Issue 3 24-25

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801 WEST KENSINGTON ROAD, MOUNT PROSPECT, ILLINOIS 60056

THE VOICE OF PROSPECT HIGH SCHOOL SINCE 1959

VOLUME 64, ISSUE 3

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024

Season of service, sacrifice

PETER RADOSH Associate Editor-in-Chief

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hroughout the last month, Prospect’s Associated Student Body (ASB), a student-run leadership organization that helps organize and advertise events at Prospect, has been campaigning to raise money for Folds of Honor, a charity dedicated to providing educational scholarships to families of fallen or disabled veterans and first responders.

For junior Lea Biwer, a member of the ASB leadership board, helping raise money for Folds of Honor gave her a sense of security. Her older brother is Master Sgt. Brandon Thompson, a 2011 Prospect Alumnus and a senior non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force. He recently became a father.

“There’s always a fear that something could happen,” Biwer said. “It’s obviously a dangerous job, so it’s nice to know there are organizations that will take care of his daughter.”

During second quarter, many clubs participate and collaborate on charity projects to help support social services within the community.

For instance, Knights’ Way partnered with ASB to kick off the 2024 Folds of Honor fundraiser, while ASB has previously helped Service Club run the campaign for Prospect’s food drive, also known as “You Got Gobbled.”

According to ASB co-sponsor Michelle Fonsino, contributing to the lives of others is the central point of ASB’s second quarter theme: Provide. Their four themes are Pride, Provide, Positivity and Praise. ASB partners with a charity during each Provide season, switching organizations biannually. They initially chose Folds of Honor last year because it is centered around Veterans Day. “Everyone seemed to be giving to the community during the holiday season, from November to December,” Fonsino said. “So it seemed like a natural title to give to a season that has already existed, just to show support and give all of our work a collective name and a collective focus.”

According to Fonsino, a lot of planning and effort goes into advertising a charity campaign to the student body. ASB used the Nov. 7 Knights’ Way Day to introduce their fundraiser. Knights’

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SERVICE ON TWO FRONTS: (Left) Master Sgt. Brandon Thompson, Class of 2011, and his squad board an AC-130 as a part of a Red Flag exercise where they parachuted and secured a runway.

(Right) In preparation for delivery, Service Club members help load a truck with food during “You Got Gobbled,” Prospect’s annual food drive. (photos courtesy of Lea Biwer and Tracy Van Hoy) Way co-sponsor Jay Heilman instructed the stuBiwer was one of those in charge of partnering dent leaders to prompt classes to define service with local restaurants. and sacrifice for themselves.

“Me and Sara Conway, who’s also on ASB “We wanted students to think of people that board, we visited every restaurant,” Biwer said. they personally know, maybe it’s a parent, grand“We talked to each manager, and we talked about parent, aunt [or] uncle,” Heilman said. “Then we what [it] would look like if they were to donate wanted to have our leaders push their classes to money to [the campaign].” identify how. If your parent is a nurse, ‘What do Once a restaurant agreed to participate in a you know about what they do that is a sacrifice?’”

Dine & Share, 15% of their sales made as a part With 2024 being ASB’s second year workof the fundraiser were donated to Folds of Honing with Folds of Honor, ASB co-sponsor Jenna or. In addition to the major advertising pushes, Sandstead saw the goal of this year’s campaign as ASB also decorated classroom doors, created a improving last year’s strategies to make a greater class donations leaderboard in the hallway and impact — primarily through switching to a comorganized a spirit week from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6 to pletely digital donations system. further the Folds of Honor campaign as a school“It’s streamlined the entire process,” Sandwide event. The campaign finished with an asstead said. “It’s easier sembly on Dec. 6. on really everyone With countless awareness-boosting ideas and involved, teachevents to orchestrate, Biwer attributes organizaers, students tion as the key to the campaign’s success in a limand orgaited timeframe. She and the rest of the leadership nizers, beb o a r d cause no had to one has delegate to count tasks effimoney.” ciently to With achieve the resultt h e i r ing spare goals. time, ASB di“It’s versified their definitely campaigning. made me Throughgrow as a out the last - Jay Heilman, Knights’ Way co-sponsor leader, month, they’ve routinely been [espeon the morning announcements and have posted cially] in communicating with lots of different ads around the school and on social media. people and taking on that responsibility,” Biwer ASB also ran a class contest for second pesaid. “We all, on the leadership board, have taken riod classes, sold “Underground” T-shirts and on our own, and we’ve figured out how to work partnered with multiple local restaurants to run together and collaborate.”

“Dine & Share” campaigns, raising awareness For Fonsino, the student aspect of the Folds and incentivizing students to donate to Folds of of Honor campaign was what made it special. A Honor. student-run charity campaign represents the core goal behind ASB’s creation: to provide opportunities for student leaders to work together.

“There’s so many students that are capable of so much and have so many good ideas,” Fonsino said. “So we wanted to create something that would give anyone an opportunity to just lead the way.”

While ASB primarily organizes and promotes events, including its yearly charity campaign, Service Club focuses solely on helping give back to the community.

Service Club has done multiple charity projects this year, including Prospect’s food drive, where they ran a campaign similar to the ASB Folds of Honor campaign. They created advertisements on social media and went door to door promoting the drive.

Service Club co-sponsor Tracy Van Hoy be-

WE NEED EACH OTHER, WE RELY ON EACH OTHER [AND] WE DEPEND ON EACH OTHER, IN ORDER TO SURVIVE.”

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lieves that by creating well-known, accessible charity campaigns, people are more likely to donate.

“Anybody that gave us canned food could have easily gone to the Mount Prospect [food pantry] and done that,” Van Hoy said. “But it’s so much easier to put it in a bag and put it out on your porch.”

Van Hoy recognizes that giving back to the community is a necessity because it helps create and maintain social safety nets for families in hard times.

“Everybody I think that [participated in the food drive] was pretty lucky, nobody was hungry,” Van Hoy said. “But, who knows what’s going to happen in six months? Who knows what’s going to happen in a year? So, it’s nice to have those services.”

Van Hoy, Sandstead, Heilman and Fonsino all urge students to try and give back in any way they can, whether through giving resources or time, to not only help support social services but also enjoy the emotional value of charity.

“Giving back makes you feel good,” Fonsino said. “It connects you with the community. We are a product of our community, and it’s important to recognize that.”

Heilman also echoes the sentiment that community recognition is an important aspect of giving back. “[Charity is] about building good citizenship and being a responsible, contributing member to society,” Heilman said. “We, as humans, we need each other, we rely on each other, we depend on each other, in order to survive [and] maintain our well-being.”

Students will have one more opportunity this year to give back to their community through Prospect. On Dec. 11, Service Club will host a blood drive in the Community Room.

Blood banks are always in need of donations, and Van Hoy asserts that the blood drive is a unique way students can give back to their community.

“This isn’t like donating money, it’s not like donating time,” Van Hoy said. “It’s giving literally a part of yourself to help somebody else survive a catastrophic event. So if anybody is thinking that maybe they want to try it for the first time, I would absolutely encourage them to do so.”

The goal of both ASB and Service Club’s charity campaigns is to remind people to step back and remember their wider community. Recognizing the service of veterans and first responders and the need for food banks are just two of the many ways students can support others.

“In a busy season getting ready for the holidays, it’s easy to get caught up in just the dayto-day things,” Sandstead said. “If we can have a chance or be prompted to think about ways we can give back, then I think it’s good.”

2 NEWS

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DECEMBER 6, 2024

Team culture overrides awards Speech team fosters positive environment while carrying on success

DEBUT: On Nov. 13, the Novice and JV teams placed 1st at the Speechapalooza tournament at Prospect. (photo courtesy of Sydney Strimling)

STELLA PALM Managing Editor

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t the Willowbrook Winter Tournament on Dec. 16, 2023, then-junior Isabella Smith, a competitor in Oratorical Declamation (OD), Dramatic Duet Acting (DDA) and Special Occasion Speaking was radiating with positive energy. Despite not advancing in her competitions, Smith wasn’t short to notice that her mentee, Chiara Stathakis, broke in her competition Original Oratory (OO) for the first time.

Already excited about her mentee’s advancement, Smith was even more ecstatic when Stathakis placed first.

“I was sitting there, and I just started bawling,” Smith said. “I couldn’t handle it anymore. Every single time I saw her do her OO I was like, ‘You’re going to do great things.

This is such a good speech,

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SPEAK: Senior Isabella Smith competes Special Occasion Speaking (SOS) at the D211 Varsity Turkey Tournament in Hoffman Estates on Nov. 23. (photo courtesy of Isabella Smith)

o Wh ws o n

and I hope that people can see that.’” after COVID-19.

Smith isn’t the only member of the speech “We were around 25 to 30 [stuteam with such a great attitude; head coach Midents] for a long time and when that chael Piccoli shares a similar mindset for the was the case, I could still work with team. everyone in a week,” Piccoli said.

“My goal is pretty much always the same, “It’s impossible now.” which is that I want students to do their best,” Piccoli is still able to get to know Piccoli said. “If you’re sharing your story… [and] all his members, but it takes an enmaking genuine connections with your audience, tire speech season instead. you’ll be rewarded for it.”

As the team numbers continue While trophies can be great, the team priorito increase, Piccoli urges his uppertizes fostering a positive environment over winclassmen to remind the new memning awards. bers of what the team is all about.

“Everyone’s just really nice and … welcoming “If a [judge] gives you a bad … [It’s a] great community,” sophomore Imscore, it doesn’t matter,” Smith said. promptu and OO competitor River Newsted said.

“That’s not what we’re doing it for.

“It’s really inspiring to be surrounded with peoWe’re here to tell our story. We’re ple who really care about what they do and put in here to share it.” all this extra work.”

For underclassmen like Newsted, Newsted was immediately drawn to the this mentality actually helps him imspeech team as a soon-to-be freshman at the prove, as it relieves some unnecesActivities Fair. The team proved to be a great sary stress he puts on himself before fit for Newsted, which he attributes to competitions. the culture of the team.

“It really helps … a lot of schools Part of this culture is really care about placement … and the level of support the it’s kind of intense,” Newsted said. peer coaches and Piccoli “I feel like [Prospect] is more relaxed provide. A peer coach is and friendly, and some people are typically an upperclassman just there to have a good time. [It] speech member who is asjust makes everyone more calm and signed to three to four kids. more supportive of each other too, The peer coaches have a which … helps everyone do better.” multitude of responsibilities, Newsted isn’t the only competisuch as finding scripts and braintor who has been successful throughstorming topics. out their time on the team. Last Newsted specifically looks up to his peer season, the team placed 5th overall coach Claire Wynkoop (competes in Imat the IHSA state tournament, most promptu and DDA), who has not only benotably, with both of their duets come a coach for Newsted, but also a friend.

(DDA and HDA) placing first.

“She’s a Even though the state great role m e e t model bewas an cause she’s obvious r e a l l y highlight good at for Picwhat she coli, he does,” acknowlNewsted e d g e s said. “She that helpk n o w s ing his how to students make me betand seeter, and she - Michael Piccoli, head coach ing them always can … make me feel improve is confident and comfortable in what I’m doing.” just as great as winning a state title.

The peer coaches are able to develop rela“Especially after the long season, tionships with three to four kids much faster I’ve done all this stuff all season long than Piccoli can with 50, which is why they are to prepare these kids,” Piccoli said. invaluable to the team. This is a challenge that “Then I kind of sit back and let them has developed as the speech participant numbers do their thing, and their thing turns continue to increase following a period of decline out to be pretty great.”

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Student-led productions take center stage CLAIRE WYNKOOP Online Editor-in-Chief

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MISS AMERICA: Sophomore Hannah Ellis, playing Bill Gates, and sophomore Kylie Conley, playing Miss Texas, (left to right) act in “Pageant Mayhem,” written by Erin Elliott. (photo by Claire Wynkoop)

TADA: Junior Siena Mirandola and freshmen Zaryn Weber and Aidan Ziegenhorn (from left to right) perform their group dance in “Love, Paint, and a Dash of Mustard” written

by Leanna Kewarkis. (photo by Peter Radosh) PUFF: Junior Isaac Friedman plays a nurse with a smoking habit in “Another Medical Show” written by Maya Konarzewski. (photo by Peter Radosh)

SPOTLIGHT: Sophomore Robin Tobin stands center stage as they play a best friend who accidentally becomes a third wheel. (photo by Peter Radosh)

WHO, ME?: Sophomore Sam Wozniak (left) poses in his dancer costume as he prepares to do an interpretive dance to “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles in his pink tutu and hat. Sophomore Lance Gadberry (right), in a series of hilarious events and show changes, becomes the host of a talk show that he was originally just a guest on in, “Fix It In Post” written by Scott Bartsch. (photo by Peter Radosh)

he theater program has been embracing the brand new this year. The slogan for the theater season (shows from fallspring) this year is “no fear”. In the fall, they tried live flight for the first time in program history, the spring musical is all about facing “Disaster”, but the winter takes on “no fear” in a student centered way.

In Friday (K)night Live: Iron Chef Edition, students were given the difficult task of writing, acting and producing their own series of skits in about a week. Students volunteered to write scripts and work through that process. One of those writers was junior Scott Bartsch. Bartsch wrote one scene, “Fix it in Post,” and acted in “The Discovery,” written by Lucas DeLuca, as well. Writing, Bartsch shared, has always been one of his passions.

“I just love writing, especially for theater,” Bartsch said. “Plus, I got to write it at home with my dog in my lap so I liked that part.”

Being able to watch scenes develop right in front of him was a cool experience. Since writers were heavily involved in other parts of the process as well, Bartsch said he didn’t really get to see his scene in action before it got put on the stage.

“I like seeing the interpretation that Sam, the person who directed and acted in it, took with it,” Bartsch said. “It was pretty faithful, but he did some things I wouldn’t have expected. Things I really liked.”

Directing scenes was also left to students. Auditions were held on Wednesday Nov. 20 and took a little over an hour. Mostly improved monologues were all the students had to present to directors and then actors were sorted into scenes by the directing team. Then directors got chosen for scrips and set off to begin rehearsing with actors that same day.

Senior Giuliana Russo was among the many upperclassmen directors for the show. Working with Senior Isabella Smith on “Pageant Mayhem”, a script written by freshman Erin Elliott about a Miss America pageant gone horribly wrong, Russo believed she found something she really loved doing.

“I didn’t really have that much experience directing,” Russo said. “So I wanted to try something new and I was surprised to really love it as much as I do.”

Following auditions and the initial day of rehearsal, teams had essentially one day to perfect their scenes. Everything from costuming and set, to lighting and sound was left to directors and tech teams to set up on Thursday, Nov. 21 before the show day on Friday, Nov. 22.

“I love acting and writing,” Bartsch said. “But seeing it all come together so fast is really cool.”

Russo was grateful for a “partner in crime” through Smith as the hectic turnaround of the show was hard to keep up with. So co-directing was the simple cure.

“I think just having someone to bounce ideas off of makes it easier,” Russo said. “You don’t have to make all the choices yourself, and you have somebody to talk to through the process.”

Russo also expressed her gratitude that it was Smith above anyone else.

“I love Isabella,” Russo said. “I’m lucky that she’s just someone that I get along with and love to spend time with. Getting to direct with her was just a bonus.”

In an idea developed by the Theater Angels executive board, most of the directors were upperclassmen and the casting for skits favored underclassmen. Like many theater programs, upperclassmen tend to find themselves in larger roles than underclassmen and the executive board wanted to give those kids who don’t always find themselves center stage an opportunity to experience that. This not only let freshman and sophomores flex their skills in a smaller environment, but also allowed the upperclassmen to see the future of the program in the spotlight.

“One of the things I loved was seeing all the potential of the underclassmen,” Russo said. “It’s really exciting to know that the future of the program is really bright.”

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staff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Amanda Feinberg MANAGING EDITORS Ben Mitchell, Stella Palm, Tessa Trylovich ASSOCIATE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Peter Radosh COPY EDITORS Xander Adkins, Jocelyn Farina, Sage Gilliland ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Claire Wynkoop ASSOCIATE ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alyssa Kowols KNIGHT TV EXEC PRODUCER Kenny Munao KNIGHTVOICES EXEC PRODUCER Amelia Maslowski KNIGHT TV LIVE EXEC PRODUCER Ben Mitchell PROSPECTOR EDITORS Sienna Demonte, Sarah George, Meg Imherr, Alice Kelsey, Leanna Kewarkis, Matthew Pulver KNIGHT TV DIRECTORS Johnny Klasen, Ryan Podgorny, Konstanty Romanowski SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTORS Kaden Chung, Abby Damasky REPORTERS Loren Bell, Lucas DeLuca, Gina Laslau, Kaia Mavradas, Dylan Maye, Molly Mundt, Jane Nash, Luke Robinson, Kainaat Siddiqui, Sydney Strimling ADVISER Jason Block

MISSION STATEMENT

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

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

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Rejection or redirection Staff Editorial

Your career is not derailed and you will, in fact, still get into college!

It’s really a matter of chance; your counselor is not sitting at their desk, urprise ... or not, for you rubbing their hands together trying over-planners out there! to “get you back.”

It’s officially time to start On the flip side, there are some thinking about next years’ classes. electives that never have the certainYeah, next school year. As in nine ty of running. Love has taught a Cremonths from now. We’re finally ative Writing course for over twenty brave enough to say it. years, but recently its demand has But hopefully you already know somewhat died down. this. District 214 uses a career According to English teacher pathway system, and each and evTim McDermott, the class has only ery student aligns with one of their run roughly 20 times in the past 10 choosing. There are a total of 16 difyears. Just for comparison, a class ferent career clusters, each featuring like Humanities, that runs approxsuggested electives for prospective imately 4 sections each semester, students to take. would have run 80 times in that However, according to English same span. The elective was forteacher Matt Love, Prospect is one tunately brought back this school of the only schools in the district year, but Love doesn’t know if he’ll that offers so many elective options, be teaching the course. which is why 92.7% of students are “You get used to it when you happy with the available electives at do senior electives,” Love said. “I’ve Prospect (according to a KnightMetaught electives that don’t exist dia survey of 180 students). School anymore, either because they were counselor Rachel Brill, in charge of canceled or interest has kind of died about 150 students’ course selecout.” tion herself, believes that the curBoth Love and McDermott have rent elective system we use is very taught electives that no longer exist: effective.

British Literature and Contempo“It’s a good way [for students] rary Literature, respectively. to try a lot of things In Creative Writand see what resoing, students are nates with them, [and] given lots of freeif [the class is] truly dom to choose what what they thought it Against they want to write was,” Brill said. about and what kind Most electives at For of topics they would Prospect are open to like to explore. This all students, but there strays away from the are a few with set reformat of a typical quirements. For examEnglish class that ple, College World ReVoting results of the freshman, sopholigions is an extremely KnightMedia staff in mores and juniors sought after class, and are required to take, so counselors have re- regards to this editorial. in which they must cently limited seats to write about a set of required curseniors only. Even with this restricricula, consisting of mainly essays tion, only five sections of the class focusing on the current unit. Love can be ran, which is when the autobelieves this is why senior English mated system comes into play. electives, specifically Creative WritAs it turns out, on the staff side ing, are so important. of Infinite Campus lies a “secret” ”I think it is possible that a class built-in scheduling piece that sorts like that, among others, can help students into their classes. Core students have a bit of a healthier classes take first priority, and elecrelationship with reading and writtives fill in based on that. New Assoing, where it’s not such a chore and ciate Principal for Student Services, it’s not something aimed at getting Mary Kate Smith, has attested to the a test score,” Love said. “It’s just for efficacy of this approach. the fun and for its own sake.”

“We try to take all bias out by There is, though, a rare comusing the automated system, just to monality between a hugely popular make it support the most students course like World Religions and a as possible,” said Smith. more niche one like Creative WritSo no, when you don’t get into ing; students never know if they’ll your first choice elective, your counget in. Whether that’s because of selor is not trying to ruin your life. high demand or fear of not enough,

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SELECTION: Students face tough choice evaluating career paths, as they are unsure of which electives to prioritize. (art by Sage Gilliland) there is no guarantee a student will get to take the class. However, according to Smith, not being chosen can actually expand students’ horizons for good.

“It gives you opportunities sometimes to be in other classes that maybe weren’t your first choice but end up helping you know your career pathway down the road,” Smith said.

We, KnightMedia, believe that while first-choice electives are important, it is not the be-all and end-all. It is important to understand that Prospect does its best to ensure all students receive the courses best suited for them given its plethora of options. It is an emotional process, but we believe that students must remain respectful and considerate towards their counselors throughout course selection.

Not everyone will get their ideal schedule. But, whether you believe it or not at the moment, your second or even third choice may be the perfect fit for you, and can actually provide clarity. In fact, not everyone in KnightMedia is in their first choice elective, and we would argue we’re all happy with where we are. “[The] bottom line [is], we want students to leave high school with a bunch of experiences so that when they go off to college, they can make some good decisions for themselves without flopping around to different programs,” Brill said.

Stuffing Thanksgiving with cultural foods

Around the Kewarkis family’s Assyrian Senior and Greek Club president Tania Perna Thanksgiving table there’s rice, kabobs, tabbou- has Thanksgiving staples like turkey and pumpleh, falafel and, of course, turkey. I’m not sure kin pie, but also cultural dishes like spanakopiwhy we have turkey; it’s the least touched dish. ta at her celebration, with her favorite being the Maybe in an effort to have a slightly American dessert bougatsa. Like me with Assyrian food, Thanksgiving? This is how evPerna appreciates the fact that she gets to ery holiday goes: on Christmas have Greek food on Thanksgiving. we replace the mediocre turkey “I feel like food in general is a big part with slightly less mediocre ham! of Greek culture. We take it seriously ...

Many families of various It’s definitely a lot of my family’s way of ethnic backgrounds celebrate showing love,” Perna said.

Thanksgiving by incorporating My aunt spends the summer going to American Thanksgiving foods different farms, picking up grape leaves so with dishes from their cultures. she can make dolma for us, and I love it. I At Prospect, 25.9% of students could eat it everyday for weeks, and knowhave cultural foods at Thanksing how much work she puts into them giving, according to a Knightmakes it that much better.

LEANNA Media survey of 180 people.

Cultures like mine are taught in classDespite being half Polish es like Human Geography and Cultural KEWARKIS Studies. Former teacher of these classes, and half Chinese, senior Alex Karokowski’s favorite Thanks- Exec. Features Michelle Fonsino, explains how both algiving food is stuffing. Howevlow students learn about where cultures Editor er, she also has pierogi and her originate and how they got there. Fonsino grandma’s famous walnut cookies, which she wanted to teach these classes because she loves used to help her grandma make as a kid. what makes people unique.

“I kind of like the traditional thanksgiving “I had always loved people … ever since I was food … you only really get stuffing and turkey … younger I was able to appreciate why people are one time a year … but I also like the cultural dish- different,” Fonsino said. “I’m very lucky that my es just [because] it brings a little uniqueness,” job enables me to not only teach different stuKarkowski said. dents but to hopefully enlighten them about …

Bougatsa: dough, custard, cinnamon, sugar

Dolma: rice, beef wrapped in grape leaves

why people have different cultures.”

This is why I’ve participated in the Multicultural Fair for the past two years. Celebrating everyone’s culture is so important to me, especially when I come from a group of people, Assyrians, who have no land to call their home and make up roughly 0.05% of the world’s population.

The next time someone asks me what my favorite Thanksgiving food is, I’m going to proudly explain how my celebration works, and how I’ve never had gravy or cranberry sauce, and I don’t like mashed potatoes. Yeah, I said it! (By the way, it’s a texture thing). And I will explain how my family incorporates all of our ethnic foods because that’s what’s worth celebrating: culture.

The Extended story

Pierogi: dough with cabbage, rice, meat inside

with more on family traditions

Tabbouleh: salad with tomatoes, onions, parsley

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Origins don’t matter, family does JOCELYN FARINA Copy Editor

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he little beagle, trapped in a crate and sitting in her own filth, was isolated and starving. After suffering out in the cold with little to eat, rescue had eventually come — but this glimmer of hope only led the dog to a one-way trip to a kill shelter in Kentucky. However, fate stepped in, and she was picked up by an adoption agency and taken to Illinois.

Senior Gabrielle Peterman was still mourning the loss of her beloved puggle, Banjo, when she and her family went to PetSmart to return an unopened bag of dog food. While wandering around, a sign advertising an adoption event caught Peterman’s eye. She walked over and made eye contact with Maci Mae, the quirky beagle who completely stole her heart.

“It was like a spark of love,” Peterman said.

“Kind of sounds weird, but after seeing hundreds of dogs [that day], she was the only one that stuck with us.”

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), 3.1 million dogs are placed into shelters every year, with two million of those dogs being adopted annually — and in 2023, Peterman made her own small contribution by getting Mae. In a KnightMedia survey of 180 Prospect students, 21.5% of students said that they have a rescue dog. Peterman’s family never planned

on getting a rescue dog, but they ultimately decided to get one after a costly experience with a dog that came from the pet store Petland and the health complications that came with it. The organization, according to the Humane Society, is the largest national chain in the U.S. that sells puppies, and a total of 1,500 complaints have been filed against them.

The head of Programs and Community Engagement at Heartland Animal Shelter, Mary Wozencraft, explains how damaging the puppy mill system can be.

“It’s really sad when we get those breeder releases because you can just tell how used and discarded [the mothers] are,” Wozencraft said. “[The breeders] just wanted to use them for puppies.”

Unfortunately, ASPCA reports that only a mere 2,000 breeders in the U.S. are federally licensed. Despite this, 27.5% of students stated that they have gotten a dog from a breeder before, according to the same KnightMedia survey. The most common reason among students was that their families wanted a specific dog breed.

Recognizing this preference, Kim McGuirk co-founded Chicago Lagotto with her husband Hugh McGuirk. She was fascinated by a Lagotto Romagnolo she had once met before and was determined to get one for herself. To her surprise, though, the breed was quite rare and hard to come by.

McGuirk explained that the intent never was to breed, but she soon found herself breeding Lagotto Romagnoli, with guidance from anoth-

er Lagotto breeder. Over the years, McGuirk has been able to cultivate a steady audience; however, she still admits that selling a purebred dog isn’t always as easy as it seems.

“You have to be able to talk to your customers and explain to them why your dog is worth $4,500 and why your dog is better than a dog [from] a dog shelter … [and] worth their investment,” McGuirk said.

McGuirk is no stranger to the shelter world, as she did adopt from one once, she but quickly discovered that the dog had some behavioral problems that she was not equipped to properly handle. However, this has not discouraged McGuirk from shelters, as she volunteers at the Lagotto Romagnolo Dog Rescue.

“When you look at Lagottos across the country, you’ll see some that don’t even look like the ones on my web page. They look like another breed of dog because they weren’t well bred,” McGuirk said.

Still, McGuirk continues to breed dogs, knowing that people usually want specific breeds for specific reasons. Her children first opposed the idea, but she says that they have come around, with her son having adopted from a litter and her daughter helping out on the veterinary side.

While there is ongoing debate about whether shelter or bred dogs make better pets, both can yield positive results for the owner. According to heart.org, dogs can help lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and help you incorporate more movement into your life.

“Get a dog, whatever dog you want, always

get it,” Peterman said. “I’m not going to be like, ‘you have to get an eight year old senior dog that was abused.’ Not everybody has to do that. That was my choice and that was my family’s choice of what we wanted to do.”

Both McGuirk and Wozencraft advise that you should always think about what’s best for your family. Wozencraft says she will always encourage people to adopt, but she knows that dogs can bring benefits either way.

Peterman advises going in person and seeing where you feel most comfortable, whether it be at a breeder or a shelter.

“You shouldn’t get a dog just because you feel bad for them, but if you have a genuine connection … you can build a solid relationship with [them],” Peterman said. “Because I knew from the first moment I saw Maci: she is my dog.”

Learn about the declining interest in black friday

6

PROSPECTORNOW.COM

DECEMBER 6, 2024

IN-DEPTH

Destigmatizing mental health such as deep breathing, listening to music, taking a break, journaling, exercise, mindfulness exercises and the use of digital apps.

“I think movement is really big,” Weiler said.

“Getting up and moving is really huge, and as the hen psychology teacher Katherine weather is changing, finding ways to stay active Miles was in high school, mental [is important].” health was not a discussion topMovement is especially important considic in or out of classrooms. People never talked ering that during the pandemic many were unabout being depressed or having bad thoughts. able to go outside or have breaks during classSo when a classmate of hers committed suicide, es because of Zoom. During this no one talked about it, and it wasn’t even menperiod, the global prevalence tioned in any of her classes. of anxiety and depression “He had been such a light in class, and [not increased by 25%, accordknowing that he was struggling] was more trauing to the WHO. Many matic to me than not speaking about it,” Miles students were unable said. “It was like we were just pretending he nevto connect with their er existed.” peers, which led to The fact that they weren’t able to tell that he a decline in social was struggling shook Miles to her core. skills, according to Even though mental health awareness has Miles. come a long way in recent years, Miles believes “I noticed — esthat, as a society, there is still a long way to go. pecially right after Over the past 10 years, there has been a 13% COVID — that getting increase in reported mental health disorders, kids to work in groups was according to the World Health Organization really hard, [and] it still is,” (WHO).

Miles said. “Not only do they not To encourage students to seek the help they want to work in a group, [but they also] need, Prospect has developed multiple resources don’t want to work in a group of people they for students who may be going through mental don’t know.” health issues. Every single student is provided Similarly, social worker and UKnight for a counselor and a social worker; it is highly recMinds sponsor Chantel Smith has noticed how ommended that students meet with their social balancing academics and co-curriculars has imservices team during their four years at Prospect. pacted students’ mental health.

“People don’t realize that everybody is go“We [as social workers] just want to help stuing through things. Society says that if you have dents feel better equipped and prepared to navisomething going on, you should keep quiet about gate those things and to seek community in one it. [They say] you shouldn’t share what you’re another,” Smith said. feeling, and that’s just not true,” Miles said.

According to Smith, the teenage years are an Social worker Danny Weiler encourages stuimportant developmental period in a students to speak up about how they dent’s life, and students need are feeling. If a student is to take care of themselves having a stressful day mentally and physically Anxiety and depression or is dealing with an to ensure proper develongoing family issue RATES ROSE during opment. at home, their social the pandemic In Miles’ Psycholoservices team is always gy II classes, they covthere to help. Students According to the World Health er brain development in Organization can schedule a time to meet teens. The class talks about with them via email or come how the parts of your brain that down in person at any time. control attention span, focus and perceiving re“I would say the biggest thing is the first step ality are all still developing in your adolescence. of being able to reach out,” Weiler said. “WhethFurthermore, they discuss the role social media er it’s coming down to see someone on your has in development and how it plays a negative team, or talking to [your] parents, just [being role in it. able to] get that support [is essential,] and then “Social media can be very harmful, especialthe rest [will] fall into place from there.” ly for young people, because [they] don’t have Social workers help assist students by providthe experience or the knowledge to look outside ing them with a variety of coping mechanisms of what they see,” Miles said. “So what they’re

TESSA TRYLOVICH Managing Editor

W

seeing is what they think is the truth, the whole story, and that’s just not true.”

Another resource that Prospect provides for students is UKnight for Minds, a mindfulness club that any student can join, which meets every other Wednesday. The goal of the club is to help destigmatize mental health and to advocate for students’ overall well being. They highlight the importance of wellness for students, such as prioritizing sleep, nutrition, self care and providing students with healthy coping skills that they can use to cope with stress.

“Many students do struggle with those things [so we] kind of help normalize talking about these things so that people don’t feel alone in [them],” Smith said.

They educate students on different topics each month and put out informational posters. Right now, they are working on affirmation bracelets, and they also have comfort dogs in the works for finals week to help students cope with the stress.

Some signs that social worker Andrea Salzman sees in students who struggle with mental health may be a lack of focus, negative academic outcomes or pushing themselves to fit in, among many other behaviors. “[As a friend], you can always listen and validate their feelings, but definitely help encourage each other to come down and see their student services team, so that they can really process through whatever’s going on and problem solve it,” Salzman said.

In addition to some of the brief counseling and crisis intervention that the social workers do, they can provide families with tangible resources if they are in need of assistance. The social workers can provide specific things, whether it be food, shelter or clothing, and they can help provide referrals to connect people to outside support.

To help combat the increase in mental health

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illnesses, each school in the district added one more psychologist and social worker to their Student Services team. Two years ago, Prospect’s Student Services team added the Supporting U support for freshmen, which is another way for freshmen to interact with their Student Services team. The Student Services team comes in at the beginning of the school year and does different lessons that the team feels pertain to what students might be interested in learning. All of the lessons relate to mental health and managing the stress that high school can bring.

“School can be hard for a lot of students, and being a teenager is hard,” Smith said. “If you know someone is struggling, encourage them to get help.

Reach out to someone and let them know that this person is struggling.

You have support here, and we can’t help if we don’t know what’s going on.”

PROSPECTORNOW.COM

IN-DEPTH

DECEMBER 6, 2024

7

Heckard handles hectic hours XANDER ADKINS Copy Editor At only 12 years old, current junior, Rosemary Heckard stepped onto the stage that would change her life forever. Flashbacks of the years she spent training for this exact moment reminded her that auditioning for her first professional theater role was no longer a dream.

As she found her way to the audition room, the odds were seemingly against her. Heckard was competing for the role against professionally taught kids whose parents had

decided they were going to be stars from birth, which was a far cry from the self-taught singing and made-up dances Heckard had been doing in her room with her extra after school time.

“Some of these kids came out of the womb and their parents were like ‘Oh my God, I’m going to have a child model. I’m going to have a child actress. I’m going to homeschool my kids, send them to a private school [and] spend hours and thousands of dollars on making them into a star,’” said Heckard, now a junior.

Yet, Heckard wasn’t nervous in the slightest. Pre-show stress hadn’t hit her, which allowed her to perform with no regrets. All of the lessons and money in the world wouldn’t have changed a thing during the audition.

Regardless of her experience, she sang her heart out and had a blast being among other young actors who were equally as obsessed with the show as she was.

“I [was] like, ‘I am in this core group,’” Heckard said.

“I was so excited.”

However, while looking back, the lack of stress before her audition now piques her interest. With the amount of stress growing as she gets older, Heckard has been puzzled as to how this never bothered her in the past.

Soon enough, she found her answer. She was a kid.

She felt ecstatic to be at the audition, and was naive to the heartbreak that could have happened had she not been called back.

“I had never really faced rejection, [and] I had never really been rejected from a role before,” Heckard said. “[Even] though this was literally my first ever professional audition, it honestly didn’t stress me out too much. I was just excited.”

Yet, childhood naivety doesn’t last forever, and stressors only grow as one ages.

In Heckard’s case, it’s a different story. While the more laid-back childhood brain was undoubtedly a factor in keeping her cool, Heckard is more stressed now due to her involvement in numerous extracurricular activities.

Heckard is not alone, as “80% of students aged 12-17 take part in at least one extracurricular activity,” according to bigfuture.collegeboard.org.

While extracurriculars can be a great way to try something new, make

new friends and get involved in the community, participating in too many of them can be overwhelming.

Drawing the line of how many extracurriculars one can juggle at once is a process of trial and error that varies drastically between students. For example, Heckard is involved in flag football, law team, orchestra, speech, acting classes and theater both at Prospect and outside of school. Not to mention she does non-curricular activities outside of school, such as violin lessons and her job.

In a memory as distinct as her first professional call-back, Heckard recalls a time where she simply didn’t have enough time to commit to everything.

During her sophomore year, she had the PSAT, a violin dress rehearsal and an important understudy rehearsal for Rosie in “Mamma Mia!” all on the same Saturday. On the Friday she was supposed to be preparing for everything, she was visiting her grandma in Ohio. This forced her to cram last-minute and perform lackluster in her events, the worst of which being the PSAT. “I honestly felt like everything just came crashing down because I felt like I had been prioritizing [and] I had been practicing as much as I should have … [but] I did not get the score I wanted,” Heckard said.

The experience allowed Heckard to reflect on her commitments and reinvigorated her motivation to effectively manage her time. Despite usually being self-sufficient, Heckard was comforted by the reminder that her family would be there to support her when she was overwhelmed.

“My parents ended up saying [something] like… ‘You’ve put in all the work, you just have to let it happen. You just have to show up [and] do the best you can do. You have to control what you can control,’” Heckard said. “That’s what I have to remind myself a lot: just controlling what I can control, and I can control how much I put into what I do.”

Heckard’s parents have supported her throughout all her endeavors, a process that her father, Steven Heckard, believes is key as a parent.

“My wife and I have both kind of taken the philosophy that if [our kids] want to pursue something, we’ll give them as much support as we can,” Steven said. “It’s really important to support the kids’ passions as much as is feasible … the more tools we can give them in their tool belt, the better off they’re going to be in the real world.”

CURTAIN CALL: A 10-year-old Rosemary Heckard narrates the musical “Into the Woods” at Christian Youth Theater Chicago. (photo by Jennifer Heim) While Heckard’s parents were undoubtedly crucial supporters in her life, Heckard believes that her younger, “twin” sister, Gretchen, has been an irreplaceable best friend throughout her life. Their bond is most noticeable through their shared extracurriculars, which have allowed them to bond further and inspire one another to try new things.

“When [Rosemary] was practicing the whole summer for her [flag football] tryouts, I would practice with her, and I’d run her drills with her, and I played catch with her all the time. That inspired me to try out for the [flag football] season … and she inspired me to do student council because she was the president of it [in middle school],” Gretchen said. “Now this year I’m on the executive board for it.”

While all of Heckard’s commitments can be discouraging, seeing her sister and other close friends reminds her why she takes it all on.

“All of my commitments that I align with, my main goal is [to have] fun, enjoy what I do and be around the people that I enjoy being around,” Heckard said.

To keep up with her schedule, time management is of the utmost importance to Heckard, and she is proud of how she manages to fit everything in without any drawbacks.

“I don’t get too overwhelmed.

By balancing my commitments well, I’ve found a really great, sustainable rhythm,” Heckard said.

Heckard’s main strategies to this balance include a jam-packed daily planner, Google Keep program and copious amounts of energy drinks. By learning from her experiences, Heckard has gone from being overwhelmed to having her commitments under control, a fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed from her family.

“Obviously I feel a lot of pride,” Steven said. “It’s nice to know that she’s able to make the appropriate prioritization of the things that she needs to work on. It’s nice to be able to see her take the ownership for [her] responsibilities. Time management and operational focus are very, very important … I think those are good life skills that are going to serve her well over the course of time.”

Heckard is now at a point of controlled chaos, with a busy yet manageable schedule that allows her to commit to all of her extracurriculars without causing another last-minute panic. While anxiety and stress are still present in her life, she fights through it with a realistic, yet encouraging mindset.

“At the end of the day, it’s just when I feel like I’m getting overwhelmed or I feel like I’m not going to perform well in rehearsal or I didn’t practice … enough, then I just remind myself [that] I put my whole self into it,” Heckard said. “I put in all the work, I just have to let the results speak for themselves.”

essays in the span of one month to fit her timing of everything. Supplementals are additional essays that give colleges a better insight into if a student is a good fit for the school. They usually require some sort of research about the college, its majors and extracurric-

READ THE REST ON PROSPECTORNOW.COM

College applications leave seniors distressed ALYSSA KOWOLS Online Associate Editor-in-Chief It was a nice autumn day, and senior Blanka Bak was just getting home from school. After a stressful day, most people would go and relax, but not Bak. Instead she spent the next four to five hours working on her three most important supplementals for her college applications.

Bak decided that her research for these supplementals would include a professor she would like to work with, three clubs she would like to be a part of, why she chose her major and a specific class she would like to take.

Since she did this for each of the nine schools she applied to, it took a lot of time and was difficult for her.

“It was really mentally challenging to just stay on top of everything,” Bak said.

The college application process is long and hard for many seniors. For a

lot of schools, it can take months to complete the application for the different deadlines. The college application deadlines are Oct. 15, Nov. 1, Nov. 15, Jan 1, Jan. 2 and Jan. 15. Certain schools also require test scores, supplemental essays and a resume to apply. This step is where Bak found herself struggling.

Bak plans to double major in mechanical engineering and motorsport engineering with a minor in Spanish.

To try and avoid stress with the deadlines, she completed her applications four months before they were due.

Bak not only chose to rewrite her original application essay, but she also had to write all of her supplemental

ulars.

For Bak, the entire process was very difficult. She claims to only have made it through because of support from her teachers, family and friends.

“There were days that I would just completely break down,” Bak said. “It was really just a difficult process for me, but thankfully I had my parents and my friends mentally supporting me through it.”

8 FEATURES

PROSPECTORNOW.COM

DECEMBER 6, 2024

Clubs create positive environment MOLLY MUNDT

Features Reporter

K

indness is one of senior and Knights’ Way leader Bella Iovino’s core values because of the lack of kindness she had received from her peers growing up; she was often bullied and teased in school.

“I never want anyone to feel the way I felt,” Iovino said.

Prospect prides itself on one of its many mottos: “Every Knight Matters.” A huge part of this theme is being kind to one another — evident in how clubs like UKnight for Minds, Service Club and Knights’ Way work especially hard to spread kindness and provide a friendly environment for students.

One way that Prospect tries to cultivate a better and kinder environment is through Knights’ Way. Once a quarter, the junior and senior leaders of the club visit every classroom and talk about a life lesson with the class. Their goal is to encourage students to strive to be good people and friends.

Iovino joined the group because she wanted to take her experiences and knowledge from Knights’ Way and share that with new students.

“It doesn’t take much to be kind, and it doesn’t take much to just help somebody,” Iovino said. “Every little thing counts.”

The most memorable lesson to Iovino was about being extraordinary. She discovered that students can be extraordinary in their everyday lives just by doing something as simple as helping someone clean up a spill.

Similar to Knights’ Way, Service Club doesn’t want anyone to feel left out or unappreciated.

With this in mind, they started “Thank You

SPREADING POSITIVITY: Junior Wendy Calderon writes a nice message on the kindness board for students. (photo by Molly Mundt) Thursdays” where they surprise under-recognized staff — such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers — with little gifts of appreciation. On Oct. 24, for example, Service Club surprised the cafeteria workers by decorating their lockers and creating a surprise entrance with streamers. Students in AP Biology also handed out roses.

“It was a good gesture — not just for the cafeteria staff but for the whole school. It really emphasized that we need to be grateful … for not just teachers but janitors, cafeteria workers, se-

curity and the people we don’t necessarily think about,” senior and Service Club member Olivier Witek said.

Witek found out about Service Club as a junior, and it immediately caught his attention.

He wanted to join because of his love for making people feel happy and helping those around him.

In fact, part of the reason he wants to be a biomedical engineer and help make advancements in medical technology is because he wants to do something that has an element of helping people.

“It’s important to be somebody that is contagious with kindness, just so you can make everyone’s day a little bit better,” Witek said.

UKnight For Minds is a club focused on mental health, kindness and forming a more positive environment at school. During one of their meetings, they brainstormed the idea of putting up a “kindness wall.” This was a board displayed by the vending machines with sticky notes and a pen so students could write encouraging messages like, “You’re almost to Friday,” and, “I am proud of you!” They also put an advice board by the attendance office where students can give each other tips and tricks to navigate high school such as, “Take care of yourself,” and “Your best is okay, I promise.”

Senior Kate Kremer is very involved in UKnight For Minds, having joined the club because she was struggling with her own mental health. She wanted to help others through their mental health journeys. One way to support people is to teach people about the importance of gentleness, which Kremer believes the positive message boards have helped with.

When UKnight For Minds takes down the boards, they will make a video of their favorite responses and post it on the student announcements. Students like Kremer understand that everyone has their own struggles in high school, so making sure school is a positive space for everyone is extremely important.

Both Kremer and Witek believe Prospect accomplishes this goal.

“Everyday I go to school even if it’s a rough day … there is somebody there to support me or I see someone supporting someone else,” Witek said. “I feel like there’s so much good at Prospect … I think it’s a really good atmosphere we have,” Witek said.

Endless career options foster student concerns KAINAAT SIDDIQUI News Reporter Finding a profession is hard, and most students feel like the choice is a life-altering decision because it determines what they are going to do with their future. But what if you don’t know what you want to do?

“I want to know by next year, and I should have a better idea [of it by then],” sophomore Bella Kanaris said. “When I apply to college, I have to know.”

For many Prospect students, this choice starts with choosing a career path. For some, it comes easy, but for many, it’s an overwhelming decision.

Deciding on a future profession or plan doesn’t have to be a “set in stone” decision, especially for high school students who are typically unsure of what they want to do. A KnightMedia survey of 163 students found that 76.1% of them had changed their career interest at some point during their time in high school.

High school is the gateway to college and careers, and one of Prospect’s main goals is to help students prepare and explore what they want to do in the future. According to counselor Joann Villaseñor, some students fear falling behind if they haven’t decided on what career they want.

“It’s hard to know so early on, without taking a lot of electives and things to get you familiar with different career paths … I think the biggest worry is, will I know by senior year?” Villaseñor said.

This worry over choosing the right career path can cause the fear of missing out on a potential job. A person’s dream job sometimes may not exist and can cause unrealistic expectations.

However, counselors argue that meaningful jobs often don’t always have to align with students’ expectations, and that there is no such thing as “the perfect career.”

“I don’t know what I want to do, so I don’t know what classes to take, so I just kind of take random ones and hope something sticks,” Kanaris said.

Even though there is more of an understanding of being unsure, students still fear for their futures, particularly when they are ready to enter college. 74% of high schoolers believe it is

important to have their career plans determined when they graduate from high school, according to PR Newswire.

“I think it’s just better for [students who know what they want to do in the future] because they can progress their way into getting to that career and figure it out faster,” Kanaris said.

In fact, according to the same KnightMedia survey, the 15-16 age group had the highest percentage of students who knew what they wanted to do. While it is great that some students are sure of their future, Postsecondary success counselor Colleen Carroll reminds people that there is a lot of time to be unsure of the future and that students should follow their passions.

“I wouldn’t worry about knowing what you want to do. I would just say [to look] for what’s interesting. Because in a perfect world, what you find really interesting and rewarding would be to be able to find a job that has that in it,” Carroll said.

Even when students transition to college, there are still many resources available to help them settle on a path; counselors work with students to help them figure out their major and pathway. According to Central College, 75% of American college students either start their college career as undecided or change their major at least once. Students can use exploration events, personality or career quizzes, counseling and internships for guidance.

Students can also take classes and electives to further their education in that pathway and learn more about what they’re interested in. Looking for ideas on what to major in becomes easy with the right help, according to Villaseñor, whose high school counselor inspired her to become a counselor.

“I needed a lot of help because my parents didn’t go to college, so I got really close with my counselor, and eventually went back to interview her a few years later,” Villaseñor said. “I realized that I wanted to do what she did for students like me who needed that extra help.”

Villaseñor encourages students to find help in deciding as she had done with her own counselor.

“Talk with adults or staff that you’re comfortable with and [ask] them about how they came to be in the career that they’re in because I think knowledge is power,” Villaseñor said.

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DECEMBER 6, 2024

9

Miceli: multilingual, motivated LUCAS DELUCA Staff Reporter

I

n the late 20th century, in a country an ocean away, a girl attended a puppet show. Claudia Miceli, one young girl out of the five million women living in Belgium, watched a marionette show with her cousin and aunt.

A dazzling theatrical performance acted out by wooden puppets on strings. One afternoon later, Miceli was taken by her aunt to the not-so-culturally-unique McDonalds to cap off what was a fun day spent with her relatives.

Now, decades after she experienced the puppet show in Wallonia, Belgium, Miceli reminisced upon it, sitting in a classroom in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, an ocean away from her hometown.

“It was a treat, I’d say,” Miceli said.

“Some culture and junk food, I guess.”

Miceli is the latest addition to the foreign language department at Prospect. While she’s been teaching French and Italian for 13 years, only half of them have been in Illinois. In fact, for almost all of her life, Miceli lived in Belgium — on the western shore of Europe.

Miceli’s youth in Europe was filled with many experiences that she considers to be building blocks in her upbringing. After 14 years of living in Belgium and only knowing how to speak French, Miceli was sent by her parents to Butgenbach, a camp where children learned all about the English language.

One of the assignments given to a young Miceli at the camp was to memorize a long monologue, for a screento-stage version of the Best Picture movie “Titanic.” Miceli was cast as the older version of the female lead, Rose, and had to perform the monologue onstage during the production while wearing a white wig and an old fashioned dress. “[Performing] was super stressful

BONJOUR: World Language teacher Claudia Miceli instructs her French class.

Prior to teaching at Prospect, she taught in Belgium. (photo by Sarah George) with all the parents watching,” Miceli said.

While the process of learning English was tough for her, Miceli recognizes that it was ultimately beneficial for her, and that she’s excited to learn more about the language.

“At the beginning, I was sweating like any kid,” Miceli said. “But once you have enough sentences and vocabulary, it’s fun to practice, it’s fun to engage with other people.”

Having obtained her bachelor’s degree in French and religion at Helmo Sainte Croix and her masters in education at Université catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve, Miceli was set to live out the rest of her life in Belgium.

But, as fate would have it, Miceli met her future husband, Marco, while

they were both vacationing in Sicily with their families The two hit it off — but the couple found it tough to live so far away from each other. Marco is a U.S. citizen and a D214 alumni, and Miceli herself lived all the way across the ocean. Together, they made the difficult decision for Miceli to leave her home country, get married and live in the United States — which then landed Miceli in Mount Prospect.

Miceli first realized how different the United States was from Belgium when she started driving around and looking at the streets, being shocked at the distances between places.

“Everything is smaller [in Belgium],” Miceli said. “Here, everything is bigger, more space, more people.

And I think the pace, the way we live, I feel like it’s faster.”

Even though she now lives a great distance from Wallonia, Miceli still keeps her Belgian culture alive in her activities here in the United States.

She still adores the food — her favorite dish to make being a Western European pastry called “vol-au-vent.” Miceli lamented about Belgian chocolate’s availability in the US, though.

“I can find chocolate here,” said Miceli. “But I have to pay like two, three times the price.”

Miceli also shares her new experiences in Mount Prospect with her three-year-old son, Giovanni. She loves spending time with him, and takes him around the neighborhood to see what’s happening. The two love

learning more about this country that she is still becoming acquainted with.

“The community is very tightknit,” Miceli said. “I really love it over here.”

And the Prospect community, according to Miceli, has been very welcoming. Miceli has a close friendship both in and out of school with fellow World Language teacher Natalie Del Percio, who is very happy that Miceli is now a part of the team.

“She’s one of our unicorns,” Del Percio said. “She speaks Italian beautifully … It’s amazing. She’s a wonderful asset that Prospect is very fortunate to have.”

A student in Miceli’s French class, Sam Wozniak, praised the new teacher for her compassion and attentive attitude towards her students.

“She just has a genuine care for all of her students,” Wozniak said. “She goes around once a class period and asks everybody how their day is going.

It’s really nice.”

And now, after getting a glimpse of what Prospect life looks like, Miceli is more than ready to see what new things await her.

“I am really eager to see what Prospect is,” said Miceli. “I am really eager to discover the Prospect culture.”

Currently ON Prospectornow.com Chemistry teacher Lynsey Panek shares her approach to teaching

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10 ENTERTAINMENT

Freed or still felons?

Netflix show revives famous murder case from the ‘90s SARAH GEORGE Executive Arts & Entertainment Editor Trigger Warning: Warning: Discussions of sexual abuse and other possibly triggering topics appear in the story.

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hedding new light on the infamous case of the Menendez brothers, Ryan Murphy’s latest Netflix show “Monsters” opened America’s eyes. The seven-episode series aired in September, displaying what happened between the Menendez family.

Murphy already has a tarnished reputation for his true crime interpretations due to the backlash he received for his 2022 Jeffery Dahmer documentary. He was criticized for “Monsters” because viewers felt that the script and actors didn’t portray the case respectfully nor truthfully.

“With how big and important the case was, [Murphy] didn’t focus on the right thing and was a little insensitive,” sophomore Alyssa Happ said.

Happ has been interested in the case of the brothers since her freshman year; she has watched the four-hour court cases from the first two trials on Youtube numerous times, highly invested in how the trials turned out.

To briefly summarize the complicated story of the Menendez brothers, it climaxed during the summer of 1989 when brothers Lyle (21) and Erik (18) Menendez burst into the living space of their California home where their father and mother, Jose and Kitty Menendez, were sitting on the couch

watching TV. The boys shot and killed their parents out of what they insisted was self defense. This was because of their traumatic childhood experiences caused primarily from Jose, but also Kitty.

During the seven year process of questioning, explaining, and trials, the brothers, with the help of Erik’s attorney Leslie Abramson, admitted that their father had sexually abused them as kids. This fact is believed to be the cause of the murders.

Abramson fought long and hard for Erik and Lyle’s side of the case to be heard and understood; but in the end, the boys got charged with first degree murder and were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

“I think that during that time, especially for boys, the topic of sexual abuse was weird,” Happ said. “People weren’t educated on the topic much, so their [uninformed] opinions decided the lives of [Erik and Lyle].”

According to the Positive Childhood Alliance, every nine minutes there is a claim of child sexual abuse.

About 1 in 4 women and 1 in 13 men admit that they had been sexually abused during their childhood.

Lyle’s abuse from his dad started at the age of six. In court, he explained that Kitty had an idea of what was happening but never did anything to stop it. Finally, at the age of eight, Lyle put his foot down and told Jose to stop – which he did.

Erik, on the other hand, endured the mistreatment almost his whole life, until the murders.

When in court for the first trial, Jill Lansing, Lyle’s attorney, asked Lyle why he killed his parents; Lyle’s response was, “Because we were afraid.”

“Anytime that someone is in a stressful or anxious situation, they will do what they need to do to protect themselves,” Psychology 1 and 2 and history teacher Katherine Miles said.

“For the Menendez case, I think it was sort of a fight or flight situation.”

Miles explained that during Psych 2, her students learn about child development and how it connects to behavior as those children grow older. The boys were taught at a young age how to handle and cope with the sexual abuse they were experiencing, and that shaped who they were when they killed their parents.

“I think that at some point people have had enough,” Miles said. “The limit of human nature is still kind of being discovered.

When pushed, people can do a lot of things that they wouldn’t normally

for more info on the menendez brothers, check out our timeline

DECEMBER 6, 2024

PROSPECTORNOW.COM

SEEKING INNOCENCE: During the trials, Leslie Abramson, Erik Menendez’s attorney, made Erik wear glasses even though his vision was fine; she also made him wear a pastel yellow polo shirt. Both of these items, in her opinion, made Erik look more innocent to the public. Tactics like these were used during the case in order to persuade the jury to not give the boys the death penalty. (art by Bel Le)

think they could be capable of.”

Miles said that there could be a theory known as the Just-World Phenomenon at play here.

According to Verywell Mind, the Just-World Phenomenon is “the tendency to believe that the world is just and that people get what they deserve.”

In other words, the common belief of society is that good people deserve good things and bad people deserve bad things.

For the brothers’ case, that is what the jury went by. The jury plays a big role in every case, either negatively altering the future of the offender or helping to guide them to innocence.

“People saw what happened without knowing [the brothers’] past and automatically thought they were bad people, which [altered] their future,” Miles said.

On Oct. 24 of this year, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón reopened the case. He reported that he was trying to get the Menendez brothers re-sentenced to 50 years in prison with the possibility of parole.

They have spent 35 years in prison already where, according to NBC News, they have been good inmates.

They’ve taken college courses while behind bars and Erik has even gone so far as to teach meditation classes to the other inmates.

The retrial for the brothers is scheduled for Dec. 11.

“Given the fact that they have served [35] years and have pretty much been model inmates, it would be reasonable for the courts to grant them their freedom,” Criminal and Civil Law and Psychology teacher Jay Heilman said.

In his class, Heilman highlights real-life examples of the topics his students study: one of them being the Menendez case. They dive deep into the details of the trials and sentencing.

The students watch clips of tv shows like “Suits” and “The Lincoln Lawyer” to get a feel for what the law pathway holds.

“It’s good to bring [real-life situations] into the classroom, especially when the verdicts are so shocking,” Heilman said.

“It helps to connect what we do here to life outside.”

For students that feel stress and anxiety, or even experience something as traumatic as abuse at home, the social workers here are an available source.

The social worker and psychologist team do their best to make it known that they are accessible and ready to help, advertising through flyers around the school.

They partner with organizations like Care Solace, a program that strives to seek help for students with mental health issues, to make sure students are getting the support that they need.

“We would love for students to recognize that they have these support people in the building that want to help them,” Associate Principal for Student Services Mary Kate Smith said.

Specific concerns that the social workers help with are substance abuse, family problems and stress and anxiety at school.

With every different situation, there are particular coping mechanisms that students are taught in order to work on stress.

“It is never ‘one size fits all,’” Smith said. “Each student needs different help and we are here to give that support.”

‘Monsters’ leaves fans dissapointed SARAH GEORGE Executive Arts & Entertainment Editor Ryan Murphy’s “Monsters” has accumulated 12.3 million views worldwide, hitting #1 on Netflix the day that it debuted. Playing Lyle Menendez was Nicholas Alexander Chavez, while Cooper Koch played Lyle’s younger brother, Erik.

Sophomore Alyssa Happ, while already invested in the case before the show, thought “Monsters” was interesting and enjoyable (as much as it could be, considering the topic) all up until the last scene.

“When the show ended, I sat there and stared at the screen with my mouth open,” Happ said. “I was like ‘I can’t believe this.’”

I will agree with her to some extent. Once the boat part reappeared in the last scene, I was excited to finally see what happened, but ended up being diassapointed.

Having watched clips of the show myself, I noticed that the history part of it was inaccurate at times, which took away from the plot. But I do admit that I laughed quite a bit at times when Chavez entered the screen, like the part where Javier Bardem, who played the brothers’ father, Jose Menendez, pulled the toupe off of Lyle’s head at the dinner table.

The show’s famous, “DIMES, DIMES, DIMES” line had me smiling, and I think the rest of the world can agree after making it a meme on different social media platforms.

There are also numerous edits of the actors to songs like “Dirty Cash (Money Talks)” by Stevie Vincent and Mick Walsh that appear in the show itself.

That is another angle that I appreciate: the music. I still listen to some of it. I especially like “Blame It on the Rain” and “I’m Gonna Miss You” by Milli Vanilli.

Overall, I would rate the show a 6 out of 10. I liked the actors, soundtrack and amusing scenes, but I don’t think the case itself was presented well.

4 STEPS A SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER TAKES TO HELP WITH STUDENTS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING STRESS AT HOME:

1

ASSESSMENT: Initial conversation to understand how the student is feeling

2

PROVIDING SUPPORT: Offer a safe space for the student to talk

3

REFERRALS: Connect the student and family to outside source

4

SKILL BUILDING: Teach coping mechanisms

PROSPECTORNOW.COM

DECEMBER 6, 2024

SPORTS

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Boys’ wrestling ready to endure Long, tiring season pushes wrestlers to train, persevere MATTHEW PULVER Exec. Sports Editor

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or the boys’ wrestling team, high-intensity practice is key for success during matches. Their after-school practices consist of two straight hours of full-body workouts. Head boys’ wrestling coach Ashton Brown insists that practice is the best way for his athletes to prepare for matches or competitions.

“The big thing we take pride in our wrestling team is practicing hard, you know, quality over quantity,” Brown said. “We want practice to be harder than a match.”

As wrestling practices are non-stop and require constant effort, they’re far from a walk in the park. A training session begins slowly, with a full-body warm-up consisting of stretching, running, gymnastic movements and wrestling techniques. The intensity also ramps up as practice goes on.

As the end of practice nears, the wrestlers switch to live and play wrestling. Play wrestling is not full effort while live wrestling is similar to a regular match, making it more tiring. Play wrestling helps wrestlers explore different moves and helps prepare them for close point matches when they need to score points. Live wrestling, however, is more for training endurance for matches.

“We really try to make it to where everyone finds a way to get tired in practice,” Brown said.

“So it might be one person wrestling for five minutes in a row [or] getting a fresh person every one minute to imitate that tired feeling in a match.”

Senior wrestler Ronin Umali, who has been in club wrestling since second grade and has also wrestled at Prospect for all four years, sees live wrestling as a beneficial challenge in improving his technique and stamina.

“It’s more challenging sometimes than an actual match because you know your partner, you know what they’re going to do [and] you’re kind of used to them,” Umali said.

Wrestling matches are six minutes long with three two-minute periods. With little to no breaks in between periods, fellow senior wrestler Tirth Patel believes endurance is key in out-lasting his opponents.

“It’s important to persevere through periods one, two and three,” Patel said. “If you don’t have good endurance, you are not going to last

PINNED: Senior Tirth Patel takes down his opponent during a wrestling match against Wheeling on Dec. 15, 2023. “It’s important to persevere through periods one, two and three,” Patel said. “If you don’t have good endurance you are not going to last through all of those periods.” (photo by Violet Cantu) through all of those periods.”

Along with endurance, wrestlers also need to have a good mentality going into matches in order to have success. For Umali, it’s all about effort.

“When it comes down to the match, it’s just having heart, having mental fortitude [and] … just really wanting it,” Umali said. “That’s something that can’t be taught.”

Yet, wrestling practices aren’t all about endurance. Practices allow coaches time to help wrestlers better their technique. Instead of fixing errors after matches, Brown prefers to get ahead of them in practice.

“As a coaching staff, we really focus on encouraging the kids to make mistakes in the practice room,” Brown said. “By making those mistakes, we know what issues are going to happen in our matches.”

After fixing their mistakes, wrestlers can then work on new moves during practice. Brown wants his wrestlers to be experts on their techniques before jumping into matches.

“We don’t want the first time we hit a move to be in a match,” Brown said. “We want to see

it done hundreds if not thousands of times in the practice room.”

Even with all their practice, competition and tournament days can be frustrating for wrestlers.

They wrestle all day with limited breaks, and most likely won’t win every match. During such meets, Umali sees teammate camaraderie as the best way to persevere.

“You’re going to lose,” Umali said. “Whether it’s only three times for the really good people or more than you win … it’s good to have their support.”

Brown understands the feeling of these long days. He wrestled in high school and in college at Findlay University at 184 pounds, according to findlayoilers.com. With this experience, he is able to put himself into his wrestlers’ shoes and let them know that their work ethic will help them in the long run.

“Being in high school as a student is tough, and as a student athlete, it’s even tougher,” Brown said. “[As a coach], you know the trials and tribulations they are going through. You know how tough it can be during the holidays coming to school when it’s dark and going home

when it’s dark, and you know how easy it would be on a Friday to just want to go hang out with your friends. But we’re here working hard [and] trying to get better for a big meet on a Saturday.”

Junior Alli Linke prepares for new basketball season despite pressure

Girls’ swim and dive bond with each other at state

Girls’ bowling call to action

KADEN CHUNG & LUKE ROBINSON Sports Reporters

While some people on the girls’ bowling team are preparing to recapture their success from last season, many feel overlooked. Some view the sport as fun with friends, such as senior Carmen Wooten, but the bowling team is ready to compete.

“Bowling might not be as physical as other sports, but it takes the same mental approach to be able to compete at a high level with the other teams,” Wooten said.

Last year, the team made it to the IHSA state competition after placing top four at the Arlington Lanes’ sectional competition. Although the team didn’t place overall, Katie Ruszczak placed third in the state.

Junior Siya Patel acknowledges the team’s success but feels that they need to come closer together as a team during the season.

“We’re more motivated to try harder because we can’t take it for granted. The year before that, we did place, but this year, we didn’t,” Patel said.

Bowling has been at Prospect since the 197879 school year, but Patel still feels that the school should do a better job promoting girls’ bowling, considering other sports are usually promoted either through video announcements, Instagram posts or signs in the hallways near the bathroom.

In her opinion, the team needs to take action and put information out about their sport, particularly a video on the announcements, mainly because bowling is not super popular and there isn’t a boys’ team.

A reason why bowling may not be as popular as more traditional sports is that there isn’t a lot of recognition for the sport. Patel feels the team is very ignored compared to other sports because of their popularity, and Wooten believes that some people who acknowledge the sport think it’s not as intense.

“I think some people do [consider it to be a sport],” Wooten said. “I guess it doesn’t have the same level of competitiveness that other sports do.”

In an attempt to promote the sport, former assistant and now first-year head coach Justin Engelking works with the girls on the team to spread the word about joining the team because he wants the team to grow, so it gains popularity throughout Prospect.

“I would say the girls on the team help us promote bowling as we ask them to go out and get their friends to come and join the team,” Engelking said.

Although there has been a slight downfall in interest as the team has gone from having a frosh-soph team to only having JV and varsity teams, bowling offers plenty of benefits, such as hand-eye coordination and muscle building. The benefits draw many people to join the team in hopes that they have the chance to compete.

“Competition and fun draw people to the sport,” Engelking said. “For me, it was just to get out and do something over the weekend.”

Another reason to join bowling is being able to play a sport year-round. It’s a winter sport that acts as a bridge between fall and spring sports.

This can give athletes an extra opportunity if they aren’t in another sport, as Wooten had previously participated in competitive gymnastics and switched over to bowling.

A lot of the girls on the team like to bowl because they view it as something fun.

“Bowling can get really competitive, especially when you tie with somebody because then you have to do an extra couple of frames in front of everybody, and there’s awards you can win, so you’re definitely pushing yourself to do well,” Patel said.

“A lot of the girls like to have fun more than anything,” Engelking said. “But some girls really love the competitive aspect of the game.”

At the practices, the girls work on replicating the shots they need to work on from the previous

HELPING: Girls’ bowling team volunteering at the concession stand for a boys’ basketball game on Feb. 2, 2024. This helped garner a strong bond outside the of the lanes. (courtesy of Carmen Wooten) matches, whether it be working on getting their spares so the team can be more competitive or doing duo matches at practice to replicate competition.

Patel says it’s similar to academic validation but for sports. When you’re doing well, it leaves you with a feeling of accomplishment.

Wooten enjoys bowling and owes her involvement in the sport to her friends, who encouraged her to join in the first place.

“My friend encouraged me to do it sophomore year, and she wanted some of her closest friends to join her,” Wooten said.

The people and the competition have helped Wooten stay on the team because she loves the environment and feels support from her teammates and coach.

“No matter what, [Engelking is] there if we have a bad shot or just need help. He is there to help us with anything,” Wooten said.

Patel joined bowling to have a winter sport, and she felt like it was the perfect place for her.

Although she had no previous experience with bowling, she was still encouraged to try it out.

Another aspect that makes bowling fun is their team bonding every Friday. Engelking and Wooten explained that the team plays games and trust exercises; the team comes together at the end of practice to play a few games to make sure they build those connections and show what they worked on. They also go to Feed My Starving Children during the season. Patel feels it’s a great way to reconnect outside of bowling rather than communicating through phones, which is something that the team looks forward to each year.

“It’s a sport. I feel like people care a lot about other sports, so I feel like they should care about bowling too, and if you don’t know a lot about it, I feel like you should at least try it out,” Patel said.

SPORTS

December 6, 2024

CURRENTLY ON PROSPECTORNOW.COM...

Both boys' and girls' cross country teams placed top ten in the IHSA Class 3A state meet

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Paving future of girls' athletics Jean Walker, first girls' athletic director, imperative to gender equality AMANDA FEINBERG Editor-in-Chief

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tanding in the Prospect field house after serving for nearly 30 years as the school’s first girls’ athletic director, Jean Walker accepted the honor of having the gym named after her on Dec. 5, 2004. She was among her friends and family, including her nephew who had flown in from Arizona, and the District 214 (D214) Board of Education and superintendent. “[When] I walk into the field house [now, I] look up at that building all the time just to make sure my name is still there,” Walker said with a laugh.

When Walker began working at PHS, tennis was the only girls’ sport offered. Since Walker grew up in the era before Title IX — a 1972 fedBREAKING BARRIERS: The girls' tennis team pictured in 1972 after Title IX passed. The team had eral law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs that receive federal aid six straight regular season wins and won the division championship with the help of head coach Jean — she says she was used to having fewer opporWalker (top left). "It was really an exciting time, you know, because it went from nothing to a [big deal] tunities than her male classmates.

“I never really thought about it,” Walker said within a short period of time," Walker said when Title IX was passed. (photo courtesy of Crest Yearbook) when asked if she wished anything was different nothing to a [big deal] within a short period of and girls’ flag football — which McDermott advoStoker was a special education teacher, but when during her time at Lyons Township High School. cated for in D214 — has been pivotal to incorpothe position of girls’ badminton coach opened, Walker played on the girls’ tennis team time,” Walker said.

When the Mid Suburban Girls Athrating more female athletes. she jumped at the opportunity. during a time when the only two letic Conference was established, Walk“Allowing access for all people provides evWith encouragement from Walker, Stoker besports allowed for girls at her high er was appointed as the vice president. erybody the opportunity to find things within came the head coach of girls’ badminton for four school were tennis and golf; she Shortly after, she rose up to become the themselves that they can be passionate about, years and an assistant coach for 20. She recalls recalls having only eight meets president and also earned a position as Walker as being someone and no state competition. Her the PHS girls’ athletic director. Her greatwho Stoker could always high school also offered a program est accomplishment in that role was facilgo to for help. called the Girls’ Athletic Associaitating the girls’ state tennis tournament.

“She's an amazing pertion, which was an open gym for At the time, the tournament was the son,” Stoker said. “She is girls who enjoyed playing recrelargest girls’ athletic event in Illinois, and motivated and focused. ational sports.

Walker served as the IHSA state tennis She's probably one of the “That was all, for the most director at the center of it all. She had kindest, most caring, most part, that girls back then were alto coordinate each court and match, and patient people I've ever relowed to do,” Walker said.

JEAN she also had to adapt to difficult weather. ally worked with or met.”

Before Title IX passed, Walker With a strong support system, Walker During her time as a WALKER was working in Salt Lake City. A was able to direct the state tournament coach, Stoker had the opfriend had called to tell her that portunity to work with D214 was looking for teachers, Girls' Athletic for the next 24 years.

“I felt that, you know, some people Walker to coordinate the so Walker went back to her home Director had a lot of conflict in trying to start the girls’ state tennis tournaarea and began teaching at PHS in athletic programs at their schools,” Walkment, and she remembers 1968. Three years later, in 1971, a how meticulous Walker meeting was held with each school in the athletic er said. “I felt like Prospect [was] very supportive was about her job. conference about Title IX and the future of girls’ and very helpful with running a big program like that every year.”

“She always had a yelathletics.

When Walker retired in 2000, PHS offered 12 low legal pad on the desk, “That night, I recall so clearly, I was like, ‘Oh even after doing it for over my gosh, this is wonderful. Let's do it,’” Walker girls’ sports. There are currently 18 girls' sports, but current Athletic Director (AD) Scott McDer40 years. It was always, said.

‘OK, what could we make After Title IX passed the following year, girls’ mott still believes there is work to be done in better for next year?’” Stokathletic seasons were initially short. Walker women’s athletics. To further Walker’s efforts, McDermott has planned a celebration of women er said. “So even though coached seven girls’ sports — volleyball, basshe'd worked out so many ketball, tennis, badminton, archery, softball and in sports for this February, which includes NaMENTORSHIP: Jean Walker (left) laughs with things … she was always track — during the 1972-73 school year. Multiple tional Girls and Women in Sports Day. “We should be finding a way to celebrate an athlete on the tennis team at practice. "She's looking to say, ‘What's the sports happened in what would be one athletic next thing that we can do season now, such as fall, for example. However, [women in sports] every month,” McDermott ethical and optimistic and works really hard," to make this even better?’” as girls’ athletics became more prominent, the said.

While Title IX started as just a law, the impact colleague Julie Stoker said about Walker's Walker also acted as a kinks of the athletic seasons got worked out behas stretched far. In McDermott’s past two years coaching. (photo courtesy of Crest Yearbook) mentor to Stoker, especialtween coaches and athletic directors. serving as the AD, the addition of girls’ wrestling ly since Stoker was a rela“It was really an exciting time, tively new coach compared you know, because it went from and that allows them to pursue their talents to Walker. During a badminton tournament, on an equal footing,” McDermott said.

Stoker recalled an athlete who had come off the Parts of McDermott’s work would not be court feeling upset about her performance. Stoker possible without Title IX, and he acknowledgtalked with the athlete about what she could do es that while athletics has come a long way, to improve instead of lingering on the past. there’s always more work to be done.

“When I finished and the athlete walked “It’s important for us as an athletic departaway, I remember Jean saying right there, ‘That's ment to better understand the obstacles that why you're a good coach. You were able to comour female athletes are experiencing and demunicate with your athlete. You told her what velop a blueprint to move forward and make was good, you told her what she needed to work sure that we’re giving them the best expeon. And it's not about the winning or the losing, rience that they could possibly have here,” it's about coaching the kids and striving for imMcDermott said. provement,’” Stoker said.

For example, McDermott recognized Having worked so closely together, Stoker the lack of female athletes in gym classes recalls how dedicated Walker was to improving that lift weights, which is attributed to girls’ athletics and holding them to the same many female athletes feeling uncomfortstandards as boys’ athletics. Stoker has immense able weightlifting with male athletes. To respect for Walker and her work in incorporating combat this, PHS worked to create a Title IX into PHS. girls’ zero hour section, and McDer“She does a really great job,” Stoker said. mott says this class has increased the “She's ethical and optimistic and works really athletes’ fitness, strength and speed. hard at making sure that all of the I's are dotted IMMORTALIZED: When Walker arrived at Prospect in 1968, the only sport McDermott’s focus on amplifying and the T's are crossed.” student athletes mirrors not only the When Stoker learned that the PHS field house offered to girls was tennis. However, Walker’s contributions to expanding work of Walker, but also of her colwas named after Walker, she felt pride in her girls’ athletics, including directing the first statewide girls’ tennis event, led league Julie Stoker. While Walker longtime friend and colleague. served as the girls’ athletic director, “Is anybody more deserving?" Stoker said. "I to the field house being named after her. (photo by Amanda Feinberg) Stoker began working at PHS in 1996. mean, there isn't. So, it's Jean Walker."