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Centerspread

Centerspread

BY PAIGE WHITESIDE

Editor

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When decorating a room or a living space, choosing items that remind you of your favorite shows, bands or hobbies can be essential to creating a comfortable environment to spend time in. A less popular way to liven up a room is by growing and taking care of a variety of plants. Having plants in a personal area has many benefits, such as giving someone a responsibility to take care of that plant, creating oxygen and fresh air and contributing to a clean environment that is pleasing to the eye.

Many individuals - teenagers and adults alike - struggle to personalize their homes in a way that suits them best. Switching between different aesthetics, it can be difficult to choose one theme that perfectly matches your personality and interests. However, plants come in a variety of different shapes, sizes and types, giving aspiring room designers many options to work with. Someone who is interested in decorating their home with bright colors may choose to grow potted flowers, and on the other hand, someone who prefers a more simplistic look can go with more neutral options, such as a cactus or a small succulent.

Senior Caroline Nosek finds that decorating her room with plants makes the area seem brighter and causes her to feel more relaxed and happy, as well as giving her something to do and focus on.

“When plants are thriving, like during the summer when they get especially green, they make me happier,” Nosek said. “When there are more plants in a room, there is more life in the room. I feel like they really boost my serotonin levels.”

Horticulture teacher Brooke Heinsohn has always felt very connected to nature and art, which led her to choose a career that incorporates both elements when teaching her horticulture classes. Heinsohn finds joy in seeing plants grow and develop over a period of time and sees the beauty in many different types of plants.

“If you walk past a plant every day and see the same thing, then one day you see that plant start to sprout a flower bud and keep growing, and that is a very exciting feeling,” Heinsohn said. “If any student is interested in learning more about plants, I would recommend taking the horticulture course here at Kaneland. Students get a lot of free houseplants, they research what type of plant it is and learn more about how to care for it for the rest of the school year.”

Besides being pleasing to the eye, houseplants have a variety of different health benefits to offer. A room with a plant is naturally a cleaner area than one without, as plants release oxygen into the environment. Dr. Carol DerSarkissian, MD, reviewed an article by WebMD going over the many benefits that houseplants have to offer. Included in this article was information on a study that tested humidity levels in the air before and after ribbon plants were brought into a room. After the plants were introduced, the humidity level went from 20% to 30%, a huge improvement, as higher humidity levels can help with dry skin or illnesses like a cold. In a study conducted by Charles Hall and Melinda Knuth, researchers at Texas A&M University, living near or surrounding yourself with greenery can have positive impacts on your mental, emotional and social well-being as well. Some ben-

Photo courtesy of Caroline Nosek Senior Caroline Nosek lines a window sill in her bedroom with potted plants. These plants create positive energy and brighten up her room.

Photo by Zoey Pozen The greenhouse at Kaneland High School is used to grow plants and flowers, and it provides students with daily opportunities to learn about horticulture. The greenhouse is located through room A100, and it provides students with a variety of hands-on experiences.

Photo courtesy of Ansley Faivre Sophomore Ansley Faivre displays a variety of plants throughout her bedroom. She finds that having greenery in her room lifts her mood. efits include reduced depression symptoms and higher productivity levels. Individuals diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder (ADD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who participated in this study were even able to focus better when surrounded by nature, both indoors and outdoors.

Sophomore Ansley Faivre decorates her room with plants, observing that having a small piece of nature in her personal area boosts her mood when she is feeling down.

“Over the past year my collection of plants has grown a lot,” Faivre said. “In that time, my mental health has definitely been improved and I feel a lot happier. I love having a new hobby, and plants give me something to do that makes me feel good at the same time.”

BY ANNA OLP

Design Executive and Photography Executive

On Oct. 28, 2021, Facebook - the owner of Instagram, Oculus VR and Whatsapp - rebranded its company name to Meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement during the 2021 Facebook Connect conference, a one-day virtual event targeted towards future possibilities in augmented and virtual reality. While the new name itself was jarring for many, changing the company name is just one of the many advancements being made by Zuckerberg. The switch is seen by many as not only a new company name, but rather a new direction and focus. To fully understand the upgrades that Meta is bringing to their company, it is important to know what their current focus, the Metaverse, is going to become. The Metaverse is the advancement of the company into the world of virtual reality. The name encompasses the 3D world, which users will be able to interact with during their virtual reality experience. Meta is the owner of Oculus. Oculus is a company rooted in virtual reality, and this partnership is one of the ways the Metaverse is becoming a reality. The Oculus Quest 2 is the virtual reality headset currently being sold by Meta and Oculus. Coming in at $299, the Quest 2 is one of the most affordable, all-in-one VR headsets on the market. The complexity of virtual reality and how it is accomplished can be hard to grasp for those who have not experienced it themselves. This is one contributing factor to some of the possible confusion surrounding the Metaverse. According to the Oculus website, “A VR headset usually features a display split between the eyes to show each eye a different feed. This creates a stereoscopic 3D effect with stereo sound. It also tracks your position in space to orient your point of view in the system.” During the 2021 Connect event, Zuckerberg introduced a video presentation about the Metaverse by describing the major switches in focus of our social platforms since the founding of Facebook. “We’ve gone from desktop, to web to phones from text, to photos to video. But this isn’t the end of the line. The next platform and medium will be even more immersive, an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it. We call this the Metaverse,” Zuckerberg said. The next sections of the presentation consisted of different aspects of the teacher Dragoljub Gudovic said.

It is not likely that Meta’s rocky stock market values are telling of what’s to come for the company, however it can make things more difficult for Zuckerberg and his investors to continue to build their ideas of the Metaverse.

Metaverse that users can hope to explore. Some of these include gaming, fitness, work, education and commerce.

Zuckerberg made clear that the Metaverse is not currently a finished product. Developments are still being made, which is one of the reasons it is still difficult to give a specific definition of what it will actually entail.

“The best way to understand the Metaverse is to experience it yourself. But it’s tough because it doesn’t fully exist yet. Some of the basic building blocks are here though, and others are emerging as we speak. We’re starting to get a sense of how it could all come together and what it could feel like,” Zuckerberg said. After the initial announcement of Meta and the Metaverse, curiosity was sparked among many. One of the topics being questioned is how quickly Zuckerberg’s plans will become a reality. Microsoft owner Bill Gates made a claim that garnered a lot of attention.

“Within the next two or three years, I predict most virtual meetings will move from 2D camera image grids — which I call the Hollywood Squares model, although I know that probably dates me — to the metaverse, a 3D space with digital avatars,” Gates said.

Despite the positive outlook from some, Meta’s ride so far has been anything but smooth. On Feb. 3, Meta’s value in the stock market took a major blow. According to the financial magazine Barron’s, “Meta Platforms recorded the largest one-day drop in market value ever for a U.S. company.”

Facebook shifting their focus and company name has created somewhat of a vulnerability for the company. People may be confused by the switch, and the overall public opinion of Facebook is still recovering from the whistleblower event that took place in October of 2021.

“Any rebranding of companies can be rough. The company’s image may have an initial negative impact. Ultimately the development of the Metaverse project will either enhance or reduce the company’s image,” Career and Technical Education

BY ASHLEY VANDERHOFF

Editor

High school students’ academic lives were immensely disrupted in the 2020-21 school year as they were forced into a learning environment and schedule they were not used to. As a result, many students saw themselves struggling to keep up with the demands of their educational and social lives. While Kaneland High School students faced a variety of challenges due to attendance, grades and emotional health, the severity of some struggles have gone largely unnoticed. In fact, last year Kaneland saw its GPA percentages drop dramatically as well as the number of students requiring extra assistance. In the last academic year for KHS students, according to the District 302 Board Meeting on Jan. 10, 2022, about 11% of students earned a GPA between 0 and 1.0, a dramatic increase from the usual 1% or less. Typically, 1% means about 10-12 students, but last year, that number rose to about 120 students across all four high school grade levels. Additionally, freshmen on track to graduate dropped from the typical 90-91% to 87%. KHS Principal Jill Maras acknowledged the realities of the data regarding student performance. “Our kids that would have a 1.0 GPA or less are usually less than 1% of the population, and last year it was 11%,” Maras said. “It seems like it’s that lower group of students that has grown in the number of courses they are failing. We aren’t seeing much of a change in the GPA of students who are in our average or high achieving area. So, it’s just a matter of making sure we put the pieces in place to help support the lower kids.” While there are many pieces in place in the school’s attempt to support

Kaneland students, communication has seemed to be the first step. Maras spoke on the method of communication with parents and students on a district level. “I don’t know that we have globally shared about the struggles our students are having with parents and students.

Our focus has been on individually addressing students who are struggling,”

Maras said. Overall, the school is taking a more individualized approach when supporting these struggling students. Director of Educational Services 6-12 Patrick Raleigh has talked with students who were successful while learning from home last year, as well as those who were not. He stressed that the change of environment played a big role in the impact on how students handled the structure of school last year. He encourages students to advocate for themselves, whether they felt safer at home or whether they struggled more there.

Still, Raleigh supports the idea of students coming back to school as the most beneficial solution. Also, when asked about the emotional needs of students during this time, he noted how the signs of struggle can be less visible in some students compared to others, which makes providing support even harder if they are at home.

“There is a social-emotional side to [discipline] where I might be acting out if I am not feeling safe. I might be acting out if I’m in a class I don’t want to get called on. I don’t want my peers to see that I don’t know what I’m doing. It’s easier when [students are] here in person and can have conversations to gauge that,” Raleigh said.

In the student services office, there is a team looking to identify struggling students and offer support.

“There’s a team that looks at the well-being of all our kids, and if there are trends or if we see a student is repeatedly ineligible for athletics or activities, what are we doing for them? Also, [we are checking to see] if there is a student that is repeatedly being written up for a variety of offenses or the same offenses. That team is looking at students who may need an additional level of support or intervention to help them be as successful as possible,” Raleigh said.

Of course, there are a variety of teams within the school reaching out to students to offer solutions. School counselors, for example, will contact struggling students’ parents. Assistant Prin-

cipal for Student Services and Special Education Kristin Faber has reached out to parents in the event that it looks like a student may not graduate. Staff members

There is a social-emotional side to [discipline] where I might be acting out if I am not feeling safe. I might be acting out if I’m in a class I don’t want to get called on. I don’t want my peers to see that I don’t know what I’m doing. - Director of Educational Services 6-12 Patrick Raleigh “

can offer options to struggling students like credit recovery courses, summer school and contracts between students and teachers.

“While there was a decline in [freshmen on track to graduate], it was a much more manageable number of those we can target specifically and build intervention plans specifically for them. And some of those things have already taken place,” Raleigh said. “Some of those conversations with those students have been around individual academic contracts with their teachers. Summer school is also always an option. We’re looking at freshmen, so we have three more years to close that gap.”

As far as the increased individual help students are receiving, teachers are able to offer certain contracts with students. For example, a teacher in the math department may meet with a student and discuss a personalized plan for them to be successful in the class.

“It is individual teachers meeting with individual students. So if you have me for Algebra One, and if you missed a couple of tests last year, it would be on these given days you are going to stay after school or work on this in STEP,” Raleigh said. “So it is you as a student writing down and committing to X, Y and Z. If I get it done by that time, my grade will reflect the most recent score, and then that can go back and reflect your grade.”

While it is an option for teachers to offer these opportunities to students, it is truly up to the discretion of the teacher. It is neither a district nor board policy; teachers are not mandated or required to develop individual student contracts.

Junior Enza Liga was learning solely at home for her 2020-21 school year. She expressed how getting assignments done was harder, and her lack of motivation and the pressure from teachers did not help. She also was not able to interact with peers at school, which impacted her success from a social standpoint. This year, she has received help from some teachers. She mentioned how her math teacher, Daniel Ponczek, is always reaching out with extra help to anyone who needs it. She does, however, think that teachers should be more strictly mandated to reach out to students in need.

“[Teachers offering opportunities for students] should definitely be mandated. If all teachers were required to reach out to students it would be much appreciated, especially since some teachers are not as interactive as others,” Liga said.

WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, A LIE MY PARENTS TOLD ME WAS...

Samuel Gagne Senior

“They lied to me about Santa forever. My uncle had given me the idea to sleep under the Christmas tree, so one Christmas Eve I slept under it. That night I realized my parents were Santa.”

Tyler Bradshaw Junior

“They used to tell me that leprechauns were real when I was younger and that they would slide down rainbows and search for gold.” “If I pressed the hazard button in the car, the car would explode.”

Kamron Scholl Sophomore

WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, A LIE MY PARENTS TOLD ME WAS...

“I finally realized that the Easter Bunny wasn’t real, and after I was told in sixth grade, I began to find out about all of the others.”

“While growing up, my parents told me I had to wait at least 15 minutes after eating before I went swimming in the pool.”

Christian Duffing Junior

Amanda Rogers Junior

“I found out that the Tooth Fairy wasn’t real, and she wasn’t the one bringing me the money all those years. When I found out, I was pretty sad because after I knew, the Tooth Fairy never came again.”

Grace Algrim

Senior

BY ZOEY POZEN

Editor

Being an athlete is challenging enough, but being a multi-sport athlete can be even more difficult. Playing multiple sports, though, comes with definite benefits as it shapes who these athletes become and introduces them to more opportunities than they might have imagined. Senior Olivia Rohlman knows all about the hardships of being a multisport athlete. Rohlman is a varsity volleyball, basketball and track athlete, as well as being a dancer outside of school. Some students struggle to find time to manage being an athlete as well as being a successful student. “It is definitely challenging to get things done, more than the average student I feel. Basically, I have no time to do my homework, so I have to make time. Those extra minutes at the end of class where everyone usually packs up is when I can get my stuff done because I really don’t have another option,” Rohlman said. Freshman Kyle Rogers is a member of the football, wrestling and track teams. Like Rohlman, he acknowledges that it can be challenging to fit everything into one day. “Making time for everything is tough, but I just have had to learn to deal with it,” Rogers said. As a multi-sport athlete, Rogers has gotten so used to being busy that it

Photo courtesy of Andy Drendel Boys track and field athletes train in the West Gym weight room during the pre-season. Many of these athletes participate in other sports when track and field is not in season. doesn’t bother him anymore. He is now able to manage his time well. Physical education teacher and head boys varsity track coach Andy Drendel believes that being a multi-sport athlete not only keeps students busy but can lower their stress levels due to being so involved.

“I don’t believe multi-sport athletes are more stressed than anyone else. Most multi-sport athletes have been participating in multiple sports since they were in elementary or middle school,” Drendel said. “It becomes a norm of their lives, and they learn time-management skills early on.”

Some athletes, like junior Katharine Marshall, recognize the ebb and flow of their multiple seasons. Marshall is a member of the golf and basketball teams, and managing stress is something she knows comes with the responsibility of playing various sports.

“Honestly, I am not that stressed. I think that my teachers are very understanding when it comes to student-athletes. I won’t say there hasn’t been a time where my stress is higher, but overall, I think I manage everything well, which makes my stress not as bad,” Marshall said.

Having supportive teachers and coaches is important for these multi-sport athletes. Many multi-sport athletes are also involved with clubs, sports outside of school and jobs. Having a coach who cares about what their players do outside of their sport can have an impact on the student-athletes’ mental health.

“It’s their choice. It’s not up to me to tell a kid that they can’t do something. I have had kids that have to go to a chess competition or Scholastic Bowl. Of course, go compete in that. Go kick butt. I think that’s awesome. They are staying mentally competitive, so it’s valuable. They have to do those things too,” Drendel said.

Drendel appreciates when his players keep him updated about their various responsibilities. “The main thing is communication. As long as they communicate with me, I don’t have a problem with it. I don’t ever want an athlete to feel like they are by themselves. I can always help brainstorm solutions if they are struggling with their time management,” Drendel said.

Communication regarding time management seems to be a recurring subject that is important for other coaches too. Social studies teacher and varsity girls basketball coach Kelsey Flanagan thinks that communication is essential.

“Players communicating in advance when conflicts arise, as soon as they know, is the most important thing,” Flanagan said.

Not only can school be mentally hard for these student-athletes, but physically, they can also run into some complications. Senior Dylan Conklin is a member of both the baseball and bowling teams, where he has experienced serious injuries that have caused setbacks for him.

“I have had a few injuries in the past because baseball really works you. From bowling, I have gotten a knee injury. I have fractured my back, and I have tendonitis in my arm from playing baseball,” Conklin said. “Being away from your sport for a long period of time with an injury can also be mentally draining.”

Many of the athletes who are involved with numerous sports seem to thrive on being involved, and it’s just something they become used to. And when that changes, that can present its own issues.

“Personally, when I went to college I went from playing three sports to zero. I found myself more stressed out without having some sort of competition in my life. That’s how I got involved with coaching. I felt compelled to do something productive,” Drendel said.

Being involved in a variety of sports has become an outlet for so many of these athletes to be excited for something, to make friends and to find out more about themselves.

“To be honest, baseball is basically my second personality. Baseball has made me kind of a cocky person because I always feel like I am the best on the field at all times, but I feel like that has helped me a lot with my confidence,” Conklin said.

As multi-sport athletes, these students have ups and downs as they move forward, but they always seem to learn something new along the way.

“These athletes are developing these traits by being involved and learning to be coached by anyone. They will learn something in soccer that can also be valuable in track, like they learn how to build up confidence and manage everything correctly. [It’s] highly valuable,” Drendel said.

Being a multi-sport athlete can be challenging, but these athletes have the opportunity to learn lessons about determination, communication and teamwork.

BY MADELEINE LITTLE

Editor-in-Chief of Web

Collegiate and professional sports have their similarities and differences, but they both will always be something people can enjoy. Organizations like the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are known for bringing in billions of dollars each year, and they all have generations of fans supporting them. No matter each fan’s preference, professional and collegiate sports have the ability to bring people together and lift people’s spirits during even the most difficult of times. Something that may draw people to the collegiate level is the energy and emotion from the athletes who have worked so hard to get there. People are able to see how college teams create a strong bond and emotional connection on and off the court or field, while professional athletes can seem more focused on the financial aspect and their personal fame. Joseph Conroy, Career and Technical Education teacher and head men’s basketball coach at Kishwaukee Community College, can draw from experiences both in the classroom and on the court to provide perspective. Conroy believes that college athletes hold a stronger emotional connection to their sport and team, while professional athletes and teams focus more on the money and their individuality. “Collegiate sports are more about team play and working together. For example, college football has the excitement of not only a community but a region, and pro sports are more about the money. College is about more than just the game,” Conroy said. While there is an emotional aspect to college sports that can endear fans, others might prefer watching professional sports because they feel that there is a different level of competition when the players are the best in the world. Many collegiate athletes are looking to play at the next level, and those who choose to do that need to have passion and determination to get there. The skill that professional athletes exhibit, in addition to the fact that they play for teams in major cities that children and teens grow up learning to support, are what draw fans to the professional level. Senior Taylor Seaton, who plays basketball and runs track, appreciates what the professional level offers.

“I think location can help to build an emotional connection due to the strong loyalty of their fans and ability to travel and see those games easier than if they are out of state,” Seaton said. “I like watching professional sports because the skills are better, but I like watching college because teams actually try to compete by playing defense, at least in basketball.”

Sophomore Nicklaus McNamara enjoys watching both collegiate and professional sports, and he feels that there is more in play when deciding to cheer for a specific team than just the players.

“I think that if people have gone to a specific college, then they might feel more emotionally attached to that school. With professional sports, if you grew up somewhere you are probably going to feel a stronger connection to a place,” McNamara said.

Throughout the year, there are multiple major events in both college and professional sports that are widely known, such as the Super Bowl and March Madness. The NCAA’s annual season-ending basketball tournament allows fans to engage by filling in their own brackets to predict the outcome of each game, increasing interest in each individual matchup. Junior Jake Brost, for example, finds more enjoyment in watching a month’s worth of upsets and excitement in college basketball’s end-of-season tournament over the Super Bowl.

“I prefer March Madness because it is unpredictable. As many times as I try, I can never pick the games correctly. I also prefer it because there are multiple games a day, and the tournament is a month long unlike the Super Bowl,” Brost said.

During the past few years, where sports have at times faded due to the pandemic, it has become even more apparent how much they mean in our lives. Student-athletes like senior golfer Joshua Pehl, for example, who will be attending Illinois Wesleyan University next fall, views athletes at the levels above him as important both for their inspirational value and for keeping him entertained during these past few challenging years.

“Watching sports in general has been an outlet these last couple of years because there hasn’t been as much to do,” Pehl said. “Watching these athletes perform at a high level has been huge for my success because it shows the amount of work I need to put in to be successful and helps me to strive for high goals, even if they may seem unachievable now.”

Photo by Madeleine Little Members of the Seaton and Koup families watch Super Bowl LVI. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest sporting events in the United States and averages over 100 million viewers each year.

Photo courtesy of Joseph Conroy Austin Brown, a Rochelle High School graduate and current guard at Kishwaukee Community College, attacks off the dribble against Illinois Wesleyan College. Career and Technical Education teacher Joseph Conroy is currently the head men’s basketball coach at Kishwaukee.

BY KEVIN SIGRIST

Editor

Coming into high school as a freshman can be a very intimidating experience. You don’t know many people or where your classes are. The workload, responsibilities and general attitude towards school changes, and the stakes are raised as your academic performance can directly affect your future in college or your career. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Extracurricular activities are a great way for students to integrate themselves into high school and form bonds with their peers from other grade levels. By doing this, they educate and prepare themselves more for their future high school careers. Fall extracurriculars specifically do a great job at this for the incoming freshmen, as they serve as ways to make new friends at a new school. An example of this would be marching band. Kaneland band teacher and director Aaron Puckett elaborated on the amount of time students in marching band spend together at the school during the summer. “Typically we start in May, where we do a couple of evening rehearsals to kick things off. Some of the groups start as early as April doing small rehearsals here and there,” Puckett said. “We usually do three or four rehearsals during the bulk of the summer, and then at the end of the summer, we do two weeks of band camp where we learn music and routines for the fall performances.” Puckett explained how not only does the time aspect of the marching season help underclassmen integrate themselves, but marching band itself is an activity that is extremely oriented around working together. “I think that band is unique in that it has some sort of bridge activities to help the young students. Typically they are a little tentative when they start, and then after they acclimate, they’re pretty eager and excited to be a part of the band. They learn to work with each other and how to be student leaders, and they also learn how their individual role affects the bigger picture,” Puckett said. Freshman Rhys DeLoso shared how he got to know his peers in marching band during the fall season.

“When we’re waiting for band rehearsal to start, which started at 5:15 [in the evening], I would just stay after school and hang out with some of my friends. We’d just hang out, talk or maybe go out to get food if there was an upperclassman with us,” DeLoso said.

One factor that has specifically affected underclassmen and their ability to connect with the upperclassmen grade levels is the variance in schedules caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

To put it into perspective, current upperclassmen had time during high school that was pre-pandemic. Because of this, they were more easily able to integrate and make new friends while they were the underclassmen. However, current freshmen and sophomores went into the pandemic during the end of their seventh and eighth grade years. Because of the pandemic, lots of activities that would have assisted students in meeting each other were canceled, and the hybrid school year made it so that students were not seeing half of the student body the entire year.

Freshman Zoe Gannon came to Kaneland during her freshman year from a different school district. Because of the drastic change, she could very easily see the divide the pandemic had caused within the student body.

“I don’t know many sophomores, but at my old school, I knew everyone above and below me, and so many more people knew each other because they actually saw each other consistently, but because [of the pandemic], it’s been so long and no one really branches out to others that much,” Gannon said.

Despite this, however, Gannon, who participates in soccer, basketball and Student Council, has found ways to meet other people through extracurriculars.

“I think it’s a really good thing to be getting out there,” Gannon said. “I’m in a few extracurriculars, and it really does a lot for my social life and mental health.”

Seniors such as Aidan Pawlak have also felt the consequences of this social divide created by the pandemic.

“[The current freshmen] missed a lot of the social interaction that we have every day, which is a huge part in maturing and getting to know people,” Pawlak said. “The pandemic is also why I don’t know a lot of the younger grades because last year I wasn’t seeing them every day, and the year before, we lost several months. A lot of clubs and sports were also affected. Seasons were shorter and clubs couldn’t do as much, and they were a great way to meet students from other grades.”

Pawlak, who participates in many extracurricular activities such as basketball, tennis, Student Council, Key Club, National Honor Society and more, has found participating in extracurricular activities to be very worthwhile.

“Doing a lot of extracurriculars reduces your time, but you also get to meet new people and experience new things, so while you’re sacrificing your time, it’s a good investment,” Pawlak said. “My advice to underclassmen would be to get as involved as possible because my freshman year, I was doing half as much of the stuff I’m doing now, and now school is way more fun.” Photo courtesy of Kim Ritchie Freshman Sophia Plaza stands with her brother on the last day of marching band camp. Band members invited a family member on to the field to demonstrate what they had learned over the summer.

Photo by Anna Olp Freshmen Orientation fills the hallways with new students. Upperclassmen and teachers can make it easier to get used to a new environment.

BY SAMANTHA DUNNE

Editor

The entertainment industry puts together films and TV shows that try to portray the complexities of the high school experience. Movies such as Clueless and Mean Girls and the hit TV show Glee all have the stereotypical lead bully who believes wealth and looks determine if you can fit in with the cool kids or not. This is just one of the reasons why high school can be falsely represented, yet still entertaining to view in fictional forms. Other movies, like 10 Things I Hate About You or To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, have their own goals of romanticizing the idea of how your high school years should be the time of your life and how it should include the thrilling journey of falling in love. Oftentimes, these films will show unrealistic friend groups and couples by representing the cliques of the troublemakers, jocks, nerds and theater kids. Directors usually do not go into depth about the normality of connections between various friend groups because that is not what their main objective is.

Freshman Ava Lange explains how stereotypical couples can be represented in different films and how different the reality is from those depictions.

“High school movies are unrealistic because the cheerleaders always fall in love with the quarterback, but in reality, it is much more stressful and complicated. They never show the true reality of what goes into a good relationship,” Lange said.

When kids sit down in front of their TVs, they can turn on their favorite childhood movie like High School Musical or 13 Going on 30 and picture themselves being the main character. At a younger age, we do not grasp the concepts of how directors like to exaggerate their movies and how they do not portray the realistic struggles of normal teens.

Sophomore Jessica Wrobel describes how she was anxious when she was younger just thinking about the idea of growing up and what high school would be like because of how those movies made high school appear overwhelming. “Watching those movies made me a little nervous for my future. When I was little, I used to think that there were a lot of bullies in high school, but in real life, no one cares about each other because we all have our own lives to worry about,” Wrobel said. Average high school students need to find ways to juggle homework from all of their classes almost every night while also wanting a healthy social life.

Movies tend to portray students having almost no homework or time management issues, and they never seem to need to study. They show students wandering the halls and talking by their lockers for hours while their first priorities are parties and drama between friend groups. For most students, these scenarios are unrealistic. Take the movie Superbad, for example. The fictional students go to school, but they spend most of their time figuring out ways to bring drinks to a party or finding ways to throw the biggest party ever, while in reality, during the school year, people are usually focused on sports, schoolwork or jobs.

TV series like Freaks and Geeks and Saved by the Bell involve the idea that upperclassmen are superior, and they will make mean comments if you even get close to them. They tell the story of how new students will be rejected by certain social groups if they do not look or act a particular way. As impressionable kids watch those kinds of shows, they might stress about being bullied or worry about feeling judged in every way as they grow older. As kids enter high school, it may seem overwhelming at first, but it doesn’t mean they need to buy into the common media depictions of the high school experience.

The Breakfast Club, released in 1985, is a coming-of-age movie that shows a more realistic portrayal of the high school experience. Every student has their quirks and things they enjoy doing. This movie shows how everyone is special in their own ways, despite their differences in what they find joy in.

English teacher Joshua Maurice understands that movies typically prioritize the entertainment factor rather than represent the realities that students face throughout high school.

“There are portions of the high school atmosphere here that a lot of movies that center around high schools don’t really expose. If you watch any high school movie, you don’t see students with mental health needs. There are a lot of students here that really need someone to talk to. Whereas when you watch The Breakfast Club and everyone is doing their own thing, you get all of your different groups. There are definitely a lot of things that movies could give awareness to,” Maurice said.

Cartoon by Antonia Liakas

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