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dual degree program NEWS
Addison Raistrick and Maddie Hanson are accepted into the Dual Degree Program.
A. Cobb
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First group accepted into the Dual Degree Program
Class of 2024 has the chance to earn an HHS and college degree
By Amanda Sarrol
On Jan. 7. the Dual Degree Program application window was closed. In total, 31 students applied for the program and 25 applicants were accepted a week later on Jan. 14.
Addison Raistrick, one of the accepted students of the Dual Degree Program, walked down to the College and Career Center to pick up her acceptance letter after receiving an email.
“It was a Friday, I remember it so distinctly. I had it on my calendar. I had my Chromebook opened with the inbox, and my teacher was talking, and suddenly I have the little [notification in my] inbox come in, and it’s an email from Mrs. Martens,” Raistrick said.
Laura Martens, Huntley High School’s college and career counselor, sent out emails and letters to all 31 students who applied for the Dual Degree Program.
“This was the [best] part. I sent an email saying their letter was ready and I had letters here [in the office], and I had students come to the College and Career Center to pick up their letter,” Martens said. “However, I did the students who the program wasn’t right for first, so they didn’t overlap because I thought that would be really cruel.”
There were many factors that were taken into consideration, when deciding the acceptances for the applicants.
“[The applicant had to be in their] sophomore year, [and provide their] GPA and letters of recommendation so that we could hear from teachers that the student is successful in class, because you can’t just go off GPA. [Also,] the student applications talked about why they were interested, which I thought was important. Then, of course, the parent’s [signature], so we knew that the family was on board to find out more information,” Martens said.
Now that 25 students have been accepted into the program, many of them are planning and preparing for the next steps of the program.
“The next steps will be to develop a schedule, to do an orientation on [Mchenry County College’s] campus, a visit [at MCC], and also to do an orientation meeting here [at HHS] with families,” Martens said.
Currently, Martens is meeting with the students who were accepted into the program to discuss their schedules.
Every student has a different background going into the program, so they will have different schedules depending on the classes they took as freshmen and sophomores.
Beyond schedules for next year, there are still many plans that are being made. One of the factors that Martens and assistant principal Shelly Kish are going to be working on is transportation.
“We had decided early on that transportation shouldn’t be a reason someone couldn’t take it. We are working with the district office to make sure we have that setup. As far as the time for the commute, we already run some classes at MCC. We have the PCCS, [also known as] MCC Partnership for College and Career Success classes, and as part of that, transportation or commuting back is incorporated in that time frame. So yes, all of that will be worked into the schedule.”
In addition to transportation, arrangements for the new dual credit classes are going to be planned as well. Next year, Dual Credit Physical Education and Dual Credit Intro to Chemistry will be added.
These classes went to the school board for approval in November, so meetings will be set up with MCC to see how the classes run, in order to get the teachers at Huntley High School prepared for those courses.
“We haven’t finalized all of the teachers yet, especially for the PE class. Typically for dual credit classes, teachers have to have their masters as well as a number of hours in the subject area at the graduate level. The one exception is the PE class, [teachers] actually don’t have to have hours in their subject area, [and] they do have to have work experience hours, that leaves PE wide open for who’s going to be teaching it.”
On the other hand, as far as classes go at MCC, the students in the program might be in classes where there are students from other schools in Mchenry County.
“They will be in the same classes at MCC. So we are predicting that we will have plenty of students so there won’t be anybody except for high school students. So you might be taking an art class with students from Woodstock or Harvard,” Martens said.
So, in addition to dual credit classes offered at HHS and the classes at MCC, students a part of the Dual Degree Program will have to earn 60 credits worth of dual credit classes in order to receive an Associate of Arts degree by the time they graduate.
Although this may be a lot of pressure, Martens will be meeting consis-
tently with every student.
“I know [Laura Martens] is going to have weekly check-ins. She will definitely be the person meeting with everyone and finding out how it’s going [and doing] grade checks, just any support we can offer here as well. Obviously, we don’t teach all the courses there, but even if it’s getting people set up with support at MCC or whatever students need, she is going to be the direct contact for that support,” Kish said.
Overall, the program will be a new experience for the students accepted into the program and for Huntley High School.
“Obviously, an associate’s degree for $2,000 is a really good experience, but also having the experience of getting to take college classes at an actual college, while still in high school, will be good in preparing me for actual college,” Raistrick said. “I think that is going to be the most important part.”
NEWS | dual degree program
Students received a letter from Laura Martens, College and Career counselor, letting students know whether or not they were accepted into the program.
A. Cobb
Gather around a Young Authors tale
L. Arroyo Awards still hold their value years after success.
Huntley elementary and middle schools welcome back Young Authors for the new year.
By Dylan Palczynski
Huntley’s Young Authors return to writing this year to spread their imagination and stories to all of Huntley. Young Authors is an elementary and middle school program that allows students in Huntley to exhibit their talents in storytelling.
The program also engages students with the help of judges. Volunteers with previous experience in mainly writing and teaching act as judges for the young authors. They strive to bring improvement and help to writers as they write with both mind and heart.
“Young authors are kids who might want to do writing for a career or really have a love for it, where they will go out of their way for it. They don’t have to do it, and they don’t get a grade for it, but [it’s] because these writers want to,” Tammy Carpenter, coordinator of Young Authors at Marlowe and Heineman middle schools said.
Young Authors is able to provide an outlet for students who wish to share and improve their writing talents with those who are experienced in writing. Unfortunately, along with the pandemic came minor setbacks.
With the COVID-19 surge came multiple judges becoming unavailable. Many students unfortunately ended up not volunteering which sadly left the program lacking the full force of Young Authors’ guidance in previous years. On the bright side, members are starting to return to bring back the magic of writing.
Young Authors has also left its impact on high school students today. A program that was able to give students an outlet for their creativity shows how students now in high school can take great steps through small tales.
“Young Authors definitely taught me that working on a book required me to follow deadlines and put a lot of effort into a project that I was passionate about,” sophomore Rebekah Reeves said. “I definitely try to carry that with me now even though I don’t write poems as much, but rather I write songs now.”
Just as middle school gave us all a gateway into high school and exploring who we are, Young Authors seeks to bring out one’s talent through writing. From short stories, to poems, to full books, Young Authors boosted writers to higher levels of success and dedication even before high school.
And it all paid off at some point. Dedication and growth is what the Young Authors program seeks out from students, and once those goals are met students turn into authors and flourish in their imaginations.
“Young Authors was a really fun experience, especially when I ever submitted a new story and got excited for what came next. It is very empowering, especially after I was able to go to a state conference where I even meet a professional author,” sophomore Faith Rasmussen said.
With a new return, more students can finally have an outlet to find who they are and experience what drives them to keep going. It stands as a student’s way to grow from writing an English essay to an entire story.
“When I worked on my best story, I remember that the deadline was coming up and part of me said, ‘Ugh, I don’t want to finish this,’ while the other part of me was like, ‘No. I put my heart and soul into this. I really want to be able to share this with L. Arroyo
Old tales bring back memories for past young author Rebekah Reeves.
people.’ It ended up teaching me a lot on how to persevere and follow through with something I said I would do,” Reeves said.
Finding that key to who you are is all someone needs, and now Young Authors searches with students for that key. Many authors may move on from writing to different interests in life, but they all learned how to find and empower themselves to that interest.
With Young Authors returning to full strength, not only do new and returning authors find their form of progression in life, but they are guided once more.
Take their return as a moment to realize how much one can grow from their life and experiences, and most importantly, take a look at the importance of what makes you, you.
SPECIAL | black history month
Black History Month
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer.”
Harriet Tubman
“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” Desmond Tutu
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
Nelson Mandela
“It isn’t where you came from; it’s where you’re going that counts.” Ella Fitzgerald
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Frederick Douglass
“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” Thurgood Marshall
“Freedom is never given; it is won.”
A. Philip Randolph
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
Jackie Robinson
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Martin Luther King Jr.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Barack Obama
“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” W.E.B. Du Bois
“History has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own.”
Michelle Obama
“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”
Malcom X
Every February, Black History Month highlights the contributions of Black leaders, activists, artists, athletes, and many others who make our society better in their pursuit of equality and expression. On these pages, we would like to feature history makers alongside inspiring students and local displays of pride and power as seen in the June 5, 2020, Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Huntley. To all members of the Black community, we as a student paper celebrate you not only in February but every month of the year and hope to serve you always.
Protest photos by E. Armstrong All other images under Public Domain / Creative Commons
