WHSSpokesman Wheeling High School
900 S. Elmhurst Road
Wheeling, Ill. 60090
December 14, 2018
Volume 55 Issue 4
Page 5 Best gifts to give for the 2018 Christmas season
Page 6-7 A closer look into gun violence
Page 9 The 1975 album review
Page 12 New coach and increasing members for gymnastics team
Pop Lit seniors and filmmaker create curriculum By Santiago Cuevas Associate Editor-In-Chief In the past few weeks, students at WHS got to work with film director, Jon Whalen, in order to create a study guide for his film “Stink!” The purpose of making the guide was to allow for the film to be used in a classroom setting and for teachers around the globe to be able to find resources to use alongside it. During the process of creating the study guide, students become more knowledgeable of products that they, as consumers, are buying. The collaboration between Whalen and the students was initiated by Tim Piatek, English and Fine Arts division head, and John Uhrik, English teacher. “It’s a really unique opportunity that I don’t think typical high school students have. It is definitely out of the ordinary for first of all, a filmmaker to even respond to regular English teachers, and not only did he respond, but he was also interested with working with our students,” Piatek said. The collaboration occured in Piatek’s Popular Literature classes, in which students watched the film and decided to come up with questions that would provoke discussion in all grade levels. “I think just high school students to interact and engage with a real filmmaker that has a documentary on Netflix right now that is creating a lot of interest around the globe, is pretty cool,” Piatek said. “Stink!”, which is available on Netflix, is a documentary, which talks about how certain companies aren’t completely revealing what is in their products due to a loophole in
the FDA’s rules. The products which have the most focus in the film are those which come fragranted or are used for fragrance purposes. These products often use dangerous chemicals in their systems in order to create a desired smell but are often hidden behind a “fragrance” label. Kevin Rendon, senior, talks about how the film made him realize about the dangers that are unknowingly in his everyday life. “At this point, I feel like I’m not safe because of it. Still, despite me not feeling safe, I still feel as if these companies don’t care about how these chemicals are harmful, which is kind of stupid,” Rendon said. Whalen hoped to create this reaction out of viewers in order to create change in the FDA’s guidelines. “Often times, we think that if a product is on the shelf, then it’s safe, and that’s not always true,” Whalen said. Whalen’s idea for the movie sparked after buying clothes for his daughters and having it come with an awful stench. “I guess I was just trying to protect my kids, trying to understand something that just didn’t seem right and just was feeling obligated as a parent to do everything possible to make sure a product they are going to use is safe,” Whalen said. The goal for Whalen’s film was to simply notify all consumers about what they could potentially be bringing home.“I wanted consumers to know about these loopholes. I wanted retailers to step up and do a better job of curating safer products and taking a lot of the risk out of it for consumers because they’re busy. I wanted regulators to do a better job,” Whalen said. Despite the movie’s purpose, some may still use the products mentioned in the video but with caution to the ingredients in them. “I’m probably still going to buy these products but chemicals in them is still something I would really like to know,” Rendon said.
Environmental science cleaning up WHS waste By Alexis Knight Staff Reporter The environmental science classes are taking the initiative to reduce student waste at WHS. The classes have broadcasted on the morning announcements to try to inform students about the dangers of plastic waste, and they have tried selling metal water bottles during all lunch periods, as an alternative to plastic water bottles. Students in the environmental science classes have taken notice to all the waste the school has been accumulating and they have began projects to reduce it. “We started doing these projects because of the amount of plastic we throw away that hurts the environment,” Adriana Castro, senior, said. “Mrs. Abat got many metal water bottles to try to give to students so that students don’t use plastic water bottles anymore because we want to reduce waste,” Castro said. Other students in the class share insight on the projects the class is doing, as well. “We’ve been working a lot on trying to make the whole school be environmentally friendly. We’ve made commercials and had documentaries available for the whole school.” Natalia Marin, senior, said. More students in the class wish that more projects can be done to educate
students on the amount of waste they use. “There’s lots of projects we wish to do, but unfortunately, we have to consider budget and time. We have, however, been able to complete a project where we conducted a waste audit. This project allowed us to receive a grant. With this money we were able to have a “no plastic” project where we sold reusable water bottles in school to hopefully cut down on plastic water bottle use. We’ve also reached out to our principal and superintendent to share our findings and propose new ideas that both benefit the school and our environment. We also plan to conduct another waste audit to see if what we’ve been doing has made an impact,” Yesenia Rivera, senior, said. Fellow students give more insight on the reason for these initiatives. “The reason for the projects, like the audit, is to see if we can reduce the amount of waste WHS students create through education,” Andy Ramirez, senior said. The students are the ones who run the projects. “Mrs. Abat really wanted the class to be about us and what we feel is important for the whole school to know. The projects are used mainly in order to educate the school on how to help the environment in simple ways,” Marin said. Some students feel that being able to have an impact on the school makes the class more enjoyable. “Definitely my favorite part of the class has to be working on these projects where
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you actually get to see the impact you make, and it’s very rewarding,” Ramirez said. Other students like the class because of the opportunity it provides to learn about the environment. “Honestly my favorite thing about this class is, in fact, the learning. Before this class, I was mindlessly doing things I didn’t even realize impacted the environment in such negative ways. This class has opened my eyes to see that I need to change my ways, even if it’s as simple as using a reusable water bottle, watching my water usage, unplugging electronics or correctly disposing of my waste,” Rivera said. These students feel it is important to educate other students on the importance of going green. “The point of doing these projects is that we want to be green-friendly. Less waste will not only help us, but also the environment, and now that there are two separate trash cans (waste and recycling), we can make sure that whatever is being thrown away goes to the correct spot,” Castro said. These initiatves the classes are undergoing demonstrate the aims and goals of what they are trying to accomplish overall. “We want to leave our mark. We want to be the movement. We want to open our peers’ eyes and show how easy it can be to save our planet. After all, we only have one Earth. It supplies us every essential we need to live. We need to save her,” Rivera said.
The environmental science students were selling stainless steel water bottles during all lunch periods. The classes have also put yellow waste bins within classrooms to help students dispose of their garbage more properly.
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News
December 14, 2018
Students suspended from eating in the foyer By Amanda Talalaj Editor-In-Chief Students are not allowed to eat in the foyer after repeated messes were made following each of the lunch periods. Even when students were told by faculty to clean up after themselves on a number of different occasions, students continued to ignore that ruling and throw their trash wherever it landed. This left staff no choice but to implement a policy that discontinued any eating in the foyer. “The mess that was being left daily in the foyer area is what led us to not allow students to eat there anymore. I personally asked students to clean up after themselves and warned them that if it did not improve, we would implement the rule. Also, student groups made videos promoting cleanliness and the importance of picking up after ourselves. None of that worked,” Jerry Cook, school
principal, said. When students do not pick up after themselves, this leaves the janitors with extra work and the trash generally makes the school look less appealing to visitors. “I often walk visitors to our building through the foyer while on building tours. It is embarrassing when that area is completely trashed. We have staff here whose job is to maintain our building, but their job is not to clean up after individual students,” Cook said. Students of WHS also agree that their fellow peers should be more mindful of the foyer and making sure it stays a clean environment. “I think we should keep the foyer clean because it is located right in the middle of the school and lots of students hang out there in their free time. Hopefully, this rule will get people to throw away their trash more, and we can get to eat in there again during lunch,” Alex Rotberg, senior, said. Although the goal is to get students to receive the privilege to eat within the foyer once again,
staff does not know when that time will come. “As of now, I think we are going to continue with this policy. This is disappointing for me because long-term, we would like to create more open spaces around the building for students to sit, eat, study, etc., but I’m hesitant to do that if we can’t clean up after ourselves,” Cook said. Other students reason that it is difficult to always keep the foyer clean, yet this policy can prove to be a step in the right direction. “The foyer was becoming such a mess with everyone leaving their trash everywhere, which is understandable. But it’s unreasonable to expect everyone to fit in the lunchroom. This is definitely a step forward in keeping it clean though,” Diana Keane, senior, said. Staff agrees that time will tell whether students can make the change to keep the foyer a place WHS is proud to show off. “The end goal of this rule is to make sure we maintain a clean building and a clean appearance,” Cook said.
Photos taken by Nikko Sarmenta
The foyer, otherwise known as the commons area, continues to be a hangout place for students within all lunch periods and beyond, despite that it is no longer open for students to eat within.
Students engage in messy mosh pit madness What started out as this harmless joke spiraled out of control. “The teachers and dean couldn’t stop By Nikko Sarmenta it. There was too many people for them to even try to stop that, so we just let it go on until everybody Staff Reporter died down,” Samhan said. The mosh pit that surrounded the area A few weeks ago, on a Friday afternoon, about endangered students and staff who needed to pass a hundred students partook in a “mosh pit” in the through. This caused many problems for both the hallways outside of the engineering hallway and the students and staff, as they were unable to get to boys locker room. their destinations on time. Remaining confetti and A mosh pit includes playing loud music while silly string littered the hallway for staff and janitors dancing and intentionally hitting other people. to clean up after the mosh pit as well. Usually, these events happen at concerts in wide Ryan Tinsley, sophomore, heard about the mosh open areas in the middle of crowds, but this one pit that was going to occur and decided to avoid showed up in a small hallway at WHS. it. “I mean, I didn’t participate in it because you’re On Nov. 16, in between the seventh and eighth throwing confetti everywhere and music is blasting periods, Khalid Samhan, senior, first initiated this for everyone to hear in the halls. I really wasn’t mosh pit event. trying to get in trouble there, and there were people “Our mind was to go do it and have fun,” getting hurt and jumping. I didn’t want to risk Samhan said. He claimed the mosh pit took less anything. That’s all,” Tinsley said. than a week to plan. Word soon spread about the mosh pit, and other
students were aware that it happened as well. “I feel like the people were obviously doing it as a joke, and it’s cool. Like in my mind, I feel like people are doing it for the clout though,” Mark Zmojdzin, freshman, said. “They’re going around spreading it, and I feel like people are going to get in trouble. It’s not worth getting hurt for the clout,” Zmojdzin said. Samhan was given two Saturday detentions for pulling off such a stunt. Samhan has said his motives were to have an exciting last year at high school and this is why he started planning these mosh pits. He believes that despite the trouble he has gotten in, he succeeded. “As you can see, we had over a hundred people doing it, and it turned out pretty good,” Samhan said. Other students agree with Samhan that the mosh pit was fun. “I just saw a lot of people jumping and mosh pitting. It was dope,” Marshawn Fortner, senior, said.
Taking A Global Glimpse New York
This past Sunday, African athletes dominated the New York City marathon. Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa won the men’s title with an official time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 59 seconds. On the women’s side, Kenya’s Mary Keitany won the title with an official time of 2 hours, 22 minutes and 48 seconds, making this her fourth NYC marathon win.
Somalia
Al-Shabab is an Al-Qaeda inspired group in Africa, and is one of Africa’s deadliest terrorist groups. Mukhtar Robow, the former deputy leader of Al-Shaba, is now running for office in Somalia, a country that has be bombarded by wars and has been struggling to recover. Al-Shabab, founded in 2006, started fighting to establish an Islamic state and carried out daily suicide attacks that killed thousands. People’s homes were demolished and millions were displaced. Drought and famine in the area also contributed to the death of a quarter of a million people. In recent years, an argument caused a divide in leadership and Robow left the group for his own safety. Now, he wants to defeat the Al-Shaba. Hussein SheikhAli, director of the Hiraal Institute, believes Robow’s reform is genuine. However, many believe that Robow running for office is crossing a line, and the South West States Regional Assembly has to vote to see if he is even eligible for office. Local authorities cleared him to run, but the central government announced he can not run for office so long as international sanctions are still placed on him. It is not clear who gets the final say on the matter because Somalia does not have a formal constitution, but as of right now, Robow has not accounted for any of his actions under the judicial process.
Russia and Ukraine
Ukrainian lawyer and human rights activist, Stanislav Batryn, said in the past few weeks Russia violated the territorial integrity of Ukraine and is, in fact, starting a World War Three. Ukraine used to be the third-largest nuclear arsenal, but gave it up when it became a part of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances agreement. With Russia infringing on Ukraine territory, Ukraine believes that the U.S. and Europe should be doing more for Ukraine as a part of their agreement. The U.S. says it remains committed to the agreement and has spent more than $2.8 billion since 2014 to help Ukraine defend its territory. Although, fighting between Russia and Ukraine have continued off the coast of Crimea. Ukraine also wants admittance into NATO; however, Ukraine has little chance of gaining membership so long as Crimea remains an unresolved conflict in eastern Europe.
Hungary
In Hungary, the current Prime Minister is Viktor Orban. Before his victory of office in April 2018 that allowed him to continue to serve his third term, he openly criticized the press for being biased against him. He and his supporters then proceeded to take control over most media sources by buying them out and making them write news about him in a positive light. An estimation was made that approximately 500 Hungarian media outlets are now under Obran’s control, and in 2015, he only controlled 23 of them. In 2016, one of Hungary’s biggest dailies released multiple articles telling of the government’s corruption and soon after, conveniently acquired a new owner, who then claimed the paper had financial problems and shut it down. All information collected and presented by Alexis Knight
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December 14, 2018
Arts
Chicago: A Student’s Review
By Erica Hayden Staff Reporter Lights, Camera, Action! The razzle dazzling musical made an uproar of applause and excitement in the crowd. As each scene unraveled, the people of the crowd were hanging off the edge of their seats, eyes wide in shock, and tense tapping toes were heard constant throughout the theater. On Nov. 15 through the 17, the broadway musical, Chicago, was held in the WHS Theater. The plot of Chicago was set with a time twist, initially being set in the 1920’s, was preferably switched to 1995. “I wanted to make the story more relevant for the kids which is why I moved the show out of the 1920’s into 1995. Traditionally, the show is set in the
roaring 1920’s. Moving it to 1995 gave us lots more opportunities creatively, especially choreographically. We were able to add lots of hip-hop to the show, which I know my kids love.” Stephen Colella, choir director, said. The musical was plotted as Roxie Hart, (Andreea Haidau), having a secret love affair with Fred Caseley, (Hunter Little), behind her husband’s back, (Joey Costantini). As Fred tried to leave Roxie, she killed him in a pit of rage for trying to dump her, the story unfolds as Billy Flynn, (Kazu Quigley), does everything in his power to not only make her the next big star, but also to prove her innocence. The story unfolds as Roxie is thrown in jail for the time being, after which, drama continues to spiral, lives are lost, and the truth eventually comes out of the closet. Musical numbers included “All that Jazz”, “Razzle Dazzle”, “Mr.Cellophane”, and many more, although some had their particular favorites. “If I had to choose, I’d probably say my favorite musical number was We Both Reached For The Gun, though, (spoiler) I wasn’t actually the one singing. The
energy and irony that built up the number made it so much fun!” Andreea Haidau, freshman, said. Each character had their own personality, and their own story. Which is sometimes a hard mask to put on, let alone adapt to, or one may think. “I wanted to audition for Billy, not only because he is the lead, but because I felt like he would be a good challenge to take on. It sounds counterintuitive but I wanted to push myself and make myself a better actor.” Kazu Quigley, sophomore, said. As the musical came to an end, many are left amazed, star struck, astonished if you will. Including myself, under the nerves and the excitement of the cast, one could see their raw talents, heart, sweat, and tears put into their work. I was moved by the characters and their stories along with their personalities as they could be easily related to. The musical numbers would easily get stuck in your head, although it was of the songs that could be played millions of times, and never get old. Great performance all in all. Until next time cast!
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HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA
Photos taken by Claudia Chan
The annual Holiday Extravaganza took place on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 6th and 7th. The night was led by Michael Malek, band director, whom just before the show ended, gave up his place to a member of the audience. Malek held a quick auction to give a lucky audience member the chance to direct the performers through their last song of the night and to sell a students art piece that was created throughout the show. Just before they played their last
song, the marching band came through the theater doors and went up on stage to finish off the night. On Friday night they raised up to 300 dollars that the volunteer director was willing to donate to the school’s band programs. Joining them on stage was Santa, Jared the elf, Santa’s Secret Service (S.S.S.), and some of our local middle school bands. Also, while short films played in the background, percussionists played along as a soundtrack.
Orchesis Shows Moves create an amazing show so I’m excited to see the By Andrea Mendoza results. It’s been going really fast but it’s been Staff Reporter enjoyable. Working on this show has brought a lot of the members closer On Friday Dec. 14th, which has been amazing 2018 Orchesis will have to see,” Desiree Bronski, their first show of the year. Orchesis is known to senior, said. The show give the students a way to gives the dance students express themselves through the opportunity to do something they’ve never dance and give them a chance to step out of their done before. They get to create a performance and comfort zones. This show try something new. gives the dance students “I’m really impressed the opportunity to perform in all the hard work we on stage. put into our dance. Being “The Friday night showcase is a combination on stage can be really fun, especially when of what all the dance classes work on during the you’re with your friends,” Mayra Luna, junior, said. course of the year. Yoga On Saturday Dec. 15th, also does a presentation of what they work on, and 2018 Orchesis will be hosting their 23rd annual then for Orchesis it’s the performance workshop, start of our performance season. We present student which invites children from ages 3 to 13 to choreography, some of our guest artist works, and participate in a workshop and then later perform at our group piece,” Diane Rawlinson, dance teacher the show. “We’ve been and Orchesis director, said. doing the kids workshop Orchesis has been working for 23 years, it’s a way to on these pieces for months do community outreach and to give the Orchesis now and are preparing to finally perform them to an members a chance to actually share dance with audience. other kids and actually “I’m excited to show teach it,” Rawlinson said. off the pieces. We’ve all This show will be a way to worked really hard to
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end the semester for the dance students with a new experience, whether it be with new people, dancing on stage for the first time or choreographing a piece on their own. “It’s important to first of all, to put together what they’ve been learning all semester but to also understand where things lead to. There’s a different respect for people that perform when you, yourself have to actually get up on stage and do it too versus just sitting in the audience all the time and not really understanding what it takes to get on stage. The empowerment of being able to get up there and do it, especially for a lot of kids who’ve never performed before, it such an empowering feeling to actually get up there and do it for the first time. It’s an important part of the process to have that confidence in yourself, especially for the dance kids. It brings the whole class together at the end,” Rawlinson, said. This experience can bring together new people and give a different meaning to what it is to perform on stage.
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Feature
December 14, 2018
Santa appears for orchestra fundraiser By Laura Cordova Staff Reporter With holiday season right around the corner, the WHS orchestra decided to fundraise in a festive manner. This year the orchestra held an event called “Breakfast with Santa” in which students and families across the community attended. Entry fee was $10 but allowed for full participation. The event featured many diffrent stations in which families could rotate through. The idea for each individual station was generated by the students, whom also decorated the cafeteria. Students read aloud for the kids,
and helped them color in pictures. Probably the greatest attraction to the event was the visit by Santa, Tim Piatek. “My favorite memory from the event was seeing how happy the children got when they were at the event and how they got very happy from seeing Santa”. Cecilia Campos, junior, said. The event was mainly student run, with everyone in orchestra participating to an extent. “I helped out by calling a number up to take a pictures for children with Santa. What I really enjoyed from the Breakfast with Santa was watching children getting their faces painted and seeing how happy and
exited the children were.” Daniela Perez, sophomore, said. “The orchestra students, the Wheeling Symphony League and the parent booster organization planned and worked the entire event. Students came up with the ideas for the decorations and the different stations. Several students decorated the cafeteria or painted the windows. Parents and students were there on Saturday morning to make sure the event went smoothly,” Sarah Struebing, orchestra director, said. Without the support of the parents, students, and the PTO the event Photo taken by DJ Santos would have never gone as Orchestra students pose around Santa, Tim Piatek, after hosting Breakfast with Santa in the WHS smoothly as it did. cafeteria. The event ran smoothly due to support from everyone who attended.
2018 Rewind: Traveling Back Through The Year By Santiago Cuevas Associate Editor-In-Chief The the month of december seems to be the jolliest of times. There’s christmas,snow, winter break, and new years. Yet, despite all these festivities the month of december is one meant for reflection, whether the results be good or bad. As the end of 2018 approaches, students commence to review the past year. “It went by way too fast, I was
pretty unprepared,” Hannah Concklin, freshman said. The year of 2018 seem to fly by with all the events that occured this year. The year started of with eating tide pods to then finally creating videos on Tik Tok. Some students started off the year with not much planned. Often times students go into the new year with a fluid mentality. “I feel like stuff happened at the beginning of this year is was all a dream like it didn’t actually happen.I don’t really know if I feel accomplished with
anything yet because I’m not sure if I had many goals to start with,” Daisy Antunez, junior said. Other students simply experienced change in their lives that made the year zoom by. “Overall this year felt really short. The months passed by so quickly, but maybe that’s because I finally got a life and actually have things to do. Time doesn’t drag as much as it used to when I was younger.” Jarexy Garcia, junior said. Despite the year ending the fight
Little Wildcats Spokesman interviews members of the Little Wildcat preschool class Q1: What do you want for christmas?
Q2: What are you going to do over winter break?
Benjamin Scoggins
Clint Wagner
Grace Kopowski
Jump really really high lack widow Parker Wyatt Created for free by https://foxyutils.com
Q3: What is your favorite part about winter?
for improvement only grows. Often the end of the year only allows for better improvement. So if a goal wasn’t accomplished this year then there’s always room for improvement Students are already starting to make goals for next year. Whater those goals be academic or for their respective sport, these goals are the ones that keep students motivated. “One get good grades, start looking for colleges, and also run one varsity race for cross country,” Arturo Valladares, sophomore, said.
Holiday traditions at WHS
to listen to music, many others watch movies. “I set up my mini tree in my living room and watch holiday movies after.” Morgan Tadish, The month of December may senior, said. make you start to think about Once they get into the holiday bright lights and festive colors, spirit, the real traditions can but for many Wildcats there is so officially start. much more. “For Christmas To get into the Eve, I go to my holiday spirit, aunts house. many students put We eat a lot of up decorations good food and in their homes open presents.” and start wearing Monzerat holiday attire. Hernandez, “I decorate my junior, said. house by putting While many up my Christmas students celebrate tree and lights, Christmas over put window Winter Break, clings up, and other students wear Christmas celebrate fuzzy socks.” Hanukkah. Melissa Rocha, “We go over to sophomore, said. my aunts house Many students with my grandma put up decorations to celebrate and real Christmas Hanukkah. We trees. sit in the living “My mom and room and watch I put up interior football. Then we decorations such Photo taken by Morgan Tadish eat dinner, which as a tree and a lot of hanging Morgan Tadish, senior, poses around her usually includes brisket, matzoh decorations. I also menorah which is a tradtion to her. ball soup, latkes, pick out a real and then strawberry shortcake Christmas tree with my mom.” for dessert. Then we all go into Alex Rotberg, senior, said. the living room again to open Once the decorations are up, presents.” Tadish, said. they become an indicator that Many people also have food the holiday season has officially during the holiday season that is started. very different from others. Many students also start “On Christmas Day I stay listening to some music to get home with my Mom and eat a lot into the holiday spirit. of Russian food. We sometimes “I start listening to Christmas also eat caviar and salad.” music a few weeks before Rotberg, said. Christmas but not before The holiday season is a December because that is great time for many and it too early.” Jillian Bouchard, wouldn’t be the same without freshman, says. the spirit. While many students start
By Katie Meyer Social Media Editor
December 14, 2018
Feature
Youtube sinkhole cascade By Jessica Bezkhlebetskiy Staff Reporter
Many YouTube users know the struggle of landing up on an abnormal video that makes you wonder, “How did I even end up here?” Users can go from watching something like volleyball to goats fainting on the floor. “I went from watching anime to a video of how to cook a turkey, and it was in June!” Sofya Kaspirovich, freshman, said. People like Kaspirovich, often end up in places on YouTube that they don’t intend to land on. Sometimes videos can be inappropriate with the
language and images being used when children are watching YouTube. “When I was younger I was watching ‘My Little Pony’ on YouTube and after a few videos, it turned into really messed up ‘My Little Pony’ and it was the first time I heard a curse word,” Allison Wong, freshman, said. Currently there’s an app on google play and the apple store called ‘YouTube Kids,’ which is basically the restricted form of youtube which is geared towards kids. Even when going to Youtube with a purpose, people often find themselves watching things that they
exactly intend to or relate to them. “Sometimes I watch stuff like beauty product videos or James Charles and I end up watching meal prep or workout videos,” Sabetai Roman, senior, said. When watching videos for school, users can get sidetracked and end up on strange videos which then leads them to forget about the subject they were originally on the website for. “I was watching videos about math proportions and I ended up on something like odd & satisfying videos.” Erick Rodriguez, freshman, said.
YouTube sinkholes can get very weird and strange.
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Best 2018 Christmas Gifts For Students
By Amanda Talalaj
Phone Soap 3.0 is a phone sanitation tool that cleans your phone while charging it. Since a cell phone holds more bacteria than an average toilet seat, it is important to clean it very often before holding it or pressing it to your face to take a call. Phone Soap 3.0 uses UV cleansing rays to clean your phone in a compartment that also acts as a universal charger for any phone type. You can buy Phone Soap 3.0 on Amazon for $59.95.
Ready To Robot Rumble By America Munoz Staff Reporter Ready, set, fight! The sound of the clash of metal rings through the audience’s ears. With many traditions held in WHS, a really big one would be Robot Rumble. Robot Rumble is an event where several schools get together and present robots in an arena to fight. It is a 2 day event held February 22-23. Which means the process takes 5-6 months to create a robot. The location of the arena changes every year, this year it is held in Prospect High school, where WHS will compete against other D214 schools, along with D211 schools, and more. Robot rumble is not just
about competing and getting your bot to beat another. “The number one goal is to have the best time of your life, literally the best time of your life, if you ask anyone who won last year nobody remembers,” Michael Geist, teacher and Robot Rumble sponsor, said. The way it works is a student places after designing and getting approval from the teacher and other classmates “When it is completed we put the bot in a bulletproof cage with another bot and close it and have them fight it out,” Johnny O’Grady, sophomore, said. This event has been held for many years and it is expected to keep happening because of how much students learn and how incredibly fun it can be.
Many students interested in engineering join this club to advance in their skill “Once they find this passion, and learn how to use the tools and machine in the manufacturing lab, they can translate those skills into a career. Robot Rumble is an awesome club to be in because we have a lot of fun, and gain skills that can lead directly to a career right after high school,” Eric Race, teacher and robot rumble sponsor said. Robot Rumble is an event that kids could learn a lot from and even though it may not be a career option for most but it can be interesting and fun to watch. Look out during the month of febuary for the live broadcast of the event on the t.v’s in the foyer. The event will be run all day and will be posted online.
Himalayan salt rock lamps are decorative lights that come in a variety of different shapes and colors for your room and home. These lamps shine a calming light that is claimed to clean the air within a room, boost one’s mood, de-stress them, and soothe allergies. Even if these claims are not scientifically verified, the lamps still boost a nice design that adds an attractive accent to a room. Salt rock lamps can be bought in many different department stores as well as on Amazon for an average of $16.
Portable straws are on the rise as more and more videos are coming out online about how plastic straws are polluting the environment and negatively affecting marine life. Many portable straws are held in carrying cases that attach to keychains and are sold on Amazon for about $5, case included.
ADVENTURES OF SAM & JOE Comic 1: First Snow
Comic 2: The Blame Game
Comic 3:
Transcendentalism
Comics By Jared Moser
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Focus
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December 14, 2018
Gun violence: a neve
Every mass shooting in 2018, as of Dec. 10, 2018. Infographic courtesy of gunviolencearchive.org
In the United States, firearms are carried in in two ways; concealed carry and open carry. An open cary firearm is visible to everyone and a concealed carry firearm is hidden from view. No federal law has ever covered the issuance of permits to carry firearms in the United States; this has been left to each individual state to determine how they will issue permits or if a permit is even required to openly or concealed-carry firearms. All states will allow in theory the carry of firearms. However, there are some states that make the application process so difficult that in practice, a standard citizen is banned from having a handgun.
Luby’s Cafeteria Killeen, Texas 23 killed
Oct. 16, 1991
The Gun Control Act of 1968 requires that potential purchasers must be at least 18 years of age to purchase shotguns, rifles and ammunition. All other firearms, such as handguns, can only be sold to people 21 and older. The amendment to the 1968 Gun Control Act, also known as the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, requires holders of Federal Firearm Licenses to conduct a background check. Potential firearm purchasers fill out the Firearms Transactions Record, also known as the ATF 4473, which checks for prior convictions and signs that an individual is not fit to possess a gun. Fugitives, individuals considered dangerous, and patients involuntarily committed to mental institutions cannot purchase firearms. People with prior felony convictions that include a prison sentence over one year, or misdemeanors carrying sentences of more than two years, are also banned from purchasing firearms. Federal law also bans the sale of guns to people who have been found guilty of illegally possessing or using controlled substances within the past year. Marijuana, despite being legalized in many states, still results in a one-year ban, as recreational use of the substance is banned under federal law. It is up to different states to decide how to approach background checks; they may decide whether the background check is carried out solely by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or both the NICS and state agency information.
Century Sandy Hook Emmanuel Columbine Virginia AME 16 Movie Elementary High Tech Church School School Blacksburg, Theater Newtown, Charleston, Aurora, Littleton, Va. S.C. Conn. 32 killed Colo. Colo. 9 killed 27 killed 12 killed 13 killed
Apr. 20, 1991
Apr. 17, 2007
Jul. 20, 2012
Dec. 14, 2012
Jun. 17, 2015
Do you think there should be strict “No, teachers should be able to have guns in order to protect us in certain situations,” Jason Solis, freshman, said.
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“I do not know much about gun laws, but I do think that assault rifles should be banned for the public because there is no need for them,” Katrina Haas, sophmore, said.
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Focus
December 14, 2018
er-ending epidemic 2018 End-of-Year Statistics
Every shooting incident in 2018, as of Dec. 10, 2018. Infographic courtesy of gunviolencearchive.org
Total Number of Incidents: 53,565 Number of Deaths: 13,723 Number of Injuries: 26,560 Number of Children (0-11): 631 Number of Teens (12-17): 2,670 Mass Shooting: 329 Officer Shot or Killed: 278 Subject-Suspect Shot or Killed: 2,023 Home Invasion: 1,912 As of Dec. 10, 2018. Information from gunviolencearchive.org Self Defense: 1,666
A step into the direction of change and possible solution by the Prevention Institute- “Reduce easy access to dangerous weapons by banning high capacity magazines and bump stocks, requiring universal background checks without loopholes, instituting waiting periods, and reinstituting the assault weapons ban immediately.”
Pulse Nightclub Orlando, Fla. 49 killed
Jun. 12, 2016
Route 91 Harvest Music Festival Las Vegas, Nev. 58 killed
Marjory First Baptist Church Stoneman Tree of Life Sutherland Douglas High Synagogue Springs, School Pittsburgh, Texas Parkland, Pa. 25 & unborn Fla. 11 killed child killed 17 killed
Oct. 1, 2017
Nov. 16, 2017
Feb. 16, 2018
Oct. 27, 2018
Borderline Bar & Grill Thousand Oaks, Calif. 12 killed
Oct. 16, 2018
ter gun laws in the United States? “Yes, because with all of the things that have happened recently, it would be wrong to say no. I also think there should be stricter background checks,” Justin Collins, junior, said.
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“I think they should be stricter but I also think they should have more background checks on people and making them stronger. I also think they should ban guns from music videos so younger kids don’t see them,” Melissa Calderon, senior, said.
“I think they should have a deeper check on people with psychiatric disorders. I think it is very true that guns don’t kill people, people do. I do not think that guns are the bad thing here, the people are,” Norb Kriss, staff member, said. Photo Opinion by Katie Meyer
La Voz
8
14 de diciembre, 2018
Lunchando por los derechos con todas las fronteras Por Andrea Mendoza Staff Reporter Los migrantes centroamericanos, también conocidos como Viacrucis del Migrante, y que conocemos como la caravana, son personas que huyeron de la violencia de pandillas desde el Triángulo Norte de Centroamérica en busca de refugio en los Estados Unidos. La caravana se enfrentó de inmediato con la lucha por encontrar gobiernos dispuestos a ayudarlos. El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump dejó en claro que no estaba interesado en ayudarlos y dijo que los países que atraviesan tienen el deber de detenerlos antes de llegar hasta los Estados Unidos. “Creo que es incorrecto que nuestro presidente crea que eso está bien. Sí, entiendo que no tenemos espacio para tomar asilo para las 4,000 o más personas, pero esto no debería ser una situación cerrada en la que su primer ingreso es llevarlos de regreso a sus países sabiendo que están en condiciones inestables”, dijo la estudiante de segundo año, Emily Casas. Los Estados Unidos están obligados a escuchar los reclamos de los migrantes que llegan a los Estados Unidos si dicen que temen la violencia en sus países de origen, pero nuestro presidente ha dejado claro que esa no es su intención. La caravana ha demostrado su fuerza contra aquellos cuyo objetivo es evitar que alcancen la frontera con Estados Unidos. Se sabe que su objetivo es buscar seguridad en sus países de origen, que han hecho que las condiciones de vida sean insoportables para ellos y sus familias. Estas personas han dejado sus vidas enteras, todo lo que han sabido atrás para buscar refugio y buscar una vida mejor. A lo largo de su viaje, nadie ha estado dispuesto a ayudarlos, aparte de personas comunes que ofrecen comida y agua, no tienen un apoyo real del gobierno de ningún país. Están comiendo y viviendo por su cuenta.
“Verdaderamente me siento tan molesto por ellos porque viajaron lejos de casa y no tienen dinero, ni comida, absolutamente nada y ahora continuarán luchando y temiendo por sus propias vidas”, dijo la alumna de último, Jennifer Alvarado. En la actualidad, la patrulla fronteriza ha utilizado gas lacrimógeno contra la caravana. Las imágenes muestran a los padres protegiendo a sus bebés recién nacidos del gas lacrimógeno, cubriéndose los ojos y la nariz mientras lloran con sus padres por temor a sus vidas. “A los 15 años, me duele profundamente saber que no puedo hacer nada al respecto. Como chicana, me duele saber que las personas de mi herencia latina están siendo golpeadas con gases lacrimógenos porque quieren lo mejor para sus familias. Saber que la gente está buscando ayuda en un lugar peligroso me asusta, ya que uno no puede saber dónde los llevará, después de todo”, dijo Casas. La forma en que los medios de comunicación retratan estos eventos crea una brecha más grande entre el gobierno estadounidense y su gente. “Honestamente me siento decepcionado porque lo único que quieren es una vida mejor, no solo para ellos sino también para sus hijos. Es triste ver cómo este mundo no hará mucho por los necesitados”, dijo la estudiante de tercer año, Casandra Sastre. El 6 de diciembre de 2018, surgió la noticia de que una joven que es miembra de la caravana a la edad de 19 años había ingresado ilegalmente al país y dio a luz a su hijo que ahora se convierte elegible para la ciudadanía en los Estados Unidos, sin embargo, su madre tiene un destino indeciso en el país. Ahora la pregunta es si su hijo se convertirá en ciudadano, ya que tendrá la oportunidad de hacerlo o si a su madre no se le permitirá el acceso al país como refugiada y se la obligará a llevar a su hijo de regreso a su país. América, la tierra de los libres, el hogar de los valientes, sin embargo, no practicamos lo que predicamos.
Disfrutando del Museo Nacional del arte mexicano Por Claudia Chan Arts Editor Por Faviola Gutierrez La Voz Editor El 19 de noviembre las clases de español AP, tuvieron la oportunidad de ir a visitar el National Museum of Mexican Art. En este paseo tuvieron la oportunidad de sacar muchas fotos de los altares que hacen para el día de los muertos para después poder presentar estas fotos en clase. Para muchos este no fue la primera vez que participaron ya que el año pasado también fue abierto para los estudiantes de honores. En este paseo lo estudiantes no solo disfrutaron de los altares si no también tuvieron la oportunidad de conocer del pasado de La Villita y Pilsen. Las maestras responsables de este paseo fueron las maestras Maria Rivas y Rebecca Castro. Nosotras ya tuvimos la oportunidad de visitar este hermoso museo el año pasado y la verdad nos siguió gustando mucho. Creo que para nosotros fue una experiencia muy divertida ya que aprendimos mucho no solo de tradiciones pero también del pasado de La Villita. Ya que estuvimos de turistas y tuvimos la oportunidad de visitar los diferentes puesto como un centro comercial de descuento, diferentes tiendas, y también me enteré que unos estudiantes tuvieron la oportunidad de visitar
Dulcelandia, una tienda de dulces. Personalmente se que nosotras no tuvimos de visitar esa tienda ya que nosotros fuimos a ver monumentos alrededor de La Villita y fuimos a el centro comercial de descuentos. Si toman la clase de español AP el año que entra, les recomendamos que si vayan a este paseo porque aparte de ser educativo también es divertido.
Photos taken by Claudia Chan
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December 14, 2018
Entertainment
Thank U, Ariana Grande By America Munoz Staff Reporter
By Jared Moser Cartoonist The Las Vegas band Imagine Dragons have been popular in the mainstream market since their breakthrough album “Night Visions” in 2012, containing the hits “Radioactive” and “Demons.” After “Night Visions”, the band released the albums “Smoke + Mirrors” (my personal favorite) in 2015, and “Evolve” in 2017. Then came “Origins,” released only a year and a half later on October 9th, 2018. At the album’s release, mainstream critics had mixed feelings about the album; on the other hand, the majority of fans seemed to love it. Being a fan of Imagine Dragons, myself, I enjoy this album, but can see a drop in quality compared to the band’s previous albums. In the official album trailer, the lead singer of Imagine Dragons, Dan Reynolds, said “‘Origins’ feels like a sister album to ‘Evolve.’” His claim holds true, as “Natural”, the album’s first track, sounds just like a single from “Evolve,” “Believer.” Going down from there the band has many high points with tracks such as “Machine,” “Cool Out,” “West Coast,” “Zero,” “Bullet In A Gun,” and “Love.” “Machine” is on the heavier side with clanky drums and hard rock guitar, fitting the title of the song quite nicely. A song with a style closer to their album “Smoke +
Mirrors”, is the only song even close to having a rock title and a style that sadly does not appear again on this album. Next is “West Coast,” a song sounding like something from a Lumineers or a Mumford And Sons album. A softer, folk-song sound with an acoustic guitar brings a fresh sound to this album. “Bullet In A Gun” is one of the few songs on this album that incorporates parts of Imagine Dragons’s newer style on Origins in a positive way. The track has a great sound with more acoustic drums and trap high hats added in, in addition to lyrics about modern celebrities’ struggles with depression and suicide. Capping off the album is “Love” is the best track. With its fun alternative pop sound, unique sound effects and the best lyrics on the whole album, it is one of the band’s best tracks. Reynolds tackles issues such as war, peace, racial equality and spreading love throughout the world through his lyrics, with lines such as, “All we see is faces, color, color. All the other races, other, other. Why can’t you just be my brother, brother?”, ending “Origins” in style. “Origins” falls prey to a rather large number of misguided tracks, most notably “Boomerang,” “Digital,” “Only,” and “Stuck.” “Boomerang” and “Only” are watered-down pop music and “Digital” is an over produced mess. Though not as good as some of Imagine Dragons’ earlier works, “Origins” brings a solid set of tracks for its fans, and, as usual, numerous college football/car commercials. Overall, I give this album a rating of 6.5 out of 10.
A simple “Sea Prayer” goes a long way
By Jaspreet Kaur Staff Reporter Khaled Hosseini, author of award winning novels “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” recently released a new book titled “Sea Prayer.” This book, with just 48 pages, was published on the three year death anniversary of the story of Alan Kurdi, a three year old Syrian boy, who believed to have drowned during his family’s attempt to flee from their country. This book won my heart with its simplicity and beautiful illustrations
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by Dan Williams. It takes the reader to the protagonist’s hometown where there is a great deal of detail about farmlands, local bazaars, relationships and memories. The story is in a form of a letter written from a father to Marwan his son about the father’s reflection as he watches his sleeping son on a dangerous journey across sea. I waited anxiously for this book a long time, many people believe that the book lacks content and context but I think that it’s full of emotions and words that have deep meanings. Aside from its unique illustrations, this book made me fall in love with the protagonist’s home town. There is also a brief description of Marwan’s mother that brings up a story in itself giving it more content. I would give this book a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 stars. A Sea Prayer is now available in the school library, feel free to check it out.
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When artists have new music coming out, inspiration can be struck from many different places. In the new song she is inspire by several of her ex- boyfriends, such as Big Sean, Ricky Alvarez, Pete Davidson and Mac Miller. Although, the “Thank U, Next” song is a breakup anthem, Ariana Grande gives an inspiring message saying you truly do not need anyone but yourself. Rather just that you will experience hardships and pain but from that you will grow. Which can be interpreted from the lines referring to learning about love, patience and having conversations with herself. Ariana doesn’t stop there after several instagram post, tweets, and a teaser for her new music video. It was finally released Nov. 30. In her music video, Grande is struck with inspiration for her new music video from various classic chick flicks like “Bring it On,” “Mean Girls,” “Legally Blonde,” and “13 going on 30.” Not only did she feature these movies she also brought in people from the original cast of the movies mentioned. She also included several of her close friends, youtubers, and ex-
crew members from the popular Nick show Victorious. The music video consists of important scene switches from the four movies. It is carefully planned with incredible details, costumes, and amazing set design that give it the tone of the original movies. One thing that stood out to many fans was the word “babygirl” which was shown in several spots throughout the music video. Which raised many questions and theories about how that could possibly the new album title. But only time will tell. The music video quicky hit over a million deserved views in 24 hours and was quickly the #1 trending video on youtube. All in all the song and video is not one to easily forget. With inspiring messages throughout, we can all learn to say “Thank U, Next.”
A brief inquiry into The 1975’s new sound
By Leslie Hernandez Entertainment Editor After two long years, the popular english pop rock band, The 1975, released a new album titled “A Brief Inquiry Inquiry Into Online Relationships.” There was five singles released to promote the album and quite honestly some of these singles were my personal favorites on the album as a whole which made the listening experience kind of disappointing as I was expecting more. “Love It If We Made It” is a great one from the singles because it’s an open song about what is wrong with our society and the world in general with lyrics such as “Selling melanin and then suffocate the black men, start with misdemeanours and we’ll make a business out of them” and “A beach of drowning three-year olds.” The band is not scared to call out persistent problems going on today, making The 1975 a really important band. “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)” stuck out to me the most because it’s very catchy, making it easy to jam out to and sing at the top of your lungs. The song sounds very similar to “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” which we all know is a timeless tune. The lyrics are also very impressive because at first the song comes off as a typical love song but if you listen closely and read the analysis of the song Matty Healy, the lead singer, is talking about heroin. Healy has recently opened up about having an addiction, one
of them being heroin, and how he was constantly high throughout the making of the previous album. I honestly applaud and respect Healy for opening about something so serious and personal to him. “Sincerity Is Scary” is another one of my favorite singles because it has jazz elements that are produced so perfectly, making it a feel-good tune although the lyrics are charged with some hard truth about anxiety and insecurity. Certain songs like “How To Draw / Petrichor” and the weirdest out of all, “The Man Who Married A Robot / Love Theme,” have some very heavy autotune making them kind of hard to enjoy. “The Man Who Married A Robot / Love Theme” is literally just a story recited by British Male Siri about how we depend on internet for happiness and connection, a drag for a lot of us. “Be My Mistake” and “Surrounded By Heads And Bodies” have to be my least favorites. Although the lyrics, unsurprisingly, were phenomenal, the slow sound of the songs made them quite boring to me. Non-single favorites of mine are “I Like America & America Likes Me,” “Inside Your Mind,” “Mine,” “I Couldn’t Be More In Love” and “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes).” “Inside Your Mind” references “Gone Girl” which is an amazing movie so I thought that was genius. “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)” sounded a lot like the sound from british bands from the 2000s and I thought it was an interesting sound as it is not like The 1975. Overall, after a second listen the album is not as bad as I thought it was from the first listen. But I will still skip the slow songs, sorry. I’m excited for the second part of the album which will be released in May 2019.
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Forum
December 14, 2018
Students Need Library To Stay Open Longer When it’s 3:19 and the school day has come to an end, students are still looking to get work done at school, so they head to the library. Oftentimes, they are in need of a space to work with classmates, a computer or simply a quiet area to get work done. The WHS library closes at 4pm. With piles upon piles of homework to do, students do not have enough time to truly be productive at the library when it closes so early. The amount of time allotted to get work done is minimal. By the time students get out of class and make their way to the library, they’ll be lucky if they have 30 By Jasmine Yusef minutes to get to work. Certainly, this is not enough Advertising Editor time. When working on a cumulative project, getting a group together alone is a difficult task. For those who choose to work in the library, they can only work together for a fraction of the time necessary. And how about students without access
to computers or internet at home? How will they be able to complete anything? What about students that don’t have time at home to do work because they are depended on by their parents to take care of their siblings or do chores. What then? By limiting school library hours, students are being deprived of access to this useful environment and efficient resources. Another school in the district, Conant High School, permits more access to the library and its resources than just half an hour. In addition to longer library hours, students have staff members readily available to them for assistance. Why can’t WHS do the same? With lengthened hours, students would have enough time to meet for group projects, complete assignments and tasks in a productive working environment. Extending library hours to 4:45 could make drastic curricular improvement. A greater amount of time to do homework could possibly, in the long run, result in improved grades and help students increase their performance in their studies.
Editorial For a couple of weeks now, there has been a protester in front of and near WHS grounds that is protesting the right a woman should hold toward abortion. He is a prolife supporter who holds an extremely graphic image and microphone, in order that he may call out to the public all he wishes. Although his freedom of speech and right to peacefully protest is granted to him within the Constitution, that does not mean his views are held by all within the WHS community. Even if some families and students deem his opinions and statements too radical, please refrain from approaching him, for he wears a body camera. This was indicated by a WHS security guard who approached the man while he was speaking with a parent. The fact that he is wearing a camera demonstrates how he may be protesting simply to get a rise out of people and then capture their reactions on camera for whatever reason. Do not encourage this behavior by any means. We at Spokesman believe in his right to peacefully protest, even when his opinions may or may not differ from our own. To approach him in a hostile and aggressive manner would encourage his behavior, which is not suitable to continue in its practice in front of a high school. Choose not to give this man what he wants and instigate a situation where WHS is put in a vulnerable position.
13 of 14 editorial board members agree
Is Thanksgiving a Dead Holiday? which can be easily taken away. Some might say that people focus on the appeal of Black Friday deals more than Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is “It’s hard for a holiday focused families to come on, in addition to together and focus the consumption of on the holiday. They extravagant amounts focus on the deals of turkey, voicing at the store,” Edwin your gratitude for Souchet, security the people, places guard, said. and objects that Others like to skip make one’s life to Christmas when special. In recent Halloween is over. years, however, November 1st arrives, Thanksgiving is and all of a sudden, disappearing from Santa inflatables the limelight, as and Christmas lights businesses attempt to appear everywhere. cash in on Christmas Christmas music by putting up their plays in department lights and running stores. This year, ads as early as with the first snowfall mid-October. This taking place in early rush to Christmas November, many should not happen: anxiously wait for Thanksgiving Christmas nearly reminds Americans two months before it of who and what occurs. helped them build “It starts to their lives, and to snow and people be grateful for what automatically think of they have, many of Christmas,” Jadelee By Brianna Eloiza Forum Editor
Hernandez, freshman, said. Despite the disappearing presence of Thanksgiving, it is still a meaningful tradition. “The whole point of Thanksgiving is to give thanks to those who have and are currently making a big impact on your life, or those who are important in your life. It’s the time of year they is supposed to be spent with family and close friends,” Allie Bedell, sophomore, said. “I feel like people forget the meaning behind Thanksgiving, which is saying thank you to anyone who is important in your life, but I feel as if we don’t really do that. We should be saying thank you and feel thankful during Thanksgiving,” Nicole Golden, sophomore, said.
Cartoon By Jared Moser
Spokesman Staff 2018-2019 Editors-in-Chief Amanda Talalaj* News Editor Amanda Talalaj Associate Editorsin-Chief Santiago Cuevas* Giuliana Geati* Feature Editor Santiago Cuevas Focus Editor Kamila Walus* La Voz Editor Faviola Gutierrez*
Forum Editor Brianna Eloiza* Sports Editor Giuliana Geati Assistant Sports Editor Jackson Gross* Web Editor Nicloe Massat* Entertanment Editor Leslie Hernandez* Arts Editor Claudia Chan*
Social Media Editor Katie Meyer* Advertising Editor Jasmine Yusef* Cartoonist Jared Moser* Copy Editor Ben Karp* Adviser John Uhrik
*Staff members with asteriks are members of the Editorial Board
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Staff Reporters Alexis Knight Erica Hayden Chrissy Makris Matthew Posner Jared Freeman Gisselle FrancoMunoz Claire O’Donnell Nikko Sarmenta Jaspreet Kaur Andrea Mendoza Laura Cordova Jessica Bezkhlebetskiy Ana Cozariuc America Muñoz
This is the official student newspaper of Wheeling High School, 900 S. Elmhurst Road, Wheeling, Ill. 60090. Written, edited and distributed 8 times a year by advanced journalism classes, independent studies and other interested and qualified students. Produced by using desktop publishing and is printed by Son’s Enterprises, Inc., Skokie Ill. Mailed subscription $15 per year.
to contribute letters to the staff in room 137 or mail them in care of WHS. All letters must be signed. Letters may be edited for length, style, possible libel, clarity, and adherence to our publication policies. Spokesman’s mission is to report the news objectively and truthfully. We will print any known errors here in the issue following our gaining knowledge of the error.
Letters- Spokesman is a limited Advertising- For information, public forum and welcomes a call (847) 718-7114 Mondayfree exchange of ideas from all Friday 8:00 a.m. to 3:19 p.m. readers. Readers are encouraged
CorrectionsNone
Sports
11 December 14, 2018
Rohwedder commits to become an ISU Redbird By Jared Moser Cartoonist
After four years of hard work, Adrienne Rohwedder, senior, will play golf at Illinois State University. “I picked this school because on my unofficial visit, I felt very comfortable there and I liked the facilities, also it’s not too far from home, but also not to close,” Rohwedder said. Rohwedder was surrounded by friends and family and she was excited for the day. “I didn’t really like all the attention I got but I was very excited that I was signing to the school that I’ll be attending for 4 years,” Rohwedder said.
One of her friends present was fellow golfer Elena Falkiner, senior, and Falkiner was proud of her friend on this accomplishment. “I was really proud of Adrienne and am still excited to see what she does at the college level,” Falkiner said. Falkiner was happy to see the progression over the years and the journey they went through together, “I think it’s really cool to have a close friend be recruited. It has been really cool to see her grow as an individual player and play well enough to continue in college,” Falkiner said. This was all made possible by Dr. Steve May, assistant principal, who is no stranger to organizing college signing ceremonies. “I started doing private signing
ceremonies for Division I athletes when I came to Wheeling 18 years ago to highlight the athletes’ accomplishments,” May said. Besides putting the ceremony together, May was proud to see another athlete go off to college. “I am always proud when any athlete goes on to play in college. I think it validates all the hard work put in by the athletes and coaches,” May said. Rohwedder hopes to continue her success in college. “I am hoping that I’ll be able to balance school and golf at the same time... I also hope to make the top Courtesy of Steve May spot on the golf team, win a few tournaments and become a better Sitting next to friends and family, Adrienne Rohwedder, senior, holds up her official signing to Illinois State University. athlete, student and person,” Rohwedder said.
What do you think of the Chicago Bears this season?
“They are pretty good this season, especially compared to other seasons. They also have a strong running game, and Mitchell Trubisky gives us a sense of hope at the quarterback position.” Brandon Roman Freshman
New bowling leadership By Jackson Gross Assistant Sports Editor There have been many changes to the bowling coaching staff, particularly on the varsity and JV levels with Catherine Zaworski, staff, and Bruce Varela, staff, becoming the coaches after all three coaches retired last year. However, even though they are new to WHS, they are not new to coaching bowling, with Zaworski working within the district before. “I have been the JV bowling coach at Hersey for the past five years,” Zaworski said. Varela has coached youth sports, but never at the high school level. “When the bowling position opened up, I realized I had time to do it as I coach youth sports in the fall and spring, so it was something I could do in the winter. I’ve always enjoyed bowling and it is fun to teach people how to do it,” Varela said. The main reason many of these coaches came in to these positions was their passion for helping the athletes. “I saw that the position was open and I wanted to share my passion and knowledge for bowling with athletes at Wheeling,” Zaworski said. Even though these coaches love what they do, there are some difficulties with this job, “The only thing hard about it is getting home late,” Varela said. However, the coaches feel the extra work is worth it. “I love when you see an athlete that finally gets it and has success. Their face lighting up with success is the most rewarding. Coaching is like building a puzzle for me. Each athlete has a different missing piece, and trying to help them find that missing piece to help them be successful is always rewarding for me,” Zaworski said.
“I think the Bears season is going really well right now. I also believe they can win the [NFC North] division.”
“I feel like they have a lot of great things on defense, but their offense needs to be more organized, but they are doing pretty well.”
Solomon Hudson Sophomore
Luis Gonzalez Juniors
“I’m happy that we’re doing very well, we’re going to win the division and make the playoffs, and will go to at least the NFC championship. Go Bears!” Rohin Shah Senior
Information and pictures taken by Ivan Muro
Best living up to his name
Graphic by David Gonzalez
By Jared Freeman Staff Reporter
The varsity boys basketball team started the season off with success winning first place at the Northridge Prep Tournament in Niles. The team couldn’t have accomplished this without the efforts and drive of Michael Best, senior. “Michael had the best tournament and he is a very well rounded player,” Michael O’Keefe, varsity basketball coach, said. During the tournament, Best averaged 17 points, 5 assists and 4.5 rebounds. Other than putting up numbers, Best also plays a leader role on the team. “He is a true leader; he’s been a leader of our teams for the past two years and honestly he leads his team best through both words and actions. He puts in work on his own time to make the team better and also picks us up when we aren’t performing to the standard we know we are capable of performing, Jeremy Kim, senior, said. Best learned a lot from his older brother, TJ Best, alumnus, who is now playing basketball at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. “My favorite moment of basketball at Wheeling was when I had the chance to play on the same team as my brother and when he hit the half-court shot,” Best said. He certainly is carrying on the Best legacy so far this season. “I want to follow in my brothers foot-steps...being a good person on and of the court because life is bigger than sports,” Best said. Best has gained chemistry with his team, which helps the play of the team. “To gain chemistry, honestly, just being around him and gaining friendship helps the chemistry on the court,” Kim said. Even though he has worked hard on the court, he also realizes it’s more than just that. “It’s taken a lot of work, I’ve been playing basketball since I was 5 years old. It has taken countless hours, not just on the court, but also off the court,” Best said. Best’s drive is incredible. It is rare to find a player that will spend so much time practicing off the court. Best has built great chemistry, and he plays a very vital leader role on the team. “If he suffered an injury, it would hurt our team because he contributes a lot, but he wouldn’t affect our progress and growth. He’s a good guy and would want the best for us, even if he couldn’t be on the court beside us,” Kim said.
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Courtesy of Lair
Looking for space, Michael Best, senior uses the screen from Ivan Muro, senior, to drive to the basket.
WHSSports December 14, 2018
Volume 55 Issue 4
Upcoming Events Varsity Gymnastics Meet: Monday, December 17, at 5:30 PM, @ Maine West Varsity Wrestling Meet: Friday, December 21, at 6:00 PM, vs Rolling Meadows Boys Varsity Basketball Game: Friday, December 21, at 7:30 PM, @ Rolling Meadows
A closer look into the start of Wildcat basketball By Jared Moser Cartoonist
Photos Taken by Giuliana Geati
Nosa Igiehon, senior, Sophia Stanke and Chloe Drozdz, juniors, pass and dribble the ball while playing the Pack the Place game against Hersey.
By Giuliana Geati
Associate Editor-in-Chief The girls basketball team is looking to exceed expectations and improve upon their growth from last year. With different players, the team make up is completely different from just a couple of seasons ago. “We have a totally different team since my freshman year and our chemistry is really great. [We have] different people and different strengths and weaknesses,” Chloe Drozdz, junior, said. The team holds a record of 4 wins and 6 losses as of 12/9/18 and is anticipating an upswing and is optimistic for the rest of the season. “I think we should be to compete in the MSL and win a regional championship; those are realistic goals as long as we keep working hard in practice and growing as a team,” Matthew Weber, head varsity girls basketball coach, said. The players also have high expectations for the future as they have built their relationships with each other in order to improve the gel of the team. “Everyone is accepting of everyone and the freshman are comfortable with the upperclassmen. We all get along
and I think that helps in the games because we all know and trust each other. We’ve started by learning how to play as a team together,” Sophia Stanke, junior, said. With the players each working to make each other better, different players each work to bring a different strength onto the court. “My strength would probably be poise and patience on the court and calming people down when we get sped up and it really helps the game,” Drozdz said. “Now that I’m a starter, I have a really big role on the team. I feel like I can help contribute to the team in a new way. Before I was a sub and could give players rest, but now I’m on the court more and I can be apart of the game even more,” Stanke said. The leaders of the team focus primarily on positive energy rather than just strength in skills. “Encouragement is a big thing for me to give to my teammates and they shouldn’t hold their heads down. If one person is holding their head down and show it, it could spread a negative vibe and could possibly take the whole team a step backwards from where we want and need to be. Even I get frustrated with myself, and to hear my teammates say ‘next play’ or ‘you got it’. Something small like that means a lot to me,” Nosa Igiehon, senior, said.
The long haul has finally begun for WHS boys basketball, and even though the season has just started there are many expectations and goals that are set by the team. “I think we have the potential to have a strong season,” Brandon Zettek, senior, said. Having a senior heavy team makes for a very competitive atmosphere and a close bond with the players on the court. This helps the goal setting for the players and the team as a whole. “A couple of our goals are to win the MSL East, which we think is a very obtainable but hard to achieve goal. We want to make it to a regional championship, that’s a big one, we want to win a tournament championship, and get to fifteen plus wins by the end of the season,” Michael Best, senior, said. Other role players, such as Jeremy Kim, senior, have a very selfless approach. “If my team wins the conference and I only average five points a game, I wouldn’t care,” Kim said. This selfless attitude is what Michael O’Keefe, head varsity boys basketball coach, is looking for. Keeping a positive
mindset while on and off the court has been important to O’Keefe for his players since he started coaching. “My first year as the head coach was when these seniors were freshman, so this senior class along with the junior class in addition to the two sophomores on the team (Joe Jordan and Solomon Hudson) have heard a consistent message from the coaching staff ever since they’ve been at WHS. So they are aware of the expectations on and off the court,” O’Keefe said. While the season is still fresh, with a record of 3-4 as of 12/9/18, the team can still see how this season will differ from past seasons. “What’s different from last year and this year is we have a lot more experience on the varsity team which is good for what we want to achieve and I think with the group of guys we have and the conference and (the) games we have on our schedule, it’s very realistic to have a good season,” Best said. When starting new seasons, players and coaches have some expectations feeding off of past years and looking at new, upcoming players that can make a difference. With goals in mind and expectations high, the Wildcats have things to prove to the school, the conference, and for themselves.
Photos Taken by Giuliana Geati
Dribbling the ball, Brandon Zettek and Michael Best, seniors, work to seal points against the Huskies at the Pack the Place game.
An expanded gymnastics roster, new, accelerated coaches By Giuliana Geati
Associate Editor-in-Chief Wildcat gymnastics has doubled their roster from fifteen to thirty girls from last season to this winter season. In addition to the team’s expansion, the new coaches have brought an extended amount of structure and excellence to the program, according to the team. “I have never ever seen [this many girls] and this year we had to order more leotards cause we have so many. If one girl gets a new skill, ten other girls will get it that week. They all push each other and are so dedicated to the team. We all support each other inside and outside of the gym, and it’s a nice change from previous years. At meets, it’s no secret WHS gymnastics is not at the same level as some of the other schools in our district. That being said, the amount of girls we have when we go to a meet and the girls line up surrounding each event, we cheer so loud I swear the whole gym rattles. Other teams may be beating our scores, but no team will ever beat the spirit the girls this year have,” Jessica Stavros, senior, said. Stavros isn’t the only one who believes the expansion in numbers of girls has benefited the program overall. “We have a lot of girls on JV which is good so everyone has their own talents and if you do something that you like doing, you have a lot of potential to be great at it,” Sarah Ruschke, Photos Taken by Nicole Massat sophomore, said. Top: The varsity gymnastics team gathers together before competing to kick off the In addition to the expanded amount of meet. Bottom: The team lines up while the national anthem plays. teammates, the gymnastics team gained two new
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coaches, Rachel Wheeler, varsity head coach, and Jacqueline Share, junior varsity coach, who have added to their success of the team after being in desperate need of a coach to fill the absent spot. “The new coach is outstanding. Last year they were asking just about anyone to be a coach for us... [now,] we have one of the best coaches in the game, who judges for the greatest gymnastics in the world, where she flies to every continent to judge elite girls. It’s just a dream come true. We got so incredibly lucky... She has completely taken a 180 with our program. She has done an amazing job finding a middle ground while bringing structure to our program. She keeps us close and has stomped out any drama among the girls,” Stavros said. Although the varsity head coach was a huge score for most of the girls, the new JV is also been very beneficial towards newer members of the the team. “Coach Share is great, really accommodating and flexible. She understands we’re new and she has some really interesting ways of teaching us,” Ruschke said. Considering the extra teammates and new coaches, the majority of girls are happy with the season that has arose this year. “I’m so proud of how far they have come, and they really are an amazing group of talented women. I love them and the coaches and [it’s] just a very lucky year. I’m so fortunate and I couldn’t see my senior year season going better than this. I have been captain every single year I have been here, and this is the first group of girls that I swear is leading me. They just go above and beyond and I have no doubt that these girls will keep it alive and do better than anyone expects,” Stavros said.