What's Happened:
In an effort to help students relieve stress before finals week, the guidance department has partnered with students in Lake Central Television (LCTV), a part of the student-run publications department, to provide “12 Days of De-stress.” The faculty hopes this series will help students find a way to relax and make the holiday season less stressful.
Each video offers a different approach to de-stressing and features a teacher, student or staff member that relates to the topic. One of the recent videos featured Officer Brian Kissinger and his police dog, Kolt, to talk about how petting animals can be effective in lowering stress levels.
The concert choir class created 12 songs to serve as an intro to the videos. These songs are sung to the tune of “the 12 Days of Christmas,” but lyrics are revised to fit the video theme. The videos have been an engaging way to give students some time to work through their stress and find healthy ways to cope through a stressful season.
What’s coming up:
Winter formal is officially underway. The N-Teens club has been hard at work planning the event and figuring out how to honor COVID-19 guidelines during the dance. Camille Hauber, one of the students in charge of planning, said there were some concerns regarding rescheduling because of the pandemic, but they were quickly resolved.
“We had to make sure that we could actually go. We didn’t want to plan it all and reserve the space if it wasn’t going to happen, but as of right now it’s going well. We were able to figure out outside dates, which was something that a lot of people were concerned about,” Hauber said.
Dances have been a hot topic of conversation since the start of the pandemic. Now that restrictions have been loosened, many students are anxious to get back to the dance floor. For seniors, this will be their first and last chance to attend winter formal.
“I think most students are excited because it didn’t happen last year. For the seniors, it’s their last chance to have a winter formal, and since we didn’t have the ability to have it before, it’s very important to everybody that it’s going on now,” Hauber said.
Staff spotlight:
Change has been present in many aspects of life recently, but for Kristina Collard, one of the biggest changes to the school year has been her class schedule. Collard found herself doubling the classes she taught after taking on part of the introductory journalism courses.
“I have journalism design, journalism broadcast, photo, and LCTV, and then I have an English 9 honors class, too. Last year, I had student publications, English 11, and English 9 Honors. I went from three [classes] to six,” Collard said.
Collard is no stranger to being busy. Before coming to Lake Central, teaching six classes a year was expected.
“It was really easy for me because at the old school I taught at; I would have five to six preps every year. When I came to Lake Central, it felt strange that I only had two different types of classes that I was teaching. There’s a lot more to juggle with more periods, but it keeps you on your toes,” she said.
While some may see this workload as a burden, Collard sees it as a blessing. As a journalism major, she is thrilled to have a day full of journalism classes as opposed to the mostly English courses she taught in previous years.
“I love teaching journalism. I’ve always dreamed of having a schedule that consisted of all journalism classes, and I felt like this year my dream came true. At my other school, we never had enough kids involved in these journalism classes to make them separate classes,” she said.
This year will be Collard’s second year teaching broadcast journalism, and her first year teaching an intro to broadcast class. The new intro class has allowed more students to learn about and get involved with broadcast journalism, and Collard hopes this will help elevate the program in the future.
“I feel like we’re building this program. With the intro to broadcasting class that I had this semester and will have next semester, I feel that I’m building a group of kids that are excited about doing segments,” Collard said.
Student spotlight:
Kimberly Hestermann is a prime example of hard work and dedication, both inside and outside of the classroom. As president of the senior class cabinet, founder of the Mentorship Ambassador Program (MAP), and co-president of N-Teens, Hestermann is no stranger to service and leadership.
She started MAP because she felt there needed to be more of a community for underclassmen who might not have people to look up to outside of school.
“Growing up as an only child, I never had role models to look up to that were close to my age. I met two individuals on my cross-country team who gave me guidance like older sisters would. I felt like everyone should have that opportunity, which is why I wanted to create something where we could reach out to the younger grades and give our insight,” Hestermann said.
When she’s not in a club meeting, Hestermann also enjoys long-distance running. After joining cross country in sixth grade, she found a passion for the sport and continued it through her senior year. Hestermann was a team captain during her junior season, and feels the position aided in her leadership skills.
“Cross country has definitely taught me a lot about leadership. You need to lead by example because you really have to lean on each other and support each other. By having the captain position my junior year, I felt as though I gained that perspective on what it takes to be an upperclassman that people go to and seek guidance from,” she said.
Hestermann has since taken her running to the next level: she successfully completed the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 10. She and two friends ran to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Hospital and raised $1,300 for the charity.
“My two friends from cross country and I wanted to do something significant and meaningful for senior year. 'End with a bang' was kind of the mindset we went into it [with]. Going through St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, we were able to raise money for a good cause,” she said.
In 2022, Hestermann plans on running the Chicago Marathon again. This time, however, she chose to run for a cause that has directly affected her and her family.
“I’m doing a cause that really resonates with me — the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention — because of past family members who have taken their own lives. I feel like that really hits home, and that’s why I want to do the marathon again. I’m hoping to go into it with a good mindset knowing that I’m doing it for a good cause that really resonates with my family as well,” she said.