October 2018

THE GLEN BARD

October 2018 gwhsnews.org

Guys and Dolls brings back ‘old’ Broadway to West’s stage

By Amanda Muchmore ’19 Staff Reporter As a new school year begins, Glenbard West is booked with exciting events for the student body to be a part of and come out to see. For Theatre, this is no exception; this fall, they will create and perform a classic Broadway musical that’s full of action and anticipation: Guys and Dolls!

Guys and Dolls centers around two New York gamblers and two confident female dancers. Set in Depression-era Times Square, the musical shares the overlapping stories of Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson.

Nathan Detroit is a young, smalltime gambler who runs a famous floating crap game and needs $1000 to rent a place to host his game in the city that never sleeps.

Nathan decides to bet against the highly-renowned gambler Sky Masterson, challenging him to have a dinner in Havana with a woman of Nathan’s choice: moralist Sergeant Sarah Brown, who runs a missionary for sinners.

Sky Masterson accepts the challenge and the exhilarating story begins. Between Nathan and his girlfriend of 14 years Miss Adelaide, who wants nothing more from Nathan but for him to marry her; Sky and Sarah, the unthinkable couple who ventures down to Havana together; and the endless amount of possibilities in NYC, Guys and Dolls will have you on the edge of your seat.

In regards to the history of Guys and Dolls on Broadway, the musical debuted on November 24th, 1950 and put on 1,200 performances be-

The cast rehearses a number called “Old Established.” Photo by Ellie Ostroff ’19. fore it closed three years later.

This first production won five Tony Awards: 1951 Best Musical, 1951 Best Actor in a Musical, 1951 Best Featured Actress in a Musical, 1951 Best Choreography, and 1951 Best Director. Since then, there have been countless revivals of Guys of Dolls, and another coming to your own high school soon. Guys and Dolls will be performed at Glenbard West November 1st through 3rd.

I was fortunate enough to speak with some of the Glenbard West cast members who will be performing in Guys and Dolls this fall! I asked each individual three questions surrounding the musical as a whole, so without further ado, meet your cast Glenbard West!

1. What is your role in Guys and Dolls?

Brennan Dougherty, senior: Sky Masterson.

Lizzy Mowry, senior: Sarah Brown.

Katie Laird, senior: Miss Adelaide.

Robbie Matthew, junior: NicelyNicely Johnson.

Julia Norvid, senior: Martha.

Alex Frazer, senior: Joey Biltmore.

2. What makes Guys and Dolls unique from other musicals Glenbard West has put on in the past?

Brennan Dougherty: Guys and Dolls is unique because there are a lot of songs that people don’t realize come from the show such as “Luck Be a Lady” and “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat.” Also, another exciting thing about the musical this year is that we are going to have a live student orchestra again, something that we didn’t get to have last year but have had in previous years.

It always adds such exciting energy to the show to have live music!

Lizzy Mowry: Guys and Dolls is such a unique musical because each character is so complex. There are so many plots that weave in and out

of each other that keep the audience engaged with each new development. It’s also such a timeless story that anyone at any age can appreciate.

Katie Laird: Out of the all the musicals West has put on while I’ve been here, Guys and Dolls is the most classic show. It is a show with many exciting characters and focuses on more than one fun story at once, so it will always draw the audience in!

Robbie Matthew: I think what Guys and Dolls has going for itself is the nostalgia of old-Broadway and the simple love story that it puts forth. It’s just a very enjoyable show for everyone, both actors and audience members alike.

Julia Norvid: Guys and Dolls is unique from the past couples musicals we’ve put on because it’s more of a classic. It has more of a Broadway feel to it, and we also have the pit back again this year!

Alex Frazer: Guys and Dolls is different from the other musicals because of the many different faces that we have this year. With 42 actors casted, and even more people who work hard behind the scenes, this show combines talents from so many different people of all different grades and experiences so it is bound to be unique.

3. What are you most excited about for Guys and Dolls?

Brennan Dougherty: I am most excited to see the set for this show!

Without spoiling it too much, the tech crew has a lot of cool ideas on how to bring the city to life and really make the stage turn into Times Square in New York.

Lizzy Mowry: I am most excited to tell the show’s story through a new perspective based my own ideas and interpretations. I can’t wait to create a new version of the show with my fellow cast mates.

Katie Laird: I am excited to discover new aspects of acting while playing a character very different than those I’ve played before, and very excited to become close with all the new and old faces that make up the company of Guys and Dolls!

Robbie Matthew: I’m most excited for the technical elements of the show. I think when people see it they’re gonna be wowed.

Julia Norvid: I’m most excited growing close with the cast and doing all of the traditions one last time for my senior.

Alex Frazer: I’m excited about this musical because it marks the end of my theatre experience. High school theatre has been super fun these past years, which is why I’m thrilled to end it with a great show.

Tim O’Brien comes to West for the Glenbard Parent Series

By Ellie Ostroff ’19 Editor-in-Chief On Wednesday, August 22nd, Tim O’Brien - celebrated author of The Things They Carried and Pulitzer Prize finalist - came to Glenbard West for the annual Community Read portion of the District 87 Glenbard Parent Series.

The Glenbard Parent Series, founded in 1990 by Gilda Ross, has been hosting community presentations for parents for twentyeight years. This valuable resource - available for free - reminds “parents of what they already know intuitively” to help their children grow into resilient adults, says Ms. Ross.

The year-long sequence of lectures features psychologists, educators, professors, and authors - all of whom, Ms. Ross reports, are specifically selected for their ability to communicate eloquently with their audience.

For the last few years, the Glenbard Parent Series has kicked off the new school year with a presentation by a famous author, preceded by a ‘community read’ of the author’s works. The first year began with speaker Ishmael Beah, author of a memoir called A Long Way Gone about Beah’s experiences as a child soldier.

The first Community Read “was

extremely successful and the auditorium was packed. It was clear we were onto something,” stated Ms. Ross. As a result, the Glenbard Parent Series has continued its fantastic and popular opening to its yearlong series - beginning this year’s sequence of talks with a visit from Tim O’Brien.

Mr. O’Brien - most renowned for his work writing about the Vietnam War - electrified his audience from the very beginning of his speech, discussing the power of stories in shaping our lives. According to Mr. O’Brien, stories help us to heal - they can console us, embolden us, encourage us, and assist us in seeing the world anew. Thus, Mr. O’Brien explained his decision to become an author as a hope that what he wants to tell his audience will come through emotionally in his writing.

In an interview, Mr. O’Brien stated that he wanted readers “to feel a little of what I felt as a soldier in Vietnam.” His work, he says, is “really to help people feel what it is to be twenty-one years old...and fighting halfway across the world”; to help people understand “the guilt you feel when you see dead bodies and the sense of responsibility [you feel] for it all, the comradeship with your fellow soldiers, [and] how it feels to be out on ambush at two in the morning, lying in

Tim O’Brien poses with West English and Social Studies teachers after his speech. Photo by Ellie Ostroff ’19. the dark waiting to kill somebody.”

This speaks to another important aspect of Mr. O’Brien’s work: his desire to convey the pain and horror of war. During his speech at the Glenbard Parent Series, Mr. O’Brien informed his audience about the mental and emotional toll that war takes on soldiers. One anecdote he related was a real-life inspiration for a chapter in The Things They Carried, about an ambush on a Vietnamese village. Mr. O’Brien’s unit opened fire on the Vietnamese, and as they walked over to the bodies they discovered the corpse of a teenager.

Mr. O’Brien stated his reason for

recounting this experience in detail as such: “I will never know if a bullet from my weapon killed that kid.” But through his books, Mr. O’Brien said, “I can take responsibility for it.”

Mr. O’Brien’s stories were written for all the soldiers on both sides of the war, he told his audience.

And while most of Mr. O’Brien’s written works - such as The Things They Carried and Going After Cacciato - are fiction, he says they were invented to make an audience feel what Mr. O’Brien felt as a soldier - to convey the emotional truth of his experiences to a reader.

Fans of Mr. O’Brien’s works will

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have little time to wait for another one of his stories. Mr. O’Brien eagerly shared with his audience his plans for another book - this time, a book full of love letters to his two teenage children.

“The book is about telling the kids who their father was, and what he cared about, and how he tried to care about them, what he worried about,” said Mr. O’Brien in an interview. One of the possible titles is Dad’s Maybe Book, so keep an eye on bookshelves for Mr. O’Brien’s new work, and thank you to Mr. O’Brien for coming to Glenbard West!

Feat

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Welcome the new staff members at Glenbard West: a

By Michelle Bishka ’21 and Genevieve Ick ’21 Features Editor and Entertainment Editor As you settled into the current school year, you may have noticed a few unfamiliar faces among the staff members here at West. We had the opportunity to interview each of those new staff members to find out a little more about them. Welcome to the new staff members of the new school year!

Dana Bonnecarre is a social work intern here at West. Before she came here, she worked at the Hinsdale South Transition Center as an aide who works with young adults with some form of a disability. When asked about her preference on either being a social work intern or an aide, Ms. Bonnecarre believes that since they are so vastly different that she enjoys both for what they bring to the table.

As a social work intern, she likes that she is “provided with more opportunities to meet with students on an individual basis to help make a more substantial emotional impact.”

Ms. Bonnecarre went to Northern Illinois University for her undergraduate degree, majoring in psychology. She is currently getting her masters in social work at Aurora University. Although Ms. Bonnecarre was not initially set on becoming a social worker, she was always “peopleoriented since [she] was a child.” In high school, she took a psychology class and was inspired by her teacher to choose psychology as an undergraduate degree. As she got older, she realized that social work would be a right fit for her as she began to explore more career fields.

Jessica Romanelli is the new Spanish teacher here at West. She currently teaches Spanish 1 and Spanish 2. She has taught Spanish previously at a few different high schools. She earned her undergraduate de-

grees in Spanish and education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Afterward, she got her graduate degree in Instructional Technology from National Louis University.

Ms. Romanelli has always planned on teaching because she “loved school, loved her teachers, and had a great experience always” in school. She is fond of teaching Spanish because “she loves the culture, [as] it is so rich.” In fact, if she could live anywhere in the world, she would live somewhere in South America. Unsurprisingly, Spanish was her favorite subject in high school, as it seemed to be easy for her due to her devotion to study for that class, yet interesting. Despite her love for Spanish, if she could only speak one language it would be “Polish because so many of [her] students speak [it].”

Carrie McCann is a first-year teacher and teaches Physical Education. She studied at Illinois State University and “always planned on being a teacher, [...] and chose to go into Physical Education after high school” when she had to narrow down her major. Her favorite part about teaching PE is “getting to teach a variety of kids and getting the class up and active.”

Ms. McCann enjoys teaching the Volleyball and Badminton units because “Kids [often] enjoy those two [units], and they get really into the game and compete with each other, and [she] enjoys seeing [the competitive] side of the kids come out.”

Jordan Poll is the new school psychologist. This marks his third year of being a school psychologist. He went to Illinois State University, completing his undergraduate degree in psychology. Afterward, he went to Eastern Illinois University, to get his masters and specialist degree in school psychology. His favorite class in high school was Intro to Teaching, as he was able to student-teach in an elementary school. He found it fun because he was

“able to work with kids, and hang out with [them].” His inspiration to take the class was the idea that he “always wanted to work with kids,” and that class confirmed his passion. However, with his psychology degree, he was not sure that he would end up working at a school, as psychology is such a broad field. Fortunately, he had the opportunity to get a graduate degree in school psychology.

As a school psychologist, Mr. Poll covers many different things, from study skills to social habits. Another large part of his job is to work with students and their families to see if they need more support in school, or if they are having academic trouble.

Jessica Datta is a social work intern here at West. Before she came here, she worked as a foster care social worker. She also has worked at a mental health center as a home-based therapist and she also has done individual therapy. Ms. Datta went to the University of Toledo, majoring in social work, and now she is at Jane Addams, the University of Illinois at Chicago’s social work graduate school.

Ms. Datta wanted to become a social worker as soon as she asked for her counselor’s advice. Playing on her strengths, her counselor suggested that she should become a social worker. However, she also got inspiration from her grandparents at a young age, as “they were very giving people,” even though they were not social workers. Despite that she was not definite on becoming a social worker at that age, she knew she wanted to find a field that would help her expand on those traits. Ms. Datta’s favorite subject in high-school was English, helping her with the analytical skills that come with being a social worker.

for seven years and a general counselor for eight years. She previously worked in an urban community at Chicago Public Schools. When asked if she preferred the urban over the suburban community, she views them equally because “as long as [she] work[s] with kids, [she] is happy.”

She went to college at Northern Illinois University for her bachelor’s degree in sociology and her masters in school counseling.

Ms. Ochoa originally wanted to become an elementary school teacher, but through student-teaching at an elementary school, she decided that it was not for her, and opted to become a guidance counselor after she shadowed one. Her favorite subject in high school was English because she “really liked reading and writing.” She thought that her preferred subject was a good fit because her majors required a lot of those skills that she already enjoyed using.

Timothy Schuett is the new physics and chemistry teacher at West. He has been teaching for a total of twelve years.

He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Dayton.

Mr. Schuett has always been a fan of science though he was not always aware of it.

In high school, specifically, he was under the impression that he hated it. However, it took him some time to realize that he both loved teaching and science, specifically physics. His favorite part of teaching is “getting to know [his students], and getting them excited for the subject.” When asked if he preferred teaching physics or chemistry better, he chose physics, as he feels more comfortable with it, and has a lot more fun with it. Though his favorite science formula varies, he had to go with a physics-related formula, settling with E=mc2 as his top choice.

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Lissette Ochoa is a new addition to our school’s team of guidance counselors.

Ms. Ochoa has been a guidance counselor

Photo Credit to Mr. Aviles

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a guide to everything you want to know about them sure that the [school] policies are being adhered to both on campus and off.”

Ms. Taylor used to work at Neuqua Valley High School, where she taught Spanish. She went to North Central College for her undergraduate degree, double majoring in organizational communication and Spanish. She then completed her master’s degree in administration leadership at Benedictine University.

As a student her favorite subject was English, and she had wanted to go into journalism; it was not until she took a required education course in college that she fell in love with teaching, ultimately making her decide to pursue a job in education.

Laura Seimetz is the new psychology intern here at West. She is still a student, completing her graduate degree in school psychology at Northern Illinois University. However, she studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign previously for her undergraduate degree.

When Ms. Seimetz was in high-school her favorite subject was English. While that did not directly carry over to her career path now or her particular interests, she “always knew [she] wanted to be a psychologist” because her grandfather was a psychologist, making her aware that it was a solid field to go into. Ms. Seimetz also chose to go into psychology because “[she] really likes working with people one-on-one, or in smaller groups.” She encourages everyone to come to visit her or the other psychologist and social workers!

Filomena Troianiello is a first-year teacher. Last year, however, she was a student teacher at Glenbard North. Ms. Troianello is currently teaching consumer management and culinary. In consumer management, topics such as budgeting, investing, credit, banking, and insurance are covered. Her favorite unit to teach in consumer management is “investing, [because she] likes learning about how to make your money grow.”

Her favorite unit to teach in culinary is “fruits and veggies, because [...] there are a lot of good ways to [cook them].”

Ms. Troianello went to college at Illinois State and majored in family and consumer sciences. She had always planned on teaching because she likes “helping kids learn, and establishing positive relationships [...] with students.” Her favorite subject in high-school was family and consumer science classes. She loved taking them, and now she is teaching them here at West.

Alexandria Taylor is the newest of the three deans here at Glenbard West.

Ms. Taylor, along with Ms. Scumaci and Mr. Williams, is in charge of “making sure the school is safe [...], and making

dergraduate degree in psychology, and a graduate degree in special education.

He also got a masters degree from Benedictine in reading and literacy. He also got another masters degree in education leadership from Concordia University.

Mr. Waters had been involved with students with special needs by volunteering through his high school’s sociology class. At that point, he “found out that he was good at [working with people] and that [he] enjoyed it,” so he wanted to be involved with special education.

Mr. Waters loves being a special education teacher because he finds that his peers are so inspiring, and he loves celebrating all the different milestones with students. He specifically likes to teach world history because he finds that all students will be able to find a way to get interested in that topic.

Danielle West is not necessarily a new teacher. She has taught at Glenbard West previously, for nine years. She is now back at West, teaching culinary. Ms. West went to Illinois State majoring in family and consumer science education.

She always knew that she wanted to be a teacher, but, in high school, she finally ended up determining which subjects she would teach. When she took family and consumer science education classes in high school, such as culinary or child development, she really enjoyed them. She thought if she was a consumer science teacher, “it would be a fun opportunity to get to work with high school students and little kids through the child development program.”

Specifically, Ms. West loves teaching culinary because she enjoys seeing her students get excited when they “want to cook or when they master a skill.” Her favorite unit in culinary is quick breads or when the students make pasta from scratch, as the motivation tends to be high in both units.

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Christopher Waters is the new Special Education Department Chair. He has taught many subjects throughout his twelve years of teaching.

Mr. Waters went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for an un-

Raquel Wintermute is a new Spanish teacher, and this year she is teaching Spanish 3 classes. She previously taught

Spanish at Chicago Public Schools for two years. However, before that, Ms. Wintermute was a geography teacher in England, where she grew up. She just moved to the United States a few years ago.

Ms. Wintermute went to college at Anglia Ruskin University in England, and “received a joint honors degree in Spanish and Geography.” Ms. Wintermute loves teaching Spanish because of “the interesting culture,” and she enjoys sharing the rich Spanish culture with students who may not have had a chance to experience it before. Ms. Wintermute’s favorite subject in school was French class, and while she hasn’t retained much of the language, she enjoyed learning it, as it helped inspire her to teach a language now.

Sarah Zayas may seem familiar to some. This is because she taught at West last year, as she was a long-term substitute teacher for Ms. Curtis. Subbing for Ms. Curtis, she was teaching AP Psychology and regular psychology.

Ms. Zayas went to Elmhurst College to get a degree in history and secondary education. Starting in second grade, she always had her eye on teaching. However, in second grade, she wanted to teach elementary school-aged children. As she got older, the age range of students she wanted to teach aged as well. She was always interested in teaching because “the idea of helping future generations can make a great impact on society,” and being able to teach high-school aged children will have the greatest effect.

Currently, Ms. Zayas is teaching World History Honors and AP Psychology.

Based on the material taught, she leans toward psychology because students can “get a very personal look on [themselves] and the world around [them].” In high school, Ms. Zayas’ favorite class was U.S History. In fact, her interesting history teachers and visits to historic sites helped pique her interest in history.

In high school, she actually founded a history club. Her favorite period in history ranges from the 1920s to the 1940s.

Entertainment

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Found-footage film Searching achieves thrills, shock

By PJ Knapke ’19 Columnist Found-footage films have become a bit of a horror gimmick at this point (that’s an understatement). Ever since The Blair Witch Project in 1999, tiny production companies have been pumping straight to video trash on shoestring budgets in hopes that their gimmick will draw in a couple misguided viewers. However, thankfully, this practice began to dissipate as little success was found.

Eventually, a new form of this style of filmmaking would emerge in 2013.

A small and under-the-radar short film called Noah took place entirely on a computer screen. Each move of the mouse was thoroughly intriguing, as even the slightest of movements carried waves of emotionality behind them.

The success of this style was not fully realized until the next year, when this time a small-budget horror feature called Unfriended took place almost entirely on a computer screen. The film was a massive success financially, raking in $64 million and getting decent, yet mixed, reviews. All this paved the way for a new film in 2018 in the same style known as Searching.

After David Kim (John Cho)’s 16-yearold daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective (Debra Messing) is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter’s laptop. In a hypermodern thriller told via the technology devices we use every day to communicate, David must trace his daughter’s digital footprints before she disappears forever.

The first thing that you notice as this film gets underway is that its style is by no means a gimmick. Films that stick so heavily to a style like this often fail in this regard, and it is hard not to be taken out of the film. However, first-time director Aneesh Chaganty brings a fresh take to the relatively young niche genre that is immediately evident.

Crime-thrillers like this one tend to require a lot of exposition, as it necessary for character motivations and relationships to be understood at least on a surface level. Too much time spent on exposition is quite the bore, and too little time spent on it can be careless and cause the story to be underdeveloped, so there is a fine line for films that want to do it right.

Despite this obstacle, Chaganty knocks it out of the park, launching the audience into the digital world right from the start. It begins by going back through the family’s whole life up to that point through home video files, calendar updates, Google searches, etc. Each movement of the mouse, each typed or deleted phrase brings with it the brutal honesty of the character at that moment, as nothing is hidden from the audience apart from their face. This establishes an emotional backbone to a story that would not have survived without it.

Furthermore, the weight of this emotional backbone rests heavily on its actors.

Only a few actors have notable screen time, including John Cho as the father (David Kim), Michelle La as the missing daughter, Debra Messing as the detective, and Joseph Lee as David Kim’s brother.

John Cho stars as a father who frantically searches for his missing daughter. Picture courtesy of Song Pictures Michelle La is incredibly cryptic and evasive in her sparse appearances, clouding the entire mystery and the motivations of anyone possibly involved through her shifty ways.

Debra Messing is passionate, focused, and somewhat secretive herself, adding to the emotionality of the investigation as a whole.

The overwhelming majority of the emotional weight, however, falls on John Cho’s shoulders. An incredibly underappreciated actor, Cho wowed last year in a relatively unknown indie film called Columbus, and his rise seems to have only continued up from there. Everything Cho does on screen is unbearably palpable.

The sheer exhaustion is evident in his eyes, and his bouts of depression, regret, and rage as the plot develops draw the audience even deeper into the story.

In a crime thriller like this one, the story is essential in keeping the audience on the edge of their seat. Plot twists are a must, but similar to the situation with exposition, there is a fine line between overuse and underuse. A crime thriller with too few shocking plot points can grow boring, causing the audience to question why it was even made in the first place.

However, if a “shocking” plot twist rears its head every ten to fifteen minutes, all elements of storytelling go out the window and the film transforms into an overdramatized telenovela. In this regard, Searching, once again hits the mark with flying colors, although you won’t get any hints from me. Let’s just say that when the film is over, you will be picking up on so many little clues that nestled deep into the back of your mind and feel like a fullblown online sleuth.

The most essential evocations that a thriller like this one must bring are shock and horror. Searching does this brilliantly and frequently, in a creative and fresh style that adds to the intrigue only further.

I’m giving it four and a half stars out of five.

Did you know that found-footage film traces its roots to novels told in diary entries?