MHS Crier | Issue 7 | 2.24.2023

Indiana legislatures plan on lowering the price of school.

But at what cost?

Indiana high schools anticipate updates on Governor Holcomb’s plan to eliminate course fees

How the bill could be positive:

• Students’ bills per year of school will be significantly reduced.

You, as an MHS student, pay approximately $313 a year in course fees. Considering the 1,580 students enrolled in the 2022-2023 school year, that’s nearly $500,000 covering anything from laptops and textbooks to the clay used in ceramics. Planned to go into effect June 30—if passed—several House and Senate Bills will require Indiana public schools to eliminate curricular fees. This means that almost half a million dollars will no longer be paid by parents for students to attend school.

At the moment, the administration is waiting for the state to define what fees they will eliminate before making a plan for Munster schools. With experience from a similar bill passing in Idaho at his old district, Mr. Bret Heller, superintendent, predicts this will be a gradual process that will likely start with technology, like laptops, and textbooks.

When students are charged for the classes they take, it is typically split up into two different types of fees—consumable and curricular fees. For example, science teacher Mrs. Dawn Vidt’s AP Chemistry class costs $40, which consists of consumables, such as goggles and chemicals used in labs, and a curricular fee for the textbook. In addition to the upcoming lab remodel this summer and pre-AP curriculum changes, the science department worries about next year.

“It’s stressful because we don’t want to be in a situation where we’ve adopted something that doesn’t work out and we’re stuck with it for the next four to six years,” Mrs. Vidt said. “Can we purchase a textbook that is really well supported with videos and simulations if we can’t get chemicals? You try to be ahead of it, but sometimes the politics involved make it nearly impossible for us to do our job.”

• Students who struggle with these fees will be able to take more immersive classes without worrying about the cost.

• “Based on the dollar figures they’ve thrown around so far of what they would give per student, we would end up having to figure out a way to fund the laptops ourselves,” Mr. Heller said. “That would have to come out of our budget somewhere, but we’ll do it. Our goal will be to not impact kids’ programs and not make teachers’ lives harder, which is easier said than done.”

How the bill could be negative:

• With curricular changes, teachers may experience an increase in stress when it comes to class structure.

• “The state rewrote the Chemistry curriculum a year ago,” Mrs. Vidt said. “We’ve done a lot of work to rewrite and restructure assessments, learning activities and hands-on stuff for it. But we just got another number that says it will probably be further changed.”

• Various hands-on activities within the curriculum will be eliminated to lower costs.

• “If we were charging ‘x’ and now we receive ‘y,’ and y is less than x, the schools are going to have to eat that cost,” Mr. William Melby, director of financial operations, said. “For ceramics, maybe you did five projects before, but now you can only do three because that’s how much we can afford with the money given from the state.”

• “To run a ceramics class, or any art class, the course is totally dependent on the fees students pay,” Mr. Carl Fields, ceramics teacher, said. “Without it, my class will cease to exist.”

lauren hoogeveen & dorothy lakshmanamurthy

at a glance

see highlights from today’s issue

Mrs. Cleary has two sons with autism, but she had pushed for her younger son Nathan to get the opportunity to swim in the way her older son had not been able to.

“Is that really access to the same programs other people are entitled to?”

Robotics competes at Penn District March 3-5

The stadium is loud, thousands of people walking around the robots. Abhiram Kandregula, senior, says it is a mix of emotions, but nervousness is not one of them. While you never know what to expect, the team feels confident.

Robotics competes at Penn District in Mishawaka March 3-5, as well as their state competition April 6-8. Competitions con-

Principal Morgan Nolan to have proposed 20232024 schedule following spring break

65.3% of students are for block scheduling

of students are against block scheduling

21.6%

13.6% of students did not have a preference

Last issue of Crier, we asked students to report their preferences on block scheduling. We sent out the survey again due to a lack of responses, and found that 92 students are for block scheduling whereas 283 are against. 59 students of students had no preference. The survey of 453 students was open from Jan. 27Feb.17.

Mr. Morgan Nolan, principal, states that discussions about the schedule next year are still ongoing, but that they will have a general idea of a schedule following spring break. Several schools near our districts, Mr. Nolan reported, have some form of hybrid scheduling; the schedule for next year may not be a strict block schedule, but some form of hybrid.

“I’m not in favor of it,” Karol Ceja, freshman, said. “I find it hard to focus in class sometimes already, and them being twice the length is only going to make that harder.”

sist of two districts competitions, regionals, state and then a world competition. Last year, Robotics took runner-up at State, an accomplishment they hope to surpass this year. They are currently working to secure funding from the Lake County Chamber of Commerce.

Veer Jhaveri, junior, the driver, is responsible for ensuring the robot is able to navigate, pick up a series of objects, and put them in the right place. Although it may sound simple, it does take practice to guide the robot correctly.

“It’s definitely a high-energy environment

that you’re in,” Veer said. “And there’s a bit of pressure on you to be able to succeed.”

One of the main considerations for robotics on a yearly basis is fundraising. This year, they’ve partnered with a number of coffee shops in the area, and are placing their logos on bags to sell for a premium that goes back to the team.

“Hopefully people will see we’re not a rookie team anymore,” Abhiram said. “We’re a veteran team willing to host competitions and bring people to our school.”

Students begin chapter for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, goal $100,000

afford costly medication.

At a summer program for Northwestern, Femi Ololade, junior, met an intern who recruited him for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Student Visionaries of the Year program. The following school year, he reached out to juniors Hannah Loredo and Ethan Loredo as candidates to run alongside him.

“I am aware that cancer affects the lives of many, many people, and there is still a lot more than should be done to combat it and find many treatments,” Femi said. “I feel like more access should be taken now, especially since it’s such a bad problem.”

The moment you enter the game, you are instantly drawn into its gasp-evoking visuals. As you follow Joel and Ellie along their journey across a desolate country, the weathered-down houses to the wild vegetation immerses the player into the ruin of their world.

“‘the last of us’: game review”

page 6 page 7

Having moved from a predominantly black school to Munster, a predominantly white school, Kam Hubbard, junior, felt a shift in how she was seen by her peers. She felt pressured to have a bigger personality and caught herself code-switching.

“black history month”

read more

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

Tomorrow marks the end of National Society of Professional Careers Engineering Week with Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. Freshmen and sophomores are eligible to openly dive into the field of engineering with hands-on activities and an engineering student mentor’s guidance on the West Lafayette campus. This program gives students the opportunity to dive into how engineers can make an impact on science and technology.

“His dad talked about what LLS means to them, and what it has done for them.”

ethan

junior

The program is seven weeks long and runs through a program called Student Visionaries of the Year until March 18. There are individual chapters with a total of 32 teams, and each group picks a subgoal of money put towards research, advocacy and direct care. The goal for the chapter in Munster is to raise a grand total of $100,000 for advocacy, which helps patients who cannot

The amount of money raised is not publicly shared due to other competing teams. The team is no longer accepting applicants and has a total of 16 students; information about donations can be found on their website events.lls.org. Each team member has their own personal goals for raising money, reaching out to local businesses and placing advertisements all over. Both Hannah and Ethan joined, in part, in honor of their grandmother Karen Moses, who passed away in 2017 from metastatic breast cancer.

“Seeing that from a young age, I feel like I can understand the pain that a lot of families go through,” Hannah said. “Especially since Leukemia is the number one cancer that children get. That’s also a big reason I wanted to join because it’ll affect a lot of families.”

“I think it’s a great experience for girls to go out and get that experience for what engineerings all about,” Mr. Jim Davidson, engineering teacher said. “There’s another whole field out there. There’s so many opportunities and fields of scholarships for females in engineering, so it’s an incredible chance to explore these possibilities.”

emily dywan

corrections

In Issue 6 of Crier, on page 1, Steven Glombicki is a sophomore and Mrs. Brook Lemon is an English teacher. On page 5, Maple Leaf Crossing is located North of the train tracks on Calumet Avenue, not across from Rosebud Steakhouse. Crier regrets these errors.

reena alsakaji editor-in-chief

 TEAM APOPTOSIS Posing for a photo, members of Team Apoptosis, top (left to right) Daniel Kim, Hannah Kotvasz, Noel Dorai, Ethan Loredo, Mr. George Shinkan, Hannah Loredo, and Arjun Keralavarma. Bottom (left to right), Dorsa Farahani, Shail Patel, Lily Hestjean, Femi Ololade, Pranshu Aryal, Kiki Petrovic and Campbell Gideon. The group met with Mr. George Shinkan to talk about the goals for their campaign.

reena alsakaji

loredo,

 DREAM MACHINE Constructing their robot, Mr. Larry Hautzinger, science teacher, mentors Veer Jhaveri and Muaaz Shareef, juniors, and Michael Illyas, freshman, on the build of the robot. Everyday, the robotics team works toward their upcoming competition at Penn District March 3-5. “We put in a lot of work over the past two months trying to get it ready for competition,” Muaaz said. (photo by marianna young)

Academic asset or waste of time?

column by

Sitting in the fieldhouse during lunch freshman year, I made my final decision to switch to online classes. Finishing all my homework and still having time to finish an entire episode of Criminal Minds, I thought, “why am I wasting so much time here?” With half of the students were online and the other half were in person, there was a lot of free time to work at school. Although the extra work time is a major benefit, especially for students who are in sports and extracurriculars, I can picture how it would change in the future now that covid isn’t a factor.

An unspoken requirement

“One of the largest issues with block scheduling during the 20202021 school year was unpreparedness.”

One of the largest issues with block scheduling during the 20202021 school year was unpreparedness. Most of my peers who prefer block scheduling have not taken into consideration the fact that teachers would have activities planned for the entire block, not just the same length of a normal schedule’s period. The amount of freetime was unique to the covid school years, not block schedule. Teachers will have material planned for the full 90 minutes instead of working with their plans from the 8-period schedule that they were used to. Although this does not make block schedule inherently ineffective, it means next year we will have a very different experience with it in comparison to the laid-back version during covid.

Despite being a major asset to classes that require a lot of hands-on activities and group work, like music and art classes, the thought of spending 90 minutes in any other class seems completely unfavorable. Not only is it great to get up, walk around the school and see your friends in between classes, but core classes like math and science may struggle. If I only had math lessons three times a week, I wouldn’t have the same understanding that I do from having math class every day.

As someone who is involved in many extracurricular activities, I can definitely see block schedule being a benefit workload-wise. Only seeing a particular class every other day means that you get an additional day to get that class’ work done. Although everyone is unaware of how block schedule will be run post-covid, I can imagine a lot of teachers would assign more work since students have more time. The workload will increase in respect to the time given. Overall, I feel that not seeing all classes everyday will have a negative impact on learning as a whole, despite the time increase.

As we began our reporting on the course fee bill, as well as special needs funding, we began to ask ourselves about the pros and cons. Con: The bill could potentially allow for less labs and projects in certain science and art courses. Pro: The bill recognizes students who struggle with covering costs.

It is this particular pro that led us to ask ourselves questions separate from what the bill itself covers, and it led to our opinion backtalk question: are clubs and sports too expensive? The House and Senate Bills do not pertain to extracurricular activities, but it posed that particular question for us. We looked around the room, asking staffers about their individ-

our take Students should have access to all resources, especially extracurriculars

ual costs: how much does each extracurricular cost or sport cost? As we closely looked at the prices, ranging from small to large, we quickly realized these prices add up. $200 for pre-season debate. $210 for postseason debate. $18 for HOSA. Nearly $1,000 for dance. $50 for theatre.

This became especially important as a total of eight points in clubs or other outside activities are required in order to graduate—not to mention the unspoken requirements needed for further education.

According to Mrs. Rebecca McKeever, bookkeeper, a club’s fees are determined by that individual club based on

opinion backtalk

what is your opinion of club or sports fees?

I think they are well priced because the expenses make sense due to all the experiences there are within the sport or club.”

ruby smith freshman

“

I think you can’t expect everything to come out of the club leader’s pockets, but some shouldn’t be as expensive.”

ava adam sophomore

A step towards walkability

Google Maps calculates the two milewalk from MHS to Fitness Pointe to take 40 minutes. However, anyone who lives in Munster can tell you that it is not feasible to walk. If you put time it takes to walk aside, you would still be left hobbling through grass due to the sidewalk

Crier, Munster High School’s official student newspaper, may be reached via mail at 8808 Columbia Ave, Munster, IN 46321 or at (219) 836-3200, ext. 3443. Crier is published through the Advanced Student Media: Newspaper classes and extra-curricular involvement. Crier’s official website is mhsnews.net.

•The newspaper serves as a public forum and two-way communication for the school and community. •Published material will stress objective reporting except on the opinion page. All published material will stress accuracy, integrity, honesty, responsibility, objectivity, fairness and independence. Corrections, when necessary, will be published on page 2.

•Opinions expressed in the newspaper do not necessarily reflect those of the School Town of Munster, faculty or administration. All content is decided and produced solely by Crier staff.

•Letters to the editor and reader suggestions are welcomed.

expenses. We would like to see these numbers go down, rather than assuming all students in Munster have the opportunity to pay these fees.

A course fee for a low-maintenance club may not be much, such as French Club or Cultural Cuisine Club, but the points received reflect that—most would only receive around one or two. Clubs that receive eight points, such as Speech and Debate or a particular varsity sport, are much costlier.

One of Utah State’s surveys conducted in 2016 found that the average family spends $2,292 per year on sports. Students face an inherent disadvantage when it comes to joining extracurriculars. Especially with colleges, these clubs can make or break an application. Students unable to access them face further harm in their academic life.

As long as its reasonable I am willing to pay a fee, but I still feel that a large part of funding should come from the school.”

randomly stopping in front of Centennial Village. Though this is no issue to anyone who owns an automobile, it remains an issue for kids and anyone else who has no other choice but to walk.

At first glance, this only appears to be a nuisance and nothing more. Why walk or bike when you could drive? But the solution to this minor problem could benefit you: walkability. Take the college town Bloomington. The town has a two-way bike path on busy streets for residents and free public transit for students. A study done by Arup, a group of engineers dedicated to worldwide sustainability, showed that walkabili-

All letters must be signed and should be emailed to the editor (reenaalsakaji@gmail.com). Letters must not contain personal attacks against an individual. Editors reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, and grammatical errors.

•Anonymous sources will be used if and only if the content matter is of high importance and if identification could bring any possible harm towards the individual or others.

our staff

Editor-in-Chief Reena Alsakaji

Design Chief Josephine Mittelberger

Story Editor Lauren Hoogeveen

“Every student should have to cover their own costs, but if they’re over charging, a fund should be built up.”

jack fugger senior

ty within towns and cities can majorly improve your personal health. People who are aged 60 or older decrease their chances of an earlier death by 22% if they walk for 15 minutes a day.

Walkability has also proven useful for the environment, as it lowers carbon emissions and reduces air pollution. Cars are not accessible to everybody and are becoming even harder to obtain. Simply adding sidewalks or bike lanes can make life easier for pedestrians and might encourage people to exercise more. These changes will take time, but they will actually give people the opportunity to walk around Munster.

Photography Trainer Marianna Young

Page Editors Seamus Keegan, Dorothy Lakshmanamurthy, Emily Dywan

Photographers Zoe Clark, Ethan Pischner, Marianna Young, Connor McDonald, Josephine Zangrilli, Lexi Villalobos

Business Manager Josephine Mittelberger

Cartoonist Damien Salahieh

Adviser Ms. Sarah-Anne Lanman

illustration by damien salahieh

column by damien salahieh illustrator

samuel thompson junior

Leaping out of love

Freezin’ the season

A look into set and upcoming achievements of winter sports making an exit

column by

Glistening in the stage light, I was two years old with my golden fringed costume at my first recital as I danced to “All the Single Ladies.” That moment, I fell in love with dance. I kept up with dance classes as I got older. I learned the fundamentals of the ballet positions and pointed toes. As I advanced, I learned how to execute the proper turning technique and perform complex moves. What I loved most was dance’s power to express emotions through a beautiful outlet of movement that words could not convey.

This admiration for dance drove me to try out for the WWMSl dance team in eighth grade. I never had experience with a competitive dance team, so I was an “alternate” and did not partake in competition routines that year. The coach told me that she saw my passion and potential as I tried out. So, I was willing to put in the work to learn the competitive side of dance.

As I moved to the high school team, I had that same coach my first year. It was covid year, so the JV team only performed one dance: jazz. Looking back, I can see why we won State with that dance. The coaches knew when to be tough to ensure the state-winning quality of our routine, but also showcased an emotional story with our routine that we were able to portray.

It is hard to focus on sharing a story and conveying a message to the audience when a competitive dance team tends to forget about that artistry. The team seems to only pay attention to obtaining laboring skills, which results in many injuries and stress as dancers try to achieve them.

It is frustrating, especially for me, because I never focused on acrobatic skills prior to joining the team. I am not a gymnast, I am a dancer. Also, just trying to find time to obtain these skills involves an extra expense and space of time eliminated from dancers’ already busy schedule.

I have scheduled team practices every Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and we sometimes have practices or a competition to attend on Saturday. Dancers are also required to be enrolled in outside dance classes, to maintain their dancing technique. With all this, dancers brought up that they cannot be in other activities that they used to do in previous years. Additional activities are needed to acquire graduation points and to be well-rounded. Dance is an art that should deliver an impactful story to the audience. When I attended dance camp last summer with the Munster Dance program, they had an improv dance session one evening. The camp instructors played music and watched us feel the music in our own unique ways. The instructors walked around and called specific people who stood out to them to perform in the center of the floor for the entire camp, and I was one of them. I did not throw any extreme skills, I just listened to the words and the beat of the music and portrayed that. What truly matters is the emotion and artistry, which separates a mediocre performance with a breathtaking performance, and is the initial reason I fell in love with dance.

Girls’ Basketball: On the bright side

josephine zangrilli photographer

Girls’ Basketball finished their season Feb. 4 after a loss to Lake Central in the second round of Sectionals. The girls recap their favorite memories and moments from the 2223 season.

“The best part of the season was beating teams that we lost badly to last year,” Trinity Hogge, senior said.

The season record, 17-8, was far different from the 6-12 they achieved last season. The players say they owe it to their new head coach, Deandre Williams.

“When we had 8 a.m. practices on Saturdays, Coach would bring his speaker into the field house with the biggest smile and say “It’s a great day to be a lady Mustang!” Gracyn Gilliard, freshman said, “I think every team needs that type of energy.”

Boys’ Basketball: Exceeding expectations

josephine zangrilli photographer

Tonight, Boys’ Basketball are set to compete against Whiting at home. The team played against Andrean Feb 17, naming them conference champions for the 6th year in a row. They are first in the Northwest Crossroads conference. The team has had a successful season going 20-2. Brandon Trilli, senior, hit 1,000 points Feb. 14 against Lake Station Edison, making himself the eigth student-athlete at Munster to earn this achievement.

“When I hit 1,000 points it felt like an amazing experience due to the fact that I reached it in two years,” Trilli said.

After moving from Arizona to Munster, Trilli took control of the court and contributed to bringing the team to the Sectional championship last year.

“We still have more goals that we want to accomplish as a team,” Trilli said.

Girls’ Swim and Dive: Happily ever after

josephine

mittelberger guest editor

Girls’ Swim swept every event in Sectionals with six athletes going to State, sophomores Jennifer Barajas and Arantxa Rivera, juniors Addison Sanow and Jasmine Wegman, and seniors Casey McNulty, Angelica Rzeznikowski and Lucy MacDonald. Zuzu Smith, junior, followed closely behind in Dive by achieving seventh in Regionals and going along to State. Smith placed 16 in State for diving and Barajas, McNulty, Rzeznikowski and Wegman placed 15th in State for 400 freestyle relay.

“It was hard to believe that it was my last meet ever, the last time wearing my seahorse cap,” MacDonald said. “So to end on a good note meant a lot to me because the program has brought me the best people in my life.”

Trilli reaches 1,000 points in two years

Krupa has 4 shutouts this season

Isaac Martin, senior (photo by connor mcdonald)

Malachi Neil, sophomore (photo by zoe clark)

Hayden Krupa, junior (photo by marianna young)

Brandon Trilli, senior (photo by zoe clark)

Nina Gardener, sophomore (photo by josephine zangrilli)

dorothy lakshmanamurthy page editor

Girls’ Swim and dive record: 6-5

achievements

Taking the final bow

Varsity Dance heads off to Nationals March 1

With a sixth place finish at the UDA Chicago land Competition, Dance has finished their season and works towards their NDA National Competition at Orlando March 1. The team will be competing in the Medium Varsity Jazz & Pom divisions, following their third place in Pom and fourth in Jazz from the 2022 season. Junior and varsity dance captain Gabriella Kajmakoski is optimistic about the team’s chance at Orlando.

“I’m really excited. I feel like we’ve been working hard this year and we have more of a shot than we did last year,” Kajmakoski said. “This year we have a new coach. She’s a lot more fun and understanding of where we’re at, and that makes us and the team a lot more confident going into nationals.”

Boys’ Swim and Dive: Reclaim the fame

seamus keegan page editor

Boys’ Swim took second last Saturday at Sectionals, losing to Lake Central. After losing their 36-year streak last year, they were disappointed that they weren’t able to recover. Cavin McNulty, sophomore, says he had a good season but hopes to improve his breaststroke

“That event is kind of my Achilles heel,” he said. “I can always get better, so that’s one of my main goals for next season.”

Boys’ Dive has only one diver, Declan Taylor, junior. Taylor says that while it can be lonely by himself, it is nice to get a lot of oneon-one instruction from his coach.

“We made regionals freshman year,” Taylor said. “I’m hoping to make it to regionals again this year and then hopefully state.”

Declan placed second at regionals Feb. 21 and will advance to State this weekend.

The wrestling team finishes with a 11-7 record

Wrestling: The last wrangle

lauren hoogeveen

story editor

After sending junior Chris Bohn and seniors Lex Borrero and Ezekiel Gomez to Semi-State, the wrestling team moved into postseason. Working on their individual skills for the rest of winter, they are mainly focusing on working towards their goals for next year and correcting common critiques they received throughout the season.

A couple team favorites from the season was when the team did hot yoga during morning practice in the wrestling room and basketball 3v3s after conditioning. His last season of high school wrestling ever, two of Borrero’s favorite moments from his senior season was when the wrestling team beat Highland during a dual meet and when he won the Lake County Championship.

“My team was hyped up the whole time,” Borrero said. “The whole team was loud during the meet, so the rivalry made it better.”

With the help of choreographer Jillian Zagorski and first-year Varsity Dance Coach Elyse Skalka, the team has been relentlessly working during their practices, focusing on their strength in motion and precision of each step. Due to minor injuries posing a rocky start at the beginning of the season, the girls have been playing catch-up during the last few weeks.

“Our practices have been more focused on the specific details that the national judges look for,” Coach Skalka said. “I keep pushing them every practice and every time they take

Munster hockey heads to state

seamus keegan page editor

Two years ago, the Munster Hockey Club took first place at their state tournament. They say it was a great experience and hope to reclaim their victory this year.

“We’re practicing hard, and spending time looking over a lot of old film to make sure we’re prepared,” Joey Campagna, senior, said.

The team has games once or twice every weekend, and occasionally a couple of times a week. Members don’t have to attend every game, but if they want to qualify for state they do have to attend a certain amount of practice.

“We play Indiana teams, but we also play teams that are like in the Chicago suburbs,” TJ Nyhan, junior, said. “So we’ve played Lincoln Way and we also played Mount Carmel.”

TJ says that while the team does have seven seniors leaving this year, they also have a decent amount of new players that he hopes will fill the void.

the floor to be more confident, more precise and to enter their ‘Beast Modes’. Clean, crisp movements have to be achieved in unison to make our routine pop.”

As her third year on the MHS dance team, junior and varsity dance captain Anna Andello has high expectations on the big stage this year, hoping to demonstrate what the dance team is capable of on a grander scale. She relays the team’s goals moving forwards towards nationals.

“There’re many goals we’ve set as a team. Heading to nationals, we mainly want to come off that stage knowing it was our best performance and have no regrets,” Andello said. “Winning nationals or not, we are doing this for us and to represent Munster.”

The team performs their last dance at the IHSDTA state competition March 11, concluding their season until call outs and audition clinics start back up in April. Coach Skalka honors the girl’s hard work this season and looks forward to many years of coaching to come.

“It has been a great year so far; I have the honor of coaching some of the best students at the high school. These girls are extremely talented and dedicated to this sport at all levels,” Coach Skalka said. “Every single dancer on the team has improved vastly since tryouts last June. I am so proud of this program and I can’t wait to see them take the stage at nationals.”

“We definitely want to end the season on a high note,” Campagna said.

One thing that separates hockey from other sports is the fact that they aren’t a school-sponsored sport, but instead a club. While most of the boys wish they were endorsed by the school, being a club does have its benefits. “Being a club sport allows us to recruit from other schools,” Campagna said. “That makes us a better team as a whole.”

 GETTING IN THE GROOVE During their pom routine, Sam Bleza, sophomore, and Sara Progler, senior, practice their moves for Nationals. “Running the routine with weights is never easy, but I know it’ll make my dancing better in the future,” Bleza said. (photo by lexi villalobos)

 RETREAT RETREAT As the puck crosses over the neutral zone, Ryan DeGard, defense, tries to regain possession of the puck. (photo by marianna young)

emily dywan page editor

Anna Andello received third for her trio at state with Grace Peters & Sam Bleza

Sorvino Chansiri, sophomore (photo by zoe clark)

Anna Andello, senior (photo by lexi villalobos)

Arantxa Rivera, sophmore (photo by zoe clark)

reena alsakaji & dorothy lakshmanamurthy editor-in-chief & page editor

This story was brought to our attention by Lita Cleary, Paragon’s editor. From that point, we reached out to Pam Cleary and others involved. Mrs. Jovanka Cvitkovich, director of exceptional needs, is not permitted to disclose any names, and we did not receive any from her.

Mrs. Pam Cleary had long felt that phys ical education was difficult for kids with disabilities—but she had also long known that her son Nathan Cleary, of all kids, loved to swim.

She was informed about an incident with her son, who is a freshman, back in December. Nathan had struggled to get out of the water during PE. Mrs. Cleary has two sons with autism, but she had pushed for her younger son Nathan to get the op portunity to swim in the way her older son had not been able to. Nathan, who is nonverbal, swam fine, but aids nearby had to get a chair to get him out of the water, which he ended up sitting on, the water rising up just below his head.

A step in the right direction

programs

out to the building principal regarding the facilitation of getting that as an additional article; they are currently looking into it.

The role of an exceptional needs director, Mrs. Cvitkovich re flects, is not necessarily to ensure building access, as those are built in with cer tain rules by contractors. However, Mrs. Cvitkovich

Many

ical access: according to the Hechinger Report, 65% of special needs students graduate on time, as opposed to the 83% for American students overall. In addition, Lita reflected on certain issues she saw with her brothers in school, one of which being other students not understanding how kids with disabilities learn.

students with sensory needs

“Is that really access to the same programs that other people are entitled to?” Mrs. Cleary said. Mrs. Cleary is also an attorney for children with special needs. “That Nathan’s peers are entitled to have? As a matter of fact, that you are required to have.”

A few weeks later, at the YMCA in Hammond, Mrs. Cleary found a set of plastic stairs by the pool, which seemed rather inexpensive. She took a photo and sent it to Mrs. Jovanka Cvitkovich, director of exceptional needs, who found this as something they should look into.

From there, Mrs. Cvitkovich reached

“I’ve seen a lot of kids saying, ‘ew, I have this kid in my class and I was recording him doing this in study hall.’”

Lita said. “It just hurts me with two brothers with autistic needs. And as my mom is a lawyer for kids with special needs, I’ve heard so many horrible things from other schools. I’ve heard about kids being strapped down to chairs, I’ve heard about people having a policeman hold kids down while they’re having a panic attack. We have it a lot better here, but it’s not

“ I have kids that are striving in so many different aspects and feeling like, ‘Wow, I can really do this, just like everyone else.’ And I think that’s big for students to feel to like they are part of their community.”

mrs. linda ramos, special needs teacher

perfect.”

Instead of receiving a High School Diploma, special needs students receive a Certificate of Completion. This certificate uses a more “pass-fail” concept. By receiving this certificate, the student has shown that they have passed their classes with success in regards to their ability to do so.

“They need those foundation skills to go even higher,” Mrs. Linda Ramos, special needs teacher, said. “I’m here to support them as much as possible so they can feel successful and connect to their school life. Even though some people don’t see it as a diploma, for them it is. For me it is because they still fulfill their requirements, so it’s not limiting them. They can go to trade school or an associate certificate program with that diploma. It’s just that we’re working with how they can come in and perform to who they are as a person.”

STEP program is a four-year post high school program that is provided for spe cial needs students as well. Mrs. Cleary’s eldest son Sean participated in the program. Locat ed in the building by WWMS, the STEP program focuses on adult responsibilities and exploring work options for the students. The students in this program learn culinary and cleaning skills, from doing dishes to sweeping and doing laundry. Along with learning workplace skills, students practice how to present oneself at a job interview or any job setting.

forward and fulfill something they want and are able to do. It also helps a lot, staying in contact with Mrs. Ramos, to know what each student has learned and what they like to do or want to do.”

While teaching in her class, Mrs. Ramos adapts to the accommodations of her students. For instance, one of her students

“I like to meet new people in my other classes. I feel like in this school, I feel happy to be here. I always like to make friends and say hi to people in the hallway.”

lorenzo pina, junior

uses a communication device, and another has a slant board and specific writing utensil to adapt to their distinct arm placement and grip while writing. These expensive accommodations are purchased through personal insurance, and the school only gets involved if the doctors ask Mrs. Ramos for a personal recommendation to qualify for the specific device. At her old districts, Mrs. Ramos has seen parents struggle to purchase these devices.

This $5,000 tablet, paid by the parents, is needed for nonverbal students to communicate and learn

Accommodating the curriculum as well, Mrs. Ramos tends to focus on real-world applications, along with learning the appropriate level of English and math skills, to prepare her students for a future beyond MHS. Lorenzo Pina, junior, feels supported in Mrs. Ramos’ class as he explores what he wants to do.

“I think of STEP as a bridge between high school and not being in school,” Mrs. Dorothy Brennan, STEP teacher, said. “In this program, we are fostering independence and skill ability so they can move

“I like to help animals, and I would like to be a zoologist or marine biologist,” Lorenzo said. “Mrs. Ramos and the aides push me to try hard, and she knows that I can do the things I want to do without being a quitter.”

A look into accessiblity with Special Needs, a glimpse at students’ personal experiences

‘Is that really access to the same

other people are entitled to?’

 BRAIN BREAK Winding down from lunch, a peer tutor watches a video with a student. It is very important for the students to not only have breaks to pace their days, but stay on schedule otherwise, balancing all the different students’ workloads becomes hard to manage. Those in the photo are not identified to ensure comfortability and to give others an insight to what Mrs. Ramos’s classroom looks like. (photo by josephine mittelberger)

Students use fidget toys to relieve stress and help the

students have motor issues, and putty helps strengthen their hands

Mrs. Pam Cleary took this photo of the stairs at the YMCA to show to Mrs. Jovanka Cvitkovich. Plastic stairs would be a cheap alternate for stairs that MHS could have for those with disabilities.

Staffers review HBO’s show “The Last of Us”

josephine mittelberger guest editor

The dystopian zombie show, based on a video game by the same name, follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) as he tries to protect Ellie (Bella Ramsey) while they cross the U.S. The show explores the depths of humanity with hard-hitting scripts and acting; the viewer is left with tears streaming down their face, wondering if they are living the way they should be.

Infectious Acting

The actors bring a sense of depth into the show that may not have been there otherwise—how Joel and Ellie walk closer together as the show progresses and the smaller interactions that build the relationship between characters. With such a heart-wrenching show, it can be emotionally draining to keep watching, but each performer brings a unique personality to each character and keeps the audience coming back every Sunday.

An especially interesting character is Joel, a detached personality, that Pascal naturally begins to open up to Ellie and the audience. Even side characters leave a lasting impact on the story. Sarah (Nico Parker) who is only shown in one episode, is an exceedingly lovable character that was able to clearly communicate a realistic father-daughter relationship with Joel in less than one episode.

Drastic Directing

Going through and rewatching episodes to decipher small details makes the series infinitely more en joyable. For example, in the first episode Joel and Sarah discreetly avoid eating anything with flour there is no more pancake mix, they turn down the neighbor’s biscuits and Joel forgets his own birthday cake. At the be ginning of episode two, it is re vealed that workers in a flour factory have been attacking each other—a more subtle callback to the first episode, and an exciting puzzle that those with a keen eye can stay engaged.

The use of angles and color palettes catch the watcher’s eye and contrast the hope before the outbreak and the bleakness of life has afterwards. The first episode, a telling of the first day of the outbreak, is entirely shot with handheld cameras, seamlessly bring ing the viewer to the hauntingly beau tiful world the directors have built.

Remastering the undead

Since its recent live-action adaptation, “The Last of Us” has gained a lot of traction all across social media. With the series’ recent popularity, we can track it all the way back to this timeless classic.

In the game, you play as a man named Joel as he works to survive a fungal out break that turns humans into zombie-like creatures. His duty is to take a teenager named Ellie to a resistance group known as The Fireflies. The two trek across the coun try, fighting forces from zombies to federal agents, fueled by a goal to save the world.

Spine-Tingling Tales

Between its cinematic visuals and lifelike voice-acting, “The Last of Us” left an everlasting impression on me long after I set the controller down.

The moment you enter the game, you are drawn into its gasp-evoking visuals. As you follow Joel and Ellie along their journey, the weathered-down houses to the wild vegetation immerses the player into the ruin of their world.

The voice acting is just as impressive. The performances done by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson were outstanding. Between Ellie’s witty remarks and Joel’s resilient shell, both actors delivered a depth of emotion that submerges the player into the story. If you’re a fan of action games with an emotional storyline, “The Last of Us” should definitely be on your wishlist.

Fungal Foes

This modern, post-apocalyptic thriller is a game that is recommended to anyone looking for something to play with intense action and an intriguing plot.

The gameplay itself is addicting. Everything from the overgrown cities to the rushing rivers seems real, which only gets better with the remastered version of the game.

While playing, I enjoyed the diverse challenges, searching for supplies and locations, and the different zombies you have to defeat. While there were some parts of the gameplay that were repetitive, the rest of was entertaining.

One part that I appreciated in the game was how smooth they change the overall mood. In the hotel scene for example, it changed into a horror-type game with creepy hallways and zombies whose jump scares had me on the edge of my seat.

“The Last of Us” is worth the many hours spent playing, and leaves an impact. If you have time to kill, think about downloading.

illustrations by damien salahieh

 These Firefly dog tags can be collected by players as they explore the world throughout the story.

Crier staff reviews the video game “The Last of Us”

For Black History Month, students reflect on their personal experiences

emily dywan & josephine mittelberger

Oluwapemisola Ogunjimi

Opening the door to find the smoke alarm going off again, Oluwapemisola Ogunjimi, sophomore, can barely see through the smoky kitchen. The rich smell of habanero peppers, tomatoes and bell peppers fill the house. She knows without even asking that jollof rice is what is for dinner.

“What I love about Nigerian food is that you can never say anything is plain,” Oluwapemisola said. “Food tells a story, when people go on a journey, food goes with them. So the journey of everyone who descends

Nneka Oniah

It takes a pair of earbuds and a single tap for Nneka

Oniah, junior, to feel connected to her heritage. She expresses how she integrates her culture into her dayto-day life through the music she listens to. Listening to genres and artists stemming from Black culture, especially highlighting Kendrick Lamar, have had a great influence on her.

“Genres and artists that stem from Black culture influence my connection to my own traditional values by putting shared experiences and feelings into words. Songs are able to perfectly capture feelings with their lyrics,” she said.

The first song Nneka heard from Kendrick Lamar was ‘Alright’. This song later became a widely-renowned anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement in 2015, becoming the nation’s battle cry towards a fight for change.

As a Nigerian-American, Nneka connects to Kendrick Lamar’s music through the personal topics he covers. Lamar ignites black voices to rise up and fight oppression.

“In many of his songs, Kendrick talks about people who tend to be overlooked or undermined,” she said. “He speaks about experiences that people either succumb to or persevere from. He tells realistic stories, showing the negative and positive, which keep his messages real.”

backtalk

from Africa is all told through food and still unites us today.”

Growing up with mostly Nigerian food, the completely different pallet of flavors that Nigerian food is infused with had a stark contrast to stereotypical American food. Oluwapemisola’s family every year goes out to pick fresh ingredients, where they later store the dozens of pounds of food in three separate deep freezers, all to keep up with the amount of Nigerian food they cook throughout the year. However, the food did not stay in the smoky kitchen.

“In middle school, one of my uniting factors with all my friends, Black or otherwise, was food because all of them loved it. So I’d always bring it to school and they’d eat it before I could.” Oluwapemisola said.

Kam Hubbard

Receiving a good grade in a class can be as easy as asking, “Can you help me with number nine?” Which for Kam Hubbard, junior, is much more complicated than it seems. Kam finds that she had to change the way she talked to teachers at times in order for them to understand what she needs help with.

“It was not as easy to learn—I was not being accepted for who I was, so I had to change that in order to make friends, to fit in and to learn,” Kam said. “It’s different and you have no other choice but to change the way that you act in order for people to listen to you, give you the help that you need or just for respect.”

Having moved from a predominantly black school to Munster, a predominantly white school, Kam felt a shift in how she was seen. She felt pressured to have a bigger personality and caught herself code-switching—when minorities adjust their behavior, appearance and style of speech to optimize the majority’s comfort.

It was not until her freshman year in high school that Kam realized that it was okay to be the loud and loving person she always was. Being able to be comfortable with herself was a big step in being happier and less stressed.

“The realization was like a breath of fresh air, like it’s okay to be me,” she said. “I think B helps with that a lot. Being able to go to a place or talk to people about the struggles that we face and the things that we do.”

What are your 2023 predictions?

In your opinion, when does spring start and why?

“One Direction will get back together.”

“Spring starts in March and a half.”

Valeria Ceja, freshman

“Arsenal will win the premier league.”

“I think spring when it’s March, then the flowers start crisping. It adds a little touch, a little sizzle.”

Ashley Kim, freshman

“Elon Musk gets sued for Tesla auto crashes.”

“When you walk outside and take that breath of air and feel it’s going to be a good day.”

Harry Kent, sophomore

“Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott will re-marry.”

“April, because it’s my birthday so that means it’s spring.”

Cece Mason, sophomore

“Chicago Cubs make the playoffs.”

“I think spring when I start seeing bees outside and I get terrfied.”

Kara Vitale, junior

“March 21st. February still has that snowy, hot cocoa feel to it.”

“TikTok will become banned on school campuses.”

Alexis Perez, senior

"Probably when Mrs. Barnes puts me to work in her garden.”

"Mr. Nolan is going to reveal he is Canadian.”

Mr. Thomas Barnes, english teacher

“Spring starts right after winter, so that’d be the beginning of March.”

“Barbie will be the best movie of the year.”

Peyton Reynolds, junior

“Pete Davidson dates Taylor Swift.”

“I think spring starts on March 21st because that’s when it literally starts on the calender.”

Michael Casner, senior

“When the plants start to bud.”

“I think the Chicago Bears first round pick will be a bust.”

Ms. Alissa Scott, spanish teacher

Devin Brantley, Pablo Saltanovitz, freshman

Richie Andrzejewski, sophomore

Ryan Giba, junior

Lauralyn Courtney, Ms. Kelly Barnes English teacher

Laela Hawkins, junior Brenden George, senior

Mr. Thomas Barnes, English teacher

Cameron Walker, sophomore

Backtalk question written by and responses collected by Ms. Lanman’s Journalism 1

photo illustrations by emily dywan, ethan pischner, josephine mittelberger, and damien salahieh