Volume 1, Issue 5

The McHenry Messenger

McHenry High School | McHenry, Illinois | Volume One | Issue Five | April 2020

The Pandemic Issue

ENDING ON A LOW NOTE INSIDE

One month into shelter-in-place and online learning, students battle low motivation, social isolation, and disappointment in an attempt to finish their school year

Now that the governor has shut down school, what will the rest of the year look like for MCHS? PAGE 4 Though social distancing has helped some students maintain their mental health, the pandemic has been emotionally damaging for others. PAGE 6 Though the IHSA has canceled all spring sports, athletes are doing their best to stay positive. PAGE 11

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Volume One | Issue Five | April 2020

Table of Contents

3

TRUMP AUTHORIZES STATES TO RE-OPEN

6

MAINTAINING MENTAL HEALTH UNDER SOCIAL DISTANCING

9

PARENTING TEENAGERS IN THE AGE OF COVID-19

11

HOW ATHLETES ARE COPING WITH THE LOSS OF SPORTS

—Plus!

On The Cover

District 156’s plans to finish the school year— including graduation and prom

Digital learning has taken MCHS

pg.4

students and teachers some

Our advice columnist Elle advises a student struggling to keep up with online learning

time to get used to. While some students have found flexibility,

pg.5

others have lost motivation when they can’t learn alongside their

pg.7 friends any longer.

How has social distancing impacted what we watch — and how we watch it?

pg.13

In Each Issue

News ..................................... 3

Opinions .............................. 5

Cover Illustration By: Bailey Musnicki

Features ............................... 6

Sports .................................. 11

Arts & Entertainment ..... 12

Editor’s Note

2

The McHenry Messenger Mission Statement The McHenry Messenger’s primary mission is to inform and engage the students and staff of McHenry High School as well as its broader community.

As a student-driven publication, it is important to us that we represent every group within both campuses, provide a platform for them to speak their truths, and ensure access to objective, balanced information that they need to know.

We also hope to engage our audience by covering the subjects most relevant to them and presenting it in an entertaining, accessible manner.

Published by Editorial

Staff Writers Contributing Illustrators and Photographers Special Thanks to

Advisor

McHenry High School in McHenry, IL Kyla Henige, News Editor Alayna Trimingham, Opinions Editor Jared Bysiek, Features Editor Zach Brown, Sports Editor Stacy Correra, Copy Editor Madison Wise, Artistic Director Becky Arendarczyk, Social Media Director Chase Creech, Hayley DuHamel, Ciara Duncan, Michelene Havard, Oliver Simpson, Elle Smith, and Emma Snyder Bailey Musnicki, Karina Lucarz, Kennedy Tetour, and Simon Tzimpas Greg Eiserman, Kyle Hobson, Amy Maciaszek, Gina Nomikoudis, Mitch Stengel, and Visual Image Photography Dane Erbach

Both the McHenry Messenger’s print and digital editions have been established as designated forums for student editors to inform and educate their readers as well as for the discussion of issues related to their audience. Though the student media advisor is responsible for teaching students sound journalism skills and judgment, this paper does not engage in prior review and, thus, all content published by both editions of the McHenry Messenger reflects only the views of the student staff and not school officials or the school itself (unless attributed accordingly).

Covering coronavirus’s impact on our community...

In this print edition of the McHenry Messenger, we worked as a staff via ZOOM and Snapchat to create stories that keep our audience informed on the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it’s impacting our community. We hope that you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed working on it.

In this issue, we discuss topics such as how MCHS will schedule the rest of their school year, how the government is moving forward with opening economies, lack of student motivation, the impact of canceled sports, along with so much more. Unable to pitch from school, our staff has worked collectively and hard to ensure we make this the best COVID-edition paper we could make.

With the school year almost over, our staff keeps growing as writers, illustrators, and photographers. This edition was a little harder than the rest, because we’re all practicing social distancing, and have to keep ourselves motivated to write our articles, so we could get them into our audience’s hands.

Our goal as the McHenry Messenger is to represent the ideas of our town, school, and community. With our dedicated staff, creatively pitching our stories and pushing ourselves to publish the reporting our community deserves, we are proud to give the fifth issue to the McHenry Messenger to you, against all odds.

Kyla Henige News Editor

If you would like to get in contact with the McHenry Messenger, please email the advisor at erbachdane@dist156.org or call (815) 385-7077 and leave a message on his voicemail.

Visit TheMcHenryMessenger.com for more news, features, and opinions Our issues are printed by the McHenry High School Print Shop Read more at TheMcHenryMessenger.com

News

Volume One | Issue Five | April 2020

3 President Donald J. Trump takes questions from the press during a coronavirus update briefing Sunday, April 19, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House.

Official White House Photo By: Tia Dufour

Trump announces plan to re-open the U.S. economy The guidelines allow states make decisions, but Illinois officials say they are not ready

By Kyla Henige @henigekyla News Editor

Though COVID-19 has put everything on hold in the United States, President Donald Trump called for states to start opening at their own pace.

In a press conference on April 16, Trump officially gave governors the right to decide whether or not their state is allowed to be opened, or if they will remain quarantined until further notice. “We already know we’ll be opening up states, some states sooner than others,” said Trump. “And we think some of the states can actually open up before the deadline of May 1. And I think that will be a very exciting time indeed.”

Some essential workers, such as Truck Driver Peter Stocco, agree with the president and believe that Illinois should end the shelter in place as long as appropriate precautions are taken.

“I believe Illinois should open up, because I feel that they are overreacting about a virus that isn’t as deadly as other viruses, and there are more deaths in other scenarios such as the flu or suicide than there is for COVID-19,” says Stocco. “I think that we should’ve never closed down any

businesses because they don’t close for other severe viruses.”

Stocco then went on to explain how COVID-19 seems to be based on two key factors: politics, and the relationship between the United States and China.

Guidelines have been given to the states on how to figure out whether they are in the clear to reopen, but some states such as Georgia took Trump’s announcement as a way of reopening almost immediately.

Whereas states, such as Illinois, are continuing to follow social distancing, and may remain under quarantine throughout the month of May.

Some states that, if they don’t open up sooner rather than later, their economies sill suffer, and they will lose a lot of businesses, but some argue they’d rather lose those few businesses and have the country reopen safely, than risk having the virus restart.

Illinois doesn’t plan on reopening May 1. Instead, officials are going to wait and see if the curve goes down. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker hopes to get the state up and running by June.

“I hope the reopening could occur before the end of May,” said Pritzker. “I think that the new normal that occurs here — and

you know, I hope that it could occur before the end of May, but then again, it will be all based on whether people are getting sicker, and where we are in the curve.”

Trump’s guidelines outline a three-phase process, which will determine whether or not states should open.

Phase one is the protocols that each state is taking right now, and if they go 14 days with a decrease in the number of cases, they can open up smaller areas such as churches but under strict policies, and move onto phase two.

Phase two is where non-essential workers can go back to work, and places such as restaurants, schools, and other public areas can begin to open up.

And after another 14 days of decreasing cases, states can move onto phase three where people can go out in public freely, resume to their normal lives. But even after everyone’s life goes back to normal, it is recommended that everyone remains cautious, and make sure to keep yourself and families safe.

Even when states open up and everyone can resume their lives, the big question that remains is, “Will life go back to normal?”

District 156 officials decide to end school year May 14

4

Though digital learning will continue, other events, including prom and graduation, will be rescheduled for June scape in which some districts have more experience with remote learning than others.”

Though MCHS will continue

With Illinois officially closing digital learning through May 14, the disschools for the rest of the school year, trict has been decided that there will be MCHS has announced its own ‘End of no finals. After May 14, students will have Digital Learning Plan,’ which includes changing the last day of school to May 14. four days to catch up with their work. Stu “The shutting of in-person class- dents must make up all essential learning, room time also risks a drop in instruction- or else they will earn an “audit” on their transcript and will have to make up the al time,” explains Illinois Governor J.B. credits during summer school or the next Pritzker at his press conference on April school year.

17. “An extended window in which stu“Summer school will happen this dents can potentially experience summer year, and we are continuing the regislearning loss, and an educational landBy Chase Creech @creech_chase Staff Writer

According to an announcement made on April 21, digital learning will continue through May 14, which will be the last day of the school year followed by a four-day remediation period before second semester grades are finalized on May 20.

Photo By: Karina Lucarz

tration and planning as normal,” stated assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction Carl Vallianatos.

To allow for more interactions between students and teachers, digital planning and remediation days were established to help students catch up with their homework and to allow for some form of contact between teachers and students.

“Now that we are in an extended period of digital learning, it has been many weeks since teachers have seen their students,” said Vallianatos. “We want to create opportunities for this to raise everyone’s spirits and accommodate for every learning style. Many students learn better when they can ask questions or hear from teachers in person. We encourage teachers to make great use of this.”

Upperclassmen will still have an opportunity to attend events such as prom and graduations that seemed “impossible to format” before May 14. Prom is tentatively scheduled at West Campus main gym on June 20, and graduation is tentatively scheduled for West Campus in the main gym and East Campus at McCracken Field on June 28.

With prom and graduation being rescheduled, students have felt conflicting emotions, especially seniors. “I would take an actual graduation and I don’t care how late it is,” Matthew Sieverin stated.

“I would take it over a virtual one, since I went through all my school years to get to this point. And for prom, I understand if there’s not another venue for graduation, but I would prefer that.”

To honor seniors who earned Distinguished Warrior designation, Seniors Honors Night will be hosted at the McHenry Drive-in Theatre, where families can drive to the venue and park to watch a presentation commemorating the the class of 2021.

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Opinions

Volume One | Issue Five | April 2020

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The best way to catch up, Elle says, is to contact teachers. “Most likely, they’ll send you a list of the most important assignments that you should focus on first, and then tell you what to do once you’ve conquered those.

Photo By: Kennedy Tetour

Ask Elle

Fighting to cross the finish line Elle gives advice to a student struggling to learn digitally

Dear Lockdown: Well, right off the bat, I want to say that I’m proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself too. It’s not easy making so many adjustments to your life in such a short time.

Online classes struck MCHS like

By Elle Smith lightning, and some of us got stuck. We Advice Columnist hit a bump in the road and, in mere days, the assignments piled up to the point Dear Elle: At first, being out of school because where it feels mountainous. So what can of coronavirus seemed sort of like a long snow we do? day or an extended spring break. During our My advice to you: Start today. first week off, I think I only did two or three First, reach out to your teachers and let assignments total for all my classes. I didn’t them know what’s going on. Explain your expect to be out of school for a month. Now, situation, and ask where they think you all the missing assignments have piled up and should start. Most likely, they’ll send you my counselor has been calling home. Between a list of the most important assignments catching up with my own work, helping my that you should focus on first, and then sister with her work, and helping to keep my tell you what to do once you’ve conquered depressed mom emotionally balanced, I feel those. Write lists, and cross things of as overwhelmed. At this point, I think it’s too late you go. to finish my senior year strong—or at all. I

Also, wake up early. We all know never thought I’d be the kind of kid who didn’t what quarantine has done to our sleep finish high school. What do I do? schedules!

Lockdown Breakdown

Isolation can also make an

already difficult or painful family situation worse because you are all stuck in the house together. Everyone’s stress and loneliness is slowly rising as we have been restricted from doing the things we are used to, and seeing the people (outside our family) who make us happy. Remember that it is also important to have “me time” where you take some time by yourself to do something you enjoy, maybe call a friend, go for a walk, and so on.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge that in some ways, it must really stink to be a senior right now. There’s really no denying it, seniors are upset because they have been robbed of the things that make senior year the most fun, like prom, sports, and graduation. My only advice to you there is, remember that eventually the lockdown will end, and you will do whatever makes you happy again.

Need advice? Email Elle at mchs.ask.elle@gmail. com, and she may respond to your letter in the online or print edition of The McHenry Messenger.

Features

6 For some, social distancing and digital learning has provided flexibility and made life easier. For others, not being able to friends, talk to teachers, or follow a routine has impacted mental health in profoundly negative ways.

Illustration By: Simon Tzimpas

Taking a toll Though shelter-in-place has helped some maintain their mental health, others have struggled with the change in routine and workload

By Oliver Simpson @oliver_james82 Staff Writer

On Friday, March 15, MCHS announced it would be shutting down for a week and beginning online classes due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Shortly after, it became apparent that the school would not be reopening any time soon. When the original plan was to have one week off school due to COVID-19, students were ecstatic about the break they’re so desperately wanted.

Six weeks into social distancing and online learning, many students are starting to feel both a positive and a negative impact on their mental health.

“At the beginning, I had a little more pep because I thought I’d only have to power through a week or two,” junior Greyson Siminak said. While most students are not enjoying the stay at home

order, few disagree.

Freshmen, Colton Tooke stated, “The only way my mental health has been affected negatively is because I’m a very physically intimate person with my friends. I love hugs and such so it’s been hard for me.”

As a coping mechanism, students have begun picking up new hobbies, or continuing old ones. “It has been fun to explore my other interests when I have nothing better to do,” sophomore Reese Vincent said. “I’ve been writing more and picked up more hobbies.”

One of the biggest issues that contributes to the failing mental health of students is the overwhelming amount of work that they are expected to teach themselves. Some have managed to find ways to help organize their days, others haven’t.

Junior Madison Berrad suggests to keep the routine of school going, to try

and stay motivated and organized while at home. “Act like you’re still in school.

Go through your schedule as if you’re still in school,” she said. “Being at a desk [or table] is better than doing it in bed.”

Another way students have been coping with mental health issues is by journaling. Vincent is one of the students who recommends writing as a way to relax.

“Journaling, or writing letters talking about how you feel [can be beneficial],” she said. “Even if you never send the letters.”

It’s no surprise that being stuck home during a pandemic has been hard for many. But for others who may already struggle, it’s even harder to take care of their mental health. A good thing to remember during this time is to try and keep busy, set a routine or schedule, and do what you can to try and stay positive while we all wait and see what happens.

Read more at TheMcHenryMessenger.com

Features

Volume One | Issue Five | April 2020

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Low Battery With the announcement that the rest of the semester is online-only, many students have lost the motivation they once had to complete assignments When students showed up for the first day of the 2019-20 school year, they had no idea they would be asked to learn from home for the last two months of the school year. The transition to digital learning overwhelmed some students, who lost their motivation to learn as an outcome.

Photo By: Becky Arendarczyk

8

unable to focus on my work at home and not being able to feel a sense of urgency I usually feel when at school is the

A student wakes up to the alarm main way I lost motivation so quickly,” they set for 11:30 a.m. to check into their explained senior Mya Cermak. “Being a Schoology classes before noon so that they senior in this situation feels so unreal that are counted in attendance. After checking it got to a point where everything doesn’t in they go right back to sleep and don’t feel real.” wake up for four more hours. Since they

“There’s just so much work,” are not going back to school physically this said freshman Colton Tooke. “I do most semester, they figure that they shouldn’t of it throughout the day, [but] it just feels have to be held responsible for their acalike an inconvenience, and I’m not getting demic responsibilities anymore. Especially anything from it.” since it all feels like busy-work at this

Although online-based learning point. They end up going to bed that night allows students more time to complete barely looking at any assignments they assignments in their own time, this also were supposed to do that day, and it starts allows space for students to put off their again the next day, piling up their stress work, and then have to catch up on assignabout being behind just enough to where ments they missed or skipped later. they give up completely.

“While being in five AP classes

Online classes were manageable and one honors class, I try to get a lot for many at first since students were going done,” Cermak said. “Up to this point, it into them with the belief that they would was a vicious, mentally-straining cycle. It be going back to school physically, and was hard to do homework throughout the they wanted to stay caught up for when day, so I will literally find myself completthey would return. However, when the ing homework from 12 a.m. until 5 a.m. and decision was called for an online-only then getting just enough sleep to be able to end to the semester, many students lost check-in on time for attendance that day.” whatever spark of motivation they had left While many students have exto complete their assignments. pressed their disinterest in continuing the

“Being mentally and physically courses online, sophomore Kilea McCants

By Stacy Correra @stacycorrera Copy Editor

doesn’t mind the work. “It gives me at least something to do during the quarantine,” she explained. “It’s all in time management. When you get school done early, then you have the rest of your day [to do other things].”

Some ways students think they can boost their motivation again is to make work less time-consuming and have little incentives, whether from the school or from themselves.

“Taking personal time for meditation and yoga was a huge boost for me because if I ever got overwhelmed, I would take 30 minutes to breathe, stretch, and regather my thoughts before continuing through my school work,” Cermak said.

For many seniors especially, school at this point has taken a huge toll on their mental well-being, which also plays a role in their lack of motivation.

Teachers are very understanding of the situation, and are more than likely willing to work with students who reach out in need of assistance in these hard times. Social workers, school psychologists, and counselors are also on-call if a student needs help. Teachers are all very understanding and want to see all of their students pass, but if a student does nothing in that class, there is not much the teacher can do.

Read more at TheMcHenryMessenger.com

Volume One | Issue Five | April 2020

Features

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Though digital learning has been stressful for many students, parents have also had a tough job during shelter-in-place. Many parents are balancing a job from home with the demands of parenting, and many have even lost their jobs.

Photo By: Kyla Henige

Parenting in a pandemic As students continue their online learning, parents experience unique challenges — and rewards — during shelter-in-place

10

By Michelene Havard @michelene_rose Staff Writer

An MCHS parent wakes up early to coordinate a work schedule from home. They have to work around their teenage daughter who has digital learning days. However, they work as a team so that they do not get in each other’s way while they are working. Parents are effectively rearranging their daily lives to help their kids during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Due to the lockdown I have had to change many aspects of my life,” said parent Joseph Koch. “I check in daily with my kids to make sure eLearning is going [okay], as well as spend many hours of the night helping [my] kids try to navigate the eLearning system, which I would normally spend my time working around the house or on my hobbies.”

“I am glad schools are continuing education with the eLearning to finish out the year,’’ Koch continued. “But it is very difficult to watch kids try to teach themselves. So [although] I am glad the kids are out of school [which is] safer, I have concern over the materials that are being missed.”

“The hardest part of being a parent during this [crisis] is not knowing,’’ explained Koch. “[I don’t know] if I will be able to keep my children safe from this virus. And, [it’s hard] having to watch my high school senior and junior high graduates miss out on all the parts of school they have worked so hard for only to have them taken away.”

Many parents are trying to stay positive even when they know their kids are missing out on a lot.

“As a parent, you always worry about the health, safety, and happiness of your children,” said MCHS parent Melissa Snyder, “With the shelter at home orders now given through May, we are trying hard to give our girls the reassurance and positivity they need.

It’s hard to see them disappointed with so many things canceled or postponed. It’s been challenging to balance helping them through this while also showing them that this is a time to work together, help others, and embrace

this opportunity to slow down and be together.”

Work is hard to come by and parents are doing everything they can to help their family, even if that means risking their health.

“As for work during this time I am an essential worker as I own a Heating and Cooling company,” said Koch. “Trying to run my company during this time has proved a new set of challenges. My job requires me to go into different peoples houses every day, so I have had to find ways to be in someone’s home working but keep everyone safe at the same time. I have seen a massive reduction in the amount of work and many customers are rescheduling until things calm down.”

Some parents have an essential job, but they do not have to leave the comfort of their home.

“I’m a speech and language pathologist working with District 15 in McHenry,” Snyder informed. “I work from home every day. I provide lessons and activities to my students as a part of their remote learning and attend meetings through Zoom or Google Meet. I’m grateful to be working and connecting with my students and colleagues during this time of school closures.”

“Of course I’m disappointed that school buildings are closed, but I understand and support the decision,” Snyder continued.

“I’m impressed with the excellent communication from the schools, the continuation of quality eLearning, and I’m so grateful for the hard work and support from the teachers.

What’s most important right now is the health and safety of our community and showing support for our healthcare workers.”

Since Illinois has started shelter-inplace, parents are forced to change their daily routines.

“We are taking the stay at home orders seriously and do many things differently now,” Snyder explained. “We don’t visit with friends and family. We only check on the grandparents through texts, FaceTime, or dropping off groceries. We stay out of the stores as much as possible and use grocery

pick-up or delivery. We are all either working from home or participating in e-learning. We are checking on friends and family members more often and doing what we can to help and support one another. We are finding new ways to stay active since our sports and exercise routines have been postponed. We are a faithfilled family and have had to view our church services through livestream.”

With so much additional time at home, parents have the opportunity to relax or get the household spic and span.

“I find most of my extra time is spent trying to manage a household,” Koch said. “I try to plan bigger shopping trips so I have to go out less often, and have found myself shopping online more now.”

“On a good note,” Koch added. “This virus has caused some positive things to come up such as more family dinners together, more time to sit and spend with my kids, and a chance to watch old home movies. I have seen more people go out and enjoy nature areas and trails, kids playing in their yards, families spending time together that would otherwise not normally have happened.”

Both Koch and Snyder have been able to connect closer to their families during the pandemic.

“We’ve found new ways of helping others and connecting with family and friends,” says Snyder. “For example, we have a weekly Zoom meeting with our extended family. It’s been wonderful and comforting to see their faces and know they are doing well. We are donating and delivering food to those in need. It’s giving my girls the chance to support and help others in our community. I bake cookies and then we deliver them to family and friends we feel need our support and love. Finally, we’ve had the chance to slow down and catch up from our busy lifestyle and really appreciate one another.”

“I feel as if this virus disrupted all of our lives in some way,” said Koch. “And although people are keeping their distance from each other for safety, it seems to me that people are closer than ever before.”

Read more at TheMcHenryMessenger.com

Volume One | Issue Five | April 2020

Sports

11

Many athletes have spent most of their lives preparing for their varsity season only to have it ripped away by COVID-19. But for these athletes, who continue to train and stay positive, the game isn’t over yet.

Photo By: Nicole Wilson

What now?

Spring athletes are forced to face the end of seasons that never began

racket, Abano has been making the most of her time during this stay at home order, having the ability to do more workouts on her own and occasionally watch videos on

Athletes look forward to their badminton techniques to help maintain sports seasons all year long. They train, her skills. She has also been able to spend practice, and prepare, making sure they more time focusing on school, staying in are at the top of their game in hopes of success. They work with coaches, trainers, touch with friends, and her family.

“During the season there’s a and teammates, improving their abilities lot happening all at once, so now that and creating a stronger team.

This year, athletes trained for an time has been relaxed, I’m taking more time just trying to enjoy and understand unexpected season; a season that will go the material I am given,” said Abano. “I down in history. For many of the spring FaceTime my friends to catch up or watch sports, tryouts had been held, teams had movies, and I try to spend as much time been formed, and bonding had begun. as possible with my parents.”

Entering a period of uncertainty, there

Many athletes live hectic lives was still hope that athletes would get a during their season. With school all day, a shot at the seasons they worked for. But, following the closing of all Illinois schools long game or practice afterward, and then still having hours of homework, being for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year, home with endless free time has been an all spring sports were canceled.

“I don’t get to see my second fam- adjustment.

For baseball player and MCHS ily,” said Richelle Abano, MCHS junior and badminton player. “These wonderful junior Trevor Rockweiler, this time has girls and coaches [that] come from differ- been spent focusing on ways to stay ent backgrounds of the school, providing motivated to do school work, keep in shape, and remember that we’re all going me with new perspectives.”

Despite not having the opportu- through this together. Rockweiler has spent time throwing with his dad and nity to see her teammates or pick up her

By Emma Snyder Staff Writer

hitting off a tee.

Without a season this year, Rockweiler has also found it difficult to not be around his team, especially the seniors who will be graduating.

“I am going to miss the seniors most of all. These Seniors were great leaders, teammates, and friends,” said Rockweiler. “In the offseason, you bond like crazy with these guys so that by the season you aren’t just a team you are a family. These seniors will forever be family to me and they will all carry on and do great things.”

The seniors this year are facing many disappointments for the stay at home order. For many spring season athletes, missing this season has been one of the most difficult challenges.

“The thing I am going to miss the most about this season is the potential we had to be really good,” said Jocelyn Currie, senior softball player. “After our first week of practice, I know we all felt confident in this team and each other. I am going to miss all the memories that would have been made this season, and also getting to play one last time for McHenry.”

Arts & Entertainment

12

How we watch now

Stuck at home, people have changed how they consume entertainment

Watching movies and shows on Netflix has always been a social activity for teenagers.

But shelter-in-place has changed how people consume media together — and how creators release media — possibly forever.

Photo By: Becky Arendarczyk

like social media more frequently than they used to. With nothing much to do stuck at home, people feel like there are empty spaces

Two students are getting ready to in their day, or like they simply have nothing watch a movie. They’ve both been busy with to do. schoolwork, so it’s a relief to finally be able

“Yes, I’d say that. I have been using to wind down. But before they can start, they streaming services way more often now that begin to count down, “Three, two, one!” Both we are under quarantine, it gives me someclick play at zero, trying to make sure they’re thing to do so the day doesn’t feel extremely in-sync. For the first time in a while, the two long and boring,” says junior Erin Wieronski. of them aren’t watching the movie together, “I tend to start a new series on Netflix very but over a video call. With the Coronavirus often now along with that I have been watchkeeping people separated, many have begun ing a lot of YouTube and listening to Spotify to consume entertainment differently than almost constantly.” they normally did leading up to it.

Some forms of entertainment

Everyone is familiar with using have also begun to change how they work to streaming services already. With services like accommodate the situation. Certain directors Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ people are able and corporations have released new movies to have access to a vast amount of shows and straight to streaming services, rather than demovies right from the comfort of their home. lay their releases as other people have done.

It wasn’t uncommon to get together with And as mentioned in a recent article, musisome friends and have fun watching shows cians and artists have started to do things like or movies together. live performances over social media.

However, due to the COVID-19 pan- Of course, when some hear about demic and quarantine, many students are how much entertainment and social media starting to use streaming services and things we are now consuming, there’s worry about

By Jared Bysiek @bysiekjared Features Editor

people becoming disconnected and spending too much time on these things. While it may sometimes seem like that, this doesn’t mean people aren’t using the free time for things like hobbies, or family.

“We are all used to going out and seeing concerts and now it’s all via live streams and it’s a very disconnected feeling,” said senior Devin Goggin. “[But] I also believe this time is giving people a chance to find new hobbies or even spend more time with their families. So I do believe the use of board games, and video games are becoming more prominent as well as the use of phone and video calling.”

Being stuck at home has given a lot of people free-time they don’t always know how to fill. Because of this, things like social media and streaming services have become a great way for many to occupy that time or stay sane. However, this doesn’t mean it’s all people do now. Doing things like pursuing hobbies and spending time bonding with family have also been used to keep busy. But while stuck at home, it makes sense to check out some new shows and movies.

Read more at TheMcHenryMessenger.com

The Final Four

The Final Four

Volume One | Issue Five | April 2020

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In each issue, we shine the spotlight on a de-

serving member of our MCHS community by asking them four questions. Get to know Cheyenne Plasky, a junior and Jewel-Osco employee deemed “essential” during the pandemic...

By Stacy Correra @stacycorrera Copy Editor

How does it feel being a student who is considered an essential worker?

It has been stressful trying to balance school and work.

What is beneficial about working during a pandemic?

It’s helped me stay sane. To know I’m helping the people in my community get the essentials they need has helped me feel better about this whole situation.

How does working affect your life during these times?

I’ve been home less and been at risk more than usual. I’m risking my health everyday more and more.

What gets you through your toughest work days?

My coworkers and regular customers get me through my toughest days at work.

They never fail to bring a smile to my face.

Last Look

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Although I’m devastated about my senior year ending early and having to spend my 18th birthday in quarantine, I’m trying my best to use this time given to focus on myself.

- Anna Spatol on spending her last days of high school practicing social distancing and spending her 18th birthday away from friends

Photo By: Becky Arendarczyk

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The McHenry Messenger McHenry High School

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West Campus 4824 West Crystal Lake Road McHenry, IL 60050 (815) 385-7077

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