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News
September 8, 2017
prospectornow.com
BEARS: Practice behind the scenes CONTINUED from front page the process to his ability to work well with Zickel. “[The preparation process] was actually fun,” Mirandola said. “It was fun because we were able to sell the Bears on Prospect High School, and we know that Prospect has a great facility. It was just a matter of us showcasing our facility to them and showing them that, yes, we are the best fit for this event.” The next step was to begin setting up the facilities. The Bears’ full time event-planning staff and an additional team of eight Bears staff members started at 10:00 a.m. and worked until the practice started at 6:00 p.m. “We basically have to set up the field to make it look like a Bear’s facility,” Zickel said. “We want to make sure that everything looks ‘Bears-y’ and it doesn’t look like Prospect, so we come in and kind of rehabbed the whole facility.” In the months prior, Zickel worked with a group of creative designers to make signs, tents and coordinate the event’s logistics. Lined along Prospect’s Kensington entranceway were Bears signs as well as tents, inflatables and signs inside the stadium. “While everyone is excited about the practice, our fans like to do other things,” Zickel said. “We want to bring in other activities and entertain our guests across the board.” Though setting up the event took months of extensive planning, Mirandola shows no regret in taking on the commitment alongside Zickel and members of the Bears organization. “People say, ‘Was it really worth all of the time and effort to see them practice here?’” Mirandola said. “Absolutely, because it created one of those memorable experiences that is really probably one of the highlights in the over 100 year history of the district.” On the night of the practice, Mirandola thinks the fans in attendance loved the ex-
BEAR DOWN: The Chicago Bears warm up on Prospects home turf on Aug. 17. This was the second time the Bears practiced at a Chicagoland area high school. Last year the Bears visited Warren Township High School. (photo by Amanda Stickels) perience. “It was also a point of pride to say, ‘We are good enough to host the Chicago Bears,” Mirandola said. “Just having people walking from their homes, people tailgating, having fire pits in their driveways then walking over really created a great practice-day atmosphere.” Not only did Burkhardt and the rest of the football team get to see their hometown team in person, but they also used the event as a learning experience. The Knights focused on watching the Bears’ footwork, how the defensive backs
HOMECOMING: Student council prepares for dance CONTINUED from front page and staff have to plan the dance. According to Scolaro, Student Council starts seriously planning in the summer and continues into the school year with five or six weeks of solid planning. However, Scolaro says getting kids to meet and do proper organizing for the dance during the school year has proven difficult. Even though the homecoming date has been on the books almost 10 months in advance, the plans were developed before the last school year let out. “It’s a killer because you have to do a lot in a short period of time,” Scolaro said. “But we have a really good group of kids [on Student Council], and they’re planning really hard, and they’re really up on their game.” Drzewiecka said students who aren’t involved in planning the dance could be unaware that it is so early, and won’t have enough time to prepare.
For example, she has listened to students who plan to buy dresses jewelry and get makeovers, but do not have enough time to do it all before the dance. Zhang sympathizes with students having difficulty getting prepared for the dance. “It’s a little stressful since I have four AP classes and I haven’t been able to do stuff,” Zhang said. “Dress shopping is not a priority. I have to get everything [school related] done first, and then I have to worry about dress shopping. It’s pretty low on my list, and I barely have time.” Although an early homecoming brings pressure to preparing in time, the administration as well as Student Council feels like it is a strong improvement compared to previous years. “It’s a lot more hard work on [Student Council] to crank out the same results we do every year in a shorter time span, but I think it’s a challenge we are all ready for,” Drzewiecka said.
broke to the ball and how the running backs finished plays. “That is something that coach always emphasizes, to finish every play, so I think we definitely learned from that,” Burkhardt said. During the practice, Mirandola worked as the point person for District 214 and Prospect. Because of his and Zickel’s thorough knowledge of the overall plan, they were able to work together to make the event as efficient as possible. “One of the great things with the execution of the event was that District 214 was
able to pool some of its resources [and set] up different parts of the venue in order to make sure everything was seamless,” Mirandola said. “Everything was at a premium, but the fan experience was the best.” Zickel thinks the practice was a success because the Bears were able to come to the fans. Even for casual fans that might not watch every game on Sundays, Zickel says that this is a good way for all types of fans to conveniently come see the Bears. “It is in your backyard, so why not go out and watch it and see them?” Zickel said. “Now you have a way to personally connect with the team that draws you in to watch them.” After the practice, members of the Prospect football team were able to meet and get autographs from Bears players like Zach Miller, Connor Barth, Pernell McPhee and Markus Wheaton. Burkhardt says that watching the practice and meeting the players was a top ten moment from his four years at Prospect. “It is something that I will be able to tell my kids,” Burkhardt said. “I’ll be able to tell them I was right on the sideline.” Mirandola thinks the success of the event is reflective of Prospect’s belief that anything is achievable. “It shows that we put ourselves out there. We don’t fear failure. We don’t fear rejection. We don’t fear the potential of something not going right. We are going to put ourselves out there,” Mirandola said. “We ask our students to put themselves out there. We ask our teachers to put themselves out there and take risks, and of course this was a risk. If there was bad weather they would have cancelled it for nothing.” Being a part of this event made Burkhardt proud to being a Prospect Knight. “It kind of reinstates all of the great achievements our high school has and how great the high school really is,” Burkhardt said. “Most high schools never get a chance like this.”
On ProspectorNow.com SoundCloud helps aspiring artists find audience With the rise of internet streaming sites, student musicians now have an easy and convenient way to share music and express themselves. Juniors John Schultz, Colin Alberts and John Ruiz have taken advantage of this unique opportunity.
Mandatory no homework weekends A new district policy that came out with the new academic schedule of the 2017-18 school year, forbids teachers to give homework on certain holiday weekends.
2017-18 School Year Homecoming
Thanksgiving
Winter break
President’s Day
Spring Break
Vlogs inspire creativity
DATES AND THEMES: The 2016-2017 school knighttimes dance was themed “Knight in the Roaring 20’s”. This year’s theme is “City Knights, City Lights” and it falls on Sept. 16, which is earlier than last year’s date, which fell on Oct. 8. (photo courtesy of Lyn Scolaro)
Senior Emily Lasky, along with other students, has found inspiration to watch and create vlogs, based on the new vlogging trends.