Huntley High School Voice November 2016

V THE VOICE

November 2016 • Volume 20 • Issue 2

Sofiya Kyrylyuk Senior viola player hits all the right notes on her way to the top of the music world. p 25

R. O’Sullivan

In this issue...

4 15 25

Alternate school approved Huntley High School will enact off-site schooling to work in conjunction with credit deficit students to get back on track.

25

Raider Nation woes Students predominantly support football, but Raider Nation needs to encourage school spirit for other sports.

A girl and her viola

42

Senior Sofiya Kyrylyuk pushes the boundaries of classical music while following in the footsteps of her musically-inclined parents.

28

Go nuts for Peanuts

42

Girls basketball preview

Classic Peanuts specials serve as a reminder of what the holidays are all about, while also inciting a good laugh.

Looking to continue their dynasty, Coach Raethz and his team work hard to maintain their dominance in the Fox Valley Conference.

Our Editorial Policy...

HHS 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. Advisors 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 emmbers assume complete legal and financial liability for the content of the publication.

Meet Our Staff...

Courtney Thomas • Editor-in-Chief • Maddy Moffett • Print Editor • Camille Paddock • Online Editor • Bri Governale • Doubletruck Editor • Mawa Iqbal • News Editor • Maggie McGee • Opinion Editor • Natalie Trzeciak • Features Editor • Alex Landman • Sports Editor • Lucas Modzelewski • A&E Editor • Ryan O’Sullivan • Photo Editor • Staff writers • Jacob Barker • Madison Barr • Alejandra Favila • Nicholas Fleege • Emily Kindl • Emma Kubelka • Josh Lopez • Faith Losbanes • Peyton Moore • Michael Panzarella • Noah Simmons • Bry Walker • Sarah Biernat • Danielle King • Tyler Lopez • Austin Zeis • Photographers • Alex Downing • Bill Hollatz • Sehba Faheem • Dennis Brown • Advisor

2 • THE VOICE • November 2016

NEWS

“It was a moment of complete joy” Teachers share their favorite moments as Cubs fans noah simmons • staff writer

M

y childhood was surrounded by the Cubs playing baseball in my best friends court pretending to be Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson or Jodi Davis. It was what brought us together and allowed us to create a bond. It is a moment of complete joy for what I am able to experience and complete sadness because some of my loved ones weren’t here to witness it.”

-Math teacher Brian Thornley

I

became a die-hard Cubs fan in 1983 at the age of 10 years old. 1984 was an early lesson in what it would mean to be a Cubs fan. I developed a pure and lasting love for that ‘84 team, but that was met with agonizing heartbreak to end the season. We Cubs fans have experienced a lot of great players and generally good teams, but they all ended each season falling short of the goal of a championship. To experience this victory, on the final day of the 2016 season, was to live a moment many questioned would ever come. I feel truly fortunate to be experiencing it.”

-Social studies teacher Shandon Nixon

W

ell, I’ve been waiting since I was 6 years old for this. It’s kind of like a bucket list thing, getting to see the Cubs in The World Series. I even got to go to a couple of games at home during The World Series. Seeing them win last night, it changes the whole approach to who the Cubs are. They’re no longer the lovable losers, they’re the world champs!”

-English teacher Tom George

I

remember being 15 years old, downtown with my brother in 2003.

Sammy Sosa tied game one of the NLCS in ninth inning with a tworun home run and we were on Waveland. I remember all of the parks throughout America I have been to with my family to watch the Cubs play: San Fran, Denver, Houston, San Diego, Minneapolis, Florida and others more come to mind. These are memories that I appreciate and hold close. When I think about this win, I think about all of the people who have waited and those who have passed away waiting. I think that is what is special about this win, the connection to the past and the surreal nature of it actually being true! I hope every Cubs fan enjoys this and appreciates this.”

-Media facilitator Dan Jennings

November 2016 • THE VOICE • 3

NEWS

An alternate to Common Core HHS alternative school will help students get back on track mawa iqbal• news editor

eager to share how his life has changed for the better just by being there.

Rowe and Letkewicz were visiting Thornton Township High School District’s alternative school, a facility designed for helping credit-deficient or expelled students who have veered off track for a high school diploma.

“It was really cool to talk to him,” Rowe said. “Since he’s been here, his confidence levels increased and he’s getting his work done.”

Though technically considered a high school, the school was structured in way that deviated from the standard, eight-hour day model. Independent work stations line the walls along the outer edges of

W

hat started out as a more exciting social life involving going out with friends and cute girls quickly took a darker turn for the worst. He found himself getting sucked into the world of drug experimentation and gang activity.

Huntley High School Principal Scott Rowe and Associate Principal of Student Services Danyce Letkewicz listened to the Thornton Township student talk about the low point during his high school career. He would not tell them how he winded up at a place like that, but he was

the room, leaving the middle wide open for collaboration sessions.

Some students worked quietly at the work stations while others with similar assignments met in the middle for a group discussion with the teacher. According to Rowe, the environment was relaxing, almost therapeutic in a way.

Exactly the kind of environment Rowe and Letkewicz are hoping to create with District 158’s very own alternative high school for students who are credit-deficient or expelled held in abeyance.

The school is slated to be in If tier three interventios do not work, students may qualify for the alternative school (Courtesy of HHS PBIS Haiku page).

Updated: 12/3/2012

High

Huntley High School Map of Student Support Programming Systems Team:

Systems Coordinators:

Building Administration, Academic/Behavioral Intervention Coordinators, Tier 1/2/3 Coaches, District RTI/PBIS

Student/Parent Ambassadors: Three to Five Representatives

Academic Intervention Coordinator: Shelly Kish

Tier 3

Behavior Intervention Coordinator: Anne Sharkey

IEP/SpEd

Coaches—Christina Diaz/Danyce Saul

RENEW*

Level of Intensity

Diaz

Saul

Tier 3 Reading

Szarzynski

Brief FBA/BIP*

Tier 2 Read 180*

Plato*

RtI Aides

Frederick

Kish

Math and Reading

‘Study Labs’ (lunch)

DDI

Low

Complex FBA/BIP*

Tier 3 Math

MidQuarter F Check

Wormelli Kuchta

Academic Seminar*

9th Hour Team Leaders

Raider Aid Price

Coaches—Jamie Meindl/Karen Miller

ICICO*

Zacharias

Henk/Odarczenko

Making Connections* Konie

Check-In/ Check-Out*

Henk/Odarczenko

Tier 1 CRISS

Core Curriculum* Dept. Chairs

Coaches—Kirsten Frederick/Laura Jenkins

Guided Study Hall

9th Grade Advisory (Link Crew) Zaleski, Grabner, Lindquist

Area of Focus

Academic *- meets all PBIS/RTI criteria

Szarzynski

S/AIGs*

- Not Fully Implemented

4 • THE VOICE • November 2016

Bold

- Student-led Intervention

Friends of Rachel Club Romanski-Phillips

The Raider Way Jenkins/Sharkey

Social/Emotional/Behavioral

session January 2017 and will initially house 25 students at a location off District 158 properties.

Classes at the alternative school will be a combination of online coursework and small group learning. Students will have the chance to work on assignments based on a curriculum personalized to them, while going at a pace comfortable for them. A teacher would then organize a small group of students working on the same subject and provide instruction.

After the four-hour block of class time is up, students have an opportunity to meet with a social worker for counseling in social/emotional issues. In preparation for post-secondary life, students are required to dedicate an hour a week to job shadowing or volunteering, where they can earn credits as well.

The plan was in its infancy about six or seven years ago when Letkewicz, who was a social worker at the time, was approached by then Associate Principal Greta Rakow with an idea to support students who were not finding success in the traditional high school setting. According to Letkewicz, the support staff, which consisted of counselors, social workers, and deans saw great value in the new idea.

“There were a handful of students who wanted to get their diploma, but couldn’t because our model wasn’t working for them,” Letke-

NEWS said. “Because school. But because it was a of the field regional alternative school, house and other Huntley students were not the projects, this only students in attendance, plan was pushed which posed a problem for back a little.” some.

Their fi“They had kids coming nancial issues HHS Late Start from other schools who were answered showed aggressive behavioral - Nov. 16 to when the issues,” Letkewicz said. “Some Ombudsman of these other kids have been Parent-Teacher Alternative expelled for various reasons, Education Prowhich is why some of our kids Conferences/ gram recently who would’ve qualified for the reinvented itself academy didn’t want to go.”

Thanksgiving to a structure As most alternative schools Letkewicz present the proposal at Holiday: No that happened to align the COW meeting last November tend to be, Evergreen Acad(Courtesy of D. Martin). with HHS’s plan: providing emy is plagued with a stigma School - Nov. academic, social/emotional wicz said. “They were really that further hinders some counseling, job skills and job excited at the idea of having students from going there.

21-25 experience, an opportunity a different model available to The label that it is a school for to recover credits faster or at HHS Late Start students who’d want it.” “bad kids” is an issue Rowe student’s pace.

Once the goals of this new and Letkewicz would like to - Nov. 30 Though not in the classproposal were evaluated, they address with the new alternaroom with the students, HHS began taking trips to other tive school.

Board of Eduwould be given complete school districts’ alternative “That place doesn’t have oversight and control of the education programs, such as a welcoming, happy atmocation Meeting program. A partnership with Thornton Township’s. sphere that we’re hoping to Ombudsman seemed like the - Dec. 1 Considering the needs create,” Rowe said. “We don’t right path to take. specific to HHS students, want it to be emotionally “For us it really was a Letkewicz created a skeleton degrading for a student to go no-brainer to partner with plan that outlined HHS’s role somewhere else with that kind Ombudsman,” Rowe said. “It in the new school: run the of reputation.” was cheaper to do the same school, hire the staff, provide Not only will the students thing we’ve wanted to do ourthe curriculum, be in charge at Huntley’s alternative school selves, and most importantly, of virtually everything. By be sitting in desks next to Veterans Day we’re taking care of struggling people they are familiar with, taking it upon themselves to students at our school.” man the school, HHS would but credit-deficient students (SCHOOL IN Rowe and Letkewicz have greater involvement with will keep the same privibelieve that meeting the needs leges as a student attending SESSION) - Nov. their students’ progress and of HHS students within their potential concerns.

HHS: dancing with friends 11 own high school setting is an The only issue was that at Homecoming, chanting important aspect of the plan, running another school was “Huntley Hoedown” at pep Thanksgiving simply not feasible financially. considering the alternative assemblies, and cheering on school students were sent to Because of this, the District their fellow Raiders at the Day - Nov. 24 before did not quite meet that football games.

158 Board of Education was expectation.

Black Friday never able to act upon the “It’s critical to make them Formerly named Great plan when it was first presentfeel like they still belong in Nov. 25 Expectations, Evergreen ed about five years ago. this community,” Letkewicz “Since we’ve been growing, Academy in Union, Illinois said. “We don’t have ‘bad kids,’ was the destination for Huntit really came down to ‘which it’s just a different format to N. Fleege ley students who were in need learn in.” • programs do we send money of assistance in finishing high to and how much?” Rowe

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November 2016 • THE VOICE •5

NEWS

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6 • THE VOICE • November 2016

NEWS

Parking lot “shabang-a-bang” New addition to parking lot sees more student-drivers natalie trzeciak • features editor

S

tudents quickly swerve their way onto campus after summer break.

They sigh as they see a line of trucks in the usual student entrance.

Construction is just another reason that they are going to be late to school. As they drive by they glance at what is left on the project and hope that the hassle will be worth it in the long run.

After a year of planning, Huntley High School opened up its new student parking lot in late September in hopes to allow more students drive to school.

The parking lot includes 192 new parking spaces added to the north side of the original student lot and a one way entrance and exit.

Proposals for the new parking lot began last school year as the list of students seeking a parking pass began to grow with the addition of blended and MCC courses.

According to state laws,

school districts are required to propose any construction projects that would potentially cost over $25,000.

District Director of Operations and Maintenance Doug Renkosik began planning for the “bid” in mid February, sparking a 90 day planning period. During this, the board of education was met with offers from various construction companies on how much their services would cost.

Renkosik then took the most reasonable bid and presented the board with an almost finalized plan.

“These processes are put in place to ensure honest business practices,” Scott Rowe, principal, said. “This is why [projects] seem to take so long in schools.”

After 45 days of deliberation, the board finally approved the $600,000 project to be completed by the end of August.

With the completion date in mind, administration began working for an Illinois EPA Permit for stormwater management of a construc-

tion site, which would take another 30 days, as well as working with contractors at Plote Construction to address issues such as drainage, landscaping, and spacing.

Though ground was broken in mid-August in order to meet the original deadline, the opening of the lot was delayed due to poor weather conditions.

In order to help push along the process, student athletes were encouraged to park in the gravel lot once school was in session again to help steer away any traffic from the construction sight.

“Mainly, we wanted to help alleviate traffic caused by the construction,” Farlik said. “Once the parking lot was done, we were able to close the gravel lot and have students park in their regular spots.”

Though a majority of the parking lot was finished minor adjustments will continue to be made throughout the school year to fully complete the construction project.

“The way [the parking lot]

exists right now is not the way we originally planned it,” Dan Farlik, dean of students, said.

“There was a lot more to it than people think.”

Though HHS, does/does not [again need renkosik] plan on starting any major construction projects anytime soon, the latest addition will continue to have a positive impact on the students as well as traffic.

“You see more and more students parking in the new lot every day,” Farlik said.

“It gives them more options which, considering that we have students coming from both sides of town, helps make everything run smoother.”

The parking lot has not only helped traffic move more quickly, but it has also allowed HHS to sell a parking pass for every new space temporarily alleviating the parking pass waiting list.

“I believe [the new parking lot] had a very positive impact on our school and student’s ability to drive if they choose to,” Rowe said. •

Arial view of the new student parking lot (M. Loewe).

November 2016 • THE VOICE •7

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NEWS

HHS student life at its peak

Students plan out ways to change HHS culture at summit emma kubelka • staff writer

O

n Sept. seventh, the District 158 office was louder than usual. Junior Katie Zarembski walked into one of the casual meeting rooms with the rest of the meeting’s attendees. Zarembski chose a seat and began to lay out all of her ideas for the day. She opened a packet of M&Ms and began to share her opinions relating to the culture of our school.

The room buzzed with laughter and conversation all morning as the students of the Student Culture Summit participated icebreaker activities and student-led discussions.

Students from every corner of the school came together to discuss invoking change in the regular days, activities, and events of the high school.

Everyone had been told to bring ideas and topics they would like to discuss with their teachers and peers. The room was quiet at first, everyone limiting or holding back what they really wanted to say.

But that did not last for long as one student shared their opinions more and more. Students began to open up and discuss how they really feel about the culture of our school.

Students were chosen by their club supervisors or coaches to be a part of the student culture summit. Their job at the summit was to ad-

dress issues that were taking time and focus away from Huntley’s learning environment. Since the group was so diverse, opinions came from all over.

The students were sectioned into groups and asked to consult with each other, as well as administration about the changes that the school can benefit from.

A recurring topic in the conversations amongst the group was moving freely about the school during blended class periods and lunch hours. Most students feel as if the space is being wasted. Since the Hub has been recently titled a “silent working area” and the commons area can be overwhelmingly loud, the students felt they needed a comfortable medium.

Principal Scott Rowe, recently updated the student culture summit members on the progress relating to blended areas that was being made.

The new stairwell, circles and seating near the field house are now more accessible during the school day.

The attendees knew it was their obligation to make the voices of the students who were not present heard, so they thought back to everything their classmates, friends, and peers have mentioned in the past and made it known to the administration that there is an issue.

The members of the summit also mentioned the

growth of Raider Nation, and how it is unfavorable that it is limited to football and occasional volleyball and basketball games.

“The big discussion was student involvement,” history teacher Clayton Henricksen said. “That discussion lead to the Raider Nation Club, which could potentially be a driving force like Student Council.

That could be extremely beneficial and now it’s up to us to make it happen.”

They also discussed the options in the cafeteria and shortening the length of the morning announcements.

It is known that there will be an update summit meeting to discuss all of the progress that has been made and to examine the results of the changes.

Overall, the summit helped the administration become more involved in the students’ mindsets.

“I think the summit helped the administration know and understand the problems that the students have and how we (the students) want to change

it,” Summit attendee, junior Brooke Cirenza said.

The summit helped some students release their built up opinions about positive or negative portions of the school. For the day, the students, teachers, and administration were united as one, there was a broken boundary.

It is unclear to say what will happen next regarding the summit, but the effects can only be positive.

“The summit is making progress, slowly, but it is getting there,” Zarembski said. •

November 2016 • THE VOICE • 9

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Buddy system comes to the high school New club aims to integrate students with special needs jacob barker • staff writer

I

n middle school, the entire grade was connected with each other and everyone could talk to one another. Sophomore Meghan Reed realized that in high school it is not entirely that way. Reed feels that there is a group of students that are almost detached from the rest of their grade.

“In eighth grade, the middle schools were really involved with having the spe-

cial ed kids get involved with the students,” Reed said. “I realized in high school I didn’t really see them, and I liked having a connection with them and knowing them.”

In an attempt to integrate them more into their class, Reed, senior Emily Hill, Special Education teachers Shannon Vanek and Kristy Brown, are starting up the “Buddies Club.”

“It’s branching special-ed and gen-ed kids together, and it’s like that whole social aspect and getting them

more involved into the high school,” Reed said. “You know who they are, and you know their faces, so when you see them in the hall you can have a connection with them.”

The club will consist of two parts: social skills and mentoring. The first monthly social will be on November 8 and will meet after school.

The mentoring side of it would consist of smaller sessions that meet during school hours. Students come down whenever they were free, whether that is during study hall, blended, or even their lunch.

Students can participate in activities with the special education students by taking up a mentor-type role. But even if a student cannot come down during blended or are busy after school, they can even just come down and have lunch with the club.

“We want to spearhead it further than that,” Vanek said. “We really want to get that social component, she

NEWS

wants to start pairing kids up, and doing one on one activities.”

This club will not only consist of Huntley students all the time. They are planning on meeting up with other schools in the area for field trips. The club’s founders are also planning out Prom.

“To help any of our students that would like to attend Prom have another friend, we usually chaperone for them,” Vanek said.”

They are also trying to get involved with the athletic department. They plan to organize something with the football team a scrimmage match or a turkey bowl type event sometime at the end of they year.

“What makes this club special is the bonding component, not only do they learn from you, to learn from them,” Reed said. “They can teach you to stop and smell the roses, and they can teach you all different things about life that you would have just skipped over.” •

Five days until Thanksgiving break!

November 2016 • THE VOICE •11

NEWS

Chromebooks postive yet frustrating Student/staff survey shows growing pains with tech

L

courtney thomas • editor-in-chief ast year, Huntley High School began its roll out of one-to-one, introducing the freshmen to Chromebooks during the second semester. At summer orientation, juniors and seniors were issued their Chromebooks. It is now second quarter and one-to-one is in full swing. Teachers are utilizing the Chromebooks during class, and blended students are now able to “blend” more effectively.

But nothing new ever works 100 percent works the first time. A Voice survey of 406 students and 72 teachers about the Chromebooks showed that while Chromebooks were seen as a positive addition to the classroom, they could often be distracting and/or frustrating due to technology issues.

Seventy-seven percent of students reported that their Chromebooks sometimes, often, or always helped them complete quick tasks such as a Google search, sending an email, or checking Haiku.

“The biggest advantage of having a laptop on me at all times would probably be that when I don't have class, I am able to work on homework without having to go to the library or having to wait until I get home to complete that assignment,” senior Jacqueline Padal said.

Even so, the Chromebooks can also be distracting.

Students were asked how much they switch to tabs unrelated to what they are doing in class and 87 percent of students said they sometimes, often, or always do. Teachers were asked how often they notice students doing this, and 86.1 percent answered that they sometimes, often, or always do.

“You’re never going to make sure 100 percent that that’s not happening,” Assistant Principal Shelly Kish said. “We’ve explained strategies for when the teacher is up talking and no one is supposed to be on the Chromebook, such as having them shut the top half way. I know people are still working through

all of that to figure out what works for them.”

Wi-Fi issues have also been a problem.

Eighty three percent of students said that because of poor Wi-Fi connection, their Chromebooks have not been able to connect. Ninety two percent of students said that they have randomly experienced internet issues while using their Chromebooks.

“Everything that we are seeing on our end is that the Chromebooks are able to connect both at home and at school, and if anyone is experiencing difficulty, they should definitely come to the help desk because we do have the solutions to make sure that 100 percent of the devices can connect to the internet, at home and at school,” mobile technician Jason Blum said.

Students also occasionally seemed to prefer old school methods to using computers for everything.

Eighty three percent of students said that they preferred completing reading assignments with a physical copy of the assignment versus reading on their phones or Chromebooks.

Students were also asked how they preferred to take notes; 83.3 percent said they would rather take them by hand.

Shannon Phillips, AP Psychology teacher, requires her students to take all of their notes by hand.

“I can sit and type and talk and listen and get a lot of stuff down, and have no idea what I typed,” Phillips said. “It’s mind numbing. It doesn’t involve any thinking or mastery.”

All in all though, teachers feel the addition of the Chromebooks have been a plus. Nearly 84 percent of teachers feel that are a positive addition in the classrooms of Huntley High School.

The Chromebooks, while they have caused some problems, are ultimately impacting the high school in positive ways. They will, however, continue to cause problems until everyone is fully adjusted to the shift from a traditional classroom to a oneto-one classroom.

Student survey results In how many of all of your classes are you asked to use your chromebook during?

12 • THE VOICE • November 2016

Have you ever had technical problems with you chromebook?

Has your teacher asked you to use your chromebook in class, but could not help you with technical problems if they occurred?

NEWS

Has your chromebook ever not been able to connect to the school Wi-Fi because of a poor connection?

Have you ever been using your chromebook, and suddenly had internet issues?

Have you ever been to the tech help desk?

How many times has having a laptop with you helped you in some way? (Doing a quick Google search, send an email, check haiku, etc.)

Do you prefer to take notes by hand or on the computer?

Which do you prefer the most when having to complete a reading assignment for class?

While your chromebook is on during class, how often do you switch over to a different tab, such as checking grades, another class’s haiku page, or a social media platform?

Teacher survey results

Results taken from a survey of 406 Huntley High School students (113 freshmen, 58 sophomores, 96 juniors, and 139 seniors) and 72 faculty members between Oct. 27Nov. 4

How often do you ask your students to use their Chromebooks during class?

How often do you put discussions/notes/ videos/etc. on Haiku/Canvas for students to complete/view as homework?

Has your chromebook ever not been able to connect to the school Wi-Fi because of a poor connection?

How often do students have technical problems with their Chromebooks that you could not assist them with?

November 2016 • THE VOICE • 13

OPINION

When did we learn that?

Students should be taught classes during relevant times

bry walker • staff writer

I

t is almost the end of freshman year, and the time has come to go see your counselor and schedule your classes for next year.

Finally! There is so much more freedom to choose classes sophomore year.

Maybe trying a couple of blended classes is something that you would enjoy, and challenge yourself by taking weights as opposed to physical education would be good for yourself too. But then your counselor tells you that you have to take Personal Finance and American Government, the required classes that you must pass in order to graduate.

These freshmen then become sophomores who are forced to take classes that will not be relevant to them now.

What benefit does Personal Finance give sophomores, who probably do not have jobs, and will not be able to vote until they turn 18? What benefits does American Government give to underage kids?

Many sophomores completely understand the process of electing the next president and how to fill out tax forms, because they have learned it their sophomore year. However most seniors have since forgotten how to do those tasks. and these are the people who are beginning to exercise their civic responsibilities.

The fact that these classes show little to no relevance is not something that the

14 • THE VOICE • November 2016

administration nor the Board of Education is unaware of.

“It would be much more beneficial for Personal Finance to be taught at a junior or senior level because sophomores barely have their driver's licenses, they don’t have jobs or cars yet,” Personal Finance teacher Joni Runck said. "The teachers in this department have known for a long time that it should be taught at higher level where it is more applicable. If taught at a junior or senior level, students would have knowledge of some of the topics and real life application.”

Not only would it be more relevant for students, but it would enhance their overall learning experience.

“Their interest level would be higher and class discussions would be more in depth,” American Government teacher

G. Bryczek

Renee Fowler said. “There would be more questions due to real life applications.”

While some of the teachers agree that these classes would be more beneficial to upperclassmen, most students do not take into account the educational benefits and are more concerned with “getting it over with” solely because it is a graduation requirement.

“Junior and senior year is for you to

begin career exploration rather than taking more required classes,” senior Danny Domek said.

Administration has taken the change into effect as well.

“This topic was actually discussed before,” Assistant Principal Shelly Kish said. “Seniors would be the ones working more than sophomores so it would be more relevant.”

This was a topic discussed at the recent Student Culture Summit too. The only problem is that the transition would be difficult because by attempting to switch sophomores from taking Personal Finance to seniors taking it, would leave a two year gap. This would then become a staffing issue.

When compared to the recent transition in the science class sequence, there was no staffing complication because the teachers were qualified to teach both Chemistry and Biology.

According to Principal Scott Rowe, there is no specific reason that students take these classes sophomore year. With no reason for it being like this a change is not opposed completely, however there probably will not be an entire school switch.

What most students do not know is they are able to take these classes whenever they please as long as it is completed by their senior year.

Rowe advises that if you are not sure about anything ask your counselor, who will be willing to help.

Although just getting it out of the way may seem like the best option, remember: this information will help you later in life. Students should take these classes when the skills learned will be more applicable and beneficial to their lives.

Different from other classes, which aid in career exploration, there is almost a 100 percent guarantee that these skills will be used in the real world.•

OPINION

...And the stands were empty Raider Nation falls short of expectations at other sports alexandra landman • sports editor

D

-D-D-Dion,” she heard the crowd chant as she spun the ball in her hand, smacked it against the ground, and looked out towards the court. Her teammates were giving play signs, her coach signaling a fist behind a white binder.

Hand up, toss, jump, go. The scoreboard was not lying when it said that this would end up being the last volleyball game in her high school career. Ally Dion was done.

“When the gym is loud, it picks up the intensity a lot,” Dion said. “[It] gets our adrenaline going and makes us want to get the win that much more because we would be doing it in front of all our peers.”

With just over 3,000 students in the school, about 25 showed up to the IHSA volleyball sectional semi-final hosted by Huntley. With a student body of our size, the student sections at sporting events other than football are pathetic. Football is a high school tradition, a part of the culture. Our football team is in the elite eight, a huge accomplishment.

But what about the volleyball team who won the regional championship? Or the girls golf team who placed higher in their sectional than ever before? Or the boys soccer team who won the Pepsi Showdown for the first time in school history?

Or the girls tennis team who sent their first doubles pair to the state

tournament? Or the boys and girls cross country teams who both claimed the regional title?

With winter sports beginning this month, we cannot forget about our elite eight girls basketball team, wrestlers who have made multiple appearances in state tournaments, and the bowling team, who has yet to see a student section at their matches.

There are a few major reasons as to why football games are so over the top and other sporting events are, well, not.

Football games are played at time that works for everybody. “Friday night lights” is about as convenient as it gets.

With no school, homework, or tests the next day, students are able to participate more.

“The way other sports are laid out makes it hard to attend,” Raider Nation leader Jack Bessey said. “I have soccer training five times a week, so I might not have time to go to the other week-day scheduled games.”

The relentless practices, drills, and workouts are not for nothing. Athletes at this school do not get the recognition they deserve. The hype and enthusiasm of Raider Nation creates an environment that makes athletes want to perform their

G. Bryczek

best, not only for their teammates, but for their school and those who took the time to come watch. Every athlete deserves to feel supported and feel the pride that radiates during football games. There is something to be said about performing in front of peers rather than parents. “[Raider Nation] creates momentum and a willingness to try as hard as you can and to bring out school spirit,” freshmen football coach Brad Aney said.

“You’re not just trying to win for your teammates now, you’re trying to win for the people that took the time out of their day to come watch you. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

According to Aney, this was prevalent at one of the freshmen football games, where an event was organized for all freshman to come out to the football game. It was something the players talked about for a while.

Our school spirit and support for each other lacks, and it is noticeable.

“Generally when you walk the hallways, you can feel it and sense it, but you don’t necessarily see people supporting each other,” social studies teacher Clay Henricksen said. “We have a sense of community, but we don’t always see it at events or other things.”

A goal during this upcoming winter sports season is to have Raider Nation show up...to a bowling match.

“Can you imagine that?” Aney said. “300-500 people at a bowling match? I think our scores would actually go down because there’d be so many people there.”

To help tackle this problem, Henricksen plans on working with Raider Nation leaders to set up a “Raider Nation Club,” which would hopefully increase student involvement in activities outside of the football field.

see RAIDER NATION page 36 November 2016 • THE VOICE •15

OPINION

Injecting the unnecessary

Mandatory vaccine creates more problems than solutions and a meningococcal booster before entering senior year.

This is because the first round of vaccination is recommended by the age of 11, and the second round of vaccination is recommended by the age of maddy moffett • print editor 17 or 18.

Meningococcal disease lmost every afternoon when I come itself is like an onion; on home from school, the outside, all you see is an onion. But once you cut into I park my car in my garage and walk down my the onion, you see the layers upon layers of onion. Menindriveway to the mailbox. As I trudge up the steps and swing gococcal is a broad diagnosis, and come in the form of a open the front door, I thumb virus or bacteria, which can through the stack of bills, cause meningitis, meningomagazines, and never-ending slew of universities urging me coccemia, or septicaemia, also known as blood poisoning. to apply now and get the best Strains of meningococcal education available. include A,B,C,W, X and Y. This day was not any Symptoms include headache, different, except that I found fever, nausea, stiff neck, and an envelope from Centegra Health Systems with my name rash. In fact, most symptoms of the disease mimic those of on it. Intrigued, I ripped the the flu. The disease is transseal open and slid the mysmitted via nose and throat terious piece of paper out. I secretions, so being sneezed quickly scanned the page and on by an infected person or felt my eyes almost bulge out making out with a carrier of of my sockets. The mysterithe disease can be extremely ous letter was really a bill for dangerous. $463, a result of receiving the Students not in commandatory meningococcal pliance with the mandate, vaccine before the beginning which was first enacted in of my senior year. (I would the fall of 2015, are barred like to add a disclaimer: my from going back to school doctor’s office billed my famuntil the student receives ily’s old insurance and will be billing our new insurance. But the meningococcal vaccine or produces a medical or imagine if we did not have religious exemption form. our current insurance…)

The religious exemption form The state of Illinois, and about 30 other states, requires must include a citation of a specific religious reason, and a meningococcal vaccination must also be signed by the reto be administered before spective health care provider students enter sixth grade, 16 • THE VOICE • November 2016

A

G. Bryczek

confirming that the physician educated the parents or guardians about the potential risks and repercussions of not administering the meningitis vaccination. According to an excerpt from Illinois’ Public Act 099-0249, “local school authority is responsible for determining if Certification of Religious Exemption constitutes a valid religious exemption.” So basically, local school administration can refuse to acknowledge your religious views.

The state deadline this year was Oct. 15, but HHS gave students until Oct. 17 to file the appropriate paperwork with the health office. According to school nurse, Donna Kunz, 138 seniors were not in compliance by the deadline.

I have a few problems with said mandate, but the sheer cost of the vaccine was what struck me first. Even with insurance, the vaccine can cost hundreds of dollars. Conjugate vaccines like Menactra®, MenHibrix® and Menveo® are available in the private sector, but cost anywhere between $112.93 to $160.75 as reported by the CDC. So while the state creates mandates that affect every high school family within state lines, our debt-ridden legislature places the cost on the shoulders of individual households. As if school did not cost enough.

Let’s do some math.

According to the National Meningitis Association,

see VACCINE page 18

OPINION

Why don’t we keep it simple Weighted GPA causes students to miss out on money lucas modzelewki • a&e editor

Y

ou got into your school of choice, your dream school, the school you have always wanted to go to ever since you were a little kid, cheering them on during March Madness. You did well in school, you took the AP classes, and the honors classes your parents told you to take.

All of a sudden the excitement stops, and you hit a brick wall. It turns out, you do not apply for a highly prestigious scholarship, and you lose out on a ton of money.

Money that could help you end up not being one of those broke students drowning in debt for years to come. Ones who live on scraps and make barely enough money to afford food in their first few adult years, post-college.

Why? Because your simple GPA just missed the mark. Not having realized that if you had taken just a couple less AP classes and maybe a blowoff or an easy A class instead, thousands upon thousands of dollars would now be yours.

Simple GPA is exactly what it sounds like. It is just your exact GPA, not including

AP classes or honors classes.

On the other hand, there is weighted GPA, which factors in those rigorous classes in its final calculated number.

Most colleges and universities throughout the country tend to ask for both your simple and your weighted GPAs, or they ask for the one you prefer to give them, which, for most students, is their weighted GPA. For the most part, simple GPA is used as a baseline for colleges to compare students from different high schools. “[Using simple GPA] is kind of like they’re all speaking the same language, but then when you get into weighted, some of those numbers can vary, depending on the high school and how they weigh,” guidance counselor Patricia Zacharias said.

Programs like Naviance use simple GPA to gather information from every school in order to estimate how good of a match a student is to a college.

However, using an unweighted GPA to measure a student’s success is not quite as accurate as many might think.

“Using simple GPA is an understatement made to colleges and others about students’ dedication to their work,” senior Nico Tolentino said.

The biggest issue with simple GPA comes up when comparing students with similar GPAs, but completely different classes.

For example, let’s say student A and student B both apply to the same school. Student A has a 3.8 simple and consistently gets A’s in almost every class he takes. Student B has a 3.4 simple GPA and gets A’s often, but will get some B’s and C on occasion.

Not accounting for extracurriculars and their college essay, the university should obviously choose Student A, right?

Wrong.

Student A has never taken

an honors or AP course in their entire high school career, while Student B’s average schedule consists of multiple AP and Honors classes throughout their four years.

Fortunately for Student B, colleges do not blindly look at simple GPA to decide whether or not a student is a good fit for the school. They look at the class rigor and schedule that students choose for themselves as well.

“My experience with colleges is that they’re looking at both of those numbers and they’re also looking at student transcripts,” Zacharias said.

“They like to see students who are challenging themselves.”

The problem is weighted GPA, at least the basic idea of it. It exists to bypass that middle part of the process where colleges look at the class schedule and begin trying to estimate exactly how successful a student is.

“I believe weighted GPA is

see GPA page 18

G. Bryczek

17 • THE VOICE • November 2016

OPINION

GPA page 17 a quicker and more effective way to measure academic performance,” Tolentino said.

However, using weighted as the baseline for comparing students complicates things a bit.

“Some high schools don’t offer as many Honors and AP classes, so it wouldn’t be fair to the student that could not take as many AP classes to be compared to a student who took a thousand AP classes,” senior Tommy Spankroy said.

These students that are willing to put in more effort, but are unable to take harder classes, will be unable to have the highest GPA they could if weighted is the only option.

Therefore, simple GPA is generally a good way to compare two separate

VACCINE page 16 between 600 and 1,000 cases of meningococcal disease are diagnosed. The U.S. Census Bureau approximates the population of the United States to hover around 325 million people, which means that roughly between 0.00018 percent and 0.00031 percent of the population contract a strain of meningococcal.

Inside of that miniscule window of percentages, lies another set of percentages; of those diagnosed cases, 10 to 15 percent are fatal and another 20 percent live with permanent disabilities. While those percentages seem large, the actual percentage of the overall U.S. population that could face those dire consequences has an awful lot of zeroes following the decimal point.

Kunz has been a nurse at HHS for over 20 years, but has only seen a small number cases of viral meningitis. But she has never seen a case of bacterial meningitis, which is what she describes as “the dangerous one.” Despite this, she strongly recommends the meningococcal vaccination.

“Any time you can protect yourself from something, it’s good,” said Kunz.

Slightly outside of Huntley, there 18 • THE VOICE • November 2016

students from vastly different areas, with weighted GPA being used as a way to more closely compare students coming from similar schools or students with nearly identical simple GPAs. The real issue comes after students get accepted.

While college admissions look at both weighted and simple GPA, many merit-based scholarships use only simple GPA. Unlike when trying to get accepted into a college, there is not much wiggle room. Many scholarships have concrete minimums where, if a student does not reach that minimum, they lose out on the ability to get that scholarship.

Before, it was a matter of practicality.

With scholarships, it is a matter of money, which can ultimately be the deciding factor for a student.

There are situations where if a student

took less honors or AP classes and took the easy As, that student could have upwards of $40,000 for four years.

For example, at Illinois State University there is the Presidential Scholarship, which requires at least a 30 on the ACT and a 3.5 GPA on a simple scale. Let’s say the same student A from before got a 30 on the ACT, while the same student B got a 36. Despite a significantly higher ACT score, and a class schedule consisting of incredibly more difficult classes, Student B would not be eligible for that scholarship, while Student A would.

Not getting accepted into your dream school is a bummer, maybe even a tragedy if you have had your heart set on it. But, what is even worse is having to accept not getting in, simply because simple GPA reflects your grade, rather than your work ethic.

has been a recent outbreak of meningitis. Between June 2015 and May 2016, nine cases were reported in the city of Chicago. Interestingly, all nine cases were isolated to gay men. Preliminary research conducted by the Illinois Department of Public Health has found a connection between contraction of meningococcal disease and men who have sex with other men. Again, this population is extremely selective, and the chance of this disease running virulent in the mainstream population is near impossible.

I am not anti-vaccine. There is a time and a place for them. Numerous vaccines have saved millions of lives, spanning continents and decades. Polio. Smallpox.

Measles. Influenza. All of which are gruesome, unforgiving diseases if contracted.

I am, however, anti-government involving themselves in my personal health decisions.

Mandated vaccines present an interesting dichotomy; on one hand, you have those who are pro-vaccines and insist such vaccinations should be mandatory.

On the other, there are those who are pro-choice and insist women have the right to choose what they do with their bodies.

So the essential question is this: where do we draw the line? Where do we draw the line in the sand and differentiate at what point people have the right to decide what they inject or remove from their bodies? Before we know it, the simple flu shot will become mandatory. It is a slippery slope. A slope I certainly do not want to sled down this winter.

DYNASTY page 42 South, as well as tough nonconference games between Barrington and Conant.

They will be competing in the Dundee Crown Thanksgiving Tournament and the Montini Christmas Tournament.

When the regular season comes to an end, they look to begin the IHSA Playoffs in Feb. and go further than ever before. •

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FEATURES

You’ve got a friend in me

New Connections helps new students adapt to change emily kindl • staff writer

S

o who’s that?

They think that the glances from the students around them are stares, judgments, a mental addition to their “who they should stay away from” list. They think that the already-present cliques within school could not invite a new face into their group, let alone gift them with a welcoming smile.

Though they acknowledge that some of their fears are irrational or overexaggerated, they still allow the fears to suffocate them.

It is all very overwhelming: a new school, a lot of new faces, a new home, a new start.

Being one of the new kids can be difficult, and the transitional needs for each one are various. They will either sink or swim, and the most crucial thing is keeping them afloat.

New Connections leaders introduce themselves at a meeting (A. Downing).

Sympathy, connections, positivity, and people to talk to are just some of many needs which the New Connections group strives to continuously incorporate into their program. There are nearly 90 new students at Huntley High School this year, and the leaders within New Connections desire to help each one of them as much as they can.

Counselors Tanya Thomas and Julie Atchley, having experienced several difficult moves themselves, initiated small groups in the 2014-2015 school year that aimed to help new students feel more comfortable in HHS. But after the first semester of that school year rolled past, Thomas and Atchley felt that a larger group could help out the students even more; thus establishing New Connections.

Small groups still con-

20 • THE VOICE • November 2016

tinued after beginning large group meetings in the second semester of that year. There were aspects of having small groups and large groups that led Thomas and Atchley to use both in New Connections.

Large groups accomplish things, such as getting the students to break out of their shell more, which would take the small groups a while to do. While, small groups still incorporate the sense of having confidants, which is important for every new student, both are helping many of those who are easily falling through the cracks. “[Our purpose is] to have students connect with other students that are new, learn the nuances and specific things of Huntley, make connections with people who had once been in their shoes, and talk about their concerns,”

Thomas said.

Both Atchley and Thomas knew how hard it was to move to a place where newness and fear enveloped them.

Atchley grew up in Glendale Heights, but after college, she had moved four times due to her job. Thomas has lived in a total of about 26 different places, moving where the money was when she was growing up.

As the administrators of New Connections, both of the counselors relate to the new students themselves, and that connection between the leaders and the students is important in their transition.

“I know the students that have moved around schools probably had it even harder than I had,” Atchley said. “[Moving is] a big culture shock for students, and I want to help that out.”

The two counselors also have student leaders, who had once been new to Huntley High School themselves, lead New Connections along with them. The group established official leader positions this school year, something they hadn’t done before.

Thomas and Atchley now take the role of advisors over New Connections, rather than facilitators, and the whole focus is that the group is student-driven and student-led.

It is fun for both of them to watch the student leaders take over and run with it, when they had once been freaked

FEATURES out to be at HHS. Senior Brittney Friedrich, as president, and junior Matt Jensen, as vice president, are the head students that lead New Connections, and leading the group is extremely fulfilling to them. They have both been new students at Huntley themselves.

Friedrich moved from Hampshire, where she lived for four years, but had previously gone to schools in the Huntley district. Jensen lived in Coopersville, Michigan for 13 years before transferring to Huntley as a freshman.

“The first day was super scary,” Jensen said. “[I knew] there were two ways I could be interpreted: ‘Oh my gosh, that’s the new kid. Let’s talk to him!’ or ‘Oh my gosh, that’s the new kid. Don’t talk to him!’ ” Both Friedrich and Jensen attended New Connections in their first years at Huntley.

For Friedrich, she used to be a little shy and felt somewhat lonely, but the program helped dispel that.

“When I first moved here, New Connections gave me a chance to meet new people and personalities, and helped me get more comfortable in this high school setting,” Friedrich said.

For Jensen, although it was hard to acclimate to the new school, and get to know friends and teachers in the immense school, Huntley’s student body and staff were very welcoming to him and really helped make his transition smoother.

“I got, I guess you could say, a revelation that I could remake myself,” Jensen said. “I knew that there was another

person that I was meant to be.”

Both Friedrich and Jensen say they are different now due to New Connections, as opposed to who they were when they first stepped foot inside Huntley.

Friedrich now allows herself to be an open book and socialize with anyone.

Jensen used to one of the quieter middle-schoolers, but now he puts himself out there, meeting new people and trying new things. This helps them as they lead New Connections, learning students’ backgrounds, being by their sides through their transitions, and being trusted people to look up to.

Both Thomas and Atchley have noticed changes in themselves as well from leading the group. They are reminded that − with every kid’s different situations and the fear of setting a foot into a new school and talking to new people − they need to slow down and ponder what it is like in their shoes.

It is hard being the new kid, and in more ways than one. The leaders within the group empathize with that.

“When you’re new, the spotlight turns on you whether you like it or not,” Thomas said.

The purpose of the group is to let that spotlight be a good thing. They want to be the shoulder to cry on, the trusted confidant, the one there for them and by their sides, the one providing love, support, and advice. They strive for their new students to take their situations and turn them into something beautiful by helping them meet others

and build strong, long-lasting relationships, growing their confidence, and getting them comfortable in Huntley.

Through the large group, Atchley and Thomas noticed that the new students had a better attendance rate, less behavioral issues, and better GPAs. They noticed that the students take more risks and get involved in more things, ask for help, and are willing to ask questions versus feeling like they have to work problems out on their own.

Students have reported, after going small groups, feeling better about themselves, being able to express themselves, and beginning to feel accepted. The leaders have truly seen individual students really coming out of their shells; those who have started out shy now have a confident voice, advocate for themselves, and make friends.

The leaders and the new students also become friends over the school year, turning new students’ hard transitions to easier ones.

“I love the sense of comradery among the leaders

and the students alike,” Jensen said. “We all have that connection [of being the new kid], and the ability to connect with that is really powerful.”

For Thomas, knowing how many people want to be involved in New Connections is hard to work with, especially if they are not a new student, but they do want strong people to be a part of it.

According to Atchley, it is also difficult to find space in the building, but they are trying to make it work. Finding a good time for meetings so it is not impacting the class periods for the students is hard as well.

But the situations that each student goes through is difficult to tend to at times, especially when they struggle to put themselves out there and their transitions are tougher to help than anticipated. It is heartbreaking to witness, but the leaders still try their hardest to get the new students back up on their feet.

Two of last year’s student

see FRIEND page 36 New students work on their chromebooks (A. Downing).

November 2016 • THE VOICE • 21

CENTERSPREAD

Blackhawks Rising To The Top

T

peyton moore• staff writer others don’t until we do well he stands are filled to capacity and the crowd is cheering loudly because the Blackhawks just scored another goal. With the Blackhawks advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals in recent years and winning, there has been an overwhelming amount of new supporters.

People have seen that the Blackhawks have been successful and want to hop on the bandwagon as soon as possible.

“The more fans we have the better, especially for our hometown,” sophomore Tori Kaszuba said. “I think the people that feel really strongly about the sport show it, and

and everyone else is recognizing it.”

Fans show their support for their home teams, even if they are not fans of the sport, they can take pride in the city they live in.

“It upsets me when people don’t like their hometown sports until they’re winning or until they do well,” sophomore Zoe Strepek said. “You should like Chicago sports in general and cheer for your own team.”

Bandwagon fans attempt to list off statistics and facts about the team that they do not know. They want others to think that they not bandwagon fans.

“I find it funny when they mention Toews or Kane,”

Strepek said. “I’ll bring up an unpopular player or a player who just got traded and they don’t know who they are.”

In the past six years, the Blackhawks have gone to the Stanley Cup Finals three times and won it every time.

“When the Hawks have the parade when they win the Stanley Cup, it’s located downtown,” Kaszuba said.

“As people found out, they thought it would be a fun thing to do.”

Although there are many bandwagon fans, it does not matter when they first became a fan, as long as they have a true interest in hockey.

“To be a major fan I think you need to have a genuine love for the game,” Strepek said. •

Patrick Kane, right wing (Chicago Blackhawks Facebook)

Jonathan Toews, center (Chicago Blackhawks Facebook)

Chicago Is Crazy For The Cubs

I

danielle king• staff writer fan. The Bartman incident, f you consider yourself a Cubs fan, answer these: How long has it been since the Chicago Cubs have won the World Series?

Who is the first baseman for the Chicago Cubs? Which ChiKris Bryant, third baseman (Chicago Cub won the CY Young cago Cubs Facebook) Award last year?

If you can’t answer these, many dedicated Cubs fans cannot handle your ignorance, especially with the amount of people who have hopped on the Cubs’ Bandwagon.

“I would say I am a fanatic, but I know for a fact that I cannot be number one,” senior Logan DeWulf said.

To DeWulf, understanding Anthony Rizzo, first baseman the team and the sport itself is (Chicago Cubs Facebook) what makes a person a loyal 22 • THE VOICE • October 2016

the downfall in the 2008 playoffs, and the curse of the goat according to DeWulf are need-to-know facts.

“I feel like understanding Theo Epstein was probably one of the big things people don’t realize,” DeWulf said.

“When he came into management, he was plain and simple with his plan.”

According to DeWulf, it depends what you are doing that makes you a bandwagon fan. He is okay with people who can admit that they are bandwagons, but there are exceptions to who DeWulf can handle as bandwagon fans.

One of the most popular Cubs player right now is Kris Bryant. Females have hopped

on the Cubs bandwagon because of his dreamy blue eyes and commitment to his high school sweetheart. You are not automatically a Cubs bandwagon fan if you like Bryant, but if you do not know what position he plays, you are probably a bandwagoner.

“When I saw Kris Bryant after he was drafted, I looked him up and I was like, this guy is going to sell tickets,” DeWulf said.

DeWulf can also see the positives of so many people hopping on the Cubs’ Bandwagon. With more people brings more support and excitement. He just feels that if you are a bandwagon fan, do not act like you know all about the Cubs. •

CENTERSPREAD

Bandwagon Nation (Alabama Football Facebook)

(Chicago Blackhawks Facebook)

(Chicago Cubs Facebook Page)

The Growing Crimson Tide

O

tyler lopez • staff writer

Coach Nick Saban of the Crimson Tide football team (Alabama Football Facebook)

Reuben Foster, linebacker and Ryan Anderson, linebacker (Alabama Football Facebook)

n Saturday Oct. 15, the Alabama Crimson Tide champed over the Tennessee Volunteers 4910. The game, known as the Third Saturday in October, is a rivalry game where the two teams play.

Nearly 100 games between the schools have been played; with Alabama leading 53 total wins to 46. The rivalry between Alabama and Tennessee has been a staple in college football history; often determining what players make it into the NFL. To the teams, the games are not only important wins in their seasons, but also a show of strength. As of now, the two teams can be seen as equals.

Since their first meeting in 1901, the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry has been one of the fiercest in both college and professional football.

While the rivalry dates back over 110 years, the growing fan base cannot be solely

attributed to this.

“I don’t see bandwagoning as bad. I think it does good for the team in the ways that if the team is doing well, high school students have a sort of drive to be a part of something that’s great,” Algebra teacher Michael Dicken said.

With an 9-0 record so far for the 2016 season, the Tide’s fan base has reached a new level of depth, which includes thousands of new “fans” who seem to only appear when the team is doing well.

Plastered in the Tide’s signature crimson and white colors, their fans are known to be loyal and wild. This has appeared to be adopted by bandwagon fans, who don sweaters and t-shirts with the Tide’s name and colors.

Since the Tide claimed the 2015 National Title, the team has seen a surge in its fan base.

“There are always going to be bandwagoners, but it’s still spirit. The team still plays well and the fans still love the game,” Dicken said.

Despite a growing fan base, new fans can be seen as a problem due to having limited loyalty. For example, if the team’s record drops to more losses than wins, the “fair weather fans,” will dissipate and head on to another team who seems to be doing well.

On social media, namely Twitter and Facebook, the amount of “fans” seems to quadruple. During game day, social media explodes with millions of “fans” pouring their support for the best team playing.

As said above, popularity contests test the honesty in many fans. With so many ways of finding a new favorite team, the true fans are harder than ever to fully distinguish.

The impact of bandwagoners is virtually inescapable, as the sports industry is shaped by the profits and the people who enjoy their respective teams.

“Bandwagoners don’t ruin the game,” Dicken said. “It’s the fans who take them too seriously who ruin the game.”

•

October 2016 • THE VOICE • 23

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FEATURES

Teaching without a textbook Brian Lundeen connects with students through stories

I

faith losbanes • staff writer t’s early fall and physics teacher Brian Lundeen approaches a room full of tired AP Physics students, a mix of seniors, juniors, a lesser but still substantial amount of high achieving underclassmen, his usual attendance notebook, and laptop in hand.

These kids are at a prime age in which they begin to meet some hardships in their adolescent lives and it is evident in the lethargic air.

After coming back from a four-day weekend, the Tuesday afternoon was feeling like a tiresome Monday as students restlessly shifted in their seats.

Although having a welcoming attitude and environment, the daunting content of AP Physics was weighing on his 8th hour class.

They know what is to come. Someone would ask a question and they would launch into 45 minutes of rigorous problem solving and note taking.

Lundeen sets his stuff down on the already crowded desk and reveals what he has planned for the day.

“All right guys, so today I decided to do something a little different,” Lundeen said.

“We’re gonna talk about our labs, but first I wanted to tell you guys a story.”

These anecdotal lessons have become a tradition Lundeen does every year.

“At different times throughout the year I’ll tell

stories for different purposes,” Lundeen said. “Some of them would be dramatic or tragic for the purpose of telling a moral, or getting across a lesson that the kids could learn from.”

One story exemplifies how it is in the harder moments in life where you find who you truly are as a person.

“It’s easy to be good person when things are going well, when things are easy for you,” Lundeen said. “It’s a lot harder to be that kind of person when everything is falling apart around you.”

This gives students a perspective on how to act in the face of adversity, in the face of hardship which, for Lundeen, is a very head-on approach.

“His stories taught me that even if you feel you can’t do do something, or can’t accomplish something, you will be able to with the right amount of determination and perseverance,” sophomore Allison Carmody said.

A major point to his storytelling is simply to create a bond with his students, which he feels is a necessary component to effective teaching.

It is in the humorous and somewhat absurd stories that he receives the most response, when everyone is laughing and connecting together through a situation they can all understand. “[Students] don’t care what you know unless they know that you care,” Lundeen said.

“It’s one of the ways I get across. I share a piece of me

Lundeen teaching his AP Physics 1 class (S. Faheem).

there I am here.’” with them so that they know But as time progressed and that I care.”

These students get to know the age gap widened, the stern wall he had to always keep up their teacher, not just as the could be lessened. His stories soft-spoken, well put togethare now less a of tool for him er guy who teaches them to use as a separation device, physics. They get to see little snippets of him as another kid but rather a tool for him to use as a means of endearment who too went through some and showing he cares. similar difficulties in life.

“I have respect for him, he’s “He connects to you on such a nice person,” sophoa personal level,” Carmody more Tara Pavithran said. “He said. “Even though he’s there cares for everyone individto teach, he makes it a point ually, and he’s always trying to not just be there strictly to to have a good relationship give you the facts. He seems with everyone in the class and more like a person than just a makes sure everyone feels teacher, and truly wants each welcome to ask questions if of his students to succeed.” they need help.”

However, Lundeen wasn’t Through helping students always able to have the fairly cope with whatever dislaid back attitude he now portrays. When he first began traughts them situationally, whether that be issues with teaching straight out of high school, it was difficult for him friends, or family, and of course, physics, he personally to clearly separate himself is able to find closure in the from his students while still rough moments of his past. effectively getting across. “[Storytelling] helps “As a fairly young looking you heal, it helps you make teacher, in order to set myself sense of a senseless situaapart I had to put up a very stern, very strict wall between tion,” Lundeen said. “ I can use my stories to not only us but then my stories were teach and bring my students the doors through that wall,” closer, but to close my own Lundeen said. “I would give open wounds, even if means them a little picture on my reopening them for a short life, but when story time was while.” • over it was back to ‘you are November 2016 • THE VOICE • 25

FEATURES

Born to be centerstage Sofiya Kyrylyuk turns her life-long passion into a career courtney thomas • editor-in-chief

S

he still remembers Ukraine and her life before America.

She remembers her grandmother taking care of her. She remembers her mom being gone a lot. She remembers asking who her mother was when she finally came home.

Her mother was not an absent parent, however. Her mother was an opera singer who was frequently away on tour. Her father, a violinist, was away on tours as well.

It was not until Sofiya Kyrylyuk was 4 years old that her mom decided to move her and her daughter to the United States. A year later, after refusing music and wanting to play, Kyrylyuk gave into what was in her blood, and began playing the violin.

Kyrylyuk plays her viola (Courtesy of @s_sixx).

“I can’t really say when it happened because I just always knew,” Kyrylyuk said.

Her interest in playing, however, sparked over jealousy of a friend who knew how to play. She was 5 years old, her and her mother were living in Madison, Wisconsin.

“I went to my mother and started crying and said, ‘Why can she play it and why can I not?’” Kyrylyuk said. “I begged my mother and she got me a violin on eBay, and we started lessons. I got so into it and it just came so easily to me that I knew that that’s what I should be doing.”

Kyrylyuk played the violin for years after that. It was not until the age of 12 that she had even considered playing the viola.

“I hated [the viola],” Ky-

26 • THE VOICE • October 2016

rylyuk said. “Before I started playing it, I did not even want to think about it. My mother actually tried to get me to switch, and I said absolutely not.”

She avoided playing the viola for seven years, but finally, decided to learn how to play the instrument because of a mishap at a summer music camp. The camp, filled with string instruments, had an overabundance of violin players. Camp directors asked some of the musicians to play the viola to try and balance the instrument presence.

Kyrylyuk was not one of the violinists who became a violist that week, but that was when she decided she was going to learn how to play the viola.

“I thought why not learn it, you know, just in case, anything like that ever happens again,” Kyrylyuk said.

She fell in love.

Kyrylyuk managed to study both the violin and the viola for two years, before she had to choose between the two.

She chose the viola.

In order to improve her skills, Kyrylyuk opted out of public school and started homeschooling, taking online courses to free up her time so she could focus her attention on the viola.

As a senior, she does come to school for three periods of the day, taking two classes.

She takes AP Music Theory

and Music History, both of which will benefit her future music career.

For Kyrylyuk, her future is pretty set. She plans to get a degree in Performance. She is hoping to have a solo career or one in chamber music. She has looked into Indiana University, Juilliard, Curtis Institute of Music, Colburn School of Music, and the University of Michigan. She has thought of teaching, but does not see it in her near future.

“I really appreciate all of the teachers out there who do teach [beginner level students] because it’s a lot of work,” Kyrylyuk said. “It’s really much harder to teach someone to do something than to help someone who already knows how to do it.”

But currently, she is doing just that. On top of practicing every day and completing her school work, she is a private tutor. She teaches violin, viola, piano, and has recently picked up a ukulele student. Even knowing she will not teach forever, she still finds it useful to do it now.

“It helps me to see what I’m helping them with,” Kyrylyuk said. “I notice certain things about technique that you won’t realize if you’re just doing it, but if you start explaining it, you start thinking about why and how and it’s really helpful for me.”

Her mom is also a music teacher. She teaches piano and voice in her own studio

at home, a huge change from being an opera singer in Ukraine.

“I like the life of a traveling performer, but since I had a child, it did not work for me any more,” Tetyana Torzhevska, Kyrylyuk’s mother, said.

“Sofiya needed my time and attention.”

While an opera singer, Torzhevska performed in many different cities and countries.

She sang in Austria, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and Poland. Not only did she play in world-famous venues, she also played with big name opera singers in her day as well.

“There was this male singer singing with [Renee Fleming] on the TV and my mother goes ‘Oh! I sang with him when I was younger!’ and I was like ‘Oh wow, that’s nice to know,’” Kyrylyuk said.

Kyrylyuk’s father is still touring as a violinist in Ukraine. He is not involved in Kyrylyuk’s life much, but she still talks to him on occasion.

The rest of her family is actually still back in Ukraine, including her grandmother, and her mother’s cousin, who is more like a brother to Torzhevska.

Because of her strong Ukrainian background and her entire family still living there, Kyrylyuk likes to keep up with the language and keep the culture strong in her home. Her and her mom speak a mixture of Ukrainian and Russian at home, though Kyrylyuk is fluent in both.

For a few years of her life, Kyrylyuk was enrolled in Ukrainian school, where she improved her Ukrainian. She is also in a Russian literature

club currently.

“I really try to keep my roots from my other country really strong,” Kyrylyuk said.

As a musician, Kyrylyuk has participated in a number of competitions, both big and small. One of the bigger ones that she was apart of was an international competition in Washington D.C. called the Johansen International Competition. Only eight violists, coming from all over the world, advanced to the semi-finals, and Kyrylyuk was one of them.

“It was a huge success for me,” Kyrylyuk said. “I felt really happy to even be competing there.”

Not only was it a success for her, it was also a great way for her to see how good of a musician she was compared to everyone else.

“Here it’s just a small population,” Kyrylyuk said.

“You can’t compare yourself to everybody in the world to Chicago. I feel like it grounded me and gave me a better idea of all of the stuff I have to learn and improve on.”

For Kyrylyuk, there is always something to improve on and always something that she can practice more. She is a firm believer that quality over quantity is more beneficial.

According to her, playing really well and precise for an

FEATURES hour is better than playing poorly for five.

Kyrylyuk’s future is full of long practices and hard work.

But her future is also incredibly bright, and bound to put her in the spotlight, a place she is fond of.

“When I was younger I was always kind of an outgoing character,” Kyrylyuk said.

“Even since I was 3 years old, we would be driving home from the city in Ukraine on the bus and I would put on shows for people on the bus and everyone would always be dying laughing. I always knew I wanted to be some kind of artist, some kind of performer.” • Kyrylyuk performs with her orchestra (Courtesy of @s_sixx).

November 2016 • THE VOICE • 27

A&E

‘Peanuts’ warms the heart

Charles Schulz’s ‘Peanuts’ specials bring holiday spirit maggie mcgee • opinion editor

A

s the holidays roll around, certain songs and movies come to mind when we think of time spent with family, traditions, and memories during this time of year.

Chilly, rainy, fall days leave us wanting to curl up in a ball and watch holiday classics all day long. With a mug full of hot chocolate, tea, coffee, or maybe even apple cider in our hands to warm us up, it is easy to find comfort in the things that take us back to our childhood.

For me, the “Peanuts” holiday specials take me back to that place.

Sitting in front of the TV watching “It’s the Great

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/PeanutsMovie/

Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” on Halloween after a long night of trick-or-treating is one of those things. Bundled up in a ladybug costume, I still remember watching the part of the movie where Charlie Brown walks up to a house, eager to get another piece of candy in his candy bag.

Instead, a very discouraged Charlie Brown stands in front of the woman’s door astonished of what was put into his bag. “I got a rock,” Charlie Brown said.

As a child, nothing is more disappointing than not receiving candy on Halloween, the one night of the year where it is acceptable to eat so much sugar that your teeth might just fall out while you

28 • THE VOICE • November 2016

are sleeping.

In all seriousness, each “Peanuts” classic has a special meaning behind the chuckles and jokes.

In “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown,” the character Linus acts as a constant philosopher throughout many of the specials. He shares his thoughts in inspirational ways and always leaves the viewer thinking long after the movie ends.

“There are three things never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin,” Linus said after no one believes him when he says the Great Pumpkin is real.

Despite everyone telling him he is crazy for writing a letter to a silly pumpkin, Linus ignores the haters and

continues to be himself. As a viewer, this reminds you to not take what people say too personally. If Linus had done that and the Great Pumpkin did come, everyone would have told him that he was right.

The movie ends with Linus shivering and exhausted after a long night out in the pumpkin patch. Even though the Great Pumpkin never came, Linus does not give up hope that he will still come next year. Oh, the optimism of a young child!

With Thanksgiving approaching quickly, our days are consumed with thoughts of family, friends, and everything else in our lives to be thankful for.

“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” reminds us of just

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/PeanutsMovie/

A&E

that.

It is safe to say that Schulz think of “Peanuts.” Charles M. brand throughout the years, While the beginning of the was right. “A Charlie Brown Schulz, the writer and creative with the three specials airing seasonal special was already Christmas” would have been genius behind one of the most between 1965-1973. leaving the mellow Charlie Whether you enjoy comics, nowhere near as successful as famous comics in the world, Brown conflicted, by the end cartoons, or even holiday clasit is today without that special wrote this comic series for his answers and priorities are sics, the “Peanuts” specials are meaning behind it. more than three decades. more clear than ever. sure to warm your heart and After all, Christmas is not The director of all three His friend Peppermint just about Santa and gifts. specials, Bill Melendez, filmed take you back to your roots.

Patty, who comes off as very Memories of family and the Christmas is a holiday that each one to be 25 minutes outgoing and bold, invites holidays are always something respects Jesus’ birth all those long. They are not too long herself and a few other friends years ago. It teaches kids not to appreciate and remember so that the viewer gets bored, over to Charlie Brown’s house to think of the materialistic yet not too short so that there throughout your life. for Thanksgiving dinner. But is no message or point to the So, if you find yourself aspects of holidays, but to there’s one problem: Charlie film at all. curled up in a blanket this fall appreciate the real stories Brown and his younger sister, The duration is also or winter watching “A Charlie behind them.

Sally, will not even be home Brown Thanksgiving” or “A perfect for when each special This “Peanuts” classic is a for Thanksgiving dinner. They great representation of that Charlie Brown Christmas,” is televised on ABC each are going to their grandma’s year around the time of the take a moment to think of the story. house. message behind the laughable holiday. This has been a huge So, perhaps when you A panicky Charlie spends characters and creative plot. • success for the “Peanuts” think of comic strips, you the rest of the days leading up to Thanksgiving worrying about all that could go wrong with plans and unexpected guests. Thankfully, no pun intended, his friends show him how a Thanksgiving lunch can be put together, quickly and easily before heading over to grandma’s house.

Unlike a traditional Thanksgiving meal, they eat jelly beans, popcorn, buttered toast, and pretzels instead.

This angers Peppermint Patty, but Charlie Brown learns to not let what others think bother him. After all, Thanksgiving is about more than just the food. ”We should just be thankful for being together,” Marcie, one of Charlie Brown’s friends, said.

As for “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” this special was like no other. Comic writer Charles M. Schulz insisted on keeping in the religious aspect, despite all producers and directors’ oppositions to it. Mixing religion with children’s shows, just was not the Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/PeanutsMovie/ “norm” back in the ‘60s.

November 2016 • THE VOICE • 29

A&E

Marvel does it again

‘Doctor Strange’ is a hit with the fans and critics alike

L

ale favila • staff writer eaping from the pages of a comic book to the big screen, ¨Doctor Strange¨ is the latest in the Marvel franchise. Based on Stan Lee’s comics, the movie is directed and cowritten by Scott Derrickson and tells the story of a famous and successful surgeon, Steven Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and his path to become the Sorcerer Supreme.

The story opens with Strange’s success in the field of neurosurgery, working with his ex lover, Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), as he saves lives and continuously grows rich, gaining the reputation as the best surgeon in the business. All that changes however when he gets into a car accident, damaging his hands so severely, he is no longer able to perform operations. Drowning in denial, Strange wastes away his fortune on treatments, most of them experimental.

The treatments help, but not to the extent that he needs to operate again. Strange just about gives up before he learns about a man who made a full recovery from being paralyzed from the waist down and had no hope of walking. That man then directed Strange to Kamar-Taj, the place in which the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), resided. There, after much pleading, the Ancient One takes him on as a student and teaches him the ways of the sorcerer, which includes real world concepts, such as chakras, the third eye, and astral projection. While Strange learns, Dormammu, the ruler of the Dark Dimension, continues to recruit sorcerers that have turned away from the Ancient One to bring him Earth to devour.

“Doctor Strange” explores the mystical side of the universe, incorporating ideals that some people around the world practice, and fictional science. This movie is masterfully done, using illusions to show 30 • THE VOICE • November 2016

the Ancient One and her enemies manipulating space, warping it to measures beyond reality. Those who haven’t seen the movie, and plan to see in theatres, should watch it in 3-D, as the effects make the movie that much more magical.

Although it followed very closely, the movie did stray from the comics with a few minor details that do not detract from the movie. In the comics, the Ancient One was male, and although not immortal, taught Strange for many decades. Christine Palmer did not appear in the comics at all. She was inserted into the movie as a sidekick and a love interest for Strange. She Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/ DoctorStrangeOfficial/ could have been based on Madeleine St. Germaine, a which, according to the comics, shall be a translator for the UN, and Strange’s lover battle of epic proportions against a highin the comic books. Likewise, Dorer being, who wants to take Earth. mammu was not supposed to make an Overall, “Dr. Strange” was a great appearance in the beginning of Strange’s movie that tells the beginning of one tale, instead he was to be confronted by of the most powerful magicians in the Strange after he earns the title of Sorcerer Marvel Universe, the Sorcerer Supreme, Supreme. showing that life is not always what The end credit scenes hinted at new it seems to be, and to trust in the storylines in the Marvel franchise, as it universe. • gets closer and closer to “Infinity War,”

BRIEFS

Girls volleyball ‘sets’ a record bri governale • design editor

“The highlight of our season was winning the Fox Valley Conference,” Dion said. “It was something that hadn’t been done in the history of Huntley volleyball.”

Throughout the fall, Huntley volleyball proved to surrounding schools that they were a threat. The girls won many games throughout the season, making them out to be a huge rival to many schools.

The girls made it all the way to the sectional semi-final, where they lost against DeKalb 19-25, 2521, and 25-12.

“I think just in the second set we got a little too comfortable with the lead over a very good team who was clearly capable of overcoming the deficit,” Dion said. “Unfortunately things just didn’t go our way.”

Despite a loss, this season was one of the most successful varsity volleyball seasons at Huntley.

“This team had so much passion and potential,” Dion said. “It sucks it had to end the way it did but I wouldn’t trade this season for the world.” •

A. Downing

A farewell game to remember bri governale • design editor

By 6 p.m. on Oct. 21, Raider Nation was packed with white. But that did not stop the seniors in the first couple of rows. They were getting ready to experience their last home regular season varsity football game.

Senior night is always an emotional experience for the players, but during football season it is emotional for the fans as well.

The Raiders played against McHenry for senior night. Huntley won 44-14 that night, making their record 6-3.

“We played a great last game and we continue to three game winning streak to carry momentum into the playoffs,” senior defensive lineman Danny Domek said.

Each senior football player has watched previous seniors participate in senior night, but now it was their turn.

“It was very surreal to be a part of senior night, I’ve always been the one to watch the seniors go through it but to be the one experiencing it was very different,” Domek said. “I don’t think it has sunk in that that was my last regular game of my life.” • B. Hollatz

November 2016 • THE VOICE • 31

BRIEFS

Fair is foul and foul is fair... bri governale • design editor

For more pictures, check out our photo galleries on huntleyvoice.com!

32 • THE VOICE • November 2016

A single set piece is stretched across the stage.

There are platforms, stairs, and balconies. The lights darken and the actors file onto the stage. As the lights rise, the show begins with action.

Love, selfishness, and betrayal. A story that will keep you with your mouth wide open. The HHS theatre students portray “Macbeth” in a brilliant way.

“There was a lot of anticipation leading up to the show, and it was a difficult transition to move from a cramped classroom to the PAC,” senior Leslie Allen said.

Junior Ben Johnson plays Macbeth and leaves the crowd amazed. His acting is spot on while pretending to have gone mad. Allen plays Lady Macbeth, and acts just as mad, impressing the audience.

“I love the power that [Macbeth] gave me,” Allen said. “My character was very powerful, and she is someone that is very different from me. It felt so good to get into her head and take control.”

The show has a supernatural twist with the three witches played by junior Danielle Bahn and seniors Katie Feeley and Sophie Calderone. The three girls appeared on stage in smoke, while they sang haunting tunes.

All of these actors and actresses put on a wonderful show, one of the best so far. •

S. Faheem

‘Bachelor’ spinoff begins

A&E

Love sparks in ‘Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After?’

D

camille paddock • online editor

o you believe in love at first sight? Well, after watching season 20 of ABC’s “The Bachelor” you just might.

Yes it’s true, yet another heart-wrenching season has come and gone.

Following what may have been the most dramatic lead-up to a finale, bachelor Ben Higgins chose his lady, Lauren Bushnell.

What was supposed to be a surprise, given fans were led to believe runner up Jojo Fletcher was the chosen one, turned out to be nothing more than a case of love at first sight.

From the moment Bushnell stepped out of the limo on the first night, it was apparent the two had chemistry.

Although Bushnell did not get the first impressions rose, she was still a favorite in Higgins’ eyes. However, things were not as clear cut for Higgins when it came time for him to make his big decision.

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/ BenandLaurenHappilyEverAfter/

The proposal came after Higgins had told both of the final two women “I love you” in the weeks before, which came as a big surprise to bachelor nation. A proclamation of love for two finalists had

never been said twice on “The Bachelor.”

In the end, Higgins ended up proposing to Bushnell and they lived happily ever after, or did they?

“Bachelor” fans could not get enough of the iconic couple, so ABC dedicated a whole new series to them: “Ben and Lauren Happily Ever After?”

A majority of “Bachelor” couples split shortly after the show and some don’t even make it to sealing the deal in the first place. But a love like Ben and Lauren have, even on the screen, seemed to be so real to viewers. Don’t believe everything you see, the commercials for the new show warned. Hidden problems arise after paradise drifts away and reality starts to sink in. Will they last the long run? Does Higgins have cold feet about marriage? Are Bushnell’s insecurities too much for Higgins to handle? These are all questions the previews brought up before the season even began.

Starting out the first episode, Higgins and Bushnell reveal the many issues that had come up in their relationship. While everything may have seemed picture perfect on screen, that was not the case after the final rose.

Higgins had to confess to Bushnell that he had also told Fletcher he loved her, before Bushnell watched along with the entire nation. In the first episode, Bushnell describes how for a long time after she found out, she felt as though Higgins’ “I love yous” were less meaningful. This loss in meaning affected their relationship as Higgins had to prove to Bushnell that he was completely over Fletcher.

While the couple has returned to harsh reality for almost a year, life is nothing but normal for them. Even a task as simple as grocery shopping has become complicated. “Bachelor” fans constantly approach the two, common-

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/ BenandLaurenHappilyEverAfter/

ly asking Bushnell how she felt about Higgins telling Fletcher he loved her.

Bushnell describes this feeling as having to relive the feelings of jealousy and hurt that came after the final rose over and over.

In the following episode, “Bachelor” host Chris Harrison comes to Denver to visit the couple bearing big news. With Higgins and Bushnell’s large following, ABC wants to broadcast their wedding on live television. Higgins is reluctant at first, but comes around to match Bushnell’s excitement. In the episodes following, the couple will face the stress of planning a wedding that will take place in just a few months.

But all this chaos proves to be too much for Higgins, as arguments erupt throughout the entire episode. In two weeks, ABC will have a 2-hour special and the previews show a haunting reality: Higgins is not ready for a wedding.

Will the couple have their wedding?

Can they handle the stress? Will Higgins and Bushnell live happily ever after?

Though it may not seem like it to other fans, I think the answer is pretty clear. •

November 2016 • THE VOICE • 33

A&E

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/empireofthesun/

Empire of the Sun steps up The new Empire of the Sun album is a happy surprise

W

sarah biernat • staff writer the ‘70s but who knows what

e are reliving the Woodstock Festival of 1969. I am not talking about hippies, glorified cannabis use, or Beatles influenced music.

However, some may say this era had people disconnected from reality.

Subtracting those iconic ‘60s symbols and celebrities from the equation, one thing that always stood out were the psychedelics. Pop culture idolized them; the sound and vision of its loopy creations carried on into music.

Originating in the mid 1960s in the United Kingdom, the tunes headed west.

It carried on into the ‘70s as well. American trippy culture took a hold of it very quickly. Cheech and Chong were hitting bongs and theaters across the nation, not until

they were doing a decade beforehand, and the out-ofthis-world vibe carried on into beats and rhythms.

Beginning with Jimi Hendrix and leading in modern psychedelic rock bands like MGMT, this trippy rock has evolved. The base is the same, and with time and relevance, styles change. And in some cases, change is not always desired, but it is rather mandatory.

So when Empire of the Sun released their third album “Two Vines,” on Oct. 28, I was not sure what to expect.

Their previous work had been questionable and it was sounding too much like band Passion Pit. Both bands were established in 2007 and fall into the same category. The way every song is comparable with Passion Pit tunes had me thinking there is something fishy about it all.

34 • THE VOICE • November 2016

Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore have catchy, dance worthy singles, which make them the greatest. The singles “Alive” and “Walking on a Dream” are well known for a reason. Unfortunately any other song off the album “Walking on a Dream” dragged and there were a few good ones on the album “Ice on the Dune.”

The singles were refreshing, bursts of energies that both albums lacked in. A common theme shared was a mix of new wave, EDM, and synthpop. While the tempos varied in the slightest, Steele kept similar rhythm.

With a majority of the songs off both albums, the tone would become lighter right before the chorus would pick up. Sure the concepts were upbeat and optimistic, but the extra boost was definitely heard.

The first single released

from the album “Two Vines” was “High and Low.” It has the same tempo as “Alive,” and it seems that every single has the same melody. It’s a great song, but “Alive,” “Walking On A Dream,” and “High and Low” are oddly alike. Back to “High and Low,” it is not the most explosive song on the album, so having it as the first taste of something when they disappeared for a few years did not fit the role properly.

Honestly, they would have been better off having their comeback be “Two Vines” the song. Most songs that are named after the album title represent the key details and concepts of what you will be listening to. Starting with anything that is not up to par, like a self-titled track that is crafted strictly to showcase the beauty of an album, is not right.

They have definitely chilled with the trip their older tunes

offered. Even though their vision for this album was “[a] modern city taken over by [the] jungle,” frontman Luke Steele said in an interview, it isn’t overbearing.

Even with a mellowed, dream-like state, the “it” factor still exists. It begins with their stage presence. With a David Bowie influenced clothing style, and songs like “ZZZ,” the disco-psychedelic aspects are still alive and well.

“ZZZ” brings you back 30 years. It creates nostalgia even though most of you who are reading this were not born then. I cannot help but imagine someone in a really bad, vibrant, outfit dancing frantically around an empty dancefloor to some mashup of this song and the Bee Gees.

They also finally quit with the unnecessary slow songs.

While some have slower tempos, the consistent beat still has the hint of catchiness that makes the song work.

The beat saved “First Crush,” a cliche love song, from disaster. It would have been awful if it was not for the

chorus that picks up around a minute and 30 seconds into the song. They finally learned how to make it work.

If “Two Vines” had to be compared to any work, it would very clearly be “Gossamer,” the second album

by Passion Pit, released in 2012. As an avid Passion Pit listener, I’ve noticed how well he crafts his music to fit the “trippy” vibe. So when I heard “Two Vines,” it threw me off.

It was as if the two worked together to create this album, when they did not.

Just one example is “There’s No Need” from “Two Vines.”

It is a mix between “It’s Not My Fault I’m Happy” and “I’ll Be Alright” on “Gossamer.” It is probably just a coincidence, but it is fairly sketchy.

All together, Empire of the Sun has stepped up their game. They did not mess around when producing this one and I am happily surprised with the turnout. The next time you are in need for an escape from reality, blast this and you will be set. •

A&E

This month in ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT: MOVIES: Arrival - Nov. 11 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Nov 18 Bleed for This - Nov. 18 Moana - Nov. 25 Allied - Nov. 25

VIDEO GAMES: Dishonored 2 - Nov. 11 Watch Dogs 2 - Nov. 15 Pokemon Sun/Moon - Nov 18 Dead Rising 4 - Dec. 6 The Last Guardian - Dec. 6

ALBUMS: Sting: 57th & 9th - Nov. 11 A Tribe Called Quest: We Got It From Here, Thank You for Your Service - Nov. 11 Bruno Mars: 24K Magic - Nov. 18 The Weeknd: Starboy - Nov. 25 The Rolling Stones: Blue & Lonesome - Dec. 2 N. Fleege

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/empireofthesun/

November 2016 • THE VOICE • 35

A&E

FRIEND page 21 attendees, sophomore Sofie Ellingson and junior Bailey Wise, can both definitely say New Connections helped them in their first year at HHS. Ellingson and Wise had lived in places they lived at their whole lives up until moving to Huntley last year.

Their moves were hard for both of them in different ways. For Ellingson, starting over was scary and overwhelming, letting tears roll out on her first and second day of school. Wise was completely lost on his first day, confused with the enormity and complexity of the building. “[Moving] was really difficult at first,” Wise said. “But when I realized Huntley kids don’t bite and they’re actually really good people, I kind of settled down.”

New Connections helped him settle down as well. He loved going there, because through it he was able to get to know the staff at Huntley.

Wise got to know people with similar interests, and created strong friendships through it.

Ellingson was able to as well. Her counselor told her about sophomore Kiersten

Raider Nation page 15

“[The goal is for it to become] a driving force to get the word out to participate in not just their events, but schoolwide events,” Henricksen said. “I think in the long run it’ll be good for the school. It’s now up to administration, teachers, and students to make that happen.”

If every team got the same support and turnout as foot-

Dolan who came to Huntley the same week she did. Dolan also went to New Connections, and they took each other under their wings and are now best friends.

New Connections was very beneficial to both Ellingson and Wise, helping them connect with people inside and outside of New Connections.

“If I wasn’t in the New Connections group, school would’ve been a lot worse place to go to,” Ellingson said.

“I would [have been] be a lot less social, and [wouldn’t be] putting myself out there.”

New Connections has also been called the “Link Crew for new students.” Knowing the program can be so beneficial to kids, the leaders fully commit to their roles in the lives of Huntley’s new students. It is all for a powerful purpose. “[Go] find any student who is partaken in the group, and you’ll never not come again,” Thomas said. “You can find some strong friendships simply because you went to the group. It’s a safe place to come.”

According to Jensen, New Connections is always there to help with any student’s circumstances and troubles,

no matter what. If someone is struggling with situations similar to new students, then they can talk to their counselor about attending.

The New Connections program wants to continue the group for as many years as they can. They plan to do activities inside and outside of the school, and the activities really bring the students together.

“I remember at the last meeting [last year], we were playing pictionary,” Ellingson said. “[I noticed] we weren’t afraid to be ourselves, which was really great.”

New students have it hard, and the people around them − those who have gone to Huntley for while − can make a huge difference on their first year experience.

“Be cool, have an open heart, and be kind because you don’t know what situations [the new students] are in,” Thomas said.

Even if the people around them do not happen to positively affect a new kid’s first year, the leaders stress that they must keep their heads high. Nothing is going to change in one’s circumstances if they do not do anything, so getting out there and doing

something could possibly be quite a life-changing decision.

This does not just apply to new students.

“Don’t think people are out to get you,” Wise said. “I thought I would be ostracized for being new, but it didn’t happen.”

Huntley kids are very welcoming and accepting, so realizing this to be true will definitely help in the long run.

“Always make sure that you stay positive, even though you might be in a hard situation,” Friedrich said. “Because your high school experiences are supposed to be the best times of your life. By staying positive, you can then overcome your situation.”

Always go to someone if it is hard to stay positive. Meet new people. Look for new things to love or to continue loving.

That is what all the student leaders had to do at some point, and now they are here to help them do the same. “[What keeps me going is] the fact that I might be able to make it easier for at least one student in their transition,” Jensen said. “If I’m able to make one kid’s life easier by being there, that’s all that matters.” •

ball, imagine the spirit and positivity that would radiate throughout the school. We are already an athletic threat, so why not have our student section be one too?

As a leader, Bessey claims he has one job to do before walking across the stage.

“To be an example to younger students,” he said. “If we as leaders dress up and are energetic and spirited, it will

pass on.”

Raider Nation has been trying to promote expansion into other sports, something I think would not only enhance school spirit, but live on for the next generation of Raiders.

“Huntley is all about a legacy and the legacy of Huntley has a loud spirit and incredible enthusiasm,” Bessey said.

So Raiders, I challenge

you. Show up. Get loud.

Make signs. Be obnoxious.

Be proud. Set expectations.

Make other schools jealous.

Leave your mark. Continue the legacy.

“High school experience is just as important as the education that you receive,” Henricksen said. “[Students] may not remember every lesson we as teachers teach them, but they remember the experience.”

36 • THE VOICE • November 2016

SPORTS

“Forging Elite Fitness”

For more news, sports, and features, visit huntleyvoice.com today!

10643 Wolf Drive, Huntley, IL 60142 (847) 951-0455 crossfithuntley.com

November 2016 • THE VOICE •37

SPORTS

Flying high over Huntley High Color Guard is a place for students to bond and compete

A

madison barr•staff writer

s the Huntley High School football team walks off of the field after the first half of the game, the school’s cheering fans are eager to see the upcoming halftime performance from both Marching Band and Color Guard.

The Guard walks out onto the field by the side of the HHS marching band before they all get into their places in the center of the field as a partial silence falls over the crowd.

To the typical viewer in the bleachers, Color Guard may seem like a sizable group of girls and guys in shiny silver uniforms waving around multi-colored flags and spinning wooden rifles. But to those who are in Guard themselves, it has, and will always

be so much more than that.

“My favorite part about Color Guard is the friends and the bonds that I make,” junior Bella Deiure said. “I feel like it’s my second family.”

They are always bonding and growing closer together no matter where they are.

Whether it be on the bus on the way to competitions, or practicing with each other, a bond is created and kept after the season is over.

“Color Guard is a family of people where we make a lot of jokes, cry together, sing “Bohemian Rhapsody” and dance to “Dancing Queen,” sophomore Alexandra Martil said. It really is a safe place for me and for others.”

Constantly hanging out and practicing with the same group of people day-in and day-out, it only seems right to consider them as your second family.

Junior I. Young twirling her flag during practice (R. O’Sullivan) 38 • THE VOICE • November 2016

“Competitions are amazing,” junior Noah Johnson said. “You get to see other bands and Guards perform and you also get to show other schools and [other] people your show. It’s cool to see where you started from the first competition to your last.”

Competing, performing, and practicing is not only what creates their bond together, but strengthens it as well.

“I loved competitions this year. It was a great bonding time for me and my team,” senior Alex Pickett said.

“It is a completely different atmosphere than at a [school] football game, everyone is quiet when we perform the show.”

Do not be distracted by the spectacle of amazing work shown by the Guard themselves, as spinning flags and rifles are a lot more difficult than it may appear.

“It’s a lot of work, and unlike all the band kids who told me to join guard, it’s not easy,” Martil said. “It definitely is a build up of certain skills and even now I still have a lot of other things I need to improve on.”

Not only is Color Guard an incredibly fun sport and group to be a part of, but it is super inclusive as well. Accepting people into the team regardless of grade, experience or gender.

“Guard is a great option for those people who don’t play an instrument and want to be

in marching band,” Johnson said. “It is also a lot of fun if you are willing to put in the time and effort.”

However, nothing is ever more amazing and satisfying than seeing all of your and your team’s hard work and intense practice finally pay off in the end when you step onto the field and perform.

“The competitions can be very hectic and filled with nerves and excitement, but when you step out on the field, you realize that every bit of your hard work has paid off,” freshman Kaylin Drag said. “It is truly a moment of glory your team will never forget.”

When it comes to who can join and what qualifies you to be able to join, everyone is welcome and encouraged. In fact, the school’s band director is hoping to expand the team next year.

“My band director wants a lot more Color Guard people next year,” Pickett said. “So try something new and I [can guarantee] that you will bond with anyone on Color Guard.

You literally do not need any experience in order to try out.”

Despite what some might say, “Color Guard isn’t just a reject place for girls [and guys] who didn’t make the team they wanted,” Deiure said. “Color Guard is [incredibly] competitive and [a lot of] hard work, but it’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.” •

SPORTS

Sidelined

ACL tear is prominent injury austin zeis• staff writer

T

he cool fall night set in on a Friday at the grass football field in Hampshire. The smell of the fresh-cut grass resonated in the air as the Huntley varsity football team took the field with their classic “death march.” This was supposed to be another night of great football for Huntley senior Tyler Hartline, but it was everything besides typical.

Hartline has played football for eight years, all with the Huntley Youth Football League, the Huntley Mustangs. He has played on the defensive line, defensive tackle and also defensive end, all eight years and only his first year he played offensive and defensive line.

All the work any athlete puts in is for their senior year because it always turns out to be the most important and memorable season of their athletic careers. The worst news an athlete can hear is when their season comes to an end but it is twice as bad when it is their senior season.

While Hartline was rushing on a pass play, he felt his knee buckle.

“I knew right away that something wasn’t right when I hit the ground,” Hartline said. “I could just tell because I heard something pop or snap, I don’t really remember.

All I know for sure was that

somebody, I don’t know who exactly, was driven into the side of my left knee on a pass rush and that is when I heard it pop.”

Typically with all ACL injuries an MRI is needed to determine the extent of the tear, whether it is a complete tear or a partial tear. Then once the MRI comes back, the doctor will determine if surgery is needed, while this is going on, the patient goes through physical therapy to get back a simple range of motion in the knee. Then two or three weeks after the surgery, the patient will go back to physical therapy and it usually lasts for six months.

“When I first came off the field at Hampshire, our athletic trainer and the trainer from Hampshire looked at my knee and some flexibility tests,” Hartline said. “The trainer’s said that they each believed it was just a knee sprain but it is difficult to be for sure right away. Even my doctor’s initial diagnosis was wrong, he thought I only partially tore my ACL when I actually completely tore it and partially tore my meniscus.”

In early September, senior football player Laython Christian tore his ACL, and it ended his season earlier than expected. It was one of the most difficult games of the season for the football team because it was against Prairie Ridge, who had beaten Cary-

Senior T. Hartline, #94, makes a tackle before tearing his ACL (Courtesy of T. Hartline).

Grove, a serious feat.

Christian was running down the field on a kickoff and went to cut back in towards the player running with the ball and just like that he hit the ground.

“I always thought that it was never that easy to tear such a large ligament like your ACL,” Christian said. “It happened on a play that we practice for 10 minutes every day during the week. It is incredible to think that I make those moves and cuts so much on an everyday basis and for it too just happen so suddenly is upsetting.”

The worst part about any injury is that it can happen at any moment doing anything because ligaments are so fragile like the ones in the knees, MCL, ACL, PCL, and your meniscus. It can happen falling down the stairs, going for a jog, or even just climbing into your car, it all just depends on how someone lands and where the pressure falls.

When an ACL tears, it

does not heal. Unlike most other ligaments, the ACL never has the opportunity to mend due to its position and role in the knee, it is very much like a rubber band. It used to end athletic participation both on the professional and recreational level. Now with arthroscopic surgery and proper strengthening and rehabilitation techniques, the future is much brighter. National results show a 96 to 98 percent return to sport. Recovery still takes six months and is economically demanding and involves an operation, but it does not end someone’s athletic career, just that season.

“It was difficult to digest and understand that I would not be able to help my team for the rest of the season,” Christian said. “But I have been there helping at practice as much as I can, whether it is in film, during practice, or during the game.” •

November 2016• THE VOICE • 39

SPORTS

The boys showing off their championship banner (Courtesy of HHS_Soccer Twitter).

Two is better than one

Girls and boys soccer win Pepsi Showdown back-to-back josh lopez • staff writer

T

he sun is shining, the huddle is closer than ever, and the soda is spraying all over what was once pure white jerseys.

Soaked in Pepsi and pride, Huntley’s 2016 varsity soccer team made history, becoming the first school to win the Pepsi Showdown with both their girls and boys team in the same year.

The soda-spraying celebration was all too familiar to Coach Grabner, since he had witnessed his girls team do the same back in April, however, the feeling of success

was just as sweet.

The Pepsi Showdown is the largest high school soccer tournament in the United States, which is crazy to think about, judging that Huntley’s soccer program has recently been dominating the Illinois region.

Huntley’s mentality going into this tournament was not only focused on winning. It was also about growing as a team and using the tournament as preparation for the postseason.

“We look at any tournament leading up to the postseason as developmental,” coach Grabner said.

He wanted his team to

40 • THE VOICE • November 2016

learn how to win games when it was necessary, because that is what the playoffs are, lose one and done. Judging by his team's performance throughout the tournament, they certainly proved that losing was not going to be an issue for them.

Huntley has always had great opposition in the tournament. However, like all teams, they still faced some rough losses and tough obstacles over the years. It seemed as if they did not have that extra edge within the program that made their reputation separate from the rest of the teams.

“We’ve been on the verge

a number of times of making it to that next level, and we hadn’t done it. So to do it this year with both was pretty cool,” Grabner said.

Making history for the tournament itself, by winning with both the girls and the boys team, will certainly give Huntley an even more competitive nature going into future Pepsi Showdowns.

Looking at the road that these two teams took to success really shows the fighting, never give up mentality that they both had in common.

Back in April, the girls had to win each of their three final games in shootouts after a 0-0 tie in regulation play. By

SPORTS triumphantly doing so, they an important game it was to secured a spot in the champido so. onship game.

Both teams had participated in a form of community “We were confident with service as part of the serour goalie and shooter’s vice component within the abilities to finish and win tournament. The boys raised the game,” forward Brenna money so that they could Keegan said.

This same passion and buy scooters for children in drive was shared by the boys Chicago. This was a part of team just a few months later. the program, Buddy's Helpers “Coach constantly pushes Random Acts of Kindness. us to be our best whether it’s That shows how great the socduring training, warm-ups, cer program at Huntley really and of course during the is, since the team was able game,” midfielder Axel Solis to leave the community, see said. different areas and economic Grabner’s boys team situations, and find a way to certainly had to be their best help. The team not only takes during the close battle they pride with what they do on faced in the championship the field, but off as well. game against Lincoln-Way The main focus for the West. Huntley broke the boys was the challenge of bedeadlock after a scoreless ing able to win their tournafirst half, which meant that ment in the same year as the they had to play tough, smart girls. The team took that chalsoccer in order to protect that lenge, and passed it with great lead all the way to the final success. Making themselves whistle. and their coach proud, they “We got hot at the right allowed him to be the head time and we played well,” of a great milestone that our Grabner said. soccer program has created This game became the within the Pepsi Showdown.• third shutout for the Red N. Fleege Raiders this year, and what

This month in HUNTLEY HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS:

Girls Swimming and Diving @ Sectionals - Nov 12 Girls Basketball @ Dundee Crown Thanksgiving Tournament - Nov. 16 Girls Swimming and Diving @ State - Nov 19 Boys Basketball @ Dundee Crown Thanksgiving Tournament - Nov. 21 Wrestling @ Plainfield NorthNov. 23 Boys Bowling @ Marengo Dec. 1 Wrestling vs. Dundee-Crown Dec. 1

The girls posing with their championship trophy and banner (Courtesy of district158.org).

November 2016• THE VOICE • 41

SPORTS

Droppin’ dimes left and right Raethz’s dynasty of daughters prepares to cut a net michael panzarella•staff writer

A

s the seasons change, days get shorter, the cold weather comes, it is that time of year for students to pack the gym during basketball season.

It has been almost eight months since the girls basketball team lost to Fremd in the IHSA Super-Sectionals to end their magical run. With a loaded senior team, the Red Raiders fell short of the ultimate goal, a state championship.

With seniors coming and going, the Red Raiders look to continue a dynasty they have created over the past several years. They have a reputation of winning, as they have clinched the title and gone undefeated in the Fox Valley Conference the past three seasons.

But the records have not stopped there. They won eight of the last 10 regional titles, as well as earning a fourth place finish back in 2012-13. Last season, they took it to one of their highest levels yet, winning a team high 30 games, in addition to regional and sectional titles.

With the new records setting school history, milestones being met, the girls basketball team is continuing their winning legacy. They have clinched FVC, regional and sectional titles, and have made appearances in super-section-

als and state. to a majority of the team’s Winning has become a offense. normalcy, and in the last four Their major loss was Anseasons, the Raiders have drews, a center, who went on gone 111-21 and Power forward M. Clausen to play Division won three con- makes a lay-up during a game I at the Univervs. CLS (R. O’Sullivan). secutive sity of conIllinois. ference Andrews titles. left big Along shoes to with that, fill: she they have broke won four school consecrecords, utive was regional awarded unanand two imous consec1st team utive all-state, sectional became titles.

CouriNot er-News only setGirls Basting team ketball records, Player of head the year, coach and was Steve nominatRaethz ed as an earned a McDonpersonal ald's achievement, All-American. one that was 18 years com“This season we are ing. He achieved his 300th working on building our team career win against Grayslake chemistry and cohesiveness as Central. players to redefine their roles With all of this in the past with the team,” Raethz said. now, the team continues its “There is a lot of room for our focus to the 2016-17 season. players and team to continue The Raiders lost six seniors to improve.” from last season: Ali AnReturning starters Maddy drews, Kayla Barreto, Alexis Moffett and Morgan Clausen Lowitzki, Danielle Nichols, Teagan Papka, and Paige Ren- will lead the team, as well as the three returning seniors kosik, all of who contributed

42 • THE VOICE • November 2016

from last season. With the majority of the scoring from last season gone, Clausen, a power forward, looks to fill in and contribute to the areas that were lost by the graduating seniors.

“The expectations are the same,” Clausen said. “These first few weeks have been an adjustment period because people are learning their new roles.”

Clausen committed to play at Brown University, and was optimistic on the team’s playoff chances.

“In order to make the playoffs again, everyone has to buy in,” she said.

Not only looking to win the FVC again, the team is set up to go undefeated in conference for the fourth consecutive time. They will have to do it against improved conference teams and in tough tournaments during both Thanksgiving and winter break.

Although the conference has improved, the Red Raiders still intend on competing.

“We are looking forward to the challenge of the upcoming season and our standards for success for our team haven’t changed,” Raethz said. “We intend to compete in the FVC championship.”

The Raiders will tip off the season Nov. 16 and will complete the regular season Feb. 10. They have notable tough conference games between McHenry and Crystal Lake

see DYNASTY page 18

EDITORIAL

Help Desk offers the best solutions

I

t has become common to take to social media to voice complaints about the world around us. In any Huntley High School student’s news feed, many of these complaints are due to Chromebooks.

Scathing tweets have flooded Twitter feeds for months now, with complaints about the Wi-Fi or the Chromebooks.

Even with the complaints, there is one thing that we can thank Huntley High School for. We are not afraid to be progressive, to go out and try something new. We like to be leaders in education, which is great.

But being leaders in education has led to some unforeseen problems.

Implementing one-to-one was a great idea in theory. Students would be able to take control of their education, participate in more blended classes, and be able to do schoolwork at their own pace.

But the technologically savvy generation is not responding as well to the one-to-one roll-out as well as originally thought. The problems with the internet and the technology itself have made the Chromebooks more frustrating than helpful. The data The Voice gathered through a student survey proves it. ­ One of the biggest complaints voiced throughout the student body is the internet. In our survey, 91.9 percent of students reported being kicked from the internet randomly, and 83 percent said that they have not been able to connect to the school Wi-Fi because of poor connection.

“It’s annoying when a lot of them are on the same network at the same time they seem to crash a lot,” freshman Matt Guido said.

“Also if you start to use [the Chromebooks] too much they randomly shut down. If I’m doing a research paper and I’ve been on there for a while, and I’ve got a couple of tabs open, mine just decides to shut off randomly.”

A lot of complaints come from internet problems experienced during blended hours. Students in blended classes cannot effectively “blend” because their Chromebooks cannot connect to the internet. If, by some miracle, their Chromebook connects, the internet lags, goes in and out of being connected, and many students can end up waiting a majority of the class period for their Google Drive or Haiku page to load.

If the administration is going to continue to encourage students to take blended courses and more courses to move to blended, they have to provide students with a reliable internet connection for students to “blend” and complete coursework.

“Our help desk is where students should really be going if they are having problems with [the internet],” Assistant Principal Shelly Kish said. “That is how they are made aware of issues and they can monitor all of that.”

The help desk is something that all students should be utilizing.

We found that 58.4 percent of the surveyed students have never been to the help desk, which is the root of many students’ problems. Many students do not even know a help desk exists. They go home every day and try to do homework on a broken or malfunctioning computer and become frustrated when they are not able to do all of their work. “[Students] either don’t know the help desk existed or don’t think it would help because the Chromebook wasn’t working at home,” mobile technician Jason Blum said. “The students don’t realize that we filter the device at school and at home, so if the device isn’t working, the students need to come see us.”

The help desk can help students with a multitude of problems ranging from formatting text in Google Docs to hardware problems.

Students do not utilize this resource, and a lot of that can be attributed to their lack of knowledge of the help desk’s existence.

Administration and teachers alike do not do a good enough job of advertising the help desk and its existence. Putting up a poster in some teacher’s classrooms is not enough. Teachers should be encouraging students to seek help at the help desk, and administration should be sending out email blasts, reminding students of the help desk’s hours, their policies, and programs.

One of the better programs they should be highlighting is the new loaner Chromebook programs. The loaner Chromebook program minimizes a student’s time at the help desk, so they do not have to miss a lot of class time and class work.

“If it’s something that we can’t fix in two-three minutes, we can issue them a loaner device and they can use that on our network and connect to all their school work and complete all their coursework that day, while we are back at the help desk, where we can further troubleshoot the device and help the student,” Blum said.

Students can even just swap out their Chromebook for the day if they forgot to charge it the previous night. The loaner program is a great program that little to no students, or teachers, even know about.

Software and hardware issues could also be solved if students knew about and utilized the help desk. Seventy seven percent of students have experienced technical problems with their Chromebooks. Mousepads are very hard to manage and logging in sometimes takes an entire class period. Random computer crashes happen to many students and unforeseen technology problems impede with a teacher’s lesson plans.

These little laptops have caused major headaches for students.

“I like [Chromebooks], but they’re kind of a pain to have,” freshman Jakob Kruse said. “Usually they run very slowly, they’ll crash randomly, they’ll reboot, and sometimes the plug-ins won’t run so you can’t use certain programs. You can’t use flash player, usually Google Drive will take the entire period to load. That gets really annoying.”

If administration can encourage students to participate in flyovers, go to Jersey Mike’s, and support HHS sports teams, why can’t they encourage students to visit the help desk as well?

The one-to-one program has had a learning curve for teachers and students alike. While there are positives to the Chromebooks, the frequent internet and hardware problems students experience on a daily basis have made the what seemed to be a positive addition, something quite negative and more of a nuisance. However, most of these issues can be resolved by simply visiting the friendly people at the help desk.•

November 2016 • THE VOICE • 43

V THE VOICE

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Happy Thanksgiving from The Voice!

What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving?

“Having the whole week off so I can instead spend time with my family.”

Senior Ethan Sherman

“Every year, my family watches the Packers game together, which is pretty exciting.”

Senior Nolan Smith

“The best part by far is the food, especially the stuffing.”

Senior Jacob Vickers

“Definitely eating food and watching football with my family.”

Senior Suharsh Suraj