Issue 4 21-22

Page 1

THE

PROSPECTOR

801 WEST KENSINGTON ROAD, MOUNT PROSPECT, ILLINOIS

THE VOICE OF PROSPECT HIGH SCHOOL SINCE 1959

VOLUME 61, ISSUE 4

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022

ON THE NOSE RESPONSE COVID-19 surge creates fear, concern among students, staff

painting by Ondine Cella

KEVIN LYNCH Copy Editor *name changed for confidentiality

F

reshman *Samantha Kirk and her sister both became sick soon after winter break following her dad’s exposure to COVID-19 through an unvaccinated coworker. However, while Kirk had mostly mild symptoms, her sister’s case was much more severe. Due to her intense asthma and other lung conditions, her sister is immunocompromised. Because of her sister’s health condition, keeping her safe has been a major concern for Kirk throughout the pandemic. “[At the] beginning of the pandemic, she was absolutely quarantined in her room because she couldn’t go out,” Kirk said. “Whereas … if [someone’s] health isn’t that serious, … they’ll get a short cold or something and that’ll kind of be the end of it.” While her sister recovered after several days, Kirk says that seeing her sister being taken to the hospital when she was practically unable to breathe was the moment that she realized just how important it was to be aware of others’ needs regarding the pandemic. Despite this, she says that on a daily basis, she witnesses other students failing to wear their masks properly and unsafely congregating with one another at all times of the day. And while she is happy that teachers and staff members are committed to enforcing proper mask-wearing, she does feel that many students are simply not considerate of others’ health. “[Having COVID-19] could have definitely affected [my sister’s] life,” Kirk said. “And I think it’s kind of stupid … that people are not realizing that the mask isn’t only for you; it’s for everyone around you.” When Prospect returned to school after winter break on Jan. 4, it faced a new dilemma concerning how to limit the spread of COVID-19 cases in schools due to the recent surge; according to Reuters, cases rose 83% in the month of December nationwide. The Omicron variant, which was discovered in November, posed an extra threat to holiday gatherings due to its significant growth advantage over the Delta variant, according to the World Health Organization. Thus, schools were forced to either double down on or create new policies that could adapt to the increased risk posed to students. After having returned to school for a month, Principal Greg Minter acknowledges that mask-wearing is an issue that he hopes is being addressed in classes and in the halls, but he also believes that the progress the school has made thus far is also not to be discredited. While cases did increase in January, they remained largely contained, and part of the school’s high COVID-19 numbers can be attributed to Prospect’s larger student population as compared to other schools (with roughly 150 more students than the second largest D214 school). In spite of this, Kirk feels that not every student is taking the pandemic as seriously as they should. One area of concern for her has been the buses that she takes to and from school every day. Because her parents leave for work before her, riding the bus is generally her only option for getting to school. Despite masks being strictly required while on the bus, Kirk sees students every day that are blatantly not wearing their masks properly.

SEE MASKS ON PAGE 2

45.6% OF prospect students* said that they see 30+ People wearing Masks improperly Each day

*ACCording to a KNight media survey of 250 students

What’s Inside?

OPINION Learn how to make NEW YEAR’s resolutions that will ACTUAlly STICK

IN-DEPTH Morning traffic Leads to frustration, tardiness

SPORTS Find out how REibel went from coaching FEEDER TO BECOMING assistant boys’ basketball coach


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Issue 4 21-22 by The Prospector - Issuu