Issue 7 2019-2020

THE

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801 WEST KENSINGTON ROAD, MOUNT PROSPECT, ILLINOIS 60056

THE VOICE OF PROSPECT HIGH SCHOOL SINCE 1959

VOLUME 59, ISSUE 7

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

In the midst of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, this issue of The Prospector features the many different effects on the world, the country and the Prospect community. To catch up on all the news, as well as each of the many unique perspectives, check out pages 1, 2, 10, 11, 12, and 18 for our full coverage.

Quarantine isolates, doesn’t divide Her mom suffers from diabetes, which according to CNBC, puts her in a higher risk category for severe illness. Plus, Kruse’s dad just underwent knee replacement surgery, and thus, Kruse thinks that has caused his immune system to work harder than usual.

Not to mention, Kruse says he has naturally weak lungs.

In addition, Kruse expresses concern for both her brother and her sister, as her brother lives with her parents and suffers from a weakened lung condition — another sickness in a higher risk category for severe illness.

On top of everything, Kruse’s sister works as a nurse in pediatric intensive care near Grayslake, which drastically increases her chances of being exposed to and affected

by COVID-19.

“I did say to my husband last week, ‘If this goes bad, it could literally wipe out my parents, my brother [and] my sister,’” Kruse said. “That’s my immediate family.”

As quarantine progresses, it is apparent that Kruse is not alone. Foreignpolicy. com illustrates that her fear, anxiety and feeling of helplessness is shared nationwide and is spreading faster than the virus around the globe. But people aren’t scared for themselves.

According to the CDC, people with a higher risk of severe illness for the coronavirus include anybody 65 years or older or anybody with chronic lung disease, serious heart conditions, diabetes, kidney disease, liver disease and many other illnesses.

RYAN KUPPERMAN Editor-in-Chief

F

or English teacher Karen Kruse, her cousin’s husband was the first person she knew personally to test positive for the novel coronavirus.

While no one in her family had any contact with her cousin or her husband, Kruse’s husband got sick and elicited symptoms that made his doctor think there was a chance he could be infected with COVID-19 as well. Kruse says it didn’t take long for their entire household to catch whatever her husband has; however, nobody has been officially tested for the coronavirus.

According to The New York Times, while the country is making strides in supporting widespread, accurate virus tests, continual road blocks have caused a test-shortage nationwide.

However, Kruse illustrates that her husband has it the worst among them with a fever and a bad cough while she, her son and her daughter have more cold-like symptoms.

Because of the relatively stable condition of her household, Kruse says she is more worried about spreading the virus to other family members over the damage it could do to her own household.

Moreover, Kruse’s parents live in Mount Prospect and are in their late 70s.

For a more in-depth look at Illinois’statistics and conditions under the coronavirus pandemic, go to dph.illinois.gov

“I think it’s really upsetting that people aren’t taking it seriously because they don’t understand the consequences they can have for other people and their families,” Madsen said.

While her household is constantly washing their hands and her mom always wipes down outside objects such as the groceries and the mail, Madsen emphasizes that the best way to combat the spread of the disease is to practice social distancing and maintain self-isolation. Other than to visit with her dad in his house, Madsen says she doesn’t leave her home.

“Right now the most difficult thing [for me] is seeing people who are leaving their homes and are hanging out with their friends,” Madsen said.

“It just makes me really angry because those are the people who are contributing to the possibility of [me] not seeing my dad or the possibility of my grandpa getting sick.”

For the sake of keeping students inside and lowering junior the risk of spreading disease, District 214 — along with the majority of the country — has implemented remote instruction.

Madsen says she would prefer to be at school where she could see her friends and teachers; however, she does think remote instruction is doable.

She also appreciates how well the school district is dealing with the situation as a whole.

“Thank God for technology because it does make you stay connected,” Kruse said. “I just think if it was 1918 with the [Spanish flu] we’d be writing each other letters … and then we’d be waiting three days to hear [back].”

In the spirit of staying connected, Kruse reached out to her coworkers in the English department and ended up starting a book club.

Individually, they are going to read the book “Reading with Patrick” and hold weekly Zoom meetings to talk about what they’ve read and catch up with each other.

“I just miss talking to people and being at work and seeing people,” Kruse said. “Having those conversations [and] those friendships … being able to keep those connections going is important.”

In times like these, it cannot be stressed how important it is to stay connected. It’s easy to turn self-isolation into emotional isolation. It’s easy to fall into loneliness and shy away from connection.

Don’t.

Make the extra effort. Join in on family game night. Force yourself to pick up the phone and call your grandparents. Text your friends.

It’s OK to feel lonely. It’s OK to feel scared and anxious, and it’s OK to be angry. Don’t use it as an excuse to shut down. Embrace your friends and family; they’re going to be the ones to keep the raft afloat.

They’re the reason we’ll get out of this with our heads held just a little bit higher — together.

People who are leaving their homes and are hanging out with their

friends ... those are the people who

are contributing to the possibility of [me] not seeing my dad.”

Buffalo Grove 41 The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has been tracking every confirmed case of the coronavirus for every town and county in Illinois.

According to the IDPH, these are the number of confirmed cases (as of April 8, 2020) for the towns prominent to Prospect High School.

While this doesn’t apply to most people individually, everybody is connected to somebody who falls under at least one of the higher risk categories. It could be an older parent, or it could be a sibling with health issues.

For Kruse, it’s both. And like Kruse, the world is being forced to

Prospect 49

Elk Grove Village

info courtesy of dph.illinois.gov infographic by Ryan Kupperman cartoon by Mara Nicolaie

40

live in isolation and care for loved ones over Zoom conferences and phone calls.

Realizing that not being with loved ones is the best way to keep them safe is a tough pill to swallow. Not only is it a pill that the world is taking countries at a time, but people are being forced to take it by themselves while locked in their own homes.

For junior Claudia Madsen, her biggest concern in the midst of the pandemic is not being able to see her dad. Madsen’s parents are divorced, and she primarily lives with her mom.

Typically, Madsen would get to visit her dad a couple times a week. Now, with the quarantine in place, the number of visits continues to decrease.

Madsen also expresses that if things continue to get worse, she might not be able to visit her dad at all. Although the two often Snapchat and text each other, she relies on seeing him in person the most.

In addition, Madsen is trying to stay in communication with her grandfather who lives in Mexico.

While she doesn’t think the virus is as bad down there yet, Madsen says her family is very concerned over what would happen if he were to get sick.

“It scares me a lot because it didn’t seem like it could happen,” Madsen said. “Now, it is obviously happening to lots of people.”

With her family and friends in mind, Madsen is doing everything she can to try to prevent the spread of any illnesses.

Confirmed cases

Arlington Mount Heights

30

- Claudia Madsen,

Des Plaines 86

Pandemic marked by anger, loss As I replaced the time allotted for my Spanish exchange trip with “coronacation” on my Target-bought, pink whiteboard calendar, I became aware of the coping mechanism I’d been implementing.

Through self-deprecating jokes and memes, I was using humor to cope with my reality. But, after writing that on my whiteboard, my approach completely shifted.

I realized that, because of this “coronacation,” I lost a cultural experience I had been working toward for the past seven years of Spanish class, GRACE GIVAN I will probably Editor-in-Chief lose my senior prom, I might lose my graduation ceremony and some are even predicting I might lose my freshman year of college to online classes.

It’s not funny anymore. “Coronacation” is not a vacation anymore.

The coronavirus pandemic has created a feeling of helplessness among workers, students and teachers — and that’s in addition to being absolutely terrifying for those infected or at risk of dying.

Schools are shut down across the country. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs. We’re being imprisoned in our own homes with no control over what we are losing.

What are we supposed to do?

Who are we supposed to be mad at?

How do we cope with the little control we have over our lives now?

Sure, a wedding can be rescheduled for September, assuming this whole thing is over by then, but what about the personal milestones that can never be rescheduled?

My final issue writing for The Prospector is on this PDF, never to be printed out. My last issue was supposed to be full of sentimentality and reminiscence, but now we have to put all of our effort into completing this issue over Zoom calls. Never again will I see people in the hallways carrying a publication I put hours of work into. I’ll never feel that pride again.

This doesn’t only apply to me and my fellow seniors; the same feeling accompanies the 10 faculty members retiring from Prospect this year.

Just like my peers and I are losing our senior year, retiring Italian teacher Lyn Scolaro, who has been on 13 exchange trips with Prospect, forfeit her last Prospect exchange to COVID-19. “[The exchange] was one of the best things culturally [that] I was able to provide for my [students],” Scolaro said. “I was looking forward to that one last time with my [students]. And I’m going to go back, but I’ll never go back like this — [the exchanges] have been better than any trip that I could ever take.”

SEE HELPLESS HELPLESS,, page 6

2 NEWS

prospectornow.com

APRIL 9, 2020

Coronavirus cases rise at local hospital RYAN BARICH Executive News Editor *name changed for confidentiality

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n March 1, senior Anna Schulz was going into yet another day of work in the food services department at Northwest Community Hospital. However, she received a text from the hospital that had told her to not go into work that day.

When Schulz asked why, the hospital informed her that the day before she may have come into contact with a patient that had tested positive for COVID-19.

Commonly known as the coronavirus.

“I woke up and saw the text and was like ‘Oh my gosh is this a joke because this isn’t funny,’” Schulz said. “You hear ‘coronavirus’ and suddenly your heart drops to the floor.”

Schulz then spent the next two weeks closely monitoring her temperature and looking closely for any symptoms.

When she returned to work, her and her coworker sophomore Ellie Foster got a firsthand account of how the hospital has been coping with the rising number of Arlington Heights cases, now at a total of 21 as of April 3, according to the Cook County Department of Public Health.

The patients have been placed in a specified infectious disease wing where multiple isolation rooms have been, and will continue to be, built and sustained by the staff. These isolation rooms are fitted with air filtration systems that keeps the healthy hospital staff safe from contracting the virus through breathing the same air as the patients.

Each nurse and doctor is also fitted with plastic masks, gowns and gloves to keep skin-to-skin contact down to a minimum.

However, with the demand for these protective supplies rising, the hospital has been struggling to maintain a surplus of masks and gloves for all hospital employees, according to Foster.

In response, the hospital has only permitted nurses, doctors and other essential staff members to use one mash and pair of gloves a day, as of March 29.

“The place has gotten a lot more hectic,” Foster said. “It’s been a demanding workload for the nurses and attending physicians, but the way they’ve handled it is so impressive.”

With cases in Illinois predicted to rise until the end of April, the hospital has started to institute protocols that are a part of their infectious disease plan — including bringing in the help of numerous infectious disease specialists.

Another part of this plan is the complete dismissal of visiting hours. Patients that are situated in inpatient units are not to receive any visitors regardless of connections; however, the rule does not apply to patients that are critically ill or in the pediatric labor unit.

“The changes do come as a shock to a lot of [employees] working there, but, really, they’re just examples of social distancing,” Schulz said.

The hospital has announced multiple other changes that would decrease social contact immensely, and to check the official CDC guidelines concerning how to correctly social distance, check the CDC’s website.

Changes such as cancelling all tours of the facility, closing the Wellness Center, halting any child care programs for the time being and more have been put in place to halt

spreading. More of these official changes community that kickstarted what he recan be found on their website. ferred to as the “looting and supplying” of These changes and restrictions have goods from any and every convenience store also caused an anxiety amongst the local within driving distance.

Arlington Heights residents. Arlington This “doomsday prepping” as Lane also Heights resident put it is simply the act County corona cases *James Lane and of buying up as much others have voiced of one item as an indinumber of positive cases as of April 8 their concerns over according to the Illinois Department of vidual would need for the virus with their the foreseeable future Public Health local government in isolation. For the through emails and residents of Arling6,092 online help centers Chicago ton Heights and many 4,428 set up by the Arling- Suburban Cook around the United 1,041 ton Heights Village Lake County States, that mainly Board. means stocking up on a 914 Will County Lane and his felsurplus of toilet paper, low homeowners DuPage County 875 hand sanitizer and oth296 say that the village Kane County er toiletries. needs to be “more McHenry County 180 “The town is going serious” about the mad,” Lane said. “We matter at hand. fear the worst and pre“I’ll see things like ‘we have it all under pare for the even worse.” control’ or ‘we remain committed to helping James McCalister, the director of health those in need’ but that’s not giving anyone and human services in the Village of Arany sense of real safety,” Lane said. lington Heights, fully understands the worLane made it apparent that the closure ries and anxieties the citizens of Arlington of the Arlington Heights Senior Center and Heights show. local restaurants were actions that That being said, he and his caused panic in social department have been circles within the working to open multiple

DAWN OF DISEASE: Cases of the infamous coronavirus continue to grow in suburban Cook County. Northwest Community Hospital continues to adjust to the demanding caseload. (cartoon by Mara Nicolaie)

lines of communication through open telephone calls, social media and their website to get any and all information to the public.

“You’d have to be living under a rock right now to not have any concerns,” McCalister said. “The most important thing, from our standpoint, is that accurate information is in the people’s hands.”

Residents have also embraced the idea of social distancing to combat the spread of disease, and so have all schools in the suburban area including Prospect, which has started to resume their classes over the video conferencing app Zoom.

This social distancing in schools though has caused District 214 Superintendent David Schuler to cancel the school’s annual prom. The fate of the school’s senior graduation is still being debated as well.

“Yes, from the outside looking in it seems that we’re all crazy,” Lane said. “Sometimes the best thing to do for the people you care about is overreact and over prepare.”

With rising fears and anxieties from the community, Northwest Community Hospital has already made plans and contingencies for treating the virus in the coming days.

“The tireless work these doctors have been doing to maintain a safe environment just makes me feel that much safer when I go home,” Schulz said. “I know the best people are on it.”

The hospital has been working closely with members of the CDC, the Illinois Department of Public Health and other towns within Cook County.

With the help of the CDC, the hospital has been able to set up fully operational training facilities for attending physicians to better educate themselves in the treatment of this powerful disease and how to properly test for it.

That testing also raised concerns in the community, as a limited supply of testing equipment has plagued multiple counties across Illinois.

However, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health were able to obtain access to state and federal resources that the hospital reported, in a statement to the public, would go into securing adequate testing equipment.

“They’re doing their best, and it’s amazing to see, but it’s so hard to judge what will happen the next day or the next week,” Schulz said.

This virus can be unpredictable at times, and on March 27, the hospital lost its first patient to the coronavirus after a four day fight.

The hospital sent out a letter of condolences to the late patient’s family and announced the passing to the public on the same day saying they were “deeply saddened” by the death of the unnamed patient in his or her 60s who was reported to have some previous underlying health complications.

“We remain committed to working tirelessly on behalf of every patient that needs us and to getting through this together,” the hospital said in their official statement that they released on their website.

Their tireless work hasn’t gone unnoticed, as a surviving pair of coronavirus patients, Bob and Regina Dix, went on ABC 7 news to praise the efforts of the hospital staff that helped them make it home safely and to say that the coronavirus doesn’t have to be a death sentence.

“There is a 90% chance of hope, really” Bob Dix said to ABC 7 News.

Currently on Prospectornow.com...

Read about how Prospect’s ongoing gift card drive is raising money for those who relied on the school’s supplied lunches. (photo courtesy of Lilepartnersforparks.org) Meet Prospect’s new associate principal Iris Dominguez in a Q and A with Copy Editor Elizabeth Keane. (photo courtesy of Iris Dominguez)

For those concerned about the fate of their AP courses and tests, check out Online Editor-in Chief Rick Lytle’s story on the changes made so far. (photo courtesy of Flickr.com)

Curious about how coronavirus has effected summer sports? Check out the latest episode of Prospect Sports Weekly on spotify as IHSA executive director Craig Anderson shares IHSA’s plan. (photo illustration by Ryan Barich)

prospectornow.com

NEWS 3

APRIL 9, 2020

LGBT history receives spot in textbooks ELIZABETH KEANE Copy Editor

G

rowing up, junior Claire Carmody observed her two uncles being in love and having a relationship, just like her mom and dad. She was familiar with same-sex relationships, so when Carmody discovered her own sexuality and came out as pansexual — meaning that she can be attracted to or love anyone regardless of where they fall on the gender spectrum — during her sophomore year, she felt comfortable expressing herself.

Her uncle said that he was happy she had discovered who she truly was, and her dad was accepting as well.

“No matter who I come out to, there is always a small voice in the back of my head saying, ‘They will hate you because you’re different’ or ‘This will end in tears and screaming,’” Carmody said. “I have had neither happen, but the possibility is still a little scary.”

There’s probably going

to be a lot more room for

conversations of acceptance, and if not acceptance, then just tolerance.”

- Claire Carmody, junior

However, Carmody has been the target of many derogatory comments, some calling her “disgusting” or “a fat lesbian.” During her first relationship with a girl in her sophomore year, Carmody said that they were not afraid to act the same way other couples do in public with handholding or the occasional kiss on the cheek.

“I’m no stranger to being called names to my face or behind my back, so I’ve grown a pretty thick skin in most circumstances,” Carmody said. “ … Being called names is also expected when you’re queer and unafraid to be yourself publicly and unapolegetically.”

According to a 2017 National School Climate Survey

LOVE WINS: A teacher shows her students two prominent figures of LGBT history. On Aug. 9, 2019, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed off the Inclusive Curriculum Law on House Bill 364, which will go into effect on July 1. This law states that, by the time students finish eighth grade, public schools must teach them about contributions to Illinois and U.S. history made by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. (cartoon by Mara Nicolaie) conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, more than 60% of LGBT students reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation.

An article from Newsweek stated that in Illinois, only 24% of LGBT students said that they had been taught anything positive about LGBT people in classrooms. Some feel that this lack of representation of the LGBT community in education leads to the 88% of LGBT students who report hearing homophobic remarks in school.

In an effort to combat these statistics, on Aug. 9 2019, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed off the Inclusive Curriculum Law on House Bill 364, which will go into effect on July 1.

According to the Chicago Tribune, by the time students finish eighth grade, public schools must teach them about contributions to Illinois and U.S. history made by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

According to CNN, the law will include having discussion

of LGBT figures and events, such as the Society for Human Rights — one of America’s first gay rights groups, established in Chicago in 1924 — and astronaut Sally Ride, the first woman in space and the first known lesbian astronaut.

“One of the best ways to overcome intolerance is through education and exposure to different people and viewpoints,” Illinois State Sen. Heather Steans, who sponsored the legislation, said in an article from The Hill.

Carmody also feels this law will benefit young members of the LGBT community. She said it was “refreshing” to see Pritzker acknowledge LGBT history when many people don’t know much about it.

“There’s probably going to be a lot more room for conversations of acceptance, and if not acceptance, then just tolerance,” Carmody said.

SEE LGBT, page 5.

Potential bridge offers safety CHARLIE DAHLGREN Staff Writer The Village of Mount Prospect is taking new strides in resurrecting its project to build a pedestrian bridge over Northwest Highway and the Union Pacific railroad tracks.

The project, which was originally pitched in 2018, aimed to increase pedestrian safety by connecting Meadows and Melas parks, but was ultimately terminated after failing to receive adequate financial support from critical local contributors. The Village of Arlington Heights, Arlington Heights Park District, District 57, and District 214 each denied a $20,700 donation to help

fund the bridge, according to the Daily Herald.

Despite that, many Mount Prospect board members continue to push towards their goal. In a Committee of the Whole meeting last month, the village presented new evidence to prove the importance of the bridge, including three videos of Prospect students dodging traffic.

“They tell a compelling story,” Mount Prospect Village Manager Michael Cassady said in an interview with the Daily Herald.

“You have got a real long gap where people can safely cross. Kids are like stormwater. They’re going to go to the path of least resistance.

So we thought it was a good value proposition.”

While many Prospect High

NEW AND IMPROVED: This map shows current routes that PHS runners take as well as the new potential route they could take if the bridge was built. “We try to make routes that have fewer stops and cross [fewer] busy streets,” said cross country runner and senior Erik Snell. “If we had that pedestrian bridge, we could go over without any stoppage [while] being safe.” (graphic by Charlie Dahlgren)

School students cross Northwest Highway, few do it more often than the cross country team. While on their routes, runners can be found crossing Northwest Highway up to four times a week, sometimes in groups of 15 students or more.

Coaches rarely run with the team, so it’s up to team captains like seniors Tom Walter and Erik Snell to keep the rest of the team safe.

“I’ve definitely become more aware of that risk just because I feel more responsible about it,” Walter said. “We’re always trying to be as responsible as we can … because we know that [the team’s safety] is a lot more important than interrupting the flow of the run.”

Luckily, neither Walter nor Snell have witnessed a serious incident involving crossing busy streets, but close calls are a cause for concern — especially with large groups of runners and negligent drivers.

The cross country team currently has two different routes that cross Northwest HIghway.

One takes 1.07 miles to reach the intersection and crosses 16 streets.

The second reaches the intersection in 1.22 miles and crosses 18 streets.

If the bridge was built, runners could cross in 0.54 miles, crossing only two minor streets along the way. It’s for that reason that the pedestrian bridge would offer so many new opportunities for future Prospect cross country runners, according to Snell.

“That would give birth to new routes that we could run,” Snell said. “We try to make routes that have fewer stops and cross [fewer] busy streets. If we had that pedestrian bridge, we could go over without any stoppage [while] being safe.”

CHOO CHOO: The Village of Mount Prospect may build a pedestrian bridge over Northwest Highway and the Union Pacific railroad tracks. This will offer the freedom for Prospect runners to run new routes with ensured safety. (photo by Charlie Dahlgren) Mount Prospect tried to use the issue of student safety to try to leverage $20,700 from D214 back in 2018 when they were first looking for ways to fund the initial $124,000 study of the bridge.

After consideration, D214 decided it was in their best interest to deny Mount Prospect that funding. It wasn’t the initial cost of the study that scared D214 away, rather than the uncertainty of what they were committing themselves to, described Associate Superintendent of Finance and Operations Cathy Johnson.

“It was less about what funds were available rather than where this project and priorities lay,” Johnson said. “If we are committing to this $20,000 what else might we be committing ourselves to? $20,000 is a lot of money, but if we’re in for a penny are we in for a pound? Because that’s kind of what the proposal looked like.”

If D214 were to accept the original funding proposal in 2018, they would be rewarded with a grant; however, much like the final construction costs, numbers were

only theorized and always subject to change.

Mount Prospect has made new progress in this project in the past months, recently awarding the engineering and construction company Burns and McDonnell the original $124,000 to execute the initial study. It is so far unclear whether or not they will again seek funding from D214.

If they were to be asked again, Johnson says the district would try to look at the potential proposal with fresh eyes after having the past two years to think it over, but thinks it’s important to understand that the bridge is a priority for the village, not the district. If Mount Prospect wants to see a different result, they’re going to need to show D214 that they have a precise plan in place.

“What’s good for a district is generally good for a municipality and vice versa,” Johnson said.

“So many of the things we do are in alignment with one another because at the end of the day, caring about kids is caring about their constituents.”

4 OPINION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Drop off letters to the Prospector in the box in the library, in room 216 or email letters to prospectornow@ gmail.com. All letters must be signed.

Limit letters to 400 words. The Prospector reserves the right to edit for style and length.

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he Washington Post states that Sanders, on the other hand, wants to youth voter turnout reached pass his legislation of Medicare for All a “100-year high” in the 2018 by making health care a universal right midterm elections, and NPR reports guaranteed to all Americans. that double the amount of women ran Regardless of the plan, it needs propfor Congress in 2018 as compared to 2016 er reform as 30% of Prospect students — many of whom poise themselves as care for better health care plans than advocates for the younger generations the current ones in place, according to of Americans. Throughout the past two the Prospector survey. years, people like Greta Thunberg and These two approaches have been hotorganizations like March for Our Lives ly debated across the country throughhave opened up the global conversation out the treacherous election cycle, and of youth in politics and how the fact the biggest concerns of American voters that we are teenagers does not make our have been how these plans will be funded opinions any less valid. and how their private health insurances The 2020 election is not only one of will be protected. Much opposition has the most historic, but it is also expected arisen for the Sanders plan because of to break records of youth voter turnout. the nearly $60 trillion price tag — which In fact, a Prospector survey of 350 stu- is three times the size of the American dents shows that 88.4% of eligible vot- economy. The fact that about 150 million ers plan to exercise their Americans would constitutional right come be forced off their Election Day. private insurance With that said, the and could lead to need to follow a candidate worse care than bethat personally reflects fore is a major proban individual’s views lem with this policy. cannot be stressed more When it comes in these highly partisan to student loan times. The Prospector is debt, an issue that writing this editorial to 25% of Prospect stushow which candidate for dents care for the the Democratic nominamost, the two nomition for President of the nees are once again Voting results of The United States we support highly divided on based on what reflects their policies. Biden Prospector staff in student opinions and who regards to this editorial. plans to make twowe feel can actually fulfill year community their promises of addressing issues of colleges free and use money earned concern. from raising taxes on the super wealthy Many of us are students looking into (the top 1% of Americans) while Sanders our futures and wondering how we are fights for forgiving the $1.6 trillion of nagoing to get by in life when issues such tional student loan debt and making all as student loan debt and health care are four-year public colleges free. Although very real concerns for our economic the Sanders plan does seem to be the far prosperity. Former Vice President Joe more appealing one, the questions of reBiden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ality come into play in terms of actually are the two remaining candidates left in getting it done. the field for the Democratic primary, and Biden’s plan has a price tag of $750 each have their own approaches on how billion, and the Sanders plan has one to solve these issues. of $2.2 trillion — both of which are imWith Biden representing the mod- mensely large investments. However, erate wing and Sanders representing the Biden plan has a clear outline of the progressive wing of the Democratic how the money will be made, and his 36Party, the distinctions between the two year congressional history of working on these vital issues are crystal clear. across the aisle with many Republicans Biden wants to build on the Obama-era enhances the likelihood of his plan goAffordable Care Act, better known as ing through.

Obamacare, by lowering the cost of preThe same claim cannot be made for scription drugs and building towards a Sanders’ plan due to an unclear explapublic health care option. nation for the payment of his absurdly large policies and how he intends to get Republican support for a very progressive plan.

Most Republicans in Congress are not fond of proposals that deal with tax Five most important raises, and it seems as though the Sandissues for the 2020 ers plan will struggle to get votes when election according to most of the payment comes from high tax raises on the wealthy. While Biden’s a Prospector survey plan does deal with raised taxes on large of 350 students wealth, it is not to the same extreme and has shown past indication of conservative support.

While economic success is vital to the future of Prospect students, our survey shows that 50% of students point to the global threat of climate change as the most important political issue for the 2020 election. Both of the Democratic nominees have laid out extensive plans in order to combat this crisis, but the ultimate deciding factor is which one will receive bipartisan support and actually break through the Washington gridlock.

This environmental phenomenon is something that can no longer be brushed off and debated upon with no action. Congress has the power to

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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 Journalistic Writing courses.

Some material is courtesy of MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service.

Realistic policy key for Dem nomination

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STAFF WRITERS Kevin Lynch, Kailie Foley, Abby Weiss, Aidan Murray, Olivia Laskarin, Marina Makropoulos, Charlie Dahlgren, Billy Buelow

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This editorial is an endorsement done by The Prospector staff for the Democratic primary election. We understand sen. bernie sanders dropped out of the race on Wednesday, but the case made for joe biden remains. address life-changing issues with bipartisan support, and it is time for a leader who can successfully do so in an ambitious and effective manner — whether it be climate change or the gun violence epidemic that, with 38% of votes, was another top issue for students.

The policies of these candidates can be discussed for hours on end, but one of the most important factors to mention about these two men is a very real concern for American voters: their ages.

If Biden wins the presidency, he will be 78-years-old at the inauguration, and Sanders would be 79-years-old — meaning they would be well into their 80s when it is time for reelection.

Considering Sanders suffered from a heart attack during the election cycle and real worries have arisen about Biden’s mental state in terms of his vulnerability to Alzheimer’s and dementia, it makes sense that many Americans are hesitant to elect such elderly individuals. However, the two men have shown in recent time that they are more healthy than what meets the eye through doctor support on their ability and capacity to lead the country.

With all of that said, America needs a leader who is not only healthy but will deliver on their campaign promises by showing realistic change from both parties and making sure our economy prospers by not crumbling from checks we as Americans cannot cash. We need realistic economic proposals in a time where the lines of fact and fiction are blurred by immense sensationalism.

We, The Prospector, officially endorse Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination to be the President of the United States of America because we feel that his past vice presidential and congressional experience in public service more than qualifies him to take on the highest office in the land. On top of that, we feel that his plans to make health care more affordable, ensure that our students are not crippled by student loan debt, take action on gun violence, truly work toward combating climate change and have a female running mate as a method of empowering women are realistic, admirable proposals that can get bipartisan support in a divided era.

Biden has embraced many plans proposed from previous nominees for the Democratic primary and shows himself as a truly unifying nominee who will address a plethora of issues both moderate and progressive. He is the candidate who will hear the concerns of a young generation while truly uniting our country in some of its most partisan times.

photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Staff Editorial

ASSOCIATE ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Olivia Kim

APRIL 9, 2020

prospectornow.com

OPINION 5

APRIL 9, 2020

LGBT: Looking ahead, showing support Carmody also said that there has been no mention of LGBT history in her classes growing up, but she tends to research LGBT topics when given the freedom to choose the focus of an individual project. For example, her research paper this year dealt with the topic of bathrooms for transgender students.

Although she acknowledges that the omission of LGBT history may make some members of the community feel unimportant, she doesn’t necessarily feel this way. This is due to the support system of people Carmody surrounded herself with when she realized she was pansexual — people who were like her.

more accepting as well.

For other people who aren’t fortunate enough to have this same support, Carmody feels that it’s important for conversations to start from younger ages in order to normalize the idea of same-sex relationships earlier on.

Amy Pinski, a fifth grade teacher at Windsor Elementary School, agrees, knowing that the most important aspect of implementing this law will be making sure that the topic is discussed in a way that is age-appropriate and that her students can understand.

“All kids who come [to school] want to be accepted and loved and, you know, treated fairly,” Pinski said. “ … Having role models and examples available to [young LGBT students will] be a good thing.”

Pinski added that, since history in America is primarily focused on males and Euro-

As teachers, we’re here to help [kids] grow

and become the best person they can be —

no matter who they love or what they’re trying to decide about themselves.”

- Amy Pinski, fifth grade teacher at Windsor Elementary school Junior Emma Matzkin, who is bisexual, is one of Carmody’s close friends.

As Matzkin has a lot of non-heterosexual friends, a person’s sexual orientation is not a big concern of hers.

In general, Matzkin said that she tries to not make a big deal of her friends’ sexualities while still acknowledging their validity to express themselves. Instead, she shows her support in small ways such as buying Carmody a pansexual pride flag for her birthday.

She credits her accepting nature to her parents who raised her with ideas of showing empathy and love towards everyone.

Matzkin hopes that, once people learn more about hardships the LGBT community has faced and still faces today, they will become

pean groups, she makes an effort to incorporate more diversity into her curriculum.

For example, while teaching about the Westward Movement, Pinski covers how Native Americans were affected and how Chinese immigrants contributed to developing the railroad. Furthermore, she tries to highlight female scientists and mathematicians as well.

Pinski has not received much information about how this curriculum will look, but it will certainly be a new change; in her 20 years of teaching fifth grade, the social science curriculum has not been altered much.

Social science teacher Brad Rathe, who teaches American Studies and AP U.S. History, could see LGBT history being incorporated into the Civil Rights unit of his American

Studies class. Rathe is interested to see how the textbooks will look due to the fact that many of them in America come from Texas — a notably conservative state.

However, with AP classes, Rathe is unsure of how this will work. Considering that AP curriculum remains the same nationwide, implementing LGBT history would not align with the other 45 states that do not have an Inclusive Curriculum Law (see “A more colorful curriculum”). That decision remains up to the College Board; even so, Rathe feels that including the topic would be beneficial.

“The more you know, the better off you are,” Rathe said. “[LGBT history] is certainly something that’s relevant today [and] something that kids should have exposure to.”

So, while people may hold differing opinions about this topic, Rathe simply wants to present all of the topics covered in his classroom without bias, letting his students draw their own conclusions from the history.

Pinski and her fellow fifth grade teachers anticipate facing some backlash from parents, but as the specifics of the law have not been addressed with them yet, they haven’t discussed it with families of the school. Carmody has encountered opposers of this law, noticing that their argument often stems from the stereotype that homosexual people are more promiscuous.

“A lot of people who are against [teaching LGBT history in schools] focus on the sexual aspect of [LGBT] relationships,” Carmody said. “But for heterosexual relationships when they’re talked about in schools it’s [more about] the romance … we’re not just some fetish online.”

However, Pinski anticipates that when they do encounter opposing parents, the school district will have to establish a protocol for children missing content that the parents are not comfortable with. This is the same sort of approach that is taken when topics like puberty are covered. Nevertheless, Pinski only has one goal.

“Kids need to be accepted and loved when they come into this room,” Pinski said. “ … As teachers, we’re here to help them grow and become the best person they can be — no matter who they love or what they’re trying to decide about themselves.”

A more colorful curriculum states that have passed the Inclusive Curriculum law

CA LIF O RN IA

2011

COLORADO

2019

OREGON 2019

W NE

SEY R E J

2019

ILLINOIS

Want to see more pictures of your favorite teachers and what they’ve been doing during isolation? Click here!

Letter to the Editor March 8, 2020 To the Prospector Staff, In the article concerning the dispansion of high school gymnastics (“Rumors of disbanding worry gymnasts” published March 6, 2020), I noticed that it was portrayed that “gymnasts across the district have a backup plan in club gymnastics.” While many high school gymnasts, including myself, train at gymnastics clubs outside of season, few of us actually have the option to compete for those club teams. This is because in order to be eligible for the club teams, gymnasts must follow strict level rules, making it nearly impossible to join after elementary school.

This strict system just doesn’t apply to those athletes that started the sport late (in middle/high school) and still want to work hard

to have the chance to compete. This is the beauty of the high school system. It allows gymnasts of all levels to get the chance to compete, a chance that would otherwise be non-existent. While it is true that some high school gymnasts come from a club team and would be able to “fall back” on their old team, most don’t have this option. All in all, I think the inclusion of this evidence downplays the importance of the high school programs to the success of many gymnasts who got a “late start” to the sport. Overall, the article does call attention to the gymnastics program, and I hope that the program and all their opportunities for non-club can be saved.

Thank you, Anika Knipple

2019

graphics by Elizabeth Keane

Corrections Box In Issue 6 of The Prospector published on March 6, 2020, a story called “AP Research(ing) for another route” incorrectly stated that the class AP Research would definitely be running next school year. The Prospector apologizes for the misinformation and is happy to present this statement from Adam Levinson, Division Head of English, EL and Theater: “AP Seminar is the first of two College Board Capstone courses that PHS has run sophomore year last year and this year. AP Research is the final College Board Capstone class that is offered senior year (and next year would have been our first offering of its kind).

It must have enrollment that justifies the cost of running the course. If enrollment is not approximately twenty students in this case, the district cannot run the course. As PHS only had ten students enroll in AP Research for the 20-21 school year, we cannot run the course. There are possible alternative options the district has yet to approve such as running it as an evening course at a designated D214 site, but that has yet to be determined by the D214 Superintendency.”

6 OPINION

prospectornow.com

APRIL 9, 2020

Introverts establish value within society T

o top off both the end of the year and the end of the decade, my friends decided to go out to Honey Biscuit to share one last festival of eating, laughing and reckless driving together before the 2010s came to a close. I told them I couldn’t go because my parents wouldn’t let me. But the truth is, I just didn’t want to go because I felt exhausted from all of the shopping and family-visiting of the holidays. Also, I had gone to Honey Biscuit with a friend two days prior, and I just wanted to stay home.

It’s not that I was sick of hanging out with my friends or that I was mad at them; I just preferred winding down by snuggling up with a book rather than going out to eat because I’m not like the 60-75% of the population that is extroverted according to “Very Well Mind.” I am an introvert.

The fact that I felt like I had to make up an excuse not to go out proves that there is still a stigma surrounding introverts despite the popular attention introvert and extrovert-related quizzes, videos and articles get. If someone doesn’t ADRIANA want to hang out BRISCOE or actively engage people, it is News Editor with viewed as a negative thing. This stigma is harmful because people may be led to believe that introverts don’t like to talk to people or aren’t qualified for leadership positions. Introverts are also often worn out from the social demands of our extroverted society, and a better understanding of what it means to be introverted will hopefully provoke positive change, such as more freedom to work alone.

There is a lot of pressure to be extroverted in high school. I went to homecoming every year, and I absolutely hated every single one.

Social gatherings such as homecoming stress me out because of the crowds and the constant burden of talking amongst a group of people. I prefer hanging out with friends one-on-one rather than in groups. It’s easier and less stressful to give my full attention to one person rather than divide it up among three or more. Plus, a one-on-one conversation with someone often lends itself to a deep conversation, which is way more exciting and worth my time than small talk.

I’m not saying that we should get rid of the hype surrounding school dances, but if someone chooses not to go, they shouldn’t be harassed for it.

Social life isn’t the only cause of my stress as an introvert. I also feel a lot of unnecessary pressure in my classes to put myself out there.

Classroom situations inevitably involve social interaction, which I believe is essential. I love class discussions because I often learn more when I hear other people share their thoughts.

However, presentations, Socratic seminars, speeches and group projects can be draining and intimidating for shy introverts like myself. Therefore, I don’t think students should be thrown into situations that make them uncomfortable.

Why not give us the choice of doing an online discussion post or essay instead of a speaking assignment?

According to English teacher Karen Kruse, participating in class helps everyone learn and gain perspectives that they may not have thought of themselves.

DO I HAVE TO GO? Two people drag an introvert into a social gathering. Introverts often feel pressured into going out and socializing when they would rather relax and unwind at home. (cartoon by Grace He) “As people hear someone else’s questions or another way of looking at things, it sort of broadens your perspective,” Kruse said. “It gets you thinking about different sides of an issue, so all of those are good things.”

I understand that a presentation or Socratic seminar is necessary sometimes. Students need to hear what their peers think, and they need to be pushed out of their comfort zones every once in a while in order to get more comfortable with public speaking, which is an important skill to build for college and many future careers.

While this is valid, grading students on the number of times they speak, the amount of eye contact they hold and the volume of their voices is just unfair.

Grading a student on an assignment solely based on their participation in the classroom is like grading them on a game solely based on their athletic ability in P.E.; it’s not measuring the effort the student is putting in.

Instead, students should just be graded on the preparation work prior to the discussions, which Kruse and few other teachers are doing in addition to a participation grade.

Some students are just more quiet than others. So what? Their grade shouldn’t have to suffer because of who they are.

“Some people are just as happy as a clam being very introverted and not being around a lot of people,” school psychologist Dr. Jay Kyp-Johnson said. “I’m happy as a clam by myself. That’s when I’m happiest. But it doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you, unless you’re really introverted and you want to be a politician; that would be a bad matchup.”

Kyp-Johnson also notes that people often choose a career tailored to their personality.

If this is the case, then arguing that requiring students to speak is preparing them for careers is nonsense. It all depends on what the student wants to do and is most comfortable with; therefore, there needs to be a greater variety of options for assignments.

Another thing several of my teachers have done that is unfair to introverts is ran-

domly call on kids daily.

I have a problem with this for several reasons. First of all, if I don’t know the answer, or I get it wrong, do I really have to be publicly humiliated like that? Also, introverts rely on their long-term memory while extroverts rely more on their working memory according to “The Huffington Post.”

This gives extroverts an advantage when it comes to participating in class because they are able to effectively communicate their thoughts without having to try too hard, whereas for introverts, it can take a bit longer to formulate a response while speaking.

Because of my reliance on my longterm memory, a teacher will sometimes call on me randomly and ask me to answer a question, and I’ll say “I don’t know.” I do this even if I do know the answer because I just don’t know exactly how I want to say it right then.

Or I might think out loud, giving a slow, long and probably wrong answer with frequent pauses in between phrases.

Part of the reason why introverts are sometimes undervalued or misunderstood is because introversion is often mistaken for shyness. Shyness is a fear of being embarrassed or judged in social situations. It doesn’t necessarily mean that someone who

is shy wants to recharge alone; a shy person may just be slow to warm up to others, according to Kyp-Johnson.

“I wouldn’t even consider [introversion and shyness] to be descriptions of the same thing, necessarily,” Kyp-Johnson said. “Lots of people are shy, but once you get to know them, they’re not introverted at all. And they’re not shy at all ... so ‘shy’ has more do with merging the gap between people, and ‘introverted’ is sort of like your personality type.”

I’m very shy; I’ve had social anxiety my whole life. When I first heard of introversion and extroversion, I had no doubt in my mind that I was an introvert because I had always preferred spending time alone.

Yet, after learning more about it, I questioned my personality for a little bit. I thought that maybe I was a shy extrovert — someone who preferred social situations but was afraid to join them.

One reason I thought this might be the case is because I always look forward to social situations. I get excited to go to parties, meetings and even simply going to school every day. But once I actually enter a social situation, I find that I’m usually ready to go home after about only a half hour. I think I look forward to upcoming events mostly because of the other aspects than socializing: getting to wear a cute outfit, eat good food and learn something new, just to name a few.

According to psychiatrist Dr. Judith Orloff, introverts seek low stimulation from their senses and socializing because they tend to be sensitive whereas extroverts seek high stimulation.

I found this interesting because I often seek high stimulation from my senses; I would choose going to a carnival over going to a museum any day.

I love driving on the expressway because it’s fast. I love to tumble, dance and run around just because it’s fun. I live for thrilling situations.

Yet, I know I’m an introvert because I would rather do all those things alone.

And even if I’m having a great time and am completely relaxed with my best friends, I get tired while hanging out, and it’s always a relief to go home.

So although I am an introvert, I do have some extroverted tendencies, such as being adventurous. After working on this column, I’ve realized that it is normal to have a mixed combination of traits.

Personality is complex, and people should not be defined or limited by it.

“I would hope that anybody that described themselves as introverted didn’t think that somehow that’s an all-encompassing kind of description like, ‘Oh that means you can’t do this or you can’t do that,’” Kyp-Johnson said. “[Being introverted] doesn’t mean any of that. Lots of people choose to change really drastically, and that can be done. Your personality is not a fixed thing. It can be adjusted in life and changed quite a bit.”

Grading a student on an

assignment solely based

on their participation in the classroom is like grad-

ing them on a game solely based on their athletic abil-

ity in P.E.; it’s not measuring the effort the student is putting in.”

HELPLESS: Coping with coronavirus under quarantine CONTINUED from front page The worst part is that the only thing we can do in response is sit and wait. Time is now estimated in terms of how many Netflix shows we can watch until this all blows over.

The uncertainty surrounding this pandemic is instilling hopelessness with no end in sight.

“This is a difficult end [to the school year] for everyone. It breaks my heart,” Scolaro said. “While [some [people] are going to go back next year, everybody is missing out a little bit on something.”

With that said, we all need to cope with this situation beyond humor. That can only

go so far. The memes are definitely still funny, but they won’t be once a loved one’s health is compromised due to the virus.

And, worst-case scenario, everyone will experience that since between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. are expected to get the virus if the government’s interventions don’t work, according to the CDC. By that time, the sheer mention of corona will evoke a feeling completely separate from humor: indignation.

This is a feeling many people are beginning to become familiar with — I certainly am. There are already people at Prospect whose families are being devastated by the

virus, and the public sentiment surrounding COVID-19 will shift towards anger once it’s more widespread.

While nearly everything is out of our hands, we do have control over how we react to this situation.

We have permission to be angry and, later, can come to terms on how this is changing our lives by lowering our expectations for the future.

Nothing is guaranteed to happen in the coming months, and all we can do is manage our response to that.

It’s OK to feel cheated because we have been. Recognize and validate your feelings

— that’s the only way to accept what’s happening and make the best of it.

“I love how creative everyone is getting and finally taking the time to enjoy some downtime,” Scolaro said. “I’ve seen kids who are cooking, … who are taking longer walks, taking time to get healthy, taking a painting class on YouTube. We have a fabulous Prospect community who is working so hard to make sure that we are all staying safe and healthy, and reaching out [to people] who need it the most. We talk about community, we talk about pride, we talk about respect and now we’re just putting those lessons into action.”

prospectornow.com

FEATURES 7

APRIL 9, 2020

Buczinsky’s positivity leaves lasting mark RACHEL ZURBUCH Executive Features Editor

I

f there’s one thing English teacher Teri Buczinsky loves about Humanities, it’s the field trips. She brings her students on four field trips a semester, and one of her favorites is the architecture field trip in Chicago. “[The field trip] makes them want to be adventurous about Chicago,” Buczinsky said. “You can see them lighting up … They’re suddenly realizing there’s a world out there to explore, and you can do it. I love watching them making that discovery … That’s probably one of my favorite moments in my career.”

At the end of this school year, Buczinsky will retire after 34 years of teaching. She currently teaches Humanities, Creative Writing and Honors Written and Oral Communication (HWOC). Over the years, she has also taught Expository Writing, Written and Oral Communication and some of the SAT/ACT prep classes that Prospect holds.

Buczinsky was hired in 1986 — the year that Forest View Educational Center was temporarily closed. There were many students coming from Forest View that were signed up to take Humanities there. Therefore, Prospect wanted to hire someone to teach the class here. While Buczinsky was an English major in college, she took many philosophy classes, and she believes that showed her interest in teaching the class. After she was hired, she got her Master’s degree in Art History.

Since Humanities didn’t exist at Prospect prior to Buczinsky’s hire, she helped develop the class. After meeting with teachers at Forest View, she created her curriculum.

The Humanities curriculum is unlike other typical English classes — students get to learn about art, music, theater and more.

ONTO THE NEXT: English teacher Teri Buczinsky (left) is retiring at the end of the 2019-20 school year after 34 years of teaching. Buczinsky started the Humanitites class at Prospect and also teaches Honors Oral and Written Communication and Creative Writing. Humanities students go on four field trips per semester, including trips to Chicago. (photo courtsey of Teri Buczinsky) “[Humanities] just opens their eyes up, and, all of the sudden, they’re having an experience they’ve never had before,” Buczinsky said. “That really has not been possible at most high schools because it’s so unusual to teach those things, so I’m really grateful.”

Senior Eli Walter is currently in Humanities and agrees that it is different from other English classes in that it focuses more on how people make art and express themselves.

Walter also enjoys that it’s a relaxed class where students still learn. His favorite unit is when they learned about paintings from different time periods in history.

He likes how she is able to keep the

class interested by telling stories.

“You can tell she’s really into the artwork or plays or buildings she’s talking about, so it’s really cool to hear from someone who’s so excited,” Walter said.

Buczinsky takes that excitement into her HWOC class, especially when she’s teaching books such as “To Kill A Mockingbird”

by Harper Lee. “Through books, we can share our experiences … [Harper Lee] shows a common humanity that goes beyond the color of our skin and beyond our socioeconomic status, and that is such a gift,” Buczinsky said.

Buczinsky feels that books are essential in helping people connect

with one another, and even when students aren’t as passionate about reading as she is, she tries to get them interested.

Fellow English teacher Heather Sherwin sees Buczinsky’s passion of reading and sharing that with her students. Sherwin admires all the work she did to help develop the independent reading program at Prospect. “[Independent reading has] been one of the best things we’ve done as a department, and that came from [Buczinsky],” Sherwin said. “To encourage kids to read for the love of reading — that is something she feels so strongly about, and that’s a legacy.”

Sherwin also loves her desire

to adapt to new things quickly. For example, when Prospect began to shift to a more technology-based curriculum by implementing iPads for students in 2012, Buczinsky was eager to take it on. Sherwin explains that this is how Buczinsky acts all the time –– calm and graceful. Sherwin, among others, also appreciates the little things that Buczinsky does. “[Buczinsky is] an excellent baker,” Sherwin said. “She brings in her huge bowl of chocolate chip cookies, and they’re gone in moments.”

Senior Julia Holzl also appreciated extra things Buczinsky would do like bringing in cookies or coffee for their Creative Writing class.

Holzl is thankful for Buczinsky’s help in writing her college essays and applying for college scholarships. Because of her, Holzl was able to get a large scholarship for her top school. “[I will miss] how kind and helpful she [is] towards all the students,” Holzl said. “She would take time out of the class period to go around and check in with every single person and make sure they were on track and [that] their writing was improving. Not a lot of teachers are as caring and … dedicating as much time to talk to every student like she does.”

During her retirement, Buczinsky is “looking forward to being surprised.” She and her husband want to travel out west and spend as much time outside as they can.

She is also considering fostering a dog sometime in the future and letting life be “unpredictable.”

However, that doesn’t mean she won’t miss Prospect and all of her students. “[I will miss] the energy of being around young people,” Buczinsky said. “They’re just so alive and open … I just love that young people are still trying to figure out life, so they are open in a way that makes them beautifully alive.”

Stokes finishes final season, hands-off coaching legacy SHANNON MCGOVERN

the same thing he learned from his mom: tenacity.

“You just have to be flexible, stay at it, Executive Entertainment Editor and it will all work out,” Stokes said.

Physical education teacher and football With 100 meters left in the race in one of and baseball coach Dominic Cannon has the last meets of his junior year, a familiar seen prime examples of this persistence. voice called out to senior and four-year cross Cannon has known Stokes for all the time country and track member Erik Snell. Standthat he has worked at Prospect, and the two ing along the sidelines among a group of have been close friends ever since they met. coaches and fans, head cross country coach According to Cannon, he and Stokes Mike Stokes surprised Snell with some last knew each other from coaching when he minute motivational cheering to help propel worked at Palatine High School, and when him to a strong finish.

Cannon came here, Stokes welcomed him “[Stokes] always gets super excited and into special education. Cannon had taught enthusiastic during meets, running around special education previously, but Stokes the infield of the track to cheer us on,” Snell greatly helped him adjust to teaching. said. “He motivates me to reach my highest “Nobody knows all the ins and outs that potential.”

Stokes has done for our school,” Cannon After 29 years of motivating Prospect said. He’s the first one here in the mornstudents on the track and in the classroom, ing and the last one [to leave] at night ... He that race turned out to be one of Stokes’ last doesn’t want the recognition … but he meets as head coach; he is deserves everything he gets.” retiring in May, and The two have had a mutual this year’s season respect for one another, not only was shortened. because of their shared interest Along with in teaching special education, coaching cross but for country and their love track, Stokes of coachhas also taught ing. special educaStokes tion in a wide has had variety of classa passion es. for cross Over the country years, Stokes has and track taught Strategies for throughLearning, Physics, out his Physical Science entire life.

ACE program, U.S. - Dominic Cannon, PE teacher He particiHistory, World Hispated in them tory, Physical Scithrough his school teams while he was growence, Health and Biology. Most special eding up and continues to run recreationally. ucation teachers have one subject that they According to Cannon, this passion is what specialize in, but this is not the case with makes Stokes such a great coach.

Stokes. Wherever Prospect needed him, he “He coaches because he loves it,” Cannon was there. Stokes said that the biggest thing said. “He still has the same passion as he did he has learned from his teaching career is

[Stokes] coaches because he loves it. He still has the same passion as he did 29 years ago when I met him.”

GOING THE DISTANCE: Special education teacher and cross country and track coach Mike Stokes is retiring at the end of the 2019-20 school year after 29 years of teaching at Prospect. Stokes coached seniors Tom Walter (middle) and Erik Snell (right) during their final season. (photo by Abby Mckenna) 29 years ago when I met him.”

After being a part of the Prospect family for so long, student athletes are sad to see Stokes go but know his legacy will live on.

“I think Stokes is a great representation of our whole [cross country and track and field] program,” Snell said. “Obviously we’re all going to be sad when he leaves, but I think since [our assistant coach] was coached by Stokes as well, he will bring the same great qualities to coaching as Stokes showed him.”

Head track and field coach and assistant cross country coach Jay Renaud will be taking over Stokes’ position as head coach next year for cross country. Renaud was also coached by Stokes, and Stokes has confidence in Renaud’s ability for the program.

“Coach Renaud has done a gret job with our track program,” Stokes said. “He hit the books and really got out of his comfort zone to become a complete track coach and will now take on a different level of coaching for running.”

As he goes into retirement, Stokes’ great teaching and coaching styles won’t be the only things he’s remembered for — his great character has proven to impact all of his students, athletes and fellow teachers.

“Stokes is what you would call a lifer,” Cannon said. “He’s a life coach, meaning he’s not in it for money, he’s not in it for notoriety; he’s in it because he loves kids, and he’s passionate. He’ll always be around [Prospect] somewhere.”

8 FEATURES

prospectornow.com

APRIL 9, 2020

PROSPECT’SBESTANDBRIGHTEST

T

he Prospector is debuting a new annual tradition: The Prospector Person of the Year. Inspired by the similarly named Time Person of the Year, the award is meant to highlight people who are making the Prospect community a better place. We have compiled a list of seven separate candidates who are all in contention to win the first Prospector Person of the Year title. These people were all nominated in a survey sent out earlier in the semester.

how to vote for person of the year:

After reading through the brief profiles and deciding on your favorite candidate, click the link HERE to vote.

CLICK EACH PERSON’S NAME TO READ MORE photo by Mara Nicolaie

ALEX LASKY JENNA KOCH Associate Editor-in-Chief Senior Alex Lasky thought his moment in Prospect’s spotlight was over.

“I already was homecoming king, I already took that in, I was already like ‘This is insane,’” Lasky said. “The fact that people nominated me for a second thing that’s a big deal … is just absolutely bonkers.”

Lasky is one of the nominees for Prospect’s Person of the Year due to his involvement in Prospect’s theater and show choir programs as well as his positive and lively attitude, according to senior Niko Nava.

TOMMY CARICCO AND GRACE GIVAN

Copy Editor. Editor-in-Chief

MICHAEL GRASSE

*This is a different version of a profile on Grasse that ran in issue 6 of The Prospector

“He just doesn’t care what anyone thinks ... His goal is just to make people have fun ... and feel included. ”

According to his fellow math teacher Katina Frericks, Michael Grasse is nothing like the cliché of retiring teachers in the sense that even in his final semester, he is showing no loss of interest in the future of Prospect.

“He’s still doing a lot [to] leave [Prospect] better than when he came in,” Frericks said. “He is going above and beyond yet again as he finishes his time here.”

One particular group Grasse has been devoting his remaining time to is the math team. Grasse has been a math team coach in District 214 for 27 years — almost his entire career.

“I think [the] math team’s going to miss the leader,” said senior Lindsey Perone, a four-year member of the team.

“He brings everyone together; he’s probably the reason most of us are there.”

- Niko Nava, senior photo courtesy of Alex Lasky

tim schaap

photo courtesy of Tim Schaap

RICK LYTLE Online Editor-in-Chief Prospect teacher Tim Schaap has been fishing his entire life. As the head of the Bass Fishing Team, he is able to pass that love of fishing onto another generation. For the second time in his tenure at Prospect High School, he purchased a new boat for the team.

While Schaap was able to buy the boat on Craigslist for a discount, there was a reason the boat was at a discount: the interior wooden frame of the boat was rotting away.

Schaap saw this as an opportunity for his students to learn. He connected with Billy Kosick of Bottoms Up Boat Repair to fix the boat. Kosick happened to be interested in education and possibly becoming a teacher, so he was happy to teach the Bass Fishing Team how to repair the boat.

ELIZABETH KEANE Copy Editor

LUKE ZARDZIN JAKE TERPINS Sports Editor Luke Zardzin is a two-sport athlete; he plays basketball and football. Many people know him as the running back that dominated every team that we played. He led the Knights to a football playoff win and a regional championship in basketball. He

photo by Mara Nicolaie

played a key role in ending both a postseason win drought for football and a regional championship drought for basketball, earning him a nomination for Prospector Person of the Year.

Ever since he was little, he’s always been looking forward to playing sports in high school.

“I’ve always wanted to be out on that field and just play,” Zardzin said.

On the night of Jan. 5, a car crashed and burst into flames outside of Boston Market. Prospect senior Ryan Brock was working at Boston Market at the time and saw the crash outside. He grabbed his coworker, Prospect junior Ben Pennino, and the two immediately ran outside to see who needed their help.

Without hesitation, Pennino opened the driver’s side door of the car engulfed in black smoke and the driver fell out. With the eventual help of two other men, Pennino dragged the man away from the burning car and to safety.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A PODCAST WITH PENNINO photo by Elizabeth Keane

ELIZABETH KEANE

MIKE STOKES

Copy Editor

CAMERON SULLIVAN Sports Editor For 29 years, head cross country coach and Special Education teacher Mike Stokes has been at Prospect willing to lend a helping hand. Over his time here, he has taught history and science, and he was also head boys’ track coach for nine years and an assistant for 20.

While staff members have always been able to help Stokes out if needed, he could always repay the favor. If a fellow staff member ever needed anything at all, Stokes has always been flexible and readily able to help.

“I’ve had outstanding staff members partnered with me,” Stokes said.

ben penninO + RYAN BROCK

JOYCE KIM photo courtesy of Mike Stokes

photo courtesy of Joyce Kim

English teacher Joyce Kim has been teaching at Prospect for four years now, and this was her first year as the Teaching and Learning Facilitator. She attended a multitude of workshops surrounding racial equity, compiling that information into a 3-hour-long workshop for the staff to attend in February. Kim felt that this was necessary to combat issues such as students using the N-word and general ignorance of racial issues. “[Equity means] that every kid can walk through Prospect’s doors and be successful and thrive … just as much as a kid who looks different [than them],” Kim said.

Furthermore, Kim, accompanied by a few of her colleagues, showed the movie “The Hate U Give” to this year’s junior class, a movie that deals with ideas of police brutality and racism. Following the viewing, Kim led a discussion where students could share their own experiences.

prospectornow.com

APRIL 9, 2020

FEATURES 9

Teens avoid GDL laws, drive distracted BRENDAN BURKE Copy Editor

J

unior Audrey Agami only had her license for about two months in Dec. 2019 on the day that it happened.

Expecting to have a normal drive, Agami was instead crashed into by another driver on the road because they did not see the red light.

This accident luckily left Agami free of injury but left her car totaled.

“If [someone] is distracted to the point where they don’t even notice that a light is red, I’d say they shouldn’t be driving [and] just make the right decision,” Agami said.

Agami refers to the accident as an outlier of a “typical situation” due to the fact that an adult was distracted on the road and not a teenager. When it comes to situations like these, School Resource Officer (SRO) Lisa Schaps mentions that distracted driving is a universal phenomenon that occurs in all ages of drivers.

While no cell phone was involved in Agami’s crash, Schaps said that anyone can be addicted to their phone — especially teenagers — and points to this as the leading cause of distracted car accidents. According to a Prospector survey of 350 students, 62.7% of students agree that phones lead to driving distractions for teens.

“Distracted driving is not something that affects just teenagers; distracted driving is across the board,” Schaps said. “I stopped far more adults than I did teenagers [during midnight shifts], and the bottom line is that we’re ‘hands-free Illinois.’”

“Hands-free Illinois” is the nickname for the 2017 state law that prohibits “the use of hand-held cell phones, texting or using other electronic communications while operating a motor vehicle.”

For example, Schaps talks about how this law now makes the cell phone usage a moving violation rather than an equipment violation. A moving violation is far more dras-

TEN AND TWO: A teenager scrolls through Instagram while driving. Prospect students often ignore GDL rules like the one-passenger-under-age-20 rule, increasing the driver’s risk of getting distracted in the vehicle. (photo illustration by Mara Nicolaie) tic because it can result in the suspension of a driver’s license.

In the state of Illinois, equipment violations — one in which a driver violates traffic rules due to the incorrect use of a device in the vehicle — usually cost up to $100, and moving violations can cost up to $300.

With these laws in place, Prospect Driver Education teacher Katharine Klaczek is sure to instill in her students methods of ignoring their cell phones and being safe while driving. The biggest and “most effective” method that Klaczek uses is making her students place their cell phones in the trunk when they are doing a behind-the-wheel lesson.

By doing this, Klaczek hopes that a new driver will learn to forget about their cell phones and pick up a habit that they might continue after receiving their license.

“If [a new driver] allows themselves to

have their phone on the passenger seat or in the cupholder, they’re going to be constantly distracted by that,” Klaczek said. “Putting it away so it cannot be reached keeps everyone safe.”

With the aforementioned Prospector survey showing that a majority of teens point to cell phones as the leading cause of distraction, Klaczek, Schaps and Agami all state that multiple passengers in the vehicle also enhance the chances of distractions and often affect teenagers the most.

Schaps brings up that teenagers who get their license have a graduated driver’s license (GDL), and that means they have more restrictions than an adult does. A GDL is held by a new driver for one year after they get their license or until they turn 18 years old, whichever comes first.

The two biggest restrictions on a GDL are

driving curfew and the one-passenger-under-age-20 rule. Agami and Schaps both say that the one-passenger rule is almost always broken because many students enjoy driving with multiple friends, and it is easier for carpooling.

In fact, 64.6% of Prospect students acknowledge that they follow the one passenger rule less than 60% of the time.

Schaps points to the importance of following this rule because if a GDL driver happens to get pulled over with multiple passengers, the driver and every single person can be ticketed for violating this rule.

However, Schaps also states that getting a ticket for this violation depends on the police officer who pulls you over because there is a very high chance that the driver who was pulled over violated a different, more important law.

Before she was Prospect’s SRO, Schaps pulled over many groups of teenagers in a vehicle during their lunch period and said that the drivers were typically speeding, so she was not as concerned with the amount of passengers in the car.

Instead of writing up multiple tickets, Schaps would make the passengers walk back to school in order to hold the driver accountable to their GDL limitations.

Agami states that the one-passenger rule is typically not followed by students because they feel that the passengers are not distracting and find the limitation to be a nuisance — as she sometimes does.

Since distraction is so easily met behind the wheel of a car, Schaps and Klaczek emphasize the importance of following the law to the fullest extent while holding a GDL. After all, looking away from the road for five seconds while traveling at 55 miles per hour equals the length of driving a full football field while not looking ahead.

“Anytime someone takes their eyes off the roadway [is] when it’s the most dangerous,” Schaps said. “... It doesn’t matter how old someone is; no one should use their cell phone while driving. Put it away where you can’t even see it.”

From flawed to thawed: sibling bond strengthens ADRIANA BRISCOE News Editor When senior Edmund Conroy was in kindergarten, one thing he bragged about was the fact that he was a frozen embryo for two years.

“A lot of people didn’t believe it; they told me I was lying, [and] then my mom had to explain to the whole class what happened,” Conroy said. “I’ve told other people, and I’ve had to tell a much longer story than what I should have been able to tell.”

This is the story: Edmund’s mom, Amy, was looking to have children after marrying Phillip, Edmund’s dad. Amy was in her 40s when she got married, so she knew that she would have to go through in vitro fertilization (IVF) in order to have her own children because her eggs were maturing.

According to Mayo Clinic, IVF is the process of collecting mature eggs and fertilizing them by sperm in a lab. The eggs are then implanted into the mother.

A complete cycle of IVF takes about three weeks to complete. Amy went through four cycles of IVF. On the fourth one, she ended up with a significant amount of embryos, so she and Phillip implanted three and froze the ones they didn’t end up using.

Out of those first three embryos that were implanted, only one of them survived — Anne Marie, Edmund’s older sister who is now 20. Anne Marie and Edmund also have three half siblings from their father’s previous marriages.

A year after Anne Marie was born, Amy wanted to have another child because, coming from a family of six children, she didn’t want Anne Marie to be an only child.

After a few more embryos were thawed out, three were implanted into Amy. Out of those three, Edmund, now 18, was the one who survived.

“The second time we did it, it was another very long three weeks because we had the potential for having triplets,” Phillip said.

“Instead, we had Edmund, [who] is about as much work as triplets.”

As Anne Marie and Edmund grew up,

TWO PEAS: Anne Marie and Edmund Conroy were both conceived through IVF. (photo courtesy of Edmund Conroy) Amy and Phillip noticed that they showed unconditional care for each other.

Phillip recalled Anne Marie helping Edmund when he was about four years old. Edmund started to walk out into the street, but Anne Marie “ran out the door, grabbed him by the back of his coveralls and dragged him back into the house.”

Amy mentioned that Anne Marie is going into the special education field and that she has “a huge heart.”

“Anne Marie’s always been a little mother to [Edmund],” Amy said. “She’s always taken care of him.”

Anne Marie has received a lot of help from Edmund as well. For instance, he helped her eat healthier and work out.

Edmund added that he does more things with Anne Marie now, like going on car rides together and talking on FaceTime, that he didn’t do previously. Since Anne Marie is going to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, they’re trying to keep in touch.

Amy noted that sometimes Anne Marie will advise Edmund on his fashion, and Edmund will send pictures of their family dog to make Anne Marie’s day.

“They’re very close,” Amy said.

“They’ve always been super close. But I don’t think that’s necessarily because of how they were created; I think it’s because they look after each other.”

10 IN-DEPTH

prospectornow.com

APRIL 9, 2020

Lockdown: Corona catastrophe

This issue’s in-depth spread consists of the next three pages and, for each highlighted country, includes a live count of their respective coronavirus statistics.

Q&A with Nurse Practitioner Sunnah Kim

Flaws exposed in u.s. mindset Corona response highlights faults in American mentality

C

orona is here, y’all!” my manager said as she showed us the brandnew box of gloves by the register.

Earlier in the week, my work group chat blew up with concerns about COVID-19, also known as the novel coronavirus. One of my coworkers sent an article about how it can be spread through contaminated cash, so my supervisors decided to provide us with gloves to use during work.

In addition to wearing gloves, my coworker and I “de-nasty-ed” everything at work when it was slow.

This included wiping down anything that hands touch often — door handles, phones, cabinets — Clorox wipes.

JENNA KOCH with So if anyone was concerned by the Associate chip reader at Editor-in-Chief wet a certain establishment on March 12, don’t worry about it.

This was the beginning of the turning point for Americans. 24 hours later, Prospect was officially closed for the next week at the minimum, and a week later, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered Illinois citizens to stay inside their homes until April 30.

As a place that serves food, we stayed open, and many people still come in. No matter how much my coworkers and I try to sanitize the store, potentially infected people will still come in and unknowingly spread the virus.

While most people now tend to get a few items and leave quickly, I’ve seen some people walk in with their entire family as if it were a completely normal day.

This lack of social distancing in Chicago specifically has our officials looking at more drastic measures, and it seems to have driven Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot half-insane. The least we can do for her piece of mind is to stay inside. She’s already got enough to cope with being the mayor of Chicago.

The typical American mentality is to blame. We often subscribe to a sort of “tough it out” or “go-getter” attitude when it comes to not just illnesses, but also mental health and general struggles in life.

Along with that, we aren’t very adaptable, which often leads to denial and ignorance of basic facts.

Some find this attitude admirable, and in some regards, it can be.

“If you make every little excuse when it comes to not going to work [or school], that’s going to have a ripple effect throughout your life,” Health teacher Cristen Sprenger said.

However, Sprenger has also noticed in regards to the pandemic, other countries “

that are more “laid back” seem to be slowing the spread better than the U.S..

Our inability to slow down and take breaks when needed is a large part of why COVID-19 has spread so fast here.

According to MarketWatch, an economy-focused news organization, coronavirus may spread faster in the U.S..... than it did in Italy.

Furthermore, measuring strength and effort by how much pain we can endure only leads to more long-term suffering.

One example of this can be seen in how food service employees are being treated right now. We’re suddenly praised as “essential workers” on the “front lines” yet we still don’t have any sort of guaranteed paid sick days, which would be pretty helpful in the middle of a pandemic.

Americans are stuck in a mindset of praising people for enduring hardships while never bothering to fix the source of the problem.

This mentality is seen explicitly in COVID-19 updates given by President Donald Trump.

“America will, again, and soon, be open for business,” Trump said during a briefing at the White House. “Very soon. A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. [A] lot sooner.

We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.”

While I understand his sentiments, the virus will continue to spread if we do “open for business” too soon.

According to MarketWatch, the first wave of U.S. infection near the coasts will slow in late April, which lines up with Trump’s April 30 social distancing deadline just fine. However, the central U.S. will soon be hit with our second wave of growth even as we flatten the curve on the first wave.

Within the same briefing, the president stated that “our country was not built to be shut down.” He’s right — America isn’t prepared for disasters like these when we should be.

Safety nets should already be in place to help people, but our country’s overall mentality has contributed to a lack of adequate social welfare programs and overall preparedness for an event like this. Even the White House’s pandemic response team, established by former President Barack Obama in 2015, disbanded under the Trump administration in 2018.

The president, his administration and many Americans in denial aren’t looking at the long term, which isn’t a surprise.

The way we’re treating the health and well-being of our population reflects how we treat ourselves. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 85% of men and 67% of women work more than 40 hours a week, which is higher than all other devel-

Q:

What are some misconceptions surrounding the virus that you have encountered?

“I’ve heard [things] that aren’t true: the virus was a government conspiracy, that younger people don’t get sick ... that this is not a big deal. People need to know that sometimes people who are infected have no symptoms or very mild symptoms.”

click here to see the u.s.’ live corona case counter oped countries.

Overworking is actually killing us, according to a 2015 study done by Harvard’s Medical School. Those who worked 55 hours a week were 13% more likely to suffer from cardiac arrest and 33% more likely to suffer from a stroke compared to those who worked 35-40 hours.

Those who were overworked also tended to have unhealthy lifestyles with less exercise, worse diets and higher drug use.

In the short term, Americans are making more money and working harder, but in the long term, it leads to our demise. This specific crisis can almost be used as the perfect metaphor for capitalistic greed. Our country’s leaders are choosing money and normalcy over American’s lives.

Americans don’t do well with change either. Even when changing our way of life is a matter of life or death for many Americans, we’re still reluctant. Apparently, an estimated 100,000 to 240,000 deaths isn’t enough for us to put our country on pause for a few months, according to CNN. In Italy, those whose jobs were impacted by the virus are looking at receiving 600 euros (about 650 USD) a month for the duration of the lockdown. Spain is launching a stimulus package one-fifth the size of their GDP. South Korea has tested about half a million of their citizens with free virus testing — with some centers even offered drive-through testing. South Koreans also get their testing results as soon as 24 hours later.

According to The New York Times, the U.S. stimulus bill is providing some Americans with one payment of $1,200. While future legislation could change this, we need a solid plan for the next few months as soon as possible. Americans can’t afford to be unsure of their financial futures, especially not now.

In terms of testing, patients often have to wait a week to get results back, and those who have symptoms are finding it hard to get tested due to our slow response to the crisis and lack of hospital preparedness.

The New York Times also reported that, in a governor’s conference call with the president, he “had not heard about testing for weeks,” while governors described their respective state’s issues surrounding testing kits and medical supplies.

Q:

:A

What should people do at this time during the outbreak?

“Don’t panic. Currently, the strategy is social distancing ... This is only effective if people take it seriously and don’t just go on with ‘life as normal.’”

:A

click here to see Brazil’s live corona case counter

Our federal government is choosing to stick to the classic American way of leaving people to fend for themselves. But at least we’re not wimpy socialists, right?

If we’re to get through this crisis with the least deaths possible, we’re going to have to have an entire attitude shift, at least for a few months. If everyone could put away their pride and greed for a bit, we could make some actual progress to fight this disease.

But that’s probably asking too much of America, the country where we’re only really allowed the pursuit of liberty and happiness — the “life” part of that mantra is a bit up in the air nowadays.

prospectornow.com

IN-DEPTH 11

APRIL 9, 2020

CoronaVirus devastates local economy OLIVIA KIM

Associate Online Editor-in-Chief

W

hen news of the forced closure of bars and restaurants across Illinois to avoid spreading of the coronavirus reached owner of Mount Prospect’s Hubby’s Dog House Marci Lehnert, she was in complete and utter surprise. The closure would start on March 16 and would run indefinitely.

“Being as we’ve just opened six months ago, we were just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Lehnert said. “Being a parent, fear for taking care of my family weighs heavily on how well the restaurant does.”

On March 12, the stock market experienced its lowest mark in 30 years. According to The Washington Post, the DOW Jones Industrial Average made history by “dropping almost 2,353 points to close at 21,200.62” — equating to a 10% drop from the previous day. While this stock market drop is a faster drop than the 2008 recession, the stock market hasn’t fallen as low as it was during that recession. “[The coronavirus outbreak] has had a tremendous effect on the economy. A lot of people are working from home or people who can’t work from home can’t work,” AP Economics teacher Christine Stanford said.

“A lot of people that depend on hourly wages can’t work right now.”

After the outbreak of COVID-19, economies across the world suffered an immense hit, according to Stanford. Many companies have lost business or been forced to limit activities due to the fear of the virus spreading.

According to USA Today, dinner reservation app OpenTable released data showing that restaurant dining is down 42% in the U.S. as of March 17.

Lehnert said that she has lost thousands of dollars in revenue just due to cancellations of catering contracts — losing the opportunity to serve hundreds of people from those contracts.

While the catering business has fallen, Lehnert has only seen a slight decrease in carry-out volume. However, she noted that they are also in the slowest part of their season, so she finds it hard to tell whether it’s due to the outbreak or just fluctuation of customer flow.

After the restaurant closure, Lehnert said that since her business is mainly carry-out to begin with, not much has changed in regards to the quantity of people ordering food so far. Even though business was fine on the first day of the ban, she expects the numbers to “drastically decrease with each passing day.” In order to promote business, she includes a free hot dog coupon along with every order.

In total, however, there was a surge in sales at Hubby’s Dog House on March 16 be-

cause of customers purchasing numerous gift cards to donate to public service workers like the police and fire departments.

Lehnert still has no idea if the closing of businesses will be a good or bad thing since more people will be working from home, which could mean that more people are in the Mount Prospect area wanting to pick up food from her restaurant. However, at the same time, there is less business from commuters that get on and off the train at the nearby Metra station.

In order to reduce any possible spread of the virus the best she can, Lehnert cleans each pen after use and wipes down door knobs and handles every 10 minutes “without fail.” Ketchup bottles used to sit on the counter, but she has since removed those and put numerous hand sanitizer bottles all around the restaurant instead.

Not only has the restaurant industry been immensely impacted by the outbreak, but so has the travel industry.

After President Donald Trump announced a 30-day travel ban to several European countries, later extending the ban to Ireland and the United Kingdom, United Airlines stock dropped 13.25%, and American Airlines went down over 3.44%, according to CNBC. Travel agent Heidi Zielke of Sentinel Travel located in Northbrook has gotten a surge in calls asking about advice on whether they should cancel their plans or not. All of her clients have canceled their trips that were scheduled until June except one which she predicts will be canceled.

Zielke’s salary is based on commission, meaning that she contracts with certain hotels, resorts and transportation Spain’s live companies to book corona case clients in order to get a commission. counter So if people don’t book trips or even end up canceling trips, she doesn’t get that revenue.

“I think that being open and honest with the clients is the best thing I can do right now,” Zielke said. “Most of the people I have booked now are regular customers, so they trust my expertise and opinion. The best thing I can do is continue to monitor [the outbreak] and tell [clients] what’s going on.”

On March 27, American Airlines announced that it would be flying only 20% of its domestic schedule and between 10% and 20% of its international schedule, according to CNN. The company’s CEO Doug Parker also added that many of the planes running are only 15% full. This has led American Airlines to plan to apply for aid from the government, expecting to receive $12 billion, according to CNBC. Even though canceling trips could now diminish her business in the short term, Zielke thinks that it’s best for her to look

Behind the madness

How math, science concepts apply to flatten curve

AP Statistics teacher Frank Briody “The idea for the United States and Illinois is to observe what happened in Wuhan and New York State and to make predictions for the U.S. and Illinois based on data. … I’m not a doctor, but here’s what I think is

going on and how it applies to statistics. Since COVID-19 is so much more contagious, more people get it at once and the hospitals can’t keep up with the severe cases - fewer treated with ventilators means more deaths.

If we can spread the curve, we spread the timeline so hospitals will see the same number of patients, just spread over a time, which keeps the number of people sick below the maximum capacity to treat (see “Flattening the curve”). Statistics often talks about area under a curve as a distribution.

In this case, the distribution is people - the number sick will be the same, we just want to spread it out.”

AP Calculus teacher Michael Grasse “... Let’s focus on two aspects of [“Flattening the curve”]: the AREA of the region bounded by the graph and the horizontal

SOLITUDE: Local restaurant Hubby’s Dog House sits in isolation during the shelter-in-place. Hubby’s is one among many businesses that have been hurt financially by COVID-19. (photo by Olivia Kim) out for the best interest of her clients so that they wish to go back to her in the future.

“I love traveling, I’ve been doing it all my life. I love booking trips and, personally, I love the learning experience of new destinations and sharing that information,” Zielke said. “My biggest fear is that people will be too nervous to travel again and will lose out on those travel experiences.”

Zielke has also noticed that airlines have started sanitizing planes more, but in the past, she noticed as a flight attendant that Italy’s live most airlines would only pick up trash. In addition to corona case this policy, many airlines counter have allowed for flights to be rescheduled for little to no cost. She hopes that these policies are there to stay after the worst of the outbreak has passed.

Even though Zielke and Lehnert hope for the best after the worst of this outbreak, the present is still quite dim.

“Little ‘Ma and Pa’ shops are having to pay out of pocket and big corporations are losing millions, so it’s hurting everybody right now,” Lehnert said.

Busse Automotive in Mount Prospect was deemed an “essential” business by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and it is able to stay open through the shelter-in-place order.

However, according to Service Manager Chad Busse, they saw a 65-70% decline in business immediately.

Busse is not only worried about his business being closed or being considered “essential,” but also fears that supply chains will close due to the effects of infections. To prevent spread of the virus, they decided to implement stricter and more elaborate cleaning guidelines from inside cars to

shared surfaces in the facility.

“I am cautiously optimistic on our ability to bounce back once everyone is safe to work,” Busse said. “In the meantime, we are concerned with having the cash flow to make payrolls, pay bills and operate during this downturn.”

To ensure that they can make ends meet, they are meeting with a local bank to apply for assistance through the federal payroll protection plan available, which they submitted on April 3.

However, Busse thinks there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. Even though this crash has impacted the auto shop more than the 2008 recession, he believes that in comparison to the recession, once the outbreak has diminished, the economy will rebound faster.

“It’s the difference between our economy being brought to a sudden halt versus our economy crashing,” Busse said.

Stanford also believes that the U.S. won’t be hurt by the stock market crash for long because she thinks that both the American and global economy are resilient.

However, all Stanford, Lehnert, Zielke and Busse noted that they have never seen any outbreak like this, especially one that dealt a great hit to the economy.

“We didn’t really know about the disease and it came so fast. Nothing like this happened [as a result of the spread of swine flu]. There’s a lot of fear and unknown at this time,” Stanford said.

Even the 2008 recession didn’t have such a great impact on Lehnert. At that time, she held a corporate job working for Sears and didn’t get laid off, so her life wasn’t interrupted much. However, there is now more at stake for her because of the new business that she owns.

“If I don’t have customers, then it’s all over,” Lehernt said. “So this time it’s personal.”

Flattening the curve # of cases

Healthcare system capacity

Time since first case AP Biology teacher John Kenney “There are 3 [main] components which drive the rate at which an epidemic spreads in a population (R) 1. the duration of time an individual is contagious (D) 2. the number of new contacts while a person is contagious (N)

axis; and the HEIGHT of the graph at its peak.

The area bounded by the graph and the horizontal axis represents the total number of people who will eventually become infected with the virus. The area bounded by the flattened graph is smaller than the area bounded by the unflattened graph. That means that fewer people will become infected if we flatten the curve.

That is certainly important, but the main purpose of flattening the curve has more to

3. the probability of microbe transfer with each new contact (P) A simplified formula is below:

R=DxNxP

What we are doing right now ([staying] at home) is attempting to reduce the N value.

A problem that we have is that D and P are not fully known - which makes predicting points of time in which the “surge”may occur within a particular geographic region extremely difficult.”

do with the RATE at which people get infected and TIME of the peak.

The height at each point on the curve represents the rate at which people are becoming infected at a particular time. The peak is not when the most people have been infected, but when people are getting infected the fastest. We want to keep the height of the peak as low as we can so that we don’t overwhelm our health care system by having too many cases per day.

Also notice that the peak of the flattened curve happens later, giving our health care system valuable time to gear up.

To summarize: Flattening the curve – through social distancing and other measures – will reduce the number of people becoming infected, but the main benefit is reducing the rate of infection so that it does not outpace our ability to take care of the sick and [delaying] the peak rate which will buy us more time to prepare.”

12 IN-DEPTH

hate becomes silent killer amid pandemic A

t the college I plan on attending next fall, there are signs in the bathrooms giving students tips on how to avoid getting infected with COVID-19 — better known as the novel coronavirus.

My mom showed me a picture of one of the signs, and the tips were pretty straight forward.

The sign told students to wash their hands frequently, use hand sanitizer and avoid close contact with those who are sick. However, scribbled in pencil next to the last tip was the word “Chinese” in parentheses.

Tensions regarding COVID-19 have been rising exponentially, especially after President Donald Trump declared a federal emergency, and an official quarantine was put in motion. An unfortunate side effect of the global pandemic has nothing to do with a fever or a sore throat, and instead has everything to do with xenophobia — specifically discrimination against Asians. The Trump administration has been calling COVID-19 the “Chinese coronavirus,” after all.

It did not take long for Americans to demonize China, as the U.S. government has taken many strides to further punish and degrade it. In some ways it’s justifiable, as the Chinese government has not been truthful when it comes to releasing information on the virus. However, bigotry against all Asians, not just the Chinese, has become increasingly common on a local scale.

This discrimination has gone as far as violent physical attacks, and media news outlets like the New York Post are only making it worse by using Asian Americans as cover art for their coronavirus stories.

By irresponsibly exploiting Asians to garner more buzz for their stories, these papers are only perpetuating stereotypes while igniting senseless fear against Asian.

For example, the New York Post reported on a story regarding the first COVID-19 patient in New York, and used a photo of an Asian man from Queens. In actuality, the first patient in New York was a Manhattan woman in her 30s, who contracted the virus after visiting Iran.

Junior Eva Wang is an Asian student at Prospect, and one of the many people who are saddened by the recent xenophobic treatment against Asian Americans.

It’s upsetting to Wang that so many Americans have

prospectornow.com

APRIL 9, 2020

Sensationalist saga Media coverage may increase worry regarding pandemic KEVIN LYNCH Staff Writer

Over the past few months, the novel coronavirus has swept the world — grabbing attention away from everyday topics — and the media has rushed to fill the demand for news on the subject.

This flood of coverage can be seen through research done by Karin Wahl Jorgensen from the academic research website The Conversationalist.

“Since reports first started circulating about the new mystery illness on January 12, and up until February 13 2020, I have tracked reporting in major English-language newspapers around the world, using the LexisNexis UK PANDEMIC PREJUDICE: The word “Chinese” database,” Jorgensen wrote. is written on a sign in a university bathroom. Asian “This includes almost 100 high-circulation newspapers discrimination has become an unfortunate side from around the world, which effect of the coronavirus pandemic. have collectively (photo courtesy of Twitter published 9,387 account @whatabigstories about the outbreak. Of tree ) these, 1,066 articles mention ‘fear’ or related words, including ‘afraid.’”

Jorgensen then explains that in the same time frame, those news outlets have published a collective 488 articles about seasonal influenza, which *DISCLAIMER: There is estimated to kill hundreds of thouhas been controversy sands of people each over the accuracy of year. these results According to Media Analysis teacher Cambria Myers, the stark difference in the coverMayor Bill de Blasio has age of these two deadly illnesses can said that the city has seen be attributed to the many details about a concerning amount of the coronavirus that are currently unracist instances like these, known. especially within the Chi“It’s not like we can look at any othnese communities. While er event that has occurred in any of our MADISON he addressed the issue, his lifetimes and say, ‘Well, this is similar to response was rather mild, X and we got through that in this way.’”

MANCZKO saying, “there is zero eviMyers said. “We don’t have anything like Opinion Editor dence that people of Asian that, and so I think people are constantly descent bear any additional so dialed into the coverage because there been using COVID-19 as responsibility for the transare so many unknowns and it’s affecting an excuse to mock Chinese mission of the coronavipeople’s everyday lifestyles.” people, exploiting stereorus.”

After originating in Wuhan, China in types like eating bats, for Obviously there would November 2019, the novel coronavirus example. be no evidence of this, as it has spread around the world in the past “I have a friend who’s a should go without saying mix of Korean and white,” that someone doesn’t necessaid Wang. “She looks Media Meltdown sarily have the coronavirus Asian, and she got called just because they’re Asian. ‘coronavirus’ in the hallIn light of vastly expnading COVID-19 However, uneducated peoway.” ple may react with racist redevelopments around the world, the The most upsetting marks or violence, thinking coronavirus had dominated the news examples of this bigotry that just because someone’s cycle. By compiling the stories each involve violent attacks Asian means they have a publication produces, we can deduce against innocent Asian peohigher chance of having ple. For example, accordhow much of each publication’s conand spreading the virus. ing to NBC News, an Asian tent is coronavirus-related: That being said, it’s imwoman was punched in the portant to remember that face due to coronavirus rethis kind of violent discrimlated racism. ination doesn’t stem from This is only one of many ignorance — it comes from The Chicago Tribune examples of the extreme vihate. The coronavirus is olence occurring in the city, giving racist people a reaas on a separate occasion son to act on their hate; a a teenager kicked reason that in their minds a 59-year-old Asian is justifiable. man to the ground The New York Times The coronavirus is not and yelled “f***ing causing people to hate Chinese coronaviAsians. It’s only triggering rus.” a hate that already existed.

New York City The virus gives racist peoThe Washington Post ple an easy outlet to target those who are different from them, at a time when the country needs unity more than anything.

We cannot blame a sinThe Prospector gle race for a global pandemic. Until we start to realize that, the only thing plaguing the world is ourselves.

Click here to see china’s live corona case counter*

78%

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The coronavirus is giving racist

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people a reason to act on their

hate; a reason that in their minds is justifiable.”

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few months, rapidly gaining media coverage as the virus claimed more victims.

Now, according to Myers, as schools, churches and virtually all large events close, public interest in COVID-19 has risen, prompting an even larger influx of stories about the virus in the U.S. This is because of its increasing impact on Americans, as the coronavirus stories were not nearly as prominent when the virus was limited to China, Myers explained. However, some people such as Biology teacher Paul Schoenbeck feel that the increasing number of coronavirus stories may create even more fear and anxiety than is necessary.

“When you have 24 hour news cycles and this is a dominant story, it’s going to cover a lot of airtime,” Schoenbeck said.

“People who watch that all day are going to get hyped up about it and they’ll drive to Costco and buy out all of the toilet paper and water.”

Jorgensen suggests that much of coronavirus news acts as a reflection of the public’s fear and uncertainty, rather than a source of information about the topic. More research in the article found that fears in other outbreaks, such as H1N1 virus, were stoked through the uncertain tone set by media coverage.

However, Myers argues that despite the problems associated with coverage of the coronavirus, the benefits are much more important to society as a whole.

“We, the public, rely on the mass media to inform us about what our elected officials are saying, and what our medical experts are advising us to do,” Myers said. “The media has been, I think, especially in the last [few] days, doing a lot of looking at potential impacts and consequences of the coronavirus on things like local economies [and] job losses.”

But some viewers, such as sophomore Decker Anderson, believe that without proper medical knowledge, the news media can be prone to overdramatizing the situation.

“The news isn’t the CDC,” Anderson said. “No one really knows what’s going on, so usually just trust the CDC and whatever they say is what you should go by.”

Additionally, Schoenbeck agrees that straight talk from experts might clarify the situation for the public.

Multiple sources also concede that this amount of coverage can lead to other important topics being overshadowed by news about the virus.

On the homepage of The Washington Post on March 19, there were 79 stories that were in some way related to the coronavirus or its impacts, seven related strictly to the 2020 presidential election and 22 that did not relate to either topic.

In total, there were more than 11 times as many coronavirus-related stories than there were stories related to the presidential election, and roughly 73% of all stories on the page were connected to COVID-19.

Of course, it would be difficult to fill an entire web page with coronavirus news stories. A large percentage of the coverage discussed the impacts of the virus on multiple aspects of life.

“Any lens is going to connect the coronavirus to it,” Myers said. “How’s it going to affect the economy? How’s it going to affect international trade? How’s it going to affect the sports world? How’s it going to affect the education system?

Every single aspect of society is looking at, ‘What is the impact of the coronavirus going to be on X?’” With many major entertainment and sporting events cancelled or postponed such as the Tokyo Olympics, the NBA season and countless movie premieres, many news outlets have turned to covering the coronavirus’s effects instead of those topics.

The sports section, which would be discussing games, trades and drafts are now confined to reporting the latest player with the coronavirus.

However, according to Myers, the number of COVID-19 stories will likely decrease once the number of cases begins to decrease as well. As a sense of normalcy returns to everyday life, it should also return to the news.

“I don’t think there’s a need to panic, but I think there’s a need to be concerned and use caution, which I think the district is going to do, and I think the country is going to do,” Schoenbeck said.

prospectornow.com

APRIL 9, 2020

ENTERTAINMENT 13

Poetry provides inspiration for students I

n a colorless world, sophomore Allie Winkler’s perspective on her own life and the atmosphere around her changed. Stepping foot into Northwest Community Hospital for the first time, she instantly noticed how lifeless and bare the inside of the building looked.

While recovering from depression, post traumatic stress disorder and self-harm in a program at the hospital, one of the books that Winkler desired to spend her time reading was the poetry book “Milk and honey” by Rupi Kaur. No matter how dull life around Winkler was, she could always escape from the real world through poetry.

Winkler startKAILIE FOLEY ed writing poetry when she first expeStaff Writer rienced depression in sixth grade, using it as an outlet to express all of the chaos she felt within herself. After reading and understanding Kaur’s words, the poems brought hope into her life when she started to believe that she truly had nothing to live for. As the amount of poetry being taught in school decreases, this same hope has left the picture for many other students.

Prospect used to provide an entire poetry unit for freshmen in Written and Oral Communication (WOC), and 15 years ago, poetry was taught for an entire quarter of the class.

Teri Buczinsky, who teaches WOC and has witnessed the changes that have taken place over time in the curriculum, used to love teaching poetry for an entire quarter.

Buczinsky was able to introduce students to poets who differed in what they wrote about and expressed — trying to help students connect with poetry no matter what they felt.

At the end of the quarter, students in WOC would compile a collection of poetry that they connected with and reflect on what the poems meant to them. Poetry is still included in the curriculum of WOC, but now, very few poems are read because there is no longer a required poetry unit.

So, after realizing that my brother and sister before me had learned an entire poetry unit during their first year at Prospect in WOC, I wished I was older for the first time in my life.

According to Buczinsky, poetry is now only briefly taught or shown as examples in Creative Writing, AP English Literature, World Literature, WOC and Honors WOC. Creative Writing can only be taken as a senior, so poetry is rarely taught during earlier grades. This may cause certain students to never discover their potential passion for poetry.

Prospect offers a Creative Writing club

which I attend, but according to club sponsor Dr. Jay Kyp-Johnson, there are not enough students who show up each week to make prompts for. Round table events occur throughout the year for students to share their poetry as well.

I respect that there is an outlet for students who feel comfortable enough to share their poetry; however, the students who don’t connect with the few poems that are shared in school will never know that they could enjoy poetry.

Some people who love to write may also feel uncomfortable sharing their work with others. Each person goes through a different feeling or experience; different people relate to different poems. Teaching a small amount of poems will not truly reach each person emotionally.

As less poems are taught, poetry seems to be viewed as less important. In recent years, Prospect has started to place more importance on standardized testing. This change became clear to me when statistics was suddenly taught as a unit in my geometry class because it was on the SAT. I’m really glad I can analyze numerical data, but what’s the meaning of life?

Buczinsky feels that standardized tests became important to the schools because the scores reflected on their ratings.

“Slowly but surely, our curriculum kind of turned its focus more to ‘What do we need to do to help kids improve their test scores?’ [rather] than ‘What do we need to do to help kids think about life’s big questions?’”

Buczinsky said.

Testing, on top of school work and deciding an entire future, is a lot to take in.

“We’re going through some of the hardest times of our lives right now,” Winkler said.

“Putting [standardized testing] stress on us makes things just even more overwhelming.”

Focusing on testing and the most common career paths earlier on in a student’s years will likely affect the decision of what they want to pursue in the future. If schools don’t focus on art more than requiring only one fine arts class for students to graduate, how will they realize that pursuing a job in the arts is not impossible?

There will always be tension between doing what makes the heart happy and doing what is considered practical by society.

If students are never taught that the people who think differently than the majority are actually capable of pursuing a creative job, they may change their entire life path out of fear that they are not being practical. This could cause regret or unhappiness in the future.

If individuals are not encouraged to pursue their creative passion, they could begin to doubt themselves. According to the National Health Service, living with low self-esteem can harm your mental health and lead to problems such as depression and anxiety.

According to NBC news, there are 41

EPIGRAPH: A student gains inspiration from reading poetry. According to Staff Writer Kailie Foley, poetry can positively affect mental health. (cartoon by Mara Nicolaie) million health records of people diagnosed with major depression in the U.S., a mental disorder characterized by a persistently depressed mood and long-term loss of pleasure or interest in life.

A majority of individuals who report symptoms of depression say they have not yet received treatment or been diagnosed.

Mental health can not be discussed as one problem and one solution, but people need to know that they are capable of overcoming their mental obstacles. According to Psychology Today, throughout the last 25 years, over 200 studies have looked into the mental and physical health benefits of expressive writing. The research comes from the belief that expressing emotions — an important part of psychotherapy — is beneficial, even without the help of a therapist.

Some people have no one to talk to about their problems; poetry provides an outlet for feelings of happiness, sadness and every emotion in between.

“I think poetry can go a long way towards making [people] feel less alone,” Buczinsky said.

Feelings of pain should no longer be looked down upon. Poets from all generations can teach people of all ages that what they feel matters, whether it’s a good or a bad feeling. Some poems may even have enough power to save lives. “[I like] to see kids realize that they’re not alone with some of the thoughts and feelings that they have too,” Buczinsky said. “That’s a huge, comforting thing when you realize

somebody else had this feeling before me.”

As Winkler held “Milk and honey” in her hands, she came across a poem that made her realize she was in control of all that she felt.

She glanced down and read: “When I saw your body for the first time I realized how war torn you were how many battles you lost on your wrists your thighs how many fires occurred on your sides your lovely sides and how many times I told you I loved you because I do because no matter how many times you have lost the battle you will always win the war.”

She found hope within a single poem — hope to keep pushing through all that she felt. She soon realized that she was capable of overcoming every obstacle she faced.

“When I first read it, I felt a sense of relief to know that maybe one day, these scars I have on my body won’t define who I am,” Winkler said.

Winkler has not harmed herself for nearly 10 months and can now be seen with a positive outlook, a smile and a love for reading and writing poetry. Poetry helped her see the color within the world at a time when she was limited to observing in black and white.

Poetry is about living, about feeling. If poetry is left to die, centuries of life and genuine feelings will be forgotten. Life may even be forgotten by the people who are currently living themselves.

Video game movies quickly gain popularity, quality

In 1981, the arcade version of “Donkey Kong” became the first video game to tell a story. It was simplistic, but for the first time ever, games were no longer solely about gameplay. The player was both a viewer and an actor, pushing the story forward as it was told to them. Once games became not only activities but mediums for stories, it wasn’t long until filmmakers adapted those stoJOEY ries into the form DELAHUNTY of a movie.

Video game Entertainment movies, as comEditor pared to their inspirations, started relatively recently. The first theatrical movie based on a video game was “Super Mario Bros.” in 1993. According to Rotten Tomatoes, it was not popular — receiving only 29% approval from audiences and 23% from critics.

Since then, ratings haven’t gotten much better. Through the 2000s and early 2010s, many action movies were based on games — “Tomb Raider,” “Mortal Kombat” and “Assassin’s Creed” — none getting too much success. However, recent movies like “Detective Pikachu” and “Sonic the Hedgehog”

GAME ON: Characters from various video games pose for a picture. All of these characters have been featured in movies with varying levels of success. (images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) have given video game fans hope for a quality revival of this genre. There are plenty of video games with interesting stories and characters, and it’s about time that those stories reached a wider audience.

According to junior and video game fan August Graham, the reason these movies don’t typically do well is because of what you lose when you change the form of the story.

“You have ... a groundwork for a game, which is the gameplay and the story, and with a movie, you [only have] the story.” Graham said. “You lose a lot when you make that transition.”

For example, there have been two movie adaptations of the popular video game franchise “Doom,” one in 2005 and the other in 2019. There have been many games in this series, but the main concept includes a space marine having to fight demons on Mars.

Neither of the movies were very well

liked, and that’s because “Doom” has a plot meant for a video game. It’s a justification for the player to kill demons and have fun, not an actual plot for a film.

There isn’t anything wrong with that for a game, but movies are generally expected to have qualities such as character development and likable protagonists.

According to Graham, the quality of the movie is determined more by the filmmaker than the game the movie is based on.

He gave the example of the “Pokémon” games. They all have an incredibly simplistic story that couldn’t possibly be adapted directly into a movie of any quality.

Because of this, filmmakers had a nearly blank slate when they wanted to make a movie in the “Pokémon” universe. “Detective Pikachu” was so well-liked because it took familiar ideas and concepts from the games and adapted them into a completely original

story.

“Detective Pikachu” didn’t require a lot of knowledge about the “Pokémon” games while still giving fans an experience that they would enjoy. That presents another important aspect of video game movies: crossover appeal.

“They’re trying to get as much crossover appeal [as possible] … If you’re a fan of the game, you probably want to see the movie,” Graham said. “But they’re also trying not to ... alienate people who haven’t played the game.”

For example, there hasn’t been a widely liked “Sonic the Hedgehog” game for a while, and they’re mostly only brought up when being made fun of. However, the 2020 movie “Sonic the Hedgehog” made a lot of money and was very popular.

This was partially because most of the carryovers from the games were the wellknown characters.

Video games are inherently only partially about their stories, which makes them difficult to adapt into a film.

However, filmmakers are finally “figuring out what works and what doesn’t,” according to Graham. By looking at past mistakes, movie studios will learn how to make video game movies that are more than just cash grabs.

Interesting characters and worlds are commonplace in modern video games, and if they can be brought to the big screen effectively, a whole world of iconic stories can be exposed to a brand new audience.

14 ENTERTAINMENT

prospectornow.com

APRIL 9, 2020

Senior counts down 10 best iPad games S

eeking a break from all the bad news and serious topics? You’ve come to the right place. In the wake of all that’s happened with the coronavirus outbreak over the past few weeks, here I am, ranking the best mobile games to play on our iPads.

The class of 2020, for better or for worse, is the last class in the district to have the App Store and its boundless supply of moTOMMY bile games on our CARRICO iPads. Sure, future Copy Editor students are probably experiencing much fewer distractions in the classroom, but they’re also experiencing way less fun.

What these games took away from us in GPA points made up for tenfold in entertainment, and there’s something to be said about the fact that kids these days will never know what it was like for us seniors.

10. Flip Diving Ah, “Flip Diving:” the first game many of us ever downloaded on our school iPads. I remember when I first noticed my fellow freshmen turning poorly-rendered figures into graceful swan divers as we rode home on the bus. This game was best enjoyed in environments like the bus, as the lack of WiFi prevented pop-up ads. Meanwhile, the mild humor generated from belly flops was enough to distract us from the questionable conversations that occurred between other underclassmen. The game had a fair share of unlockable features that provided incentives for players, but once the actual gameplay became monotonous, there was no real reason for kids to keep playing for more than a semester at most. “Flip Diving” belongs at the bottom of the list due to the overly long time it takes to earn new characters, upgrades and maps, but its role in introducing us to our love of gaming on our iPads gives it the edge over any other contenders for the list.

9. Rules of Survival “Fortnite” may have been released in July 2017, but it didn’t rocket into fame until a few months later in the middle of our sophomore year.

Once it did, along with “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” battle royale shooters became all the rage. Unfortunately, the mobile versions of these console/PC games had not reached our fingertips yet, opening the door to a game like “Rules of Survival.”

The game’s graphics and mechanics were a joke in comparison to big-name battle royale games, but back then, “Fortnite”-obsessed students took what they could get. “Rules of Survival” ran surprisingly smoothly for a mobile shooter, and its online multiplayer capabilities were enough to warrant its place on our iPads despite its overcomplicated menu screens and aforementioned flaws.

8. Flippy Knife Shameless brag: I am the one who found this game recommended on the App Store and caused its popularity in August 2017. The gameplay was free, simple, fun, addictive and had an appealing art style — the perfect storm for a brainless class activity when AP World History notes just couldn’t keep our heads off the desks. Without multiplayer capabilities and a fair share of pop-up ads, this game does not offer enough

reason to keep playing for more than a few months. However, because “Flippy Knife” offers multiple game modes, expansive unlockables and polished gameplay, it gets the leg up on “Flip Diving” and other similar games.

7. Clash Royale “Clash Royale” brings out more emotion than any other on this list.

Winning games provides such a sense of accomplishment, but the capacity for rage-quitting after losing just one too many games in a row is unparalleled — quite the emotional rollercoaster. Take it from me — this might be the only game that has ever caused me to throw my iPad across the room in anguish.

Supercell always produces its games with a lot of attention to detail; characters are designed well and the gameplay is mathematically complex. What knocks it down a few pegs is its relatively short lifespan in the Prospect community — at its peak, 50-person clans were filled to capacity with exclusively Prospect players. In such clans, students donated resources to each other and fought either against each other in friendly battles or with each other in 2v2 matches. Unfortunately, nothing gold can stay, and the game was blocked on school WiFi, diminishing student interest.

6. Rodeo Stampede: Sky Zoo Safari Peaking freshman year, “Rodeo Stampede” was clever, challenging and unique.

Anyone who likes animals will find this free game particularly exciting; gameplay entails jumping from animal to animal in order to find new species to tame and bring back to the user’s zoo, which happens to be on an aircraft above the clouds.

The game makes no sense, but it works.

L i k e most free games, the ads can get a bit annoying.

Additionally, aside from goals offered every couple of hours, the game eventually runs out of interesting content to keep players engaged. Nonetheless, it’s fun while it lasts.

5. Paper.io According to Addicting Games, a .io game is “a free to play, browser-based, casual game which has a multiplayer component, very few mechanisms, and minimalist graphics.”

With that in mind, “Paper.io” is a faux .io game. It pretends to pit the player against real opponents online, but after observing the fact that the game functions perfectly without an internet source and allows the player to leave the app and return without consequence, one will realize that all opponents are just computers. While this does severely hinder the experience, it doesn’t destroy it entirely; the AI is smart enough to pose a fair challenge. Trying to reach 100% control of the screen takes weeks, perhaps months of playing, and competing with friends to see who could do it first added tension and

excitement that few mobile games can replicate. Unfortunately, once the player finally reaches that milestone, there is no real reason to play anymore.

4.Swipe Brick Breaker This game is widely popular at Prospect because of its simplicity. Unlike most games, it’s possible to play “Swipe Brick Breaker” while actually listening to a teacher’s lesson — the perfect compromise between distraction and attention. It’s easy to get into a game, and they last long enough so that the ads that appear after losing a game are not overbearing. The game features optional ads Prospect’s most in order to make the balls bounce twice as fast or to start the game at a score of multiples of 100 instead of zero, which reveals the game’s largest flaw: it’s slow. If one is trying to top their high score, building it up from zero simply takes too long for it to be worthwhile, *info according to a especially when one survey of 58 Prospect seniors mistake can lead the player right back to where they started. The fact that the game is the same experience every time works both in favor and against it. As a result, everybody likes the game, but nobody loves it.

3. Minecraft “Minecraft” passed “Tetris” as the best-selling game of all-time for a very good reason: the fun it offers is quite literally endless. $6.99 isn’t exactly ideal for a student, but for a nearly complete version of the full game, which, over time, has cost anything from $20-60 depending on the platform, the price tag is well worth it. The reason “Minecraft” is so great has been explained in far greater detail elsewhere, so for brevity’s sake, all that needs to be said is that the pocket edition of “Minecraft” is a near-perfect handheld iteration of the game. No, the touch screen controls are not nearly as comfortable as a keyboard or controller, but if it’s this or Calculus, the decision is a no-brainer.

it lasted, the online matches occasionally lagged on the spotty D214 Wifi. This severely limited the game’s playability without iPhone hotspots or those forbidden VPNs, neither of which are really worth the effort when other games don’t require this additional support.

This game is best enjoyed at home, which is a testament to its absurdly unusual level of playability; it’s so easy to pick up and so genuinely fun that it’s able to compete for our attention with full-on $60 console games. The biggest appeal this game had when Supercell released it during our sophomore year was fact that popular iPad games the we could easily join up to two friends in a match. A game played by oneself can only be so fun, but a game that one can play with friends and family adds in a factor of communication and social cooperation.

The metagame is more balanced than most; a skilled player can reliably win matches with any character, and frequent balance updates prevent the game from becoming stagnant. Aside from the gameplay, “Brawl Stars” characters are designed with a surprisingly high level of detail that represents cultures from all over the world; they have clever sprites, actions and names, making the game the most wellthought-out one on the list.

1. Flappy Golf 2

“Flappy Golf 2” checks all the boxes. Up to eight players, allowed to nickname themselves whatever their mischievous minds come up with, can race against each other on courses of nine holes.

It’s easy for these mult i p l a y e r races to generate genuine laughter; waiting for the last person to make it to the hole just to jump in first at the last moment is one of the best practical jokes we’ve ever had the privilege of pulling on each other. Miraculously, multiplayer worked locally without an internet connection, making it perfect for both the lunchroom and the bus ride home. The single-player mode is nothing to scoff at either; though tedious, working to reach holes in 2. Brawl few enough flaps to receive superstars or Stars discover each course’s ghost hole was great You know a mobile game is good when for passing the time away while waiting for you play it at home. “Brawl Stars” was remy English classmates to finish their stems cently blocked on the school WiFi for many tests. Because there are only nine holes per seniors, world, all 38 worlds are able to which is bring a new spin to the game, probably, giving players a reason to stick like, the secaround. Especially when one ond-worst has the right group of friends thing that’s in a class, the replay value happened is quite high; breaking it out in the last at the end of my junior year few months. with my Spanish 4 friends still For those yielded the same fun that we of us who had freshman year. “Flappy were lucky Golf 2” is a source of timeless enough to fun with or without other playenjoy “Brawl ers, cementing it as the all-time graphics by Mara Nicolaie Stars” while best game to play in class.

prospectornow.com

APRIL 9, 2020

SPORTS 15

Team chemistry prevails within track BILLY BUELOW Staff Writer

I

t all seemed to happen so fast. In a matter of 2 days, all professional sports were put on a pause. On March 11, the NBA season was suspended after Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz tested positive for COVID-19. Soon after, all soccer leagues, the MLB and the NHL were either suspended or delayed. It had been brewing for a while, when the nation was trying to figure out what course of action to take. A week earlier, on March 9, media access was limited. Then, on March 11, the Golden State Warriors were the first major sports team that played a game with no fans allowed in the stadium.

But Thursday, March 12 was a day none of us saw coming. The lights went off on every major sporting league and event, including the NCAA basketball tournament.

“It went from zero to 100 so fast,” said freshman track and field athlete Adrian Kubacka. “A week ago, I barely knew about corona[virus]; now everything I do is canceled.”

After Thursday, a sense of doom reeked among all of the athletes.

“Once all the major sports leagues got canceled, I knew we were next,” said sophomore runner Bryce John- son. “But I

[Track getting cut short felt] like getting stabbed in the heart.”

- Bryce Johnson, sophomore

AROUND THE TRACK: Junior Noah Marx runs in the York Invite which took place on March 6. This was one of the team’s only meets before missing out on a large portion of the season, which has really affected some of the athletes. (photo courtesy of Jay Renaud) didn’t want to believe it; I thought there had to be a way for us to keep playing.”

The team got the announcement on March 13 by text from track and field coach Jay Renaud, saying that “all spring sports are postponed indefinitely.” Then came a rush of disbelief and disappointment. “[Track getting cut short felt] like getting

stabbed in the heart,” Johnson said.

When seniors stepped off the track prior to the decision, they didn’t know it would possibly be their last time doing so. For a lot of the athletes, that is the toughest pill to swallow.

“Realizing that we weren’t going to go back out there [for] the rest of the season

sucked. For it to end like this, for us not to get a chance, stunk,” Johnson said.

The initial shock left the athletes sad, but after a while, they realized how large the situation really was.

“I love track so much, but what’s going on right now is bigger than a track meet. If we keep having sports games, school or just any social event, it could kill people,” Kubacka said. “I like sports, but if someone I knew got affected by coronavirus, it would make me sadder than I was when everything got canceled.”

If there is one way the team can get through this unfortunate time, it is the bonds they hold so closely.

“When practice is done, most of us like to do homework together or race against each other,” Johnson said. “I think one of the reasons we are good is that we all want to see each other succeed not only in track but in real life. We all help each other with school and keep up with how daily lives are going.”

A team needs to be great at working together in order to succeed. Talent is a big part of success, but if you don’t have players pulling for each other, it will hurt the success and well-being of your team. Part of having a strong team chemistry is the support system that needs to be built in for your team. If one player is struggling on or off the field, having a teammate pick them up is a big help.

“Yeah, picking up guys and having confidence in them is big because it shows that we genuinely care about each other. We all try to step up and help a teammate out, even if it’s just telling him to keep his chin up, or even staying after to help him after a bad race,” Johnson said. “I think we’d like to say that we are more friends than teammates.”

After the news of the season being suspended broke, the chemistry within the team showed. Team captains and seniors Erik Snell and Logan Mertes did everything they could to take this news in stride and help others who were down after hearing the news.

“There are good things that can come from this,” Renaud said. “I told my whole team through a Zoom meeting, ‘You have to find something good to do for your family, community or whatever it is you are passionate about while also staying safe.’”

Record breaking start for girls’ track this indoor season CAMERON SULLIVAN Sports Editor At this year’s York Invite on March 7, senior Lia Skoufos broke the school record for the 300-meter dash. The old record of 43.59 seconds was held by Marissa Valentini, who graduated from Prospect in 2019 and now runs at Marquette University. Skoufos broke this record by .28 seconds with a time of 43.31.

“There was a lot of pressure on myself because I knew I wasn’t going to get that many opportunities [to break the record] … but once I finished and found out my time, it was super exciting,” Skoufos said.

One of Prospect’s biggest successes of this indoor season was the broken record. The surprising thing about Skoufos breaking the

Downers Grove South Relays Click here to see how the Downers Grove South Mustang Relays went!

TEAMWORK: Senior Lia Skoufos (left), senior Emily Hubbard (second from the left), freshman Cameron Kalaway (third from the left) and sophomore Audrey Ginsberg (right) pose for a picture after the 4x800 relay at the Downers Grove South Mustang Relays on March 9. (photo courtesy of Lia

300-meter dash record is that before Valentini broke the record in 2019, Skoufos held the record during her sophomore season.

“That was kind of like that moment where [Skoufos] said ‘I want more; I want that back because I know I can do it,’” head track and field coach Pete Wintermute said.

“That’s really been the driving force behind a lot of her training.”

Wintermute also mentioned how tough of a record it was to beat due to the fact that Valentini had knocked the previous record down by almost a full second.

Prospect has had a particularly successful start this year in their indoor season, as they have placed very well in the few meets they’ve had. For example, the 4x200 relays placed sixth out of 36 teams with a time of 1:48.55 at the Downers Grove South meet on March 9. This time was also the sixth fastest at an indoor meet in school history.

The relay teams have been a staple in girls’ track here at Prospect. For the last three years, they have qualified for state in all four relays (4x800, 4x400, 4x200 and 4x100).

Wintermute also mentioned how he believes that the relays have been the strength of their program over the past few years.

Like the 4x200’s success, the 4x400 relay placed fifth at the Downers Grove South meet, with a time of 4:07.24. The 4x800 relay placed fourth with a time of 9:37.30.

Senior Ellen Sherwood participates in both the 4x200 relay and 4x400 relay. She also does high jump, long jump and the 200-meter dash. Sherwood has had lots of success with relays, as she was on one of the state-qualifying 4x200 relays last year.

Sherwood enjoys having success in relays because it isn’t just her who has the success; she gets to share it with three other girls.

Someone who has had success on the field side is senior Tessa Wrede, who competes in shot put and discus. Wrede, who set a new shot put personal record of 36.4 feet, placed fifth in the York girls’ invite.

According to Wrede, she has improved this year by spending much more time this offseason training and lifting than she had

TO THE FINISH LINE: Senior Lia Skoufos participated in the 4x800 relay during the Wheaton Warrenville South meet which took place on Feb. 15. Skoufos, junior Annika Erickson, sophomore Audrey Ginsberg and senior Emily Hubbard competed in the 4x800 relay. (photo courtesy of Lia Skoufos) in previous years.

What Wrede, Sherwood and Skoufos all have in common is that they all participate in multiple events. In addition to the 300-meter dash, Skoufos runs in the 4x800 relay, the 4x400 relay, the open 400 and the open 800.

Sherwood enjoys participating in multiple events because if one doesn’t go well, she has others in which she can do better.

According to Wintermute, the program as a whole aims to have many well-rounded athletes. While they do have athletes who

specialize in a certain event, Wintermutelikes to see them in multiple events, as it can help them improve overall.

Skoufos enjoys being a well-rounded athlete as well due to the fact that she gets to train with multiple different people. Some days she trains with the distance runners, and other days she sticks with the sprinters.

“Once you get to a meet and there are so many people talking to you and congratulating you, it’s a really great experience,” Skoufos said.

16 SPORTS

APRIL 9, 2020

prospectornow.com

Lifelong friends continue journey to college ALYSSA SCHULZ Executive Sports Editor

W

2012 2020

CHANGE OVER TIME: These friends will all be attending Illinois Wesleyan 0this fall.

(From left to right) Top: Brian Doherty, Michael Campagna, Matt McAleer. Bottom: Michael Campagna, Matt McAleer, Brian Doherty. (photos courtesy of Brian Doherty)

McGarry’s dedication leads to water polo team’s success AIDAN MURRAY Staff Writer After only the first year of his water polo career, then sophomore Matt McGarry had already received the news that he was going to lead his JV squad that year.

The hard work he had put in during his offseason going into his JV year had paid off; he not only received the captain spot but led the team to a great season with a record of 9-1.

This one season alone made McGarry, who is now a junior, love water polo as it gave him motivation to continue leading his teammates.

“Being in charge of that team made me feel like I was making a difference for the players,” McGarry said.

Although it seems that McGarry has played the sport for a long time, he only began playing his freshman year when he heard about it in his swim gym class.

In fact, McGarry was the first water polo player in his family before his sister joined her freshman year.

Other than helping his teammates, McGarry has had many other great moments in his high school water polo career. His most memorable one was his first goal in his career.

This moment was memorable for him because he felt that before scoring that goal,

Currently on Prospectornow.com Relive the boys’ basketball team’s Regional Championship win

he wasn’t sure of his skill. He felt like he hadn’t displayed what he was capable of, but this moment assured him that he was progressing.

“After I scored my first goal, I felt like I finally had confidence in the water,” McGarry said.

Moments like these for McGarry come with hard work, which he puts in not only during the season, but largely in the offseason as well.

McGarry doesn’t just stop after the high school season is over as he participates with his club team, District Unified Water Polo (DUWP).

Along with DUWP, McGarry focuses on enhancing certain parts of his game by doing specific workouts such as 45 minutes of treading to maintain conditioning for his games.

On top of all this, McGarry is either in the pool or at the gym working hard to help improve his game so he can continue to fulfill his role of being reliable day in and day out.

Prospect varsity water polo captain and senior Kaleb Kosinski is genuinely pleased with McGarry’s dedication to water polo during the offseason as it gives him “a great reputation.”

Since McGarry is only a junior, he has plenty of time to continue helping out teammates for the rest of his career at Prospect and potentially even into college.

While McGarry is still at Prospect, though, he hopes to inherit the leadership position for his team to help the younger guys looking to get better and win.

“I would hope to take a leadership position and help the whole team by sharing what I know about the sport and what makes me a strong player in the pool,” McGarry said.

With McGarry working hard to help his team the best he can, he leaves his captain, Kosinski, with a great amount of trust going into the upcoming season.

“My favorite part about playing with Matt is that he is always a dependable player in the water that I can personally trust,” Kosinski said.

hen seniors Brian Doherty, Matt McAleer and Michael Campagna met while playing travel baseball in third grade, none of them expected to be best friends for the next decade. And they certainly didn’t expect that they would be going to college together.

However, that’s exactly what happened as McAleer, Doherty and Campagna will all attend Illinois Wesleyan University next year and participate in three different sports: baseball, football and lacrosse, respectively.

“When [the three of us] went down to Illinois Wesleyan, we all loved it,” McAleer said. “[It] is a really special place.”

Although McAleer and Doherty go to Prospect and Campagna goes to St. Viator, they were able to stay friends by getting together as families and playing with and against each other in different sporting events, according to McAleer.

Despite the fact that the three have been best friends for nearly ten years, they ended up going to the same college mostly by chance; they committed at different times and were approached separately by scouts.

However, Campagna, who committed first, says that he put Illinois Wesleyan on Doherty and McAleer’s “radar” and encouraged them to commit.

“We didn’t pick [Illinois Wesleyan] because we all were going there, but it definitely had a bit of an impact,” McAleer said.

All three agree that one of the main reasons why they decided to go to Illinois Wesleyan is because of the sports there.

“They have a lot of history [with] success in football and all sports, really,” Doherty said.

This excellence is indisputable; Illinois Wesleyan has won nine football College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) championships, three lacrosse CCIW championships and one CCIW baseball

championship.

Although Illinois Wesleyan is a small school with just over 2,000 students, it will still have the feeling of a big college experience, according to McAleer; Illinois Wesleyan is right next to Illinois State University, which is a much bigger school of about 21,000 students.

“I’m looking forward to living the college experience with my friends [while] still being able to play [lacrosse],” Campagna said.

In addition to the three’s excitement, their parents are also looking forward to them all going to the same school, according to McAleer and his mother, Carla McAleer.

“I am absolutely thrilled [for] those three young men,” Carla said. “They will all go on and do their own sports and make their own new friends, but … they will also be there for each other.”

In fact, the three families have already talked about meeting up to go to Illinois Wesleyan in the fall to watch Doherty play football and in the spring to watch Campagna play lacrosse and Matt play baseball. “[Our parents] are just ecstatic,” Matt said. “They are going to have the most fun weekends with us.”

Additionally, Carla is thrilled for her son to attend Illinois Wesleyan next fall, regardless of whether or not he would have any friends attending college with him.

“I think it’s going to be such a perfect fit for [Matt] academically,” Carla said. “He is going to have so much fun playing baseball there and will get to have that incredible time in his life where he can experience new things and get independent and grow as a person.”

However, the boys agree that a big part about what will make their years at college special is the fact that they will be going to college with their best friends.

“It’s nice to know that I will have people with me [at Illinois Wesleyan] that I can rely on and will always have my back,” Campagna said.

prospectornow.com

SPORTS 17

APRIL 9, 2020

Athletes must prioritize their happiness W

hile my club volleyball team was losing badly in a tournament match, I was standing on the sidelines watching. The ball slammed into the face of one of our hitters and blood started pouring out of her nose.

“You’re in,” the coach said to me.

I was a freshman and had ridden the bench for most of the season. I knew this might be my only chance to prove myself, and I was not going to waste it. I still can remember how GENEVIEVE nervous I was, from my heart KARUTZ beat racing to my hands sweating. I Executive about the least Opinion Editor was confident player on the court who always felt like I didn’t belong on the talented team that I was picked for. However, I knew that moment could be my only opportunity to prove I had the skills it takes to get playing time, so I gave my all.

To my surprise, I had one of the greatest matches I have ever played. When my teammate’s nose stopped bleeding, the coach never put her back in. Our team crawled back from defeat to win in three sets. Soon after that match, I was a starter for the remainder of the season through our national championships.

Like the cliche says, sports build character. Playing competitive volleyball since age 11, I have learned over time how to work as part of a team, how to handle losses and disappointment, how to be disciplined and how to persevere. But most importantly, I learned a big life lesson from my volleyball coach during that unconventional season when I earned my spot as a starter.

On the last day of our season, my coach apologized to me and said he initially didn’t see that I had the skills to be a starter and that he made a mistake.

Then he said the five words that have dramatically changed my experience as an athlete for the years to follow: “Be your own biggest fan.”

Being your own biggest fan means knowing what’s best for you and not being afraid to say it. Throughout my years playing volleyball, I was always a starter until I spent most of that season on the bench.

I was pushed up to a higher age division and was praised for it, even though I rode the bench and felt like I hit rock bottom. I may have been moved up onto a higher team, but I was miserable because I constantly felt like a weak link which deteriorated my self-confidence and overall performance on the court. I had a growing realization that while athletes are often pressured into striving for the top team they can make, they may develop bet-

cartoon by Grace He

TEAMWORK CAN MAKE A DREAM WORK: Genevieve Karutz celebrates before a game with her team. Playing for a multitude of teams helps an individual learn what helps them develop best as a player. (photo courtesy of Genevieve Karutz) ter and enjoy their season more on a lower tier team.

This year in club volleyball, I was pushed up to a higher age division once again. As a junior, I was moved up to play with 18-yearolds (18’s). Most of these players had already earned Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3 college athletic scholarships and were preparing for the next level.

Early in the season, as kind and talented as all the girls were, I realized this team was not the right fit for me. I wasn’t receiving significant playing time, and I wasn’t in the same phase of life as my teammates. Being my own biggest fan in that moment meant speaking out when I knew that was a wrong fit for me to grow and develop as a player.

Due to some player injuries, the coach of our 17U 2’s (the second team for 17-yearolds) invited me to play with them, and I jumped at the opportunity. After a two-day tournament with them, my heart filled with happiness, and the team felt like home to me. I tearfully asked the 17’s coach if I could switch teams; she said yes, and the rest is history.

Did switching to the 17U 2’s team mean that I effectively quit the 18U’s team? Quitting is considered dishonorable and weak in the world of sports, but I don’t believe the analysis of quitting is that simple.

Players need to feel happy, and if they would be happier without being part of certain programs or teams, quitting (or switching) is a viable choice. One time, right before a certain volleyball season started, I quit the team because I was

Currently on Prospectornow.com...

Read about how JV Girls’ Badminton coach Lindsay Gibbel won state in 2007 as a Knight.

was chosen for varsity over him (Jordan was 5 feet 10 inches tall). Though Jordan was upset he was only on the JV team, he worked even harder after not making the cut.

“Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it,” Jordan said in a Newsweek article.

Of course, I am not comparing myself to Jordan, but I can relate to the motivation he had as a result of playing on the lower team.

Sophomore Zach Moreth has always made the top team for club baseball. However, he believes that being on a 2’s team can be beneficial because it encourages athletes to work harder. Moreth believes that if he was on a 2’s team, he would have to make adjustments to better himself and eventually work his way up to the 1’s team.

Moreth also believes it’s better to be the best player on a 2’s team than the worst on a 1’s team.

“Being the best, you take a more responsible role, and you tend to get a lot more playing time,” Moreth said.

Unlike Moreth, I never understood the benefits of being on a 2’s team until I was on one. I always saw the 2’s team as the “worse team” or the players as not good enough to make the 1’s team. In reality, they are the team who has to grind harder and put in extra hours to prove they can play at the same level as the 1’s team members. And if there is anything I’ve learned from going from bench rider to full-time player, there is nothing like earning a spot through hard work. Being on a 2’s team has made me feel happier and more confident than I ever have been.

Assistant varsity softball coach and freshman girls’ basketball coach Raymond Collins believes that when it comes to player and team development, the fastest way for an athlete to improve would be playing at the most competitive level they can.

“Matching yourself against a superior opponent is a great way to learn,” Collins said.

And though I know many people feel this way, this isn’t the right option for me. I find myself becoming insecure and

not enjoying it at all, and truthfully, I was seeing myself transform into a weaker player. I was losing hope in myself, my skills and my future in the game. As my own biggest fan, I quit the team. I never looked back and I was 100% confident in my decision. Never once did I care about anyone else’s opinion, because I knew deep down, it was right for me.

It’s hard m a k i n g decisions like these, because I worry a lot about others being upset at me or disagreeing with my choices. Even the - Raymond Collins, assistant varsity softidea of people being mad at me makes me feel ball and freshman girls’ basketball coach sick. But I know that as an athlete, I need to choose what is best for me less confident when being one of the worst players on a team. Though I know many and no one else. people see “bench warming” as the perfect Being on the 2’s team this year gave me a perspective on a whole new world that I encouragement to work harder in practice, had never seen before. On the 1’s team, most I often find that I feel less motivation from feeling unworthy of being on a strong team players have high self-confidence from being considered the “best in the club.” On the 2’s while being a weak link.

Everyone is different. Not all athletes deteam, the players don’t always have as much velop the same. confidence because they were not anointed The truth of the matter is, whether you as the best. These athletes have more determination to prove that they are capable of are on the first team or even the fifth team doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how many playing at the 1’s team level.

On a 2’s team, athletes are challenged to trophies you have, how many scholarship-earning players are on your team or grow and develop their skills. Never would I have known how much I love the fight as how many wins or losses your team has. At a perceived underdog if I had not played on the end of the season, it matters if you had fun and learned something. It doesn’t matter a 2’s team. what anyone thinks of your team or your Even legendary basketball player Michael Jordan didn’t make his varsity bas- choice to be on a specific team; what matters ketball team as a sophomore. He remembers is if you are happy. Teams change, coaches locking himself in his change; the only constant is that you will always have yourself. room and crying In other words: “Be your own biggest because a 6-footfan.”

7-inch sophomore

Matching yourself against a superior opponent is a great way to learn.”

18

SPORTS

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The Rivals podcast sits down with Prospect head baseball coach Ross Giusti and varsity catcher Adam Ryerson to get their perspectives on the recent Astros cheating scandal, as well as their feelings on sign stealing in baseball.

APRIL 9, 2020

I definitely am going to miss

going out after school and hitting with everyone on the

team ... It’s actually really sad that we’re missing it all.”

Locked Out

- Xander Radlicz, senior, tennis

FAULT: There has been an IHSA state champion in boys’ tennis every year since 1936. Due to the current pandemic, that streak may come to an end. (photo by Rick Lytle)

RICK LYTLE Online Editor-in-Chief

W

e are living in unprecedented times. An IHSA state champion has been awarded in boys’ track and field every year since 1893. The streak has survived two world wars, an economic depression and multiple previous pandemics.

Yet, this year, all of those streaks are in jeopardy. The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc across the globe. There are currently 1.5 million cases worldwide and almost 500,000 cases in the United States.

As of now, Illinois schools are suspended through the end of April to prevent further spread of the virus and to “flatten the curve.” At best, spring athletes will lose a majority of the season. At worst, they will lose the entire season.

So far, at least 13 states have closed schools for the remainder of the year. Indiana, a state with almost

10,000 less cases than Illinois, is among those states that have closed their schools for the rest of the year.

IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson hasn’t ruled out the possibility of extending the spring season into June, but it seems that we would have to return to school this semester for that to happen.

“We are also realistic in recognizing that any further school postponements, or the cessation of physical school attendance for the remainder of the year, will almost certainly result in the cancellation of all remaining IHSA sports and activities this school year,” Anderson said in a statement.

To highlight what the potential loss of the spring season means to high school athletes, we invited three Prospect students to guest write for this issue and interviewed three more about what the at-least partial loss of the spring sports season means to them. The links to the three stories can be found in the box below and to the right titled “Knights’ Tribune”.

I simply wanted to play the

game that I love one last time, yet it was taken away from me right before my own eyes.”

- Caitlin Broz, senior, water polo

EJECTION: Without boys’ or girls’ water polo, the Prospect pool sits empty in the spring. Without a “flattening of the curve,” it will sit like this until summer. (photo by Jack Ankony)

Knights’ Tribune Read what three different Prospect athletes have to say themselves about what potentially losing their season means to them. Click the box with the guest writer’s description to be taken to their story.

I was really excited

just to be with the guys

Guest Writer Profile Name: Caitlin Broz Grade: Senior Sport: Water Polo

this season and end my

baseball career with

Guest Writer Profile

end it with.”

Guest Writer Profile

Name: Theresa Sheridan Grade: Senior Sport: Softball

the guys I wanted to

Name: TJ Garland Grade: Sophomore Sport: Track and field

-Adam Ryerson, senior, baseball RETIRE THE SIDE: The bleachers and dugouts at Larry Pohlman field are vacant. If school doesn’t reopen, summer league will be the next time the field is played on. (photo illustration by Rick Lytle)

I

was

really

bummed ... I was really excited to I began preparing for this

season all the way back in July.”

- Theresa Sheridan, senior, softball STRIKEOUT: With Prospect High School in the background, the softball field sits unkempt and empty. (photo by Rick Lytle)

have this season.”

-Annie Ninness, junior, soccer

[The seniors] put four

years of hard work and dedication into the program. For some, this is their

last time being on a team.”

-TJ Garland, sophomore, track and field

CLEAN SHEET: Girls’ soccer season should be in full swing at this time of year. The Knights were 11-10-5 last year and should have played their eighth game of the season yesterday, April 8. (photo illustration by Rick Lytle)