Page 5 Page 10 A Whirl of Talent and Crucifixes in Possibilities Clay eat Mustangs are the cure Girls’ Volleyball Team raises money for Children’s B Memorial by Elizabeth Sobenes senior volleyball player at Downer’s for the Children’s Memorial Hos- said. “I really could not have asked On November 3, both Grove South who was diagnosed pital. They decided to do this after for a better experience.” the junior varsity and varsity teams with optic glioma last fall. learning that less than three percent “It was fun,” Rosalind Dumlao participated in a 12-hour volleyball Shortly after Patton was of federal cancer research pertains Adv. 802, said. “The ridiculous tournament, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., diagnosed with optic glioma, a to pediatrics. length of it seemed exhausting for at Northside, where the 40 mem- malignant tumor inside her optic Some of the volleyball players the players though.” were happy that The event gave volleyball play- awareness was ers of various levels the opportunity being raised for to get to know each other better. such a cause. “I think that the tournament The “I had never brought the whole team closer, and heard of it be- we got to bond over a common oof fore,” Karianne cause,” Capapas said. Szlufik, Adv. 803, The tournament not only al- said. “It doesn’t lowed the teams to bond with each really surprise other, but it gave them a great cause Vol. 9 No. 6 Northside College Preparatory High School February 2008 Vol. me that there’s to contribute to as well. so little money “This was different than what for this cause, so I’ve done with service projects we were happy to before in the past,” Capapas said. H help out a fellow “I had an awesome time getting volleyball player.” involved.” “I’m glad that “It was fun and we got a chance we were able to to bond,” Szlufik said. “However, it raise money for was hard work, too, and everyone this cause because was exhausted at the end of the it raises aware- night.” ness and more The girls put forth great effort people will know that made the fund raiser all the to help,” Katrina more successful. This success Capapas, Adv. motivated Ms. Flores to consider Ashley Rivera, Adv. 811, Rebecca Duffy, Adv. 109, Maggie O’Connell Adv. 807, Jamie 905, said. future service projects, but perhaps Zysko,Adv. 011, Rebecca Schuba, Adv. 102, Alyssa Joseph, Adv. 108, Ms. Nicole The 12-hour with the boys’ teams to get them Flores, Head Coach, and Ms. Lisa Volesky, Assistant Coach present a check for tournament was a involved as well. $7,263.85 to Casey Patton (middle). huge success and “It was an amazing experi- Photo Courtesy of Ms. Nicole Flores raised a total of ence watching the girls put forth so bers asked for pledges for each hour nerve, she and her friends took $7,263.85. much effort,” Flores said. “I want that they participated in the tourna- it upon themselves to launch a “Everything went perfect,” Ms. the teams to continue participating ment. This was all in an effort to campaign. The campaign “Be the Nicole Flores, Mathematics De- in service projects, but we are still raise money for Casey Patton, a Cure” is an attempt to raise money partment and the volleyball coach, looking for our next cause.” A new science schedule on its way AP Chemistry to become double block News pages 1-5 by Natalia Emanuel this change. • Improving Open Mic In the coming academic year, AP Chemistry “This is not • Northside’s Pep Rally will take up two full blocks, which means that driven by the test every AP Chemistry student will have the class scores,” he said. Features pages 6-7 for 200 minutes per week. On their transcripts, “We felt for a • Relationships in Northside these students will then see one AP Chemis- long time that • Northside Spirit try credit and one Senior Science Experiences everyone in this credit, which would count as a general science school should Centerfold pages 8-9 credit. According to Mr. Michael Coy, Science have a chance to take AP Chem • Food Around the school Department, a similar program is being planned and the world for AP Biology the year after that. and AP Physics “The rationale behind the decision is that and if the test Arts & Entertainment pages 10-11 our teachers are under a great deal of stress, scores didn't fall • “Cloverfiled” causes trying to get to all the material that is recom- out, then we motion sickness mended by the College Board in AP Chem and didn't really care. But whether it is Editorials page 12-13 AP Bio,” Mr. Coy said. “So we did a little re- search and we found out that the credit that the our decision or • Type A Honor Roll students are getting for AP Chem and AP Bio is not, some people • The Pros and Cons of do look at the Suspension the equivalent of one full college year of chem- istry or biology plus one full year of lab courses tests scores. And Students who study AP Chemistry will be doing so twice as much next Diversions page 14 for each of those, which totals up to anywhere that is something year. • Incoming Freshman Night from four to six credit hours per semester for the we need to take a Photo by Ursula Moreno-Vanderlaan • Painting Below Zero course.” look at. But this establish now - that high school is about expe- Additionally, when comparing Northside’s [move to a double block] was driven, primarily, riencing as much as you can and taking a lot Sports page 15-16 curriculum to that of other schools in the top by the lack of hands-on, experiential teaching of variety of classes,” Adam Swiatlowski, Adv. • Homecoming at Payton 25 schools in Northeastern Illinois, Mr. Coy and learning in those classes.” 809, who has now taken all four AP sciences • Women’s Basketball falls to found that other schools allowed for significantly And the new schedule may have some side- that Northside offers, said. “High school is not Glenbrook more time per week allotted to advanced science effects. For instance, in making AP Chemistry a about spending half of your day in one class be- courses. double block, students will not be able to take an cause that class happens to have a lot of work.” “Some of them have double,” Mr. Coy said. additional elective. Mr. Coy stated that the additional block may “Some of them, whereas we have 200 minutes “Once Mr. Coy came to my block [to explain even make for a better group of students. per week, they have 500 minutes per week. The the new schedule], taking AP Chem was no lon- “We also think that a lot of students take the average is somewhere around 300 minutes per ger a possibility for me because I'm into arts and AP class to pad their GPA,” Mr. Coy said. “The week.” I wanted to take other electives,” Matt Brennan, students who really want to go into science-relat- The consequence of less class time is that Adv. 010, said. ed fields are still going to take AP Chemistry. So students are not able to do as many labs as stu- But Mr. Coy is not too concerned about we might even get a stronger pool of students.” dents in college courses or in other schools do. lower enrollment rates resulting from students However, some students do not agree. “We believe in hands-on, experiential sci- like Brennan deciding that other electives are “Here is the thing: when did it become a ence education in this building,” Mr. Coy said. more important to them. situation in which if you wanted to take AP “And when you have a college-level course being “We are sure that some enrollment will drop Chemistry, it meant you had to be an aspiring taught that is doing less than half the amount off to start with,” Mr. Coy said. “It is one of chemist?” Swiatlowski said. “That goes against of labs that they are supposed to do, that is not those growing pains we'll have to deal with. But the principles of many of these classes. As in, hands-on, that is not experiential.” we are committed to it.” I'm in AP Psychology; I have no plans to be a Mr. Coy emphasized that through North- But the fact that students will not be able to psychologist. I took AP US History; I have no side’s lower scores in advanced sciences as take an additional course bothers many of them. compared with other schools have been noted, “It is not conducive to the mindset that so Continued as “A.P. Chemistry double block” on the test scores were not the primary reason for many high schools and colleges are trying to page 2 Page 2 News The Hoof Beat Crunch for time Northside College Students adjust to a new final exam schedule Prep High School by Thuy Tran finals. Instead, Block 9 was of Northside, said. “In the Teachers had to submit This year’s first semester allocated for the purpose. semester one final exam grades by 9 a.m. that Friday, final exams’ schedule was Block 9 is generally used schedule, Block 9 is a time for the 25. This was an added tight. Chicago Public Schools for student sin the Journalism kids that have a Block 9 class pressure for the teachers as 5501 N.