Volume 89 Issue 1 Fall 2018
East Leyden High School
3400 Rose Street
Wall of Fame Inductees
School rallies around Britten’s brother
A
B
Franco Petrucci
number of Leyden organizations came together to fund-raise for classmate Kyler Britten’s sick younger brother, who has infantile scoliosis, a disease that leaves the spinal column curved into an S or C shape. This can also lead to a flat skull and either get better over time or worsen as one grows. For Britten’s brother, the disease has progressed require a helmet to address the flat skull and braces to support the spine. Along with numerous doctors visits, these supplies can all be extremely expensive. Britten, Leyden’s starting quarterback and point guard, and his family have
been getting help from teammates and classmates. The Leyden choir organized a car wash in order to raise money for the family on September 16. The Sports and Entertainment Marketing classes also hosted a 3 on 3 basketball tournament. The idea for this car wash came from fellow student and teammate Brian Borowski and his sister Silvia. The basketball tournament is coming from the sports and entertainment marketing class. Britten and his mom were grateful about how the help impacted their lives. “It means a lot. Everyday [at practice] we break out and [talk about] family and this was our ‘family’ coming together.
[My brother’s illness] has been rough but it’s been taken day by day with a happy and positive outlook.” Britten’s mother explained that their lives have been affected “mentally, physically, and financially” balancing all the medical bills with Kyler’s future college needs. She said he’s finding a balance so that they will not have to choose one or the other, which she says “has brought faith to the family while simultaneously bring the family closer.” Leyden’s efforts to help have made her feel “blessed. There are not many kids that have this type of bond that you guys have, and it’s bought you all into our lives, and I appreciate it so much.”
Humidity relocates rooms, forces e-learning day
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Franklin Park, Illinois
Beatriz Verin @verinbea
arly this school year, humidity problems prompted officials to close classrooms and relocate students and eventually led to an e-learning day. East Leyden High School students spent time attending classes in different rooms while maintenance cleaned and external agencies monitored the issue. It took about a week for classes to return to their regular classrooms. Leyden joins a dozen other schools across the state that have been shut down because of the humidity, which created mold in some areas. East Leyden High School’s principal, Mr. Jason Markey, explained that “right before the school year started, we had significant air conditioner issues.” Because East Leyden is fairly old, it is challenging to find parts for the HVAC systems. Since this type of unit is hard to find, East Leyden
used a “rental unit” outside of the building to help maintain the air flow. During the summer, fire alarms went off not because of a fire but because of construction. When the fire alarms go off, it cuts out the air conditioner, but in a couple of rooms the AC did not turn back on. Because it was a hot and wet summer, it created mold in certain classrooms. For a week, those classes were being cleaned.
“We closed down the three classrooms and an office. We went overboard; we took out the ceilings, took out everything that had porous surfaces, and replaced it,” Markey said. During this time, a senior at East Leyden High School, Jenna Meyer, experienced her pre-calc class move at least three times in one week. Because of all this
relocation confusion, Meyer had a hard time finding her class. “I was a little late to school, and there was not a sign on the door, so it took me ten minutes to find my class,” Meyer said. Other than the initial confusion, she does not think that all of this relocation altered her learning experience. Because the humidity problem continued to spread in classes, and it was difficult to work on the classes with students in them, East Leyden utilized an E-learning day. Markey believes that Leyden families should not be concerned about this issue. The school worked with many third-party consultants to track potential concerns and will be monitoring the issue when the weather warms again. “We are very thankful for our maintenance staff. They were taking double shifts, working seven days a week for like three weeks in a row. We asked teachers and students to be as flexible as possible, which I know is a lot especially starting the year off that way,” Markey said.
Dawid Poddany
rian Fruits and Laura Porro are the newest inductees into Leyden’s Alumni Wall of Fame. 87 people have had the honor of receiving this award, which features a display of plaques with photos and descriptions of inductees and their achievements for the entire school to see. Ms. Janine Asmus, the program coordinator, explained, “District 212’s Alumni Wall of Fame Awards Program is a long standing tradition. It recognizes outstanding graduates of Leyden High Schools while offering role models for its students.” Fruits provided his thoughts on receiving the award. “It’s quite shocking, humbling, exhilarating and memorable, it was a bevy of emotions, especially when you’re accepting an award in front of your friends and family.”
And teachers had good memories of him. Mr. David Narter knew Fruits only during his senior year, but that’s all it took for him to see the hard worker and inspiration he would become. “He had the lead in this show, and I was surprised at a kid that I hadn’t seen on stage very much with a lead in a show: a calm, honest, real direct and mature sort of kid,” Narter recalled. “He’s proved himself to be a real leader and somebody who can create something of worth and it gives you a lot to admire”. Jerome Patt, a current math teacher, recalled the other inductee, Laura Porro. “She is one of the hardest working, smartest, and nicest students,” he said. “She was just a snot-nosed freshman kid sitting in these classrooms just like all these kids are now, and I am sure, even though Laura was naturally gifted and bright , her work ethic is something that a lot of these kids could strive for and achieve,” he said. Asmus said that’s the point of the program. “Our program is unique in that the alumni use this opportunity to share their personal journeys with us.”