McHenry MessengerM
Illinois holds a flag redesign contest
The people of Illinois can vote on if a state flag redesign should be considered
Grace Crockett News Editor
Illinois opens up a vote for citizens to decide on a potential state flag redesign until Feb 14
A contest to redesign the Illinois state flag received nearly 5000 entries from participants all over the state of Illinois They now have selected ten options for the public to vote on, the vote will happen on Feb 14
The vote is more an advisory question, according to Illinois senator Terri Bryant The outcome of the vote will likely be put in a final report made by the Illinois Flag Commission where they will then submit that to the General Assembly where they hopefully make the final decision
For participants, there was a set of guidelines to follow when designing their flags such as not including the state seal, not too many colors,
truly representing Illinois as a whole, being easily recognizable, etc
With how many submissions were received, it was surprising to Bryant that were many people who wanted to get involved
“I was surprised with how many submissions we received,” says Bryant “Four states over the last few years however have experienced quite a bit of controversy when proposing a state flag change ”
However, despite the benefits, Bryant thinks this process may not be where the priorities should lie or an ethically responsible decision to enforce
“I think we're in a place right now in Illinois with a $3 2 billion deficit,” says Bryant, “where we may need to look at what are our desires right now and decide what is more important ”
“It's gonna be a tremendous amount of money at a time of physical crisis in Illinois,” says Bryant “There's a lot of pushback from people asking why we would do this right now when we don't have enough money to fund prisons, developmentally disabled or veterans programs ”
There is going to be controversy no matter what the decision is according to Bryant, so she doesn't see why we would need to change the flag at this time considering the expenses
“The majority of people in my district don't want to change the
Sitting in a new chair
Liliy Admas Editor-in-Chief
An MCHS student walks in the halls As they near the new wing on the third floor, they head into Sean Sterner's old office as a force of habit When they enter the dark room, they remember he has moved campuses, and the student walks to their class disappointed
Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, Sterner will be changing his commute to the Freshman Campus for a new job position Sterner is set to be the new FC Assistant Principal
“I pursued this next step of my own leadership journey, and this is kind of just the next step,” Sterner says “I enjoy leadership challenges, and this will be the next challenge for me ”
The FC is excited for the new face they will get to see around the building come fall
“Mr Sterner will bring a lot of valuable experience to the FC He has been a division leader for several years,” FC Principal Gregory Eiserman says "He has also gained a lot of great experience as Summer School Principal ”
With this new job, Sterner will be handling discipline acts, call operations, running the building and other logistical items He is excited to help out FC students and staff
“One of the reasons I wanted to pursue this in the first place is because I really love the direction that Mr Eiserman is taking the Freshman
Campus,” Sterner says
While Sterner is excited for this new job, it was hard for him to part ways with the job he's known and loved for the past several years
“The hard part of this decision is I really like the job I currently have I love the social studies division,” Sterner says “I love the teachers that I get to work with on a daily basis,”
However, he is not the only person at MCHS that is sad to see him go Staff and students will have to find a way to adapt to this new change
“For the social studies department it's sad because he's awesome, he's been in charge longer than I’ve been here,” social studies teacher Cody Freund says
“We’re gonna miss him as our boss, but we’re super excited for his new job ”
Senior Kilynn Axelson says that she is very excited for Sterner's new job, but she knows that the underclassmen will miss getting to see him and grow their connections with him
While it is bittersweet for Sterner to leave his current position, he is ready to get out there and experience what else working in education has to offer
“The reason I wanted to get into education in the first place is to help students,” Sterner says, “and I think I'll be able to do that a lot more as assistant principal but just in a different way outside the classroom walls ”
MCHS is waiting to see how this social science teacher is going to impact the school and everyone within
flag,” Bryant says “They like the flag as we have it as it can be costly to mandate this Even if you give them time to phase it in, it would require changing it at every state facility like prison mental health facilities, public aid, etc ” Barbara Drufke, Art Instructor here at MCHS says this flag design however can be a great opportunity for people to express their creativity in a patriotic way
“Illinois' state flag contest lets people showcase their creativity, engage in civic activities, and contribute to a new state symbol,” says Drufke “It’s a chance to express state pride, learn about Illinois’ history, and take part in the democratic process by voting for the winner ”
Periodically revisiting the state flag is important, says Drufke, just to ensure the imagery still encapsulates a relevant picture of Illinois' diverse culture and find an option that more accurately represents the unique identity of the state
However, not everybody may be as committed to the actual possibility of a flag change “It's inevitable that some participants didn't take the process seriously,” says Drufke “ I appreciate that applicants were required to submit not only their design but also their connection to Illinois and the meaning behind their flag This added layer of scrutiny helps filter out those who weren't fully committed to the competition ”
Social Science Division Chair Sean Sterner will be moving to Freshman Campus for a new job position
Dream come true
MCHS alum Elizabeth Holden shares her journey publishing her book and going through the process of becoming an author with the Freshman Campus
Mckenzie Woods Copy Editor
Elizabeth Holden describes how becoming an author has always been a dream for her since she could remember She describes the process of becoming an author and the things that come with being one She also describes the process of her coming up with the idea for a book, the process of writing the book and the process she goes through when she is getting ready to publish a book
“I’ve always wanted to be an author,” Holden says “Since I was too young to even write, I was telling stories and wanted my mom to write them down ”
When Holden was in high school she was a really good student, when she graduated high school she went to Columbia College for a semester and then transferred to MCC and earned her associates degree there She then went NIU after she earned her Associates
While Holden was in high school she wasn’t a part of any sports because she didn’t feel like she was athletic, but she discovered she really enjoyed sports in her 30 s and the importance of it in her life
“I, at that time, didn’t see myself as athletic, which I think was to my detriment, Holden says, “I think being involved in sports and being active physically and getting stronger is really valuable
She joined roller derby and it ended up changing her life and the way she views things Roller derby has become a big part of her life and has inspired her in many different ways
It is kind of what helped change my conception that one might view ”one’s body,” Holden says “It’s not about appearance, it’s about what you can do with it
Roller derby has been a very big change for her With it changing her physically and mentally, even socially
“In derby it’s about how hard you can hit people, how fast you can skate,” Holden said, It focuses on being stronger, being active
and engaging in a community
It has also changed the way she views herself and inspired her to become stronger
I ve gotten a lot stronger I used to say my arms are basically decorative, because I couldn’t really lift anything,” Holden says, and now I do a lot of weight training because I want to get better at Derby ”
When she joined roller derby she also joined a big community She ended up meeting people who have common interests as her and some people who might not have as many as others do
“I made not just friends, but also teammates and acquaintances who are maybe not my close friends, but we can help each other out with stuff,” Holden said “It connected me to a wider community, helped me meet people who aren t necessarily like myself, but we all have similar common interests ”
She met a lot of different people and a bunch of people with different backgrounds
“One of my good friends from Derby is a mechanic and I know nothing about cars, and we’re very different,” Holden says “She’s very quiet and sarcastic and just very, very different from me, but we bonded and it connected me to a lot of really wonderful people ”
So far Elizabeth has written six different novels with one that has been published and many others that are in the process of being shown to publishers Her book “Might Millie Novak” being her first to ever get published Her life with Derby helped her write and connect to this story She used how she had no experiences in sports and then joined Roller Derby to help her write this story and help develop Millie s character This then makes her connect to Millie in certain ways, but she also didn’t make Millie herself Millie has different characteristics than Holden has She also used life examples when she was writing for Millies Derby coach
“When I joined Derby,” said Holden, “I didn’t have any team sport experience as she doesn’t And in other ways, we’re very different ”
Holden is also a physics teacher and a travel agent outside of being an author and she used that to help develop the coaches personality and how they treat the athletes on the Derby team
I think of how I approach a newer skater and things like Millie's coach trying to be somebody who’s a positive influence, who is setting a good example, Holden says, Like being kind to yourself, to your teammates, and working hard, but not putting yourself down or being cruel and how I try to behave with my students in the classroom, newer skaters at derby, or when i’m leading group tours in Europe ” The world around Holden also has an effect on her writing She takes interest in what's going on around her and it will have an impact on her writing
“I love being in cafes and eavesdropping on people and just sort of witnessing human nature and paying attention and just being interested,” Holden says ”And then again, it’s not a deliberate thing where I'm gonna take their dialogue and deliberately put it in my novel I’m just interested in that I’m always listening I think that helps when I'm going and doing my writing
Dominic Burnett Puzzlemaster
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She doesn’t really have a writing process, but Holden will challenge herself and have other people to hold her accountable for writing when she gets distracted by her other everyday activities I will do things like time myself and see how many words I can get out in five minutes or read what I wrote before and then build on that a little bit, Holden says, Or I meet up with an author friend every Tuesday and we talk for half an hour, and then we write, and then we have to prove to each other we wrote, so I have accountability ”
With her busy schedule of being a teacher, an owner of a travel agency and being on a Roller Derby team she still pursues her dream in becoming an author and publishes her first book She uses what her daily life is like and how she interacts with people and will put those characteristics in her characters She also puts the characteristics on how she has personally grown after joining Roller Derby into Millie when she joined Roller Derby She also uses her time wisely when she has the time to make sure she writes, but also gives herself breaks when she needs them
Beth Brackmann Arts and Entertainment Editor
Elizabeth Holden tours MCHS more than two and a half decades after graduating from MCHS in 1999 Since, she has become a published author, started a travel business, and works at UW - Platteville as a physics professor She spoke at the Freshman Campus during Writer’s Week | Photo by: Rose Wenckebach