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LASO collects food in AIM classes
Until the end of January, MCHS’s Latin American Student Organization is holding a food drive where all
donations will go towards the non-profit Youth and Family Center in McHenry AIM classes will compete against each other to see who can collect the most non-perishable goods The winning AIM will be rewarded with
Sweetheart snowball
As students walk through the snowy weather into freshman campus, they see the hallways leading to the gym full of decorations for this year's winter formal There will be many fun incentives for students to get involved with That being a mocktail hour, spirit week, photo booths, and the crowning of the winter formal king and queen
On Feb 1 2025, the freshman campus will be hosting a winter formal called ‘The Snowball’ There will be a mocktail hour from 6:30 to 7 p m and other fun activities including a photo booth, a winter formal court, and a DJ
“In order to prepare for the Snowball Dance,” Student Council president Grace Hunt says, “the student council has picked out decorations, planned a spirit week, picked out mocktail recipes, created promotional materials, created a Snowball court, and other various tasks ”
The dress code for the dance is semiformal but students are able to wear whatever they desire
“I know that we will have mocktails again, similar to last year but there will be more drink options ” Social Science teacher Kathryn Frey says, “There won’t be any games but, there will be different areas to hang out in and take photos in ”
Last year, the lights in the gym weren’t off, so the student council practiced how to turn off all the lights
“Yes! This year we have learned how to turn off all the lights in the gym so it shouldn’t be a problem this year,” Frey says
The day of the dance was pushed back a little later than usual so there can be more of a ‘sweethearts’ vibe to it
The day of the dance was pushed back a little later than usual so there can be more of a ‘sweethearts’ vibe to it
“We pushed back the date of the formal a little bit so it can be a sweethearts dance,” Frey says, “but still following the winter formal theme,”
This year’s winter formal will have a court Students can nominate others to win king and queen
“Each grade will choose two representatives to be crowned on the Snowball Court The people who are voted the most will receive free tickets to the dance and enjoy the honor of being Snowball royalty,” says Hunt
The Student Council also planned a spirit week during the week of the dance
donuts and hot chocolate So, not only is this a small competition, but it’s for a good cause It’s a great opportunity to give back to the community, especially for those whtruly need it
The YFC does good for the community and its families It presents services like youth and adult programming, daycares, tutoring, school focus groups, food services and more Although food can sometimes be scarce, that's why the goal of the food drive is to collect as much as possible so there is no need for fights and everyone gets a fair chance for access to goods
“This food drive is good because YFC is getting resources from people they normally don't,” Urquizo says “and it's also giving LASO an opportunity to go and interact with the kids and people there ”
LASO Vice President, Angelina Ruiz has seen these interactions and fights first hand during her internship at the YFC, and knew something had to be changed
“It was always right in my view So, I think I finally saw more people who actually needed food and struggled ” Ruiz says, “So I brought it
up to LASO because I wanted us to help our community, and also wanted us to collaborate with people who have mostly Hispanic backgrounds like that ”
While LASO doesn’t exactly benefit personally from the fundraiser it’s good to help out while spreading the word of organizations such as the YFC and their own Social Worker Otto Corzo sponsors the club, but does not interfere in any plans
“I'm the sponsor of lasso, but really,” Corzo says, “LASO is by the students, for the students”
Almost halfway through January, some AIM classrooms have already filled up two bags of goods to be donated
“It feels really good to be able to give back,” LASO member Daniel Palermo says, “especially to those that truly need it ” LASO intends on further spreading the word of their organizations future events and fundraisers
“LASO is going to continue coming into AIM classrooms and checking in on how they’re doing ” Urquizo says, “Here, and at Freshman Campus ”
“I like winter formal because it’s lowkey, and not having as high of expectations like homecoming and prom ” Frey says, “I’m also very excited for it this year because this year for the first time we’re going to have a court,” Student council learned the importance of having a fun dance to create excitement during the winter period of school
“The Snowball Dance is a chance for students to get out and have fun for the night with friends,” Hunt says As students walk out of the freshman campus gym, they are
extremely satisfied They realize that this year’s winter formal was better than anticipated and had a very memorable night They enjoyed the DJ, the mocktail hour, and participating in the spirit week
Ffion Curtain Managing Editor
Afton Ingraffia Features Editor
Out of our hands
Margaret Demski Copy Editor
This semester, many students have had their year long classes changed in terms of teacher and period placements This has impacted students' ability to learn in school, and made it so they have to adjust to new situations twice in the school year, this is especially impactful to kids in AP classes
When making schedules for the school year, Powerschool sets up a master schedule according to the teachers available to each subject and classes per teacher Then Powerschool places students into classes based on that master schedule
“When you have a building with 1700 students, schedules can’t be as clean and neat as you would want them to be,” College and Career CounselorCurtis Menke says “In a perfect world every student in a year long class has the same teacher each semester and each period Part of this also has to do with traveling teachers and elective selections as well
”
Though this may not inherently be a bad thing, it affects every student differently, some students are easygoing with switches like these, while it might be hard on others
“I have all new teachers,” sophomore Erin Gitchell says “I’ve loved all of my teachers for the first semester, and I’m really liking my second semester teachers, so I feel like I’m pretty easy going about it But I could understand how some would be affected more ”
Even if a student requests a schedule change, their counselor might not be able to change their schedule
“Some of it we have control over
Many MCHS students in year-long classes have switched teachers and class periods between semesters. What caused these changes?
and some of it we don’t as it is strictly Powerschool,” counselor Kate Schak says, “once the requests get put into Powerschool, it does its own scheduling We try to keep students
with the same teacher, but sometimes with semester-long classes, the year-long classes they are taking don’t align to keep them with that teacher ”
There can also be some benefits to a changed schedule, it gives the students more experience with having to readjust after getting into a routine, says Menke
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Counselor Kate Schak meets with a student about his schedule in her office at the College and Career Center at the Upper Campus during the first week back after winter break | Photo by: Afton Ingraffia