Volume 5, Issue 9 by The McHenry Messenger

A WARRIOR STUDENT MEDIA Publication

McHenry Community High School | Volume 5, Issue 9 | January 29, 2024

Kids in my sock drawer? What? See side two for the full story

NEWS

Photo by: Mackenzie Sroka

Students dance the night away at Winter Formal

On Jan. 20, student council threw MCHS’s first Winter Formal in many years at the Freshman Campus Olivia Smith Social Media Manager Freshmen walk into their familiar campus, and the upperclassmen are given a nostalgic blast from the past as they walk into this year’s Winter Formal. The music is blaring, the lasers are on and there is a wave of excitement in the air. On Saturday, Jan. 20, the MCHS Winter Formal took place at the Freshman Campus. There were mocktails for everyone from 6:30 -7 p.m. The dance lasted until 10 and featured a hired DJ and other amenities. The Student Council devoted lots of their time into planning the dance. “Student Council and participating volunteers from NHS and Key Club helped pull the event together and decorate the space perfectly,” said Grace Hunt, Student Council Secretary. “Our advisors worked hard to make the mocktail hour a successful time with awesome drinks and food, plus were great bartenders.” However, some issues were not accounted for. The lights in the Freshman Campus gym are motion sensored, so many felt this made it awkward. Because of this, the staff worked hard to turn them off per request of the students. “Obviously the lights situation was a little iffy,” said John Aubert, student

council advisor. “But that was kind of out of our control, so we eventually fixed that…I think the aesthetic was great. I know a lot of kids had a lot of fun with that.” The decorations for the dance were themed around winter wonderland. There was also a stand located towards the back of the gym called a “glam-bot” where students could get fun videos together. “I think the music was good, the people who went liked it,” said Kyra Hannamen, a sophomore who attended winter formal. “Food and drinks were good, and overall it was a good time. However, the turn out was not too many people.” The dance was held at the Freshman Campus in an effort to include freshmen. All of the other school dances have taken place at the Upper Campus. The Winter Formal was meant to include all students and provide an outlet for fun and connection. “We were initially a little scared of how it was going to look like and be at the Freshman Campus,” said Jia Shah, student council board member. “Despite the issue with the lighting I would say it was a success. Everything we had planned worked out exactly the way we wanted it to work. The things that we were in control of, executed the way we did, and I am happy with that.” The Winter Formal, while there were not many students that attended, was executed according to plan and went over well with the students that came.

OPINION

MCHS’s Winter Formal took place on Jan. 20, where there was a glam-bit to capture the memories, along with many other activities within the event | Photo by: Aika Villa

The parking lot needs to be maintained better in winter

The parking lots at MCHS require modifications to be safe in winter Lydia Lawrence Opinions Editor Students, parents, and teachers begin to drive into MCHS the morning after an e-learning day, tired, with hands gripping a slowly defrosting steering wheel. Pulling in cautiously next to the oncoming traffic, the slight locking of the back wheels is enough to jolt anyone wide awake. After turning into the parking lot, they make their way down their usual “muscle memory” path, only to realize that they can hardly see their parking spot. The drivers that are parked on either side of them appear to have the same issue, both cars being slightly crooked. During the inclement weather, MCHS students and staff have a hard time getting through the parking lot and to their spaces. These parking lots need to constantly stay maintained because of the limited road space and continual snow coverage. Before the inclement weather days, dustings previously had added to the now mounds of snow that build on the grassy sections, or where drivers do not pass in the parking lots. If these specific snowy areas could be taken care of, it would give more visibility back to the

driver and would prevent snow overflowing back onto the roads after persistent plowing. With blindsides and parking spots faded by snow, this adds to the stress for students and staff upon arrival. As for the actual roads that are in the parking lot, they appear to be extremely thin. Although presumably compromised for more parking space, thinner roads add for more uncomfortable passing between cars and curbs, as well as areas that are difficult to maneuver in when traffic is present. When the weather is too cold and salt will not melt the ice that can be present, drivers have considerably less space to redirect their cars in case of a slight skid. This can be dangerous for many reasons, one being the other students that are walking to their cars. Because of such severe weather, it could have been a danger for workers to perform their job efficiently in a timely manner. Extra stress is added to the issue when the space to put all of the snow is so limited. The Building and Grounds department has been continuously plowing the snow since it began to spike, and have the materials and training to do their jobs as effectively and safely as possible. It is undeniable the fact that the team cannot completely clear the parking lot of snow unless at the expense of other

The winter days have taken a toll on the student and staff parking lots due to the snow and ice, and leaving the question of is the parking lot maintained to its best during the winter? | Photo by: Eli Frommes

areas of the property. This in part could possibly contribute to a larger conversation; should MCHS work to reconstruct the student parking lot? Snow has always been an issue for MCHS parking lots, even before the new wing expansion and the extra parking for staff.

Steps can be taken to ensure a safer area for the student body and staff, but this does not call for surface level solutions. Had the building design taken strongly into account the amount of snow that might lay on McHenry? Is there a way to implement changes that all individuals at MCHS will benefit from?

FEATURE

Some socks required

The students in AP Psychology are entrusted to care for “sock babies” to symbolize looking after a newborn baby | Photo by: Mackenzie Sroka

Maggie Demski Copy Editor

SPORTS

A student gets to school on Wednesday morning realizing that they forgot their sock baby. They text their dad to bring the sock baby to school. This shows that this student is a bad sock parent, they will fail AP Psychology.

In AP Psychology students have an assignment that revolves around taking care of a sock baby to see how certain things in childhood would affect people in adult life. “The sock baby project is designed to be a more open-ended way to learn about child development,” said Pamela McCarrel, an AP Phycology teacher at MCHS. “They are learning about

Students in AP Psychology are raising sock babies

cognitive, emotional and physical development.” During the project students raise their sock baby. The sock babies go through a different life stage every day so at the end of the project they are adults, so students get to see how their childhood affected their development. “It was definitely challenging at times because it’s not a real child…I remember the first day I did leave it at the lunch table,” said sophomore Kyra Hanneman. “I got lunch and brought it back, and I was like wait I needed to bring my baby with me. At times having and remembering the baby is a challenge “A little stressful, I have to bring him everywhere so he attends everything with me,” says sophomore Ashley Dumez,”I think it's a good leadership learning thing for me.” With having these sock babies, students also get to name them and get creative. “They just have fun kind of creating the identity and where they came from,” said McCarrel “They are super creative which I love, they dress them and it’s so fun.”

There are some things that students do not like, like having to find babysitters, and if they are being a bad parent, having to defend themselves and make a case. Through having to take care of these sock babies, students learned about the effects of childhood on everyday life. Having the sock babies also helps the students connect to the content more than if they were just doing a reading or doing work sheets. While taking AP Psychology students learn about the different things that human brains go through. That includes brain development, which is what the project is meant to simulate. Of course with this not being a real child it comes with its differences, like not having to change a diaper or hear it cry, but overall the way that this project is used is effective. Students might take AP Psychology to boost their GPA, or because they have a genuine interest in Psychology. Whatever the reason they will leave the class knowing more about the human brain, processes and how humans interact with the world.

Creating a history

MCHS’s first ever girls wrestling team has started their season showing strength Mackenzie Sroka Editor in Chief As the girls shoulders hit the floor the pin is called and the match is won. It is always met with congrats and excitement, but this year is different. The girls all rush to congratulate as they all would do for eachother. They are all there to support one another, win or lose. The feeling is different after matches now, but in the best way possible, for there is a team of supporting friends and people all rooting for each other to do the very best they can. This year is the first that MCHS has a girls wrestling team. There have been female wrestlers prior to having a team, but this year there were enough females interested that a team was able to be formed after efforts to get girls interested. “We had a camp that featured Olympian Haley Augello and we tried to get as many girls to this event as possible. We ended up having about 60 girls from the surrounding area show up to this event,” said James Buss, the girls varsity wrestling head coach. “The next step was making sure that the school admin wanted to back it up and showing that after a summer that girls would want to wrestle for an entire year and not just for the one day camp.” The brand new team has been very passionate and excited to be a part of the formation of the team.

“It is a great feeling being part of something brand new for this school and as a growing sport. We as a whole team and organization is the beginning foundation for this sport's future,” said Brianna Duran, a girls wrestler. “A lot of people doubted the team of it being any good, but that was our motivation to prove everyone wrong. We started our season beating Jacobs then going to a Waukegan tournament with 29 schools being there and getting the most pins as a team and getting first place.” While there have been successful individual girl wrestlers, some of the accomplishments that have been made this season would not have been possible if the team had not existed. “This season is different from the past because I am now only wrestling girls and practicing with them too so it is a whole new environment,” said Natalie Corona, a wrestler. “It's very nice to be going to tournaments with 20 girls and taking home the trophy. All these girls really put in the effort to come and join together as a team, and winning a championship and having a giant team cheering you on and running you over when you win is a great feeling.” By having a girls team the wrestlers are now able to support each other and are more connected. The energy surrounding girls wrestling has become even higher since the formation of the team. “The season is going a lot better this year than previous years in that we have a team that can bond together better

The McHenry Messenger is McHenry Community High School’s student-written and -edited newspaper. Launched in 2019, The McHenry Messenger is the student-run and student-edited school newspaper at McHenry High School in McHenry, Illinois. Student journalists have the right to exercise freedom of speech and the press in high school media. The McHenry Messenger benefits from these rights. We hope to use this platform to inform and engage the students and staff of McHenry High School as well as its broader community. As an open forum for student expression, the McHenry Messenger hopes to maintain editorial independence from that which we cover while continuing to foster connections to the community.

MCHS has a girls wrestling team for the first time in history of the school, they have been reaching success | Photo by: Photographer: Allie Everhart

and make the season more enjoyable,” said Addison Hodges, a wrestler. “The energy is incredibly high even on our bad days. We always keep each other focused and allow us to build off of each other.” The girls dedication and excitement towards wrestling has created a very positive environment surrounding the team and one another. “The energy of the team is something that I have never seen or been a part of before,” said Buss. “This team is matside cheering on for their

teammates and as soon as that person is done wrestling they are cheering them on because they won or lifting them up because they lost. This team is very eager to learn and are willing to try any of the drills that I put in front of them.” The team’s energy has also been translating into success with their current record being 4-2. They begin regionals Jan. 26 and 27, and sectionals will begin Feb. 9. The girls are hopeful for the upcoming tournaments, but they are only expected to do their best that they can at every match.

Editorial Leadership

Staff Writers

Section Editors

Brooke Danz, Copy Editor Maggie Demski, Copy Editor Aika Villa, Page Designer

Mackenzie Sroka‭, ‬Editor-In-Chief Lola Cassidy, Online Managing Editor Michalina Sotka, Print Managing Editor Grace Crockett, News Editor Lily Adams, Features Editor Lydia Lawrence, Opinions Editor Hunter Blake, Sports Editor Gabe Santos, Arts and Entertainment Editor

Multimedia Team

Leylah Moreno‭, ‬Artistic Director Paulina Borowski‭, ‬Marketing Director Grace Bellavia, Social Media Manager Olivia Smith, Social Media Manager Grace Hunt, Business Manager

Zach Benton‭, Beth Brackmann, ‬Eli Frommes‭, Jennifer Landa-Tolentino, ‬Lexi Januk‭, ‬Elijah Latronica‭, ‬Kiera Miller‭, Ethan Rasmussen and Joslyn Wenckebach.

Questions? Comments?

Contact Mr. Dane Erbach, the Messenger’s advisor, at erbachdane@dist156.org.