bear facts
THE BOYS IN BLUE meet the leaders of the 2016-2017 Bear Den
PAGE 8
Save the Date Sports
Clubs
8/26 Football - Home vs. Fremd 7:30pm
9/1 German Club B103 7:20am
8/27 Girls Tennis - Jacob’s High School 8am
9/2 Student Council applications due
Boys Golf - Oak Grove Golf Course 12pm
Medical Science Club S133 7:20am
8/29 Boys Soccer - Barrington High School TBD
9/6 Drama Club PAC 3:20pm
8/30 Girls Volleyball - Carmel High School 6pm
Gay Straight Alliance S104 3:20pm
Girls Golf - Village Green Golf Course 4:30pm 8/31 Girls XC - Waukegan Sports Complex 4:30pm
9/7 Future Business Leaders of America A117 7:25am 9/8 Math Team B138 3:20pm
9/3 Boys XC - University of Wisconsin Parkside 9:30am
9/9 United Christians of LZ S113 7:15am
9/8 Hockey - TBD
9/27 Interact Volunteer Club TBD 7:30am
In the Community 9/1 Outdoor Movie Night Football Field 7PM 9/22 Bears BBQ 10/2 District Color Run 10/5 Powderpuff Girls Football Game 10/7 Homecoming Football Game vs. Stevenson
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Advertise with Us
Contact bear_facts@lz95.org
BEAR FACTS STUDENT MEDIA LAKE ZURICH HIGH SCHOOL 300 CHURCH ST. LAKE ZURICH, IL VOL. 29 ISSUE 1
NEWS
LZ LIFE
4 News in Brief the 5 Around Area
Student 6 Taking Flight 8 New 12 Section Leaders 7 New Superintendent 10 Staff Editorial 13
Girls Cross Country, Hockey Volleyball, Boys Golf
14
Boys Cross Country, Football, Girls Golf Tennis Soccer
COVER
SPORTS
15
News
Russians Banned From Paralympic Games
Due to allegations of doping rule violations, all Russian athletes have been banned from the Rio Paralympics. The paralympics are scheduled to take place September 7 through 18. Russia had 267 slots for athletes in 18 sports, according to NPR, which paralympic committees decided to reallocate to other countries. The sweeping written by ban contrasts only 118 disqualifications of 389 Russian Brianne Saab editor athletes in the Olympics a month prior. “I believe the Russian government has catastrophically failed its para athletes,” said Sir Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee, in a Rio press conference on August 7. “Their medals over morals mentality disgusts me. The complete corruption of the anti-doping system is contrary to the rules and strikes at the very heart of the spirit of Paralympic sport. photo by Brianne Saab It shows a blatant disregard for the health and well-being of athletes and, quite simply, has no place in Paralympic sport. Their thirst for glory at all costs has severely damThe FBI posted a job opportunity in the end of July, seek- aged the integrity and image of all sport.” ing an app developer. The Bureau wants an app for surveillance, and they are looking for programmers to make it. The app will reportedly record audio and video, without tipping off the person being recorded, according to mic.com, but it will also have a visible recording option. Under the Federal Wiretap Act, it is illegal to secretly record a conversation that someone reasonably expects to remain between the speakers, with two exceptions: it is legal if one party is privy to the recording, or if the recorder has legal authority to do so. This gives the FBI photo from en.kremlin.ru basically a free pass to record whoever they choose.
in
Brief
FBI Seeks Spying App
Locker Room Decision Causes Controversy The lawsuit over District 211’s decision to allow a transgender girl to use the girls’ locker room has not been settled, despite the school year having started August 15. A group of citizens called “Students and Parents for Privacy” began the lawsuit against Fremd high school and the federal government in May, according to the Chicago Tribune, after it was ruled in December 2015 that the unnamed female student was to be given access to the same facilities as her peers who are not transgender. The parents argue that by allowing a the student into the girls’ locker room, the school has put the other girls at
4 News• august 2016
risk and violated their privacy, according to the Chicago Tribune. However, the transgender girl’s family is fully supportive of her desires and cites Title IX , which prohibits sex-based discrimination, in their fight. The school has provided separate changing stalls for those who are uncomfortable, but they do not require any specific student to use those accommodations. LZHS has a gender neutral bathroom close to the locker rooms for transgender students who wish to change there, and have also introduced similar changing stalls to the locker rooms.
around the AREA
photo from pixabay.com
photo from flickr.com
long grove apple fest
1
Celebrate fall starting with “historic downtown Long Grove, the perfect destination to find great gifts and enjoy shopping and dining” at Apple Fest from September 23-25. Go for a day of activities including live entertainment throughout the village buildings. Tickets are $5 per person, but children twelve and under are free. Visitors can expect to see apples prepared in over a dozen different ways including “Long Grove’s famous” brown bag apple pies, caramel apple lattes, caramel apples, apple cider donuts, hot apple cider, and more according to buisness. oakleesguide.com.
Color Run
Rock the Block LAKE ZURICH
2
Spend the night dancing and listening to music at LZ’s fourth annual festival with three live bands, food, and activities such as face painting and balloon art. Some bands performing are Rockstar Rodeo, a country band, Hello Weekend, a five piece pop punk band, and Seventh Heaven, a band that has reached number one on Midwest Billboard Charts. Join the town on September 17.
LAKE ZURICH
3
District 95 Foundation is straying away from their traditional 5k fun run/walk and changing it to a color fun run. The course will consist of running around both the high school and May Whitney. Wear white and join LZ on October 2 to be splattered with paint as you run with the town to raise money for District 95 while simultaneously giving back to the community.
photo from flickr.com
BG Days BUFFALO GROVE
4
From August 31 to September 5 the annual Fest for Buffalo Grove begins. Beginning with a charity softball game and ending with a dance, these six days are jam-packed with fun. With food tents, bingo, a carnival, a bags tournament, dog shows, kid craft activities, a bbq challenge, a magic show, live music, and more there are a seemingly endless amount of activities.
First Friday LIBERTYVILLE
5
Main Street in Libertyville hosts their twenty-fifth celebration of a festival that begins every first Friday of the month. There is live music, various activities, and lots of shopping. Come out on August 5 or September 2 from six to nine to kick off the start of the celebration. Small businesses will be striving to enhance the community’s identity and heritage as well as gaining customers.
News•august 2016 5
L Z L I F E
Taking Chloe Faris staff writer
Flight Photo permission by: Teagan Jones
Freshman girl flies for gymnastics She takes her spot on the end of the runway, rubbing her chalked up hands together anxiously. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she sprints towards the vault like a bull, building up power to spring off the board and fly through the air in a series of rotations. She is in the air for only a split second, but everyone’s eyes in the room are on her to see if she will stick the landing. Teagan Jones, freshman, knows this feeling of weightlessness more than anyone as a competitive gymnast. Describing herself as an ‘overachiever’, Jones has spent around 18 hours a week practicing for the United States Associations for Gymnastics (USAG) team since third grade at Kids in Action Gymnastics Academy (KIAGA). “I started when I was really little in the Mommy and Me classes. My mom put me in gymnastics and I ended up really liking it [so] she put me on the competing team and it went from there,” Jones said. “I like the people who are in gymnastics, I like my team. I have been with these people since third grade so the friendships and different skills we [learn and] get to do is a lot of fun.” Jones’ main reason for putting in
6 LZ Life•august 2016
the work for gymnastics is her love for competing and her teammates, she said. Participating once a month in competitions from December to March, Jones is able to showcase her new skills that she learns throughout the year, she said. “We compete four events: vault, bars, beam, and floor. I always get nervous but once I start doing the routine I kinda relax and know what I am doing,” Jones said. “I try to calm down and focus by [telling] myself, ‘I know what I’m doing, I have done this so many times before. Now just go have fun.’” Along with having fun, gymnastics can take hard work and a lot of time. Jones believes that even when it gets hard she has her teammates to help her. Team member Carly Trebac, sophomore, has known Jones since fifth grade when she joined her gymnastics team. They became fast friends and are still on the same team today, Trebac said. Being together at practice and meets has allowed the two gymnasts to become close and know each other better. “I would say Teagan is very goal driven. She always wants to try her best all the time. She doesn’t like messing up, but I guess that’s what we all want to
do,” Trebac said. “We just want to have our best meets all the time.” Trying a higher skill can make or break a gymnast, but Jones broke more than a new level. The gymnast broke a bone in her foot due to a beam incident, leaving her out of practice since January. Although this is a roadblock, Jones said she does not stop trying to support her gymnastics team along the way. “[Teagan] is always there. She is always helping the other teammates and even though she is hurt she is always encouraging the team,” Kayla Bailey, teammate of Jones and eighth grader at Middle School South, said. When thinking about how she will manage to get through high school and gymnastics, along with any other new sports or clubs, Jones laughed and said she is not one hundred percent sure yet. “There is one girl who does gymnastics for the high school and I am going to try and see if I can join the team with her so maybe the hours will be a little less,” Jones said. “I want to keep doing gymnastics as long I can. I do not know if I will do it in college or anything like that, but it is fun, so I want to keep doing [gymnastics] for as long as possible.”
20 Years in the Making
New Superintendant seeks to help students flourish
Accidentally canceling school and picking up choir students from the train station after a snowstorm are just some memorable moments during the new Superintendent’s past decades in his field. He is equipped for District 95. “It often comes off as I’m very intense about my job. Some people might think I’m a workaholic because I love my work,” Kaine Osburn, superintendent, said. “I believe that what happens between a student and a teacher or player and a coach or sponsor is usually the most formative relationship that can take place outside of the family.” Osburn comes to LZ with 20 years of experience. He has never worked in a K-12 district, but is excited for the challenge. “I was very excited to be able to come to a K-12 district, which is rare in Illinois. I think that’s one of the most exciting things: to be able to help shape kids’ education from Kindergarten all the way to the time they graduate,” Osburn said. Although K-12 districts are different, Osburn says he plans to continue his same methods of getting involved at schools for District 95, and wants “to have a full com-
munity engagement process” for this year. He says this will help him know “how to best plan for the future” of the district. His former colleague knows, with his experience, he is right for the position. “He has a lot of experience - he was a classroom teacher for several years and he’s had many different administrative roles,” Evelyn Lauer, adviser for Niles West News, said. “He was always seen as a colleague who was very involved and helped everybody out.” Lauer knew Osburn was going to succeed in future leadership roles he received. Doug Goldberg, CUSD95 board of eduction president, met Osburn during the interview process for the new Superintendent and also saw this trait in him. “Out of the final three candidates [from] the beginning sixty, the board [was] unanimous about Dr. Osburn,” Goldberg said. “First of all, we wanted a Superintendent that had a vision of where to take District 95. Dr. Osburn had the energy and vision that we thought would be most appropriate to continue the evolution and fulfil the mission.” Osburn plans on following through
with the vision he has for District 95 that will better not only the current students of the schools, but also future students. “What I want is to make sure that every part of that plan maximizes students’ opportunities to grow,” Osburn said. On four different dates there will be sessions held, open to anyone in the community, to discuss topics important to the district’s success. Osburn says that talking to students will help him accomplish this plan by “making people feel like they have a voice in the success of their schools.” “I love getting into the schools, meeting teachers and kids and parents, listening to what they have to say, and then taking that feedback and shaping it into a vision for the school district and a plan for success,” Osburn said. “The best part of my job is getting to talk to students because it’s your school.” Coming from a family of educators, he was literally born into the field. Since he found his passion, he has had an objective. “I had a goal to become a Superintendent of a school district and a community that supported its schools and wanted to see them flourish,” Osburn said. “Everyone [in LZ] is very much invested in the schools
LZ Life•august 2016 7
The Student Section’s Unsinkable Spirit
Why the new leaders believe this year will be unforgettable
The noise of the crowd is deafening as the football team runs onto the field. There are students dressed in crazy attire for Friday’s theme. There are five leaders in the front of the crowd as they start chanting “I believe that we will win!” until kick off. Welcome to the 2016 Bear Den, courtesy of the student section leaders. These seniors are part of a group called the Student Section Leaders, according to Ryan Rubenstein, assistant principal of student activities and facilities. Ryan Lundgren, senior, and others have a sole job: to maintain the school spirit of LZHS and bring a cheering crowd to any sporting events during the school year. The current student section leaders Jack Leitl, Ryan Hack, Michael Bens, and Luke Kuhn,
seniors, along with Lundgren, were selected by Rubenstein and Noah McGarr, last year’s student section leader and 2016 graduate. “I was pretty surprised [Noah chose] me. At the same time I was excited for [this] year and the football season and wanted to make sure that everyone had a good time,” Lundgren said. “I wasn’t really thinking about [the student section leader selection] too much, but I always hoped that it would be me. [I decided to quit football because] I’ve always been interested in the student section. It always looked like a way better time than football because I was not too good. I didn’t want to stand on the sideline.” With new faces and changes to the Bear Den, the student section leaders want to keep the traditional themes
such as U.S.A., Strictly Business, and Hawaiian, but want to continue something that McGarr started last year, according to Leitl. “We’re going to bring back a lot of traditions that have not been done in previous years, and we are working on some new chants. We’re going to try and use more props, as long as the school approves them,” Leitl said. “We’re looking to get the underclassmen more comfortable so our student section is more vocal than ever.” Bens and the other leaders have the same idea in mind. Getting underclassmen involved is only part of the long list of goals for the upcoming school year. “We are going to be more involved than the past few years. Hype up games more. Encourage everyone to help make the greatest student sec-
tion Lake Zurich has ever seen,” Bens said. “We want to be the top student section in the state and for 2017 to be remembered.” With this type of attitude, it’s hard not to get pumped up for the upcoming school year. The student section leaders hope that with everyone’s help, the Bears will have a huge crowd to play for every night, according to Kuhn. “I’m looking forward to just supporting the high school that I love for one more year and just enjoying some of the best years of our lives,” Kuhn said. “I think we can come together and be as good as a student section as last year, just with a better football team.” Hack is also optimistic for the upcoming year, especially when it comes to the student section’s performance.
“Last year was a good year for our student section, don’t get me wrong,” Hack said. “This year will be twice of what we had last year. We are bringing the heat this year and doing everything we can as student section leaders to make this year the most lit year possible.” With their last year in the bleachers, the student section leaders hope to make an impact and change the face of the student section for years to come, according to Hack. “Our main plan is to make sure LZHS remembers 2017. We want every grade to be inspired on the level and that’s what we’re going to do. We will show the years below how to lead the student section the right way,” Hack said. “I personally will try to make every grade act as if it is their last. This year will be off the wall.”
Cover•august 2016 9
Fashionable over Functional Glamorous renovations seem to be the school’s priority, but there are less pretty things that need to be improved. The Bear Facts Staff believes... There are two main types of renovations: those that fix things and those that look nice. LZHS needs to start focusing on the former. There are many existent areas that would benefit from having work done, such as walls upstairs that are so thin classes can hear the lesson next door. Perhaps the computer classrooms could receive an update on their technology, for furthering instruction. Instead, the school goes for extravagant and often new projects, including the massive bleachers or Studio C. A new stadium made headlines last year with massive bleachers, the first of several big projects for the school. The bleachers cost a bit less than $2.5 million, according to the Chicago Tribune, and while new bleachers are nice, they should not have been so grand as to take precedence over other projects. The bleachers can seat the entire student body. Most prioritized renovations seem to focus on things people will see or hear about first. Consider
10 Cover•august 2016
“Which is more important, projects that look good or practical projects the school really needs?”
what will gain more mainstream press coverage: a new, pretty collaboration space - which is definitely nice but not a necessity - or replacing the upper wings so each classroom can focus on their own lessons. “With any project, we look at the immediacy of the need, and in my opinion, there could be lots of other things,” Kent Nightlinger, principal, said. “Projects could be based on safety issues as well. Some of it would depend on the program. Say we’re looking at specific courses, [we question] what would we need from a facilities standpoint. I don’t think there’s one specific thing. It’s always a variety of those ideas and thoughts that go into what we look at.” According to Nightlinger, the outdoor stadium was a safety concern, since it was almost 45 years old. While that is a valid reason for the bleachers to receive an update, the scale seems unnecessary. Last year, there were four football home games and one outdoor assembly, so odds are the stands were completely full a maximum of five times. The bleachers
Maeve Griffin, freshman
Joey Boreczky, sophomore
“I think practical renovations should happen before fancy improvements, because [for] something like improving the bleachers, I feel like the school should put budget into focusing on basics first.”
“Practical projects. Instead of just making the school look good, they further benefit the school and the students inside because it helps out with students’ learning and could help our school function better.”
BEAR FACTS STAFF PRINT EDITOR-INCHIEF
madison hart
DIGITAL EDITOR-INCHIEF
danna tabachnik
SPORTS EDITOR
jemma kim
A&E EDITOR
brianne saab
LZ LIFE EDITOR
dominique gertie
COVER EDITOR
megan monoson
are not only used by football, but such large bleachers would not fill up for any other sport. A year later, Studio C was announced, costing just shy of $875,000, far over the projected $600,000. The school planned to make up for the difference with the remainder of the roofing budget, according to the Daily Herald. Still, the price is high for an addition that some students find completely unnecessary. “Looking at [the small auditorium], it’s very under-utilized,” Nightlinger said. “Not many people were using it for instruction. We could create something new and get a one hundred percent utilization by students, whereas we had a space that was twenty percent utilized by students.” However, it would make more sense to improve the areas students are using every day as opposed to trying to make another usable space. At the same time as the Studio C work, the PE locker rooms were finally being renovated, something that should have been done years ago. Students have reported stolen
items and broken lockers, and the rooms overall had a dirty, neglected feeling, something students should not be subjected to daily. The new locker rooms are definitely a step in the right direction. Students would appreciate seeing similar projects in the future. Another example is the D and E wings, with their temporary walls that somehow became permanent. Because of this, classes can hear everything that goes on next door, and if one class takes a test while the other has an interactive activity, the first class will be miserable and distracted the whole time. Nightlinger said the upper wings have not been renovated because people can still use the space for instruction. However, while it can be used, it has issues that can and should be resolved to make it a better learning space for everyone. The projects that need the most attention are not glamorous, but they need to get done. It seems to students as though the school chooses the projects that look nicer on paper.
STAFF WRITERS
rachel brauer chloe faris meggie furlong madi klein jim weimer
ADVISER
carolyn wagner BEAR FACTS STUDENT MEDIA
Lake Zurich High School 300 Church Street Lake Zurich, IL 60047 (847) 540-4642
AMERICAN LITHO PRINTING
530 North 22nd St. Milwaukee, WI 53233
Shayna Soloway, junior
Philip Neff, senior
“More of what you need versus what looks nice, especially when it comes to money. When I was in drawing class, the teacher had to buy their own colored pencils, so I feel that’s something that would be necessary.”
“I think that a balance of both is required to really help the school because while the school should look good to attract good publicity, there should also be improvements so we can get a better education.”
Laura Cohen, Biology teacher
“I think it’s more important to do things that need to be done, because that’s what makes the school function and what we need to use all year long. To me, it’s more important to have stuff done inside the building.”
Cover•august 2016 11
S P O R T S
Sports Coverage
Fall sport coaches were asked to nominate an athlete who embodies the spirit of the team. Coaches chose an athlete who have shown significant growth and “stories of triumph” since their first year on the team.
Tyler Krasavage, senior What are your thoughts about the team next year? I feel really positive about the new people joining the team this year. Last year they were a huge impact and it’s really nice to have many schools combined. As long as they can adapt to our style, I think everything will turn out fine.” (Coach Sarauer) What were Tyler’s biggest improvements? Tyler has improved both in individual skill and his team skills, such as the ability to understand team concepts and apply them to his game.
hockey Photo permission by Tyler Krasavage
12 Sports•august 2016
cross country Lindsey Deluga, senior What do people know you for on the team? I’m the weather woman. Everyone who knows me, knows I love the weather, so a lot of people come to me and ask for the [daily] weather forecast. I’m constantly checking the weather channel at school and at home even though my whole family doesn’t really like [the weather] that much.” What got you interested in weather? I want to storm chase and study meteorology because I really want to be able to help save people’s lives. I want to help find a way to expand the warning time for when a natural disaster is coming. Right now it’s only an average of 13 minutes, which I don’t think is a lot of time for someone to pack everything important to them before it all gets destroyed. How has wanting to be a storm chaser affected your family and teammates? I have subconsciously taught my family more about the weather than what a normal family might know. I’m always talking about it or taking note of random things, like if we’re in the car, I’ll point out the different types of clouds in the sky. I also feel like I’ve rubbed off on some of my friends and teammates.
volleyball Hannah Sweetwood, senior What is the most important lesson you’ve learned from your sport? [I’ve learned] to be committed and dedicated to everything that I do because once you’re on a team, you have to be committed to that team. [However,] you also have your commitment to friends and family and everything outside of volleyball. You want to keep those relationships as well, so my dedication to school work and friends and family has improved because of volleyball too. What do you enjoy doing outside of volleyball? I like spontaneous adventures. Like going through the forest and not staying on the trails. Anything outdoors. If I have a board game, I’ll bring it outside. I like making each day have a purpose. Doing a new thing every day
Nate Hughes, senior
golf
When did you first start golfing? When I was growing up, I would always go out with my grandfather and my dad and start playing, but I started playing seriously during freshman year. It took off from there. Did you know right away that golf would be something you would become involved in? During freshman year, I wasn’t really sure if I was going to have fun or not, but if I didn’t make it, I wasn’t going to be that upset. I ended up playing freshman year and I had a lot of fun with all of the guys so I decided to keep playing. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season”
Sports•august 2016 13
Jeff Glatz, senior What’s your overall goal of being on a team like Cross Country? I really wanted to be able to push myself. I [want to] live up to what I think my potential could be What is the best advice you would give to another athlete? If you want to make a difference in your life, you can’t stay in your comfort zone. [I joined cross country] because my mom wanted me to go out and do some activities over the summer, [which was out of my comfort zone].You have to really find something that can motivate you enough to get out of that zone so you can make an impact on whatever you’re trying to achieve. That’s what I live by.
cross country
Photo permission by Jeff Glatz
Kelsey Kee, junior
golf
How is golf different than other sports? [Golf ] is such a mental sport. It’s not just physical. Golf teaches you different skills like meeting people and talking to them because it’s more of a business sport. It has helped me become a more independent person and rely on myself. You are alone when you’re playing [golf ], but you still have a team. What is the hardest part of playing golf? [Golf ] really tests my limits. There are so many more opportunities for girls golfers. I feel like I’m the kind of person that people don’t always see but when I’m golfing they have to see me. It really tests you when you play.
football Ryan McGeever, senior What are some things you achieved as a captain last year? My sophomore year, the guys weren’t as nice [to underclassmen], and we didn’t do so well that year. When the relationships [within] the team are not working well, it shows on the field, so I tried to include the underclassmen a lot so we could play better together. (Coach Proffitt) How has Ryan stood out as a leader? During his sophomore year, Ryan was more of a bystander, but his leadership abilities have really improved. He is no longer hesitant and is constantly helping other people directly.
14 Sports•august 2016
Photo by Nancy McGee
Sophia de los Reyes, sophomore
tennis
How did you start playing tennis? My dad coached a tennis team at his old high school, so he suggested that I try tennis because I was quitting softball and I wanted another sport. I got hit twice, so I didn’t want to play anymore. It was in the face too. You can still get hit in tennis, but it’s not as hard, and you have a racquet there too. What is it like being a freshman on varsity? I think three freshman made the varsity team, but I think I was the only one that made Sectionals. I wasn’t excluded much because I played a lot of doubles anyway. Even if you play singles, so I guess I’m not excluded that way. You have to be mean. You can’t be nice, because there are also really mean girls that cheat [on other teams], so you have to be a little tougher. How do you challenge yourself in tennis? Just playing every day, matching whatever you need to do, that’s how you challenge yourself. And if you have good players with you, then it’s harder and that’s good. When you play more matches or tournaments, you get used to the feel of them and aren’t as nervous. You get more focused on the game rather than focusing on your confidence.
Ty Carey, senior
soccer Photo permission by Ty Carey
Which moment in your soccer career affected you the most? I was kind of upset when I didn’t make varsity [as a sophomore], but it made me work ten times harder knowing I had to work even harder to make it on varsity as a junior. How did you motivate yourself to try out for the team again? Every time I would work out I would always think to myself that if I didn’t push myself, I would never make varsity. I was really upset when I didn’t make varsity the first time, so I didn’t want to feel that way again when this year. How did you feel when you made varsity this year? I [was] happy with how hard I worked and how much I wanted to make varsity because if I didn’t work as hard as I did, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Sports•august 2016 15
!
Photo permission from Jessi Stevens, Morgan Kaplan, and Madison Hart
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