Volume 51, Issue 1
Monday, September 19, 2011
TheVoice of Prospect since 1960
ROSPECTOR 801 West Kensington Road, Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056
For a review of the new stores at Randhurst... Check out Opinion, page 6
Mandatory spirit? This year’s first pep assembly was mandatory for all students, a change from last year. What was the effect on the level of school spirit at the assembly? For the answer, see... Staff Editorial, page 5
Where the money goes
When teachers aren’t teaching... Teachers don’t spend all their time at school, and some spend their time doing everything from playing all-staff basketball games to playing in a band. For more, turn to... In-Depth, pages 8-9
Creativity on display While art and creative writing classes give students an outlet for their artistic endeavors, Roundtable, the student-run arts magazine, helps students get recognition. Check out... Entertainment, page 11
New year brings new prices, renovations By Meghan Doyle Executive News Editor Senior Kyle Scott was in for a surprise when he went to pay for his four cafeteria cookies. Instead of being 25 cents each as in previous years, the total bill came to $2, making each cookie 50 cents — a 100 percent increase in price. “I used to be able to go up with $5 and still have change for after school,” Scott said. Now, however, Scott must spend the majority of his $5 on his midday lunch rather than his after-school snack. Cookies don’t have the only price increases this school year. While reduced cafeteria prices and the breakfast price have remained the same — $1.25 for breakfast, 30 cents for reduced breakfast and 40 cents for reduced lunch — the prices of most of the lunch room food products have been upped. Also, as students may have noticed,
English novels must be purchased outside of class, a $25 activity fee has been put in place for the majority of extracurricular activities and the price of full-year parking passes have also increased. Last year, passes cost $165, but they now cost $175. In the midst of all these new fees and price increases, however, Prospect has been refurbished with new clocks, bathrooms and windows. This raises the question of how new additions are paid for, as well as what is purchased with the money from the new fees and price increases. According to District 214 Director of Business Services Sherry Koerner in an e-mail interview with The Prospector, the district receives money each year from a combination of local, state and federal sources, including $4 to $6 million from the Illinois government. These funds are set aside for each school in the district based on the number of students enrolled in each. Once every school receives its share, school administrators meet to decide how to split up the money among the various departments. From there, the money can be used for whatever the department head and faculty see fit.
Equipment such as iPads and computers are usually acquired through grants from Apple or other companies. In order to receive a grant, a teacher must compile a presentation, a year in advance, on how the iPads will be used in the classroom to show the district board. Then the board will either approve or deny the rationale, depending on whether they want to apply for the grant from the company or not, according to English and Fine Arts Division Head Adam Levinson. Lunch prices, however, are not discussed within the individual schools and are established by the District 214 Director of Food Services, Christine Frole. According to Associate Principal Greg Minter, the lunch room operates independently from the rest of the school in that its main focus is to make money to purchase more food and new equipment. In an e-mail interview with The Prospector, Frole said there was no choice but to raise the cafeteria prices due to the cost increases for food, transportation and paper goods, all of which have increased.
See D214 MONEY, page 3
LINK leaders now only seniors By Nabi Dressler News Editor The freshman transition program, LINK (Leading INcoming Knights), will include only senior leaders starting with the 2012-2013 school year. Ever since the program began three years ago to help incoming freshmen adjust to high school, it included both junior and senior students as mentors. However, due to the overwhelming number of applications — around 500 this year — and with roughly 100 spots to fill, LINK faculty adviser and guidance counselor Dustin Seemann, along with other faculty, made the decision to limit the program to seniors next year and onward. Though LINK is not a support group, in group counseling there are generally five to seven members per leader, and LINK follows this trend. Fewer freshmen in a group leads to less conversation, so limiting the amount of leaders to about 100 allows for larger groups. Senior and second-year LINK leader Michelle Wander agrees with the decision. Even though leaders get to know
their freshmen better in a smaller group, it is easier for the freshmen with a larger group because they might feel uncomfortable with fewer students. “It’s harder for [the freshmen] to socialize with a smaller group,” Wander said. Freshman August Weseman disagrees. There are four other freshmen in his LINK group, and he’d rather talk to his leader when there are less people in the group; he’s just more comfortable talking in front of a smaller group of students. Regardless of a larger group size next year, LINK will continue to support freshmen during monthly meetings during first semester. Seemann doesn’t believe this decision will affect incoming freshmen and doesn’t think there’s a difference between freshmen getting grouped with a junior or senior leader because both grades go through the same training. Training consists of a three-hour session for the leaders during summer vacation, where issues like freshman orientation and what to expect from the freshmen during P.E. meetings are discussed among
See LINK, page 2
Prospect’s baseball team celebrates their third place finish in state last season. This was the farthest the baseball team has ever advanced.
For more on the team, turn to Sports, page 13