Issue 7 (2015-16)

THE

PROSPECTOR

801 WEST KENSINGTON ROAD, MOUNT PROSPECT, ILLINOIS 60056

THE VOICE OF PROSPECT HIGH SCHOOL SINCE 1959

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VOLUME 55, ISSUE 7

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2016

the

moment

BY SHREYA THAKKAR AND GRACE BERRY Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editor-in-Chief

Powerhouse

DOMINANCE: The five individual state champions, (left to right) junior Ben Marshall, senior Kit Fitzgerald, sophomore Molly McDermott, junior Jimmy McDermott and senior Andrew Pittman, helped speech bring home a first place state title on Feb. 20. (photo by Riley Langefeld)

for more speech coverage

They knew they were going to win the state championship before it was even announced.

Coach Scott McDermott had already calculated speech team’s points (39) at the awards ceremony after their five individual state championship wins. However, that did not diminish the impact of the team’s victory, giving them the highest finish for a District 214 speech team since Elk Grove’s state championship in 1989.

But record and medals aside, the best part for the coaches was watching the individual state champions perform in front of the 2000-member audience, which is a reward reserved for the individual state champion of each category.

“Even though I’ve seen [some of] the scripts hundreds of times, to watch them perform it live in front of everyone during the state final, that was the coolest thing,” head coach Jeremy Morton said.

On Feb. 20, Prospect won first in state as a team, and the five individual state champion titles went to senior Kit Fitzgerald in Prose Reading, senior Andrew Pittman in Humorous Interpretation, junior Jimmy McDermott in Original Oratory and junior Ben Marshall and sophomore Molly McDermott in Humorous Duet Acting.

Other state medals went to senior Lillian Hermes, who placed fourth in Impromptu Speaking, junior John Zach, who took fifth in Poetry Reading, and 15 students, who placed fifth in Performance in the Round for their 15-minute rendition of “Mamma Mia.” Compared to Prospect’s records, the last time an individual won state was Ivy Fishman in 2013, and as a team, the best Prospect has done was fifth place in 2014.

“I felt like fifth or sixth was the best we would ever do,” Marshall said. “I never thought that we would end up being first in the state.”

However, the team’s state success is not the end of their season. On March 6, the team qualified 11 individuals for the national tournament held in Salt Lake City, UT, on June 11-18.

Jimmy McDermott auto-qualified in Original Oratory because he was a semi-finalist at nationals last year, Fitzgerald qualified for Dramatic Interpretation, Marshall and Molly McDermott qualified for Humorous Duet Acting, Pittman qualified in Humorous Interpretation, Hermes qualified in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, senior Garrett Strother qualified in International Extemporaneous Speaking, Zach and sophomore Kamila Cwanek qualified in Program Oral Interpretation and senior Veronica Boratyn and junior Rhegan Graham qualified in Informational Speaking.

Looking back on speech thus far, Jimmy McDermott believes each team member played a crucial role in their success.

“I just keep thinking about it, and you can go back and look at the math, and it’s crazy. If we hadn’t supported one kid, and as a result that kid hadn’t taken first and had taken fourth instead, we wouldn’t have won,” Jimmy McDermott said. “We never really thought anything like this was ever going to happen. It’s been exhilarating.”

Read about the team’s path to dominance and why participants value the art of speaking.

pgs 8-9

CHAMP Q&A

Get to know the individual state champions.

pgs 8-9

Instant replay Head to prospec-

tornow.com

to read about the team’s reaction after winning state.

2

News

March 11, 2016

prospectornow.com

Mirandola prepares for new position

BY RILEY LANGEFELD AND DEVIN PRASAD Executive News Editor and Executive Sports Editor In his 14 years at Prospect, Frank Mirandola has been a part of numerous programs in the Prospect community. He has coached track, football and baseball. He has taught U.S. History, American Studies, Human Geography and World History. He has played a crucial role in the development of the Underground. Now, he is transitioning into a new period of his career.

In the upcoming school year, Mirandola will be the Associate Principal of Student Activities.

This change comes with the departure of Associate Principal Luke Pavone and Associate Principal Gregory Minter’s upcoming switch to Pavone’s position.

When he becomes an administrator, Mirandola will be leaving his positions as a social science teacher, football coach and head track and field coach. While he is disappointed that he cannot continue with these jobs, he looks forward to maintaining his involvement in the programs.

“I am passionate about kids,” Mirandola said. “Leaving the classroom does not change my passion for kids. I look at this new role as Assistant Principal of Student Activities as a new opportunity for me to have a broader reach to work with not only kids, but coaches, too.”

According to Mirandola, everything he has been a part of at Pros-

Everything [Mirandola] does is for the betterment of a student.

Him taking this job is a way he can positively impact more kids at once..

Nick Lussow, English teacher

ON TRACK FOR PROGRESS: Social science teacher and coach Frank Mirandola speaks with track athletes before their meet on March 8. Mirandola has been coaching track for two years but is now transitioning to an administrative role. (photo by Riley Langefeld) pect is because of a drive he had for the activity. He feels that without a passion for something, the job becomes pointless.

In his time as a coach, Mirandola has been involved with two state championships involving the football team, and he will remember the way the players on those teams were able to work so hard for their goals to finally achieve them. Additionally, he is happy that in his two years as head track coach, he was able to put his own coaching style into the program.

Mirandola has become close with many of the teachers with

whom he has coached. While their coaching careers together are coming to an end, Mirandola ultimately believes this change will strengthen their relationships.

Many of the coaches and teachers who have worked with him feel that Mirandola’s work ethic and passion for his job will definitely allow him to succeed in his new position.

“He’s one of the hardest workers out there,” English teacher and fellow coach Nick Lussow said.

“He’s one of the most kid-centered coaches I’ve seen here at Prospect.

Everything he does is for the bet-

terment of a student. Him taking this job is a way he can positively impact more kids at once.”

Football coach Mike Sebestyen shares Lussow’s sentiment.

“His ability to work with players is outstanding,” Sebestyen said. “He has done so much for our football program, and I’m proud to call him a friend.”

In addition to his coaching positions, Mirandola will have to reduce his heavy involvement with the Underground (the U). He played a crucial role in its development during the 2014-15 school year.

However, Mirandola believes that his experience with the U gave him skills that will help him during his time as an administrator.

“I think that leadership skills are universal, no matter if it’s leadership in a classroom, leadership on a field [or] leadership in an organization,” he said. “It’s about giving people around you opportunities to invest in something they believe in and supporting that investment to allow their goals to come to fruition.”

Mirandola is optimistic about his new position. He hopes that he will be able to offer valuable input and perspective to the administration in the new role.

“We are going to have bigger goals and bigger things to accomplish, not as a specific program, [but] as [a school],” Mirandola said. “This is an amazing place, and we have so many good people.

There are a lot of great things that are still yet to come.”

Staff writer Uzezi Okwata contributed reporting for this story.

Debate utilizes younger members, builds team

BY JACK GABRIEL News Editor

against more experienced debaters from other schools.

“We tell [the underclassmen] that it is not During every debate competition, there is about winning, but it is about understandone thought that trumps all of junior debate member Paul Evers’ thoughts: Don’t sound ing and picking up as much as they can by watching other strong students compete,” stupid. So far this year, Evers has managed to live by this as he has gotten second place Schnell said.

He hopes that by going up against stronin his chamber at a tournament along with best presiding officer at another tournament ger students from other schools, the underclassmen will improve their debate skills (see “How does debate work?”). While Evers has had individual success, he has also been and public speaking abilities. Evers has also been a big help a major contributor to How does debate work? in teaching the unthe overall success of derclassmen about the team.

Every tournament is split up into debate.

“Individual awards multiple varsity and novice/junior “I am just trying are great and all, but varsity chambers depending on to teach [the undermy individual success how many people are at the tourclassmen] what I should factor into the nament. know,” Evers said. team’s success, and if “I may not know as it doesn’t, then I am much as our past not doing something Every chamber is made up of 20 captains, but we right,” Evers said. “It to 25 students, usually all from had great captains has been a while since different schools, two judges and in Beth Clifford and we have had some a presiding officer, who makes Mei Poy last year, team success, but we sure the chamber runs smoothly so I try to take what have had some this by choosing who gets to speak and they taught me and year.” teach it to them.”

This year, debate ask questions.

Specifically, team has had varying Evers has done a lot degrees of success in their competitions. According to head de- to make sure that the underclassmen have good communication, keep up with good bate coach Dave Schnell, the team had two research and stay organized. Before every consecutive team wins, but they also had some not so strong showings. With the sea- tournament, he spends four to five hours making sure that all of the research is ready son in its final stretch, Schnell is hoping that to go. the team can finish strong with another big In order to make sure everyone is on the win or two.

While the team has had some success this same page, Evers continuously sends out year, their focus has been on self-growth as Schoology notifications and text messages. opposed to winning trophies. With only one The updates range from letting team memsenior and four juniors, the team is not gift- bers know when and where debate practice ed with a ton of experience, but it does have will be to checking in to make sure everyone one tool that it has utilized this year: under- is ready for tournaments.

By being a role model and setting the classmen.

Instead of having the luxury of competing standard for the underclassmen on debate, against other underclassmen in the novice Evers has positioned himself as the team captain. chambers at tournaments (see “How does “I would say without a question that Paul debate work?”), the freshmen and sophoEvers is the number one leader on the team,” mores have been thrown into competition

BATTLE OF WITS: Junior Paul Evers practices speaking in a debate practice on March 8. Evers has emerged as a much-needed leader this year as the team focuses more on utilizing their talented underclassmen. (photo by Riley Langefeld) Schnell said. “He is really motivated to keep people actively involved, and he is super excited about things and acts sort of as the student liaison.”

Evers’ most important goal has not been to do well personally, but to make sure that the underclassmen are in a position to learn and do well.

According to Schnell, some of the freshmen who have stepped up are Annie Cimack and Ayse Eldes.

Cimack surprised herself by how well she has done this year.

In each of her first three tournaments, she has come in second place in her chamber. Sophomore debate member Emily Lasky has also had a lot of success by being nominated for an award in every tournament she has competed in. These accomplishments have caused Lasky to challenge herself to keep her successful streak alive.

With all of the success that the

underclassmen have had on debate, both Schnell and Evers are looking hopefully forward to more competitive success in the coming years with current underclassmen.

“We have a crazy young team, and [the underclassmen] are the future,” Evers said.

“With the freshman becoming sophomores and having a year under their belt and adding new freshman that we have recruited. …

Next year is going to be a big year.”

prospectornow.com

March 11, 2016

News

3

Chinese program’s future unknown

BY AMANDA STICKELS Staff Writer

A

s junior Lee Park sang her heart out alongside her fellow classmates in Mandarin Chinese, she realized that this would be the program’s final Chinese show.

Along singing the song “Welcome to Beijing,” the show consisted of students performing skits in Chinese, a dragon dance, a lantern dance and other common Chinese performances.

In “Welcome to Beijing,” it states “Yǒu yǒngqì jiù huì yǒu qíjī” which roughly translates into “courage makes our dreams come true.” The Chinese students may need a lot of courage to keep their program alive.

Because enrollment is decreasing and there are only 11 students in the program this year, Foreign Language Division Head Gary Judson and the rest of the division is deciding whether or not to close the Mandarin Chinese program that started in 2010.

Students and the Chinese teacher George Kang are waiting for the decision that Judson said would come in a couple of weeks.

Currently, Chinese teacher George Kang only comes to Prospect for first period to teach the 11 students who are in levels three and level four. Levels one and two have already been discontinued.

According to Judson, in most cases, the magic number to keep a program alive is 28 students.

Although Judson would be sad to see the Chinese program go, he realizes that it is something that

BAD FORTUNE COOKIE: Chinese teacher George Kang teaches his first hour class. Kang and his students are awaiting the decision on whether the Chinese program should be cut due to the fact that only 11 students are enrolled in levels three and four. (photo by Isabelle Rogers) has to be done. The school only gets a certain allotment of teachers, so each year they have to decide how they are going to use the teachers.

Because the school has “unlimited wants but limited resources,” they must use their money wisely.

Kang realizes that this decision is not an attack on him personally; it’s just a matter of logistics and numbers. He understands that the school must be responsible for taxpayers’ money.

However, Kang believes taking

Chinese for three or four years will stand out on a resume. The employers will see that the student is different, can take a challenge, and are able to manage their time.

Park also explains that because China is on the rise, knowing Chinese would be very helpful especially on business trips.

As a result, Park is very upset to lose the program, and she is also disappointed to see Kang go.

She says that Kang has an understanding of the Chinese lan-

D214 redefines college ready munity service.

According to Lopez, schools currently have no measure to show that students are ready for careers.

Walking into the office of College Counselor Di- Lopez says these standards will allow schools to acane Bourn, contrasting with the whites and grays of knowledge and quantify skills that employers find valuable . papers, is a bright blue sticker. It reads “I Am More With these standards, students will be able to start Than a Test Score.” This phrase has become more early on networking in their career. than a catchy slogan for college-bound students; it has On the smaller scale, these redefined standards transformed into a symbol of the direction that the diswill create many positive benefits for students. trict is heading.

English teacher Karen The shifting view on the Kruse hopes these new stanimportance of test scores dards will relieve the prescomes with District 214 Refined Standards sures that high school stuSuperintendent Dr. David In order to be deemed prepared for dents face.

Schuler’s new campaign, college by Redefining Ready’s stan“It takes a little bit a preswhich seeks to redefine dards, students must have a GPA of sure hopefully off the stuwhat is means to be college 2.8 or higher and one of the following dents, particularly some kids and career ready. The probenchmarks: who are just poor test takers.” gram, which is called “ReKruse said. “That’s OK. That defining Ready,” launched doesn’t mean you aren’t going on Jan. 29.

• A final grade of C or higher in to get into a good college and Among the changes beeither Algebra II, one Advanced have a good life.” ing made, the most promiPlacement Course or one Dual These changes will hopenent is how test scores are Credit College English or Math fully boost the confidence of seen and how much weight Course students who in the past may they hold. The campaign • Score of 3 or higher on an Adhave not felt ready for the cites inconsistencies in vanced Placement Exam next educational step or wish what these standardized to opt for an unconventional tests indicate as college • College Readiness Placement path. ready and the reality of colExam “I think it may be encourlege attendance in District • Score of 4 or higher on the Interaging for a lot of students who, 214 and in the country. national Baccalaureate Exam maybe in the past, might have Within District 214, the gotten a little bit discouraged ACT categorizes 47 percent of students as college ready. Despite this, 90 percent of with our very narrow view of what makes you college and career ready,” says Bourn. district graduates attend college.

She cites the many alternatives to a four-year According the standards set by the ACT, out of school, such as Harper’s two-year or certificate pro1.9 million national test takers, only 59 percent of the national class of 2015 were shown as college ready. In grams, which these new standards now endorse.

With support from within the district, Schuler addition, the SAT showed that only 41.9 percent of the hopes to be able to garner support on a nationwide 2015 class was ready for college.

This statistic is one of the main drivers behind Re- scale. Schuler and Lopez have already taken Redefining Ready across the nation, including at the National defining Ready. As a result, standardized test scores now are considered along with a variety of other stan- Conference on Education held in Phoenix last month. dards. These standards include GPA, AP Classes, du- It has already received the support of a number of naal-credit classes, and completion of the Free Applica- tional education organizations, such as the School Superintendent Association. tion for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

As of now, the real push is for school districts These benchmarks are as holistic as achieving a across the country to take the program and create C or higher in Algebra II or completing a math class their own success metrics based upon it. They also higher than Algebra II. hope to spread awareness by launching a Twitter vidAccording to Associate Superintendent Lazaro Loeo contest where students can share how they know pez, Redefining Ready allows students who may not be meeting said standards to be placed in developmental they are college ready. Students will be able to win a education classes while still in high school. This will scholarship of $1,000, and the event is open to all seniors. allow students to get assistance and preparation, so “It’s really about sharing that this is how our comthey won’t start from behind once in college.

In addition to new college benchmarks, Schuler munity is invested in measuring the success of our also unveiled a set of career ready benchmarks, which schools and our students and to show employers and include an pursuit of workplace experience and com- colleges that our students are ready,” says Lopez.

BY DAVID FANG Staff Writer

guage that not many teachers possess, so she is savoring all of the time she has left in the class.

“I feel like Kang is really good at teaching the words because not many Chinese people know the picture and the diagrams in the characters,” Park said. “Kang is teaching this in [a way] that I’m able to learn faster words.”

Park also has a huge passion for the language. She loves how each of the characters has a special meaning and history.

However, although the class will not continue at Prospect, students can still receive the benefits of the Chinese language.

Kang says that students can continue learning on their own through online programs or by traveling to different schools like Hersey or Buffalo Grove.

However, participating students would have to give up an additional class period for travel and provide their own transportation.

Students like Park who already have full schedules don’t have time for an open period for travel.

Park will continue on with Chinese by learning through a textbook she received from Mr. Kang.

Kang believes it wouldn’t be too difficult for the students to learn on their own because the Chinese language consists of 470 radicals, which are the strokes that make up Chinese characters, and the students know the 250 most important ones.

Even though Chinese is perceived as a difficult language to learn, Park believes that it only takes practice to get the hang of it.

While the other students are figuring out what to do next year, Kang is also figuring out his plans for the future.

He already teaches at other schools like Rolling Meadows, but he says that if there is another teaching opportunity anywhere, he would most likely take it.

“This is more or less physics.

When there is an action, there is a reaction to it in a reverse direction,” Kang said. “To me, it’s the way it goes. It’s not something that people can stop or get going.”

on prospectornow.com

Sophomore Rebecca Benyk has been ice skating since kindergarten. Her team went to nationals this year and placed fourth in the nation. (photo by Erin Schultz)

March Madness Junior With spring comes receives March, and March brings coding award madness. Ryan Molini writes how the only thing predictable about March Madness is its unpredictability.

Junior Jimmy McDermott has received both national and regional recognition for his Underground app.

Math team advances to State

Academic Bowl

Student magician

In my ears: 'School of Rock'

Academic Bowl team finished their regular Three mathletes placed season as MSL East at the regional math Division Champions for competition at Harper the first time in seven College, advancing to state. years on Feb. 24.

Junior Jake Murray is a magician of four years.

Although he performed at Prospect’s Got Talent this past year, his skills go beyond the stage.

With the spring musical approaching, many wonder, how hard can this school rock? Find out what Anna Indelli thinks in her review.

4

Opinion

March 11, 2016

Staff Editorial

Changes need student input I

n recent months, the district comes to identifying things that can has started to redefine the be improved upon.

According to Schuler, the goal of way we view our education.

In January, the district’s board the changes is to make school as enof education decided to change the joyable as possible for students.

According to school calendar to junior Katie robinstart earlier. son, this is difficult Throughout to accomplish withFebruary, superinout more student tendent Dr. David input.

Schuler started a “[The district] campaign called ultimately should “redefining ready” choose, but … it afto redefine college fects mostly us. We readiness stanactually have the dards. (For more Voting results of the homework and acon this campaign, Prospector staff in regards tivities and know check out “‘ready to this editorial. what that’s like. gets redefined by They don’t,” robinD214” on page 3.)

In the meantime, district officials son said.

As the system stands, there is no have also been discussing different clear way to bring light to the things school day start times and the possibility of having homework-free we view as most important.

The district holds community weekends five times a year.

All of the changes thus far have meetings to gain input, but this is not been positive, but the district can do how students operate. Our generation is technology-driven, and that is better. We, the Prospector, believe students deserve the opportunity to the best way to gain a more full student opinion. have a larger voice earlier in the deThis would also solve the problem cision process. of students not being able to attend Current student input is limitthe meetings because of other reed to surveys regarding pre-chosen topics and some of their pre-chosen sponsibilities like jobs and extracursolutions, which only affirms the riculars.

Many changes have been introsolution they’ve already chosen.

As students, we experience the duced, but they will fall upon deaf ears until a student voice is introeducation system first-hand, and as such we are at an advantage when it duced.

4

Against

For

20

prospectornow.com

Empowering one body at the cost of another

As 12-year-old me waited outside my dance studio for my ballet class to start, another girl in my class approached me. We started making small talk until she noticed I was crumpling up an empty Dorito bag.

“I don’t get it,” she told me. “I eat the same stuff as you, yet I’m so much bigger. You must be anorexic or something.”

While the comment seemed harmless when she said it, the girl inadvertently told me that I should feel insecure because I’m naturally skinny; she concluded I had an eating disorBY DIANA LEANE der where I feared gaining Copy Editor weight since I burned the fat from Doritos faster than she did. If I had this disorder, I wouldn’t be so satisfactorily eating this fatty snack.

Ten minutes after she declared me anorexic, we had to walk into a ballet studio full of mirrors and stare at ourselves for an hour while correcting our bodies. Instead of checking whether my toes were pointed or my spine was straight like I was supposed to, her comment had me staring at my legs and thinking I looked like a chicken.

However, the blame doesn’t lie solely on her shoulders. Someone taught her “anorexic” and “skinny” were synonyms, yet according to mayoclinic. org, “anorexic” is used to describe someone who has an abnormally low body weight and an intense fear of gaining weight, and according to dictionary.com, “skinny” is an adjective for someone who is thin.

Unfortunately, this mindset is supported in the media, as it frequently spreads the notion that skinny-shaming is OK through songs and articles that fight fat-shaming. If this seems contradictory, that’s because it is.

In Nicki Minaj’s song “Anaconda,” she raps about how curves are great, but while simultaneously

illustration by Flynn Geraghty praising women with big “anacondas,” she attacks those with flatter back ends by rapping “F*** the skinny bitches in the club!”

In Meghan Trainor’s hit single “All About That Bass,” she sings about accepting her curves and stopping fat-shaming. However, she sings the line “Go ahead and tell them skinny bitches, ‘Hey.’” While Trainor intended to empower women in regards to their bodies, she encouraged one body type by criticizing another. It’s hard to find examples in the media where “skinny” and “bitch” aren’t associated.

According to Trainor and the media, despite every effort I’ve made throughout my life to be inclusive, I’m a bitch because I’m skinny.

As a 16-year-old, I know not to believe everything people say about me. But when skinny 12 year olds hear “All About That Bass” or “Anaconda” on the radio, they first hear a catchy song, yet if they truly listen to the lyrics, they’d learn their body type isn’t accepted by people like Trainor and Minaj and, according to the two widely known celebrities, boys as a whole.

While people with curves face more judgment than those with skinnier frames, all body types should be free from judgment, and as long as those like Minaj and Trainor continue to promote larger body types by cutting down smaller ones, no body will be free from judgment.

Conservative viewpoint lost among Prospector staff TO THe eDITOr: As of late, there has been a growing disapproval amongst ourselves and our peers over what this paper has become.

We remember looking at the Prospector our freshman year and feeling enlightened about what was happening inside our school, but it is not the same anymore. The Prospector has become the mouthpiece for the liberally-biased political opinions of the staff. These columns often fail to show the other side of the issues and mischaracterize conservative ideals.

On Jan. 15, the Prospector released an issue, which included controversial opinions on feminism and gender stereotypes.

The staff editorial concerning feminism said, “If there weren’t gender inequality directly affecting Prospect students, then there wouldn’t be six girls and 22 boys in AP Physics C and there wouldn’t be 7 girls and 21 boys in AP Computer Science.”

All students at Prospect have the freedom to choose their classes, and women not choosing those classes does not mean there is inequality. The statement in the staff editorial is a hasty generalization, and there is absolutely no proof that gender inequality caused this divide. If the staff’s statement about inequality were true, we would say

that the enormous underrepresentation of men in the dance and lifestyle classes is an example of inequality for men.

In addition to this perpetuation of inequality, both the staff editorial and “Best of both worlds,” which was about gender stereotypes, made a point of bringing the underrepresentation of women in STeM to the forefront. The article states that “According to ngcproject.org, in 2009 only 15.6 percent of chemical engineers were female” and within the staff editorial there was a claim of “a lack of STeM encouragement.”

So often feminists fall back to inequality within STeM to show inequality, yet feminists rarely look at the other side. According to Men in Nursing Options, only 9.6 percent of nurses were male in 2013.

Beyond that, feminists never argue about inequality within dangerous and demanding fields. For example, Cornell University published that 96 percent of firefighters were male and the Bureau of Labor Statistics said 98.6 percent of carpenters were as well. It is quite clear that feminists do not fuss about inequality in difficult blue collar professions because they want equality, but not when it comes to tough labor. However, one cannot desire equality in one area of work and not others.

The bias continued on Feb. 19, when an

Online Editor-in-Chief Caroline Binley ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Alyssa Duetsch

staff Editors-in-Chief Krzys Chwala Shreya Thakkar Copy Editors Diana Leane Mike Stanford Associate Editors-in-Chief Grace Berry Marci Kiszkiel

Online NEWS Editor Molly Mueller Online A&E Editor Anna Indelli Broadcast Editors Lauren Miller Erin Schultz News Editors Riley Langefeld Amber Alerta Jack Gabriel

opinion piece called “Carrying the weight of her faith” showed a clear disdain towards the GOP. The article claimed, “A couple of campaigns are running on clear platforms of discrimination and fear” and went on to back this claim by stating, “Ted Cruz promised on NPr that opposition to gay marriage would be “front and center” of his 2016 campaign.”

This insertion that Ted Cruz’s stance against gay marriage comes from a place of mean-spirited discrimination is flat out wrong. Ted Cruz’s stance against gay marriage comes from his faith in Christianity, yet despite this, the author of the article still rails against Cruz‘s ideals by saying, “eldes isn’t the only American struggling under the weight of bigotry.” To insist that Cruz is a discriminatory bigot because of his views is not only wrong but extremely hypocritical. The whole article is spent defending Islam and showing the pressures that come with it and even says Islam is a “religion of tolerance.” However, it is hypocritical to call Cruz’s Christian views discriminatory and bigoted and not examine the lack of tolerance within the global Islamic community. Pew research did a study in 2013 that examined 36 Islamic countries worldwide.

In 33 out of the 36 countries surveyed, more the 75 percent of Muslims saw being

Opinion Editors Bridgette Jasinski Features Editors Flynn Geraghty Jess Darcy Caley Griebenow In-Depth Editors Jack Ryan Kelsey Philippe Rachel Parks Entertainment Editors Isabelle Rogers Cassidy Delahunty Garrett Strother Kit Fitzgerald Sports Editors Devin Prasad Jack Ankony

gay as morally wrong and in 21 out of those 36 countries that statistic was higher than 90 percent. Countries such as Thailand, Cameroon, and ethiopia flaunt a Muslim population in which 99 percent believed being gay was morally wrong. To add more fuel to the fire, in 10 Islamic countries worldwide, engaging in gay sex is punishable by death or severe punishment. Based on the facts, it is apparent that Muslims are statistically no less tolerant of gay people than Christians, and it is false and hypocritical to infer that Ted Cruz is a bigot yet call Islam a religion of tolerance.

Going forward, our hope for the Prospector is that the paper can sway away from political opinion pieces. For many students, the combination of the school newspaper and liberal news media are their only outlets to obtain political information. Because of this, we understand it is hard to rid the paper of political pieces completely, but we ask the Prospector to at least make an attempt to show both sides and to contain their bias in order to stop one-sidedness.

Sincerely, Adam Nadler and Alfin Koshy

Ben Dojutrek Ryan Molini

courtesy of MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service.

Visuals Editor Cassidy Selep

Advertising For ad rates, call (847) 718-5376 (ask for Krzys Chwala or Shreya Thakkar), fax (847) 718-5306 e-mail or write the Prospector, 801 West Kensington Rd., Mount Prospect, IL 60056, prospectornow@gmail.com.

Adviser Jason Block Mission Statement The primary purpose of the Prospect High School Prospector is to report news as well as explain its meaning and significance to our readers and the community. We, the Prospector, hope to inform, entertain and provide a school forum for the unrestricted exchange of ideas and opinions. The Prospector is published by students in Journalistic Writing courses. Some material is

Letters to the Editor Drop off letters to the Prospector in the box in the library, in Rm. 216 or email letters to prospectornow@ gmail.com.

All letters must be signed. Limit letters to 400 words. The Prospector reserves the right to edit letters for style and length.

prospectornow.com

March 11th, 2016

Opinion

5

Getting ready for election knight The Illinois Presidential Primary is March 15. Students share who has their vote and make the case for their candidate below.

Sanders speaks with sincerity

Bernie Sanders has integrity. He is against the post-Citizens United landscape of campaign finance and has thus chosen to crowdfund his campaign, not accepting any donations from Super PACs. His success in reaching his goals while relying on donations less than what Prospect students carry in their wallets shows he is leading a true campaign of, by, and for the people. He has worked for the people throughout his life, whether he was marching with Dr. King or leading Burlington, Vermont, to become one of the most livable cities in the country.

During his tenure in Bernie Sanders Congress, he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act and the repeal of Glass-Steagall, even though those measures were very popular.

Sanders also acted in the interest of veterans while opposing invasive American action in the Middle East and online. Perhaps his most controversial policy is his support of a single payer healthcare system. I see his unwavering support as a firm commitment to not settle in his pursuit of a better America.

In other words, I proudly support Bernie Sanders because he is a true proDemocrats: gressive. He holds What’s at stake? an unwavering commitment to Former Secrehelp those hurt by American society tary of State Hillary no matter who they Clinton is dominatare. He is unafraid to advocate ideas ing Vermont Senator and solutions that Bernie Sanders in other politicians the delegate count. dismiss simply because they are for- Clinton has been eign or upset the running with estabrich and powerful. lishment support Despite heavy opposition, he stands while Sanders has resolute in his po- been running on a sitions. populist platform he He is not afraid to stand against describes as “Demthe tide. Bernie ocratic Socialist.” promises change. I Clinton will be lookknow he will face countless obsta- ing to put the nail in cles to his policies the coffin as Sanders as president, but I tries to gain ground. am confident that whatever he gets done will be an improvement and will diversify American ideologies.

America is great and has the potential to become even greater if the people open up their minds to new ideas. This chance to really change America and leave it better than I find it makes me feel the Bern, in my heart, mind, and soul.

— Patrick Doyle, junior

Trump strong, good dealmaker

illustration by Veronica Holloway

Rubio offers better tomorrow It’s no secret that teenagers don’t like national government. politics, and this election cycle has done While many of his opponents would nothing to change that. like to take away the economic freedom, The races on both sides have been led Rubio will enhance individual liberty by by radicals, reactionaries and reality TV strengthening the free market system stars. However, one candidate ofthat has made America great. fers a way forward, and that canHis fiscal policy will empowdidate is Florida Senator Marco er citizens and businesses to fuel Rubio. economic growth. By lowering Rubio has the vision to set a taxes and regulations, Rubio will new course for our country and allow for the innovation and inspread a more optimistic mesgenuity that defines the Amerisage than the one currently domcan dream. inating political discourse.

On an international level, Rubio’s outlook has origins in Rubio understands that a strong Marco Rubio his upbringing. As the son of CuUnited States will ensure global ban immigrants, life was not easy for his security. Threats like terrorism and Rusfamily when they came to this country. sia have grown larger in recent years as a His parents worked long hours as a maid result of weak American responses. and a bartender, and his family was often A Rubio Administration would be forced to live paycheck to paycheck. more assertive in world affairs and However, Rubio rose from his humble spread the American principles of debeginnings to graduate from law school, mocracy and freedom. As a member of become the Speaker of the Florida House the Senate Committee on Foreign Relaof Representatives and earn a seat in the tions, he has gained the necessary expeUnited States Senate. rience to know how to foster positive reFrom these experiences, Rubio writes lationships with our allies and cultivate in his memoir, “An American Son,” he more stable ties with our enemies. has learned, “America is a place where Simply put, Rubio will restore the anyone from anywhere can accomplish American dream not through reinventanything.” Rubio will take this ing the wheel or striking fear into philosophy to the White his fellow citizens but through House. empowering Americans, At their very core, and this is a vision that Rubio’s policies will can lead us to a brighter enable society to future. prosper rather than — Mike Stanford, make Americans junior dependent on the

Clinton proves electable

Donald Trump is the perfect answer to what people need in America today. People are unhappy with the government and our president, and they want a significant change, not more corruption and failure. The people are more unhappy with our government than ever, and Trump is the perfect solution.

Trump connects deeply with many Americans because he speaks his mind. He is not a scripted, prepared-fabricated-answer kind of guy. Unlike his fellow candidates, Trump gives his honest opinions and does not avoid harsh truths in order to be politically correct.

Americans are tired of robotic stump speeches, and this Donald Trump is why Trump is appealing.

He speaks the truth without beating around the bush. This is one of the most significant things a candidate has done in decades.

Trump is also self-funding. There is no chance of corruption or “under the table” deals from special interest groups. Trump pays for his campaign entirely with his own money and donations from regular citizens.

As one of the only candidates ever to do so, it is a vital piece of his campaign. Trump is not a political hack controlled by Republicans: his funders. Once What’s at stake? again, he only speaks his mind, Republican estab- nobody else’s. lishment hopefuls Trump is a Florida Senator Mar- strong leader. With his $8 billion dolco Rubio and Ohio lar net worth as Governor John Kaevidence, Trump knows how to get sich along with Tea things done. He Party favorite Texas lives the American Senator Ted Cruz are success story that desperately trying to many citizens only dream of living. stop real estate moThis offers key ingul Donald Trump. sights on Trump’s March 15 will feature reliability.

He consistently important tests in gets the job done Rubio and Kasich’s and will not settle for mediocrity. home states as they This is something try to make a goal Trump makes very line stand against clear in his campaign; he is tired Trump. of the United States getting pounded in foreign trades and deals. Trump will not settle for unfair deals that our current government is okay with; he will, instead, only accept compromises that benefit America. He has the fight and will to make America great again, and he will not stop short of this goal.

If you love America, then vote for Donald Trump for president in the 2016 election.

— Mason Schweinzger, senior

Kasich civilized, qualified

When you examine creation with hundreds of thousands of new In April 2015, the Democratic Party was stands a better chance in the remaining Republijobs, and unemployment has fallen to around given a burst of hope for the 2016 presi- the general election becan field, it’s easy to see five percent. Kasich passed business-frienddential election when Hillary Clinton an- cause of her centrist liberal that John Kasich is a solly legislation, which sparked a sharp innounced her candidacy in the race. views. id candidate. For one, he crease in the number of small businesses.

However, Clinton’s reputation has since Even should Sanders win has been able to pass effective Furthermore, Kasich has worked with been marred by the national reaction to sevthe election, he would face a new conservative legislation. His six the legislature to cut taxes by $5 billion eral scandals. Many Democrats have found set of problems once in office. Because years as the Chairman of the House since 2011, the largest of any sitting govthemselves turning away from Hillary and the political climate in the US is so harshly Budget Committee and his budgeternor. Granted, the economy’s resupporting the campaign of Senator divided, it is important to look at ary successes in Ohio demonstrate cuperation has aided this increase, Bernie Sanders. how a candidate could work with that he has experience dealing but Kasich’s pro-business policies I love Bernie’s honesty. I love his federal legislators on implementwith complicated financial issues. have played a major role as well. ideas about social reform. I love his ing their policies.

When he took over in 2011, forWhen it comes to health care, kind and considerate demeanor. But GOP lawmakers mer governor and Kasich knew that defunding Go to I would never vote for him. have had trouble Democrat Ted Obamacare was unlikely while he Although Sanders may be an working and comwas still in office, so he instead prospectornow.com Strickland had left excellent person who preaches the promising with only 89 cents in passed legislation to increase dreams of American liberals, he is President Obama, to read more student Ohio’s Budget Sta- John Kasich Medicaid funding and maneuver Hillary Clinton absolutely not a good candidate for who shares many of bilization Fund, around the issue for the time beendorsements! the presidency. Sanders is too liberal to be Clinton’s centrist views. A which is a savings account ing. Kasich supports putting health care an effective or electable president. far more liberal president, such as Sanders, for the state government. Under Kasich’s into the hands of the private sector, which Radical candidates have historically would only serve to exacerbate the probleadership, the state has transformed an $8 will increase jobs, decrease the cost of preseen little success in general elections, even lems between the two parties. billion budget shortfall and put $2 billion in miums and provide better-quality care. if they receive significant support in priYoung Democrats need to reevaluate the fund thanks to recent budget surpluses.

In terms of education, Kasich advomaries. According to a Politico article from their support for Sanders. If they want to In addition, Kasich has fostered unpreccates a local approach with less federFeb. 26, this is one of the reasons that memsee a Democrat find success in the election edented business development. When he al mandates and regulations and more bers of the Republican National Committee and in office, Hillary Clinton should be came to office in 2011, Ohio had lost 351,000 involvement by individual districts. are hesitant to accept Donald Trump as their decisive choice. The election is not a private sector jobs following the recession, America needs a president who can pass their nominee; they know that a radical polpopularity contest; it is a chance to choose was ranked 48th in the nation in job creeffective legislation and bring the focus itician would not be able to win the election. an effective and successful leader for the ation and had unemployment rates hoverback to the people, and there is no candidate The same principle applies to Sanders. next four years. ing around nine percent. With Kasich at better for task that than John Kasich.

Whether or not Clinton is more likable, she the reins, Ohio has risen to the top 10 in job — Riley Langefeld, junior — Charlie Siefke, junior

6

Opinion

March 11, 2016

prospectornow.com

Taglines need examination from students I

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, n the beginning of “Men said, “This is not conservatism.” in Black,” Agent J, who is Meanwhile, Trump has said litplayed by Will Smith, sits on tle regarding important issues like a Manhattan bench next to Agent the economy, besides, of course, K, who is played by Tommy Lee that it will be great.

Jones. In the movie, J is a New However, Trump knows he is York cop who joins a mysterious not catering to the intellectual agency dedicated to controlling elite. He acknowledged this in his alien life on Earth. victory speech following the NeK has just offered J the job, but vada caucus when he J doesn’t fully undersaid, “I love the poorly stand why the general educated.” population is not told Prospect students, about the aliens. both liberal and con“Why the big seservative, need to be cret?” he asks. “People sure not to fall into the are smart. They can category of the “poorly handle it.”

K replies, “A person

BY MIKE STANFORD educated” by fully examining every issue. is smart. People are Copy Editor For example, Sanddumb.”

Cloaked heretics waners’s promise of free K understands that der about invisible, indisbenefits sounds nice, but, accordexposing the aliens on Earth will tinguishable. They swallow ing to the Wall Street Journal, his lead to mass hysteria. The people the poison of hate by the proposals would cost $18 trillion can’t freak out about what they spoonful, nurse the crops and increase federal spending by don’t know. of ignorance rain or shine 33 percent over the next 10 years.

While the Men in Black are a and reinforce the prisons Meanwhile, his already astronomfictional agency, politicians are of injustice with great pasBY LEO GARKISCH ically-high proposed tax increases counting on this strategy in the sion.

Staff Writer would only bring in $6.5 trillion 2016 presidential election.

Please, allow me to inover the same time period.

Campaigns are depending on troduce The Indifferent.

On the same note, Sanders’ ancatchy slogans to carry them to I guess you could call it ti-Wall Street diatribes have fueled victory, and students need to ena movement. A better term might be a crusade – a his success, but his policies would sure they are not misinformed. crusade against rationality, against every princilead to less investment. According Unfortunately, when it comes to ple, every lesson that man has learned since he has to the Wall Street Journal, this politics, young voters and a failure walked this planet. would drag the economy down as a to comprehend the issues go handThe Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, the whole because investment capital in-hand. give-me-your-tempest-tossed Mecca of freedom fuels economic growth.

According to a study conductblindly follows those who are leading a great AmerThe long term ed by the Reason Foundation, a ican retreat. We seem to be goeconomic effects of public policy think tank, young ing backwards, retracing steps Youth impact election a Sanders Adminpeople’s political views are “totalthat we went to great lengths to istration could be Business mogul Donald Trump ly incoherent.” They found that take in the first place. devastating, and and Vermont senator Bernie only 32 percent of people under 29 Recently in the political students should Sanders are leading among Illipreferred a government-managed realm, there had been a lot of take this into con- nois voters under 35 years old. economy to a free-market econobuzz about so-called “political sideration. my, but 42 percent preferred socialWhile Trump is popular across all correctness.” Many voters on Trump’s polism to capitalism. age groups, but Sanders’s base of both sides of the aisle see it icies could also At first, this discrepancy is puzas a problem, arguing that it have disastrous support comes from young voters. is a way of lying to ourselves, zling, until the same study showed impacts. His stylethat only 16 percent of respondents and that without it, America’s over-substance could even define socialism. political conversation would approach has enThis research would be alarmhave a wider array of diverse Young Republicans abled him to doming during any election year, but and thorough input.

24% inate headlines, when self-described socialist BerHowever, there is quite 19% but it also has led nie Sanders is leading the youth an issue with this argument. many to question vote on the Democratic side, this is Without political correctness, 10% whether he is preterrifying. anything goes. And as we depared to lead the The Republican primary is not sensitize ourselves to certain world’s largest an enlightened affair either. The rhetoric, we become indiffermilitary, which frontrunner, real estate mogul ent towards speech that abJohn includes roughly Donald Marco Donald Trump, has built his base horrently infringes upon our Kasich Trump Rubio 7,200 nuclear warby pandering to the less-informed.

American values. heads.

Trump’s most notorious proStatements that would Young Democrats Trump has posals have propelled him to the be smothered by backlash, 64% also been crititop of the polls, but they have redrowned in protest and chascized by the leadceived a lot of criticism from polittised if they involved the word ers of important ical and cultural leaders.

“Jew” instead of “Muslim” are 27% allies like British His wall along the Mexiglanced over, dismissed indifPrime Minister can-American border, for instance, ferently.

David Cameron has even led Pope Francis to weigh A perfect example of this and Israeli Prime in against the idea. can be seen in one Guardian Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton Minister BenjaPresident Ronald Reagan also headline from Nov. 20: “Trump min Netanyahu. spoke against erecting a physical won’t rule out special ID for Relationships like barrier on our Southern border, Muslim Americans noting these are integral to America’s posaying in a 1980 debate, “Rather their religion.” sition in global affairs, and Trump than … talking about putting up a I wonder who else put a “special ID” on people, could damage foreign ties dramatfence, why don’t we work out some noting their religion? Oh yes, that’s right, Adolf Hitically. recognition of our mutual probler – the man who started a war that, according to These allies and effective leadlems [with Mexico].” the National World War II Museum, was responsiership of our military are crucial Trump has also said that Mexble for the deaths of 60 million people, or three perin fighting emerging threats like ico will pay for the wall, which cent of the 1940 world population – he did that.

ISIS and Russia, and students need the Mexican government formally But I must apologize. I’m being too politically to decide if a bombastic reality TV said they will not do on March 2. In correct. star is suited to handle these chalresponse, Trump said the wall will An ordinary American Rose Hamid, a 56-year-old lenges. be 10 feet higher. flight attendant, was kicked out of a Donald Trump Only when voters fully examTrump’s other famous proposrally in her hometown of Charlotte, N.C., simply beine the issues facing the nation al, banning Muslims from entering cause she stood up in protest bearing her hijab, a today can we “Make America great the United States, was received in t-shirt (“Salam I come in peace”) and a yellow star again” or have “A future to believe a similar fashion. The most powpatch resembling the one the Jews were forced to in.” erful Republican in Washington, wear in the 1930s just before six million of them

cartoon courtesy of the Tribune News Service

Indifference: the art of pardoning social injustice Trump is not indifferent, he is stupid, and as my middle school English teacher used to say, there’s no cure for stupid. ...

Of everything, what concerns me most is that The Indifferent [voters] will continue to dismiss the anti-Muslim, anti-refugee and thus anti-American rhetoric that has become more prevalent as being routine, normal. were exterminated by Hitler and the Nazis.

She said nothing. She stood up in protest, and the security guard escorted her out as if she were a drunkard at a baseball game yelling vulgar language in front of somebody’s kids.

This war against political correctness has brought views and opinions out of the shadows that are, quite frankly, shocking. Most staggering is the degree to which xenophobia is present, one that has no parallel until you reach way back to the 1960s when blacks and whites drank from different water fountains.

A recent exit poll conducted by YouGov shows that nearly 20 percent of Trump supporters disagree with the Emancipation Proclamation, the 1863 document that ordered the abolition of all American slaves. Yes, 20 percent of them wish we still had slavery.

Excuse my vulgar political correctness here, but is this not crazy? And to make things even worse, the latest CNN/ORC poll shows that Trump’s presidential campaign has the support of 49 percent of Republican voters – more than triple the support of each of his “challengers” Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

Rational America is at some point going to have to come to the realization that Trump is well on his way to being the Republican nominee for the presidency.

But back to The Indifferent. Trump is not indifferent, he is stupid, and as my middle school English teacher used to say, there’s no cure for stupid.

No, The Indifferent are the rational people who know what is happening, who see the headlines and watch the debates. Of everything, what concerns me most is that The Indifferent will continue to dismiss the anti-Muslim, anti-refugee and thus anti-American rhetoric that has become more prevalent as being routine, normal.

There is hope for change. But at some point, somebody is going to need to stand up to this attack on our American values. Not somebody, but everybody is going to have to denounce this rhetoric of hate that continues to divides us. These are no more political issues than there are social issues.

If I were told nine months ago that I would be writing a column in which I would need to defend the Emancipation Proclamation, I wouldn’t have believed it.

But here we are, and there are several paths we can choose to go down in order to rid America of xenophobia, refugee-phobia and Islamophobia.

Regardless of which one we choose, it will without a doubt start with the elimination of the plague of indifference.

prospectornow.com

March 11, 2016

Features

7

Grasse teaches Prospect, travels world Teacher doubles as technology innovator

what [Jamison] was all about: explain the world.”

Learning’s role in explaining the world is what Grasse loves most.

“Learning takes risk,” Grasse said. “It takes reimagining the world over and over and over again because once you learn something, the

BY CAROLINE BINLEY stuff in your head is not the same Online Editor-in-Chief anymore.”

Physics and math teacher MiSome of Grasse’s best examples of chael Grasse started at University this “stuff” include the chain rule, a of Wisconsin-Madison as an English mathematical principle that explains major. His end-goal was to become how to take derivatives, and g, or the an author. His favorite stories were acceleration due to gravity. “ironic” and “twisty,” and he loved “I get to watch that happen evevery form of writing: books, short ery year: that gestalt moment when stories and even poetry. someone says, ‘Why was this hard?

This dream stayed alive for a se- Now I get it.’ It’s beautiful,” Grasse mester and a half, but he soon realsaid. “It’s really fun to watch, and I ized his A’s and B’s in creative writknow that they’ll have it down foreving were more the product of hard er.” work than natural ability, and he Junior Alex Guerra has known gave up “writing the great American Grasse since he joined math team in novel.” his freshman year. He sees Grasse’s “It just turned out that I wasn’t ability to connect to students as his very good at it,” Grasse said. “That’s biggest strength. part of what you do early in your life “Some teachers teach in a very — figure out what you’re good at. Afserious style, like a college profester banging my head enough times sor, and you can’t really get to know against the wall, I figured, ‘Yeah, let’s them very well,” Guerra said. “With do something easy like physics.’”

Grasse, you can go and talk to him Grasse has been teaching for 29 whenever and it’s not weird.” years, at Prospect for the last six.

Outside of the classroom, Grasse When he’s not teaching or coaching has worked on HP’s Calculator Demath team, he works as a Mathemat- sign Board for the last 25 years. ics and Technology Expert at HewlGrasse first got involved at HP ett-Packard (HP). in 1991. At the time, HP calculaAfter switching from English to tors were without a table program, physics, Grasse considered becomwhich shows a chart of x inputs and ing an engineer, but he knew from y outputs for a given function. At his father’s experience as a chemical the National Science Foundation engineer that he wouldn’t enjoy it. It Grant in Corvallis, Oregon, he and didn’t offer many opportunities to diEast Coast prep school teacher Mark rectly help those around him, while Howell wrote competing programs teaching did. to solve the problem. Grasse’s alone After completing his physics mawas downloaded by over 20,000 peojor and spending ple. HP incorporated an extra semeselements of Grasse and Learning takes risk. ter — his “second Howell’s programs into It takes reimagining senior year” — on their calculator. The campus to comsummer after the grant, the world over and plete a double maHP contracted Grasse jor in mathematover and over again and Howell to work on ics, Grasse moved future calculator projbecause once you from Wisconsin ects. to Illinois to start Today, Grasse is one learn something, the teaching. of three teachers on the However, his design board, working stuff in your head dreams of becomalong with six HP emis not the same ing a published ployees. His favorite author didn’t die part is getting to work anymore. with his English hard and have fun with major. As a teachthe same people every er, Grasse penned year.

Michael Grasse, half of “Calculus The first major Activities” for component of his job is teacher Texas Instrudeciding the design of ments (TI). The the calculator. Though book was preceded by such tough Grasse no longer writes the code, he deadlines and heavy edits that he and the board go through piece by was glad when he finished, but he piece to decide how every aspect of was still proud enough to send his the calculators work. mom a copy.

Their most recent project was the Today, Grasse tries to emulate HP Prime, which went on the marhis high school teacher Nevin Jami- ket two years ago. It features better son’s style in his own classroom. graphics, software, processing speed Jamison thought of physics in every and features, and a touch screen. aspect in his life, even while hunting Grasse thinks it is the coolest thing and fishing, and he was part of the the group has ever created. reason Grasse became a teacher.

“It moves us forward,” Grasse “I really like to show students said. “The entire math education is things that they can’t explain and going to be affected by this.” show them how to explain it,” Grasse While the Prime was in producsaid. “I think everyone wants to try tion, Grasse spent 10 hours out of to understand their world from a log- each school week working on the ical point of view, and physics gives project. Today, he works only three us a lot of the tools to be able to or four hours a week. do that. That’s “They want the perspective of somebody teaching every day, and they realize they can’t get that unless they do things on

FOR THE PHUN OF IT:

our time,” Grasse said. “They do not want me to work for them full time.

They want me teaching. They want that foot in the teaching world, and that’s where a lot of these features have come from.”

However, this changes over the summer, when Grasse works as many as 60 hours per week, travelling to introduce teachers to HP products. Grasse’s work has taken him to Fiji, Australia, Singapore and Denmark in addition to almost every state.

His favorite country to visit may be France. He took French through college, and though he is not on the level of a native speaker, he knows enough to order at a bakery. He has been to Paris three times and eventually wants to visit Grasse, France, a town sharing his surname.

However, his coolest experience was going to China. Unlike in Singapore, the first Eastern country he visited, China had no trace of Western signage or culture. Often times, no one around spoke English.

While on the trip, he and his fellow HP employees got the opportunity to walk the Great Wall with a tour guide. While they started near other tourists, they were alone within 20 minutes of walking. Because those steps were so much older than monuments in the United States, Grasse spent his time wondering who had walked along the Wall before him.

“We had three hours of just being alone on the wall, which doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a life-altering experience — this thing that stretches forever,” Grasse said. “It made you realize how capable ancient people were. We tend to think about how great we are with technology and how far we’ve come, but holy cow — you see something like this that is built incredibly well, up and down the sides of mountains. It was hard in some places just to walk up the slopes of the wall and to think, ‘This had to be built.’”

Despite it all, service to others is what is most important to Grasse.

“I’ve been helped a great deal to get to where I am,” Grasse said. “Part of it is

the intrinsic feeling of, ‘Hey, I helped someone,’ so part if it’s selfish. It’s good for my self esteem and what I want to do, but I really think we owe each other a debt of service all the time. That’s what helps make the world go around.”

Physics and math teacher Michael Grasse helps a student during a physics lab. “I really like to show students things that they can’t explain and show them how to explain it,” Grasse said. (top). Grasse has taught for 29 years and has worked as a Mathematics and Technology Expert at Hewlett-Packard (HP) for 25. During that time, Grasse has travelled the United States and foreign countries.

Conference badges from talks he’s given for HP through the years hang. (left). Grasse has travelled to Paris three times (right). (photos courtesy of Michael Grasse)

Math team succeeds Math and science teacher Micheal Grasse has coached math team for 25 years. He took over as head coach three years ago after Maggie Mamsch retired.

“I love watching students grapple with genuine problems,” Grasse said. “It’s boring watching kids practice. What’s interesting to me is to watch someone get to a problem and grapple with a problem for the very first time, when they know, ‘I don’t know how to do this. What are our strategies? What can we do?’ I love watching that deconstruction happen and watching people think mathematically.”

These are their cumulative results in the North Suburban Math League in the Horwat Division:

1st freshmen: st 1 sophomores: rd 3 juniors: th 4

oral presentation:

2

nd overall team

8

In-Depth

March 11, 2016

Behind the scenes: competitions explained

BY RILEY LANGEFELD Executive News Editor

ration events involve students researching, preparing and delivering speeches within a short time limit.

When members of Prospect’s Additionally, during the state series, speech team present their pieces in another event, Performance in the Round (PIR), is added to the list. In competition, their goal is to make an impact on their audience. According PIR, 15 students perform a shortened to junior Ben Marshall and sopho- version of a play or musical in a small circular space. more Molly McDermott, the best moOn an average weekend during ments in their speaking careers have the season, varsity competitors go to been people telling them about the efa tournament hosted by a local school fect that their pieces had on them. while JV competitors usually attend Unfortunately, the team members an event at a different school. Each do not always receive this kind of respeaker competes in three rounds action from their peers. When they for each of their events. In each of have the opportunity to share their these rounds, they speak with five successes with other Prospect students, they often run into a significant other competitors and are ranked problem: their friends at Prospect by a judge. Based on their combined know very little about what speech scores from the first three rounds, the best competitors advance to the final competitions are or how they work. round where six speakers compete for Speech is an IHSA-regulated activity wherein students compete in the top spots.

Prospect speakers face fierce comvarious speaking and acting events.

Schools across the nation compete petition when they advance to these final rounds. from autumn According to through winspeech coach ter in the hopes Scott McDerof making it mott, Prospect through their competes in one respective state of the toughest series of competiareas for speech tions in late Janin Illinois. The uary and early team members February. have to work Prospect has even harder to had a speech overcome the team for decades, competition but it has only from nearby known major schools. success in recent According years. According to head coach graphic by Cassidy Selep to Morton, the team members Jeremy Morton, have been editing and rehearsing the Prospect team was comprised of a mere 15 students when he began their speeches tirelessly since the becoaching in 2001. Today ,the team has ginning of the season, many of them spending up to three hours a day on 74 members. Each of these members competes in one to three of 14 events, their pieces. According to Morton, and a total of 29 students compete in this dedication is one of the main reasons they succeeded at the state comthe regional competition. petition.

There are three main categories “I think it all worked this year,” of events in which these students Morton said. “The students were incompete: public speaking, acting and credibly committed. They worked limited preparation. Public speaking hard. Besides doing that, they found events involve writing a speech or edstories that worked for them and iting an existing one for performance. found ways to portray the tales that Acting events include humorous and really connected to the audience and dramatic scripts, some of which are performed in pairs. Limited prepa- themselves.”

Speech team grows in nu

BY SHREYA THAKKAR AND GRACE BERRY Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editor-in-Chief

A

t junior Ben Marshall’s first speech competition of the year, he wasn’t expecting much. However, as he walked out of the competition room, his judge approached him, crying, and told him that his piece meant the world to her.

Marshall’s piece was about Tennessee Williams, a playwright whose partner died of lung cancer. The judge’s wife had died only a year before then, and she found meaning in Marshall’s performance.

“That [really] showed me that a performance lasts longer than seven minutes, that it has potential to impact people and make them think about things even after I perform,” Marshall said.

Behind Marshall’s performance was the tireless effort of memorizing his piece, working on delivering it with emotion, editing his script and meeting with coaches until it was just right.

On Feb. 20, that kind of effort as a team brought Prospect a team state championship and five individual state champions (see “Champion Q&A” to get to know the winners). Prospect’s team, which placed 11th at state last year, shattered Prospect records with their first place title this year.

In addition to the five state champions, senior Lillian Hermes placed fourth in Impromptu Speaking, junior John Zach took fifth in Poetry Reading and 15 students took fifth in Performance in the Round for their 15-minute rendition of “Mamma Mia.” According to coach Scott McDermott, speech team’s accomplishments this year are a culmination of six years of increasing interest in speech among students. The numbers have shot up from 28 in 2008 to 74 this season. In the past six years, the team has won six MSL championships, qual-

TAKING THE STAGE:

ified anywhere from five to twelve kids for state each year and has won the IHSA sectional championship for two of those six years.

While the team has established itself as a powerhouse at the regional and state level, the medals are almost meaningless to the participants compared to the impact they are able to make through their work.

“What I am most proud of is how many people came up to me and the other coaches and said ‘Wow. Those Prospect students really hit me,’” head coach Jeremy Morton said. “That’s exciting.

That’s powerful. The medals are amazing, but we have the ability to make people think and listen and laugh and cry. That’s a skill that is hard to teach, and that’s what we are doing.”

According to the individual state champions, hearing their names announced for finishing first in state was exhilarating. The state champion in each category then gets the chance to perform their piece in front of the 2000-member-audience at the award ceremony, and that moment that was the best part for them.

“It’s definitely always been in the back of my mind … to win and perform on that stage,” junior Jimmy McDermott said.

To see five Prospect students take that stage at the awards ceremony was just as exciting for Scott McDermott.

“That’s where everyone wants to end the season – on stage in front of their peers with the opportunity to move the most people possible,” Scott McDermott said. “To see it happen four times is

real thin A men succ the ing coac trea er to “ chan to ta team said A that activ tain and How seem form A reas icati “ have min all a I day thei

Speaking volumes: Speech team State champion Q&A

KIT FITZGERALD

ANDREW PITTMAN

What is your event?

What is your event?

your event?

event?

-

from.

What is your favorite part about being on speech team?

have an emotional -

you realized you had won your event?

when you realized you had won your event?

How has being on speech changed your experience in high school?

-

How has being on speech changed your experience in high school?

I have no social life. I have a lot more

-

What is your favorite part about being on speech team?

March 11, 2016

umbers, builds legacy

believes a big reason for the team’s success is their dedication to each other through peer coaching. For example, some of state champion senior Andrew Pittman’s best jokes in his piece were made by other people on the team.

“You can’t do this without the peers coaching each other,” Scott McDermott said. “We can lay the foundation for where the kids need to go, but we know the magic is happening from peer to peer. I think our philosophy is, ‘Don’t get in the way. Let them create and give them space to do it.’”

Peer coaching is important because as the team has grown, the amount of coaches, four, has remained the same, as opposed to other schools who only qualify two people for state but have 20 coaches. This year, Prospect qualified eleven out of fourteen total events for state.

However, with so much talent on the team, there is one downside: deciding who makes the cut on Prospect’s regional team for the state series.

“That is the absolute worst part of this: having to make that choice [between kids] at the end and trying to stay focused on what that choice should be grounded in,” Scott McDermott said. “We have amazing kids here. The kids that weren’t on our regional team could have been on just about any other regional team in the state, which is pretty special.”

Losing key seniors like Pittman, Kit Fitzgerlly ridiculous. That’s not that is not a common ald, Lillian Hermes and Veronica Boratyn will ng when you think about.”

According to Scott McDermott, a change in leave a void on the team, but Scott McDermott plans embracing what they have contributed. ntality this year contributed to the team’s “I don’t know how you replace [people] like cess. In the past when students approached state series, there was more hype surround- that,” Scott McDermott said. “You just try to figure out how to keep growing tournaments. This year, the the program and learn from the ches trained participants to at the state series like any othWhat I am most proud kids that we’ve had here. I think they’ve all taught me a little bit ournament. of is how many people about coaching, a little bit about “I think that once they life and just impress me for their nged that, things just started came up to me and composure and way [they] carry ake off, both individually and the other coaches themselves in such a easygoing m-wise,” Jimmy McDermott and said ‘Wow. Those manner. … You [can’t] replace d. people. You just try to grow from Additionally, Morton feels Prospect students the experience that you had with t speech is a very subjective really hit me.’ them.” vity because sometimes cerFor the coaches, they view n scripts may work for judges Jeremy Morton, head their role as an opportunity to sometimes they might not. teach a rare skill: the art of speakwever, this year the scripts coach ing. med to click for both the per“Speaking in front of people is mers and the judges.

According to coach Jon Kaminsky, the third a lost art at this point, [but] it’s critical to sucson for this team’s success is the students’ ded- cess,” Scott McDermott said. “Any one of those kids can tell you they can walk into any enviion to the team.

“We don’t have team captains truly because we ronment and have a conversation and feel come so many kids taking on a captain’s role,” Ka- fortable, and that to me is the greatest thrill for nsky said. “You can’t have 13 captains, but, in me and why I volunteer [to coach]. … It’s not the medals, but it’s the ability to move people with actuality, that’s what we have.”

In addition to spending 12 hours each at Satur- your words positively, and there’s no substitute for that.” tournament and two to three hours practicing ir pieces on each school day, Scott McDermott

In-Depth

9

Beyond the suits, medals

mental disorders could connect to it, too. I felt that performing “Furiously Happy” was more than competing. It was a responsibility. I was helping people, spreading awareness and sharing my story.

I wasn’t alone in this feeling. Junior John Zach created an eight-minute program called “Pride” from LBGTQ poetry, As I stood on a stage in front of thouincluding “Dear Straight People,” “Pride” sands of people, only two clear thoughts surand “Wussy Boy Manifesto.” His goal was faced in my head: I can’t stop smiling and to make people, especially those who oppose my hands are so sweaty that my prose book homosexuality, think about the is going to slip out of my grip. perspective of the LBGTQ comSweating and smiling, I was munity and how painful opposiwaiting to hear my rank for my tion can be. second event: prose. There were At state, both Zach and I realso many butterflies in my stomized how much our pieces could ach that I barely noticed when I make an impact. After performwas alone on stage and my name ing, people would walk up to was being called as state chamBY KIT FITZGERALD me and thank me for speaking pion. I could barely contain my on behalf of those with mental excitement, but it wasn’t beStaff Writer illness. Some would share their cause of the ribbon being placed own experiences, as if I was a around my neck. friend instead of a stranger. I was reaching This year the speech team has found a out to people and they were responding. lot of success; we were regional champions, Similarly, after one of Zach’s rounds, a sectional champions and state champions. girl approached him and said that after her I’m not going to lie, getting handed a trofather, who was extremely conservative and phy half the size of Humorous Duet Acting against homosexuality, saw “Pride,” he was champion Molly McDermott was pretty finally able to understand how his opinion cool. To me, though, it’s important to realize had the potential to hurt each and every LBthat our focus wasn’t the trophy.

GTQ member.

It started five weeks before the state tourInteractions between Zach and a renament when my coaches and I finished a formed homophobe really showed me what new prose piece cut from Jenny Lawson’s speech was all about. In the past three years “Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About I’ve been to state, whether I was performing Terrible Things,” in which she shares her or watching, our team was so nervous about struggle with mental illness. doing well. This year it was all about conThe first time I read it, I knew it was pernecting with the audience, and saying what fect for me. It was a beautiful story: funny, we had to say. I never thought about how honest, heart-breaking and hopeful. It also I was ranking because I was too excited to reminded me of my own struggles with menshare my story. tal illness.

So when I think about Speech, I don’t There’s a part in the book where Lawson think about the medals I’ve won. I think of describes one of her breakdowns. Change a comment a judge wrote on my critique “bathroom” to “basement” and “husband” sheet at the MSL tournament. It read, “As to “friend,” and it would have been a story someone who suffers, it was so amazing to of my own breakdown. What impressed me have someone speak on our behalf with so was that Lawson found a way to make her much care, respect, compassion and underexperiences helpful to others. I wanted to standing.” be a part of her #FURIOUSLYHAPPY moveSpeech is so much more than putting on ment by spreading her message through a suit or winning a medal. It’s about making speech team. connections, respecting a story and making If I connected to “Furiously Happy,” people stop for a moment and think. then the 60 million people struggling with depression, anxiety, self harm and other

m soars at state

BEN MARSHALL AND MOLLY MCDERMOTT

JIMMY MCDERMOTT What is your event?

What is your event? scribe your event?

event?

-

you realized you had won your event?

Ben:

How has being on speech changed your experience in high school?

Ben: -

Molly:

when you realized you had How has being on speech won your event? changed your experience in high school?

-

What is your favorite part about being on speech team?

Ben: -

Molly: -

Molly:

What is your favorite part about being on speech team?

10

Features

March 11, 2016

prospectornow.com

Student finds future in fragrance

BY FLYNN GERAGHTY Executive Features Editor

J

unior Bridget Robertson always smelled chemicals when she used store-bought deodorant, and this did not sit well with her. She also disliked how processed it was and how many deodorants contained aluminum, which can be very harmful to the skin and can even cause breast cancer. Robertson figured there had to be a natural alternative, so she went looking for one.

Robertson found there were many recipes for natural, homemade deodorants. She figured that she would try it herself.

Robertson started out with very simple recipes, each one only having around three or four ingredients. However, as she began to master the craft, she started experimenting with more ingredients and making her own recipes.

Since her freshman year, Robertson has been making her own deodorant and currently has her own line of natural deodorants

called B Natural Remedies – the B standing for Bridget – which is currently selling at Kacelia, a health and wellness company in Northbrook.

“Teachers always say, ‘Oh, you can chase your dreams! You can be a young entrepreneur!’ I was like, ‘OK, that’s crap. That’s not going to happen,’ and then it did,” Robertson said. “I was happily surprised.”

When Robertson began trying to make her own recipes, she wanted to use 100 percent natural products. Robertson believes this makes her product different since “you know where everything is coming from.”

Robertson’s process utilizes a double boiler. She begins by boiling and melting all of the oils. Then she adds in the dry ingredients and squeezes the product into a tube until it hardens. Robertson can typically make a batch of eight deodorants in around half an hour. She makes a va-

riety of scents,from lavender to vanilla. Her favorite scent is lemon, which was the first one she ever made.

Robertson did not set out with the intent to sell her deodorants. She only was making it for herself and her family. She was even hesitant to tell her friends, as making deodorant is not a common hobby.

“It sounds weird, ‘I make deodorant,’” Robertson said. “[People would] probably think I smell bad.”

One of the first people to try Robertson’s deodorant was her mother, Molly Robertson, who has very sensitive skin. It ended up working very well, and it is currently the only deodorant she uses.

“When she told me how well it was working for her, I wanted to try it, too,” Molly said. “I love it. I use it every day. It works great, and I don’t use anything else.”

Robertson eventually did tell her friends on Orchesis that she made deodorants.

When she did, many of them were interested and willing to try it, one being senior Clare Schroeder.

“I like the fact that I’m using something good for my body,” Schroeder said. “Plus, she’s my friend, so I want to support her and her business.”

As Bridget told her friends about her deodorants, Molly was telling people, as well.

After trying it for herself, Molly began recommending her daughter’s product to her friends, including her chiropractor Dr. Evelyn Zuelke. Zuelke had been looking for a new, natural product to sell at her clinic and was interested in Bridget’s deodorant.

Bridget was a little uneasy since she hadn’t planned on selling it. Her product had not

been used by anyone she hadn’t already known. Despite these concerns, she went along with it and let her deodorant be sold.

According to Molly, she brought in the first batch of 10 sticks of Bridget’s deodorant before a chiropractor appointment with Zuelke. Before her appointment was over, two sticks had already been sold. “[They were already selling] before they made it onto [the shelves],” Molly said.

“When I saw that kind of excitement, I knew she had a product that would appeal to more than just her family. I was thrilled for Bridget. I was amazed, but at the same time not because I knew she could do whatever she put her mind to.”

Despite most people liking the product, Bridget says she still feels nervous about being sold to people she doesn’t know.

“It’s scary,” Bridget said. “I really want to make sure it’s good and that it’s good for everyone.”

Bridget always wants to put out a quality product since she is the one who spearheads the entire process by both making the deodorant and packaging it. She tries to keep her process consistent in order to produce the best possible product.

Bridget’s operation is still expanding. B Natural is currently working with Kacelia to get her product on their website. Bridget also hopes to expand the brand to more that just deodorant. She is currently working on new, all-natural products like lotions and eyelash conditioner. Bridget plans to continue with her enterprise during and after college.

“I want to make natural remedies and work with holistic healing for the rest of my life,” Bridget said.

Diabetes affects Prospect staff, students

BY DIANA LEANE Copy Editor For the first 27 years of history teacher Dave Schnell’s life, he thought he had the ultimate metabolism. He ate whatever he wanted, yet he still lost weight.

But after consulting a doctor about what he later discovered were symptoms of an underlying problem, Schnell found out his effortless weight loss was not a blessing. His constant hunger, decrease in weight and frequent urge to use the bathroom led to the doctor’s diagnosis that Schnell had adult-onset Type 1 Diabetes.

According to diabetes.org, Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body does not produce insulin, which is needed to help the body’s cells use glucose, a sugar that serves as the body’s main source of energy. Adult-Onset Type 1 diabetes is the gradual or delayed development of Type 1 diabetes into adulthood, according to diabetesforecast.org.

Schnell is one of as many as three million Americans with Type 1 diabetes and one of 24.4 million Americans with any form of diabetes, according to healthline. com. Diabetes currently has no cure, but tools such as blood glucose testing – which can be done by pricking one’s finger with a lancing machine – and insulin shots or pumps make monitoring and maintaining healthy glucose levels possible.

If levels are too low, a person feels sleepy and shaky, and if it becomes severe, the person can pass out or have a seizure, according to WebMD.com. If levels are too high, a person feels thirsty and tired, may feel nauseous and throw up and faint.

After receiving the diagnosis, Schnell began testing his sugar levels every day and injected insulin shots, which he later exchanged for an insulin pump. However,

besides tracking and maintaining his levels, Schnell found his life changed little.

Junior Meredith Miller, who has Type 1 diabetes, also tests her levels daily and wears a pump after switching from injections, but unlike Schnell, she does not remember life before the diagnosis; she was diagnosed at 17 months. “[The diagnosis] was terrifying because she was just a toddler, and at the time they didn’t have insulin pumps, so it was multiple shots,” Lisa Miller, Meredith’s mother, said. “Every time she ate she had to have a shot and multiple finger sticks to test her blood sugar, and you couldn’t really communicate [the reason for] that with a toddler. … If she felt low, she couldn’t articulate that because she didn’t understand it.”

Because she wanted Meredith to be completely self-reliant, Lisa encouraged Meredith to take much ownership over the disease and the accompanying treatment.

Lisa did this by giving Meredith the ability to decide when she wanted to switch to an insulin pump, which she did at seven, and by 10, Meredith handled the daily tests and pump on her own.

Consequently, Lisa believes Meredith developed an acute awareness of her body and a heightened sense of responsibility. According to Lisa, this responsibility was especially important when Meredith played sports.

Depending on the sport, Meredith couldn’t wear her pump because the game was too physical. As a result, Meredith had to be very aware of how she felt since she had no external tools to monitor her levels.

If her levels were off, Meredith would have to sit out for around 10 minutes until her glucose was back to normal. Schnell, who runs frequently, also has to watch for

SMILE: Junior Meredith Miller (center) poses with two friends she met from a camp for people with diabetes.

Miller was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 17 months old. (photo courtesy of Miller)

any sugar imbalance, especially when he runs alone.

Before he leaves, Schnell brings foods with a lot of sugar or grabs money, so he can buy food if necessary. He also frequently runs with math teacher Mike Riedy, and if he feels really bad, they will stop, Riedy will run back to the car, and then he will return to Schnell and drive him back to where they started.

“I know when [a decrease in glucose is] starting to happen,” Schnell said. “So I’m pretty good at being able to prevent it from getting too out of control.”

Sensing a decrease or increase in sugar is harder while running, but this is also an issue for Schnell while driving. If he finds he can not safely drive, he will stop and wait until he feels OK enough to drive.

In regards to experiencing lows and highs in sugar at school, Schnell and Meredith are very careful, so they do not experience many problems. For Meredith, she makes sure she is feeling OK before any test or important class period and goes to the nurse anytime she feels a level change.

Because Meredith has to leave class, wears a pump and sometimes tests her blood at a lunch table, her diabetes is no secret, and she makes no effort to conceal it.

Schnell is open about it, too, but both find that diabetes has a stigma surrounding it, making people feel welcome to comment.

For example, if they eat a cookie, someone might ask if that is a good idea. Meredith found this reaction to be more common when she was younger. As a result, neither initiate letting people know they have diabetes but discuss it if someone asks.

Meredith thinks this stigma originates from the misconception that all diabetes comes from dietary problems. Since the commenters usually do not have experience with the condition, Meredith finds the input frustrating since she has successfully managed diabetes for 16 years and has overcome accompanying challenges.

“You look at this as a life-ending, just traumatic, traumatic thing, and it is, but it’s manageable,” Lisa said. “They’ve certainly made so many strides in diabetes care since she was diagnosed, and I think just that you can’t let anything get in your way, that anything that comes at you is manageable.”

photo illustration by Cassidy Selep

prospectornow.com

Accepting grief

March 11, 2016

Features

11

I

way to protect myself. n August of 2010, my then 26-yearIt wasn’t until school started this year old brother Matt was diagnosed with that I began to come to terms with the loss brain cancer. That November, he of my brother and how that impacts who I passed away. Being 11, I didn’t really know am. I fell into a deep depression when school what was going on. started.

Since he was so much older, he was alI could barely get out of bed, let alone go ways like a second father to me, which is to school. It was miserable. It’s like I was why I couldn’t accept what happened. making up for the five years I spent ignoring As a teenthe reality of Matt’s death. ager, everyone It was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone was telling through. What I’ve realized is that when me, “Take this you lose someone, it’s obviously going to be class, do this hard, but it’s also going to be okay. That’s sport, don’t the nature of life, yet our brain tricks us into eat that.” You thinking that we will be hurting forever. As have to worry cliché as it is, time heals all wounds. about grades, While it is important to confront your f r i e n d s ,

BY RACHEL PARKS grief, that can often make you feel very sports, sleep, Executive In-Depth Editor extracurricu- depressed. Finding a hobby helped me immensely. It allowed me to engage my mind lars, college, instead of wallowing in misery. and when you For me, it was playing piano and knitadd grief to the mix, it’s easy for everything ting. It wasn’t easy; I had to force myself to to go downhill, especially when you feel like do things that would benefit me rather than no one knows what you’re going through. lay in bed all day.

No amount of “I’m so sorry for your loss” Piano and knitting are both relaxing and and “I’ll keep you in my thoughts” will ever engaging and felt therapeutic. I’ve found be enough. They may be genuine, but it that when I’m playing music, I have to focus doesn’t do anything for the loneliness and and let out my emotion through the grief you feel. Pushing your grief down notes. This was a great outlet for doesn’t help either; sometimes it feels me. You need some sort of outlet easier to put it out of your mind and preor you’re bound to burst from the tend nothing happened, but that’s mental stress. detrimental in the long run.

If you need counseling, don’t When a classmate asked me be ashamed. A lot of people have why I had missed school while unresolved guilt and conflict afhe was in the hospital, I told ter a loved one dies and need her I had strep throat. I only counseling to get through told a handful of my closest it. friends when Matt died and School psychologist Jay made them swear to secreKyp-Johnson says the brain cy. Going into high school, always tries to protect you I kept it my deepest secret. from anger or horror and As time passed, I would other negative emotions, get angry and lash out when so it is very important for my parents tried to talk to young people to get profesme about it. I told them to sional help. leave me alone and locked The most important thing myself in my room.

Matt and me in 2004 when grieving is to not be ashamed When I heard them crying to express your grief. Don’t be downstairs, I put in my headafraid to talk about it. Some people might phones to drown them out. The only times get uncomfortable, but your true friends will I would confront my grief were late at the listen. night when I was alone. These were the I found that my friends didn’t treat me times I felt scared and guilty; I felt I hadn’t differently because they knew I didn’t want been there enough for him, as if it would that. However, if I ever needed someone to have changed anything. talk to, they were always there. In fact, my My parents notified the school about best friend at the time left school early the what happened, so teachers frequently came day Matt died to be with me, and she was up to me to try to console me. One teacher there through the whole grieving process, told me a story of how both of her brothers which helped me immensely. died in a car accident; I knew this was meant Unfortunately, leaving time for the grievto make me feel better, but instead it made ing process is difficult at this age. Paid beme feel worse. reavement leave can be up to 12 weeks when This was probably the worst thing I could you have a career, but when you’re in high have done. I spent most of high school trying school, missing 12 weeks of school is just not to be someone I wasn’t. I focused on superpossible. ficial things like clothes, makeup and shopSince you have to be at school, don’t let ping. your grades slip. It will be hard, but failing I never took time to think about who I reyour classes isn’t going to make you feel any ally was or to acknowledge that losing Matty better either. is a part of my life. I thought believing in all I developed the habit of ignoring my those superficial things would be the easiest

2)

photo courtesy of Jay Kyp-Johnson

schoolwork when Matt died, but I somehow always got away with A’s and B’s until junior year when my classes really started to get hard. My grades plummeted, and I felt anxious and useless, which made everything worse.

The best advice I can give is to stick with your family and friends. Whatever you do, don’t be alone. Even if you only have your dog to talk to, your dog will always be there for you.

The only thing that got me through Matt’s death was the plethora of family and friends rotating in and out of our front door.

We cried, we laughed, we sang, we danced, and most importantly, we celebrated Matt’s life. The people that kept us company the week after Matt died will always hold a special place in my heart.

I remember coming home one night to about 10 of my family members and Matt’s friends singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” at

Matt and me in 2010

the top of their lungs. We all knew that was what Matt would have wanted. In fact, he would have been furious if we spent all of our time crying on each other’s shoulders.

In fact, you learn the most from your most difficult experiences. Throughout this experience I learned to not stress the little things in life and to accept death. After all, it’s a natural phenomenon, and no one can escape it.

I miss Matty every day, but I believe that somehow, someday, I will see him again.

And if I don’t, I’ll always have my memories of him.

In film producer Baz Luhrmann’s speech “Everybody’s Free,” he says, “Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind. The kind that blindsides you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.”

In fact, it was some idle Tuesday that Matt fell into a coma he never came out of. Some idle Tuesday that turned my world upside down. And frankly, it’s shown me that failing a math quiz or losing a friend or getting picked on doesn’t matter; it’s OK. And when my mom talks about Matt, it’s OK. It is what it is, and life will go on.

Overcoming darkness

One in 20 high students will experience a tragedy before they graduate according to browardhealth.org. It will cause each and every one of those students to experience some type of grieving process.

Senior Alec Heyde, junior Grace Peisker, and school psychologist 3) Jay Kyp-Johnson have all experienced a tragedy that has altered their lives forever. Each and every one of them though has grieved over their tragedy in different ways, some through the support of their team and family, and others by protecting their families from the truth.

Through grieving they have realized that one needs to vent to another person about their feelings, and that everyone is connected to someone no matter what. sker photo courte sy of Ja e Pei c a “Humans don’t usually realize how connected they are to r y Kyp-Jo of G hnson tesy 1) School psycholor everything or the value of some things,” Kyp-Johnson said. u o oc gist Jay Kyp-Johnson participates in phot “There are times we take for granted everyday, [like] people Coaches vs. Cancer where he is folding blankets. [being] in our lives or seeing them everyday. Then all of a sudden 2) Junior Grace Peisker walks with her late friend one day something changes and we go into shock, and it is a perLindsey Eyles at the ALS fundraiser. 3) Kyp-Johnson speaks at a Relay For Life fundraiser with his basesonal tragedy for anybody to have something exit their lives.” ball team.

ON PROSPECTORNOW.COM

1)

illustration by Veronica Holloway

Features

12

March 11, 2016

prospectornow.com

Students learn to embrace their Irish heritage during St. Patrick’s Day through travel, dance

BY CALEY GRIEBENOW Features Editor

continue to drink and party at the parade, but he believes the drunken celebrations do not reflect the spirit of the holiday. hen senior Brian McTigue was Junior Mary Clare Morley was lucky in second grade, he sat on a plane rience the parade in a on his way to Ireland, excited to enough to expeent way. She was influsee the place his grandmother called home differenced by her Irish herifor the first time. His grandfather, a young tage join an Irish dance American, studied abroad in Ireland where team, and a few years he met his future wife. ago, Morley performed They fell in love and deTrinity Knot in the parade with her cided to start their new The Trinity Knot is an team. life together in America. important Irish symbol that Morley describes Irish For McTigue, the trip appeared often in Celtic lore dance as a big part of her to Ireland offered him a and mythology. It represents identity. She has spent chance to not only see many years of her childhis mother’s side of the the Father, the Son and the hood traveling to places family, but also to expeHoly Spirit. It can be found like Boston and California rience his culture. He on Irish dance costumes and to compete in Irish dance took tours of castles and in churches. Some people competitions. She believes met his second cousins choose to include the Trinity it has helped her connect for the first time. They Knot in their wedding bands with her Irish roots. enjoyed driving around to represent and honor their “I’m proud to be carand exploring small rying out my heritage towns around Dublin.

Irish heritage. [through Irish dance],” “[Seeing Ireland] was Morley said. “It has always cool because I saw where given me something to work towards.” my family came from,” McTigue said. “It Morley set goals for herself, like particmade me proud of my heritage to see Ireland ipating in regional competitions. Soon her and to see my family.”

McTigue identifies as an Irish-American, goals grew to larger competitions, and two years ago, those goals were met. Morley’s and while there is a visible surplus of pride on St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, McTigue is dance team was awarded first place at the World Irish Dance Championship in proud of being Irish year-round.

Montreal. It was a week long competition He takes pride in his tight-knit relationship with both his immediate and extended that ended on Easter Sunday.

“I was able to see everything pay off,” families, which he believes is a result of his Irish-Catholic upbringing. He keeps in touch Morley said.

For sophomore Peader McGrath, he with his cousins by writing letters because he has not seen them since his first trip to Ire- and his family connect to their Irish roots by watching Gaelic football, vising the Irish land. Catholic holidays also bring his family Cultural Center in Chicago and traveling to together, whether it be Easter Sunday Mass Ireland at least once a year. or celebrating the sacraments.

Being engaged with Irish culture is espeSt. Patrick’s Day also offers McTigue and cially important to Nigel McGrath, Peader’s his family an opportunity to host a party for friends and family. McTigue estimates that father and a first-generation immigrant.

Nigel came to America in 1994 because he there are about 30 people present at this annual party. They eat Irish food, mainly pota- had won a green card to the United States, and he wanted to pursue a future here. toes, and enjoy each other’s company.

He originally settled in Chicago before McTigue believes St. Patrick’s Day festivities downtown during the parade do not moving to Mount Prospect to start a family. reflect the way the holiday should be cele- He believes being Irish pushed him to expand his horizons and take a chance. brated.

“I came to this country with nothing,” NiThe St. Patrick’s Day parade is attended by hundreds of thousands of people in the gel said. “I literally came here with a ruckLoop, and crowds often create problems. Ac- sack, but I had nothing to lose. I wanted to take that chance.” cording to the website Crime in Wrigleyville Now that Nigel has been living here for and Boystown, there were 17 arrests on St. over 20 years, he feels a stronger connection Patrick’s Day last year. to the country he previously called home.

“It seems like [St. Patrick’s Day parade] is “That’s the thing about Irish-Americans just an excuse to have a good time,” McTigue – we’re more involved in our heritage than said. some people in Ireland,” Nigel said. “We However, McTigue does not condemn the can’t get enough of it here.” drinking and understands that people will

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Junior Adrian Perez The Boyfriend

Junior Megan Pfeiffer

KISS ME I’M IRISH: Sophomore Peader McGrath and freshman Liam McGrath pose with their dad on a trip to Ireland to visit family (top). Junior Mary Clare Morley holds the trophy she and her Irish dance team received after they won the World’s Competition (left).

Senior Brian McTigue visits Louth, Ireland with his family. All four students embrace their Irish heritage year-round (photos courtsey of Nigel McGrath, Mary Clare Morley, and Brian McTigue).

Favorite store?

Dream vacation?

Best event 7th period Favorite TV swimming? show? class?

Nordstrom

England

Backstroke

Art

P

P

P

House of Cards

Nordstrom

Rome

Backstroke

Art

Modern Family

Nordstrom

France

Butterfly

Religions

Bones

W I N N E R

The Subject

B

Y et to u er?

Junior Katie Robsinson The Best Friend

P

X

prospectornow.com

March 11, 2016

Motivation In-depth: food for thought

Cubs trivia artsy apps

Think you know food? Check out our online in-depth look at food and how it affects students, master chefs or not.

Entertainment

Goodwe're vs vegan What listening to

Check out our guide to the best artistic apps and how to use them, ranging from photography to coloring.

13

Take your music taste to new directions with Erin Schultz’s review of the Icelandic band Sigur Ros.

Head to prospectornow.com for breaking news, videos, contests and more!

Social media diminishes long distance issues

BY MARCI KISZKIEL Associate-Editor-in-Chief

T

he golden rule for quirky coffee shops everywhere: “no, we don’t have wi-fi. Talk to each other.”

Social media is often criticized for making our internet-savvy generation antisocial and valuing only the battery-life of our smartphones.

What critics seem to forget is that it it’s called “social” media for a reason.

According to the Pew Research Center, 72 percent of teens spend time with friends through social media, and 52 percent, including myself, have made new friends online.

Had I never signed up for the blogging site Tumblr, I would have never met my best friend Jessi (who uses they/them pronouns) because Jessi lives in Orlando, which is 1,154 miles away from the windy city I call home. Our story began our freshman year after mutually following each other on Tumblr for a while and solely interacting by silently liking and reblogging each other’s posts.

One day, I finally sent Jessi a message 1,154 MILES: One of my closest friends, Jessi (left), sits and texts me (right) to congratulate them for reaching a milestone in their follower count. I wasn’t from Orlando, Florida while I read their message here in Mount Prospect. I met really expecting much back aside from a Jessi on Tumblr three years ago, and without social media I would have never quick acknowledgment that I’d sent it at gotten to meet my best friend. (photo graphic by Cassidy Selep) the most.

Instead, we continued to message each other back and forth before exchanging halls, and I can’t go see a movie with them, I’d be limited to the people living in my Skypes. Because we followed each other on but they still have a major impact on my life. area and I would have never gotten the Tumblr, we knew we had a variety of mutual There is rarely a point where the two of chance to interact with such a diverse interests, ranging from TV shows to art, so us aren’t texting each oth- group of people. we quickly became friends. er, and all of my friends Not only is social media an opportuniSocial media helps Fast forward three know about Jessi and frety to meet people, but it makes interaction years, and Jessi and I mesquently ask how they’re easier. By no means have I ever been an sage each other every day. strengthen relationships doing or what’s going on outgoing or extroverted person, especially Few of the friends I see in in their life. According to not my freshman year, but I’ve been able person on a daily basis Jessi, the same goes for me. to have these positive online relationships because it takes away know me the way Jessi Through social media because there’s a screen in front of me indoes.

I’ve also gotten to meet othstead of a face. barriers that can keep However, some may arer people from all across Interacting with people in a digital gue that an online friendthe country and even a few space is much more relaxed and informal, you from interacting with ship isn’t the same as an reaching as far away as which helps me get over the anxiety in sooffline one. Sure, I don’t Canada and Turkey. cial situations and open up more. see Jessi every day in the someone..

Without social media, Social media also helps strengthen re-

Teachers, students weigh in on concert experiences

BY ISABELLE ROGERS Executive Entertainment Editor

that’s normally not used for concert venues — the bigger festivals are the ones I like the best. So whether it’s Lollapalooza Soon after social science teacher Jonor Electric Daisy Carnival, they change athon Kaminsky arrived at the festival grounds in Belgium, he started playing soc- the environment and you feel like you’ve been transportcer with another ed to a world festival attendee.

2016 Lollapalooza rumors that’s differAfter talking, Tickets go on sale: 3/22 at 10 AM ent,” Kaminsky he found out that said. this man was also M83 Even though a high school soPast Lollas: 2005, 2012 he prefers bigcial science teachger venues, er. In fact, the man Kaminsky worked in Addison Jane’s Addiction understands Trail, Illinois.

Past Lollas: 1991, 2003, 2009, 2011 why some people Though Kaminlike senior Cara sky agrees that Radiohead Edstrom prefer there are many Past Lollas: 2008 smaller concerts. different pros and He believes smallcons of different er venues are difvenues and festiLCD Soundsystem ferent and more vals, such as the Past Lollas: 2007 intimate. ambience of the Instead of sharconcert or the Kanye West ing the same favornumber of attendPast Lollas: 2006, 2008, 2011 ite songs and moees, the people you ments of a concert meet and share that Red Hot Chili Peppers with thousands of experience with other fans, many makes the advenPast Lollas: 1992, 2006, 2012, 2014 find it appealing ture worth-while. to share those moKaminsky says The 1975 ments with just a that he appreciates Past Lollas: None few hundred. when concerts and “There is this festivals change idea of music the original ambiwhere people want to experience something ence of the setting to fit the festival. “[Production companies] take an area that not a lot of people have, that makes you

lationships because it takes away barriers that can keep you from interacting with someone such as distance, money or motivation to hang out, and it provides people with the opportunity to develop social and communication skills by navigating a public space (that space just happens to be digital).

Often we seem to forget that the point of social media is the social part. Just because people are interacting with each other through their phones rather than meeting up face-to-face doesn’t make those interactions any less meaningful. Social media is simply a new way to communicate, not the downfall of humanity.

Fun things to do with someone who lives hundreds of miles away

Playing online games

skype study groups

Mailing each other gifts

movies and video-chats

Festivals around Chicago Riot Fest and Carnival Est. 2005 Rock of any generation 2016 headliners: N/A

Northcoast Est. 2009 EDM and rap 2016 headliners: N/A

Pitchfork Est. 2015 Forward-thinking music 2016 headliners: Sufjan Stevens, Beach House

Windy City Lakeshake Est. 2016 Country music 2016 headliners: Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum

If the crowd by Kaminsky is ever mean or feel more special to it,” Kaminsky said. “If you’re in a venue with 100 thousand people, aggressive, he leaves and finds another spot to enjoy instead of making the you’re not that close to experience any less than what it the [performer] or expe“There is this idea of could be. riencing it.” music where people Ultimately, Kaminsky beContrary to Kaminwant to experience lieves that it’s not the size that sky, Edstrom prefers makes a concert, but rather the smaller crowds when something that not a rest of the crowd. at concerts and festilot of people have, “The important part that peovals because she hates that makes you feel ple dismiss is the crowd around the pushiness of big you,” Kaminsky said. “If you crowds, so when she atmore special to it.” have a crowd that’s mean or only tends big festivals like semi-interested in the actual Lollapalooza she tends Jonathon Kaminsky, show, it’s not that fun of a time, to stay in the back of the crowd where the crowd social science teacher but concerts are great because you guys all share something in is much more tame. common: a like for that particuEdstrom always tries lar band. If it’s singing along, if to make the most of the adventure by going with friends she enjoys it’s dancing, if it’s experiencing it together – I think that’s the best sort of concert.” spending time with, staying hydrated and enjoying the music.

14

Sports

March 11, 2016

prospectornow.com

Getting a fresh start ...

Softball

As spring approaches, teams gear up for their seasons.

Coaches and players have been hard at work during the off-season at open gyms and preseason workouts.

By: Jack Ankony and Ben Dojutrek Boys’ Gymnastics

Girls’ Water Polo

Boys’ gymnastics coach Julian Basler, who has coached gymnastics for 20 years total and 16 at Prospect, explains that this season he wants to see the boys to grow as gymnasts.

“I want to make it to state again, for multiple events, but mainly parallel bars,” sophomore Jack D’Onofrio said. “I’m excited for meets and learning new skills mainly.”

Basler hopes each gymnast can feel they got something beneficial out of Prospect gymnastics.

D’Onofrio, who made it to state as a freshman last year, is striving to repeat that accomplishment.

“We are still learning new skills every day,” Basler said. “So it’s pretty exciting here, cheering each other on and trying to improve.”

According to head coach Natalie Tucker, this year is a rebuilding year for not only the Knights, but the entire MSL. “It is a wide open field for who’s going to achieve greatness,” Tucker said. “What we need to do in order to come out on top is to put our noses to the grindstone.”

With the MSL in mind, the Knights will rely on their seniors, including goalie Lauren Broz. Broz has been the Knights’ varsity goalie for four years and hopes to close out this season by achieving an individual goal that has long eluded her.

“My goal is to be named all-state. I’ve gotten all-regional and all-sectional the past few years,” Broz said. “I want to finally finish [by] being named all-state.”

According to Tucker, if this year’s team is going to succeed, the team just needs to focus.

“Water polo season is very intense; you play five to six games a week,” Tucker said. “You have to keep your eyes on the prize.”

photo by Cassidy Selep

photo courtesy of The Crest

Girls’ Badminton Head coach Jean Rezny, who has coached badminton since 1984, is excited to work with the younger players in the program. Rezny hopes the team can finish in the top six of the MSL. After losing a lot of seniors last year, senior Jazzmine Klopack hopes some of the younger players will step up.

“We have a lot of young players, so it is kind of a rebuilding year,” Rezny said. “But I’m looking forward to working with the young players and seeing improvement.”

Klopack said, “My goal is to make it to state. Last year I was a point away from going to state, so I’m looking forward to improving and achieving that.”

This year, girls’ softball is coming off a 12-9 season. Head coach Jim Adair considers the team to be young, so he may start as many as six sophomores.

Adair is ultimately not concerned about the team’s youth, believing that practicing and just playing the games builds a stronger team.

“The expectation when you start six-to-seven sophomores is that they need to adjust,” Adair said.

Adair also believes that the team has one of the hardest schedules, starting with the three strongest teams in the MSL: Schaumburg, Conant and Fremd. Regardless, Adair just wants his to team to be mentally ready.

“You have to be ready to play.

If you show up and are disinterested, you’re going to lose,” Adair said. “What I like about this team is that they all come ready.”

Boys’ Tennis In head coach Brad Rathe’s first season as the varsity boys’ tennis coach, his main goal is to win the MSL East. He hopes to bring his competitive nature and positive spirit to the team as part of his coaching style. “[Tennis] should definitely be a fun activity,” Rathe said.

“Once it starts to become a job or task, you just don’t tend to be as good.”

Senior David Slupski said, “Last year, we came up just short of winning the East. So this year I’m going to come to practice everyday [and] be a role model for the younger players.”

prospectornow.com

March 11, 2016

Sports

15

photo by Calla Flanagan

Girls’ Track and Field

Girls’ Soccer This season, the girls’ varsity soccer team is looking to improve off of what senior defense/defensive midfielder Michelle Haaning considers a rebuilding year. Haaning thinks the team will be more successful than last year when they went 6-14-1 because of the amount of returning players they have this year. A game Haaning has her sights set on is against rival Hersey.

“Last season we had a lot of new people on varsity and it was kind of like a building year,” Haaning said. “I’m really looking forward to this season because we have a lot of returning varsity players and I think we should be able to be a better team than last year even with the loss of some key players.”

Head coach Tom Froats is excited to see how each individual improves and comes together as a team.

“We always go into the season with high expectations, so that stretches you as a person, player and teammate,” Froats said. “I think when you get to the level we are playing at there are a lot of talented teams, but what separates those teams is the team chemistry and how much those individuals are willing to work and battle and sacrifice for each other.”

photo by Cassidy Selep

Boys’ Volleyball According to head coach Mike Riedy, the team is hoping to win a regional this year. The regional tournament is at Prospect, so Riedy and the team are looking forward to using home court as an advantage. Last year the team went 22-13.

“We have the same expectations as every year, which is to work hard,” Riedy said. “All I ever ask out of them is to do their best and be dedicated.”

Key returning senior Liam Benson is also hoping to have a positive end to the season.

“I’m really looking forward to ending my senior year on a high note,” Benson said. “We have a lot of new guys, so it will be interesting to see how we all work together and build bonds that will make us a great team, but [the] sky’s the limit for us.”

According to head coach Pete Wintermute, girls’ track and field started this year with the indoor season. This allowed players to train and participate in an earlier, more relaxed environment.

“We have a lot of girls with experience and ability,” Wintermute said.

“The main goal for the offseason is to get in shape and be ready.”

The Knights’ main goal for this year is to qualify for state again. According to Wintermute, key players for this season are junior Brooke Wilson and seniors Maya Mason, Jes Skudlarek and Brenda Kendziera.

Kendziera is ultimately excited for her last season with the Knights, believing that the team aspect of track is critical for success.

“You can’t do good if your teammates don’t have your back,” Kendziera said. “If you go into a race and no one’s there to help you through it, you’re going to have an awful time.”

Boys’ Track and Field Head coach Frank Mirandola expects big things from the boys’ track and field team this season since they have won the MSL East 12 of the last 15 years.

“Expectations are high [for the season],” Mirandola said. “We anticipate qualifying people for the state meet, but to do that there is a lot of hard work that goes into it. I think our preseason and early season work will really pay dividends down the stretch.”

Senior Brady Schwartz, who participates in the 100, 200, 4x100, 4x200, long jump and triple jump, believes the team has a good chance to send the relay teams down to state as well as individual runners and throwers.

“I’m looking forward to leaving a legacy in my final season, but also for our team having a great chance to win a conference championship,” Schwartz said. “I will try my hardest to lead by example and listen to the coaches, and through that the other guys will see what they should be doing.”

Junior Vince Shields, who throws shot put and discus, hopes to help lead the throwers and improve on his personal records, which are 42.11 feet for shot put and 120.5 feet for discus.

“I’ll really be trying to improve this year. [I want to] get stronger and improve [my] technique,” Shields said.

photo by Cassidy Selep

Boys’ Baseball

Boys’ Water Polo

Baseball kicked off its preseason by participating in a summer league.

“We have the summer league to give us an evaluation of the kids coming back for next year,” head coach Ross Giusti said.

According to Giusti, the one thing that the team lacks is varsity experience because the Knights lost 19 seniors from last year.

However, senior pitcher Pasquale Atteo is not worried about the team’s relative inexperience.

“We have a lot of talent,” Atteo said. “I think we could compete for a top spot in conference.”

According to Giusti, the team’s main goal for this year is to be consistently successful after making great strides last year. The team went 28-8 last year and tied for the MSL East. Giusti believes that to be successful, the team needs to continue focusing on their pitching and defense.

“We got a number of kids who just pound the strike zone,” Giusti said. “This allows for plays to be made.”

Boys’ water polo is trying to continue building their program. According to head coach Steve Grzybek, the main goal this year is to keep moving forward in the MSL. “Last year a lot of people were interested in making the program grow,” Grzybek said. “We are now trying to get guys to push past limits they couldn’t before.”

The team believes they need to break those limits if they are going to push past perennial favorite Wheeling High School.

According to Grzybek, the Knights will have to rely on key seniors to lead the team forward. Those seniors include Matt Culliton, Jack Gabriel and Isaac Ginnodo.

Culliton believes that the key to success is the team’s closeness.

“I’m looking forward to our continuing development, [and] we’re all basically friends. It’s a tight group,” Culliton said. “We lost some guys last year, but a lot of people have stepped up and taken bigger, stronger roles.”

photo courtesy of The Crest

SPORTS

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2016

SHARP SHOOTER

BOys' basketball The boys’ basketball team wrapped up their season on Saturday. Follow their

Senior Angelina Villisan won the class 4A 3-point competition. Read her story

post-season run here. prospectornow.com

here.

prospectornow.com

Wrede wraps up final season as Knight

BY RYAN MOLINI Executive Sports Editor

S

enior Luke Wrede snapped the ball with eight seconds remaining in this year’s homecoming football game against Rolling Meadows. Seconds later, he helped push the offensive line and running back Bobby Jarosz over the goal line, edging the Knights over the Mustangs in a dramatic finish.

“I ended up on the bottom of the pile, but I can vividly remember looking to my right and seeing the referee running down the goal line with his arms up,” Luke said.

“That feeling is just unforgettable. … When I think about high school, I’m always going to remember that play.”

That play stands as Luke’s favorite high school memory.

According to his older brother and 2013 graduate Jackson, who is now a sophomore at the University of Notre Dame, his lasting memory from high school came when he won the wrestling regional championship his junior year.

Sports have always run in the Wrede family. In fact, heading into this spring, Luke and Jackson have played a total of 24 seasons combined of sports in just high school. Both brothers have classified under a diminishing type of student at Prospect — three-sport athletes.

Luke and Jackson take after their father, Carl, who played football and baseball for East Aurora High School. Carl’s influence on the boys playing sports dates back to their childhood playing in the backyard.

According to Carl, Luke and Jackson being similar in age really helped bring out the competition early in the two brothers. Their father, having played sports, encouraged Jackson to participate and follow athletes on TV. Luke, looking up to his older brother, saw Jackson take an interest in sports and decided he enjoyed the competition it brought, too.

“Some people just have that competitive

NO DAYS OFF: Senior Luke Wrede poses with five different jerseys he’s worn in high school representing three different sports (football, basketball, baseball). Luke has participated in 12 athletic seasons during his time at Prospect and is currently in his last season as a Knight on the baseball diamond this spring. (photo by Ryan Molini) nature in them, and playing sports is a good way to get it out,” Jackson said.

Luke started both baseball and basketball at 5 years old and football at 8 years old. Luke continued with the three sports all throughout middle school, which led to him playing on feeder basketball and travel baseball.

Heading into high school, Luke and Jackson always knew they would be participating in their respective sports.

“I thought of it as an expectation for myself,” Luke said. “[It would feel] weird not participating in all of them [and] going home after school at a regular time. It [wouldn’t feel] right.”

Initially, Luke felt the need to participate as much as possible in high school because his brother was heavily involved. According

to Luke, as he progressed in his high school career, he then got used to the fact that he didn’t have an offseason.

Jackson felt the same way Luke did entering high school and wanted to take advantage of his opportunities being able to play football, baseball and wrestle.

“I felt like if I wasn’t going to be busy, I wasn’t making the most of my time in high school,” Jackson said.

Both brothers agree that they definitely would have stayed involved in some way by joining other clubs or teams if it had not been for sports at Prospect.

“It’s a dying breed,” offensive line coach Tim Beishir said.

Two of Prospect’s latest of this “dying breed” have been Luke and Jackson. Beishir has taken note that it is no coincidence that

the two brothers are among such a small population. “[Luke and Jackson] both have the internal innate fire. The intrinsic motivation is there for both of them,” Beishir said. “And that’s why they were superb [in football].”

Beishir also noted that Jackson and Luke have a similar record when it comes to consecutive games started on varsity. The two started playing varsity football their sophomore year. In fact, when Luke was a sophomore he played alongside Jackson on the offensive line, a season their mother, Jodi, says is one of her favorite moments of the two’s athletic careers.

Although they did play similar sports, Beishir and Luke agree there are differences in between the type of athletes Luke and Jackson are.

According to Luke, he is better at skill-oriented sports that involve hand-eye coordination while Jackson is able to out-hustle and out-fight most of his competition in sports.

Despite their differences, Beishir described both Wredes as “rocks of the programs” during their time in the football program.

According to Beishir, Luke started 27 consecutive games on varsity. Beishir calls this a testament to the respect he received in the program and the leadership he gave to the football team. “[Luke] was pretty close to [being] an [offensive-line] coach on the field,” Beishir said.

Luke and Jackson also have younger siblings who participate in sports as well. Tessa, their younger sister, who is 13 years old, plays club volleyball. Brock, their younger brother, who is 8 years old, participates in baseball and basketball. “[Brock especially] has shown a competitiveness about him,” Jackson said. “I think he looks up to me and Luke as role models. … The culture of the Wrede family has been sports. I guess we’ll see [what Brock does].

But I certainly have high expectations for him.”

Leblebijian goes pro, leaves mark on baseball program

BY DEVIN PRASAD Executive Sports Editor

Where are they now?

As ‘09 Prospect graduate Jason Canberra Cavalry. Last season Leblebijian sat at home surroundhe started off in Low-A but moved ed by his family, his telephone up to High-A. In total, he hit .245 rang, and when he picked it up, he overall last season with 53 RBIs was greeted by the voice of a memand a .960 fielding percentage. ber of the Toronto Blue Jays staff.

Heading into high school, LebLeblebijian heard the news that lebijian knew he wanted to play he had been waiting for: the Blue baseball, but his focus was mainJays had drafted him to become a ly on basketball since playing professional baseball player. hoops in college was his The news came in the dream.

25th round of the 2012 Sophomore year, MLB draft after Lebthat changed. After lebijian completed making the varsihis junior year of ty baseball team, college at BradLeblebijian realley University. ized that baseball The Blue Jays had was something he little previous concould and was willtact with Leblebijiing to pursue in colan; however, on draft n lege and beyond. day they signed him.

Jas on Leblebijia His sophomore year, “It was a great experihead coach Ross Giusti also began ence knowing that all the work to recognize that Leblebijian was I did in high school and college highly talented. was starting to pay off, and I could “There are certain kids that continue my dream of playing pro you have over the years that you ball,” Leblebijian said. know have it,” Giusti said. “They Prior to the draft, Leblebijian just have that God-given, natural played varsity baseball at Prosability to play the game, and what pect for three years. Following sets [Leblebijian] apart is that his high school, he played baseball baseball IQ is through the roof.” at Bradley University for three However, it took Leblebijian years. an injury to the elbow, which sideNow he is entering his fourth lined him his entire sophomore year as a member of the Blue Jays season, to realize how much he organization and just finished really loved the game of baseball. a season in Australia where he “Sitting out made me realize was named MVP of his team the

things to be able to work harder [at to] get where I am now,” Leblebijian said.

When Leblebijian returned to the team, he began to emerge as a leader, according to Giusti.

“His actions speak louder than words. [They] always have,” Giusti said. “He hustles on and off the field. It’s either lead, follow or get out of the way, and Jason was just a natural leader. In that mold, he helped to create future leaders in our program.”

Johnny Larson, one of Leblebijian’s friends and teammates in high school, said that Leblebijian always wanted to be play baseball.

He recalls times where Leblebijian would pick him up in the rain and take him to field ground balls.

Larson explained that Leblebijian prided himself on making players around him better.

“He is honestly one of the hardest working people I know,” Larson said. “He would never mess around in high school. He knows what he is doing, and he is a smart guy. He really is an outstanding human being.”

During Leblebijian’s senior year on varsity, the team had a lot of sophomores. Once those sophomores became seniors, they made it down to state in 2011. Giusti feels that Leblebijian’s model of leadership allowed the team that

Jason Leblebijian’s professional statistics

67 53

career doubles

RBIs in 2015

.980

fielding % in 112 games at 2nd base

state run.

Beyond that season, Giusti feels Leblebijian has had a lasting impact on the program. He still comes back and cares for his community and former team. In the off season he works at the Athletic Barn, a local training facility, to help kids learn the game.

Giusti believes that love for his community outweighs his on-field success. He also feels it is humbling to know that someone who has had so much success is able to care for his former team.

Last baseball season, for example, Leblebijian was able to meet up with the team on their trip down to Florida, remind them to stay out of their own heads and focus on having fun with the game.

When Leblebijian made his

transition to college, he moved into the Missouri Valley Conference, which is regarded highly as one of the best baseball conferences in America, according to Giusti.

He was able to start right away, and by his sophomore year when Giusti came to visit him, Leblebijian was already making big time plays in the hole at shortstop.

“He made a couple plays in the hole that were just above and beyond what we had anticipated,” Giusti said. “It was great to see ... him play in an actual Division I ballgame ... and see that he had improved so much over a two year period of time.

“He was great in high school, but to see him perform at an elite level didn’t surprise us but made us realize, ‘Hey, he can take this one step further.”’

Following his last season in High-A, Leblebijian is excited for what the future holds. He is at spring training with the Blue Jays now, but beyond that he is unsure of where the game will take him.

He continues to keep working hard but has been a person focused on goals. He believes that once you achieve your goals, you will begin to let up.

“No matter where they put me, my job is just to play the game,” Leblebijian said. “My main goal on a daily basis is to be the best competitor on the field.”