Issue 3 22-23

ELLA MITCHELL

Editor-in-Chief

Protesting the overturn ing of Roe v. Wade, hundreds of commu nity members lined up shoul der-to-shoulder along the crowded intersection of Arlington Heights Road and Northwest Highway on June 27, including sophomore Taryn Rooks. She held a bold sign boasting vibrant

black paw prints and red script making its message abundantly clear: keep your hands off her body.

As cars buzzed by, Rooks couldn’t help but notice people’s vastly different reac tions: supporting, glaring, yelling slurs or flipping protesters off.

Holding strong despite this criticism — tapping into her “tough, advocate exterior” — Rooks and fellow protesters chanted: “Our body; our choice.”

Upon hearing this, one mother in a small, black car — with two young girls in car seats sitting in the back — rolled down her windows and gave a nasty glare to the protesters lining the road. She started fu riously whispering to her children in the backseat, still throwing intermittent glares at the advocates outside, all while her tod dlers looked utterly confused by the situ ation.

“I felt trapped on behalf of those girls,” Rooks said. “You are your body; you have to live with it for the rest of your life. To be told that you don’t have

the right to [reproductive freedom]? … That’s horrible. These kids are in car seats, and that’s what they are being taught.”

Rooks’ experience advocating for a cause at a young age is an increasingly common story amongst members of Gen Z. According to an analysis conducted by Tufts University, 27 percent of young people aged 18-24 say they have attended a march or demonstration, which is an in crease from the 5% in 2016 and 15 percent in 2018. Young people are getting more involved in activ ism, but protests are not the only forms of speaking out Gen Z is engaging in; their activism takes on a multitude of forms as it is shaped by individual action and political engagement as well. These are all actions Gen Z members takes as they find themselves fiercely battling with numerous problems: climate change, inequality, social injustice, political division and challenges with re productive rights. While these pressing issues have mobilized teens into action, not unlike that of other generations, Rooks finds they are often dis credited and ignored due to their youth.

Rooks, as a Black, queer wom an, is passionate about advocating for women, espe cially women of color and queer women of color, because of the many social disadvantag es they face. Her ac tivism began small; she was first inspired to speak up for herself by Prospect alumnus Alli son Winkler, who took Rooks

under her wing during her freshman year, introducing her to a community of strong voices through the club Knights for Con sent.

“Their courageousness and will to speak out is contagious,” Rooks said. “When you’re around … that energy, it makes you feel good; it makes you feel em powered.”

Winkler never expected to leave a legacy behind at Prospect, but is touched to have left one with Rooks and the Knights for Consent community.

“Sexual assault is a very hard topic to deal with,” Winkler said. “Those are kids dealing with a really hard topic; a really serious topic. I really feel for all of them and how hard it can be … I look at them like, ‘You are all so brave. You’re kids.’”

Stemming from the club, Rooks’ activ ism began to grow as she used her voice to speak up for her cause on a personal level. While attending protests is most certainly a powerful agent of change, it’s best to start within one’s own life, according to Rooks.

She began by discussing some of her family’s outdated thoughts about stereo typed gender roles with them, especially when it came to womens’ role in the family.

“It showed me that you don’t always have to get … an adult to be there and stand up for you,” Rooks said. “You can stand up for yourself; the power is within you.”

This discussion not only forged con nections between different viewpoints, but helped both parties involved understand the other perspective. After the fact, Rooks’ grandmother sent a follow-up text thank ing Rooks for speaking up, because Rooks brought up a perspective that she hadn’t previously considered.

Rooks believes that activism like this stems from fostering understanding

ACTIVISTS: New voices of change

a local level is the most effective way to combat discrimination and issues he sees firsthand.

and creating a two-way listening channel. Having hard discussions with people, while they may be uncomfort able, is also an often overlooked form of advocacy.

“When you take the time to sit down and explain things to people one-on-one and you don’t attack them for it and you just genuinely sit there and speak — and listen to them, as you want them to listen to you — you’ll get a lot more across and actu ally see change, not just resistance,” Rooks said.

Environmental activist junior Kelsey Fieser agrees that activism starts on a smaller level. Fieser takes personal responsibility and strides to better the planet, while also sharing her ideologies with willing ears.

Her activist journey began in mid dle school, shortly after watching a documentary called “Earthlings,” which is about the treatment of ani mals in the food industry. Watching this tell-all depiction of negative im pacts within the meat industry soured her taste for meat consumption, and Fieser converted to veganism for envi ronmental reasons.

Her activism continued to grow from there: by freshman year, Fieser was more conscious about the envi ronmental impacts of clothing and fast fashion and began thrifting. She esti mates that 95 percent of her clothing is second-hand, and cannot remember the last time she bought something new.

“Anyone can be an … activist,” Fieser said. “Someone doesn’t have to be going to protests every weekend to be considered an activist. As long as they’re taking steps towards change … they are activists.”

Senior Luc Neacy is passionate about making steps towards change in a variety of spheres: environmen talism, voting rights and queer rights. Above all, Neacy believes working on

ing on learning the players and the processes of local government and activism,” Neacy said. “Working on voting equity is the biggest thing we can do to advance progressive ideals in local areas because it’s hard to force policies when you don’t have a lot of people in local power.”

tion with the League of Women Voters within the offices of Democratic Illi nois Sen. Ann Gillespie and Democratic Rep. Mark Walker of the 53rd Illinois District office — Neacy is determined to make a difference.

something Rooks, Fieser and Neacy know all too well. As a Black woman who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, Rooks says she has been on the receiving end of slurs and bul lying on numerous occasions. This pattern of abuse has desensitized her in many ways, developing a

tough, advocate exterior shell to ward

Because Rooks is a first-generation American, the idea of speaking out is

not the type of person to usually yell, but when I’m being an advocate I’ll yell and express myself.”

While Rooks admits it might be easier to give up and stand by, she doesn’t regret being an activist.

ceived many angry comments from agers shouldn’t be worrying about this; her main focus should be school,” “Why are you letting your teenager participate in this?” and “Let the grown folks

Luckily, Rooks is able to ward off disagreement and hate with the belief in her cause and knowledge that

“When I’m doing my activism it makes me feel so big in a world that feels so small,” Rooks said. “I’m

“You drop a glass of wa ter on the floor, just looking at it isn’t going to clean it up,” Rooks said. “You actual ly have to make the change if you want to see the change. You have to do things you’re scared off in order to see the positive results to overcome the fear.”

Neacy’s work — in lieu of a tradi tional mop to sop up society’s prob lems — with canvassing and working with local elected officials has shown him the value of government and ac tivists working in tandem to accom plish an end goal.

“I’ve become more enthusiastic and confident in the value of gov ernment. Period,” Neacy said. “ ... I think there’s a necessary relationship between activists who are really the people who ... make sure the system is upholding their policies, and the gov ernment. I don’t think you can just do one; I think you have to do both.”

Neacy admits that it can be slow, and sees merits to both political activ ism and protesting alike.

“I think when you work within the system you accept the slowness and you accept that you’re going to have to follow the rules to a certain extent. The change you want to see is difficult to come by,” Neacy said.

Rooks believes there is no single best form of activism, rather daily, consistent effort is key. She notes the positive impact activism has encour ages other teens to speak up and use their voices in any form they see fit.

“We are the next generation; we are the new world,” Rooks said. “If you don’t want to listen to us now, you’re going to get kicked out and we’re going to make space for people who will listen.”

Upcoming schedule vote to facilitate new change, discourse

KEVIN LYNCH Editor-in-Chief

To students who started attending Prospect after the COVID-19 pandemic, having an an nual vote between the A/B block schedule and the traditional eight-period schedule may seem routine; in fact, each year for the past two school years, Prospect staff have voted between the two choices. This month, however, marks the third and final time that this decision will be put to a vote in the district, with the outcome having the potential to impact students for the foreseeable future.

Sometime this month shortly before or after winter break (the date has not been announced at the time of the Prospector going to press), Prospect staff will vote to decide whether to con tinue with the block schedule that the school has adopted for the past two school years or to return to the traditional “straight eight,” sched ule that the school adhered to before the onset of COVID-19.

The vote extends to all staff members who are part of the teacher’s union — which all of Prospect’s staff members are, according to Edu

cation Association Head Building Representative and English teacher Timothy McDermott. Votes will be made available within roughly a day of the last day of voting, McDermott says.

McDermott’s role as Building Representative is simply to compile and send out information from an Education Association committee that will inform teachers’ opinions.

“This is for the students,” McDermott said. “We’re supposed to be voting for what we think is best for kids, not what’s more convenient for us … I don’t sway people either way.”

The previous multiple schedule votes have occurred for a reason; due to the effects of COVID-19, an A/B block schedule was imple mented for the course of the 2020-21 school year, largely because it made it easier for contract tracing.

According to McDermott, this new schedule constituted a “change in working conditions” in teachers’ contracts. Thus, as stipulated in their contracts, each District 214 school’s staff was al lowed to vote independently of one another on whether to keep the “pilot” block schedule or to return to the traditional eight-period schedule, with a three-fifths (60 percent) vote required to pass the block schedule for the 2021-22 school

year, rather than a simple majority.

After this initial vote, another was set to oc cur roughly two years later at the end of the block schedule’s pilot period, allowing staff members to reassess their opinions after having experi enced the new schedule.

In the PHS staff’s initial vote in February of 2021, the block schedule was several votes short of the 60 percent threshold needed to pass, ac cording to McDermott.

However, as a result of a number of factors — most prominently the continued presence of the pandemic — McDermott says that the Education Association reached an agreement with admin istration that would continue block schedule in the upcoming 21-22 school year while also giving staff the option to vote once again in January of 2022.

This vote would have allowed them to opt to return to the eight-period schedule for the remainder of the pilot program; however, it re turned in favor of the block schedule, meaning that no change would occur going into the 202223 school year. Now, at the end of the 2022-23 school year, the district will reach the end of the pilot program, necessitating the current vote.

McDermott says that, as of now, there are no

Timeline of Prospect’s schedule

COVID-19 pandemic begins and District 214 adapts schedule. Marks the last time the straight eight-period day is used.

*information courtesy of Timothy McDermott

The current A/B block schedule is implemented in D214, beginning the schedule’s two-year “pilot program.”

Block schedule does not reach the threshold to pass in Prospect’s first schedule vote, but it is continued until at least the next year due to the pandemic

Prospect’s second schedule vote, which could have returned the school to a “straight eight” schedule for the remainder of the pilot period, passes in favor of block schedule.

The third and final schedule vote will occur, determining Prospect’s bell schedule for the foreseeable future. The results will be released roughly a day after.

plans or contracts in place that give him reason to believe that the result of this month’s vote will be anything but final; however, he does note that the teachers’ union’s contract with the D214 school board is set to expire next year, so there is still possibility for change.

No matter how Prospect’s staff votes, howev er, other schools in the district have the potential to independently choose a differing schedule.

While this difference could theoretically cre ate issues due to some classes only being offered at certain buildings within the D214 network, Principal Greg Minter says that he foresees little difficulty in this area; even when Prospect was on an eight-period schedule, other D214 buildings like Rolling Meadows High School had already long been using an A/B block schedule, meaning that any necessary transition would likely be fa miliar territory for administration.

“Is it easier when we’re all on the same sched ule? Yeah … but if you’re going to start off-site or do a different program or something like that, it’s doable,” Minter said.

Additionally, because of the format of the straight eight schedule — making lunch its own period rather than an allotted section of third block each day — students would theoretically lose one slot for an extra elective that they cur rently possess under the block schedule. While no final decisions have been made regarding this, Minter says that administration would like ly keep students’ course requests the same and “make it work” to the best of their ability.

In the event of a transition away from block scheduling, Minter says, the largest hurdle to overcome would likely be many community members’ natural resistance to change, some thing he saw previously from many community reactions in the transition from straight-eight to block. However, no matter how the vote goes, he is confident that adjustments will be made and that both students and staff will be able to suc ceed under either schedule.

“The schedule is the schedule, but the teach ing doesn’t necessarily change,” Minter said. “I would encourage people: let’s focus on the

the kids are in, the experiences that

getting [and] the teaching that’s

classes that

they’re

going on … Those are the kinds of things that we have to focus on; the schedule is a means to that end.”

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY: Activists sophomore Taryn Rooks (left) and junior Kelsey Fieser (right) put on their rain boots to combat issues they care about: climate change, challenges to women’s rights and voting equity. “[If] you drop a glass of water on the floor, just looking at it isn’t going to clean it up,” Rooks said. “You actually have to make the change ... You have to do the things you’re scared of to see the positive results.” (illustration by Emily DePaz)

Watch

Celebrating life, one ‘pug hug’ at a time

MOLLIE KEARNS Exec. News Editor

The exterior of Saint Simon’s Episcopal Church in Arling ton Heights was adorned with a white and rainbow balloon arch and yard signs displaying the mes sage “Love Wins.” Walking into the church, more rainbow balloons were scattered throughout the narthex, such as on top of doors and next to a table with a bowl filled with bubble blowers.

Pride flags hung through the pews leading to a photo of a young Glen Brown, for whom the celebration of life was held for. Greeting each person as they walked in to celebrate Brown’s time on Earth was Janet McCarthy, his older sister.

An avid cyclist, Brown died in a tragic accident on June 11, one block away from the finish line of the AIDS LifeCycle bike ride, an event spanning seven days from San Francisco to Los Angeles, Calif. His celebration of life, held on Oct. 22, followed by a pie par ty at Arlington Ale House, was a day that McCarthy feels was filled with love and messages of support.

While Brown has passed on, his legacy lives on through the memories of those he touched and through the nonprofit McCarthy is starting which is inspired by him, titled “Glen’s Friends.” McCarthy hopes to launch this endeavor in 2023.

“There’s just so much love outpouring, I’ve already hashtagged it #Over whelming lyFabulous,” McCarthy said. “ ... I’m the one who has been bless ed to have received all of this love, sup port, honesty, tears, joy and sorrow. I can’t even tell you how many peo ple have reached out.”

Growing up, McCarthy was extremely close with her younger brother, and they had a special level of connection. The two lovingly had the nickname “Pug” for each other, stemming from a dog book they had as kids titled “The Dog Book.” Both thought that the pug was funny and in turn imitated it; the nick

named Brown’s pie party “Pug’s Pie Party,” commemorating the timeless nickname.

Along with this closeness came McCarthy’s innate desire to protect her brother. Brown had his struggles growing up, as he was a part of the LGBTQ+ community, which in a way made McCarthy’s protective nature stronger. One memory that sticks out to McCarthy was when the two were in grade school: A group of boys on the school bus were taunt ing Brown because of his differ ences, and McCarthy became so fed up with them that she even tually punched one of the boys.

“… People in school and others picked up on the fact that Glen was different and he struggled with that because Glen was loving and wanted to be accepted as we all do,” McCa rthy said. “... I just always felt like I wanted to protect him and I felt so bad they were doing that to him at such a young age.”

While Brown didn’t come out publicly until age 20, he still faced judgment from those who didn’t un derstand what it meant to be gay.

“I think at that time it was a strug gle because [being gay] wasn’t as accepted as it is today,” McCar thy said. “… I think there was a lot of shame in that and trying to figure out that you knew something was differ ent about yourself but you didn’t know how to come out.”

Through his sudden death, McCarthy decided to start a nonprof it to carry out his legacy and memory to those he touched, and also those who he didn’t know. McCarthy says that this new endeavor is really a love project; the slogan for it is going to be “Live your life. Love your life. Be you.”

She hopes that this can be a space for those who do not feel supported to receive the love they deserve, such as through the free counseling being offered as one of the organization’s first ways of opening their “internet doors.”

Additionally, McCarthy desires to be involved in local communities, like hosting events to spread word of Glen’s Friends and selling merchandise (one theme being “Pug Hugs”), similar to the Happiness Project. According to their website, the Happiness Project is a clothing brand that honors the leg acy of a student at Hersey who took their own life, and strives to help oth ers achieve happiness while making sure no one feels alone.

“I think that being loved uncon ditionally is everything,” McCarthy said. “Even if you don’t completely un derstand something about someone … It’s just love without any restraints, rules or boundaries … I want to help others that feel that way, I don’t want anyone to feel less than.”

McCarthy also has plans for the nonprofit to grow nationally, aiming to connect with people in all genres and industries to get people the love they want in their life, as well as being

able to feel “whole.”

Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) sponsor Erik Hodges be lieves that having a sup port system makes all the differ ence in the lives of kids and people who may be on the road to their journey of “self-dis covery.”

In GSA, Hodg es feels the wel coming environ ment is a way for Prospect to create a sup port system.

“I think all of us are always on a journey of trying to do better,” Hodg es said. “I feel like while I have my own personal experience and I can’t say what it’s like to be [for example] a transgender person, but I can abso lutely have empathy and try to be sup portive of anyone on any journey.”

In fact, both Hodges and McCar thy say that there is research behind the fact that having one supportive adult in the home of LGBTQ+ youth lowers thoughts of suicide dramatical ly. For example, a study from George town University states that LGBTQ+ youth who have been highly rejected by their families because of their sex uality are more than eight-times as likely to have attempted suicide. At PHS, Hodges aims to be the person those in GSA can go to if they aren’t feeling welcomed, or if they are strug gling in their journey of self discovery.

“Oftentimes there’s voices that stand in opposition of anyone who’s a little different. And

I think for kids especially who are growing up and on their journey of self-discovery of, ‘Where do I fall?’ ” Hodges said. “May be it is a lit tle different. But when you discover that, I can imagine that’s so scary … you want to know it’s OK and … there are people who will be supportive.”

McCar thy thinks that Brown’s legacy will steer her to helping others who may not feel like they can be truly themselves, as Brown was a force of love and joy to anyone who knew him, either for many years or just for a few minutes.

On one of Brown’s bike rides across the United States, he and a few other cyclists stayed the night at a woman’s house that was filled with letters and pictures of other cyclists that had stayed with her. Enamored by her hospitality, Brown latched onto and fed off of her kindness.

“Glen was so moved by that … that he kept in touch with her and they bonded; when he felt the friendship and the goodness, he was unstoppa ble because you were now a friend for life,” McCarthy said.

While he isn’t a phone call or car ride away anymore, McCarthy still finds herself looking to Brown in times where she is seeking direction.

“My life is changed now forever with his passing. I think about him and so many times like that phrase ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ … it’s now ‘What Would Glen Do?’ in this situ ation because he was just a free spir it and he didn’t let things hold him back. I find myself now really trying to live that,” McCarthy said.

Local honors

brother’s legacy, inspires

reFLect on Katie paGe’S recoGnition

BUBBLE OF LOVE: A celebration of life was held at St. Simon’s Episcopal Church in Arlington Heights for Glen Brown on Oct. 22 following his death in June. To close out the ceremony, attendees participated in a bubble-blowing send off, which Brown once described as one’s own ‘bubble of love.’ (photo by Mollie Kearns) matchinG heaD to toe, Janet & GLen poSe For an eaSter DaY photo, circa 1960.

photo courteSY oF Janet mccarthY

MISSION STATEMENT

The primary purpose of the Prospect High School Prospector is to report news and explain its meaning and significance to our readers and the community. We, The Prospector, hope to inform, entertain and provide an unrestricted exchange of ideas and opinions. The Prospector is published by students in Multimedia Communications courses. Some material is courtesy of MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service.

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For ad rates, call (847) 718 5376 (ask for Jason Block), email or write the Prospector, 801 West Kensing ton Rd., Mount Prospect, IL, 60056, prospectornow@gmail.com.

Less stress fixes finals

Staff Editorial

Going back to 2019 when the world didn’t even know what COVID-19 was, high school actually had a very normal sense to it. School brought on its many regular struggles for students and one of the main ones was final exams. For the majority of classes, final exams were 10-15 percent of stu dents’ final grade, which made a large difference for students who were in between two letter grades.

The RogerHub finals calcu lator was an absolute necessity during this time, as students around Prospect panicked to find out what they needed to get on their final. To maintain their grade, all of this nervous energy shifted, like many aspects at the time when COVID-19 struck the United States.

School during the pandemic became much more manageable because it was virtual, and with that came easier final exams. District 214 teachers were giv en the option if they wanted to give out a final and how hard it should be. Fortunately for stu dents, most teachers reverted to simple unit tests, presentations or essays for the final. Some teachers even avoided a final exam altogether.

District 214 ensured that fi nals were optional during the 2021-22 school year due to it be ing largely online, but ever since then, particular classes have kept this less-stressful concept of final exams.

When it comes to creating fi

nal exams, instead of the district making academic decisions, Prospects PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) have the decision to themselves. A PLC is a group of teachers who all teach one specific course; for example, AP Language and Composition and Philosophical Literature teacher Matt Love is currently a part of the AP Lang PLC.

For Love’s subject, he and the other teachers have always decided that finals would only be worth 10 percent of students’ overall grade, so post-COVID-19, not too much has changed for him due to the fact that the AP Lang final is usual ly something as simple as a written reflec tion, accord ing to Love.

Former AP Lang student and senior Lily Barich came to agree with Love, as she stated the main focus in AP Lang was typi cally on all of the written essays, rather than on tests.

Although AP Lang wasn’t too stressful for Barich, AP U.S. History was a class that reverted back to an original, full-semes ter final exam after the 2020-21 school year.

The exam seemed even more difficult for Barich after having such an easy time throughout online classes and COVID-19. Barich explained how she had to go back to her “old studying”

habits in order to succeed in a full, final exam.

Even though many finals have reverted back to the diffi cult level they used to be at, this is not the case for most classes that aren’t under the AP or hon ors sector.

Senior John Grabowy says that for most of his regular-level classes, throughout the pandem ic and into his junior year, his fi nals involved completing a proj ect or simply taking a unit test.

based for the mental health and academic benefit of Prospect stu dents.

Although we acknowledge that Prospect wants to prepare students with challenging finals, we think that PLCs should con sider the toll that hard finals take on both students’ mental health and personal life. While both may offer opportunities to succeed, the pandemic has taught us that intensive final exams are not strictly necessary to ensure students’ learning and that allowing them the opportu nity to be independent can lead to success also.

Associate Principal for In struction Joyce Kim believes a lot of the recent changes to fi nal exams are related to the in creased focus on mental health.

For

By making a project, the stu dent has more control to change their grade with the effort they provide more than if they took a test. With a project, the students know every thing they need to pro vide and have a much more structured timeline to work with, in and out of class.

Grabowy believes that finals were drastically easier his junior year compared to his freshman year, before COVID-19, stating that he had the option to complete either a project, or simply a unit test.

Having both of these options allows students like Grabowy to determine what grade they fin ish with by their own work. It gives students more responsibil ity and more of an opportunity to get the grade they desire.

We, KnightMedia, believe that final exams should remain largely project and unit test-

According to Research.com, 31 percent of students say that they get stressed for finals, so by mak ing it a more manageable work load obviously removes a lot of added stress from the exam.

“I think the mental health crisis has been the biggest factor for instructional change,” Kim said.

With mental health being recognized by so many teach ers, we firmly believe that many teachers have made the right decision to take a more passive approach to finals. As for Love, he tends to think that regardless of what teachers assign to their students, it should be their deci sion at the end of the day.

“I think it’s good to allow teams of teachers to make that decision on what is the most appropriate [option for finals],” Love said.

Hack at UW-Madison raises privacy concerns

Winning the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship is a huge deal in the college sports world. On Dec. 18, 2021, the Univer sity of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) triumphed against the University of Nebras ka-Lincoln; with a record crowd of 18,755 people in attendance, they defeated their Big Ten rival 3-2.

The NCAA trophy going into the Badgers’ hands was truly a special moment; the team couldn’t have asked for a better way to end their season.

This amazing season came to an unlucky end for the team during October 2022. It be came obvious what happened when my Tik Tok “For You” page started filling up with explicit photos of the UW-Madison volleyball team.

The page, which usually shows recap pho tos or a random series of fun photos, turned into photos of the team with their bras above their chests. People on TikTok were saying hateful things about fantasizing about the girls in the photos and wanting to go to their games to watch them. Those photos, origi nally taken during a private moment after their win, caused social media platforms to go crazy.

This occurred because one of the girls’ phones was hacked on Oct. 19, and the ex plicit photos from the post-game celebration roamed around the internet, with alcohol and nudity both being part of the fun in the locker room after their win.

According to the UW Athletics website, the UW Police Depart ment will not be investigating the student athletes for wrongdoing in this matter. They will focus more on pursuing the hacker.

Summer Srodulski, former Prospect volleyball player and 2022 graduate, attends UW-Madi son. She often attends the school football games, where she found the volleyball players’ situation impossible to ignore.

UW-Madison put together a video early in the year that showcases each sport, showing it before every football game. Highlights of the volleyball team’s win from the NCAA Championship were shown in it. The first

time watching the video at the football game after the leak felt different, according to Srodulski.

“All of a sudden, everyone started to whisper and laugh to each other once the volleyball team came on the screen,” Srod ulski said.

Srodulski says this moment was very un comfortable for her. She says that she feels terrible for the situation the team got put in and respects the athletes.

Although an instance like this has nev er happened at Prospect, Athletic Director Omar Alebiosu believes that the school and administra tion would handle this situation well.

As an athletic program, Alebio su makes sure to communicate with coaches about locker con duct. Being proactive in situations like this is one of the main reasons that “No cameras” signs are post ed in Prospect locker rooms. He wants to get the message out to not record or send photos in lock er rooms, as it could be extremely harmful.

Furthermore, he says that in such an event he would go through the pro tocol of tracking down any people related to the situation, involving any and all nec essary parties to get to the bottom of it and notifying parents to make sure the student

athlete is safe. If photos were leaked mali ciously, the consequence would be bigger, including possibly even expulsion.

This situation, as tricky as it is, wasn’t meant to happen. Yes, there are many neg ative and sexual TikTok comments speculat ing the oddity of the scenario, but in reality, they’re all just a close team that was cele brating their big win.

Ultimately, those girls did whatever they wanted within their own space. This space, as well as those at Prospect, is a place ath letes should be able to have their own time in. The locker room was a time for those girls to unite and have fun as a team.

The effects of this leak haven’t been all negative; however, Srodulski believes this event unified some on campus on the behalf of the volleyball team.

“The girls on campus are here for them and will stand with them through this situa tion,” Srodulski said.

On a larger scale, anti-feminism and dis respect towards women is an issue that is go ing on in the world today. When girls unite and realize the hatred that is often shared, similar to the girls at UW-Madison, they can ultimately stand up for each other if a situa tion like this happens again, something that Alebiosu agrees with.

“They’re not objects, and we should be respecting them, not objectifying them,” Alebiosu said.

PINNED: The UW-Madison womens’ volleyball team gets an easy victory over the Maryland Terrapins 3-0 on Nov. 12. (photo by Amelia Maslowski)

Voting results of the Knight Media staff in regards to this editorial.

Against

True crime love grows serial-sly

JULIET AQUINO

KTV Exec. Producer

English teacher Elizabeth Joiner recalls that, growing up, her father always had a pile of books lying around the house. One fateful day, 12-year old Joiner ap proached a stack of novels stockpiled high on her father’s nightstand and as she scanned the horizontal titles, one book in particular caught her eye: “Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI.” Her curiosity got the best of her, and so she anxiously grabbed the novel. Unbeknownst to her fa ther, Joiner dusted off the pages of FBI and Criminal States Division veteran Robert Ressler’s description of how he identified various serial killers like Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy for law enforcement and his psychologi cal analysis of what makes someone a murderer.

“[When] I read those [stories] I was horrified, fascinated … it was almost hard for me to wrap my head around,” Joiner said. “I was so curious about it.”

This curiosity turned into a fas cination as Joiner started to seek out more true crime content, ultimately turning to the well-known podcast, “Serial.” According to NPR, “Serial” was the first true crime podcast ever created, started in 2014 by host Sarah Koenig narrating the case of Hae Min Lee’s death and how Koenig described how Lee’s former boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was charged for her murder in 2000. “Serial” released a new episode every week that discussed different theories about the chosen case and re vealed the apparent flaws in the U.S. legal system as Koeing reported on ev ery aspect of how Syed was tried.

Joiner became obsessed with the

series and ended up listening to all 12 of Koeing’s episodes in just one week end; during Thanksgiving of 2014 she listened carefully as every aspect of the case was picked apart while on the two-hour train ride into Chicago and even told her friends that she needed to be alone for another half-hour in order to finish an episode.

Joiner’s sudden fascination with “Serial” and its format fostered her love for a variety of different true crime media like “Killer Psyche,” “My Favorite Murder” with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark and “Date line” from NBC.

Like many other true crime fans, Joiner likes to form her own theories

about who the real criminal is or what led to the crime while an episode or series progresses; she is fascinated with how the existence of serial kill ers represents humanity.

“It doesn’t surprise me when peo ple are bad,” Joiner said. “I think most people are good; I’m a very optimis tic person. But it doesn’t surprise me that people can behave in a certain way. I think human nature is kind of exposed through them.”

According to a Brigham Young University study, women are more likely to listen to true crime podcasts than men; a study by the associate psychology professor at Illinois Wes leyan University shows that the num

ber of women interested in true crime podcasts grew by 19 percent in 2019. This is because most of the victims in such podcasts are women, female audiences find crime media more re latable than men.

The study also revealed that wom en may also be interested in true crime podcasts for educational pur poses, such as using crime media as a resource to identify dangerous situ ations and how to prevent something described in a podcast from happen ing to themselves.

The same is true for Joiner, who attributes some of her safety habits to the fear of experiencing a tragedy like those she listens to. For example,

Joiner finds herself always examining her surroundings during her early morning runs and keeping an eye out for potentially dangerous situations.

As a result of her enthusiasm for the television show “Criminal Minds,” senior Jillian Sawadski shares this same cautiousness when out in public.

Sawadski believes that if she was not interested in the medical field, her love of crime shows would have influ enced her to become a detective just like many of her favorite characters.

“I definitely recommend ‘Criminal Minds’ because it’s still crime stuff; you also just have the characters [and humor] and that makes it more enjoy able,” Sawadski said. “[It’s] … scary, but then the characters interact and it’ll make you laugh and have fun … It has a nice balance.”

Not only has the show entertained Sawadski, but she also believes that it has propelled her love of true crime. Joiner especially stresses that her interest in the subject is never in an attempt to glorify a person’s crimes and she strongly dislikes any podcast, movie or TV show that focuses on the gruesomeness of the crime commit ted. She believes that some miscon ceptions about true crime lovers stem from these types of materials and wants others to understand why she is really interested in this content.

“I really do feel like so much of it, for me, is like, “What makes a person be like that?” What is their motiva tion? How do you stay safe?” Joiner said. “I think somebody [needs to] understand that that’s where you’re coming from, rather than a morbid fascination.”

Joiner chalked her interest in in listening to “Serial” and other true crime podcasts up to one simple thing:

“It sounds terrible, but I think there’s a human fascination with trag edy,” Joiner said.

HOOKED: A student listens to podcast “Serial” hosted by Sarah Koenig created in 2014. En glish teacher Elizabeth Joiner first became fixated on true crime after listening to “Serial” short ly after it released.”I was horrified, fascinated... it was hard for me to wrap my head around, Joiner said. “I was so curious about it.” (Photo illustration by Luis Hernandez & Ella Mitchell)

Winter play ‘breaks’ new ground

NICK DOHERTY Columnist

The lights dim. The audience takes their seats. “Alright everyone, take your places, and ACTION!”

For years Prospect’s theater department has always done a winter play; however, this year they have decided to spice things up with the for mat of the winter productions.

Instead of performing a singular play, the theater department is producing two plays which opened at the Kulieke Theater on Dec. 8th and will run through Dec. 10th with a showtime at 7pm.: “Winter Break” and “Radium Girls.” “Radium Girls” is a theater-in-the-round per formance, meaning the show will be performed with audience members on all sides of the stage in a circle with a 15 foot diameter. Additionally, “Winter Break,” instead of having one director, has 10 student directors.

Fine Arts Coordinator Jeremy Morton says it was exciting to have this opportunity.

“It’s usually Mr. Ringrose and myself,” Mor ton said. “Now we’ve got 10 different voices plus Mr. Ringrose and I to help support and produce.”

Each student director and student tech di rector have been given a scene within the play. According to Morton, each scene has a script, but other than that it was up to the directors to make decisions and create their own directorial visions. At the end of “Winter Break,” all of the characters come together in the epilogue.

“I think that’s really cool,” Morton said. “And very different because you have all these differ ent visions, and they have to kind of work togeth er at the end.”

Student director junior Anna Parisi, who had some experience being a part of the directing process, was really excited for this opportunity.

“Over the summer, I was a student director at Metropolis School of the Performing Arts for their high school degrees,” Parisi said. “So I got a little taste of what it was like. But it wasn’t as to the extent that I am doing it here because we all have our own specific thing that we get full con trol over versus shadowing a director and having

less freedom to carry out my own vision.”

The creative freedom that the directors in “Winter Break” obtain to make their own choic es throughout their entire scene is something that excites Parisi.

“This is the set you’re going to be on with the lights and the sound like that’s what’s going to happen,” Parisi said. “But to get the creative lib erty to create it yourself? It’s both challenging and exciting.”

Student directors also had to decide what type of lighting they would like, what props they would use and the costumes the cast would wear. Parisi says this made for a very unique ex perience.

“It’s a very different experience for the stu dent directors as they have to decide what props they want, and lighting sound cues, which is nev er something we’ve really thought of before be cause most of us have only really had experience in the performance.”

It wasn’t just deciding on the lighting and dif ferent props that student directors had to take into consideration. Each director had to direct their group of student actors during their scenes, which is something that these directors have

never really had to consider as actors.

“I thought it was hard to get all that stuff down. When I was performing in the show, it’s all that much harder when you’re a director be cause you have to account for all of the people”

The challenge of directing is compounded by the fact that directors are working with students who they have previously performed with in oth er Prospect productions.

“But directing your own peers, because they’re never going to take you as seriously as they do as an adult, which will always be diffi cult,” Parisi said. “As much as that has been a challenge, they’ve also been so accommodating knowing that I’m not JMO. And I’m not an expe rienced adult who’s done this for many years and gotten a degree in this.”

Even with these new challenges that the directors would end up facing, Parisi found it interesting to be a part of the decision making process.

“It’s really beautiful, like I enjoy seeing things in a different light because there’s so much that goes into it rather than just the performance. The lights mean that much and the sound and the set and the props … those are all such big

aspects that I never really had the chance to de cide on my own, but it’s a really cool thing to do.”

While the directors were excited to put their own scenes together, the show truly comes to a fruition as the scenes are strung together during tech rehearsals.

“The hardest piece has definitely been the fact that we’re all creating a show of separate scenes. So we’re rehearsing separately, and we create our own separate visions, but they still have to work together in some way,” Parisi said.

The size of the theater would also prove to be challenging for Parisi. Especially with the audi ence also sitting on the stage.

“It’s been challenging having only half the stage, or essentially kind of like a quarter of the stage, because the front part is being taken up by audience seating. So it’s definitely been challeng ing to have a limited amount of space.”

There were also some challenges with casting and with choosing the talented actors for each segment.

“A lot of us have similar experience in per forming at Prospect … we know what JMO has taught us in the past in terms of performing so that’s what a lot of us were looking for in the au ditions. So we took a lot of common interests in terms of who we wanted in our scenes,” Parisi said.

Actors were given a variety of monologues and scenes to work with across scenes, and brought different variations to the extensive pro cess.

“Auditions were really surprising to see how well so many people can do with the material given, especially because so many of the scenes are so different, like the show can really take in so many different kinds of performers.”

Morton agreed with Parisi with the challeng es of casting and was very impressed with how the directors chose the actors.

“These students, over a few bagels, were able to really just destroy [casting] in literally 45 minutes. It was very impressive how hard they worked before coming to the meeting and had all these ideas of who could potentially be in their piece.”

Even with these challenges, the directors were able to work through them and create something that they are proud of. Parisi hopes that the audience will be able to see that as well.

“I hope they take away more of an apprecia tion for the work that goes on behind the scenes rather than just the performance.”

DIRECTORIAL DEBUT: Senior director Ella Mitchell (center) rehearses a scene in ‘Winter Break’ with freshmen Isaac Friedman (far left) and Ella Kuhlman (far right) and sophomore Sydney Strimling (left). (photo by Alyssa Degan)

P ROSPECTOR THE

SPECIAL EDITION: GIRLS’ CROSS COUNTRY STATE CHAMPIONSHIP FRIDAY DECEMBER

Girls’ cross makes bold ‘state’ment

Rain poured on a gloomy day at Det weiller Park in Peoria, Ill. Mud was everywhere, and tire tracks ripped up the grass — a less-than-ideal sight to most cross country runners. However, this was not the case for sophomore Ireland Wildhart and the girls’ cross country team as they arrived at the state meet on Nov. 5; they couldn’t help but look at the mud with positivity and glee.

“We knew it would be really fun,” Wildhart said. “We’d be all muddy after the race and be cool-looking.”

The girls’ cross country team placed first as a team at the IHSA Class 3A State Champi onship. This was the first athletic state cham pionship for Prospect since girls’ golf won in 2013 and the first state championship of any kind since the speech team’s 2016 win. The team had five runners in the top 18 — making

them all-state athletes — and all seven runners were in the top 41.

Senior Hailey Erickson placed fifth with a time of 17:37; sophomore Veronica Znadja placed sixth with a time of 17:39; freshman Meg Peterson placed eighth with a time of 17:43; junior Lily Ginsberg placed 13th with a time of 17:54; senior Cameron Kalaway placed 18th with a time of 18:03; senior Samantha Patterson placed 36th with a time of 18:31; sophomore Ireland Wildhart placed 41st with a time of 18:35.

Although the girls had just won state, their season was not quite over; they competed at the Nike Cross Regionals (NXR) on Nov. 13 at Terre Haute, Ind. against runners from the Midwest region, taking first place with a score of 52 points. Because they won, the top sev en runners got flown out to Portland, Ore. at the expense of Nike to compete at Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) and received a plethora of swag, including uniforms, spikes and bags. The national race took place on Dec. 3 with the

Knights placing fifth in the nation.

These seven athletes not only won the state title, but they did so with the lowest team score in state history with 39 points, the previ ous record being 41 points, set in 2012 by St. Teresa. The mud, low 50-degree temperature and harsh winds took a toll on the team, but ultimately they were able to come out on top.

Every team competing at state was dealing with the same conditions, but Prospect had a positive outlook, which helped them embrace the adversity, according to head coach Pete Wintermute.

“I think there were moments that I thought about [the challenges the conditions would bring], but I didn’t fear,” Wintermute said. “I don’t think the girls feared it either.”

The weather wasn’t the only thing Prospect had to look out for. The Knights would be com peting directly against York High School, the state champions from the 2021-22 season and the team that they had been head-to-head with this season while fighting for the number one

9, 2022

spot.

“I feel like it was honestly more exciting than nerve-wracking because we knew with our time trial times and stuff that we had what it took to beat [York],” Kalaway said. “So we were kind of just excited to show them what we had and give it our all.”

With all of these variables considered, once the race started, there was only thought in the girls’ minds: run fast. Erickson led the pack, starting out strong right at the gunshot.

“I [started] really fast, and [my teammates] were right behind me and then one of my teammates yelled at me, ‘You gotta go, we’re following you!’” Erickson said.

The girls finished the first mile in first place with a team score of 51 points.

A make-or-break part of the course, called the triangle, is from the mile-and-a-quarter to a mile-and-a-half point, according to Winter mute.

ALYSSA DEGAN Exec. Visuals Editor

photo by Alyssa Degan

Culture found in community, bonds

ELLA MITCHELL & KEVIN LYNCH Editors-in-Chief

It didn’t take long after senior Hailey Erickson crossed the fnish line in ffth at the IHSA State Class 3A Championship meet for her to re alize the gravity of the team’s ac complishments that day.

“We were all hugging each other, and then someone yelled, ‘You guys did it!” and we were all screaming,” Erickson said. “ … It was like a dream-come-true mo ment.”

On Nov. 5, the girls’ cross country team won the Class 3A State Championship at Dettweiler Park in Peoria, following up their second-place fnish the year be fore and eighth-place fnish in the 2019-20 season, as well as several state medals in the past several track and feld seasons.

According to former Prospect runner and current girls’ cross country head coach at John Hersey High School Mikayla Olsen, these achievements have been a long time coming; however, this suc cess did not spring from nowhere.

Olsen’s freshman year at Pros pect in 2014-15 was also current girls’ head coach Pete Winter mute’s frst season as head coach after working as an assistant coach for the boys’ cross country team for eight years; according to Olsen, while the team had many strong runners — even winning back-to-back conference titles in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons — the team did not qualify for state until her senior year.

“[The fact that] we had … insane talent and we never qual ifed as a team was, for him, frus trating,” Olsen said. “My senior year we fnally qualifed, and we honestly had not as talented as a team … it started clicking for that program, and for [Wintermute], since I’ve graduated, it’s been kind of like an exponential growth of success.”

Last month, this success cul minated with the girls’ state vic tory (see “Girls’ cross makes bold ‘state’ment for more details). The team also won the Nike Cross Regionals Midwest Meet on Nov. 13 in Terre Haute, Ind and placed ffth at Nike Cross Nationals on Dec. 3 in Portland, Ore. In spite of all their past accomplishments, however, Wintermute says that the buildup of the team’s success hasn’t made things any less chal lenging for the runners.

“It’s easy to expect something, but ultimately what happened this

season wasn’t any easier because of the last season,” Wintermute said. “ … There’s a new set of kids; there’s a new team; there’s new chemistry, and I think it’s really just impressing upon your team that nobody cares what you did last year.”

Earning success is a phenom enon senior runners Cameron Kalaway and Erickson are famil iar with; over the course of their four years with the program, they have witnessed the team’s culture of hard work shift with each new season. While they were deprived of a championship season their sophomore year due to the pan demic, they have been grateful for any and all opportunities they have been given.

“I feel like it’s really special to be able to run all four years; I’m grateful for that,” Kalaway said. “Every year [when] we go down state, and we look back and tell the freshman stuf that has hap pened. It’s really fun to continue that tradition every single year.”

In tandem with fun experi ences with teammates, the con nections between the girls truly allows for belief in each other, something Wintermute believes to be a vital component of a racer’s mindset and a key to their success.

“A lot [of] it comes down to the girls’ belief,” Wintermute said. “I use that word again and again, but it is one thing to truly believe in those that surround you.”

In addition, the team’s group mentality bolsters their combined success and sets an example for others, according to Assistant Principal for Student Activities Frank Mirandola.

“Everything they do is in a pack,” Mirandola said. “I don’t care if they are warming up or ty ing their shoes. I don’t care if they are taking their sweats on or of — they are always together. They each are great individual athletes and individual people; however, I think that they really embrace … surrounding themselves with peo ple that elevate them in every way in and out of the classroom.”

This “pack” culture doesn’t just apply to the runners’ physical tendency to stick together during races or while warming up; Win termute believes that the team has truly embraced the idea of a teamfrst mentality, which allows them to be so close.

“People talk about that word ‘culture’ all the time, but really it’s just having this understanding that [the] team is way more im portant than me as an individual, … and I think that’s really a dif ference maker,” Wintermute said.

This collaborative culture reaches parents, administrators and the entire student body alike, many of whom made the overthree-hour drive down to Peoria to support the team at state.

First-year Athletic Director Omar Alebiosu was a witness to the Prospect spirit present at the event and says he has never seen a school culture like it.

“It’s really awesome to see the kids who embrace [school activi ties] — whether it be themes for the games, going to the games or cheering on their peers,” Alebio su said. “The students live for that; when you see it frsthand, it’s overwhelming. Students really come out; they really represent in the hundreds.”

While much of the team’s suc cess lies with the students and fans who provide support during races, Wintermute also credits much of the girls’ support back to the parents and families that give assistance to the entire team, not just their own daughter.

“Cross country parents are some of the most supportive par ents,” Wintermute said. “It’s not just about their kid; they really en joy watching all of the team stuf.”

The support from all commu nity members — lining up along the course — brings energy, which is transferable to the athletes.

“The kids talk about it after the race,” Wintermute said. “They’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, there were so many kids from Prospect cheer ing for us. Everyone was like, ‘Go Prospect! Go Prospect!’ and those are the things that really help car ry an athlete through the tough times.”

However, no matter how much help the runners receive from par ents, friends and coaches, during the heat of a race, their biggest ally is one another.

“Cross country is a very unique sport, meaning that you run in dependently but at the end of the day, you score for a team,” Olsen said. “So if you’re running by yourself for three miles, it’s a lot harder than running with a pack of friends that are able to push you and [that] you fnish through the line with, rather than having these large no-man’s-land gaps.”

At NXR, Wintermute recalls that sophomore Ireland Wildhart, who typically runs with senior Sa mantha Patterson, fell back a bit during the race. As a result, Pat terson turned around in the mid dle of the race to encourage her to catch up. At the end of the race, they fnished within less than a second of one another.

Even outside of races, howev er, running together and building connections with teammates is what helps each individual runner succeed, according to Erickson.

“I don’t view cross country as an individual sport,” Erickson said. “ ... Doing it together is what made all of us improve so much; I wouldn’t be where I am today without Cam or my other team mates.”

No matter what led them to this point, however, all can agree that the buildup was more than worth the hard work and efort that were put in to reach it.

“It was such an incredible day to see a group of young women chase — literally and fguratively — a goal and see it come to frui tion on that Saturday afternoon,” Mirandola said. “They truly ran for each other; they cheered for each other; they won for each oth er. That makes this team really special.”

watch the team’s soaring victory

Meet the historic

PR

LEGACY: Former Prospect girls’ cross country runners Paige Runkle, Annika Erickson and Audrey Ginsberg congradulate senior Cameron Kalaway (left to right) after the team’s historic state win. (photo by Alyssa Degan)

PR set at IHSA Sectionals on Oct. 29, 2022

PR set at IHSA Sectionals on Oct. 29, 2022

PR set at Lake Park Harvey Braus Classic on Sept. 10, 2022

set at Palatine Invite on Sept. 24, 2022

Kalaway’s place at the 2022 state meet

Erickson’s place at the 2022 state meet

Peterson’s place at the 2022 state meet

Znajda’s place at the 2022 state meet

Wintermute wins IHSA track Coach of the Year

TITO GAVIN KTV Sports Director

It was an average day for girls’ varsity cross country and track & feld coach Pete Winter mute; he entered his ofce and saw an unex pected letter from the IHSA on his desk. Initial ly, he thought that the IHSA reached out to him because he forgot to send in some paperwork, but upon opening the letter, he realized that he couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Wintermute found out that he had been named the IHSA girls’ track & feld Coach of the Year. Wintermute didn’t know he was in contention for the award until the envelope arrived on his desk that morning. While it could be easy to label this as an individ ual award, Wintermute was ada mant that this recognition is not just about him; it is a team award.

“I was glad to see [an award] like that to recognize Prospect High School, to recognize our program,” Wintermute said. “ What we did last [track] season as a team was a result of probably one of the best coaching stafs in the state. I don’t do what I do as a head coach without the support of eight other coach es, awesome athletes, awesome parents and a really good senior class that stepped up when they needed to.”

said. “The key is having belief in yourself and having a support network around you that also believes in you.”

Wintermute has really put a focus on em bracing the “we” of a team by instilling the idea that no individual is greater than the team. Wintermute believes the cross country team’s chemistry and camaraderie to be one of their biggest strengths; when the entire team buys into the idea of “we,” he feels, is when they will reach greater heights.

“A lot of girls have really bought into the ‘we is more important than me,’ and I think … [it’s] really a diference-maker,” Wintermute said. “You get out there in the middle of a race, it’s a lot easier to race when you’re running hard for somebody else and not just for yourself.”

WINTERMUTE

One might think that coming of of a state championship victory and being named Coach of the Year would lead to added pressure next season for both Wintermute and the team; however, Wintermute says that he is not going to let the high expectations get to him. Ac cording to Wintermute, every year is a fresh start with a new group of athletes and a new team dynamic.

Wintermute and the girls’ cross country team have carved their names into the Prospect history books by becoming 2022 IHSA Class 3A State Champions. During his time at Prospect, Wintermute has had the honor of coaching tal ented athletes who have won state titles and have gone on to compete at the collegiate lev el. However, the spotlight was on him when he was named Coach of the Year this fall.

Wintermute didn’t tell the program about this honor orginally; in fact, he didn’t tell any one. He only told his wife, who then spread the news amongst the other coaches.

Wintermute’s goal as a coach is to have a positive impact on athletes and help them achieve goals that they previously thought were unattainable.

“I think, ultimately, sports is a great place to realize you’re capable of a lot,” Wintermute

“Nobody cares what you did last year,” Win termute said. “At the end of the day, you’re go ing to have to earn every bit of it and you have to come into practice just as hungry as you were a year ago, two years ago, four years ago, what ever that is. These are things that are earned along the way.”

Wintermute prioritizes the team and the overall success of the program above personal accolades. He believes that his role isn’t to take credit for the team’s success, but rather to help his athletes perform at elite levels and reach new heights. No matter how many accolades that Wintermute and the cross country team add to the history books, he knows that he can never be perfect and believes there is always room for growth.

“We aren’t the program we are today, and I’m not the coach I am today, without all these other people that have helped,” Wintermute said. “ … There’s just so many coaches around here that have helped me create the program that we wanted to be.”

PETE

Former Prospect girls’ cross country head coach Dave Wurster shares insight from his time coaching the team. (photo courtesy of Wurster)

conducted by Katherine Lytle

EMMA LETZIG Online Editor-in-Chief

A“The Parent Trap”-style handshake that takes over a minute to complete is no easy task. Creative high fives and perfectly timed fist bumps are just a small part of the complex greeting. However, seniors Cameron Kalaway and Hailey Erickson find that their handshake is the most important part of their pre-race routine.

“It helps me get in the zone,” Erickson said. “It helps me make sure I know that I am running with her, and that I am not running by myself because it gets pretty scary some times going into a big race.”

Erickson and Kalaway are four-year varsity cross country ath letes. They have both competed in three state champi onship meets (the 2020 state meet was canceled due to COVID-19) and have a plethora of accomplishments under their belts, the most re cent being their victory as 2022 IHSA Class 3A State Champions. They are also four-time IHSA Sectional Champions and four-time IHSA Re gional Champions, along with being three-time MSL Conference Champions. The now-senior duo has been running together since sixth grade. In fact, they became friends on the first day of middle school cross country.

Walking into practice, Kalaway didn’t know many people; a few familiar faces from elemen tary school were there, but dozens of other ran dom kids flooded the field for the same reason she was there: to run. During that practice, Ka

laway made a new friend: Erickson.

“That was definitely the start, and I feel like our friendship was originally based on running but now … we are best friends,” Kalaway said.

At South Middle School, Kalaway and Erick son were a part of three state-qualifying cross country teams — qualifying every year of their middle school careers. After her success in mid dle school, however, Kalaway was unsure if she wanted to pursue cross country in high school.

“I honestly didn’t even really think about running in high school,” Kalaway said. “I was also doing swimming at that point, so I thought I would continue doing that.”

However, Erickson helped convince Kalaway to try high school cross country by committing to doing it together. By having a familiar face and a close teammate to run with, the transition from middle school to high school cross country was less intimidating for Kalaway because she knew Erickson would be there alongside her.

“Honestly, Hailey is the reason that I’m run ning in high school. I wouldn’t be doing it with out her and her sister, Annika,” Kalaway said.

Hailey’s old er sister Anni ka played a big part in her own decision to run cross country. Annika, who is two years older, was Prospect on the team, and Hailey witnessed first-hand how much her sister enjoyed it. She would attend her sister’s high school meets and soon realized that it was something she wanted to be a part of.

Since starting high school cross country, the duo’s goal has always been to try and make the experience as fun as possible. As freshmen, they would run races right next to each other and attempt to stay in sync. No matter the race — whether large, important invites or smaller dual meets — the girls would try to run the race with their legs moving in the same rhythm. They would even decisively pass other runners at the same time, one moving to the person’s left and one to the right. The experience was something

that helped make the sport more enjoyable for them and strengthen a bond as they were just getting started.

“It was so funny; there are so many pictures of us from high school and middle school stridein-stride,” Hailey said. “We would go around people together; it was so fun.”

As they grew older and meet days became slightly more serious, Hailey and Kalaway were able to help each other through every race.

“When we start to get nervous, we are honest and talk to each other,” Kalaway said. “Because we are best friends outside of running, we have things we can talk about that aren’t related to running.”

Since then, high-pressure meets have become a norm for Kalaway and Hailey.

The pair have experienced intense races like IHSA State Championships, Nike Cross Coun try Midwest Regionals and, most recently, Nike Cross Nationals, the most prestigious, high est-performing cross country meet in the nation, held in Portland, Ore.

They have had plenty of practice calming their nerves and preparing to race. With all of this big-meet experience, they are able to help lead the rest of the team.

“[We] hopefully inspire the younger girls to have fun with it and do their best,” Kalaway said. “We both try to make things fun and more light hearted. Hailey especially … is good at making things fun.”

Looking back, the 10-year-old versions of Hailey and Kalaway could have never imagined what the future would hold.

“[At that point], we were just having fun with it,” Kalaway said. “We just loved running, which I feel like is a really good place to start, loving the sport, and then all of this [success] has followed, which is so fun to experience.”

Next year, Hailey will be running at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich. Kalaway is still deciding on her future athletic career. This is the first time in seven years that the two will no longer be running together.

Years of motivating each other during work outs, chatting on long runs and doing elaborate handshakes before races will have come to an end.

“This sport would for sure not be the same without [Cam], and I love running with her,” Hailey said. “She always has my back in every

RIDE

IHSA

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thing, and I completely trust her. It’s going to be really sad going into college not being with her … It’s going to be hard to adjust, but I know that she’s going to go far in life.”

Many fans camped out along the sidelines of the triangle, making sure to cheer on the team as they ran by.

“I could hear Prospect people everywhere,” Erickson said. “It was perfect … I always like to take in the people that are cheering because it re ally helps give positive vibes while I’m running.”

This support helped the girls succeed, in com bination with the support from running along side one another.

“It was like two [girls] running together, three [girls] running together, two [girls] run ning together and that idea of being able to be comforted by your teammate during some of the most strenuous and difficult parts of the race. I think it helps immensely,” Wintermute said.

Erickson and Znajda led, running with each other in the top five throughout most of the race. Kalaway, Ginsberg and Peterson were shortly be hind.

Wildhart and Patterson were not far after, running together and pushing each other to stay strong throughout.

“I feel like we all were pretty confident in each other and knowing that if we stay with each other and focus on the … blue jerseys, then that’s when we do our best is when we’re running to gether,” Kalaway said.

The athletes stuck together from beginning to end; the team spread — the total time from Er ickson to the Wildhart — was a low 58 seconds.

The emotions hit the girls even before they found out the final results.

‘Looks like Prospect is going to take this home,’ came over the loudspeakers, and Erick son started crying tears of joy. She was next to

“Just knowing that you put so much time into an opportunity like this; ... many of these girls made daytime sacrifices from other activi ties that they do, from family, from friends and, ultimately, that is the biggest reward, knowing that you made a choice and it worked out,” Win termute said.

With such a big accomplishment, fittingly, there was a celebration. Athletic Director Omar Alebiosu and Assistant Principal for Student Ac tivities Frank Mirandola began planning an allschool assembly for the girls on the drive home from state.

“To have a group of student athletes reset that bar is really inspiring to EveryKnight,” Mirandola said. “Because you really see that you can chase those goals, you can have struggles along the way, but ultimately you still have the power to accomplish those goals.”

The girls were all recognized one-by-one as they ran into the gym. A curated video of the girls discussing the importance of the team played, followed by performances by the band and dance and cheer teams.

Finally, the team handed their state trophy to Principal Greg Minter and the student body; then, the seven state-winning athletes unveiled the first-place state plaque that will hang in Jean Walker Field House for years to come.

“We look at how we want to celebrate these ladies, and my idea was just to make sure that it was over-the-top and that we do things on a grand scale, because we just don’t know when we’re going to get another one,” Alebiosu said.

OR DIE: Seniors Cameron Kalaway (left) and Hailey Erickson (right) pose with their awards from the 2022

State Championships, 2019

Sectionals and 2018

Sectionals. (photos courtesy of Kalaway and Erickson)

Wildhart, and she engulfed her, as well as many other coaches, family and friends, in a big hug. The palpable nature of the girls’ triumph was a reward within itself, according to Wintermute.

MUDDY BUDDIES: The athletes pose with their muddy spikes after their first-place finish on Nov. 5 in Peoria, Ill. (photo by Omar Alebiosu)

Polarization proves problematic

Fake news creates political division

KAYLIE PASTERNAK Managing Editor

While researching the candidates be fore voting for the 2022 midterm elections, senior Catherine Fogarty encountered an immense amount of polarization in American politics online.

“In today’s political climate, a lot of things are very extreme … on both sides,” Fogarty said. “It is important to know where [each candidate] actually stands because I feel like [both parties] have become very misrepresented.”

Fogarty, through her research and internship for Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of the 6th Il linois District, got to experience that online po larization first hand. Throughout the years, the United States has become increasingly polarized, and as social media has grown popular, so have the news and media outlets citizens consume.

According to Pew Research Center, the divide between Americans has dramatically increased every year since the 2000s, with 21 percent of Re publicans seeing the Democratic Party as a threat to the nation in 2004 and then 36 percent in 2014. Furthermore, in 2020, 89 percent of Republicans said that a Democratic presidential victory would lead to lasting harm in the United States.

Although the divide of citizens has become more extreme in the past decade, the polariza tion of American politics has been around for a while, according to World Religions teacher John Camardella.

% of republicans that said democrats are lazy, closed-minded, dishonest, immoral or unintellegent* % Of democrats that said republicans are lazy, closed-minded, dishonest, immoral or unintellegent*

“[Americans] are inherently adversarial,” Ca mardella said. “At the very inception of the Unit ed States, there was already division within the country.”

The reason that many immigrated to the Unit ed States was to seek religious freedom from the Christian fundamentalists following the King James Bible, according to Camardella. After es caping religious persecution, the Puritans didn’t accept anyone else’s ideas or religions, such as Native Americans, which led to more divide with in the United States.

Similarly to the divide within the United States, fake news goes back centuries, beginning when newspapers became popular among all cit izens in the 1700s, according to Media Analysis teacher Cambria Myers.

“Newspapers would knowingly print fake news because it was spectacular,” Myers said. “... They would print stories that were too good to be true. If it sounds incredible, then probably that should give you pause, right? But they would print these stories because they knew it would sell newspapers.”

Nowadays, social media apps like Twitter and Facebook are spreading masses of misinforma tion and are a huge factor in the current climate of American politics, according to Myers.

The misinformation on these social media platforms leads to less educated citizens, accord ing to Myers. Additionally, 57 percent of citizens who primarily get their information from social media have low political knowledge, according to the Pew Research Center. This, Myers says, push es them towards opposing poles of the political spectrum: further right or further left.

“People who are far right or far left are more likely to encounter fake news, and then to go a step further to share it, continue to spread it and also vote because of their confirmation bias,” My ers said.

Over-consuming fake news is problematic be cause it leads people to become “trapped” in their filter bubble, according to Myers. A filter bubble is when a user only encounters information and opinions that align with their own beliefs, which is only escalated by the personalized algorithms within social media platforms.

Those filter bubbles can then lead to real life consequences. “Pizzagate,” a conspiracy that Democrats were running a sex ring underneath a pizza restaurant in New York, is a prime exam ple, according to Myers. A man who believed this conspiracy on social media entered the pizza shop armed and threatened the workers in the shop. Shots were fired, too.

“It angers me when people are ignorant and quick to believe in things that seem so extraordinary,” Myers said. “My reaction [to fake news] is disappointment and frustration at peo ple’s lack of ability to evaluate the credibility of something on their own before sharing it them selves.”

According to Myers, the best way to prevent the spread of misinformation and fake news is to do the research and work for yourself every time you consume media.

“I think that’s really the number one thing,” Myers said. “I think that we as humans over rely on other people to tell us to ‘Believe this; don’t believe that.’”

Myers also says that websites like PolitiFact, Snopes and the Washington Post Fact Checker help with confirming information seen on the internet.

Camardella notes that the “solution” to the polarization of politics isn’t for everyone to agree, but for everyone to be able to coexist peacefully.

“People often say, ‘My rights, my rights, my rights,’ and I think we should adjust that [narrative] to, ‘What are my responsibilities?’” Camardella said. “‘I have the right to say this, but what’s my responsibility?’”

‘Snow problem’: tips on navigating winter driving

PJ O’GRADY Copy Editor

On their way to basketball practice on a cold and snowy morning, Driv er’s Education teacher Pat Dudle re calls two of his players crashing into a sign. It wasn’t just one unfortunate incident, but two isolated accidents in the same morning. The streets had not been plowed yet, and Dudle explained it was the kids’ first time driving in the snowy conditions.

Luckily, the players were all right, but the message was clear: winter driving is an issue for teens. Along with the feelings of winter time and the holiday season, a more concerning problem for both young drivers and parents alike is driving in the snow or ice. According to a 2022 report by Car Insurance Comparison, an average of 1300 people die in car crashes due to snowy or icy conditions each year in comparison to the overall est mate of about 1.3 million fatalities in car crashes. Thus, driving, especial ly in winter conditions, can be very da gerous.

This danger is only furthered by new drivers’ inexperience. Sopho more Hailey Smithe, who got her license in October, has yet to experi ence snowy driving herself. However, as a passenger, she has come face-toface with stressful snow experiences as she felt her car skidding through the snow.

“I think it was kind of scary in a

way … because you lose some con trol,” Smithe said.

When Smithe starts driving on her own, she will need to be cautious; in Illinois especially, winter driv ing is an issue. According to a study conducted by ValuePenguin.com, Illinois is the fifth most dangerous state in terms of winter driving. While this only pertains to states that get at least a bit of snowfall throughout the year, Dudle thinks Illinois’ high rank ing could be a result of Chicago’s high population and the harsh winter con ditions that Illinois faces.

Sophomore Madelyn Bronder, a

Five-O driving student who got her license in October, agrees.

“Especially with the city, it’s so busy,” Bronder said. “There’s so much traffic all the time and we have pretty harsh winters, cold winters, snowy winters and so that’s probably what contributes to that statistic.”

In fact, Illinois averages 27 winter driving deaths each year, and most take place in Cook County according to ValuePenguin.com.

While these statistics might seem daunting, according to Dudle, experi ence behind the wheel, plus knowing some driving tips, can greatly reduce

driving fatalities in the winter time.

Dudle explains that nighttime is the most hazardous time to drive since visibility is low. Without enough light, a driver may not see a patch of black ice, and with a lack of experi ence, this scenar io creates a vul nerable situation for the driver.

In addition, knowing ones car is import ant. Some types of cars are more susceptible to winter accidents; cars with fourwheel drive tend to have much better traction than cars with front-wheel drive. Dudle also says that heavier cars have better trac tion than lighter cars.

To combat lack of experience, Du dle recommends new drivers spend as much time as possible behind the wheel with a parent in a controlled environment and in the snow before they begin driving with a license.

One exercise Dudle does with his drivers education students is telling drivers to go 15 mph. Then, he tells them to slam on the brakes so they know how it feels to brake in winter.

Smithe explains what she thinks drivers should do before their first time they drive in snow.

“Doing research, even practicing, or going through what they have to do before they actually go on the road,”

Smithe said.

No matter how much teens prac tice driving in the snow, they may still run into some issues. Although Bronder couldn’t recall a time when she experienced a car losing control in the snow, she remem bered a time when she drove in rain and the car lost traction.

“At first I was … freaking out, but then I was like, ‘Oh I have to be calm,’” Bronder said. “Because I have to think clearly and think through the situation.”

Some other tips Dudle has to prevent a car crash is to slow down in the snow and to accelerate and decelerate slow ly. He says it’s up to the driver to know how much slower the driver should go based on the situation.

“The biggest thing is to make sure you have much more following distance than in normal conditions,” Dudle said.

Overall, Bronder thinks drivers should be confident when on the road.

“I would say just don’t be su per afraid and remain calm at all times, because you’re operating ob viously a vehicle that tends to be dangerous, and just keep your com posure when driving,” Bronder said. “… When you start driving, you’re still learning, so you’re going to make some mistakes.”

BEEFIN’: A student looks at their phone and is exposed to an immense amount of political polarization. Much of modern political polarization is due to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook that push people even farther onto opposite sides of the political spectrum: the far left and the far right. (photo illustration by Bella Brouilette)

SKRRRT: A car skids on the icy road. Teen drivers struggle to adapt to snowy conditions. (cartoon by Claire Wynkoop)

Youth voices create change, impact vote

ELLA MITCHELL Editor-in-Chief

Partly anxious, partly fearful that she would mess something up, and most of all, excited, then-17-year-old Josie Garkish walked through the doors of Prospect High School in June to cast her first-ever vote. Garkish was voting in the primary elections — which she was eligible to do in Illinois because she turned 18 three days before the midterm elections in November.

Equipped with research guided by the League of Women Voters’ (LWV) nonpartisan, informa tional resources, the process of casting a ballot was fairly simple. Even still, Garkish couldn’t help but notice the lack of young voters at her polling place.

“I was definitely excited to get my vote cast,” Garkish said before she voted on Nov. 8. “This time around, I’m more researched, and I feel confident in who I’m voting for; it feels good. I’m excited, a little nervous, but once I’m done, … I’ll know that I put my voice out there and made an effort to have my voice heard.”

Garkish was one of many youth who mobi lized to have their voices heard in the midterm elections on Nov. 8; according to Center for In formation and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts (CIRCLE), about 27 per cent of voters between 18-29 cast a ballot in the midterm elections this year.

Continuing the trend of strongly backing Democrats by wide margins, 63 percent of youth voted for a Democratic candidate, while 35 percent voted Republican, according to the Na tional Election Poll Survey conducted by Edison Research. Early figures, according to CIRCLE, indicate that youth voter turnout was higher in battleground states — like Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — measuring 31 percent.

These predictions situate the 2022 midterm election as the second-highest youth voter turnout in almost three decades, only falling short of the

2018 midterm. While recent youth voter turnout has increased, 18-29 year olds still hold compar atively some of the lowest turnout rates.

A self-proclaimed “old person,” Voter Ser vices Director of the LWV Mary Hahn remem bers when the 26th amendment was ratified, allowing 18-year-olds to vote for the first time. Hahn says being a politically active young wom an was new and exciting, a sentiment she doesn’t see as often with today’s youth.

To combat this, in collaboration with the LWV, Hahn encourages high school students to register to vote through registration initiatives during lunch periods and the Stroll to the Polls event.

“Kids are kind of laisse about [voting], and it’s kind of sad,” Hahn said. “It’s such a big deal to have this vote, but it was like we had to ex tract people to get out of their lunch and come register to vote … But when I was young it was like, ‘Woah! We get to vote!’”

Garkish shares this enthusiasm for voting; she thinks voting is the key to upholding democ racy and should not be taken lightly by anyone, especially not younger generations.

“There’s different ways to establish yourself, but [voting] is a way to show you’re not a kid anymore,” Garkish said. “It gives you autonomy to make decisions for yourself … It’s one of the ways you’re able to elicit change in a way that doesn’t take a lot of effort on your end.”

Due to her longstanding interest in politics and her newly-found voting abilities, senior Catherine Fogarty decided to go beyond the bal lot by interning for Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of the 6th Illinois District. Through canvassing, phone banking and attending Zoom informa tion meetings featuring various guest speakers through her internship, Fogarty began to see firsthand the impact teenagers could make.

“Getting to see young people actually in volved in politics and getting to do it myself was really cool because it’s not just some theoretical interest you have; you can do something,” Fog arty said.

Garkish too was politically active this election cycle; she volunteered on the reelection campaign for Democratic Rep. Mark Walker of the 53rd Il linois District. When her friend, senior Luc Neacy, asked her to come aboard in early August, Garkish didn’t hesitate.

Through canvassing and volunteering on the cam paign, Garkish was able to forge one-on-one con nections. Going house to house, she would ask the same question:

Answers varied — with popular responses in cluding reproductive rights, gas prices, inflation and gun violence — but through these conver sations, Garkish was able to better understand the issues that people in Mount Prospect were passionate about.

Fogarty found these conversations to be sim ilarly rewarding.

“When you have an actual conversation with someone, a lot of people aren’t against politics,” Fogarty said. “Especially being a teenager, it’s hard for adults to yell at a teenager that’s coming to their door … [saying] like, ‘I want to talk to you about the election.’”

Spreading information and garnering con versations through all forums, like both Fogarty and Garkish did, is pivotal in elections, according to AP Govern ment and Pol itics teacher Tim Beishir.

“The big gest problem with American democracy is an uninformed American elec torate,” Beishir said. “The more we can change that — the more people we can add to the in formed, engaged electorate — will be better for everyone in our community.”

Beishir believes that further civic education, like AP Government and Politics, would be a strong first step to bridging the youth voter turn out gap. A lot of political socialization — the learning process by which people develop their political identities — occurs within families, but schools could also take a small, nonpartisan part in encouraging students to engage in the election process.

“We have this unspoken rule that’s like, ‘Don’t talk about religion or politics at the [din ner] table. Ever.’ And then people are surprised when we’re bad at political discourse,” Beishir said. “The more people can be trained to have in formed and respectful conversations, it elevates the political discourse, level of ideas, quality of candidates and everything.”

Senior Maya Denic, though 18 years old during the midterms, opted not to vote for two main reasons: her own lack of knowledge on the candidates and her parent’s limited interest in politics, which translated in

her own apathy towards the subject.

Denic is not alone; the narrative of midterm elections is more nuanced than the name rec ognition-based game show of presidential rac es, according to Beishir. This, combined with a knowledge gap about the general voting process, steered Denic away from casting her vote.

“I feel like this year, literally no one said any thing about the election until a week before,” Denic said. “They’re like, ‘Hey guys, go out and vote if you’re 18.’ But who are we voting for? [Adults] don’t give us information or anything, they just say, ‘Go vote.’”

Luckily for students like Denic, who feel out of their element when it comes to voting, there are a plethora of resources that can provide in sight and information on the candidates.

Hahn says that the Candidate Forums — which invites candidates from all parties to ad dress the public in an equitable setting — and other nonparti san resources are a great place to start. This year, speakers includ ed county sher iffs, state sena tors and mayors. Hahn hopes these resources will guide young people and in spire a passion for voting that she, along with LWV Voter Services Board Member Cyndi Kemp and all members, share.

As students like Garkish and Forgarty see re sults from their efforts, more political action by fellow teens follows.

“It’s all about efficacy and whether or not young people think their vote, or canvassing, or donations or phone banking is going to make a difference,” Beishir said. “If you think it’s going to make a difference, you are more likely to do it. Young people … are seeing results from their efforts.”

Though the higher cost of knowledge is a barrier in the midterm elections, Kemp, Beishir and Garkish agree that it is crucial that all voters — young and old alike — show up to vote, espe cially in local elections that impact local issues.

“It’s one of the most important obligations as a citizen; if you have the power to change some thing, voting is one of the most fundamental ways to do it,” Garkish said. “Every social issue, or issue [in general], hinges on voting and ac cess to voting. So if you want to see some sort of change, voting is the way to do it.”

“What issues would you want to bring up to your Representative?”

cartoon by Emily DePaz

*according to data from CIRCLE

KEVIN LYNCH Editor-in-Chief

Because of a personal medical condition, junior Emerson Ford has difficulty standing comfortably for long periods of time. Normally, this issue does not pose too much dif ficulty for them throughout the school day, with one notable ex ception: the Pledge of Allegiance, which Ford chooses to regularly remain seated during.

“I’m just tired,” Ford said. “ … I have more important things going on than standing up every morning to talk to a flag.”

In 1979, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law requiring that all public el ementary schools engage in the Pledge before school, with this requirement being extended to high schools in 2002, according to the Chicago Tri bune. U.S. History teacher Mike Se bestyen says that much of the reason ing behind this extension was the goal of increasing patriotism after the terror ist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

This law, however, does not mean that students are forced to stand and recite the Pledge without exception. Ac cording to the Freedom Forum Institute, the First Amendment guarantee of free dom of speech prevents the gov ernment from forcing any conduct upon citizens regarding matters of opinion,

ensuring that the choice not to stand or recite the pledge is protected under the law.

Sebestyen sees the Pledge as a force for good in public schools because the goal of public education, in his mind, is to create better educated and informed citizens, with pa triotism being a major facet of this objective. However, at the same time, he feels that anyone who has valid criticism or reasoning has a right to choose for themselves.

“It’s important to keep the symbolism of ceremony … in its proper space and not make a big deal out of some of those things,” Sebestyen said. “ ... It’s important to be respectful of those symbols, but at the same time respectful of other people’s decision to either honor or protest those symbols.”

Ford isn’t trying to protest anything with their actions; howev er, in addition to their difficulty with simply physically stand ing for it, Ford also believes that most students — themself included — do not know or appreciate the true meaning of what they say each morning, a problem stemming back to when they were taught the words initially as young children.

“It would ac complish its goal better if kids were taught what it means,” Ford said. “Because you learn to memorize and recite the words; no one knows what ‘indivisible’ means in second grade.”

helicopter as part of the Air Force in the latter conflict.

Even in spite of the discouraging amount of recognition he re ceived for his service in Vietnam, he says, his experience in the military did nothing to change or dampen the national pride that he already held.

“I think I’ve always been a patriot,” Dussling said. “My experi ence in Vietnam certainly didn’t lessen that patriotism, and I still have that patriotism that this is the best country in the world. We have freedoms of every kind from religion to choice of life to whatever … This is a marvelous country, and yes, I’m patriotic.”

While Dussling’s self-proclaimed patriotism means that he would never consider not standing for the Pledge or national an them, he still believes that anyone who chooses not to participate in these rituals has the right to do so, though, like Ford, he en courages students to become more educated on history, civics and current events in order to gain the same sense of national pride.

“It’s important that younger people understand what this coun try is about,” Dussling said. “We have an almost sacred charge to make sure that this country is strong, make sure that we appreci ate this country and make sure that we have a choice.”

- Emerson Ford, junior

For District 214 School Board President Bill Dussling, the Pledge and other demonstrations of patriotism come with added meaning, as he previously served in the armed services — first in Europe, then in Vietnam, piloting a

In the meantime, however, Ford, Sebestyen and Dussling all agree that respecting others’ choices is a must, regardless of one’s personal feelings.

“My grandfathers fought to protect the rights and freedoms for people to not stand if they don’t want to,” Sebestyen said. “ … There’s complexity to freedom, and too many people try to make it very one way or the other, and that simplifies it too much.”

Pride, patriotism plummet

with bans and laws.

Back then, the country rallied around charismatic and likable leaders and visionaries. Now, we vote for people based on who’s the lesser of two evils.

Our country can be called a lot of things, but “unpatriotic” is rare ly among them.

Were any of these idealistic concepts even remotely real istic, even when they were popular?

KEVIN LYNCH Editor-in-Chief

Based on a You Gov survey, 41 percent of Americans respond ed that they believe their country is the best, the greatest amount out of all 19 countries surveyed, which checks out. Us Americans sure are pretty quick to praise our own ac complishments — quicker than we were to abolish slavery, that’s for darn sure.

All day, every day, we’re told how glad we should be to live in this country; that nowhere else in the world would we be allowed to live as freely and happily as we do here. But most of the time, this patriotism simply equates to telling us citizens how grateful we should be that we’re not something else, rather than actually highlighting any real benefits of being an American.

Because I mean, at least we’re not living in a dictator ship, right? And it sure is lucky that we’re “Americans” and not any of those other icky nationalities! And hey, most of all, thank capital-“g”-God we’re not communist!

But building a sense of national unity simply out of, “at least it could be worse!” isn’t helping anyone, and it certain ly isn’t bringing anybody closer together.

According to data from the Pew Research Center, in the past six years, the percentage of Democrats and Republicans who associate members of the opposite party with negative traits has increased as much as 28 percent in some categories, climbing from 30-40 percent to well over 50-60 percent. These traits include: close-minded ness, dishonesty, immorality, lazi ness and lack of intelligence.

So, what happened? After all, it’s clear that wrapping every body in a fuzzy red, white and blue blanket hasn’t made us any more willing to snuggle together; in fact, that blanket has more holes in it than we’d like to admit.

If we’re being honest, the kind of early-20th-century patriotism that we’ve come to know, the land-of-op portunities, flag-waving, freedom-touting kind of rhetoric that our grandparents came to America expecting, hasn’t been a reality in decades.

Back then, America was supposedly a haven for count less jobs, a place of endless potential for success. Now, all we hear about is how jobs are moving out of the country.

Back then, America was supposedly a welcoming place for people of all races and nationalities. Now, we actively restrict people we don’t like from coming into our country

Not at all; in fact, I’m sure that many times, these issues were just as bad, if not worse than they are now. But the kind of naive optimism that fueled many a patriotic poem has all but faded; outside of the über-patriotic, the classic star-spangled rhetoric ain’t foolin’ anyone. How am I, as a red-blooded American, expected to feel any sort of national pride when I can google “Top 10 U.S. Military Massacres” or “Guantanamo Bay highlight reel” anytime I please?

At this point, we’ve got everything but Area 51 footage to substantiate the increasingly common belief that Ameri ca ain’t everything our forefathers made it out to be.

Hell, no student at Prospect was even alive for the 9/11 attacks; anything else that could possibly be construed as a “moment of unity” has been politicized to no end. Expect ing teenagers and young people to cheer for a national sym bol that, for many of us, has only been associated with end less arguing, the killing of innocents and, oh right, standing up for a song every once in a while, is silly.

You can blame these things on whoever you want — out-of-touch government, partisan division, the media, the whole works — the fact of the matter is that America is America; and no amount of finger-pointing or so-called reconciliation is going to repair the trust or faith that the

John F. Kennedy may have said, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country,” and sorry to break it to ya Jack, but America is capitalist; if you’re not even willing to give us free healthcare, I’m hard-pressed to find it in me to do the ol’ heart/hand combo before

Patriotism may be a good thing, but acting like every sin gle citizen should be speed-di aling their nearest flag pole-installation contractor to celebrate a country that has given them no reason to be trusted outside of, “we’re better than a dicta

Does that mean that America is going down the tubes? Probably not, but the days of pretending that the United States as a country stands for something outside of “the place where we live” are long past over.

Sure, the Constitution is nice and all, but acting like American democracy is still worth getting all misty-eyed and patriotic over, 11 score and 15 years later, is a bit like your parents telling you to be

The Land of the Free. The Home of the Brave. Land where my fathers died. Land of the pilgrims’ pride. The one with all the nukes. You know, America.

cartoons by Emily DePaz

Let’s just ‘be real’

the unfiltered nature of the app has contributed to its pop ularity. In fact, BeReal has 67.2 million downloads as of October 2022, according to Appfigures.

AMANDA FEINBERG Copy Editor

On their last day of practice, sophomore Nicole Lech and the frosh and JV girls’ tennis team members wanted photos as memories of their season. When the BeReal notification came out, the girls rushed to take theirs and asked head coach Patrick Weber to capture the shot within the allotted two minutes.

Through the use of social media, seizing their last mo ments on BeReal imprinted an everlasting moment for Lech, even though she was sad to end the season. With the image stored on the app, Lech now has a photo to look back on and remember the fun she had with the team.

“We were all just kind of like living in the moment and taking our BeReals,” Lech said. “It was our last practice so obviously it was kind of sad.”

The girls on the tennis team are just a few of the 20 million daily users of BeReal, accord ing to Business of Apps, an app data website. Be Real, which was launched in January of 2020, features us ers posting unedited glimps es into their everyday life during a random two-min ute window of “on-time” posting. Users can’t see their friends’ posts until they post themselves, and if they don’t hit the two-minute time limit, their post is “late.”

The two-minute time frame makes it virtually impossible to enhance a BeReal photo. However, on other social media platforms such as Instagram, enhancing photos is incredibly easy and common. According to StudyFinds, 90% of young women report editing or put ting a filter on their photos before posting them on Ins tagram.

Of the nine posts on Lech’s account, seven of them are with friends, and all of them are in interesting locations such as on vacation or at Six Flags Great America. Feel ing pressure from her peers to look her best on Instagram, Lech typically posts when her life seems interesting.

“Sometimes I won’t post if I look bad,” Lech said. “[The pressure] almost creates a voice in your head every time you post. I always have thoughts of, ‘What if someone doesn’t think I look good?’”

However, BeReal’s quick time limit aims to eliminate the need to look a certain way on social media; Lech thinks

Since the app is niche and authentic, both Weber and sophomore Amanda Ontenada, who first downloaded the app in the beginning of August, believe that the app’s pop ularity will continue to trend upward, and eventually pla teau similarly to engagement on Instagram. For example, Instagram Reels, which are short, 90 second videos, have dropped 13.6 percent in engagement in August through September as teenagers are more likely to go on TikTok, according to Social Media Today.

Lech, who uses BeReal less now than when she first downloaded the app in June, thinks that the app will be come popular this upcoming summer when users are hanging out with friends more, and will decrease in usage over future school years when there are less interesting happenings.

When Ontenada was at Rolling Meadows High School for a volleyball competition in September, the BeReal randomly went off while they were waiting for their next match. Ontenada says that this is her favorite part of BeRe al; the fact that no one knows when to expect it.

“All [volleyball] levels beat Meadows, and we were just having so much fun,” Ontenada said. “Then the BeReal came out and it was a way to capture the moment.”

While Weber appreciates being able to engage with his tennis team and students using BeReal, he also ac knowledges that as a teacher the app may be distracting if turned into a big deal.

When the BeReal notifi cation goes off during class, students have a tendency to pull out their phones and take the photo so that they will not be late, sometimes stopping class to take it. We ber says that this disruption has never occurred in his class, and his students have been respectful of the tech nology boundaries he has set.

In accordance with these incidents, some teachers at Prospect have asked students to not use the app during their class. Although there has not been a school-wide ban, according to Division Head for Student Success, Safety and Wellness Adam Levinson, students are encouraged in cer tain classrooms to limit the use of BeReal.

Some students, such as Ontenada, do not see the pur pose in restrictions on BeReal as it is a light-hearted form of connection with friends. Most of the time students can wait until class is over to snap a picture, or just do it quiet ly at their desk if the teacher permits.

“It’s the most positive social media out there,” Weber said. “It lets you show the people who follow you [to] see who you really are unfiltered.”

McColaugh embraces passions through coaching

ZOE BROWN Staff Writer

Math teacher and sophomore boys’ bas ketball coach Mike McColaugh was cut from his sophomore basketball team at Xenia High School. But his basketball situation was a little more interesting than the average player; he was cut from the team by his own father. However, McColaugh wasn’t sad or disappointed.

“There is no way that I deserved to make that team,” McColaugh said.

McColaugh says that his high school was full of talented players, and he was one of the weaker guards.

Instead of wallowing in disappointment, he used that experience as motivation to grow as a player during the offseason, which included lots of pickup games at his local park district. The following year when he tried out, he made var sity as a junior.

Although McColaugh wasn’t the starting point guard, he still enjoyed every second of his varsity career. His team went on to win their division and go undefeated in their conference. As a senior, when senior night came around, he went on the court and scored his only basket of the season.

”I remember my dad celebrating on the side line … that was a memorable moment,” McCo laugh said.

McColaugh took his passion for the game and brought it with him to PHS, where he has coached the sophomore boys’ basketball team and the girls’ varsity tennis team for more than fifteen years.

All of his seasons have been memorable, whether it was the girl’s tennis team winning

the MSL East Division four times in a row or the basketball team almost going undefeated in 2013.

However, it didn’t matter if a team went un defeated or lost every game; seeing the different personalities on each team made the season un forgettable for McColaugh.

“I’ve loved every team that I’ve ever coached,” McColaugh said.

When it comes to sophomore basketball, Mc Colaugh believes that the development of skills is more important than the team’s record. Of course, they are trying to win games once the scoreboard turns on, but McColaugh’s main objective is to teach and reinforce as many con cepts as he can. His players need to be prepared to play for varsity coach Brad Rathe next season.

Rathe and McColaugh have coached with

each other for fifteen years in basketball and tennis. The two still discuss tennis tactics and ideas, even though they no longer coach the team together.

“I’m always impressed, for somebody who has [coached] for as long as he has, to have that passion and competitive drive still,” Rathe said.

Even after all his years of coaching, McCo laugh still gets excited about that Friday night atmosphere. It is those kinds of moments that make McColaugh feel so passionate and con nected to the game. Years later, McColaugh still gets goosebumps when he explains the feeling of those nail-biting games.

McColaugh may have never had the oppor tunity to coach the sports he loved if he didn’t make a life-changing decision twenty years ear lier. He worked in the corporate world, and it

wasn’t until he was 35 that he decided to be come a teacher.

“It was one of those days in the car stuck in traffic, and I’m wondering, ‘What am I doing all of this for?’” McColaugh said.

He wanted to do something that would actu ally make an impact on people’s lives rather than sitting in an office all day.

So McColaugh decided to take the risk and start over in a completely different field. He went to National Louis University to receive his teaching degree. Because he already completed enough math classes, McColaugh only had to go back to school to get his teaching certification.

“I just needed a chance to do something maybe a little more meaningful with my life,” McColaugh said.

Teaching isn’t the only important part of his job. Though teaching and watching kids learn and do well is fun, for McColaugh, it’s the re lationships with his students that make his job truly special.

“Those informal conversations in the hall ways and watching my students grow from freshmen to seniors is what I love about my job,” McColaugh said

Next year, McColaugh will join the class of 2024 in leaving Prospect; after over twenty years of teaching, McColaugh will be retiring. Even though it is bittersweet leaving a school that he has worked and coached at for such a long time, he is looking forward to retirement.

Although retirement will mark the end of an era, McColaugh will always be grateful for the years he was able to teach and impact students’ lives.

“Other than getting married and having a family, becoming a teacher was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life,” McColaugh said.

SWEPT: Sophomore girls’ volleyball captures their BeReal after winning all levels at a meet at Rolling Meadows High School on Sept. 27. (photo courtesy of Amanda Ontenada)

MEMORIES: Girls’ tennis poses for a BeReal taken by JV head coach Patrick Weber on their last day of practice as an entire team on Oct. 4. (photo courtesy of Nicole Lech)

New app has lessened pressure to ‘look good’

retires. (photo by Alyssa Degan)

- Nicole Lech, sophomore

JUSTIN PEABODY Features Reporter

Physics teacher Michael Higdon offered a question to one of his classes last year:

“A bus driver is traveling the wrong way down a one-way street. A police officer sees this, but does not stop the bus driver. How is this pos sible?”

A conversational hum filled the room as Hig don’s students pondered, contemplated and puzzled over the riddle with their classmates.

After some thought, the answer dawned on senior Ella Murdy, one of Higdon’s students at the time. The bus driver, Murdy realized, was walking on the sidewalk, not driving the bus, thus making it possible to travel the wrong way down the one-way street.

“The riddles and fun facts … start off the class with laughter and get your mind going a little bit,” Murdy said. ”It really made me look forward to going to class because I knew I would have a good time.”

According to Growth Engineering, a learning management system, neurological studies have proven that fun classroom experiences, such as the riddles Hidgon uses, increase the brain’s re lease of hormones such as dopamine and endor phins as well as the flow of oxygen to the brain. Both of these factors contribute to positive emo tions and an increased capacity for retention of information.

Higdon, who has been teachng at Prospect for four years, enjoys implementing creative ac tivities, such as riddles and fun facts, into the curriculum. He shares a riddle and piece of trivia at the start of every week, believing in the neu rological benefits that they hold.

Equally as important, Higdon uses the rid dles as a means of creating a more laid-back and safe classroom atmosphere in which students feel safe and at ease when interacting with one another.

“I think you learn best when you’re comfort able,” Higdon said. “If you’re anxious or on edge about something, it’s kind of like an uphill bat tle for learning.”

Higdon’s classroom traditions found their or igins in his own education at Grayslake Central High School. During his senior year, Higdon’s AP Literature teacher, Joan Rush, would often present statements to her class and ask students to decide whether they agreed or disagreed with them.

Rush did this by dividing the classroom in half via a line of masking tape that ran down the center of the classroom. Supporters of her statements stood on one side while opponents stood on the other. After that, students engaged in “civilized discourse” in which they discussed their views and opinions.

Higdon says that he was often uncertain as to where these discussions would end up, but they always led into a major theme or topic within

the literature being read in his class. Higdon greatly enjoyed the freedom resulting from the ability to move around the classroom, and it led him to implement similar icebreaker activities, such as the riddles and fun facts he uses today.

Murdy fondly remembers Higdon’s class and the riddles and trivia that were shared. She says these little icebreakers fostered a spirit of to getherness within the class.

“In the beginning, we were all new people, we didn’t really know each other, but definitely, by the end of the year … everyone laughed togeth er … when we had the class discussions in the morning, everyone would get super involved,” Murdy said.

Higdon’s class was also a gateway to forming new friendships, such as one with senior Zoe Klicker, whom Murdy still keeps in touch with to this day.

Murdy and Klicker were lab partners and learned more about each other through class projects, such as a radio they once built using cardboard and wires. The two of them enjoyed collaborating on the radio, even through the nu merous technical difficulties that arose with it.

“(Murdy’s) just, like, an easy person to get to know … she was always an open person… she would just tell our lab group what was on her mind, and we became close through that,” Klicker said.

In addition to making connections with other classmates, Murdy often visited Higdon for ex tra help or to retake assessments. This provid ed a natural opportunity for her to get to know more about Higdon and vice versa.

“The teachers really make the class, and the students make the class, too,” Murdy said.

Psychology and law teacher Jay Heilman also

employs unique teaching methods to pique stu dent interest in the course material.

Heilman’s Criminal and Civil Law class fre quently engages in student-run “mock trials” in which Heilman presents a fictitious court case. The students play the roles of the lawyers, wit nesses, and defense attorneys who would be involved in an actual court case, with Heilman presiding over the procession as a judge.

According to Heilman, students split up into prosecution and defense teams. In these teams, they collaboratively develop their cases and ar gue their case against the opposing parties. He says this opportunity to collaborate in groups and testify to their own beliefs is a major part of what makes the mock trials so engaging for students.

In his Psychology class, Heilman lit a spar kler and ran around the room waving the spar kler as a demonstration about short-term mem ory. When the light from the sparkler travels through the eyes and into the brain, the brain’s short-term sensory memory perceives the move ment of the sparkler as a long, blurred trail of light.

Heilman believes students learn much bet ter with fun, dynamic experiences such as the mock trials and the sparkler demonstration, be cause the experiences stand out in their short-term memories, which are housed in a region of the brain called the hippocampus.

The neurological connections that allow for memories are stronger and more permanent when they are associated with emotions (wheth er positive or negative). Thus, fun and engaging

lessons provide the emotion that make students’ memories of the lessons stronger, allowing for better retention of information.

Through his educational philosophy, Hei lman helped one student handle the untimely passing of several of their immediate family members.

This former student was taught by Heil man for both Psychology 1 and 2 during their senior year. Since psychology is the neurosci ence around the factors that influence people’s thoughts and actions, the student was able to relate to and connect more deeply with many of the concepts taught in class, and it helped them to better accept and cope with the incident.

“It was cool to see that something that I was doing was being really, really helpful t some one who had just gone through a horrible trage dy … it’s very gratifying to know that the efforts I put in are sinking in, are getting through … it’s so rewarding,” Heilman said.

Not only have Heilman’s innovative teach ing methods improved a student’s personal life, they have also increased overall student enthu siasm. Heilman has noticed that the creative, engaging activities he uses yield increased mo tivation of his students. Since they are enjoying their dedication while learning, they naturally look forward to attending class and reap more educational, social, and psychological benefits than they would otherwise.

“As a teacher, I am very enthusiastic and passionate about what I do, and I want that enthusiasm and that passion to be infectious,” Heilman said.

MIND BLOWN: Psychology and law teacher Jay Heilman teaches his Psychology class clad in a signature lab coat. (photo by Alyssa Degan)

Boys' XC runs toward bright future

PJ O'GRADY Copy Editor

Sitting around in a circle, the boys’ cross country team listened attentively as their head coach Jay Renaud read them “Go! Go! Go! Stop!,” a children’s book, to ex tract valuable lessons from the story.

Focusing on the story in the hotel the night before the Richard Spring Invitational in Peoria, the goal of this tradition, which started during last year’s track and field season, is to ease any pressure athletes may feel going into a big meet.

According to Renaud, the team has dealt with plenty of adversity during their season; most notably, the boys had very frequent issues with illnesses throughout the fall.

Despite the setback, the team managed to get fourth place at the IHSA sectional meet on Oct. 29 and qualified for the state meet which was held on Nov. 5. Although they didn’t do as well at state as they wanted, coming in 28th place, Renaud was proud of the team for bounc ing back at their unofficial last meet in Terre Haute, Ind. where they finished 14th in the state on Nov. 13.

The illnesses the boys encountered were rel atively widespread. Some of the sicknesses in cluded COVID-19, influenza and a lung virus, in addition to the common cold.

This affected the team because they didn’t have their full varsity lineup all in at the same time for a while.

Nonetheless, sophomore Ben Wilkin be lieves it allowed the guys who recovered from illnesses to come back even stronger.

“I think it gave some people a lot of motiva tion, since they missed out on some of the op portunities to realize how much they really like racing,” Wilkin said.

Those health issues created problems for the team, but they stayed together in spite of the difficulties.

In particular, the team built culture through the Big Brother, Little Brother system; the sys tem pairs juniors and seniors with sophomores and freshmen in order to give the younger guys someone to look up to during the season.

This tradition is important to filling in the gap between the upperclassmen and the under classmen, according to senior Luke Wittenborn.

Big brothers text their little brothers before big races or lead them through warm-ups. These actions help little brothers — like Wilkin last year — by making sure they feel welcomed into the program.

Katso's Revenge tour

From last season's sectionals to this season's, senior Andrew Katsogianos' (above) three-mile time improved from 16:58.4 seconds to 15:14.9

“Katso’s a great guy,” Wittenborn said. “He’s always setting his goals very, very high. He works harder than anyone on the team … he always [is] pushing his limits, and he’s the most ambitious person I know.”

While Katsogianos uses his actions as an example, Wittenborn leads the team in a com pletely different way, according to Renaud.

could to keep spirits raised.

After the season, Renaud held his annual meetings with the runners to reflect on the sea son. Renaud himself reflected on the season:

“We just kind of battled throughout the whole season,” Renaud said. “It didn’t matter who was on the line on that day, who was there and who wasn’t there. We just put our best ef fort forward each time.”

Looking into the future, the boys have seri ous potential, according to Renaud. Some of the fastest freshmen include Quinn Davis, James Hanna and Luke Robinson.

The sophomores, on the other hand, may not have been the fastest eighth graders, but they are extremely hardworking, according to Renaud.

“

… [Big brothers] check in with [little brothers], make sure they know what's going on with them and form a friendship so that there is more than just ‘being on a team,’” Wilkin said. “Like you are friends with all your teammates and you can help guide them if they have any questions or anything.

As well as good chemistry between upper classmen and lowerclassmen, Renaud acknowl edges the team’s leadership, especially senior Andrew Katsogianos’ work ethic.

The amount of improvement Katsogianos has made in the last year is tremendous, accord ing to Renaud.

Last year, he was the team’s seventh fastest runner; this year, he was the Knights’ second fastest runner.

Last year at sectionals, he placed 87th with a 3-mile time of 16:58.4. This year at section als, Katsogianos ended up placing ninth with a three mile time of 15:14.9, which was also his personal record.

“[Katsogianos is] incredible, maybe the best leader I’ve ever had for a team," Renaud said. "He’s one of those kids that is a great example where your best leader doesn’t have to be the best runner, and he does an incredible job of keeping the kids re sponsible, but … in a positive way."

Wittenborn says he uses his voice to take charge and make sure the team is on task. For example, during the middle of season, some runners left the team, which greatly weak ened morale.

Wittenborn says that during this time, he stepped up and led the team as best as he

“The future is so, so bright for these guys,” Wittenborn said. “I don’t know if they realize it, but they are just placing super, super high in these really competitive meets … if everyone just really stays consistent, these guys can achieve so much more than they can possibly think.”

FAST FRESHMEN

The freshmen boys won the Hornet Red Devil Invitational on Sept. 3 by taking first place by an impressive 30-point margin.

Quinn Davis 2nd 10:28.8

James Hanna 9th 10:53.1

Luke Robinson 13th 11:08.5

Brody Cushing 20th 11:21.4 Colin Ryan 26th 11:35.7

Quinn Davis

*Katsogianos referred to by team as Katso

LEADING THE PACK: Senior Andrew Katsogianos strides in the Hersey Dual Meet on Sept. 12. In the past year, Katsogianos has cut down greatly on his three-mile time by 1:43.5. (photo by Alyssa Degan)

RUNNIN' & GUNNIN': Senior Luke Wittenborn runs in the Hersey Dual Meet on Sept. 12. Head coach Jay Renaud says that Wittenborn is one of the team's best leaders.

(photo by Alyssa Degan)

photo courtesy of Quinn Davis