Issue #7 (April 21)

Prom no longer held at Navy Pier Due to a scheduling conflict, prom will be held at an alternate venue beginning with the class of 2017

Student council moves in new direction An alternative event to KOH dance will be voted upon by 2015-2016 members

Prom Costs

by Gillian Dunlop @gilliandunlop15

For the past decade, LT has hosted prom at Navy Pier. However, due to a scheduling conflict between Navy Pier and another corporate event, prom will no longer be held there starting with the class of 2017.

According to prom coordinator Brian Murray, one of the biggest concerns of trying to find a new venue for prom, in addition to the challenge of finding a large enough space for about 1,100 people, is the potential significant increase in costs.

Potential venues LT is considering are the Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry and the Union Station ballroom. The Shedd Aquarium and Planetarium were also discussed, but they are not big enough to accommodate the usual amount of people at prom.

“The other options are going to be more expensive,” Murray said.

“In order to pay for this amazing experience, there may need to be a significant increase in ticket prices and class fundraising.”

It appears, however, that fundraising might not be an easy feat.

The most a class has ever raised before was $10,000. The class of 2017 hopes to raise $15,000 so the price of prom tickets can stay where they are at $115 a person, according to class board member Abby Vulich ‘17.

Another option LT is considering in order to cut down on costs is to not hold prom in the city, but rather somewhere in the suburbs, but it appears this proposal is unpopular with the students.

“We definitely want to have it in the city,” Vulich said. “I do not think this is anything we cannot fix.”

Even with new locations being tossed around at class board meetings, the sophomore class is not completely happy with the change.

“We are definitely disappointed, because Navy Pier is unique,” Vulich said.

Murray, too, has picked up on this attitude, stating that “I think

Have you ever wondered how much prom really costs? LION has scored the breakdown on the bundle LT puts out for the night of our lives (post prom not included as that is sponsored by the Boosters).

by Ceili Doyle @cadoyle_18

Student Council has decided to replace the King of Hearts dance for the upcoming 2015-2016 school year due to lack of attendance and overall dismal feedback from the student body. The event that will replace the regular February dance has yet to be determined.

“We have reserved the last Saturday in February of next year in the Fieldhouse for some event, but beyond that, no decisions have been made,” Student Activities Director and Student Council advisor Peter Geddeis said. “It would be premature and a little presumptuous for this year’s student council to decide what next year’s student council should be doing for events.”

Elections were held for the 2015-2016 Student Council officers on April 29, and current president, Thomas Cushing ‘15, has full faith in the ability of the newly appointed leadership to create an alternate event to KOH that LT students will want to attend.

“I think that all of new officers are going to work well together, as well as the regular Student Council attendees,” Cushing said. “They’re a great group of officers and I have a lot of confidence in them and their ability to listen to the student body, but the student body has just as much of a voice as they do. Both sides work best together when neither is on the sideline.”

An idea that has been discussed at Student Council meetings is to host a Crosstown Classic series of Olympic style games with Hinsdale Central instead of KOH next year, according to president-elect Nick Fuentes ‘16.

Fuentes plans to advocate for this event in hopes of boosting school spirit and generating more revenue.

In terms of raising attendance numbers at this alternate event to KOH and all future Student Council functions, Fuentes intends to utilize all of the assets available at LT to gain publicity.

“We’re really going to try and market next year through the LT Weirdos,” Fuentes said. “My agenda for this summer is to tackle the LION, WLTL and LTTV to use the resources we have.”

Fuentes and the rest of the officers, alongside the entire body of Student Council, are focused on improving LT students’ experiences at Student Council sponsored events and hope to place more emphasis on event promotion this upcoming school year.

“Right now the biggest flaw in our Student Council is a lack of marketing,” Fuentes said. “It’s the reason why attendance has been low and I think once we attack that from all angles, we’ll be able to sell this new [alternative to KOH].”

TOTAL COST: $124,000

Continued on page 3

Source: Brian Murray

Student wins national playwriting competition

State Champion

Dan Devine ‘15 entered, finalist of competition; play to be produced, performed in Hollywood with professional director, cast

by Brittany Grosser-Basile @BrittanyGrosser Dan Devine ‘15 was named one of the winners of The Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival for his play “Sharks, Dolphins, Hurricanes.”

“Dan’s play is an extraordinary piece of writing, so on one hand I was not surprised,” Playwriting teacher and Tens by Teens director Lawrence Keller said. “But these contests can be so competitive and arbitrary, so there’s no predicting what plays judges will respond to.”

His play, which was retitled to “Inherently Ambiguous,” as requested by the theatre, will receive a professional production with a professional cast and director.

The play will be performed during the fourth and final week of the festival, from June 25 to June 28.

Rehearsals will take place at The Blank’s 2nd Stage Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., and the actual performance of the play will be at The Stella Adler in Hollywood.

Devine will fly to Los Angeles to watch the production of his play.

“I was very shocked,” Devine said. “I thought the people that would win would have written plays about really serious stuff like changing the world, not just a play about kids talking.”

The play is described as “a night of debauchery [that] transforms into an existential crisis for these philosophical teenagers,” on www.theblank.com.

Keller submitted Devine’s play for the competition, along with the other plays that were accepted into this year’s Tens by Teens, which was performed in the SC Performing Arts Center from April 29 to May 1.

Three other students were semi-finalists in the competition: Annika Murrell ‘15 for her play “Walls,” Riley Carroll ‘15 for her play “To Stay” and Nick Valdivia ‘15 for his play “Because She Needs the Eggs.”

“I felt their work is also worthy of this great honor,” Keller said. “It’s always nice when you get validation from an outside source that what we view as great work is equally recognized.”

Over the years, LT has had one other student win the competition. Three years ago Brendan Blaber ‘12 won for his play “Scrapbook,” which premiered at the festival because it was too long to be performed in Tens by Teens.

Paraeducators

NEWS, 5

Flip to see what LT’s paraeducators have been doing in and outside of school on page 5.

North Campus

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Weeding it out Dive into the debate on marijuana use in the United States and see for yourself whether it’s really good or bad.

OPINIONS, 8

100 S. Brainard Ave. LaGrange, Ill. 60525 South Campus

Stephanie Lin ‘15 competes at state. (Danielle Sievers ‘16)

Stephanie Lin ‘15 placed first in singles at the badminton state meet on May 15-16, making her the first person in IHSA history to win three years in a row. To read the full story, flip to page 10.

Athlete of the Year

Lollapalooza lurking

Kelsy Kurfirst ‘15 is this year’s Athlete of the Year.

Find out how this state champion has done it year after year to become one of LT’s best gymnasts.

With summer approaching quickly, so are festivals.

The most popular of which, Lollapalooza.

We’ll tell you who to see at this three-day jamboree.

SPORTS, 12

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PULSE, 16

4900 Willow Springs Rd. Western Springs, Ill. 60558

Chinese characters Mandarin was established 6,000 years ago, making it the oldest established language in the world.

NEWS

Math madness Dyscalculia means difficulty in learning arithmetic, such as difficulty in understanding numbers, and learning math facts.

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 2

Chinese program to be phased out Low enrollment, troubled teacher search lead administrators to end program

by Joe Okkema @joe_okkema

Due to a sustained declining trend in enrollment in the Chinese program at LT, administrators have decided to cease offering the program to students of the class of 2019 and to phase out the program for students currently enrolled in it over the next three years.

Per school policy, whenever an elective program being offered has fewer than 18 students enrolled, that class must receive special approval. Since the Chinese program did not meet that requirement for roughly five years in a row, discontinuing the program was under close consideration for the past several years, Chinese teacher Mary Christina Oxtoby said.

The decision to end the program came as a direct result of Oxtoby’s decision to leave her position at LT to pursue other endeavors, she said.

“Anytime a program is eliminated, it’s sad,” Fine Arts Division Chair Paula Nardi said. “I am disappointed that LT has not been able to maintain or grow the Chinese enrollment and that incoming freshman students won’t have the opportunity, but I am glad that we will be able to accommodate the current students in the program.”

Administrators have begun the process of searching for a teacher to fill the vacant position to continue teaching students currently in the program until it is fully phased out, but have encountered some difficulty.

“It’s not that teachers are hard to find, but since it is only a part-time position, there are very few interested qualified teachers,” Nardi said.

If a qualified teacher is not found, administrators are cur-

rently investigating potential online programs, such as one offered through Michigan State University, that students currently in the program can use until they graduate, Oxtoby said.

In the meantime, however, students currently enrolled in the program as well as prospective students are disappointed in the loss of the program.

“I think students and parents are disappointed, but they understand that in order to maintain a quality program, we need students to enroll and a qualified, dedicated teacher,” Nardi said.

As of now, no plans have been made to offer another language in place of Chinese.

“I think this situation is unfortunate considering [Chinese] is such an important language in today’s world,” Chinese student Quinn Winters ‘15. “I think it’s just going to be a missed opportunity for a lot of students.”

Chinese Program Enrollment

Want one of your tweets featured in the next issue? Follow us on twitter @LTLionNewspaper. To be eligible to have your tweets in our paper you have to follow us. So if you think you are funny, clever or witty enough to have your tweets in here, follow us and keep the tweets coming!

The graph below shows the prolonged decline in enrollment in the entire Chinese program, including classes across all grade levels, at LT since 2011.

Source: Scott Eggerding

Shannon O’Neill ‘15 @shannononeill96 Earth is probably rly grateful for all the Instagram shouts out rn

Liam Sharkey ‘15 @therealsharkboy The only thing cargos cant fit in the pockets are another pair of cargos

Math team finishes top 15 at State

Mardi Sramek ‘15 @the_mardles does trying to sleep away my responsibilities count as a hobby

Led by strong performances by individuals, team is able to place high

by Drew Cushing @drcushing32

At the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) state competition held on May 1-2 at U of I, the Lyons Township Math Team placed 14th overall with a total score of 708 points.

Individually, Max Olson ‘15 placed highest on the team with a fifth place finish in the orals competition with a score of 47/50.

Also, Timothy Houston ‘18 finished with an 18/20 individually in the algebra competition and finished in 35th.

“Because our kids are so involved with other activities and not practicing every day or every lunch period, we feel that we make a very strong team for the amount of time kids are able to commit to math team,” head coach Jennifer Szczesniak said.

In order to qualify for the state meet, the team first had to make it through the regional meet. There are 18 regions in the state of Illinois, and because the team won its regional by beating Hinsdale Central by only one point, the entire team qualified for state.

The team left for the competition early on May 1, and when they arrived at U of I they had lunch and practiced in the afternoon for a couple of hours in classrooms in the English building on the quad. Later in the night, students continued to review at the hotel and the next day the team headed back to the university where the tests started at 10 a.m.

“It was great to see all of us in matching T-shirts and hanging out as a team instead of being clustered by individual grade level,” Szczesniak said. “Because during the day of the event… it’s very fractured, so it was nice that all of the competitors could enjoy some time together and compliment each other on the jobs well done.”

The team fared well at the meet, with the senior team placing 14th overall, freshmen placing 13th, fresh/soph eight-person team placing 11th and the calculator team placing 13th.

“Afterwards for written tests, they give us the answers right away so we know what we got,” Matt Nutley ‘15 said. “You can get a judgment of how you did immediately after the competition. As soon as I finished, I knew what I got. You just don’t know how it is compared to other schools.”

In order to prepare for the state competition, the math team met on Tuesdays where they would practice the written, eightperson and relay competitions. Olson also had extra preparation for the oral competition by meeting with orals instructor Joe Barker at 6:30 before school on Mondays. The team for the calculator event also met after school in order to prepare themselves.

“When you get to a problem, you either know it or you don’t and when you don’t, you just move on becuase of the time constraint,” Olson said. “We’ve also done a lot of reviewing formulas for geometry... so I felt relaxed.”

At the state meet last year, the team scored in the low 600s total and this year was seen as an improvement because of the increase in total points.

“I didn’t hear a lot of disappointment,” Olson said. “There weren’t any major regrets.”

Aidan Van Nest ‘15 @aidanvannest **fire alarm goes off** AP Proctor: DON’T MOVE!!!!!!!!!!!! #APTestUntilYouBurn Gabby Granada ‘15 @gibgranada And so, the crowd goes home feeling awe-struck, inspired, out of shape, and worthless as they do after every Eury show.

Bess Connelly ‘15 @GodBessTheUSA “bess you need a spoon to eat a fruit cup” not with that attitude Kip Andreoni ‘15 @kidkipster High school is a lot like Chuck E. Cheese, soon I won’t be allowed in it.

Photos Katie Kober ‘15 @KDiddy47 *ring ring* Dostal: “hello?” me: “hello, yes, I’m literally sooooo done.”

Dan Devine ‘15 @TheIrishCobra @annie_dent10 @kipkipster I want this picture to go viral

Sophisticated sound The construction of the Lincoln Center was initiated by John D. Rockefeller III as part of an urban reform in the 1960s.

NEWS

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 3

Expansive education The College of DuPage offers 94 majors and a broad selection of distance education, study abroad and weekend/evening programs.

Jazz Ensemble takes New York Jazz Ensemble competes, learns importance of jazz

by Grace Gumbiner @grace_gumby

The LT Jazz Ensemble attended the prestigious Essentially Ellington Jazz Band competition in New York City for the first time ever from May 7 to 9. They were one of only 15 bands selected from the entire U.S. and Canada and the only band selected from Illinois for the last three years. Although they did not place, they gained much more from the experience by having the opportunity to work with professional musicians and other high school jazz bands from across the country.

“We learned the meaning of what the music is supposed to do,” Andrew Lichtenauer ‘15. “It brings people together, almost like a cultural ambassador.”

A few of LT’s musicians did receive individual awards including Kate DeMonica ‘15 with an outstanding performance on trombone, Hannah Mathieson ‘15, outstanding on clarinet, Christian Naval ‘15, outstanding on guitar, Mitch Galgan ‘15, honorable mention on bass and Thomas Korenchan ‘15, honorable mention on baritone saxophone.

The band played the songs “Chelsea Bridge,” by Billy Strayhorn, “VIP’s Boogie” and “Kinda Dukish/Rockin’ in Rhythm,” by Duke Ellington.

“You need to select music that showcases certain parts of the band and plays to your strengths,” director Mark Dahl said.

The musicians were able to meet

Marcus Printup, a member of the trumpet section in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (LCJO), who was the band mentor for LT. “I was nervous at first, but when we started working with Marcus, he helped us focus our energy into swing,” Pat Falvey ‘15 said.

LT’s Jazz Ensemble was the only band who had never been there before and weren’t sure what to expect.

“It was even more welcoming than I thought,” Lichtenauer said. “It is a competition, but there wasn’t a huge competitive spirit because everyone was supportive of other bands which gave it a community feel.”

During the day, the bands were split into sectionals by instrument and were able to play with the same sections from the other competing bands and a professional in LCJO. “The atmosphere was incredible,” Dahl said. “The Jazz at Lincoln Center really treated the kids like professionals and gave them the credit they deserve.”

The focus of this competition was not on winning, but seeing where the bands can improve.

“The challenge was playing for an informed audience and being judged by some of the finest musicians in the world,” Dahl said.

The ultimate goal of this competition was to elevate the discussion of music and culture for the students and their community, Dahl said.

“It was the most energetic and swing filled performance of our lives, at the best venue for Jazz,” Falvey said.

Top Left: Pat Falvey ‘15 performs. Top Right: Jazz Ensemble poses for a group photo. Bottom: Walter Blanding, the First Tenor in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, performs with LT’s Jazz Ensemble. (Pat Falvey)

COD regenerates board of trustees Concerns of the college’s spending arise, new officials elected to revitalize board

by Lauren Hucko @laurenhucko

April 7 marked the commencement of a new era for the College of DuPage (COD).

In the wake of mounting corruption allegations, three new representatives promising reform on their “Clean Slate” platform were elected to COD’s Board of Trustees.

Katherine Hamilton—a dissenter of the previous leadership—will chair the new board. “[The board] will cooperate fully with law enforcement investigations,” Hamilton said. “Our job is to turn COD around.”

Following the introduction of COD president Robert Breuder’s $762,868 buyout to the public, questions regarding COD’s spending in other departments have surfaced.

In response, federal prosecutors subpoenaed administrative expenses, contracts with the college’s fundraising foundation and credits awarded to police recruits from the law enforcement academy. COD later released the subpoenas to the public after the Chicago Tribune issued a Freedom of Information Act request.

“Tonight, they gave us a clear mandate to clean up the College of DuPage,” Clean Slate candidates Deanne Mazzochi, Frank Napolitano and Charles Bernstein said in a joint statement at the election. “To put an end to “Our job is to turn the attitude that has persisted there that taxpayers don’t count, and insiders rule. To finally stop the COD around.” waste, fraud and abuse. To end business as usual and to truly put taxpayers, students and faculty -Katherine Hamilton ahead of the insider interests that have dominated this board and this school for too long.”

Recently, suspicion has surfaced over the alleged usage of COD Scholarship Fund endowments at the campus’s Waterleaf restaurant. A total of $352,000 of COD funds were allegedly spent there by administrators on food and alcohol since 2011, comprising one in every $9 of the restaurant’s revenue, according to a Chicago Tribune analysis.

“What I learn in the classroom is not being affected by the misappropriation of funds,” Jakub Dziza ‘14 said. “It is more so that students and staff alike are fed up by costs that have risen due to the fact Mr. Breuder has decided to run COD as a business and not an establishment for furthering one’s education.”

According to the Clean State Board, their first priority will be to curtail the lump sum previously promised to Brueder upon his retirement. In addition, they plan to encourage an abbreviated period of administrative leave in hopes Breuder will be gone before his scheduled March 2016 departure.

Under the new administration, the board has halted a $20 million payment on a construction grant and exposed $100 million in hidden spending transactions.

“COD is still a great school,” Dziza said. “I’m glad I made the choice to start my post high school education here. The class sizes are awesome, I have access to my teachers 24/7 and it has a positive and productive atmosphere around it. You can see the people here are really purpose driven.”

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Locals race to raise funds District hosts race to raise money for elementary schools

by Joe Rossetti @joe_rossetti

Members of the District 105 community, including Seventh Avenue, Spring Avenue, Ideal School and Hodgkins School, hosted its first ever race on Sunday May 17, the D105 Dash, in an effort to raise money for the four elementary schools.

“We were hoping to have at least 250 runners [or] walkers for the event,” planning committee member Michelle Meuer said.

“As of [April 28] we had close to 200 and anticipate going over 250. We all think this is fantastic. This is our inaugural race, so we did not know what to expect. We were certainly hoping that between four elementary schools and one middle school we could get this many, but we were never sure.”

The inspiration came from Stacy Hayes, a member of the Seventh Avenue school district and fellow runner herself.

“My inspiration for the D105 Dash came from different places,” Hayes said. “As I became more active in the schools through PTO and my children’s activities, I began thinking of ways to combine my passion for running and my passion for education. I thought using a 5K race as a fundraising vehicle for the district would mirror so many of D105’s goals: strengthening communities, living

healthy lifestyles, bringing families together and supporting a strong learning environment.”

The D105 Dash took place in the Spring Avenue neighborhood, and started and ended in front of the school. The event offered an official, chip-timed 5K for the more serious runners and also a child and family friendly 1.5 mile walk.

“My hopes for the D105 Dash are for families to come together, meet their children’s friends, families and teachers, build relationships within their community and most importantly, have fun participating in a healthy activity,” Hayes said.

The D105 Dash was expected to have a large impact on the schools through fundraising. The funds generated will be split by the parent-teacher organizations of the four schools and the money will go towards school improvement.

“There are many ways an event like the D105 DASH can benefit our schools and students,” Hayes said. “Of course the immediate benefit is physical fitness awareness. Building relationships with families within home schools is important, but reaching out to other families within the district only strengthens the community of learning as our students come together in middle school and high school. The financial benefits to our schools will provide our students to have access to supplemental learning opportunities.”

Prom no longer held at Navy Pier Continued from page 1

anytime there is change the immediate first reaction is negative. We are dealing with the unknown.”

If LT wanted to keep prom at Navy Pier IT would have to change the date of prom, but as per tradition, school officials want to keep it after AP testing and before graduation.

“It has always been LT’s tradition to have it close to graduation,” Murray said. “For students, it is a real culminating event. It is definitely not anti-climatic.”

Murray also noted that although prom will be held at Navy Pier for the class of 2016, it will be on the Friday before graduation instead of the usual Thursday before graduation, due to this corporate event. However, LT is not looking to keep having it on the Friday before graduation, because having it on a Thursday has kept costs down as well as made it easier to book venues and transportation.

However, among all of these changes, the biggest concern of the prom planning board is providing students with the memorable prom they want and deserve, Murray said.

Retro radio The oldest high school radio station in the nation, 88.1 WNAS, has been broadcasting out of New Albany, Ind., since May 1949.

NEWS

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 4

WLTL producing for local radio station Students gain workplace experience, hope to extend opportunities to other area schools

by Joe Okkema @joe_okkema

Several WLTL students are working in conjunction with local radio station WCKG to produce a weekly news show that seeks to bring high school news to an adult audience throughout DuPage County. The show, “Study Hall Radio,” airs every Saturday at 2 p.m. on AM 1530.

“Most adults are way out of high school, so they rarely know what’s happening in them,” WLTL Advisor Chris Thomas said. “So the point of the show is to let that kind of audience know what’s going on in high schools from a student’s perspective.”

Although the first episode of the show aired on April 4, plans for the show had been forming as early as January.

Several students had been working part-time at WCKG as board managers, so WLTL already had ties to the station. After being approached by WCKG Operations Manager and LT alum John Spataro ‘09, Thomas decided to offer students on WLTL Management the opportunity to produce a show and it eventually became a weekly production.

Producing a show for a commercial station provides students with valuable work experience, Thomas said.

“Going through an experience like this should help students down the road if they choose to pursue a career in radio or media in general,” Spataro said. “Being able to say that they produced a show for a commercial talk radio station in the third-largest market in the country before they leave LT is something that not a lot of people can say.”

Students have participated in production as well writing news features every week for the show.

“It’s actually been a lot more work than I had anticipated,” WLTL Operations Manager Conor Wiegmann ‘15 said. “Typically with a news show, you get a little bit of a break in between every feature you’re writing, but with this, there’s a lot of overlapping.”

The shows that have aired thus far have contained features about subjects like the cost of prom, AP testing, college applications and driving.

“We want to find issues that high school students care about and amplify them to the largest audience possible,” Spataro said.

On top of connecting with a larger audience than most other WLTL productions do, Thomas and Spataro both hope to get radio programs at other local high schools involved in the production of “Study Hall Radio” as well. As of now, Glenbrook South High School’s radio station (WGBK-FM) will be producing a few pieces for one May show.

“We’d love to get other schools in the listening area to give us stories as well, because LT is its own community, and while we’re all high schools, there are little differences between every school that would give listeners an interesting perspective,” Thomas said.

For the time being, WLTL students will remain the sole producers of the show. Despite the difficulty of the work, students have been able to succeed in producing a captivating show for the intended audience, Thomas said.

“I think it’s great, and I’m really proud of the work the kids are doing,” Thomas said. “I think the fact that it reaches such a broad audience adds a little stress to it, but I think they’re handling it really well. I’m really proud of the fact that we’re impressing an audience of new listeners.”

Public press According to a 2011 Kent State University study, about two-thirds of public high schools across the nation have newspapers.

LION takes top honors at NISPA Journalism convention awards website, newspaper at the gold level

by Clare Mikulski @ClareMikulski

The Northern Illinois School Press Association (NISPA) awarded LION the Golden Eagle for journalistic excellence on Friday, April 24. The website won a Gold Certificate, and individual staffers were honored for their work as well.

Claire Quinlan ‘15 won a Blue Ribbon for her profile on Josie Dunne ‘15. Mike Flaherty ‘15 won a Blue Ribbon for his ad design.

Will Most ‘15 won a Blue Ribbon for his personal column on Jack Kunkle, and an Honorable Mention for his editorial “Feud with Ferguson.” Brittany Grosser-Basile ‘15 won an Honorable Mention for her story about the Kelli O’Laughlin trial. Gillian Dunlop ‘15 won an Honorable Mention for her wrestling photos. Bailey Blum ‘16 won an Honorable Mention for his athlete profile on Aaron Onion ‘16. Riley Carroll ‘15, Claire Quinlan ‘15, Lidia Breen ‘15 and Izy Scott ‘16 won an Honorable Mention for their Chipotle twopage spread. The entire LION staff won an Honorable Mention for their Church League season preview. Anika Ranginani ‘15 won a Blue Ribbon for her interactive food pyramid on the website.

The LION staff poses with its Golden Eagle trophy. (Mary Hadley/LION)

www.lionnewspaper.com

Don’t forget to visit our website for additional stories

Rich runners Thirty-thousand people ran in the Boston marathon this year, and the two top times win the grand prize of $150,000.

IMPACT Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 5

Common creatures There are over 2,000 different species of scorpions and they are found on six of the seven continents.

Paraeducator Passions Paraeducators provide for individual needs of students, whether that be in the College Center, or as a part of LT’s Special Ed program. LION highlights some of the accomplishments and experiences of LT paraeducators through the following profiles.

THE RUNNER

Jake Discipio

by Anika Ranginani @a_rangs

Each year, paraeducator Jake Discipio ‘07 trains for the Boston Marathon, what he describes as a “26-mile party.” Here’s the catch: in order to get an invite, he had to finish the race in under three hours and five minutes, a pace of just over seven minutes a mile.

“I’ve worked hard for this,” Discipio said. “It’s known around the world.

Anyone who runs long distance knows about it and wants to do it.”

Started in 1897, the Boston Marathon is the oldest annual marathon in the world. The race is always held on Patriot’s Day, so most students don’t have school and many offices are closed for the holiday.

“It’s unlike any other marathon I’ve run, mostly due to the way the city comes out for it,” Discipio said. “They don’t mind the 28,000 people from all over the world coming in and taking over their city for a weekend.”

His best time for a marathon is two hours and 54 minutes, but Discipio first qualified for the Boston Marathon three years ago at the Champaign marathon, attending the race in April 2013 and 2015. He explains the shift in atmosphere as a result of the terrorist bombing in 2014.

“The enthusiasm was a bit more amped up,” Discipio said. “People kept saying, ‘Take the race back, take the town back’ because they wanted to show the world that this is the norm. This has been going on for 100 some years, last year was a fluke.”

Discipio has already qualified and booked his hotel for next year’s race on April 18, 2016.

“You can’t let the actions of two young people with extreme ideologies influence the way you live your life and the things you want to do,” Discipio said.

THE MUSICIAN Justyn Jost

by Anika Ranginani @a_rangs

When LT paraeducator Justyn Jost ‘09 is not working as a trumpeter at Medieval Times in Schaumburg, or playing in a local band, you might find him spending time teaching himself how to play the violin and the Irish Flute.

“It’s cool to try new things,” Jost said. “The good thing about music is that you can always come back to it.”

When Jost went to LT he was a member of choir, orchestra and band. With gym as another class, he spent the majority of his day in the Vaughan building. Currently he sings and plays the piano, electric bass and the trumpet.

Jost has the unique experience of teaching at a school where he was formerly a student. For example, he has worked with the music department, and teachers like Mark Dahl, as both a student and a teacher.

“It’s weird for about 30 seconds,” Jost said. “Your teachers are now your colleagues. I was still calling some of my teachers ‘Mr.’ or ‘Mrs.’”

by Anika Ranginani Jost plays in the band “Phill n the blanks” with longtime @a_rangs friend Phil O’Reilly, who is the son of LT teacher Eugene O’Reilly. The band has been together for four years. Their biggest gig recently was at a BatStaring at a scorpion by her bed, Jennifer DiSessa’s lantle of the Bands in Joliet with eight other guage abandoned her. While teaching English in Mexico’s Yubands. catan Peninsula, DiSessa was surrounded by those who couldn’t “We didn’t win, but we played understand her, and she was absolutely terrified. a very good set,” Jost said. “I’m “I wasn’t fluent when I first went to [Mexico], so I was thrown happy with a good perforinto a situation where nobody around me spoke any English,” mance.”

DiSessa said.

DiSessa currently works in the College and Career Center at LT’s

by Clare Mikulski North Campus, but after graduating from college, in 1998 she went to @ClareMikulski Mexico for a year in order to teach English.

DiSessa decided to try living abroad after a Spring 1997 internship and study abroad opportunity through her college. Although she came out of Julie Mikus began working at LT in October 2013, and has the scorpion incident unharmed, she faced many challenges during her loved her experience so far. time abroad, especially without the support of a school program.

“I really enjoy LT, and I’m not just saying that,” Mikus said.

“It was very lonely because I wasn’t there with all my friends and I “The staff and the other paras get along, and they’re very weldidn’t have a car,” DiSessa said. “I walked everywhere.” coming.”

After returning to the U.S., DiSessa Mikus works with the severe and protried working in the coorporate world, found and medically fragile students in but found she wanted to go back to the Transitions program at SC. As well teaching. While she worked to reas working as a paraeducator, Mikus has ceive her teaching certification in three kids, three cats, a dog and recently Elmhurst, she began working as traveled to Mexico over a school break with a substitute teacher at LT. her family.

“I would love to travel, Some of the students’ behaviors can be but I don’t think I could challenging, but Mikus emphasizes that you live abroad again,” can’t take any of it personally.

DiSessa said. “It was “It’s different,” she said. “It’s a unique kind of the best but hardclassroom, and it’s never boring, because anything est year and a half can happen at any time, and it probably has.” of my life.”

Her favorite part of the program are the many opportunities for students. One weekend, Mikus was able to drive to her students’ house in the school’s wheelchair van, and take the girl to an LT orchestra performance.

“We really do care about our special education kids,” she said. “Parents who send their kids to school can know that they are getting the best education and having the best experiences. You don’t do it just because you get paid, but so the kids can have these experiences.”

THE VALIANT

THE CARING

Jennifer DiSessa

Julie Mikus

Random Chatter “Give me your daughters.”

-Kip Andreoni ‘15

NEWS

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 6

Random Chatter “I wonder what it would be like to make out with someone who survived Pearl Harbor.”

-Dan Devine ‘15

The Eurythmic Dance Company took the stage at the NC Reber Center for the Performing Arts May 7, 8 and 9.

“DYNAMISM” featured dances choreographed by both students and professionals.

(Anna Meyers-Caccitolo/Eurythmic Dance Company)

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OPINIONS Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 7

PageSevenGrid

This is the last good grid you’ll ever see. Everything after this will be downhill. First they’ll get rid of the pictures, then they’ll make the questions serious. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Cya Nerds!

Want your opinion heard?

Get it published in the paper! Submit any opinionated piece as a freelancer and you may see your work in our next issue.

GuestColumn

Crafting your identity

There’s a common understanding that high school is supposed to be a big transition for teenagers and serve as a foundation for who one will If you were locked in What special guest gives become in life, and honestly, a room for 30 minutes My dream roommate I’m upset I never got LT’s commencement that’s true. So this column with your freshman for next year would be the opportunity to speech and what is the goes out to those of you who self, what would you __________ _________ at LT. Joe Rossetti topic? have some time left to contindo? ue, some time left to cherish.

Figure yourself out early. Try and figure out who you are as a person and who you would like I would teach myself yourself to become. This sounds like a daunting the music and lyrics task, but in reality it’s simple, branch out. No Jesus Christ: God is Attend Archery Club, Nicholas Cage on matter what you think might happen, take a or anyone did for to every Taylor my shepherd, but Jesus “THE BEES!” chance and do not under any circumstances limit that matter Swift song of the last is my ride home. yourself. four years.

Now how could that be any more cliché? But Bryce Hughes ‘15 it’s true. Freshman year, I tried a lot of things.

I went on Snowball twice, and I loved it. I had experiences that I will never forget, but when Dory from Finding the time came to apply for staff, I didn’t because Nemo, so she doesn’t Joe Rossetti ‘15 on Tell myself to start I was too afraid. I was afraid that I wouldn’t get remember when I how to write a bad Deficate in a calling Meghan Goldon. I was afraid that the interview would be steal her money. [ed. sports column. backpack en ‘15 “Potato” from scary (especially with that bearded weird guy sitShe’s also friendly, you ¯\_(“)_/¯ ting across the table from me) and I just thought day one. awful person.] that I wouldn’t fit in. That was a mistake, one Shannon O’Neill ‘15 that I will regret for a long time.

At any rate, I owe a lot today to the sport of wrestling and the team that I was so fortunate to Probably Jesus. If he be a part of. It’s honestly taught me so much.

I would tell him not has the power to heal I’ve learned to be confident in myself and in to watch the MayEat one of those Lambros Karkazis lepers, he can keep a everything that I do. As I’m sure many of you weather-Pacquiao Bosco sticks at South ‘15 on the topic of faroom neat. [ed. Jesus, know, I’m not a very self-conscious person and match. What a waste Campus cial hair maintenance. how often are we going not much usually gets to me. Because of this, I’ve of money. learned that the most important opinion in my to bring up the guy?]

John Klafta ‘15 life is my own. So here’s my advice, be confident in who you are as a person and don’t take into Kill us both. [ed. Following account other people’s negative opinions. As my the basic principles of the space time mentor Steven Campbell used to say, “Keep continuum, the process you would undergo Justin Bieber on how doing you” and don’t worry about what others in order to kill your freshman self would result in the absence of your present exisMy fish.

Go to Archery Club to succeed in life with will think of you. tence due to your prior demise at the hands of your now non-existent self. Technically no talent.

With this being said, as you start to figure out the action of “kill us both” is impossible, as who you are, you will develop a reputation that despite the fact that you both perish, only will follow you no matter what happens. And one body is truly victim to homicide.]

Kelly Riordan ‘15 your reputation often gets to people and places before you do. With establishing who you are, make sure that you’re okay with the reputaNo one, we don’t have tion that you’ve developed as well. Like I said Will Most ‘15 because To get into the school time for that in the earlier, I’m confident in who I am, but if I had Try to leave. he put me in the grid. ceremony. No fun newspaper the chance, I would go back and maybe do some allowed. things differently.

Don’t ever expect anything. This is an importKarl Krull ‘15 ant lesson. My senior year of wrestling, I expectcompiled by Will Most ed myself to be good. It was my second year on varsity and I had put in a decent amount of work in the offseason. Let’s just say my season was less This letter to the editor is Shannon Mack’s ‘16 message addressHigh school doesn’t than pretty. I also expected to get into all the colleges that I applied to, and didn’t put as much ing the death of Dylan Buginas earlier in April and the reaction have to be a musical work into the college process as I should have. It of the LT community to this passing. let me know that there were areas I slacked off in I have some news that may “In life everyone is faced with tragedies, it’s how we respond that defines us.” and things that I could’ve changed. If you want upset you: “The high school ex~Mzati Zapita something, put the work in. Do not expect it. perience” was introduced many On April 9 I learned that a classmate I’d known since the sixth grade, I want to clear one thing up. I’m a happy kid. years ago by a heartless marketDylan Buginas, had taken his life. I remember feeling this wave of sadness I know this column sounds like a bit of a pity ing team with the sole intent of when I heard the news from a friend. I didn’t know him well, but since midClare Mikulski party, but I really do love my life, and a big part making teenagers feel insecure dle school we had shared the same hallways, so it felt as though something of that is my friends. enough to spend large amounts of money on bottled intangible was missing. His death affected me more than I expected, as I’m I think the dynamic that my group of friends blonde, bottled tan and bottled beer. In short, “the sure it had for many others. I felt empty and wanted to help others in pain, has is special, so my advice is find a group of high school experience” doesn’t exist. but I didn’t know how. friends that you can be more than friends with.

A lot of people spend a lot of time worrying that The next couple days, I expected an announcement from Dr. Waterman, My best friends are the guys on the wrestling they’re “not doing high school right.” High school or a mention of Dylan before the moment of silence, but there was nothing doesn’t have to look like “Gossip Girl” or “Friday Night team that I’ve spent four years getting to know acknowledging him until the LION, nearly two weeks later, included an Lights” or “The Breakfast Club” or “The Perks of Being and beating the hell out of, and at this point informative article about his death. It was then I realized there were still a Wallflower” for you to enjoy yourself. You shouldn’t we’re a family. students who didn’t know he had passed away. I was shocked. One of the And your friends don’t always have to be be able to define whole swaths of your life with one or greatest aspects of LT is that when we need to band together in tragedy, we two words. “Netflix.” “Studying.” “Partying.” “Sports.” perfect. You don’t have to be the most popular do. During this tragedy, however, we were never given that opportunity. kids in the school, and everyone doesn’t have to I understand why the LT administration may have wanted to keep Dylan’s “Music.” “Scholastic Bowl.” Why not do it all?

High school isn’t a pre-packaged gift set you can get be the same. Coming into high school, I never death confidential, as evidence suggested that this tragedy was a suicide, and “suicide contagion” can be a serious issue amongst at risk adolescents. Howev- for 15-percent off when you use the promo code “PU- could have anticipated the crazy crew that would er, according to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center’s (SPRC) document, BERTY” at checkout. It is four years that you spend at become my friend group. But I think that’s why we’re so great, and honestly I wouldn’t want it “After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools”, there are ways to acknowledge a sui- Lyons Township High School. You will feel terrible any other way. cide’s immense tragedy “that doesn’t inadvertently glamorize or romanticize” and you will feel amazing. I’ve had my A-plus-goodOnce you find this group, make the most of the death (Page 35). It doesn’t suggest that there should be no mention of it. hair days, and I’ve had my crying-in-class-rippedit. Make memories that will last you a lifetime.

The SPRC further advises that one of the best ways to acknowledge death up-cuticles days. Some days suck, and some days are My friends and I have certainly done so with livable. All of it is legitimate because you lived it. by suicide is through a school-based fundraising event to support a suicide countless activites that might be best left out of Seniors, please don’t resent the last four years, prevention organization (Page 39). So, I ask that LT community’s clubs and this column. various organizations consider sponsoring a fundraiser for suicide awareness, but be prepared to release them with grace. Juniors, So I guess the overarching idea that I’m trying squeeze everything you can out of your last nine to remember Dylan, as well as help prevent future tragedies. to get at here is don’t have any regrets. Try to From my perspective, there was little, if any, effort to memorialize Dylan, months at LT. Leave nothing unsaid. Sophomores, if and he deserved to be remembered. Giving Dylan a moment of silence would you survived the first two years, there’s no reason you live your high school career in a way where you can’t survive the next two. Freshman, please don’t feel won’t get to the end and wish that you did things not have been idealizing the manner in which he died, but respecting and revering his memory as a fellow lion, and it would’ve allowed those who were bad that your first year of high school wasn’t magical. differently, because trust me, it’s not a good You’ve only just begun, and the best things take time. feeling. Figure out what is important to you, mourning his passing to feel less alone in their grief. and be confident in who you are. I know people Please allow me to abuse a line of Walt Whitman Overall, dealing with death is an incredibly hard thing to do, but it is even always stress the importance of grades, but high harder to deal with alone. Those who are in mourning should know that they to close out my last shout into the void as a LION school is honestly so much more than that. Once columnist: your high school experience can be large, have a community of people who care, and who will support them. LT has you figure out who you are and find your friend banded together on multiple occasions to make a difference in our communi- it can contain multitudes. Don’t condense years of group, you can truly make high school what it’s ty and in the lives of our fellow students. I see no reason why this tragedy, or your adolescence into a few sepia-toned quotes in an supposed to be, the best four years of your life. others like it, couldn’t facilitate more efforts to help those in need of support. attempt to chase a happiness that isn’t real.

LettertotheEditor

GuestColumn

Write in and make your voice heard.  100 S. Brainard Ave., La Grange, Ill. 60525  LION reserves the right to edit all letters.

Random Chatter “He has a collection of dead safety jerseys.”

- Dan Devine ‘15

OPINIONS Thursday, May 21, 2015 n Page 8

Is marijuana legislation riding high or going to die?

PawsUp

LION polled 253 students regarding their opinion of recreational marijuana and its legalization.

n to Doritos and Cheezits- Legal crack. nto summer music festivals- Nothing beats crazy girls wearing flower bands saying that they “love” Paul McCartney.

Also, music can create an enjoyable enviroment.

Should recreational marijuana be legalized?

No 37% Yes 63%

nto paws for turning 21 years old this yearThey’ve come a long way, but they’ve still maintained that weird teenager sense of humor. (see below) nto pants- For covering everything up. nto pants- Seriously

though, I’ve been trying to cover up how much my life is in shambles, it’s hard to cover something up.

nto buttons- For helping the pants cover everything up. nto belts- Always willing to help their friend pants cover everything up. nto belts- Seriously

though, how many friends do you have who would help cover something up?

The answer for me is zero.

nto sports figures- For endorsing pants in commercials. nto China- For helping create my pants time and time again. nto those of you who read all of the paws- And who wear pants. Peace.

PawsDown n to crack cocaine- Illegal crack. nto pants- Just kidding. nto that one thing that

happened in the Senior Honors Assembly.

nto getting pantsed-

What sick human would expose someone where their pants would be?

Especially when cover is so hard to come by these days. I can barely manage to cover my heart. I’m dead inside.

nto jeggings- A crime against pants. nto 12 Angry Men- Can we all just admit that guy was guilty? nto mistrials- They ruin everything. nto pauses in paws.

They. break. everything. up.

nto jorts- Who would ever cut off their pants?

Why do you think students choose not to smoke marijuana?

Health concerns 32%

It’s inaccessible 13%

It’s illegal 55%

Wave the white flag for the war on drugs

CounterPoint

Ignore the haze, don’t blaze There is no denying the fact that our society is heading into a direction where the recreational use of marijuana is becoming more widely accepted throughout this country.

However, the idea of legalizing marijuana is one that undermines the safety of the public and puts many Gaby Sabatino individuals at risk for detrimental health problems.

Both long-term and short-term negative effects are key proponents in understanding the importance of keeping marijuana illegal. Not only does it compromise brain development, but it also exposes users to other unsafe and toxic drugs. It’s known as the “gateway effect.” According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, a person who smokes marijuana is 104 times more likely to move on to harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, compared to those who do not smoke marijuana. Enabling millions of Americans to readily access marijuana could, therefore, lead to an increase of illicit drug use across the nation.

Extensive studies have also shown that the use of marijuana impacts brain functions in more ways than people may know. Short-term effects include altered perceptions, impaired memory, slower reac-

“It makes me want to skin myself.”

-Melissa Fuentes ‘16

Will’sWord My Farewell Column: Draft Five

As you could probably deduce from my title, this is a farewell column, and it is my 3/4 or 1/4 fifth draft. Four drafts higher preceded this farewell 9% What fraction column.

19% of LT students Will Most 2/5 First came the do you believe bitter one, where I 26% have smoked tried to point out some of the problems 1/2 I saw within the culture of LT and marijuana? remind people that we aren’t as con46% nected as our “Play as a Team” slogan would suggest. It was a miserable piece of writing, and I didn’t even really mean most of it. I was just trying to be different from the usually cheery farePeer pressure well column.

13% Then came the second draft, in which I tried to soften the blows of the first draft. Yet it still remained miserable, only it was more boring. Was this what my experience at LT brought Why do you me? Misery and resentment? I didn’t think stuJust to think that was the case, but reading the dents choose column, it felt like that. experiment Enjoyment 23% to smoke The third draft praised every institu64% tion remotely involved with LT. It felt marijuana? forced, and I found myself writing it just to convince myself my experience at LT was 100% positive.

The fourth draft was a second attempt at convincing myself that LT was super great. I praised all of my classmates and thanked the teachers for every second they spent in creating my high school experience. This still felt forced. Somehow my heart wasn’t in criminals are marijuana offenders, which means writing any of these personal columns. one-sixth of our country’s prisoners are in jail for So here is my fifth draft, which so marijuana-related charges. Legalizing marijuana far is just me telling you about all my would equate to spending more than $11.3 billion failed miserable drafts. It probably less a year on prisons, which is $11.3 billion back in seems like I’ve lost all direction and am our wallets. trying to fill in the spaces of a botched Additionally, legalizing recreational marijuana farewell column. But that’s not true. would allow the government to tax the substance Or at least, it’s not completely true. and thus generate millions of dollars in tax revenue.

The point of sharing all of my failed In January 2014, the state of Colorado pulled in $2 attempts, all of my forced misery and million in that month alone. forced cheeriness, is to be honest. I According to a report released by the U.S. want you to see my process, understand Government Accountability Office in May 2011, my thoughts. the investigative arm of Congress concluded that I did reach a final thought, however: the State Department “does not evaluate the overfarewell columns are stupid. Of course, all success of its counter-narcotics program” and I could have told you this at the start of has no tangible data supporting that the influx of my process, but I didn’t fully comprespending to fight drug usage has resulted in any hend it at that point. I saw these fareprogress. The now trillion dollars spent on this fight well columns where people attempted are utterly draining taxpayers’ wallets and patience, to take high school, wrap it in its nicest but the legalization of marijuana can put an end to bow and say “That was high school. all of that.

Wasn’t it awesome?” I tried to take In terms of safety, marijuana is not physically high school, wrap it in a bunch of toilet addictive, and it poses less of a psychologically paper, and say, “Well, you just went addictive risk than overindulging in a substance through high school. Wasn’t it awful?” such as French fries. The abuse of food ingestion just to be different. Both were awful to can lead to fatalities such as heart disease, cancer read: they weren’t honest, both were and stroke, whereas there have never been any forced and frankly a waste of words. reports of a marijuana-related death in this country That’s because you can’t put four or in any nation around the world. years of your life into words. If I could, I would fully expect to have magazines, publishing companies and film studios begging me to forget about college and jump right into the business. I love tion time and changes in mood. Long-term effects words and consider myself adept at include impact to basic brain functions like thinkphrasing things so that I might have ing and learning. Early exposure to this drug can a chance of capturing just a moment, create life-changing health risks that can potentially an emotion or a person. Even the best permanently alter essential human functions. pieces of art can only do so much in For those states that have already legalized capturing life. Pictures can beautifully recreational use, like Colorado, it has become clear capture the complex emotions of a that the amount of tax revenue this industry is gensingle second, but could they capture erating is unparalleled. Within one month of legalall of the anguish and joy of the years ization, the state of Colorado collected more than surrounding that image? Unlikely. Even $4 million from taxes alone. Furthermore, the state the best music only presents a template is projected to take in around $70 million by the of emotions, one where we can personend of the fiscal year (June 2015). Despite the treally cut and paste our lives so the song mendous amount of money that is being brought in, “speaks to us.” compromising people’s health for the sake of proSo, here’s your farewell column: ducing revenue for the state is blatantly immoral.

Goodbye. There is no farewell column.

I understand the evolving opinions that contraThanks for everything. High school dict traditional beliefs in relation to the legalization contained some of the most joyous of marijuana, however, legally allowing recreational times in my life, and it contained some use of marijuana could endanger the lives of many of my darkest moments. That’s life. who already struggle with drug abuse as well as And in the end, there’s nothing more others who are yet to be exposed to it. The underbeautiful that that simple truth. This lying reality brings to light the conspicuous truth: is life. That was high school. Wasn’t legalized marijuana is destructive. Permitting the it awesome/awful/boring/beautiful/ legal purchase of this drug glorifies the use that heart-breaking/engaging/depressing/ conclusively provokes compromised behavior and uplifting/useless/unforgettable/just a bit negative health risks. of life?

Point

The weakening campaign against marijuana began in 1972 when Richard Nixon announced his War on Drugs. Since his declaration 43 years ago, the U.S. government has spent over $1 trillion fighting illegal drugs to no end.

This wasteful crusade needs Ceili Doyle to end, and in its place we must implore our nation to legalize marijuana. The U.S. government should seek to legalize the drug for recreational use (to those 21 and older) because it will decrease taxes needed for law enforcement and provide a safer alternative than being under the influence of alcohol or resorting to any number of more dangerous drugs. Washington and Colorado began to pave the way back in 2012, followed by Alaska and Oregon in 2014 as well as the District of Columbia passing legislature to legalize possession of marijuana in small amounts this February.

The number of marijuana users in the U.S. has remained stagnant over a 40-year period from the ‘70s until now, whereas the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on combating drugs has increased tremendously over the exact same time period.

Specifically, billions are being spent on keeping individuals locked up on marijuana-related charges.

Our nation as a whole spends $68 billion a year on its prisoners, one-third of which are imprisoned for nonviolent drug crimes. About half of these

Random Chatter

Random Chatter

“I experienced Vietnam in my bathroom.”

-Nick Valdivia ‘15

OPINIONS

Random Chatter

“I can’t hook up with him, he has a lazy eye.”

-Meghan Magats ‘16

Friday, April 17, 2015 n Page 9

AnotherView

StaffEditorials

Showered with praise If you ever sit there and just think about had thousands of students glowering in the vast enormity of LT, you may wonder the halls on those freezing days, he always how we even function as a school. Think tried to keep a positive attitude. He and about it: we have 4,000 students, hundreds the school set up hot chocolate stations, he of faculty members, two campuses and personally thanked students and faculty about a million clubs and activities. There is for coming, he showed us that he knew we always something going on. were unhappy, but was trying to do the So when you take a step back and best he could with the circumstances. That survey it all, you almost wonder how on kind of dedication and thoughtfulness only earth anyone would want to be principal of comes around once in a while. such chaos. It was no secret that all of the It would have been easy for him to write returning students and faculty were wary us off as kids who complain to complain, of our new principal, Dr. Brian Waterman; but instead, he took the time to understand yet as his first year comes to a close, it is and be with us. He stood outside on many fair to say that it was a success, and many of those frosty mornings. He showed us he of us are pleasantly surprised with how cares, and is just like the rest of us. fluid our transition from David Franson to In addition to his kind spirit, Waterman Waterman went. also knows how to let loose. Let us be real The thing that is most unique about here: high school drags. There are months Waterman is that he at a time when we all weigh makes time for his the pros and cons of dropping Position Statement: Dr. students. He makes out. Then we have a glimmer Brian Waterman has the conscious effort to earned LT’s respect after of hope when we realize remember everyone’s All-School Assembly is just a commendable year. name, something about around the corner. Although them or even stops them in the hallway this year, the budget did not allow us to just to shake their hand. He did not shy have a special guest, Waterman lent himself away from the challenge of getting to know to the cause and generously let us pie him 4,000 students, but instead took it head-on. in the face. That act, while simple, let us Waterman did not want to lead a school know that he is not a guy who takes himself without knowing its followers, and that, in too seriously. He is one of us, and although itself, is the mark of a great principal. He chosen as a leader, he understands his knew he could not lead the people without followers. first getting to know the people.

In the end—although for many of As mentioned previously, being us it was a big change from Franson principal of a high school as large as LT is to Waterman—Waterman has not difficult, but what is perhaps even more disappointed. The guy has shown difficult is dealing with unhappy students impressive commitment to the school over things like negative-30-below weather, and students throughout this entire year. piles of snow and the general attitude of The brief examples above do not begin students displayed mostly in the dreary to describe how involved he has been. In months of late January through March— addition to all of that, he has shown up that high school is a place where dreams to every major LT event, as many extracome to die. curricular events as well and an enormous What is refreshing about Waterman, amount of sporting events. He is in it to win however, is that even though he probably it, and winning it, he is.

Staff Vote: 24-1

In defense of DuPage

Here’s a nice social experiment: the next It’s important to remember that despite time a friend or relative asks you where the fact college is constantly associated you’re going to college, tell them that with sprawling campuses, college towns you are going to the College of DuPage and big sports teams, that doesn’t necessarily mean that every college experience has (COD). Don’t treat it like it’s a joke. Watch to include those elements. Just because you their reaction. Hopefully, they greet this can live at home and drive to your classes newfound news with a great smile, a hug and don’t go to any football games on the and congratulation for you finally making weekends doesn’t mean you made the a decision. wrong choice.

However, too often in the affluent There is also a fact that somehow gets suburbia that is the western suburbs of dismissed among all the joking and teasing: Chicago, this isn’t the case. Sometimes an COD is a good school. For many students, announcement of this nature will be met this local community college can provide with some hesitation, an awkward silence exactly what they need: working toward and a half-hearted, “That’s great.” Or even becoming an engineer or a manager at a worse, some more immature audiences, local store or anything in such as friends and fellow between. students might go as far Position Statement: LT’s COD’s affordability to ask, “Are you joking?” constant ridicule of local community college College is especially alluring, It’s a serious problem— one that has to be of Dupage is unjustified as it especially considering the provides a great education rectified immediately. sky-rocketing price of at an affordable price.

Because as you skim tuition at both private and through the later pages state schools all across the of these newspaper, quietly judging each country. Even our state college, University graduating senior with the each condeof Illinois, has costs that may lead many scending “I can’t believe she’s going to that to search for options that are a little less school,” or “There is no way he is smart demanding on their wallets. COD costs enough to go there!”, know that each and $140 for each credit hour completed, not to every person you condescend has a story, mention that for high-achieving students, a financial and personal dimension to their COD is willing to make the entire experience free. college decision that takes place behind the The time has come for us to accept scenes.

COD for what it is: a completely acceptable Every person’s college decision is different. Each student has varying levels of inschool to attend. So when you’re flipping telligence, financial capability and interests. through these later pages looking at college Every college decision should be met with decisions, you’ll likely see COD by a name understanding and appreciation, regardless that surprises you. Look at it again, nod and of how shocking it might be. So why then understand that they have made a completely acceptable choice and that behind does the school that most of our graduating each and every college decision—COD or seniors will choose to attend next fall get not—there is a story. treated with the least understanding?

Staff Vote: 25-0 C ontact : 708-579-6403 Staffviavote: 25-1

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Illustration by Bryce Hughes

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Turkey traditions Softball originated in Chicago on Thanksgiving in 1887, and became an NCAA sanctioned sport in 1910.

Girls aim for playoffs Softball works on cohesion, team strives for consistency as regional approaches

by Izy Scott @3izy3

For 33 years, Head Coach Dawn Schabacker has coached LT softball and driven home a key message to her teams: “We have a puzzle,” Schabacker said. “We have to put it together by the mid-season and then make sure it fits together by the end of the season.”

This season especially, with a current varsity record of 7-9, keeping the puzzle together will be critical to secure of a long post-season run. After losing in regional play last year, the now-upperclassmen of the team dominate the field.

“Last year we had seven sophomores and a freshman that played majority of the games, so this year we have a majority of juniors who know what varsity is about,” Schabacker said. “One of our goals in the very beginning was to find a blend between the old with the new to get the best result, and we’re still working on that right now.”

Team captain Grace Delleman ‘15, who will be attending Edgewood College next year for softball, said that the team is working to fix minor errors in order to break the pattern of losing by just one or two points. Many team members played together since Little League, so she said the girls’ cohesion has played a key factor in the team’s efforts so far.

“This season a lot of the girls get along more,” Delleman said. “Last year we didn’t really have team chemistry and there wasn’t that spark. But this year we’ve known each other for a long time. We have a lot of great players, we’re a great team and we have great chemistry.”

The team consists of 16 juniors and only five seniors, three of which are captains Delleman, Courtney Petrossius ‘15 and Alexis Pelletiere ‘15.

“To keep 21 people in a positive state is a goal in and of itself,” Schabacker said. “And they really have done a great job in doing that.”

With the help of standouts including Marina Gonzalez ‘16 who did not play LT softball last year, remaining positive and keeping the puzzle piece together will be a focus for the team as they head into regionals on May 25.

“We made a really good run in regionals last year, and we really want to prolong the end of our season as long as we possibly can and get into the sectional play,” Schabacker said. “So that’s our goal for this year, to try and take it a step further. We will see what happens, because in softball, when the wind blows the right way, good things happen. Any team can beat any team on any given day.”

Boys look to sectional Senior leaders step up, individual breaks volleyball career record, team meshes well

by Michael Grace @_michaelgrace

As Jake Suva ‘15 stepped onto the court on May 1, at the Lincoln-Way East Invitational, the opportunity to break a record was not on his mind. The only thing he strived for was getting a win. Yet, after making another routine play, Suva had just broke the record for most career digs in LT men’s volleyball history.

“In the beginning of the season the coaches told me to not be a stat person, always worrying about it,” Suva said. “I didn’t know I broke it until after the game, I was just focused on helping the team.”

Suva, along with other senior leaders Danny Shannon ‘15 and Jake Fisher ‘15, have been able to mesh well with the team’s new players this year, guiding this young group to an 8-5 record thus far, even after losing many key players from last season’s team.

“I think we’ve found a good group of guys,” Shannon said. “The chemistry’s there, we just need to come together and play our game.”

After taking down former state champion Downers Grove South and putting up a tough fight against highly ranked New Trier, the Lions have gained momentum, as they head toward the postseason.

“We are playing more consistently as a team and we are beginning to pick up the pace of our play on the floor,” Head Coach Joann Pyritz said. “All of this will serve us in a positive way as we complete the regular season and move into the playoffs.”

Although a conference championship is out of reach, as No. 2 in the state Glenbard West continues to dominate West Suburban Silver competition, LT has a serious chance of making a playoff run after being placed in a new sectional this year. With an easier schedule, all roads look to lead to rival Hinsdale Central: the biggest obstacle for the teams hopes in capturing a sectional championship and Cinderella state finals run.

SPORTS

Thursday, May 21, 2015 n Page 10

Sinking star Since 2010 Starling Castro has played the fourth most innings at shortstop, but has made 126 errors, including 52 throwing.

Linsanity Stephanie Lin ‘15 makes IHSA history

by Mary Hadley @maryhadley22

Winning the match would make Stephanie Lin ‘15 the first person to claim three state titles in a row in IHSA history. With 44 wins and two loses on her back, Lin stepped on to the court of her final badminton match as an LT Lion.

“I’d resolved myself to be calm and collected, to enjoy the final match,” Lin said. “As soon as I started the match, however, I realized that I’d completely and utterly failed because my nerves froze up ever inch of my body. To be honest, it was the most terrifying yet exhilarating moment of my life.”

On May 16, Lin played her final badminton match against sophomore Judy Yang from Hinsdale South. This was a rematch of whom she had faced last year in the championship and was also a player from the same club, Midwest Badminton Club, where Lin trains. The match went three sets long: Yang won the first of the three sets, and Lin won the final two sets to become the 2015 IHSA badminton state champion.

“There have been others that have claimed three titles, but never in a row.

If someone were to tell my freshman self that I would someday be a three-time consecutive State Champion, the first in IHSA history, I would have shaken my head in disbelief,” Lin said. “As soon as the last bird landed out, I collapsed to my knees and sobbed in joy for a good 10 minutes. It was as if the world broke around me and suddenly it was mine.

At long last, here was something I could keep forever—something I couldn’t lose ever again.”

Lin was the only member of the varsity badminton team to make it to the state finals this year. She hopes to leave the team with the idea that they are strong both as players and as individuals and can stand on the same stage some day, Lin said.

“I do not think people realize the amount of sacrifices that she made to win,” varsity coach Susan McClenahan said. “She was up every morning

Lin celebrates as she becomes the first person to win three consecutive state championships. (Danielle Sievers ‘16)

running, she was in the training room during study hall the last three weeks taking care of her injuries, she was icing at night besides doing all her homework and AP tests for this time of year. Not to mention everything she does, she plays piano. She was going from practice to going to grab a quick bite to eat, to piano lesson to doing her homework at night to doing it all over again the next day.

Her and her family made a lot of sacrifices to do what she did.”

As for Lin, she plans on continuing her badminton career at Cornell University where she hopes to be a part of the intercollegiate club badminton team. LT will continue on without her and hope to increase its level of dedication after seeing what Lin has been able to do, McClenahan said.

“It has been a privilege to watch her,” McClenahan said. “I mean I had this nostalgic moment on Saturday during warm ups, and I was excited for her, I was nervous, I was a little sad because I knew it was the last day she was going to be playing for LT. I just sat behind her court, and watched her for the final time warm up. It has been a lot of fun.”

On the weekend of May 15-16, Alex Janicki ‘17 placed first in state for the LT boys gymnastics team on the following events: floor exercise, parallel bars and horizontal bar. Janicki finished eigth place all around at the event. Visit our website, lionnewspaper.com, for full coverage of Janicki’s successful weekend. (Tom Huml)

Annualatrocity I think that over the course of the past two years, I’ve made myself pretty clear- I’m a diehard Cubs fan, and there is nothing that can change Joe Rossetti that. With that being said, there is one thing that drives me crazy about our team and our fan base. Not every year is the year, and that’s the bottom line.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the unconditional positive support and the neversay-die attitude, but one thing that my life and my love of the Cubs has taught me is to be realistic. The fact that us fans can look at every season, year after year, and repeatedly believe that this is the year, not last year, not next year, not two years from now, but this year, is the year for the Cubs to win the pennant and make a run at the playoffs is just unrealistic. At the end of the day, it makes us look dumb and it provides an opportunity for other, inferior fan bases to make fun of us and our love for the Cubs.

While this may contradict everything that I just said, if any recent year had to be the year for the Cubs, this year has potential to be the year. I get it, I know I sound like a ridiculous hypocrite, but I’m not just blindly saying that. Based on the way the Cubs have begun this season, if it keeps up, this will be the year.

This season is the first time this decade that the Cubs have had a winning record heading into May. In 2010, the Cubs were 11-13 through April. In 2011, the team was 12-14 heading into the second month of the season. In 2012 and 2013, the team was 8-15 and 10-16 respectively in the season’s first month. And last year, the Cubs started off their worst in recent years with a 9-17 record in April. The Cubs, who are currently 21-16, are playing at a level which hasn’t been seen in years.

So far the team is hot, and the Cubs aren’t even playing at their best. Pitcher John Lester, who the team acquired from Boston, has high expectations and I’m not convinced that he’s reached his best. I think his transition is going to take some time, so I’m not worried. He has 47 strikeouts in 48.2 innings pitched, and I think that he’ll start to pick it up and transform into what people want him to be right around the All-star break. Look at his recent starts.

Lester is 4-0 in May so far, compared to the 0-2 start that he had last month. And once he does pick it up, the Cubs will start winning more as well.

Anthony Rizzo, the Cubs’ main slugger, is currently leading the team with a .344 batting average and 26 runs scored, but he still isn’t swinging the bat as well as he wants to be. I know he’s red hot, but it doesn’t take a genius to tell you that the big guy isn’t hitting the ball out of the ballpark as much as he would like. At this point, Rizzo only has eight homeruns, but like Lester, I think he’ll start to pick it up as the season progresses and with more homeruns will come more run production.

I still think the Cubs have a few changes to make. Growing up, shortstop Starlin Castro was a hero to me, and my favorite player, but at this point, it’s simple: he’s trade-bate. Castro just isn’t the player that we as fans want him to be. Don’t get me wrong, Castro does make the flashy play, but since his debut in 2010, he’s played the fourth-most innings, but has 126 errors, 52 of which were throwing, which are the most at the position. Castro has 11 good plays and 17 defensive misplays this season, but over the course of his career, he’s -67 in this category. Don’t be surprised to see Castro gone. I think the best possible infield for the Cubs would be Kris Bryant at third, who is playing well so far, Addison Russell at shortstop because he’s a shortstop at heart, and minor league player Javier Baez at second base. At this point, I think we should cut our losses with Castro and see what we can get for him. On the other hand, Russell would be a nice addition to the left side and would make a noticeable difference compared to Castro’s usual lazy style of play.

So while we are playing well and this season looks promising, the Cubs still have a lot to work on before I can wholeheartedly believe that this is the year.

Tennessee tenacity University of Tennessee spent the most for recruiting in 2013-2014, and University of Louisiana at Monroe spent the least.

John Heilenbach, Baseball, Villanova

SPORTS

Seasonal sports There are more than 460,000 NCAA student-athletes and they compete in 23 sports throughout the year.

Thursday, May 21, 2015 n Page 11

In baseball’s packed stadium, where only the most elite players survive, John Heilenbach ‘15 has flourished, earning an offer to play at Villanova University next year.

The third baseman/pitcher has chosen not to continue with LT’s team, opting instead to focus on his final year of high school baseball with the Rawlings Hitters in the spring and the Downers Grove Longshots in the summer, the latter an elite travel team which boasts 13 Division I commits this year.

Heilenbach’s athleticism, combined with his arm strength and hitting power, has allowed him to compete at the highest level.

“It’s amazing that all this has happened in the past 10 years,” Heilenbach said. “All the hard work and dedication really paid off.”

College Commits compiled by Michael Rasmussen and Lidia Breen @MikeRas55, @lidia_breen

Matt Faucher, Lacrosse, Endicott College

“I’ve been playing since sixth grade, and it’s not something I can just give up on. The game just keeps getting harder and more fun to play the higher you go, and I want to be a part of that.”

Jack Garrow, Swimming, John Carroll University

“[Signing was] really rewarding and satisfying, because you put so much in.

I love to compete, I love the sport. It’s such a big part of my life.”

Hannah Juley, Volleyball, Wisconsin

As one of the nation’s top volleyball recruits, it may shock some that Hannah Juley ‘15 didn’t begin playing until she turned 13, and it wasn’t her best sport.

“I played a lot of sports when I was younger: soccer, basketball, tennis—and volleyball was actually the sport I was worst at, and I loved the challenge,” Juley said.

The captain of First Alliance, her club team, and the LT team, Juley spent the past few years working to become one of the most coveted prospects at setter.

A year ago, she fielded around three dozen offers from schools like Stanford, Nebraska, Northwestern, Michigan State and UCLA. In one of the toughest decisions of her life, she decided to commit to the University of Wisconsin because she believed that the program’s reputation and competitive environment gave her the best shot to win a national championship.

“The best thing in the world is competing, and fighting to be the best [that] I can be,” Juley said.

David Fiflis, Soccer, Xavier

This page is dedicated to those athletes who will continue their athletic careers in college. Above: A map depicts where these athletes will be playing. Below: Briefs on who the LION staff has selected to be LT’s top prospects. Sides: Feature quotes and briefs highlighting other key athletes.

Harry Hilling, Soccer, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

“It’s a big relief. [The recruiting process] was long for me. It was pretty rigorous. It’s great that it’s finally come to end. But it’s also great to know that I get to play the sport that I love for the next four years.”

Jacob Norris, Lacrosse, Cornell College

“It was like a dream come true, knowing I’ll be playing at a national scale next year. Now I have to train that much harder, so when I get to college, I can make an impact.”

Jessi Skonning, Volleyball, Manhattan College

“I really love the team aspect [of volleyball], and I can’t imagine my life without the team behind me. It’ll be a fresh beginning, and I’m excited for the new experiences.”

As a player with an incredibly specific skillset at goalie, Chicago Fire Academy player David Fiflis ‘15 quickly found that finding a college that could use his talents was a game itself. “[The recruiting process] Matt Walsh, Golf, Leonard Ross, Football, Miami was one of the most diffiLT’s all-time career rushing leader and Miami University of Ohio commit Leonard Ross ’15 didn’t even Rutgers cult things I’ve had to do “I like controlling your own destiny in my life,” Fiflis said. “It’s have football on his long-term radar prior to his sophomore year.

“I planned on becoming an engineer. I didn’t even think I would get a scholarship. To get the opporin golf. Over the past couple years, I decided I who you know, contacts, wanted to do everything I could to make the PGA getting to talk to coaches, tunity to play in college with free tuition is a blessing, but that wasn’t in the original plan,” Ross said.

His plan changed when he moved up to varsity during the playoffs in his freshman year.

Tour. I turned it on over the summer, and finally it getting the opportu“I got playing time as a freshman, which was a really big deal, especially at LT. And at that moment, I paid off.” nity to play in front realized I could actually do something with the sport.” of coaches.”

Ross’s short-term goal is to earn a starting spot as a freshman under second-year head coach and former After a year of flux surrounding achiev- Notre Dame offensive coordinator, Chuck Martin.

Long-term, Ross has his sights set on the NFL draft. ing his ultimate goal, “I’m really focused on Plan A, which is going to the NFL. It’s especially hard with the conference that I’m Fiflis received his first Kelsy Kurfirst, Gymnastics, Cornell offers from Bradley in, but I believe if you’re NFL-bound, no matter where you go, you’ll end up there.”

University University and Xavier “I’m excited to compete gymnastics in college because Harrison Niego, Basketball, Indiana University – allowit means I have four more years to do what I love most. I At his visit to Indiana University three weeks ago, LT’s all-time career assist leader, Harrison ing him to stop worreally enjoyed the team-oriented atmosphere of high school rying and focus Niego ‘15, threw up an alley-oop to his new teammate, basketball star and first-round NBA prospect athletics, and my high school gymnastics experience is actuTroy Williams. on winning. ally what inspired me to pursue college gymnastics.”

The four-year varsity starter, often called one of the most underrated guards in Illinois, passed “It’s a big sense up other Division I offers at schools like Loyola University-Chicago, North Dakota State and Dartof accomplishmouth to join the perennial Big Ten contender as a preferred walk-on—deciding that Indiana would ment,” Fiflis said. give him the best chance to improve himself as a player.

“I’m relieved As a freshman preferred walk-on behind Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell, one of the nation’s top point to have that Grace Delleman, Softball, guards, Niego will need to work to earn minutes—a challenge he’s more than happy whole process to tackle. behind me, and Edgewood College “Going to a big-time school like Indiana who’s a national championship actually get to “I decided to play at the next level because when I first started softball contender this year is a full-time job, and they make you work hard. focus on playI was the girl that no one wanted on their team, because I was so bad so I just It’s a lot of sacrifice. But it’ll work wonders for me in the ing soccer for its played for the fun of it. But as I continued to play and got much better, I loved future, and I’ll have a lot of fun doing it.” enjoyment and not softball more and more and I realized that I would miss it way too much if I stopped for evaluation.” after high school.”

LT’s Top Prospects

Exposed etymology The word “gymnastics” is derived from the Greek word “gymnos,” which means naked.

In Ancient Greece most gymnastics competitions were done in the nude.

SPORTS SPORTS

First flip

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 12

Scores 

In 1862 the first womens’ gymnastics instruction was given at Mount Holyoke College. And it was not until 1928 that women competed in gymnastics for the Olympics.

Highlights  Profiles

2012Uneven Bars

2013All Around

by Bailey Blum @ultimatebailey

If you were to travel back a few years became the primary focus of her attitude both on the floor and and visit McClure Junior High School, outside of the gym.

“The most important aspect of high school gymnastics every you’d notice something peculiar in the gym fields to the south of the main build- year for me has been bonding as a team and getting to know all of ing: while everyone else is playing kick- the girls,” Kurfirst said. “You’re all there, together, 18-20 hours a ball or baseball, one girl stands alone in the week, laughing, crying...you go through the journey as a team.”

Her intense focus on teamwork wasn’t the only thing people outfield, seemingly off in her own universe, because the excitement of other sports simply took notice of, however. Her innate desire to compete and her doesn’t cut it for her. This is Kelsy Kurfirst ‘15. heightened sense of competition also earned her wide recogni“I’ve always been pretty active and energetic,” tion from both her teammates and her coaches.

“From the very first time she competed as a freshman, there Kurfirst said. “I just love the thrill you get from flipwas a certain elegance and sophistication to her, and an unbeping around and defying gravity.”

Naturally, at a young age Kurfirst was drawn to lievable drive for perfection,” Kari Karubas, Head Coach of the elaborate and dangerous world of gymnastics. Her varsity gymnastics, said. “She was able to push through most obstacles and turn them mom enrolled her in into opportunities.” classes at the age of 4 at Her drive paid off. ThroughPremier Gymnastics Gym, out her four years, Kurfirst won and she stuck to it with a a whopping 15 state medals from fiery passion up until seventh the IHSA State competitions, grade, when that fire seemed to and was voted team MVP three be starting to burn out. years in a row. She managed to “I quit in seventh compete in every single event of grade, because it just every meet for her entire career, became too much presand was also blessed with the sure,” Kurfirst said. gift of never facing any serious “I didn’t like it anymore. injuries besides minor aches and I needed pains. However, this outstanda break.”

-Kari Karubas, Head Coach ing career performance would Fortunately, that break didn’t last too long. After a few months, Kurfirst made the not have been possible without the consistent and comforting decision to attend an LT gymnastics meet, which inspired her support of her parents and older brother, she said.

“Especially on those hard days when I didn’t feel like pracand made her realize how much she missed the flips and tumbles of the sport. Her mom enrolled her in Action Gymnastics Gym, ticing, they were the ones who got me through it,” Kurfirst said.

“They never pushed me too hard, and always made sure I was and after that it was off to the races.

Kurfirst made the decision to join LT gymnastics doing what made me happy.”

Next year, Kurfirst has decidied to take her competition to upon entering high school, and became one of only two freshmen along with Kelly Ryser ‘15 on the the highest level and will be continuing her gymnastics career at unusually small varsity team, which had only five Cornell University.

“She’s going to do fantastic things in college,” Ryser said. people total. This small size, however, turned out to be an extremely positive experience “They’re going to love her there. She’ll have the time of her life.”

Although in just a few short months Kurfirst will be halfway for Kurfirst.

“It was really great because it across the country, there is no doubt her accomplishments and was such a small group, but such a close- exceptional attitude will stay prominent in the halls of LT for a knit group,” Kurfirst said. “That was very long time. Kurfirst has established herself as one of the most really when I began to fall in love decoarated gymnasts in LT’s history and will live on through the record boards. with gymnastics.”

“Her name is all over that gym,” Karubas said.

This close-knit attitude and focus on bonding stayed with Kurfirst throughout “Her legacy will be sure to continue to linger her four incredible years at LT, and and motivate.”

2013Vault

“

2013Balance Beam

“From the very first time she competed as a freshman, there was a certain elegance and sophistication to her, and an unbelievable drive for perfection. She was able to push through most obstacles and turn them into opportunities.”

2013Team

2014All Around

2014Balance Beam

2014Vault

2014Floor

1- Kelsy Kurfirst ‘15 - 56 votes

Voting Results The Athlete of the Year selection process was left completely up to the general public and the Lyons Township student body. A survey including one athlete from every sport, both male and female, was posted on the LION’s website, where students were able to vote for one week. The top eight athletes from the website survey were taken and put on a print survey. The print survey, which was distributed for three days at both North and South Campus, contained the name of each athlete, with a brief collection of various statistics and accomplishments that the athlete has accumulated while competing for LT. To the right are the results. 295 votes were collected.

2014Team

2015All Around

“

2013Floor

2015Vault

2- Harrison Niego ‘15 - 54 votes 3- Stephanie Lin ‘15 - 49 votes

Kurfirst is all over the record boards in the gymnastics gyms, and her legacy will carry on for years to come. Below are her record scores and rankings on the boards.

4- Connor Madell ‘16 - 47 votes

All Around: 1st, 38.9

5- Pat Duncan ‘15 - 30 votes

Floor: 1st, 9.85

6- Seamus Scotty ‘17 - 24 votes

Beam: 1st, 9.8

7- Courtney Petrosius ‘15 - 23 votes

Vault: 2nd, 9.825

8- Meg Kowalski ‘18 - 12 votes

Bars: 3rd, 9.7

2015Balance Beam

2015Uneven Bars

Left/Bottom: The gold medals represent the events that Kurfirst took first place in. The silver medals represent the events that Kurfirst took second place in. The bronze medals represent events that Kurfirst took third in. The copper medal represents the event that Kurfirst took fourth in.

--Harrison Niego ‘15 on the Blackout game 2015

XXXXXXXXX Dress disaster

Reactions

Red rivalry

Feb. 26, 2014 will be remembered as the biggest Twitter fight ever, centered around the debate if a dress was black/blue or white/gold.

The shot heard round the world: A video made by Hinsdale Central students in anticipation of the LT-Hinsdale football game that changed the rivalry forever.

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Pages 14 and 15

Equal emojis The emoji system for iPhone released a new format of its popular app, including different skin tones on people and hand gestures.

--Pierce McLawhorn ‘15 on Madrigals singing at a naturalization ceremony

“I was happy knowing that the administration really cared about my well-being.”

“I think it will make people happier at this campus.”

--Bill Allan, LTTV teacher on Dylan Buginas-Coleman, who worked as one of the key camera operators for LTTV before he comitted suicide in April

--Emma Lopez ‘15 and Steven Vogel ‘15 on NC Hot Cocoa

“Nothing like the aftertaste of sweaty men.”

--Richard Capalby ‘15 on eating lunch in the Vaughan gym

--Nick Fuentes ‘16 on the new schedule for next year

“Wearing those striped overalls is an uncreative attempt by Hinsdale to try and compete with the level of school spirit we create with the weirdos. Nice try Hinsdale.”

Trivia Crack took off around November as a way to test your friends’ knowledge of six categories: sports, art, music, geography, science and history.

“It definitely boosted Waterman’s approval ratings.”

“The national anthem we sung that day was the best one I have ever sung and probably will ever sing. I really thought about what the songs meant, what each word signified for each one of these people.”

“Dylan should be remembered for being a h u m a n.”

Tedious trivia

“All of the new emojis are confusing and pointless. They should stop trying to make things fancy.”

--Mitchell Ciszewski ‘15 on Hinsdale Central’s infamous overalls

--Tim O’Malley ‘17 on the new iPhone update

“I really hope they rethink this exam before next year’s freshmen take it.”

“That dress was definitely blue.”

--Mikaela Larson ’17 on the PARCC test

--Blaze Nacker ‘15 on “The Dress” debate

“Everyone was very supportive of the cause and had a blast playing badminton.”

“I may have p e a k e d in high school after making that shot.”

--Lauren De la Rosa ‘17 on Orange Crush, the fundraiser benefiting the Leukemia Society in honor of Katie Palermo ‘17

--Brendan Swinehart ‘15 on making a half-court shot at the 2015 Blackout game, winning a lease on a new car.

“The sound is breathtaking in there.”

“ ‘Sex Machine’ starting playing really loud and I was like

o h, t h a t’s T i m.

And

Tim just comes out with his

--Xavier Ontiveros ‘15 on the new Reber

little cut off suit doing his little strut.”

“It’s like ‘i didn’t open my backpack yesterday... ¯\_(“/)_/¯’ It’s perfect for anything.”

--Dan Devine ‘15 on Tim Parzyck ‘15

--Chris Scotty ‘15 on ¯\_(“/)_/¯

“I’m excited to see how much better homecoming will be in the years ahead.”

--Eden Sage ‘18 on the cancellation of KOH

“Unreal. The minute I heard my name it was like someone took a weight from my chest.”

“There were kids who sat

on the stairs to listen to us, sipping

--Tim Parzyck ‘15 on Mr. LT

hot chocolate and just chilling out. It was a very cool thing to be a part of. I think it helped start off everyone’s day on a good note.”

“I don’t know why Birkenstocks are popular.

They’re u g l y.”

--Caroline Healy ‘15 on ‘Jesus Sandals’

“The paintbrush category was my favorite.

I went to college for that category.”

--English teacher Joseph Maffey on Trivia Crack

“I was the happiest I could ever be.”

--Ginny Schoeder ‘15 on Poms winning state:

[

[

--Caroline Westrick ‘15 on Orchestra performing before school at the clocktower doors

Compiled by Claire Quinlan, Riley Carroll, Melrose Buckler and Dante Stefanini

Most of what we do here at the LION Newspaper reflects what is going on right now. We highlight pertinent events, people fulfilling their potential, as well as things that don’t go as nicely.

For this last issue, however, and as a farewell to the seniors, we decided to highlight reactions and reflections, looking back and looking forward: A pause, just for a moment, to deeply appreciate and comment on and critique everything that came through our backpacks, our hallways and our minds this past year.

“I figured [the softball league] would just be a good way to get all the senior guys together for one last thing before we all have to split up and go to our different colleges.”

--Joey Brunner ‘15 on the senior guys softball league he created

“I’ve met and played with literally the gods of jazz. Everyone here wants everyone to play well and swing hard.”

--Pat Falvey ‘15 on Jazz Band in New York City

“I appreciate the fact that coordination of a construction project of this size was an enormous undertaking, but the Bookstore was greatly affected by the construction work; and I was exposed to an unhealthy work environment for many months and felt no one really cared about those of us who worked close to the construction area. The bottom line is the cafeteria remodel will benefit many staff and students for years to come.”

--Mary Yena (NC Bookstore) on Construction

by Lidia

Check o ut ing mus some of the LIO ic N Breen, Gfestival here in Grastantffers’ reviews on th Pa e aby Sab atino, Wrk held on July 31utop-and-comAug. 2. ill Most a

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While she may be a newcomer to the music scene (which probably means an early show) Weaver is well worth an early trek down to Grant Park. Endorsed by the likes of Passion Pit and Charlie XCX, Weaver’s synth-pop sound is like nothing you’ll hear this year, and she’ll be making it big soon. See her before everyone knows who she is, ya hipsters.

Ryn Weaver James

Al

A newcomer on the electronic scene, Sylvan Esso is a must for anyone who is looking for a chill atmosphere at Lolla. Combining folky vocals with deep electronic beats, this indie-pop duo’s biggest songs, “Coffee” and “Hey Mami”, are sure to get the crowd bumpin’ in an eclectic electronic set that won’t destroy your eardrums.

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hake

aS abam

There is only one way to describe an FKA Twigs concert: an experience. For what will be both the best visual and the best vocal performance of the weekend, FKA Twigs is a must see for sultry vocals and a stupendous visual show that will result in a set to remember.

Borns’ alternative song “Electric Love,” released on his first EP “Candy,” is “an instant classic” according Taylor Swift. So need we say more? Well yes, we do. His high-energy musical style is refreshing and different from the rest. Keep an eye out for this musician because he will not disappoint.

Sylvan Esso

Børns

This young, eager and well-rounded musician will be one you don’t want to miss. George Ezra has experienced tremendous strides in his musical career within the past year and can be expected to bring that spirited and lively attitude to Lollapalooza with his blues and rock style.

George Ezra

With A highly anticithe March 23 pated headliner, Alarelease of his debut bama Shakes will no doubt full-length album “Chaos bring it this year. The band’s and the Calm,” this singer/ soulful and blues-rock style songwriter offers an acouswill render devoted pertic escape that provides formances and amazing raw and meticulous talent. varieties of musical While Bay is fairly new to the music scene, he holds the talent. Although you promising ability to put on a may not be familiar with their music, great, live performance. take advantage of Bay their unparalleled artistic ability.

a

Kid

Cud

Cudi irrefutably has classics from the 2008-2011 era that are delightful, as we’re expecting great things from the “Man on the Moon III” album that he’s been working on. From his more well known songs, “Pursuit of Happiness,” “Day ‘n’ Nite,” and more, to his more recent ones on his album “satellite flight the journey to mother moon,” Cudi is a definite go.

i

When 13-yearold Kevin Parker created Tame Impala in his bedroom in Perth, Australia, he never could have imagined the band becoming the psychedelic rock heavyweight that it is today. The band’s sophomore effort “Lonerism” brought them into mainstream rock, but all of their work, from their debut EP to their four most recent singles, are beautifully crafted and polished. For those of you convinced that you were born in the wrong decade and wish you could have gone to Woodstock, check out Tame Impala. It’s the closest you’re going to get.

A theme of Lolla’s lineup this year seems to be phenomenal electronic duos, and Broods is no exception.

This brother/sister group will command attention not only with pulsing bass and clean production, but also with rich, clear vocals and catchy lyrics that draw listeners in from the first bar. Broods is sure to be one of the best groups at Lolla this year, and you won’t want to miss “Bridges” on a main stage.

We cannot emphasize this enough. If you are going to Lollapalooza, SEE PAUL MCCARTNEY. The fact of the matter is that McCartney is one of two left from the greatest group of four men to ever grace the earth together and missing it would be something you will regret for years. He has classics, the performance factor, enthusiasm, the voice, and above all else, he is a legend.

Sir Paul

Looking for some cool new threads to wear to music festivals this summer? Check out Michael Grace’s ‘15 review of the Salvation Army Store in Downers Grove on our website www. lionnewspaper.com.

Broods These indie rock guys, relatively new to the music scene, are not only catchy and old fashioned but will be more popular than ever after Lollapalooza. This mid-day chill-out band is perfect to see if you’re looking to relax and enjoy some new music.

u

u The satirical voice of Lyons Township students since 2013

WARNING: Pages 17, 18 and 19 are purely fiction. LiOnion is a three-page satirical section that LION is featuring in this issue only.

Mountain Dew sues Hinsdale God: Central for Code Red slogan ‘Opposable thumbs always meant for texting’

By Claire Quinlan @cquinlan97

The introduction of the modern technology of texting has had conflicting side-effects. Parents are angry over their children’s over usage of these cellular devices, causing undeniable conflict within families.

On the other hand, others are relieved with a quick, simple way of communicating short messages to friends, family and coworkers.

Included in the relieved category, is God. “Humankind finally discovered the true meaning for the opposable thumb,” God said, obviously pleased. “This is what I meant all along, and you finally figured it out.”

With this new development, previously angered parents and adults have taken up texting to please Him. “If I had known this earlier, texting would’ve been my life,” Mary Young, parent of a text-aholic teen said.

“Who knew God thought about this the whole time?”

From Adam and Eve in Genesis to today, God has been patiently waiting for texting to finally be invented, for opposable thumbs to finally become useful.

“I truly am relieved,” God bellowed, his voice sounding like falling water, with long robes and white hair, his eyes like flames; his whole body looking like it was sculpted of pure gold. “I never thought this day would come.”

Men, women and teens were surprised, even shocked at this news.

“I had always thought God gave us thumbs for writing, drawing, eating, shaking hands, pinching things, carrying items, reading, holding cups and even opening soda cans,” Young commented. “My mind was clearly blown.”

So what does this mean for the human race? More texting, it seems, for now they have a good reason to do it.

“This definitely makes it okay to text whenever I want,” Holly Morris, local teen said. “What God wants, I will do.”

However, God still hasn’t had all his plans completed.

“When chimps catch on, I will really be pleased,” He remarked.

AP exam freaking = fine Feel like sobbing LIONION, 18 when that crisp FRQ packet is passed out? That’s actually a legitamate testing strategy.

Bes Wurger of Hinsdale Central attempts to fight the suing of his beloved school in his signature red-striped-one-button-undone overalls.

The Hinsdale community has rallied monetarily around the cause to gain rights to the classic Mountain Dew slogan, “Code Red.”

by Michael Grace @_michaelgrace

As Hinsdale Central student Bes Wurger stood in front of a Cook County judge on April 22, utter shock overcame him after being told that his high school was being sued by soda–pop power house Mountain Dew for trademark use. Mountain Dew was carrying out the case after catching word that the high school had been using the name “Code Red” for its student section.

The slogan is also the name of one of the soda company’s most popular flavors.

“I really can’t believe they’re actually suing us,” Wurger said. “I’m not really worried about it, though, because we have so much money that we can probably just buy the rights to the name or maybe just the

entire company as a whole.”

Wurger and the rest of the Hinsdale student body have started a petition, asking their parents for an increase in allowance in order to pay for the rights to the name. Furthermore, school officials have also stepped in to help by awarding their students a cash prize for every assignment they pass.

“It’s a great way for us to motivate our students in the classroom and help out a great cause at the same time,” Hinsdale Superintendent Richie Rich said. “We have so much money anyway, that we really have no idea what to do with it.”

The school faced a similar situation in its first year of existence when they were sued

by Satan himself, for the use of the school’s mascot, the “Red Devil.” After a lengthy court trial, the issue was resolved with the payment of the souls of the entire 1879 Hinsdale Central freshman class.

Community members have been relatively relaxed through this recent and aggressive action taken by Mountain Dew, as estimates from the allowance increase analyses done by LiONION have proved to be more than enough to buy out the soda company.

“We’re filthy rich,” Wurger said. “I’m really not worried about some silly soda company, especially one who’s probably poorer than LT.”

JV ousts varsity team, wins state

by Garrett Ariana @garrettariana3

ning into a goalpost and two players who went down due to hurt As Kelsey Stanton ‘15 walked off the pitch one last time for feelings. the Lyons Township Girls Soccer team, she knew that her JV team “I swear, our team feels like Derrick Rose,” center defenseman really did go above and beyond. They had shocked LT and the rest Hannah Sanchez ‘15 said. of Illinois by taking the state title.

Despite countless setbacks, the immense “When [Coach Danny Savage] roster helped in the team maintaining a told us that the varsity team “actually steady head. seriously sucked” this year, I was told “The other teams were a little surprised it would be up to the JV team to take when our big team, equal play technique their spot and replace the injured, actually worked against them,” Stanton said. impoverished and disease-stricken “We subbed the whole line every five minvarsity squad,” teammate Alana utes in order to get the whole 34-woman Davidson ‘16 said. squad on the field at least five times.”

The blame for the atrocious varsity The team miraculously managed to team has been debated, but is largely make it through the state playoff run by put on the coaches for scouting playonly scoring one goal over the eight games. ers based on how “dope” their cleats Seven of the teams victories came in a penwere. Parents as well have been holdalty shootout where LT was only barely able ing each other accountable for the to score by using the team photographer to poor season based off their alleged salmonella coated post-game cookie The girls soccer team all smiles after defeating varsity. momentarily blind the goalie with a camera flash. dough, considered to be sabotage.

“It’s been an incredible run,” Savage said. “I’d like to say that One of the big twists of their journey in playoffs was the seemwe should do it again next year, but that might call for a coaching ingly never-ending string of injuries that smacked the team to the change, so I’ll leave it at that.” ground, including six torn ACLs, an eye that popped out after run-

Cushion actually CIA LIONION, 18 It turns out the beloved president and beloved protester have more in common than we thought.

Freshman defies ‘Code Red’ LIONION, 19 Want to know the real reason Principal Waterboy passed out those spirited wristbands?

Read on.

Presidential Twitter win LIONION,19 Favorites >> Retweets, so this middle aged local man won the Americanpresidency.

WARNING: Pages 17, 18 and 19 are purely fiction. LiOnion is a three-page satirical section that LION is featuring in this issue only.

LiOnion

Twitter Ted

It turns out that Ted Cushion ‘15 is also beginning a campaign on Twitter for the 2016 U.S. Presidency.

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 18

Legal limit It also turns out that you need to be 35 years old to run for president, so Cushion is out of luck. See you in 2032, Ted.

WARNING: Pages 17, 18 and 19 are purely fiction. LiOnion is a three-page satirical section that LION is featuring in this issue only.

Cushion is CIA

by Abby King @abigailann_01

BREAKING: Ted Cushion ‘15 has been confirmed to be a part of the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], according to several anonymous sources in the LT community.

Multiple rumors have risen in the past 20142015 school year claiming that the beloved LT Student Council President is a part of the CIA. It is believed that Cushion has been in cahoots with the well-known protestor who carries a sign spilling top-secrets of the U.S. government every morning at NC. The president has allegedly been getting kickbacks at Dinicos, the place of work of the protestor, with free pizza 24/7 in exchange for allowing him to protest.

But, when the protestor crashed the All-School Assembly carrying a sign stating “Cushion is CIA” because Cushion made him stop during the harsh months of the winter for his safety, Cushion’s cover was blown.

“I got bored and thought it would be funny,” the protestor said.

Several unsolved mysteries, like the ominous fourth floor and “accidental” fire alarm sounding at SC, have been linked back to the president.

However, LiOnion knew that this was only the beginning of the long investigation to find out what actually went on during his reign.

The heated debate on whether or not Brian Swineflu ‘15 made the famous half-court shot during the Blackout game has been proved to have originated from Cushion hoping to keep the Ford Escape for himself.

Cushion has also allegedly sabotaged Principal Brad Waterboy’s friendly gesture of handing out bracelets to students. It was reported that he placed GPS tracking chips in them to know the where-abouts of Hinsdale co-conspirators.

“I cannot confirm or deny these allegations,” Cushion said. “But I can assure you that the shooting range in the SC basement is definitely not being used as a practice range for the government-issued body guards that I definitely don’t have.”

Ted Cushion ‘15 poses with the CIA crest during a recent visit to headquarters.

Student re-evaluates feminism

Student Council wins Mega Millions

After a really difficult AP Physics test on April 22, James O’Carter ‘15 complimented Mary Jones ‘15 for being the smartest person in her class. Jones immediately broke down and started to cry.

“I didn’t know what was happening,” O’Carter said. “I know girls are always really emotional and cry a lot, but I still didn’t know how to deal with it.”

One of only two girls in her class, Jones was also the valedictorian of the grade, captain of the Scholastic Bowl team, president of the math team and played the tuba. Jones also identifies herself as a feminist.

“This was the first time someone has told me I’m intelligent,” she said. “Now that women are basically equal to men, I’m not sure what the point of feminism is. It’s really confusing.”

At most of their feminist meetings,

LAGRANGE, ILLINOIS- Recent concerns regarding Student Council’s overwhelming debt will soon be overturned after winning the Mega Millions Wednesday night.

“It was an incredible rush of emotion,” member Annie Ansari said.

Although the group did not go too far into details for legality sake as to how they won the millions, they did make sure to recognize that they wouldn’t be in this situation if the student body had not completely failed them.

“It really is incredible what a lack of school spirit can achieve,” President Cushion said.

Although Student Council was quite secretive when discussing their plans for the money, they did state that they are not planning on improving the dances (the alleged cause of Student Council’s

by Anika Ranginani @a_rangs

Jones said, the girls come together to rant about how much they hate men and the patriarchy.

“I think it’s really important for women to get all that individuality out of their system in private,” faculty advisor Karen Williams said. “These girls will never get a date to prom if they talk about being a feminist outside of the club.”

After her recent breakdown, Jones realized her feminism had become debilitating. Other students, both male and female, have stopped taking her seriously and began feeling uncomfortable with her constant need for equality.

“Mary puts a lot of pressure on other girls,” Christine Reynolds ‘16 said. “So what if I want to be a housewife?”

Williams has agreed to spend extra time with Jones to allow her to finally stop pressuring others for equality.

“I’m going to miss hating men,” Jones said. “At this point, though, I just really need a prom date.”

by Gillian Dunlop @gilliandunlop15

Student Council receives an oversized check.

original financial disaster) in the hope of getting desperate enough to enter and consequently win another lottery.

“The way we see it, is we could bust our butts and try to please a student body which we will inevitably fail at, or we can illegally gamble,” Cushion said.

According to Student Council advisor Kelly Gannon, although illegally gambling seems drastic, it was entirely necessary.

“I really wanted a tempeupedic bed,” she said, before quickly saying that was a joke.

Student freaking out mid-AP test is likely fine

by Will Most @willmost

In the middle of her English AP test, Helen Ryan slumped down in her chair and started slamming her fist against the desk, shouting multiple obscenities and screaming at the top of her lungs.

“You worthless piece of --------!” bellowed Ryan. “You’ll never be able to succeed in college! You’re garbage! This is why no one thinks you’re smart.”

Students around her couldn’t help but notice her actions, but were certain she was fine and would be able to complete her AP exam, just like the rest of them.

“She’s probably just psyching herself up for the FRQs,” said Don Stanton ‘16. “Helen’s really smart and she’ll definitely get a five. In fact, I bet she is already finished with the Mastery Manager portion.”

After receiving instructions to begin the FRQ question, Ryan made a feeble attempt to write more FRQs, then she slowly collapsed on her test, soaking it with her tears and ruining all the pages.

“Despite the fact that she was only able to complete one

Student snaps pencil in frustration at “a really hard FRQ.”

of the three FRQs, I’m sure it was good enough that the AP readers will see it and give her the credit,” Stanton said.

“Crying on the test was a sneaky good move too. AP readers will feel sorry for her and give her a five. I was upset I didn’t think of that.”

Online LiOnion Physics gone wrong Students electrocuted during a physics experiment while trying to learn about electrons.

It was reported that Ryan did in fact start tearing up pieces of her test, likely voiding her of receiving any legitimate score from the AP Board. She then commenced to use those pieces of paper to spell “You’re trash” with the tear soaked sheets of what was once a bubble sheet.

The proctors of the test then proceeded to make attempts at comforting her, but immediately as the hand of the 47-year-old librarian, met Ryan’s back, it was met with extreme and unexpected retaliation.

“I think she picked up a chair and attempted to hit our proctor in the back,” said Anne Johnson. “Although I couldn’t be quite sure, as I was attacking the FRQ on the role of Black Americans in the 1960s. I did hear a high pitched squeal though. I think she was trying to say something like ‘Why would you touch garbage?’, but it was so high pitched it could have been ‘Why don’t you eat garbage!’ There was definitely the word garbage in their somewhere.”

Despite her outburst, most students seemed confident in Ryan.

“She’ll probably be fine,” said Stanton. “If there is one thing the college board is, it’s forgiving.”

More in Print

Administration finds humor After missing for weeks, the LT Administration finds humor under a coffee pot, will employ new “fun” agenda.

Teachers lewd sexual joke met with applause When an LT teacher made a seemingly distasteful sexual joke in the middle of a Consumer Education class, he was suprised when he was met with a standing ovation from the entire class.

Pythagorean pickle Mia Pythagorean ‘17 is a distant ancestor of the Ancient mathematician Pythagoras, but doesn’t share his love of math.

Lionion

Tackling Twitter Politicians are required from this point forward to utilize the most popular form of social media, Twitter, during the election.

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 19

WARNING: Pages 17, 18 and 19 are purely fiction. LiOnion is a three-page satirical section that LION is featuring in this issue only.

Local man claims presidential victory based on Twitter vote La Grange resident earns more retweets than favorites for Obama, seeks to prove legitimacy of bid

by Joe Okkema @joe_okkema

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a man as determined as Jack M. Peach anywhere in the country. The La Grange man is seeking legal action against the White House in response to a post he made on Twitter that he claims names him as the president of the United States.

Peach tweeted on March 3 asking followers to choose him or current president Barack Obama as the next commander-in-chief of the United States. Users were asked to favorite in support of Peach or retweet in support of Obama. According to Peach, after a period of 10 hours, whichever candidate had more internet-based support would have won the “vote” and would thus logically assume the presidency.

According to Peach, as of 10 p.m., exactly 10 hours after the tweet had been made, there were exactly 10 retweets and 15 favorites.

“I think it’s safe to say the people of America have spoken,” Peach said. “This isn’t about me. It’s about democracy. If the internet isn’t the honest voice of the American people, then I don’t know what is.”

Though he has contacted authorities in both the White House and Congress, Peach has yet to receive any response to his emails, in which he advocates for the legitimacy of his claim to the presidency.

“It’s kind of upsetting to me that no one is taking me seriously,” Peach said. “I mean, I am the next commander-in-chief of this country, so you think people would show me a little respect. I’m definitely going to have to make some changes to our PR sector once I become president.”

Peach does not plan on campaigning publically or listing his name on any presidential ballots. Nor does he have any real platform or plans once he enters the office, aside from the aforementioned reorganization of the public relations department.

“Enough about platforms, real votes and the Electoral College,” Peach said. “I’ve already won the Internet, so what does it matter?”

No executives at Twitter or White House officials could be reached to comment on Peach’s apparent incumbent presidency.

President Barack Obama attempts to combat a rival candidate who is using Twitter as a tool. President Obama has begun begging for “retweets” in order to try and raise support on the Twitter-sphere.

“

This isn’t about me. It’s about democracy. If the internet isn’t the honest voice of the American people, then I don’t know what is.

- Jack M. Peach

”

Code Red: freshman punished for breaking unwritten rule

Teachers finally admit to students math has no purpose

by Izy Scott @3izy3

by Lidia Breen @lidia_breen

the press, but others are speaking out Freshman are not expected to know against the misconduct. the implied social rules of high school “This is absolutely ridiculous,” a at first, but any LT Lion is expected to football player’s mom said. “How could know the undisclosed laws of the LT a student jeopardize the karma of his dress code, including the prohibition of own school? Especially when football wearing a Hinsdale Central shirt within pre-pre-season is just days away. Our the realms of the gold and blue temple. boys can’t afford any On April 9, Joe Newbie Red Devil jinxing.”

‘18 was told jokingly by mul Along with the tiple students and faculty to unwritten rules of “No change the Hinsdale CenSperry’s unless you’re tral shirt he was wearing, frat,” “No heels (unless until real complaints forced they look fire)” and a security guard to officially “Let’s keep the cleavdress code him. age to a minimum,” it “I didn’t mean to cause struck the LT commusuch a controversy when nity that above all “No I coded him,” the security guard said. “But I didn’t have Students react to Newbie HC gear. Ever.” was time to deal with the flood wearing his outlawed Hins- violated.

Principal Brad of complaints from kids in dale Central shirt.

Waterboy was heavthe lunch room when he sat ily involved in the conflict, as well. down in his Hinsdale shirt. I had rogue “It seemed a harsh repercussion for courtyard geese to tame.” someone that simply didn’t know the The security guard recalls the freshrule,” Waterboy said. “But I can assure man cooperating with his request to that it will be made clear no HC apparel go change into one of the many gym will be tolerated at LT, especially before uniforms stacked behind the AP Office sporting events against the Devils. I desk. The culprit is currently staying don’t hand out LT spirit wristbands for home from a case of minor embarnothing.” rassment and unwilling to speak with

Mia Pythagorean ‘17 entered her math class on April 1 and it seemed like any other day: there were equations on the board and papers on the desks. But, it all changed when her teacher, Erin Ellipse, announced the new math department policy: math doesn’t matter.

“It was completely shocking,” Pythagorean said. “To finally hear the truth, after all of these years, it was amazing. I always knew that math didn’t mean anything, and to hear that validated makes me feel so great.”

At one “late-start-day” meeting, the LT math department said that they realized that math didn’t matter while speaking about how much their students hated the math classes at LT. “We just came to the conclusion, that after you graduate fourth grade level math, you truly will never use anything past that level in real life,” Division Chair Sally Sine said. “Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus: they aren’t important, and you’ll never use them in real life. We are just devastated by all of the lies we’ve told over the years. Personally, I am overcome with debilitating guilt.”

New curriculum will revolve around teaching sufficiency with a calculator, addition, subtraction and other simple math skills, that Sine says are the only things that students need to truly be proficient in to

Also in the news...

After complaints from angry parents, Athiest Church League will begin next fall. Details at nogodsquad.com.

After five years of silence, local dog finally admits he was the one who peed on the carpet.

Local doctors appalled at Emergen-C epidemic causing extreme health on high school campuses.

LT teacher Susan Lee passive-aggressively scolds student.

succeed in any non-math related career.

“It’s going to make math really easy now,” Pythagorean said. “Addition is the only thing I really understand, so it’s nice that we’re going to be spending more time on the useful math instead of learning silly stuff like DeMorre’s Theorem.

There are, however, some critics of the math departments decision to deviate away from a traditional math curriculum, and this minority group will be protesting in front of the school daily, carrying signs covered with complex math equations. But, this is only a minority, and the majority of the school is pleased with the decision.

“I hate math so this is great for me,” Pythagorean said.

LT student receives minor sunburn from new cafeteria skylights. Details on lawsuit to be announced.

Check out the LION website

Musical donations Have an instrument you no longer play?

Consider donating it to students at Park Junior High School.

Ads

Thursday, May 21, 2015 î Ž Page 20

Musical donations The instruments will be given to students who could otherwise not afford the costs.

With questions, call (708)-373-7272.

he hardlescence. T to o ad f o rs ish y yea rs, here few w the primar Dear Senio compasses ed Bull. It’s a place w who we are going en at th n o er ss and R e wond instituti to fit l: A single ights of stre any of us, w ze each other, trying en High schoo mphs, the endless n ing to an end for m ri th o t g u te B to ca m iu ly is. ships, the tr ow that it is finally co hman year we began onal each person real st a brain, an es n ju si return, yet t it. Like most kids, fr g how multi-dimen suddenly we weren’t we are all going u kin d gh to be witho a neat box, overloo smate was taken, an family. So even thou ain, we have to as a ag ledge everyone in appened: a beloved cl a criminal: We were be in the same room d the know l h r something ket case, a princess o that we will never al ong all 1,000 of us an each other. So r as is am ill there fo Club-themed athlete, a b ways and the reality sense of comradery er, we’re st st e :a th fa ’t at o n ak ar o p ch re d B se s ea r se is h u it o u read th iends w other clas o fr e y e is th p s g o u h in f I h o be. somet y one rs and we seem to re endeavo gh not ever that althou ck in all of your futu we are all more than lu at I wish you the remembrance th h it w n io ct se ours, Sincerely y

nlop Gillian Du ief h -C Editor-in

Tbt grid

LION Chatter “Call me Joseph Stalin when it comes to the website.”

- Michael Rasmussen ‘15

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 22

LION Chatter “We should form a gang and target old people.”

- Mike Flaherty ‘15

ThrowbackGrid

Way way WAY back at the dawn of our current seniors’ high school career, these six brave souls were polled on various grid questions that tickled their creativity, and we saw some very typical freshmen responses. Three years later, we gave them another shot, and asked compiled by Garrett Ariana them the same question once again. @garrettariana3 Freddie Figge ‘15 Tom Thibodeau telling me that I’ll get to spend the day tomorrow with the White Mamba.

Your best friend calls at 2 a.m. on Wednesday. What does he/ she say?

Alyssa Mota ‘15 reminding me that she sucks.

Grant Thomas ‘15 I’m sorry for the mistake I made, hopefully I don’t get in big trouble. #lagrangecopsrule.

You just got arrested, what’s your tweet?

Don’t worry about me, Freddie Figge ‘15 is still in need of a prom date [ed.

I really hope this works].

Tom Baker ‘15 “She” by OFWGKTA.

What song do you sing to your lover?

“All I want” by Dawn Golden.

Miranda O’Brenski ‘15

Chugging water.

What’s your secret talent?

*Answer not appropriate for school* [ed. Does it still involve chugging??]

Emma Haugen ‘15 Pull a Bubba Watson.

You lay 160 yards from the pin on pine needles in the Masters playoff. What do you do?

Reset my Wii and cry silent tears because I will never come close to rivaling Bubba Watson’s superior game or hair [ed. See left].

Carolyn Moore ‘15 Staff member of McDonalds asking me in the drive-thru.

What’s the worst worst way to be asked out on a date?

Through a friend.

The Senior Club

LION Chatter “Commence Operation Water Buffalo.”

- Mike Flaherty ‘15

world

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 23

LION Chatter “PAWs are mandatory. I’m not kidding.”

- Will Most ‘15

What a year, what a year. We ate in a sweaty wrestling gym for a semester and a half, while waiting for the new cafeteria to open.

We mourned the loss of an LT legend. We rejoiced when justice was finally served after a three-year nightmare. We panicked when we thought Ebola was going to kill us all and we cheered when a hometown hero finally made his return to the court.

Along with those, here are other highlights at the local, national and international levels from the past school year.

Compiled by Drew Cushing @drcushing32

Construction Starts - Summer 2015

Charlie Hebdo attack - Jan. 7, 2015

Construction to renovate both the Reber Center and cafeteria started. Because of this, students had to eat in the Vaughan Gym for all of first semester and some of second semester.

Two brothers forced themselves into the offices of the satirical magazine in Paris, France, and killed and injured numerous employees. The terrorists were later killed in a firing exchange with police.

Ferguson Riots - Aug. 9, 2014 Protests occur in Ferguson, Mo., after the shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer.

Due to the violence of the protests, police established curfews and deployed riot squads in order to maintain order.

Jack Kunkle passes away - Sept. 18, 2014

Blackout - Feb. 13, 2015 During “The Black Sea” basketball game, Lyons Township defeated Hinsdale Central 51-38. During half-time, student Brendan Swineheart ’15 nailed a half court shot that won him a Ford Escape SUV.

“It all went by so fast. It was definitely the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”

- Brendan Swinehart ‘15

First ever Mr. LT dies of brain cancer.

“[Jack taught us] that anyone can be funny, and that underdog stories are true.”

- Joe Dillon ‘15

Special Olympics State Finish - March 13, 2015 The Special Olympics Basketball Team took second place at the State tournament after losing in the championship to Hinsdale South 53-24.

Ebola - Sept. 30, 2014 The first ever case of Ebola appears in the U.S. when a Liberian visiting in Texas was diagnosed with it. The disease spread a wave of panic throughout the country, but gradually tranquility was restored.

Construction finishes - March 27, 2015 The new cafeteria finally opened the last day before Spring Break. Students were served free pizza and cookies. The new Reber Center also opened, with the first performance being a selection of musical and theatrical talents.

Kelli Trial verdict - Oct. 10, 2014 John Wilson Jr. was sentenced 160 years in prison for the murder of Kelli O’Laughlin.

Mr. LT - April 18, 2015

“Mr. O’Laughlin and I are so happy that this is over. We would never want another family to go through what we are going through. Justice will never be served as Kelli will never be coming home, but at least this evil is off the streets and the community is safer.”

- Brenda O’Laughlin

Return of Derrick Rose - Oct. 29, 2014 After tearing his meniscus in his right knee, Derrick Rose made his return in the Bulls’ season opener against the Knicks where he scored 13 points in 21 minutes of playing time.

Tim Parczyk ’15 becomes the second ever Mr. LT after winning the crowd over with a hilarious standup routine. Parczyk beat out other acts such as singing, several types of dancing, eating blazing hot wings and drinking egg yolk.

Presidential Pursuits - April 12 and April 20, 2015 Former First Lady, governor and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for president, but she might face some stiff competition from rapper Waka Flocka Flame, who released a video announcing the start of his own presidential campaign.

Baltimore Riots - April 19, 2015 Governor Election - Nov. 4, 2014 Bruce Rauner defeats Former Governor Pat Quinn in the election race after Quinn’s six years in office. Rauner spent $65.3 million – or $36 per vote – in his campaign to become governor.

Following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, violent protests started in Baltimore because of the uncertainty of his death.

Protestors violently robbed a CVS store and caused structural damages to local businesses.

The National Guard was deployed and a curfew was enforced.

LION chatter “I’ve been calling myself trash since sophomore year.”

-Clare Mikulski ‘15

PawsUp n to Mr. Scales and Ms. Gallicchio-thanks for leading us to become better journalists, and pretending not to hear our conversations in the backroom. nto our website-you should check it out: www. lionnewspaper.com #onlinefirst n to maintence-hopefully we didn’t leave too many traces for you to clean up this year. nto our subscribers-keeping our paper alive one ad a time. nto Dr. Waterman-we appreciate all that you've done this year, but especially your Twitter shoutouts to LION staffers. nto staffers that bring food to layout nights-we would not survive without you, but mostly the combination of clementines and Double Stuff Oreos. nto the graduating seniorswe hope #collegeisreal (We guess we will miss you too, please come visit us in room 220 next year). nto incoming staffers-we expect you to know the ins and outs of Photoshop and InDesign. No excuses. nto cookie compliments-despite our general teasing and constant harssment of one another, it’s nice to know we don’t all hate each other. n to winning the Golden Eagle-similar to kissing the Stanley Cup, our victory was just as sweet. nto free promotional tattoos-Abby King’s face never looked better in Mary Lambert’s album cover. nto teachers who let us distribute surveys during class-thank you for being so clutch. nto Rita-thank you for catching any and all errors before LION goes to print. nto our SC submitters-your contributions to the website help make our website better. nto the parents who bring in LION family dinners-food is the only thing that drives our paper. nto innapropriate random chatters-the only blurbs that are ever read in LION. nto the kids who don't refuse copies of LION on distribution days-you make us happier than you will ever know.

LION

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 24

LION chatter “The amount of times I confuse Anne Frank with Helen Keller is ridiculous.”

-Mike Flaherty ‘15

The LION Club

Gillian Dunlop

Riley Carroll

Like most seniors, my favorite memory took place late one night in our hotel room in Washington D.C.. Clare Mikulski, Riley Carroll, Mary Hadley and I were sharing a room, and suffice to say, things got rowdy. Apparently after receiving complaints about the noise level exuding from our room, hotel security sent up two men to our door to quiet us down. So there we were, having the time of our lives when we hear a startling knock at the door. Naturally, being the courageous, heroic girl that I am, I immediately jumped into my bed to feign sleep, leaving Clare to open the door to two huge men about the size of chubby linebackers with angry looks on their faces. They yelled “hey you!” to me, saying they knew I wasn’t really asleep and going on about the “red zone.” “We don’t wanna be in the Red Zone now do we?” No, scary man in the door, we said. They were some of the most terrifying minutes of my life, but the best part was how Riley actually fell asleep while pretending to be asleep and missed the whole thing.

While I could reminisce about the many LION family dinners, frustrating group chats and ridiculous antics that have occurred over the past year, I am choosing to recount one particular memory that helped me achieve a personal goal of mine. On LION we are all very close, so it was not surprising that, during our trip to D.C., we spent a lot of time together in one hotel room. On the last night we were all tired and just wanted to sleep, so instead of going back to our rooms we all laid in the two beds together. I was #blessed enough to be in a bed with staffers Will Most, Mike Flaherty and Joe Okemma (Gillian Dunlop was there too I guess). In just one moment I had achieved the dream of most girls at LT.

Lidia Breen In the LION room, we play a lot of the game of Odds, since we like to humiliate one another as much as possible. And, since I consider myself to be fearless (aka stupid), I’ll never make the odds of myself doing something more than 10. Well, needless to say, this confidence often backfires on me, in spectacular fashion. Since we were eating Chipotle catering for dinner, they provided us with a huge bowl of medium salsa, that no one touched. Gaby Sabatino had the audacity to challenge me to drink out of the salsa, and I bravely accepted with the odds of three. I lost. So, with the whole staff standing around me I took a large gulp out of the salsa bowl, then promptly laughed so hard that the salsa went out of my nose, while the rest of the staff pointed and laughed. Although my nose burned for the rest of the week, it was one of my favorite memories on LION, and one I’ll always remember.

Abby King

I’d have to say my favorite memory was when part of the Junior crew, Lauren Hucko, Garrett Ariana, Amy Lacny, Bailey Blum and I had to go to the office lugging newspaper stacks on distribution day. The girls were holding three stacks each while Bailey and Garrett held their phones and played background music, because they were too lazy to carry any. Once we finished putting them away in the main office we were feeling inspired and started to roam around the school.

Then, an idea dawned on me. I took Bailey’s phone as he anxiously looked around for teachers as I blasted “Don’t you forget about me.” Instantaneously we turned into the Breakfast Club running up and down the hallways dancing and singing. Several teachers slammed their doors shut after giving us dirty looks.

Mary Hadley

My favorite LION memory was from the senior trip to D.C. Clare Mikulski and I had to go grab something from our hotel room before meeting everyone downstairs in the lobby. Once we got to our room an alarm went off on my phone and instead of turning it off we decided to embrace our inner weirdness and dance to it. We even paused when the alarm stopped and continued our weird dancing when the alarm started over, like some weird form of freeze dance. It went on for a little too long and it basically describes how weird we actually are. We ended up being late to the lobby, but just told everyone we lost track of time...

Anika Ranginani On the senior trip to D.C. we went to the Newseum, which while exciting becomes even more exciting in a group of journalists. We had a chance to view the exhibit featuring Pulitzer Prize winning photographs, eat over-priced museum food, laugh at editorial cartoons and touch both sides of the Berlin Wall. The museum demonstrated the power of extraordinary journalism.

On the top floor, we saw newspaper headlines from all over the country for the day that we visited. The best part was that I didn’t even feel weird about enjoying a museum so much because the other LION kids were too.

Will Most When one is at the journalism convention, one must go to conferences. One day Mr. Michael Rasmussen convinced me to go to a conference called “Finding your Voice.” Ras and I were both looking forward to listening to a great seminar on developing a writing style that is very distinguishable. We sat ourselves down in the near front row, and prepared for an enjoyable presentation.

The lights went out, and a yearbook teacher came out and started talking about writing themes for a yearbook. Each writing style was more bizarre and grammatically questionable as the next and Ras and I, awkwardly seated in the front row, were hating it. But being in the front row, we found ourselves paralyzed and unable to simply get up and walk out. So we sat down and endured a completely useless conference.

Bailey Blum Ahh, what a year it’s been. Amidst all the usual flirting and innuendos of the LION room, one memory stands tall in my mind. It was a dark and stormy night. Snow shot down from the heavens above, and the air was a deep and bitter cold.

Shielding my eyes from view, I squandered out onto Elm Street behind LT after a usual long LION layout night. Suddenly, as I was staggering across the street, huddling my arms together to conserve what little body heat I had left, a bright flash appeared to the right of me and struck me from my feet, and the next thing I knew I was laying face first on the ground. As I came to my senses and regained my vision, a face appeared above me, blocking out the light. However it was not Jesus. It was Garrett Ariana, and behind him was his car.

Lauren Hucko While this year in LION has been filled with countless laughs and memories, there is one that resonates with me more so than the others. In typical LION fashion, a group of four fellow staffers and I were taking our time while returning to room 220 after dropping off the LION issues that needed to be mailed in the main office. During our second lap around the second floor, we realized the sunlight was quite similar to the light at the end of one of the best movies of all time—“The Breakfast Club.” After discrediting the protests of Bailey Blum, we decided to take advantage of this unique circumstance. There, in the hallway near the study hall room, we played “Don’t You Forget About Me” (after waiting for YouTube to load) and returned to the LION room in true Breakfast Club fashion.

MelRose Buckler Choosing a favorite LION memory is very difficult, considering every moment with LION is a memory. But if I have to choose one, I would have to say the first time the staff all got together. It was at a barbeque at Gillian Dunlop’s house in the summer and I was incredibly nervous about going. Everyone was awkwardly standing around talking and eating (shocker), and then the seniors decided it was time for the juniors to take a group picture, so we all huddled together. While we were smiling and posing, the seniors rampaged us with freezing cold water balloons. Obviously, we started throwing balloons back at the seniors, and it turned into a full-on water balloon fight between the juniors and seniors. This totally unexpected attack made me realize two things: one, juniors always lose to seniors and two, being part of the LION family was going to be a blast.

Joe Okkema Less than an hour after we had arrived in beautiful Washington, D.C. and arrived at the Omni Shoreham hotel for the annual NSPA Conference.

After a very early and caffeine-deprived morning, everyone seemed relatively tired. Everyone that is, except Joe Rossetti. As Michael Rasmussen, Rossetti and I arrived in our hotel room, I laid down on one of the two beds, expecting my roommates to do the same. While Michael set down his bags, Rossetti began a conversation with him about their upcoming wrestling season (surprise!) Somehow, that conversation led Rossetti to challenge Michael to a fight.

Michael responded to Rossetti’s challenge with a perplexed, “Are you serious?” Once Rossetti said yes, he advanced on Michael and the two began to grapple. Visibly annoyed, Michael picked Rossetti up clear off the ground and tossed him across the room onto the other bed. Safe to say that was the end of that fight, and Michael would have entire bed to himself for the rest of the trip.

Joe Rossetti I don’t know if any of you know what it’s like to be trapped. It sucks. To be jammed somewhere, completely helpless, while the entire situation is out of your control. This is how I felt in Washington D.C. It was a late night, the LION staff was just coming back from dinner and I was walking with a group of the girls back to one of their rooms where we planned on playing Cards Against Humanity. Little did I know that when we got back to the room, that every single girl had to change their entire outfit, literally every single girl. They banished me to the closet, where I sat waiting for them to change, listening to faint whispers of who looks better than who, and which boy is cuter or what would go best with these pajamas. It got quiet when the conversation moved into extreme girl territory. Honestly, I think I was in there for an hour, trapped, held against my will, as they kept the conversation going and didn’t acknowledge me at all. Too afraid to step out and see something that I couldn’t un-see, I stayed in the closet quietly, until I had to pee.

Garrett Ariana Now this was early on in the school year, before I knew how much Mr. Joseph Rossetti sucked at driving. When I was asked to pick him up to follow him home because his lazy mug didn’t want to drive to play soccer, I thought nothing of it. It was upon the moment that Joe reversed out of his parking spot only to completely, utterly, downright, thoroughly put a dent the size of him curdled up in his wrestling singlet on his car. I didn’t believe my eyes when I saw him put his Jeep into drive after this incident and head to his house. When he got into my car I naturally asked him “Why didn’t you stop when you hit that tree?!” to which he responded “What tree? I hit a tree?” Joseph Rossetti proceeded to get pulled over 12 times and have 56 hours of community service over the course of his high school career.

Clare Mikulski While LION this year was filled with plenty of ridiculous moments from dancing to Mary Hadley’s alarm clock in Washington D.C. to forcing Ceili Doyle to jump into a freezing lake at midnight, the most defining feature of this LION year was definitely Sporcle. For the unconfirmed, Sporcle is a trivia website frequented by LION staffers. Because the staff is made up of bloodthirsty honors students, we have a bit of competitive streak. So when everyone is crowded around one computer, competing against no one except themselves, trying to remember the name of that one weird Jake Gyllenhaal movie, the result is a hilarious screaming mess.

Grace Gumbiner

A highlight of the year was definitely tainting Bailey Blum’s daily Sanpellegrino with Jimmy John’s pickle juice. Because Bailey is often oblivious to his surroundings, Garrett Ariana was able to stealthily add more without him noticing. He probably added at least half a cup of nasty pickle perspiration. Bailey didn’t spit out the juice like a normal person, he swallowed half and let the rest dribble down his chin. It was just absolutely lovely.

lion

LION chatter “I wrote a whole college essay on talking to myself.”

- Riley Carroll ‘15

LION chatter

Thursday, May 21, 2015 n Page 25

Gaby Sabatino

During football season, Joe Rossetti, Izy Scott and I went to Willowbrook High School to take pictures of the game and some of the players for the next issue. The game went well with a victory for the Lions, however, on the way home we unfortunately got pulled over by the cops. We were coming off of 294 onto Ogden, going about 30 mph over the speed limit. So we pulled over to the side of the road and the cop came up to the window asking for Izy’s license and registration, but when we went to look for the registration, the only one we found was the outdated version that had not recently been updated. Luckily, the cop was generous and only gave Izy a speeding ticket and a court date. Sorry for not helping you with your 16 hours of community service, Iz!!!

Mike Flaherty When I start to think about my favorite LION memory I can’t help but get a little misty eyed.

There is such emotion when I think about the lack of friends I have made within Room 220.

My favorite experience is more like a string of experiences which have truly been magical. It all started earlier this year when Grace Gumbiner and her water bottle entered my life.

I would try my hardest to distract Grace using Joe Okkema’s charm and then chug her water bottle in the backroom.

Needless to say she wasn’t pleased. One time after I had drunk the source of hydration she yelled at me, but helped me sort my backpack by taking everything out and throwing it in random parts of the room. Like a treasure hunt! After this I realized that Grace was a true friend because she supported my never ending endeavor to stay hydrated, but also helped me stay organized and on top of my academic game.

Mentos rockets, or when we all woke up an hour late and sprinted a sixty-second quarter mile to get to the award ceremony. Along with these guys, and the backroom bros, there’s nobody else I would’ve rather spent my senior year with.

Dante Stefanini It was an ordinary layout night, just like any other when the gentleman of the LION decided to take our traditional bathroom break. That’s right, we all go to the bathroom together, don’t judge. This is the bathroom that has been altered for faculty use only. The reason being students were causing too much of a ruckus and did not respect the school’s property.

I’m going to state off the record here, in accordance with my attorney that we may or may not have had something to do with this. On that fateful night a few of my associates and I were stationed at the urinals, while others were in the stalls.

We heard what sounded like a tropical waterfall and looked back in astonishment to discover a staff member clogged a toilet and it was flooding the bathroom like a boat made of Swiss cheese (Get it? Because of the holes?) We made no effort to tell anyone of the flooding bathroom, but a week later we would never be allowed to use it again.

LT Edition

Michael Rasmussen For those who know Joe Rossetti, it’s pretty apparent that he’s a fiery little dude—a wrestler with a Napoleon Complex. Two minutes after checking into our room during LION’s D.C. excursion, he had already challenged me to a fight. It was about something stupid. I might’ve hurt his feelings. He’s like, “I can take you Ras, let’s go.” I picked him up and (sort of) jokingly threw the 120-pounder across the room, and that was that. But it was a bonding moment, one of many that happened during the trip. Like when Rossetti, Joe Okkema and I were bored late one night and decided to throwback to middle school with a couple Diet Coke and

Michael Grace Throughout my time here on LION I have made a numerous amount of lasting memories. From the comical ways of Jason Scales, to the usual “constructive criticism” of Joe Rossetti’s “sports” columns and everything in between, my lone year as a LION staffer has been one for the books. One memory that will forever be etched into my mind is the daily bonding that went on in the backroom. I was a bit intimidated when I first joined the staff, but learned quickly that the combination of food, classic rock on Pandora, occasional Tom Foolery, celebrity impressions and a copious amount of testosterone made for some stellar journalism! It’s been one heck of a ride being on LION and even more so with the backroom room boys.

Drew Cushing

Earlier in the semester, love was in the air. Everybody could feel it, yet the relationship between Joe Okkema and Gaby Sabatino was not being openly expressed. So Mike Flaherty put the burden on me to draft a proclamation demanding that they declare their feelings for each other. And so I wrote, I let my emotions flow into the pen as it put into physical form the love between the two. I finished the proclamation in the sight of God, and had it signed off by various LION senior officials. I delivered the decree to both Joe and Gaby, along with a warning from Mike that I would personally enforce, if necessary. I would quote the proclamation in this, but, in order to make sure the information stayed confidential, I confiscated the edict, and then ate it. I am proud of what I did, and have no regrets.

Brittany Grosser-Basile

Izy Scott

Flashing our press passes to get into the Willowbrook/LT football game worked miracles, but not so much for the cop who pulled us over on our way home at midnight. I’m not sure what was worse, Rossetti in my back seat bragging about all of his traffic violations, or Gaby’s dead silence as she looked for my registration in the glove compartment (but it was probably Rossetti’s bragging). I think the best part though was when I had to casually sift through a black backpack of cameras, notebooks, and fruit snack wrappers to get to my license—I was too embarrassed to explain that we were journalists and not stalkers coming home from a stakeout. As terrified as I was at the time, this was the first mischief I got myself into because of LION, and it solidified my anticipation for a year of legal goofiness to come. That is, after I finished my 16 hours of community service.

“One time in kindergarten I offered a kid a dollar to be my friend. He said no.”

- Lidia Breen ‘15

The Breakfast Club Claire Quinlan

If you were to go back through my high school career, the one constant would be Joe Rossetti and his incessant irritation. Trust me when I say that throughout my four years, no one else has been able to get under my skin as much as this miniscule Italian wrestler. And for that I give him props.

So the following is one of my favorite LION memories, the time when Joe was brought down to earth from his usual bigheadedness. Some background: I have not been able to write a story for the sports section for my entire LION career.

Needless to say, it has turned into a bit of a personal quest.

And finally, after much bothering from my end and many bargains, I prevailed. Joe was forced, by our LION dad, Mr. Scales, to bestow me with a sports story. As Joe assigned the girls soccer article, I could see a small tear coming from his eye and could sense him and his ungodly cockiness break. It was quite a bit glorious.

This year, I have covered the progress of the various construction projects throughout the building. With this, I have had the opportunity to tour the Reber Center and the cafeteria at a few different points during the year with Dr. Kilrea. During these tours, I have been able to see parts of the building that most people will never be able to, and learn the really interesting history that goes along with them. One of my favorite things to see was parts of the original theatre in the Reber that had very ornate designs, and also go backstage and climb up ladders to view the impressive work that has been done there, both old and new. These tours were a unique experience that I would not have been able to have if it weren’t for being on the paper, and I am so grateful for having the opportunity.

Ceili Doyle One fall evening Brittany Grosser-Basile, Lidia Breen, Riley Carroll, Clare Mikulski and I were driving around town when Lidia innocently suggested that we play odds. All of us agreed and as we passed a lake to our left on Archer Ave. Lidia challenged me to skinny dip in the lake. I, being naïve, agreed and stupidly set my terms from 1-30 (dangerously bold), on the count of 3-2-1 Lidia and I both shouted “27!” and everyone was dead silent, then Brittany burst out laughing as she turned around to park the car. Luckily, Lidia was feeling generous enough to allow me only to take off my pants, shoes, and socks. Despite the temperature that night only being around 45-ish degrees I bravely took the plunge (thigh-deep) into the cold, dark lake. Thankfully, Clare documented the entire ordeal on camera for LION posterity just as Riley screamed “OH MY GOD white van coming, get into the car!”

The LION juniors are proud to present this year’s Senior Superlatives. Although Room 220 is no Enchanted Castle, we are going to miss our charming and magical seniors, as well pay tribute to our spectacular advisors, Mr. Scales and Ms. Gallicchio.

Jason Scales: Prince Charming As an iconic figure in the LION room, you have truly charmed us to become great journalists.

Joe Rossetti: Hans Your honest approach to life has been an interesting aspect of LION all year long.

Dante Stefanini: The Beast Like the Beast, your tough outside is nothing like your inner teddy bear personality.

Nik Gallicchio: Cinderalla You always watch the clock to make sure we get our work done during layout nights.

Clare Mikulski: Pochahontas Your wild spirit and humor are always reflected in the colors of the wind in room 220.

Mike Flaherty: Flynn Rider Like Flynn Rider, you always push the boundaries in room 220, but your humor never fails to make us smile.

Gillian Dunlop: Tiana Your motivation to make the paper the best it can be is inspiring, as are your dance moves.

Anika Ranginani: Belle Your love for books, intelligence and dedication to journalism in LION has made you an amazing managing editor.

Will Most: Prince Phillip Your persuassive opinons on Pulse have been a hilarious addition to the LION dynamic.

Michael Rasmussen: Kristoff Friendly and easy going, your kind-hearted nature will be missed on staff next year.

Michael Grace: Aladdin Just like Aladdin, your athletic abilities and swagger have made you a great addition to LION this year.

Grace Gumbiner: Jasmine Your unique sense of fashion and adventurous ideas make you just like Jazzy Jasmine.

Joe Okkema: Prince Eric Your fun-loving and laid-back personality made you the best Sporcle player this year on staff.

Mary Hadley: Ariel Your sass and confidence make us want to be part of your world, just like Ariel.

Lidia Breen: Mulan Like Mulan, your athletic prowess and love for Chipoltle will be greatly missed next year.

Riley Carroll: Rapunzel We would have been lost without your creative Photoshop skills and energetic personality.

Brittany Grosser-Basile: Aurora Your downto-earth and friendly personality make you an approacable and great news editor.

Claire Quinlan: Elsa Your elegant style and playful personality brighten LION. And you never “let it go” with your awesome design ideas for Pulse.

Questionable clubs Carleton College’s Mustache Club was formed to support facial hair. Both men and women are encouraged to join.

Clubs

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 26

Really questionable The University of Michigan has a club called the Squirrel Club, dedicated to feeding the fat campus squirrels peanuts.

The following submissions from club members and advisers reflect the momentous year of co-curricular activity at LT. compiled by Izy Scott

@3izy3

Art Club, from Patrick Page

German Club, from Shelby Mohrs ‘15

Art Club had another great year including three field trips. The first to Art Expo—the largest show of contemporary art in Chicago where we were joined by graduates. They met us again on our annual Thanksgiving trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art to see the “David Bowie Is” show. In February we went to the Chicago Cultural Center followed by ice-skating at Millennium Park and the ribbon at the new Maggie Daley Park afterwards. We also did our annual tie-dye and Raku fests. We are currently working on another edition of 21, the limited edition artist’s book we make every year!

German Club: a place for German speakers, learners, and self-proclaimed German zealots alike. Throughout the school year, the club has celebrated a multitude of events, from the first ever LT World Cup to a meaningful celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Celebrating German culture, holidays, sports and of course the language is the reason almost 40 members have gotten together time and time again this past year. The atmosphere is fun, the food is great, and best of all, we welcome everyone.

Black Culture Club, from Elizabeth Watkins Black Culture Club participated in the second annual MLK Jr. celebration in January, which consisted of guest speakers, a Eurythmics performance and a Steppers routine all in honor of MLK and Black History Month. BCC has been growing in popularity and this year will hopefully mark a milestone for the clubs impact on the LT community.

Bowling Club, from Francisco Gamboa and Paul Godinho LT’s Bowling Club met this year to enjoy the sport of bowling, friendly in-house competition and comradery among classmates. Each week our bowlers look forward to throwing that “hi game” or “turkey” that is often announced in recognition of their accomplishments. This results in a great sense of pride amongst the bowlers and encourages other’s to try their best each time. Bowling Club makes Wednesday the highlight of the week for many of us who participate and we continue to look forward to each year.

Business Professionals of America Club, from Krista Wilcox BPA club had our Regional Competition at Lewis University in January. At regionals, 66 members competed in business management, office administration and information technology events. LT had 47 members qualify for the state competition. In February at state, we had seven members qualify for the national competition. We placed first in the Administrative Support Team and Fundamental Spreadsheet Applications events at state. The national competition is in Anaheim, Calif., in May.

Calculator Team, from Jennifer Szczesniak At Regional meet the Calculator Team was one of two teams to tie for first place in the state out of 144 teams at the 3A/4A level. Also at Regionals, the entire team came in first place, thereby qualifying for all 11 events at the State meet in Urbana-Champaign.

Catering Club, from Kate Mitchell The LT Catering Club had 15 members this year and participated in a variety of events throughout the school year. The students prepared and served the Bus Driver Appreciation Breakfast in October, a Luncheon for the LaGrange Rotary Club in February, and the Staff Appreciation Luncheons at both NC and SC. Great job to all who participated.

FCCLA, from Kate Mitchell The Family, Career and Community Leaders of America had a successful year in competitions this year! Maiya Wilkins ‘16 participated in a Culinary Arts at the regional level in February at Olivet Nazarene University. She was awarded second place and was awarded the right to compete at the state level in April. Zachery Jerbis ‘16, Ramauhd Maynard ‘16 and Aaron Hausser ‘15 are all Chefs students and participated in the national level Culinary Arts event, where the students are randomly grouped and given an hour to create a meal. At the regional level in February, all three competitors were awarded the right to compete at the state level and placed in the top nine.

Freshman Class Board 2018, from Jacqueline Alberico Freshman Class-Board has allowed us to meet new friends and to discuss ideas on how we can make the school year the best it can be. We knew walking into the All-School Assembly that as freshman we had no chance of winning the Class Board competitions, as one of the games in the competition was called “Freshman Always Lose.” We were seriously scared to go up in front of 4,000 people wearing an oversized gray shirt branded FRESHMAN. But the minute we stepped to the middle of the gym we immediately realized that no matter what happens we’re going to try our best to win. As expected we lost, but we had an awesome time and know 2018 will be OUR year.

Future Healthcare Professionals, from Sylvia Tanious This year FHP was given a great opportunity to tour Loyola and Northwestern Hospital to experience the cadaver & pathology labs and take on a physician’s role in a patient simulation lab. We also made fleece blankets that were donated to the Ronald McDonald Children’s Hospital at the Loyola Medical Center. Our Krispy Kreme sales from this year will hopefully help fund a lot of the philanthropy projects we have in store for next year.

GEMS, from Callie Pogge GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science) is excited to become an official LT club this year! The new club has been busy planning exciting field trips and events, as well as adding more driven, charismatic girls to the growing club.

Greek Club, from Maria Boyle Under the leadership of Connie Kass ‘15 and Morgan Vickery ‘15, Greek Club had another outstanding year experiencing Greek culture and diversity while having fun.

Along with regular meetings, members went to Greek Town, Chicago for a Greek Date Night and dinner. Our next event was a movie night at South Campus to view a comedy about a Greek family celebrating Christmas. In March, Greek Club performed a traditional Greek Dance for an LT show sponsored by Social Action Club to benefit teens in Lawndale, Chicago. Greek Club is looking forward to 2015-16, OPA!

Improvisation Society of Geniuses, from Michael Kuehl The Improvisation Society of Geniuses has had a wonderful season. Meeting weekly, we’ve watched over 50 of our esteemed members risk life, limb and emotional safety all for the sake of a good laugh. Our leader, Shogun Tim Parzyck ‘15, really instilled a sense of learning the craft of improv at this year’s meetings, giving us a stronger focus than in years past. It’s been a good year.

Interact Club, from Robyne Recht This year the Interact Club doubled in size and was able to benefit from new service opportunities largely in part to the increased club presence within the community. In addition to the yearly tried-and-true projects, such as Rotary’s Run for Pie 5K and the YMCA Reindeer Run, the club helped out at a local food pantry, donated handmade blankets and cards to the Ronald McDonald House and assisted the LaGrange Business Association with their Wellness Fair Expo. Interact Club exemplifies “Service Above Self.”

Latin Club, from Magistra Jolicoeur We started off our amazing year carving pumpkins for patients at a rehabilitation center, participated in the Foreign Language World Cup and sat front row in togas at the production of “Caesar” to show our support. One of the coolest things Latin Club did this year was when we attended the Latin State Convention where LT delegates were recognized for their outstanding performance in many categories. The LT Latin Club has a profound love for the classics, and this year we shared that love with others.

LTTV (TV Club), from Bill Allan We’ve produced close to 200 programs this year and over 30 have been entered into competition at the Chicagoland High School Video Festival. We produced over 20 custom videos for the LYMUN conference, including live video coverage of the opening & closing ceremonies. LTTV also co-produced another successful Rock-a-thon with WLTL radio. This past fall, LTTV participated in the Chicago 48 Hour Film Challenge and our film “Misdirection” was a finalist screened at a Chicago movie theatre. Mr. Allan won “Outstanding Club Advisor” from the Illinois Directors of Student Activities, as well.

Senior Class Board 2015, from Kathryn Elliott They busy senior class board members designed and sold the class T-shirt and built a winning USA Homecoming float. The All-School Assembly arrived and the seniors won games from giant jenga to bubble soccer. Now the seniors are working on Prom, Brunch and the Class Gift. They picked a tasty menu for prom at Navy Pier and met with the DJ to plan out the music. The seniors put in extra effort this year to make prom memorable.

The senior class board members are running the Brunch and they are full of energy.

They will entertain the class, present the senior superlatives and play the slideshow.

Sophomore Class Board 2017, from Mark Doyle The Sophomore Class Board participated in events including decorating Homecoming parade floats and posters, roller blading, helping out recycling club, fundraisers, Holiday Write Night and the Special Olympics program. With a close-knit group of members, the sophomore class board has helped represent the class of 2017 with involvement in all aspects of LT.

Theatre Board, from Ann Dudek Theatre Board has had a full nine show season, showing almost its entire season in the SCPAC as the Reber was under construction for the year. “Twelve Angry Jurors” was staged in room 140, feeling very reminiscent of an actual jury deliberation room, with over live spectators watching the intense deliberations of the case. Theatre Board also performed 24 Hour Plays, where students write, cast, direct and act brand new plays all in 24 hours. Five seniors directed in the Mavros Festival of One Act Plays. From Shakespeare to Islands, to Improv to a talking dog, to Aesop and Grimm, it has been a successful season. After all, It’s all in the Timing.

Check out the photo gallery on Lionnewspaper.com to see some highlights of this school year’s club events.

kjo

Giving grace This year, the Kelli Joy O’Laughlin Scholarship Memorial Fund is giving away 18 scholarships equivalent to $148,000.

Beautiful bracelets The “choose joy” bracelets, sold by many LT students, raised $5,000 for the Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Choose Joy

Rejoice

Persistance

Brave

JOY Concert

Beauty

Passion

“ Commitment

“There was never a dull moment with Kelli. She was always bubbly and positive.”

Blessing

- Annie LeFevour ‘15

Legacy

Bliss

Heart

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Caring

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Passion

Blissful Love

Heart

Together

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Support

Creativity

Humble

Genuine

JOY Concert

Blessing

Cherish

Peace Happiness Choose Joy

Serenity

Together

LTHS

Brave

Legacy

Lions

Kind Run for Kelli

Unity

Tennis

Persistance

Beauty

Kind Run for Kelli

Laugh

Love Always,

Strength

Heart

Caring

Peace

LT Nation

Blissful Love

Laugh

Generous

Foundation

Kelli Karwash

Lions

Rejoice

Commitment

Honorable Faith

Dedicated put the joy of “ “I think sheLife others before herself. She Cheerful lived joyfully by making others happy.”

Legacy

Cherish

Humble

Comfort

Purple

Comfort

Happiness

Unbreakable

Impact -Emily Parkes ‘15

LTHS

Courage

Moving Forward

Tennis

Genuine

Gracious

Hope

Pride

Courage

Serenity Friendship

Support

Integrity

Creativity

Joy

Kelli Karwash

Strength

Unity

Generous

Foundation

Life Dedicated Cheerful

Blessing

Caring

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Honorable Faith

Unbreakable

-John O’Laughlin

s your senior year draws to a close, it only seems natural that we commemorate your loving and beautiful life. After your death, LT was at a loss; we couldn’t imagine moving forward without you. However, your strength gave us motivation to keep going. You unified our community. You kept us optimistic. You embodied the true meaning of joy. Now, we are paying it forward, for you.

We hope that you would be delighted to know that the community has banded together through the Run for Kelli, the Kelli Karwash, the JOY Concert and many more fundraisers to raise money for the Kelli Joy O’Laughlin Memorial Fund. Through the help of your memorial scholarship fund, your fellow classmates have been given the opportunity to further their education. Kelli, we hope that you realize all of the people that you have touched with your love. From your best friends to people you have never talked to, we have all been impacted by your life. As the class of 2015 finishes this chapter of their life, your memory will follow them as they head their separate ways. As the seniors leave the comfort of LT and go out into the real world, they will always remember you.

It’s hard to put into words how much we miss you, but we just wanted to say that this page is a tribute for your everlasting life. We will always keep you in our hearts moving forward and we hope that you will do the same for us. We miss you and we will love you forever, Kel.

Gracious

Hope Purple

Moving Forward Joy

Pride

Humble

A Happiness

“ Passion

opportunities to other Commitment young adults.”

Genuine Dear Kelli,

Serenity

Impact

LTHS

JOY Concert

“We want to keep her Cherish memory alive and provide

Together

Kelli Karwash Friendship

Support

Integrity

Creativity

Pride

Unity

Impact

Tennis

Heart

Brave

Beauty

Life Dedicated

“Because this impacted so many kids, it was very important to stayCheerful postitve.”

Strength

Lions

Kind Run for Kelli

Unbreakable

-Brenda O’Laughlin

Laugh

Honorable Faith

Courage

Foundation

Generous

Moving Forward Joy

Comfort

Hope Purple

Gracious

Happiness

Peace

Angel Rejoice Persistance Blissful Love

Genuine

Serenity

compiled by Abby King and Gaby Sabatino @abigailann_01 @gabysab8

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Family

Together

Community

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Creativity

Support

Justice

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 27

Rejoice

Persistance

LION Chatter “If I could hyperextend my jaw I could do anything.”

-Clare Mikulski ‘15

Senior Ads

Sarah Aldrich You have an adventuresome spirit, intellectual curiosity and a tender heart. We look forward to seeing what God has planned for you! We love you dearly, Dad and Mom Emily Anfield Congratulations on four great years at LT! WE are so proud of you! Good luck next year at Michigan State! Love, Mom, Dad, Eric, David and Audrey

Seniors Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 28

As the year comes to a close, LION would like to take some time to honor our beloved seniors. They have collectively done a tremendous job throughout their careers at LT, and we know they will do some amazing things once they leave these halls. So thank you, seniors, for setting a high precident for the rest of LT. You will be greatly missed.

Emily Atseff “All your dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them” – Disney. We’re so proud of you, Emily Atseff, our bold, brave girl. Love, Mom and Dad

Eleanor Boardman You’ve run LOTS of miles as a Lion, and strived in every race.

We are so proud of your constant trying. Celebrate and continue the success at Case!! Dad, Mom and Claire Amanda Bolton Congratulations Amanda Bolton! Love, your proud parents Cara Bresnahan Congratulations Cara Breshnahan! We are so proud of you and your accomplishments! We will miss you when you leave for Grinnell College. Love, mom, Dad and Aidan.

Joey Brunner Congratulations, Joey Brunner, on four terrific years at LT! Your hard work paid off, and will lead to more success at Wisconsin!

Love you so much, Mom, Dad, Johnny and Jill Carter Buyer-Knuff Carter, I don’t tell you enough how proud I am of the man you have become. Go take the world by storm. Love Dad(Andy) and Mom Carter-Way to go son. I love you, Dad Carter, we are so proud of you and your accomplishments. Good luck in college, Love Auntie Tree, Uncle Paul, Savannah and Alina Congrats on your graduation Carter! We are so proud of you and know there are great things in your future. Much Love, Auntie K, Uncle J, V, R and C Carter, Congratulations on reaching this milestone. I’m excited for you. Over the next 4 years, to continue on your course of becoming a great man. Remember who you are. Love, Uncle David Congrats dear Grandson, Carter. California cheers are resounding throughout Huntington Beach in your honor!! I’m so proud.

Love, Grams Knuff Congrats Carter! You were my 1st grandchild and will always hold a special place in my heart. Love, Grandma Cathy Elyse Campion Congratulations Elyse! We are so proud of you. You will soar like an Eagle at Marquette next year. Love, mom, Dad, Paul, Caitlin, Eileen and Bailey Connor Carson Connor Carson. Good luck at Illinois State University as you follow your dream of becoming a teacher! We love you very much!

Love, Dad, Mom and Christopher.

Vincent Caruso Dear Vincent – look back on your accomplishments with pride... we do. Look forward to your future with optimism...we do. With love and congratulations, Mom and Dad Sammi Cohen Congratulations Sammi Cohen. We are so proud of you! Love, Mom, Dad and Maddy Sammy Conrad Congratulations on four wonderful years at LT. We are so proud of you and love you so much. Boops and Noms John Cosgrove John!

Go! Fly! Love, Mom, Dad and Erin Ciara Collins This is the first step of your adventure through life. We love you, and we’ll be with you wherever life leads you. The Collins Family Michael Collins Congratulations on four awesome years at LTHS. WE are so proud of your success. Here’s to the next four. Love, Mom, Dad, Lindsey, Bob and Anthony Christopher Courtney Congratulations Christopher! We are so proud of you and all you have accomplished! We love you! Mom, Dad, Michael and Kellie Andy and Tom Crawshaw I’m mom, and I’m Dad, and we’re the very proud Crawshaws!

Excellent choice. Can’t wait for next year! Love, (W) I-L-L

Kevin Cushing Congratulations on your graduation. We couldn’t be more proud of all your hard work and accomplishments. Don’t stop believin’! Love Mom, Dad and Joan

“Should I sweep the streets with the broom of righteousness?”

-Drew Cushing ‘16

Sincerely yours...

Dan Archundia Dear Danny, We are really happy for your accomplishments. We pray all your dreams and wishes come true! Continue working hard and success will find you. Congratulations! Love, The Archundia Family

David Beetle Congrats David Beetle! You’re on an exciting journey that will no doubt lead to success – your way :) We love you and are proud of you! Mom and Dad

LION Chatter

A Yanal Abusamen- Purdue Monica Acevedo- ISU Sofia Acevedo- Iowa St. Timothy Acker- Bradley Emma Ahlert- Butler Kashan Ahmed- ISU Yara Alagha- U of I Eduardo Alamilla- COD Daniel Alba- COD Matthew Albertini- DePaul Juan Alcala- COD Sarah Aldrich- Miami, Oxford Celine Allan- FIDM Lindsey Allen- College of Charleston Joshua Althoff- Knox Teresa Alvarado-Patlan- Dartmouth Sabrina Amaya- Detroit Mercy Cameron Anderson- COD Saige Anderson- ISU Christopher Andreoni- Loyola, Chicago Emily Anfield- Michigan St. Anthony Angelico- Transition Vincent Arata- Marines Daniel Archundia- Elmhurst Daniel Arellano- COD Abdul-Rahim Arif- UIC Lindsey Arnston- Columbia, Chicago Eric Arroyo- Loyola, Chicago William Asfour- DePaul Emily Atseff- Wisconsin, Madison Vincent Ayala- COD

B Mayra Baeza- Dayton Cheyenne Baker- Aurora Thomas Baker- Lincoln William Baker- Army Sergio Barajas- COD Veronica Barajas- NIU John Barczak- DNR Emily Bastian- Louisiana Sean Bauer- DNR Grace Baumel- Indiana Lindsey Bazzoni- Kansas Mitchell Beasley- Iowa St. Caroline Bednara- Nevada St. Kelly Bednara- Work and Travel David Beedle- West Virginia Samantha Beilke- Ball State William Belden- Indiana Anthony Bellantuono- Lewis Jessica Bendyk- Marquette Ashley Benitez- COD Matthew Benz- U of I Joshua Bernier- NIU Hayley Bernson- NIU Madeline Bernstein- Harvard James Berry- U of I Susan Better- U of I Jack Bibeau- COD Alexa Bissell- Central Michigan Eleanor Boardman- Case Western Reserve Amanda Bolton- Kenyon Jacob Bonk- COD

William Bonk- COD Nicholas Bonneville- Western Illinois Carolyn Boo- Cal Poly Ryan Mel Borlongan- Moraine Valley Delaney Borzym- Transition Trevor Bouma- Transition Bridget Bracht- COD Edward Braunstein- Dayton Lidia Breen- Lehigh Madeline Brennan- Iowa Stephanie Brennan- DNR Caitlin Bresnahan- Alabama Cara Bresnahan- Grinnell Stuart Brewer- Loyola, New Orleans Seth Briskey- COD Charles Brom- U of I Kellie Bronson- Purdue Abigail Brown- U of I Ellen Brown- SLU Kenya Brown- COD Daniel Bruce- Triton Joseph Bruni- Dayton Joseph Brunner- Wisconsin, Madison Madeleine Buel- Denver Brendan Buhle- Iowa Cuyler Burke- Santa Clara Albert Burkes- Transition Chandler Burns- U of I Anthony Buscareno- Marquette Eric Buti- Ohio Technical Cody Butz- COD Carter Buyer-Knuff- ISU

C Julissa Cabrera- COD Mariah Cadena-Ortiz- COD Nancy Calderon- COD Jared Campbell- Western Illinois Elyse Campion- Marquette Joshua Cano- COD Stephany Cansino- UIC Richard Capalby- Colorado St. Jeanne Caplice- Alabama Michael Caplice- U of I Nathan Carnevale- COD Jamie Carney- Michigan St. Josephine Carrabine- Drake Daniel Carroll- DNR Riley Carroll- ISU Connor Carson- ISU Sophia Caruso- COD Vincent Caruso- Southern California Haley Casper- Michigan St. Ysabel Castillo- COD Mackenzie Castle- Central Michigan Daiga Cers- Hope Michael Cervantes- DNR Kristina Cevizovic- DePaul Thomas Chadwick- Indiana Nina Chamberlin- U of I Grace Chambers- Marquette Jennifer Chavez- Work Vivian Chavez- Morton Carly Ciraulo- COD Mitchell Ciszewski- U of I Jeremy Cizek- COD Patrick Clancy- DNR

Alexander Clark- Mizzou Lucas Clark- Johnson and Wales Alec Cohen- Colorado Julia Cohen- Indiana Samantha Cohen- Michigan Caria Collins- Iowa St. Lucy Collins- Notre Dame Marshona Collins- DNR Michael Collins- COD Amber Colon- Work Louis Colonna- UIC Abigail Conboy- Kentucky Samantha Concklin- Bradley Samuel Conde- Wisconsin, Madison Eamon Condon- Colorado Elizabeth Connelly- ISU Joseph Connors- DePauw Samantha Conrad- Columbia, Chicago Saul Contreras- COD Anna Cook- ISU John Cooke- COD Julia Cooley- Mizzou Christopher Cooper- Western Illinois Kelsey Corcoran- Kentucky Kenneth Cordero- Bethel Nayeli Corona Campos- COD Sebastian Correa- COD Emmett Corrigan- Iowa John Cosgrove- SLU Sarada Cotts- DNR Christopher Courtney- COD Dionte Cox- COD Mary Claire Cox- U of I Shakira Cox-Norman- NIU John Cozzi- DNR Joshua Craggs- Western Michigan Haydn Cramer- U of I James Cramsie- U of I Andrew Crawshaw- U of I Thomas Crawshaw- U of I Daniel Cremins- COD Sarah Crosby- Grand Valley Angel Cruz- DNR Austin Cruz- Western Michigan Aaliyah Cummings- Southern Illinois Jennifer Cummings- DePaul Ryan Cunningham- Dayton Anthony Cuomo- DNR Kevin Cushing- DNR Thomas Cushing- DePauw

D Ella DaDan- South Carolina Isabella Dalsanto- DNR Paul Daly- Western Michigan Chase Davidson- COD Noah Davis- Ohio St. Mitchell De Boer- Marquette Daniela De La Fuente- COD Spencer Decker- U of I Daniella DeLaurentis- UIC Mickie Delgado- DNR Michael DeLise- Alabama Grace Delleman- Edgewood Reese Dellios- Mizzou Olivia Deltio- NIU Christopher DeMeo- COD

College Key Cal Poly- California Polytechnic State University COD- The College of DuPage DNR- The student did not report to the College and Career Center FIDM- Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising ISU- Illinois State University Mizzou- University of Missouri NIU- Northern Illinois University

NYU- New York University SLU- Saint Louis University Transition- A post graduation LT program for special education students UIC- University of Illinois at Chicago U of I- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign UTI- Universal Technical Institute

LION Chatter “You know what we need in this room back here? A claymore.”

-Mike Flaherty ‘15

Seniors Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 29

LION Chatter “Bailey is the 1%.”

-Will Most ‘15

Ella DaDan You made it, Ella! It’s been a great run – We love you...and to you, too, Luca, for a great year at LT. Love, Jad and Momma Joe Dillon Pickle, Piggle, Dilly, Jed, Joed... However they knew you at LT, they will never forget you! Love, Mom & Dad Kara-Kaylee DiOrio Not only do we get to be TWICE as proud, but we get TWICE as many graduation tickets! Congratulations Twins. Love, mom, D, J, J, C, N, B, J, J, M, E. Gillian Dunlop GGB, you were a perfect 10 from the moment you entered the world. We are so proud of all you have accomplished, but even more of who you are. You are loving, sassy, funny, smart and beautiful. Keep the heels even if everyone else is in sneakers. And keep the hugs coming. We love you!

Matthew Faucher The future is yours, Matt. Live it well. We love and support you.

Dad, Mom and Ryan Freddie Figge Proud isn’t big enough a word. You consistently please and astound us with your achievements. We know your best is yet to come. Love Mom and Dad Matt Fisher You’ve made us so proud of everything you’ve done! We know you’ll do great at ISU. “Aim high to reach high.” Love, Mom, Anthony and Alex Teagan Fisher Congratulations! Your hard work has paid off. We are very proud of you. Best wishes at Marquette. Love, Mom, Dad and Jason Mike Flaherty You have always been our favorite son. We are so proud of the outstanding young man you have become and can’t wait to see where life takes you! Love, Mom and Dad Brad Gibbons Brad, you are an amazing young man! Looking forward to your continued successes as you enter this next phase of your life’s journey. Love you! Mom and Dad Jackson Golz Dearest Jackson Golz. We’re all so proud and very excited for your future at University of Iowa. Love, Mom, Richie, Aunt Cathy, Kitty, all your Aunts , uncles, and cousins.

Mark Gomez Mark, you did it! The future is all yours now. Go for it! May the Lord bless your steps and watch over you. We will be here for you every step of the way. Love, Mom and Dad Alex Gove Congratulations Alex Gove! “You have nothing to lose. Everything you have acquired of value is locked inside you.” WE love you, Dad, Mom, Meghan and James Nicholas Gron Congratulations! We are very proud of your accomplishments.

Continue working hard and you will be successful. We wish you the best of luck at Notre Dame. Love, Mom, Dad and Meghan Mary Hadley Congratulations Mary! You made it and we’re so proud of you!

Good luck at U of I! Love you, Mom, Dad, Christian and Maggie Cori Hansen Cori, Congratulations!! We love you and are so proud! Mom, Dad and Kenna Emma Haugen Emma it’s been a fun and exciting four years watching you jump, hurdle and play the French horn. We’re proud of you! Congratulations! Go Badgers. Love, mom and Dad Hugo Hernandez Dear Hugo, you are an inspiration. You teach us everyday to never give up! God bless you and all the special people. Thanks to you all this world is better.

Christine Hicaro Congratulations! As you head off to college, we pray for good things to continue coming your way. You deserve it! We love you very much, Mom and Dad. Jonathon Hudson Congratulations Jonathon Hudson. Love Ryan, Daniel, Mo & Dad. Go Cyclones!

Hannah Husemann Dear Hannah, we’ll miss your laughter, you and fun spirit in the house! Be bold on the outside, and stay beautiful inside. We love you! Mom, Dad, Ike & Elise David Hussey Congrats David Hussey! We are so proud of you and love you very much! Good luck at U of I! Love, Mom, Dad, Robert, Elizabeth and Alex Tom Hyland Tom- We are so proud of all you’ve accomplished in the past 18 years and know you’ll continue on that path at Miami. Love, Mom, Dad, Will and George Kristen Janicki Take pride in how far you’ve come. Have faith in how far you will go, but do not forget to enjoy the journey. Love, Dad, Mom, Beth, Nick and Adam Jay Jasiak Congratulations! We are so proud of you. You are going to thrive in this next part of your life. Good luck at butler! Love, mom and Dad

Kate DeMonica- U of I Elizabeth Deneen- Cornell Annie Denten- Dayton Sergei Deptula- ISU Thomas Derrah- Grinnell Nathanial Desouza- Work Michael Deveno- DNR Daniel Devine- Butler Arthur Diaz- COD Jonathan Diaz- COD Joseph Dillon- Iowa St. Daniel Dinh- Columbia, Chicago Kara Diorio- COD Kaylee Diorio- COD Aileen Dobersztyn- Valparaiso Karen Dominguez- COD Riley Donegan- DNR Meggie Donley- Indiana Paige Dore- U of I Claire Dostal- COD William Dow- Michigan St. Cameron Dowling- ISU Matthew Downing- COD Amana Droblas- COD Daniel Drozda- UTI Vivian Drury- Miami, Oxford John Ducham- U of I Jack Duffy- DNR Almasa Duheric- Loyola, Chicago Patrick Duncan- U of I Eric Dunlap- U of I Patrick Dunleavy- Alabama Gillian Dunlop- Lafayette Josephine Dunne- Belmont Sheila Dunne- Notre Dame Casey Dybas- COD Pijus Dzidolikas- COD Jenna Dzwierzynski- South Carolina

E Trevor Edgerton- Indiana Blake Edwards- DePauw Lauren Ehlert- Western Illinois Elizabeth Eicken- Iowa Caitlyn Elder- Nursing Megan Elliott- Miami, Oxford Valerie Elser- U of I Joseph Elvin- Bucknell Brett Emrich- ISU Michael Enochs- COD Miguel Espino- Marines Adam Espinosa- COD William Estey- Miami, Oxford Jonathan Ezell- Southern Illinois

F Madeline Fabris- COD Celia Faison- DePaul Reece Faloon- Colorado St. Patrick Falvey- Notre Dame Sean Farrell- Indiana Aubrey Fasano- DNR John Fatora- Texas A&M Matthew Faucher- Endicott Karli Fehrman- Nebraska Mark Fela- COD Sabrina Felix- Year Off Anthony Fera- Colorado St. Besarta Ferataj- Loyola, Chicago Kara Ferguson- Transition Zaralyn Dawn Fernandez- COD Thomas Fiedler- NIU Aliyah Fielding- DNR David Fiflis- Xavier Frederick Figge- Wisconsin, Madison Hannah Finley- Indiana Jeffrey Finnegan- Work/Music Jacob Fisher- U of I Matthew Fisher- ISU Teagan Fisher- Marquette Anna Fiszer- Saint Mary’s Daniel Fiszer- NIU Michael Flaherty- Indiana Tyler Florczak- DNR Adrian Flores- Roosevelt Maria Flores- NIU Yesenia Flores- COD Logan Flott- Iowa Charles Floyd- COD Emma Floyd- U of I Brian Flynn- Michigan St. Grace Flynn- Michigan St. Matthew Foisy- DNR

Christopher Fonseca- DePaul Steven Fornalsky- COD Emma Fornaro- Iowa Andrew Foster- Wisonsin, Madison Andrew Franceschina- COD Colin Francis- DNR Baxter Frederick- UTI Katlyn Freeman- U of I Kitt Fresa- COD Christopher Friedrich- COD Madeline Frieze- Dayton Colin Fuhr- U of I Madeline Fuhrman- Arizona Adrian Fulgencio- COD Jacqueline Fuller- Roosevelt Robert Fung- COD Grace Furjanic- Transition

G Elizabeth Gabrek- Loyola, Chicago Leo Gabrek- Wisconsin, Madison Julie Gabrisak- Kent St. Klaudija Gaigalaite- Career Education Gabriella Galassini- Wisconsin, Madison Connor Gales- Iowa Mitchell Galgan- Illinois Wesleyan Andrew Galletti- Macalester Ivan Galvan- COD Alex Galvez- Benedictine Ellen Gana- Transition Holly Garbis- COD Dalia Garcia- DNR Esequiel Garcia- Southern Illinois Reynaldo Garcia- DNR Jack Garrow- John Carroll Thomas Gartner- DNR Melissa Gatewood- ISU John Gauen- Dayton Benjamin Gawthrop- Indiana Marie Geraghty- ISU Anne Gertsmeier- NIU Bradley Gibbons- U of I Cole Gilchrist- Michigan St. Kelsey Gillespie- COD Juliana Gioia- Bradley Nicholas Girgis- Wheaton Aleksandr Glavnik- Wheaton Thomas Godinez- ISU Meghan Golden- Wisconsin, Madison Jackson Golz- Iowa Gissel Gomez- COD Kevin Gomez- COD Mark Gomez- DNR Anthony Gonia- COD Charlie Gonzalez- COD Renee Gouveia- COD Alexandra Gove- Michigan St. Jennifer Goyer- ISU Michael Grace- DePauw Gabriella Granada- Minnesota Amanda Gray- Tennessee Whitley Grayson- COD Fiore Graziano- COD Maria Grba- NYU Claudia Gregory- COD Emma Greifenkamp- Villanova Danielle Gresge- Georgia Tech Christina Grimes- Miami, Oxford Nicholas Gron- Notre Dame Ryan Gross- Working with DRS Brittany Grosser-Basile- U of I Brandon Grzonka- DNR Salvatore Guardino- Dayton Grace Gumbiner- Clemson William Gumina- DNR Colin Gunst- COD Alexis Gutierrez- Vanderbilt Daniel Gutierrez- ISU

H Mary Hadley- U of I Toby Halamka- Colorado Stephon Hale- COD Emily Halm- Mizzou Rain Hammon- Kentucky Katherine Hamor- Dayton Sarah Hannan- ISU Otis Hannigan- Loyola, Chicago Cori Hansen- Indiana Charles Harrigan- Iowa Lucas Harrington- COD Autumn Harris- Alabama

Martha Harris- TCD Nikola Harvel- COD Shireen Hassan- DNR Christopher Hasty- COD Emma Haugen- Wisconsin, Madison Aaron Hausser- Dubuque Brooke Hawk- COD Kathryn Hayes- Colorado Caroline Healy- Wisconsin, Madison Sophia Hebble- Purdue Erica Heilenbach- Ball St. John Heilenbach- Villanova Jenna Hein- Alabama Emma Heinz- Texas Christian Jacob Heinz- Indiana Liam Held- U of I Nathan Henderson- Minnesota Margaret Henehan- Arizona St. Matthew Hennessy- Notre Dame Charles Herbert- Iowa Bailey Hernandez- COD Jose Hernandez- COD Nicholas Hernandez- COD Victor Hernandez- Transition Ezequiel Herrera- Joliet Benjamin Hewett- Brown Matthew Heyer- COD Christine Hicaro- Iowa St. Mary Hickey- COD Megan Hickey- Denison Thomas Hickey- Saint Xavier Roberts Higgins- Indiana Henry Hilling- Wisconsin, Green Bay Katherine Hillyard- Ripon Frieda Hinojosa- COD Emmanuelle Hirt- Wisconsin, Madison Daivon Hodges- Arizona Anna Hoffman- COD David Hoffman- DNR Paige Hoffman- COD Chadwick Holland- Texas A&M Jack Hollinger- U of I James Hollowed- Indiana Robert Holmes- DNR Colton Hood- COD Alexander Hornacek- ISU Bryce Hoskins- COD Kalie Hoskins- Alabama Jonathan Howard- COD John Howorth- COD Aidan Huddleston- UIC Jonathan Hudson- Iowa St. Bryce Hughes- SLU DeMandre Hughes- Transition Demetrius Hughes- Transition Emma Hughes- Michigan St. Quinton Hughes- Indiana Jacob Hulten- Wisconsin, Madison Joie Huneryager- U of I Destiny Hurd- COD Hannah Husemann- DePaul David Hussey- U of I Thomas Hyland- Miami, Oxford

I Rachel Iffert- Colorado St. Rebecca Isham- DNR

J Christophor Jablonski- DNR Daniel Jabr- Loyola, Chicago Aleksa Jackson- COD Emilio Jacobo- Wisconsin, Madison Abigail Jacobs- South Carolina Cody Jacobson- DNR Mark Janevski- DNR Kristen Janicki- Indiana Matthew Janicki- COD Phillip Janowiak- Mizzou Alexander Jaros- LeTourneau Stanley Jasiak- Butler Stanley Jatczak- COD Nikola Jeknic- Loyola, Chicago Jose Jimenez- COD Elizabeth Johnson- ISU Michael Johnson- DNR Ryan Johnson- Colorado St. Delaney Johnston- ISU Celine Jones- Wisconsin, Milwaukee Olivia Jones- Indiana Mason Joseph- COD

LION Chatter “Will, stop cross-sexualizing... I mean cross sectionalizing.”

- Gillian Dunlop ‘15 Christopher Kelley Time sure has flown. Time for new adventures. SO proud of all you’ve done and the young man you’ve become. Congratulations.

Love, mom, Dad, Anthony and Giovanni Maddie Kirklys Best of luck to you at the University of Illinois College of Engineering! We love you! Mom, Jon, Marit and Alex Katherine Kizyma Bundle up for the cold @ University of Minnesota but take the warmth of your family with you as you begin this exciting journey.

Dream big dreams! With love and pride, mom, Dad, Kristin and Kim Maureen Klopp As you start down the path to a bright future Maureen Klopp, know that Dad and i are so proud of you and love you. Mom and Dad Colette Kocek We are so proud of your many talents and accomplishments and can’t wait to watch all your dreams come true. Dad, Mom, Connor and Rachel Jimmy Kourafas Time for a CAPITOL SOIREE. Congratulations Jimmy Kourfas.

Love Mom and Dad Jack Kraus Congratulations Jack Kraus! We love you and are so proud of you.

We can’t wait to see what you’ll do next! Love, mom, dad & Will Ryan Krukowski Congratulations on your high school graduation. We are proud of you and wish you continued success at ISU. We love you and are so proud. Love, mom, Dad and Brandon Kyle Kulhanek For every ending , there is a new beginning—for every memory, there is a dream ahead. Congratulations Kyle Kulhanek! We are very proud of you. Mom and Dad Steven Lamb Congratulations Steven Lamb. We are proud of you. Thanks to LT for four great years. Love, Mom and Dad. Anne Lefevour Congratulations! We are very proud of all of your accomplishments at LT. Your LT Education will help you be a great teacher.

Love, Your Family

Seniors

LION Chatter “I’m gonna start throwing things at you and make it look like an accident.”

- Nik Gallicchio, LION Advisor

Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 30

Madeleine Joyaux- Michigan St. Claudia Juarez- COD Hannah Juley- Wisconsin, Madison Daniel Jundanian- DNR Mark Just- Navy

K Katarina Kaplarevic- UIC Thomas Kaptur- Purdue Taylor Karey- COD Lambros Karkazis- Nebraska Damjan Karlovic- North Carolina Kevin Karpinski- Marquette Sofia Kasnesi- Arizona Constance Kass- U of I Christopher Kelley- COD Cara Kelly- Mizzou Skye Kienitz- Army Alexander Kimberling- Ohio St. Alexander Kimble- Indiana Mia Kinowski- COD Matthew Kinsley- COD Madeleine Kirklys- U of I Michael Kirksy- COD Katherine Kizyma- Minnesota John Klafta- Northwestern Andrew Klein- U of I Jessica Klimes- Elmhurst Maureen Klopp- Carroll Daniel Knackstedt- COD Samuel Knowles- Michigan Abby Knowski- COD Kaitlin Kober- Olivet Nazarene Colette Kocek- Iowa St. Gunnar Koch- Iowa St. Amanda Kocimski- COD Jagat Kohli- Purdue Andrew Kokoris- DNR Marisa Kopping- Aurora Thomas Korenchan- U of I James Kourafas- Columbia, Chicago James Kowalski- Utah Caroline Kralovec-Kirchherr- Carleton Mia Kramer- DNR John Kraus- Iowa St.

Madeleine Loehman- UIC Brendan Loftus- Transition Mary Long- Transition Abel Lopez- COD Emmalyn Lopez- Minnesota Daizy Lozano- Morton Christopher Lubera- COD Marina Luciano- COD Sofia Luevano- COD Caroline Lupetini- Johns Hopkins Margaret Lynch- Washington

M Joseph Madden- Northwestern Ashley Maderak- Moraine Valley Stephen Mahar- Azusa Pacific Adam Maksimovich- U of I Daniel Malaga- COD Vladan Malinovic- DNR Cody Malkmus- COD John Maloney- ISU Isabel Manske- DePaul Denisse Manzanilla- COD Brayan Maranon- DNR Kenia Marcial- COD Nina Marco- Grand Valley Melissa Marston- Kentucky Francisco Martinez- COD Frank Martinez- COD Georgia Martinez- COD Lucien Martinez- COD Michelle Martinez- DNR Oliver Martinez- Dayton Rachel Martinez- COD Matthew Martorano- COD Anthony Martusciello- DNR Francesca Martusciello- DNR Hannah Mathieson- Rochester Erin Mattucci- Michigan St. Anne McCarter- Notre Dame Isaiah McClenton- Western Illinois James McDermott- Kirkwood Maeve McDermott- Vermont Matthew McDonnell- Indiana Sarah McDonough- Northwestern

Emma Montgomery- Valparaiso Erskine Montgomery- COD Carolyn Moore- Indiana Justinia Moore- Rock Valley Kristen Moore- Purdue Alyson Morici- ISU Grace Morris- Augustana Edward Moskos- Marines Megan Moskowitz- Bradley William Most- U of I James Mostek- Western Michigan Alyssa Mota- Marquette Kaitlin Moulder- COD Eric Mueller- COD Andrew Mulligan- Iowa Keefe Mulligan- Vanderbilt Matthew Mungai- COD Celeste Muniz- ISU Mitchell Murphy- Iowa Scott Murphy- Hope Colleen Murray- Transition Annika Murrell- Columbia, Chicago Nicholas Musick- COD David Mysz- COD

N Blaze Nacker- Miami, Oxford Dino Nadarevic- COD Christian Naval- Indiana Jacob Nelson- Southern Illinois Kariann Nelson- Year off Madeline Nelson- Santa Barbara City Yesheana Nelson- NIU Peter Newman- Wisconsin, Madison Nicholas Newsome- Iowa Amanda Ng- SLU Bret Nicholson- DNR James Nicketta- Marquette Daniel Niedermeyer- Marquette Harrison Niego- Indiana Robert Nikchevich- DNR John Nolan- COD Timothy Nolan- Ohio St. Daniel Noonan- Michigan St. Jacob Norris- Cornell College

Joe Leonard We cannot be any prouder of the man you have become. You have what it takes to make your dreams come true. Love, Mom and Dad Matthew Martorano Congrats, Matthew! We are so proud of you! All the best at COD and beyond. Love, Mom and Dad “Go Hawks” Michael Metz Congratulations on your graduation, a job well done! Best wishes to you next year as you begin your college journey. We love you!

Love, Your Family Clare Mikulski Your accomplishments over the past four years have been astounding, and we could only be prouder of you if you were better at Math. Ah well, everyone has a fatal flaw. Love you sweetie! From mom, Dad, Tim, Maeve, Peter and Bonnie Will Most We are thrilled for all you’ve accomplished and excited to see what the future holds at University of Illinois! Love you, Dad, Mom,

MC, Mac & Nosey

Alyssa Mota Aly, from our baby china doll to our fierce, strong, independent young lady. Nothing can ever break you. We love you and are always so proud of you! GO EAGLES! Mom and Dad Nick Musick Congratulations Nick Musick! We’re so proud of you! WE love you, Mom, Dad, Holly and Roseavelt Shana Nelson Congratulations Shana! We are so proud of you! As you start college, remember just keep your focus! And we’re just a phone call away! God’s Blessings! Love you, Grandma, Grandpa Matt Nutley Matt- We are so very proud of you. The best is yet to come. ROLL TIDE ROLL. Love Mom and Dad Katie O’Connell Congratulations, Katie O’Connell! Keeping the blue and gold tradition going! SFX, LT, JCU – we’re so proud of you! Love, Dad, Mom, Colleen, Michael, & Joe Joe Okkema Great job, Joe! We’re proud of you. Keep up the good work at Purdue and in the future. Love, Mom, Dad, Ben, Sam and Mary Sam Okkema Congratulations Sam! You’ve done a great job at LT, and we’re sure you’ll be a success as Minnesota and beyond. Love, Dad, Mom, Ben, Joe and Mary Jack Oremus Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in Harmony- Gandhi Macy Orrick Macy, we’re so proud of you! You are a beautiful, bright young woman with a fantastic future in store for you. God Bless you Macy in everything you do. We love you. Mom, Dad, Brian, Chance, Kylie, and Kristin

Corey Krcivoy- DNR Alyssa Kremnitzer- COD Alexander Kristy- Carthage Ryan Krukowski- ISU Karl Krull- Virginia Tech Marissa Kubeczko- COD Adam Kubil- COD Kyle Kulhanek- NYU Kevin Kundid- COD Kelsy Kurfirst- Cornell Casey Kutay- COD

L Antwanisha Lacy- COD Cody Lamana- COD Steven Lamb- Cal Poly Dominik Lameter- ISU Victory Lampert- Butler Jacob Langan- Kentucky Amanda Lange- Transition Sean Lannan- Colorado Austin LaPenna- Miami, Oxford Kathryn Larson- SLU Cierra Lathan- COD Amelia Launspach- U of I Casey Lawry- COD Patricia Layden- Marquette Marko Lazic- DNR Christine Le- COD Tiffany Le- Illinois Wesleyan Aaliyah Leach- COD Jaclyn Leake- Arizona St. Nicolas Leal- Morton Ross Leavitt- COD Anne Leenheers- Kentucky Anne LeFevour- U of I Michael Lehocky- DNR Alexandria Lenz- COD Luc Leo- Mizzou Joseph Leonard- Indiana Patrick Leyden- COD Andrew Lezon- Indiana Andrew Lichtenauer- Texas A&M Nikola Licsandru- COD James Lilly- COD Alejandro Lima- St. Francis Stephanie Lin- Cornell Rafael Linares- Iowa John Linden- ISU Lauren Link- Loyola, Chicago Katherine Lively- U of I Sarah Lively- ISU

Marshall McElvogue- ISU Ethan McGahay- Iowa Olivia McGann- Wisconsin, La Crosse Audrey McGee- Drake Erin McKeon- Transition Pierce McLawhorn- Alabama Jacob McMillan- Elmhurst Owen McNulty- U of I Katherine McTigue- Miami, Oxford Sara McTigue- Ohio St. Brenda Medina- COD Carlos Medina- Work Dahlia Medina- COD William Medina- Transition Faith Medlock- Kent St. Angelina Medor- DNR Carlos Mejia- DNR Cody Melka- Marines Jon Memedi- COD Edwin Mendez- COD Jessica Mendez- Transition Maria Mendez- Western Illinois Clarissa Meneses- DNR Karen Merida- COD Louis Mesick- DNR Alec Messino- Indiana Alex Messmore- DNR Craig Metsch- COD Michael Metz- COD Tessa Metz- Northern Michigan Molly Meyer- Kentucky Rachel Michaels- Purdue Molly Miklosz- Concordia Clare Mikulski- St. Olaf Alexander Miller- COD Hope Miller- Charleston Suzanne Miller- NIU Tommie Miller- COD Tori Miller- Transition Thomas Millsap- Moraine Valley Bakhtawar Mirjat- American Jacob Mitchell- DNR Kasey Mitzit- ISU James Mohan- Michigan Shelby Mohrs- Stony Brook Samuel Molina- DNR Brandon Monarrez- ISU Joel Montalvo- COD Steve Montalvo- Moraine Valley Eduardo Montano- DNR Jose Montelongo- COD Alona Montgomery- Northern Iowa David Montgomery- COD

Angelica Nowak- COD Guinevere Ann Nueva Espana- Iowa Matthew Nutley- Alabama

O Miranda O’Brenski- Dayton Claire O’Brien- Marquette Lucas O’Bryan- U of I Katherine O’Connell- John Carroll Mark O’Connor- U of I Rory O’Donnell- Michigan Janna O’Halloran- Georgia Tech Daniel O’Heron- Employed Daniel O’Malley- Iowa Jack O’Malley- U of I Carter O’Meara- DNR Shannon O’Neill- Indiana Christopher O’Shea- ISU Lindsey Oettel- U of I Joseph Okkema- Purdue Samuel Okkema- Minnesota Justin Olewinski- COD Max Olson- Ohio St. Xavier Ontiveros- COD Clifford Oppenheimer- DNR Jack Oremus- Santa Clara MacKenna Orrick- COD Natalie Orsic- San Francisco Salina Ortega- U of I Alberto Ortiz- DNR Ariana Ortiz- DNR Bianca Ortiz- Dominican Manuel Ortiz- Baker, National Guard Tara Oskvarek- DNR Andrew Ostrowski- Illinois Wesleyan Austin Ott- Western Michigan

P Jacqueline Pace- San Diego St. Emilie Palacios- U of I Daniella Palmer- DNR Emma Palmer- Purdue Joran Palmer- NIU Ariah Palter- Texas Christian Georgianna Panopoulos- COD Giana Pappas- COD Laura Paredes- DNR Emily Parkes- U of I Timothy Parzyck- DePaul Ronze Pavone- U of I Alicia Peacock- Louisville

LION Chatter “Rossetti sucks.”

- Everyone

Natalie Orsic Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. (Henry David Thoreau) Natalie Orsic we are so proud of you! Mom, Dad and Danny Salina Ortega Salina, we could not be more proud of you!! We will always be here for you, loving you and supporting you! Congratulations!

Mom, Dad, Jay, Nina and Matt Kevin Petrak We are so Proud of you and your accomplishments, from the zoo to your Eagle project plaques at North Campus. Go to literally change the landscape at UWSP! Mom and Dad Courtney Petrosius Your hard work and dedication is paying off. We could not be prouder! Loyola look out! Love Mom and Dad AnnaJean Pittman Congratulations AnnaJean! We’re proud of your accomplishments to date, and we know this is only the beginning of many great things to come. Now on to your next adventure.

Claire Quinlan Great Job Claire Quinlan as Pulse Editor! On to your next assignment. We can’t wait to “read all about it!” Love, Mom, Dad, Michael, John and Cider MariJean Rapp As you complete your journey through LTHS keep the memories close to your heart as you start a new chapter in your life! Mom, Tom and Eva Michael Rasmussen Be Like Mike! Congratulations, Love Dad, Mom, Cara & Grant Kelly Roemer Sweetie, we are so proud of you and your accomplishments! We know you are going to do great things in your life. We love you, Mom and Dad Jake Rohrbacher Rohr, we are so proud of you! You’re going to do great at U of I! I-L-L...I-N-I. Love , Dad, Mom, Luke and Grace Joseph Rossetti Congratulations Joey on all your accomplishments. You have made us proud. Good luck at Mizzou. Keep following your dreams. Love, Dad, mom and Christina Michael Rundle Congratulations Michael on four very successful years! D.J. Extraordinaire! WE are all so proud of you. The best is yet to come.

We love you infinitely. Your Family Brittany Sneed We are so proud of you and everything that you’ve accomplished.

Keep up the hard work and self motivation and you will succeed.

Congratulations! Love always, Your Family Sam Stuba Sam-Everyday, in every way, you are getting better and better!

Peter Xeros Congrats Peter Xeros, we are very proud of you. You are a true Renaissance man. We know you will do great things at Purdue.

Taiylor Tagliere Taiylor we are so proud of you and can’t wait to see you blossom in the next chapter. Love you, Mom and Dad Lauren Theiss Live-Love-Learn-Laugh War Eagle!!!

We love always, Mom, Dad, Stefan and Imo Mary Jo Thometz Congratulations! Mary Jo Thometz! We are so excited for you and proud of you! Love, Mom, Dad, Peter, Brian, Maz, Rainbow, Sunny and Stormy!

Steven Vogel Congratulations! So very proud of you and all you’ve accomplished. Wishing you new adventures and a wonderful future at University of Minnesota. Keep on singing! Love, Mom, Dad and Justin Mike Warmus Warmus wishes for a bright and happy future! Good luck Mike!

We love you! Mom, Dad and Matt Tom Wennerstrum Tom- Enjoy your next adventure! Wherever you are, you will always be in our hearts. And Pawlie will save your spot on the sofa. Love, mom and Dad Alexander Wenstrup Alexander O’Brien Wenstrup! Go Utes! So excited for your next adventure. Enjoy the ride. Love, Mom, Dad, Sam and Daniel Jeffrey Wolf Jeffrey Wolf it’s been an amazing four years watching you grow into the fine young man you’ve become. We are proud of you, keep it up! Mom, Dad and Cala Mike Yelovich We are so proud of you! Congratulations! Love, Mom, Dad and Daniel Brian Zolnierczyk Hope you enjoyed the last four years at LT. Good luck in college and work hard. Mommy would be proud of you. WE love you.

Daddy and Eileen

Seniors Thursday, May 21, 2015  Page 31

Alexus Pelletiere- U of I Rebecca Pennington- COD Christina Penrod- Loyola, Chicago Jennifer Perez- Saint Cloud St. Jack Peters- COD Elizabeth Peterson- Arizona St. Kevin Petrak- Wisconsin, Stevens Point Courtney Petrosius- Loyola, Chicago Lawrence Pettrone- Ball St. Jake Phelan- COD George Philippou- Southern Illinois Maria Philippou- Santa Monica Mia Phillips- COD Jaquan Phipps- North Central Luke Pieczynski- U of I Mateusz Pietrusiak- Grinnell Luke Pigman- COD Rachel Pinta- U of I Vincent Pittacora- Iowa AnnaJean Pittman- Indiana Evelyn Podolsky- Western Illinois Maeve Poggensee- Michigan Nicole Polich- Moraine Valley Alisel Ponce- DNR Bradley Powers- Indiana Hayley Prena- ISU Gabriela Prylinski- Bradley Giuliana Pudlo- Miami, Oxford William Purcell- Indiana

Q Claire Quinlan- Washington, St. Louis Holly Quirk- Wisconsin, Madison

Kiara Runnels- Alabama St. John Rupar- Lewis Courtney Rus- UTI Mitchell Russell- ISU Reno Russo- COD Zachary Russo- COD Olivia Ruzicka- COD Kacie Ryan- ISU Margaret Ryan- COD James Ryckman- ISU Madeleine Rykal- Iowa Kelly Ryser- NYU

S Rachel Saggau- Colorado John Sagols- COD Christian Salazar- COD Daniel Salerno- COD Senay Salievski- DNR Timothy Sam- U of I Justin Sances- COD Nathan Sanda- Southern Illinois Juana Santillan- COD Toni Saracco- Michigan St. Jaime Saucedo- Southern Illinois Matthew Sauer- Southern Illinois Sarah Saulters- COD John Scaramella- Wisconsin, Whitewater Isabella Schaub- U of I Adam Schaufelberger- ISU Elaine Schiek- COD Virginia Schoder- DePauw Charles Schramka- Embry-Riddle Max Schroeder- COD Alexander Scotty- Louisiana St. Christopher Scotty- Alabama Jalena Searcy- COD Adrian Serrano- ISU Desiree Sessom- DNR

LION Chatter “Are four homeruns in a row called a giant squid?”

- Claire Quinlan ‘15 William Stahnke- Iowa Dena Stamatelos- Toronto Patricia Stamatelos- McGill William Stampfl- Michigan Joseph Starr- Ball St. Dante Stefanini- Dayton Christopher Stegner- Indiana Matthew Stevens- Miami, Oxford Forrest Stewart- Luther Kathryn Stoettner- Alabama Magen Storc- COD Morgan Storc- COD Martin Strance- COD Max Strohl- DNR Samantha Stuba- Iowa Adam Stubitsch- DePaul Erin Suhajda- Carthage Samuel Suhajda- Indiana Claire Suknovich- ISU Claire Sullivan- Bradley Lauren Sutkus- Iowa Jake Suva- COD Egle Sventnickaite- UIC Alison Swanson- Arizona Victoria Swift- Hope Brendan Swinehart- Clemson Janarrius Sykes- DNR Zachary Szczesniak- UIC Chloe Szot- ISU

T Macy Tabachka- Kentucky Taiylor Tagliere- Bradley Carolyn Tannura- Miami Aleksandar Tasevski- COD Margaret Taylor- U of I Shantiera Taylor- U of I Timothy Taylor- Southern Illinois Jeffrey Telomen- Embry-Riddle Isabella Tenorio-Bucci- DePaul

John Vercimak- COD Juan Vergara- DePaul Morgan Vickery- FIDM Ethan Vidas- DNR Roxanne Villarreal- COD Gerardo Villasenor- COD Nicholas Vitas- Illinois Institude of Technology Kimberly Vitek- Cornell Hallie Vlahos- Iowa Steven Vogel- Minnesota Zachary Volski- COD Marisa Von Drasek- DePaul Nicholas Vonkeudell- ISU Emma Vuillemot- Roosevelt Christian Vukosavljevic- COD

W Jacob Walczyk- Wisconsin, Madison Jonathan Wallace- U of I Caroline Walsh- Michigan Mariah Walsh- Iowa Matthew Walsh- Rutgers Michaela Walsh- Minnesota Clayton Walters- Purdue Michael Warmus- COD Thomas Waters- Iowa St. Isabella Watts- ISU Anna Weber- Michigan Hailey Weller- Vanderbilt Thomas Wennerstrum- Wisconsin, Madison Alexander Wenstrup- Utah Chloe Wesley- Columbia, Chicago Michael Wesley- Transition Braden Westerhoff- Marquette Caroline Westrick- Pittsburgh Natalie Whalen- NYU

“But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain and an athelete and a basket case a princess and a criminal.”

-The Breakfast Club

R Nico Rabe- COD Andrew Ragains- Hope Julia Rakoczy- COD Rachel Ramp- DNR Thayana Rangel- UIC Anika Ranginani- Pennsylvania Marijean Rapp- COD Michael Rasmussen- Colgate Christopher Rediehs- Iowa Ann Reimann- DNR Steven Rejdukowski- COD Lauren Remijas- California, Los Angeles Austin Rice- DNR Michael Richards- Transition Destiny Richardson- NIU Jackson Ridge- Chicago Kathryn Rigley- Indiana Connor Riordan- Iowa Kelly Riordan- Illinois Wesleyan Paxton Ritchey- COD Kevin Rius- NIU Anna Rivera- Cornell College Ian Robinson- COD Stephanie Robinson- COD Alexander Robles- UIC Brandon Rodriguez- COD Lauren Rodriguez- COD Kelly Roemer- Northwestern Claire Roesler- Emory Jake Rohrbacher- U of I Nicolas Rojas- COD Mykola Romanyuk- COD David Romero- Army Jovanni Romero- COD Kevin Romero- COD Maximilian Romero- COD Zhilang Rong- UIC Ellen Rosicky- Wittenberg Alex Ross- Vanderbilt Leonard Ross- Miami, Oxford Joseph Rossetti- Mizzou Raymond Rotolo- Elmhurst Leonardo Ruiz- COD Victoria Ruiz- Moraine Valley Michael Rundle- COD

Claire Sexton- COD Madeline Sexton- Western Michigan Mert Sezer- Moraine Valley Sean Shafer- Minnesota Daniel Shannon- Xavier Danielle Shapiro- Kendall Liam Sharkey- Iowa Michael Shea- U of I Deirdre Sheldon- Luther Kaitlyn Sheppard- Texas, Austin Britta Shockley- Year Off Jessica Sholler- ISU Michele Siamis- Iowa Caroline Sikes- Alabama James Sikes- DNR Brandon Siller- COD Mahtyerra Simmons- COD Justas Simonaitis- Moraine Valley Kiarra Sims- COD Kelsey Skach- St. Xavier Elizabeth Skolba- UIC Jessica Skonning- Manhattan Claire Slattery- Transition Nicholas Slinkman- North Central Conor Slomka- COD Sean Slomka- DNR Ajla Smajlovic- Iowa Dillan Smejkal- Western Michigan Samuel Smetko- DNR Aaron Smith- COD Cody Smith- Iowa Duncan Smith- Army Grace Smith- Richmond, London Jackson Smith- NIU Jasmine Smith- ISU Jazmin Smith- DNR Vance Smith- Utah Brittany Sneed- SLU Brandon Solares- UIC Gilbert Sotelo- COD Nicholas Spacek- COD William Spartz- Dayton Christopher Speck- COD Elizabeth Sprague- Butler Natalie Sprovieri- Butler Mardi Sramek- Evansville Paulina Srbinovski- COD Sabrina Stafford- COD

Katherine Tenuta- Travel Krista Tenuta- ISU Gabriel Thalji- Marquette Lauren Theiss- Auburn Alexis Thiesse- COD Daniel Thomas- DePaul Grant Thomas- Indiana Megan Thomas- North Central Mary Thometz- Connecticut Kristen Thoms- Iowa Daniel Thuma- Western Michigan Madeline Tisa- SLU Olivia Tisa- Indiana Bethany Tomasian- Colorado Douglas Toops- Transition Miguel Torres- COD Elizabeth Trop- Elon Jamie Truax- St. Olaf Joseph Truax- DNR Harrison Turckes- Ohio St. Madeline Turner- Colorado Bridgett Turro- U of I

U Patrick Underwood- Dayton Matthias Urban- COD Daniel Ureel- Alabama

V Robert Valdez- COD Nicholas Valdivia- Illinois Wesleyan Diego Valencia- DNR Aidan Van Nest- Penn St. Mark Van Wormer- COD Eric Varga- Indiana Michael Vargas- Dominican Euridice Vasquez- Transition Ivana Vasquez- COD Sara Vasquez- Kentucky Sonia Vasquez- COD Alexander Vasti- Miami, Oxford Brandon Vavra- U of I Joshua Vedok- DNR Anthony Vega- Iowa St. Tyler Vega- COD Alexandra Venchuk- Indiana

Kevin Whelan- Western Michigan Olivia White- Miami, Oxford Conor Wiegmann- Indiana Tyler Wielgos- ISU Morgan Wilczak- COD James Wilder- DePaul Laura Williams- COD Paige Williams- COD Ricky Williams- Wyotech Oliver Wilp- ISU Brianna Wilson- NIU Gregory Wilson- Transition Sandricka Wilson- NIU Patrick Windmoeller- Marquette Julia Wink- Aquinas Luke Winner- Miami, Oxford Quinn Winters- COD William Wiora- COD Jessica Wittenberg- Iowa Jeffrey Wolf- Edgewood Timothy Wolf- Western Illinois Mary Wood- COD Angelica Wozniak- U of I Elizabeth Wyckoff- U of I

X Fany Xelhua- Morton Peter Xeros- Purdue

Y Soumya Yallapragada- U of I Erin Yang- U of I Kyle Yang- Knox Aminah Yassin- ISU Michael Yelovich- Marist Kristen Young- Coast Guard Jay Yu- COD

Z Christopher Zeitler- U of I Joseph Ziarko- COD Nicole Zieba- ISU Kristina Ziebell- COD Jack Zimmerman- U of I Brian Zolnierczyk- COD Marisa Zulaski-Grand Valley St.

year in photos Thursday, May 21, 2015 n Page 32

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(Lidia Breen/ LION)

(Lidia Breen/ LION)

(Lidia Breen/ LION)

(Pearl Truax)

(Riley Carroll/ LION)

(Riley Carroll/ LION)

North Campus



100 S. Brainard Avenue

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La Grange, Ill. 60525

South Campus  4900 Willow Springs Road

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Western Springs, lll.