prospered.

“Get that new money, and it’s breaking me down honey,” goes the chorus on “untitled 08 | 09.06.2014,” whose twitchy funk arrangement was first heard on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

For “untitled 03 | 05.28.2013,” he talks of receiving advice from members of different races; the white perspective comes from record-label man trying to leech off Lamar’s talents and encouraging him to sell out: “What if I compromise? He said it don’t even matter / you make a million or more, you living better than average.”

It’s not the first time this theme has appeared; exploitation by the music industry was the subject of “B***h, Don’t Kill My Vibe” off 2012’s good kid, “m.A.A.d. city.” Years later, he’s still concerned about it.

You can understand why. Diluting his message for a hit, or even just making it so the surrounding music could be more easily commodified, wouldn’t just be uncool, according to his worldview, it would be a sin. He’s already morally tainted, his music sometimes suggests, because the same system he profits from has helped keep places like his home town of Compton down. On “untitled 05 | 09.21.2014,” he talks of “genocism and capitalism” as he puts himself in the mindset of someone considering murder.

Lamar lives a sober life, so whomever he’s rapping about isn’t him in the moment. Society has, as far as it goes, treated him okay lately; at the same Grammys ceremony he debuted this song at, he went home with a fistful of awards. This is, of course, one of the ongoing paradoxes around political art in America. It’s very hard to spread a critique of capitalism without using capitalism; it’s very easy for revolutionary messages to be co-opted by the very institutions and forces an artist might set out to change. When Lamar talks about the devil, code-named “Lucy” on “To Pimp a Butterfly,” he’s talking in part about the allure of joining the rich-to-get-richer class. On “untitled’s” second track, he gets a raise, spends it all on himself, looks at the ailing streets of Compton, and wonders “where did we go wrong?” Later, he copies a signature Drake flow and threatens, “What if I empty my bank out and stunt? / What if I certified all of these ones?”

That last line might be a reference to new Recording Industry Association of America rules around album-sales certifications—rules that Lamar’s label boss has said amount to a “cheat code” that his artists would not honor, even though

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they would technically make “To Pimp a Butterfly” a platinum record. Lamar is grimly obsessed with the concept of easy gratification, and says it tempts him as much as it tempts many people in poor, black neighborhoods where 9-to-5 jobs are hard to come by and rarely pay well. The final track has him talking to a woman who has earned a scholarship but is still running a credit-card scam, and Lamar doesn’t judge her; as a “rapper chasing stardom,” he’s also a taker of risky shortcuts. At the end of the album, a low voice—maybe God?—cuts in: “When a blessing takes too long, that’s when you go wrong / You selfish mother*******” But Lamar does have a tentative solution to the dilemmas he as an artist and his community more broadly face. “Head is the answer,” goes a refrain on a few tracks, which might be an oral sex joke but is also probably a call for conscientiousness.

At one point, he references Kanye West and Jay Z’s song “Murder to Excellence,” which powerfully explains hip-hop’s money obsession as a natural response to poverty, violence, and oppression. Lamar has always stood apart from the flashy materialism of many other rappers, but instead of condemning big spending he wants to put it to good use: “It’s evident that I inspired a thousand emcees to do better / I blew cheddar on youth centers, buildings and Bimmers and blue leather.” And on “untitled 05 | 09.21.2014,” he has his colleague Punch sermonize for the power of uncompromising art. “I could speak the truth and I know the world would unravel,” Punch raps, before airing a very Lamarian second thought: “Wait—that’s a bit ambitious, maybe I’m trippin’.”

This is part of the genius of Lamar: recognizing the forces that keep people from living up to their ideals, while also embodying a certain kind of idealism. If the world is too full of temptations that, once indulged, end up enabling larger injustices, he will at least try and make music that resists those forces, sonically, lyrically, presentation-wise. “untitled unmastered” has debuted at No. 1 in the country, which means his faith has been, yet again, rewarded.

January March 2016 2016 huntleyvoice.com huntleyvoice.com 29 29

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‘The Division’ gives all Ubisoft’s newest game gives Tom Clancy fans what they have been waiting for: new features tyler watkins • sports editor

30 huntleyvoice.com March 2016 26 huntleyvoice.com December 2015

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Photo cutouts and pictures courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/ TheDivisionGameUS/timeline.

he quiet streets quickly devolve into chaos as the sound of gunfire and explosions fill the air. Rioters fiercely fight back against the squad of soldiers closing in on their position.

These elite soldiers, controlled by multiple people, are agents of The Division.

“The Division” is an ambitious attempt by Ubisoft to enter the world of multiplayer shooters. The game is an open-world, third-person shooter that contains elements of a roleplaying game. Developed by Ubisoft Massive, with help from Red Storm Entertainment, and published

by Ubisoft, “The Division” was released on March 8 for Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC. Expectations for the game were high, yet somewhat tempered. Although “The Division” was backed by a large developer and publisher, it was unknown which niche the game would fill. It wasn’t a pure shooter like “Call of Duty” or “Battlefield,” yet didn’t offer the multiplayer depth found in “Destiny.” If anything, the biggest challenge “The Division” faced was getting gamers to try the game.

Prior to release, Ubisoft allowed players on Xbox One to try an open beta on Feb. 18, with Playstation 4 and PC players receiving the beta the following day. This allowed many gamers to test “The Division” and spread word of the game’s release.

“The Division” contains both a single-player campaign and a coopera-

tive multiplayer mode. However, the campaign can be completed either solo or with a squad of friends.

The campaign is set in Manhattan after a deadly smallpox epidemic, known as ‘Green Poison.’ The player character is an agent of The Division, a highly-trained government agency. The player is sent to help emergency responders take back the city and uncover whatever they can about the mysterious virus.

“The storyline is creative, unlike other multiplayer games,” said senior Ben Marsh. “There’s a lot of different types of missions that you can do.”

The campaign was well-done, and offers an intriguing story and a good difficulty level. It can be completed solo, yet is tuned well enough that playing with more people would be feasible as well. The game is neither too easy for veteran players, nor too difficult for newcomers, allowing “The Division” to reach as wide of an audience as possible.

In the campaign, players can loot weapons and armor off enemies, buy them from vendors, or even craft their own gear. This allows players to get a steady sense of progression in their characters, yet gear is balanced well enough that you never feel too weak or too powerful. There are also various safe houses that contain matchmaking systems so that you can be randomly paired with other players if you wish to take back the streets of Manhattan in a squad.

The only major complaint I have about the campaign is that combat can get repetitive. Shooters are usually very limited in what actions the player can undertake, given that they don’t usually have many abilities, and “The Division” is no exception. However, the different factions of enemies allow for relatively varied fights that keep the game from getting too boring.

The multiplayer mode is located in the Dark Zone and is played cooperatively. Groups of players clear the Dark Zone of various enemies, looting contaminated armors and weapons that can be taken back to be decontaminated and used outside of the Dark Zone. However, players can turn on their allies, killing them and taking their loot, leaving players never fully able to trust their team.

The Dark Zone is surprisingly the weakest aspect of “The Division.” Although interesting, the ability to turn on your allies is rarely ever seen, as it will almost certainly result in your death and the potential loss of hours of work.

As a result, nearly every player simply works together, making the Dark Zone a much less dangerous place than it should be. Personally, although I hate losing progress as much as anyone else, I can’t help but feel that my experience has been lessened by this lack of betrayal. Nearly every hugely successful game developed around its multiplayer capabilities features some competitive player vs player action, and making traitors more common in the Dark Zone would go a long way towards improving the game.

Obtaining the top-end gear in the Dark Zone is also a huge grind that takes many hours, as players must complete daily challenges and kill named bosses to earn phoenix credits. For most players, this can get tiresome and repetitive, as it takes away the engaging story and leaves the somewhat dull combat.

Overall, “The Division” has been a success for Ubisoft. The story is excellent and draws players in, even managing to distract them from a combat system that could be more exciting. The Dark Zone, underwhelming as it may be, has plenty of potential, and Ubisoft has already been putting in updates showing that they have been listening to players’ concerns. If you’re a fan of shooters, “The Division” is a must-buy.

January March 2016 2016 huntleyvoice.com huntleyvoice.com 31 29

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32 huntleyvoice.com March 2016

SPORTS

Keeping the team relaxed Senior Nate Monis motivates his teammates Senior Nate Monis heads towards midfield (D. Kalish).

lucas modzelewski • staff writer

M

ore than four years ago, then-freshman Nate Monis hears about a new popular thing at school. All of his friends are doing it, he has been looking for something to be known for in school, and he hears that it is fun, so he thinks, “Why not try it out?”

Soon he gets addicted. Every day after school he does it, and it feels exhilarating. He starts telling all of his friends about it. He gets them to try it out as well, and while some seem to not have much of a taste for it, many get just as addicted as Monis. He even gets his own brother to try it out, and, unsurprisingly, the kid loves it too. What exactly is this thing?

Lacrosse.

Now, Monis is a senior, and

he will soon graduate and enroll at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to major in chemistry so he can pursue a career in anesthesiology. However, right now Monis’ focus is on being a midfielder, also known as a middie, for Huntley’s varsity lacrosse team. He has improved and learned a lot in his 3-plus years of playing lacrosse, rightfully earning that starting spot.

According to Monis, what motivates him to improve so much is his personal drive to always be the best he can be at whatever he does.

However, his drive is not the only thing that motivates him.

“Frank Krupiczowicz really motivates me because he really defies all the stereotypes set towards him,” said Monis. “A lot of people look at Frank and think, ‘Wow that kid’s ugly and fat,’ but then he ran a 6:38 mile so that definitely impresses

me.”

While he listed many of his own teammates and past coaches as inspiration, the two biggest inspirations for him in life are his two dads, Ralph Monis and Kanye West.

“My dad really taught me, made me the person I am today and, you know, Kanye has always taught me to be confident in myself and just to ignore the haters and do whatever makes me happy because, just like Kanye, I know I got a vision in my head and I’m the only one who can see it,” said Monis.

Not only does Monis have many inspirations, but he inspires and helps many others as well. “[Nate] has definitely taught me to have thicker skin so when people poke fun, it doesn’t really bother me,” said Nate’s brother, sophomore Jackson Monis.

According to Jackson, Nate has given him help with schoolwork and general life advice when he needed it.

“I guess he kind of helped me to get out of my shell a little more because I was more social with people and I guess my best memories are probably just like all of us hanging out when we were little,” said Jackson.

Having such a great and helpful friend to lean on has really helped Jackson in life. Not only that, but being in the same friend group as Nate has allowed Jackson to experience more and grow more as a person than most people his age.

“He’s been a pretty good brother,” said Jackson.

Nate has opened Jackson’s eyes and exposed him to many new things. He always keeps things interesting for Jackson, even when he is not being the best brother.

“He’s funny, but even when he’s not just being funny, like when he’s

being annoying, like any brother can be annoying at points, at least he keeps it interesting,” said Jackson.

Monis is known by the team for not only being a good player, but a funny and laid-back addition to the team as well.

“He keeps practices fun, and while it’s serious, he still keeps it fun,” said senior James Huber.

According to Monis, he is the undisputed rap champion on the team, so it is no surprise to know that, in his free time, his favorite things to do are spit bars and write lines.

“My mixtape’s probably gonna be dropping this summer,” said Monis.

The exact date is still yet to be determined, but if there is one thing to look out for in 2016, it is Monis’ summer mixtape.

Not only is he an aspiring rapper, but he motivates his teammates in all sorts of different ways as well.

“I’m a motivator. I do dope handshakes with [Huber] before the games,” said Monis.

Dope handshakes are not the only things that Monis and Huber do together. Lacrosse has helped them form a strong friendship, which in turn leads to great teamwork. Not only has this allowed them to excel in lacrosse together, but other sports as well.

“The best [moment with Nate] was last year, when we went to a Sticks and Stones tournament for lacrosse and we were on the same volleyball team and we won the championship,” said Huber.

While Monis does not plan to continue playing lacrosse for anything more than fun in the future, his experiences and the friendships he has forged through the sport have given him more than he could ever ask for and given him something that he could never forget.

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 33

SPORTS

A new face in charge Matt Zimolzak is ready to take over Huntley football New Huntley head coach Mike Zimolzak (Courtesy of District 158).

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 34

adam reckamp • editor in chief

W

hen John Hart arrived at Huntley High School in 2012, he was a three-time Indiana state football champion, but for the Huntley football program he was inheriting, state was the last thing on their minds. Huntley was a perennial bottom feeder in the Fox Valley Conference. They had only achieved two winning seasons in the last ten years, but with the school’s population about to dramatically increase and Class 8A in their future, they needed to rebuild the program, and they needed to do it fast.

Hart rapidly changed the culture around Huntley football, accumulating a 28-12 record in his 4 years at the school and reaching the playoffs more times than the school had in the previous ten years combined. When Hart departed from Huntley this December, to coach in Brownsburg, Indiana, the program he left behind was completely unrecognizable from the one he started with. There were the physical changes: a new stadium, a new weight room, new uniforms, but the most important changes of all were the intangibles. Hart created a paradigm shift in the culture of the program, changing the team from a laughingstock to a team that captured the community’s attention and proved it could compete in the most competitive division in Illinois.

Hart’s proverbial shoes would seem to be too large to fill, but new Huntley football coach Matt Zimolzak is up to the task.

A quick glance at Zimolzak’s coaching resume shows an incredible coaching pedigree. Teams Zimolzak has helped coach have

made the playoffs 19 out of the 21 years he has coached.

He has been a part of two incredible football cultures, coaching at Fremd High School with Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer Mike Donatucci for 17 years before coaching under Hart for the last four years, serving as defensive coordinator the last three seasons. Zimolzak’s experience around success has provided him with all the tools he needs to become a great head coach.

“For me those systems are all I’ve known,” said Zimolzak about coaching under Hart and Donatucci. “I’m going to continue along those same lines. The brotherhood and the tradition we have built here, we will consider doing a lot of the same things. Obviously, I will put my own stamp on it to make it my program, but I think what Huntley is doing now leads to an incredibly successful program.”

Zimolzak has not just been a bystander to the success around his football teams, he has been an active reason why his teams are successful. Under his coordination, Huntley’s defense was dominant last season, allowing only 14.1 points per game. His defensive philosophy keys on an attacking, aggressive defensive line to create

pressure on the quarterback and shut down the run. Zimolzak, a former college defensive linemen at Beloit College in Wisconsin, has shown to be great at developing defensive linemen during his time at Huntley, with multiple linemen, including Brandon Dranka and Tim McCloyn, playing Division One college football. Zimolzak should have plenty to work with next season. His defensive line will be anchored by junior Lere Oladipo, who is already fielding college offers from many top programs, including the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois.

Zimolzak’s defensive gameplans were major reasons for Huntley’s undefeated season last year. One game that comes to mind was Huntley’s 22-19 win over Jacobs this season. Huntley’s offense turned the ball over 6 times but still managed to come out on top due to the defense shutting down Jacobs’ offense, often working with a short field. Zimolzak also engineered the defense to shut down Cary-Grove’s option attack, a major reason why Huntley defeated the Trojans for the first time in school history.

This success at Huntley highlights the major advantage of hiring Zimolzak, his familiarity with the program and its players. The system

Hart put in place at Huntley is working right now, and bringing in a coach from the outside who might want to radically change things could put Huntley’s fledgling program at risk of reverting back to its former self. Zimolzak saw what Hart did to change the culture at Huntley, and knows from his time at Fremd what it takes to continue that success.

“I think that familiarity is a huge advantage to him over any external hire,” said Huntley Athletic Director Chris Rozanski. “He has got a sense of what has worked and what he wants to personalize himself.

He knows the community and the youth programs.”

Zimolzak is not just a football coach, he has a passion for education as well, particularly Physics. At Fremd, Zimolzak started a projectbased learning program back in the 1990’s which teamed high school physics students up with the nearby Motorola offices to do projects testing their cell phones and radios.

After doing this for a number of years, he started the AP Physics C program at the high school.

If Zimolzak comes to teach at Huntley, he hopes to not just leave an impact on the football field, but also in the classroom.

According to Zimolzak, Fremd

SPORTS

while being a smaller school than Huntley, has three AP Physics C sections and eight AP Physics 1 sections, more sections of each than at Huntley.

“Unfortunately, we are not there yet and my goal if I were to come over is to progress that,” said Zimolzak. “That may be my impact, not as much on the football field; obviously I want that to happen and to continue that tradition, but also to start a great tradition in the science department here.”

Zimolzak takes over a team that should compete again for the Fox Valley Conference title, with sophomore Eric Mooney likely moving from running back to quarterback and Oladipo anchoring the defense.

While Zimolzak is proud of the team’s accomplishments last season, he has another goal in mind: advancing farther in the playoffs.

“We need to snowball our success into greater things in the future,” said Zimolzak. “An undefeated season is great, no one can ever take that away from our kids, but to go farther in the playoffs is really our goal. It doesn’t matter if you have an undefeated season but an exit early in the playoffs. The point of the season is to build up to the playoffs.”

Junior Lere Oladipo celebrates a sack (Courtesy of H. Nosek).

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 35

SPORTS

The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) drives past the Dallas Mavericks’ Devin Harris (34) during the second half on Friday, March 18, 2016, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Warriors won, 130-112. (Jim Cowsert/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS)

History in the making Steph Curry could be NBA’s first unanimous MVP brandon frey • staff writer

W

ith the NBA regular season almost over, the chase for the 2015-2016 MVP is all ready over.

Steph Curry has a case to be the NBA’s first unanimous MVP ever. This season marks the 60th anniversary of the league handing out its MVP trophy. In those six decades, no player has won the award unanimously.

There have been near misses.

Shaquille O’Neal in 1999-2000 and LeBron James in 2012-13 secured 120 of the possible 121 votes. During those years, O’Neal and James were on teams that were not as good as the Golden State Warriors are this year, something the voters take into account when deciding MVPs. The Warriors this season are a league-best 62-7 and have the ability to break the best regular sea36 huntleyvoice.com March 2015

son record ever in the NBA, which was set by the 1995-1996 Bulls with a record of 72-10. With only 16 games left in the regular season, and 10 of those games against teams over .500, the road to breaking the record won’t be easy. However, the Warriors will be playing on their home court for six of those 10 games, where they are 49-0 stretching back to last season.

Curry has dominated the NBA this season and will no doubt be the MVP once again. He has been unstoppable on the court; whether it’s his acrobatic layups or his halfcourt shots, everything he shoots seems to go in. It seems like every night he is making at least one buzzer beating halfcourt shot and we are no longer impressed because of how many he has made this year. He has made so many, in fact, he has four times as many makes from 28-40 feet as the next closest shooter, Damian Lillard, who only has 9. Curry is

deadly from wherever he shoots, and has already broken the NBA all-time record of three-pointers made in a single season, a record he set during the 2013-2014 season.

And it’s not just Curry’s deadly accuracy from behind the threepoint line that has made him the MVP of this season. Curry is averaging 30.7 points per game this year, up 6.9 points from last year.

This is the biggest spike in points per game by a reigning MVP since Larry Bird. This along with his quickness and ability to force turnovers has made him the obvious MVP, and possibly the NBA’s first unanimous MVP. Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs proves to be the most likely player to prevent the Warriors’ star from being a unanimous selection. Leonard is the best player on the San Antonio Spurs, who are having an unbelievable season of their own. Overshadowed by the

Warriors, the Spurs have put up a record of 59-10, only three games behind the Warriors. Leonard, like Curry, also has impressive offensive numbers, averaging 20.6 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game, and his three-point percentage is actually better than Curry’s, but Curry has attempted 453 more three pointers than Leonard. Most importantly, he’s the NBA’s best defensive player, and the ability to shut down the opposition’s top scorer on a nightly basis is what makes Leonard most valuable, and stands the best chance of preventing Curry from being the first unanimous MVP. While Curry and the Warriors have dominated most of the NBA spotlight this year, it’s because of the fact that fans of the NBA haven’t seen a player, or even a team, as dominant as Curry and the Warriors since the Jordan Bulls of the ‘90s.

SPORTS

Focusing on his dream

Drew London competes at the highest levels of karate Junior Drew London practices his form (S. Faheem).

raemon savillo • staff writer

A

s junior Drew London was getting ready for his match, he was looking straight at his opponent, thinking of ways to break him down and eventually come up victorious.

“Just to start off, I do Shotokan karate, so I don’t break boards or blocks. So please, don’t ask,” said London.

Shotokan karate is a form of karate that was founded in 1938, and is the most widely practiced form of karate in the world, and is the most traditional type of karate to do.

London began karate 11 years ago, and has been in love with the sport ever since.

“I was introduced to it at an after school program at Chesak Elementary School,” said London. “My parents put me into the program as a way to keep me busy until they could get off of work.”

Right away, London’s ultimate goal was to earn a black belt, but he knew that it would take hard work and determination to get there.

“It took me about 9 ½ years to get my black belt,” said London. “It takes a ton of hard work and even more patience to get a black belt, plus you must learn all the moves

and forms for each belt (10 belts) before you can advance to the next.”

London is not only working to get his black belt, but also has to compete in local and national tournaments. Over the years, he has traveled all over the country to places like Ft. Lauderdale, Indianapolis, Columbus, and of course, Chicago.

He has also traveled outside the country to Germany and Slovenia.

“Traveling is one of the main reasons that I continue to do karate,” said London. “I get to travel to both domestic and international venues.

This year I will also be visiting Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Houston, and for international travel I will be going to Dublin, Ireland in June.”

During all of his tournaments, London has kept a specific routine before all of his fights do get him ready and pumped up for his fight.

“Even though I have been doing this for a while, I still get nervous before I compete,” said London.

“When I start to get nervous, I don’t like to talk or even listen to other people. I’ll put in my headphones and walk away from the mat until I am either called to do kata or kumite(sparring). I also really like to pace and I get very restless so I’ll start doing moves from my kata or start to shadow box on the side of

the ring.”

With karate being a big contact sport, the sport not only can hurt you physically, but also mentally.

“Well being in a combat sport, you get bruises and cuts all of the time, but luckily I’ve been majorly injured only twice,” said London.

“The first time was when I was sparring one of my friends at a local tournament. I was trying to kick him in the head but he grabbed my leg and took me down. When I hit the ground I displaced my hip, which caused my left leg to be about 1“ longer than my right leg.”

“Being in a combat sport, you get bruises and cuts all of the time.”

Junior Drew London “The second time was while I was in Slovenia,” said London. “I was in a sparring match against an athlete from Denmark, who got one good shot at my face and fractured my nose. I didn’t feel the pain right away so I didn’t know that something was wrong until after the fight, which by then the fracture had turned into a break.”

London has been very successful in his competitions, becoming a decorated fighter over the years.

“My biggest achievement is probably when I was crowned the 2015 National Champion for my division, when I took 1st in kumite and took 3rd in kata,” said London.

“This also gave me an automatic ticket into the AAU National

Karate Team pool, from which the coaches pick the athletes that will be traveling with the team to international competitions. They only pick seven 16 year old male athletes to travel with the team and I was one of them.”

Outside of the mats, London has been teaching karate for more than three years, and teaches a variety of classes ranging from young kids all the way to high schoolers.

“My favorite class to teach, by far, is the Special Focus class,”said London. “This class is comprised of kids with varying degrees of both mental and physical handicaps,” said London. “Each day is different than the last, you don’t know what to expect most of the time. I think that is what makes the class exciting and fun.”

London also helps coach his dojo’s competition team, called Team Focus, helping coach for the 13-14 male and female athletes that are part of the team.

“Drew has been a great coach,” said Teagan Hayes. “He has taught me a lot of things and has made me a better fighter overall.”

London’s ultimate goal for karate is to be able to make the USA Olympic karate team to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, but he first wants to focus on the short term goals he has set for himself.

“Each year I get the chance to reset my goals or keep them the same for the next season, said London.

“My short term goal for each year is to qualify and win at the national championships at the end of the season, and a more long term goal for me is to consistently make the USA National Karate team and become a world champion.”

March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 37

SPORTS

Making the game fun

Luc Sibert brings passion and fun to Huntley baseball Senior Luc Sibert warms up by pitching (R O’Sullivan).

joe rizzo • staff writer

A

s the final out occurs and the game ends, regardless if the Red Raiders win or lose, there’s always a smile on senior Luc Sibert’s face. Sibert is a captain on the varsity baseball team. Not only is he a captain, but he is a favorite among the players and seems to encourage them regardless of the situation.

“Luc is a great teammate, he inspires us to work hard and get better every day. He also makes the season as fun as he can. He works hard and is vocal to us as well as our coaches, talks to us frequently on and off the field, not only about baseball, but life too,” said senior Ryan McGran.

Sibert started his baseball career at the age of six when he played March 2016 huntleyvoice.com 38

for the New York Yankees Little League team. He excelled for his age, and played multiple positions, including third base, catcher, and pitcher. Sibert made the Little League all-star team, where he made one of the greatest memories of his life.

“When I was 6, I was a plump young stud in the Little League all-star game, and I hit a pitch at my head to the fence that was around 120 feet away, and it hit the top of the fence and came back in, it’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to a home run. I still got out at first because I wasn’t the fastest of runners back then,” said Sibert.

Sibert made the high school team his freshman year, beginning his career on Huntley’s B team.

“It was weird for me because I did make B team, and I did think I was a good enough pitcher for

the A team. I didn’t let that get me down. The only regret I have about that is not being able to spend the year with Anthony Binetti, we were separated, it was heartbreaking,” said Sibert.

“One thing Luc always knew was how to stay positive and how to be a good, loyal teammate,” said senior Trevor Ranallo.

Going from the freshman B team to varsity is a very hard thing to do.

“I sat down with Coach and we both agreed my days of hitting were over. I had already completed all my goals in the fielding and hitting worlds and it was time to move to pitching,” said Sibert.

Sibert started to focus on his pitching, and he continued to get better and better.

“I think my skills have developed immensely, freshman year I was probably throwing 63 to 69 miles

per hour but now I can get the fastball up to the upper 70s. It’s all in the squats,” said Sibert.

Sibert’s junior year he made the varsity team, something not a lot of former freshmen B team players can say they have done.

“It felt good to make varsity, I was excited. Also, I got to pick walk-up songs, so you already know I went with “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” but this year I’ll be switching it up with the Star Wars theme song and “Roar” by my main lady, Katy Perry, whose performance in the Super Bowl was top 10 in my book,” said Sibert.

“My favorite thing about Luc is he can be fun while also being serious when he needs to be and can always put the team in a good mood no matter what the situation,” said Mcgran.

This year, Sibert has been named a team captain and looks to make the best of his senior season.

“I think we’ll be a lot better than last year and that will surprise some people. I expect to win a lot of games,” said Sibert.

“Every year, the team acquires new players and gets to know everyone right away. Luc is not afraid to speak to anyone, so he will tell you what you need to do to get better as a player. He is a true role model for young players, as well as the upperclassmen like myself,” said Ranallo.

Sibert is a true leader on the team and will always be remembered as not only a great teammate, but a great person.

This is Sibert’s final season at Huntley High School, and the Red Raiders look to make this season a good one. Win or lose it does not matter for Sibert. A positive attitude and a memory is more important.

STAFF EDITORIAL

Administration should exercise caution regarding student speech

A

student’s First Amendment rights at school have been a national issue since the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District Supreme Court case in 1969. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that students enjoy freedom of speech rights and that “[a] prohibition against expression of opinion, without any evidence that the rule is necessary to avoid substantial interference with school discipline or the rights of others, is not permissible under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.”

This ruling has long been used as the basis for student First Amendment rights. But with the emergence of technology and the growing popularity of social media, the rules have become muddied.

On Feb. 7, these issues were raised at Huntley High School.

It started on Friday, Feb. 5; a possible gun threat was posted on social media. The threat was unsubstantiated and posed no real danger. This incident caused students to be uneasy, and rumors spread. On Sunday, Feb. 7, a bullet was found in the school near the PAC. District 158 tweeted: “Single bullet found at HHS this morning. After thorough police/K9 sweep, no weapons found. Unrelated to prior incident. School safe for Mon.” Quickly the tweet became a polarizing issue on Twitter, eliciting two major reactions from students. Some students were skeptical of the district’s claim that the school was safe and voiced their concerns about the safety of the school. Twitter became a sort of echo chamber for these students, leading to increasing concern, and tweets became more and more extreme in their fears.

One tweet displayed a picture of security camera footage from Columbine with a caption to the effect of “They didn’t get a warning, we did. Don’t come to school on Monday.” While many of the students appeared to be using the bullet as an excuse to get out of school the day after the Super Bowl, some students seemed legitimately nervous.

The second major reaction came from students who took the District’s tweet at face value. These students believed there was no danger, and made jokes attempting to diffuse the situation.

Out of all the jokes, however, tweets referencing the popular video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 3” were targeted by the district.

These tweets made light of the situation by making “Call of Duty” references and applying them to the situation. One tweet had a picture of the high school with a caption joking that it was a new map in the game. Another was a poll asking which ability in the game students should use at school on Monday in order to defend themselves.

The district could not comment on specific suspensions, but we know a handful of students were suspended for their tweets.

According to Principal Scott Rowe, the school’s legal basis for making these suspensions is something called the “nexus.” If a student references Huntley High School or District 158 in speech outside of school, it is reasonable to infer that the speech will reach the school campus and therefore a student can be held accountable for it.

Once a nexus is established, the district would then have to establish that a “substantial disruption” occurred. This comes from the Tinker case mentioned above.

Rowe said that he believes that after talking to their legal team they were on solid ground making the decisions that were made. We disagree.

In the cases that occurred in February, the “nexus” is not in question. The school was mentioned in all of the tweets that students were punished for.

The issue comes when the school attempts to apply Tinker, and prove that the tweets caused the substantial disruption to the learning environment. The substantial disruption is the crux of the argument: were those specific tweets what caused the increased absences, or was it the bullet in combination of the

prior false gun threat?

According to Rowe and Dean Tom Kempf, parent phone calls that referenced specific tweets and the almost tripled absentee rate on Monday Feb. 8 were evidence of a substantial disruption to the learning environment. They also added that several teachers could not teach their lessons because the weekend’s activities.

While the absentee rate and classroom issues are obviously a disruption, the trouble comes in proving those specific tweets were the reason these disruptions occurred.

After looking at the replies to the district’s original tweet about the bullet, students expressed how the bullet made them feel uncomfortable, and that they would not be attending school on Monday, even before the “Call of Duty” jokes were being tweeted. Throughout the night, students responded to the district’s tweet, but there was no mention of the “Call of Duty” jokes seen in the other tweets, leading us to believe that the student body understood the attempts at humor.

The issue with the jokes came when parents took them out of context.

When these parents called the school, the school should have looked into the tweets and, after understanding the context, reassured the parents that the tweets were not serious and that the building would be safe the following day.

It is not the district’s job to censor the students and punish them to ease parents’ fears.

Anecdotal parent phone calls are not reason enough to conclude that those specific tweets caused the increased absences. All the other evidence based on student replies on Twitter, strongly points to the bullet being the sole cause of students’ fears. From the information we have access to, the only people who took the students’ tweets as threats were parents who did not appear to understand the context of the tweets.

The tweets were harmless; they playfully made light of an otherwise bad situation. They didn’t rise to the level of threats, and there was no reasonable correlation between the jokes made on Twitter and the absences the following Monday. They did not cause the substantial disruption that Tinker requires.

Most of these students did nothing wrong. They made a joke, and were suspended because some parents did not understand the context. These suspensions have caused kids to have to sit out sporting events, and will stay on their permanent records. When filling out the Common Application for college, students are asked to explain any of their past suspensions in school. These unjust suspensions could affect these students’ abilities to get into the college of their dreams.

We at The Voice do not question the intentions of the administration; these are honest people who just want to do right by their students.

“We spend hours. The whole administrative team meets on all of these big situations to decide what the best thing is for the kids,” said Kempf. “What is right, what is protected by free speech and what is not protected because now it is potentially threatening; that is what we do.”

We do feel, however, that the administration caved to parental pressure, and reacted too harshly to jokes taken out of context. This decision is unfair to the students involved and sets a dangerous precedent for the future. Will the school begin policing every joke that makes a student or parent feel uncomfortable? It feels a little bit like Big Brother. When does the censorship stop?

We feel that District 158 needs to take a closer look at its process for evaluating these off campus freedom of speech issues.

If the district continues acting in this way, it runs the risk of infringing the First Amendment rights of its students.

Luc Sibert: Motivating his teammates on and off the field (M. Czapka)