Students participating in battlebots competed in the annual district competition last week on Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28. One of the WHS’s four robots placed second in the district.

“We went to the competition knowing we were going to try our best, but we knew that competition was going to be very difficult. The accomplishment was truly amazing and it took a lot of teamwork to make it happen. It is definitely something we are all very proud of and could not be happier with the outcome,” Theodore Fousekis, sophomore, said.

Fousekis was the leader of the team that built the second place robot.

The battlebots competition is held each year at one of the district schools. There are roughly 30 to 35 robots competing each year, and teams are placed randomly into a bracket to determine individual matches. WHS had four robots compete this year.

Students have been working on designing and building their robots since August.

“From the design phase, students grouped into four different teams and from those teams they took the designs and they manufactured everything in our lab. From design it went to manufacturing and the past few months we’ve been assembling everything together,” Thomas Steinbach, battlebots sponsor, said.

Marcin Sobas, junior, was one of the team leaders as well this year, and believes his team’s robot performed well in the competition thanks to the design and manufacturing process running smoothly.

“(The year) went well with the exception of some hiccups along the way,” Sobas said. “(Our robot) ended up doing pretty well and mostly received cosmetic damage.”

Michael Geist, battlebots sponsor, claims that one of the major changes between this year and previous years has been the improved organization of the teams and process of creating the robots, which made the transition from design to manufacturing to assembly much easier.

“The flow from design to finished project has been much more organized. We’ve found better ways to utilize our time. As far the designing process and the manufacturing process, it’s been a lot more organized this year,” Mr. Geist said.

As a team leader, Fousekis saw that organization and teamwork were two of the most important aspects of building a successful robot this year.

“It was definitely difficult. One of the most important things we learned this year was that without teamwork you don’t get very far. When there were disagreements, or people didn’t like what was going on, it made it very difficult to work. I definitely think that when we were able to work and come together as a team successfully, everything went the way we wanted it to and we were able to accomplish the goals we had set at the beginning of the year,” Fousekis said.

According to Sean Dulkoski, sophomore, one of the most rewarding aspects of battlebots is seeing the team’s creations come to life during the competition.

“Battlebots is like being a parent in some

ways. You start off small, and slowly but surely you add on pieces that you deem necessary for the child to succeed. And then, when your children is grown and shines, you throw that child into life. Some fail and are torn limb from limb and top plate from top plate, others are defeated but grow stronger from it and win battles to come, and some rise to the occasion and succeed with flying colors and weapon blades,” Dulkoski said.

According to Mr. Steinbach, while having a robot win second place in the competition was nice, the ultimate goal of battlebots is to gain experience and make manufacturing and engineering fun.

“The cool thing is it’s not just the manufacturing and the metal working, but the kids actually wired up the bots so they learned a little bit about the basics on electrical engineering and troubleshooting wiring problems. At the end of the day, yeah we want to win, but just going out and destroying another robot and building something that moves and you can drive with a remote control is what’s fun,” Mr. Steinbach said.

Students in the Introduction to Nanotechnology classes have been working on original research projects that they will be presenting tomorrow, March 7 in the IJAS Regional science fair. The students will be competing in the project session of the fair.

Students in the Intro to Nanotech class spend their third term conducting research projects with the help of mentors from various universities, graduate programs and local industries.

“We try to tie all the projects into research that they can do with the equipment in the lab. It’s a science fair project, but with the cool equipment we have in here. They’re trying to go beyond what some students can do in other places,” Carol Bouvier, nanotechnology teacher, said.

Zoe Maglaris, senior, has been working on a project to develop an antibacterial material with her partner, Simi Kang, senior.

“Both of us are looking into the medical field so both of us decided that we wanted to do something with making an antibacterial material, which could be beneficial to the medical field,” Maglaris said.

Maglaris and Kang will present a poster and 38 page research paper at the science fair.

Kyle Levy and Vincent Parra, seniors, have been using the equipment in the nanotechnology lab to look at nanoparticles that could have the potential to attack cancer cells.

“It’s something that peaks my interest definitely. Who wouldn’t want to be doing cancer research in high school? It’s something I find really cool,” Levy said.

Isabel Chan and Hiba Fakhoury, seniors, have been researching seeds coat morphology and working with Dr. Louise Egerton, a mentor from Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Gardens, to complete their research.

“I chose to do a comparative study on seed coat morphology because I’ve always been interested in anthropology and history, and I thought that project would best suit my interest since it related to genetics and the history of seeds,” Chan said.

Chan and Fakhoury both presented at a wildlife conference at the University of Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 31. Forest preserve managers at the conference were able to ask the students questions and use their findings to support research relating to prairie conservation.

A lot of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s (CBG) research is related to is prairie restoration and working with plants in the area. (CBG’s) research was looking at the effects of heat and fire and smoke and how it relates to prairie burnings to see how regular prairie seeds would behave. We don’t have a lot of prairie in Illinois, but they’ve done a lot of work to maintain what we do have. Forest preserves are interested in this,” Ms. Bouvier said.

Students in both Ms. Bouvier’s and Lisa Del Muro’s nanotechnology classes will be presenting tomorrow. If their work is selected for the state science fair, they will continue to work on and revise their research. Students will also be submitting their work to the Positive Impact competition that will be held at WHS in April.

According to Levy, the projects were more challenging than he expected them to be, but he is excited to present his work at the science fair.

“It’s all been a lot more work than I expected. It’s definitely a lot of hard work and it takes a lot of patience,” Levy said.

SpokesmanVolume 51 Issue 6 Wheeling High School 900 S. Elmhurst Road Wheeling, Ill. 60090 March 6, 2015

Page 3Artist of the Month: Paige McCoy shines in Orchesis show

Page 5Students debate importance of standing during the Pledge of Allegiance

Page 11Previews of upcoming baseball and softball seasons

Read More Onlinewheelingspokesman.com

Kelly McKewin

Co-Editor-in-Chief

Kelly McKewin

Co-Editor-in-Chief

Photos: Slideshow of last weekend’s Orchesis show

Photos: Battlebot’s competition photo slideshow

Kelly McKewin Jean Pabon Courtesy Of Lair

Nanotechnology class conducts original research

Battlebots bridges engineering and entertainment

Left: Ferdinando Defrenza and Jonathan Blackwell, sophomores, tighten the screws on their robot after it competed. Middle: Multiple robots compete in the “Robot Rumble.” “We’ve been working all year to design these battlebots and we finally get to put them to the test,” Theodore Fousekis, sophomore, said. Right: Brian Dardon, junior, and Sean Dulkoski, sophomore, make repairs to their robot.

Top: Eric Rivas, senior, analyzes samples for his project in the lab during his third period Intro to Nanotechnology class. Bottom: Isabel Chan, senior, presents her research at the University of Illinois as part of the Wild Things Conference, a Chicago Wilderness conference.

Courtesy of District 214

Jean Pabon

On Tuesday, March 3, after taking the PLAN test, all freshmen students attended a presentation in the theater relating to their end-of-the-year charitable aid project.

Due to changes in testing dates this year, freshmen, sophomores and juniors all tested on the same day; however, the PLAN test ended about an hour earlier than the ACT and IACT, leaving the freshmen with time to attend the presentation.

The presentation consisted of a film, “Tony,” created by the Invisible Children foundation. The film was intended to inspire students to begin thinking about the charitable aid projects they will complete at the end of the year.

“I had heard about it before, but seeing the actual film and seeing how they actually live was kind of hard, but it was also an eye-opener to see that people have to go through so much,” Leslie Diaz, freshman, said.

Serena Schnekenburger, freshman,

thought the film was engaging and found that it kept her interest, despite watching it after spending over three hours testing.

“(The presentation) was alright. Like everyone else, I just wanted to go home because we had testing, but it was something I would have probably watched sooner or later,” Schnekenburger said. “It was interesting. It was really cool to find out about a different country than here.”

Fiorella Ghiorsi, freshman, said the presentation inspired her to want to make a difference in the world.

“The presentation was very inspiring. It made me want to make a change in the world,” Ghiorsi said.

Diaz also found the presentation motivating.

“Seeing (it) made me want to do something or to just be a better person overall,” Diaz said.

All freshmen will complete a research project in May in which they research the positive changes that a particular charitable organization makes on the world and later present their information. Tuesday’s presentation was designed to give all of the freshmen a common background with work that charitable aid organizations do as they begin to think about their projects.

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March 6, 2015News2

Turnabout tickets will be on sale during all lunch periods next week from Monday to Friday.

Winter sports awards night will take place on Monday, March 9 at 7 p.m.

Spring Break will begin at the dismissal of classes on Friday, March 20. There will be a 1:50 p.m. dismissal.

Finals will take place on Wednesday, April 1, and Thursday, April 2.

There will be no school on Friday, April 3, in observance of Good Friday and Monday, April 6 due to an Institute day.

AVID and Omni Youth Services will be co-sponsoring WHS’s first ever 5k run on Saturday, April 18. Registration is $30. All proceeds will go towards AVID scholarships and Omni Youth Services.

Graphic by Kelly McKewin

Freshmen attend post-testing presentation

Kulczak receives perfect AP Economics score

Scholastic bowl, math team compete, succeed

The varsity scholastic bowl team and the math team have succeeded recently. The scholastic bowl team recently won the Mid-Suburban League (MSL) East Division and placed second overall in the MSL conference. The math team tied with Buffalo Grove High School for first place in the district meet, bringing them to their fourth consecutive year of winning the district meet and is also sending students to state in two different events. The junior and senior eight person team qualified for state, as well as the two person junior and senior team, consisting of Carl Delos Santos, senior, and Tyler Neuman, senior.

As far as the scholastic bowl team goes, this is one of the first years in which the varsity team has made the MSL championship. The team also had a successful regular season, losing only one match to Rolling Meadows High School.

“I as disappointed with our final Rolling Meadows game, but otherwise I think we did quite well. It was a good season,” Wade Degraff, senior, said. “In every other one of my three years, we’ve done decent, but not great. This year we only lost one match in the regular season.”

According to Delos Santos, participating in the

championship scholastic bowl match was a nerve-wracking experience.

“I was very anxious while we were up there,” Delos Santos said.

Degraff was proud of the team’s season, but was disappointed with the final loss to Barrington High School in the MSL championship.

“I was a little disappointed that we got slaughtered so badly,” Degraff said. “It was nerve-wracking while we were up there.”

Delos Santos was happy with the way the season went, as he didn’t expect for the scholastic bowl team to become East Division champions.

“I was very surprised we got that far,” Delos Santos said.

The team will compete in regionals on Monday, March 9.

The math team also had a successful end to its season. The junior and senior two and eight person teams qualified for state at the regional meet held at Stevenson High School on Saturday, Feb. 28.

At the district meet on Wednesday, Feb. 4, the team tied with BGHS for first place. Both teams had 196 points, beating out John Hersey High School by 13 points.

Though the team tied for first place, this is the fourth year in a row that the WHS math team has won the district meet.

Freshman students watch the film “Tony” in the theater on Tuesday, March 3 after taking the PLAN test. ““The presentation was very inspiring. It made me want to make a change in the world,” Fiorella Ghiorsi, freshman, said.

Matthew Kulczak, WHS ‘14 graduate, received a perfect score on the Advanced Placement (AP) Microeconomics exam that took place last spring.

Sandra Chico, social sciences teacher, was Kulczak’s AP Economics teacher last year. She exclaimed that she is extremely proud of Kulczak, although she is not completely surprised by his achievement.

“(Kulczak) was a very committed, very serious student. He took his work seriously and wanted to always do well,

but not just well. He wanted to make sure he excelled,” Ms. Chico said.

Ms. Chico does not believe she had the biggest influence on Kulczak’s achievement.

“I think that Matthew (Kulczak) just comes from a terrific family and he’s just one of these individuals that is a person of integrity and honesty and has a good work ethic. He came to me that way; all I did was teach him some economics,” Ms. Chico said.

AP classes are college level courses that students can take as part of their curriculum in high school. Near the end of the school year students can take an AP exam that can make them eligible to receive college credit. The

exam is graded on a five point scale with five being the equivalent to getting an A. Most schools require that students get a three in order to receive credit.

The AP Microeconomics exam is separated into a 70 minute multiple choice portion and a 60 minute free response portion.

In order to receive a perfect score on the exam a student would have to answer each question on the multiple choice portion correctly as well as get full credit on the free response portion.

Earning a perfect score on any AP exam is considered a rare feat. In 2014, only 285 students received a perfect score on any AP test. 57,607

students across the world took the AP Microeconomics exam in 2014, but only 15 people in the world received a perfect score, including Kulczak. He is also the only student in the state of Illinois to have received a perfect score on the exam.

Ms. Chico explained that about 90 percent of her students score somewhere between a three, four, five on the AP test, with about 50 percent of her students receiving a five.

According to Ms. Chico, Kulczak prepared for the AP exam by attending Ms. Chico’s review sessions, purchasing several review books and studying.

Kulczak is currently attending the University of Iowa.

Max Piasecki

Staff Reporter

Kelly McKewin

Co-Editor-in-Chief

Jean Pabon

Photo Editor

John Uhrik

Quintanilla Iridiana Osegura-

Staff Reporter

March 6, 2015 Arts 3

Since her freshman year, Paige McCoy, junior, has worked and thrived in Orchesis. She works hard to accomplish her goals and perfect her skill. McCoy’s motivation as a dancer inspired Diane Rawlinson, Orchesis director, to nominate her as this issue’s Artist of the Month.

McCoy’s skill has been evident to her peers and mentors throughout her time at WHS. She remains determined to perfect every routine and humbly accepts critique better herself.

“Paige picks up movement quickly, maintains the integrity of the movement and always dances ‘full out’. She accepts corrections and feedback then applies them immediately,” said Ms. Rawlinson.

McCoy not only accepts constructive criticism, but also helps other dancers achieve success as well. She helps lead her peers through advising them and helping them gain confidence in their own dancing.

“Paige has helped me gain more confidence in me. In her winter piece for Orchesis, she was challenging and pushing me every day. She has pushed me to be better and I am grateful for that,” said Jasmeen Bahena, junior.

McCoy receives her own inspiration from her dance instructors. Her instructors not only teach her methods of dance, but also show her ways to apply the art outside of the classroom.

“My dance teachers inspire me. They teach me things like technique, but they also teach me things like perseverance, which I can apply to all parts of my life. Their successes in the dance industry show me that I can do that, too,” McCoy said.

McCoy’s skill as a dancer was not achieved easily. During one dance season, McCoy practices for fourteen hours a week. McCoy

says she works hard to be able to share dances with others and show that everyone can take something out of her performance.

“I love that dancing is something you have to work for. A lot of people say things like ‘you’re lucky you can dance’ and it’s like no, it’s not luck. I worked hard for that. I also like that dance can be shared with a lot of people. No matter who you are, you can watch a dance and get something out of it,” said McCoy.

McCoy’s dedication and skill has received recognition beyond the halls of WHS. As a sophomore, McCoy was selected to perform two dances at the National High School

Dance Festival in Miami, Fla. and performed in front of an audience of 1,800. She also received a full scholarship to attend at a summer intensive produced by Inaside Dance Chicago.

Her work at these programs and her recognition as an artist prepares her for her future at WHS and beyond. McCoy says she plans on majoring in dance in college and eventually join a dance company and perform around the world.

Dare to dream: McCoy’s passion drives her success

Abi Cozariuc

Staff Reporter

Left: Paige McCoy, junior and Artist of the Month this issue,, jumping in perfect form at an Orchesis performence.Middle: Bruno Salgado and Diana Wronka, freshmen, perform together in the dance “Scorned Flame.”Right: Members of Orchesis perform the salsa dance that they also performed at the Winter Addembly. Orchesis recruited other students to perform this dance with them.

Orchesis hits the stage in main show

Kelly McKewinCourtesy of WHS Orchesis Dept.

Cool and competitive: Speech team finds success at regionals

On Feb. 14, 2015, the WHS Speech Team pierced its way into regionals. Speakers Matthew Kelly, Abbey Mae Egger, Aidra Crawley and Anna Nars were the four members of the speech team that progressed to finals in the regionals tournament.

“We made it to the finals in regionals which is pretty impressive, because the teams are limited on who they can send for each event, so most teams only send the best. So it makes me happy,” Kelly, junior.

Although the Wheeling Speech team did not manage to go to state, the team took many by surprise, and made a stark improvement compared to the prior years.

“The Wheeling Speech Team is a bit smaller than a lot of the other schools. But I view that as good thing, because it allows us to focus on individual people, and there is a lot more time

for people to meet one on one with coaches and more experienced members,” Kelly said.

The assistance given to the speech members brought up an incentive to improve on the particular flaws that negatively impacted the team.

Henceforth, the Speech Team was able to improve efficiency, and compete more vigorously with the other schools.

“I was so proud that their hard work paid off! We are a mostly new team, so it took us awhile to find our stride. Once they did, however, they earned it!” Jessica Maciejewski, Speech Team coach, said.

Indeed, the Wheeling Speech Team made a stride of accomplishment. Kelly, Egger, Crawley, and Nars represented the potentials that WHS had to manifest in the regional competition.

“I recommend to anyone, that wants to get over their fear of public speaking, to join the speech team,” Kelly said. “And to anyone that wants get into the performing arts, this is a good place to start...I can honestly say from experience that, it only gets funnier and stranger.”

Sulayman Quzi

Staff Reporter

Members of Speech Team practice their speeches by speaking to walls. Matt Kelly, junior, can be seen here practicing speeches by performing to a wall here.

“No matter who you are, you can watch a dance and get something out of it.”

Paige McCoyJunior

Kelly McKewin

Chris Alvarado

March 6, 2015Feature4Behind the scenes: classes don’t begin and end with bells

Erika Pogorzelska

Feature Editor

Erika Pogorzelska

Feature Editor

Many students don’t see the hardships of being a teacher. Some teachers teach a few classes a day, and have the rest of the periods free. Don’t forget, they also get the whole summer off! Awesome, right? Well, that’s not quite how being a teacher is actually like. In fact, it’s very inaccurate from what the reality of what being a teacher includes. Teachers must plan and replan lessons constantly and grade 60 to 100 students’ tests, essays, and labs.

Teachers that don’t have a class Block C don’t necessarily have 90 minutes to eat. Some teachers scarf their food down during a passing period before going to their next class.

“I rarely eat without grading. I try not to get splatters of food on papers but it happens,” Elizabeth Lennon, AP U.S. History teacher, said.

Also, no teacher has a nine hour work day. Teachers have a contract with a 7:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. schedule, but that’s never how long teachers actually work. Every teacher walks out with assignments to grade and things to plan for the future. Ms. Lennon has about 75 AP U.S. History students and grading essays can take from about seven to eight hours. Other assignments take about one to two hours a night.

Teachers are constantly planning and trying to add new things to their plans to engage the students. Ms. Lennon is great at basing her plans off of her class. She acknowledges how sometimes she will have more movement based activities for students that learn better with games for her class, or more document based activities for a class that likes to read.

“It’s a sign of a good teacher when they reflect on how they teach and no teacher can ever say that everything they do everyday is great. I always ask myself what went well and what didn’t, make notes… I’m constantly

changing what I do. I have so many files of old activities of things I tried once and were terrible and things I use every year because it works, because there’s no such thing as perfect,” Ms. Lennon said.

Doing all of this planning takes a lot of time. Teachers aren’t handed a lesson plan by the school. Two teachers that teach the same course can teach the same information in completely different ways.

“The thought process is tradition: I know based on the curriculum what needs to be covered and how long it takes to cover each section. For example, I like to spend 3 days on the 1920s, and I like to think what cool stories or activities we can do in class and how long that would take. Generally, planning out a whole unit and homework and what to do on a day by day basis takes a couple of hours, and that’s not including creating the assignments,” Ms. Lennon said.

Karen Linzmeier, chemistry teacher, also has to prepare labs for both her regular and her AP chemistry classes and grade labs outside of school.

“The biggest difference as a science teacher is the lab set up and takedown as well as keeping track of chemicals. We are given a budget every year to buy chemicals for next year and we aren’t really given much time to do that; it’s kind of on your own time,” Ms. Linzmeier said.

This past week, Ms. Linzmeier had four labs in her regular and AP classes.

“I set up last Friday, I set up on Monday, and I had to make more chemicals for today… so that could take anywhere from two to three hours and that’s not including taking it all down.”

Teachers also do not have summers off. That is one of the biggest myths to being a teacher.

Most teachers are revising their lesson plans and assignments for the following year.

Teachers have workshops to reflect on students test scores and mastery skills in order to make changes to the curriculum or how it’s

taught. Workshops are hard to coordinate with a group of teachers with very different schedules teachers have,. These workshops typically run for four to six hours during the week. Some teachers run summer camps or summer school classes, so their school year is extended past the last day of school.

Snow days, in the moment, seem like an amazing idea, but they are more detramental to the students than the teachers.

“It throws things off a lot because this is an AP class we can’t push everything back due to the AP exam in May. It cuts back on the engaging activities we can do in class but it’s not much more work for me. This year, we had to get rid of a day to go over a test in class. Other times we have to sacrifice fun games or activities,” Ms. Lennon said.

Remember the two cold days following winter break last school year? Well it was right before finals, and it really freaked out some of the teachers.

“I remember being panicked and rushed for a good 10 days trying to get through all the material leading up to the final,” Ms. Lennon said.

Another untrue aspect of teaching is that fine arts teachers ‘don’t have much to do’ or ‘aren’t actually teachers’. Fine arts classes and activities such as band, orchestra, choir, drama, and dance are in and out of school.

Brian Logan, band director, says that 80 to 90 percent of his job is administrating and preparing for the 10% of teaching students he gets to do. For a single event such as jazz band doing very well at Jazz In The Meadows this past weekend, Mr. Logan sends out emails to parents and administrators and writes letters to the school board to get a breakfast and recognition together for the jazz band. He wants the paper to do something on Jazz In The Meadows so he sent in a video along with an article explaining how the bands did… and that’s just one event out of the many competitions WHS’ jazz, marching, and concert

bands attend.“An eight hour day is very rare for me. I do

have a few hours of work I do at home but I spend so much time at school. My typical day is about 12 hours, and it goes up from that,” Mr. Logan said.

When there’s not something happening in the moment, there is always something to plan for in the future, so Mr. Logan is always thinking ahead and planning for next year’s programs when there isn’t something coming up.

“Just the other day I was listening to songs that I think next year’s jazz band could play, or deciding on a show for next years marching band. There is always something to do,” Mr. Logan said.

There is a huge misconception of a teacher’s job being easy. They’ve shown how they don’t get summers off, weekends off, nights off, or even free periods off. A teacher’s job is 24/7. So when you get to sleep in before you wake up at 9 a.m. for summer practice, know that some teacher is already up teaching a class or preparing for next year.

Balancing school with work may seem impossible, but Sabrina Lapalombella, senior, and Abby Greenspan, junior, have proved that it can be fulfilled.

After applying at different places, Pei Wei Asian Diner hired Sabrina on the spot which is in her favor because working at a restaurant is something she’s wanted to do. She works there from Thursday to Monday. Since she does work on school days, instead of driving herself crazy by worrying about homework that needs to be done, she puts herself ahead in her academics.

“My homework would sometimes be done a couple days in advance,” Lapalombella said.

However, Lapalombella has worked on weekdays before. Sometimes she covers someones afternoon shift during the week.

Though her workload is a lot, she still has time for a social life- she tries to make plans

with her friends whenever she is not working. Pei Wei Asian Diner happens to be her first job which provides her money and lessons. She claims that she has learned a lot from working at the restaurant, stating it as life changing.

“I’ve learned a lot of people skills, which I needed because I used to be very shy, and a sense of responsibility, and how to think quick on my feet,” Lapalombella said.

Greenspan also works as a waitress at the Continental Restaurant. Unlike Lapalombella, she only works on Saturday nights, but will take extra shifts if extra help is needed when she is available. Since she only work Saturday nights, she doesn’t have as much trouble on balancing school and her job. Like Lapalombella, she has also learned a lot of lessons that is beneficial to her in the future.

“I’ve learned that having people skills and being able to handle people is very important,” Greenspan said.

Though school is the basis of learning, working can teach people handy life skills.

With meat being such a big part of our lives, many of us omnivores don’t consider the lifestyle of vegetarian or vegans in our daily high school lunch routine. We have the liberty to pick something out from the assembly line in the cafe, a liberty that not all others have.

“I eat a lot of fresh veggies and fruits and it’s much more convenient and affordable to just buy things from the store and pack it in my lunch,” Michaela Wittman, senior, said.

Starting the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle at a young age has shown to provide many benefits, such as a prolonged life and a reduced risk of heart disease, specifically in women.

“I became a vegetarian because I am a huge animal lover! Also, it’s an overall better lifestyle. Well, I bring my lunch everyday because I know that the food I’m eating is 100% meat-product free. I don’t know if the vegetarian food comes

in contact with meat,” Arlene Carlos, senior, said.

Even though being vegan and vegetarian are in the same realm, they’re different in multiple ways. Vegetarians will not consume meat but will eat other animal byproducts, such as milk or eggs. Where vegans will not consume meat or any animal byproducts.

“The only thing I eat at the whs cafeteria is fruit. Even if a salad claims to be vegan, I won’t trust it. I guarantee that 75% people don’t actually know what vegan means. So pretty much the only thing I trust is fruit,” Rhea Joslin, senior said. Joslin packs a lunch on a daily basis, something vegans and vegetarians have seemingly in common.

“Since I am a vegetarian I pack my lunch on a regular basis. If I ever don’t have time to make lunch then I’ll buy a lunch from school. I have had the veggie paninis and mozzarella I never have to go out of my way to find an option for me which is nice. Since I am a vegetarian I buy the potato bowl,” Wittman said.

Locker safety here at WHS has become an issue, especially where gym lockers are concerned. While many students don’t use their regular lockers, some students have not been responsible with their gym lockers, leaving stuff out and sharing lockers.

“Generally speaking, the majority of the students use their PE Locker properly. However, students leave stuff out and wonder why it’s gone. We have given numerous replacement locks out,” Rita Runyard, PE teacher, said. While some students are carelessly leaving their valuables out, another big problem with locker safety occurs when students share lockers. Sharing lockers can land students into trouble if their friend with the

locker combination is not around.“Sharing is the big problem, one will lose their

lock, so their friend says I will share, but when their friend is absent, there’s not much they can do. The bottom line is to not share lockers with anyone,” Ms. Runyard said.

Some students around the school feel it’s important to lock up their stuff and encourage locker safety among their peers.

“As long as you lock your lockers, (your stuff ) can be secure,” Sandra Marban, freshman, said. Students encourage being safe with lockers so they can help each other keep their stuff safe.

“I would encourage (locker safety) because people have stuff that they want to keep safe and I want to help them.” Michael Skorob, freshman, said.

Students are mostly safe with their lockers, but those who aren’t practicing safe locker methods

are setting themselves up for having their things stolen or raising other issues.

Teachers insist that their students are safe with their lockers to protect their valuables, especially since so many students now have iPads and bring their cell phones and other electronic items to school.

“The students have expensive clothes, phones and boots. Plus, now most students have iPads. If you do not lock them up it is a temptation for a few who can not resist. If you want your nice stuff then keep it safe and lock it up,” Runyard said.

Many students can say they have had stuff stolen with the misuse of lockers. For the sake of protecting your possessions, you should be safe with your lockers and don’t share them with other students, as many of your teachers and peers would advise.

Last school year, Spokesman covered two high school DJs getting a head start on their future career. Alex Barcenas, junior, and Marvin Bautista, senior, have both began to experimenting with disc jockeying during high school.

Barcenas gained interest in becoming a DJ when he was eight years old and began to learn the ropes of becoming a DJ from his uncle. By

2013, Barcenas already had his own equiptment setup in his house. Since then, Barcenas has bought new production and is working part time at Eggsperience, a resteraunt at Randhurst, to pay it off.

“A new stage setting to put on my show is what’s going to be new,” Barcenas said.

Barcenas has had a few gigs, his first one being in 2012. In 2014, however, he took a break from gigging but has a gig coming up this month, “Spring Tha Bass” in Cherry Valley, Illinois.

Though Barcenas hasn’t had as many performances, he never stopped producing music.

“I’ve been producing music for hours and hours in my studio. I’ve made 3 good tracks and some remixes, but nothing has been released yet,” Barcenas said.

A little over a year ago, Bautista was new to the game. Bautista was invited to B96’s Boom Entertainment DJ Academy where he learned some new techniques, and six months following landed his first gig at a friend’s birthday.

Though Bautista has kep a spot in his heart for electronic music, he didn’t began DJing until he was 16. Over the past year, Bautista also took it easy with DJing to focus on school.

“Now that it’s senior year and it’s not too hard so far, I recently released a new mix on Soundcloud this past weekend. I’m going to really focus on DJing and I’m buying music production software in the near future to produce my own original tracks,” Bautista said.

Bautista is looking into more gigs at venues since he is now 18 and no longer a minor.

Jean Pabon

Charlotte McDaniel, sophomore, goes in for help with Julie Levene, chemistry teacher, after class.

Remixing it up: a look back on student DJs progress

Safety in the locker room: irresponsible locker behaviors

Life of a high school vegan Part time student/employeeShailah Magallon

Staff Reporter

Karina Piña

Staff Reporter

Miranda Raimondi

Staff Reporter

Erika Pogorzelska

The lockeroom is filled with signs warning stu-dents about keeping items unlocked, sharing lockers and the concequences that come with.

March 6, 2015 Feature 5Controversy on standing for the Pledge of Alligance

Abi Cozariuc

Staff ReporterErika Pogorzelska

Feature Editor

Erika Pogorzelska

Feature Editor

Since October of 1892, schools have had the Pledge of Allegiance in their daily routine. I remember having to memorize the pledge for homework in kindergarten; my parents would give me a piece of candy for every line I memorized.

Now high school students have stood for the pledge thousands of times through grade school and standing for the pledge with our right hand over our hearts has become a motor skill... To most.

In middle and high schools across the country, questions are being raised about the controversy of the Pledge of Allegience. Some students don’t find it necessary to stand for religious reasons or for moral reasons.

“I take my seat early before the pledge ends everyday because I don’t agree with some parts. Liberty and justice are in no means guaranteed for all. Instead, they are personally fought for. Those who don’t stand up for their freedoms will slowly find them taken away by the same society ‘guaranteeing’ them,” Lazar Kuzmanov, senior, said.

Some students simply stand because it’s just a part of the daily routine for them and it

doesn’t really mean much.“I stand because everyone else does and

that’s what you’re supposed to do,” Ashley Pawelski said.

Despite students views on the matter, adults see this in a very different light. To many, rising for the pledge is in honor for the soldiers that fought and continue to fight for this country.

“My father was in the draft and he fought in the war. My mother worried my father would never come back,” Tina Mavraganes, cafeteria worker, said. “I know people are entitled to their rights but I find it disrespectful.”

There is a wide range of grey in the black and white matter of standing for the pledge. Its hard to say if there’s even a right or wrong here.

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Hot Cheetos sales burst through the roof

District 214 Twitter has been the hub of students anger when it comes to possible days off being discussed. Twitter blew up with popular memes, angry replies and inappropriate tweets when it was announced that classes would resume the Thursday following a day off even though the weather on Thursday was more adverse.

“On January 6, we started seeing a lot of tweets from students, asking if we had school the following day. Many were asking in clever, sassy ways, such as quoting “Mean Girls” or promising to study if school was called off. We responded with some sassy responses, and soon, started to see more positive interaction from the students. The next day, January 7, students began asking again if school would be called off for January 8. When we posted that school would reopen, many of the student tweets became negative and inappropriate,” Jennifer Delgado, district media manager, said.

Now, when District 214’s Twitter is updated with tweets that may anger students, there will be a follow up tweet asking them to make appropriate comments.

“We want to hear from students, and respond when we can, but we can’t do that when the line is crossed,” Ms. Delgado said.

It is not surprising that Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are one of the most popular snacks here at WHS. You see them everywhere. Empty bags crumpled in the corner. Red dust and crumbs on the hallway carpets. Single cheetos on the stairs. Bags in the hands of countless students. WHS loves Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

“I like the crunchy and spicy taste to them. I grew up on them so I just can’t live without them,” said Damara Delgado, junior.

There are now even two whole rows in the vending machines dedicated to this popular commodity. It is one of the vending machines most popular snacks.

“Hot Cheetos come in a box of 3o per container and I have heard that we go through 10 of those containers per week. We sell about 300 bags of hot cheetos in one week,” said Coach Jason Kopkowski, health teacher.

If the school is going through about three-hundred bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, where is it all going? Are our students addicted? Are hot cheetos themselves addictive?

To some students, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos might be addictive. According to the Chicago Tribune, “the perceived importance of the reward (food or drugs) becomes exaggerated at the expense of other rewards, triggering ‘abrupt dopamine increases’ that ‘can override the brain’s … control mechanisms’ that would normally

moderate consumption.”In other words, hot cheetos can increase

dopamine levels in your brain, making you want more and more of the tasty snack. So the snack may not be addictive to everyone, but like many other snacks or foods, you can enjoy them so much that some can begin to eat 7-8 bags a day and eventually become addicted.

“We kept track of a young lady in health, she claimed was addicted to hot cheetos. We kept a tally of how many days she could go in a row without Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. She made it to 20 something days,” said Coach Kopkowski.

Cutting back on Flamin’ Hot Cheetos could help you balance your daily intake of various nutrients. One bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos contains 10% of your daily sodium intake. Which means if you eat, say, four bags a day 40% of your daily sodium intake will come from Flamin’ Hot Cheetos alone.

The snacks high amount of sodium is not uncommon in snack foods. Neither is the fact that Flamin’ Hot Cheetos doesn’t offer good nutrients in healthy doses. One serving contains no calcium, vitamin A, or vitamin C. The snack contains mostly empty calories.

Despite its lack of nutrients, the snack continues to remain popular. Whether or not you eat the snack ten times a day, or you have never eaten them in your life, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos have become a school norm. It is one of the most popular and highest grossing snacks in our school. As such, WHS will not be seeing any less of this spicy snack.

Though the vending machine is filled with a variety of different candy and snacks that many students enjoy, almost the entire top row of the vending ma-chine in the hallway is filled with hot cheetos. There is also many hot cheetos in the vending machine in the cafeteria, as well as hot cheetos served in the catty shack in the cafeteria and in the school store.

Erika Pogorzelska

Twitter chaos with snow days

Jean PabonFreshmen students unconsiously stand for the Pledge of Allegience during third period everyday.

6 Focus March 6, 2015 7FocusMarch 6, 2015

Megan Provost

Co-Editor-in-Chief

“I’m going to pick my required classes. Also, classes that go towards my career,” Lupe Chihuahua, sophomore.

Senior year: taking it easy or finishing strong?

Percent of students who say these types of classes make up the majority of their schedule this year.

This school year, District 214 juniors were exposed to the innova-tive new educational program that is the Power of 15, six dual-credit courses offered at D214 high schools through Harper in which students are able to receive up to three hours of transcripted Harper credit per class. These credits can then be transferred directly to Harper or to many in and out-of-state universi-ties. With the end of the school year nearing and schedules being set in stone for the 2015-2016 school year, many current juniors have found themselves caught between whether to get ahead in their college experience through the traditional advanced placement (AP) route or the Power of 15: how does one class differ from the other? What’s one class offering that the other doesn’t have?

Apparently, not much. “The Power of 15 is an initiative

between Harper College and High School District 214 to help increase the number of students who obtain 15 hours of early college credit

prior to graduating high school,” Dan Weidner, director of career and technical education at Forest View, said. Currently, D214 students have three main ways to obtain college credit: AP exams, dual credit courses with Harper, and passing a Harper exam after a D214 class. The Power of 15 initiative offers six new dual credit classes that, together, add up to 15 hours of tran-scripted Harper college credit.

Both Power of 15 and AP classes offer students opportunities to obtain college credit hours while still in high school. The primary differ-ence, it seems, is how that credit is obtained. In the Power of 15 classes, a student must get a C or above in order to get three hours of transcripted Harper credit. In AP classes, however, one must achieve a

certain score on the AP test in order to get the credit offered by colleges for that course.

“Research shows that if a student enters college with 15 or more credits, they are twice as likely to complete a four-year col-lege program as a student who does not,” Weidner said.

Another dif-ference lies in the recognition of both programs. AP classes are run by the College Board and, therefore, are recognized both nationally and internation-ally. Power of 15 classes, however, because they are run through Harper College, are widely recog-nized throughout

Illinois, but not necessarily across the country.

The new courses, selected due to their transferability and compliance with general education requirements

at many universities, are currently being offered to juniors for their 2015-2016 senior schedule.

The difficulty of the classes, ac-cording to Ms. Sisi, “lies within the content.” For example, AP English literature requires a heavy amount of reading in addition to some writing, whereas the Power of 15 English course is more writing-based and still requires reading, just not with the intensity of the AP class.

“You need to go into the level that’s going to challenge you, because when you go into college, you’re going to be challenged,” An-gela Sisi, WHS principal, said.

“To me, there’s no short-term benefit to AP classes because even if you don’t get the credit, you’re chal-lenged in the curriculum. If you’re successful in the class, even if you don’t get the score on the AP test, you still took a college-level class in high school in order to prepare for college, so there’s no downfall there.”

The same mentality applies to the Power of 15.

“Even if you’re taking the class and it’s hard and you’re struggling and you only get that C, you just took a college-level class in high school,” Sisi said.

Top 12 most popular electives of the 2014-2015

school year

Lack of resources, enrollment leads to cuts in elective classes

We often think of high school as a time where we can expand our skills, knowledge and character. Various clubs, activities, and elec-tives exist to help with the process, but sometimes it’s just not possible to have everything available to us. Not everything can be supported at once and certain classes have to get cut from the curriculum.

WHS has seen various classes come and go. So far the classes that have been cut this year include AP Environmental Science, AP Euro-pean History, and Creative Writing.

Brian Hauck, social science teacher, was supposed to teach AP Euro until the class was cut from the cur-riculum. The class was cut recently, about 2 to 3 weeks ago. Mr. Hauck was given the enrollment for the class which at the time happened to be 10. This number was too low for a class to be offered and Mr. Hauck asked APUSH classes if anyone was interested. 10 other students signed up, but it didn’t necessarily end well.

“When students went through their schedules to finalize them as far as what their electives were it wasn’t enough.” Mr. Hauck said.

In order for there to be a new class offered in the curriculum teachers have to go through a

process of writing out a proposal. The proposal includes information such as what would be the course of study and expectations that need to be approved before it can be introduced to students. If a class is approved then it needs to have students enrolled, which for an elec-tive would mean having to recruit enough students until the class isn’t in danger of being cut.

Various classes exist that have been approved by the school, but they aren’t necessarily offered to students every year. Some classes rotate and are offered every other year, while other classes are cut from the curriculum that year simply due to low enrolment.

While Mr. Hauck is disap-pointed that he couldn’t teach AP Euro, he understands the reasoning behind it.

“There’s only so many resources a school has and if you don’t have enough students it’s very expensive to run a class of ten kids or five students, so the school has to choose how to use its staff, its teachers, and resources” Mr. Hauck said. He looks forward for next year so that he can offer the class for the following year. Mr. Hauck plans on finding a way to recruit enough students through-out the process so that the class can be offered to all students.

Max Piasecki

Staff Reporter

Megan Provost

Co-Editor-in-Chief

Power of 15 Both AP

“Mr. Ham-mond was a great help, espe-cially when I needed classes to fill credits,” Su-nem Arreola, junior.

“Students should think of what will ben-efit them, not only educa-tion-wise but their future endeavours,” Bruce Males, Help Desk Asst.

“I will prob-ably be taking my general eds, and I’m not sure which specific ones for political sci-ence,” Jame-son Kring, se-nior.

“There were some medi-cal ones, I had to do some requirements, and I picked some of my own,” Anthony Delgado, fresh-man.

How did you choose/are you choosing your

classes for the up-coming school year?

graduationrequirements

61%

personal choice or electives

14%

free 3%

career focus or pathway

22%

Nelson Hernandez

Info provided by Tom Scotese

Power of 15 vs. AP: which credit goes where?

“Anytime you’re look-ing at a college, you should call and say, ‘I’m thinking about

taking these classes; would this be accept-ed? Would this credit

be accepted?”

Angela SisiPrincipal

After the long, grueling, demanding nine months that are junior year, one wouldn’t blame a kid for treating him or herself to a few study halls and a lunch here or there in their senior schedule. The student earned it, right? Wrong. Or at least according to some students. The debate over whether or not senior year is a critical year in a student’s success lives on as more opportuni-ties are offered to students to make their senior year productive and worthwhile.

According to Dr. Rick Watson, counselor, the rigor of one’s senior year is primarily dependent on one’s post-high school plans. While a less demanding schedule may be sufficient for one student, a student looking to get into highly selec-tive and competitive colleges and universities may opt for more of a challenge.

“Colleges may not look at your grades, so that can also be a benefit, because maybe your grades won’t be as high, but you already got accepted, but they see your course rigor, and if they see that you just slacked off they’re not going to want you,” Meghan Aguayo, junior, said.

Aguayo’s junior year reflects her challenge-oriented attitude, as do her plans for next year. Currently a three-AP student, Aguayo plans to take AP literature, AP government, AP studio art and a replacement for what was initially AP European history, which was cut due to low enrollment (see below). Aguayo de-velops her schedule keeping in mind her interests, abilities, and potential college majors.

“I feel like you do what you want to do, but for me I’m trying to take into account how the colleges are going to view it,” Aguayo said.

Many other students, such as Katherine Kowalski, junior, main-

tain a similar mindset to Aguayo, designing their schedules to appeal and apply to interests and colleges. Kowalski, who is currently taking three AP classes and one college class, developed her junior and senior schedules to focus on STEM classes in order to work towards her potential career in engineering.

“They’re like the basic core class-es. The internships obviously help, and the engineering courses are really good at this school because no one else really has that leg-up like we do. And nanotech, obvi-ously, because it’s an experience no other high schoolers really get, so it differ-entiates you,” Kowalski said.

Next year, Kowalski plans on taking five AP classes in addition to POE, nanotechnology, two internships, a job, and track in the spring.

“High school’s a tiny portion of your life. If you don’t get into the col-leges you want and get the scholarships you want, it kind of impacts your entire future,” Kowalski said.

Kowalski, once a three-sport athlete, had to quit volleyball and gymnastics this year in order to accommodate a rigorous schedule. However, Kowalski is not alone: many students have to factor in extracurriculars when choosing their classes, whether it be fitting the classes to the activities or dropping activities to better manage a heavier class load.

When Carolina Figueroa,

senior, was planning her senior year, she made sure to take into account her experience with her class load junior year in addition to her activi-ties and time management skills. A four-AP student junior year, Figueroa started out senior year with four APs as well, but has since dropped to only three due to the overwhelming workload.

“My time management has been so much better because junior year, I knew how hard it was to manage

all this stress and all these activities and all these AP classes, so now that I have senior year, and I still have about the same coursework and activity level, I feel like I have a better grip on my time management to the point where I even have a job now,” Figueroa said.

Figueroa has reaped the benefits of a rigorous class load by gaining admittance into the University of Illinois Cham-paign-Urbana on a full-ride scholarship and the University of Illinois Chicago with some scholar-

ships.“It’s paid off that I’ve been so

involved with AP and extracur-riculars and managed to keep sane,” Figueroa said.

Still, some students simply endure the heavy class load out of necessity. Irene Cruz, senior, moved to Oregon at the beginning of her junior year. Upon moving back, she found that many of her credits didn’t transfer, which led to her hav-ing to repeat the classes her senior year.

“I just had to think about what

I needed and what I wanted, but I didn’t have enough time or space in my schedule to get what I wanted, so now it’s all things I have to take and no electives,” Cruz said.

This year, Cruz juggles four AP classes and her English credit in addition to the physics and drivers education credits she had to retake. Her advice to juniors:

“Don’t take it too easy but don’t take it too hard, because if you take it too hard and you’re loading your-self with so many AP classes and then you don’t have enough time to just relax and enjoy your last year, but if you take it too easy, you’re not going to be prepared for college.”

Elizabeth Delgado, social sciences teacher, shares Cruz’s senti-ment of balance:

“Yes, I think seniors should take AP classes so that they’re better prepared for college, but at the same time I don’t think they should over-work themselves so that they could enjoy that final year right before they go off and start to take things a little bit more seriously.”

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Clases de AP Español Lenguaje y Literatura comienzan preparaciones

Karina Piña

Staff Reporter

Aidé Hernandez

La Voz Editor

Con el principio de la primavera en la vuelta de la esquina las clases de AP alrededor de la escuela WHS comienzan sus preparaciones para los exámenes de AP cuales tomarán lugar la primera y segunda semana del mes de Mayo.

Mientras que el tiempo corre, los estudiantes de AP literatura española y AP español lenguaje no se quedan por detrás. También han comenzado un programa de preparación para los dos exámenes AP.

Como han de saber, las pruebas de AP son muy diferentes a aquellas de cada dia. La prueba de AP ofrece créditos universitarios. Esto es, asumiendo que el estudiante reciba una puntuación aceptada por su escuela de preferencia.

Las dos clases se Españo fueron diseñadas para seguir la educación de los estudiantes hispanohablantes que han logrado un nivel de español más avanzado que el de Español una a cuatro. Aunque ambas clases se centran alrededor de la fluidez y conocimiento de la lengua de español, AP español literatura y AP español lenguaje, tienen varias características diferentes.

La clase de Español lenguaje, es enseñado por la Señora Maria Rivas y la Señora Rebecca Castro. "Estamos haciendo preparación para el examen de AP durante todo el año” dijo la Señora Castro.

Adicionalmente, la prueba no es un examen estrictamente basado en escritura y lectura. También prueba las habilidades de escuchar y hablar”

“Esta prueba es principalmente una prueba basada en competencias, aunque practicamos las habilidades a través de los seis

temas que determine la Junta AP Colegio Las habilidades incluyen:. Escrito ensayo persuasivo, respuesta de correo electrónico, la lectura, escuchar, leer y escuchar combinado, habla de presentación, y una conversación interpersonal," dijo Castro.

Las clases han comenzado a tomar pruebas en cual cada aspecto del examen serán estudiados.

En comparación con las clases de lenguaje, la clase de literatura, solo enseñado por la señora Castro, no sólo prueba las habilidades básicas si no también es una clase basado de contexto de literatura también.

"Hay mucho contenido que cubrir, así que tenemos menos tiempo para centrarse en el conjunto de habilidades " dijo la señora Castro. Mientras que la carga de trabajo puede ser un poco abrumador, a causa que se tiene que analizar lo que se le, los estudiantes no están solos.

"Vamos a tener varias sesiones de estudio después de la escuela y los sábados como día de enfoque para la prueba," dijo Castro.

El éxito en las clases ayudan a los estudiantes junto a sus familias a ahorrar dinero en las clases de la universidad en el futuro.

Aunque la mayoría de los estudiantes están tomando la ruta tradicional de aprendizaje a través del día a día dentro de la clase, varios de los estudiantes han tomado un ruta más difícil para tratar de recibir el crédito. Esto es el caso de Abraham Barrantes, senior. Barrantes no esta en la clase durante el año, pero planea tomar la prueba con el resto de los estudiantes.

"La razón por la que no tomé la clase fue porque no se ajustaba a mi horario, pero sigo teniendo la prueba porque soy muy fluido en español, estoy trabajando con la señora Castro para practicar la lectura y la escritura, " dijo Barrantes. Varios estudiantes también han decidido tomar las dos clases y los dos exámenes en un solo año.

Nueva generación se hace presente en la pantalla grandeAidé Hernandez

La Voz Editor

Desde que éramos niños chicos acostumbramos ver a el actor George Lopez como un personaje de comedia. Nos hacia reir en formas que simplemente, solo aquellos quienes somos Latinos comprenden. Aunque este año logró tocar los corazones de los latinos en una forma muy prevalente el dia de hoy, un sistema de apoyo para los estudiantes inmigrantes.

En la película, Spare Parts Lopez toma el papel de un maestro sustituto en una escuela mayormente latina. Se demuestra como un mentor para un grupo de cuatro estudiantes indocumentados quienes tienen la

esperanza de recibir una educación y ser más grande que los estereotipos que existen sobre los latinos.

Demuestra la experiencia de cuatro niños que asisten a la preparatoria y deciden formar un grupo de ingeniería robótica. El grupo tiene su meta de ultimadamente concursar en una competencia de ingenieria aquatica. Aunque no tienen la facilidad ni los recursos para competir en el mismo nivel que otras escuelas.

Se destaca el tema de la valentía y la necesidad del esfuerzo en equipo para brindar un cambio en la comunidad hispana.

Muchas similaridades entre Spare Parts y Stand and deliver se han hecho

a través del tiempo que ha estado fuera la película. Las dos peliculas demuestran la determinación de las nuevas generaciones latinas dentro de los Estados Unidos. Aunque también se puede ver como la opinión de la sociedad latina a cambiado en los estados unido como han también cambiado las políticas de inmigración.

Todo en todo la película es una gran inspiración, no solamente para aquellos que son indocumentados, pero también para los que vienen de familias de inmigrantes. Demuestra que en verdad la comunidad latina a reconfigurado la estructura social dentro de los estados unidos.dollignia vendant.

Mientras que muchas clases se dedican a estudiar todo sobre los libros, las clases de Español incluyen educacion sobre la culutra latina. La foto incluida arriba, demuestra una ofrenda que cnstruyeron los estudiantes de Español en memoria y conocimiento de los 43 estudiantes desaparecidos en Iguala.

foto cortesía de Rebecca Castro

Próximos Eventos en la ComunidadCada dia Martes: La libreria Indian Trails da clases avanzadas para gente bilingueSabado, 18 de Abril: El grupo de A.V.I.D. tendra Carreras de 5 km, 1 milla y a pie , y ¼ de milla para los niños para recaudar fondos para OMNI

March 6, 2015 Entertainment 9Shailah Magallon

Staff Reporter

There’s no doubt that WHS might possibly be the most diverse school in the district. With that being said, it’s no surprise that WHS students have all different style for different reasons. For school, Bella Giyo, junior, wears casual clothing to feel comfortable whereas Carolina Figueroa, senior, puts in a bit more effort to showcase her style and who she is.

Almost everyday, Giyo comes to school wearing sweatpants or any type of loungewear to be more comfortable, which make sense since one can get uncomfortable sitting down in a desk for eight hours. Though she likes how she dresses, Bella claims that people complain about it, but is quick to brush it off.

“Every once in a while I am in the mood where I wanna dress up, but most of the time, I’m just never in the mood and I don’t want to do anything.” Giyo said.

Despite what other people think, sweats and hoodies are a clear representation of her personality, which is laid back and easygoing. Even though she dresses down, she encourages people who do have the will to dress up to do just that.

“Go for it, I mean it’s pretty cool because they actually have the motivation to do it. I always give them a lot of props.” Giyo said. But she does think that there is a fine line between dressing up and dressing way too much. She feels as though dressing too nicely isn’t necessary for school since students come for eight hours a day to study and then going back home, resulting in them being exhausted

and uncomfortable. On the other hand, Carolina Figueroa is

the complete opposite. She considers her style as being feminine and somewhat “hipster”. Like Giyo, her style represents her as well, which is girly and laid back. She dresses to fit her moods- she has days where she decides to take a few more hours of sleep and just wear sweatpants, but most of the time she puts in effort to dress nicely to school. With her style, she enjoys playing with the elements of formalwear with loungewear.

“I make this board on pinterest where like I put all my ideas. So, I really do combine it because I am a very girly yet lazy person.” Figueroa said.

As for feedback, she gets a lot of compliments for her style, usually on days where she dresses up. Like many girls, Figueroa has a hard time picking out her outfit for school. To make things easier and save time, she plans out her outfit the night before.

She believes that people have their own personal style that no one else can really pull of. Although she doesn’t have a problem with the way other people dress, the only time she feels opinionated is when people dress up, but complain about the fact that they had to dress up.

“It comes to this point in my life where I’m just like, you know, I am a feminine person, I dress feminine because I want to, not because I wanna impress anyone, so it’s more like an independent attitude.” Figueroa said.

Sweats or skirts, it doesn’t matter as long as you’re being true to who you are and comfortable with what you wear. Both girls have proven that your style does shows a part of you, but that it is not all you.

Picks of the month: March

“Focus” is a dark romantic comedy starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie who also starred in “The Wolf Of Wall Street.” Smith plays a con art-ist who, in the middle of a scam, is reunited with a woman from his past (Robbie) who is now an accomplished con artist herself.

Movie

Focus

Information collected by Chris Alvarado

TV Show

Album App

“Crossy Road” is described as an “endless arcade hopper game” in which you control a chicken hop-ping across roads and dodging obstacles in it’s way. “Crossy Road” is free on iPads, iPhones and Android devices.

Drake released his fourth mixtape on Feb. 13 which contains 16 songs plus one bonus track. “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” hit number one on the US Billboard 200 Chart and has received acclaim from critics. The nearly 70 minute mixtape features songs with Lil Wayne, Travi$ Scott and PartyNextDoor.

“Empire” premiered earlier this year on Fox and has gained great reviews from fans and critics alike. The show follows the life of hip hop mogul, Lucious Lyon, and his family, as he picks between his three sons to take over his record label after he dies. The show features dynamic characters, surprise twist endings and excellent writing.

If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late

Empire

Crossy Road

Sweats v. Suits: Does it matter how you dress for school?

Big Sean released his third studio album, “Dark Sky Paradise,” on Feb. 24 under the famed record label GOOD Music, founded by Kanye West. The album features big artists like Drake, Lil Wayne and Kanye West himself. Big Sean has gained popularity over the past few years with hit songs like “Mercy,” “Clique,” and “Don’t Like,” all from the GOOD Music compilation album, “Cruel Summer.” “Dark Sky Paradise’s” songs are raw, powerful and show a stronger side of Big Sean. He raps about his roots, emotions and manages to add songs that are just purely fun.

The album opens with the song “Dark Sky (Skyscrapers).” It is similar to Jay-Z’s song “Holy Grail” because of the emotion and powerful lyrics poured into his first track on an even more powerful album. “Blessings featuring Drake,” the second track,

literally speaks about Big Sean’s blessings and his rising from rags to riches. Kanye and Big Sean go back and forth in “All Your Fault” with lyrics like “My life is a little luck, a lot of grind” that speak directly to their struggle to achieve fame in the music industry.

“Dark Sky Paradise’s” first single and most popular song, “IDFWU,” is certified platinum. “IDFWU” is entertaining, enjoyable and a definitely the most memorable song. Featuring California rapper E-40, the song samples DJ Rogers’ “Say You Love Me One More Time.” The star studded list of producers included MikeWillMadeIt, DJ Mustard and Kanye West.

Big Sean carries songs on his own without featuring major artists and some are the best on the album. Songs like “Paradise (Extended),” “Win Some, Lose Some” and “Stay Down” feature only Big Sean. These songs, while underrated and not the most known, are the most powerful and best on the album. Big Sean manages to carry them on his own which only shows his skill at rapping and in the music industry.

“One Man Can Change the World,” the second to last song, is an emotional ballad that shows Big Sean’s emotion and he sings candidly about his roots. He raps “My grandma told me if you write your name in stone you’ll never get the white out” and it ends with the voice of his grandmother on the phone saying “Thank you for calling me, been thinking about me” and him responding “It’s all good, I love you grandma.” He references her frequently to emphasize the maternal role she took while he was growing up in Detroit. “One Man Can Change the World” is sensitive, passionate and shows a different side of him.

“Dark Sky Paradise” is Big Sean’s best albums. The raw talent, emotion and passion he clearly shows in each track is impressive. Big Sean is definitely an artist who will go far in the music industry; he is an artist to watch and remember for years to come.

Big Sean drops new album, “Dark Sky Paradise”

“Dark Sky Paradise” was released on Feb. 24 by GOOD Music and Def Jam records. Critics have given it positive reviews since and it’s first single, “IDFWU” has already gone platinum.

Chris AlvaradoA&E Editor

Left: Dena Farag, junior, says she feels there is no need to dress up for school. “Leggings make me comfortable so I’m going to come to school in what makes me comfortable. I really like the way I dress because it makes me feel good.” Right: Carolina Figueroa, senior, Brittany Racky and Rossy Peralta, WHS ‘14 graduates. Figueroa combines styles of girly and hipster in her outfits. She represents herself with each outfit.

On March 28, 2015, from 8:30 P.M. to 9:30 P.M., people and businesses world-wide are encouraged to turn off their lights in sup-port of a global movement to conserve energy. This hour, called Earth Hour, incorporates over 162 countries. A nice sentiment towards conservation? Yes, but what is this one hour of darkness really doing for Mother Earth?

According to Spokesman, not much. While the idea of coming together for one hour or one day (April 22) as a people living on this planet and working to save our home is a beautiful sentiment, that beauty only lasts so long. Come sunrise the next morning, people will rev up their cars and take their sweet time in their showers and forget every “go

green” promise they had made the day beforeEfforts towards conservation are a great

way of developing a sense of global com-munity, but overall make little progress in their true cause: lessening pollutants. Is it too much to ask of people to practice this hour of environmental and energy conscienceness not once a year but once a day?

Honestly...no.We’re not asking everyone to sit in a

circle and sing Kumbaya, just think about the planet more than 25 hours a year.

March 6, 2015Forum10

Spokesman Staff 2014-2015Editors-in-ChiefKelly McKewin*Megan Provost*

News EditorKelly McKewin

Web EditorKelly McKewin

A&E EditorChris Alvarado*

Feature EditorErika Pogorzelska*

Focus EditorMegan Provost

La Voz EditorAide Hernandez*

Forum EditorKamila Kawa*

Sports EditorPatrick Ryan*

Photo EditorJean Pabon*

Staff ReportersAbi CozariucJacob SweetowJosie LevinKarina PiñaMarco MateosSulayman QaziMax PiaseckiMiranda RaimondiShailah MagallonZalman Faltushanskiy

AdviserJohn Uhrik

CartoonistKatie ChongJosie Levin

*Staff members with asteriks are members of the Editorial Board

Corrections-None

This is the official student newspaper of Wheeling High School, 900 S. Elmhurst Road, Wheeling, Ill. 60090. Written, edited and distributed 8 times a year by advanced journalism classes, independent studies and other interested and qualified students. Produced by using desktop publishing and is printed by Son’s Enterprises, Inc., Skokie Ill. Mailed subscription $15 per year.

Letters- Spokesman is a limited public forum and welcomes a free exchange of ideas from all readers. Readers

are encouraged to contribute letters to the staff in room 137 or mail them in care of WHS. All letters must be signed. Letters may be edited for length, style, possible libel, clarity, and adherence to our publication policies. Spokesman’s mission is to report the news objectively and truthfully. We will print any known errors here in the issue following our gaining knowledge of the error.

Advertising- For information, call (847) 718-7114 Monday-Friday 7:25 a.m. to 2:50 p.m.

Editorial

Forum Editor

Kamila Kawa

7 out of 8 members of the editorial board agree

GraphicsNelson Hernandez

PhotographerAnna Markiewicz

At the beginning of every school year, the students of WHS are given a schedule, a school ID, their P.E. shirt and the assignment notebook. The assignment notebook serves many purposes with each schedule on the back page, room to write assignments and most importantly all the school rules. The notebook, aside from the day-to day calendar, starts with sixteen pages of all the school rules that students have to follow. Rules, ranging from the dress code to the cell phone policy to senior

ditch day, are all there in print. The students at WHS should all follow these rules, and be more aware of what they are.

With the amount of rules that are stated in the notebook, it would be inferred that all the rules are followed by students, but lately that hasn’t been the case. Many students don’t even use their assignment notebooks, they lose them, leave them at home, or have never received one.

“I don’t use the assignment notebook that the school provides because I’m in AVID, and for AVID we have another way of writing down our homework and assignments. If I didn’t do it the way we do it in AVID, I wouldn’t be as organized,” Jasmine Hernandez, sophomore said.

If everyone is given an assignment notebook, then every single student should be aware these rules and follow them because then there wouldn’t be a point to these rules. Rules

are given for a reason, and although students shouldn’t have every single rule memorized, they should be aware of what is expected of them and all the rules we have to follow.

“I don’t know many rules in the assignment notebook but I do know there is a rule for the dress code,” Zach Boesen, senior said. The dress code rule is a typical rule for most schools, and many schools also have a cell phone policy rule.

“I know all about the cell phone policy rule. I remember that rule since freshman year. Mrs. Silverman is great at enforcing the ‘no cell phone’ rule. If you have your phone out in her class, she’ll take it away from you and take it right to the dean. Although you get your phone taken away, Mrs. Silverman is following the rules of the assignment notebook,” Zoe Maglaris, senior said.

The rules, that are clearly written in the assignment notebook in fine print, are followed

in Mrs. Silverman’s classroom. While in other classrooms, phones are out, sitting on each desk. In some classrooms, students are allowed to listen to music, use their phone as a calculator and use them for other purposes, if the teacher allows. If not, then the only time to use a cell-phone would be in the commons area or the lunchroom. In some study halls cell phone use is allowed, while in other study halls, it is not.

Rules are given for a reason. To keep students and staff safe, and keep the environment of the school organized without any problems. If there were seminars freshman year dedicated just to going over some or the majority of the school rules, maybe there wouldn’t be as much confusion of rules, less detentions and a safer school environment. Students need to give their effort and follow these rules, they are meant to protect us.

Working while still in high school is a balance many of us have to find,

myself included. The stress can be a bit overwhelming at times but the reason we all continue is obvious: the money. Getting a bit of that independence and liberty to spend your money on what you want is an experience we should all have.

Not to be stereotypical, but a huge responsibility comes with that liberty. With a job, money is more readily available. That little desire to go out and buy all those concert tickets or waste all your money on name brand clothes is a reality, and you have an

option to do that. With available, money useless spending

is bound to happen, like getting chips from the vending machine every couple periods or leaving school daily to have your lunch somewhere else. We all know someone who goes out to eat constantly during school, spending money on gas and blowing through checks on different restaurants every day.

“I work 3 times a week after school at Panda Express, and I probably go out to eat almost everyday during school because

I’m tired of the cafeteria food and pizza,” Michelle Puma, senior, said.

Not to say that spending your money on what you want is wrong; money that pertains to you is your business on how you wish to spend it. But as someone who used to leave school daily to go out to lunch, I can personally vouch for how expensive it can be.

It doesn’t seem like much when you’re going about your daily routine but at the end of the month, the total could be surprising; I know it was for me.

Staff Reporter

Karina Piña

Splurging on going out drives students to bankruptcy

School rules are there for a reason: to be followed

Cartoon by Katie Chong

Lights out: Lack of participation in conservation efforts

March 6, 2015 Sports 11

Josie Levin

Staff Reporter

Baseball works, competes

The 2014 Wildcat Baseball team put up more wins than any Wheeling team since t996. This year, the team will look to build on that success.

The team is returning more than half of its start-ers from last year. Christian Hubbard, junior, (catcher), Martin Falkiner, senior, (third baseman), and Matt Vollmer, senior, (second baseman) will be back on the diamond alongside the three returning All-Conference players: Jake Jordan, senior, (outfielder and pitcher), Brenden Spillane, se-nior, (outfielder), and Nathan Cooney, senior, (shortstop and pitcher).

“New impact players will be outfielder Alex Khatcherian who saw some varsity time as a Sophomore last year, Fresh-man Drew Roberts who led our team in hitting this Fall, Brian Lorey and Ryan Caulfield who will join our starting rotation and Max Chung

who will be a Utility Starter for us in the infield and outfield,” Jason Wieder, head coach, said.

Coach Wieder’s goals for the team are to improve fundamentally from last season, compete

everyday in practice and in games, come together as a team that cares about each other and the product we are putting on the field each day, and to be over .500 and secure the first winning season since the late 1980’s.

Some big games will be against conference rivals Buffalo Grove and Hersey. Last year, the team swept BG and split with Hersey. Another important matchup will be against Pros-pect who is coming off a third place finish in state summer.

“My goal for this team is to compete every day in practice. If we learn to compete hard against one another in practice and truly have the desire to win, that will then translate into the field into games,” Alex Khatcherian, junior said.

With a plethora of returning talent and some key additions to the team, WHS baseball has all of the pieces in place to make a historic run this year.

Girls track kickoff

Hailey Dammeier, Maria Bedoya and Aurora Mala, seniors, warm up during practice. “We had we had a lot of top veterans unavailable for the meet and a lot of younger athletes really stepped up, filled holes left by veterans.” Tim Nowicki, head coach, said.

At the Wildcat Relays track meet held February 28 at WHS, the girls track team came in third overall. The Wildcats scored 88 points, which is very much improved from previous years, according to Tim Nowicki, head coach. Several individuals also competed very well.

In first place in their events were Alanah Greenburg, senior, for shot put, and Timber Terrell, sophomore for triple jump. In the fifteen hundred meter relay, Yailene Leon, freshman, Ana Figueroa, Hailey Dammeier, and Ashley Talken, seniors, came in first as well.

Several girls from the track team also came in second place in their events. This would be Dammeier in the high jump, Figueroa in the hundred meter run, Diana Montesinos, junior,

in the fifty five meter hurdles, and Talken in the pole vault.

Individuals in third place in their events included Aurora Mala, senior, in the eight hundred meter run and Leon in the two hundred meter dash.

In 4th place was Mala in the sixteen hundred meter run event, and Terrell in the long jump. Bedoya, Figueroa, and Dammeier all came in the four by four hundred relay. Bedoya also came in sixth in the 400 meter dash.

“We had we had a lot of top veterans unavailable for the meet and a lot of younger athletes really stepped up, filled holes left by veterans.” Nowicki said.

According to one of those younger athletes, Karolina Barcarcel, freshman, “It was cool watching the meet cool hosting it seeing how good everyone was.”

The girls next compete March 5 vs. Mundelien.

Jacob Sweetow

Staff Reporter

2014 Season Stats

““My goal for our team is to come to every game and practice ready to compete as hard as we can,” Alex Khatcherian, junior

Top: Jake Jordan, senior, moments away from catching a ball at first base during practice in the field house. Bottom: Anthony Carrillo, junior, runs at top speed during an outfield drill to catch the ball.

Team Batting Average:

.269

Team On Base Percentage:

.358

Earned Run Average:3.09

Record: 14-21Batting Average

Leaders:Brenden Spillane: .389Nathan Cooney: .381

Earned Run AverageLeaders:

Nathan Cooney: 1.58Brian Lorey: 2.95

Teresa Correa

Teresa Correa

SportsVolume 51 Issue 6 March 6, 2015

Upcoming EventsGirls Track and Field: Tuesday, March 10 at Glenbrook South.Girls Water Polo: Tuesday, March 10 at DeerfieldBoys Water Polo: Tuesday, March 10 at Maine East

Zalman Faltushanskiy

Staff Reporter

Wildcat athletes take their talents to state

While temperatures outside continued to drop lower and lower this past weekend, the pool at New Trier was only heating up with all-star action.

Four Wildcats competed at the IHSA state boys swimming meet at New Trier High School on February 27-28. Jake Noel, Kyle Noel, and Justin Loquercio, juniors, along with Landon Lockwood, senior, finished 32nd in the 200-yard medley relay and 29th in the 400-yard freestyle relay. J. Noel finished 27th in the state in the 100-yard backstroke. Nate Reiff, junior, also qualified but was not able to attend.

“Overall I thought we swam well at the meet,” Tod Schwager, head coach, said. “Justin [Loquercio] got his best time in the butterfly part of the 200 medley, and Jake [Noel] got his best time in the state meet in the 100 back. The relays we knew we weren’t going to do as well, but Landon [Lockwood] got his best times ever. When that happens, that’s all you can ask for.”

After an intense sectional meet, the state meet provided a pressure relief.

“I felt at ease at the meet,” Loquercio said. “There was pressure to get an improved time, but there wasn’t as much pressure as there was at sectionals because, at sectionals, it’s more or

less about making the cut and making it to state. There was still pressure, but state is about just performing as best you can.”

For J. Noel and Loquercio, this marked their second state meet in a row, and the third for K. Noel. This year, according to J. Noel, Coach Schwager changed his practice styles and provided extra training for the swimmers’ legs.

“We did a lot more kicking than we did previous years, so our legs were a lot more used in our races,” J. Noel said. “It helped a lot considering that swimming is more than 50% kick; the best you’re going to be going is if you work your legs more.”

For Coach Schwager, looking at long-term goals proved more important than short-term goals this season, which was reflected in the Wildcats’ dual meet record of 3-5.

“Our new practices hindered performance at dual meets, but as it came to conference and sectionals, they started to feel legs more,” Coach Schwager said. “That helped them cut times and get the state cut.”

Looking to next year, Coach Schwager hopes to make at least 12th in the state as a team, an admittedly lofty, yet attainable, goal.

“The good thing is that the majority of our swimmers are juniors, and they should be back in the state meet next year. It’s the loftiest goal I’ve set for any team, but as long as they stay out, they can make it,” Coach Schwager said.

Since the beginning of the season, WHS wrestling has consistently built their success on a talented varsity team that boasts a variety of successful athletes, including 3 returning MSL qualifiers and 1 returning state qualifier. The individual success of two varsity wrestlers, Tulga Zuunbayan, junior, and Mason Skloot, freshman, was brought to light when both qualified for and competed in the IHSA state wrestling tournament, held Feb. 19-21 at the University of Illinois.

Zuunbayan, with a personal season record of 38-1 going into the tournament and wrestling in the 152 weight class, faced a difficult draw of opponent in the tournament, according to Neal Weiner, wrestling coach.

“Tulga was the third seed in a really tough bracket, and had to wrestle a lot of talented opponents in his matches,” Weiner said. “With the way things ended up, it was a perfect storm for a difficult draw.”

While Zuunbayan did not advance out of his bracket, he still wrestled well despite the circumstances, according to Weiner.

“I had to bump up a weight class and it felt good actually wrestling my own weight instead of having to cut weight,” Zuunbayan said.

“I knew I had a tough draw at state but that didn’t come in my mind at all, I was just trying to wrestle my matches as they were.”

Skloot, with a personal record of 31-17 going into the tournament and wrestling in the 106 weight class, faced difficulty as a freshman wrestling mostly older kids, according to Weiner.

“Mason could have placed, but he wrestled some difficult opponents, including the eventual state champion in his weight class,” Weiner said. “His success was a pleasant surprise for me as a coach.”

Skloot, despite losing two matches, is still proud of his performance.

“The tournament was filled with energy,” Skloot said. “I think that I could have done better my second match, but what happened happened. All you can do now is learn from it.”

According to Weiner, the fact that Skloot qualified as a freshman is a major accomplishment in itself.

“Mason has 3 more shots at the state championship,” Weiner said. “His experience of competing against the eventual state champion was great for a freshman.”

Both Zuunbayan and Skloot have promising seasons ahead of them, according to Weiner.

“Both of these guys have great potentital to succeed in the future,” Weiner said.

The cost of winning: how much will athletes pay?

Winning in sports is everything. If you’re not first in the race, you might as well be last. It doesn’t matter how you get into the winner’s spotlight, just so long as you get there.

These misguided ideas concerning sports in general are actually not too difficult to fathom when looking at prominent sports events from recent weeks.

Take the 2015 AFC Championship game Jan. 18 between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots. Following the game, the Patriots’ win was clouded by allegations that quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick had cheated by deflating their footballs under the prescribed amount of air pressure, which can let the quarterback can grip the ball easier.

Whether or not the Patriots intended to sabotage the game in their favor remains a mystery. However, this incident, now referred to as the Deflategate scandal, brought light to the fact that even professional athletes and coaches at the highest level of competition can succumb to a human instinct that goes deeper than wins and losses in scorebooks: the natural thirst for competition and the will to win at any cost.

This will is best evidenced by the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal. Follow-ing a DEA investigation that ultimately found

Alex Rodriguez guilty of using HGH, Major League Baseball suspended Rodriguez for the entire 2014 season. On Feb. 18 of this year, Ro-driguez apologized to his teammates, coaches, and fans for his actions. While his apology seemed heartfelt, his use of steroids ultimately lost him the respect of many fans who idolized him as a baseball player.

Like the Patriots’ Deflategate scandal, the Alex Rodriguez incident is evidence that even professional athletes are not above bending the rules in an effort to win. These attempts at easy ways out of hard work are sadly becoming more and more prevalent in the sports world today.

The most recent example of “cheating the system” is the Jackie Robinson West Little League team being stripped of its national title after representing the United States in the Little League World Championship in August. After an investigation by Little League, the team had to vacate all wins because it violated a rule prohibiting the use of players who live outside the geographic area that the team rep-resents. Despite their efforts on the diamond, the Jackie Robinson players were unfairly subjected to the ambitions of adults who bent the rules in an effort to succeed at all costs.

As an athlete myself, sports have always been an outlet for hard work, teamwork and dedication to achieving a goal. When the dedication to achieving a goal is disgraced by the temptations of bending the rules to achieve success, it is the responsibility of those in posi-tions of authority to ensure punishment for those cheating the system.

In light of recent events, it is difficult not to think that idea of competitive sports has lost its integrity, and that winning at any cost has become the new norm. That, however, is not the case. Individuals who attempt to cheat the system over honest, humble, hard work will get caught and receive the punishment they deserve, even if they are a high profile athlete. Our system still works: there is still honesty and integrity in the world of sports.

Jake Noel, junior, checks the scoreboard for his time after finishing the 100 yard back at the IHSA state tournament. “I’ve been to meets as big, but not with necessarily as much pressure put on me,” Noel said.

Tulga Zuunbayan, junior, locks up his opponent at the IHSA state wrestling tournament. “It felt good actually wrestling my own weight instead of having to cut weight,” Zuunbayan said.

WrestlingBoys Swimming

Patrick Ryan

Sports Editor

Courtesy of Daily Herald

Josie Levin, Patrck Ryan and Jean Pabon

Courtesy of Daily Herald

Patrick Ryan

Sports Editor

From Little League to the professionals, the pressure is everywhere.