Issue 6 23-24

Prospect needs to bring back self defense classes - see page 3

SEE ‘ASSURANCE’ ON PG. 2

DEFEND: Keychains like this, equipped with pepper spray and other self defense tools, are carried around by many students as a defense mechanism. (illustration by Luca Nicolaie)

Pages 6/7

Through Prospect-sponsored spring break trips, students explore all

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Page 11

Senior

Alumnus Ian Brennan, co-creator of “Glee” and “Dahmer,” refects on how the Prospect Fine Arts department infuenced his flm career

Jack Mannion shares the ups and downs during his experience as a varsity baseball pitcher/hitter

DECA competitors look towards nationals

AMANDA FEINBERG Managing Editor

Sitting in the audience at the Illinois State DECA competition at the Hyatt Regency at the Chicago O’Hare Airport in Rosemont, juniors Acelle Gonzales and Sophie Jeng felt disappointed when they were called up for ffth place in their Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making event. Only the top four fnishers in each event received a bid to nationals, and Gonzales felt defeated when they missed advancing by one place.

Even though Gonzales and Jeng placed ffth, the fourth-place team opted out of attending nationals, and the pair was moved up a spot and ofered a bid to the competition.

While Gonzales and Jeng were walking to the bus to leave the competition, DECA sponsor Andrea Izenstark asked the girls if they had suitcases. The two were confused but answered yes, and when Izenstark asked if they had room for California, the two realized they were going to nationals.

“It was such a happy moment and unreal,” Gonzalez said. “I think that’s just such a big accomplishment going to nationals and just competing against the best of the best.”

DECA is a club that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, fnance, hospitality and management, according to DECA.org. The DECA state competition was held from Feb. 29 to March 2, with 34 Prospect students competing at state and 29 placing in the top-ten for their event; 15 students qualifed for nationals.

The Prospect national team consists of juniors Alex Styka (Quick Serve Restaurant Management), Gonzales and Jeng (Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making), and sophomores Claire Zimmerman and Allison Warenement (Buying and Merchandising Research). The national competition, called the International Career Development Conference, will be held from April 27 to 30 in Anaheim, Calif.

Around a month before the state competition, Gonzales completed two to three practice tests per week and held study sessions at the library with Jeng. The two have competed in Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making the entire

year after picking this event because they thought it sounded interesting.

Their event consists of a 100-question test on marketing that the pair completes together and two role-playing skits about marketing, economics or selling. The pair was given 30 minutes to prepare their skit at the competition and 15 minutes to present it to a judge.

“Sophie and I put in so much hard work, and we were trying to stay positive the whole time we were there,” Gonzales said. “I think that really worked and showed of when we were presenting to our judges, and they got the vibe of us.”

Gonzales believes that her experiences in DECA will help her transition into college and the workforce. Since DECA sets high expectations for its competitors, Gonzales has been able to work on her professionalism and articulation even though she does not see herself majoring in business. She believes these skills will help her

achieve her goal of becoming a pilot and starting a small cosmetics business when she gets older.

The President of Prospect DECA, junior Alex Styka, competed in Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling (HTPS) and Quick Serve Restaurant Management (QSRM).

“The stakes are very high because your season either continues or is over after that,” Styka said. Styka fnished third in QSRM and top ten in HTPS. He is competing in QSRM at the upcoming national competition. He notes that while the state competition was difcult, it allowed him to feel more confdent in his events and meet new students from schools across the state.

“Getting to spend time with a lot of people in a school-ish type setting [was fun],” Styka said. “You get to pitch all sorts of diferent ideas to new people.”

Both Styka and Gonzales have felt incredibly supported by DECA sponsors Izenstark and Chad

ASSURANCE:

Froeschle. Styka appreciates Izenstark’s constant communication and collaboration on new ideas for the club, and Gonzales has felt supported by Izenstark when preparing for nationals.

Izenstark, who has been leading DECA for seven years, feels proud of the work that her students have done throughout this year. She notes that Styka shows the advisors a student’s perspective when it comes to learning about business. He has helped the advisors break concepts down into more digestible material for high school students.

“He does a nice job connecting the content and breaking it down and organizing it for time management [during our meetings],” Izenstark said.

Styka sees immense value in participating in DECA, as he plans to major in either fnance or accounting in college. Throughout his two years on the team, he has learned invaluable leadership skills by planning activities and meetings while serving as president.

Styka’s goal throughout the year was for the team to work towards success for everyone on the team, and having multiple national-level qualifers has exceeded his expectations. Going into nationals, his scope has narrowed onto the fve competitors and making sure they feel prepared to compete at the highest level.

Both Gonzales and Styka hope to do as well as they can at nationals, but they also recognize how difcult the competition will be with over 20,000 national competitors, according to DECA. org. Styka is hoping for a frst-place fnish in either his test or role play, and Gonzales hopes her duo event can place in the top 10.

“You can’t expect to do incredibly,” Styka said. “But the goal is with all of the prep and … the intense stuf we’ve done to prepare over the past six to seven months, you just hope that all of that can come together.”

After preparing for so long, Izenstark’s most memorable moments are seeing how accomplished the students feel when they place well in a competition.

“That moment when the students feel successful is great to see in their eyes,” Izenstark said. “I love when I’m of running an event and kids stop by, and they have big smiles on their faces, and they tell me how happy they are and [that] things went well which fuels their own personal success.”

Ways to fght, defend

CONTINUED FROM PG. 1

Other than self defense classes, there are a variety of ways students can keep themselves safe. For Hiskes, she said that an option for UGA students is to use the UGA Safe app. The app contains basic campus information such as bus routes or where the nearest dining hall is, as well as other features implemented by the UGA Police Department to constantly have safety measures accessible.

“You can do rideshares home, and you could start a walk and have someone on the other line making sure you get home safe, which I think is really important,” Hiskes said. “Having those kinds of options there that are very easy [to] access is really important, and I feel like those are the most used along with just having a very strong police department here.”

For many female students, a common option for self defense is to carry around pepper spray on a lanyard or attached to their car keys. According to the National Institutes of Health, over 20% of women in the US carry pepper spray, and nearly 20% carry around a noise maker for their own protection.

One online company called She’s Birdie ofers personal safety alarms that can be clipped onto keychains or purses. The classic Birdie alarm costs about $30, while the Birdie+ is $40, but includes 24/7 access to an emergency support line and immediate frst responder contact if a user feels uncomfortable in whatever situation they are in. The She’s Birdie website (shesbirdie.com) describes the alarm as a pocket fre alarm, specifcally allowing women to have easy access to a personal safety device.

School Resource Ofcer Tyler Johnson describes pepper spray as being one of the most convenient safety measures, along with other everyday items.

“First and foremost, pepper spray is great,” Johnson said. “My mom and my sister said they’ve felt uncomfortable before, and what they’ve told me [is that] … they put car keys in between their fngers if they’re feeling uncomfortable. I feel like the more I talk to people, the more and more, especially women, they’re like ‘Yeah, I’ve done that. I’ve done that just because I didn’t feel safe.’”

While there are many physical options available to put students at ease with their own personal safety, Marnstein says that one of the biggest factors is the way one presents themselves when walking around, an idea taught in his previ-

ous self defense classes.

“[The class] was talking about being a hard target, going through the interview that you didn’t even know was happening,” Marnstein said. “ … Walking down the street with your shoulders up [and] your head up … looking around, might make [perpetrators] bypass you. If you see somebody walking in the opposite direction, make eye contact with them and say something as well … They might pick the person that’s walking down the street with their head down, looking at their phone [with] earbuds in their ears.”

Marnstein also realizes it is important to acknowledge how safety has evolved over the years. He explained that when he was in school, the biggest safety concerns were to not ask for directions from someone or not to take candy from a stranger. Now, the question over personal safety encompasses more than just someone “trying to beat you up,” and Marnstein said this relates to each gender.

“The assumption is that all boys know how to fght,” Marnstein said. “Boys know how to defend themselves. And the other stereotype is [that] girls don’t know how to do that. [People think] they’re weak. They’re quiet. They don’t have the training. Stereotypes are based of of half truths. Are there some girls that wouldn’t be able to defend themselves? Absolutely. Are there some girls that will open up a can of whoop ass and totally do whatever they need to do to survive the situation? Yes.”

Similarly to Marnstein’s advice, Hiskes suggests taking a deeper look into safety measures when beginning to tour campuses. Hiskes acknowledges the fact that parents may be concerned about their child’s safety as they become more independent but that there can only be so many measures put in place.

While the murder of Riley on the UGA campus was tragic and unimaginable for many, Hiskes values the way the university responded to the event and made sure to support students to the best of their ability.

“I felt like those last few days after everything happened, everyone was actually connected and reaching out to each other, just making sure that people were not alone,” Hiskes said. “There’s a lot of people who care about you. It was defnitely a hard situation, but it is good to know how the community responded and what UGA did to help support us and make us feel like this is still like our home and that we should feel safe here.”

QUALIFIERS: Juniors Acelle Gonzales (left) and Sophie Jeng (right) will compete in the national DECA competition, held from April 27 to 30 in Anaheim, Calif. The duo competes in the event Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making. (photo courtesy of Gonzales)

Self-defense for EveryKnight

Maia Johnson, 2023 Prospect grad, was interested in bringing self-defense to Prospect during her senior year to earn her Gold Award for Girl Scouts.

In order to earn this award, Johnson had to fnd an issue within her community, create a team to try and fx the issue and submit a project proposal, according to Girl Scouts of USA.

Johnson reached out to Sensei Jim O’Hara from Focus Martial Arts and Fitness in Lake in the Hills to help her with the venture.

“We were looking into summer workshops [for self-defense], making it an optional thing where you come in on a weekend to do it, but I wanted it to be something that was accessible for anyone who wanted to do it,” Johnson said.

In order to reach the level of accessibility Johnson was aiming for, she and O’Hara integrated self-defense lessons at Prospect into the Lifestyle Fitness Physical Education (PE) classes for a school day. Johnson said that lifestyles felt like a good place for these lessons because of the primarily female makeup and her already strong relationship with PE teachers Carrie Black and Cristen Sprenger.

Although the self-defense lesson would take place in a female dominated class, Johnson did not want to discriminate against any students who wanted to participate, so she made

sure all PE teachers were aware that their students could come in.

Johnson’s concern about self-defense at Prospect originally stemmed from the 2021 homecoming dance, where multiple girls reported being sexually assaulted or touched inappropriately within the mosh pits.

“Obviously that’s concerning, and we did an assembly on it, but it just felt like they were kind of brushing it under the rug,” Johnson said. “I understand it’s a difcult conversation to have, so I’m not necessarily blaming administration or anything like that, but seeing how close to home it hit, I wanted to do something at Prospect.”

them briefy and run away.”

Now attending the University of Maryland, Johnson values the skills she learned from O’Hara while at Prospect and feels more comfortable in her ability to defend herself. While Johnson learned some hands-on skills, if she ever had a close encounter with an attacker, one of the main points that O’Hara stressed was being aware of your surroundings at all times.

While Johnson and O’Hara were able to reintroduce the idea of self-defense to the PE classes for a single school day, Prospect used to offer self-defense as its own designated course taught by Aaron Marnstein (for more information about the class, see page 1).

“I think one of the biggest misconceptions of the class was people thought they were coming in that class to learn how to fght, [which] wasn’t the case,” Marnstein said. “What I was teaching was to get free, incapacitate

“I think it’s important because it’s a great skill to have to make you feel more confdent in yourself that god forbid something happened that you do have some way of protecting yourself,” Johnson said. “I hope that anyone who learns it never has to use it, but it’s a good skill to have and … it’s just another way to feel like you can protect yourself.”

We, KnightMedia, believe that self-defense lessons should be reintroduced into PE classes. Because people can be in danger anywhere at any time, having the tools for students to defend themselves, especially when leaving campus late at night or walking home alone, is a necessity. As students look beyond high school, having knowledge of

self-defense will only be an advantage as they become more independent.

While we understand that creating an entire PE class designated to self-defense may not be feasible with the already-tight course scheduling, implementing a unit into each existing PE class that is dedicated to teaching the fundamentals of self-defense is of the utmost importance.

Self-defense gives EveryKnight the chance to feel more secure and self-reliant in their own personal safety.

Preparing students for their future is the key role of any class, and self-defense plays a huge part in leaving students comfortable in their own abilities as they enter the real world.

In today’s society, self-defense has become a life skill that should be encouraged to learn, and not having these classes as a resource is a weakness of the PE current curriculum.

With the resources already within reach from O’Hara’s expertise, administration could consider how the impact of self-defense reaches beyond the walls of Prospect.

“Mr. O’Hara was saying that he could maybe teach our gym teachers and get them certifed [in self-defense] and if Prospect was able to do that, that would be amazing,” Johnson said. “I love that. It just didn’t seem feasible at the time.”

It’s time that we make a self-defense curriculum feasible again at Prospect.

Creative writing: frustrating, fulfilling, calming

Hunched over my desk, I stare ahead of me and think, “This is a lot harder than I thought.” The light of a white, blank page refects from my eyes, turning them sore as I continue to unblinkingly stare at the computer screen. Be it any other writing session, I would have quit there, but I was on a roll. Words were seamlessly translating onto the page with barely any resistance.

But then I reached a new chapter. Every chapter needs a start: a paragraph to set the scene. Unfortunately, my mind was blank. Every idea was either nonsensical or down right awful. But then it hit me.

Something I haven’t thought of before. I excitedly type it in a race to beat the now-fading idea. When I fnished, I read it back. I then deleted all of it. While good, it could have been better. I couldn’t live with myself if it wasn’t anything other than perfect.

On one hand, it is completely understandable. Not everyone has the time to try to improve a new skill; writing can be hard, so why not just stick with what you know? While this is true for every pastime in existence, it can be especially difcult to start writing as a hobby due to the understandable ugliness of a large block of text.

CW, like every other art form, is used for expression. The biggest difference from the other forms of art is that instead of looking at a beautiful painting, it’s a wall of text. When somebody looks at a painting, they think that it’s nice. When someone looks at a book page, they think “I’m not reading all of that.”

At that moment, I fnally fgured it out. I was too focused on showing the buildup of the two characters’ argument. Why not start in the middle of it? There’s no rule against it. It could potentially be an even better start to the chapter. I thought about what the characters would say. One is optimistic but slow to accept new things. The other is pessimistic but adaptive and bitter.

How would they act?

After I fnished typing, I fnally looked back at my work, half expecting the sentence to once again be deleted. However, it was diferent this time. It was perfect. Despite the struggle, despite only writing a handful of words, I felt I scaled a mountain.

This isn’t how a newspaper article usually begins. We tend to open with an alluring frst sentence, followed by a hundred or so words to set the scene for the rest of the story. Then we fnish it up with a nice quote to wrap it all up in a bow. While for the most part, it still follows that formula, I thought it thematic to show just how diferent creative writing (CW) can be, compared to the styles and formatting found in a news publication.

Despite how CW is one of the most popular forms of art, it doesn’t seem like too many people write outside of a professional setting (or at the very least, don’t open up about their writing). It’s a shame, as it can be one of the most expressive outlets a person can use.

But writing can do things that other art forms struggle with. For one, character development is made much easier. Due to the fact that actual words are shown for the readers, ideas can be much deeper and further explored with less efort, as opposed to a song or visual art.

For me, as well as senior Paige Pearson, our love for CW started of as just being avid readers.

“I started of reading a lot, so I already had the vocabulary [and knowledge],” Pearson said.

As someone with ADHD, I’ve found that writing helps to refocus myself and actually manage to order my thoughts in a way I can understand them.

Despite my own relationship with writing, ADHD isn’t a requirement, naturally. Everybody has their own reason to write.

“I write because it’s a nice outlet,” Pearson said. “and I have thoughts that need to come out in some way, shape or form. If I can write, and other people enjoy my writing, then I’m a lot happier.”

learn. While that sounds unbearably cliche, it isn’t far from the truth. There’s no money sink like there is with drawing or instruments, nor does a person need software subscriptions like with programming and sound design. It’s the perfect ease of access art to get into.

Additionally, it always helps to fnd other people who also enjoy writing. Just like a gym buddy (except infnitely nerdier), they can keep motivation going and help keep the metaphorical fre lit. I can’t stress this one enough. Knowing that there’s people who read my work keeps me going. I very much doubt I would have made it this far if it wasn’t for that level of support.

English teacher Matt Love is hoping to help foster this support next year. Despite the schedule for the 2024-25 school year not being ofcially released, a specifc class might be making a return: the Creative Writing class.

That’s the joy of writing (and any art for that matter). It’s always a rush of excitement and anxiety whenever something new is shown. No doubt I’m feeling this way right now, the day this newspaper releases.

So how does one become a writer? Well if my barely literate 5-year-old self could answer: very easily. It’s not rocket science, all things considered.

All it takes is a person willing to

Love is excited for the possible chance to return to a class he has taught since the 90s.

“I’m a writing teacher at heart more than anything,” Love said. “So like students, I get tired of essays … and I really enjoy [being able to] teach writing in a diferent context.”

According to Love, the class will be focusing on many diferent parts of creative writing, such as writing

short stories and even play dramas to be acted out in the class. One of the ideas that he wants to instill early on is that writing is all about rewrites. He especially points out how he has never met a successful writer that didn’t revise their rough draft.

“There’s this notion that great writers are on a pedestal and everything they produce is amazing without efort,” Love said. “That’s not true.”

Beyond the direct benefts a CW class would have on students and their own storytelling, Love also mentions how he wants to still make the class helpful for people who won’t necessarily be interested in writing. Notably, he wants to make his students all around better writers whether it be for a novel or an essay. I can’t state into words just how angry I am that I will be missing this class, as I’m graduating in May. I have half a mind to go full super senior and tank my grades so I can join next year (it couldn’t possibly be that bad for my record.)

Creative writing is such an integral part of my life that I can’t help but feel excited that other people could have the chance to learn with the help of a teacher who’s been teaching classes like this for years.

I can gush all I want about how it’s helped me through tough times, or how I’d be up until three in the morning trying to fnish a chapter, but I feel that Pearson perfectly encapsulated why writing can be so special.

“I can do whatever I want,” Pearson said. “It’s my own ‘thing.’ It’s something that is just comfortable to me.”

Concern over hydration dries up Students neglect

drinking enough water, turn to unhealthy beverages instead

Hey you! Yeah, you, the one reading this right now. I have a favor to ask. A request, if you will. It’s pretty bizarre, so I really need you to hear me out here.

I need you to tinkle. Right now.

Now, why do I want you to relieve your bladder? Am I some sick freak who gets pleasure out of encouraging bathroom usage? Have I gone of the deep end and made my life revolve around toilets?

While the answer to some of those might be “yes,” that’s not why I’m giving this request. I want you to go to the bathroom and attempt to take a whizz. I say “attempt” not because I believe your body is incapable of releasing fuids, but because I know you don’t drink enough water.

No, I’m not some kind of bladder-based psychic who could just tell that you haven’t been drinking enough, nearly all students don’t drink enough water, and I’m willing to bet you’re one of those people.

Everyone knows drinking water is important for your health, but what does it even do? Personally, I always thought drinking water was kinda overrated compared to drinking, like, literally anything else, but nurse Cheryl Novak explains why water in particular is so important.

“When kids come in here for all diferent ailments, we always encourage them to drink and drink water,” Novak said. “We need hydration, we need to drink water … [dehydration] causes dry skin, mouth and eyes, and causes lightheadedness, which can disrupt your sleep.”

Okay, so we’ve established why water is so damn important and that we don’t drink enough of

it. So the question is: if we know it’s so amazing, why don’t we drink enough?

Well, for some it’s the taste. I guess years of drinking nothing but cafeinated and sugary drinks has made water pretty unappetizing for students and adults alike.

As I’m sure you’ve heard from every doctor and health teacher on the planet, the sugar and cafeine content in a lot of drinks make them ad dictive and unhealthy. What they might not men tion, though, is how they’re unhealthy.

“Drinking cofee or tea with cafeine, or Mountain Dew, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, those are all dehydrating. [After that,] you’d need even more fuids to hydrate,” Novak said.

Let’s say you’re thirsty and drink a soda. Sure, it’s unhealthy, but you don’t really care and just want to be hydrated by a cool, refreshing taste. However, as explained by Novak, the cafeine in that drink actually works against your body to make you even thirstier.

So now you’re drinking something unhealthy that also de hydrates you, meaning the only re deeming thing about your ice cold bottle of Coke is the taste. At that point, is it really worth it?

Yes. Absolutely.

What, did you think I was only going to preach about the qualities of water? Like I was going to act as if every other drink out there should be replaced with it? No way!

As good as basic, boring-as-hell water is, it is, in fact, basic and boringas-hell. Someone who drinks mostly water is healthy, but someone who drinks only water is insane.

Of course, soda and other sugary drinks are no replacements for our old friend H2O, even if they do satisfy our taste buds more. There are more factors to our overall lack of hydration than just the fact that water tastes like … well, water.

astounding, especially because I used to be one of them.

However, you really can’t blame anyone for thinking so. Advertisements showing all the electrolytes and natural favoring and other stuf that’s supposed to be good for you cause people to think “Hey, I should drink this all of the time!”

Despite this, there are some good things that come from commercialization. For one, the neverending trends of metal water bottles have defnitely increased hydration, even if they’re inconvenient and overpriced.

Whatever will help you drink more water, even if that means blowing 45 bucks on an adult sippy cup with the Stanley logo on it.

Drinking water will always be more important than we think, even if it means blindly following trends or mustering up the immense willpower needed to waterboard ourselves throughout the day.

Novak explains how any means are worthwhile if it means hydrating oneself.

“I do like those trends with water bottles like HydroFlask and Stanley Cup stuf because it gets people to drink more,” Novak said. “Carrying the cups around with them [makes students and staf] not have to get up and go to the water fountain to get a drink … the cups help, as long as they aren’t flled with cafeine.”

HYDRATION: Students choose between hydrating with water or doing the opposite with caffeinated drinks. (visual by Xander Adkins) 54% of students are dehydrated

As with the many cases of poor health, the industry is a large part of the problem. Advertisements for sports drinks, cofee, and the big one, sodas (*cough* Coca-Cola *cough*) have a clear infuence on what people want to drink. Or, what they think is healthy.

The amount of people I know that drink Gatorade because they think it’s as healthy as water is

Building up greater accessibility

Renovations assist students battling injuries, disabilities

JUSTIN PEABODY Copy Editor

Senior left winger Adam Toporkiewicz ran towards Schaumburg High School’s goal with the soccer ball during a home game against the Saxons early last September. As he tried to beat Schaumburg’s defender, he cut backwards. At that moment, he collapsed; his left knee snapping under the pressure.

For several minutes, Toporkiewicz lied on the ground, hoping he was not severely injured. After a moment, he stood up and realized that his knee was in poor condition, and he could not continue playing. At halftime, he left campus and was taken to the emergency room at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, where he got an X-ray.

Toporkiewicz was released from the hospital immediately after the X-ray, but he returned about two weeks later for an MRI. The MRI confrmed that he had torn his left ACL, so he underwent a four-hour knee reconstruction surgery.

After surgery, Toporkiewicz was unable to participate in any physical activity, so he was exempt from physical education for the rest of the semester, ending his soccer season.

“Tearing your ACL is a really bad injury,” Toporkiewicz said. “It’s the second time I’ve done it, but it’s what a lot of athletes fear because you’re out for a whole year, and it’s a really hard recovery … My knee [is never] going to be the same … It’s really scary at the moment.”

After his hospital release, Toporkiewicz needed to use crutches for three weeks and a knee brace for the next month and a half. This forced him to navigate Prospect like some other students with injuries and physical disabilities.

Several months after his injury, Toporkiewicz’s ACL has still not fully recovered. In light

Before After

of his situation, however, Toporkiewicz appreciates the numerous ways Prospect has accommodated for his injury, especially in making it easier to navigate the school during the earlier, more painful phases of his healing.

For instance, Toporkiewicz had access to the elevator at the main stairwell, which allowed him to more easily get to his classes on the second and third foors. According to Associate Principal for Activities and Operations Frank Mirandola, the elevator was recently renovated to be safer and more accessible. Its interior and exterior appearance and mechanics were altered in several ways by a group of district architects. The entire project was overseen by Building and Grounds Supervisor Jorge Villagomez.

Although the elevator had been in place for several decades, Villagomez explained that replacing the entire elevator would be too costly. Instead, half of the internal mechanics were replaced over the course of the last summer. Additionally, the elevator lighting was also renovated

to minimize tripping hazards. Finally, the need for an elevator key was removed, and students were allowed to open the elevator using their IDs.

While Villagomez believes that the elevator could still use some improvements, he is satisfed with the renovations for the near future. In January, the elevator passed safety inspections by the Mount Prospect Fire Department and by Thompson Elevator Inspection Service, Inc. Although the elevator is old, the renovations have made it safe and accessible enough for student use.

doors with levers are ada compliant

doors with levers are not ada compliant

chitects and the Building and Grounds Team. These architects review and assess the school’s facilities to ensure they meet the Standards for Accessible Design established by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which is required by federal law for all United States public schools.

According to ada.gov, the Standards for Accessible Design set guidelines for the services that public buildings must implement so they can be as accessible as possible for people with physical limitations. The frst set of ADA standards was released by the US Department of Justice in 1991, and an updated version was re-

According to childrenshospital.org, HSP is a type of genetic disorder that causes weakness and stifness in the leg muscles. HSP creates diffculty walking to the point where many people with the condition, including Andersen, need to use a wheelchair.

Like Toporkiewicz used to do, Andersen uses the elevator daily to get to most of his classes, and he is also allowed to leave his classes fve minutes early. Andersen recalled how the elevator near the main stairwell experienced mechanical issues last year before it was renovated, preventing him from using it. When this happened, administration transferred all the students in his classes on the upper foors down to one of the labs near the KLC.

While Andersen believes most students are respectful of the wheelchair accessibility services in place, he acknowledges that students will occasionally bring several of their friends into the elevator, making it cramped. Andersen said this does not happen often, but he fnds it annoying when it does.

“I think there’s a diference between bringing one person [into the elevator] and fve,” Andersen said. “If you bring one or two people at the max, that’s OK, but I think it does add up if you add too many.”

To plan upgrades to accessibility measures, like in the elevator, Mirandola explained that administration periodically works with a team of ar-

To ensure that Prospect meets ADA standards, Villagomez said that all construction and renovation projects must be inspected by a contractor and certifed as “ADA compliant” before they can be utilized by any-

One ADA guideline requires all entrances, including elevator and restroom entrances, to be at least 36 inches wide so that wheelchairs are able to ft through.

“All the stuf we do has always got to do with the safety of the students,” Villagomez said. “We want to make sure that everybody is protected; we have to make sure everybody goes home the same way that they came to school.”

For this reason, administration and architects have made modifcations to the restrooms near the Main Ofce and the Health Services ofce since the entrances to these restrooms were too narrow for wheelchair access.

Along with the renovations to the bathrooms, Villagomez explained that a new accessibility project is currently underway, which aims to remove the stairs in the foors of the computer labs, remodel the labs’ foors and remove and replace the lab’s long tables with smaller desks. This will allow students with wheelchairs to access more of the foor space.

So far, two of Prospect’s four labs have been renovated in this way, and one of them was renovated during spring break. Villagomez’s goal is to renovate all four by the end of June.

Through projects such as these, Villagomez and Mirandola are helping work towards a safer, more navigable Prospect for all.

“We’re always re-examining what we do [to accommodate disabled students] and how we do it to make sure EveryKnight has what they need and when they need it,” Mirandola said.

OUT WITH OLD, IN WITH CONVENIENT: Room 100, along with some of the other computer labs near the KLC, was recently renovated to make it wheelchair accessible. Left photo shows Room 100 before renovations; right photo shows the room after renovations. (left photo courtesy of Jorge Villagomez, right photo by Justin Peabody)

*information courtesy of jorge villagomez, photos by justin peabody

On March 22, the boys’ varsity baseball team took their frst trip back to Baseball City in St. Petersburg, FLA. since 2020, after being on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They played in four total games and went 3-1 on this fve day spring break trip.

“It was great,” head coach Ross Giusti said. “It was great to get back down there because we’ve enjoyed it over the years and it has always been a great team builder. The players just get to know each other on a diferent level and it’s always just worth it. The competition we play is pretty good, the organizer that works with us sets us up great, the facilities are great, so it’s just a great situation especially to play in 80 degree weather versus the weather we have back here.”

Giusti is not the only one who values this trip. Senior second baseman Alex Tabbert was grateful to have gone on this trip as a team.

“I was super excited to play in warm weather, and I thought it would be a great way to bring the team together, since we were all staying together and spending a lot of time together traveling,” Tabbert said.

Prospect Athletic Director Scott McDermott was happy to hear the team got to go on this trip

as well.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” McDermott said. “Anytime that you can move out of your geographic zip code or your state and see what competition looks like in other states, it gives you an opportunity to show where your game really lies and where you can get stronger. I have always said, ‘It doesn’t matter if it’s athletics or anything else, the more you can get in front of other people that do what you do, the more that you can learn and the better that you can get.’”

The team played against South Fayette and Montour, which were both teams from Pennsylvania. They also played Indian Hills from Ohio and Capital City from Missouri.

The organizer of the tournament paired Prospect to play against teams with the same school enrollment in order to make the competition as fair and interesting as possible.

“One of the nice things was getting to play in the warmer weather which helped build up our confdence because it is harder to hit in the cold,” Tabbert said. “So I think the warmth helped everybody confdence wise and since we got decent competition down there it helped prepare us for the rest of the year.”

McDermott sees the importance in taking advantage of trips like these to focus on creating an appreciable team environment, since it’s not often that high school sports teams get to travel together and play in games that are in diferent

states.

“On these trips, it’s not about the wins and losses,” McDermott said. “It’s about the culture that you are building. The wins and losses are the least impressive things about your team. It should be the culture, and so what you can develop about your core values and what it means to be a part of Prospect baseball and keep pointing back to that I think is just a great launching pad for them.”

Giusti couldn’t agree more with McDermott, and planned team building activities for the players to partake in throughout the trip.

One of his team builders included three groups of players who were responsible for covering a diferent topic that included two diferent words. The words came from a list of leadership, teamwork, accountability, character, failure and perseverance.

Each group had to create and give a 10 minute presentation to the team regarding those topics and discuss how these characteristics they chose meant to them in real world situations and how they relate to the team.

Tabbert did a presentation on accountability and thought that everyone’s presentations were meaningful and brought everyone closer.

“A lot of diferent teammates in the presentations mentioned moments where they thought that some of us showed those [characteristics],” Tabbert said. “So I thought that was good to build

MERCI SISTER CITy

My parents had wanted me to learn Spanish since it is so practical in the U.S. However, my ballet-obsessed 6th-grade self heard about the high schoolers going on exchange trips. I was charmed by the idea of Paris, and therefore, I was convinced that French was the perfect language for me.

HOME RUN TO FLORIDA PROSPECT’S TRAVELS

Nervously hitting refresh on my email that June 17th morning, this past summer, I saw the details of my French Exchange correspondent pop up. I was just hoping for someone nice that I would be comfortable around. Without wasting a second I added her email to my phone and sent her a message in all caps. It took me a few minutes to think, “Whoa, might’ve overdone it.” Pretty sure French girls don’t go texting in big bold letters to scream their excitement about meeting a stranger. Fast forward to October, when the Frenchies (our nickname for the French exchange students) arrived in America. Immediately, I noticed they were more similar to us than I had expected.

My partner, Alice, was just like any of my other friends. She was interested in the same things I was. Throughout her week here, I spent time showing her classic American restaurants, Halloween traditions, Chicago tourist attractions and just taking her through my regular days. Honestly, the activities I planned for us allowed me to gain a bigger appreciation for Chicago; I highly recommend visiting the city as if you are a tourist.

Jenna Sandstead and Ashley Brown, the French teachers at Prospect, spend hours each year pairing students up to allow the most successful relationships. Both the French and Italian programs are somewhat tight knit so the teachers can spend more time correctly matching correspondents. Regardless of their eforts, it is impossible to grant each person someone just like them.

Senior Meghan Smith was paired with a boy from France. At frst, she was unsure if the two of them would have much in common. The combination of a huge cultural gap and diferent interests was evident.

“At frst when I read the name in the email, I was nervous about

what to expect … it ended up being the start of a lifelong friendship,” Smith said.

Sandstead explained to our group that it is an incredible opportunity to create friendships however the number one priority of the exchange is to improve language and academic skills.

“You should view your exchange partner as someone who can teach you to appreciate cultural diferences,” Sandstead said, “[Additionally] this level of immersion is irreplaceable.”

A few days before the week we were hosting the Frenchies, the Italian exchange students were in town. Junior Lucy Neumann quickly became best friends with all of the students from Verona. Neumann and Smith both feel their perspectives on culture have been signifcantly impacted since the moment they grew these new friendships.

I felt that staying with a French family gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. From the moment I walked into Alice’s apartment, I knew that I would leave with an entirely new level of French comprehension.

of of because everyone recognized what other people have done that has helped the team.”

Overall, Tabbert thought the team building throughout the course of the trip could not have gone better. He and his teammates felt more connected after taking time to recognize each other’s contributions to the team.

“I honestly think it was great,” Tabbert said. “The relationship building I thought was huge. For some of the games, we had all the JV guys that the coaches brought in the dugout with us, so that was cool to just have everybody there. I think that some of the team building activities Giusti did and just spending time with everybody was a good thing that the coaches should try and do as often as they can. I think it built success.”

The team is excited for the rest of the season coming up, and Giusti, along with the players, thinks the spring break trip they took was one to remember.

Giusti plans on keeping this spring break trip tradition alive and is trying to get the trip scheduled again for next year.

“Overall, the trip was outstanding,” Giusti said. “The players’ feedback was very positive, and what we try to do is keep the team busy from the minute we get up until we have room check and everything at night. We just tried to fll the day with activities where players aren’t on their own too much, and we made sure our itinerary was booked throughout the day.

Her parents were very caring, however, they were much diferent from my own, and it was a little nerve-wracking at frst. They took every opportunity to teach me French history and show me their unique traditions. They showed me around the palaces and gardens of Versailles, took me to their favorite restaurant along the Champs-Elysee and let me learn what it was like to go about daily life in Paris.

Throughout the days, we visited the most popular monuments with our class including the Louvre, Musee D’Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Jardin du Luxembourg and so much more. It was the icing on the cake that my exchange partner took me to attend a ballet at the Opera Garnier. It was that night that put everything into perspective: I was living out my childhood dream.

Prospect is the only school in the district with an exchange program.

In May of 2000, Mount Prospect and Sevres, France ofcially entered into a Sister City relationship. This connection is through Sister Cities International, which is a nonproft citizen diplomacy net- work that creates and strengthens partnerships between U.S. and international communities. The French program at Prospect has fourished ever since.

Over spring break, throughout the world. went to St. Petersburg, world language classes Paris, France, and Venice, interested

This experience has changed my perspective of the world, brought my education to the next level and inspired my passion to build friendships with as many diferent types of people as possible.

“All of the people that participated in the exchange with me from both Prospect and Verona became my family,” Neumann said, “We still talk everyday and hope to one day meet up again… I now have new best friends that I will cherish forever.”

PROSPECT’S TRAVELS Japan journey

break, Prospect took students on trips world. The boys’ varsity baseball team Petersburg, Florida for a tournament, classes for French and Italian went to Venice, Italy and students who were interested went to Tokyo, Japan.

MARY ROBINSON Features Reporter

Junior Martha Luca woke up early Thursday, March 21 to get to O’Hare Airport for Prospect’s spring break trip to Japan. She took her carry-on bag and one backpack and left for a nine day adventure. After a two and a half hour fight to Denver, and then a 12 hour fight, Luca landed at the Narita International Airport in Tokyo, Japan. When walking out of the plane, the frst thing Luca noticed was how congested the airport was.

“I have never seen an airport that crowded,” Luca said.

School counselor Timothy Franklin was in charge of planning the trip this year. It was his frst time going to Japan ,as well as Prospect’s. Through an organization called American Intercontinental Services, 18 students and four staf members from Prospect went to Japan over spring break. They chose Japan to learn about the culture and the art of the country. The organization provided a translator and tour guide named Seungmi Cho that showed them around Japan. They left on March 21 and spent the next week overseas, eventually returning home on March 29.

Franklin started planning and coordinating the trip over a year ago. To attend the trip, each student had to pay $5,400 and fll out a form through the travel agency website. Junior Luka Depalov tried to learn some of the Japanese numbers before the trip to help him navigate through stores.

During their stay, they visited six diferent cities: Tokyo, Kyoto, Mount Fuji, Osaka, Nagoya and Shizuoka. Wanting to learn more about Japanese culture, the students were able to do a wide variety of activities, including visiting temples, trying authentic Japanese food and learning some common Japanese phrases.

Their frst stop was Tokyo. In the city they went to the Tokyo Imperial Palace, the Meiji Shrine, the Asakusa Kannon Temple and the SkyTree where they saw Tokyo from 350 meters in the air.

Depalov’s favorite city was Tokyo, and his best memory was going to a cat cafe where they got to pet and feed cats that roamed around the restaurant. He also enjoyed walking around the Harajuku train station, which he compared to a large outdoor mall.

“Anything you could really think of was there,” Depalov said.

After they visited Mount Fuji they went to Shizuoka. In Shizuoka they went to the Tea Museum and they attended a Japanese Calligraphy class at an all girls high school. In the class, they were taught how to write simple Japanese phrases and letters. At the end of the class, Luca learned how to

write the phrase “cherry blossoms” in Japanese. They also got to talk with some of the girls that went to the school.

“It was really cool,” Luca said. “It’s not everyday that you get to meet and talk to people halfway around the world.”

The last stop on their trip was Osaka. There, they spent most of their time at the Fushimi Inari Shrine and the One Thousand Torii Gates in Nara Deer Park.

The group was able to go to the top of the temple overlooking a beautiful view of the park while taking pictures and drinking tea. Afterwards they walked around Nara Deer Park, which has around 1,400 deer inside the park for tourists to feed and watch. If the deer see a person with food they are trained to bow to the person as a way of asking to be fed.

“It was crazy,” Luca said. “I’ve never seen anything like that, but it was really pretty.”

They also got to make their own sushi. Once they completed the class everyone got their own sushi making diploma.

Luca’s favorite part of the trip was going out late with her friend, junior Melissa Kim, to a restaurant near their hotel after the class. They went to one of the frst restaurants they could fnd. Inside there were little rooms with sliding doors where people could eat and could continuously order food. Luca enjoyed trying horsemeat for the frst time at that restaurant.

“It was fun because I got to do it with a friend,” Luca said. “It was a nice little memory.”

Throughout their trip, the students were also learning about diferent parts of Japanese culture. Their tour guide taught them that it is impolite to eat while you are walking in Japan.

Additionally, anytime you interact with an adult or someone older than yourself you are expected to bow at the beginning and the end of the conversation as a sign of respect. Lastly, when they had to purchase anything they were expected to have exact change for the item.

All the students were given around one to two hours a day to explore the city during lunchtime. Depalov and Luca found many stores such as Zara, H&M and Forever 21 were similar to popular stores in America. Luca noticed that the Tokyo shopping districts and buildings were similar to Chicago. Depalov wished that he was able to spend more time exploring the country. Through each activity and new place that they went to, the students and chaperones were able to learn more about the culture and history of Japan.

“I learned to just go for things even if you are scared,” Luca said. “You may end up liking something more or having a lot of fun.”

‘Glee’ creator reflects on time at PHS

PJ O’GRADY Editor-in-Chief

Thriving in his AP English class at Prospect, then-high schooler Ian Brennan had thoughts about double majoring in Theater and English when going into college. His aspirations, however, quickly disappeared when his teacher, Kevin Hickey, who Brennan admired, mentioned that all English majors do is constantly write papers. Flash forward about a decade later, Brennan’s career transitioned entirely into writing — but not for the purpose of academia.

“I was like ‘Oh, I don’t want to write papers all the time,’ and so I just didn’t pursue [English],” Brennan said. “It’s really stupid. [Now] what I do all the time … is write papers, [but] they’re just scripts.”

like, what rehearsals were like, going in and getting candy at the vending machines right outside during rehearsals [and] sitting in those seats trying to do homework in between,” Ian said. “[There is] just a very strong sense of memories from that time.”

Charman and Ian both attested to the quality of Prospect’s teachers. To add to that, Ian said that at Prospect, he felt a student could be “whoever [they] wanted to be.”

Ultimately, Brennan decided on double majoring in theater and Russian at Loyola University Chicago, since an acting professor, Jonathan Wilson, promised that Brennan would be in legitimate theater productions before he graduated.

Graduating from Loyola in 2000 with dreams of becoming a successful actor, Brennan soon developed his afnity for theater into a passion for storytelling and turned it into his professional career. Fast forward nearly two decades, Brennan now works as a screenwriter for Netfix and has been involved in countless works throughout his career. Most notably, he co-created and co-wrote the award-winning television series “Glee,” which aired from 2009-2015 and was based on Prospect’s show choir. In 2022, he wrote the frst season of Netfix’s true crime anthology series, “Monster.” The frst season, called “Dahmer — Monster: The Jefrey Dahmer Story,” amassed traction all over social media and won numerous awards.

Before he entered the TV production world, Brennan grew up in Mount Prospect and went through the District 57 school system. He attended Lincoln Middle School and graduated Prospect in 1996.

At a young age, Brennan involved himself in several plays and musicals, including his frst play, “Oliver!,” in which he performed as the Artful Dodger at Lincoln Middle School. Charman Brennan, Ian’s mother, credits the feeder schools going into Prospect towards developing Ian’s love of performing.

“It wasn’t just Prospect, it was also [the District 57 schools like] Lincoln,” Charman said. “That’s where I think he really got the theater bite, and then Prospect had so many oferings.”

Once Ian reached Prospect, a new world of opportunity opened up for him. He quickly became a heavily involved student in high school and took on as much as possible. In addition to honors and AP classes, Ian was in show choir, speech, Russian club, Herpetology (amphibian) club and the National Honor Society. He also partook in every production that was ofered at Prospect. Some of the plays or musicals Ian performed in were “The King and I,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Once Upon a Mattress” and “Man of La Mancha.”

Ian refected on the performances he was in.

“I just remember what that backstage felt

A facilitator in that sense was teacher John Marquette, who taught at Prospect from 19841994 and then spent 10 additional years as the Fine Arts Coordinator.

“[Marquette], who ran the theater program, was just a consummate professional who loved theater as much as any professional actor, director or theater artist … so he took [the program] really seriously, which meant you yourself could take it seriously,” Ian said. “He … was incredibly supportive.” The importance of such a man did not go unnoticed for Ian. He rattled of several students he performed with at Prospect that he felt bought into Marquette’s theater program: Susan Miller, Sorin Brouwers, Justin Ochonicki, Jennifer Morrison and Brittany Stephen. He acknowledged that most of the alumni mentioned above went on to careers in either theater, music or media.

“I think there’s a direct line from there of just having a place where you can be serious about something and it could be taken serious,” Ian said. “It’s not like there were some sort of big connections to the entertainment world that [Marquette] had or [that] were suddenly available to you at all. It was just a shared sense of passion.”

Out of that group, Ian was closest to Morrison, who’s father, David Morrison, was the band director at Prospect for 29 years. Jennifer’s professional career started earlier than the other theater kids.

At around the age of 10, Jennifer was featured on a Sports Illustrated cover with Michael Jordan. In 1994, as a freshman in high school, Morrison debuted in her frst movie “Intersection.” From that point forward, she accumulated dozens of roles in movies and shows, including the character of Dr. Allison Cameron in the award-winning Fox series “House” and the character of Emma Swan in ABC network’s “Once upon a time.”

Although Jennifer was a year younger than Ian in high school, they worked closely together in theater.

Their relationship, though, spanned more than just on-stage camaraderie, as Ian said they would drive with each other to Prospect each day. At one point, Morrison was his prom date and eventually his girlfriend. Over time, they decided to be just friends again, and after Jennifer’s senior year at Prospect, they were able to reunite in college when she committed to Loyola University Chicago.

“I have always admired her dedication and work ethic,” Ian said. The most infuential extracurricular that Ian said he was a part of was the speech team — another activity led by Marquette. Ian felt that no amount of acting or musicals would be able to unlock the hard work and independence that he developed while competing for speech.

DYNAMIC DUO: Junior Jennifer Morrison aims a fnger gun at senior Ian Brennan in Dramatic Duet Acting at state in 1996. (courtesy of Crest yearbook)

mances, Ian did not yet understand the dividends that choir would end up paying for his career. While being a part of the choir, Ian said he was always intrigued with how “weird,” “funny” and “aspirational” the high school choir world was; he saw that nobody had ever written about the concept and thought that he should be the one to do so.

About four years after he graduated Loyola, Ian fnally decided to take action after talking with a long-distance friend who had a similar choir experience. For about nine months, he would jot down notes and thoughts about a screenplay that he’d call “Glee.” After that period, in August of 2005, he wrote the whole screenplay in about three weeks.

“It was seeing the glee club [at Prospect] that he was in that ended up being the seed of the story of ‘Glee,’” Charman said.

Glee eventually ended up being rewritten as a TV series for Fox, but not without a “lucky” chain of events, according to Charman. At the time, Ian was living in New York City, but a friend of his was living in Los Angeles and went to the same gym as Ryan Murphy, a big writer and director. That friend agreed to hand of the script to Murphy, which he read over and ended up liking. In response, Murphy called Ian to fy in and meet with him and writer and director Brad Falchuk to discuss the idea.

“The rest was history,” Ian said.

Once Fox approved the idea, they began writing and producing. In the fall of 2009, the show premiered and became “a burgeoning hit,” according to Ian.

“[Speech] really taught discipline,” Ian said. “[It] not only [taught] how to write your own material, but how to perform it on a Saturday morning getting up at 5 a.m. in the middle of the darkest winter and getting on a bus and driving to these cold, empty … high school classrooms to perform.”

Considering his own experience in being a part of several activities at Prospect, Ian said that Prospect allowed a space for students to compete and perform at the highest level, especially for those who were in any fne arts programs.

“I felt a really fertile creative environment, and it seems like it’s that way for kids who are really into photography and kids who are really into debate, for instance,” Ian said. “The arts and humanities at Prospect at the time seemed uncommonly strong.”

While being in theater was a necessary stepping stone for his future acting career, Prospect’s show choir served a diferent purpose for Ian. Although he didn’t wind up loving his time in the choir, he remained dedicated to it because he felt like it would allow him to be a better vocalist and performer, which would in turn help his chances as an actor.

Grinding through his choir perfor-

Season one reviews from critics refected similar tones.

Murphy, who had been wanting to write about Jefrey Dahmer, a cannibalistic serial killer; Ian said he was on board to work on the series. He himself was fascinated with the story of Dahmer, especially with how “familiar” he seemed to be since he was a fellow midwesterner. Known as the “Milwaukee Monster,” Dahmer was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and committed many of his murders there.

Ian said he contributed to about 80% of the writing of the show. As of April 7, 2024, “Dahmer” sat at the third most viewed English show in Netfix history with over 115 million views, according to Netfix’s Most Popular TV list.

“[Dahmer is] probably the most artistically successful thing that I’ve done,” Ian said. “I think it’s as close to a masterpiece as I expect to ever get.”

Emmys ‘Glee’ has won

• Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - 2011, Gwyneth Paltrow, as Holly Holliday

• Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series - 2011

• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - 2010, Jane Lynch, as Sue Sylvester

• Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series - 2010, Neil Patrick Harris, as Bryan Ryan

• Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series - 2010, Ryan Murphy

“Cynical, sweet, and inestimably funny, ‘Glee’ is by far the best show of the fall TV season,” said Glenn Garvand, a top Rotten Tomatoes critic, in 2009 in the Miami Herald.

Trying to continue that momentum, Ian and Murphy are wrapping up season two of their “Monster” series, which will air this fall. The second season focuses on the Menendez brothers, two siblings from the East Coast who killed their parents after sufering years of abuse from them.

• Outstanding Sound Mixing for a comedy or drama series - 2010, “The Power Of Madonna”

Despite how highly he and the crew thought of the show, Ian said he never expected “Glee” to become so popular.

“We knew it was … unlike anything that had ever been done and was just great, just ‘hair on the back of your neck standing up’ good,” Ian said. “But, I had no expectation that it would be as much of a cultural touchdown as it became. That was a complete surprise to everybody on the network.”

Glee ended up being a huge success for Fox, with viewership ranging from nearly 3 million to 10 million viewers and an overall rating of 70% by Rotten Tomatoes.

Besides all the success “Glee” would earn, it also provided a jump-start for Ian to shift from acting to writing. He soon wrote a number of content: “Scream Queens,” “The Politician,” “Ratched” and “The Watcher.”

Most signifcantly, “Dahmer — Monster: The Jefrey Dahmer Story” reunited him with

Although he’s not performing in front of an audience or camera anymore, Ian said the type of writing he gets to work on for projects like “Monster” has been more fulflling and proftable than his previous career as an actor, but that’s not to say Ian didn’t make a name for himself in the acting feld, though. He was involved in a number of TV shows and movies, including minor roles in “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” “CSI: NY” and “New Amsterdam.” On the theater side of things, he was involved in several of-broadway plays and won an award for his supporting role in “Finian’s Rainbow” at the Marriott Theatre in Chicago.

All things considered, Ian feels content with screenwriting because it allows less restriction for his imaginative works.

“Acting is certainly creative, but much more an interpretive creativity,” Ian said. “You’re sort of bringing someone else’s creativity to life, whereas I was becoming more interested in bringing my own creativity to life, so that’s sort of when I started writing.”

While he feels writing is where his true purpose lies, Ian can’t help but miss his acting days, performing on the stage of the Kulieke Theater.

“It all goes back to Prospect,” Ian said. “I miss that feeling backstage. It felt no diferent being in a theater at Prospect or at Loyola or at the Goodman or at New York … That excitement was exactly the same throughout my whole career, so I do miss that a bit.”

Ian Brennan Class of 1996

Dating pressure due for detonation

Students overwhelmed by prom due to dating desires

DEAN CARLSON Exec. Online Editor

Senior Alex Chengary went to the “Hollywood Knights” homecoming dance in September 2023 without a date, planning to attend the dance with his friend group instead. Looking back, he was content with the experience, saying that he had lots of fun with his friends at the dance. However, one thought nagged at him when looking at the amount of couples who attended the dance together.

“Yes, it would have been nice to have a date seeing all of the other counot trying to rush it,” Chengary said.son best suited for him, he said that the upcoming prom dance raises the pressure to get a date. According to a KnightMedia survey of 329 Prospect students, 47% of students have never been in a relationship.

Chengary isn’t alone in that pressure feeling, as dances and couple-centered events like prom cause the pressure to get a date to be as high as ever, leaving others feeling left out.

Mainly because of traditions coming from parents and grandparents, getting a date for the upcoming dance was always an expectation, but it doesn’t stop at their generation. For years, dates have been traditionalized for school dances.

According to CrystalView.com, in the late 1800s, teenage girls would attend formal dances to give them an opportunity to “be introduced to society and meet their future husband.” After time went by, these “debutante balls” became known as a prom and were made for high schoolers to have fun, with or without a date.

As high school begins, students become increasingly independent. Then comes their ability to get their license or a job. According to psychology teacher Jay Heilman, this is why dating in high school has become so popular because dating involves testing the boundaries of adulthood.

“We, as humans, want to procreate,” Heilman said. “So as that becomes a capability for us as we reach into [high school], it becomes a goal

feeling of attachment that we all seek.”

With prom around the corner, this attachment feeling compounds the de-

Someone who has found that special someone, junior Matthew Fouch, is happy to have a relationship for Prospect students, just about 21% of students are currently in a relationship.

Chengary isn’t a part of this group, yet isn’t concerned about his dating status.

Chengary said. “[Getting a date] isn’t some to rush. rather want to be in the relationship because them, not because it’s [prom].”

Accord ing to Heilman, through the con-

that person isn’t ready to enter a relationship.”

However, according to Chengary, when seeing “hallway couples,” the feeling of wanting to get into a relarefer to couples who don’t mind the actually embrace it with actions like cuddling, hugging, kissing, or holding hands in the hallway. Chengary said this can easily lead to the fear of uncomfortable in general.

Although Chengary is single, with the mindset he has, he tries his best to have a positive outlook over the thought of not dating, even though he does experience these aspects of who are able to do this, saying he understands that every relationship is hallway couples.

Fouch said. “You might see them kiss or just be uncomfortably close for -

pressure guage rises with students pressure

might view dating wrong; to be in a relationship because everyone else is versus to be in one because they truly like the other person.

“[Dating pressure] is bad if they aren’t really comfortable with where they are and really what they want in

if being a hallway couple works for them, then at least they are happy with each other.”

According to Heilman, seeing hallway couples may create adverse

idea of dating in teenagers’ minds.

social pressure to want to do what everyone else around you is doing, especially in teenage years because teenagers’ bodies are changing, so they are having more attraction for [others],” Heilman said. “When people start todoing this too.’”

to others enjoying a relationship, social media also gives students similar exposure outside of school. Seeing other relationships, Heilman feels deep sorrow for what people have to endure. This is credited to the fact that Heilman feels dating isn’t the same as when he was a teenager.

Since social media did not exist when Heilman was in high school, he talked to girls in person at school. to see on social media other relationships’ ‘highlight reel,’” Heilman said. it’s only the best of the best, and of course, people are going to stage those pictures to make it seem better than they actually are. So, you have a false sense of what everyone else is doing, and it [tricks] them into thinking that’s what their life should be like.”

Being in a relationship, Fouch re-gram, but he also explains that those videos don’t show the bigger picture of the relationship. doing [on social media] and when peo-

Students weigh risks of underage drinking

SARAH MATZKIN News Reporter

Feeling the sweet red wine touch her taste and senior Maria Jones* felt relaxed in a way she had never felt before.

The New Year’s Eve party, which was hosted by her mom, was surrounded by family members to ring in the year 2023 with the new year came a new experience. That experience included trywine which she accepted after a family member

After a bit, she started feeling more relaxed than usual, but also a little lightheaded after drinking the wine.

While Jones aims to drink to reach a more mellow state, there are many reasons teens choose to drink. According to kidshealth.org, some reasons teens use alcohol are curiosity, to feel good, to reduce stress and to relax.

Mental Health Services Administration revealed that in 2022, 15.1% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 20 drank alcoholic beverages in the past month.

Since consequences of alcohol can be life altering, it is covered in health classes at Prospect because it is a statewide requirement.

Health teacher Aaron Marnstein highlights alcohol and drugs with his classes to teach them not indulging like some of their peers.cludes past alcohol abusers. Speakers from Alcoto talk about their experiences with alcohol and addiction. Marnstein even has a Google form so students can ask anonymous questions if they or someone they know is struggling.

answers they want without feeling as though theystein said.

He also believes another reason students drink is because they know it’s dangerous and something they shouldn’t do.

curiosity,” Marnstein said. “Everyone tells [you] that you shouldn’t do it, but [you’re] curious as on ourselves where we feel everyone else is doing it, and now we’re left out.”

While this is one situation some teens may steer away from peer pressure by turning down any situation where there’s alcohol involved and enjoyable.

Smith thinks that a better way for teens to ocAnother reason Smith does not drink is partly because he is an athlete, so drinking could harm endurance, reaction times, muscle development, hydration and recovery. While alcohol can have emotional instability in the long run, according to Marnstein. “Alcohol brings out a lot of emotions in people, and it can make you aggressive and emotion-

it can also damage the psychological health of people. According to an article from the National most common mental health disorders that occur as a result of drinking are anxiety, depression and other psychiatric disorders.

teaching students about them and explains that alcohol depresses the central nervous system and numbs feelings. Because of this numbing fac-

tor, people sometimes use alcohol as a negative coping strategy to make stress or anger go away.

has a few friends that he knows drink, but he doesn’t believe it is a good way to live. He recalls forming this opinion when he found out the negstage in his life.

it.”

For Smith, enjoyment comes from sports and extracurriculars. For others, relaxing could mean hanging out with friends, watching a movie or baking. Still, some choose to consume alcohol, ignoring the law and disregarding health concerns.

Jones’ consumption usually consists of drinking once every couple of months with her friends, and she typically drinks with college friends while enjoying hobbies like watching a movie, etc.

Jones said she is careful when drinking to make sure she does not drink too much, so she doesn’t get to a point where she is in danger.

too many all at once.”

Although Jones has never experienced poor judgment herself while drinking, she has seen friends make bad decisions when drinking too much. Namely, she has seen them text people they wouldn’t normally text while sober and then regret it later.

Marnstein credits these decisions to teens’ minds still developing. According to The Nationminds do not fully develop until the age of 25.

“Things that we would have not done sober are more appealing when intoxicated because we don’t have the ability to make those other decisions,” Marnstein said.

false image,” Fouch said. “Seeing couples’ posts on social media makes you have to keep in perspective that people only post the really good things on social media, not the bad things.”

Before meeting his current girlfriend, Fouch explains how social media played a role in his high school dating pressure.

for especially because you see people posting hoco signs [on social media],” Fouch said.

Although not all students desire to date, Fouch believes that dating can enhance the high school experience for some.

but honestly, [having a date] doesn’t change a lot,” Fouch said. “But it does make it feel a lot more meaningful [to go with a date]. With social media, the pressure has gotten worse recently, especially with [prom] coming up. pressure [to date| because it’s going to do more harm than good.”

Marnstein explains that when someone doesn’t feel comfortable or they feel self - conscious, nervous or embarrassed, alcohol diminishes those feelings. Since people want to feel good about themselves, they will chase that feeling.

“People feel that they can have a good time when they’re drinking because all the things that are preventing them from having a good time aren’t there anymore,” Marnstein said. “The alcohol has made it easier for them to make those decisions.”

Social media also plays a major role in teens

Smith doesn’t align his own views with these higher status in life just because they choose to post themselves drinking.

“A lot of times, when people see other people drinking at a party or something, they will think they are cooler, but they are just like everyone else,” Smith said. “People who do drink and people who don’t are the same; they just made a different choice.”

PRESSURE BUILD-UP: After seeing many other peers in relationships, students can feel overwhelmed with the topic (art by Alyssa Kowols)

PARTY LIFE: Spilled red Solo cups sit on a table during a high school party. (photo illustration by Alyssa Kowols)

The tricky tales of an understudy

KAIA MAVRADAS Features Reporter

DUAL ROLE: Sophomore Quanin Brooks (right), who plays “Pepper” in “Mamma Mia,” understudies for sophomore Cristian Nava (middle) in the role of “Sky.” Throughout the rehersal process, Brooks had to balance learning the blocking and lines for two characters. (Photo by Kaia Mavradas)

All confidence on mound, at plate

PETER RADOSH

KnightTV Director

Bottom of the 7th. Two outs. 5-4 Hersey. Terpins on second. Get on base.

These were the thoughts going through now-senior Jack Mannion’s head as he stepped up to the plate during the bottom of the seventh inning of Prospect’s game against Hersey on May 3, 2023. Prospect had just lost 1-0 in the seventh inning to the Huskies at Hersey the day before, so this game was the Knights’ chance for revenge. For now, however, all Mannion focused on was making contact and getting on base in an attempt to extend the game.

The pitch was a bit high — right around Mannion’s chest. He swung anyway.

As soon as the ping of the bat was heard, it was clear that Mannion’s hit was going far. It went farther and farwall of Larry Pohlman Field. As he rounded the bases, the Hersey players held down while Mannion’s teammates surrounded home plate to celebrate with him.

“The thought of hitting a home run didn’t even cross my mind, and when I did, it just felt awesome,” Mannion said. “It was just an experience I’ll never forget.”

a rival is any high school hitter’s dream. But what makes Mannion’sfore, he pitched three innings in an 8-6 win over Elk Grove, where he recorded three strikeouts.

Now, in his senior season, Mannion is the only player for Prospect who is consistently seen both at the plate and on the mound.

At the youth baseball level, athletes play multiple positions in order to build their skills in all aspects of the game. As they reach higher levels of the sport, however, many players start to focus on one aspect of the game.

“We don’t have a lot of guys that pitch and hit,” varsity assistant coach Phil O’Grady said. “I can’t recall a guy who was a pitcher/hitter at this high of a level since Jack Landwehr, who was all-state in 2011.”

Despite now being a regular pitcher/hitter, Mannion’s journey there was anything but linear. He both pitched and hit while playing at the lower levels of Prospect baseball, but when he made varsity, it was tough to play both positions at that level.

“Kids put a lot of pressure on themselves,” O’Grady said. “The pressure to do one thing is great enough, but the pressure to do two things great at the varsity level is really, really challenging.”

For Mannion, this pressure led to worse performances, which made O’Grady has coached Mannion since

Mannion was nine years old, and he recalls Mannion’s issues with self-belief in the past.

“If Jack had a weakness when he was nine, 10 and 11 [years-old], it would have some tremendous outings, but anytime he was faced with a little bit of adversity, he would kind of turn to jello and retreat.”

Even when Mannion was a junior in high school, O’Grady could still faced as a little kid.

“He just crawled inside his own head, and he needed to get out of it,” O’Grady said.

Strikeout after strikeout, Man-cording to O’Grady’s recollection, last varsity, he struck out around 11 times.

“My mental approach was not there [last year],” Mannion said. “I

hitting reaching a low point, some talks between coaches began about transitioning him into a pitcher only.

Mannion vividly remembers the conversation he had with Prospect baseball head coach Ross Giusti about whether he should continue as a pitcher/hitter.

“I was taking the SAT, and I went out to go to the bathroom, and I saw [Giusti] in the hallways, and he’s like, ‘You’re going to focus on pitching now,’” Mannion said.

Despite wanting his players to be able to do as much as they would like to, Giusti details the strategy behind suggesting that a player focuses solely on pitching.

“[As a coach], you’d like to have any of your players perform well and do one or two things great, as opposed to three or four things just OK,” Giusti said. “Knowing that we needed pitchhim focus on pitching.”

Mannion, though, was determined to continue both parts of the game.

“In my head, [I said] ‘I’m going to prove you wrong,’” Mannion said.

Mannion was waiting for a chance to show that he could still hit, and just two days after his talk with Giusti, Mannion’s chance would come.

On April 14, 2023, Prospect geared up for a Friday ballgame against Palatine. Mannion was given the chance opportunity.

He ended the day 3 for 4 with a double and two singles against Palboost.

“It felt great, something [just] clicked,” Mannion said. “It completely turned my season around hitting-[wise].”

Mannion got on base more and more, and with each good perfor-

“When he’s in the right frame of mind, he’s unstoppable, whether it be on the mound or at the plate,” O’Grady said.

In return for his solid performances, Giusti continued to allow opportunities for Mannion to hit.

“When [players] show that consistency to play both positions at a high level, we just let them go,” Giusti said.

Becoming a more consistent player allowed Mannion to pursue both aspects he loves about baseball. Now, in his senior seagame that he frequently focuses on.

and the pitching machine.

When it comes to pitching, Mannion does hip activation work along with medicine ball work and weightlifting. These exercises help Mannion become more explosive, making him a better overall pitcher.

“He hasn’t been handed anything,” O’Grady said. “He’s worked really hardity to the point where he’s [throwing] 86 to 88 consistently. So his work inumes for him on the mound now.”

WHEN HE’S IN THE RIGHT FRAME OF MIND, HE’S UNSTOPPABLE.”

- Phil O’Grady, assistant coach

“If I’m struggling … and I’m start-self, ‘You know how good you are. You know what you can do,’” Mannion said. “It’s just that internal motivation that keeps me going.”

Along with mentality, another skill that Mannion has to get right is balancing working on all aspects of the game. While pitchers typically do separate drills from the entire team, according to Mannion, he usually practices with drill, where he’ll join the pitchers.

Outside of team practices, most of Mannion’s hitting work occurs in a

Badminton’s new bonding traditions

and themed practices. A few themes that they have done so far have been neon, Adam Sandler, class colors, tie dye and dress like your theme and takes pictures for the team Instagram.

When walking past the small gyms, an array of bright clothing could be seen. For their weekly spirit days during the second week of practice, the girls’ badminton team was tasked with dressing in neon. While sporting neon yellow, pink and green, the team lit up the small gyms.

amount of participation we had,” senior Gabi Perez said. “Every-

This new ritual of dressing up has become an integral part of the The girls typically have a dress-up theme for the team to follow, and half of that Friday’s practice is dedicated to playing fun badminton games.

These themed Fridays are a new addition to the badminton program and have helped the team build connections between the athletes, according to Perez. As a way to improve inclusion between the varsity, JV and frosh/soph teams, the seniors decided to implement these spirit days.

These new team bonding activities added to the “big sister, little sister” system that had been in place from prior seasons. This system was designed to integrate the younger members of the badminton team with the older varsity members. By pairing an upperclassmen with an underclassmen and having them buy each other snacks or drinks before matches, the team was able to bond and have tight-knit connections within the larger program, according to Perez.

Now they do this with both the “big sister, little sister” program

“Everybody takes time to compliment each other’s clothes and take pictures together, and seeing each other dressed in ridiculous grade levels],” Perez said.

While team bonding can help the whole team feel connected, it is equally as important with doubles partners. Junior Colleen Schute and her partner, junior Ashley Smith, have worked together to learn each other’s tendencies and build trust. Another important aspect of doubles is the situational awareness required, according to head coach Lindsay Gibbel. Gibbel believes that players will grow their awareness and become more successful throughout the season as they gain more game experience. In order to simulate match situations, the team spends almost half of every practice playing practice matches.

“[Match play] allows us to practice things in a low stress envi-

In addition to the loss of leaders from last year’s senior class,ing lineup. As a result, many players have been vaulted up the lineup and are playing in spots higher than they were used to.

players who made a large jump in the lineup is mental.

“Going from 10 singles to two singles can sound really intimidating, but if we can just stay calm, we can be successful,” Schute said.

starters, were very nervous about the large jump that they made.

On April 12, Mannion recorded 11 strikeouts while only letting up two hits in a 12-1 win over Conant, who had an 8-1 record. Performancesdence, which doesn’t just help him but also the team.

“If [he’s] performing well and ifbody else to do the same thing,” Giusti said.

Now an integral part of the team, according to both Giusti and O’Grady, Mannion details why he continually works on both the mental and physical aspects of the game to keep playing at the level he’s playing at.

“I just want to prove to myself and to others [to] show them the baseball player I really am,” Mannion said.

FUN FRIDAYS: The girls’ badminton team dresses to match their rackets for one of the new “Fun Fridays” that have been implemented by the senior team leaders. (photo by Priyanka Shah)

Perez had low expectations for herself. Although they weren’t expecting to place, she and her doubles partner, senior Kanya Rajenderan ended up placing second at the tournament. Not only did Perez, and Rajenderan play well, but many other players placed at the tournament.

Perez said.

this year. This has been evident in their seven overall victories in as many matchups. No matter the end result, Gibbel thinks there is something to learn from each match.

“There’s a lot you can take from the match, win or lose,” Gibbel this is what we need to work on in practice, and now we have a new focus.’”

Similar to Gibbel, Perez’s goals for the season aren’t reliant on wins and losses.

“My goal is really just to improve,” Perez said.

BEN MITCHELL KnightTV Live Associate Producer

FOLLOW THROUGH: Senior Jack Mannion pitches during a game against Geneva on April 6. (photo by Sydney Lupo)

HANDS BACK: Senior Jack Mannion prepares to hit the ball in a game against Wheeling on April 10. Mannion both hits and pitches for Prospect. (photo by Mollie Kearns)

College commits weigh options

STELLA PALM Copy

Growing up, assistant throws coach Vince Shields was involved in about every major sport imaginable. However, once he entered into his freshman at Prospect in 2013, he had to narrow down the school level commitments.

As Shields spent more time playing football and throwing in track and weren’t things he had to stop after high school. After thinking he was going to play football in college, he came to the conclusion that he enjoyed throwing more.

It wasn’t until junior year, howevhe actually had the potential to throw in college. From that moment on, throws.

Shields wasn’t the only Prospect student that has had the dream to compete in athletics during college. In a KnightMedia survey of 110 Prospect students, 37.3% of them agree that they would want to compete at a collegiate level. Fortunately, these students have a plethora of resources at their disposal both online and within the school to help them achieve this goal. garnered immense support from her more independent during her recruitthat she wanted to run in college, emailing college coaches.

Shields notes that this step of communication with coaches is essential in the recruitment process of track and

“A lot of times people think when you're going for collegiate sports [the college will] send out … all these coaches [and that they will] come out and they [will] look at you and they’ll recruit you,” Shields said. “Which is true for some of those big sports like

football [and] basketball … but for so many track athletes and so many track meets around the country.”

ncsasports.org to help her in her recruitment process. Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) is the largest college athletic recruiting platform with more than 40,000 college coach34 sports.

While NCSA was very helpful for when she decided what she wantedschools she looked at. According to hotcoursesabroad.com, only 247 uniforensic science degrees and courses.

While researching schools that across the University of New Havenended up responding to her in early June of 2023.

cruitment process was anything but short, with other schools like Univerand Eastern New Mexico University taking months to get back to her.

After receiving an email from the

was ranked number one in the universities.com 2024 and 2023 ranking of the top colleges in the United States to pursue a degree in forensic science, go visit.

with her mother and getting a tour of the school from the coaches, met with an spot on

team.

ing the team [and coaches] ... [and] seeing just the whole facility and the school [knowing that it is] such a good school for my major, I verbally committed there that day on the spot,”

pen to everyone. Shields ended up goUniversity of Kansas, University of Minnesota and University of Illinois before ultimately committing to the University of Illinois.

During these visits, Shields recalls not only thinking about which team he wanted to throw for, but more of how comfortable he felt at each school.

“It's a big decision,” Shields said. “I'm going to be there for four, endtried to get a full grasp of not just the sports aspect, [but] … obviously classes, friends [and] new teammates, so [those things were] pretty big for me.”

Besides the school’s environment, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) division also had asion.

stuck out to her between the divisions were the opportunities for an athletic scholarship. As of right now, Divischolarships; these schools emphaexperience as opposed to one heavily focused on athletics, according to bold. org.

vision III athletes to receive some sort the NCCA made it legal for all athmake money through marketing and promotional endeavors, according to iconsource.com.

schools from paying their players directly, since the NCAA still intends to keep its amateur sports status.

It’s important to note that “colleges and universities are responsible for determining whether those activities are consistent with state law,” according to the NCAA. Schools in states NCAA to create and publish their own policies.

Athletic scholarships and athlete -

Shields recalls the University of Ilrole in his college experience.

-

Shields mentions that at the University of Illinois the athletes had designated academic advisors that would meet with freshman athletes monthly to make sure that they were staying on top of their academics.

and put you on a pedestal to the point where you'd have to really tear yourself down in order to have total [academic] failure,” Shields said.

Shields credits all these resources to the privilege of Division I schools having greater athletic funding. While he thinks that Division III schools have many similar features, they don’t have the same amount of funding to have their programs be like those at the University of Illinois.

both decided to continue their athletsport.

For Shields especially, he always wanted to compete at the highest level possible. His heart wasn’t exactly set on competing at a Division I school, but instead one that would challenge him everyday.

“I was always striving to get an opportunity to throw [at a] ... [school that] I [was] really going to have to bring my A game [to] every day just in order to have success there,” Shields said.nior year that she wasn’t ready to leave

“I'd be really sad if I didn't end up always want to come back here and just workout with [my high school teammates] because I like the pressure. ... I feel like I'd really miss it if I didn't do it in college.”

FIGHTING ILLINI: Now assistant throws coach Vince Shields competed during his senior year in the weight throw at the Illini Classic indoor meet on Feb. 18, 2022.

(Photo courtesy of University Illinois Track and Field) GO CHARGERS: Senior Gabi Chavez signs to for the University of New Haven on Dec. 13, 2023

Photo courtesy of Gabi Chavez