P ROSPECTOR THE
Disruptive empathy
The importance of discussing historical trauma through a nuanced lens
PETER RADOSH
Associate Editor-in-Chief
Chatter flled the packed gymnasium, and the aroma of food hung in the air as crowds of students walked from stand to stand during the Jan. 17 Multicultural Fair. A junior — who is Persian, from Iran, and Jewish — who will remain anonymous, was working the Judaism stand with their friends when a student approached and, without introduction, asked, “Israel or Palestine?”
The student’s abrupt and generalized question caught the junior of guard. Surrounded by the Multicultural Fair, only one thought came to mind.
“Just why, why are you asking that … why are you trying to cause more division,” the junior said. “This is the multicultural fair; this is a day to embrace your culture; let Palestinians embrace their culture; that’s beautiful. Let Muslim Club embrace their culture, let Jewish Club embrace their culture. … It just rubbed me the wrong way, completely.”
Yet, the Multicultural Fair was not the only context in which the comment was made. That day, Jan. 17, 2025, according to the New York
Times, the terms of a 42-day ceasefre between Israel and Hamas were ofcially agreed upon. And just two days later, the skies above Gaza and Israel fell silent for the frst time in over 14 months as prisoners and hostages were exchanged on both sides.
The current agreed-upon ceasefre in Gaza is the frst phase of a suggested framework for more peaceful relations between the Israeli government and Hamas. It’s a three-phase proposal which, according to the United Nations, is an 18-week plan to release all Israeli captives, return Palestinian prisoners, end the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and increase humanitarian aid in Gaza with reconstruction in mind.
The ceasefre is not the frst within the context of the Israel-Hamas war, a confict that has been ongoing since Oct. 7, 2023, and the ffth war in Gaza since 2007. The agreement means a temporary pause in the fghting in Gaza, but not on any other fronts of the wider Israel-Palestine confict.
According to the junior, as someone who is ethnically but not religiously Jewish, there is both comfort and uncertainty in the hostage exchange, as the wider Israel-Palestine confict is still ongoing.
“I’m glad the hostages are coming home, but [there is] the fear of something happening again,” the junior said. “But, Jewish lives were not the only ones lost; so many Palestinians have been killed, and I think if people fail to realize that, [then] you are a part of the issue. You need to recognize that there has been loss on both sides; you can’t just look at it from one point of view.”
As someone of Iranian descent, the junior has always had to confront multiple perspectives regarding the wider Israel-Palestine confict. According to Reuters, the Iranian government is a supporter of Hamas, the government in Gaza, but not Fatah, which governs the West Bank.
But, as a teenager and student, they feel the issue is not addressed correctly in the younger generation.
“It’s not even talking about the confict, it’s just like, ‘Which side are you on?’” the junior said. “It’s that division that I mentioned again, ‘Are you for Palestinians or are you for Israelis?’”
The junior’s observation is one that College World Religions teacher John Camardella centers on in his courses.
Realigning rivalries in new MSL
PETER RADOSH
Associate Editor-in-Chief
At Barrington Community Stadium on April 4, 2024, boys’ lacrosse lost 15-2 against the Barrington Broncos. Although just in his sixth game on varsity, now-junior Mike Grund could see the disparities between the teams.
“They had faster kids, stronger kids,” Grund said. “They had kids going to play lacrosse in college, like lacrosse is their whole entire life, [and] they have way more kids in the program, so they have more to select from.”
It’s not just a matter of players. For lacrosse specifcally, Grund points to the age of each program as another factor leading to the lopsided matchup.
“It’s almost unfair,” Grund said. “Barrington has had a program there for longer, so they’ve had many years to develop it more when the [Mid-Suburban League] East has just fve-yearold lacrosse programs for boys. … So, they have better coaches, better players, just more awareness for the program in that area, like feeding into the school.”
Blowouts are common within the MSL, and conversations about realignment have been circulating since splitting the league into the East and West in 1998.
“It’s been going on for 20 years,” Athletic Director Scott McDermott said. “They’ve been talking about, ‘How do we create a league that really elevates all athletes and makes sure that we put them in a position where they are competing against like-level competition?’ So that everybody gets a chance to experience the highs and growth in athletics.”
Thus, for the 2025-26 season, the MSL will have a new look. Excluding football, where the MSL East and West will remain, the new MSL is a two-year trial run consisting of an upper and lower division. Teams will be graded and sorted based on their records over the past three seasons rather than two fxed divisions based on geography. According to the Daily Herald, for the 202526 season, 60% of a team’s grade will be from the 2024-25 season, 30% from 2023-24 and 10% from 2022-23. Every year, teams at the varsity level will be reevaluated; top teams will be in a “premier” division, while bottom teams will be placed in a “developmental” division. Junior varsity teams will more or less follow the placement of the varsity teams.
SEE ‘CHANGES’ ON PG 3.
FUTURE HOPE: In a vision of what could be, Israeli and Palestinian children look at each other from a short distance, hesitant but flled with hope. (art by Sage Gilliland)
POSSIBILITY: Looking beyond division
CONTINUED FROM PG. 1
Camardella has been passionate about studying religion for what he describes as most of his adult life. His course at Prospect is the frst dual-credit course in America where students can study religion at a collegiate level in a public high school, which he created as a Program Fellow in Education through the Harvard Divinity School.
Camardella eventually received a master’s degree in Religion and Public Life from Harvard in 2022 and is committed to fostering religious understanding in a variety of educational spaces. In addition to teaching at the high school level, he has designed and taught nine diferent graduate-level religion courses for colleagues at D214, including a course on the Israel-Palestine confict.
Within the Israel-Palestine confict, one common assumption is that it only exists between two warring parties, similar to the divide the junior had observed in how the younger generation speaks about the confict. In both his high school and graduate level courses, Camardella makes sure students focus on recognizing and appreciating the internal diversity of both Palestinian and Israeli communities.
“[We’re] complicating what we would call the ‘binary,’” Camardella said. “There are Arab Jews, [and] there are Palestinian Christians.
… Too often, the binary of Palestine-Israel or Arab-Jew is presented as two homogenous entities, which oversimplifes the reality.”
PRACTICING
Reducing a confict into two groups removes the individual human aspect of confict. For Camardella, seeing this individual aspect frsthand while doing on-theground work in both the West Bank and Israel sparked his interest in the history and dynamics of the confict.
Camardella’s classes, he emphasizes the importance of recognizing and honoring each person’s unique experience and perspective.
“The way we approach every single topic is that we simply ask students to situate themselves in what we would call a ‘partial perspective,’” Camardella said. “We can honor a student’s ideas and experiences while also acknowledging that their perspective is not universal. As we study together, we recognize that every viewpoint is ‘situated’ — it is one piece of a much larger picture.”
Recognizing any given perspective as partial within a discussion allows participants to discern the reasons behind the perspective while also realizing that said perspective does not represent an entire group.
“That doesn’t make it relative or less important,” Camardella said. “In fact, I would argue it makes it more real — because instead of speaking on behalf of an entire community, we engage with knowledge as something situated, partial and deeply contextual. My role is to help students disrupt assumptions and recognize that every perspective is shaped by lived experience, history and position in the world.”
It’s not just the Israel-Palestine confict where initial assumptions can characterize entire groups. For American students, the news of the ceasefre comes sandwiched between a polarizing election and a new administration in the United States, where students are bombarded with geopolitical news and conficts whenever they check their phones. In such times, the junior feels educators can help provide a safe space to facilitate difcult but necessary conversations.
DISRUPTIVE EMPATHY REQUIRES COURAGE AND A WILLINGNESS TO IMAGINE BEYOND WHAT IS
LIKELY, TOWARD WHAT COULD BE.”
“Go all in a circle … just have a class discussion,” the junior said. “Even [on issues] like abortion, just having open group conversations because I think you can take a lot away from that.”
Camardella bases his courses on open discourse, as he says it is the frst step in creating a more understanding world.
- John Camardella, College World Religions teacher
He frst went to Israel and the West Bank in 2017 as a part of a curriculum project. He returned in 2022 as a student in Harvard’s Biblical Archaeology program, spending around a month on dig sites in the region. While there, he made an efort to speak with and hear the experiences of a wide variety of people.
“I’ve always been drawn to understanding how people make sense of sufering ... both their own and that of others,” Camardella said. “In
In the context of the Israel-Palestine confict and the recent ceasefre in Gaza, it’s not always as simple as reaching across and just bridging the gap. Addressing the confict means addressing decades of generational trauma where countless people were killed or displaced. In such a scenario, Camardella ofers the concept of “disruptive empathy” — a framework that challenges students to critically engage with multiple perspectives while acknowledging the deep historical wounds that shape them.
A ceramic displaying the word “peace” in Arabic, English and Hebrew hangs above the room number outside College World Religions teacher John Camardella’s classroom. The art serves as a reminder for students to strive for peace. (photo by Peter Radosh)
derstood before,” Camardella said.
Camardella acknowledges his own background and highlights how he approaches disruptive empathy.
“As someone who is not Jewish or Palestinian, I still have a responsibility to listen, learn and acknowledge the weight of historical trauma,” Camardella said. “Even for those without a direct or ‘felt’ memory of it, the Holocaust remains a profound generational trauma. In the same way, for Palestinians, the Nakba is a generational trauma that continues to shape lived experiences today.”
According to the United Nations, the Holocaust was the “state-sponsored, ideologically-driven persecution and murder of six million Jews across Europe and half a million Roma and Sinti by Nazi Germany (1933-1945) and other racist states.” The Nakba “refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.”
For Camardella, disruptive empathy means that individual narratives are not mutually exclusive. It allows for narratives to be seen in relation to one another, creating a more constructive conversational setting.
“Disruptive empathy creates a space for conversations that move beyond simplistic narratives of sufering,” Camardella said. “Instead of framing one side as the only victim or dismissing the pain of the other, it asks us to pause and recognize that both communities continue to carry generational trauma.
“It’s about engaging with the full complexity of diferent narratives and understanding how historical wounds shape the present.”
From what the junior has observed, social media is another daily factor removing the human aspect of confict and reconciliation. Social media can sometimes amplify one-sided narratives, making it harder to engage in meaningful
“What social media wants us to do is to divide both sides, which I think is exactly the opposite of what I think we should do,” the junior said. “It’s a difcult situation, but the more division we have, the worse it
With the usage of social media, it can feel like empathy is impossible, especially regarding a subject like the Israel-Palestine confict. But for Camardella, this reinforces the importance of disruptive empathy.
“Disruptive empathy is about shifting focus from what is probable to what is possible,” Camardella said. “The probable outcome often assumes violence as inevitable, but the possible outcome dares to believe peace has a chance. Practicing disruptive empathy requires courage and a willingness to imagine beyond what seems likely toward what could be.”
Camardella cites the work of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of South Africa to demonstrate the real-world efectiveness of disruptive empathy. In May 2006, Camardella was invited to attend the Quest for Global Healing Conference in Bali, Indonesia, where he spent eight days with Tutu, and it shaped his outlook on reconciliation.
“I went to learn about peacebuilding from the man himself,” Camardella said. “When Nelson Mandela was released from prison, South Africa stood on the brink of widespread violence. Instead, the TRC became a peaceful means of pursuing justice and one that sought truth and accountability without descending into bloodshed.”
For Camardella, Tutu inspired him to become an educator and is the reason why the College World Religions class exists today.
“In just eight days, the entire trajectory of my life changed,” Camardella said. “I began to see a deeper purpose in education — one that went beyond simply teaching a curriculum. Desmond Tutu showed me that another way of being in the world is possible, one where violence isn’t the inevitable answer.
“That realization reshaped how I viewed my role as an educator and deepened my commitment to helping students see that a more just and peaceful world isn’t just an ideal — it’s something they have the power to build.”
The junior, too, sees the power in possibility.
“Recognize that the other side sufers,” the junior said. “Recognize that Palestinians sufer, [and] Israelis sufer. … I think it’s really powerful when you can come to terms.”
College World Religions teacher John Camardella speaks with Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the Quest for Global Healing in Bali, Indonesia, in May 2006. Tutu was the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, a courtlike body focused on uncovering the truth of human rights abuses during apartheid. Their approach to reconciliation focused on identifying, honoring and spreading the victim’s experiences and stories, rather than prosecuting perpetrators. For Camardella, Tutu’s teaching was life-altering. “In just eight days, the entire trajectory of my life changed,” Camardella said. “I began to see a deeper purpose in education — one that went beyond simply teaching a curriculum. Desmond Tutu showed me that another way of being in the world is possible, one where violence isn’t the inevitable answer.” (photo courtesy of John Camardella)
PEACE:
LA fires drive community support
SARAH GEORGE Executive Arts & Entertainment Editor
Climbing into the passenger seat with her bags in hand, Southern California resident Helen McLean mentally prepared for the day she was about to experience. The bags were flled with items such as clothes, food and other necessities for those who were afected by the Los Angeles wildfres.
These items, bought online by people in need, are delivered by gracious volunteers, some of whom were even struggling themselves.
McLean is a junior at Campbell Hall High School in Studio City, which is almost 21 miles away from the Palisades, where the wildfres that broke out on Jan. 7 were concentrated. McLean lives in the middle of the two major LA fres, both of which were about two miles away from her. Luckily for McLean, the winds were blowing the fres further away from her house.
“It was very nerve-racking watching the news and tracking the winds since we were in the middle of it all,” said McLean, friend of KnightMedia junior Jocelyn Farina. “It was all just unknown; we didn’t know how the winds would progress.”
Residents in the area were encouraged to spray down their houses with water to keep the outside of them moist. This prevents the houses from being engulfed in fames if they were to catch on fre.
On top of the safety precautions that McLean’s fam ily took, they also made sure that they were packed up in case they needed to evacuate. They packed medium-sized “to-go” bags containing practical and necessary items, but also sentimental things
like letters, presents and jewelry.
“I packed some clothes, but I also couldn’t go down the rabbit hole of ‘If I pack these jeans then I need to pack these’ because I didn’t have enough room,” McLean said.
McLean not only volunteered immediately after the fres hit, but also while the fres continued to burn. She even hosted two friends while they were feeing the Palisades.
“I had my friends [that lived in the Palisades] texting me updates and you just worry so much about the people that are actually in the middle of [the fres],” McLean said.
While most students who attend Campbell Hall were safe, three lost their homes. According to McLean, that number is just a small fraction compared to other schools closer to the Palisades.
“It’s weird to see that some people have their houses completely gone,” McLean said. “It makes me feel guilty sometimes because everything I need is still here.”
Honors Biology and Zoology teacher Nick Delboccio explained that the fres were so destructive because of the lack of controlled burns, which are a part of the forest ecosystem that helps keep the likelihood of a massive and destructive fre lower. These burns are safe and regulated fres that professionals start on large areas of wood and vegetation to eliminate fuel like dead trees and leaves. This prevents even larger fres, like the LA wildfires, from happening.
Even Busse Woods in Rolling Meadows practices controlled burns once a year, but because more and more people started to populate the Los Angeles area, there wasn’t
VOLUNTEERS: Students and parents of Campbell Hall High School in Studio City, Los Angeles volunteer in the school’s gym. Junior Helen McLean and her mom helped the city by driving donations to victims’ shelters. (photo courtesy of McLean)
enough room or interest for the burns.
Without the controlled burns, more and more fuel started to build up, causing these wildfres to be so disastrous.
Not only were the dead trees fuel for the fres, but also man-made materials in peoples’ homes.
“It has to do with the unnatural materials in homes, like plastic and other chemicals, that don’t do well when in contact with fre,” Delboccio said.
The fres are expected to cause many long-term efects including loss of homes and life, but also problems like bad air and water quality, which can take a city years to return to normal again.
Prospect alum Kathrine Lytle is a sophomore at Pepperdine University in Malibu. The wildfres were about
two and a half miles from her house, but hit the Graduate campus.
Watching the news and keeping up with the speed and direction of the winds, Lytle and her roommates realized that the fres were more dangerous than they thought they were going to be.
“My frst thought was annoyance to be honest, because this keeps happening where they are shutting of our power and water,” Lytle said. She expressed that, while she was less worried about herself, she was more for the people that were losing their homes.
“It’s such a beautiful area and I hate to see it burning down,” Lytle said. Lytle and her track teammates did not receive an evacuation warning, but decided that they should leave to stay at a hotel to be safe.
Because of the power outage, there wouldn’t be WiFi, meaning Lytle would not be able to check the speed and direction of the winds.
“We were told we had to get out fast because hotels were flling up fast,” Lytle said. “They were prioritizing frefghters over everyone else, so [the hotel] was pretty chaotic.”
Both Lytle and McLean revealed that they never expected the fres to get as bad as they did, but were proven wrong when they saw the destruction to their friends’ and peers’ homes.
“I never really thought it would get this intense,” Lytle said. “When I have received evacuation warnings before, I left my house with things to only last me a couple of days, but now that I know it can be this scary, I’m going to be more prepared from now on.”
CHANGES: Mid-Suburban League realigns divisions
CONTINUED FROM PG. 1
For Grund, as a player, the beneft of the new MSL system is that the team should get a more competitive experience. Although boys’ lacrosse’s placement will be primarily based on their 2025 record, going of of last year’s 6-14 record, Grund views the change in a positive light.
“Right now, for the lacrosse team, I think it’s a good thing,” Grund said. “If we are put in the lower division, I believe we’ll be able to succeed very highly compared to if we were put in the higher division.”
Although dynasties do occur in professional sports — where teams tend to be more evenly matched than in high school sports — having a few dominant teams may have more of a negative impact on high school athletes who have a limited time with the sport. Thus, McDermott stresses that in high school, team success and the process of learning are the MSL’s focus.
“When you look at the whole learning process, you’ve got to give people the ability to make those small steps to get to the end,” McDermott said. “That’s the same thing that’s going to be going on with the scheduling. You’re going to play teams that are going to be more aligned with the ability level that you guys are bringing; it’s going to challenge you more, which is going to allow you to grow more.”
Although primarily excited about the change, McDermott acknowledges that the MSL athletic directors will need to overcome some hurdles when it comes to scheduling.
“The way we do scheduling now, there’s kind of a rubric for conference games, [but] that’s out the window,” McDermott said. “Every year, certain sports are going to have a more difcult time [with] scheduling.”
McDermott gives the example of basketball, as it’s common for the boys’ and girls’ teams to play the same opponent on the same night.
“Let’s say you’re doing combo nights,” McDermott said. “You’re not going to do it against the same team if the same teams aren’t in the same divisions. So I guess, from that standpoint, that’s a challenge.”
RIVALRY: Junior Michael Grund playing defense in a lacrosse game against Hersey. Grund doesn’t want the MSL to change because he likes to play his friends from other schools. (photo by Kaden Chung)
Despite the change’s intention being more competitive, when boys’ basketball and girls’ golf head coach Brad Rathe heard news of the change, he was a bit disheartened. New divisions mean rival schools, like Hersey and Prospect, won’t always be guaranteed to be in the same division.
“I was a little bit bummed out about just some of the rivalries that we’ve built,” Rathe said. “In golf, for instance, Hersey won’t be in our division, so we won’t play them in girls’ golf, and that’s an odd thing. That’s a big rivalry, and that’s a bummer and takes away from the history.”
As both a student and athlete, Grund has the same concern. Part of the high school experience is watching your peers play their sports. According to Grund, some of the most memorable games he’s watched or played in have been against division rivals.
“Playing in a divisional game against one of your rivalry teams just makes that game mean so much more to the program and the kids that are playing for it,” Grund said. “Especially against Hersey [and Rolling] Meadows, we’ve grown up with all those kids at those schools, so if we don’t get to compete in a divisional game or title against the same kids we’ve known our whole life, I feel like it wouldn’t mean as much.”
Although games may not always be divisional, McDermott emphasizes that rivalries can still thrive through crossover matchups.
“Let’s say there’s a rivalry between two schools, and in some sport, they don’t align in the same division now,” McDermott said. “You can still schedule them; it’s just a non-[division] game now.”
McDermott feels any concerns over rivalry
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matchups will wane as athletes and coaches get accustomed to the new system. He stresses that the new system will beneft athletes.
“Before the East and West, there was the North and the South,” McDermott said. “When they moved to the East and West, everybody was worried about change. And the East and the West served its purpose, and now we’re moving on to our next phase where we’ve got to serve all of our kids, and not just a handful of kids.”
Despite his thoughts on the impact of rivalry games, Grund still acknowledges that a level playing feld should be benefcial overall.
“It’s better for schools that maybe don’t excel in athletics,” Grund said. “Because they’ll play against not the stronger teams every year.”
For McDermott, the change fulflls what he believes should be the main goal of high school athletics, one he and Prospect are committed to.
“For us, experience is king. You’ve got to have a great experience,” McDermott said. “That’s like rule number one in Prospect athletics. Give the kids a great experience.”
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The primary purpose of the Prospect High School Prospector is to report news and explain its meaning and signifcance to our readers and the community. We, The Prospector, hope to inform, entertain and provide an unrestricted exchange of ideas and opinions. The Prospector is published by students in Multimedia Communications courses. Some material is courtesy of MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service.
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MSL changes foster competition
Staff Editorial
With fve seconds left in the frst quarter, Senior Riley Carroll grabs the loose ball for an ofensive rebound and quickly fres up a three. She sinks it to end the quarter and gives the Knights a 31-0 lead heading into the second quarter vs Wheeling on Jan. 10. This signifcant early surge aided the Knights in their 74-18 blowout against the Wildcats. This game stands out in junior Maeve Johl’s mind because of the massive lead they held throughout the game.
“You want to keep your lead, but at the same time, it’s kind of boring,” Johl said.
lower division where teams will be given a grade for their records over the past three seasons.
According to the Daily Herald, for the 2025-26 season, 60% of a team’s grade will be from the 202425 season, 30% from 2023-24, and 10% from 2022-23. The top teams will be in a “premier” division, while the bottom will be placed in a “developmental” division.
Voting results of the KnightMedia staff in regards to this editorial. For
Lopsided victories like this, especially in divisional play, are precisely what the Mid-Suburban League (MSL) is trying to adjust with their new realignment plan.
The new MSL is a two-year trial run that will consist of an upper and
The 2024-2025 Prospect girls’ basketball team is no stranger to the huge wins the realignment is intended to destroy. They’ve won all 10 of their divisional games by an average margin of victory of 30.9 points. These 10 victories also include wins by 53, 56, and 60 points.
aren’t Hersey: 39-1. They’ve been beating the majority of the East for years now, and the gap between these teams has only grown recently.
We, KnightMedia, believe that the old divisions within the MSL are no longer producing competitive matchups. Therefore, the new MSL realignment will reduce the number of blowouts seen in divisional matchups and produce closer, more fun games for both athletes and fans alike.
Maxpreps.com.
“We try to play a tough schedule so that by the time we get to the end of the year, all of our weaknesses are exposed by good teams, so we know what to work on,” Weber said.
While girls’ basketball is a great example why these changes are necessary, it’s hardly the only sport in which Prospect and Hersey have dominated the MSL east.
This new realignment doesn’t come without some drawbacks.
Girls’ basketball divisional record: 17 0 Against
This may seem like a one-of season with a fairly small sample size of games, however, this dominance over the MSL East isn’t new. In the past fve years, their divisional record is 43-7.
Even more compelling is their record against the four teams that
Had the new divisional system been in place, Prospect would not have played in those three aforementioned games where they won by 50 or more. Instead, they would have played against teams that currently reside in the MSL West that were of similar skill levels this year, leading to more competitive games.
Junior Alli Linke sees an advantage in having a stronger schedule as a result of the new MSL divisions.
“It’s good to play good competition because then you’re always getting better,” Linke said. “Consistency up and down the foor playing against people that are better than you only makes you better, instead of having a few games where you can slack of.”
Head coach Matthew Weber has already tried to make their schedule more competitive by scheduling six of the top ten teams in the state in non-conference games, according to
Strings or stories: elective
CHIARA STATHAKIS Staff Reporter
Every Thursday morning of third grade, I stood in Fairview Elementary School’s choir room with my friends as we prepared ourselves in 38-minute weekly increments for our inevitable careers on Broadway. What none of my friends realized was that as we were perfecting the verses of “Yankee Doodle,” we were missing out on our shot at a Pulitzer.
Since we were in choir, we weren’t able to join the journalism club, which was also scheduled for Thursday mornings.
Needless to say, I was distraught. I was missing my single chance to lament the brevity of recess in 36-point Comic Sans and have it posted for all the world to see — on an ofshoot of an ofshoot of the school website.
While Prospect’s activities meet more than once a week, and our school newspa per is (thankfully) far less liberal in its Com ic Sans usage, I still found myself in the same predicament that I experienced in el ementary school: I was forced to choose be tween passions rath er than being able to fully explore all of my interests and potential career paths. Despite my love of writing, I’m only frst getting involved in KnightMedia as a junior.
Prospect ofers a of electives, including activities like the fne arts, career-focused classes in 16 diferent career pathways and opportunities to earn college credit. However, for the majority of students’ high school careers, they only have two blocks in their schedule to take electives, and for many students, those spots fll up quickly.
The main concern is the loss of traditional rivalries like Hersey or Rolling Meadows because of the possibility of the two teams being separated into diferent divisions.
Athletic Director Scott McDermott understands how these games are always circled on the calendar for athletes and he will work with the Athletic Directors at other schools to schedule teams like Hersey and Rolling Meadows if they aren’t in the same division.
Another potential downside is the increased travel time that comes with playing schools like Barrington and Schaumburg instead of Wheeling and Elk Grove on weeknights. Weber still believes that the chnages will do more good than harm.
“We’re excited about strengthening our schedule, and it’s not a perfect setup, so it’ll probably take a couple years of trial and error,” Weber said. “[But] I think it’s good for the competition aspect.”
choice dilemma
ment to activities that require an elective spot. I’ve been playing the viola since ffth grade, and after investing so much time into it, not taking orchestra didn’t even feel like an option.
I felt obligated to take Spanish and was committed to orchestra, so without the space in my schedule to take the multimedia course, I let my passion for writing take the back seat.
Restricting elective opportunities not only limits students’ creative exploration, but also hinders students’ exposure to potential careers.
Junior Izabela Nalepka is interested in a career in engineering, but she still hasn’t taken any of Prospect’s related electives.
“Even going into freshman year, I wanted to take some engineering elective or computer science class,” Nalepka said. “I couldn’t because I was taking band [and] because I wanted to take French.”
Prospect advises college-bound students to take at least two years of a world language, as that is the bare minimum required by schools like the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (which actually recommends four years). It’s no wonder that roughly 86% of freshman and sophomore students are enrolled in a world language class, according to Prospect administration.
Beyond what is recommended for their futures, students often feel a deep sense of commit-
Part of the reason that students’ schedules have so little fexibility is because one-eighth of the schedule is being monopolized by a study hall, which the school rarely allows students to replace with an academic course.
According to Associate Principal for Student Services Mary Kate Smith, one of the primary reasons that students aren’t allowed to waive their study halls is to ensure that they have a balanced schedule, with time to do homework and study. While it is true that many students see an increase in schoolwork after starting high school, and a study hall can be a way to help them manage it, there are other students who would beneft far more from utilizing that extra period as a time to learn.
There are also ways that students could take an extra elective without giving up their study hall. If Prospect expanded its options for zero-hour PE, then students could take their PE class before the school day ofcially begins, leaving them with an extra block to take an elective. Currently though, the only zero-hour PE class that Prospect ofers is Advanced Strength and Conditioning, which isn’t ideal for students like me who are only likely to run if a bear is chasing them.
It’s also important to note that at this point, even if a student is taking zero-hour PE, they aren’t allowed to take an extra elective. Smith explained that this is because there isn’t currently enough stafng for students to be able to take
PASSION: Junior Chiara Stathakis decided to drop orchestra and give up the viola because of her love for journalism. Tough decisions like this are made by many high schoolers, especially freshmen when they are making their career choices, because of graduation requirements. (photo courtesy of Stathakis)
more electives. Students taking additional electives would lead to more sections of those electives, which would then require more teachers to be hired to teach those classes.
It is true that there may be costs associated with providing more sections of electives, but the cost of missed opportunities for students is far more signifcant. District 214’s website says that they believe that it’s their responsibility to “encourage every student to explore academic and co-curricular opportunities that will inspire them to fnd their passion and reach their potential.” By restricting students’ access to electives, District 214 is locking students out of experiences that would open doors in their futures.
The only reason that I’m in a multimedia class now is because I chose to drop orchestra from my schedule, and this isn’t an experience unique to myself.
Every time I walk past the orchestra room and hear songs that are no longer familiar to me, I feel a little pang of sadness because I wish that I could still be a part of that world.
It’s a shame that Prospect’s current policies, instead of introducing us to new worlds, close them of to us.
IAs crucial to school community
JOCELYN FARINA
Copy Editor
It was Patryk Niemiec’s frst day at Prospect High School … again. The 2015 alumnus returned to Prospect in the spring of 2023 for a reason his high school self would have never believed. He was back as an Instructional Assistant (IA) — and far from calm on his frst day at Prospect all over again.
“I was like, ‘Oh no, what do I really do? What is my role here?’” Niemiec said. “Am I going to be the laid-back guy ... am I going to be the really strict guy or will the students be like, ‘Who are you and get away from me?’”
Since then, Niemiec has gained experience by student-teaching at Elk Grove High School last spring before becoming a full-time teacher at Prospect this fall.
The 23 IAs at Prospect provide crucial support for students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Division Head of Special Education Lisa Van Wageningen is in charge of hiring Prospect’s IAs. She explained that IAs are not necessarily people with specifc degrees in education.
According to the Illinois State Board of Education, an IA can either have a paraprofessional educator license or a short-term paraprofessional approval. The most basic requirement from both is that the potential IA has a high school diploma or an associate’s degree and is over the age of 19.
It is also worth noting that IAs are not the same thing as student teachers. Van Wageningen explained that because IAs typically have a high school diploma or an associate’s degree, they are not necessarily someone looking to continue their education in teaching. IAs are also paid because they are not spending their time collecting hours for an education degree.
Student teachers, on the other hand, are not paid and are specifcally coming to a school to get experience for their degree and observe the teachers they are paired with.
Furthermore, teachers vary from IAs and student teachers because they are in charge of creating class schedules and executing lessons and activities. Teachers also have a degree in education and have completed their student teaching.
That said, when it comes to hiring IAs, Van
CONNECTIONS: Strategies for Learning 1 teacher Patryk Niemiec walks through a question with freshman Joshua LeBlanc. “Some people might be going through stuff and others don’t know, so Mr. Niemiec likes to check-in,” LeBlanc said. (photo by Jocelyn Farina)
Wageningen looks for candidates that can be fexible. IAs have a full schedule with no free blocks; therefore, they have to quickly adapt to each classroom’s needs. IA Jada Balkanli has had four years of experience at Prospect, and she claims to have never had a dull moment.
“It’s a little bit tiring at the end of the day,” Balkanli said. “But ... I love what I do, and I still learn a diferent thing even though I’m taking the same class for the second or third time. Each teacher is diferent, so it’s a new class [and a] new adventure for me each year.”
Something Balkanli and Niemiec understand is that the most important trait of being an IA is the ability to listen. IAs help the students in their class with an IEP: staying on task, answer ing questions and providing extra support is com mon. However, none of that works if the student doesn’t feel comfortable approaching them.
“Students, in a lot of ways, show of a lot of their interests and hobbies even when they don’t mean to,” Niemiec said. “It could be a sneaker they’re wearing, something on their shirt, maybe something they’re watching on YouTube or a game they’re playing when they shouldn’t be.”
Aside from connecting with students in the
school and the work that comes with it.
“Just knowing that [I am] able to explain something to a student who’s having a hard time understanding something and they’re like, ‘Oh, wow, that makes that much more sense,’” Niemiec said. “The reward is seeing that appreciation and seeing the results.”
For Balkanli, this year is especially unique because it’s her fourth year as an IA, which marks the frst year where she gets to watch her frst batch of freshman graduate as seniors.
“It’s amazing to see their progress, their success, their hopes for the future, their plans for their future [and] what amazing adults they’ve become,” Balkanli said.
An IA’s work goes beyond just providing aid to students. It serves as a way to help teachers because they can manage the students in the class.
“Many hands make light work,” Van Wageningen said. “When you have additional assistance and support, it always makes the work seem like there’s less when we share it.”
There have been a lot more IAs at Prospect this year than in previous years. In the 2022-23 school year, there were 14 IAs. That number increased to 20 during the 2023-24 school year, and this year it further grew to 23. Van Wageningen acknowledged that the number of IAs changes year to year based on how many students have IEPs and the overall needs of those students.
She also stated that this number may continue to rise as more students are given IEPs as a result of a growing number of teens developing mental illnesses. According to the CDC, one in four students experienced a persistent feeling of sadness or hopelessness in 2023.
Despite this statistic, Van Wageningen feels confdent in Prospect’s ability to keep attracting amazing IAs. In her eyes, IAs are silent heroes because of Prospect’s ability to work together as a full staf for the betterment of its students.
“Prospect has its own culture, and [the] staf that work here have a feeling about what does it mean to be a staf member of Prospect High School,” Van Wageningen said. “And so together as a team, we always are trying to cultivate a culture that encourages and empowers students to be successful and to understand that all of us [staf] together are a critical component to that
Celebrating EveryKnight, every
EDUCATING: Sophomore River Newsted teaches students about the Jewish faith at the Israel booth. (photo by Anne Lagowski)
BONJOUR: Senior Toby Kaplan mixes the fondue fountain for students to enjoy at the French booth. (photo by Lucy Neumann)
IMMERSIVE: Polish students paint the fag of Poland onto the cheeks of visitors at their booth. (photo by Anne Lagowski)
New country, new connections
friend.”
English Learner (EL) program aids transfer students
MEG IMHERR
Executive In-Depth
Editor
As freshman Ardita Ibishi took her frst steps through Prospect’s doors and looked around at the huge school, her nerves were at an all- time high. She had no idea where to go, and because she didn’t know anyone, her biggest fear was that people might be rude to her.
Although this may seem like a typical frst day of school for an average freshman, it was also Ibishi’s frst day at a school in the United States. She moved to America from North Macedonia with her parents and her older brother when she was 14 years old for a better life.
Moving away from everything Ibishi had ever known was a difcult and emotional transition for her, but she knew that it was a decision her parents made for her.
“Diferent cultures, diferent traditions, so you can’t really connect with people originally from the U.S.,” said now sophomore Ibishi.
According to Ibishi the hardest part of the transition for her was the language barrier. She was familiar with learning languages since in her native country, students learn Albanian, Macedonian, English and either German or French in school, but she wasn’t used to constantly speaking with fuent English speakers.
The main way that she expanded her English skills was through the English Learner (EL) Program at Prospect. According to d214.org, the goal of the program is to help integrate language and content learning so that students can gradually transition into general and advanced education classes. There are 50 diferent languages spoken at Prospect, and currently, there are 125 EL students.
Prospect currently has the classes ESL 2, ESL 3, EL Written and Oral Communication and EL World Literature and Composition (WLC). Students move up in class level as they gain more English profciency. Next year, Prospect plans to expand its program by adding two more classes, ESL 1 and EL American Literature and Composition.
Ibishi is currently a sophomore in the EL program, which has helped her improve her speaking and grammar. She is at the EL WLC level, which means she is almost done with the program after she passes a fnal test. According to d214.org, this is a required state test that measures a student’s profciency in writing, reading, speaking and listening. If a student receives a total score of at least 4.8, they exit the program, and their progress is monitored for the following two years.
take risks,” Haines said.
For Ibishi, it was learning English that helped her develop a network at Prospect.
“It helped a lot with connecting because when you learn the language, you connect with the people who speak it,” Ibishi said.
School counselors are
While primarily focused on language, Prospect’s EL coordinator Caitlin Haines points out that another beneft of the EL program is the student support it provides, considering the many social and emotional challenges that EL students may face that come with moving to a new country.
“I spend a lot of time trying to build community and cultivating a space where it’s okay to
36% of Prospect students
*according to a KnightMedia survey of 289 students speak a language other than English at home
another system of support that can make an impact on EL students.
Ibishi and her friend sophomore Laila Arabova, who moved from Turkmenistan and is at the ESL 3 level of EL, both recall how Family Outreach Counselor Alyx Braun helped them when they were frst adjusting to the U.S..
“She helped me a lot,” Ibishi said. “She was the nicest person ever, and she introduced me to one of my friends. That’s how I made my frst
While Ibishi and Arabova are supported at school, they are also supported by their families at home who continue to keep up with the cultural holidays and traditions of their home countries. They still celebrate Eid, a holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims where they fast from dawn to sunset, according to Brandeis University. They also celebrate Christmas and New Year’s, but now they have added on Thanksgiving to their repertoire of traditions. Ibishi also supports her family by taking on the role of translator since her parents are less profcient in English than her.
“I have to be [with them] everywhere they go so I can help them navigate things,” Ibishi said. “It’s difcult, but you have to do what you have to do.”
Beyond all the sacrifces and struggles that Ibishi and Arabova have had to deal with, they both appreciate the “best” part about the U.S. — the food portions. The other major diference that they note the accepting attitude of the people.
“People are kind and they respect you,” Arabova said.
In the future, both Ibishi and Arabova can see themselves moving back to where they grew up in their home countries. Though Ibishi thinks she might attend college here in the U.S., Arabova wants to go to college in Turkmenistan.
“When you move to diferent places you don’t know anything well. When you grow up in an area, you know everything and how it is supposed to be,” Ibishi said.
every background, every story
Cultivating religious identity
“Which house are we going to now?” I asked as I was shoved in the backseat next to my older brother while my dad made the 30-minute drive to his sister’s house in Skokie. It was the frst night of Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday that commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. The lighting of eight candles — one each night — pays homage to the oil that lasted eight days instead of just one. My family has squeezed into our Ford Explorer more times than I can count, with each holiday and its signifcance getting tangled up in my eight-year-old mind.
In between all of the holiday commotion, I can’t tell you how many times my friends have asked me, “So, what are you?” That would have to be the most asked question, with “Do you get double the presents?” coming in second. I can answer the latter with a laugh, because no, I don’t get double the presents just because I celebrate two separate holidays around the same time. The frst question, though, is one I’ve thought about nearly every day as soon as the reality of growing up in an interfaith household set in.
My mom, Melinda, is Christian and practically grew up in the Methodist Church. Her dad was on the church’s board of trustees and worked as an usher. My dad, Aaron, is Jewish and grew up attending Hebrew school. He was bar mitzvahed at age 13, the traditional coming-of-age ceremony for Jewish boys. So when my parents had me and my brother, the obvious question was which faith we would be raised in.
“Living in a mixed-religion household, I introduced both religions to my children and let them decide what they
hard. I never experienced the traditional coming-of-age ceremony within either faith. It would be easy for me to say that because I was baptized, I’m Christian, or vice versa. In reality, I’ve found it hard to identify with a religion because I never got that connection with either one.
However, just because I didn’t follow a traditional path with Christianity or Judaism doesn’t mean I wasn’t immersed in both religions.
FEINBERG Editor-in-Chief
When I was too little to understand the meaning behind our religious celebrations, I was really just excited to see my cousins and extended family at our plethora of get-togethers. I still remember screaming and racing to my aunt when I found the hidden matzah bread or stumbling over the Hebrew prayers read during Passover Seder, a Jewish dinner.
For Passover, we celebrate God freeing the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt by reading from the Haggadah, which tells this story. When we reached the Four Children story, my hand shot up to read the wicked child who asked, “What does this Passover service mean to you?” My brother was always the wise child, my older cousin was the simple child and my younger cousin was the child who did not know
Christmas to ask them about their presents. Because I was accustomed to celebrating both, I didn’t fully understand that they only celebrated Hanukkah, and I was quietly reminded each time that they were only Jewish, not also Christian.
While these celebrations taught me the core values of each religion, many of them overlapping, my parents never talked about the nitty gritty of religion with me. I understood that Christmas was celebrating the birth of Jesus, but a combination of my adolescence and them not wanting to push one or the other onto me limited the extent of my religious knowledge.
My experiences with Christianity that go beyond just celebrating Christmas and Easter have been more recent. Almost every Sunday I attend Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington with my mom. Willow Creek is a nondenominational church, meaning they don’t identify as Catholic, Methodist, or any of the other sects of Christianity.
Each service begins with around 15 minutes of worship, during which the vocal crew sings modern church songs on the center stage. The video crew flms each service through tight shots of piano players, singers and the pastor, which is then broadcasted on two large screens adjacent to the stage.
Throughout my years of attending Willow Creek, I’ve found that this modern take on a church service has allowed me to deeply connect with the message and pastors. I fgure that this is because the nondenominational community makes it easier for me to fnd my place as someone who is interfaith rather than a more traditional Catholic service, for example. My mom shares a similar view, noting that the church’s use of scripture in their sermons allows her to understand the context and, therefore, internalize the
“I get a lot out of the message,” my mom said. “Sometimes I’m exhausted and don’t want to make the efort to go, but every time I do make the efort, I get a lot out of it.”
For both my mom and me, the church’s work in making scripture understandable has heightened our spiritual engagement and allowed us to fnd diferent meanings depending on where we are in life.
This notion of understanding religion on a deeper level is something that World Religions teacher John Camardella values in his classroom. Camardella also comes from a unique religious background, having a mother who was a Catholic nun and a father who was a Catholic monk. When he begins teaching his students about various faiths, he says “Religion is like a knife on a table,” meaning it can be used for good, such as feeding people, or for bad, such as hurting people. In the case of an interfaith individual, Camardella believes that they need to understand what they want from reli-
gion to better understand it.
“It depends on what [interfaith] individuals are after,” Camardella said. “Are you looking to build bridges? Are you looking to understand others? Or are you looking to advance your singular worldview?” Camardella mentioned Father Corey Brost, a former St. Viator principal who serves as the executive director for the Viator House of Hospitality. Through this interfaith program, Brost provides services and a home to men who have fed their homeland of wartorn Syria and are seeking asylum in the United States.
Brost also founded the Children of Abraham Coalition, which promotes interfaith relationships, reverence and literacy between Muslims, Christians and Jews. These interfaith programs are just a few examples of using the religious “knife” for good, right here in Arlington Heights.
“Most of the time interfaith work with well-meaning individuals who are operating in good faith can help lower the temperature in the room,” Camardella said.
On the other hand, growing up be tween two faiths has also shown me how people can sometimes become self-centered in their own beliefs, which can foster a disrespect for the unique backgrounds and experiences others have. Camardella teaches his students that while it is normal to disagree with someone’s religious per spective, you still have to accept them as a full human with the right to be lieve what they want.
“I need to see them as a fellow human being who is also seeking the truth, who is also seeking the right way to live and to think,” Camardella said. “And that [viewpoint] has pro vided me with access to the cultures and the religions of the world and an understanding [of them]. Not an ac ceptance, but an understanding.”
My understanding has come from my parents, who gave me beautiful memories and experiences through re ligion. My parents showed me the joys that they’ve found through lighting the Menorah, hanging ornaments on a tree, breaking challah bread and taking communion during church; they nev er felt as if each other’s religion was a deal breaker or burden.
“The reason why I’m with my husband is because of his fundamental values,” my mom said. “It didn’t bother me that he was of a diferent faith.”
When life gets ugly, they’ve shown me that reli gion can be a place to turn to. And the reality is that life will get ugly, and that’s when my mom feels the most pull towards church.
“When you’re in a situation and you’re really struggling, that’s what brought me back to church,” my mom said. “I had something go ing on in my life, I real ly needed help with it, and [church] was the frst place I went to try and get help.”
Although she seeks guid ance from the church, my mom understands how dif cult it can be to have faith while there is hate, violence and devastation in the world.
“Even with all the fres in Los Angeles and people losing everything, you think to yourself, ‘Why does stuf like that happen if there’s a God?’” my mom said. “Sometimes it’s a struggle, but [I] just have to believe that they’ll make it out on the other side.”
While my mom turns to her religion, I’ve found comfort in both religions simultaneously. The idea that there doesn’t have to be just one religion in my life is echoed by my dad’s belief in religious immersion.
“There’s more than one religion in the world, so if you learn about diferent faiths, it can make you a more tolerant person,” my dad said. “No one religion is the ‘correct’ religion, and just because I believe in my religion doesn’t mean other religions are any worse.”
I wish I could go back to my younger self who felt as though I wasn’t “Jewish enough” because only one of my parents was, and who felt as though I “couldn’t be Christian” because Judaism is in my DNA.
AMANDA
Ebony Club celebrates heritage
Student group fosters inclusive environment while educating youth
STELLA PALM Managing Editor
Sitting in her second period classroom, then-freshman Pryncess Butler noticed a particular announcement for the new Ebony Club that grabbed her attention.
“Me and my friends were like, ‘We don’t know what this is going to be, but we’re just going to go and just see what happens,’” Butler said.
Now a senior, Butler is a veteran member of Ebony Club.
“Obviously we go to a school where I’m not a part of the majority,” Butler said. “So it was just interesting to see that [Prospect] even had diferent culture clubs, especially coming in as a freshman. They don’t really do that type of stuf in middle school.”
A goal for Prospect is to create environments where every Knight feels represented and included, and the creation of the club wouldn’t be possible without club sponsors Edward Cleveland and Timothy Franklin.
“I felt that there were a few students that look like me [and] talk like me that go to Prospect, but yet, [they] didn’t have anybody to look up to,” Cleveland said. “I chose to give them someone they can go [to].”
According to the Prospect Club web page, Ebony Club focuses on African American culture, history and community service. The purpose of the Ebony Club is to explore, reinforce and celebrate the African American heritage, culture and historical contributions. Butler emphasizes that the club also creates a safe space for its members to share and connect with others in their community.
Typically gathering twice a month, meetings allow members to share anything that is on their minds, while also gaining new perspectives from their sponsors.
“Our co-sponsors are so good at giving us advice on how to handle things going forward,” Butler said. “They always give us encouraging words and remind us that people genuinely don’t know [they’re being hurtful]. We don’t live in a community where people are against us all the
“So, our co-sponsors [are] so helpful in giving us that wisdom that we don’t have yet because we’re still young.”
During December and January, the club focuses on preparing for the annual Multicultural Fair. This year, their display included information about their Pan-African roots as well as soul food (an ethnic cuisine of African Americans) for students to try, like mac and cheese, candied yams and collard greens.
Once February rolls around, the club shifts to preparing for Black History Month. For one week, the halls will be decorated with Pan-African colors, while movie and board game nights will be hosted at Prospect.
Sophomore
show light [on] what our people that look like them and talk like them, have done for the greater good,” Cleveland said when asked about the importance of Black History Month events for students of African decent.
Butler mentions that Black History Month is also a great time to ask questions and be curious about African American culture. She encourages students to resist stereotypes and learn more about diferent cultural communities.
“[We’re] bringing back more of a family origin, a little bit about our history … [to] spend a good time of fellowship,” Cleveland said.
Alongside planning a multitude of events, Butler and Cleveland emphasize that Black History Month is a time of positivity and celebration.
“Nowadays there’s so much negativity in this world, [and] it’s good to
- Michelle Obama
“I’m big on ‘There’s no such thing as a stupid question,’” Butler said. “Because the more curious the student body is, the more questions they’re going to ask [and] the more they’re going to want to include us.”
In addition to organizing school events, Ebony Club students have the opportunity to attend conventions within their community — like the District 214 (D214) African American Teen Summit.
The annual event invites all Ebony Clubs throughout the district to a day of keynote speakers, breakout sessions and fun team-bonding activities. The goals of these activities are to promote belonging, personal appreciation, wellness and self awareness. According to the Chicago Tribune, at last year’s summit on April 19, approx-
imately 150 D214 students were in attendance.
“[It’s great] seeing the excitement on all the freshman’s faces when we go to the [D214 African American Teen Summit when] they’re seeing so many people that look like them from other schools,” Butler said. “[It’s an] opportunity for us to make friends that look like us, especially [when we] live in this area … where there’s not a lot of us.”
After having great experiences such as the summit, Butler encourages POC students not to be afraid to fnd their community, especially with all that Prospect has to ofer.
“If we’re all in this together, holding hands together, that just makes it feel so much better,”
INTERESTED IN JOINING EBONY CLUB? EMAIL MR. FRANKLIN OR MR. cleveland @ timothy.franklin@d214.org edward.cleveland@d214.org
- Rosa Parks
- Harriet Tubman OUR LIVES BEGIN TO END THE DAY WE BECOME SILENT ABOUT THINGS THAT MATTER.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
CULTURAL: Seniors Pryncess Butler and Peter Chatman pose in front of the Ebony Club stand during the 4th annual Multicultural Fair on Jan. 17. (photo courtesy of Pryncess Butler)
SHARING:
and Ebony Club member Seania Williams talks to fair-attendees during the Multicultural Fair on Jan. 17. (photo by Chelsea McGowan)
Looking beyond the stereotypes
Many factors lead to underage drug use; harmful habits tear teens’ lives apart
XANDER ADKINS Copy Editor
*Namechangedforconfdentiality*
Every habit begins somewhere. For junior John Smith, it was the winter of his sophomore year. A normal late night out with his friends getting food, cracking jokes and cruising around town changed in an instant when they suddenly pulled into an empty lot. As one pulled out a small, circular container, each took their turn reaching into the tin and stufng a little white packet between their lips and gums. Smith would later refer to these soon-to-be familiar packets as Zyns, small pouches of nicotine consumed through the gums.
For as long as he could remember, Smith was drilled with the notion of how bad drugs were for the young, developing body from teachers and other adults everywhere, especially his parents. But in this moment, he made a decision that would break him of from following those orders like most of his classmates. A decision fueled by a mixture of desired independence and insatiable curiosity.
He took a Zyn.
According to the National Library of Medicine, “three-fourths of public schools in the U.S. maintain instructional programs to discourage alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use.” In the same article, they state, “Elementary schools emphasize generic social skills … whereas middle and high school standards focus on knowledge about … [the] consequences of ATOD use.”
Adolescents are targeted by anti-drug programs their entire lives, and as they grow up the focus shifts to specifcally the consequences of drug usage. Just within Prospect, posters stating the negative efects of
drug consumption cover the walls.
According to Dean of Students Adam Levinson, the posters are brought in by a separate coalition on LinkedIn and have been an efective addition.
“We defnitely have a downturn on students using vapes, alcohol, etc.,” Levinson said. “I think any visual helps kids to process when they’re at school and thinking about [their] lives and the choices they make.”
Curiosity about drugs is common for teenagers who have never used before during the time of their lives where they are “learning to take responsibility, forming their own values, and fguring out how to make decisions that are right for them,” according to the Newport Academy.
Health teacher Michele Burnett states that there are numerous reasons why teens are curious about substances, but the primary factor, peer pressure, doesn’t just fade away with age.
and leading him down a bad path.
“It was just kind of a casual thing … and it was fun, but obviously it could’ve become a prob lem,” Smith said.
ENCOURAGEMENT: Drug awareness posters cover the bulletin boards and halls alike, reminding students to say “no” to peer pressure and the consequences of underage usage. (photos by Xander Adkins)
“Who you hang around with makes a big diference in your life,” Burnett said. “That [applies] to adults, too. If you hang around people doing drugs and other things, you might start doing those things because of who you’re hanging out with.”
In Smith’s case, this curiosity was only enhanced by the usage of Zyns. Nicotine was the gateway drug for other addictive substances, primarily cannabis through a cartridge, which was also obtained through a friend.
As he moved to cannabis, Smith also began to notice more substantial adverse effects that were unseen while exclusively taking nicotine, making him question his decision to begin with.
”Sometimes my throat would burn [throughout] the day, [especially] if we were doing drills or cardio during practice,” Smith said. “I didn’t really like the stigma of it, [either].”
Soon enough, it became clear that using was afecting him more than he originally anticipated
According to Partner ship to End Addiction (PEA), “90% of Ameri cans who meet the clin ical criteria for addiction started using substances before the age of 18.”
Early drug usage is more likely to lead to a lifetime of addiction. PEA states that “1 in 4 Amer icans who began using substances before age 18 have addiction, compared to 1 in 25 who began at age 21 or older.”
Burnett encourages the importance of waiting until being of age before experimenting with sub stances, as side efects and addiction are more prone to teenagers.
“Teens can get hooked on things much quicker, and their brain is def nitely not developed yet. So they are harming their brain with chemicals [and] whatever drug they’re using,” Burnett said. “So whether that’s nicotine, alcohol, [or] drugs, you are afecting a brain that isn’t done growing yet. You’re not giving it its chance to grow.”
According to school nurses Megan Struck and Cheryl Novak, the curiosity and temptation of addictive substances within teenagers can be a hard battle to fght due to how many diferent causes there are for using.
“Teens like to take risks,” Novak said. “Some like the thrill [of ATOD use], but others might be avoiding hard feelings like depression [or] anxiety [and use ATOD] as a way of coping with some stress.”
In addition to the aforementioned negative efects abusing substances causes, Novak says that ATOD only provide a quick distraction rather than any personal development or solutions, which can be found in healthy coping mechanisms.
“There’s exercise, mindfulness meditation, talking to a trusted adult, a trusted friend, a parent, therapist, [or] just moving around. Those are all good ways to help relieve those [negative] feelings,” Novak said.
There are countless factors to take into account when navigating substance usage, but according to Burnett, waiting until the legal age of 21 is the most important aspect, a fact that Novak and Struck wholeheartedly agree with.
”There’s still going to be consequences whether you’re legal age or not,” Burnett said. “If someone waits until 21 … that is a decision they get to make. These are your choices. You get to make them. But people under 21 become addicted way faster … so there will be harsher consequences. No matter what, there’s always going to be consequences.”
- weaker immune system - lowers the intestine’s defenses - immune system changes that result in inflammation in the intestines
- Brain damage - Decreased attentiveness - More prone to addiction Brain
- higher risk of heart attack or stroke - raises heart rate by 20-100% after smoking
- increased risk of lung diseases such as cancer heart
Oscar nominations offend many
“Spanish is the language of modest countries, of developing countries, of the poor and migrants,” Jaqcues Audiard, director of Spanish musical “Emilia Pérez” said.
Now before I get too worked up, let’s fashback to two weeks ago, where I am nervously pacing around my living room watching Rachel Sennott and the guy from SNL reveal the Academy Award nominations.
10 for “Wicked.” Cool.
10 for “The Brutalist.” Brilliant.
12 for “Emilia Pérez.” Seriously?
The movie that has nearly all of Mexico in an uproar, a slew of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) journalists speaking out against it, unending praise from an industry plugging its ears to ignore the movie oh-so-casually misrepresents …
… and a partridge in a pear tree.
I frisbee my phone across the hallway. My screen protector is intact, but my heart is broken. My phone stays alive just in time for the name to slither out of Bowen Yang’s mouth and into my AirPods for the 13th time: “Emilia Pérez” … nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year.
I have no words.
Correction, I have several thousand.
“Emilia Pérez” is undoubtedly the punching bag of this awards season. According to movie app Letterboxd, it is the lowest rated movie to ever be nominated for Best Picture in the history of the Oscars. It has a 2.2/5 star rating average on the app, and a 5.8/10 on IMDb. And while movie critics’ scores range from mixed to “favorite movie of the year” — said Kevin Maher of The Times — the most popular score for general audiences to give it is a 1/10. Every hour of every day on Letterboxd last week, about 1,000 people gave “Emilia Pérez” the lowest rating they possibly could.
“Emilia Pérez” has skyrocketed in popularity, not just due to its critical acclaim, but its many, many controversies that continue to bubble beneath its surface. And yet, many of you may be wondering, “What even is ‘Emilia Pérez?’” and, “Why is it controversial?”
Oh boy.
“Emilia Pérez” is a musical flm that follows Mexican cartel boss Manitas (Karla Sofía Gascón), who enlists lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldaña) to help her disappear so that she may transition into a woman. This way, she can live as her true self,
the titular Emilia Pérez. Years pass, and Emilia wants to see her family again (who thinks that Manitas is dead), so she calls upon Rita once more to assist her in this task without giving away the secret that Emilia is actually Manitas.
But “Emilia Pérez” — despite what the bigshots in Hollywood may be saying about it — is as much of a story about Mexico and the transgender community as I am the Secretary of State. It’s not accurate in the slightest, and it makes me unimaginably angry that the movie is so smug with its portrayals of these topics that are very real to people across the globe.
One critical point to know about “Emilia Pérez” is that it is a French-made movie. The director, Jacques Audiard, is French and does not speak English nor Spanish, the two languages spoken in the movie.
“If I don’t speak the language, I have the freedom to just focus on the musicality of the language itself,” Audiard said in an interview with Interview Magazine. “I loved listening to the fow of the music, of the language, and I realized that I just love working when I don’t understand.”
So, it shouldn’t come as a shock that there is a lot of incorrect Spanish in this movie. Even I, the person with a mere 80% in my Spanish class currently, noticed it.
Others in the entertainment industry, such as Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, were
also quick to spot the discrepancies.
“It was just the details for me,” Prieto said in an interview with Deadline. “You would never have a jail sign that read ‘Cárcel,’ it would be ‘Penitenciaria.’ It’s just the details, and that shows me that nobody that knew was involved. And it didn’t even matter.”
Looking past the language, Mexico itself is boiled down to its stereotypes: a country of pure violence, darkness and taco stalls. To establish that the movie is in Mexico, the opening shot is a zoom-in on a mariachi band. Because why wouldn’t they do that? We’ve gotta let Hollywood know we’re in Mexico right from the getgo, so let’s start the movie on people in sombreros with radio chatter in the background relaying information about cartel violence and grisly murders. Jacques Audiard, you sly dog!
Within the entire cast and crew of this movie taking place entirely in Mexico, there is a grand total of one person who is Mexican. When asked to comment on this weighty controversy and as to why in the world he would do that, Audiard said — in an interview that was meant to be an apology to Mexico, no less — that he casted non-Mexican actors because he couldn’t fnd anybody that “worked” for the roles and for fnancial reasons. The castings of Saldaña and Selena Gomez were “strategic to secure funding.”
Tok called “La Vaginoplastia,” which is the name of a gender-afrming surgery. People online have been clowning relentlessly on the song, and most of these people haven’t even seen the movie itself. The song is all about Rita looking for a surgeon for herself, and it rattles of a bunch of surgical options to which Rita impulsively belts “yes.”
“I have never felt so unrepresented in my entire life,” Stukenberg said. “They take surgeries, one of the most afrming things that a transgender person can do with their body, and make it into a song that — in the end — gets the main character a butt lift.”
Just so you know, Emilia Pérez was received so poorly in Mexico that the government had to step in to handle the sheer amount of people asking for refunds after seeing it. “Emilia Pérez” enraged an entire country in exchange for people in the United States to go, “Wait, that’s that girl from Guardians of the Galaxy!”
And it’s not just the Mexican community that this movie has misrepresented. It has also been under immense fre from the transgender community. This particular angle of backlash sprouted from many sources online, but especially GLAAD, which has called it a “step backwards for transgender representation.”
Simply having a trans person in your cast doesn’t automatically make it good representation. How they are accurately represented matters.
Sophomore Piper Stukenberg has been a part of the LGBTQIA+ community for their entire life, and found watching “Emilia Pérez” to be “just gross” and misrepresentative. One part in particular, though, seemed to be hot on everyone’s minds, including Stukenberg’s.
Remember when I said this was a musical?
There is a song in the movie going viral on Tik-
That’s all “Emilia Pérez” is — so uninformed about trans identity that every attempt at representation comes of as laughable and pathetic. Jacques Audiard can only treat transgender women as the unprecedented to his normality, and regards it like a supernatural — almost ghostly — occurrence whenever the lead looks at herself in the mirror.
When Emilia reveals her new features post-op to Rita, it is shot like a horror scene as Rita jumps back from the former in shock. Because, in Jacques Audiard’s mind, this isn’t normal, so why should we treat it like it is?
And now the movie’s marketing campaign is basically erasing the mere presence of the Emilia character, due to Karla Sofía Gascón’s highly controversial rants on X (formerly Twitter) resurfacing. Now, not only is Audiard misrepresenting trans people in “Emilia Pérez,” he’s trying to hide the fact that they were even there in the frst place.
All of this goes to show that “Emilia Pérez” isn’t art. It’s disfguration. People talk about movies like “Green Book” and “Crash” like they were the vilest movies to ever capture the grand prize at the Academy Awards, but just you wait and see what trickery Hollywood decides to pull out of their hats this March.
I hope that Oscar voters make the right decision when seeing Audiard’s musical fantasy on their ballots — by voting for something else. By voting for it in any category, people are condoning blatant misrepresentation and dilution of real life subjects in their movies. Misinformed individuals are going to completely misunderstand Mexico and the transgender community by watching “Emilia Pérez” and believing that it’s all factual.
And if there’s anything that we oh-so-desperately need, it’s people in America being more misinformed about what’s going on in the trans and Mexican communities.
PERFORMANCE: Zoe Saldaña, who plays lawyer Rita, character launches into the Oscar-nominated “El Mal” musical number, a song about the “bad” politicians in the room with her and the terrible actions they commited. (photo courtesy of Why Not Productions, Pathé Films, France 2 Cinéma.)
Cheer with love and dedication
Varsity competitive cheer builds family through hard work, friendship, success
CLAIRE WYNKOOP Online Editor-in-Chief
Prior to the season, head cheer coach Shelby Rosin and the team made their way to a Build-A-Bear workshop store, a tradition the team started last season. At BuildA-Bear, you get to make a wish on the plastic heart of the bear and hope that it carries that wish wherever it goes. Each athlete made their wish and goals for the season on a tiny red heart and, thus, the bear was added as a new member to their team.
On Feb. 1, as the team stood in a circle preparing to compete for the chance to go to state, each member whispered their worries to the team build-a-bear. Now, the team is preparing for the state competition on Feb. 7 and 8, where their unofcial team mascot, Jamie, will follow.
“Every athlete put their heart into that bear, and now that bear comes with us to [every] competition,” Rosin said. “It becomes a part of the team and a physical embodiment of what we’re trying to do this season.”
The bear is also a symbol for the team’s mental goals, such as becoming closer. The varsity competition cheer team has fostered these bonds over the long season. Senior captain Jadynn Cosma has been a member of the team for four years and appreciates how close everyone has gotten.
“It’s like one big family here,” Cosma said. “We support each other and we know that we can go to each other for anything and everything.”
Cosma’s favorite part of coming to practice is because of the support she receives. Rosin believes the support comes from the way that sideline cheer and competition cheer merge together.
“These girls are together from August to almost March, so the bond that the kids create is really special and diferent from other sports,” Rosin said. “Everyone gets into it. Cheer is also a really encouraging sport and everyone just wants everyone to perform their best. This really creates a dynamic where culture is important to a team.”
Sideline cheer, as Rosin explained, has fun as-
IT’S LIKE ONE BIG FAMILY HERE,”
- Jadynn Cosma
pects built into it, most notably the football game themes and the time reserved for the girls to play games and get to know each other. This is the time that Rosin uses to build the foundation for these great relationships that form throughout the competition season. Rosin’s attitude and coaching ability are the main reasons that Cosma thinks the team is as successful as they have been.
“She’s like my second mom,” Cosma said.
“She’s done everything for me in the past four years. And besides being just an amazing woman and person, she’s a great coach who knows exactly how to make us better.”
focuses around two competitions: sectionals and state. Cosma, however, shared that the difculty of the sectional competition means that their goal usually isn’t to win state, but to just compete as best they can at sectionals.
“We made it to state, which is amazing,” Cosma said. “I felt like my performance wasn’t the best [at sectionals,] but being able to go to state is a great feeling for me and for the team.”
Rosin agrees that it’s an amazing feeling, and she added that it was the most rewarding part of a grueling season of early morning practices and hard work after school.
“State is so much fun. It’s the fruition of everything you’ve been working for,” Rosin said. “It doesn’t matter how we do. Our goal was to make it to state, and we did it, so now this is our time to just celebrate all the hard work we’ve put into this season.”
Cheer placed 2nd at MSL, 4th at the Bufalo Grove Sectional and the team is looking to do even better at state. Rosin is hoping that the team will give the performance she knows they have in them because she saw it when they hit zero earlier in the season.
consistent and celebrating the little victories. Rosin and Cosma are both excited for the state competition and seeing what all their hard work has led up to.
“You know, good things come to us because of all the hard work we put in,” Rosin said. “This team is so strong when they communicate. When you look at the girl next to you and say ‘you’ve got this and I’ve got this.’ If they can do that, their routine is going to look beautiful and they’re going to do amazing.”
ALL SMILES: Senior Jadynn Cosma poses before the start of the routine at the MSL competion. Cheer has been dominating competitions, as they came in 2nd in MSL, followed by qualifying for state at sectionals. The state competition will be February 6-8 at Illinois State University. (photo by Tessa Trylovich) 2nd place in MSl 4th place at sectionals
Rosin does her best to help the team reach their goals. She explained that one of their big, overarching goals was to “hit zero” at each competition, which is when a team completes their routine with zero deductions from the judges.
“That’s always the team goal. We want to do our routine the way it was intended and the way it can be done best,” Rosin said.
By doing the best routine they can, the team has managed to qualify for state by placing top 5 at sectionals. Cosma explained that the season
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“I just have this vision in my head of us at Fremd performing where I am screaming my head of, I’m grabbing the coach next to me, I’m stopping my feet on the foor and I can just feel their energy coming so strong from the mat to me,” Rosin said. “That’s probably my favorite memory of thinking ‘oh my gosh, they did it.’ That is what their routine is supposed to look like and I know they can keep doing it.”
Moving forward is all about staying positive,
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Dive into boys' swim and dive and learn how the sport affects their bodies.
From novice to state contender
Senior Viola Pianetto's historic journey through girls' wrestling
MATTHEW PULVER
Executive Sports Editor
Before her junior year, Viola Pianetto had never wrestled before. Now, as a senior, she is making history for the girls’ wrestling team and is looking to cement herself in Prospect history as she continues her success this year. Pianetto started this season of undefeated with a record of 39-0 going into sectionals, which take place on Feb. 14 and 15. However, this success didn’t happen overnight, and her journey was one full of work and hardship.
Before wrestling, Pianetto fgure skated and did ballet from age four until her freshman year. She then switched to hurdles and triple jump in track and feld, but had to stop because of constant ankle injuries and swelling. This led her to switch to wrestling. A few of her frst supporters of this change were some of the wrestlers from the boys' team including seniors Ronin Umali and Karol Kosiarz. They both encouraged Pianetto to start her wrestling journey, and she attributed overcoming the fear she had before wrestling to them.
“They were all extremely supportive. They supported me at my frst practices, they let me borrow my frst pair of shoes, they just basically helped [me] throughout the entire time,” Pianetto said.
Since the girls’ wrestling team didn’t exist at Prospect when Pianetto was a freshman, she was nervous before starting, which stemmed from a lack of experience and teammates. Despite her initial hesitance, she came to realize that her decision changed her life for the better. It led to other girls feeling inspired to follow her, which, in turn, led to the creation of the frst girls’ wrestling team last winter.
“A lot of girls didn’t join because they were afraid that they were going to be the only girl on the team,” Pianetto said. “Taking that frst leap kind of helped a lot of girls out.”
COMPETING: Senior Viola Pianetto (left) faces off against an opponent from Hoffman Estates in the 135-lb weight class on Dec. 4 at Hoffman Estates High School. Head girls' wrestling coach John Bassler has helped make Pianetto feel more confdent during her matches. (photo courtesy of Viola Pianetto)
joining the team, they quickly created a strong bond that went beyond just wrestling.
“Without her, I don't even know,” Pianetto said. “I mean, we talk non-stop every single day. We’re just so incredibly close, not only as teammates, but as friends in general.”
BONDING: Seniors Elanie Taboada (top) and Viola Pianetto (bottom) celebrate their frst and second place fnishes at the Kelly girls' wrestling tournament on Dec. 13. (photo courtesy of Viola Pianetto)
After learning to wrestle the summer before her junior year, Pianetto got her frst Prospect-sponsored girls wrestling experience when she participated in an open mat during September of 2023. For this open mat, Pianetto brought two of her friends with her, one of which being senior Elanie Taboada. This small group became the frst three members of the girls’ wrestling team. Taboada, above all, was one of the most infuential people in Pianetto’s journey. Although they didn’t know each other before
Taboada shares the same feelings with Pianetto and has been very proud of how successful she has been. Taboada credited Pianetto with helping her open up to more people and going over Taboada’s wrestling flm in order to give pointers on how to improve. Her favorite memory with Pianetto was when she qualifed for state last year.
“We were all crying for her,” Taboada said. “We were so happy that we were going to state with her and that she made it that far.”
Beyond just wrestling, Taboada is one of the most important people in Pianetto’s life, so wrestling on the same mat as her is a dream come true for Pianetto.
“Somebody told me this: ‘If you were in a crowded room of a whole bunch of people and you chose that person, would that person choose you, or would that person choose another friend?’” Pianetto said. “Elanie and I would choose each other.”
Along with the support of teammates, head girls’ wrestling coach John Bassler has had a big impact on Pianetto’s wrestling career. He has been a big help with building up her confdence mentally and helping her take more shots, which are when a wrestler attacks their opponents legs for a takedown.
“Bassler’s one of the most kindest that I’ve met at Prospect,” Pianetto said. “He truly thinks about you as a human before he does as an ath-
lete. Not once will he ever hold you back. He is going to keep on pushing you to be your best.”
According to Bassler, Pianetto’s work ethic and willingness to learn are her defning traits. The two are very honest and direct with their communication, making their relationship even stronger.
“What makes you love it more is when you have kids that have that same excitement that you do,” Bassler said. “She defnitely makes coaching easy because she’s very coachable, she listens [and] she works harder.”
Her efect extends beyond just Bassler, as he believes having an athlete like Pianetto on his team is benefcial to all of the athletes. Each teammate feels inspired by Pianetto, and they want to replicate her efort and success.
With a record and resume as good as hers, she got the attention of multiple colleges including Minot State University. After looking through Pianetto’s online portfolio on Instagram, Minot State reached out to Pianetto and few her out to North Dakota for a visit. Not long after, Pianetto received a partial scholarship ofer from them. This Division II ofer was very validating for Pianetto, as it showed she made the right choice by becoming a wrestler.
“I wasn’t really as talented in other sports in the past, and for a coach to want you on their team, it’s very fattering and it makes you very proud of yourself,” Pianetto said.
COACHING: Head girls' wrestling coach John Bassler gives senior wrestler Viola Pianetto advice during a match. (photo courtesy of Viola Pianetto)
“I wish that I had 30 of her, but what’s great about it is that it’s also contagious, so her good work ethic kind of goes to the rest of the team,” Bassler said. “For the girls who have the opportunity to work out with Viola, they’re getting better because of her.”
All of this support from friends, teammates and coaches has played a big role in the success of Pianetto’s wrestling career. She won the MSL Regional Championship on Feb. 1 and placed 8th in last years state competition on Feb. 5. Bassler is very proud to see the growth of Pianetto’s wrestling career since the start. He has enjoyed seeing her go from not wrestling at all to now being top fve in the state, according to the Daily Herald.
“Last year she was kind of an unknown, and it was always a pleasant surprise whenever she beat someone good. This year she has a target on her back,” Bassler said. “Everyone knows who she is because she has been ranked third for most of the season.”
After hearing that Pianetto received the ofer, Bassler was ecstatic because Pianetto joined the select few high schoolers who are able to compete in their chosen sport in college.
“I’ve had only a handful of wrestlers that went on to wrestle collegiately, and so her being the frst female wrestler to do that is amazing,” Bassler said. “I love it … She could be a good role model for other knights that are interested in joining.”
Even though Pianetto has learned so much from her coach, Bassler has also learned a lot from her. The main lesson was efort and drive are what matters most when it comes to having success.
“I was always under the impression that you really can’t be great at wrestling unless you started as a kid,” Bassler said. “It has taught me is that if you have the passion, if you have the work ethic, if you're willing to put in the time and go above and beyond, you could be successful in a very short amount of time.”