What's recently happened?
River Forest High School (RF) is now a few months into the school year, which means activities and events are getting started. One of the biggest clubs at RF is the National Honor Society (NHS), which had its induction ceremony for new incoming members on October 21. The RF NHS is a community service-based club that holds students to their best expectations. The NHS teacher sponsor is Estelle Galanos and this year’s club President is Senior Doraluz Garcia Camacho alongside Senior Vice President Katy McKim.
The NHS helps organize and plan big events such as the blood drive, Donating Socks to the Homeless, Stuffies For Seniors, and Dark In the Park with the New Chicago Parks Department. With the new students, the president and vice president expect to do even more than the past two years of their NHS experience.
Congratulations to the new NHS inductees! The RF community hopes their journey is a success.
What's coming up?
Veterans Day is coming up on November 11 and RF is getting ready to celebrate. Every year, RF has a Veterans Day memorial to honor past veterans in the RF community. The memorial will start off with all the middle and high school students coming down for the assembly, followed by the start of the National Anthem being sung by RF choir members. Principal Gaelyn Mlynarcik will then welcome the veterans and past RF veterans will then welcome seniors to the podium to say a speech of gratitude and appreciation.
After their poems and speeches, RF will follow up with the flag folding event by the Junior AP U.S. History (APUSH) class who will tell attendees about each flag folding as members fold the honor of the flag. This will be followed by a performance by the RF band members when Trumpet Player Ruby Velasco will play Taps.
A guest speaker will then say some words about their story and experiences. The RF veterans celebration is one of the biggest celebrations RF has all year around, showing the school’s respect for those who have served and loyalty to the community.
Staff spotlight:
Laura Johnson is the student counselor at River Forest Middle School. Johnson started her journey working at the middle school in 1992, so she has been in the district for 32 years. Johnson was born and raised in Northwest Indiana. She has been living around the same area, only moving away to a different region for college and her first job in Munster, Indiana.
She graduated from Hobart High School in 1984 and went to Ball State University. She received her initial degree in psychology and decided to further her education with a master's degree.
Before, her college plans were to become an education teacher, but she quickly discovered that it wasn’t for her and liked working one-on-one with students instead. This inspired her to get a master's in counseling psychology, which allowed her to become a mental health therapist or school counselor.
“I was never in the classroom, but it worked out and I'm okay with that,” Johnson said.
College was a new experience for Johnson.
“It was all new; we had to balance our social life with school, which we were doing well,” said Johnson.
Johnson expressed her concerns while going to college and having the doubts many students have while going into college.
“It was fun, but it was scary. I had thoughts about if I would actually be successful and nervous about the future,” Johnson said.
Even with those doubts she feels like going to college helped her grow up, helping her become more mature.
“I recommend going to college for that reason too, it’s a great way to learn how to mature,” Johnson said.
She is also very passionate about the psychology field.
“You have to have that gut feeling to help others and have a passion for mental health issues,” Johnson said.
Johnson noted the chance to work at River Forest Middle School may have fallen in her lap, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
The athletic director at the time was friends with Johnson, advising her that there was an open job offer at the middle school for a student counselor. He then went to talk to the principal at the time about Johnson and told them there was someone who would like to apply for the job. Shortly afterward, she started her career at the middle school.
She loves watching kids grow up throughout their time in middle school and high school then to their graduation.
“There is never a dull moment with the middle school kids,” Johnson said. “I love building connections with my students.”
She also noted that it’s important to work with kids who struggle with mental health because she understands how hard it is but it will get better.
“The rest of the world might be scary and mean, but I want them to know that they shouldn’t be so hard on themselves,” Johnson said. “You might take two steps forward and then three steps back, but there are ways to get through. It’s important that students get the help they need.”
Johnson is loved by many students and the River Forest community is grateful for her help and support towards her community and school!
Student spotlight:
Senior Angel Ortega is known for his academic achievements and outgoing personality. Ortega has been in various school clubs throughout his years at RF, such as Student Council, Spanish Club, and Juntos 4-H. He has also been on the Principal Honor Roll for every semester, showing his hard work. He has a big interest in discovering different media and watching movies.
Ortega has been in Juntos 4H since his freshman year of high school which started off in 2021. He’s been in the club for almost four years. Juntos 4H is an educational program directed towards Latino parents and students to learn about their education throughout and after high school.
“I like proving to kids that a welcoming, supporting community is the best community,” Ortega said.
After high school, Ortega’s plans will include going to Ivy Tech Community College to keep his education going. After he graduates from Ivy Tech, he would want to keep going further with his education and go to a four-year college.
Ortega has the big aspiration of becoming an elementary teacher and will go to college for that degree.
“I would say I was born a natural leader and leaned more towards a teacher role,” Ortega said. “I remember how eager I was to attend class every day due to the teacher and that was a feeling I will never forget.”
Good luck on your journey, Angel!
