pioneer september 2010

The PioneerSeptember/October 2010 • Maine East High School • Park Ridge, Illinois

Administrators and the Maine East Technology Department stand outside the sixth floor tower of Maine East holding a banner recognizing District 207 as one of the first schools in the country to mi-grate all students and staff to Google Apps. Using the full suite of Google Apps saves the district time and money and puts the district ahead of the rest in instructional technology.

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The Pioneer SEPT./OCT. 2010

At the end of last school year at Maine East, we all knew that our previous principal, Mr. Steven Isoye, was moving to a new posi-tion in another school district. The big question was: “Who is going to replace him?”

Rumors about who would become principal, and the chang-es that might come with him or her, flowed through the hallways. Some students guessed; some didn’t care. At the end of last year,

the answer was revealed: Mr. Mi-chael Pressler would be the new principal at Maine East.

Mr. Pressler – Assis-tant Principal of Instruc-tion at Maine East for the past five years – helped Mr. Isoye on the Inte-grated Freshman Literacy program and also worked close with the Schuler Scholars Program, to groom selected students, based on academic achievement, for the best universities around.

His new position gives him a lot of joy. “In my sixth year here, I still love my job,” said Mr.

Pressler. “I never dread coming to work because I get to see the kids and work with teachers and parents.”

Replacing Mr. Pressler as As-sistant Principal of Instruction is Dr. Linda Rutschke, who taught for thirteen years at York Commu-nity High School in Elmhurst and was Science Department Chair at Maine West for four years.

In 2005, she became Assistant Principal of Instruction at Maine South and now she takes on the same position here at Maine East.

“It is an overwhelming and exciting experience,” said Dr. Rutschke. “It’s very nice that I’ve

been at all three schools now. Lots of new learning.”

The administrators have their own goals for the fu-ture of Maine East. Mr. Pressler wants to focus on testing, such as the ACTs and PSAE’s, as well as the students’ ex-perience in the class-rooms.

“When students leave, we want them to graduate with the skills to get into colleges and have a promising future,” Pressler said.

Dr. Rutschke really wants to do something about the parents’ inactivity in the school. She said she would like to “bridge the gap” between parents and Maine East.

Both are very much excited to have their jobs here at Maine East and excited to work in posi-tions in which they feel that they can help the school. “And we also get summers off!”

“I’ve always enjoyed school. Becoming a teacher was almost automatic.”

–Dr. Rutschke

By Micki Laws

DID YOU KNOW?

That Mr. Pressler ran on the cross-country team and was in student government in high school?

That Mr. Pressler’s favorite year of high school was junior year?

That Dr. Rutschke played softball all four years in high school and was a member of the Science Club?

That Dr. Rutschke’s favorite year of high school was senior year?

2010-11 finds new administrative leadership at MEHS

Last year, the District 207 school board voted for proposed budget cuts that have taken effect this school year. Among the deci-sions made was to cut 137 work-ers within the district, including 75 teaching positions.

Many voiced their opinion about the proposed cuts to the school board, but the board mem-bers voted unanimously for the proposed cuts.

Last year, we all wondered what it would be like in school this year. How would our classes be? What will it be like with fewer fac-ulty members in school? How will our schedules be affected?

When August came around and it was time to return to school, some changes did come onto my

radar. Now not all of these changes are negative, but life at Maine East is definitely a little different.

One thing I noticed immedi-ately was how strict the counsel-ors have to be when it comes to scheduling. It has become almost impossible to add or drop a class. This was made very clear on the first day of school, as students rushed into the guidance office af-ter homeroom to talk to their coun-selor about something that they felt was wrong on their schedule.

Just as a heads up this year: when it comes time to choose your classes, students should take into consideration that there might not be a chance to change your mind about a certain class.

One of the more obvious changes this school year, easy for everyone to see, was the number of

students per class. At first I didn’t realluy notice it, but then, when I realized every seat in the room was filled in my first period class, it dawned on me that the number of students in each class has dra-matically increased.

From the student’s perspec-tive, this does not affect me that much. I am able to participate in class, I still understand the mate-rial, and the teachers still know my name. But teachers report having more discipline issues in class and of course a heavier workload.

Lets say each class has an ad-dition of about four students from what the total number of students was last year. Teachers teach five classes a day. If there are four extra students in all five of their classes, that’s 20 more students than that teacher had last year.

So, that’s 20 more essays, 20 more tests, 20 more assignments, 20 more lab reports, and 20 more of everything else teachers have to grade.

The workload for teachers has obviously gone up, and I applaud them for keeping up with it.

Another thing that has changed this year is the writing lab, whose location has changed. The Writing Lab is now in the library, but more importantly, the time that students can go for help has changed. Last year you could find an English teacher in the writing lab at almost any time of the day. This year, the schedule is less frequent, and stu-dents may not have a chance to seek help during their free periods

By Yogi Patel

Budget cuts lead to some changes at East

see CHANGES, page 14


When it comes to school work, the ACT, and college I am the girl who worries about it all.

My name is Ashley Roman and I’m a sophomore. Some people may think I shouldn’t be worried about these kinds of things because I am young. That has never stopped me. I know that it doesn’t hurt to get more advice about college or high school. The purpose of this article is to let you all know what you should be prepared for. To start, I believe every student should make use of the guidance office.

First, I recommend that all students become familiar with their counselors and never be intimidated to ask questions!

GUIDANCE CENTERThe guidance office has been

through a recent change in the way that it is set up.

Mr. DiPrizio has been the Di-rector of Guidance at Maine East for thirteen years.

The Guidance Department has a new, more accessible entrance. Because of this change, students can find everything easily. All of the counselors are on one side, which makes it easier for students and parents to find whom they need. Another change this year is that due

to district budget cuts, several coun-selor positions were eliminated, giv-ing each counselor more students.

Though it can be difficult, DiPrizio reports that the counselors are managing it, and that no matter what comes their way they face the challenge.

“Challenges are opportuni-ties,” Mr. DiPrizio said. One bright side is that each counselor now gets the opportunity to get to know and reach more kids. You can cer-tainly tell that guidance’s motto, “Guidance...Doing It For Kids”, is definitely put into play. So students, please remember that the guidance department is a valuable resource so take advantage of it!

COLLEGE RESOURCE CENTER

Everyone should get to know Mrs. Karen Shankman in the Col-lege Resource Center (CRC).

Mrs. Shankman is Maine East’s Career and College Counsel-or and has plenty of good advice for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. We will start with sophomores. The sooner you get to know yourself the better, you determine your career by your interests. Sophomores should ask themselves:

“Who Am I?” Give some thought to your values and priorities in life.

“What Do I Like?” Think of how you like to spend your free time and what your interests are inside and outside of school.“What Am I Good At?” Consider your character traits and the kind of activities at which you feel skilled.

Another piece of advice is to take advantage of free websites and personality and/or interest inven-tory tests. These tests will give you a better sense of direction. Here are some of the websites:

-www.whatsnextillinois.org-www.petersons.com-www.collegezone.com-www.collegeboard.com

The best preparation for soph-omores is to do well in class and to establish good habits! Kick your year off with these pieces of ad-vice.

Now for juniors, the most stressful part is the ACT. The best prep for this is diligent work in class! The ACT is given free of charge in the Spring as a subset of the annual state testing. Juniors, also remember to get involved! Volunteer work and extracurricular activities are a must! Remember to keep a strong relationship with your counselor and speak of any of these topics. Also, be sure to visit the websites listed above.

Mrs. Shankman reminds se-niors that there is “So much to do-So little time!”. October is when the application frenzy begins. Make sure to: do research, make lists, and reach out to college representatives. Seniors, because of applications, make sure to be aware of ALL deadlines! For every application you must have a transcript, which you must order at www.docufied.com. Many applications ask for recommendations so when needed, ask teachers politely. Remember they are doing you a favor. Finan-cial Aid and scholarships are a pro-cess that start now and go through June. Check your e-mail constantly and keep your ears open for any op-portunities especially opportunities offered only at Maine East. Don’t procrastinate! Keep good habits! Because UIUC (University of Il-linois Champaign Urbana is such a popular school Mrs. Shankman mentioned that the priority deadline is November 1 and the transcript deadline is October 26. Here are some Financial Aid and scholarship websites:

-www.fastweb.com-www.finaid.comwww.gocollege.comKeep this as a guideline for

your roller coaster ride throughout the year! Hope it is as helpful as can be and see you next issue!

By Ashley Roman

Achievement is something the majority of us work toward because we want to prosper and be successful in life. Achievement can be academic, athletic, physical, or emotional; whatever it is, we will go to crazy extremes to get it.

Almost all of our achieve-ments require from an endless amount of time and energy, some-times adding loads on to our regu-lar duties. This can be very hard because not many high school students have the important skill

of organization mastered to their favor. The fact that many students cannot imagine fitting everything in the limited amount of time they have causes many of them to suffer from stress.

Stress is a term that many people use in their everyday lives, but what they don’t know is that there are different levels that coin-cide with this word. Some forms of stress are good because they keep us on our toes and compel us to work harder. An average teenager deals with this kind of stress every-day and usually is able to relieve him or herself of it before going

home. Friends can play an impor-tant role in getting over this kind of stress because the majority of the time, they are dealing with the same situations.

Whether it is hours of home-work or problems with friends, in-dividually problems can be solved. The problem starts growing when we avoid certain stressors, new ones come up, and then we are drowning. That is when we reach the next level; a level that many of us should try to avoid.

When everything is constantly going wrong in school, home life, friends, and relationships the pres-

sure and negativity build up and reach a form of stress where heavy intervention may be needed. This kind of stress can be fatal and lead teenagers to fall into depression as well as become very sick.

The irony is that our obsession to achieve can end up drifting us away from achieving. This is what happens to many students because they aren’t sure what to do and hope that by avoiding the stressors they will go away. The best way to avoid stress is to tackle each prob-

see STRESS, page 7

Don’t let high school life stress you out!By Emily Lapinski

Advice for students of any age


Dear Students,Let me first take the opportunity to intro-

duce myself. My name is Sean Foley, and I am, among other things, the President of Student Council. Student Council is the main form of Student Government at Maine East. We are responsible for providing activities for the Stu-dent Body to take interest, and participate in. Some of the many activities that we organize throughout the school year include, Homecom-ing Week, V-Show, the annual Blood Drive, as well as Student Elections. In addition to school events we also run charity events such as our annual Adopt a Family campaign where we raise money to provide local needy families with gifts during the holiday season. Student Council is a great and amazing way to get involved here at Maine East. Through Student Council you have the opportunity to make new friends, meet new teachers and administrators, and gain valuable leadership and communication skills. Stu-dent Council is a great stepping stone for membership into the National Honor Society, scholarships, great universities, and beyond. We meet once a week on Thursday mornings at 7:10 in the Student Council room, room 149.

Over the past month Student Council has been busy organizing what is arguably the most exciting week of the school year: Homecoming Week. Homecoming Week is the official Welcome Back Week. The week is packed with fun activities for both teachers and staff to participate in. To kick-off the week there will be an all school spirit assembly on Tuesday October 5th. On Wednesday there will be the annual Powder Puff Game where the Junior Girls take on the Senior Girls in flag foot-ball. Thursday, students and staff can come out after the Varsity Soccer game to the Firelight Rally where the Homecoming King and Queen are crowned, and then afterwards a giant M and E are lit on fire! On Friday our Maine East football team takes on our arch rivals, the Maine West Warriors. To conclude the week, the Senior Class will be throwing the Homecom-ing Dance from 7pm-10pm on Saturday October 9th. Tickets for the dance cost only $15, the lowest price in years!

If Student Council isn’t necessarily the right thing for you, then Maine East has a variety of other activities that fit your desires. We have great athletics, a T.V. and radio station, amazing fine arts, which include outstanding plays and a musical, singing groups, and a rock star band, ethnic clubs that represent an assortment of cultures, and much, much more. Take advantage of what high school has to offer. Make lots of friends, not only with students, but also with staff and teach-ers. Everybody in this building would love to see you do well.

Here at Maine East we are a giant family. To the Freshmen I welcome you to this great family, and to the Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors, I hope you will welcome our new family members with open arms. Together we will all have an in-credible year!

Sincerely,Sean Foley, Student Body President

From the Desk of the Student Body President


“Bein’ us and having fun, the class of 2012 is #1!” is what you’ll be hear-ing from the juniors this year. It’s homecoming time again and the class of 2012 is trying to be more spirited than ever.

“We are trying to bring the class council up to an entire new level,” says Jen-nifer Elavumkal, a member of Junior Class Council.

This year J.C.C. went all out in hallway decorat-ing in order to raise a spark among its class.

To make it happen, they met over the weekend to draw, cut, glue, tape and hang posters, streamers, garlands, as well as to have

fun, and share a few laughs.To publicize this event,

a Facebook event and a group was created, as well as ads on the class website, http://demons2012.yolasite.com/#/.

“It was a lot of fun and it turned out great!” said Mariam Ahmad, a junior who helped decorate. “I really think we outdid our-selves this year.” She’s defi-nitely right!

In order to help turn the juniors into Mean Green Spirit Machines, green necklace beads will be handed out as a gift from J.C.C., so be sure to get yours from a class repre-sentative on Tuesday during Color Wars!

It’s not too late to join

Class Council! We meet every Tues-

day at 7:00 a.m. in Room 109. The class sponsors are Mr. Lasky and Ms. Stewart, who are phenomenal and are always open to new ideas.

So come and be heard! We will discuss fundraisers, prom venues, and themes during future meetings, so make sure your opinion gets heard!

If you aren’t able to join but would love to give us your two cents, join our Facebook group, “Ju-nior Class Council class of 2012”, or be sure to talk to a class rep!

And remember, it’s not the end of the world – the Class of ’12 is just taking over!

By Aneta Karkut

Juniors deck the halls for homecoming week

As the first full month of school year 2010-11 has wrapped up, students, teach-ers, and staff are all back to the “school mode.”

Many clubs and sports are in progress and one team that has made a change to their family was the dance team, Orchesis and Com-pany.

This Maine East is lucky enough to have a new Orchesis teacher, Ms. Seske. Ms. Seske has been dancing since she was eight years old!

She still carries on the passion and love she has for dance. She started off training with a professional company called Giordanos Jazz Dance Chicago. Ms. Seske was on the company for awhile until she realized it was a lot more rewarding to become a dance teacher

and share her passion with the rest of the world, rather than keeping it amongst oth-ers who danced frequently.

Her next move was to attend college at Northeast-ern Illinois and get a degree in physical education. Ms. Seske made it through it, and now she is a well loved as a dance teacher here at Maine East.

“Coming to Maine East and becoming a dance teacher is like a dream come true,” she said.

She always wanted to teach at Maine East High School and loves her job. She plans to teach her stu-dents various types of danc-es and have them mentally and physically prepared to perform in front of the school.

Orchesis is usually a year-long team, but there are always opportunities for you to join! Around the

Orchesis’ New EditionBy: Julie Joseph

As the first official month of the school year 2010-2011 is wrapping up, students, teachers, andstaff are getting back to the school “mode.” Many clubs and sports are in progress and one team that hasmade a change to their family was the dance team, Orchesis and Company. This year, it is my pleasure toannounce that Maine East has a new Orchesis teacher, Ms. Seske. Ms. Seske didn’t just start dancing ayear or two ago, she has been dancing since she was eight years old! She still carries on the passion andlove she has for dance. She started off training with a professional company called Giordanos Jazz DanceChicago. Ms. Seske was on the company for awhile until she realized it was a lot more rewarding tobecome a dance teacher and share her passion with the rest of the world rather than keeping it amongstothers who danced frequently. Her next move was to attend college at Northeastern Illinois and get adegree in physical education. Ms. Seske made it through it, and now she is a well loved as a dance teacherhere at Maine East. “Coming to Maine East and becoming a dance teacher is like a dream come true,”quotes Ms. Seske. She’s always wanted to teach at Maine East High School and loves every bit of her job.Her plans for the upcoming year are to teach her students various types of dances and have them mentallyand physically prepared to perform in front of the school. Orchesis is usually a yearlong team, but don’tthink there isn’t still an opportunity for you to join! Around the end of January, there will be anothercasting of new comers who couldn’t make it during 1st semester. Make sure you bring the love and

end of January, there will be another casting of newcom-ers who couldn’t make it during first semester. Make sure you bring the love and passion that Ms. Seske puts

into Orchesis! Keep up the good work

Ms. Seske, and welcome to the Maine East family. I would also like to welcome our new officers for Or-

chesis this year, president, Natasha Verma, vice presi-dent, Fiona Vachachira, sec-tary, Anum Melwani , and treasurer, Tiffany Joseph. Have fun this year!

By Julie Joseph

New Orchesis teacher brings passions for dance


The launching of the new service on Facebook, called Places, has been long-awaited. Now it’s finally here and ready to serve those in need.

This new service eas-ily allows your Facebook friends to know exactly where you are by using Facebook mobile and just “checking in”.

Facebook has been known to cause trouble in the lives of innocent users, including a recent warning that all users of social net-works should be aware of the prevalence of stalkers. But Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that Places is ready for the challenge.

It seems to be a great idea, but how can this ser-vice serve you?

Local businesses strive for customers, especially in times of a recession, so you can act as a mes-siah and save the pockets of that Chinese restaurant! Wherever you are, just up-

date your status using your mobile phone and invite your friends to join you. In return, you may get an offer of 20% off of that dish of egg rolls!

In other words, in real time Facebook can send you a list of offers to the stores or restaurants currently near you. In that way, the busi-ness is happy because it gained customers, you are happy because you received offers and discounts, and Facebook is happy because the business pays for the marketing.

With Places, users should pay attention to the privacy warnings and set-tings. Before getting into the service it is essential to ask yourself if you really know your Facebook friends and what things you’re comfort-able sharing with them.

Do you really want your friend community to know that you’re not home at the time?

Announcing that you’re not at home at the time may be equivalent to saying, “Hello, burglar!”. A

recent news story reported that an Indiana woman who came home to find her home burglarized and thousands of dollars worth of goods stolen had announced that her house was empty with this Status Report: “Head-ing to the hill with Kurt to see Fire Department.” The burglar was one of her Fa-cebook friends.

Before you “check in” to Places, check your Friends list to see if you have wisely selected your friends.

Year to year, social net-working sites increasingly resemble “real life” and not many users are aware of that.

Facebook, or any other social site, will be as safe as you make it. Never add people that you don’t know in person because, in reality, you wouldn’t talk to a ran-dom stranger on the street. Facebook Places can be a great oppourtunity for you, but it can also hurt you. Making wise decisions is the key to successful social networking.

Facebook’s new Places service offers plenty, but be aware of privacy settings!

By Alex Sliwka

The Social Network is the fictional story based on the the creation of the Inter-net sensation Facebook. The film takes you through the history of this global phe-nomenon through the eyes of Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Dave Fincher (The Cu-rious Case of Benjamin But-ton; Fight Club; Seven, di-rected The Social Network.

The movie stars Jesse Eisenburg as Zuckerburg and Andrew Garfield as Ed-uardo Saverin, Zuckerberg’s best friend and co-founder of Facebook. The movie is fast-paced and entertaining. It takes the viewer from the halls of Harvard University, where the idea of Facebook was conceived, to Silicon Valley, where Facebook went global and, in a matter of years, became an interna-

tional obsession. The movie shows the

highs and lows of Zuck-erberg’s career, telling the story through testimonials given at two depositions of Zuckerberg, who got him-self into legal trouble while creating the company.

Any Facebook user will love this movie – it shows how the website was devel-oped and the story behind the man responsible for it.

Although the movie is mainly fictional, it inspires entrepreneurship and shows that the world’s greatest inventions all start with a simple idea.

Overall, I give this movie an A-. It is entertain-ing and very humorous and there is even a splash of ro-mance.

You will use Facebook with a different mindset after seeing The Social Network.

By Yogi Patel

The Social Network (sort of) gives the

story behind Facebook


Author’s recom-mended for girls

Reading is such a

great way to relieve stress as well as brush up on some well needed imagi-nation skills. I know that during the school year there isn’t too much time for reading, but I am sure there is some way that we can find some. Over the summer I have found some authors that I grew to love and I am sure they can possible interest some of you.

Beverly Brenna- Bev-

erly Brenna is an author that uses the reoccurring theme of sickness in her

novels. Whether it is men-tal, physical, or emotional she has an amazing talent of morphing into any kind of viewpoint and creating a story with endless pos-sibilities. You find your-self creating bonds with characters that you never thought you would have anything in common with. These novels contain the enticing aspects that we usually read but add on that little something to make us appreciate what we have so much more.

Books: The Moon children, Wild Orchid

Jodie Picoult- Jodie

Picoult is an extraordinary author that writes about uncommon circumstances and well as circumstances

that don’t get much atten-tion. She is more of a se-rious author but her class is indescribable. She puts in months of research for each and every book be-cause she wants to show real things. Her stories absorb your emotions and weakness and then force you to give them a try. After reading one of her books you will never look at that particular situation in the same way. She en-chants you with so many questions and then gradu-ally answers them. The wait may make you crazy but when revealed her se-crets are so worth it.

Books: My Sisters Keeper, The Tenth Circle, House Rule, Plain Truth

“Space is big. Really big. You just won't be-lieve how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.”

-Douglas Adams

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is the first book of the tril-ogy by Douglas Adams. The Hitchhikers Guide is the perfect book for any reader who is look-ing for a fresh new ad-

venture full of laughs and twists at every turn.

The story follows Arthur Dent and his friend, Ford Prefect, as they narrowly escape the destruction of Earth and embark on a whirl-wind adventure through time and space.

Through their first adventure they face the torture of bad poetry, and then get sucked into outer-space only to be saved by pure coinci-dence.

From there they join forces with Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two- headed ex-president of the Universe, Trillian, Ph

oto:

Gol

lanc

z Pu

blish

ing

and Marvin, the de-pressed robot. Together they go off in search for the answer to life, the universe, and every-thing.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is definitely a book that will sticks with you for a while.

The themes deal with the entire universe, but they are presented in a way that shows how similar life outside of our galaxy is to the one here on Earth.

With the help of The Guide, the reader will surely be left want-ing more.

By Teadora Ivanova

lem and go to bed each night with at least six problems off your back.

This is beneficial in many ways because not only do you eliminate some of your problems, but you now know that you have the ability to do so. Knowing that you ef-fectively tackle problems will give you the hope to continue to do so.

From a personal standpoint, I can say that I relieve most of my stress by working ahead. Many of my teachers hand out schedules that allow me to plan accord-ingly and save some time for rest. There are some days during the week where I come home and have some extra time which I use to work on

homework for the week-end. This allows me to have that time to rest and not have to worry about homework because it is already done. It may ask more of me during the week, but when Friday night comes and I realize I have an hour of home-work tops, it’s worth it.

No one will ever be able to rid his or her world of stress, but deal-ing with it right away can help eliminate it faster. Not only does stress make our lives harder but it can physically and emotionally break us and leave us vulnerable to greater concerns. The important thing is not to drop loads but to slowly get through them. Not only will you achieve but develop skills that will be beneficial to you for the rest of your life.

STRESS, from page 3

Some recommended authors for teenage girls

Book Review: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

By Emily Lapinski


This summer, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Kett used their good looks and their special style of vigilante justice to fight crime on the open seas... or they

just went fishing in Southern Illinois.

Mrs. McNeill and her daughter Gwenivere having a Summery good time!

Mrs. Ehorn at her son’s Army Ranger graduation at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

Ms. Awad provided Professional Development for a group of teachers in geo-science field techniques in Kananaskis, Calgary, Canada.

Ms. Childress and her fiance went trout fishing in southwest Wisconsin.


Mr. Lewis and Ms. Englebert met up in Montreal to immerse themselves in French Canadian culture.

Señor Cintado competes in a mountain bike race in Palos Hills, Illinois in August.

Mrs. Holt and her husband, Jack, in front of Torc Falls on a hike of the Kerry Way in Ireland.

Mrs. Creagh and her husband David vacationed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where they rode mountain bikes down ski slopes.

(Mrs. Creagh cracked a rib but reports that she had a “blast”!)

Mr. Kaiser, wife Megan, and son Henry ride a train ride in Union, Illinois.


Mrs. Gebhard and her husband enjoyed their 40th Anniversary in Hawaii. Here they pose on a beach on Kauai.

Ms. Villalobos watches a hurling match at Croak Park in Dublin, Ireland.

Ms. Vaznelis helped her daughter Laura move to Colorado and theyvisited Rocky Mountain National Park.

After designing and building a deck on a cabin (top), Mrs. Conlon enjoys the fin-ished product with her youngest son.

Mr. Miller and daughter Laura hang out at Elder Beach on Lake Michigan.

Ms. Buczek’s son sails onLake Michigan.


Mr. Hankins and his family - wife Catherine and daughters Anna-lise, Allison and Olivia went on a camping trip to Lake Superior.

Mr. DiPrizio and his sons wakeboarding at Loon Lake in Antioch.

Ms. Chlebek and her husband honeymooned for two weeks in the French and Italian Riviera, enjoying hiking, swimming and dining well -- in this case, at

Cinque Terre in Italy. Inset: a shot from some ancient ruins near Rome.

Mrs. Lee got married this summer in Northbrook.

Mrs. Sadler and her boys (Will, Henry, & Ben) spell out OHIO during a riverboat ride on the Ohio River.


For 2 weeks, Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” (above, left) was the number one al-bum on Billboard.com’s “Hot 100.” But her reign may soon end because Bruno Mars, with his debut album “Just The Way You Are”, is quickly gaining momentum.

Lady Gaga’s outlandish choice of clothing (a meat-strip dress) for the MTV Video Music Awards and the cover of Japanese Vogue got her in trouble with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), as well as vegetarian talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres and others in the vegan community.

Resident Evil: Afterlife hit the box offices on September 10, 2010 and within its first weekend made a whopping $26.2 million, showing that this movie franchise does have an afterlife.

For all you Apple fans, the new Ipod Touch is out. It was widely anticipated that the previous version would have a camera, sadly it did not. The new Apple Ipod Touch has a camera with video capture and playback capabilities. Apple fans rejoice.

The Pop Culture Sceneby August Gamboa

Apple’s Ipod Nano has had remarkable design changes through the past years, but this is the biggest change yet. The new Nano measures just 1.48 inches tall by 1.61 inches wide and .35 inches deep. That’s not all -- the new nano has a multi-touch touchscreen interface like the iPhone and iPad.

The Pioneer StaffEDITOR IN CHIEF

Yogi Patel

EDITORS

Tushar BatiaMichelle Choi

Kaila De La Vega August Gamboa

Michelle GonzalezSade Howell

Najlah IqbalTeadora Ivanova

Julie JosephAneta KarkutEmily Lapinski

Micki LawsRachel Nieva

Maria ProticEmily Rafalik

Ashley RomanLena SedetaAlex Sliwka

Rafaela Stoyanova

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Fall Is In The AirHow well did you read? Find the answers to these clues somewhere in this issue!

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Across2. Homecoming event: _____ Rally4. New movie out: The _____ Network5. She sometimes wears meat7. Guidance Director: Mr. _____9. Football Coach: Mr. ______10. M.E. place with a new entrance: _______ Office11. Monday is _____ Day13. Chicago's NFL team15. _____ Assembly17. Homecoming _____18. Katy Perry album: _____ Dream20. Homecoming _____22. A very mental sport23. 2010 Homecoming theme: ______ Homecoming24. Thursday is _____ Day25. Homecoming _____

Down1. Friday is Blue and White _____ Day2. M.E. Student Council President: Sean ______3. Game played on the gridiron6. The latest Resident Evil movie8. New Facebook service10. Successful fall team11. Homecoming event: _____ Puff Football Game12. This team had its best season in years14. College and Career Counselor Mrs. ______16. Tuesday is _____ _____ Day 19. Maine East is now a _____ School20. Wednesday is _____ Wednesday21. Homecoming _____22. Homecoming _____


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INTERESTING NEWS ITEMS FROM AROUND

THE WORLD

By Lensa Sedeta

Edward Hernandez, 24, is the shortest man in Bogota, Colombia. At two feet, 3 inches, he is 2 inches shorter than the previous record holder, China’s He Ping-ping. “The more unusual you are, the more you should fight and work hard,” says Hernandez.

• • •

An Italian robber who was looking for a hiding place ran into a Florence police station believing it was a post office. Worse, he met the couples he had just robbed.

• • •

Unbelievable Russia National Healthcare plan - The finance minister urged citizens to drink and smoke in order to boost tax revenues. “If you smoke a pack of ciga-rettes that means you are giving more to help solve social problem,” said Alexei Kudrin.

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Visiting the sun! - NASA has announced plans to launch the first ever spacecraft, mission to the sun within the next de-cade. They are hoping to solve a lot of solar mysteries. Let just hope they re-turn back home.

CROSSWORD SOLUTION ON PAGE 14


because a teacher may not be available.

But the most obvious of the changes this year is the green movement that teachers are trying to get students to participate in. This year it seems like handing in a paper copy of an essay or lab report is practically illegal. Teach-ers are using their drop boxes and turnitin.com ac-counts as the main method for students to turn things

in. This isn’t really a bad thing in my opinion. Re-ally we are saving money and the planet. And let’s face it, the world is head-ing down the path of digi-tal storage, and handing in assignments digitally is a step in the right direction.

As the year goes on, the changes at Maine East will remain the same, and if we haven’t done so al-ready, we may just get used to how things are done from here on out in District 207.

Fall Is In The Air How well did you read? Find the answers to these clues somewhere in this issue!

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Across2. Homecoming event: _____ Rally [FIRELIGHT] 4. New movie out: The _____ Network [SOCIAL] 5. She sometimes wears meat [LADYGAGA] 7. Guidance Director: Mr. _____ [DIPRIZIO] 9. Football Coach: Mr. ______ [COREY] 10. M.E. place with a new entrance: _______ Office [GUIDANCE] 11. Monday is _____ Day [PAJAMA] 13. Chicago's NFL team [BEARS] 15. _____ Assembly [PEP] 17. Homecoming _____ [GAME] 18. Katy Perry album: _____ Dream [TEENAGE] 20. Homecoming _____ [WEEK] 22. A very mental sport [CROSSCOUNTRY] 23. 2010 Homecoming theme: ______ Homecoming [MARVELOUS] 24. Thursday is _____ Day [SUPERHERO] 25. Homecoming _____ [KING]

Down1. Friday is Blue and White _____ Day [SPIRIT] 2. M.E. Student Council President: Sean ______ [FOLEY] 3. Game played on the gridiron [FOOTBALL] 6. The latest Resident Evil movie [AFTERLIFE] 8. New Facebook service [PLACES] 10. Successful fall team [GIRLSTENNIS] 11. Homecoming event: _____ Puff Football Game [POWDER] 12. This team had its best season in years [TENNIS] 14. College and Career Counselor Mrs. ______ [SHANKMAN] 16. Tuesday is _____ _____ Day [COLORWARS] 19. Maine East is now a _____ School [GOOGLE] 20. Wednesday is _____ Wednesday [WACKY] 21. Homecoming _____ [QUEEN] 22. Homecoming _____ [COURT]

CHANGES,from page 2

CROSSWORD PUZZLE SOLUTION

Back to School Carnival


Many teams do very well at Maine East but aren’t getting the recogni-tion they deserve.

Walking through the halls you always hear people chattering about going to the Friday night football games. You hear them yelling at each other down the stairwell about what time to show up and to invite more people.

Yet you never hear about people attending a tennis match, a soccer game, or a cross-country meet, even though these are three sports that are doing very well this sea-son at Maine East. You don't hear people yelling about how they want to support the tennis team, or cheer on the soccer team.

Many sports teams work hard in practice and want their peers to see how good they are at what they do. When you play a sport you want some-

one there cheering you on. Someone to scream when you score a goal, or a point, or finish running three miles. But many of these teams are not get-ting the fan support that could motivate them to even better performances.

Fatima Rogaria, a ju-nior varsity tennis player, said that only about five people show up to the ten-nis matches, even though the tennis team has not lost a single conference match they have played.

People at Maine East should go out and support teams that are doing that well and working very hard to achieve.

“The sport is a smid-ge more difficult that everyone gives it credit for,” Fatima said about her practices. So show some school spirit, Blue Demons, go to a tennis match or a soccer game and cheer them on.

“I feel drained when nobody shows up,” said varsity soccer player Rami

By Sade Howell and Rachel Nieva

Dajani. He believes that if more people showed up, the team would be “ener-getic and not displease the fans with a loss but with a win.”

Having won three games and lost three games the soccer team is doing very well this sea-son and fans coming to their game would really help them win more games and feel more appreciated for the work they do.

Cross country run-

ner Edrienne Yap says she usually finds people there supporting the other team but no one supporting her team. Since cross country is such a mental sport, Yap believes that “know-ing that there is a support group would really help.”

Well there is one thing all these athletes are saying to come to their games and support them doing what they love to do and what they are good at. Instead of only going

division three schools.“We put the teams

on the pedestal,” Andrew Lee said about some of the Blue Demons’ tougher opponents. He said that the team wasn’t fundamentally solid and they simply “didn’t ex-ecute.”

“Winning,” says George Zakharia, are what his plans were for the rest of the season. He said that every game Maine East has to “take it to them hard.”

Less popular sports deserve fans, too!

FOOTBALL,from page 16

to the football games next time go to a tennis match or a soccer game or a cross country meet. Your fellow peers and athletes would really appreciate the school spirit and you will feel good about about showing Blue Demon Pride!

So make an effort, everyone: do something different and go to a game that you normally wouldn't go to!

Coach Corey is trying to instill a winning attitude with his football players.

SPORTS

The Maine East Girls Varsity tennis team has been on a roll this season.

Needless to say, not only was the team happy, but so was Head Coach Mr. John Schwan. He was very proud of his team.

The bond that a coach and an athlete have is a special one, and Coach Schwan agrees that his bond with this team is a good one.

Mr. Schwan also teaches a business education class, and has some of the girls on his team as students. “It’s a pleasure to be able to work with the girls on the courts and off.”

Team captain Nina says that being on the team has been an ex-perience that she will always love. She said that tennis is something that she wants to do her whole life and she is so passionate about it.

What’s the secret to the team’s bonding? “We’re all such dorks with each other,” Nina said.

Tennis is definitely a com-petitive sport and can get pretty

intense, but it’s nice knowing you can joke around and have fun with it as well.

One memorable victory this season was over rival Maine West

“A day before we had to play Maine West, they played Ley-den East. The day before that, we played against Leyden and we lost.” So that definitely bought up some nerves. But Maine East won a close match, 4 to 3.

Girls tennis enjoying best season in years Number one singles player

Sam takes pride in her position. “It feels great, I know that it’s my year.”

Being number one, Sam likes to motivate her team members. Her bond with her team is strong. They are all very close and supportive of one another win or lose. Luckily, during this season, it has mostly been ‘win’!

Fall is the time for football, so let’s get to know the Maine East football team!

Varsity Head Coach Mr. Gabe Corey continues to turn around the Blue Demon foot-ball program. The team has won a game for the second con-secutive season and continues to be competitive, even against some of the tough teams in the Central Suburban League Con-ference.

“We have to continue to get better,” said Corey. The varsity team had a great start, winning the season-opening game. Maine East had started out well in several games, but can’t seem to finish the games. It comes down to one thing, ac-cording to Coach Corey: funda-mentals. In the third game, they lost but they were fundamen-tally strong.

“We are looking forward to winning and, more important-ly, getting better each week,” Corey said.

Who are the players to watch for? From the junior class, Andrew Lee, George Zakharia, and Xavier Levy pro-vide a solid core of the team. Seniors Dezmond Sloan and Jose Guzman are two other players that Corey mentioned.

Corey also believes that some of his players could still play in college, perhaps at some

By Maria Protic

Blue Demon football team continues to

improve

see FOOTBALL,page 15

By Kaila De La Vega

pioneer september 2010

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