Scout - March 2017

scout VOLUME 51 / MARCH ISSUE / LAKE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL / ST. JOHN, IN

funding bill Get background on school funds and how they could be affected by House Bill 1001

social media Find out more about popular social media outlets Finsta and VSCO

girls track With a new coach and new season, the girls track team gets adjusted

words matter

Words have a bigger impact on others than one may think. Take a look at how racially-charged comments have affected students’ lives..

scout

scout editor-in-chief Sofia Hay

CONTENTS inside lc

12 TRACK COACH

8

14

SCHOOL FUNDING

See what can happen to classrooms and clubs if House Bill 101 is passed.

design editors

Photo illustration by: Sofia Hay

Scout is a student publication of Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana.

All content is student directed and produced. Opinions are those of the writers and do not imply the position of the school. Questions and comments can be directed to Sofia Hay, Scout Editor in Chief at sofiath16@gmail.com. Businesses interested in advertising should contact 219-365-3886.

sports

6 UPCOMING EVENTS

Check out the events happening during the month of March.

on the cover:

Anna Hallowell (12), Amanda Lopez (12) and Nerville Rance-Cox Jr. (12)

Get the inside scoop on the girls track team’s coaching change for this upcoming season.

MARCH MADNESS

Discover the details on the AP Statistics bracket challenge.

noteworthy lifestyle CRITICAL 18 ACONVERSATION 26 AOFNEWMINDSKATE Peer at different perspectives from students who have witnessed or experienced racism.

20

DEALING WITH DISCRIMINATION

Malak Abudayyeh (12) shares the impact of wearing a headscarf to school.

Hobby or passion?

Take a look at William Duszynski’s (11) skateboarding skills outside of school.

28 FINSTA FUN A trend privatizing media transcends sharing.

toward social outlets typical

22 RACIAL 30 #VACAYOR RELFECTIONS STAYCAY See how Micheal Townsend (12) learned how to accept his race.

Get a laugh from students’ Twitter responses.

Boys and girls track pose together in preparation for their upcoming season.

For the upcoming season the boys and girls will be combined. Photo by: Jennifer Chavarria

LETTER FROM THE editor Coming from a mixed-race background, I have always been very conscious of how different people interact at school. I personally feel that I see a lot of separation between people by race throughout the school and wanted to see how other students felt in this environment. As always, my goal is to share the stories of students that most people may not know about. It was challenging finding students to open up about their experiences and find a common theme, especially because no two experiences are the same. I am very excited for the whole school to see a different perspective than they may be used to and hope that people really think about what their peers have to say. I hope this issue brings to light some problems

within our walls so that we can work towards everyone being treated with kindness and respect. Although I don’t by any means believe that Lake Central is a horrible, hostile environment, I believe there are always areas open for improvement among individuals.

After another tough deadline, I’m also excited to see the rest of our content in print as we head into spring. I am filled with both excitement and slight sadness as we only have one issue of Scout left this year. I hope everyone enjoys the magazines we have left.

sofia hay

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

2 S C O U T / M A RC H I S S U E / TA BL E O F C O N T E N T S

Rachel Front Abigail Hines

Camryn Wallace Jessica Wojton

editors

Emily Badger Mia Brann Ruth Chen Paityn Emro Hannah Hill Stefan Krajisnik

Nicole Milaszewski Katelyn Pass Austin Sandoval Brianna Sarkisian Kylie Thomsen Olivia Oster

team leaders Justin Andrews Jessica Cook Brittney Howell Nicole Reitz

Courtney Rhomberg Kaylynn Ward Victoria Wilkes Lauren Wisniewski

staff members Camille Bereolos Madeline Mills Dana Brownewell Kristen Mirabelli Karisa Candreva Mackenzie Moore Julia Casner Madison Mullens Jennifer Chavarria Amber Murray Josh Chen Kate Nowicki Grace Cistaro Mikaela Paniagua Brianna Clarke Viraj Patel Charles DeVries Emily Pederson Ayah Eid Michael Pucci Molly Fischer Anni Rajput Cherylynn Gholson Jake Ranola Kevin Holechko Ashley Robinson Faith Huenecke Melicah Rodriguez Nadja Kostadinovic Madison Sandoval Jovana Laporsek Gabriella Shumylo Casey Lessentine Sabina Solarczyk Bailey Lewis Samantha Szewczyk Taylor Lykowski Michelle Testa Bianca Matchain Jack Theil Morgyn McAllister Liberty Toweson Jade Mehok Jocelyn Vanek Radosav Mihajlovic Maisie Westerfield Danica Mileusnic Mikaila Zvyak

want to buy an advertisEment in our publications?

contact lakecentralbusiness@gmail.com

STAY

CONNECTED.

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3

4 SCOUT / MARCH ISSUE / INSIDE LC

inside lc fall show

AS WINTER COMES TO A CLOSE, STUDENTS SPRING INTO THE NEXT

season. From baseball games to musical performances, students have a variety of events that they can attend either to showcase their talents or support their many different sports teams. With spring approaching, the school will also receive their two-year budget plan.

Abigail Markowski (12), Madeline Andrews (11) and Paige Lambert (9) perform during the winter pep rally in January. The Centralettes showcased their half-time routine for the entire school. Photo by: Sofia Hay

5

UPCOMING EVENTS FOR SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

27

26

FEB.

WEDNESDAY

28

THURSDAY

1

MAR.

Boys Basketball IHSSA Sectional

5

6 school board meeting 7:30 p.m.

12

13 NATIONAL NAPPING DAY

19

14 campus life meeting 5:30 p.m.

lake county 27 special olympics basketball practice 7:30 P.m.

Spring Break - No school

6 SCOUT / MARCH ISSUE / INSIDE LC

8 INTERNATIONAL WOMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DAY 15 winter sports banquet 6 p.m.

20 FIRST DAY OF SPRING

26

7

boys track & field vs. crown point 5 p.m. (home)

21 percussion concert 7 p.m.

22 college bound parent night 6:30 p.m.

28

29

2 Open fieldhouse for walkers at lchs

9 Lake central wrestling club 5:30 p.m.

16 Into the woods musical 7 p.m.

23 puppy day 30

Boys baseball vs. hammond 4:30 P.M. (home)

Girls softball vs. chesterton 4:30 P.M. (home)

Girls softball vs. penn 4:30 P.M. (home)

Spring Break - No school

Spring Break- No school

Spring Break - No school

THE MONTH OF MARCH Page by: Brittney Howell

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

3

4

winter percussion contest

girls gymnastics ihsaa regionals boys swim divisional championships

10

11

Into the woods musical 7 p.m.

Into the woods musical 7 p.m.

17 ST. PATRICK’S DAY

18 AWKWARD MOMENTS DAY

Into the Woods Musical 7 P.M.

24

Into the Woods Musical 7 P.M.

25 boys basketball ihsaa state

31

1

APR.

diving to divisionals

The boys swim team will be competing at the Divisional Championships on Saturday, March 4. The competition will take place at home. “I feel more comfortable competing this year because it’s at my own school. I’m always here practicing, so I understand how the starting blocks work. Being comfortable and adjusted in the water you’re competing in actually plays a huge role in your overall performance. However, I don’t know any of my competitors, so I’m not sure how tough the competition will be. I’m just going to go in with as much focus as I can, and I’m hoping it’ll go really well,” Tyler Childress (11) said.

Photo: John Tinsley (10) Photo by: Paityn Emro

Opening night

The annual spring musical will open March 10. This year, the Theatre Company will be performing the musical Into the Woods. “This play is a mixture of a lot of well known fairytales. What is unique about this story is that you are able to find out what happens after happily ever after. I am the narrator, and it has really opened my eyes to the importance of inflection in acting. I have to keep the audience attentive so they understand what’s going on. It has been fun to discover interesting ways to portray that,” Aaron Cappello (11) said.

Spring Break - No school

7

schools just want the money that goes into the budget:

$104,800 from pay-to-play (sports)

$207,600 from county taxes

$341,443 from book fees

$341,851 from summer school

$769,927 from miscellaneous

+ $56,115,149 $57,880,770 f r o m s tat e f u n d i n g

total dollars that go into the new proposed budget

8 SCOUT / MARCH ISSUE / INSIDE LC

How the state budget trickles down to the school corporation $57,880,770 is a lot of money. On top of paying for maintenance, teachers and materials for students, the school may have a difficult time keeping up with expenses because of the recent talk of House Bill 1001, a funding bill issued by the governor every two years that affects school budgets.

“They are basing how much their budget is going to be on what they think revenues are going to be over two years,” Rob James, Director of Business, said. “No one actually knows for sure how much sales tax money the state is going to generate. We are often driven by the economy, and when things are not going well nation-wide, people are holding back money and not spending money. That means the state is not generating as much money, and that means they have less money to give out. I always tell kids to just to think of their own personal wallet: you have less money coming in than you thought you would, so you have less money to spend. It’s the same thing, just on a grander scale.”

If the budget were to grow due to the HB1001, it could range from a 0.5 to two percent increase. The final number will not be revealed to the school until later this spring. If the budget was to decrease, the drop in elementary students could be a more prominent factor.

“Sometimes buildings are growing more than others. Kolling and Protsman are largely populated, where schools like Watson and Peifer are smaller. We see [that] our population of kids as a whole has been steadily going down. Even though we are only getting a few extra dollars per kid, if [we are] going to have less kids, then we will see how that multiplies out,” James said.

A student is worth $5,379.61, and due to a decreasing amount of elementary students attending schools in the district, the corporation will be losing that much money per student, which could lead to detrimental financial setbacks.

“If we get no new money, our expenditures increase, [and if] our revenues stay the same, we probably would have to cut some things.

No one likes to go down that path,” James said. “If we don’t have the resources coming in on the revenue, then we have to look at staffing because our salaries and benefits are the biggest expenditures.

Instead of having 15 teachers in the Math department, maybe we would only operate with 14 teachers. If that is the case, then class sizes would increase. That is where students would be most likely see the direct impact. The school board [could] choose to eliminate some programs, athletics or clubs, because those things [have large funds, and that would leave less opportunities for kids.’”

If the budget bill comes through, however, then the corporation will not have to be concerned with losing funds.

“On the flip side, [if there is] more funding for us, then the reverse can and would happen. If the influx of dollars would give us the opportunity to add another teacher to a particular school, then maybe those elementary class sizes would decrease a little bit, and the kids will see the impact of that,” James said. “It could also bring new support staff for the teachers. We like to give pay raises to our staff. They work really hard [and] it keeps morale up. No one wants to be in an environment where it is not exciting to come to work, so we try to give pay raises every year if we can, and additional funding through the funding bill could help that.”

Page by: Justin Andrews, Madison Sandoval and Gabriella Shumylo

to have funds breakdown of how the budget is distributed throughout the school and staff breakdown of budget used for the technology department $8,700,000 total

rest of bill technology needed to current smart boards, wireless network

breakdown of budget used for the teachers $75,176,942 total

Breakdown of budget used for organizations $4,975,000 total

rest of bill

theater, band, choir

other teacher expenditures

sports coaches

certified wages and salaries

repairing and replacing instruments

replacing old computers tech department salaries software devices

what makes up state funding?

MOST OF IT COMES FROM MONEY RECEIVED FROM TOTAL STUDENT ENROLLMENT. THE INDIANA AVERAGE MONEY RECEIVED PER STUDENT IS $6,000.79 LAKE CENTRAL GETS $5,379.61 PER STUDENT ENROLLED LAKE CENTRAL SCHOOL CORPORATION’S RANK AMONG ALL OTHER INDIANA CORPORATIONS:

#353

OUT OF 370 CORPORATIONS

ALTHOUGH LCHS GETS $56,115,149 FROM STATE FUNDING, THEY STRUGGLE TO PROVIDE ALL OF THE PROGRAMS THEY WOULD LIKE TO, INCLUDING THOSE THAT WOULD BE USED FOR CAREER TRAINING, FOR STUDENTS WHO WANT EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD OF THEIR CHOICE.

rest of bill

utilities

other clubs

substitute teachers

academic clubs

how much money other lake county corporations get per student Whiting School City, ranked #88, $6,179.43 per student School City of Hammond, ranked #45, $6,717.00 per student School Town of Munster, ranked #361, $5,335.02 per student School Town of Highland, ranked #290, $5,652.47 per student Griffith Public Schools, ranked #178 $5,903.39 per student

School City of East Chicago, ranked #8, $7,280.06 per student Gary Community School Corp, ranked #14, $7,185.92 per student Lake Station Community Schools, ranked #57, $6,536.16 per student School City of Hobart, ranked #220, $5,803.59 per student Merrillville Community School, ranked #105, $6,130.94 per student Crown Point Community School Corp, ranked #335, $5,462.07 per student

Lake Central School Corp, ranked #353 $5,379.61 per student

Information from Indiana Department of Education

did you know? the only way to get more money is through a general fund rederendum.

THIS MEANS TAXPAYERS IN LAKE CENTRAL SCHOOL CORPORATION’S DISTRICT WOULD VOTE ON WHETHER TO PAY ADDITIONAL TAXES THAT WOULD GO DIRECTLY TO THE SCHOOL. 9

10 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / I N S I D E L C

sports WHETHER IT’S WINTER OR SPRING, SPORTS NEVER STOP. WITH MARCH

Madness appraoching and the track season in full swing, athletes are preparing for the upcoming spring sports season. As track welcomes new coaches, team members get into gear to adjust to new changes.

Boys Varsity basketball huddles before a game against Merrillville. The basketball team supported breast cancer by wearing pink t-shirts. “[I think the team played] unbelievable against Merrillville. That was a really good team that we beat. After our triple overtime loss at Chesterton, we talked about learning how to win against really good competition down the stretch,” Head Coach Dave Milausnic, West Lake, said. Photo by: Abby Hines

11

changes on the track

Kelani Benson (11) and Anthony Giles (12) run sprints during practice. Starting this season, boys and girls will conjoin practices due to the new coaching staff. Photo by: Jennifer Chavarria

girls track calls for a coaching change Girls track has outshined their competitors for years with 25 consecutive sectional titles under the coaching of Mr. Ron Fredrick, English. Following his retirement from coaching, the team was expecting changes, however, no one expected a change so drastic.

Because of the school’s difficulty to find a replacement coach for the girl’s team, Mr. Jeffrey Rhody, Science, will now be the head coach of the boys and girls track programs, creating a new experience for many participants.

“Coach Rhody is the head of track operations. The boys team will

12 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / S P O R T S

have the head coach [and] three assistants. The girl’s team has four assistants. We’ve taken the pool of money and hired four assistants, so that way when there’s conflict, each program has four coaches going with them. He will maintain day-to-day operations and receive paperwork associated with being head coach,” Mr. Chris Enyeart, Athletic Director, said.

With new coaches comes a different practice routine. The girls learned that they would have to adjust to the boy’s routine.

“Being a co-ed team is definitely going to be different this year. It is a new adjustment. Practices have already been different. We practice way later, warmups are different and the whole process has been different,” Daniela Zubic (11) said.

Many girls have mixed feelings towards the changes. Practices are the one thing most runners are collectively worried about.

“I am not worried about the team combining because there are more coaches to keep it under control, [but] it’s hard having a new coach because we have to adjust the way he runs practices. I’m nervous and excited for the new change,” Clairese Urchell (11) said.

There are many similarities between boys and girls events.

However, talent and abilities vary from player to player.

“I think what you see a lot is boys and girls do[ing] a lot of similar things, its just at what level they do that, and that varies person by person. We have athletes that do the same events, but they don’t perform at the same level, and they have a tailor-made workout that goes with their skills to improve them,” Enyeart said.

The boys team is understanding of the girls’ new coaching situation and are excited to get the chance to run alongside them.

“It will be a little weird at first, but we will get used to it. We are all friends and know each other well for the most part. I feel like it’s a bigger change for the girls. The girls are learning a whole new routine. I am looking forward to it. They are a great group of people and we get along well,” Carter Goldman (10) said.

Despite the adjustments in staff and practices, the girls are welcoming the changes in coaching and routine with open arms.

“There are definitely some things to get used to with a new coach. I am glad we have a new coach now, it was about time we switched things up.

We were a strong team in the past, and I am hoping we can stay that way with the new coaching staff. I am excited to see what Mr. Rhody has to offer and what advice he has to give,” Page by: Julia Casner, Jennifer Chavarria, Jade Mehok, Mackenzie Moore, Nicole Reitz, and Michelle Testa

QA &

Q

a

Q a

Q a

Q a

with COACH JEFFREY RHODY, Science

What is different about track this year?

“This year we have combined the staffs for both boys and girls. We are running a unified staff for all the different event groups. I haven’t made many major changes yet except for each individual event group trains a little bit differently. We are still running track, every 400 meters.”

How many are on the coaching staff this year?

“There are eight paid assistant coaches and one volunteer coach. For the throws Mr. Garrett Gray, Career Technical Technology, and Ms. Jeanette Gray, [Math] are the two coaches. For jumps, Mr. Nolen Pettus, for vault, Mr. Dan Mccabe, for sprints, Mr. Derrell Tenner, and Mrs. Mary Kate Conway, and for distance Mrs. Amanda Pritt and myself. Our assistant volunteer jump coach is Kary Bolt. We have the same number of assistants we’ve always had so we aren’t losing coaches so to speak. [The] DAC [is] where the boys and girls run on the same day, but in different places. Myself, Mr. Tenner, Coach Pettus and Coach Garrett Gray will go with the boys. Coach Pritt, Coach Conway, Coach Jeanette Gray and Coach Bolt will go with the girls. All the boys and girls will train during the same practice session.”

How will practices run with both boys and girls?

“Right now it is really crazy to coach both teams.

The season has not officially started yet, [so] once the season becomes official, we need to be ready to hit the ground running. I think it will be a little hard to oversee both teams. It is a lot of paper shuffling and having eight assistant coaches [means] I have to get information from all of them to get ready to run a meet. If the boys are home and the girls are away, we need to make sure we are ready to host and ready to travel. There’s a lot of getting bids for clothing, [and] setting fundraisers up for boys and girls which is double the amount of work. The organizational aspect right now is pretty tough, but hopefully the work now will pay off and it will be easier once we start training and competing.”

what’s your opinion on the changes?

“I am excited to see how everybody handles this change. We have some great athletes on both sides. I am anxious to see how everything goes. I know with the work everyone has put in already this season, we are going to be great. I don’t see any reason why the team wouldn’t do the same as they have in the past.”

so what do you think?

Track members share their input about the upcoming season

“I’ve been on the track team for four years, including middle school. I’m nervous and excited for the new change. I heard being with the boys this season [is] a lot different from the girls. The workouts are more intense and they do some things differently. I’m looking forward to the competition itself because it’s going to be more intense and just different but good,”

lillian cash (9) said.

“I am excited for this change, but I am kind of nervous because we have been with [Mr. Ron] Frederick for so long so it is going to be an interesting change practicing with both boys and girls. I think we will see the same success. We are a good team, and we always pull through in the end no matter what coach,”

Jasmine Reyes (11) said.

“I’ve been in track since freshman year, [and] I started varsity junior year. Sharing coaches and practice time is for the best even [if] the facilities are small. It will work out better since there are more people helping us improve. I think overall the girls team is just ready to keep the streak going. Track just seems different this year and it looks more fun,”

kelly joy (12) said.

“The girls team is getting combined with the guys team [and] the practice takes longer, but you meet new people. It’s not weird to practice with the girls because we know most of them, and we get along. It’s fun because you get to know each other better [and] you also got to share tips,”

michael pena Jr. (12) said.

the track team combined has...

of 2 hours Practice daily 10 coaches

18 V. 14 117 V. 73 b o y s girls boys girls MEETS

MEMBERS 13

predicting madness 14 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / S P O R T S

Left to Right: Jared King (12), Christopher Szewczyk (9), Spero Vrehas (12) and Caleb Pisowicz (11) Photo by: Sofia Hay Page by: Jessica Cook, Cherylynn Gholson, Morgyn McCallister, Liberty Toweson, Anni Rajput and Melicah Rodriguez

?

WHAT’S UP WITH

Several March Madness participants have attempted to come up with methods to create the perfect bracket, but Mr. Eric Graves [Math] and Mr. Joe Fox’s [Math] Statistics classes hope the power of math will help them win big with an accurate bracket. The students use statistics for game simulations in order to form educated guesses to predict the outcomes. Mr. Graves shares facts and his method of bracket making.

what is it?

“March Madness is the NCAA Basketball Tournament at the end of the season. It decides the national championship amongst college basketball teams. In Stats, we do a lab to simulate the winners and really it predicts any upsets. From there, we try to predict or generate brackets and compare their brackets to the actual bracket.”

how does it work?

“In statistical analysis, one form of data collection is simulation. We simulate the results of the games to try and predict what’s going to happen. We use a website called Mcube.net; it’ll tell you the statistics on a 15 seated team upsetting a number two seated team. That has happened 17 percent of the time. There are four trials of a 15 seated team playing a two seated team and the probability that they upset is 17 percent. Throughout the class, 17 percent of the simulations are going to have a 15 seated team upset a two seated team. A couple of the simulations might have two of those teams upsetting a number two seated team.”

predicting the outcome “We do the [stimulations] for every matchup. Now that a 15 seated team won, they are going to play a one seated team, but the probability that a 15 seated team beats a one seated team is very unlikely. The whole point is that we go through and simulate each trial. There are 63 games that we simulate. We do that for every matchup throughout the entire bracket until we have a national champion.”

-Mr. Eric Graves [Mathematics]

“I really want UCLA to win March Madness because we haven’t won a championship since 1995. They are third in their confrenence, so I believe they can pull it together and win. I’ve been a fan of the college for a long time so it would be nice to see a big win,”

Chantal Almazan (11) said.

“I want Bulter to take it all for March Madness because I have been a fan of them for years.

They have Ty Wideman on the team, and I believe he will do big things for the team in the competition by leading them in rebounds and putting all his energy on the court,”

david keric (10) said.

“I think the Duke Blue Devils will win because they have one of the best players in the country, Grayson Allen, on the team. They also have the best coach, Mike Krzyzewski. The Devils are the most complete team, so I think they can and will take it all,”

joseph graziano (12) said.

“I want UK [Kentucky Wildcats] because I have always been a fan of them. They are first place in the Southeastern Conference, which I think is one of the most competitive conferences out there. If they can get first in their conference then they can get first in March Madness,”

casey Pederson (11) said.

women’s Basketball

While most basketball fanatics focus on the men’s March Madness tournaments, many teams in women’s basketball, who are consistently setting record-breaking statistics, receive a very small amount of viewers as opposed to men’s basketball. Recently, the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team set a 100 game winning streak.

The first Women’s Basketball Tournament took place in 1982.

Throughout the 82 seasons of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, the University of Connecticut Huskies have been to 16 rounds of the Final Fours, and won 11 national championships.

The Tennessee Lady Volenteers have been to March Madness every year since the women’s tournament was introduced in 1982.

There are about 7,000 women’s basketball student-athletes across the country, and are eligible to compete in March Madness.

With a total of 64 teams, Division I is the largest division in the 2017 Women’s Basketball championship.

The 2017 Women’s Tournament will take place March 24 to April 2.

Source: The official websit of UConn athletics, NCAA and The University of Tennessee athletics

16 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / N O T E W O R T H Y

noteworthy RACE IS A MAJOR PART OF WHO A PERSON IS. and it can often be a source of pride and identity. In a predominantly white school, however, being a minority has several aspects that are not frequently discussed. Whether positive or negative, the effects felt of being a minority can be immensely powerful in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life.

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it started out with a joke Joseph VanVuren (12), Claire Anton (10), Nerville Rance-Cox (12), Amanda Lopez (12) and Andrea Esquivel (9). Page by: Kevin Holechko, Nadja Kastodinovic and Kaylynn Ward

With 3,200 students walking through the halls, there are numerous contradicting opinions on race. Each student’s experience at school will differ from the next, so some find racial discrimination a problem while others do not.

There is ample possibility for jokes, comments and slurs to be made. Such words and comments can affect students negatively, but to others, racial jokes are harmless as long as they are kept between friends and spoken without malicious intent.

“Any time a racial comment is made, it’s with one of my friends who I am comfortable with. I will make jokes with my friends, and they will say something stereotypically white, and I will say something back. We have that camaraderie. It’s not like I am going up and saying [jokes] to random people who I have never met before. I’m not saying these things in a demeaning way because we both have an understanding. I make sure my friends are okay with it,” Joseph VanVuren (12) said.

Other students feel that the jokes go beyond harmless humor and edge into the territory of offensiveness.

“I have been called names, and so have my friends. It is kind of disheartening. Walking around, I see that our school is separated. You see one group of primarily [one] color, maybe a mix every once in awhile, but I feel we are still separated,” Caleigh Sykes (10) said.

According to the Indiana Department of Education, the school is composed of 26.5 percent minority students and 73.5 percent white students.

With this unequal distribution, misunderstandings can arise between racial groups.

“In the classrooms, teachers don’t really seem to pay a lot of attention to the slurs that are thrown around. Sometimes I will hear someone say [slurs] so obviously loud. They’ll throw a slur at someone and the teacher will ignore it. That kind of bothers me sometimes because you don’t know if that person could actually take it to heart, even if it is meant as a joke,” Andrea Esquivel (9)

18 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / N O T E W O R T H Y

said. “Around school, I have been teased a little, mainly by friends, but those are just jokes because we know each other and we don’t mean it in [a harmful] way. There have been people who joke around saying [things] like ‘you’re going to get deported.’ Sometimes it gets annoying to hear because it’s like ‘okay, you’ve made your point, it’s not happening.’”

Out of the hallway and into the classroom, there are students who find that certain classes are filled with variation in race and are more tolerant, academic environments.

“I feel like some teachers tend to treat their Honors students, especially regular students, differently because Honor students are held accountable, as opposed to regular students,” Jalen Hubbard (10) said.

In addition to certain classrooms being more tolerant environments, some students feel that extracurricular activities are also inclusive, allowing students to work together and combine their efforts toward a common goal.

“I feel that at Lake Central, there isn’t discrimination in sports. When you play sports, everybody is your family and we don’t see each other like other people do,” Nerville Rance-Cox Jr. (12) said.

Although Rance-Cox Jr. feels that there is a lack of discrimination in sports and extracurriculars, the stereotypes can still hold true elsewhere.

“Growing up around people of your same skin tone is different when you come to a school that’s majority white and people have different personalities. There tends to be stereotypes in certain cultures, so you get so accustomed to that,” Hubbard said.

Although in a perfect world the good would outweigh the bad, 289 out of 527 students polled have witnessed racial discrimination at Lake Central, and 89 out of 181 students have felt the brunt of it.

“I could see that a self-fulfilling prophecy

kicks in and those [negative racial] expectations [minority students] feel kind of become true. If so many people say this is the way you are, eventually you start to believe that yourself,” Mrs. Teresa Zentz, Social Studies, said.

Not letting stereotypes define him, Rance-Cox Jr. continues to do well in school.

“A couple of times people have said they think I’m dumb because I’m black and I have dreads, and they just feel like I am, but I’m actually not. Certain places you go, people might look at you different just because you’re the only black person there,” Rance-Cox Jr. said. “Last year in class, I was talking about my grade with the teacher, and I had an A-. A girl said that she thought I was stupid, and I said ‘Why?’ and she said she didn’t want to say why, but I was like, ‘Is it because I’m black?’ and she said ‘Basically.’ She was white and she said she was sorry about it, but at that point it was too far. I was just ashamed for her because she [didn’t] take the time to know me better and to know that I wasn’t [dumb] instead of just basing [her opinion] off of [me being] black.”

By being exposed to stereotypes throughout the halls, students may become accustomed to thinking that racial jokes are just a part of the norm. Some students look to break the mold on how minorities are perceived in the minds of fellow students.

“I feel like with all of the stereotypes, we grew up getting conditioned subconsciously on all these ideas on all these different races. Sometimes without meaning to, we’ll think something. I think we need to put our best effort to push those thoughts aside and actually get to know these people. No one is just Mexican or just white or just black. There’s more to people than just a race, skin color, a culture, their traditions. There’s an actual person there. People need to see that. That’s the only way we’ll be able to unite into a good, strong, unified society,” Esquivel said.

slurs don’t define me

enrollment by ethnicity WITHIN LAKE CENTRAL

0.5%

american indian

3.4%

asian

6.6%

black

12.9%

A group of students representing different ethnicities sit down and discuss what it is like to be a minority at Lake Central.

C L A I R E A N T O N (10)

A N N A H A L L O W E L L (12)

“WHITE”

“CHINESE AMERICAN”

C A L E I G H S Y K E S (10)

J U S T I N M A C N E I L L (12)

“MIXED: PART BLACK, PART WHITE”

“ H A L F M E X I C A N, H A L F W H I T E ”

A M A N D A L O P E Z (12)

J O S E P H VA N V U R E N (12)

“HALF ME XIC AN AND PUERTO RIC AN AND HALF WHI TE”

“ 7 5 % D U T C H , 2 5 % C R O AT I A N, 100% A M E R I C A N ”

A N D R E A E S Q U I V E L (9)

NERVILLE RANCE-COX

“ME XICAN”

“BLACK”

hispanic

0.1%

native hawaiian or other pacific islander

3.0%

multiracial 73.5%

(12)

M A L A K A B U D AY Y E H (12) “10 0 % F R O M T H E M I D D L E E A S T ”

“GROWING UP, MY GRANDPA BESTOWED SUPER TRADITIONAL VALUES ON MY FAMILY. HE ACTUALLY GREW UP IN PUERTO RICO, AND WHEN ONE OF MY COUSINS GOT A BOYFRIEND WHO AFRICAN AMERICAN, HE LITERALLY REFUSED TO COME INTO THE HOUSE FOR CHRISTMAS. HE WOULD NOT LET ANYONE IN THE ROOM WITH HIM, AND IT’S REALLY SAD THAT AS MINORITIES WE CAN’T EVEN COME TOGETHER AND WE’RE STILL BASHING EACH OTHER,” AMANDA LOPEZ (12) SAID. “FOR ME EVEN THOUGH I’VE BEEN BORN IN AMERICA IT IS SCARY FOR ME. I HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BEING CALLED RACIAL SLURS OR POTENTIALLY BEING JUMPED FOR MY RACE. I FEEL LIKE PEOPLE WHO AREN’T MINORITIES DON’T STRUGGLE WITH THAT. THERE ARE PEOPLE THOUGH WHO DO SEE IT HAPPEN AND THEY TRY AND FIGHT IT,” CALEIGH SYKES (10) SAID.

Source: Indiana Department of Education

white

have you ever observed racial discrimination at lake central?

have you ever been a victim of racial discrimination at lake central?

54%

31%

YES

poll out of 527 people

YES

want to see the full interview?

1

Visit the App Store or Google Play and download the Aurasma app.

4

Select Lake Central High School and then tap Follow.

2

Launch the app and tap the account icon in the upper-left corner to log in or create a new account. On the Profile screen, tap Done.

5

Tap Back, and then Cancel to return to the Explore screen.

In the Discover Auras search box, type Lake Central High School and tap Search or Done.

6

3

Tap , point the viewfinder over the image on the black bar with an Aurasma icon to watch the interview video.

19

20 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / N O T E W O R T H Y

“ People think that if I wear

the scarf, I am an extremist.

“

AT A GLANCE, THE FIRST THINGS YOU NOTICE ABOUT MALAK ABUDAYYEH (12) IS HER LONG, DARK HAIR AND HER SHORT STATURE. YOU WOULD NEVER GUESS THAT SHE HAD BEEN SUBJECTED TO RACIAL SLURS AND HATEFUL COMMENTS, BUT AFTER FREQUENT COMMENTS SHE STARTED HER JUNIOR YEAR, LEAVING BEHIND SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT TO HER CULTURE. “I came [to the United States from the Middle East] freshman year all the way in March, so that was kind of a hard adjustment for me. My freshman or sophomore year I didn’t [wear the scarf], and then I went overseas to visit and saw all my cousins wearing it, so I decided to wear it too,” Abudayyeh said.

Abudayyeh chose to begin wearing her scarf last year, her junior year.

“I tried to be so modern with my scarf, trying to do different, cool stuff with it, just to show people yeah, I still can be a girl. I got called ugly so many times. I got called ugly on a daily basis,” Malak Abudayyeh (12) said.

In addition to slurs aimed toward her physical appearance, Abudayyeh also began to feel a disconnect from her peers.

“People didn’t want to be by me. They didn’t want to talk to me. They didn’t want to know where I was coming from. They always treated me like I’m stupid or like I don’t understand English, but I can completely understand it. I do have an accent, but I can understand whatever you say,” Abudayyeh said. “They would always make fun of me and make these jokes, but I don’t consider them jokes. ‘Did you have any bombs in your bookbag?’ ‘Don’t bomb us all.’ You just sit there and listen, and they think because you’re quiet and don’t talk you can’t understand them. They would say ‘you’re stupid’ [or] ‘you’re crazy.’ People don’t understand the concept behind [wearing my scarf]. My parents don’t force me to wear it, it’s just your personal view. People think that if I wear the scarf I am extremist.”

These “jokes” often lead to Abudayyeh missing days of school at a time, taking a toll on her both academically and mentally.

“My parents [started] noticing me just going down. I was just giving up on everything, so my parents were like ‘you have to just fit in.’ It’s either I fit in for my comfort, or I stick to my religion and [culture] then lose everything at the same time,” Abudayyeh said.

After a year of struggling through bullying and mistreatment, Abudayyeh decided she needed to make a change: she took on her senior year with her scarf sitting at home.

“I gave up something from my background. I was like ‘okay, here you go, I am without my scarf, so do you like it now?’ This year people actually wanted to talk to me and be friends with me. These people try to say my hair is pretty, but they’re the same exact people [who made

fun of me last year.] I am the same person with and without the scarf, but people just don’t understand,” Abudayyeh said. “I go to school and I know this is not my style. This is not the person I want to be. I wish I could wear my scarf. This year I’m actually hurt more because I gave them what they wanted. I feel disappointed in myself that I couldn’t be strong enough to just stick to my scarf and stick to everything I believed in. I have no plan at all [of wearing it at school again].”

As to how she believes these issues could be solved, Abudayyeh feels that if people were more aware of the hardships she and many others have experienced they would treat them differently.

“People need to think about others more. We need to think more about people in the Middle East [and] what they are going through, how these people are dying out there. Why would I come here? It is because I am escaping something worse, because I wanted a future.

I wanted to be with my friends and my cousins, [but] I know that if I stayed there, I would never have a future and never graduate high school,” Abudayyeh said.

Although she has felt support from many teachers, Abudayyeh feels there is more that they could do.

She believes that education is overall the key to understanding other customs and culture.

“I think the situation could improve by bringing more knowledge to these people. We can do that through PtE, social studies classes and government classes. We actually can put these topics in these kinds of classes and try to slowly [teach that] Muslims and [Middle Easterners] are human like everyone else,” Abudayyeh said.

Abudayyeh has high hopes for her future in a new academic environment and throughout her daily life.

“If I go to college next year, I’m planning on wearing [my head scarf] again. People [say] that college is a bigger community and people [are] more understand[ing], so I want to see. Even if I have some situation in college I’m going to try my best this time to stick to my religion,” Abudayyeh said. “The thing I would say [to anyone else struggling] is to stick to what you’re doing. Whatever you do you’ll always have someone that’s going to hate you or say bad things about you. Everything you believe in, stick to it otherwise you’re going to be disappointed in yourself.”

Page by: Danica Mileusnic, Karisa Candreva, Victoria Wilkes and Sofia Hay Photo by: Sofia Hay

21

reflecting ON HIS

race

EMPROWERED THROUGH RESEARCH, MICHEAL TOWNSEND (12) LEARNED TO CELEBRATE THE INSECURITIES SURROUNDING HIS RACE.

“I am unapologetically black.”

22 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / N O T E W O R T H Y

“The first time I experienced racial discrimination was on the football team in the ninth grade. There was a player who called another black player the ‘n’ word with -er at the end,” Micheal Townsend (12) said.

For Townsend, witnessing and experiencing racial discrimination has been a challenge that has shaped him throughout his life.

“I feel like there is segregation in our school today.

White people sit with white, black with black, Asian with Asian, [etc.]. I always see in the hallway when black people are loud. White people give them dirty looks, but I always see white people acting up and people don’t give them dirty looks. I’ve dealt with a lot of racial discrimination, so I tend to talk to black people more. I see it every day, there’s a difference in the way people treat other people,” Townsend said.

Townsend felt the need to change his behavior and appearance in order to avoid feeling the brunt of intolerance.

“I always felt like I was treated differently, and if I wanted to be accepted I had to act and look like [white people]. It brought on a lot of self-hate during middle school. I think people don’t want to be in a group with me because they feel like I won’t work because of the stereotype that black people are lazy and won’t do anything,” Townsend said.

His belief that he needed to change himself only brought on more insecurities that he needed to conquer in order to recognize his worth.

“I had to look in the mirror every day and realize I’m black and I can’t change that. If I bleached my skin, I’d still look black. If I put these surgeries on my body, I would still look black,” Townsend said. “It was mostly seventh and eighth grade when I’d look in the mirror and see the issues. I had to look in the mirror and see that I must overcome this. I feel like the first step to resolving self-hate is knowing that there’s selfhate. The second way to fix the problem is to address

the problem. I had to think to myself and know that this is not a positive thing, I can’t change how I was born. The third step is fixing it, or researching how to fix it. I started doing research, and I saw that there is a lot of great history.”

After researching, Townsend felt empowered by his race instead of held back by it.

“I put my hair on the [Psychology] mask because a black person’s hair is such a political statement.

Black women have to face this daily. They are always ostrasized for our hair type. To avoid that, [they] conform to the eurocentric standard that your hair has to look a certain way in order to fit in. I put my nappy hair on my mask because I am proud of my nappy hair and I wouldn’t change it for nothing, and that is a political statement because I am unapologetically black and I’m not sorry for having the hair I was born with,” Townsend said.

Learning to embrace his culture, Townsend became inspired to respect himself for who he is and share his self-worth with other students.

“People who are experiencing racial discrimination, you always have to ask yourself, ‘Who are you, where are you and how are you going to let that affect your life?’” Townsend said. “They are a black man or woman in a white country. Black people can’t run from that. If you keep running from the truth, you’re going to be in the dark. We have to realize that we are who we are, and can’t let that affect us. If we are ever going to be proud of being black, we have to be united. We can’t keep tearing ourselves down.

One thing I want to tell a black person who’s facing discrimination is you can never let somebody who doesn’t know you tell you who you are. You define who you are.”

Page by: Danica Miluesnic, Karisa Candreva, Tori Wilkes, Emily Badger and Mia Brann Photo by: Camryn Wallace

so, now what can we do?

Dear teachers, Speaking for a majority of the people of color of Lake Central, we ask you, please do not ignore us or the issues we deal with relating to race.

Please do not turn the other cheek when you witness our cultures being attacked. Please don't pretend to not hear the slurs and insults that are thrown in our directions. Please explain to your students why we deserve respect like anyone else. Please inform our school of the hardships we've faced in the past and still battle to this day. Please take more action to make Lake Central a more comfortable place for people with different backgrounds. And most importantly,

PLEASE UNDERSTAND WHERE WE COME FROM AND OUR HISTORIES OF STRUGGLE AND DISCRIMINATION. CALEIGH SYKES (10)

the more you know 1 GET EDUCATED. You can get educated through many different sources. By researching the history of different cultures and asking questions you may not think of these cultures the same again. In PtE classes, Social Studies classes and government classes ask questions to try to enlighten yourself.

2 SPREAD THE WORD. Using your social media accounts, tell the world about your thoughts and concerns about racial discrimination. By voicing your thoughts you can inform others on the problem.

3 STAND UP FOR YOUR PEERS.

If you see someone being racially discriminating in any setting, stick up for them.

Wouldn’t you want someone to do that for you if it were you?

4 COMMUNICATE. Don’t be afraid to communicate with teachers, parents or counselors. By venting to adults you can project your feelings and opinions into someone’s hands who has the authority to do something.

Dear Students, As your teachers, we always strive to be there for you, our students, in every way we can.

Sometimes, as you know, our vigilance falls flat, and we miss racial slurs that are thrown at you. Ideally, we teachers would be able to put a stop to any unkind words that are flung at our students, but sometimes this is impossible for a variety of reasons. Teachers don’t always know everything with which a student is coping; for example, if you’re dealing with heavy issues in your personal life or if you’ve left your previous school because of racial tensions, we aren’t given that information. And while teachers can certainly relate to you in many ways (we know what it’s like to be stressed; we have to deal with unruly peers as well; we were teenagers once, too), we can’t always understand what our students of color endure because, as you may have noticed, most of your teachers are white. Therefore, we have difficulty empathizing with your experiences.

Luckily, we are trying.

We try to expose all of our students to books and culture that includes insight into people of color. We try to showcase understanding and lack of discrimination in our actions.

We try to facilitate discussions that will mold you and your peers into a better, more understanding and racially-aware generation than the generations from which we, your teachers, have come.

MRS. KATHRYN CLARK, ENGLISH 23

lifestyle WITH THE CLICK OF THE BUTTON, CONTENT CAN BE UPLOADED FOR ANY

of your peers to see. Whether it is photos and videos of their passions, hobbies or everyday life, users utilize various platforms to show their creativity. While some have the goal of reaching as large of an audience as they can, others are striving to be more private.

Aislinn Wade (11) takes a picture on the VSCO app. VSCO has become more popular throughout the year due to its artistic design and intimacy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Teens use social media to keep their friends and family up to date on thier lives, when they cannot be together. This is why it is such a huge piece of our culture,â&#x20AC;? Wade said. Photo by: Lauren Wisniewski

24 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / L I F E S T Y L E

25

26 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / L I F E S T Y L E

A NEW SKATE OF MIND W

hen William Duszynski (11) first started skateboarding, learning how to ollie or getting the board off the ground was his goal. The ollie took him two years to master. Since then, he has brought his love of skateboarding to new heights.

“I think the reason I progressed so much is because I love doing it. I go to downtown Chicago a lot. There’s one really nice skate park out [in Grant Park]. Usually when we go street skating, it’s just around the Loop, so it’s by all the Picasso [artwork],” Duszynski said.

Duszynski’s love for skateboarding started when he was tenyears-old, when he went from skating occasionally to skating every day. His hobby serves as a way to release the stress caused by school.

“Whenever I’m skating, I don’t think about anything else. That’s the best part about it. I could stop at any moment and skate. [I] could forget about everything. If I [didn’t] skate [for] one day, then it felt like something was missing,” Duszynski said.

Duszynski shares his skateboarding skills on his YouTube account, “Billy Duszynski.” He has 60 subscribers and counting.

“When I make skate videos with my friends, we just do whatever tricks we [want to] do.

Sometimes they take a long time, and sometimes we just film them in a day and put [them] on Instagram. Then there’s people who film skateboarding more seriously. When you are trying a harder trick, you want to get it on film because it will take you a long time to land that trick,” Duszynski said.

Skateboarding is an activity practiced by many as a hobby.

For those who wish to start skateboarding, Duszynski advises to buy a cheap board when starting off and to practice often.

“Anyone who wants to skate can do it. First of all, you don’t want to be competitive [about skateboarding]. You [just] want to be competitive with yourself. You want to push yourself. That’s how you get better,” Duszynski said.

Whenever the weather is warm, Duszynski can be found outside on his skateboard. From local skate parks to the streets of his neighborhood, Duszynski always finds somewhere to practice his passion. Even in the cold, Duszynski skates indoors to keep practicing new skills.

“I don’t think I ever get off my skateboard during the summer.

I wake up and all I think about is skating. With skateboarding, you can do it so many different ways and there’s so many different opportunities with it. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t skate because I couldn’t see myself doing anything else,” Duszynski said.

Page by: Sabina Solarczyk, Samantha Szewczyk, and Lauren Wisniewski Photos by: Sofia Hay

“I DON’T THINK THERE’S A DAY I GO WITHOUT SKATEBOARDING.”

27

shh, don’t tell mom

Kayla Mastronardi (11) is surrounded by social media. Mastronardi created her social media sites to express herself and share her thoughts.

students privatize their social media

New, non-traditional forms of photo-sharing have tumbled into the social media scene.

“I’ve heard of students using Finsta lately. Is it ‘fake instagram?’ That’s what I’ve heard of. I think it’s probably a good idea that people have an outlet for stuff they know is obnoxious. I think students do need an outlet, and it’s a good thing to have. Just a place where you can rant and not have to worry of the social implications of it,” Mr. Darrell Wierzal [English] said.

Students are transitioning to using “Finstas”, Instagram accounts used to personalize followers and post sensitive or personal photos, and VSCO, a platform used to post aesthetic or sensitive pictures that cannot be commented on by followers. Students consider finsta a safe space because they feel comfortable posting suggestive photos and captions for select followers.

“I prefer my Finsta to my regular Instagram because I know there’s really no judgment on there. I keep my Finsta private because I don’t need the whole world knowing my problems, but it does help to just get them out there to certain people I know will care,” Elysia Ray (10) said.

Some students enjoy using finsta as a place to let off steam and go on rants where only their close friends can see.

“I only let people I trust follow my account because I don’t trust everyone.

I follow way more people on my regular Instagram account, and I could see more of what people are doing compared to Finsta, which is like 20-30 people that I trust,” Derek Sancya (10) said.

Although gaining popularity in 2016, the VSCO application was created in 2011 with the intent of being used solely for photography rather than another

28 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / L I F E S T Y L E

Photo by: Brianna Sarkisian

version of Instagram. Some members of the current VSCO community use the app as a private outlet to post artistic or risqué pictures.

“I post more artsy pictures, like normal pictures I wouldn’t post on my profile, and not pictures of me. It’s more scenery and stuff. [I like it] because it’s less judgmental because you can’t comment on it, so you can post whatever you want without getting judged,” Taylor Dykstra (9) said.

Even though VSCO is known for being ‘under the radar’, the app itself provides way less privacy than other social media outlets.

“On VSCO, anyone in the world can see your photos, but on other social media websites you have the option of going on private. I personally can’t use VSCO anymore because my mom found my account,” Cailee Mitchell (11) said.

Although the Finsta and VSCO communities are smaller, there are some users who choose to send around others photos.

Many users who have Finsta or VSCO accounts tend to keep their accounts a secret from parents, other family, or certain peers. “[I created VSCO] for many reasons: to be able to post what I wanted too. I feel that VSCO is the new Instagram minus the parents I have following me,” Casey Caban (10) said.

Even though Finsta accounts tend to be privatized, people are still finding ways to take advantage and expose people. These people have gained the nickname ‘Finsta snake’--but what is a Finsta snake?

“I would say a Finsta snake is probably a person who uses it to attack his or her enemies in a passive aggressive way as opposed to addressing the issues.

That’s a natural outcome, isn’t it, of having a Finsta account is that some people will take advantage of the situation. It should be a way to cut loose, but instead people are trolls. It’s like that South Park episode,” Wierzal said.

Finsta and VSCO snakes go out of their way to screenshot, share or spread the posts that were specifically intended to be kept private and only accessible to the chosen follow.

Page by: Mikaela Panigua, Kate Nowicki, Emily Pederson, and Courtney Rhomberg

what makes a

perfect

vsco?

POSTING TIPS FROM KAYLA MASTRONARDI (11)

1step

“You go in your VSCO app, and in the middle there’s a square box. You press the plus sign and you can pick any photo from any album in your phone to upload.”

2step

“There are four buttons on the bottom, you pick the second one and you can pick one of the 20 filters. It’s out of 12 points, and you can pick them how you want and you can go up and there’s another button exactly like the one you just pressed. There’s like brightness and you can crop it and make it sharper, brighter, and make the shadow like a purple color or you can pick the tint and the temperature.

So, the picture can look totally different than the one you first had it as, but no one is really going to know.”

3step

“You can make your own profile picture and you can also make journals and collections. You can label it whatever you want. If you wanted a formal album you, could put all your formal pictures in that and people can see it from there.”

4step

“You can also search people’s names and see your own followers, but no one else can see your followers. You pretty much post everything. You can post quotes and if people relate to it, they can republish it.”

1pro tip 2pro tip

“Some of my best pictures are of the sunset, and if I take really good selfies I post them.”

“Post pictures more towards the evening because that’s when more people go on social media, and they will see your pictures more than if you posted it earlier in the day.”

Social media showdown: VSCO vs. FINSTA Poll out of 300 students

11%

FINSTA 21%

VSCO

13%

BOTH 55%

NEITHER

what are vscos and finstas?

Students give their opinion on what they think VSCOs and Finstas are “VSCO is for cool aesthetic photos and my Finsta is more for trashy photos you don’t want on your real Instagram. Both are nice though because you aren’t trying to get the most likes on your pictures because that isn’t the point of either of them. On my Finsta I also jokingly give people rates and post funny pictures of them. I only let my close friends follow my Finsta but I don’t care who follows my VSCO,”

Gavin Baisa (12) said.

“Finsta is something that like people post things that they wouldn’t post for everyone to see because you might have someone follow you from art class, but you don’t know them that well. You don’t want them to know your personal information, but a “Finsta” is what you use that for. Personal information, people rant, people ask for drugs, people post nudes. So, that’s not something you want everyone to see. Especially if your parents follow you on normal accounts,”

Madison Sarkey (11) said.

“Finsta is mostly used for posting things more personal to you, and things you want to keep more private to a specific group of your friends and not as public as a normal Instagram. VSCO is a place you post pictures. They have real neat effects, and I feel like it’s almost the same situation where you can post things more personal. I feel like it’s a more private social media,”

Laila Wenrich (10) said.

29

SEVA SALON BEAUTY TO THE PEOPLE

TAKE SOME TIME 7850 Cabela Drive.

Hammond, IN 46324 (INSIDE WALMART)

(219) 803-2852

30 S C O U T / M A R C H I S S U E / L I F E S T Y L E

#

staycay or vacay andreas nicolaou (12)

I’ll be fishing. Nothing better than catching a big ole hog! #StaycayOrVacay

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olivia born (12)

spero vrehas (12)

@BornOlivia Feb 2 UTAH BOIIIIII #StaycayOrVacay #SPRANGBRAKE

@speardogg10 Feb 2 Enjoying my much needed beauty sleep #StaycayOrVacay

justin schuller (10)

ryan voss (11)

bailey fehrman (10)

@malaberjr Feb 2 Not going to be stressing over homework for 4 days #StaycayOrVacay

@vossdaddy Feb 8 Gonna work hard during the day then play hard at night #StaycayOrVacay

@bfehrman13 Feb 8 Staying at home, eating chicken nuggets, and trying to avoid all human contact #StaycayOrVacay

alexa szatkowski (12)

Jovanni alcantar (9)

ALEXIS WILKES (12)

@NicolaouDrew Feb 2 Got me a new lady bout to take a trip to Mexico #StaycayOrVacay

@lexarae3 Feb 5 Going to Arizona to watch some baseball Spring training!! #StaycayOrVacay

@jovannidoublea Feb 3 #StaycayOrVacay See how people are on vacation having so much fun while I’m at home bored.

hailey benko (11)

rachel frieling (12)

@hailey_benko Feb 8 Sleeping, eating pizza, and watching nextflix #StaycayOrVacay

rachel furmanek (12) @rachelfurmanek Feb 8 I get to spend my break enjoying getting my wisdom teeth pulled out #StaycayOrVacay

katherine morzy (10) @katmorzy Feb 8 I’m going to Dollywood... #StaycayOrVacay

@wilkes_lexi Feb 8 My best friend is taking me to Cali with him :’) #StaycayOrVacay

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@FrielingRachel Feb 8 Going to Nashville and hoping the boys aren’t the only ten I see#StaycayOrVacay

@lilfreck22 Feb 8 Warming up the discus ring for one last track season !!! :’) #throwernation #StaycayOrVacay

alexis kelly (12)

alexa pinarski (11)

@Alexisskelly Feb 8 I’m going to South Carolina #StaycayOrVacay

@alexa_pin11 Feb 5 Going to see Hamilton in Chicago!! #StaycayOrVacay

ellie chandos (12)

jenna golfis (11)

@EChandos Feb 14 Going down to myrtle beach with@ashley_scanlon7 #StaycayOrVacay

@jennagolfis3 Feb 8 hood rat things in clearwater, florida with @Teri_Thomas14 @MaddyRadowski #StaycayOrVacay Page by: Stefan Krajisnik and Olivia Oster

31

Expires 04/30/17