Issue 2 23-24

ROSPECTOR THE

Snowy storms and sadness

Seasonal Affective Disorder adds on to intensity of ‘winter blues’

STELLA PALM

Copy Editor

Growing up, psychology teacher Katherine Miles didn’t understand why her mother would become gloomy during the wintertime. Miles never felt diferently based on the seasons.

But as Miles got older, she struggled with things like rolling out of bed or even feeling motivated as the seasons changed. Even with the excitement of holidays or her birthday in December around the corner, Miles still felt a lingering cloud of sadness.

Once March rolled around, Miles felt her dark cloud dissipate, and her demeanor became positive again.

The phenomena that Miles experiences during wintertime can be described as Seasonal Afective Disorder, or SAD. School psychologist Karina Rodriguez, notes that some symptoms of SAD can include, but are not limited to, low energy levels, changing of sleep patterns and feelings of intense sadness or hopelessness.

SAD is also more common in

groups living farther from the equator, due to lower light levels, as opposed to groups living closer. For example, one percent of people in Florida experience SAD, while nine percent of people in Alaska experience the condition, according to healthmatch.io.

Despite being commonly known for occurring in winter, SAD can happen in summer as well, known as the spring-summer onset. However, summer-spring onset SAD is not nearly as common as fall-winter onset.

This is most likely due to the fact that days are shorter in winter. When there’s a lack of sunlight, people’s bodies aren’t releasing or making enough serotonin and dopamine, according to Miles.

It can become even more difcult to get the benefts of natural sunlight when people spend their entire day inside during the colder months of the year.

“[School] can limit light exposure because when you come in, it’s dark. When you leave the school, sometimes it’s also dark,” Rodriguez said.

Dealing with home -

work can also add on to the severity of SAD. Miles describes dealing with seasonal depression on top of school work as being in “constant darkness.”

“I think when you have extra work or especially for kids who have jobs or a sport and then you have to add onto [the home work] you’re staying up super late,” Miles said. In an attempt to combat the struggles that a lack of sunlight presents, some people have turned to using sun lamps. This can be especially helpful in areas that lack any

source of natural light.

Fortunately, sun lamps are just one of the many ways someone could counter SAD. Rodriguez emphasizes how important coping strategies can be when dealing with SAD.

“I think a lot of students and a lot of people don’t recognize that they have a lot of coping strategies they’ve just not tapped into,” RodriOne strategy Rodriguez recommends for people sufering from SAD is for them to reframe their mindset.

5% of the U.S. population experiences SAD

According to mhanational.org

“When we’re sad we kind of get stuck in our negative thoughts,” Rodriguez said. “And sometimes that makes us forget and not see that there might be some good things that are happening around us.”

An example where reframing thoughts is utilized would be in Denmark. Despite some of the shortest daylight hours in winter, Denmark ranks very high in the annual World Happiness Report. This can be credited to the Danish concept of hygge, which is practiced in Nordic countries to improve attitude in the winter.

“Hygge is a mindset — an attitude and approach to living that prioritizes togetherness, affection, slow living, gratitude and contentment,” Natalie Dattilo, a clinical health psychologist at Harvard Medical School said to ABC News. Hygge is all about embracing the positivity that wintertime has to ofer, but there are some key components that come along with hygge: social connection, soothing aromatherapy, hot beverages and warm-toned lights, according to ABC News.

Without knowing it, people living outside of Nordic countries have been practicing hygge their whole lives. Although hygge is nowhere near a cure to SAD, it can be a useful way to reframe one’s attitude about the season.

Reframing thoughts also plays into mindfulness, which is one of Rodriguez’s favorite coping strategies. Mindfulness is focusing only on the present and staying “in the moment.”

“When we’re sad or anxious, we’re either thinking too much about the past [or] we’re thinking too much about the future,” Rodriguez said. “We’re not in a space where we’re thinking about the now.”

Rodriguez says the main goal of mindfulness is to help individuals manage stress. Reframing thoughts and improving mindfulness can get a person out of tunnel vision-type of thinking.

Out of all the coping strategies or prevention techniques, Rodriguez believes one is essential: maintaining a routine.

Because of the abrupt change in seasons, routines also have to make an adjustment. Implementing designated outdoor time into schedules can signifcantly improve the efects of SAD.

“We don’t get to do the same things we usually do because we don’t get to go outside as much [and] we don’t get to see the same people because it’s just so cold,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez notes that if going outdoors isn’t an option, doing things as simple as opening curtains or blinds and being surrounded with light can make a diference.

Sometimes going outside might not be enough to make someone feel better about their SAD. Thankfully, Prospect Student Services ofers a variety of resources to not only help students with SAD, but with any mental health struggle.

“[Other people in student services and I try to] provide a welcoming atmosphere, an understanding place,” Rodriguez said.

Each student at Prospect is assigned to a SEE

Schedule remains in debate

AMANDA FEINBERG

Managing Editor

After the decision to keep the block schedule for the 2023-24 school year was settled by administration last February, discussions about what the schedule will look like for the 2024-25 school year have begun. Unlike last year, the decision will instead be a part of a new contract agreed upon by the D214 Executive Board and the D214 Education Association (D214 EA) Executive Board. According to Principal Greg Minter, this contract will not be like the pilot program established for the COVID-19 years as it will instead be in place for the foreseeable future.

According to Head Building Representative of the D214 EA Tim McDermott, discussions over a new contract deciding the future schedule are already underway. The outcome is likely to be a new form of the block schedule as almost all of the D214 schools are pro-block; however, decisions on the length of each block and the starting and ending times of school are still being discussed according to an email sent out by D214’s Superintendent Dr. Scott Rowe.

Questions over new schedule to be decided this January www.jpimages.art Beautiful

ing the current schedule while prioritizing the students’ learning.

“When I present this to the school board for approval I have to constantly note that whatever change we’re making or whatever we present is the best for student learning,” Rowe said. “And to put [students] in a position where [they] have everything at [their] disposal.”

The 2022-23 school year was supposed to be the last year on the pilot program for the block schedule; however, the pilot was extended to the 2023-24 school year as all D214 schools voted to keep block according to McDermott. “We’re all professionals,” McDermott said. “We need to be adaptable, and there are changes we can make in our teaching style and the structure of our curriculum where everybody wins regardless of what the schedule is.”

90% of students Believe that THey learn more with The block schedule

Junior Lexi Doris is nervous about the upcoming decision as she believes the potential adjustment from block schedule to an eight period day would be hard for her. Being used to having a block schedule for three of her four years of high school would make the switch especially difcult.

“If the decision ends up making school harder for us then we’re going to have to deal with it until the [new] contract is over, which could be really stressful,” Doris said.

*According to a KnightMedia survey of 277 students

According to last year’s schedule survey sent to D214 teachers, about 60% were in favor of the block and 40% were in favor of an eight period day. According to the most recent survey that was sent to D214 teachers this fall, that percentage has risen to 90% in favor of the block schedule.

WHAT I’M MOST CONCERNED ABOUT IS THAT WHATEVER FINAL DECISION IS MADE ... IS CLEARLY IN THE BEST INTEREST OF ALL STUDENTS”

- Greg Minter, Principal

Rowe and the committee have met twice so far to fesh out the details of the schedule. The committee is prioritizing maintaining an 8:30 a.m. start time for students and using the same schedule across all D214 schools, according to Rowe. Ultimately, his highest priority is enhanc-

Minter believes that the increase in support for the block schedule has come from people becoming more used to the schedule and not wanting to switch again.

As the Head Building Representative of the D214 EA, McDermott is responsible for keeping fellow union members updated on the contract process. In previous years when there had been a vote on the schedule, McDermott urged teachers to cast their votes. Now, with meetings over the contract already starting, McDermott’s job is to inform teachers of each decision that has been made.

Although Doris personally favors the block schedule, she wants administration to consider the opinions of all students to make their decision. A good schedule, in her opinion, is one where students can both academically and emotionally succeed.

“I hope that the administration is thinking about the students,” Doris said. “But I think they care a lot about how Prospect looks because, at the end of the day, that’s what benefts them.”

The new contract is especially important in deciding teachers’ working conditions. According to Minter, teachers’ start times, end times, lunch breaks and when they have to arrive at school are all laid out in the working conditions, which are based on the schedule. In addition, student schedules for the following school year are starting to be created, meaning that the schedule must be decided on soon.

“What I’m most concerned about is that whatever fnal decision is made … is clearly in the best interest of all students,” Minter said.

While Minter has no say in the decision, he believes that regardless of the schedule, teachers’ priority should be the academic success of their students. No matter what the schedule, McDermott believes that all teachers and students will adapt as they have before.

“We want to end up with the very best schedule for learning to occur at the highest level possible for students, and for our staf to have a schedule that they can work with to maximize learning,” Rowe said.

-ty, & Wellness, a social worker, a psychologist and a counselor.

If a student were to walk into SS and their counselor wasn’t available, they could speak to anyone else on their team. Whoever they talked to could then update the student’s counselor if another check-in was needed.

By going to SS, a student can determine what they need in order to feel better about what they’re going through. Rodriguez says that sometimes this could mean fnding additional therapy.

“I think just being educated and having a list of resources, even if it is your own little coping toolbox is good for anybody, not just people with SAD,” Rodriguez said.

A great way to educate oneself on mental health would be reading the UKnight For Minds monthly newsletter. UKnight For Minds is a mental health awareness club at Prospect whose goal is to educate Prospect students and staf about mental health and spread awareness.”

Karla Heinking, president of UKnight For Minds, addresses how the club supports the Prospect community “by educating students about how to talk about mental health [and] when to talk about it.”

UKnight For Minds also wants to reduce the stigma around mental health by ofering an open and comfortable place for students to talk about their emotional well-being.

Although UKnight for minds is a great resource, it’s not therapy.

“We’re not social workers ourselves; we’re just students trying to help other students,” Heinking said.

Getting help starts with knowing you need support. To part the dark cloud of SAD, Miles suggests taking the initiative yourself by doing things you love.

“Doing things that make you happy like fnding time to relax, fnding time for you, that’s going to help you navigate it, ease the pressure or the feeling [of lingering sadness,]” Miles said.

Do

Do

Marching Knights’ secret to success

PETER RADOSH KnightTV Director

The Prospect Marching Knights are a force to be reckoned with in the high school band world. Not only have they won many competitions, but they’ve also played all over the country, from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York to Walt Disney World in Orlando. Chris Barnum, who has been Prospect’s band director for 18 years, attributes the band’s success to their unique mindset.

“We actually don’t focus a lot on winning and beating other bands,” Barnum said. “We actually really focus on pursuing excellence and being at our very best.”

To make sure everybody is focused on the band’s goal of playing at their best, all 159 band members meet as a group and discuss what went well and what they can improve on after every performance or competition. Junior Michael Anzalotti, one of three saxophone section leaders, believes that constantly working to improve themselves as a group, rather than as individuals, is what propels the band forward.

“When you’re with a larger group like this, and you can point out things to improve on, or that went really well within the group, then it exponentially increases the skill of the group over time,” Anzalotti said.

Along with improving the band’s performance, the idea of focusing on what the band members can control helps senior drum major Vivian Kowalczyk calm her nerves before big competitions.

“If I think ‘Oh, we have to win,’ it makes me feel really anxious and really nervous to go out there,” Kowalczyk said. “But when I think ‘All that matters is that we do our best, and it doesn’t

matter if we win or lose,’ it makes me feel more content with my performance and less nervous about starting the show.”

But to even be able to pursue excellence in their show, they have to organize the show in the frst place. Creating the show starts during the winter, before band season begins in the fall. Show designers, who live all over the country, go through diferent pieces of music, visual ideas and concepts. The show designers and Barnum then put it together into a custom show for each year.

Once the show is decided on, it’s the band’s turn to work. In June, the Marching Knights have their frst session of band camp. During band camp, which lasts two weeks, they practice for eight hours each day for fve days each week. The frst session of band camp is focused on review. It’s in the second session, which takes place in July, where the band starts to learn the show. Organizing 159 musicians to perform a quality show is no easy feat.

“I don’t have an individual one-on-one lesson with every kid, hardly ever,” Barnum said. “That’s one of the things that’s hard … when you

SAT test optional colleges: silver lining of pandemic?

XANDER ADKINS Executive Opinion Editor

COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic spread countless tragedies and setbacks around the world, many of which are still lingering and being fought today.

While the pandemic mostly brought negatives, many see the rapid increase of ACT/SAT test-optional colleges as a silver lining.

Colleen Carroll, a post-secondary counselor at Prospect, explains how this change came to be, as well as the complication that arose from the decision.

“[The school] closed down, so we weren’t able to get back into our buildings to do the testing … then September comes along, kids start applying to [colleges], and some [high] schools were still remote,” Carroll said. “Kids are applying and they had no opportunity to take the test, so schools had to pivot away and ask ‘What are we going to do?’”

Prospect closed down on March 13, 2020, due to COVID, only a month before state testing was set to take place, with other schools in District 214 doing the same around that time.

Because schools were unable to have students in the building during that time, PHS juniors’ standardized tests were delayed until their senior year. However, this was not the case for all schools.

Other schools across the country couldn’t deal with this as simply as PHS did due to numerous factors, such as varying COVID populations in diferent districts, diferent people in charge of deciding if their school should shut the test down or not, mask policies and protests, and vaccination shortages, just to name a few.

This caused some schools to cancel juniors’ testing altogether, meaning colleges weren’t receiving applications with test scores from parts of the nation, especially the ones with high COVID populations, such as Florida and Arizona.

This inconsistency of test scores in applications was the reason many colleges stopped requiring them while schools were closed.

The reason test scores are still not required in many colleges is due to many more factors, most of which are correlated to controversy surrounding the SAT/ACT tests themselves. The pandemic is much more of a breaking point for the change rather than the only factor that caused it.

According to insidehighered.com, only 4 per-

cent of colleges/institutions that use the Common Application system, a single online application that can be sent to over 950 colleges, actually require SAT/ACT scores in their applications.

Before the pandemic, only around 1,000 colleges/institutions were test optional, with 600 more following suit when the pandemic started.

Because the majority of colleges now don’t require SAT/ACT scores, the act of making the tests not required in high schools altogether has been suggested by many students around the district, even though taking the test is a graduation requirement in Illinois.

However, Carroll explains that, while there are many reasons the tests need to stay required, there’s one that has the potential to beneft students’ applications.

“I would say take [them] for sure, because what if taking them gives you $21,000 of your tuition?” Carroll said. “Why wouldn’t you? Sit for four hours to possibly get $21,000 of your tuition? Yes! Totally worth the four hours. If you study before hand, [your chances are] even better.”

Carroll also explains what is done with the scores that is unrelated to applications, but instead give an idea of your knowledge before college, and be able to help expand that knowledge if a student is strug gling.

BAND BUDS: PMK’s fute section shares a group hug before going out for a halftime performance. (photo by Sage Gilliland) OF U.S. COLLEGES DON’T REQUIRE SAT SCORES IN THEIR APPLICATIONS

“[The tests’] purposes ar en’t to get you into college, it’s to … give you a report card on where you are,” Carroll said. “The state requires testing at certain intervals, and the state will then look and see what our scores are and then might have diferent recommendations for schools based on that. The schools will look at that data too and might use that [for things like] teachers planning their curriculum.”

have such a large group.”

Despite this obstacle, this year’s show, “Not All Those Who Wander,” has run exceptionally smoothly, which Barnum credits to the outstanding student leadership. The Prospect Marching Knights are separated into sections based on instrument. Each section typically has one to three student leaders. Leading the entire band are three drum majors.

This system allows for faster communication. Instead of Barnum working on specifcs with the entire band, he passes on information to the drum majors, who let the section leaders know what the band needs to improve on. The section leaders can then work individually with any musicians who may be struggling. As a student leader herself, Kowalczyk explains she and the other drum majors lead the band.

“We’re friends with everyone in the band,” Kowalczyk said. “So if [a musician] ever needs someone to talk to, we’re always there for them, or if they have any questions about anything, we’re always their top resource.”

Whether it’s the system of student leadership or the amount of time and efort put into

practicing, all the band’s eforts are specifcally geared towards improving and perfecting their show. However, the massive time commitment involved in perfecting the show can crowd up students’ schedules.

“When it frst started out being very busy, I felt very overwhelmed, and like I didn’t have time to do anything,” Kowalczyk said. “I didn’t even have time to take a nap, even a 15 minute nap … because I just had to keep going.”

Sometimes, this stress of being in band and getting schoolwork done can be tough to get through. To add on to that, the perfection that PMK strives for demands repetition, which can get boring at times. But the experience of going through the days at band camp and the late nights up after practice serve as unifying factors among the band.

“By going through all the same long days and countless hours of practice, that immediately builds some sense of community,” Anzalotti said. “Having that sense of community helps people not only want to be there and want to practice, but it also makes people feel more involved with school.”

To help build the band community, diferent sections host get-togethers where musicians can hang out, talk and get to know each other. These section parties help forge friendships which last not only during band, but also outside of the activity. Kowalczyk believes that these friendships outside of the band, in turn, help the Prospect Marching Knights as a whole.

“It just helps us be more cohesive because we do have to rely on each other in our activity,” Kowalczyk said. “So when we can rely on each other outside of it, it really does help.”

From their mindset of constant improvement to their countless hours spent practicing to the community they’ve built over the season, all this work culminates in their perfect show.

“It makes me feel really happy, and like all our work has paid of,” Kowalczyk said. “What we’re doing is beautiful, and it makes me realize how much I love and appreciate the art that we’re doing and the people that are in it.”

APPLICATION NATION: A student submits their application with their SAT scores, despite not needing to. (photo by Xander Adkins)

students who did well on the test will, raising the average score.

To prevent this, Carroll encourages students to do more research on their college before deciding whether to apply or not.

“I know some kids would like to have [applying for college] be super easy,” Carroll said. “Like if you fall between two scores you get in.

Some schools are [like this], like University of Iowa [and] Missouri … but for the ones that are not like that, you have to do more work. And you should have to do work when you’re applying for college because you want to fnd a school that’s a good ft for you, and it should take you more than a quick glance at something to fgure out the right ft.”

Unfortunately, this change isn’t completely perfect. While the impacts of the change seem to mostly beneft students, there are still some issues and complications that come with it.

For one, it changes the average college student’s test scores to be very high, which could potentially prevent people with scores lower than the “average” from applying. If students don’t have to submit their SAT scores, then only the

As mentioned before, the ACT/ SAT scores are used for more than just students’ college applications. However, many students either don’t know about these things or don’t care, because some are choosing to not study for the tests if they believe they won’t use their scores in their application.

This strategy isn’t reliable, though. Despite most colleges remaining test optional even after the pandemic, some, like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have already shifted back into requiring the scores in the next few years.

Other schools, such as the University of Massachusetts Amherst, are going to remain test optional for the next few years and see if there is a diference between their students who submitted their scores, and those who didn’t.

Joyce Kim, the Associate Principal for Instruction, explains how this second change shouldn’t be complicated for future applicants.

“Let’s say you have an older sibling. They had schools during COVID, [so] they did not need to submit an application [with test] scores,” Kim

said. “But that wouldn’t afect your experience … your sibling’s experience was that they didn’t have to put the test scores, but I don’t think it would change your experience because the only experience you would have would be the year you’re applying.”

However, Kim explains that this second shift could be overwhelming to parents.

“I think parents might have a hard time shifting back,” Kim said. “Let’s say I have two children, and my frst one doesn’t need to take the test. But my younger one, who really does need to take the test, is really not good at taking tests. I would encourage him not to apply to the schools that are requiring SAT scores.”

This is one of the positive efects of the test optional change, but unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Colleges are still experimenting with applications in a post-pandemic world, and their results will determine whether to stay test score-free or require them once again.

No matter the results, of which are largely too early to see, the change tested schools’ abilities to adapt to an unconventional environment. And, throughout the treacherous epidemic, managed to be a change positively looked upon by the majority of students, teachers and counselors alike.

Carroll reveals that some of the schools that have stayed test optional haven’t had issues accepting the right students since the change.

“[Colleges] look at data and say ‘Here’s the data for students that came in as freshmen with a test score and where they are six years later, and here’s the data for kids that came in without a test score and them six years later. It looks like they’re pretty similar,’” Carroll said. “What I’ve heard from schools is that [they’ve] noticed that it isn’t better or worse, it’s the same. [They’re] still doing a good job at admitting students who are good for [their] schools … [test optional] lets students show themselves the way they feel the way they feel the most comfortable showing themselves.”

Lake Park Lancer Joust. The Bands of America Regional Championship. The Illinois Marching Band Championships for Large Schools. Class 5A Illinois State Championships. Four competitions, four championships for the Prospect Marching Knights.

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Mollie Kearns, PJ O’Grady

A big plus for our GPA’s

Every teacher at Prospect seems to run a diferent type of classroom. From the student lens, this can be both a good and bad thing. It’s nice to have variety throughout the school day and experience diferent ways of learning, but when it comes to the grading scale, there needs to be more unity across the board.

Perfect attendance, constant participation and every homework assignment turned in, yet a few mistakes on that last fnal left you just below 90 percent. The slack-of student in the back of the class that you saw (at most) two out of the fve days in the school week somehow managed to maintain an 80 percent overall. You tied.

It may not be a competition, but the efort you put into that class brought the same outcome as the kid who cheats of their neighbor.

It doesn’t seem fair.

ASSOCIATE ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tessa Trylovich

KNIGHT

Xander Adkins, Sienna DeMonte,

Senior Meghan Smith has experienced both types of classrooms: where rounding is either accepted or not even part of the picture. Smith ended her sophomore year Advanced Placement (AP) World History class with an 89.4 because her teacher did not round the grade.

“It’s a relief when you know that a teacher is looking for you to succeed and just show that you are trying,” Smith said. “Sometimes I feel like the teachers that are against bumping students up don’t really care about how our grades are impacted.”

Having a high grade point average (GPA) in high school is im-

GRADING

perative. It opens doors to future opportunities like scholarships and college admissions. District 214 (D214) bases GPA’s of of a student’s overall semester letter grade and currently does not include pluses or minuses. This leaves a wide range of students falling into the same category. To a college, that student who got an 89 percent looks exactly the same as the one who squeaked by with an 80 percent.

D214 calculates GPA of of the overall letter grade: 90-99 counts as a four, 80-89 counts as a three, 70-79 counts as a two, 60-69 counts as a one and less than 60 counts as nothing.

AP Psychology teacher Daria Schafeld remembers starting at Prospect 20 years ago with the goal of becoming the teacher she always wished she had.

“I have a very vivid memory of not being rounded and just being so disappointed by it,” Schafeld said. “… I decided I would be rounding.”

Somewhere along the way, Schafeld changed her mind. She concluded that it is not that action of rounding grades that matters but the communication she had with her students and co-workers. If her students understand from the beginning of the semester that she does not accept late work, allow test retakes or round grades up, then they are more likely to work throughout the year to maintain their desired grades. Therefore, her students will not have to ask for any exceptions or special treatment.

“Regardless of the class or teacher you are assigned ... there should be no surprises,” Schafeld said.

This system is fair in Schafeld’s classroom due to the fact that she runs the AP Psychology program at Prospect by herself. It becomes a bigger issue when students enrolled in the same classes, with separate teachers, are given diferent expectations.

The impact of these individual

teacher grading decisions can be minimized if student performance in a course were able to be better recognized through more accurate letter grades.

We, KnightMedia, believe that D214 needs to require teachers to give more specifc letter grades at the end of each semester. By including pluses and minuses as part of our GPA and thus student transcripts that are sent to colleges, students’ actual work ethic and level of achievement will be seen during their application process.

A percentage-based system (ex: 90-93 counts as an A-, 94-96 counts as an A, and 97-100 counts as an A+) allows students to not only feel they have a fair chance but also allows teachers to run their classes the way they feel best fts. Students won’t be so caught up in their fnal outcome of the semester if they know there isn’t as huge of a diference between a 90 and an 89 percent as there is right now.

An equal chance at academic success should be top priority, and, right now, teachers hold more than half of the responsibility. If they are rounding up grades or accepting late work, for example, teachers have the power to unfairly and tremendously impact a student’s GPA, and as a result, their future.

So if GPA continues to be ranked by overall general letter grades and not more specifc measures, there is no way to ensure that all students can be well-represented. This simple change helps everyone: students, teachers and the colleges that are trying to pick students that are the absolute best ft for them.

Unfltered AI causing real artists to suffer AI art

leads to more harm than benefts

The promise of a unique, computer-generated piece of art for even the most niche of ideas sounds like it’s too good to be true. For people like me, who lack artistic talent in drawing or photography, being given a tool to easily make images felt like a godsend. It’s made even better by the fact that it is completely free. There were times when I would sit at my computer, and my friends and I would take turns making weird prompts for the AI to make in DALL-E. We’d laugh at the weird things it made, like “Darth Vader on in court” or “Joe Biden Funko Pop.” But it didn’t take long for me to realize the rather dangerous consequences of such a technology existing. Fast forward to today, and there have been union strikes (like the recent Writer’s Guild strike) and lawsuits with a focus on the use of AI writing and art. This is partially because of the leaps that the technology has taken in becoming more indiscernible from art made by humans.

In fact, digital arts teacher Andre Poisson has taken steps to confrm that his students are indeed making artwork the honest way. By ensuring that his students’ work is done in class, he can prevent the chance that AI art can sneak though.

“We watch [students’ art] evolve,” Poisson said. “So we haven’t had to worry about AI just yet.”

While this is a solution to AI art dishonesty, it is nearly impossible to monitor on a macro level. For instance, how can an art competition confrm all submissions were made by humans if there aren’t any eyewitnesses to validate them?

AI art functions by looking through pieces of art and attempting to mimic that same style; people like Van Gogh, Picasso and more modern examples like

Pixar or comic books, for example, are common picks. And while this ease of use is extremely benefcial to the common person, this same reason is seen as a direct threat to professionals.

“[Art] is still about learning those fundamentals like shadowing and color composition,” Poisson said. “[AI] looks at those amazing art pieces and thinks, ‘that might make sense.’”

I agree with them. The idea that their hard work is used by a software against their wishes in order to replace them is downright horrifying. Many artists depend upon one time commissions to earn money, and the introduction of a morally dubious alternative has the potential to destroy artists’ careers. And that is without the concerns of replicating the art of dead artists, which I share in the opinion that doing so is morally questionable, as it feels disrespectful to the creator to use software to replace them.

The latter event is so much harder to discover if it really is AI or not, since the leading expert of that style is no longer alive to confrm its authenticity.

“I don’t know how the world is going to diferentiate [AI art from human art] unless the actual artist sees the work,” Poisson said.

In fact, certain artists have already begun lawsuits against AI artists under the claim that their own art was used without their consent in the creation of certain AI art pieces, some of which have won awards. I believe that a very good

argument can be made for the stealing of artwork and passing it of as their own. At least, it must be said that while the product is unique, it still used the art of humans to make it possible to create the end product.

The main problem that I see for AI art is that, if given enough time, artifcial intelligence can completely, or close to completely, take over portions of the creative feld. This is for a variety of reasons that I’ll get into later in this story. However, the one that I see as the most dangerous in the present moment is just how easy and convenient it is to use AI. After all, AI art’s entire purpose is to be easy to use. The development of this software certainly hasn’t come out of nowhere. It feels like it was just yesterday when the overall controversies of said technology were barely a concern. Take ChatGPT for instance; it was used for mostly jokes before people began to realize the less honest possibilities, such as making it write essays for them.

AI art started to enter popularity with the website DALL-E, which made crude, yet discernible, AI art from a prompt. I would argue that this, while being FAR from morally ideal, was the best form of AI art since the creators purposefully warped the image to make sure it looked fake in order to prevent misinformation. Imagine AI images being used to spread a false narrative to ft someone’s agenda! *cough cough*

And to transition from that point in

a totally fuid way, AI has already been used for such things. On Feb. 8 of this year, Twitter user @WebCrooner posted photos of a French riot police ofcer hugging an alleged protesting woman. Above this, he said, “These photos from yesterday’s demonstration are crazy and for once it wasn’t @OdieuxBoby who took them. #Pension Reform.” This post was most likely meant to create a more positive image of the police, since this was made during a time where multiple protests were started in France.

While many users were quick to point out details like noses poking out of gas masks, extra fngers or unusually smooth skin, the post still gained traction and was spread as legitimate news. Thankfully, however, WebCrooner eventually deleted the post after news of the alleged photo’s legitimacy spread further.

Beyond the idea of how AI art may afect the public, there also lies an overall hypocritical view of AI.

Senior Audrey Wagner has been painting and drawing from an extremely young age. However, her views on AI art are very similar to what I’ve been saying so far.

“[AI art] is for your own gain,” Wagner said. “But at other peoples’ loss.”

That “other peoples’ loss” is the aforementioned use of human art to train AI without their permission. Wagner said that it’s unfair for artists who have spent years or decades mastering their craft, only for a software to steal their work and recreate it all in the span of a few minutes. Their biggest issue with this is how the people who trained the AI get little to no credit for the AI’s resulting art.

But the worst ofender, at least for me, is the growing introduction of AI art in professional settings. Take Disney’s (relatively) new show “Secret Invasion,” which used AI art for the opening credits. When I watched it with my dad, I immediately felt like something was of, and I googled it to see if I was indeed correct. Unfortunately I was.

The show’s director and executive producer, Ali Selim, stated how AI art portrayed the right feeling that he was looking for in the show. While I don’t disagree with the notion, I also am curious about how AI afected the total cost of the show.

“People are like, ‘Oh, it’s bad,’” Wagner said. “But they keep on using [AI art]. And people who [don’t know of the controversy] also keep using it. Then there’s also the people [who don’t want to practice]. There’s just too many people who don’t seem to care [about the artists being stolen from].”

Tales of a QB1: powderpuff problems

Questions over Prospect’s powderpuff involvement linger

We all have our own special little quirks that make us unique. Mine, unfortunately, is that I believe that I am capable of doing literally anything. Whether that’s becoming a chemist, skydiving without crying in fear, learning to salsa dance or winning my fantasy football league, I am convinced that I can do it all. While entirely unwarranted, that confdence constantly leads me to new discoveries, such as how fun I fnd chemistry, how bad of a dancer I actually am or the discovery that I do, in fact, have a fear of heights.

Another thing I believe I can do is play high school tackle football. Spoiler alert: I cannot. I can barely make it up three fights of stairs – or even just to the press box– without being winded, let alone run across an entire football feld. But I am convinced, again without any reason or real athleticism, that if I tried out for football tomorrow, I would be starting on varsity (QB1 obviously *cue “obviously” eye roll*).

become coaches or cheerleaders for a day. Junior (and D-Line beast) at Maine South High School Gianna Musso explained that the homecoming week tradition of powder puf is one of the things that makes that week special. Between the cute outfts and intense football, powderpuf makes for an exciting addition to any homecoming.

“It’s fun to get dressed up and do your hair [for the game],” Musso said. “But it’s fun to be with a huge mix of girls who just get along and want to win and have fun.”

At Maine South, powderpuf is an upperclassmen only game that is traditionally won by the seniors. There are teachers who coach, and some athletes on the boys’ football team become assistant coaches. Through this experience, Musso was able to make new memories and above all, new friends.

“I defnitely talked to so many people who I have never talked to before or never would have met otherwise,” Musso said. “Now I say hi to them in the halls, and it’s just really nice.”

With the creation of new Homecoming traditions at Prospect and the return of some pre-pandemic ones, you would think that powderpuf could be a good plan. Powderpuf, in many cases, is also used as a fundraiser for a program or cause. Playing to raise money for a club or foundation makes my QB1 dreams more special (and it makes me feel good about myself which is always a plus).

I would get absolutely steamrolled if I tried to play in the big leagues.

So, naturally, I turned to look for the next best option, so I could prove that I defnitely can play football for realsies, which so happened to be the only thing Prospect Athletics doesn’t seem to of fer: powderpuf football.

What is powderpuf? Well my dear friend, it has a long, rich history that dates back to the ‘70s when Title IX was passed. Title IX (that’s the roman numeral nine for all of you… smart people out there) is a law that called for equal op portunities for all sexes in athletics. Powderpuf is a fag football league that is played singularly by women. It has become increasingly popular in high school homecoming weeks and with that was another layer of fun where the boys would

KICK OFF: Members of the Prospect class of 1973 participate in powderpuff, where the senior and junior girls faced off in fag football. While this activity took place at Prospect in previous years, Associate Principal Frank Mirandola says it does not ft the EveryKnight values. (photo courtesy of Crest Yearbook)

However, playing powderpuf at Prospect has become a dream of mine that will never come to fruition because the school has never authorized it and doesn’t plan to anytime in the near future, and not for the reason you’d expect. While I assumed that the school didn’t want to allow the opportunity for blood hungry girls to release their anger on a helpless football, their reluctance to introduce powderpuf is due to “Often [powderpuf] can sow the seeds of hazing because, often, you have to pit classes against each other,” Associate Principal Frank Mirandola said. “This is ultimately where we see problems down the road.”

This I can understand, in a way, because there are some powderpuf horror stories, such as the 2003 Glenbrook North scandal where the seniors beat up the junior team that might elicit a pause from administration about allowing this intramural sport.

Hazing, however, has potential in all activities and athletics, so I ask why? Why do we not allow something that, like every other sport, has the potential for hazing, but with proper administrative supervision, can avoid the hazing on all accounts? Every time I asked, I received the same vague answer, which was “It is not something we are looking to support.”

Mirandola also mentioned that powderpuf “does not adhere to our Every Knight values,” which I can understand as well. It is a single sex intramural, which, in itself, has almost never existed at Prospect High School, and this means it relies on excluding a certain group of people from participating in the sport. “There becomes a ‘in’ crowd versus an ‘out’ crowd,” Mirandola said. “Trying to establish one class’s superiority or dominance over another is really at the core of powderpuf football, and you can’t say that is truly for EveryKnight.”

Prospect is not the only D214 school that doesn’t allow for powder puf; it’s banned throughout all of District 214. That, how ever, doesn’t stop many kids from doing it outside of school.

Junior at Hersey (and wide receiver extraordinaire) Ashleigh Platt fnds that despite not being allowed on the Hersey

football feld, powderpuf has become a staple of her homecoming experience. One of the biggest things that makes her powderpuf experience diferent than most is the fact that Hersey does tackle football instead of fag.

“It’s just a lot more intense,” Platt said. “But it was the most fun experience ever.”

Throughout the whole experience, Platt echoed Musso’s sentiment about feeling supported and not at all worried about hazing, but Platt did say that the trash talk got intense.

“It’s always about winning, but after the game people weren’t fghting over the results,” Platt said. “I was literally playing against some of my senior friends and just laughing.”

I think my English teacher would agree that not being able to play powderpuf on the George Gattas Memorial Stadium football feld does indeed constitute a tragedy; a disastrous event between a (gorgeous, highly talented, and athletic football god) character and a superior force such as destiny (or administration) and having a sorrowful conclusion that elicits pity from all. I understand, however, where administration is coming from and the reasons (though few) they give for not allowing us to play. Exclusion and hazing is something that should be a concern and should be addressed, but I still lament the fact that powderpuf is out of the question. Maybe one day, however, I will live out my dreams. Maybe one day you will all call me QB1.

CLAIRE

Concerns brewing over energy

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While popular, caffeine proves problematic among athletes

The crowd watched stunned as one of the football players walked of the feld, he walked up to Athletic Trainer Shannon Malahy shaky and confused. Frightened, Malahy and others called an ambulance.

That day, roughly ten years ago at Malahy’s old place of work, this student thought that he had gotten a concussion, but that wasn’t the issue — cafeine was. He had taken too much of a new supplement as a way to stay energized during his game, not knowing it contained cafeine or what the side efects would be.

“If you are the kind of person who needs a cup of cofee a day, go ahead,” Malahy said. “But it’s when you get into these overdoses and people being like ‘oh my god I have to have my cup of cofee...before the game’ that becomes a problem.”

art, similar to jiu-jujitsu and wrestling. This sport, which naturally has a high energy environment, with the addition of school Babjak fnds all of it very draining.

“Junior year [is so stressful],” Babjak said. “Having cafeine to just get me through my day, get my work done … really allows me to get through those tough workouts without feeling super tired and also helps motivate me to keep going.”

With students having busy schedules, it puts them in the same predicament of relying on caf feine. Although Babjak is now working to lower her cafeine intake because of the exhaustion, headaches and the “mental fuzziness” the cafeine caused her. Babjak used to drink multiple cafein ated drinks a day but it wouldn’t help her energy levels.

“I defnitely feel like at this point I am a bit de pendent on [cafeine] ... I do need at least one cup of cofee to get me through my day. But it’s nowhere near as bad as it was like even four cups of cofee wouldn’t wake me up,” said Babjak.

“YOUNG PEOPLE, EVEN IF THEY ARE ATHLETES, ARE NOT AL WAYS IN TUNE WITH THE SIDE EFFECTS [OF CAFFEINE],”

Playing sports requires a lot of energy that not everyone has naturally on a daily basis. This leads to a lot of high school athletes resorting to cafeine. In a survey of 413 Prospect students, 25.6% use cafeine to energize themselves for their sport. This allows athletes to maintain their energy in order to be more successful throughout the duration of their game or match.

Junior athlete Lea Babjak has also been subjected to this phenomenon. Babjak participates in judo, in which she attends practices for two hours a day for two to four days a week. Judo is a martial

How do you get your caffeine?

From a Knight Media survey of 417 students

- Brock Collins, football coach

She now only drinks one to three cafeinated drinks a day. Despite her working to drink less cafeine, she still relies on it, which is similar to the majority of students at Prospect, 81.6% of whom drink cafeine.

“It can be an amazing tool but at the same time … it should just be a helper at the end of the day,” Babjak remarked. “I do think that cafeine can just give you the extra push … it’s really important to have good energy during practices and workouts and for that I think cafeine does an amazing job.”

23.3% Drink cofffee

23.1% don’t drink caffeine

Despite seeing her friends with it everyday, sophomore Maria Hristeva is not a fan of cafeine. One of the reasons she doesn’t drink things like cofee is because she’s not a fan of the taste, but more importantly, she says, is how it afects her sleep.

“I feel like [I] should be getting energy from getting my full amount of sleep,” Hristeva said. “It just feels like a false solution. [cafeine] tricks your body into thinking you have the amount of energy you need for the day.”

Beyond this, she feels like staying away from cafeine has helped her health, especially as a cheerleader. She says not drinking cafeine has helped her build her natural endurance for the long cheer practices and games. However, sometimes its hard to not experience a little bit of cafeine FOMO when everyone drinks it, but Hristeva says she doesn’t regret her decision.

“Maybe [I’m missing out on] all those pumpkin macchiatos that everyone likes,” Hristeva said. “But that’s okay for me.”

MARIA HRISTEVA KATELYN

Spill the

Exec. In-Depth Editor

Everyone has different ways of getting through the day. caffeine is something they stay far away from. Four Prospect liefs about caffeine and their tips for making it to the end

It all started on an early morning trip to school for freshman Katelyn Royal. Having not been around a lot of cafeine drinkers until the start of high school, Royal had never thought of it as being a good way to get energy. However, freshman year started to feel exhausting and that’s when she turned to popular energy drinks for help.

“It’s a nice thing to have in the morning,” Royal said. “Having something to keep me awake is something I love.”

It is also a sort of status symbol to have cafeine at school.

“It’s part of the reason I started,” Royal said. “Everyone always has like a dunkin or Starbucks, so I was like ‘why not bring an energy drink’.”

Royal doesn’t worry much about its negative efects because of how much she enjoys having it, both for the cafeine and the way it helps her ft in a little more.

“I guess you could say it helps my confdence,” Royal said. “I don’t think I need it, but it is nice to have.”

Cafeine has many short and long term side efects. According to WebMD, some short terms Those things are the things that will matter, if you are trying to take supplements alone that’s not

energy drink and coffee usage

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Energy drinks grow in popularity due to stratigic

nearProspect: 0.8Miles miles miles

Parisi, Westfallen claims this hobby of drinking the energy-flled drinks all started through a friend group hangout location being the local Starbucks.

Because of the repetitive nature of this habit, Westfallen says she gains no benefts from the cofee anymore and it serves as just an ‘added bonus’ to have in her day.

“I feel as if I’ve built up a tolerance to [cafeine] so the cafeine doesn’t really work any more,” Westfallen said.

However, Westfallen claims the social aspect of cafeine consumption does not help either. Being a major infuence, Westfallen’s friends have greatly assisted in this lifestyle.

“If I go out with my friends, we are always like ‘oh, lets get some Starbucks.” Westfallen said.

With the rise of energy drinks, reaching over the estimated 170 mg, the safety factor of the cafeine intake of high school students becomes blurred.

According to Bevindustry.com, the overall energy drinks industry saw a surge in sales as much as 12.2%, totaling $19.7 billion

Bang, Monster, Redbull, Celsius, and Prime are just some of the recent energy drinks that have cafeinated their way into the social mainstream.

Being an ex-cafeine addict, consuming mainly drinking energy

supposed to look really cool, and it did,” Zeug said. “Another thing that caught my eye was, on one of the drinks, it said I would be able to focus ten times more … and I needed it for [school]”

Through all of this, Zeug started to drink one energy drink a day but quickly realized that that one a day would turn into three or four energy drinks every day of the week, which exponentially exceeds the recommended amount of cafeine high school students should consume.

“[Cafeine] is addictive and isn’t the typical drug everybody thinks of. But it is defnitely something people can get addicted to,” Westfallen said.

Westfallen expresses her anguish on the amount of students she sees every morning walking in with a Starbucks drink in their hands. After seeing so many people with their cofee, Westfallen has the sudden urge to get a Starbucks cofee herself. The social wave of high schoolers carrying cofee to their classes is nothing new and Zeug fnds it frankly disturbing to some because of how often it happens.

“If it’s a person getting [cofee] every single day … then it makes me [upset] and disgusted that they would put all of this cafeine and sugar into their body which they usually don’t even need,” Zeug said.

On another note, Arkema advises how taking cafeine instead of sleep can be damaging to your brain health.

About 30-50% of teens report using energy drinks every day*

*According to cdc.gov

drinks, senior Garrett Zeug claims it was the way energy drinks appealed to his eyes that caught him in the dangerous trap.

“The reason I started drinking [cafeine] was because … I wasn’t able to focus hard enough [in school],” said Zeug. “So I tried to drink energy drinks to get more energized and have the problem go away.”

Zeug was quickly drawn into a label on a Bang can, saying that the drink would be able to help the consumer focus for longer periods of time. Zeug also expresses how the drawings on the front of energy drinks also drew him in to drinking them more.

Drinking Monster, Redbull, and Bang energy drinks, Zeug says they all look extremely colorful and appealing to the eye.

“There was an American eagle [on one energy drink], it was

Editor day. For many, it’s caffeine. For others, however, Prospect students “spill the beans” on their beend of the day without feeling exhausted.

JOVANA MILICEVIC

“As you get tired there is waste in your brain that builds up,” Arkema said. “And when you sleep, your body gets rid of that. But if you take cafeine, you feel wide awake but you didn’t give your body a chance to remove that waste product.”

However, with plenty of students like Parisi that have extracurriculars and lots of homework, they often choose a quick pick-me- up from the day prior.

While these new popular energy drinks can boost awareness and wake consumers up, Arkema advises researching all of the other ingredients listed in these pick-me-ups.

“[Energy drinks are] a diferent thing because not only does it have high amounts of cafeine but they can have other additives, too,” Arkema said. “These drinks also have high amounts of sugar which can cause stomach aches and [they contain] lots of calories as well.”

With all of the sugar in energy drinks, Garrett soon found himself extremely tired and slouchy during the evening which was one of the reasons he gave up the cafeine flled drinks.

According to news.stanfordhealth, when the body has an upsurge in the usual amount of sugar, it produces more insulin to contain the extra amount of sugar. With the surplus in insulin trying to keep a healthy balance between itself and the amount of sugar, it results in what we know as a “sugar crash.”

With the re-branding of cafeine creeping its way into society, the knowledge of how the popularity of companies using diferent strategies to give us cafeine in non-traditional ways is vital.

“[Cafeine] is a stimulant … It helps your brain to focus and it’s just that cafeine happens to be socially accepted,” Arkema said. “Although it’s not a prescription, it’s still defnitely a drug that we all have to watch out for.”

Sophomore Jovana Milicevic guesstimates that she’s had 220 shots of espresso since she started drinking cofee in 8th grade.

“I like it for the taste,” Milicevic said. “I also love how it gets me hyped up and ready for the day.”

Getting a cofee every morning for almost three years has become somewhat of a routine for Milicevic.

Milicevic leans towards iced cofees, but will take it however she can get it in the morning. Milicevic found her love of cofee from watching her parents drink it every morning and started to think, “maybe I should try it!” Now, like many avid cofee drinkers, she has her go-to order.

Junior Nathan Roth loves sleep. It’s his favorite part of the day.

“I feel great after I get a lot of it,” Roth said. “It’s necessary to keep my body feeling good.”

He really started focusing on his sleep when his friends started drinking cafeine. He wanted to stay away from consuming it and all he saw were his friends getting false energy and crashing later on.

“I never understood the concept of taking something to keep you awake,” Roth said. “It’s really not a permanent solution and I work on fnding ways to stay energized in the long run.”

He does have some early mornings, but has learned how to get the right amount of sleep to wake up naturally energized each day. Part of the reason Roth steers clear of cafeine is due to his concern for his sleep schedule.

“You just never know what it will do to your body, you know,” Roth said.

While Roth is worried about the negative efects cafeine has on the body, he still gets the appeal sometimes and won’t ever judge anyone who is a big fan.

“It’s totally fne in like small dosages… and people can do whatever they want,” Roth said. “It’s not for me, though. [I] don’t think it ever will be.”

“When I’m at Starbucks I get an iced white chocolate mocha with no whipped cream and an extra shot of espresso,” Milicevic said.

However, she does acknowledge that there are some downsides to drinking cafeine often.

“There are all of the bad things that doctors tell you about cafeine,” Milicevic said. “But even beyond that, I’ve just started growing a tolerance.” WYNKOOP

Best Buddies builds connections

Prospect club creates friendships

KAIA MAVRADAS Features Reporter

As senior Henry Romberg’s name was announced at the 2023 Homecoming Assembly in the Jean-Walker Fieldhouse, the students watching from the bleachers erupted with applause. As Romberg, the Best Buddies’ candidate, walked onto the center platform, he received an envelope that dictated who would be on the ofcial homecoming court.

As the emcees announced the rest of the candidates for the court, the nominees all waited anxiously, hoping that they would be lucky enough to walk onto the stage of winners. Then, when the time fnally arrived, Romberg opened his sealed envelope.

It was blank. Nothing was written inside. He would not be receiving the homecoming crown for the 2023 school year. Although he lost, he wouldn’t let this moment get him down, and he was still proud of himself regardless. Romberg expressed his gratitude for being on homecoming court when speaking to Kathleen Raferty.

“I did win,” Romberg told Raferty. “Because I won for Best Buddies.”

Best Buddies has been a club provided at Prospect for the last three years that includes students in the U-Rise program. Led by special education teacher Kathleen Raferty, the club also includes a planning committee of both juniors and seniors. Best Buddies is not a club exclusive to Prospect High School; however, it is a program that is found all over the world. According to Best Buddies International, there are 3,000 clubs in 49 countries around the world.

Through the Best Buddies program, Raferty hopes to spread acceptance and awareness that people with disabilities are very similar to their peers. She wants to give students the opportunity to feel connected in high school.

“That’s our number one goal,” said Raferty. “That people want to come and have fun and feel like they are part of the Prospect community.”

Along with Raferty, the planning committee consists of seniors Cate Marchialette, Gabi O’Grady and junior Ashley Pappas.

“I joined Best Buddies because I have always been interested in becoming a special ed teacher,” said Pappas. “It’s just something I have always been very passionate about.”

Raferty allows the committee to have a lot of creative control of the club and their schedule. At club meetings, she expresses her opinions and then allows the team to go from there.

“Mrs. Raferty has been awesome,” Pappas said. “She is really interested in how we are doing as people and not just how we are doing in terms of planning things.”

Best Buddies has multiple events each year that they do as a team, one of the biggest being a game with the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams. Last year members of the club and basketball players competed together in a basketball game.

Italian exchange student explores whole new world

MOLLY MUNDT News Reporter

Walking into the frst day of her American senior year on August 16th, only two days after arriving in a new country, senior Carolina Mezzanotte was excited and nervous as she began to navigate American high school for the frst time and introduce herself to her new teachers and classmates.

“I was so excited but so scared at the same time, because here I had to change class every period,” Mezzanotte said. “I only knew the number of the class, I didn’t have a map so I didn’t know where I had to go … I was scared that the teacher was going to be mean or rude or not know that I was an exchange student.”

Mezzanotte is from Livorno, Italy. After seeing exchange students all over her TikTok feed during the pandemic, she decided it would be her goal to study in America as she has dreamed of visiting since she was a little girl.

School Musical,’” Mezzanotte said. “I think teenagers see high schools in America like the dream of football games and homecoming, so they were so excited for me.”

Though being in a new country was exciting to think about, how she was going to get here wasn’t as exciting.

Mezzanotte is a nervous fier who doesn’t enjoy plane rides, so she was scared about her 9-hour plane ride alone. However, she was pleasantly surprised once she was in the air.

“To be honest, I want to stay alone for nine hours on a plane again because I had so much time to think about what I was going to do, about me, about everything,” Mezzonate said. “I was far from home and far from here … and at that moment, I realized I was about to start my dream.”

Mezzanotte’s classmates back in Italy had been with her for the past three years in the same classroom with the same teacher. When they heard about Mezzanotte becoming an exchange student in America, they were very excited for her and the opportunity for her to explore a new part of the world.

“When I told my friends that I was going to America to study they were like ‘OMG, you’re going to high school like High

Before the ofcial game, the students in Best Buddies introduced themselves to the teams and went to practices. At their practices they proceeded to do drills and learn the basics of the game in preparation for the big night.

The students involved in the U-Rise program partnered up with their peer buddies, and that team partnered with someone on the boys’ basketball team. Best Buddies played their game at half-time during the girls’ basketball game, and many students came to watch them play. Raferty hopes to do an event similar to the basketball game this year.

The club has also done events such as Haunted High School where they had a booth with mummy wrapping. The students wrapped someone in toilet paper to make them look like a “mummy,” and they also provided fun coloring sheets. One of Pappas’ favorite memories from Best Buddies is of Haunted High School.

“[While] some people stayed at the table [of activities] the rest of us walked around all together… and it was really fun to see all the activities [and] how happy it made everyone,” Pappas said.

Other activities include going to the Woodfeld Mall food court and Romberg’s favorite, Mod Pizza.

Romberg is very competitive and outgoing,

and he loves football and basketball. Romberg is very involved with Best Buddies, attending the meetings as often as he can.

“[I love] being involved in Best Buddies,” Romberg said. “... and [I] have a great time … hanging out with my friends.”

Marcos Salgado is a junior who is involved in Best Buddies who loves pizza and video games. He also volunteers at Celebrate Senior Living Retirement Home every other week, bringing comic and coloring books which he gives out to the community. Salgado enjoys coloring with the residents and playing bingo with them.

His mother, Lucille Salgado, believes that Best Buddies has sparked his desire to volunteer at the retirement home. Salgado is grateful for the opportunities that Best Buddies allows her son to have to connect with people.

“[Best Buddies has] given [Marcos] an opportunity to experience life as a teenager … it’s really been a blessing to do things with his peers,” Lucille Salgado said. “As well as his own classmates in the U-Rise community.”

Lucille Salgado is also very appreciative of Raferty. Similar to Pappas, she appreciates that Raferty cares about how students are as a people.

“[Ms. Raferty has helped Marcos on] so many levels; it’s not just academics but it’s life after the programming ends, thinking about [Marco’s] future, how he can be a contributing member of our community and … society as a whole,” Lucille Salgado said. “That has been immensely important to us, to our family, and as well as Marcos.”

Another student involved in Best Buddies is senior Dakota Samaniego. Samaniego loves fashion and wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up. She is also involved in Prospect Perks, where she pours the drinks and enjoys the cofee served. Similar to Romberg, Samaniego attends the meetings as often as she can.

“Best Buddies is just a way for people to connect and meet each other and to make new friendships,” Samaniego said.

Students can get involved in Best Buddies by joining the Schoology group using the code displayed in the morning announcements or the posters throughout the school.

“The best part of Prospect is Best Buddies,” Raferty said.

Mezzanotte does not want to take a second in the U.S. for granted. She wants to get the whole American experience by going to dances, playing school sports, meeting new friends and more.

“I didn’t have expectations; I was only happy to be here,” Mezzanotte said. “I was so excited about everything. I was so excited to fnd new things. Even if there was something I didn’t like, I was happy anyway because I’ve always dreamed about this, and fnally my dream is coming true!”

Living with a new family, the Blackburns, for almost a year very far from home can be intimidating. However, Mezzanotte considers herself very lucky to have found her ‘new’ family. Mezzanotte is Erin Blackburn’s second exchange student, but she is her frst student from Italy.

“I really love [the Blackburns]. At frst you realize you’re going to live with strangers but once you get used to their habits it’s like you are part of their family,” Mezzanotte said. “Recently, my host brother called me sister for the frst time so it was like okay now this is my family. I am so excited to have them as my host family, and I’m going to remember them for my whole life.” Blackburn wants to make this an educational

WELCOME: Carolina who dreamed of visiting the U.S. gets welcomed by her host family. (photo courtesy of Mezzanotte)

process for everyone involved.

“We decided that it would be a really interesting experience for our kids so they can learn about other cultures, [and] kind of bring the world to us in a way,” Blackburn said.

When the Blackburn family looked through letters written by students through their agency to fnd the perfect match, they kept an eye out for specifc personality traits.

The Blackburn family looked for animal lovers, people who were empathetic, have bright personalities and kids with similar interests to them.

“You really do get a sense of their personalities through the letters they write to their potential host families, and I could see that Carolina had a really bright personality, which we loved,” Blackburn said.

When hosting exchange students, they become part of the host family. Hosting causes lifelong bonds to be made. Blackburn experienced this with her frst exchange student, Val.

“My youngest son[age 6] was really sad when Val left, so I have a framed picture in his room of the two of them at Disney, and we even have family pictures of them in the house. We tell them when they leave it’s not goodbye; it’s see you later,” Blackburn said. Blackburn and her two sons still video chat and text their frst exchange student Val on WhatsApp. Val even plans on visiting the family next summer.

Prospect also has an exchange program, very diferent from Mezzanottes, where Spanish, French and Italian students shadow a Prospect student in the program for 10 days before switching and having Prospect students go to their home countries over spring break. During these 10 days, they see what it’s like to be an American student and try many excursions like going to the Field Museum, the Chicago Sky Deck, the Bean and many more fun activities.

It is Italian teacher Natalie Del Percios’s second year working with the exchange, and she describes the experience as “life-changing.”

“I can’t stress enough that I enjoy teaching language,” Del Percio said. “It’s my passion; I am so fortunate to do it. Seeing my students actually in the host country, in the language they have been studying for the past 4-6 years, and seeing all the skills that they have used in the classroom be put to real use is absolutely amazing.”

The exchange program has changed the lives of many students worldwide and has become a core memory of forming friendships, embracing cultures and learning unique lessons through frst-hand experiences.

“Just seeing how others outside of not even just ... Mount Prospect or Chicago but outside of our country, being in a completely new situation and seeing the way of life, their customs and what they value ... and kind of making comparisons from how we live our life here can be really educational for students,” Del Percio said.

TEAMWORK: Best buddies partners up with boys basketball to create a special game during girls half time. (photo from KnightMedia fles)

holidays provide cultural gateway

Exploring other customs deemed important for students to be culturally aware

MOLLIE KEARNS Editor-in-Chief

After receiving money from her grandmother, a young Cindy Pak made a beeline for her favorite spot in her small Korean village: the candy shop. While her older sister planned to spend her funds at the bookstore, Pak returned to the one spot in the village that fueled her love for treats.

As she walked into the candy shop, Pak was greeted by an employee: an old grandmother with a glass eye and a sweet personality. To gratify her sweet tooth, Pak needed to work for it: she would be handed the sugar and then went through the process of chiseling out the shape of the candy. If she carved the perfect shape, Pak would get another round of sugar, which quickly became a game for her.

“When I was a kid, my whole life was candy,” Pak said. “I would spend hours at the candy shop in my small village in Korea.”

Pak, now a Spanish teacher at Prospect, immigrated to the United States from Korea when she was seven years old. She and her family were oblivious to American holidays and traditions,

so when she was frst introduced to Halloween by her friends, she was in awe. Pak was fascinated by the fact that there was a holiday that would allow her to get candy for free.

“When I came to the States and I didn’t speak English, my friends said ‘We’re going to go trick or treating,’” Pak said. “ … I put on my Korean costume, and I was such a dork, but I thought I was a beautiful Korean princess. We went trick or treating, and the frst time that you ring the doorbell, they just appear at the door with candy. I was seven, and I was like ‘oh my god, I love this country.’”

De spite Hal loween being an incredibly well-known holiday across Amer ica, countries worldwide have their own unique traditions in spirit of the sea son. Across the globe, the spirit een is celebrated in Halloween has since evolved into a day of tricks and treats in the US, the holiday’s origins stem from Ireland and the Celtic celebration called Samhain. People believed that on this night, the boundary between the living and the dead was blurred, so they lit bonfres and wore costumes to ward of evil spirits, according to World Religions

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Prospect’s Latinos Unidos Club decorated sugar skulls last year as a way to celebrate Day of the Dead. Sugar skulls are a key component of the holiday, which is one of many global traditions similar to Halloween. (photos courtesy of Karla Zhagui) Scan

teacher John Camardella.

In Asia, Halloween-like celebrations take place in August. The Obon Festival, which occurs in Japan, allows families to honor their ancestors by visiting graves and lighting lanterns. In China, the Hungry Ghost Festival is a time when spirits of the dead are believed to return to Earth. According to Camardella, in order to avoid bad luck people make oferings to gratify these spirits.

In Mexico, families gather on the frst two days of November to honor the lives of their deceased loved ones through Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), according to National Geographic. Prospect’s Latinos Unidos Club aspires to bring the rich holiday to the school, allowing students of all cultures to take part in this celebration of life and family.

As the sponsor of Latinos Unidos, Spanish teacher Karla Zhagui believes that connecting cultural holidays to academics is both instrumental in making students feel a sense of belonging and helpful to growing their cultural awareness.

“At Prospect we have this vision of belonging, joy and challenge; this is an example of bringing those feelings to our students,” Zhagui said. “What I have found throughout my years organizing these events and opportunities for kids is that they feel this sense of pride that they can share a piece of their culture with other students.”

Over the past three years she has been sponsor, Zhagui has seen the ways that the club has brought a piece of this holiday to Prospect. This ranged from an extravagant ofrenda, or altar, in the commons to intricately decorating sugar skulls with students of all grade levels.

“It’s a very important part of the culture,” Zhagui said. “I know some students were born here but their roots are still in Latin American countries … so it’s very important … to connect academics with their personal lives. This is one way of really bringing it all together. Whenever students learn about something that is important to them, it makes it even more important.”

Pak agrees that it is important for people to hold onto their cultures, especially if they have immigrated from other countries. As a second

generation Korean-American, she uses her experiences to keep her culture alive both in her home and in her Spanish classroom.

“One thing that goes [away from generations] of any family is the language if you don’t maintain it.” Pak said. “ … By that time [of the third generation], the language peeters out, but what we do keep is the traditions, food, customs and clothing.”

As a Spanish teacher, Pak feels that she can share two cultures with the students that walk into her classroom: Spanish and Korean. While she notes that she may not be a “conventional” Spanish teacher that most students expect to see, Pak believes she can share her passion for the language while also sprinkling bits of Korea throughout the year.

“For me, when kids come to my classes the frst time, they see me and they think it’s kind of weird that I teach Spanish,” Pak said. “… I’m never going to change the way I look, but I’m proud of that. Because I look this way, I’m not blending and not conforming to the established culture here ... I’m very proud of being Korean and very proud of all that comes with it.”

Pak is also the sponsor of Asian Culture Club (ACC) at Prospect. ACC President, senior Lexie Kim, values the way that the club has allowed her to connect with other Asian students and share her culture with the Prospect community. At Haunted High School last year, Kim noted that ACC participated by handing out Asian candies and making paper lanterns with the kids.

Events like Haunted High School, as well as the Multicultural Fair, allow Prospect the opportunity to be a representation of pride in many cultures. Through Camardella’s World Religions class, he aims for his students to develop a sense of agency in how they evaluate cultures around them in a respectful manner. Camardella believes that the key to becoming as informed as possible about other traditions is through questions.

“For anyone who is looking to learn more about religion, culture and holidays, what you fnd depends on how good your questions are,” Camardella said. “If you ask simple questions, you’re going to get simple answers. If you can learn to deepen the complexity of your questions, the answers [will be] fascinating.”

Roald Dahl’s books fuel debate

Popular kids’ author inspires controversy years after his death

For her entire life, junior Emily Pawlak has always been a lover of fantastical stories, particularly those that blur the lines between her own reality and a zany world flled with bizarre characters.

As a small child, she received recommendations from her school librarian to read books from Roald Dahl, which eventually immersed Pawlak into his works.

Her favorite book was “Matilda,” a tale about a highly intelligent young girl who uses telekinetic powers to outwit her sadistic headmistress. Even though Matilda is much more powerful than the other kids at school, she always looks out for them and persists against her parents and headmistress.

Pawlak admired Matilda for these qualities and took her kindness to heart. She also loved reading “The Witches” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” because of their outlandish characters and fun worlds.

As Pawlak got older, she discovered a diferent, more troubling side to Dahl than she had previously known. In sixth grade, she started conducting research on Dahl for a school paper about veterans who had sufered severe head trauma. She stumbled onto Roald Dahl because of his stint in the Royal Air Force, which resulted in a crash that forced him to be discharged. While she was researching, Pawlak found some unfortunate truths about Dahl that made her question some of her favorite reading memories.

“Knowing now that Dahl was, quite frankly, a terrible human being, with just what he thought about Jewish people and women, it defnitely taints the joy I felt reading [books like] ‘Matilda,’” Pawlak said. “‘Matilda’ was one of my fa-

GRAND HIGH WITCH: One of Roald Dahl’s most popular books, “The Witches,” has been adapted twice since the book’s release and is one of his most criticized works. (Images courtesy of Penguin Random House and Warner Bros)

vorites … I absolutely adored those stories, I still do, but I can’t look at them the same way now, knowing he was such a person whose values just do not align with mine.”

Dahl was an English author, born in 1916. When he was discharged from the Royal Air Force at 23, he began to write stories. At the beginning, he started out writing short fction for adults, but later on he began to dive into making children’s books after he had kids of his own.

His storytelling that was aimed at a younger audience would become his most well known and successful works, with “James and the Giant Peach” being the frst one published in 1961.

Since then, his books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide and have become the basis for Hollywood movies. As movies, his adaptations overall grossed more than $410 million at the box ofce.

Dahl kept writing kids books until 1990, when he passed away at the age of 74 from blood cancer. His fnal book, “Billy and the Minpins,” was released a year later. Countless adaptations of his works, such as “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” that was released on Netfix recently, have led viewers to continuously re-examine

his body of work, as well as the man behind the beloved tales.

Despite his success, numerous attempts have been made over the years to ban Dahl’s books for their undesirable language and connection to his personal prejudices. In books like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “James and the Giant Peach,” Dahl’s language describing certain characters’ ugly appearance or weight has been challenged by a number of schools and libraries in both the past and recently.

Critics of his books say that over-the-top descriptions of weight or appearance could alienate children and make them feel attacked. In “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Dahl described a boy named Augustus Gloop as being “ … so enormously fat as to be almost completely circular.” Language like this and depictions of drugs and alcohol like snuf and whiskey convinced schools and libraries in Texas, Wisconsin, and Colorado to remove the book from their curriculums in the 1980’s and 90’s.

Perhaps the worst of his writing mirrors Dahl’s true feelings in real life. Dahl was known by his friends and family to be extremely antisemitic and even admitted as such in an interview with The Independent soon before he passed away.

One of his most challenged books, “The Witches,” was criticized when it was released for being misogynistic. The witches are described in the book as terrible monsters, and Dahl made a big point in the book that these monsters can only be female, which upset many people at the time, since they thought it pushed a misogynistic message to children.

Additionally, many modern readers picked up on antisemitic tropes in the book. The witches have hook noses and all wear wigs, a visual stereotype along with an actual Orthodox Jewish custom for women. They can print money and plan to enact a grand conspiracy to murder all the children in the world. Both of these aspects play into stereotypes used as propaganda in the past: that Jewish people control the banks and use their power to murder Christian children.

Despite these aspects of his books, adaptations of his whimsical stories have been incredibly popular and successful for the past 50 years. Last September, it was announced that Netfix had bought the rights to Dahl’s body of work for roughly $500 million, which opened the door for even more adaptations of his stories.

Filmmaker Taika Waititi is directing “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” an animated series based on the book that will come out on Netfix in 2024. He is also reportedly working on a separate series focusing on the Oompa Loompas, Willy Wonka’s tiny chocolate-making servants. Dahl originally wrote these characters as “African pygmies.” In attempts to curb this racist agenda, editors from Penguin Random House made him change their homeland to the fctional Loompaland, as well as lighten their skin color.

Some, like Pawlak, still think adaptations can be made without promoting Dahl’s racism.

“I really do think it depends a lot on the adaptation, because a lot of the time you can have the same name as a story, but they can be completely diferent works,” Pawlak said. “I think it can be done in a way where you adapt a piece of media from … a not so great author, but still have that piece of media be good and stand on its own.”

Others, however, look at the subject of adaptations through a diferent lens –- one that doesn’t take into account the author’s personal beliefs. Becca Rutkowski, Youth Collection Librarian at the Mount Prospect Public Library, thinks this shows how these adaptations are mostly economically motivated.

“I think that’s why everyone is so obsessed with some of his works is because [they say] ‘Oh, that movie was so successful, maybe we should do ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’” Rutkowski said. “Then they do those movies, and

then they’re like, ‘Oh, that was so successful, we should do more.’ It’s all … trying to … capitalize on his work and his literature.”

Complaints of Dahl’s contentious nature had reached Penguin Random House, a UK publishing house that handles Dahl’s books. In February, they started to go through his kids’ books with their own “sensitivity readers.” The goal of this was to rewrite portions of his books for republication to remove unwanted words or phrases, which sparked controversy over censorship from fans and critics online.

Many people, including other authors like Salman Rushdie, accused these rewrites of playing into a modern “woke” culture. Online users and other people in the reading community say that these rewrites take the concept of inclusivity too far. English teacher Karen Kruse thinks the insensitive writing choices that Dahl used can provide for discussions about artistic value vs. destructive efects. An artist’s positive impact on culture is, to some people, of greater weight than the negative efects of their beliefs.

“Normally as an English teacher, I would say [we shouldn’t rewrite them] because there’s something about preserving the integrity of the text and what the author intended,” Kruse said. “So, I don’t think we can just go in and start getting rid of stuf we fnd in this day and age as archaic and ofensive, because there’s room to have conversations.”

However, some people in the reading community, like Pawlak, think otherwise.

“I think there is some merit to getting rid of some of the language,” Pawlak said. “Because a lot of it … is incredibly hurtful and stereotypical … It’s hard to make the argument that it was a diferent time.”

Others, like Rutkowski, recognize that the issue is not black and white. There are benefts to leaving the work as it is, and there are also benefts to changing it.

“It’s a double edged sword because they want to preserve his legacy, but they’re also just letting him persist as this antisemitic, misogynistic author,” Rutkowski said. “I would not want more censorship, but I also understand why they removed it.”

Dahl’s personal high-concept style and stories have infuenced writers for decades since his death, especially childrens’ authors. The aspects of his books readers fnd ofensive will vary according to background and time period, and affect how his books will be read and adapted in the future. Even though she values artistic impact, Kruse recognizes the importance of an open mind.

“One thing that we try and do over and over again is teach students that you have to be able to look at multiple sides of things,” Kruse said. “Different people are going to have diferent perspectives, and we should talk through those diferent perspectives.”

Prospect’s two traveling trophies

DANNY MARTINEZ Executive

As the ball rocketed into the back of the net, the Prospect varsity soccer team stormed the feld on Sept. 28. The comeback was complete; after starting the game down 2-0, Prospect staged a second half comeback that culminated in a double overtime goal to beat Hersey 3-2. Not only had they gone to Hersey and defeated the Huskies, but they left the game with the muchsought after Cardinal Cup.

“It feels great [to win the Cup],” said senior captain Dima Hutnyk, who scored the frst goal to begin the comeback. “Especially since we beat Hersey in a really tight game ... since it’s my last year, senior year, it feels really good winning it.”

The Cardinal Cup, along with the Prospect-Elk Grove helmet (known as “The Helmet” by the football team), are two traveling trophies that Prospect teams play for. The varsity soccer team competes with Hersey and Rolling Meadows for the Cardinal Cup, while the varsity football team plays Elk Grove to decide who keeps The Helmet.

The teams play for these trophies every year. While the winner of The Helmet is easily determined, the winner of the Cardinal Cup has to beat both of the other teams. In the case that two or more teams have the same record in competition for the Cardinal Cup, the tiebreaker is goal diferential in those games.

While at Prospect, The Helmet stays in the athletic trainer’s ofce, and the Cardinal Cup resides in head varsity soccer coach Michael Andrews’s classroom, room 236. After the soccer team beat both Hersey and Rolling Meadows and the football team beat Elk Grove, both trophies will be staying at Prospect for the rest of the year.

These two traveling trophies are, according to Athletic Director Scott McDermott and head varsity football coach Dan DeBoeuf, the only traveling trophies Prospect teams play for.

McDermott believes that the reason behind this is that most sports already play for a large number of trophies every season.

As a member of the MSL, Prospect’s teams compete for MSL championships and trophies, as well as state trophies. In addition, many sports play at invitationals, meaning they compete for more trophies already embedded in their season.

“It’d be a lot to say ‘every week we’re going for a diferent trophy,’” McDermott said. “I think it would lose a little bit of the meaning behind it.”

At Prospect, the frst traveling trophy to be created was The Helmet, which was inaugurated in 1990. The Helmet stems from the closure of Forest View High School in 1986, as students who went there began going to either Prospect or Elk Grove.

The Cardinal Cup was similarly created, as the competition originated from the closure of Arlington High School (AHS). While the school

BRING IT HOME: The Cardinal Cup and the Elk Grove-Prospect Helmet, the traveling trophies that Prospect sports teams play for, will be staying at Prospect this year. Prospect won both trophies this past season, with the soccer team beating Hersey and Rolling Meadows and the football team beating Elk Grove. (photos by Danny Martinez)

closed in the mid-1980s, the Cup was just recently created in 2021.

The idea of the cup came from Hersey’s varsity soccer coach, Mike Rusniak, who proposed it as a way to celebrate the district’s past. Students who formerly went to AHS were split between Prospect, Rolling Meadows, and Hersey, which, as McDermott believes, created the opportunity for a rivalry trophy between the schools.

“It was pretty intense to begin with,” said McDermott, who attended Prospect in the 1980s. “I don’t know that they needed a trophy, but they probably saw an opportunity to make it even a little bit more intense, more fun. Everybody likes a good trophy.”

Team records when playing for the trophies

The Helmet record: Prospect: 23 wins

Elk Grove: 11 wins

The Cardinal Cup record: (wins-draws-losses):

Prospect: 3-1-2

Hersey: 4-0-2

Rolling Meadows 1-1-4

New XC team, new outlook approaching state fnals

JUSTIN PEABODY Copy Editor

In the Nike XC Twilight Town cross country meet, runners competed at the Lavern Gibson Championship XC course in Terre Haute, Indiana on Sept. 30. The course was pockmarked with hills and dense forested areas.

Despite the natural difculty presented by the landscape, this meet was one of sophomore Meg Peterson’s fnest hours. Throughout her race, Peterson found herself pushing over the course’s inclined slopes and passing her opponents.

However, Peterson feels proudest of her ability to maintain the pace of teammates she was running with for a longer stretch of the race than she had previously been able to, a sign of improvement in both her speed and her endurance.

“I was proud [of] just adapting to the course … and really using the people around me to help me go faster and just run my own race,” Peterson said.

For Peterson and the other runners, Nike XC Twilight Town was a small part of a continuous process: preparing for the chance to compete in the IHSA Class 3A State XC Championship on Nov. 4. Last year, the team took home the state championship title with Peterson placing eighth, making her an all-state athlete. The team hopes to repeat their success this year.

As their current season has progressed, the

girls have enjoyed great triumphs, like when they won the Conference Meet at Busse Woods on Oct. 14 with a combined score of 33, beating Barrington by just two points.

Head coach Pete Wintermute attributes the team’s wins to the leadership skills of the varsity athletes. Most of the team races in tight packs, so the girls are responsible for setting the pace in their packs.

“The goal is to run together, and ultimately, that is to … give other athletes on the team confdence that we trust them and know that they’re gonna put forth an efort that will challenge the rest of the team, while also trying to maintain that team pack feel,” Wintermute said. “[It’s about] feeling the energy amongst all members of the group.”

For senior Lily Ginsberg, the athletes’ trust in one another was a major contributing factor to the team’s success at state last year. During last year’s state meet, Ginsberg ran in a pack with her fellow varsity competitors, many of whom, including Peterson, are her best friends.

Ginsberg, who placed eighth in state last year, remembers that each team member would speed up and push a little bit ahead of the pack during the race, advancing the placement of the rest of the team and motivating everyone else in the pack. “We’re all super close,” Ginsberg said. “So when we’re racing, and we know that we have our teammates by our side, it defnitely helps.”

Both coaches and players acknowledge that the biggest aspect of the trophies is the rivalry it encourages.

“These kids … all grew up together,” McDermott said. “When you have one town feeding into four, if not fve, schools, there’s some very strong feelings about their athletics.”

These feelings provide motivation for schools to win the trophies, and DeBoeuf thinks that these feelings are only intensifed by the proximity of the schools and the close relationships between opposing athletes. As Andrews observed after last season, traveling trophies can be excellent motivators to beat your rivals.

“When Hersey lifted it last year, we defnitely wanted to get it back home to Prospect,” Andrews said. “Hersey took it from us last year, and we reclaimed it this year.”

Following Prospect’s reacquisition of the trophy, the Cup will soon show three plaques indicating its past winners: Prospect in 2021, Hersey in 2022 and Prospect once again in 2023.

While the Cup has been won by multiple schools in the past few years, The Helmet has been dominated by Prospect. Elk Grove last won the trophy in 2015.

To DeBoeuf, The Helmet is still a cool aspect of the game, especially when the team plays at Elk Grove.

“I think it’s almost more fun to win it on the road because then you [get to] bring it with you,” DeBoeuf said. “It’s been fun to … take it there and then bring it back.”

The excitement of bringing the trophy back to Prospect on the bus builds memories that DeBoeuf tries to create for his players.

“It’s all about trying to live in the moment, and celebrate moments, and have moments

together as a team,” DeBoeuf said. “I think that those can be moments that kids remember and take with them forever.”

These moments not only provide emotion and excitement for the team, but are also a much-needed morale boost in the middle of the season, according to senior varsity football player Charlie Knee.

“We’re winning something when it’s the dog days of the season, like mid-to late season,” Knee said. “It’s something nice to win [and] boost the team’s confdence.”

While no new trophies are currently being considered, both Knee and Hutnyk have suggestions for future traveling trophies. Hutnyk thinks Prospect’s soccer team is starting to develop a rivalry with Barrington, and he believes that a traveling trophy could help intensify the games. For the football team, Knee hopes they can get a trophy against Hersey.

“[Hersey is] our current, modern-day rival,” Knee said. “That game is always super special. It’s always loud, packed. Always this big game for the year.”

Overall, DeBoeuf agrees that a traveling trophy against Hersey could be interesting, although he recognizes that high school rivalries tend to ebb and fow as the athletes change. Whether or not the team creates a trophy against Hersey, though, DeBoeuf wants his athletes to create experiences they will remember.

“I think about my experiences as a player and as an athlete, [and] I don’t really remember any of the wins and losses, but I [what I do] remember [is] the big memories and moments together with your buddies,” DeBoeuf said. “I think that [the trophies] could create some of those memories.”

HUNGER: The varsity athletes at the start of their race at the Conference Meet. They are ready to give the race their best effort to maximize the team’s overall chances of qualifying for state (photo by Xander Adkins).

In addition, Peterson values the culture of trust among her teammates and fnds it helps calm her nerves before competitions. “[I feel like I can still improve on] not getting so freaked out, because sometimes I can get really anxious before races, but my team is always there and my coaches are always there to help me,” Peterson said. [It’s important to realize] … we’re just running, it’s not that big of a deal,” Peterson said.

itive journey has had bumps in the road. Take for example, the “Meet of Champions” invite at Deer Grove in Palatine on Sep. 23. Prospect placed fourth in the varsity three mile race with a score of 97, according to Athletic.net. They were beaten by Elmhurst (68), Barrington (80), and Downers Grove (84).

Amidst the team’s success, their compet-

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Boys' golf gets swagger back at state

PJ O'GRADY & PETER RADOSH Editor-in-Chief & KnightTV Director

With the initials PD written in Sharpie on the back of their hats, the Prospect boys’ golf team proudly fashed their smiles in front of the camera whilst holding their third place class 3A IHSA state trophy: the frst state trophy that boys' golf has won since 1976.

PD, which are the initials of a high schooler named Patrick, is a cancer patient who was treated by the mom of senior golfer Luke Kruger. Patrick’s lifelong goal is to be a state qualifer in the IHSA golf tournament. Unfortunately, he has never gotten to experience that dream since he only made it as far as the regionals this year.

When Kruger learned of Patrick's story, he was heartbroken to hear that Patrick never got to live out his ambitions. So before he left for state, Kruger immediately wrote PD on his hat.

Garnering attention from many of the golfers on the bus ride to state, senior Colter Person asked what the letters stood for. When Kruger explained the signifcance of the initials and how they should not take their time at state for granted, he was surprised to see the rest of the team starting to write down Patrick’s initials as well.

After hearing about how the team represented his name at state, Patrick became very emotional, according to Kruger. Junior Cole Bielecki explained that PD seemed like a key motivator for the team and it drastically changed Bielecki’s thoughts on the upcoming tournament.

“Just playing for his name … [made me feel like] we’re lucky to play golf, and especially at state,” Bielecki said.

Kruger expanded on that idea by stating his mentality for the season.

“It’s bigger than just you,” Kruger said. “Every day, I was teeing the ball up and playing for Prospect and getting to play golf … Especially during the month of October [which is breast cancer awareness month] … hearing the story of Patrick just made me realize how grateful I really am to be able to play this game … ”

Patrick's Perfect Putt

Senior Patrick Raupp was nominated with his second all-state honor in a row, after he sunk a 15-foot putt to secure his victory.“To have my family there to watch it was just a huge thing, especially when my brother few in to watch,” Raupp said. Keeping it light-hearted after the big putt, senior Luke Kruger said, "Boy did you make that hard on yourself."

HISTORY: With all contributors placing in the top 50, boys' golf won their frst trophy since 1976. "I was so proud of their body language, their swag and just how they played on the front nine [holes] on day two," head coach Jim Hamann said. (photo courtesy of Mary Raupp)

While their mindset was geared towards gratitude, Kruger believes the team wasn't reaching its full potential in the regular season despite their 10-1 record. After a conference loss to Barrington in tie-breakers, head coach Jim Hamann gave a talk that ended up changing the course of their season.

According to Kruger, Hamann’s pep talk served as a “confdence-booster,” which proved to the boys that they were capable of achieving great success.

“He believed that we didn’t be-

lieve in ourselves enough,” Kruger said. “That we weren’t walking out there [and] going to the course … with enough confdence. He was just really trying to get us to be more confdent in ourselves and really know that we’re a good golf team and that we can compete for a state championship.”

After Hamann said what he felt the boys needed to hear, he observed immediate diferences in the way the boys acted.

“After the conference tournament, our team mindset changed in terms of playing more confdent and playing just with a take-it attitude, instead of a hoping attitude,” Hamann said.

As veterans of the state tournament who have played at The Den at Fox Creek Golf Course for the past three years, both Kruger and senior Patrick Raupp were comfortable with the course leading into the state tournament. Due to his experience, Raupp felt calm prior to competing in the tournament.

On the other hand, it took some words of encouragement to help Bielecki mold himself into a winner. Bielecki struggled throughout the season because he lacked belief in his skills, and as a result, his mental game faltered during his outings. But after Raupp and Kruger instilled a diferent attitude in him before the playofs, Bielecki found himself soaring to new heights.

“I feel like my teammates picked me up at the end of the season, and they just told me I was good enough to win tournaments and just play good,” Bielecki said. “And so I believed in that, and mentally I started winning.” Bielecki immediately saw results on Oct. 2 at the Mount Prospect sectional when he won frst place with a score of 68, which is two strokes under par.

Clearly supported by his teammates, Bielecki’s story shows how close the boys’ really are with each other. According to Raupp, the camaraderie that the team developed throughout the years reached a new high this year. He said they often gathered at Person’s house, especially earlier in the season when they were given more days of from practices. From going to steakhouse din-

ners to listening to country music on the bus, the growing bonds that the team shared eventually led to further success.

“It was more like we just got to know each other,” Raupp said. “[We] spent more time around each other and then just found a way to put that onto the golf course, [so] that way we can just cheer for each other instead of just trying to beat each other every time [on the course].”

While the team worked hard to build closer connections with each other, Hamann said that they also put lots of efort into practice. Whether it was hitting up their favorite driving range or continuing to play at the Mount Prospect course, the golfers would almost always stay past their designated practice time. Oftentimes, the whole team would be at the course until sundown.

“Almost every kid on our team was out there until we couldn’t see, practicing,” Raupp said. “Then we just put an extra focus on trying not to mess around during practice and just get what we want out of our practicing, and that way we can obtain the goal, which was to get a trophy.”

Ultimately, Kruger and Raupp said that they were extremely happy to earn a state trophy as a team. Having said that, Kruger explained that even just playing in the tournament was enough for him.

“It’s not just about you,” Kruger said. “Even though the accolades are personal, the accolades are just for the team … We were just very grateful to be down there as a team and very blessed just to be able to play in the state championship.”

Holding the trophy up in the air, the boys realized that they also held something that cannot be grasped. They’d have memories that would remain with them forever.

“It was the best moment of my life, and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life,” Bielecki said.

Kruger couldn’t help but feel amazed at the reality of the situation.

“Seeing everybody get to hold the trophy, [like] the coaches, the players [and] even the parents, was really cool because it was just a cool way to end it,” Kruger said. “It’s defnitely a memory I’ll never forget.”

STATS FROM STATE

The boys' shot a 613 over the two day meet, which helped them earn third place at state. The team score consists of the top four individuals each day.

*this score was not included in the team's overall score

*photo courtesy of Roman Demstrom

STRATEGIES: Visualizing success for girls' XC team

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

Wintermute said that this was partially due to a last-minute adjustment he made to the varsity lineup for that meet. The athletes had been through a rigorous 14-day training plan to prepare for the meet, and although the lineup changed, the athletes’ practice schedule remained the same. This meant that the competing athletes had little to no recovery time between practices and the meet.

Although the lack of rest days physically challenged the runners, Wintermute believes it will bolster their strength and performance in the weeks following the Palatine meet.

“The benefts come on the back end,” Wintermute said. “[The training plan] is not immediate gratifcation … For many of [the athletes], their bodies could have used a little bit [of a] diferent plan, but in the coming weeks, that’s when we want to see those benefts. I think we walk away knowing that [the Palatine meet] wasn’t our best

efort, but that’s not really what we’re measured on; it’s only one race.”

Equally important to honing their strength and endurance, Wintermute also wants the girls to build up mental strength in the days leading up to state. He does this by having athletes visualize themselves competing and succeeding in their races. Furthermore, Wintermute has them picture their success despite inclement weather conditions such as rain, snow, high winds and cold.

“I really think [visualization] helps shape them up for the best possible success on Saturday, just because you can prepare as much as you want, but there’s going to be unexpected things that happen in the race,” Wintermute said. “[It’s] kind of [about] focusing on what is that process you want to execute during the race.”

Many of the girls, including Ginsberg, use Wintermute’s techniques to envision themselves succeeding in parts of their race they fnd most challenging, especially the middle of the race. Ginsberg said that maintaining a strong race pace

GO XC KNIGHTS!!!

The girls' XC Team won the regional championship at Loyola Academy on Oct. 21 with a score of 37, beating New Trier by 37 points.

through the middle is a collective team goal. “I feel like when you get to the middle, you know that there’s still a lot left, but you also know that you have to keep pushing, so it’s defnitely difcult,” Ginsberg said. “But when you get in the

right mind space, it defnitely makes it easier… [especially] when you’re with your teammates.”

For alumna Hailey Erickson, team culture made a diference at last year’s state meet, which bolstered her confdence and helped her secure ffth place.

“I still keep in touch with most athletes on the team,” Erickson said. “They were all my best friends, and I couldn’t have done the sport without them. I am excited to see what they can do this year, because they are such amazing girls.”

Erickson plans to attend the state meet if the team qualifes for state. She believes that if the athletes continue to trust and support each other, it can only yield great results for them, regardless of whether or not they qualify.

“My advice that I would give to a current athlete is to remember that you aren’t alone,” Erickson said. “Sometimes it is easy to make running an individual sport, when really, working with your teammates can help you and others succeed.”