January 2017
East Leyden High School
Record Crowds Call for Rights
3400 Rose Street
Franklin Park, IL 60131
Nationwide Women’s March draws over 3 million Leyden teachers and their friends took part in the Women’s March locally, with Johanna Heppeler, Amy Stolarsky, Cynthia Ellis, and Caroline Holtgrewe active in Chicago. Ms. Michele Curley, who took the picture to the left, traveled to Washington D.C. to join the protest.
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Alessandra Muro
he day after President Trump’s Inauguration, many women, and men, marched for women’s rights. Marches took place all over the country, from L.A. to D.C., drawing in record breaking crowds. Chicago’s march was one of the largest in the city’s history. The crowd was about 250,000 people, leaps and bounds above the predicted 75,000 marchers. The crowd was so large, in fact, that the actual marching was temporarily cancelled. According to attendees, no one could move due to the amount of people attending; the whole route, which was supposed to begin at Jackson and Lake Shore Drive at 9 a.m. and end at the Federal Plaza, was taken up by all the people attempting to march, therefore it turned into a rally until later when the crowd was allowed to move. Although Chicago’s March was one of the biggest, Washington D.C. had an estimated 470,000 people attending. According to the New York Times, “the Women’s March in Washington was roughly three times the size of the audience at President Trump’s
inauguration.” Many men and women, kids and teenagers, attended in hopes of having their voices be heard. These marches all over the country were organized due to the rhetoric that was used in this past election, which dehumanized, insulted, and threatened many people all over the country. This march was organized to stand up for what many women, and men, believe in.
Ms. Michele Curley, an East Modern Language teacher, marched in Washington D.C. She explained her reasons: that “Women should be able to make choices about their bodies, that LGBTQ people should have the same human rights as straight people, that we should work to get rid of racism and prejudice against all minorities,” and she doesn’t believe that “all undocumented people, especially children, should have to suffer.” Critics of the march pointed to its wide set of purposes and argued that it made it unclear why this was occurring. Some believed that the women’s march, then, didn’t call attention to specific women’s rights. Ms. Amy Stolarsky, an English teacher at Leyden, disagrees. She marched here in Chicago because ”It’s really important to model empathy, always, especially in today’s climate.” She believes that it was important to “gather with [many] people and show support for all women.” To her, it seems like “There are many groups of women that are marginalized and I wanted to show up, and be one of those people who say it is not
right for anyone to be marginalized, and it is not right for anyone to have fewer rights or fewer opportunities than anyone else.” Ms. Cynthia Ellis, also an English teacher here at Leyden, agrees with Ms. Stolarsky. She believes that women do have many reasons to march. She also had her own personal reasons for contributing to this historic moment. She marched “out of gratitude to the women that marched [around] 45 years ago.” She explains that what many women are trying to do is fight for the rights of women, such as reproductive rights. She’s fighting so that “Girls growing up today retain those rights, such as the rights to reproductive freedom, equal pay, and furthermore extend those rights to personal safety and freedom from sexual violence.” January 21, 2017 will definitely be one for the history books. Women are still fighting for the same inequality that has been present in our society for so long. Just like Audre Lorde-black writer, feminist, and rights activist says- “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”
free time and entertainment we have here. Since they spend much of the day in school and studying, they don’t get much free time, which can be a bit stressful for them. I hope that they learn the importance of relaxation and entertainment here.” Chinese exchange student, Aleyna Yuan, from the Anhui Province, China, noticed that one of the key differences between her school in China and Leyden would be the relationship between the students and the teachers. Yuan said that in China, “Students would have to raise their hands for permission before they do anything.” While the same display of respect between students and teachers is common here at Leyden, Yuan says that students here “have more freedom.” Nevertheless, one of the things Yuan will remember during her experience here at Leyden would be how “the classes are more lively” because of “the close relationship between the students and their teachers.” Yuan’s host, Ashley Chui, says that much like the other exchange students, Yuan was “very shy at first and didn’t voice out her opinion much” when she first got here.
However, as they continued to learn more about each other, Chui and Yuan were able to relate to each other and form a strong bond. Chui says that the reason she wanted to host a student was because “I thought it would be a fun and exciting experience” to show others what Leyden is all about- spreading kindness. While Yuan and Chui weren’t able to participate in FMSC, they still learned a lot about each other’s culture by visiting the Museum of Science and Industry, going on a walking tour in downtown, skydiving at IFly in Rosemont, exploring the Shedd Aquarium, and watching the cultural presentations that took place at the Nardini Library on January 26. Although Chui is accustomed to Chinese culture herself, she said that in participating in the exchange program, she’s “learned a lot about how Yuan’s culture is different” from what she grew up with. While there are many differences between the Chinese culture and American culture, both the students who volunteered to host and the Chinese exchange students shared meaningful experiences with the memories they shared together.
From Far East to East
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Hanna Nazareno & Krystian Misiewicz ecoming a host for Chinese exchange students was a tough choice, especially for Leyden senior Paulina Cylwik. Short on hosts, the Leyden administration and staff repeatedly sent emails asking for volunteers to host these students. Cylwik became one of those last-minute hosts. “Two weeks before they came, the teachers from NHS and Mr. Bodin were asking if we would host. At first, I figured ‘Oh my parents are really busy, and there’s no way they’ll want to host.’ I asked my parents, and they said no,” Cylwik explained. But when the school was still looking for hosts Cylwik pressed her parents. “Olga Bulka told me she was hosting, and so I figured if a friend is hosting, it might be fun. And plus, I wanted to be exposed to a different culture.” Currently, Cylwik is the host of Chen Ruizhe or “Hal,” his American name, who came from Hefei, in Eastern China. “I decided to host because I figured this opportunity would be fun. It’s not often you get to learn firsthand about the Chinese
culture, so this is very interesting.”Cylwik added. Joined by the Chinese exchange students, the National Honors Society at East Leyden organized to volunteer at Feed my Starving Children,an organization that packages and ships food to developing countries. “Hal and Olga’s student, Sage, went to Feed My Starving Children because it was a trip for NHS, and I figured that would be something fun to do while they are here.” From what Hal said, the trip to FMSC was interesting and a little tiring for him, but I think the trip gives them a good sense of how American teenagers try playing a role in helping out our communities and the importance of service.” “As a host, I have learned that, regardless of the different ways we spend our time everyday and our hobbies, we are similar in the sense that we aim for our highest potential in school and in being well-rounded students. As far as now, I’ve learned that respect is a major part of their culture, and I hope to increase my respect for other people and people’s cultures. Obviously, our cultures are very different, but I think they are taking in the great amount of